I'm so happy that there are a lot of response for this story to continue! Some even gave me suggestions on what kind of woman Yashiro should date. I'll definitely use it for the good time :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip-Beat!


Behind The Scene #2

Timeline: 'The Next Episode' Chapter 2

Yashiro Yukihito took pride of himself being a man with righteous values – at least, according to him. He was – according to him again – someone who would never take his friends for granted and relish in joy for their suffering.

Now he realized he was totally wrong.

And it all had started from the early morning, when the sun had not even yet risen...


Yukihito opened the door of the silver Porsche where Ren had been waiting in on the driver's seat.

From the look that his tall charge was giving to him, the brunette knew that he had to give Ren a very good explanation for the very cryptic conversation they had had the night before.

The very one where Yukihito had said that he hated the actor.

Not waiting long, Ren broke the silence in the car. "So, Yashiro-san, mind telling me what last night's about?"

And, not seeing any other option, the manager told him all about Lory's outrageous order – or rather, absolute command. To Yukihito's further aggravation, Ren dared to bark a very long, amused laugh right in front of his face.

The reason was rather focused on the safety of both of them than his dignity – especially since the silver sports car began to swerve to the wrong lane and almost collided side to side into the pedestrian.

In the end, after Ren had exhausted himself laughing, something that was very out of character of him, the only thing the dark-haired man told Yukihito was, "You can't do anything; just go with it."

Giving up on making Ren take his side, Yukihito just let the actor continue driving to their first destination for work.

Some moments later, when Ren was on set, Lory called his phone – which of course was answered by Yukihito –telling Ren to go to LME, as something urgent had happened to Kyoko.

For a moment, Yukihito felt that maybe – just maybe – this was a help from the gods so that he could avoid whatever blind date Lory had set up for him today.


He was shortly proven wrong.

Yukihito did not attend the urgent meeting – which was attended by Akatoki siblings and Fuwa Sho, the source of all ridiculous menace – but when almost everyone was out from Lory's office, the flamboyant president called him in...

... just to remind him about the blind date and threaten to drag him from wherever he was to 'Blue Wars' if he ever thought of ditching.

And now he felt extremely guilty towards Kyoko – so deep in guilt that he did not even notice Ren calling him again and again, wanting to snap his manager out of whatever Yukihito was in and telling the bespectacled man that they had arrived at their next destination.

It took a while for Yukihito to gather his thoughts together, shove it into the deepest part of his mind, and focused on his job.

And Ren just had to ask when they were in his dressing room. "Hey, Yashiro-san, so how's your date like today? Someone I know personally?"

Yukihito groaned in frustration.


Lory kept true to his word.

Nearing 6 in the evening, Ren and Yashiro were walking towards the parking lot when they suddenly were face to face with Sebastian. The tight-lipped servant bowed before them and said, "Good evening, Yashiro-sama. Master has requested for me to escort you back to LME."

While Ren was amused over being disregarded by the dark-skinned butler, Yukihito wished in that instant that he could have time to dig his own grave.

"So, Yashiro-san," Ren asked with a small smile. "I'll see you two days from now?"

"Err... Yeah," Yukihito replied wryly. Let's just hope that I still live after tonight. "At 8.30. Give Kyoko-chan my regards."

With that, Ren drove away in his car, leaving Yukihito in his apparent doom, with Sebastian beside him, waiting patiently.


Yukihito had been thinking that Lory would pit him against a very rowdy woman may be not as rowdy as Lory, but still but the sight in front of him was a complete surprise.

Because once they reached 'Blue Wars', Sebastian lead him to a table where a woman in tidy yet simple suit sat. She wore a pair of thin-framed glasses, and her dark brown hair was tied back on her nape.

He quickly recognized her as the manager of LME's only Matsunai Ruriko. His inner self sighed in relief.

What harm could this very normal woman bring, anyway?

The woman, whose name Yukihito recalled as Higashida Seiko, looked surprised as well. After exchanging their usual greeting as colleagues at work, he sat down facing her it was the only space available, after all, so he did not have much choice only to hear something weird.

"But I didn't imagine," Higashida said, "that the manager the President told me needing my help in work is you, Yashiro-san."

His head instantly snapped up in confusion. "Pardon?"

Higashida fidgeted on her seat, suddenly feeling nervous. The man before her had been known for his efficiency in managing the infamous Tsuruga Ren that all talent managers in LME almost regarded him as a god in the field. To be honest, she could not even believe Lory when the flamboyant man told her that Yukihito needed her help in managing Tsuruga Ren's schedule. Heck, if she were to be trusted with the task, she did not think she could even survive a day.

"The President told me that you needed my help in work," she timidly said. "Isn't that why you set up this dinner meeting, Yashiro-san?"

Now Yukihito felt that strangling his boss might be justified.


Meanwhile, Lory shed his tears in the surveillance room of LME's security department, his lips pouting like a child deprived of his candies.

Despite his very hard work in choosing the perfect woman fitting Yukihito's interests and setting them up in the blind date dinner, he now found himself having to be satisfied with the scene of the pair having dinner as usual.

And 'by usual' meant that there was no spark of love whatsoever between them.

But a moment later, a smirk graced Lory's face. Looking at the circumstances, Yukihito might pose more difficulties in love than Ren had done before. And how Lory Takarada loved challenges.

He quickly snapped his phone open and dialed some numbers. "It's me," he said. "You told me some time ago that you're looking for someone, right? I think I might have found a suitable one for you."


A bit boring, you say? This is only the beginning of Lory's scheme!

And does Ruriko's manager have an actual name? If so, then please let me know and I'll edit it.

Please review :) Thank you!