Hi everyone! So I'm ultra happy to know that you enjoyed the start of this story. That certainly gives me the motivation to keep going. Once again, thank you for all the wonderful support and reviews. It means the world! Please Read and Review!

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

"This can't be happening. No, no, no, no, no. This CANNOT be happening. Please don't let this be happening," Kyoko wailed as she continued the incessant pushing of buttons. But nothing worked. The backlights of every circled number was off, a terrible sign that nothing was functioning properly.

But Kyoko couldn't stop trying. Sprawled upon her knees, she tried everything she could possibly think of. First, tapping each of them lightly as if there was some sort of magical password that will open the double doors and then holding one button for a few prolonged seconds, praying to hear the magnificent whirring of the elevator again. Absolutely nothing.

"No, no, no, no, no!"

"Stop crying!" Sho snapped. "It's not helping at all!"

"AND YOU ARE?" Kyoko shouted as she angrily turned around to face him.

Sitting down upon the floor with one leg curled and the other straightened out, Sho was leaning back against the center wall as if everything was fine. Kyoko clenched her teeth at the sight of him. "Do you realize that we may be stuck here? INDEFINITELY?"

He snorted. "Are all you actresses like this? Painstakingly over-dramatic?"

"Shotaro! We're stuck in an elevator! And there's no one in the building to help us!"

"You don't think I realize that?" he replied as he rose to his feet. "I know there's no one in the building who can help us."

Walking over to the box, he knelt down onto his calves besides her and gestured to a red button at the very bottom. Kyoko raised an eyebrow. She hadn't even noticed that there.

"See? If you would just calm down and breathe for a second, you would have realized that there is an emergency call button."

Kyoko sniffed. "You could have pointed that out sooner."

"What? And miss your little tirade?"

"Just push the damn button," she growled, leaning away from him. He was too close for comfort.

Sho smirked victoriously. "You know, this makes it the second time I saved your life."

"You are not saving my life!"

"And your second time being ungrateful," he added.

"For your information," Kyoko retorted hotly, "I did thank you the last time and besides, if it wasn't because of your stupidity, I would have never been stalked in the first place!"

"Oh sure, I told him to stalk you. Great point. Then what about now?"

"I'm sorry, are you the fire department?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well if it wasn't for me, they wouldn't be coming," Sho replied with unamused eyes.

"Well then, why don't you push the damn button, and maybe afterwards, I'll thank you?"

Irritated, Sho roughly turned back towards the box and stabbed the button with his thumb.

Nothing.

Kyoko stared with wide eyes, her hands trembling at her sides.

"Maybe I did it wrong," he mumbled quickly, jamming the button again and again and again.

She stumbled back, hanging onto the metal rail as all of the feelings in her legs disappeared. Kyoko could barely breathe. Her heart was constricting so tightly against her chest that it felt like she was experiencing a full blown heart attack.

Sho slowly straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. "Shit."

"Shit? WHAT DO YOU MEAN SHIT?"

"It's not working obviously!"

"You said it would!" Kyoko screeched, hysteria quickly filling her voice.

"Who the hell do you think I am?" he shouted back. "I can't do anything about this!"

"This is all your fault!"

"My fault? HOW THE FUCK IS THIS MY FAULT?"

"If you hadn't taken this elevator, all of this wouldn't be happening!"

"What the—? Are you saying I'm weighing this thing down?"

"Damn right I am! That massive head of yours broke the elevator!"

"WHY YOU LITTLE—!"

"And now I'm going to die in here!" Kyoko sobbed, crumpling to her knees. "You're going to be the last person I ever see! OH MY GOD! I'M DYING HERE WITH YOU!" she screamed, her shaky finger extended at his staggered expression.

Kyoko's cries intensified as she covered her face with her hands. There was no way out. She had never felt so helpless before in her life and what was worse was that HE was the one accompanying her in this hell hole. How could life possibly get any worse?

"You're not going to die!" Sho yelled back furiously. "None of us are!"

Kyoko shook her head back and forth. "I can't die. I can't die in here. I haven't even reached my twenties yet! I'm too young! And what about Moko-san? What is she going to do without me? We even made plans to eat out tomorrow! What is she going to say? Oh no, she'll hate me! NO! I didn't flake on you, Moko-san! Please don't be mad!"

"Kyoko, get a fucking grip!" Sho snapped as he wrenched her hands away from her face. "We'll be fine!"

"How can you even say that?" she cried, yanking her hands away from him as if she was burned. "We're stuck with no way to contact anyone!"

"What about a cell phone?" Sho asked sternly.

Kyoko stopped.

"A what?"

"A phone! Do you have your phone on you?"

A cellphone! That was it! Without bothering to utter a sound of confirmation, Kyoko spun around and dug through her purse on the floor. Adrenaline was pumping straight through her veins. Kyoko could barely contain herself. SHE WAS SAVED! Fumbling through the contents, she found the heavenly pink savior lying at the bottom. She whipped out the device and quickly punched in 911.

Sho instinctively stood closer to her, trying to listen in.

But there was no ringing on the other end. The phone couldn't connect at all.

"There's no signal," Kyoko mumbled in a lifeless tone, letting her hand fall to her side. "We can't make any calls."

Now it was Sho's turn to back up against the wall. The seriousness of this problem kept getting thicker and thicker. At this rate, they would have to wait until tomorrow morning before anyone would find them. But who knew how long that may be? And what if the problem with the elevator was with the cables? Will it be able to hold on for that long?

"What about you?" Kyoko suddenly demanded.

"What about me?"

"Where's your cell phone? Yours may have signal."

Sho exhaled deeply with a shake of his head. "I don't have mine."

"How can you not have your cell phone?" Kyoko asked angrily.

"I have Shoko! She makes all of my calls!"

"Shoko-san!" Kyoko suddenly exclaimed in eagerness at her name. "She must be here! If you don't return, she'll come looking for you, right?"

Sho frowned. "No, most likely she won't."

"Why not?"

"She doesn't even know I'm here. She thinks I'm in my hotel room, but clearly I'm not."

Kyoko could barely contain her temper. She had never felt more furious in her life and desperate to put the blame somewhere, she shouted, "COULD YOU BE ANY MORE STUPID? WHO THE HELL LIES TO THEIR MANAGER ABOUT WHERE THEY ARE?"

"What about you?" he hollered back defensively. "Does anyone even know you're here?"

"No—!"

Kyoko suddenly fell silent. Instantly, his face came to mind. It was truly such a vain hope, but if there was anyone who would have any idea where she was, it would be him. She did indeed mention it in passing to him the last time they talked. But to think that he would actually remember that tiny fact was absolutely ridiculous. Besides, without a working phone, there was no way of contacting him anyway.

Kyoko slumped back and slid down onto the floor.

"We're stuck," she murmured, dropping her head onto her arm.

"Yeah…we are."

Ren glanced at his wrist watch with confusion. It was already 9:42. What could be taking her so long?

He turned his head towards the large glass window and looked down at the streets, hoping to see her run by, but not a single person was in sight. It was very unlike her to be late, especially without calling. She was probably the most punctual person he had ever met, so today was certainly a bizarre occurrence.

The double doors at the end of the large room suddenly swung open and in walked Yashiro with a steaming cup in his hand. "Here you go, Ren. It's just tea."

He smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Yashiro."

"Still not here yet, huh?"

Ren shook his head, murmuring, "It's odd. She's always on time."

"Well, it's only been a few minutes. Something must be holding her back at TBM."

Ren nodded absent-mindedly and placed his untouched beverage on the table. "I guess so…Is Wood-san waiting in the other room?"

"Yeah, do you want to get your make-up done first?"

"No, I would rather wait."

Yashiro smiled, sympathy coloring his kind face. There was no one in the world who understood Ren better than him. After so many years of being his manager and friend, Yashiro practically knew Ren like the back of his own hand. Sometimes, he would even argue he understood him better than the actor himself.

So, it didn't take him long to know that Ren's desire to see Kyoko was at its limit. He failed miserably trying to contain his eagerness during the day. Yashiro caught him glancing at the clock more times than there were stars in the sky. He was obviously looking forward to tonight and had every right to be.

Setsu and Cain Heel shared the exact level of intimacy Ren needed, whether he dared to admit it or not. Although he vehemently opposed the relationship in the beginning, Yashiro knew that he did enjoy himself. Through Cain, Ren could let some of his inner emotions slip through without worrying too much about the consequences afterwards. Not to say that he was taking advantage of the situation, but the poor guy had so many feelings bottled up that they were bound to surface eventually. At least as Cain, it would be in a more "suitable" environment.

Ren sighed deeply. "I'm a little worried, Yashiro."

"I'm not surprised," he chuckled. "For any minute she's not here, you're missing out on valuable time with her."

Cursing his transparency, Ren replied, "I don't mean it like that. I'm afraid something may have happened to her."

"Ren, you cause more stress for yourself than needed. I'm sure she's fine. So she's a few minutes late, life does that to you sometime, you know."

He frowned, knowing there was no way he could argue. Yashiro's answer seemed logical enough, but for some odd reason Ren wasn't appeased. He felt wound up, as if somebody was twisting his nerves into knots. There was no good reason for him to be so pent up, but he so clearly was.

Yashiro shook his head in weariness at his friend's edgy posture. "Look, if you're that concerned, why don't you try calling her?"

Ren didn't reply.

He wanted to. He really wanted to, but at the same time, he didn't want to be so overbearing. Besides, what in the world was he going to say? She was a couple of minutes late and so now he demands to know where she is? If that didn't sound insane, Ren didn't know what would. Who was he to need to know where she was?

And since he was being completely honest with himself at the moment, Ren realized that Kyoko didn't even have to show up tonight. She was playing a role that in no way benefitted herself. Ren was the one who needed her.

But the weight of the cell phone in his trouser pocket somehow seemed to grow.

His hands itched to reach for it. He truly needed to hear her voice.

She wouldn't be insulted if he called, right? All he had to say was that it was late and since she was an actress, it would be reasonable for him to be worried about her well-being. As a matter of fact, as her mentor he should be worried. That wasn't too bad…right?

Ren fluidly reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone.

Yashiro laughed and casually made his way towards the door. "I'll give you two some privacy."

"That isn't necessary, Yashiro."

"Oh believe me, I think it is."

So with a friendly wave, he walked out of the double doors without another word. Somewhat bothered by Yashiro's tendency to know his unspoken wishes, Ren flipped open his cell and went straight to his contact list, scrolling down until he saw her name. Then with a deep cleansing breath, Ren gathered up whatever courage he could and clicked send, hoping to God she'll pick up.