A/N: Here is the first chapter of the third part of my Skip Beat fanfic. Part 1: The Accident, Part 2: Healing a Broken Heart. And now Part 3: Learning to Trust. Please enjoy and let me know what you think. (Btw for timeline purposes the 2nd part ended in mid November.)
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Birthday Plans
December 20th
Kyoko Mogami sat relaxing on the couch in her boyfriend's apartment. She was carefully reading through the script she had been given for her new drama. Ren Tsuruga sat on the other end of the couch reading through some drama offers he had received, trying to decide which ones to accept. However he kept getting distracted by watching Kyoko.
Every few moments she would run her fingers through her hair or bite her lip in thought. He hated that she was sitting on the other end of the couch, far away from his touch, but he was grateful to be spending the evening with her.
"What do you think of it so far?" Ren asked, jarring her from her silent musings.
She looked up. "Oh, it's, um, interesting…" she could feel a blush rising on her face.
"Interesting?"
She nodded. "It's a high school romance story about a spoiled heiress who is forced to get a job as her parents way of teaching her to value money." She explained.
Ren looked thoughtful.
"What?" Kyoko asked.
Ren laughed. "Nothing. I was just trying to picture you as a spoiled heiress."
Kyoko sighed. "I know. I'm so worried I won't be able to portray her well."
Ren watched as Kyoko's look turned gloomy. "I finally get to play the type of character I've always wanted, a rich young lady, and now I'm unsure if I'll do well."
Ren put an arm around his girlfriend and pulled her close to his side. "You'll do fine." He told her gently. "I believe in your talent and so does the president."
He had thought his statement would cheer her up but it seemed to only depress her more. "That's why I'm so scared that I'll fail you."
He couldn't help himself from kissing the top of her head. "Don't stress. When the character comes to you, you'll be fine."
Kyoko relaxed against him. He's always so good at making me feel better.
"Besides," Ren spoke again, "I had something I wanted to ask you about."
Kyoko looked up at him. "Yes?"
Ren smiled at her charmingly. "I wanted to spend your birthday with you. We could take a day trip somewhere. What do you think?" he watched her and tried to gauge her thoughts by her expression.
"We really don't have to. I'm sure you have better things to do." She shook her head and began to get up. "Besides, I'm sure you've been invited to a lot of Christmas parties for that day."
Ren reached out and grabbed her hand to stop her from walking away. "I have no other plans."
Kyoko turned to him. Her face was flushed red. "We really don't have to do anything. I had such a wonderful party last year, I'm really not expecting anything."
Ren pulled her into his lap and hugged her. "And that's one of the many reasons I love you." He whispered into her ear. "However, I want to take you out for your birthday. So please spend the day with me."
Kyoko leaned her head against his chest. "Okay, Ren." She knew better than to keep arguing with him about it. Then she remembered something, and sat up suddenly. "Oh, but you'll have to pick me up from the President's house that morning then."
Ren stared at her in confusion. "The President's house?"
Kyoko nodded. "I'm having a sleepover with Maria the night before. We decided to spend the night between our birthdays together this year."
"I think that's great that you're spending your birthdays together." He told her with a sweet smile. He loved that Kyoko cared about Maria so much.
Kyoko began talking nonstop about all the fun things she had planned for them to do at the sleepover and before long it was time for Ren to drive her home. It made her sad to be apart from him, but happy because she knew he felt the same.
She exited the car when they reached Darumaya. "Will I see you tomorrow?" she asked him as she looked back into the car.
Ren nodded. "I think Yashiro has it planned for us to have lunch together."
She laughed. "He's always planning those sort of things, isn't he?"
He smiled. "Yes, but I don't really mind."
December 24th 6:00PM
Kyoko stood outside of the large mansion staring up at the huge door before her. Wow… she reached out and rang the doorbell.
The door opened to reveal a petite maid. "Good evening." Kyoko said with a bow. "I'm Kyoko, and I'm here for Maria-chan's sleepover."
The maid smiled and returned the bow. "Good evening, please come in."
She opened the door further and Kyoko stepped inside.
"May I take your coat for you?" she offered to Kyoko.
"Oh, thank you." Kyoko shrugged off her jacket and handed it to the maid. The maid hung it in a nearby closet. Before returning to lead Kyoko up the stairs.
"Maria-san, Kotonami-san, and Amamiya-san are all waiting in Maria-san's room." The maid told Kyoko as she led her down a long hallway.
She knocked on a door, and then opened it to allow Kyoko to enter. Kyoko was in awe of the sight before her. Maria's room was huge and perfect for that of a rich young lady. Complete with a large four poster bed, a fireplace, a window seat, everything Kyoko considered important for her mental image.
"Big sis!" Maria yelled as she hugged Kyoko.
Kyoko laughed. "Hi, Maria!"
The older girl looked up and waved to Chiori, and then spotted Moko.
"Hi, Moko!" Kyoko called excitedly.
Moko sighed. "I knew it was a bad idea to come here."
"I'm so excited we get to spend time hanging out together!" Kyoko exclaimed.
Maria showed Kyoko where she could set her bag, and then showed her to the bathroom so she could change into her pajamas.
After she changed, the girls ate dinner in Maria's room while they watched television. Before long it was midnight and Kyoko pulled out three small wrapped boxes from her bag. She handed them to each of the girls.
"I wasn't able to get anything big, but I wanted to thank you for always being friends with me." She said before gesturing for them to open the presents.
Inside the boxes were handmade friendship bracelets that Kyoko had obviously spent plenty of time on.
"Thank you so much!" Chiori said as she hugged Kyoko.
Maria quickly put hers on. "I love it, Big sis! You even managed to put little skulls on mine."
Kyoko beamed at the praise she was receiving. She glanced at Moko to see her reaction.
"Dammit," she muttered under her breath as she struggled to clasp the bracelet around her wrist.
Kyoko moved towards her. "Here, let me help." She reached over and clasped the two ends of the bracelet together.
Moko looked up at Kyoko. "Thanks." She said before a slight blush tinged her cheeks and she looked away. She moved across the room to dig through her own bag. Finally she pulled out a small wrapped package.
She held it out towards Kyoko. "I saw it and thought you might like it."
Kyoko took the package and unwrapped it. Inside was a small sparkly tiara with a rhinestone decorated "18" on it.
"I figured you could wear it since it's your eighteenth birthday." She looked at Kyoko's face and saw tears.
"Thank you, Moko…" Kyoko moaned as she tried not to lose herself to tears.
Maria and Chiori came closers to see what Kyoko had received.
"You should wear it tonight, Big sis!"
Kyoko laughed and put it on. She could already tell that this year would be an even better birthday than the year before.
"So, now should we have girl talk until we fall asleep?" Maria asked.
Chiori nodded. "Yes! That sounds like fun!"
Moko frowned. "What are you counting as girl talk?"
Maria shrugged. "Scary stories, voodoo dolls, curses?"
Chiori stared in shock at the young girl's ideas of "girl talk."
"I think it's supposed to be more of things like clothes, make up, and boys…" she said.
"But the only one of us who has a boyfriend is…"
They all looked at Kyoko. She blushed. "I don't really know anything that's worth talking about." She confessed.
"What's it like dating Ren?" Maria asked. She was fully focused on her big sister.
Kyoko sighed as she tried to think. "Um, well, he's taking me out tomorrow for a day trip." She said uncertainly.
Maria's eyes went wide. "Do you know what you're gonna wear? What about your hair and make up?"
Moko rolled her eyes. "If this is what we are talking about I'm going to sleep." She laid down on her make shift bed that had been set up.
"Don't you want to help give your best friend advice though?" Chiori asked.
"Not really." She closed her eyes and began to drift off to sleep as she listened to the other three girls planning out Kyoko's look for the following day.
In reality, she was very happy for her friend. She was glad that Kyoko had been able to gain back her ability to love. But she also knew that if Ren ever did anything to hurt her, she'd kill him. Well, at least maim him.
The next morning, Kyoko got up early and got ready with the help of Maria and Chiori. Things went smoothly until they couldn't decide how she should wear her hair. It had grown out recently and fell to almost her shoulders.
The pair had tried a couple of different styles without success. Moko looked up at them from the magazine she was flipping through. She sighed and went to stand behind where Kyoko was sitting. She held out her hand.
"Here, give me the comb. I'll handle this." She worked quickly and Kyoko couldn't help but beam at the thought of her best friend styling her hair.
Half an hour later, Ren pulled up in front of the President's mansion. He rang the doorbell and was led into a parlor to wait.
He heard footsteps on the stairs nearby and looked up expecting to see Kyoko.
"Ren!" Maria yelled as she threw herself into his arms. He laughed and hugged her.
"Good morning, Maria-chan. How did your sleepover go?" he asked.
She smiled. "It went great!" she glanced around then gestured for him to lean in so she could whisper to him. "By the way, Big sister looks really cute today."
Ren pulled back in surprise, but before he could respond he heard another set of footsteps. When he looked towards the door he saw Kyoko.
She was dressed in a light pink skirt that fell to just above her knees, and a gray sweater, along with some gray boots (ones she borrowed from Chiori). And her hair was tied into two braids.
Ren smiled when he saw her. He gestured to Maria that he wanted to whisper something to her. She listened and her eyes lit up before she ran to a nervous looking Kyoko. She tugged on Kyoko's arm. Kyoko leaned down and listened.
"Ren says he thinks you look really cute today."
Maria giggled at the sight of Kyoko's face turning red. Kyoko turned away from Ren. "Well, we'd better be going now. Thank you for the sleepover last night, Maria-chan."
Ren and Maria laughed again at how stiff Kyoko's voice sounded but they bid their goodbyes and Ren followed his girlfriend out to his car.
Today is certainly going to be fun. Ren found himself thinking as he held open the car door for Kyoko. He climbed into the car and looked at her.
"Happy birthday, Kyoko." He leaned in a gave her a quick kiss on her cheek before putting the car into gear and pulling away from the mansion.
Kyoko touched the spot on her cheek where he had kissed her. How does he still make me feel so shy? She glanced at Ren.
"So where are we heading first?"
A/N: Also, I'd like ideas for where Ren should take Kyoko! Please keep in mind it's only a day trip and it's winter. :) I look forward to your ideas!