Aljan Moonfire does not own Skip Beat.

"Speaking."

'Thinking.'

.-. - Scene Break

Chapter 1 – Casting Call

The bright afternoon sun hung high in the sky, shining brightly through the occasional cloud and into the Talent Section cubicles of the high-rise LME building. Sawara Takenori basked momentarily in the light, grateful for the moment of peace. It would likely be the only one he'd get for a while once his most troublesome – not to mention most utterly terrifying – talent arrived.

He had never met anyone even remotely like Mogami Kyoko before their first encounter – he shuddered reflexively at the memory - and, if he was lucky, he prayed he never would again.

Not that she wasn't a fairly talented actress - especially considering her handicaps in certain areas - but quite honestly the girl frightened him to death, especially when she was angry or excited about something. Her bi-polar nature actually exceeded that of his absolutely insane boss, something he'd previously thought impossible.

Fortunately, before his thoughts went too far down that despairing track, the ringing of a telephone brought him back to reality. Then a co-worker walked by, smiling, and called out his name.

"Sawara-san?"

"Yes?" he replied, looking over at the younger man that had spoken.

"I saw a discussion on TV this morning about the Curara commercial." He said, shifting the small stack of paperwork in his hands closer to his chest.

"Really?"

"They were saying that it's just as good as the other commercials airing for the product."

"Seriously?" he grinned, swiftly hiding his slight surprise. No matter how uneasy Kyoko may make him, he was always happy for his talents when a job was a success.

"Yeah. Apparently everything's going really well there." The younger man smirked at him slightly and continued, "You can relax some, Manager."

Sawara laughed at that, slightly sheepish, "Was it that obvious? Because those two are from the 'Love Me' Section, I was a bit nervous about it…"

"But maybe due to the commercial, they'll get other jobs as well!" the other man commented, trying to distract the older man from his past anxiety.

Sawara smiled at him and answered, "You're right; that commercial was shot very well."

His conversation was then interrupted by a person from the calling stations looking over and saying, "M-manager! Please pick up line 3!"

"Oh?" he made a surprised sound of inquiry.

"It's from Queen Records." The man responded to the unasked question.

"Queen Records? What's a music company calling our Talent Section for?" Sawara asked.

"That, um…," he paused, checking the notes he'd taken for the call, "They said that after seeing Curara's commercial that they want to use the two actresses featured in it…and the call was likely redirected here because they are from the Love Me Section." The young man continued, phone still clutched in his hand.

"Manager!" the man he had been speaking with exclaimed, eyes widening in shock, "A job really came!"

Sawara paused thoughtfully, not immediately responding. "Why do they want them?" he finally asked.

"Those two?" at Sawara's nod he glanced back down at the notes. "Err…it seems they want them for a music video for a new single."

"And the artist?" the Talent manager asked, an uneasy feeling settling somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

"…Fuwa Sho."

Sawara immediately blanched, any and all color leaching from his face.

.-.

Elsewhere, three very different people sneezed, almost simultaneously.

One was an older teenage girl with long, dark hair who shivered slightly in her much-hated, bright pink jumpsuit, hoping that she wasn't coming down with a cold.

The other was a small girl of around sixteen in a high-school uniform, who was just entering the LME building's lobby. She immediately blamed it on the dark-haired man she'd just left behind in frustration, and hoped she hadn't caught his cold. She'd never be able live it down if she had.

The last was a tall man with bleached blond hair and sunglasses, who absentmindedly wiped his nose on his sleeve as he stared up at a large screen on the side of a tall skyscraper. His eyes narrowed behind the dark lenses on the small, short-haired girl in the commercial currently playing on the giant screen.

'Kyoko…?'

.-.

The Next Day…4:30 pm…

"Huh?" the loud exclamation of surprise was generally ignored by the people around them; the people of the Talent Section had finally gotten used to the oddities of one of LME's newest talents.

"Sorry," Mogami Kyoko growled, her eyes furrowing into angered slits and what might have been a polite smile under any other circumstances stretching her mouth into an equally creepy grimace as she focused her entire attention of Sawara Takenori. "I'm not entirely sure I heard you correctly…"

Said man gulped nervously under her intent glare as she continued, an oddly calm voice in the back of his head wondering how someone saying something in such a polite way could be so very, very scary. "Could you please repeat what you just said…?"

"Uh…Um…" he gulped nervously again, "What I'm trying to say is…" he licked his lips, "Is that someone asked very specifically for you and Kotonami-san…"

He hesitated again, bewildered by her reaction. 'Strange…Her reaction really isn't what I was expecting…'

Soon enough though, he continued, prodded on by her intensifying glare. "When they saw your commercial they wanted to try use the two of you in a music video, so could you…" he paused again as the strange, dark aura around the young talent intensified and a vein began to pulse in her forehead.

'Do they think I'm some sort of product?' The sixteen year old thought furiously. "Please reject it for me!" she said emphatically, shoulders hunched and fists clenched.

"Huh?" Sawara made his own exclamation of surprise at this, not expecting this answer at all. "Why?" he asked, stunned. "Don't you know that this is for Fuwa Sho's PV? You'll be able to meet him in person! Aren't you his fan?"

This time not sensing the impending danger, the Talent Manager continued, "And, in getting the chance to act along-side the extremely popular Sho, your own popularity will see a major boo –"

"There –" she interrupted, her voice rising swiftly in volume, "is no way I'd want something like that!" As she screamed the final word, she completely lost control of herself, her little demon minions escaping her body to wreak havoc on the world around her, actually completely shattering a nearby window and sending the glass outwards to land on the street below.

.-.

The next morning found the teen still grumbling about it under her breath as she pulled on the short sleeved version of her bright pink Love Me uniform. The rant rumbling in her chest finally erupted from her in a very audible explosion as she violently slammed the door of her locker shut.

"Why do I have to act in that bastard's PV? I don't want to! Even if I do want to become famous, I don't want to be helped by that bastard on my way there!" Turning away from her locker sharply, she continued, "And I – I…" Kyoko slowly trailed off into silence, remembering her resolution.

'I wanted to be his equal in this world before I met him again! How can I stand before him otherwise?' she thought despairingly, biting her lip in frustration, 'I've only just finished shooting my first commercial! I still have such a long way to go…'

For a moment she just sat there, her face in her hands, remembering once again how that horrid boy – man now, she supposed - had used her, and then thrown her away like yesterday's old trash. "I hate you, Fuwa Shotaro…" she whispered angrily, despairingly, into her hands.

Soon enough though, she was distracted from her dark thoughts by the sound of the door of the Love Me Section staff room opening with a sharp click. "Ah!" Kyoko said, "Moko-san! Good morning." Her frown didn't disappear the way it usually did upon sighting her best friend, but the greeting came out reflexively.

Clearly she wasn't the only one acting differently than usual, as Kotonami Kanae didn't even acknowledge the nickname she usually found annoying with even the slightest of frowns. She walked right past her younger friend in a daze, heading towards the table that had been set up on the other side of the room.

Kyoko though, continued to speak, the frown still not leaving her face, "Moko-san, have they told you anything about the PV thing?" she asked anxiously, following the other girl to the table. "You know, Fuwa Sho's PV?"

Even though the brunette teen didn't seem to answer, Kyoko continued to chatter at her about it, "Moko-san, what do you plan on doing? You're not thinking of agreeing are you?" she wondered, suddenly horrified at the thought.

Finally noticing her friend's odd mood when she didn't get an answer, Kyoko watched, concerned, as the taller girl sat herself in one of the chairs with a light thud. Kanae didn't look at her friend even then, continuing to stare blankly into the distance, mouth slightly open, and fingers curling lightly around the hem of her white mini-skirt.

"Moko-san…?" the lighter haired girl asked, worried, "What's wrong?"

"Work…" Kanae finally murmured, as if to herself.

"Huh?"

"I…got a job…" she said a bit louder, finally blinking. "A drama…"

"Ehhh?" Kyoko shouted, shocked. "Really, Moko-san?" flushed with excitement for her friend, Kyoko temporarily forgot about her own problems. "Amazing! You're already walking down the road of a true actress!" she exclaimed.

Finally back in the lower hemisphere, Kanae immediately rejected the excessive praise. "It's not that amazing, and it's not even that big of a role." She said. "It's only a short two-hour drama." As Kyoko calmed down, she continued, "I heard that after they saw the Curara commercial, they thought I'd fit the role really well."

Looking away she said, "I also heard that the actress that was supposed to have my role was fired so they could replace her with me."

"Wow," Kyoko responded, shocked again, "So cruel…so things like that really do happen in show business."

"Apparently she was a newbie, much like me," Kanae commented, "but because her agency isn't a big company, I got the job instead – at least according to the main office."

'Uwah…' Kyoko thought, eyes wide, 'I didn't know the bigger companies had such influence…thank goodness I chose LME…'

"But, I…I don't think that taking away someone else's role is such a bad thing," Kanae continued, recapturing her friend's attention. "Because I...really want to act. I want to be someone who's able to act all day, every day…who only needs to act for their entire career."

The brunette had closed her eyes at some point as she described her dream, but she now opened them, looking determinedly into the distance. "That's why I won't get emotional when I have to use other people for stepping stones."

Kyoko's eyes widened as she thought back to when she had overheard Shotarou and his manager talking about her…he had called her a stepping stone then…

Kanae continued speaking though, oblivious to Kyoko's inner conflict, "That's why I rejected Fuwa Sho's PV." She said, touching her chin in thought. "The drama stars filming next week."

'That's right…' Kyoko thought, 'I was used by that bastard…'

"So, I want to concentrate on acting." Kanae said, still oblivious. 'I don't want such a boring job wasting my time and energy either,' she carefully didn't say.

'Since that's the case, this time I'll be using him!' Kyoko thought furiously.

"So what do you want to do?" Kanae asked, "Do we both have to accept the role for this job?"

"Accept!" Kyoko yelled in answer, "No matter what, I have to accept this job!"

"…Okay." Kanae said, used to her antics. 'Not that I didn't already know the answer,' she thought, 'but this sort of reaction is so annoying…She sure isn't bashful when it comes to Fuwa Sho…'

.-.

'Heh…"To have a chance to act alongside the extremely popular Fuwa Sho in his newest music video"? You couldn't be more wrong!' Kyoko thought as she told Sawara of her acceptance of the job, as well as Kanae's rejection of it. 'I'm not going there to act this time! Instead, I'm going to use that idiot's PV to make myself famous!'

Sawara put down the phone, and turned to look at her. He made an okay sign with his fingers and said, "It doesn't need to be the both of you," before watching indulgently as she spun herself into a few ballet spins in celebration. 'She's really happy…it must have been some sort of strange façade before…geez…she really is a hard-core Fuwa Sho fan…'

If only he knew what she was really thinking as she twirled happily around the room…

'I will never, ever be produced by Shotaro! Instead I'll steal the camera's attention from him in his own music video! Watch out! This time it's your turn to be my stepping stone, Fuwa Shotaro!'

.-.

Meanwhile…Queen Records Corporation…

The screen of the TV moved with sound as Kyoko spun into view with a bottle of Curara in hand. She froze mid-movement as the very male hand holding the remote pressed pause. "Hmmm…"

"It's rare to see you actually concentrating on something like that," a low female voice interrupted the man's thoughts. The woman who had spoken was tall and slender, with a large chest not at all disguised by the strict white formal work shirt she wore. Her long, elegant, pale brown hair was pulled back into a loose ponytail, a few stands escaping to tease her cheeks. Simple spectacles perched on her nose, and a teasing smile turned up the corners of her red painted mouth.

"With your personality you generally don't pay any attention to television commercials." She continued. "I will admit though, that that commercial has turned into a popular topic – or rather, those two girls have turned it into a popular topic." She then commented more to the woman standing on the other side of the counter she had leaned on than the man she was originally talking to.

The other woman was also a brunette, but her hair was much darker color and pinned up into a loose style on the back of her head. She had folded her arms loosely across her chest, shrugging her shoulder bag up higher on her left shoulder.

The man didn't reply for a moment, but then asked, "This girl is called 'Kyoko', right?"

"Yes," the seemingly talkative woman replied. "It's written with Tokyo's 'kyo' and kodomo(children)'s 'ko'. I don't know if that's her real name though. Why? Are you interested in her?" she asked. "She's not the type of girl you usually show interest in."

Fuwa Sho narrowed his eyes at the smiling face on the TV screen. "It's not that…" he muttered.

The long-haired woman laughed softly, "But, you're more interested in her than the one with the longer hair." She commented. When the male seemed to ignore her, she decided to say something to get his attention.

"The long-haired girl turned down the job offer," she said lightly.

She immediately got the reaction she was looking for when he turned around and shouted, "What?"

"She turned down the offer?" he then asked incredulously, "What's that supposed to mean?" Grinding his teeth in frustration, he continued, "It's My PV! Is there something wrong with her?"

"Sorry," the woman said. "I suppose I chose the wrong person." She shrugged, standing up straight. 'I also liked the long-haired girl more…Of course I'd hoped that the both of them would accept, but I didn't really have the guts to turn down the other girl since it was me who went to them first. LME is not to be messed with in such a manner.'

Crossing her arms in much the same way the other woman had, she continued to ponder the situation, pouting slightly at the way things had turned out. 'That's not even mentioning that I've heard that those two girls are Takarada's current favorites. If I'd known sooner I might not have asked for them…'

Then the other woman finally spoke up, saying, "If that's the case, Haruki-chan, we must find another girl quickly."

Said woman, now named, replied, agreeing, "You're right, Shoko-chan."

"I might have a person in mind," Sho then interjected.

"Oh, really?" Haruki asked, interested.

"Yeah. I'm not sure if you'll be happy with her though…"

"Don't worry. Just tell me her name and I'll try it with her."

"Shoko-san knows; ask her." He said to Haruki, and then to Shoko, "Shoko-san, that pochiri girl…"

"Alright, I got it." The woman replied, shaking her head slightly in exasperation. "'Pochiri', eh?"

But Sho was no longer listening, his focus now returned to the picture of the girl shivering on the TV screen. 'Kyoko…' he mused. 'After looking at it for so long, I really feel that this could be her…but is it really…?'

He shifted slightly on the chair he was sitting backwards on, thoughts of the sweet girl that had been his childhood friend running rampant through his mind. 'Only the hair style and color are really different, but could something like that lead to such a huge transformation? I probably wouldn't have recognized her even if I'd bumped into her on the street, she's so different when compared to before…'

'But if it were really her then there's no way she would accept this job…right?' Then a smile that could easily be termed evil crossed his lips and was quickly hidden behind his arms. 'Unless, it was for revenge…' His thoughts paused on that for a moment before quickly speeding up.

'Interesting…Let's see what you can do to me…But in the end I'll make you realize that no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to even touch me! Excellent! I can see her miserable face already…!'

The musician was careful to keep his evil laughter inside as his eyes narrowed further on the picture of the girl before him.

To the side though, the two women completely misconstrued his focus on the picture of the girl, especially Haruki. 'He's completely mesmerized…Is he really that interested in that short haired girl?'

Sho once again chuckled inwardly. 'I can't wait…Come and get me, Kyoko!'

.-.

The Next Day…Queen Records…

Seething with many different conflicting emotions, it was an angry and determined Kyoko that showed up at Queen Records the next morning in her standard florescent pink Love Me uniform. In her state of agitation, a few of her dark minions escaped her control and floated close around her as she entered what she instinctively termed the enemy's stronghold.

This was it.

She quickly made her way across the lobby to the reception desk, and did her very best to calm her angry spirits before introducing herself as politely as she could.

"My name is Kyoko. I'm here to participate in Fuwa Sho's PV," she said, hoping that she had said the bastard's name as politely as she had the rest of the sentence.

The receptionist quickly recovered, and turned back to her computer to verify her statement. "It seems that everything is in order." She said at last, and rose to her feet. "I will guide you to the meeting room."

Kyoko gave a polite bow of thanks, and was soon following her guide as she turned in the direction of the elevator.

.-.

Meanwhile…

Tsuruga Ren stared at his manager in shock, still attempting to process what the man had just said. "Re…really?"

"Yeah. The look you gave her was soft enough to melt the heart of even the most coldhearted girl." Yashiro Yukihito deadpanned.

"I-Is that so…" he replied, still flustered. 'I didn't think I looked at Mogami-san in any particular way, let alone like that…It's probably just because that misunderstanding between us has been cleared up…' he thought.

"Hey, Ren-san! C'mon!" the staff member that had been standing just in front of him a moment ago had somehow managed to advance a good ten feet without him noticing. "C'mon!" he motioned again.

"Ah…" he acknowledged the man with a nod before turning to Yashiro; "It looks like we should get going," he said, making a good attempt at changing the subject, "the bus might leave us behind…"

"Ren." When the taller man had turned back to the manager, he continued, "There's something else I want to ask…"

"Alright," he replied, "you can ask me later." He smiled at Yashiro and turned forward to move up in the line, his thoughts once again turning towards his clumsy kohai.

'I see her in a new light now, I admit,' he thought, 'but I feel happier about her learning to act now that I know it's not for Fuwa Sho anymore. The truth is, I don't really want her to use revenge as her motive for learning to act. Everyone only has once chance at living a precious life; if she were using revenge to push herself forward, it would be such a waste…'

Upon boarding the bus, Ren claimed a window seat close to the back and turned to look out it as he continued to think about Mogami Kyoko. 'Even so, they shouldn't meet again; her and Fuwa Sho…So like ice, with time, her feelings for him will melt, little by little…If they don't meet again, she'll eventually forget about him…If they don't meet…'

.-.

Kyoko took a moment to compose herself outside the meeting room door before opening it and taking look around. The long conference table that took up the entire middle of the room was filled almost to capacity, and everyone sitting at it turned to look at her when they heard the door open.

Before she could catch sight of Shotarou, she quickly gave the entire room a small bow and introduced herself. "Good morning, my name is Kyoko." Then turning to the closest person, she carefully restrained herself at the sight of her childhood friend's manager. "If you would point me to my seat…"

Shoko smiled, a bit charmed by the girl's politeness. It was certainly a change from her normal charge's attitude. "It's Shoko, Aki Shoko. There's an empty seat just over there." She gestured at a seat close to the other side of the room, and thankfully not too close to her mortal enemy, Fuwa Shotarou.

Her eyes narrowed at the sight of him, but she quickly did her best to ignore him as she past by his chair. The simple strategy may have even worked, had the man not reached out to grab her arm as she past by him.

"Aren't you going to introduce yourself to me?" he asked; a mocking lilt tingeing his voice in a way only that Shoko and Kyoko caught.

She took a deep breath and stepped away from his grasp before turning to him and introducing herself once again. "My name is Kyoko, and of course I know who you are, Fuwa Sho." She gave him the smallest bow she could with seeming impolite and finished with a, "I look forward to working with you."

Then, imagining him to be anyone but who he actually was, she gave him her brightest smile and turned to continue to her seat.

She let out a soft sigh of relief once she was a decent distance away from him, the smile swiftly leaving her face. 'Good, he doesn't seem to have realized who I am yet…' she thought, relaxing a bit.

She was entirely unaware of the narrowed eyes of her enemy staring at her with both suspicion and uncertainty.

.-.

Fuwa Sho was confused.

To be honest, he was also a bit angry and bewildered as well.

She had smiled at him. She had even bowed…Not that there was anything thing wrong with a girl smiling at him or bowing in general, but…

This girl… Is she really Kyoko?

After watching that commercial over and over again, he was all but convinced that the girl with the short, light hair was his former best friend/almost fiancé. So, when he met her, he was expecting anything but a smile and politeness.

He was more prepared for insults and that weird, intensely angry aura that had surrounded her the last time they'd met.

He was really confused; and if there was one thing Fuwa Sho hated, it was being confused. So, he turned his attention away from the confusing girl to something he was a lot more comfortable with; a pretty girl panting for his attention.

"Sho-chan?" the pretty, long-haired brunette asked worriedly, "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing, Pochiri." He replied, but still had trouble looking away from the confusing girl.

"Do you know Kyoko?" she persisted, anxiety clouding her eyes.

Nanokura Mimori flushed slightly at what she saw as an affectionate nick-name, but still glanced nervously at her classmate. 'What is she doing here..?' she wondered, jealous of the way the seemingly plain girl had captured the attention of the object of her affections.

She shifted nervously when he paused before answering, "…No." then he turned to look at her more directly, noticing how familiarly she'd used the other girl's name. "Do you know her?"

"Yes, she's in my Performing Arts class."

He raised an eyebrow at that, surprised. 'I wonder…' "Do you know her surname then?"

"Yes…" She hesitated for a moment and then, just before she could answer, the door of the conference room swung open once again.

Standing in the doorway was the same tall, elegant woman that Sho and Shoko had been speaking with the day before. Today she had traded the work shirt for a flowery blouse, and had a few folders of what looked to be important papers held in her arms.

She quickly moved around the room to stand at the head of the long table and set the files down there. "Good morning everyone," she began. "My name is Asami Haruki and I am the director of this music video."

Kyoko's eyes widened in shock at this announcement. 'No…way… The director's a woman…?' she thought. 'But, wow…actually meeting her must be a one-in-a-lifetime chance! Her work is really popular – I've researched everything about her, watched all of her videos and dramas; I've even memorized the names of her main staff…but if I had never met her, I would have kept on thinking she was a guy, because of her name.'

Her eyes then shifted suspiciously to Sho, and she felt an eyebrow twitch when she found him blatantly checking her out; she had no doubt he'd be making some sort of move on her by now if it weren't for the situation. Not that it was all that surprising… 'A shocking F-cup…long, slender legs…and a tiny waist…She's the type of woman Sho loves the most!'

Shaking off more angry thoughts of Shotaro, Kyoko quickly returned her attention back to what the director was saying. "The video we will be filming to day is for Sho's newest single, 'Prisoner'. It will be done in a story format, and the main plot is going to be a fantasy in setting…"

As she began to carefully explain the story, Kyoko began to imagine it herself…

.-.

…In Kyoko's Mind…

There are two beautiful, kind angels who are the best of friends. One day, while separated from her friend, one of the angels encounters a demon. Though naturally fighting at first, being natural enemies as they are, they slowly fall for each other over the course of several meetings.

It is not long after the two begin to meet each other deliberately and often, now completely and blindly in love, that the other angel finds out about their relationship, having seen them together.

She is completely and utterly horrified by it.

There is a reason why angels and demons are mortal enemies, and have never been anything else: close contact between the two is deadly to the angel in question, much like a very virulent disease. If the first angel continues to be with the demon, her death is inevitable.

Soon enough, the second angel confronts her friend about it, but they both come away from said confrontation with very different resolves.

The first angel quickly comes to the realization that being with her demon lover is more important than her own life. She soon resolves to stay by his side, no matter what happens.

The second angel, terrified for the well being of her friend, resolves to kill the demon that has seduced the sister of her heart should they not stay away from each other – no matter the consequences to herself.

Not long after this, the first angel and the demon meet again and the first angel does not tell him of the consequences of them being together, thinking it better that he not know.

Having followed her friend, the second angel waits patiently for her to leave before confronting the demon with the knowledge of what will happen to the first angel should they continue to be together on her lips; her resolve to kill him welling in her heart. Shocked by the revelation, the demon allows her to kill him; accepting death if it will allow his lover to live.

Her pure heart stained by the dark blood on her hands, the angel swiftly goes insane; her soul corrupted by the murder of her best friend's beloved. She is now a Fallen Angel, with wings as dark as night.

Having forgotten something – a ribbon, or a piece of jewelry maybe - in the place she had trysted with her demon love, the first angel soon stumbles upon the horrifying scene and, temporarily driven mad with grief, kills her now insane best friend.

Mere moments later the first angel realizes what she has done, and commits suicide out of both grief and guilt, hoping that maybe in another life she will be able to see her most precious lover and her best friend again.

An indeterminable amount of time later, on Earth, the two angels, once again best friends/sisters, meet the demon again; all of them human this time. The first angel and the demon's eyes meet, and they are once again held prisoner in each other's gaze…

.-.

As the director began to wind down and get into more of the technicalities of how the filming will be done, Kyoko finally came out of her daze. 'What a beautiful story!' she thought, beginning to get excited, 'And I'll get to be one of the angels too!'

"Now then," the director finally said, having long since sat down, "All that left is to decide who is going to be who."

'I'm going to need as much screen time as possible in this, if I'm going to make my impact greater than Sho's,' Kyoko quickly calculated. 'That means I need to be…'

"I'll be the angel that falls in love with the demon," she volunteered, dismissing any instinctive uneasiness at her choice. This was for the sake of her revenge!

The director nodded, making note of it. "Very well; then you'll be the other angel, Mimori-chan," she said to the girl sitting beside Sho.

She made to protest at receiving the more violent role, but subsided at a wordless warning from her manager. None the less, an upset pout made its way onto her face and with the familiar expression came recognition on Kyoko's part. 'She's…She's in my Performing Arts class! Oh no; she knows my last name!' This was a disaster!

As the cast and crew rose from their seats, Kyoko realized that she'd missed an important piece of information. "Um, Asami-san?" she asked once she'd managed to get close enough.

"Yes?"

"Who will be playing the demon's role?" she asked.

"You didn't hear me say it earlier?" she replied, amused. So the girl had volunteered without knowing…

"The demon will be played…" she said, "by Fuwa Sho." She gestured to the man in question.

Kyoko's mind went blissfully blank for a moment in shock, before her blood suddenly began roaring in her ears.

"What?"

…And now for an Omake…

Kyoko's demon minions gathered underneath a large banner that proudly proclaimed:

~ A Meeting by Kyoko's Demons for Kyoko's Sake ~

Their discussion had been going on for awhile, and was just coming to a conclusion. Finally the lead demon decided to begin a summary of the main points of discussion and dissention.

"The first step to defeating Sho: Use him!" she declared, and then pointed this out clearly on the white board that had suddenly appeared behind her.

"But we can't let him find out…" another pointed out.

"And the possibility of that is very high," a third apparition finished.

Yet a fourth nodded, agreeing. "We'll have to be very careful…"

"And, we definitely have to hide the fact that we're out for revenge." The lead spirit said.

The others quickly began to mutter about that; they would much rather just strangle him to death and be done with it.

"It is important that we remember that…"

"…so we can get our revenge…"

"…and we definitely have to…"

"What we need to do," the lead demon said over the mumbled angst, "Is be polite to him – it's the last thing he'd expect from the Kyoko he met when he betrayed us."

"You mean," piped up a demon that had yet to speak, "That we'll have to keep on…smiling at him?" she half yelled in horror.

"…Yes."

There was much initial disagreement with this conclusion, but eventually it was agreed that it was the best solution.

Be polite, Kyoko! We're rooting for you!

They then returned to their most regular occupation; the muttering of endless curses against the being named Fuwa Sho.

~ Author's Note ~

Well, another story, and one that I think will be very different from the ones I already have posted. As you might be able to tell, the primary question that became this story is "What if Kyoko had been cast as the angel that falls in love with the demon, instead of the one killing him?" and this is the result. I decided to make the main divergence here though; "What would have happened if the attendant hadn't made a mistake, and taken Kyoko to the correct room?" It just seems to work better that way.

I'm actually pretty unsure of the exact direction I'll lead this story in after the 'Prisoner' video at the moment though, and am open to any and all suggestions except for one thing. The main pairing of this story is Sho x Kyoko. This is nonnegotiable; mostly because I have read so many Ren x Kyoko fics lately that I've become extremely fed up with said pairing.

Suggestions for anything else though are welcome, as I said.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter.

~ Aljan Moonfire ~