When the cats are away
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters.
In answer to a request from Bloody Rose021, one of my faithful reviewers, I am writing this one shot about two people who are often overlooked. This story is tied to Always with you, and takes place during Ren and Kyoko's ten day vacation to see the Hizuris (senior).
When the cats are away, the mice will play
Of course he saw her, who didn't? I mean, she looked like she had just walked off the runway of one of Hizuri Julie's fashion shows. She was as gorgeous as any model. He didn't say anything to her for a while. After all, whenever she appeared, he was never far behind. But then, why would they possibly be interested in watching one of Tsuruga Ren's movies; unless Fuwa Sho intended to cause a disruption. That was silly, though. After all, its not exactly opening night. Yashiro Yukihito shook his head in frustration. Once again he was letting his overactive imagination get the better of him.
It might seem strange to some that Yashiro should be going to see one of Ren's movies. But there was a little-known secret that few of Tsuruga Ren's fans knew: Ren never watched one of his own movies or shows unless he had to. Even though he had the boxed set of both seasons of Dark Moon, he would always fast-forward to Mio's parts whenever Kyoko wasn't in the room.
Ren and Kyoko were away visiting his parents. So what did the manager of Japan's number one male actor do on his vacation? He chose to attend Ren's latest action/romance movie. The only problem was that it was so popular that the earlier showing had sold out before he had arrived. He decided to buy a ticket for the next showing. Now he was standing in line with everyone else who was waiting for the earlier showing to release.
Now, Yashiro is certainly not the toughest man on the block; but neither could he stand around while a woman was being harassed. It was Shouko Aki's distressed voice that broke him out of his imaginary world long enough to look back toward her. Two local hoodlums were standing on either side of her, touching her hair and trying to talk her into spending time with them. They were both much bigger than her, and she was obviously having difficulty. He never even remembered taking the six steps back in the line that allowed him to stand before Shouko and the two men.
"What seems to be the problem, Shouko-san?" He asked. Inside he was quaking with the sudden realization of what he had just done.
"Beat it, four-eyes. We're talking to the lady." One of the toughs spat out.
Looking at her distressed eyes, Yashiro somehow found strength to continue. "I don't think that the lady wants to talk to you. Why don't you go back to wherever you were in line and leave her alone."
"Look, you little punk…"
He stopped when he saw Yashiro extract a rubber glove from his pocket and start pulling it onto his left hand. "You know, Shouko-san, with the fear of aids and other diseases these days I prefer not to get blood on my hands when I fight. Now, while I would prefer not to hurt these gentlemen, they don't seem to understand the situation."
Shouko Aki had a very quick mind and she picked up on what Yashiro was doing, "But, honey, you promised not to fight anymore. You just got out of jail from the last time you put that guy into a coma. What if you accidentally kill one of these men?"
The two hoodlums were visibly uncomfortable now, "Hah, you mean to say that this skinny runt knows how to fight?"
Shouko turned and looked at them with scorn as Yashiro began to pull on his other glove. "Don't you recognize him? He's Tsuruga Ren's bodyguard. It's his job to protect Ren with his life, if necessary. You boys better scram, or you're dead where you stand."
"Ok, I'm ready. Who wants to go first?" Yashiro said calmly, his eyes almost like B.J. Striker* as he assumed a ready stance.
"Hey, look. We're sorry. We just wanted to talk to the lady. No harm, no foul, right?" With that the men quickly left.
The others around them who had been watching the whole thing applauded. Shouko Aki grinned at Yashiro and took one of his gloved hands in gratitude. That's when she realized that something was wrong. His hand in hers was shaking uncontrollably. "I feel sick," was all he said.
Just then the doors opened to let the waiting crowd in. Shouko Aki made her decision. She gently pulled Yashiro out of the moving crowd and led him to a wall where he could lean. "That was a very brave thing you just did for me, Yashiro Yukihito. I want to thank you. Could I buy you a coffee, or maybe something stronger?"
Yashiro forced himself to stand upright. He looked at the beautiful lady manager as he slowly worked the rubber gloves off of his shaking hands. "I would be honored if I could escort you to a coffee shop, Shouko-san."
"Nope. No way. I asked first. Tonight I get to treat my hero." She grinned at the man who was still slightly pale.
"Hah! I'm hardly a hero. All I wanted to do was go hide in a corner back there."
"That's just it! You probably didn't stand a chance against those guys, no offense," She watched his face to make sure that she hadn't insulted him. His nod was enough to reassure her. "But you came back and stood up to both of those big guys just for me."
Her appraising look made Yashiro's heart skip a beat. "You know, I never got the chance to notice before, since our two charges hate each other… but you're quite handsome, Yashiro-san."
Yashiro was both flattered and shocked by her bold pronouncement. "There, now you have some color back. Now, I want coffee… and maybe a pastry too. All of that back there kind of scared me."
And with that, she took his arm and steered him towards the nearest Starbucks.
* * *
They sat at a patio table in front of the Starbucks and watched the people and traffic in a companionable silence. Suddenly Yashiro realized something, "Oh no! I took you away from your movie!"
Ever the calm beauty, she looked at the excitable man patiently, "It's no problem. I can see it some other time. Sho's gone for a whole two weeks, taking care of family business. I can't exactly go see a Tsuruga Ren movie while he's here." She said the last statement with laughter in her voice. Yashiro kept thinking that she had a beautiful laugh.
"What about you? Why in the world would you want to stand in line at a theater when you can see his movies being filmed?"
"That's just it! I got into this business because I love everything about filmmaking. I love to see it move from the printed word on the page and see what the actors like Ren and Kyoko do with it. And then I love how the director and effects people rearrange and change things until its all ready for the public. So when I sit in the theater, I know exactly what really happened in this or that scene. It's the best!"
Shouko Aki watched the handsome, animated man and truly saw him for the first time. "Actually, I understand. I tried acting once. I even went to college to get my degree in film arts. But I found out that I didn't have what it takes. I could never do what Kyoko does, for example. The way she becomes a character is almost scary. I still remember her walking out for the first time as an angel in the Prisoner PV. It was almost as if Kyoko had left the building and someone else was there in her place. I love that, but I can't do that. So I became a manager instead. That way I could still be close to the action and do my part."
"That's right! That's exactly it! You really understand. Boy, I wish you could have a talk with my father. He always calls me and asks when I'm going to put all of my college 'to some real use', like what I'm doing isn't real."
They smiled at each other and lapsed back into silence. As Yashiro's mocha was nearing the bottom, he saw a couple in dancing clothes stroll by, probably on their way to the oldies dance club two blocks down the road. "Umm, Shouko-san, do you maybe… like big band music? I mean… you probably prefer Fuwa Sho's type of music but…"
"Yashiro-san," Shouko interrupted calmly, "Are you trying to ask me to go with you to the club?"
"Well, I mean, if you happened to like…"
"I'd love to. I learned all of the old dances from my dad. He and mom used to love to cut the rug," then she raised a challenging eyebrow, "But can you dance?"
"Just follow my lead, little lady." Ok, his Humphrey Bogart impression was pretty cheesy, but Shouko Aki got it. She giggled as she stood up and took his arm once more.
* * *
And could he dance!! After ten minutes on the floor people started stepping off to the side just to watch the handsome couple go. They danced Swing, the Lindy, the Jitterbug, Social Foxtrot, the Boogie-woogie, and the Charleston. And then the band slowed down and Yashiro was all man as he led Shouko through the Ballroom Foxtrot, the Tango, and the Mambo. When they finally stepped of the floor it was to a round of applause from the other people at the club.
"That was wonderful, Yashiro-chan! Where did you ever learn to dance like that?" Shouko was sweaty for the exertion, but exhilarated by the experience.
"Well, my dad wanted me to become a doctor. But my mom wanted me to become a star. She had this vision of me being the Japanese Fred Astaire. So she dragged me to lessons for years. I guess some of it actually rubbed off." He too felt exhilarated from spending the last hour or more dancing with this gorgeous woman.
"Well, you can be my Fred Astaire any time you want."
"How about tomorrow night?" At that moment Yashiro felt as bold as a lion.
They never did catch that movie. But boy did they dance.
* * *
As it happened, Ren and Kyoko arrived back in Tokyo only one day before Fuwa Sho returned. The men were surprised when their managers asked, nay, demanded, that they go together to one of the nicer restaurants in town.
Shouko Aki and Fuwa Sho were the first to arrive. Sho, tired from his trip and not feeling sociable, was inclined to grumble, but Shouko told him that he had better behave tonight because this was an important meeting. Before Sho could reply, Yashiro led the Hizuris in.
Sho had only seen Kyoko twice since the wedding. He had avoided seeing Tsuruga Ren, or Hizuri Kuon, or whatever he called himself these days. None of the three were especially thrilled about being dragged together like this without any warning. But they were stunned into silence when Yashiro took his seat on the cushion right next to Shouko Aki. Everyone saw the affectionate look that passed between them.
Kyoko was the first to pick up on the obvious. Before the couple could speak, Kyoko blurted out, "You two? Really? That's wonderful!" She was oblivious to the horrified looks that passed between the two tall men on either side of her, "Oh, Yashiro-san, you lucky dog. How in the world did you ever do it?"
Shouko answered for him, "Oh, nothing really. He just scared away a couple of hoodlums and swept me off my feet."
By the time Shouko finished telling her story about the rubber gloves, even Sho was laughing so hard he had tears coming out of his eyes.
But Kyoko had been exposed to Julie-san for too long too just leave things like that. She walked around behind the new couple and stared pointedly at the two tall men, "I think that its wonderful that two of my favorite people are a couple." Suddenly Mio was in the room, "And if anyone were to do anything to try and break them up, I would be very, very displeased."
Not surprisingly, the men chose to give the couple their blessings.
Notes: There you go Bloody Rose021. I hope that this was what you were looking for.
* B.J. Striker was the serial killer character in one of Ren's movies.