Kiri and the crew he was shepherding made it through the rest of the filming at the other three locations without mishap, and only a few more delays. Both the footage for the music video and the commercial the band had signed up for was approved and they returned home on Thursday afternoon.

They took the train back from the airport. As they exited the train station, Shiori caught sight of a girl waving excitedly. "Oh god," groaned Shiori, "it's a fan." The tired band members tried to straighten up a little.

Kiri looked up and grinned. "Not your fan," he replied. He hurried up the steps and Hikaru met him at the top.

She reached out to him, but then stopped, feeling too shy.

Kiri stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her hair. "Hi," he murmured.

"Hi," she replied breathlessly.

"You look freaking gorgeous," he said.

Hikaru laughed wryly, "Thanks, you look tired."

Kiri pulled back and grinned at her. "I am," he said. He leaned in to kiss her. They kissed for a little bit.

"Want to go for ramen?" he asked when they came up for air.

"Sure?" Hikaru answered.

"I don't know why, but when I get back from international trips, I always feel like having ramen," he said laughingly.

She grinned at him, took his bag, and slung it over her shoulder.

"Hey," he protested.

Hikaru laughed and said, "Let me help a little, you really do seem tired."

He took her hand and nodded.

They found a ramen shop, and ate cheerfully.

When she was finished eating, Hikaru blushed and said, "I asked my mom, about spending the weekend with you. So um, tomorrow after school, Mirage is playing at Blue Moon, but um... when we're done?"

Kiri leaned over and kissed her. "I'm so glad, I didn't know how to ask if you still intended to..."

They kissed a little more, then walked to the bus station. Kiri's bus arrived first, and he was reluctant to board it.

Hikaru said, "Kiri it's silly for you to wait for the next one, go home and sleep. I take the bus everyday, I'll be fine." She handed him his bag.

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply, before reluctantly climbing aboard.

--

When Kiri climbed off the bus he saw that there was a police vehicle parked on his street, but gave it little thought. He was unlocking his door when they came for him.

The officer asked if he were Takeshi Kiri, and he nodded and admitted that he was.

The officer asked if he knew Hitoshi Hikaru?

Kiri went white. For a moment he was certain they were there to tell him something had happened to her, even though that would have been impossibly quick and the police would have gone to her parents and not him. "Is she OK?" he asked anxiously.

The policemen looked at each other, then they told him he was under arrest. Kiri finally realized what must actually be happening, although he wasn't certain it was official, or if this was just some prank Hikaru's step father had devised.

He asked, "Can I throw my bag inside?"

When they were going to argue he pointed out that they'd have his keys. They allowed it, took his keys and then cuffed him.

Once they had him in the back of the vehicle and were on the road, he told his phone to call his office's legal department. The officers protested, but since they hadn't taken his phone, they couldn't stop him.

When Kiri got a person on the phone, he told them, "Have one of the company lawyers meet me as soon as possible, I've been arrested." He gave as much detail about his current situation as he could.

The policemen were irate, and when they arrived at the station they took his phone. They treated it like a real arrest and started processing paperwork. They threw him into a holding cell and one of them said snidely, "Don't imagine it's going to be a comfortable stay you pedo."

The other residents of the cell stared at Kiri. He straightened his jacket and said calmly, "I'm no pedophile. I'd show you a picture of my lovely girlfriend, but you took my phone."

The snide one laughed and exclaimed, "He's admitting he's got evidence on his phone!"

The more professional officer said calmly, "We'll see."

Kiri blinked and realized they were planning to take data off his phone and warned suddenly, "If you delete the photos of China I promised Hikaru, I'll sue you."

The officers ignored him and his new cell mates laughed. One said, "They'll probably run the whole thing past a magnet now."

They prevented the lawyer from Inline seeing him at first, but she knew what she was doing, and eventually spoke with Kiri.

She scolded him harshly when she found out his girlfriend was under 18. "You'd be pinning back the ears of any artist you worked with who turned up in such a situation, what do you have to say for yourself?" she asked incredulously.

Kiri laughed and agreed wryly, "I would." Then he said seriously, "But I'm going to marry her someday, I'm not going to stop dating her because she's not 18."

The lawyer let him know that he was being charged with having had sex with an underage girl. He looked at her in surprise. He was a little shocked to find out there were real charges and replied uncertainly, "But she's already 17. And we haven't gone that far yet?"

"How far have you gone," demanded the lawyer.

Kiri blushed and told her, "Probably too far. Second base? And I've seen her naked."

The lawyer gave him a neutral look. She eventually told him that it was a borderline case, but since it was running through children's services and that apparently the charges originated with her parents, it might be messy.

Kiri blinked, then sneered and said, "Not her parents, her bastard of a step father."

The lawyer looked at him consideringly and suggested, "You should probably refrain from further descriptive adjectives for the duration."

"He's a policeman, and he hit her!" Kiri protested bitterly.