Skip Beat: Always Thinking of You

Hello there. So this is a new story of Ren and Kyoko, but the plot is nowhere near following Skip Beat except for some facts and characters' personalities. This is my second story for Skip Beat. Some of you readers might have read my other story "Unforgotten Memories", which will be updated soon, I hope. Please enjoy this story and don't be shy to shoot some criticism in the reviews section or leave your thoughts of the story.


In the city of Tokyo, the sun was out and shining so brightly that even someone with perfect vision could go blind in a second. The light hit off the reflection of a building with windows like mirrors so that only people from the inside could see the busy crowd outside.

At the very top floor of the tall structure, next to the window stood a man in a dark gray suit, indicating that he was a businessman and a wealthy one, too.

It was Ren Tsuruga, who stood near the window, looking out at the world beyond, while patiently waiting for his assistant with news of Kyoko Mogami. Turning around, he walked over to his desk, where he was about to press the intercom on the phone, when there came a soft knock on the door. Entering the room was a young man of twenty-five named Takashi Kanatomi.

"Good morning, Mister Tsuruga" Takashi greeted as he entered the room.

"Good morning to you, too Takashi. So any news about Kyoko?" Ren asked.

Takashi knew that Mister Tsuruga was going to ask this question – it was his job after all; he was a detective, while also working as Ren's assistant at Hizuri Corps – so he averted his gaze away from his boss.

"Well, sir, I have found some information on Miss Mogami, like you asked for, but unfortunately, it is not good. Miss Mogami…she…she died two years ago" Takashi blurted out, relieving all the pressure that had been building in him and shocked him, too because he knew that his boss had a special place in his heart for this Kyoko Mogami person and telling the news was not going to be easy. From the expression of Ren's face, he was absolutely sure that the boss was not taking this too well, so he left the room quietly but before leaving, he placed a manila folder on the desk, which contained all the information on Kyoko's death.

It took a while for Ren to absorb all this in and, when it finally hit him that the love of his life was gone, all he could do was drop down to his knees and cover his face with the hands that had worked very hard for him to get where he was today – the CEO of Hizuri Corps.

'Oh Kyoko, my love! I never even told you how much you meant to me! You were an angel sent from heaven to help me the day we met.'


Fourteen years ago on a rainy day…

A boy collapsed in a dark alley after running for hours. The boy did not complained about the wetness or hardness of the ground; he was content where he was because the water felt good on his face and he was too tired to keep going. He closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.

Small sounds of footsteps in the rain could be heard and the walking stopped when the silhouette of the boy came into view. The approaching footsteps woke the boy up and when he opened his eyes to look up, he was looking into the most innocent eyes he had ever seen. The girl looked like she could not have been more than ten years old; she was wearing simple clothes that were really worn out and not thick enough to block out the cold, but that did not seemed to bother her; she was smiling like an angel. There was a hint of sadness behind her eyes though and this made Kuon's heart ache.

Lending a hand, the little girl helped him up and now standing, he could clearly see that there were bruises and scraps over her face, arms, and legs, which depressed him more.

"Hello there! What's your name?" The little girl asked.

"My…my name is…is K-Kuon H-Hizuri." The young boy replied through chattering teeth, feeling comfortable with telling the girl his name even though they had just met.

"My name is Kyoko Mogami. It is nice to meet you Corn." Kyoko stated formally with a smile, not knowing that his name was not pronounced that way but Kuon did not care because he liked the nickname that she made up without realizing. Kuon smiled back at Kyoko. Both children did not know that it was the start to a beautiful friendship that could turn into something more in the far future.

Over the next few years, Kuon and Kyoko kept each other's company, but only when Kyoko had time to come out to play because her mom was very strict and the person responsible for beating Kyoko ever since she was five. Kyoko explained that her mother's reason for beating her up was that it was a mistake to give birth to Kyoko since the family had been suffering through a lot of misfortunes. Every time Kyoko came running to Kuon, she was fresh with new marks and there would be a lot of blood. Once when Kyoko came to Kuon, so he could help clean the bruises, she lost a large amount of blood and it nearly scared the life out of him, but she kept insisting that she was fine. Even though Kuon observed Kyoko as a girl who would come crying to him, she was strong and determined to stand her own ground, and that made him love her even more everyday.

Although as much as Kuon wanted to tell Kyoko that he loves her, he can't because all the signs showed that she only saw him as an older brother. Kuon decided to take Kyoko to a beach one day because he had been having this idea of escaping from his home and he wanted to take her along, if she was willing.

As they walked toward a giant rock, they both sat on it back to back, and were able to talk for a long time, getting to know each other even better since it had been a while they last talked to one another.

"Hey Kyoko, I have something to ask you." Ren asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence. "Do you ever think of leaving Kyoto?"

"Hmmm…as much I love Kyoto, I want to go some place else, but I wouldn't know where to go and I would be alone if I went away from this place." Kyoko replied.

"Well, how about you come with me to Tokyo to start a new life?"

"Are you sure about that, Corn? I wouldn't want to be a burden to you –"

"Kyoko, you would be no burden at all."

"It is just that I am scare –"

"No worries. I'll always be there for you no matter what." Kuon paused and reach in his pocket "Hold out your hand Kyoko." Kyoko did as he asked and when he deposited the object in her hand, she looked at it and what she saw was a blue stone with uneven edges, but they were not sharp.

She asked "What is it?"

"It's a stone. A magical stone! Here, hold it like this toward the sun." Kuon explained while gesturing his hand in the air to show Kyoko what she should do. Kyoko did what Kuon described her to do and when he took hold of her hand, he turned it a certain angle. What Kyoko saw was a blink but that one quick movement showed something more. The stone changed its color from being blue to purplish-blue; the most magical thing Kyoko ever saw in her 13 years.

"Oh thank you Corn, it is beautiful." Kyoko said and was intending to hand it back to Kuon but he just shook his head and said "It's now yours Kyoko. It is a gift from me to you and you don't have give me anything," Kuon added on when he saw that Kyoko was about to interrupt him, "because you have given me the greatest gift in the world already – your friendship." With that Kuon leaned down to kiss her forehead, while wrapping his arms around her, not wanting the moment to end.

So the two children decided to launch the plan – of escaping to Tokyo – into action the week after the day at the beach. Kuon had no problem, escaping from home because he ran away in the first place since his uncle had been trying kill him just so he could have the money that was left in Kuon's grandfather's will, which actually belonged to Kuon. Unfortunately, on the night that Kuon and Kyoko were to depart to Tokyo, his uncle had found out about his plan and sent out some of his guards to block Kuon from getting near Kyoko's house. Arriving at Kyoko's house, he saw big men standing out on the front property, guarding the door. Kuon knew, at that instant, there was no way he can get Kyoko safely out of the house without being shot at by the big baboons standing stiffly at the door. There was also no way Kuon and Kyoko could leave Kyoto together. Backing away, Kuon accidentally bumped into a can and that noise roused up the men; gunshots were fire and instinct took over Kuon; he started to run without looking back.

In a few weeks, Kuon got to Tokyo safely and wandered around the unknown streets until he was found by an elderly couple of the surname, Tsuruga, who adopted him and who he treated as if they were his real parents. From then on, he was known as Ren Tsuruga. As years went by, he attended school and later on entered the world of business, where he climbed to the top of the ladder and became the CEO of Hizuri Corps. Even as the years passed, Kuon's thoughts have always been on Kyoko, wondering how she was doing or if she was safe from the hands of her mother. Sadness swept over him whenever he thought about this because it was his fault that he could not get her to escape with him.


A knock came at the door, and Ren got up from where he had been sitting, meanwhile drying the tears that had fallen unconsciously down his handsome face.

"Come in." Ren said after wiping away the tears, but he knew that his eyes were still red, so just as the door is opening, he swung around facing the window.

"Mr. Tsuruga, Miss Miyoko Aiba is here for the secretary job." Ren's secretary, Usagi Okatomi, who will be on a maternity leave, announced. Ren replied by nodding his head, which Usagi took as cue to leave.

When the door closed, silence filled the empty room and all that could be heard were the sounds of their breathing and the thumping of their hearts. Ren quietly walked to the window and picked the folder on his desk to read the information about Kyoko, leaving his new employee curious as to why her boss had not said a single word yet. She was, also however, observing the silhouette of the gentleman before her. He was a very tall man, at least a head taller than her, with broad shoulders and long legs that would make any model jealous. He was, obviously, well-dressed and looking very sharp in his dark gray business suit, which made a nice complexion to his tanned skin.

'Hmmm…I wonder if he is like this to all his employees.' she thought.

Ren was so engrossed looking at the folder's information that he forgot about his new worker. 'So…she died on the 18th of August two summers ago, near the fishing dock that was close to her house.' Kuon released a sigh and then remembering about the young lady behind him, he asked her a question without turning around.

"Miss Aiba," Kuon spoke, startling Kyoko from her thinking. "I am assuming that you know how to do your job, correct?"

"Hai!" Kyoko responded enthusiastically.

Ren stopped breathing for a second and felt himself going back in time to when he would always listen to that soft, sweet voice, while looking into the most innocent eyes that had him mesmerized. When Ren turned around, in front of him stood a young girl in her early twenties with past shoulder-length amber-brown hair, which was much lighter compares to his dark chestnut-brown, and who was wearing simple clothes – a soft pink sweater and jeans with sensible heels, unlike the ones that women usually wear, those that look like they could fall any time if they take another step. Finally when Ren looked up at her face, he saw that her chocolate brown eyes were cold and determined, yet he detected a hint of sorrow in them, but her expression was different – it was cheery and welcoming.

'She would be about the same age as Kyoko if she was still alive today. Oh gosh, Kyoko would probably be the splitting image of her except for the hair color, but everything else perfectly fits the features of Kyoko.' Ren thought.

What Ren did not know was that he was right on target; Miyoko Aiba was indeed Kyoko Mogami. Kyoko had faked her own death two years ago so she could escape to Tokyo and search for Corn. For the past two years, now four and twenty and using the name Miyoko Aiba, Kyoko went around doing odd jobs – from being a waitress to being an elementary substitute teacher – until the day she can find the love of her life again – Corn. Hearing about a secretary job at Hizuri Corps, since the current secretary was going to be on a maternity leave, from people in the café that she used to work at, she took the employment because she recalled Corn's last name being Hizuri. She wanted to find out if it was the same Corn that she knew fourteen years ago; the same Corn who left her behind in Kyoto.

When her boss turned around, Kyoko's breath was taken away because standing before her eyes was a man of a majestic aura that is of an emperor.

'He is very handsome. No wonder every woman, in the company, keeps talking about him.' she thought.

Looking at his eyes, she said in her head 'Oh gosh, he has the exactly same honey-brown eyes as Corn. Could it be possible? No, it couldn't be because his surname is not Hizuri – it's Tsuruga. It could just be a coincidence that this man has the same eye color as Corn. Yeah it is just a coincidence! But it's odd how the CEO's last name is not that of the company. Maybe Corn is not here; maybe I am just giving myself too much false hope.'

So once again, the room is filled with a familiar, comfortable silence between the two just-met strangers, yet not strangers at all.

"Ahem, sorry for the long stare, but you remind me of someone." Ren, ending the silence, said.

"Oh, that's all right."

"May I ask, Miss Aiba, have you ever lived in Kyoto?"

Kyoko was startled and confused as to why Mr. Tsuruga was asking her such a personal question of the place where bitter-sweet memories laid dead because he had the information on her résumé; for a while she could only stare at him, but she finally answered "Hai."

'Ok so she is from Kyoto.' Kuon thought. "Miss Aiba, would you mind telling me specifically where in Kyoto and how long have you have been living in Tokyo and when you moved here?"

"Well, I lived near a fishing dock in Kyoto and I moved to Tokyo two years ago on the 18th of August."

Kuon could not have believed what he had just heard.

'That's where Kyoko used to live,' Ren remembered that Kyoko was the only kid who lived near that dock so 'Why is this girl saying that she lived nearby as well? There is no way this girl can be Kyoko because Takashi told me she was dead and, there is proof. But it is strange how she moved to Tokyo two years ago, exactly on the same day Kyoko died! Unless…she is not dead at all and this IS Kyoko.'