I don't own Skip Beat! If I did, you'd see about 10% more shojo sparkles.
There was a knock at the door. Kyoko looked up in time to see a tall man open the door and step into the room. They locked eyes.
"Ah, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko stood up quickly and bowed. The man politely bowed back.
"Hello, Mogami-san," Ren said gently. "You wanted to speak with me?"
Kyoko glanced away, fidgeting. She felt nervous. Ren watched her with interest, wondering what had her acting so shy all of a sudden.
"Is everything all right?" he asked. "It must be important if you couldn't tell me over the phone."
The girl jumped.
"Oh, yes," she said hurriedly. "Nothing's wrong, really. I just wanted to talk to you in person, you see..."
She looked up at him as she spoke. He was staring at her. Kyoko blushed and quickly looked away again.
"Why don't you sit down?" Kyoko waved at one of the chairs in the room.
Ren sat down, watching Kyoko as he moved, and felt bemused. He was used to seeing this sweet side of her occasionally, but usually he had some clue as to what had caused it. This time, she had called him out of the blue and asked him, in a quiet and halting voice, if he would mind stopping by the Love Me section that afternoon to speak with her.
She had not said what she wanted to talk about. When he'd asked, she'd gotten very excited and mumbled on incoherently about proper feelings and the right time and place and some such. Just listening to her had made Ren feel flustered. He'd agreed to see her at the agency, and after she'd thanked him a little too profusely, he'd said goodbye and hung up with a deep feeling of confusion.
He could barely keep his mind on things as he proceeded through his day. When it was finally time for him to drive back to the agency with Yashiro, the other man had noticed his distraction and asked what was wrong. Ren had been so startled that he'd run a red light. He forgot to answer Yashiro entirely. Yashiro spent the rest of the car ride clutching his seat in fear and decided to leave the young man to his thoughts. When they arrived at LME, Ren had said something about a meeting and walked off in a daze, leaving Yashiro behind.
Finally, he was at the Love Me section, with this very puzzling girl before him. She sat down in the chair opposite him and asked if he wanted something to drink.
"No thank you, Mogami-san," Ren said quietly. He paused to look at her with a serious expression and said, "Actually, I'm a little worried. Are you sure there's nothing wrong?"
Kyoko shook her head furiously.
"No, that's not it," she said. She looked at her hands as she spoke.
Ren frowned. Couldn't she trust him, whatever this was about?
"Then what..." he began, but he broke off when he saw her turn her head up to look at him. She gave him a wide, warm smile. Ren felt his heart skip a beat.
"Actually, Tsuruga-san..." Kyoko said.
/
In each person there is a box with many locks. The reason for all these locks is so that the owner of the box can't open their box on their own.
When the box is opened, many things are released. Some are fearful things: anger, sorrow, and wrath are just a few of them.
But there are other things in the box. Many are nice things. There is hope and joy, friendship and kindness.
The most notable of these things is also the heaviest. It lies at the very bottom of the box and does not always fly out with all the other things that rest in the box. Sometimes it is forgotten entirely.
But it is there, waiting patiently.
Kyoko had such a box. It was deep in her heart, in a place where Kyoko herself did not notice it. Long ago, it had been opened by a careless hand, and all that was contained inside - good and bad - had flown out.
All but one thing, which rested there now.
Deep in Kyoko's heart, in the now-open box, an angel slept on the dusty floor. It was dressed in a simple white dress and had a pair of soft white wings on its back. The sound of voices somewhere nearby caused it to stir.
"Ah..." the angel yawned and stretched out its wings. "I've been asleep for a long time. Where is everyone?"
It sat up and looked around. The box was empty, and the lid was ajar. A narrow slant of light was streaming through the opening. The angel thought it could hear something, far off in the distance, but it couldn't be sure. Unable to make out the noise, the angel ignored it and stood up.
"The box is open," the angel observed. "Did they all leave without me?" It flew up to the top of the box for a closer look.
Spirits don't see things the way people do. If a human had looked out of the box into the world, they would have seen ordinary things: a table, some chairs, a potted plant in the corner. There was a clock on the wall and, on the opposite end of the room, a door.
But the angel did not see these things. Certainly, they were there, but to the angel, they were like wallpaper; present, but not worth noticing.
Instead, it looked out of the box and saw something surprising: outside its own box was another just like it. The lid of this new box had also been left open.
"Oh!" the little angel cried, delighted to see it was not quite alone.
But something about this box was unlike the one the spirit currently resided in. The other box was covered in black writing that gave it a derelict appearance. Heavy chains, apparently recently unlocked, draped over the side and lay in a heap around the bottom. Even worse, a dark aura was pouring out from the open lid. Looking at it, the angel felt lonely somehow.
"I wonder if there's anyone there? It looks empty somehow," the angel mused aloud. It turned to look at the open space behind it. There was no one there to miss it - wouldn't it be all right to take a quick look?
The angel turned around again and began to climb out of the box. It was a bit of a struggle. With both hands on the edge of the box, the angel beat its wings and waved its feet in the air to get a purchase on the box. Eventually it managed to push its way through the gap. The angel fell out of the box and flopped uselessly onto the table. From this new vantage point the angel looked round and found the other box was right above it.
"Ah!" the little angel said, smiling. It got up, staggering under the weight of its wings, and padded across the table. When it reached the edge it stopped and surveyed the distance between the box and the table. For a moment it seemed disappointed. Then, with a gleam in its eye, the angel knelt in a crouch and faced the box.
"Ally-oop!" the angel gave a shout and leapt off the table. It soared. Flapping its wings as hard as it could, the angel managed to get just enough height to grab hold of one of the chains. Relieved, the angel climbed up the chain. It reached the opening and carefully lifted the lid to see what lay inside.
The angel looked in, squinting to see in the darkness. In what little light made its way into the box, the angel could just make out a dark shape somewhere below.
"Hello? Is anyone there?" the angel called uncertainly.
It leaned in for a closer look. As it did so, it lost its grip on the box shifted forward suddenly.
"Eh?" the angel hardly had time to look around before it found itself dropped unceremoniously on the bottom of the box. It stood, rubbing its own bottom. "Ouch..."
The angel glanced around. It was very dark, but somehow, the angel could see very well. Blinking, it turned to survey its surroundings.
On the floor was another spirit, slumped over and staring at the wall. It was dressed in all white, much like the angel, and had a large pair of wings that hid its face from the angel's view. Despite the noisy entrance of the newcower, the spirit did not stir.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the angel said hurriedly. It quickly made a deep bow in front of the spirit. "I didn't mean to intrude! I hope I didn't disturb you?"
There was no response. Puzzled, the angel stepped closer and leaned over the spirit.
"Are you all right?" the angel asked, concerned. When the spirit did not answer, the angel knelt beside it and put a timid hand on the spirit's shoulder. "Hello?"
The angel pulled at the spirit. Slowly, the spirit rolled over so that it was on its back, staring blankly up at the angel. The angel gave a start. There was something oddly compelling in the stare of the spirit. Its eyes were cold, but they shone in the light. The angel was entranced.
"What?" the spirit asked flatly.
"Ah!" the angel shook its head and made another bow. "I, uh...how do you do?"
"Fine," the spirit said. It watched the angel as if waiting for it to do something suspicious. Luckily, the angel did not notice.
"What are you doing here?" asked the angel, smiling anxiously. "Are you alone?"
The spirit stared at her. The angel did not know it, but the spirit had never had anyone smile at it in such a sweet way. Astonished, it gazed up at the angel and smiled.
"Hello," the spirit said with a warm that surprised itself. "How did you get here?"
The angel was caught by the spirit's smile.
"I-I..." the angel stammered, blushing. Seeing this new expression, the other spirit couldn't help but grin. The angel saw this and the blush deepened. Looking away, it went on, "It seems we're the only ones left..."
"Really?" the spirit said, hardly bothered by this revelation.
The angel glanced back. Thankfully, the other spirit was not angry. The angel had been afraid it might. It was not quite what the angel had expected, but it was not bad. Perhaps they could be friends after all?
"Come on," the angel said cheerfully. "It's much nicer outside. Wouldn't you like to play in the light?"
The angel took the hand of the spirit and got them both to their feet. The spirit allowed itself to be led to the opening of the box, where the light of the room outside could just barely be seen.
"It's this way," the angel said, pointing toward the light. It began to beat its wings, trying to get the two of them airborne.
Seeing the angel struggle, the spirit unfolded its own wings and, with a few powerful movements, the two of them lifted off. The angel was astonished by the strength of the spirit, but also somewhat intimidated. Holding tightly to the spirit, the angel lifted the lid of the box out of their way as they soared upward. They flew out of the box and into the room.
Unknown to them, two people sat in the room across the table from each other. The two spirits took no notice of the humans and flew around the room together, diving and going into spirals, laughing all the time...
/
Ren stared at the girl before him, transfixed both by the way she was looking at him and by what had just passed in their conversation.
"What did you say, Mogami-san?" he asked finally, unable to believe what he'd heard.
Kyoko nearly sighed with relief. He wasn't angry. Maybe, just maybe...
She looked at him steadily, still smiling her brightest, most gentle smile.
"I said, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said carefully, and she could not help the rush of happiness she felt as the words arose in her mind once more, "I said that I love you."
I hope that isn't too abrubt of an ending. This story didn't turn out at all like I thought it would, but I still enjoyed writing it. I hope reading it makes you happy, too.