Disclaimer: I claim nothing. Skip Beat is not mine to own.

During this fan fiction I will alter between referring to the characters by first and last name, with and without –san, –chan and -senpai. This is because I want the reader to feel close or distanced to the characters depending on the situation. If it's too annoying, please tell me.

SPOILER WARNING! This fan fiction takes place after chapter 136 of the manga, so if you, unlike me, dislikes spoilers and haven't read so far, there's a handy arrow that'll lead you away from the dark fate of having a story spoiled.

WHEN JEALOUSY STRIKES

Hikaru Ishibashi, the short but handsome leader of Bridge Rock, could not sleep. Being 20 heading for 21 and already famous he could've easily called for company and turn the unpleasant insomnia to an all-nighter of fun, but his mood simply wouldn't allow it. And it was all Kyoko-chan's fault.

Hikaru turned over on his right side, eyes focused on absolutely nothing and everything. He and Kyoko had been co-workers for a rather long time now and he had been attracted to her almost as long. Not only because he found her cute, but because he really liked her personality. Hard-working but not compulsive, true to her emotions but also aware of other persons feelings she was. That combined with the pure, innocent vibe she gave off was completely irresistible to Hikaru. He had asked her out multiple times for lunch, dinner, coffee and even offered her a ride home, but every time Kyoko politely shot him down. That's why Hikaru up until this day had been able to keep his affection for her at bay, knowing his feelings weren't welcome. After all, there were many other girls out there with the same qualities, girls that wouldn't decline his offers for the world.

But then Kyoko showed him a completely new side of herself and lightning struck him hard and bad.

Hikaru remembered his frantic heartbeats and the rising panic seeing Kyoko falling down the stairs and the shock he felt when she altered direction and thus avoided his aid. He had been riled up and thus unable to focus. Otherwise he wouldn't ever had promised Kyoko not to investigate the matter further... or would he? Was that due to his panic or had he actually been seduced into a hasty promise?

Turning over again Hikaru stared at the ceiling. His memory assured him that he really saw what he saw, but... how could that sexy, alluring woman be Kyoko-chan?

He wanted to see her again, that woman. But he wanted to see the girl Kyoko too. He wanted them both! Uh, that... he wanted to see them both.

Hikaru sighed. He knew he shouldn't try to get involved with Kyoko-chan. Every employee at LME had been warned about the two girls from the Love-me-section before working with them, so that no one would be offended by them due to their lack of "love". But that was a long time ago and.... frankly... Hikaru wanted to give it a try.

Kyoko-chan would be shooting scenes for "Dark Moon" tomorrow, that much Hikaru knew. Director Ogata was an acquaintance of his since he had been interviewed in "Bridge Rock" and Hikaru knew he wouldn't mind having him on set. Resolved, Hikaru nodded to himself. If time permitted it, tomorrow he would go visit Kyoko. And as soon as his mind was made up, he fell into a dreamless sleep.

=========Skip to my Ren, my darling. =========

"And cut! Well done, everybody! Let's continue after lunch."

Director Ogata dismissed his crew with a smile and turned his attention towards the dark figure looming in the other end of the room. It was a pleasure to see Kyoko-san "go out" of Mio and return to her original goofy state of mind, a pleasure he shared with many of her co-stars – although they felt more relieved than anything else. Now the darkness quickly reverted into itself and dissolved, brightening both the room and the mood until Kyoko-san stood shy and smiling where the introvert Mio just had been. And, just as director Ogata knew he would, Tsuruga-san had already excused himself from his conversation with Momose-san and was heading towards his... charge? ... under the all-seeing, supervising eye of his manager, Yashiro-san. Director Ogata saw Kyoko-san light up at the sight of Tsuruga-san and soon they were both involved in a lively and seemingly pleasant conversation. While talking they moved across the room, their party joined by Yashiro-san halfway through. Ogata-san smiled to himself and waited for the next move in the ballet.

"Director Ogata. Thank you for the good work!" Kyoko said with a polite bow. "Will you be joining us for lunch today?"

Ogata looked at the calm, smiling faces of the trio and knew that a matching smile had already plastered itself in his face. Days like these, when everything went smoothly and nothing was amiss between Kyoko-san and Tsuruga-san, were the best.

"Thank you, Kyoko-san. And yes, I do believe I will." Ogata-san replied. This would be a pleasant lunch, he was sure.

The quartet had almost reached the lunchroom when suddenly a familiar voice called from behind:

"Excuse me! Ogata-san! Kyoko-chan!"

The whole group turned as one and saw a young man come running towards them grinning broadly.

"Hikaru-san!" the before mentioned pair said in chorus, both surprised but quite happy.

"Hikaru-san?" Tsuruga-san mumbled to himself, wondering who the young man might be. Yashiro-san immediately turned his focus towards his ward to make sure he wouldn't miss any leaking emotions he could use against Ren later on.

Hikaru broke his run into walking and joined the group, his eyes focused on his friends but often darting towards Tsuruga-san. He had not expected him to be in company with Kyoko, that he had to admit. Oh, well...

"Ogata-san, I'm sorry to bother you like this. But I had some time off and I just wanted a change of scenery. Would it be imposing of me to ask if I may be a bystander during your filming today?" Hikaru said as casual as he could, knowing he was asking for a lot.

"Time off? But Hikaru-san, you and Bridge Rock are always busy. Can it be that something has happened?" Kyoko butted into the conversation before Ogata could answer, immediately worried that someone of her dear colleagues would have fallen sick. Tsuruga-san knitted his eyebrows and mouthed "Bridge Rock?" to himself, knowing he recognized it from somewhere. Yashiro-san on the other hand knew the show very well, but wondered how it could be that Kyoko-san knew the group's leader so well that he was allowed to call her "Kyoko-chan".

Hikaru laughed awkwardly and said: "No, well, actually, our manager made a mistake and double-booked us this afternoon. Then we made a mistake and cancelled both the appointments, leaving us with nothing to do. It's quite embarrassing..."

It had been easily done, though Hikaru suspected his colleagues knew of his foul play.

Ren there and then decided he did not like this young man very much. They should have been able to solve the situation and pull off at least one of the assignments during this day, but instead this man chose to impose on other people's time and space. Pointedly he looked at his watch, noticing there were only 45 minutes left of lunch. Director Ogata saw his movement in the corner of his eye and took the hint.

"Well, Hikaru-san, it's not just for me to decide who's allowed on set. The actors must have their say in the matter too. But just now we're heading for lunch. If you haven't eaten yet, would you care to join us?"

The answer was a sudden, strange noise, sounding almost like a toy bird singing. Yashiro-san, Ren and Ogata all stood perplex to the noise. Hikaru-san however had heard it before and knew what it was. He laughed heartily.

"Even if I wasn't hungry – which I am – I think it's for the best that Kyoko-chan gets something to eat. Or am I mistaken, Kyoko-chan?"

The three other men turned towards the blushing girl who tried her best to fade into the none-existing background. Ren narrowed his eyes. Calling her "chan", knowing the sound of her hungry stomach... This "Hikaru-san" from "Bridge Rock" seemed to know quite a lot about his Kyoko. And since Ogata-san had already invited him... keeping your enemies close and all that...

With a sudden radiant smile appearing from nowhere, Ren spoke up: "Then, Hikaru-san, since we'll be dining together. I'm Tsuruga Ren and this is my manager, Yashiro-san. Pleased to meet you." And he offered his right hand and took a step forward, cleverly forcing Kyoko to step aside and fall in slightly behind him. Stunned, Hikaru took his hand but could barely give it a shake before Tsuruga turned around, pulling Kyoko along with him. "I'll lead the way to the lunchroom" Tsuruga added over his shoulder, the same smile still on his face.

The three remaining men couldn't do much but follow the couple, Yashiro-san with a sense of dread in his chest, Hikaru-san overwhelmed and Ogata-san harboring a nagging feeling that their lunch wouldn't be so pleasant after all.

======Skip to my Ren, my darling. ======

Tsuruga Ren sat dejected in his couch in his silent, tidy, rented home. If he had owned one of those clock going "cuckoo" every hour, that clock would soon cuckoo eleven times. It was too late to be out walking, too late to eat something, too late to take a calming shower and too late to call Mogami-san.

Not that he could be sure she would answer, not after today.

Ren sighed heavily. He'd done it again, hadn't he? Despite knowing he couldn't afford to scare her again...

Something ate away at his heart, or so it felt. It was probably his own stupidity coming to finish the job.

The lunch had been seemingly pleasant – for someone watching from a distance. The ugliness started from the point where both Ren and Hikaru had tried to pull out a chair for Kyoko- not the same chair – to make her sit next to themselves. For some reason Kyoko totally missed this, though, and decided on a whole different chair on her own, placing her between Director Ogata and Yashiro-san. Which of course meant that Ren and this Hikaru-san ended up sitting next to one another. And as if this Hikaru's way of calling Ren's beloved Kyoko-chan wasn't bad enough, he also asked her about still being on a diet and inquired about her right hand still being hurt or not. None of these matters were something Ren himself knew anything about and it was obviously news to the rest of the company as well. Kyoko assured them all her hand was almost completely healed and said something vague about "stumble" and "accident". But while she did so, Ren clearly saw Hikaru-san narrow his eyes and slightly shake his head, as if he knew she was lying. To make matters worse, Kyoko managed to keep her and Hikaru's connection hidden throughout the entire meal. And Yashiro's information about Bridge Rock Ren had been given later on didn't shed any light on just how the two had come to know each other. All Ren knew for sure was that Hikaru had left the party after lunch with the words: "I'll see you next week, then, Kyoko-chan!".

He had been jealous and frightened, that much Ren could admit to himself. But since no one but Yashiro knew about his feelings, could that really excuse his following behavior?

He had been distant and cold on the way back to the set, something he could explain with "needing to get back into character". But him staring disapprovingly at Kyoko throughout her scenes, causing her to become more and more nervous and getting NG:d like never before, that could not be neatly covered up. When Director Ogata finally decided to switch over to another scene not including Mio Kyoko had tried to approach him, clearly wanting to make amends for whatever sin she had committed.

And WHAT did I do then? Ren reminded himself, wallowing yet again in this horrible memory.

Ren turned his face away, a sigh of disappointment escaping his lips, freezing Kyoko on the spot. That was bad enough in itself, but...

And then WHAT did I do?

... to turn his back on her and purposely ignoring her for the rest of the afternoon, pretending he was preoccupied with the scenes, the script, anything - that was worse. And seeing her rapidly sinking into a pit of despair equal to his own had been a cruel pleasure he now felt horrible about. But it wasn't until Kyoko hours later came to bid him farewell and thank him for todays work that Ren really spoiled his own happiness.

"Uh, Tsuruga-senpai… I'll be leaving, so thank you for today's good work." Despite her bowing politely, Ren could see that Kyoko dreaded the moment she would have to raise her head. And when she did, her agonized eyes were immediately filled with fear, confirming Ren's suspicion about him looking as murderous as he felt.

"Ah, Tsuruga-senpai, I – !!!"

"Mogami-san." Causios of his actions, Ren replaced his murderous look with a pleasant smile. "I really hope the state of your right hand wasn't worsened by today's work. Since NONE of us knew about it, we might have unconsciously made the damage worse."

Kyoko's eyes had gone wide, as had Yashiro-sans.

"Now, wait, Ren-!" the manager objected. Ren ignored him and continued, his ever-pleasant, false smile still glowing.

"After all, anyone would feel bad about hurting someone even by mistake. That's why it's for the best to tell about injures, obstacles and such, in order for work to go smoothly. Don't you agree, Mogami-san?"

Kyoko lowered her head and fought her emotions. "I – that – it wasn't that much of an injury and during that time – I...".

"If you say so. Good day then, Mogami-san." Ren interrupted her and left Kyoko there confused, scared and ashamed.

To say that Yashiro was upset would be the understatement of the year. Not to mention the careful question director Ogata had posed to him during a phone call later that evening, all tied together with the unspoken wish of Ren to please be a little kinder in the future.

Ren sighed and rose from the couch. He might as well go to bed, it would be as pointless to do as just sitting around like he did now. Just as pointless as anything would be from this moment on. Kyoko would never open up to him again.

He had ruined everything just because he once again had felt left out. Because he once again had let his jealousy take the better of him.

To be continued....

Question: Is this too much Out of Character? Please, tell me. My intention is not to annoy loyal fans of SB.