I have learned my lesson. Never, ever, make a promise as to when I will update next. It will invariably not happen when I promised. Sorry for the delay. Here's the link to the cover I used this time. Again, remove spaces as logically appropriate.

I should probably mention that I don't own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

http:/eatmanga . com/Manga-Scan/Skip-Beat/Skip-Beat-003

Vol 1. Act 3

She giggled as she watched the last details being put on, resisting the urge to tap her fingernails against the counter and hear the satisfying click of lacquer on marble. The woman working on her fingers gave her another curious look, but Kyoko ignored it, flexing the fingers of her finished hand and admiring the colors and detail.

She had a date.

Alright. Moko-san would probably kill her if she called it that. But Moko-san also refused to let it be called the "best friend shopping trip of happiness" or the "fulfillment of my greatest dream with my best girl friend." So Kyoko, in her own mind, called it a date.

"Finished," the woman announced, stepping back to let Kyoko admire the finished results. The jubilant grin on her face, as sweet and unrestricted as only Kyoko could make it, made the beautician smile in return. It was always nice to have one's work appreciated, and this girl, for all her strangeness, knew how to appreciate hard work.

"Thank you," she breathed, still admiring her hands. "They're perfect!"

After a quick and rather painless payment process (Kyoko's paycheck had been delightfully, almost scandalously, large of late) Kyoko bowed yet another thanks and skipped out the door to the nearest bus stop, careful of her hands. All the way to LME she kept glancing down, wiggling her fingers and watching the shine reflect off the yellow and red design. When her stop arrived she bounded down the steps and continued skipping to work, causing a number of people to give her skeptical looks. A few of the passersby were LME workers coming off their lunch break, and they smiled indulgently as they watched her float by. Kyoko received mixed reactions when making first impressions, but anyone who knew her for long looked on her favorably. She was a gentle, painstaking girl, with a few quirks. But starlets that were humble and looked to be headed for the top of the entertainment industry could afford eccentricities. Especially when they were LoveMe members.

Slipping through the employee entrance, Kyoko greeted the head of the music department as he left for his own break. He smiled and asked her how she was doing, earning a gleeful account of her plans for the day. Since his own opinion of her best friend was that Kanae was a cold girl with little personality to balance her severe work ethic, he was able to sincerely wish Kyoko that he hoped she had fun. She thanked him and asked if he had any tasks for her, but reassured that he was fine, she made her way to the LoveMe changing room and lost herself for a full ten minutes in a blissful daydream of how her date with Moko would go.

"What are you doing?" demanded a chilly voice in the doorway. Kyoko immediately left off giggling and sharing a joke with her shirt (said garment standing in as Moko-san in Kyoko's fantasy) and rushed to greet her best friend. "Mo, stop that!" Kanae griped, holding Kyoko at arm's length.

"But Moko-san! I'm so glad to see you!"

"If you don't keep these disgusting displays to yourself, we are not going shopping together."

Kyoko's eyes grew wide with terror and her lip trembled, a dark aura swirling around her. "Disgusting?" Kanae winced. "Won't go?"

"Mo, just stop acting like an idiot and calling me Moko-san at the top of your voice. I'm an actress, and so are you. We have a public image to uphold."

"Yes!" Kyoko promised with a military salute. "I will do nothing to embarrass Moko-san."

"Whatever. Just get to work. We still have stuff to do before we can leave."

With that, Kyoko was off.

~…~

"Mogami-san." Kyoko turned as she heard the familiar voice. She bowed to Ren and looked behind him trying to spot his manager. "Yashiro isn't here just now," Ren explained as he saw her looking about.

"Oh. Good afternoon, Tsuruga-san."

"You did your nails," he noted, sorry that the bright flowery design was wasted while she wore her pink overalls.

"Oh yes," Kyoko said, smiling. "I have a date with Moko-san."

To anyone else, this statement might have been shocking, but Ren was only amused as he watched the look of horror dawn on her face as Kyoko realized what she had just said.

"I'm glad," he told her, his composure making her look at him oddly. "It's nice when you get to spend time with your best friend. Are you going shopping?"

"Oh, yes," Kyoko answered cheerfully. "Only, do you think you could-"

"Not mention the word 'date' to her?" he supplied. Kyoko smiled gratefully.

"Please?"

"I'll take your secret to my grave," he promised. Kyoko thanked him and turned to leave. "By the way," he stopped her, "are all your shopping trips dates, or only ones with your best friend?"

"Just with Moko-san," she told him. "There are special circumstances."

"I see." Kyoko cocked her head, trying to decide if he had actually just sounded disappointed. "I'll see you again some other time, Mogami-san."

"Goodbye."

~…~

The auburn haired girl slurped the last of her soda and sighed contentedly. Beside her were a jumble of bags, more than she had ever dreamed she would be able to purchase in one trip, and across from her was her best friend.

"This is the best," she sighed as she stared dreamily at Kanae, who winced and glanced around to make sure no one was watching them. Inwardly, she was pleased, but she was also nervous. Being Kyoko's best friend was gratifying and terrifying. You never knew what she would do next.

"Well, I'm glad you're happy," she grumbled. "I just ate way too much for dinner, so there's no way I'm having dessert." Kyoko's eyes started watering.

"No ice cream?"

"No," Kanae told her resolutely.

"But… but-"

"No 'buts.' We've had plenty to eat."

"We always have ice cream," Kyoko mumbled, poking her chopsticks at her remaining food, then glancing up at her friend. "Always."

"Oh," Kanae groaned, a vein twitching as she watched the wounded puppy face, "fine. We can have ice cream."

There was an explosion of joy from the other end of the table and Kanae had to threaten to leave to get Kyoko to calm down. Now they were attracting a lot of attention.

"I'm sorry," Kyoko whispered penitently. "I won't do it again."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Fine, then we can head to one last store."

Kyoko gathered her bags with a grin and practically floated to their last stop. The boutique did not really cater to Kyoko's sweet, modest style, but she instantly set to work finding things for Kanae to try on. After a dozen outfits had been assessed and discarded, mostly due to overpricing, Kanae found a blouse that she liked and a pair of shoes that were on such a good sale it would be blasphemous to not buy them.

"They'll go great with at least half the stuff I bought today," she commented. Kyoko nodded in complete agreement.

"You get to wear the nicest things," she sighed wistfully. "You're so beautiful and mature-"

"Please, like you couldn't wear everything I bought today."

"No. I'm too short," Kyoko insisted.

"We aren't that different in height."

"And I look so young," she added sadly. Kanae snorted.

"You look as young as you want to. No one thought that Natsu was immature."

"Natsu wore lots of make-up."

"Mo, stop whining and try something on."

"Oh, I couldn't-"

"After all the torture you put me through, yes you can. And you will."

"But-" Ignoring her friend's protests, Kanae grabbed an outfit of the nearest rack and shoved Kyoko towards the changing room, throwing the clothes in after her.

"And don't come out again until you're wearing it," she ordered with a snap. There was a mumbled protest, but Kyoko exited in a few moments, wearing dark slacks and a crimson button up. She fiddled nervously with the buttons and looked bashfully at her friend.

"It just doesn't suit me," she insisted, shifting on her feet. Kanae snorted and handed Kyoko the shoes they had found. In spite of their difference in height, their shoe size was the same, and Kyoko obediently put them on. She squeaked in shock and horror when Kanae, in a burst of irrational inspiration, reached out and unbuttoned two of her top buttons and one of her bottom ones. "Moko-san!"

"Mo, shut up and stop whining. Just pretend you're someone else. Pretend you're me." Kyoko suddenly brightened and giggled.

"Moko-san would never wear her shirt like this," she pointed out. Kanae shrugged.

"And I'm not letting you run around like that either. But someday you might have to play a character that dresses in clothes you don't care for. So show me you can do it."

Kyoko bit her tongue to prevent herself from giving away that she already had taken a role that had made her as uncomfortable as she could possibly be in terms of costuming. Today's shopping trip was partly a repayment to Kanae for still not telling her anything about the dangerous mission Kyoko had been given. So she shrugged and slid into a character that she felt might fit the outfit.

Kanae would never get bored of watching Kyoko act. More than shopping, she wished she could spend all day in some sort of masquerade with Kyoko where they could test each others acting skills. Especially if she could get Kyoko to play a much less exuberant friend. She would have to settle for this. In less than a moment the shy, modest girl was gone to be replaced with a spunky, careless, fashionable female. The eyes became sharper, her stance subtly more provocative, and her limitless charisma almost felt like a physical presence. She set her legs apart and threw her arms behind her head, letting out a happy sigh.

"This," she declared firmly, but in a moderately decorous voice, "is the best shopping trip ever. We are amazing, Kanae."

The use of her given name took Kanae aback, and secretly delighted her. She kept her face stern however.

"Of course we're the best. What kind of stupid statement is that?" she retorted, softening the statement with a smile. Kyoko's answering grin was bright and she shrugged in passive answer to Kanae's question. After a bit more banter back and forth, they started to get a few looks and Kanae decided it was time to wrap up. "You should change back. We need to pay for my stuff and then head home before the last bus leaves."

"Oh, alright," Kyoko huffed as she turned back to the dressing room.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kanae demanded, trying to hide her inner concern that she had offended her friend. She was surprised by the undisturbed and slightly ironic smile that Kyoko cast over her shoulder.

"I've worn worse," she promised before disappearing. Kanae stood outside, jaw agape.

~…~

"So, how was your date?" Kyoko let out a squeak and spun around in her chair. Ren was leaning against the doorway of the LoveMe room, smiling at her in his teasing way.

"Don't say that," she hissed. "You promised."

"I promised I would never say it to Kotonami-san. So, how was it?" Kyoko sniffed disdainfully, turning back to her work with her nose in the air.

"Much better than shopping with you," she told him in stern tones. "Moko-san has much better taste than you do. And she doesn't shamelessly try and buy me ten pairs of pants!" Ren chuckled.

"And when," demanded a menacing voice, "have you gone clothes shopping with him?" Ren glanced over his shoulder to receive a glare from the cold-eyed beauty behind him. He heard Kyoko whimper and mumble something unintelligible. "I can't hear you, Kyoko."

"It was a date," Ren said casually, stepping around Kanae with a smirk. "I have work. I'll see you later, Mogami-san."

"Tsuruga-san!" she wailed as he walked away.

"Well?" Kanae demanded. Kyoko whimpered.

And end chapter four. I really hope that you are enjoying these shorts. I know they are not fantastic, but I hope that they are improving as I go along. I'm trying to get more comfortable with different kinds of writing. And I want to explore all the silly little plots in my head that never grow up into full stories.

Thanks to Will for her hard work. She was ill this past week and had to put up with much whining from me, begging for her to edit this, which she did in spite of her sore throat and difficulty breathing. So special kudos to her this chapter.

Thanks to people who are actually reviewing. It's nice to know that you care.