I don't own Skip Beat! Thank you Yoshiki Nakamura for your inspiration.

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Echo

Chapter 1

Day One

I never wanted her to find out this way. Thought Kuon in distress as he watched Kyoko run from him. She had seen him in his natural state and approached as he was speaking to Jelly Woods and Lory in the parking garage. He was supposed to make the switchover upstairs but, didn't make it before she had seen him.

"You lied to me... You lied and left me... You made fun of me... You pretended to love me in Guam." Her accusing eyes had filled with tears and she ran.

"What just happened?" Demanded Lory. "What was she talking about?"

Kuon stared at the cold pavement. "I can't say here Boss." He told him in a shame filled voice.

"My office... NOW." Lory snarled.

In Lory Takarada's office he was told the entire story from start to finish. From Kuon and Kyoko's childhood, her relation with her mother, her mistreatment by the woman and Fuwa and finally the incident in Guam. Lory shook his head. "Do you know the damage you've done by lying to her? I really wish you would have brought these things to my attention sooner. I'm not sure anyone can recover from something like this."

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Kuon... She just discovered that the one thing that kept her anchored was a complete lie. No family, no friends and the one thing that kept her going has just been ripped from her." He explained.

Kuon hung his head in shame. "What do we do?"

Lory shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't know with a problem of this magnitude."

She ran. She had to get away. She ran into the LoveMe room, changed, removed everything from her locker and left her uniform in it's place. She wasn't sure if she would be coming back or, not. At least not as Kyoko Mogami. Her heart was crumbling painfully in her chest. She had to get somewhere safe. Where she could gather herself and think about what had happened. She sat on the bench in front of her locker and thought.

"I can't leave here like this. If I see him again, it will break me." She said as the tears started flowing again. I'll help you. She told her. Let me take over until you're ready to come back out.

"Who are you?"

I'm a part of you. You're twin in a sense, but the one that can keep them from hurting you any further. Want to give it a try? She smirked.

"What do I have to do?" She asked.

Just go rest in that little room until you're ready to return. She pointed to a room with ornately decorated gold doors and waves of silk flowing off a white canopy bed. Just sleep. Her voice was soothing. Relax. She took over...

She stood over the sleeping Kyoko, pulling from her all of the information, traits and skills that she wanted and needed from her to survive on her own. She was not going to allow this girl back out if she ever awakened. She quietly left the room, shut the doors and sealed it tightly with several impenetrable locks. "See if anyone gets past that." She said sinisterly.

She quietly placed all of Kyoko's belongings back into her locker and grabbed her bag. She made her way to the ladies room to make her changes.

Standing in front of the mirror, she brushed back her damp hair and applied her makeup. Something was still not right. "Ugh, disgusting." She said as peered down the button-down shirt she was wearing at her bra. She removed the bra and discarded it in the trash. "Have to get something more decent." She smirked and left the top three buttons undone. "Much better. Time to do some shopping." She turned and exited into the hallway.

"Kyoko!" She heard a familiar voice call to her but, couldn't place it. After all she had emerged less than an hour ago.

"Kyoko!" He called again as he watched the familiar sway of hips and cat-like grace. Was this Natsu or, Setsuka? He tried. "Natsu? Setsu?" He placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him, getting a very shocking view down her blouse.

Her gold eyes met his hidden green. "I'm not familiar with you. May I ask why you are behaving this way towards me?" She asked and he could honestly say that there was no hint of recognition in her eyes.

His brow furrowed with worry. "Who are you right now?" He asked cautiously.

She smiled at him in a way that sent a shiver of dread down his spine. "My name is Hibiki, as in echo, but you can still call me Kyoko." She purred, then turned and left to go add some much needed items to her wardrobe. Her current state was not going to do and if what she was wearing right now was any indication of the state of what she had at home, it was going to take all afternoon.

The locks on the gold door lay firmly against it and Kyoko slept comfortably on the feather bed as her grudge demons and angels kept attendance.

"What do we do? We've tried everything to get out of here. We can't unlock it and neither can she. The only one that can unlock it is someone that truly loves her." The little angel cried.

The little demon shook her head and sighed. "Even if he is successful in unlocking it... He can't wake her. She has to be willing to wake and leave on her own. After what's happened I'm not sure that's going to happen."

"You're right." The little angel agreed as she stared out the castle window at the vast lands before them. "I'm not sure we'd even know how to get back without her either."

She stood in front of the mirror and admired her new ensemble as she turned, taking in her visaged from head to toe. Burgundy silk blouse with tattered bell sleeves, black under-bust corset tied tightly, very formfitting tight black low-rise jeans and red patent leather platform heels. She relished in the feel of one of the sets of her new silk undies that she had acquired. Red was the order of the day. She had decided that each day would be a different color of clothing. She went to the counter and paid for the clothing and the new makeup that she had just picked out. "Good thing I have savings to work with." She giggled mischievously.

"Thank you Kyoko-sama and thank you for the autograph." The girl at the counter called after her as she left the shop with three full shopping bags.

"Good, now time to go home." She smiled as she called out to the cab.

"Moshi, Moshi..." She answered with an evil grin. This dog needs obedience training. She thought to herself as she saw the name flash across the phone.

"Mogami-san? Is that you?" His voice was filled with worry.

She sighed. "Ahhhh... Kuon. Kyoko isn't available at the moment. If you like you could leave a message but, I'm not really sure when she will decide to return."

"Just let me explain to her..." He pleaded.

She giggled. "You needn't explain anything at all. She fully understands. The second man she decided to give her heart to lied to her on par with the first. Fuwa destroyed her teen years, Corn destroyed her childhood. You two should really get together and exchange notes."

"I..." He was stunned. "Is that how you really feel?" His voice sounded sad and distant.

"Oh.. Not me. I couldn't possibly care any less than I do at the moment; although, I'm not really sure how she feels right now. She's sleeping and like I told you... I'm not really sure when she'll be returning." She sighed. "So, is there anything else you'd like for me to pass on to her? Like you'll probably be leaving her like her mother and Fuwa did. You know, when your career really takes off? Or, that you didn't mean for her to find out at all? If that's the case and you haven't satisfied yourself with crushing her as much as you already have, I suggest you wait to tell her personally when she awakens." She told him in a sweet cordial voice. "Now, if you don't mind I need to sleep. See you tomorrow Mr. Tsuruga." She giggled and hung up the phone then turned it off. She didn't need any more distractions tonight.

She placed the phone back into her bag and pulled out the offers that Sawara-san had given Kyoko to look over.

"Hmm. Modeling... I think I could do those. Oh and a PV for Vie Ghoul, that looks fun and one for Sho Fuwa." She pondered as she leafed through the stack of offers. She would look at the rest tomorrow, but these four were definite yeses.