DISCLAIMER: I'm only guilty of writing a fanfic because I love this manga to pieces. I admit that it's because of this abso-fucking-lutely amazing manga that I'm inspired to write a fanfic dedicated to Kuu and Julie, Skip Beat!'s golden couple who happens to not quite receive a lot of fanfics which they were supposed to have here in this website and not just Ren and Kyoko all the time. They shouldn't receive only two. They should and must get more fanfics. They deserve that lots of love too! This fanfic is just for them, with sprinkled oreo bits and a cherry on top. So, don't put me to jail. I only own my Fallen idea fanfic. All Skip Beat! characters were owned by Nakamura Yoshiki-sensei and not me. ;)

FALLEN

MrAZ

Shelf #001

Late spring opened its curtain around the city of Kyoto. Today was such a lovely weather. Birds swept across the bright sky blue horizon, and warm breeze was gently sweeping on cherry blossom trees that showered its snow of soft, white and pink petals on Portobello Road. The name of this road also had the same name in a road of London. Well it was never known to the settlers in this neighborhood how this name got to be on a Japanese road. They could make up theories that sounded believable, and one of them was that maybe the name originated from Italy since it sounded quite Italian. There were so many historical structures here that made Portobello Road's name a bit out of place, yet Kyoto was never a bad place to be. . . .

It's a full fruit market today, which sold every fresh fruit and vegetable known to every man every weekdays. There were also cool parlours along the road, a tattoo studio for one, which happened to give its best service to a man in denims who had just exited through the doors. He had never thought how the hell he got there because last night he was drunk. So drunk that his body just dragged itself to get his beloved tattoo, and now he can't really remember why the hell he chose 'I love Ken', complete with a heart pierced by a little arrow. . . . There were many talented, friendly yet racial hairdressers here too. They trained together and put up their own businesses beside each other, obviously to test themselves who can get the biggest number of customers, and sure enough, a lady in her early thirties was quite happy and satisfied as she exited from one of the salons with a huge, threaded blue bouffant that made her look like a cookie monster. Then suddenly, it's a weekend, and from break of day, especially now that it was late spring, a cherry blossom season where all people of Kyoto loved to go outdoors in an enjoyable leisure time, hundreds and hundreds of stalls appeared out of nowhere, filling Portobello Road right up to Kanshi-kan Gate. Frantic people from here and there crowded the entire market, and thousands of people buy millions of antiques, some genuine and some not so genuine on these stalls that sold beautiful stained glass windows of various sizes, some featuring biblical scenes and saints, sometimes faces of Japanese emperors and empresses. . . .

And what was so great about Portobello Road was that lots of friends have ended up in this part of Kyoto, which was one of the most favorite places in Japan. There was a known guy named Tony, a British architect turned chef, proudly setting out a board, the sign still being painted, outside his new restaurant that was invested from all of his money that he had ever earned in his lifetime. He approved and received a fresh, big salmon from a fat guy who managed with the delivery of fresh seafoods from the market.

"Ah–hey there, Kuu-kun! Good morning!" Tony greeted, wiping his hands on his apron and placed them on his waist, smiling broadly at a tall young man walking on the road.

"Good morning, Tony-san!" the tall man said, waving his hand in the air as he smiled back at his big friend.

This guy was Kuu Thacker. The most beloved friend of all here in Portobello. So generous, kind, a true down to earth gentleman with caliber. Obviously on top of all that, he was the ideal man of the ladies. He looked dashingly handsome, tall, with tantalizing eyes the color of the skies and his hair shone golden starlight under the warm sun. Despite his odd attention to grooming; his shirt not tucked in well on some sides and the sleeves not pulled back up neatly to his elbows, his overall appearance still always strike a strong sexual appeal to all the charmed ladies in Portobello. Especially that impetuous, intriguing smile flashed across his lips.

"Business going well as usual?" he asked. Tony nodded.

"Got quite a good number since last week!" Tony beamed.

Kuu walked further along the stalls, and suddenly stopped by one that sold gorgeous flowers. He held the waist of a lovely old lady in kimono fixing a large vase with yellow daisies, and kissed her cheek.

"Good morning, mother Susan," greeted Kuu. The old lady jumped slightly and looked up with a smile.

"Oh– it's my dear Kuu-kun! Haha, hello. You surprised me!" the old lady said, holding up a daisy and tapped his cheek. "Where did you went to?"

"Just stopped by for some bread. I have to go. See you later!"

"Okay. See you later, Dear."

Then there were kids playing basketball nearby. The ball went outside the court and rolled towards him. Kuu picked it up with one hand, dribbled it once and shot it right to the basket.

"What the heck?"

"Yeeeey! Three points! Hahaha!" cheered one of the three, jumping up. "Thank you, Kuu-niisan! You're awesome!"

Kuu chuckled as he continued to walk. The other two of the opposite team pouted.

"Aw man– that was unfair!"

"Kuu-niisan's shot doesn't count!"

"Yeah it was out! The ball went out!"

"Play fair boys!" Kuu called back at them with a wink.

"Don't you want to play with us, niisan?"

"Yeah! Come!"

"No, I'll be busy today. Next time. Okay?" he replied and waved his hand at them.

"Haaai!"

After another stretch of walk, Kuu finally arrived outside his blue-doored house just off Portobello Road. This was where Kuu spent his days and years– in this small village in the middle of a city– in a house with a blue door that his ex-fiancé and him bought together. . . . before she left him for a man who, according to her, looked like her favorite Harrison Ford, only even handsomer. . . . or so she thought. And this was where Kuu now lead his next chapter of another still-hopeless, humdrum bachelor half-life, with a lodger called–

"Spike-san!" Kuu shouted as he dragged a bicycle to the opposite wall of the entrance hallway inside his house. "Spike-saaaan!"

This was quite a great house for a hopeless bachelor like him. The house has far too many things in it. Definitely two-bachelor flat. There were artistic portraits of different historical landmarks of countries in neat frames on one wall to his left. On the opposite side were racks for his coats and hats, and a golden rack for his umbrellas.

Kuu sat on two flights of steps in this entrance hall, taking off his shoes and placed them on the lower shelf below the racks. Seemed like his friend didn't hear him.

"Spike-san!"

He walked further inside the house towards the kitchen on the far end. There were a few unwashed dishes on the sink, some were still on the table with some food. Packs of chips, cookies and empty bag of bread littered on one counter. Kuu went to the toaster and noticed his flatmate hurrying down a flight of steps.

Spike appeared barefoot in the kitchen. An unusual looking fellow. He was also tall like Kuu, but has unusual blonde hair spiked in all directions, some flat on his head, unusual facial hair and an unusual Welsh accent though trying hard to blend Japanese well. He was very white, as though his flesh has never seen the sun. He wore only shorts so mini it fitted his butt so tight.

"Hey Kuu-san. You couldn't help me with an incredibly important decision, could you?" Spike asked.

Kuu walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of milk. "This is important in comparison to, let's say–"

He placed the bottle of milk on the counter, opened the drawer and grabbed a bread knife.

"–let's say whether they should cancel third world debt?" Kuu said. He opened the pack he carried with him and began to slice the bread.

"Yeah that's right, Kuu. I'm at last going out on a date with the great Janine and I just want to be sure I've picked the right t-shirt."

"What are the choices?"

"Well. . . wait for it. . ."

Spike hurried out of the kitchen. Kuu then placed two slices of bread on the toaster and pushed down the button. He then turned around, placed his hands on his waist as he waited for Spike to come down. Finally he did.

"Okay. First there's this one. . . Look."

The t-shirt was white with a horrible looking plastic alien coming out of it, jaws open, blood everywhere. It says, 'I Love Blood So Much.'

Kuu ran a hand on his jaw. "Uhh. . . yes–– it might make it hard to strike a really romantic note," Kuu said. Hardly ever he could think of an idea what got Spike in the right mind to choose this bloody shirt.

"Point taken," Spike said, going back up the stairs and talked as he hurriedly changed.

"I suspect you'll prefer the next one."

And he re-entered the kitchen in a white t-shirt, with a large arrow, pointing down to his flies, saying, 'Get It Here.'

"Cool, huh?" Spike said, beaming wildly.

What was so cool with this? But Kuu just spoke while staring at the shirt, "Yes, she might think you don't have true love on your mind."

"Wouldn't want that." And back up again he goes. "Okay– just one more, Kuu."

He comes down wearing it. Lots of hearts saying, 'You're The Most Beautiful Woman In The World.'

"Well, yes, that's perfect. Well done Spike."

Spike smiled at his only friend. "Thanks. . . . Great. . . . Wish me luck."

"Yeah. Good luck."

Spike turned and walked upstairs proudly. Now Kuu saw the back of the t-shirt, also printed in big, bold letters, was written. 'Fancy A Fuck?"

"Ah mo." Kuu just ran his hand through his hair and shook his head. "Unbelievable," he sighed.

And so, it was another hopeless Wednesday in this late Spring, as Kuu set off for a few yards through the market to work, little suspecting that this was the day which could change his life forever. He had chosen to wear a soft blue shirt, still tucked in a bit weirdly on some sides, with sleeves pulled up on the elbows, and a black casual pants with leather brown belt. He had combed his hear neatly, drawing a few bangs on the sides of his charming face. This time it was better to wear a watch, in case he got a bit of overtime today. He never wanted to skip lunch. Skipping was one of those things that wasn't on his vocabulary at all. It's black hole. He would feel like eating a herd of elephants when he's hungry. Although that was kind of a surprising 'talent' for a man like him to have, he was still undeniably sexy, with perfect chiseled chest and wondrous muscles beneath that simple, soft shirt.

He walked further on the road until he finally arrived towards his work, which was his bookshop. A big red, quite unpretentious store, named 'Random Walk Co.', which sold all kinds of books, from manga to travel books. . . and frankly, didn't always sold many of those. Not that he was bankrupt. Nowadays, people preferred to read online for free or buy books online, while others preferred to get them at the city of Tokyo, the main capital that had more bookshops that sold hundreds of new editions at every season. Here in Kyoto, there were not so many people who wanted to buy books or manga.

Kuu walked inside his bookshop. Random Walk Co. was a big shop, slightly chaotic, bookshelves everywhere. Tall shelves that almost reached the high ceiling lined on the walls and across the center, with little secret bits around corners with even more books. It was still quite spacious inside here. Kuu's mother owned this once small bookshop. She was a linguist, historian and a famous novelist in her time, whose pen name was A.R. Tolkien. She was actually the niece of a well known writer, J.R.R Tolkien. Her novels, There and Back Again, Escape to Middle-Earth and The Lord of the Rings: New Age of Middle-Earth were until now, still the top bestsellers all over Japan. All three books were also being made into film and hit the box office charts in its premiere. During the past, his mother had achieved her dream of putting up a business and so this bookshop was born. The fame of his mother at that time had drawn a lot of attention from media, fans and tourists from other countries and not just in Japan that soon, his mother had to extend the area of the shop. Years later the Random Walk Co. began to grew larger and more books and manga were sold. Then his father, who was a businessman and 15 years older than his beloved wife, later died due to natural causes. His father was a natural-born rich man, from a very very wealthy family, so Kuu and his mother inherited such a large fortune that could go far even until Kuu can have his own family. When Kuu's mother had reached old age and began to grow weak in health, Kuu then inherited this shop and continued the legacy of his mother. She was still alive. Only now, the impact of sales had plummeted to the weakest point, much to their sadness. He did not get more money compared to the past years, so this time Kuu had to work harder in order to get the shop back on track. It was the only way that he can still live, hopefully.

Martin Tsukishima, Kuu's sole loyal employee, was waiting enthusiastically on a corner as soon as he heard bells ringing and a door shut loud. Martin was very keen, an uncrushable optimist. Perhaps without cause. A few seconds later, Kuu appeared in one of the aisles and stood gloomily behind the counter. Martin walked towards him, watching as Kuu started typing on the computer. Kuu breathed a sigh. Perhaps this time things went well with business?

"Classic. Absolutely classic," Kuu said, eyeing the monitor. "Profit from major sales push. . . Minus. . ."

Martin raised an eyebrow, curious to the news. "Minus?"

Kuu stared and sighed in defeat, trying hard to beat a smile. "Minus. . ¥31, 897."

Martin nodded. This was another drain. It was quite a bigger amount compared to the sales the previous month. So much money was lost. Too bad, and so sad. But this will soon come to an end and the shop will definitely get back on track, for sure. They just had to hang in there.

"Okay. . . well, shall I go get a cappuccino? You know. . . Ease the pain."

"Yes, better get me a half, Martin-san. All I can afford," said Kuu, continued typing on the computer.

"I get your logic. Demi-capu coming up."

He saluted and bolted out the door. Kuu heard the bells ringing, which signaled him that Martin was already out. As he did, Kuu went on with his work, busying himself with another hopeless job of scanning the rest of the sales on the computer. He was too concentrated on the monitor that he never noticed a person walked inside and was the one closing the door to a soft shut.

Kuu typed on his computer, but the constant, gentle tapping sounds on the floor drew him to look up casually. His blue eyes saw something, a figure moving on the far end of the shelves at the Travel Section. It was hard to read the tall figure from the counter right here, but no matter he just stood there calmly, still his eyes stared further. . . and after a pause, a sudden realization came to him and he held his breath. . . . He could hardly believe it. . . Was this dream coming true? Luckily, he still had his cool voice when he finally spoke, loud enough to reach the figure.

"Um. . . Can I help you?"

The tall figure finally appeared clearly as it walked gracefully and fluidly out from the aisle, still checking at the books. Dear Lord. . . . It was Julienna Scott, the biggest, most famous movie star and model in the world. The Queen of Hollywood and Runway. . . Here– in this shop. The most divine, subtle, beautiful woman on earth. It was the white sneakers that made soft tapping sounds seconds earlier. The warm waves of her silky, long golden hair tumbling down behind her shoulders was just the loveliest, golden stardust hair Kuu had ever seen in his life. Her figure was just so tempting and very sexy. Long legged feet in those white, skinny jeans, a simple fitted red shirt with a black, three fourth sleeved, leather blazer that hugged her tight, slender hourglass curves. She looked back at Kuu behind the gray lenses of her assymetrical, butterfly shaped Dior sunglasses in black, powder pink and boreal blue frame with clear temples. Kuu can still see those eyes, and the voice on the back of his mind told him that had she not worn those sunglasses, for sure those eyes were such a wonderful, charming color. She was just so ethereal. When those lovely, bold red lips spoke, she was very self-assured and self-contained. Julie shook her head slightly.

"No. Thanks. . . I'll just look around," she spoke warmly and softly.

"Fine," was all Kuu could ever spoke of. He tried to blink a couple of times to make sure he really saw the proper person in reality. He might have been dreaming right now. Still, she was there. So she was in fact, real.

She wandered over to another shelf on the far side as he watched her, then to the nearest section, Manga. Her head moved slightly here and there checking the titles, up and down, until she saw one that attracted her and picked two volumes out. As she walked out from the section holding them close, Kuu later found just by looking at the cover, that she had taken out a very good manga. It was just as he thought.

"Oh. Skip Beat! is currently the number one manga," Kuu said, trying to fix his cold hands behind his back pockets. "The only manga ever sold out quickly in the shop. Quite faster actually, than Naruto and Bleach here. . . Great love story, that one. Particularly the main character–– Kyoko. Her struggle for revenge, and love. Set in the same world as yours."

Julie looked up in surprise.

Kuu continued, "So, I didn't know you actually like to read comic books after all. . . The manga I mean. Not that you would really go and read long series about Superman and Spiderman, and Batman."

Kuu blinked, quite surprised with himself. That seemed weird for Kuu as his brows obviously furrowed, clearly confused to what he was uttering about. Julie suppressed a soft chuckle and flashed him for the very first time, a wonderful smile, flashing such a pretty, pearly white teeth.

"Yes, I read manga on my free time. . . Only Skip Beat! though. . . I'm on Chapter 200, so I'm getting the recent volumes. These. . . 32 and 33, that I don't have yet–"

She held up the two volumes.

"–I know I'm quite behind with the release schedule these days. . . . But, I just got hooked into the story and– just can't get over it. I had to get it. . . . I had planned to meet Yoshiki-sensei in my next conference this week. . . This wonderful story, honestly– had to be made into a movie. . ."

Kuu felt surprised this time. He breathed heavily. "Uh– yeah. Good. That's really good. I mean, great."

And wow, Kuu bet the author of Skip Beat!, Nakamura Yoshiki-sensei, might go into a heart attack in the next few days if she found out she'll get the most wonderful appearance of her lifetime, well maybe once in a lifetime chance, from the greatest actress in the world, who also happened to undeniably love her work. . . And, an actress such as herself had taken the time to read online mangas, maybe on her cellphone or laptop. Since she had gone to 200th chapter, that meant this young lady here knew how to follow the manga she loved to read. He never realized that the current craze in Manga world could also reach the biggest star. He never knew it, only until now, that she too was an Otaku just like him.

"And, who might be your favorite character in the story? If you have any. . . ."

"Oh, I do. . . . I've been rooting for Tsuruga Ren and Mogami Kyoko since the beginning," she smiled.

"Really. . . Me too."

Julie wandered back to the farther shelf from where he can still see her well at this distance, and picked out a quite smart coffee table travel book.

"That book's really not good," Kuu said right away. "Just in case, you know, browsing turned to buying. You'd be wasting your money."

Julie looked back at her, holding the book and was about to read the back panel of it. "Really?"

"Yes. This one though is. . . . very good."

He picked up a travel book from the shelf near the counter.

"I think the man who wrote it has actually been to Turkey, which helps," Kuu said, holding the book up to show the cover to Julie. "There's also a very amusing incident with a kebab."

"Thanks. . . I'll think about it."

Kuu suddenly spied something odd on the small flat TV monitor beside him. On one of the panels, a figure of a man moving suspiciously on the shelf definitely signaled a warning alarm to him.

"Uh– If you could just give me a second."

Her eyes followed him as he moved towards the back of the shop, which was a few meters away from her, and approached a man in slightly ill-fitting clothes.

Kuu got there in time. "Excuse me."

"Yes," said the thief.

"Bad news."

Kuu eyed him directly, without blinking.

"What?"

"We've got security cameras in this bit of the shop, though it looked quite really big to you that it might not get you to think there is no such thing as security here."

"So?"

"So, I saw you put that book down your trousers."

Julie blinked. She listened further.

"What book?" the thief asked, faking an innocent face.

"The one down your trousers."

"I haven't got a book down my trousers."

Kuu felt he wanted to smack his head hard on the floor. He had to compose himself. He ran his hand on his jaw and thought about it. "Right– well, then we have something of an impasse. I tell you what–"

The thief suddenly felt a really dark, venomous aura clouding down upon him. He breathed nervously and looked at Kuu. His eyes were now fierce, menacing, even when he was not looking back at him.

"–I'll call the police. . . And, what can I say? If I'm wrong about the whole book-down-the-trousers-scenario, I really apologize."

"Okay. . . What if I did have a book down the trousers?"

Julie couldn't quite guessed it, but Kuu's back looked just calmly straight and his voice still normal, as if he wasn't mad by anything at all. But unknown to her, the thief was already shivering in fear as Kuu's eyes were now looking back at him in a cold, fierce glare that shot right through him.

"Well, ideally, when I went back to the desk, you'd remove the Cadogan Guide to Bali from your trousers, and either wipe it and put it back, or buy it. See you in a sec."

Kuu returned to the desk. In the monitor he just glimpsed sharply from the corner of his eyes, the book coming out of the trousers and put back on the shelves. The thief drifted out towards the door. Julie, who had witnessed and observed all this, was looking at a blue book on the counter.

"Sorry about that. . . ." Kuu said. His eyes were now normally handsome again.

"No, it's fine," Julie assured. "I was going to steal one myself but now I've changed my mind."

She then pointed to the title page. "Signed by the author, I see."

"Yes, we couldn't stop him. If you can find an unsigned copy, it's worth an absolute fortune."

She looked up and smiled at him. That glued to him for a good couple of seconds, longer than the one she did to him back on the Manga Section. Maybe the choice of wearing sunglasses might be a big mistake after all. Suddenly, the thief was there standing beside her.

"Excuse me."

"Yes," Julie said, looking back at him.

"Can I have your autograph?" he asked.

"What's your name?"

"Rufus," he replied.

She signed the scruffy piece of paper and handed it back to him. He tried to read his paper.

"What does it say?" he asked.

"Well, that's the signature –– and above, it says 'Dear Rufus-san –– you belong in jail.'"

"Nice one," he said, smiling back at her. His yellow teeth looked disgusting. "Would you like my phone number?"

This was an idiot. Julie thought about it for a few seconds. She just couldn't believe what he just said. Although he couldn't see her eyes clearly, she stared back at him in a piercing glare. She wished he could see her piercing eyes. Then she spoke.

"Tempting but. . . . No. Thank you."

Feeling that his heart being stamped hard to pieces, the thief left. As if he hadn't been there at all, Julie and Kuu talked again.

"I think I will get the manga and try this one," Julie said as she handed him the book she had chosen, the one which he said was rubbish– the smart coffee table travel book, and the two Skip Beat! volumes. Kuu took them from her with the money. He then talked as he handled the transaction.

"Oh. . . right. . . on second thoughts maybe this travel book wasn't that bad," Kuu said, staring at the cover while his other hand typed on the pad. "Actually. . . . it's a sort of masterpiece really. None of those childish kebab stories you get in so many travel books these days."

He then bent down behind the counter and appeared again holding up two large, rolled up things. "I'll give you this Skip Beat! Calendar as a bonus for those two volumes that you get, and these Tsuruga Ren and Kyoko limited edition posters–– happens to be the only two supplies here in the shop. And the only posters that are very large. Perfect for your bedroom or dressing room wall that others can get jealous of, if they don't have them yet. Well they can't anymore because those were the first and last here in Kyoto and in Tokyo they're all sold out. Plus–"

He opened a drawer to his far left and took out a badge and a key chain.

"–Tsuruga Ren badge and key chain so that no one can ever have those too but just you alone. Wonderful things to collect. And I'll throw in one of these for free."

He dropped in one of the signed books on the paper bag.

"Very useful for lighting fires, wrapping fish, that sort of things."

She looked at him with a slight smile, yet the most gentle and warmest smile of all. She then took the paper bag.

"Thanks."

Their eyes stared at one another for a short moment. Julie felt his eyes as if they pierce right through the lenses, sinking themselves in each other. Yet that moment might have been forever. Damn, how he wished she didn't wear that sunglasses.

"Thank you– for, dropping by and looking around, and shopping."

Then Julie smiled back at him again and left. Walking fluidly, she would glance back at Kuu every few seconds. She reached and the bells rang again as she opened the door. She looked at Kuu again for the last time. She smiled gorgeously, her hair shining golden bright against the sun, and walked out.

The door was shut, and Julienna Scott was finally gone. She was out of his life forever, so Kuu thought. He was still very dazed. Starstrucked. . . .

He walked slowly towards the door, never blinking as if this precious moment might be erased. She kept glancing back at him all this time didn't she? Standing beside a small table where new arrival books were placed there on top of another, Kuu placed his still icy cold hands on a free space on the table. His eyes were still staring at the door. A few minutes ago this place was very quiet, and that silence of emptiness was broken down by the woman who suddenly came in through this door. . . He couldn't believed it. . Can this be real? His heart was still beating wildly. She was a dream coming true, a dream that constantly mesmerized him only from afar but now he got that once in a lifetime chance to finally see her for real, to talk to her face to face. . . The most famous star talking to him. Smiling back at him. She was just so incredible, so fabulous. . . Kuu couldn't find better words. . . There was no rightful word in this vocabulary of love. . . . This could only happen once, and it did happened to him. Alone.

He hardly believed that this moment, for once, his hopeless, humdrum bachelor half-life was finally over. . . At long last, he had fallen in love. . . He definitely, had. . . fallen for her.

"Julienna Scott. . ." Kuu whispered out the woman's name, which sounded just as beautiful as her. Like a fairy song to his ears. . . . Now he wished he could ever see her again. . . . She never said goodbye when she left the bookshop, and he knew that there was no goodbye. He would gladly wait until he could see her lovely face again. . . . It must feel great to ran a hand to that soft stream of silky, golden hair. . . . Her fair, mother of pearl skin. . . . Say their next hello. . . . Perhaps, this time, he can finally see the real, wonderful color of her eyes. . . . Maybe even a paradise, to feel the softness of those precious small, red lips against his own.

Never had he known such a world like this. It still felt like a dream. And for the very first time, his heart beat so hungrily.

"Julie. . ."

#~##~#

AN: I'm halfway through the end of the story now, and have been worrying whether I should continue to upload the rest of the chapters. . I did before, but I removed them. . I'm worrying that people might not want to hear about Kuu and Julie. . They like more about Ren/Kyoko. . Should I continue though? Let me know what you guys think. . What's your opinion? :)