Forward Bound

Hi! I am the author of "Forward Bound" which is a future version of the manga/ anime skip beat. This story takes place 3 years after the manga, at this time Kyoko is 20 years old and Ren is 24.

Summary: 3 years after skip beat, Kyoko has not seen Ren in almost 3 years, ever since Kyoko landed the part of Momiji she has been on the move with shooting in Europe and then having acting jobs and modeling jobs all over the world. Now she finally gets to see Ren again as they are playing a couple in a new romance movie. Will they be able to pick up where they left off? Or will their relationship take a turn?

*LME studios*

"Kyoko! Welcome back to Japan it has been too long!" President Takarada proclaimed jumping up from his desk as he sets his snake down on the floor. Kyoko laughs and smiles at the president's antics.

Some things don't change I guess Kyoko thought as she looked the president up and down. Today the president was wearing a pair of balloon pants with a series of jewels and pendants covering his torso.

"President! I video chat you nearly every day and you call and text me constantly how could you possibly miss me?" Kyoko teased in a fake confused tone, though she couldn't keep the teasing gleam out of her eyes as she said it. If she was being honest with herself she had missed the president allot.

"You can hardly call it the same thing! I mean even when you're in Japan on shoots you are so busy you never have time to come see me! When was the last time you even had one day where you weren't working a 14 hour day?" Takarada laughed as he smiled at his top actress in the company. It was true Kyoko had been working constantly for the past 3 years and had acted in at least 2 dozen hit dramas and another dozen movies and that didn't even take into account all of the modeling and tv appearances she did regularly.

Kyoko pondered the question the president had given her and found herself hard pressed to give him an answer. The truth was that as soon as she got the part of Momiji and her role as Natsu was over it was as if there was a never-ending pile of work. While she had become very famous throughout the world and had become a household name and had won many awards she hadn't had a vacation in about 3 years.

Kyoko sighed and admitted to the president. "I have not been on a vacation or had a day off since I was cast as Momiji, I mean I long since gave up of holding onto an apartment anywhere since I'm always on the movie with my manager." After getting the part of Momiji she had wanted to have Yashiro as her manager but with her constantly traveling and him being the manager of Ren Tsuruga who was the leading male actor in all of the world at this point Yashiro had no time. Now she had a manager named Haruki Okada who was amazing and the only reason that Kyoko wasn't overwhelmed with her crazy schedule.

"Well, I have great news for you then! I have booked you two tv shows and a movie in Japan which will last a half a year with filming so you will have the chance to settle down a bit and be able to see your friends." The president seemed happy and cheerful but I could tell he was up to something he had a scheming look about him. I decided not to pressure him for now though and just enjoy the fact that I got to stay in Japan for a while. "Rehearsal begins in a week so until then you should find someplace to stay and rest up maybe see some friends."

"Kyoko smiled ear to ear and said a break is something I really and truly need and not just for me but I now Haruki will definitely appreciate a break, though I suppose this means I will need to get myself a place?"

"Good luck with that Kyoko don't forget I am only a call away if you ever need anything." The president smiled as Kyoko smiled and left his office.

Kyoko settled on getting a 5 bedroom apartment a few blocks away from LME headquarters. Kyoko lived with her manager Haruki and her personal housekeeper Marie Ota. Kyoko had decided to get a housekeeper after Haruki had pointed out the fact that she worked so much and had no time to keep a clean house anymore, even though her work schedule was about to get a bit smaller going to 10 hours a day instead of 14 hours a day Haruki insisted that Kyoko shouldn't just go shopping out in public especially since LME had assigned her a bodyguard (he lived with them as well) and it would be a pain to have to go grocery shopping after a long day not to mention the risk of a mob of fans.

Haruki had joined the love me section shortly after Kyoko had gotten the part of Momiji and switched to the talent section. After a month of Haruki's help, Kyoko had decided to hire her full time. Shortly after that Kyoko's fame started to grow like crazy and she started having people follow her all around so the president hired her a bodyguard. The bodyguard was a bulky man and a foreigner named Chase King who was a former member of the special forces in the US he was 28 years old and had been Kyoko's shadow for 2 and a half years he went with her everywhere from a supermarket run to going to work.

Her vacation was full of moving and scheduling interviews and getting characters ready for her different parts. By the end of the week she had all 3 characters done for the most part but she felt like she was missing something. This was not surprising since she usually needed to meet the cast and compare characters to really and truly perfect her parts.

Monday the first day on set

"Kyoko it's time to get up." Haruki declared as she yanked the curtains open filling the room with light. Kyoko mentally sighed wishing she could go back to sleep. Alas though it was already 8 AM and she needed to be at set at 9 AM. Kyoko rolled over as said in a voice muddled with sleep.

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up you don't need to send a search party I'll be out in 30 minutes for breakfast." Haruki looked satisfied as she walked out and shut the door with a click.

Kyoko rolled out of bed and proceeded to take a shower. 10 minutes later she went into her closet and picked out a yellow sundress and a black blazer she then made quick work of untangling and styling her long black hair. She used to have it short and orange but after a year of constantly dying it, the hair stylist recommended going natural to avoid permanent hair damage. She quickly grabbed a black purse and slipped on a pair of cute black flats and headed out to the dining room. As soon as she opened her door the aroma hit her, it was the smell of hotcakes (thick pancakes) she smiled to herself as she sat down at the dining table and a plate of food was set in front of her. Sitting across from her was Haruki and to her right was Chase.

"What's on today's schedule Haruki?" Kyoko said through a mouthful of breakfast.

"Well apparently you need to go back to get an etiquette class," Haruki glared at the blushing Kyoko before continuing, "but that will have to be at a later time. Today you are going to go over a script reading for the movie "The Fairy and the Stone" apparently it is a story about how a young girl meets a fairy prince and then years later they meet again and go on a journey where they fall in love." Kyoko blinked remembering about the little fairy prince she had met when she was a little girl the boy named Corn. This had to be a coincidence right? Haruki continued. "Apparently some famous actor big shot told a story about meeting a girl in the woods and a writer was fascinated and wrote a script. Apparently, the actor who told the story is playing your love interest."

"Who is this actor?" Kyoko puzzled.

"No idea, apparently they want to keep the leading couple a secret for now so I don't think anyone will have any idea until we get to the studio that you are the leading lady, except for the casting staff of course." Kyoko paused at this information it wasn't unheard of not to release the cast list but it certainly wasn't what she expected.

"Chase anything I should know about the security at this studio or what I should expect today?"

"Nothing out of the normal but with the new development of the cast not being released there may be a lot of people that will be shocked at your appearance their so please stick close to me Miss. Mogami."

"I can do that Chase now then I think it's about time we go." Kyoko grabbed a hat and a pair of shades then rushed to her room having forgotten her necklace her princess rosa necklace. When the car pulled up to the studio Kyoko says the crowds that had gathered outside waiting to get a glimpse of the cast of the movie. Chase opened her door and they headed into the building. Once inside of the building Haruki took Kyoko's hat and glasses and the people in the studio froze looking towards Kyoko with shock. Having had this happen to her a lot Kyoko bowed and said to the crowd of people that had now assembled.

"My name is Kyoko Mogami and I look forward to working with you to make this movie a success." Kyoko looked up and scanned the room seeing a few familiar faces but mostly strangers. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice saying in an annoyed voice.

"Kyoko your in Japan? When did you get back and why on earth didn't you call me?" Kyoko spun on her heel and grinned as she rushed towards her best friend in the entire world Kanae Kotonami. Kanae was an actress she met when she was auditioning for the LME studio. Kanae was a famous actress now in Japan and had starred in many shows and movies. Sadly due to work, Kyoko hadn't seen her best friend in nearly a year.

"Kanae your here! Does that mean you are in the cast of "The Prince and the Stone?" Kanae looked at her with an expression that screamed why else would I be here. Kyoko quickly hugged her best friend. Someone clears their throat behind them and Kyoko spun around to see that most of the people were either staring at them or walking into a conference room. Kyoko and Kanae followed the crowd with Kanae's manager, Haruki, and Chase behind them.

Kyoko took her assigned seat with Haruki and chase behind her and Kanae to her right. Kyoko and Kanae chatted about what had been going on recently until they heard someone clearing their throat in the front of the room. Kyoko turned her head and saw the director sitting two chairs to the left of her. Kyoko frowned realizing that there was an empty chair next to her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen thank you so much for coming today! Today we are going to introduce ourselves and sum up our roles and then go over the script once or twice." The director declared as he stood up and looked out at all of the actors in the room. "Before we get started though let me introduce you to the man that came up with this story and our leading man, Ren Tsuruga." Kyoko spun on her chair as she saw Ren walk into the room. He looked even more handsome than she remembered. She couldn't believe that she hadn't seen Ren for 3 years. As she looked at Ren, however, she gasped as she noticed his hair and eyes were different he did not have brown hair and brown eyes as she remembered. No, he had blonde hair and green eyes. This was not Rent it was Corn.

Ren walked into the room and walked to the front of the room and bowed. "I am Ren Tsuruga and I will be playing Corn the fairy prince." Ren looked around the room and froze as he looked into the eyes of the women who held his heart. Kyoko was even more beautiful than he remembered with a pair of beautiful golden brown eyes. But unlike before she had long smooth silky black hair and she was gapping at him.

"Corn? What is going on." Kyoko said as she gapped at the man she loved and the boy who had taken care of her all of those years ago.