Keep on trying

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of it's characters.

Bonus Chapter 2

At the very least

AN/ This is an alternative story, which is following the events from the bonus chapter 47.5. Uneki confessed his feelings and Kyoko didn't reject him completely?! It's a Christmas Special requested by Dzoana (probably the only person in the whole universe, who ship Kyoko and Uneki more than Kyoko and Ren).

She should have told him that there would not be any kind of future for them as lovers, but seeing him cry made her lose her composure. How could she be so cruel, when someone just confessed to her, knowing that she already had a fiancé? That was why she wasn't able to reject his feelings. But what would happen next? Breaking up with Sho was the last thing Kyoko wanted to do. Not to mention cheating on him. Was there any solution?

The girl decided to stall. Kyoko lied to Sho that her leg would not get better any time soon and the doctor suggested to postpone the wedding ceremony until the next year. She didn't find that statement convincing, but somehow her boyfriend agreed. "Yes, I was thinking exactly the same thing. I will call mother right away." He didn't care about her health, but having a few more months as a bachelor… or something like that, seemed alluring. He wasn't single, but it didn't bother him, when he took part in those elegant parties, held by Akatoki. Some girls were dying to talk to him or flirt a little and he could not disappoint them.

Kyoko tried to avoid Uneki, since she didn't know how to deal with him. Sadly for her, it was futile, because she still attended his courses. Everyone could sense that something had changed between those two, but it was Kanae, who knew the truth. She didn't like it, but she managed to eavesdrop on their conversation that day and she did not interfere. It was probably Kyoko's fault. Moko-san would never guess that her friend would accept Uneki's feelings… or at least she did not turn his advances down. Something was not right, and Kanae hoped that she would not get involved in it and that Kyoko knew what she was doing.

Oh, she truly did not know. Somehow the girl was able to survive her lessons, while avoiding any kind of eye contact with a particular instructor. How weird did it sound? Her teacher confessed to her and she asked for some time to think things over. As if it was possible. There was no acceptable option to make everyone happy. In the best case scenario she would only hurt Uneki more. In the worst one though, she would hurt him and Sho would discover her secret and break up with Kyoko, leaving her all alone.

So she played for time, running away each time her teacher wanted to talk to her face-to-face. The summer trip wasn't pleasurable. Kyoko acted as if her leg had started to hurt more out of the nowhere, whenever she noticed Uneki or his brother in the distance. In the end, she spent most of her time in the hotel room, which made her unable to take part in their short play. But she wasn't unhappy. If it was the only way to keep the situation under control, she was ready to sacrifice.

The first one who wanted to do something in order to stop that senseless tension between those two, was Kanae. She invited Kyoko to a nice café to eat some ice-creams. After a short chit-chat, Moko-san got down to the business. "What do you plan to do with Uneki's confession?" She rolled her eyes when she saw Kyoko's expression. "Don't look so surprised! You were in a public place after all!" "So… you heard it?" Mogami-san's voice seemed to be weaker than usual. "Accidentally. But it's not important. Did you decide how to respond to his feelings?" 'Why do I interfere, really? She should find a solution herself.' But Kanae knew that it would not happen soon.

"I… I need more time." "How much?" Kotonami-san tried her best not to sound angry, but her efforts were useless. "I don't know yet! But I will know soon!" Kyoko closed her eyes, as she raised her voice. "When exactly? On your wedding day?!" Kanae took a risk and pushed her friend to the wall so as to get a proper answer. Kyoko stood up, planning to make a scene, when she realized what she wanted to do. 'I'm not that kind of person. I wouldn't do it.' She tried to convince herself and sat down.

"I don't know really! What would you do, if you were me?" Kanae smiled mischievously. "I'd talk with Uneki right now.", "Luckily, he's not here." Kyoko sighed from relief. "Or so you think." The girl paled. "I'm sorry, but you must end this situation sooner or later. And the latter would only hurt both of you more, so I had to do something. See you later." Kanae waved to someone, smiled encouragingly for the last time and left the building.

'It can't be happening!' But it was. A few seconds later she heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. Kyoko raised her head and saw the last person she wanted to see right then. "Hello, Mogami-san." She noticed that he addressed her differently then he had done that day. It relieved her somehow. Kyoko was not ready for that kind of intimacy.

"Hi, Uneki-san!" She faked a smile, looking for a way to run away. Then he grabbed her hand. "Please, don't do that. You let me wait a little bit too much, so please, talk to me at least." The desperation in his voice made her shiver. She didn't know that he was already suffering thanks to her uncertainty. "OK." It was the only word that she was able to say loud. "Thanks." His smile was honest and bright. It seemed almost unnatural how quickly his aura changed.

"Um… I'm sorry for avoiding you!" Kyoko bowed a little, which looked slightly funny, since she was still sitting down. "I… I just… didn't know what to do any more." She looked at anyone, but him. "Hey, hey, don't be so down! I understand you completely and I should be the one to apologize, since it was me, who made things so difficult." "No, no! Don't think like that! It's my fault!" "No, it isn't. I was just too..." "No, it's all because of me and..." Finally they looked at each other and started to laugh. The tension was gone.

"How about we forget about that incident and try to act normally?" Uneki suggested, when they calmed down. "But how about your feeli..." "Please, don't think about it too much." He interrupted. "I realized that it was selfish of me to do… all of that stuff." He blushed, when he visualized that forced kiss. 'I hope it was not her first one.', "Anyway… let's just forget about it. I really appreciate our friendship." Kyoko nodded and wanted to bid her goodbye, glad about the turn of the events, when she remembered something.

"Um… the courses are over now, but I don't have too much to do and I was wondering, if there was a way that you might actually..." She took a deep breath. "… need someone to help you. I can do anything! Clean rooms after the lessons or help with moving some heavy boxes or anything… ." Uneki smiled again.

"I believe that we will find something that you would like to do."

AN2/ Hello everyone! I wanted this chapter to be a Christmas one, but… well… I need much more than 1000 words to express everything that is to happen between those two. So… I will post more soon. Let me introduce my new Beta Reader: Athena7787. You can tell that she is a big fish, since she is an author herself. If you didn't check her story "Reverse Cinderella" then it means that you have a lot to catch up ;). Anyway – I hope you have a great day and see you soon~!

Hello! I am Athena7787, the new beta reader for this story. I want to thank Cromarry for this opportunity. She is really a pleasure to work with. I am looking forward to producing more high quality stories with her!