Disclaimer: I own nothing for the duration.

Summary: Skip Beat with a sort-of, kind-of fairytale twist.

Reviews and constructive criticism would be gratefully received – if you spot a typo or grammatical glitch and would care enough to point it out to me then I would love to know about it. Seriously, if you have a comment or suggestion to leave via review or PM I would like to know and would consider it an honour if anyone took the time to let me know their thoughts. I like to hear "this is great" (okay, I admit my ego and I kinda love to hear that lol) and hate to hear a simple "this sucks" flame of course, but what I truly love to hear is "this could be made better by...".

This was started a while ago and is probably AU by now, but I would still love to know what you think. It's been a little while since I dabbled in this fandom but the characters still haunt me lol.

Above all, thank you for taking the time to read my work :)

Once Upon A Time... Part 1

The news travelled quickly throughout the kingdom of show business and it was mere hours after Yamada Megumi announced her retirement from portraying Lady Heaven, the face and public figurehead of Heaven Scent Perfumeries, that every actress in the land degenerated into a slavering predatory creature of burning ambition to become her replacement.

Megumi was an actress more than a model and had helped make Heaven Scent the top perfumery in Japan thanks to the famously intricate commercials that only a talented few could hope to match for the depth of feeling and sheer ability she poured into such a miniscule timeframe.

A follow-up announcement of a gruelling series of auditions to decide the next Lady Heaven for the launch of the new Heaven Scent range was hardly needed as most had already reached this conclusion by themselves, but it came nonetheless. Alliances were broken and former friends now eyed each other fiercely, one thought only echoing in their minds: there can be only one... and it's gonna be me!

The frenzy was only fed by a staggering rumour. Heaven Scent Perfumeries was, like a number of other fashion and beauty related companies, owned in turn by the corporate giant Seventh Heaven. Jewellery, clothing lines, footwear, makeup, skin and hair care products… the list went on. Heaven Scent, being the first and largest of the child companies, was the only one to have a static public face to represent it. At least, it had been until now.

The other companies had started off as small branches of the original at the time of Lady Heaven's first appearance but had since grown to leading brand names in their own right. The rumour currently circulating was that whoever snagged the title of Lady Heaven would not become the public representative of just Heaven Scent Perfumeries, but of Seventh Heaven in its entirety.

To say this was big was like saying the ocean was damp; technically accurate but an understatement of biblical proportions.

The prestige of being the sole representative of such a large and well-known conglomerate, not to mention the real probability of becoming a household name pretty much overnight, generated a flood of savage bloodlust the like of which had not been seen before in living memory. The moon was full and madness hung thick in the air. Not even the most stalwart hero of the action genre or his brave stunt double dared step in the path of any eligible young maid during the legendary stampede to access the internet signup sheets.

They barely paused to read the information on the website before entering their names and searing the date, time and location of the audition into their memories – some wrote it out in triplicate or saved it on their computers while others simply carved it into the flesh of any easily-accessible relatives. As such it was more through word of mouth that the format became known.

First, there would be seven trials, each testing for an as yet unknown quality or skill, and second was the marking scheme. An assessing panel of judges had been assembled, each with a vested interest in the outcome.

No one was much interested in the president of Seventh Heaven or its marketing manager, and only a few cared who would be providing the voice over for the planned commercials or which director would be working on them, but the name of the actor who had already been contracted to provide the male lead almost initiated a hurricane as every young actress in Japan exhaled dreamily as one.

Tsuruga Ren, the best looking male celebrity in Japan, would be acting alongside the one chosen as Lady Heaven in the upcoming campaign. There was much rejoicing, more swooning and a few very deliberate attempts to incapacitate possible rivals. Excitement brewed and flights to Tokyo were booked. Anticipation caused such squeals and tremblings that therapists wondered at the sudden boom in appointments made by concerned parents and loved ones.

And then disaster struck.

A great plague swept across the land, and half the country was forced to take to their beds with a rather nasty cold. It sapped energy and inflicted a blotchy complexion, sweaty skin and such a puffy face and neck that would make any sort of audition impossible. Doctors were harassed and hounded until they gave up the vital information that this particular brand of sniffles would likely keep a person incapacitated for about two weeks if they took proper care of themselves.

Fear descended with the auditions only three weeks away and the epidemic only just begun. Efforts were divided between trying to contract it early in an attempt to get it out of the way and trying to avoid it to the point of near disowning family members. By the time the auditions were only days away, only eighty-percent of the signups at most were in any fit state to attend.

In LME's Love Me department, the casualty rate was unfortunately complete. Kotonami Kanae was lucky in that she was filming on location in Hawaii for three weeks and managed to miss the outbreak, though unlucky in that the same filming kept her out of Japan during the auditions. Amamiya Chiori was struck down just a week before they were set to begin and was still in no fit state to show her red and swollen face in public.

Mogami Kyoko was freshly recovered after a stint in bed that was shorter than most due to the sensible care she took of herself. With the auditions starting in just one day she was in perfect health, but unfortunately had not been able to sign up before the closing date.

Believing herself disqualified from taking part, it was with great regret and a heavy heart that she entered the LME building for the first time after her recovery. Even Kyoko was having trouble keeping her faith in magic at this point; both Christmas and her upcoming 18th birthday were not looking set to be all that merry in face of this disappointment. Still, her faith in the fantastical was as strong as the hugs she gave to Moko-san when the other girl didn't dodge in time, which was to say pretty damn resolute. Kyoko would not be disheartened beyond the bare minimum in face of such events.

Perhaps this was why fate saw fit to sprinkle down just a little enchantment into her life.