Okay, here's part 2! I had fun writing this one...hehe, hope you have fun reading it! PLEASE REVIEW!

And I'll try to update soon with more Kyoko x Ren goodness! :D

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

"Ren?" Yashiro inquired. "You there?"

Ren could hear them, but his lips refused to move. He was just staring at Kyoko in utter disbelief. He desperately tried to find his voice, but there was nothing to find. Ren didn't have any idea of what to do. How was he supposed to respond?

Should he say what he really wanted to say? Or say what he should say as her mentor? Torn in two, Ren knew that if he waited any longer, the situation will only get worse. He had to come up with a choice…even if it killed him.

Straightening up slightly, he turned away from Kyoko, hiding his face so that she couldn't see the distress he would feel for what he was going to say next. "I must say I expected more from you, Mogami-san."

With wide eyes, Kyoko replied in a small voice, "What do you mean?"

Ren shook his head and asked, "You want to be a revered actress, yes? Yet you let something so trivial get in the way of your career. That's not what a professional would do and I assumed that you out of all people would have understood that by now."

Yashiro's jaw dropped. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?" he screamed in his head.

As if slapped in the face, Kyoko looked down at her feet. She felt extremely embarrassed. How many times has Tsuruga-san told her to act like a professional? How many times has he castigated her for the same mistake? "Wow," she thought. "I'm such a failure. He won't even look at me because he's so disgusted."

Not hearing anything from Kyoko was nearly ripping Ren apart, bit by bit. He wanted to teach her, not to make her feel inferior or, even worse, miserable. Forcing himself to stay composed even when the regret of hurting Kyoko was still painfully raw, Ren turned back towards her and called lightly, "Mogami-san."

Kyoko slowly looked up at him with disappointment clearly spelled out on her face.

"You have great potential as an actress. But there are times in this business where you will be forced in situations you don't want any part in. However, at moments like these, there is a fine line that separates the true professionals who want to make it in this business from the amateurs. Therefore I must ask, who are you?"

Kyoko didn't respond immediately and averted her eyes. She allowed her mentor's words to sink in. She knew that Tsuruga-san was right, that she was really making a big deal out of nothing. But this kiss…it bothered her.

"But being Mio bothered you," her subconscious retorted back. "And you still did that."

"True, but the people I worked with helped me through it like…Tsuruga-san…"

Saying his name compelled Kyoko to look at him again. "But he's right," Kyoko thought. "I don't want to be just an actress. I want to be a TOP actress. And top actresses don't complain, especially about work."

"That's the spirit, Kyoko!"

With her body brimming with new-found confidence and determination, Kyoko pulled her head up and replied, "I'm an actress."

Ren smiled at her change in tone and leaned down slightly when he asked, "And what are you going to do as an actress?"

Then without another word, she politely bowed to Ren and Yashiro, turned around on her heel, and marched down the hall with her head held high, leaving the two men behind.

Yashiro couldn't believe it. Kyoko left and here was Ren just standing there, leaning against the wall with his head drooping. Yashiro could feel the irritation building inside of him. But when he was just about to open his mouth and give Ren a piece of his mind, Ren looked up with a threatening glare.

Yashiro gulped. The atmosphere had changed drastically, from gloomy to downright sinister. He didn't dare to even utter a sound.

"Yashiro," Ren began with a quiet voice. "For the sake of my sanity, let's put a hold on this conversation for now." And with that, he walked in the same direction as Kyoko, leaving Yashiro immobilized and stunned by the malice in his tone.

Even though Yashiro had seen Ren's ominous personality before, it still scared him. But when thinking about why he was so angry, Yashiro felt sympathy for his friend. Ren was stuck in a rut that kept getting deeper and deeper everyday, no matter how hard he tried to dig himself out of it.

Catching up to Ren, Yashiro said jokingly, "I wasn't going to say anything negative."

Ren scoffed.

"Alright alright, you win. Not a single word."

They walked for what seemed to be a minute of silence before Yashiro asked, "Ren?"

"Yashiro…" Ren began menacingly.

"It's a simple question!" he said with his hands held up in surrender.

Ren sighed and asked softly, "Yes?"

"What you said back there…that was all a lie, wasn't it?"

Ren looked at his manager from the corner of his eye. Even though he was hurting, Ren couldn't help but smile a little bit when he asked, "You never miss anything, do you Yashiro?"