Chapter 3: BJ

Disclaimer: Me still no own Skip Beat. If I did, I would bring Ren back in the manga already!

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The backlash of Fuwa Sho's announcement that he's 'smittened' by some actress filled some heavy discussion on forums and blogs dedicated to him. There are some who are in despair but most gush about how nice it was that 'Sho-tan' has a romantic side along with some heavy speculation about the identity of the actress.

Sho was actually quite glad about how things were going. He is being talked about now – fans, show business gossips programs and an entertainment reporter asking him about the actress that he liked.

Of course, considering that he's hot property in Akatori Agency whose fanbase was primarily single, teenage females and even though his latest album has been getting him a wider audience, he received quite a scolding from the higher-ups about doing something unprecedented like that. Of course, he had to defend himself by saying that it was his life and he can do whatever he wanted. Then he had to endure another half-hour of lectures about today's entertainment industry and how celebrities are being marketed to the public as a package. It doesn't matter how talented he was a musician – if the fans lose their love for the image that is Fuwa Sho, he won't be able to sell anymore albums. And that would have been a waste of his talent.

Of course, he knew that. He's not stupid. Apart from creating music that had rave reviews critics gave him, he loved the attention that his fans gave him. Wasn't that why he walked out on his parents to run off to Tokyo for?

So he was made to promise to inform, at the very least his manager, if he was going to be doing anything of the sort again. So at least, Akatori would know how to spin it in such a way that it wouldn't ruin his career or image that they can do something about it in order for him to have a peaceful relationship with whatever girl he's after. And considering that the girl is also a celebrity, he should have been thinking about her welfare too. Spin it? This was his personal life! And he was thinking about her. That's why he never said her name.

It's not even that he's going to be doing anything about it. He's not exactly going to be running around Tokyo following Kyoko around with a bouquet of flowers, serenading her love songs. In addition to it not fitting his image, he knew very well how Kyoko would react to them.

After all, she's no longer the sweet little doormat that he brought to Tokyo – he wouldn't have been able to live with another version of his mother. Which is why he started looking at her in a totally different light when she charged him in the dressing room in TBM Studios when she confronted him about those plagiaristic idiots Vie Ghoul. She came to him like a cute little girl, but was bursting with confidence and rage. The words were different but it was the same girl – the same girl who knows him best just as much as he was guy who knows her best.

Now is nowhere near the time where they would finally settle their feelings for one another. She's not going to be swayed with his real feelings for her.

The purpose of that thing with the interview and the scolding that he endured were just merely to re-establish is position in her heart. He didn't really want to torment her but until the time comes when she's ready to face him because she has reached the top, he can't let anyone have that spot.

He sat down on his couch and turned on the TV and saw a wide shot of Kyoko, sitting in a karaoke box couch, her arms and legs crossed to reveal a gleeful but cold smile as the camera slowly panned to her face. "You were good there," she said. "Absolutely wonderful."

Seriously??? All this beauty was underneath that unattractive girl who doesn't even wear make-up? Under that raggly tomboy in a blinding pink uniform that came to his PV shoot for 'Prisoner'? Under that scary witch in Karuizawa? Was this pretty, confident Kyoko the result of attention she was getting from that jerk Tsuruga Ren? Has that moron been putting his hands on what belongs to him???

He made a grab for his phone. When the answer came through… "Shoko?" he started. "It's me. I want to know what studio Box 'R' is being shot."

* * *

"I don't like it," Yukihito frowned at him, his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back against the chair.

"Huh?" Ren blinked and looked down at the beer he just set on the table. "You always drink this. Should I get a different one?"

"How can you live with yourself leaving Kyoko-chan just like that in Tokyo?"

"Yukihito-san," Ren answered, knowing where the direction was headed and tried to avoid it. Again. For the last four days. "We properly dropped Mogami-san off and waited for her to get inside her place before leaving. Her body temperature was normal. She checked. It's not like we kicked her off the car onto the side of the road while the car was still running and drove off."

"No," Yukihito-san pushed back his glasses. "I won't let you avoid it this time. I'm wondering why you didn't at least do something about the Fuwa Sho problem."

"What Fuwa Sho problem? There is no Fuwa Sho problem. If there is, that's his problem. Not Mogami-san's. Not mine."

"Are you in denial?" his manager freaked. "Ren, I hate to tell you this. But someday, Kyoko-chan will no longer be there for you."

No longer… there???

"She's an extremely talented and hard working actress who is growing prettier and more confident everyday. She is getting more and more exposure and attention," Yukihito reached for the can of beer and opened it.

"Isn't that good? That's the basic thing about being in the entertainment industry, isn't it? More so for her since she's in the Love Me Section."

Yukihito-san ignored his attempt on a change in topic. "Right now, I can still play around your schedule just so you can see her on days when she's in LME because she's not as busy as you," Yukihito-san scolded. Ren looked up at him. He's been doing that deliberately? "But one day, she will be as busy as you and even I will not be able to find chances for you two. Why aren't you exploiting the advantageous position you are in right now?"

"What advantageous position?" Ren asked bewilderedly. If he was lucky, he sees her once in a week not counting Dark Moon shoots – no, luck had nothing to do with it. It was an orchestrated show ran by his own manager. She runs to him only when needs advice on acting – a craft she was so dedicated to that she stands outside his building until two in the morning in the middle of winter. She never turns to him whenever she has personal problems – even to the point when she's scared beyond anything, she never tells him. She only worries about him when she has caused him inconvenience. She's doesn't even treat him like a friend, only as a highly regarded senpai who will give her a proper scolding when she feels like she's being a brat. How is that an advantage?

"The position where you are the only guy who occupies her time and whose opinions she values!" He exasperatedly leaned back and took a sip of the beer. "You might think that all she sees you as right now is a senpai, but that can and will change if you let it."

"So what are you saying?" Ren said, opening his own can of beer. "That I should have dropped all the work I have this week and start following a high school girl around like some weird stalker?"

"You know I didn't mean that," Yukihito-san stared at him. "Sooner or later, if you don't make a move, she might end up looking at you like a brother. And one day, when she finally gets herself a boyfriend, you will be introduced as a father."

"A father?" How the hell did the conversation turn to this?

"That's right. A father," he said, setting the beer on the table. "You guided her, taken care of her, spoiled her, doted on her… Someday, some guy will come and would want to do those things in your place. And you'll end up being the scary father who will always find fault and never approve of that guy. All because you don't believe that anyone in this world is good enough for your precious girl other than you."

"Oh really?" Ren said in a non-committal tone, lifting the remote control to switch on the TV to make the point that the conversation is over. It was a long day of shooting and he just spent 30 minutes in the shower just to calm himself down. It's good that starting tomorrow, he would have another week off this shoot to return to the normalcy that being Tsuruga Ren is. Keeping up the air of mystery, unlike in other projects he has worked on, he did not spend time in the hotel bar with the other actors. He was only glad Yukihito-san was there to hang around with. He would have gone insane if he was just left alone. But with Yukihito-san's current obsession with Mogami-san and Fuwa, he's starting to regret inviting him to his room for a drink.

He clicked on the power button and the first thing they see is a wide shot of Mogami-san, sitting in a karaoke box couch, her arms and legs crossed to reveal a gleeful but cold smile as the camera slowly panned to her face. "You were good there," she said. "Absolutely wonderful."

The demonic icicle they were seeing was not the Mogami-san that they knew, but Ren and Yukihito-san have already seen a worse episode – or perhaps they have already gotten over the shock of what kind of character Natsu really is. But demonic icicle or not, it doesn't alter the fact that Mogami-san on the screen was mesmerizingly beautiful. Even when she was knocked out by her medication, she looked like a peaceful angel. He couldn't leave her alone so he ended up on the other bed and stayed there until he was lulled to sleep.

Yukihito-san narrowed his eyes at the screen. "What did I tell you? Prettier and more confident everyday and getting more and more exposure… I hope you're the type who can wait in line when all the guys start paying attention to her. And I'm not just talking about Fuwa Sho. You don't honestly believe that a seventeen-year old who still believes in fairies will close her heart forever for the sake of some idiot who was never good enough for her in the first place."

* * *

"Natsu!" Kaori called out to her as she sat on her desk.

"What is it, Kaori?" Natsu leaned toward her.

They were seated in the 'classroom' waiting for the scene to be prepared and for Marumi-chan to return from costume and make-up. Everyone was just hanging around, joking. Of course, as though a scene was running, no one came near Natsu because they fear her wrath. Especially with what happened earlier in the shoot before she arrived.

Natsu was fuming because she was scolded by the director, telling her not to encourage any visitors on set after being informed that when she arrived this afternoon that Fuwa Sho came on set looking for her the day before. She didn't even have for a scheduled shoot yesterday. She wished that she had been there when he came by. He would have been shown firsthand what Level 5 really means.

"Did you see this?" Kaori held out her phone to her.

"What is it?" Natsu stared at her phone, which was opened to an Internet streamed video. Any diversion is diversion after all. She was supposed to be a good girl in the next scene.

"It's a leak of the movie that they're releasing at the end of the year," she smiled as she scrolled it to start the video again for her. "It's in one of the movie blogs. It's about a murder mystery centering at a serial killer."

Someone nearby muttered, "Thanks a lot for giving her more ideas, Makino-san."

The screen was small and the video quality was bad – it was dim and obviously taken with a camera phone, but Natsu can see the silhouette of the actor with a vague (due to video quality) look of cold, hard steel as he took the victim's life and felt the aura of menace from him. "What do you know about this movie?" she asked wanting to know. She was enthralled by what she was seeing.

"There isn't much information about it," Kaori shrugged. "There isn't even an announced title for it yet. All the blog said is that it's a movie about a serial killer named BJ and how he wreaks havoc all over Tokyo. Even the actor who plays him is being kept under wraps under the name 'Actor X'."

"BJ…" Natsu chinked her eyes with her smile as she repeated the video. "I like him. A Level 6."

"Huh?" Kaori exclaimed in surprise. "We only go up to Level 5."

Natsu gave her friend a sweet smile. "That's because no one gets killed." Then she turned back to the video.

"Crap," someone muttered from behind them whispered.

"O-oh? Really?" Kaori nervously laughed.

"I'm joking, Kaori."

"Yes, well… of course you are," she straightened up. "You seemed to be really into that video. You like him?"

Natsu gave her a surprised look. "How could you not?" she turned back to the small screen and smiled. "He's hot and he's… sexy," she said as she tapped a fingernail on the screen.

"Ooh... then Natsu has a crush!"

"Can't I?"

"Alright, everyone!" the assistant director called their attention. "While we're waiting for Marumi-chan. I'd like to announce that we're going to be shooting the class trip episode next week," he announced. "We leave Tuesday and will stay there until Sunday. All underaged actors, please have the permission slips from your parents and guardians in before Wednesday."

"Where's the shoot going to be?" Kaori asked.

"Kyoto."

While a lot of the cast members were ecstatic, some of the younger cast gave hisses and boos.

"Eh? Why Kyoto? Can't we just have a beach class trip?"

"Or an onsen?"

"Yeah!" one of the boys called out. "I want to see Marumi-chan in a bathing suit!"

"Eeh? Why me?" Marumi-san cried out as she walked in the set.

"Quiet!" the director said. "This is a class trip episode. Class trip equals educational."

"Kyoto, Natsu!" Kaori turned to her. "We're going to Kyoto! I've never been there before!"

Natsu just continued to look at the phone's video, still looking at the brutal slaying. Observation and recording are essential skills of an actor after all. But not for Natsu. She would never do anything this messy.

But at the back of her mind, she was thinking… Going to Kyoto? It seems like a lot of fun. After all, it is the place where she grew up.

* * *

Later, when Natsu's soul loitered around as Kyoko dressed up in her Bo costume for Kimagure Rock, a new message came through her phone. She read and narrowed her eyes. She immediately opened a new message. 'Tsuruga-san,' she typed. 'I think you sent it to the wrong number but I hope to see you soon too.' Once she sent it, she moved to delete the wrongly sent message when the assistant director peeked in the door. "Kyoko-chan! The guest is ready!"

"OK!" she exclaimed, setting the mobile phone into her purse and she grabbed Bo's head and headed for the guest dressing rooms.

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Chapter 3 Notes:

- I call it a filler chapter. Especially since nothing's known about BJ yet – except for the fact that he's a serial killer in a movie filled with darkness – and I didn't want to make any other assumptions. But I had to write about him because… well, he is one of the men in Kyoko's life. ^▽^ This is what I get for posting it per chapter before finishing it. I already declared it seven guys. Crap, now I have to fulfill the obligation.

- I'm not doing any better in terms of word count for this chapter either. Oh well...

- I also highlighted the word four up there because I have to establish the timeline well enough.

- In my head, especially how Chapter 135 of the manga ended up being, I think that Natsu is going to like BJ very, very much. I still have to know how normal Kyoko would react to BJ. However, if I'm wrong, boo-hoo to me. This is fanfiction anyway.

- Again, thanks to all who sent in their reviews: DemonicHime (lol... I thought you're one of those people who still haven't read the manga and is living off the anime. anyway, false sourires already wrote something about that. if i did that, that would be plaigarism.), mangaddict300, miss_understood777, Devilshduck (and who said this is going to be a kyoko X ren story? XD), stice73 (really??? you think so??? i'm just making it all up as I go along.) Also thanks to everyone who have placed alerts on this story (and there's a lot of you guys) - Now I'm feeling the pressure.

- The new chapter will be up in a couple of days again. Three days at most. Promise that the story will really be rolling by then... o/