I do not own any rights to Skip Beat! or its characters. This work is not for profit. Written for a contest on dA.

Kyoko had always wanted to go to the Star Festival, it was one of her more romantic ideals. The only real problem that had kept her from going year after year, was that she didn't want to go alone. Until recently she hadn't had any friends to go with her, or any men willing to take her. Now she had both. However, Kanae had told her, in no uncertain terms, that she would NOT be joining her. As Kanae felt it was a festival for lovers, and she and Kyoko most certainly were not that.

Kyoko had pouted a bit, but realized she had a point. The celebration was about two lovers, after all. So, she had decided she probably wouldn't be going, again. It dropped her mood around LME considerably, prompting Ren to ask her what was up. She explained to him, in morose tones, that she had never been to the Star Festival, and even now had no one to go with. With her head bowed as she mumbled her words, she missed the light that leapt to life in Ren's eyes.

"Well, I could take you. If you don't mind going with me?" His words took a moment to penetrate, but when they did her head whipped up at she looked at him like a star-struck puppy.

"Really? You'd go with me?" She was honestly shocked, but, there was a warmth spreading through her that she tried her best to ignore.

Ren chuckled, "Of course, I would love to go with you."

Before she could leave for fairy-land over the 'love' part of that sentence though, he held up a hand. "There's a condition though."

Kyoko deflated rapidly, "A condition?"

Ren nodded his head slowly, "Yes, a condition. Okay, two conditions."

"Two!?" Kyoko sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly, "Okay, what are they?"

Ren bit back a grin, "You have to treat it like it's an actual date. As in, I get to treat you like you're my girlfriend."

Kyoko couldn't breathe, why would he want to do that? If that was the first condition, she was afraid to know what the second one was. Did she really want to go to the festival that badly? ...yes. Yes she did. "W-what is the second condition?"

Giving her a stern look, Ren laid it before her, "You have to let me pay for everything. Anything you want, for yourself or for others, I get to pay for it."

Her heart stopped. She couldn't let him do that! That was just irresponsible! "Mr. Tsuruga! I can't let you do that! That's," She paused for a moment as she thought of how best to word her complaint, "That's fiscally irresponsible of you."

Ren grinned at her, "Well, I'm allowed to be 'fiscally irresponsible' once in a while. It isn't like I don't have the money after all. And as my date, it would be my obligation to treat you."

That he made it sound so convincing, so adult, like denying him would make her childish somehow, irked her. He wasn't supposed to make it sound so sensible! However, with the money issue so neatly packaged, she latched onto the former with all her might. "Why would you want to treat me like I was your girlfriend?"

He flinched a bit and she did her best to keep her evil grin to herself, "Are you hiding from someone? Do you want to cause some kind of drama for ...a drama? Is it a Love-Me job?"

Ren's eyes narrowed at her, "So suspicious! No, it is NOT a Love-Me job. And if you go and you treat it like one I will give you the ultimate negative in points for it."

Kyoko's mouth fell open as she thought about what the president would have to say about all those negative points from one Ren Tsuruga. He would undoubtedly ask what the points were even for, and she would be forced to explain she had taken being Ren's girlfriend as a job. And while, that was the only way she could feasibly look at it without dying of shock, it was apparently not what Ren was meaning. She didn't even WANT to know what President Takarada would have to say over all of that. She inhaled deeply and held it for several long seconds before letting it out slowly. It helped only mildly.

"So, why do we have to treat it like an actual date? Wouldn't it be easier on you to, I don't know, treat me like a younger sibling or something?" Kyoko was reaching for just about anything at this point to keep that warm feeling in her center from spreading across her face.

Ren grinned again, "We have to treat like an actual date, because I want it to be one."

It wasn't the classiest way to ask out your crush, especially of the girl you based what being a Japanese Woman was supposed to be, off of. But, there it was in its baldness, and honestly, he was sure it would go over her head anyway.

"You...you," Kyoko's brain shorted out and a blush covered her face, she was so stunned she didn't even attempt to hide it. And while she was generally in LaLaLand over most things, she was far from stupid. She could understand what he was saying. She blinked up at him, "You want to date me? Why?"

It was Ren's turn to blush a bit, "Because I like you. Why else would I want to date anyone?"

Kyoko nearly fainted, she wasn't sure if she should agree to this total dream date, or not. Just then a banner strung across the cafe wall caught her eye, it was for the Star Festival. She REALLY wanted to go! She turned her eyes back to Ren and gave a small smile. "Um, I would like to go with you. And, I'll try to be a good date. But, I've never been on one, so I'm sorry if I'm terrible."

Ren smiled at her, "I'm sure you'll be alright Miss Mogami, just be yourself. That's all I want."

She missed the true sincerity there for what it was, and was simply glad he wasn't joking with her. "Um, well, if it's a date. Then... um, should we meet there or?"

His smile grew, "I can come and pick you up, drive us to the shrine, and we can start the date there?"

Kyoko bit her lip before nodding, it wasn't as if Ren had never picked her up or dropped her off before after all. Though, he'd never really walked her to her door, he did know where said door was. "I can work with that. Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I'll see you then?" He rose a brow at her as he began backing slowly towards the door.

"Of course! I'm sorry to be keeping you from your work. I'll see you then!" Kyoko waved and watched as he turned and walked through the door, Yashiro at his side. She went back to her own work in a much brighter mood.

On the day of the festival Kyoko dressed in her yukata, and fussed about what to do with her hair and whether or not she should wear some of the make-up Kanae got her. When Ren arrived she was just barely ready to go, however, she was not at all ready to see him in a yukata. She stood there momentarily struck still and silent by the sight.

"Are you ready to go?"

The question jarred her and she glanced up at his face with a light blush, "Yes, I'm ready."

They headed for Ren's car and filled the drive to the shrine with conversation of the many things they could do at the festival. Upon arriving at the shrine, Ren had one more thing to clear up before they really started their date.

So, before leaving the car he turned to her with a serious expression. "Alright Miss Mogami. From here on... would it be okay if I called you Kyoko?"

Kyoko blushed scarlet and her mind came to a complete stop. She very nearly asked him 'why?', but realized if they were in fact dating, calling each other Miss Mogami and Mr. Tsuruga wouldn't be something they did. Still she hesitated, "W-would it be okay for me to call you Ren, then?"

Ren smiled at her, "Of course."

She took a deep breath, let it out, and beamed at him. "Then, let's go make our wishes Ren."

Ren left the car and went around to open Kyoko's door, a smile at her excitement on his face. They went up to the shrine with Kyoko's hand tucked into the crook of his elbow, paid their respects, both wishing for good weather and for their date to go well. Though they didn't tell one another that.

They moved from the shrine to the festival location proper, and wandered the stalls for a while, Kyoko exclaiming over things she thought were cute. They stopped and watched a play about Orihime and Hikoboshi that had Kyoko crying. Ren wrapped an arm around her shoulders and held her close until she was finished, then offered to get them both ice cream.

Kyoko perked up at the thought and apologized for crying over a play, but Ren simply shushed her, telling her it was fine. They got their ice cream, and ate it while watching some traditional dances. They got their pictures taken in a small booth, as Kyoko insisted that was something anyone on a festival date should do, secretly she just wanted the memories solidified so she couldn't convince herself later that she'd dreamed it all.

"Kyoko?" Ren turned to her from looking out over the tops of the crowd, "Are you getting hungry? I've heard that everyone should have a bowl of Somen at the Star Festival."

Kyoko looked up at him, a happy smile on her face, "Yes! We absolutely have to try it!"

Ren chuckled and led the way, a hand on her lower back to guide her along safely. They ordered their bowls and found a quiet place to sit down and eat.

"This has been fun Ren, thank you for bringing me." Kyoko still had trouble simply saying his name, but it made his heart flutter whenever she did. It was his hope that she'd slip up every now and then after this.

He smiled over at her, "I'm glad. No one should miss out on the things they truly want to do."

Kyoko ducked her head, a small blush covering her face. Once they were finished eating they wandered the stalls again. Kyoko pointed out a cute star charm that she felt suited Ren, but didn't bother asking him to get it, she hadn't asked for much of anything the whole time, and Ren was a bit saddened by it. So, while her back was turned, he bought it anyway, fully intending to wear it around from now on. He bought Kyoko one that was similar, and hid both in his pocket for the moment.

As the day wound to a close, they found a good spot to watch the fireworks, after which Ren leaned down and kissed her cheek. "Thank you for coming with me Kyoko. I got you this."

He handed over the star charm he'd bought for her, watching with mild amusement as she took it rather robotically in her paralyzed-from-a-kiss state. "Well, do you like it?"

Kyoko shook herself and looked at the charm in her hand, a smile blooming on her face. She looked up at Ren with stars in her eyes, "Thank you! This is so cute!"

She would have said more, especially about buying her things she didn't need, but he'd already told her she wasn't allowed to do that. So, she simply accepted the gift, gently tying the charm to her phone.

"You're very welcome. Shall we head home?" Ren asked as he held out a hand to her.

Kyoko took it with a nod and a small laugh, "Sounds good, my feet hurt from walking around so much."

Ren drove her home, walking her to her door before telling her goodnight. He sat in his car for a while before finally driving himself home, just thinking about the day, and how much he wished he could get Kyoko to actually date him. He was sure there were going to be tabloid pictures of the two of them out the next day, both of them were rather famous after all. But, it could be shoved off as two friends enjoying a festival, so their lives wouldn't be too overly picked at for it.

The next day, he had his own star charm attached to his phone, and answered no comments about it except to smile.