While contemplating chapter 204, I had a sudden, funny thought. Not going to happen, but it amused me enough I thought I should share. I hope you enjoy. Thanks to Will for edits. Skip Beat does not belong to me.

She had just wanted to find a mermaid princess. That was all. Golden hair, wet shirt, and mindless shock were not really on her list of things she expected to find when looking for mermaid princesses in Guam.

Kyoko processed immediately that it was Tsuruga Ren. It had to be. She knew that body, that face anywhere. Anywhere. Even on a beach in Guam. So when her feet moved forward of their own accord, she did not form a conscious objection. Tsuruga Ren was safe. She could approach him. And that blonde hair needed explanation. Exploration. She was waist deep in water, extending her hand to touch the hair before she realized what she was doing.

Which was when the sense of wrongness hit her. Just before she could process what felt off, or why she was touching his hair, his arm snaked up and wrapped around the back of her head, his hand clamping down firmly on her mouth. Before she could protest, she was falling with him, into the water.

Then everything went black.

~…~

More than twenty missed messages. All from Jelly Woods. Kuon sighed as he went to call her back, and frowned when he could not reach her. A second check of his phone showed that he had an unheard message from one of her earliest calls, informing him that she would be checking into her hotel that day. He already knew that, but it seemed like he was not being told something else.

"Look, Ren-chan, there's something- Oh, forget it. I call you again and tell you. Pick up! It's an emergency!"

Well, here he was, calling her back and she would not answer. He sighed, then decided to check her hotel. Just in case.

"I'm sorry, two rooms?" he checked with the receptionist. She nodded.

"She checked into two rooms, one a little ahead of schedule. I can give you the numbers, or place a call for you."

"If I can have the numbers. I'll drop by on the way back to my room," he told her, smiling blandly.

"Of course," she answered, her tone just a little too polite. His smile became more casual.

"Thank you. She's a friend of my mother. I'll get in trouble if I don't pass along greetings. You've been a big help."

The receptionist glowed and scribbled for a moment on a piece of paper. "I'm glad. Let me know if you need anything else."

He nodded slightly as he left, wishing he had imagined the hopeful look.

His luck was out at the first room, but fortune turned when he reached the second room and got no answer for his knock. One of the hotel staff was cleaning a room down the hall. "Excuse me."

The woman looked up. His smile had won harder hearts than hers, and he had been practicing the sheepish look. "Yes?"

"I forgot my key, and it looks like my friend stepped out," he explained, rubbing the back of his head and looking down for a moment. "Do you think you could- If it isn't too much trouble?"

She was more than happy to oblige. He stepped in, thanked her with another smile, and shut the door behind him. There was luggage in the room, but it did not look like Miss Woods' and that worried him. Maybe he had the wrong room. But the paper in his hand with the room numbers, and the receptionist's cell number written discreetly on the bottom, told him this was the right place. He sat down to wait. He did not wait long. After a few minutes there was a sudden knock on the door, and checking who it was he saw Jelly Woods outside. He opened the door right away, a little confused again.

"I'm sorry to make you wai-" she began, gasping when she saw him. "Ren-chan! I'm sorry! I tried to call you so many times!"

"It's alright. There's nothing wrong," he reassured her, ushering her into the room. "Except this emergency that you seem to want to tell me about."

Jelly blinked, looking around the room, her eyes growing wide.

"She isn't here," the woman groaned in despair. "She said she would stay here. She could be anywhere-"

"Miss Woods-"

"Have you seen her?" Jelly asked suddenly, grabbing Kuon's arm and shaking it a little.

"Who?" Jelly rolled her eyes.

"Kyoko-chan, of course." Kuon tensed.

"What?"

"Her filming ended early and she had her flight changed. The director didn't know that she wasn't supposed to come early."

"Oh." He frowned. "She's here?"

"Yes," the older woman answered, exasperated. "She's supposed to still be here. I thought I would find you before you came back to the hotel. And how did you get in?"

"I pretended to have forgotten my key. This is her room then, I'm guessing. And she was going to wait for you here?"

"Yes. But she's gone."

Kuon looked back out of the window to the gorgeous scene of the ocean and smiled.

"She's probably at the beach. Looking for mermaids or something. Give her a call and tell her to come back. I'm sure she just stepped out for a minute."

"But-"

"I'll head back out. I was looking for you because you called so many times, but I have a few more things I want to do before I have to switch over to being Cain Heel. I'll call you when I'm done and you can meet me to help me get ready to meet Kyoko. Don't worry, she won't be gone too long. She was talking before we left about being worried about sunburns and Setsu's outfits. She'll be careful of the sun and be back soon."

"Alright," Jelly answered with a smile, shaking her head. "You're so calm, I feel silly."

"I'd rather not panic before absolutely necessary," he confessed. "She would do something like this, and we would look ridiculous if we made a big deal out of it."

~…~

Kyoko was not sure if she was waking up or just… coming to her senses. Things were focusing in front of her, but she did not seem to be blinking, or opening her eyes. When she finally did blink, her vision cleared completely and she realized she had no idea where she was.

"Sorry," a male voice said in front of her. "I'm not good at shared breathing. I needed you to be less conscious to make sure you made it here alive."

"Oh," Kyoko croaked, staring at the source of the voice. He was a little ways in front of her, half in a pool of water, leaning against the floor and staring at her. His skin had an almost green tint to it, his dark hair was straggly in clumps that closely resembled seaweed, and his teeth looked a little sharp. He also appeared to be mostly naked, from what she could see. Kyoko averted her eyes and realized she was in a small cave lit by stones that were pressed into the wall and glowing softly. She looked back at the man, frowning.

"Where am I?"

"This place has a name, but a human like you wouldn't know it. I use it as a hideout. It's far from my home."

"Oh."

"Are you pretty?"

"What?"

"By human standards. Do they think you're pretty?"

"No," she answered immediately, then sagged a little.

"Well that's no good," the man grumbled. "But it might explain your reaction."

"What?"

"Since the face I borrowed was so much prettier than yours, maybe you were trying to steal it. I mean, you didn't even ask who I was before you walked over. And my enchantment wasn't that strong."

"Humans can't steal faces," Kyoko objected. "And that wasn't why I came. What enchantment?"

"To make you trust me, or pull you in a bit. Kidnapping humans is hard when they're on land you want to stay in the water. Better to get them to come to you."

"What are you?" Kyoko demanded. The man smiled, shifted slightly, and a scaly fish tale emerged from the water just long enough for Kyoko to recognize it. She gasped. "You're a merman!"

"Of course. A fine example of the species too," he added, preening a little. Kyoko frowned. She had always imagined merfolk to look less frumpy and more fluid. And this one had a look on his face that made her feel awkward and a little scared.

"I see. Well, it was nice to meet you, Merman-san, but I need to go home. Can you take me back now?"

"No."

Now she was really scared. But she tried not to show it. "How do you speak Japanese?" she asked, suddenly curious.

"I speak all the human languages they use on the beaches around here. I've got nothing better to do than learn. But humans are boring."

"Then you must want to send me back right away," she suggested hopefully. He shook his head.

"No. I need you. Some idiots back at home want to trap me in some stupid job, but if I'm involved with a human girl, then I'm disqualified. You were the first one I found. I wanted a pretty one, but I don't really like human girls anyway, so I guess it doesn't matter all that much."

"I was the first one? But there are plenty of people on the beach."

"But you were the one that was alone first today. I couldn't do it yesterday because I was trying to find the right face to use to attract a human woman. I wasn't sure they would like mine since they all have weird taste. The one I used got lots of attention yesterday. Everyone was looking at it, no matter what it did. I even borrowed the clothes that he wore since he seemed to be the only one dressed like that."

"Well, people don't usually swim with all their clothes on," Kyoko mused. "It's problematic."

"You did."

"I wasn't going to swim," Kyoko answered a bit defensively. "I was just surprised when I saw Tsuruga-san and-" she cut off, embarrassed.

"Wait, you knew this human?" His face was suddenly Ren's, looking bewildered. Then it changed back.

"Yes." She felt a little queasy watching the face change.

"Do you… have strong emotions towards him?"

She was flaming red now. "Yes."

"Oh. That would explain why the enchantment worked so well then. You already trusted him, so any magic would have made you completely careless about interacting with him.

"I see." She almost did. At least she had the comforting feeling that she was not so shameless as to approach her senpai like that on her own.

"Well, that's good to know. Using a form you don't dislike is a good place to start."

"Start?"

"I told you," he said, hefting himself out of the water and swinging his tail in front of him. "I need to get involved with a human girl. And you're it."

~…~

Kuon did not realize his phone had been silenced until he went to check the time and realized he had several more calls from Miss Woods that had been placed over the last hour. When he called back, she picked up on the first ring.

"Ren-chan, she isn't back yet."

The sick knot that had technically been in existence since Miss Woods had first said Kyoko was missing tightened in Kuon's gut.

"Have you called her?"

"A dozen times. Her phone must be off. It's sending me straight to messages."

Okay, all comfort was gone. But he could handle this. "She probably did go down to the beach. I'll start asking for her since I'm already close. You check with hotel staff, and then at any shopping places nearby. We'll give her a good scold when we find her, but she's probably fine." Please.

"Alright. I'll call you back when I find what I know. But Ren-chan…"

"Yes."

"She knew we were having dinner together tonight and she left the hotel room. So why is her phone off?"

"Maybe she didn't think it would work, and she planned to come back but got distracted," he answered, trying to project a calm he was no longer feeling. "You go and ask the staff. I'm at the beach."

~…~

He had taken Ren's shape again. Kyoko had very clear memories of the Emperor in her mind, and the face this merman was making was too much like it for her comfort.

"W-when you say involved…"

"You don't need to be scared," he answered with a strange smile. "After all, you like this human, don't you?"

"That has nothing to do with it!" Kyoko snapped back, scooting backwards quickly as he got closer. "I swore I wouldn't let any man touch me, so you can't-"

"Why?" he asked, reaching out to grab her. Kyoko scuttled further away.

"Because- Because there's only one man that I want to touch me, and he won't so-"

"Is it this man?" the merman asked, gesturing to his borrowed body. Kyoko bit her lips, refusing to answer. "It is, isn't it? So isn't this best. It's just like he's touching you."

The aura around her grew dark. "You aren't Ren!"

He laughed and stepped closer, forcing her against the cave wall. Her anger had reminded her of her grudges, but Kyoko realized with a pang of fright that they would not work against the merman while he had Ren's face. Especially not against the Emperor. She shrieked and was shocked when she suddenly heard a female voice behind the merman.

"Here you are. I might have known you'd be here, tormenting some innocent girl," came a clipped snapping greeting.

"Princess," the merman-Ren greeted, chagrin all over his face. The woman pulled herself out of the water, gestured with a jerk for the man to join her by the water's edge, and promptly shoved him in when he complied.

"You stay there," she told him when he resurfaced, looking like himself again. "Why I must have you as a fiancé-"

"I don't want it either!" he snapped back. "And if you hadn't interrupted me-"

"You would have done something terrible. You're one of the few of us left who still has the magic to make legs for yourself. Why must you use it so shamelessly?"

"But-"

"Silence. Goodness knows I would pick another if there was anyone else with enough magic to enter the royal family, but you are outside of enough. Return to the palace immediately. I'll deal with you after I've returned her to her people."

"But I-"

"And if you aren't there when I get back," the mermaid threatened with a toss of her white hair, "I'll tell my mother what you've been doing."

He was gone with a splash. The girl turned to Kyoko, who was staring with wide eyed wonder at the creature in front of her. While the merman had been a disappointment, the princess was everything Kyoko had hoped for, from her milky white skin to the dozen of pearls woven in her hair.

"I'm sorry. I really can't control him as well I should. I'm sure he'll make a good husband, but it's a very good thing that I found you. Can you forgive me?"

Kyoko nodded vigorously. She wanted to ask why the princess was going to marry such a man if she disliked him so much, but speaking was a little beyond her at this point.

"Thank you," the princess smiled, showing her own sharp teeth. Kyoko would have been discomposed, but the smile was somehow still pretty sweet. "I'll take you back now. I know the human resorts well enough that I can find where he grabbed you. And my shared breathing is better than his, so you can see some of my kingdom before you leave. Would you like that?"

Kyoko nodded, and after managing to tell the princess the name of the hotel, they left. They dove down for a long while before they were able to properly leave the cave. Kyoko clung to the princess's hand tightly, having been told that the small connection was the only way she would be able to breathe long enough to get back.

The moment they left the cave, Kyoko was extremely glad that she had opted to stay awake. She doubted she would ever have another experience like this one again, all colorful fish and clear water. She giggled as she was dragged along, completely comfortable.

~…~

"She's about this tall and has chestnut colored hair," Kuon explained to the family in front of him. "I think she came out here early this afternoon."

He watched the mother frown in concern, an understanding look on her face. He had been searching the beach for a few hours now, painstakingly talking to every person, and having difficulty escaping from some. But he had no other clues to where Kyoko was, and Miss Woods was already searching the other most likely place.

"Around lunch," the mother finally said slowly, glancing at her husband for confirmation. "We saw a girl come here alone. She didn't look like she was dressed for swimming. She seemed like she wanted to be left alone. She wandered off away from everyone, that direction," the woman added, pointing towards Kuon's left.

"Thank you," he said quickly before striding purposefully down the beach. He thought about asking someone else, but it was only a short walk out before he noticed footprints heading further and further away. They were barely visible, the sand having shifted in the breeze, but it was enough to tell him that someone had come out this way. Alone.

To find shy, magical creatures.

If he did not love her so much, he would throttle her when he found her for behaving so carelessly.

He followed the footprints as they drifted slowly closer to the edge of the beach. He froze when he realized that they drifted into the water, and there were no returning footprints.

He scanned the shoreline, just to make sure that he had not missed anything. He walked further down to where the beach was cut short by some rocks, but nowhere was there any sign that someone had come out of the water. He ran up the shore to the foliage that hid the hotel from view, hoping that he could spot her lying in the shade, having carelessly fallen asleep or something.

But there was no Kyoko.

"Ren-chan!" Jelly's voice behind him made him look up, but his small hope faded when he saw that she was alone and still looking panicked. "You didn't pick up your phone. I came to find you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to trouble you," he apologized on instinct, looking back to the water as if expecting it to magically produce the girl he was looking for.

"It really wasn't any trouble at all," Jelly smiled, trying to lighten the mood. "You're not exactly hard to spot."

"You didn't find her?" He could not be distracted any longer.

"No. And not you either it looks like."

"There was a family that has been here all afternoon that said they saw someone who looked like her come this way, but…" Jelly noticed the tracks and swallowed.

"Well, she wasn't planning on swimming, so there's no reason to think whoever came here was her," she pointed out fairly. "I mean, how specific were you when you described her? You don't know what she was wearing, do you?"

"No," he admitted, moving into the water until it flowed around his knees, looking for some clue, anything.

"Then we should head back. Instead of just describing a cute Japanese girl, we'll tell them she was wearing a dark shirt and a light shrug and white cut-offs and pink… pumps," she ended slowly as Kuon bent down suddenly and pulled a shoe out of the water matching her description. "Oh, Ren-chan."

Kuon had gone very white, his hand tightening convulsively around the shoe, his gaze sweeping the expanse of ocean in front of him hopelessly.

"She was here," he said slowly, trying to imagine, and not imagine, what might have happened to her.

"No one else was," Jelly added cautiously. "There aren't any more footprints. But, she wouldn't just… wander in. She was anxious to meet you. She came early!"

"I don't know," Kuon murmured, running a hand through his hair and shuddering, suddenly very cold. "She could be anywhere. Anywhere. She could be-"

But he could not think of anywhere rational that she would be. Other than here.

Please.

The sound of humming reached the two searchers on their left, and over the rocks a head popped up. The humming continued as the newcomer began to make her way carefully over the top of the rocks, sliding down with a slick thud to the beach. The humming stopped when she realized she was not alone.

"Ah, I'm sorry I'm late," Kyoko called out as she waved to Kuon and Jelly, skipping towards them with a large smile on her face. "I only meant to stay here for a little bit. Were you looking for me?"

She was close enough now that both Kuon and Jelly could see she was perfectly fine, aside from being sopping wet. She continued to chatter about how careless she had been, pulling her phone from a pocket and frowning as she realized that it was broken.

"Kyoko-chan," Jelly interrupted, frustrated, "do you have any idea what time it is?"

Kyoko looked sheepish.

"Late?"

"And do you know how I felt when you weren't in the hotel room when I got back?"

"Sorry," Kyoko replied somewhat halfheartedly. "I was just coming to the beach to see a mermaid, and then…"

"And then what?" Kuon asked, his voice dangerously low. Kyoko gave him her attention now, flinching at his tone and glancing briefly at his face in confusion.

"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san. I didn't mean to-"

"Do you," he cut her off with something close to a growl, "have any idea how worried we were?"

She seemed to notice her shoe in his hands then and clamped her mouth shut, any lingering excitement over her mysterious adventure now gone.

"I didn't mean to take so long," she mumbled, clasping her hands in front of her. "I just..."

"You just what?" he pressed, refusing to feel guilty about his merciless questioning until he knew she would never do something like this to him again.

"I… fell in the water."

"Oh? When? Miss Woods tried to call you a few hours after she left you and couldn't reach you. Did you turn your phone off before you… fell in?"

"No," Kyoko confessed quietly.

"So, you fell in. For how many hours exactly?"

"Ren-chan, it's alrigh-"

"Well, Mogami-san? Why didn't you go back to the hotel when you fell in and got all wet?"

"Because of… reasons." She looked out over the water and made a face he could not quite interpret. Something between anger and fear. It made him anxious and, if possible, less calm. He dropped her shoe and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly.

"Is that your best excuse?" he demanded. He almost winced when he saw tears in her eyes.

"I- I just- I didn't mean-" Her lip trembled slightly and anger immediately became remorse. He let her go and began patting her head instead, fighting the urge to hold her tightly. If Jelly had not been there, he might have given in. But she was.

"I'm sorry," he told Kyoko as he stroked her damp hair. "It was just a little scary not knowing where you were."

A stupidly huge understatement given his behavior, but she seemed to have calmed down.

"I understand. I'll be more careful next time."

"But what were you doing?" Jelly asked, perplexed. "If you left the beach here, why did you come from over there?"

"Oh, because there were people here and she didn't want to-" Kyoko cut off suddenly, blushing.

"She?" Kuon asked, bewildered. "Mogami-san, who-"

"No one!" she cut him off, waving her hands agitatedly. "I was thinking of the daydream I was having."

He looked skeptical and she seemed nervous. He was about to demand she tell him the truth when she gave him a confused look of her own, reaching up to touch his head as she asked, "Tsuruga-san, why are you blonde?"

He blinked, caught off guard. He saw Jelly shaking her head and realized he had no ally in her.

"Because of… reasons?"