Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters… But you all knew that anyways.

Warning!: This really is an M rated story. I work on it when my mind wanders off to the dark side.

Chapter 1: On Display

Ren's head was killing him. How much did I have to drink last night? He questioned himself as he raised his arm to cover his eyes. Even through his closed eyelids it was too bright. He groaned as he sat upright and felt the word swim around him. Reaching out his other hand to stabilize himself he realized he never even made it to bed. The concrete floor of his loft wasn't nearly as forgiving as his memory foam bed. Forget how much I had to drink last night. Why was I even drinking?

Things had been going well for Ren recently. His schedule was full, but he preferred it that way. It had been that way ever since he moved back to Los Angeles last year. He hadn't been sure if he would be well received when he made the decision to leave Japan, but it had been time to go. And as it turned out his superstar status in Japan transferred quite easily to the United States. Which was a good thing, because he couldn't go back to Japan. For a month or so, early on, he couldn't even stand to listen to someone speak in Japanese. Ren shook his head to clear the memories away and felt fresh bile try to climb throat. Seriously when was the last time I was this hung over?

The sound of someone knocking seemed unnecessarily loud as Ren moved to cover his ears. Why isn't John just letting himself in like always? His new manager didn't seem to have any respect for personal space. It wasn't unusual to come home to find John lounging on his couch. Admittedly, he was normally there for a reason. And it wasn't like Ren ever brought anyone home with him. The manager before John had asked him about that. John was hired the next day. Maybe it's not John?

Ren staggered to his feet, feeling as if the world was about to drop out from underneath him. Once he was upright he worked on opening his eyes. Pain shot through his head as light filtered through thin slits to sting his eyes. He snapped his eyes shut again. I can navigate my own apartment without looking can't I? The only trick was figuring out where he was first. If he could just get his bearings he could close his eyes again and make it to the door.

The knocking grew louder and Ren knew his head was going to explode if that noise didn't stop soon. He muttered under his breath about "stupid echoes" and "never drinking again". Then he took a deep breath in attempt to settle his stomach and opened his eyes. This time his eyes stayed open.

Adrenaline pumped through Ren's system as he took in his surroundings. He wasn't in his apartment at all. He wasn't anywhere he had ever been before. The only thing that came to mind were the words She would have said. "Glass castle." As Ren's eyes strained to make sense of the scene he realized his words were almost correct. A two story house sat in the middle of the warehouse. And the entire thing seemed to be made of glass.

"I see you are awake." A flat voice said from just outside of Ren's peripheral vision. He spun towards the woman and found himself sprawled back on the floor as his stomach lurched into his throat once more. The woman cocked her head to the side as she observed him. "It's best not to move around too much until the drug has left your system. The dose we gave you was not lethal of course, but you should have slept for another couple of hours."

As Ren fought to control his rebelling stomach he took a closer look at the woman. She was in her mid to late 30's with a no-nonsense style of dress. The knocking he had heard must have actually been the sound of her kitten heels striking the concrete floor. "Where am I?" He asked after another wave of nausea passed.

"Where you are is of no importance. Who you are expected to be however… That is important. Do try to learn the rules quickly Mr. Tsuruga. My boss does not like to be disappointed."

Ren looked up at the woman groggily. "Who am I supposed to be?"

"Whoever the boss wants you to be. You are considered to be top tier actor are you not?"

"Yes?" Ren asked more than answered. His vision was blurring and it seemed to be getting darker. Saying he was disoriented would be an understatement. He felt like he was going to pass out. What the hell? His choices were either lay down of his own accord or wait for his limbs to give out. He rolled gracelessly onto his back.

The woman let out an exasperated sigh. "I do hope you are feeling better by tomorrow morning Mr. Tsuruga. The boss is very interested in Japanese actors right now and until your acquisition we were lacking in that area."

Ren's eyes closed again as his head lolled to the side. He couldn't quite comprehend what the woman was telling him. Acquisition? His adrenaline had come and gone leaving him exhausted and delirious. The florescent lights above him were bad enough by themselves, but every surface around him seemed to reflect more light back into his burning eyes. "Am I in a fish bowl?" He asked as the last of his lucidity left him.

"Of course not." The woman snapped. "It's a display case."

A/N: Not even sure where this came from. I had a bad day at work and this ended up on the page. Probably too messed up for most Skip Beat fans but I figured I'd put it out there. My muse tends to get hung up on things, so I wasn't going to make any progress on my other story with this rattling around in my brain.