Runaway Royalty

Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters

Chapter One – The difference a year makes

Author's Note: If you have read the story Always with you then you will immediately recognize the text below. It was copied from chapter 18 of that story and will set the stage for all that will follow in this story. I included it in order to maintain continuity. If you haven't read that story, I recommend that you read it first. Several of the "new" characters may appear, and references will be made to events in Kyoko's life that will not make sense without the other story.

IMPORTANT: 'thats absurd.I LOVE IT' (yes, that's a pen-name) emailed me with a correction. On chapter 15, page 5 there is an author's note box where he writes that Kanae is supposed to be the same age as Kyoko. That makes her 18 at the time of this story, not 20. Thank you 'thats absurd.I LOVE IT. I am making the corrections now.

One inescapable truth in this story: Kotonami Kanae is 18 years old, while Hiou is only 13. That being the case, don't count on a standard "couple" story. Nevertheless, there will be romance and I hope that you will be pleased if you stay with the story until the end. Let us away!

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It had been the longest year of his young life because she wasn't in it. But there had been benefits.

His father and grandfather had both promised him that he would eventually have his growth spurt. He turned nine; three lousy centimeters. He turned ten; five centimeters. He turned twelve and grew only another four. His classmates called him "smalls" and "half-liter" and just about every other lame name they could think of.

He could have easily taken any of them; after all, he had been training in his family dojo since he could stand. But he lived under the firm injunction from both father and grandfather: Martial arts is for defense. A real man doesn't hurt others to prove himself. He didn't want to hurt them. He just wanted to permanently disfigure them.

And then she had come along. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And she had talked to him like he was a real person. She had given him respect. Oh sure, there was that one thing. But after he visited her home he had understood.

But what do you do when the woman you love is five years older and twenty-three centimeters taller than you? Life can be cruel. Still, he had reveled in every day that he was able to work with her. When the very last scene of the very last show was complete, he thought that he would die.

That was a year ago. But in that year he had grown twenty-two incredible centimeters. And better yet, he was still growing! His voice was changing into a rich baritone. His "cute" cheeks had faded away. He was becoming a man.

And today he was going to see Kotonami Kanae for the first time in twelve immeasurably long and lonely months.

* * *

It was early afternoon when Kanae squared her shoulders, took a deep breath, and opened the LME conference room door with the temporary label "Runaway Royalty casting meeting" on it. This was not an audition for her. For the first time she would take her place at the table as the leading lady.

Kanae walked confidently into the room and around the table at the front. There were already three men sitting at the table. She recognized Director Shinai, but not the other two. There was a placard with her name on it in front of one of the empty chairs. There was another chair beside hers with the placard face-down and a half-full glass of water.

Director Shinai and the other men at the table rose to greet her. Their demeanor and words made it clear that she was now on a higher rung of the food chain.

"Kotonami-san, we are all very pleased that you have decided to take on this project." Director Shinai said, "We've been studying your work for the last two years. We are confident that you will deliver a superior performance in this role."

He looked at the empty chair beside her, "Our prince must have stepped out. Anyway, while the producers and I sort through the audition applications, why don't you study this script? The three of us will handle the first elimination round. After that I would like you and our prince to play against our remaining hopefuls to see if they can deliver a good performance.

Kanae nodded and immediately buried herself in the script. She speed-read through it the first time. Then she started back from the beginning and tried to "discover" her character. This time she was determined to create a character as rich as any created by her biggest rival and best friend.

During the second perusal another person entered the room and took the empty seat next to her. She was deep into the story, so she didn't look up to see who it was. She sensed the person looking at her and began to feel annoyed. Kanae was used to people, especially men, looking at her. But it really annoyed her for people to stare when she was trying to concentrate.

She glanced over quickly, gave him her coldest scowl, looked back down at the script.

But now she couldn't concentrate. She had seen those devilish eyes before. There was something about the way his hair fell across his forehead. There was something frustratingly familiar, but she couldn't…. "Mo! Would you stop staring!"

"Hello, Kotonami-san. It's been a long time." It was his evil grin that gave him away.

"Hiou-chan?"

* * *

"Hiou-chan! You're going to spend three months in Australia with Hiou-chan?" Kyoko and CHiouri were both laughing at their friend's discomfort.

Aiko Mari looked back and forth between the girls trying to understand, "I don't get it. Who is this actor?"

Kyoko giggled, "Oh, it's only Kanae's biggest... well I wouldn't say biggest..."

"Oh, that's changed too. That little twerp grew twenty-two centimeters in twelve months! Now he can stand face-to-face with me."

Chiori snorted, "Oh boy, that definitely opens up some possibilities!"

"No it does not! Just because he's as tall as me now doesn't mean anything!"

"Ano, you were starting to explain?" Mari tried to get the LoveMe girl's back on track.

Kyoko waved her hands trying to stifle her laughter so that she could respond, "Hiou-chan is twelve… no wait, thirteen years old and he thinks that Moko-chan tells the sun to rise in the morning. He's actually a nice kid, but he's a little bossy (Kanae snorted at the understatement). He comes from a really famous acting family, the Uesugi's…"

"Taz!"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Are you talking about Taz? Uesugi Hiou?"

"Umm, yes. But why do you call him Taz?"

"His father calls him that. It comes from that American cartoon." The girls all looked at Mari blankly, "Ok, sorry. His dad showed me all of the cartoons; they're hilarious. Taz is short for Tasmanian Devil. In the cartoon he is this short, powerful animal that moves really fast and leaves a wake of destruction behind him. Hiou-chan's dad calls him Taz because he's super fast."

"How do you know his dad?"

"Well, his dad and grandfather are the ones who taught us Karate and Taekwondo. His family has trained most of the stunt people and actors for action roles for the last thirty years.

"Wait a minute… Kanae… Kanae… That's right! His dad always teases him about some girl he is madly in love with. You're her?!"

Kanae nodded, not thinking this was funny at all. Then Mari's eyes got really big and she really started giggling. Kanae's eyebrows raised, "Mo! What's so funny?"

"I just remembered what you said about your role. About you having to learn martial arts so that you can act out some of the scenes? Well guess who'll be training you while you're in Australia?"

Kanae covered her forehead with her hand. "Oh no."

Chiouri Amamiya was laughing so hard she almost in tears as she struck her best martial arts pose, "Kei-yah! Full-contact, baby!"

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Notes: Once again, this chapter is taken directly from Always with you. Some of the characters, like Aiko Mari, were already developed in that story. I am starting this story at a point near the end of that story and working on the assumption that readers have already become acquainted with the events of AWY. "You must first understand this, or nothing that follows will be clear." Sorry, I was having a Dickin's moment.

Anyway, I hope that you enjoy this story. Please read and review.