Chapter 6: The Photograph

The Story so far: Kuon has finally drifted off to sleep after his first day in the mental hospital left him feeling isolated. Not too far away Kyoko is having embarrassing dreams about him as she sleeps peacefully in his trench coat.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters… But you all knew that anyways.

Tuesday morning in the psychiatric hospital…

Kuon was pulled from his restless dreams by the sensation of having his forehead repeatedly poked. He blinked slowly as he tried to process what was going on. Kenji was standing above him with a wide grin on his face while Ryu stared at him like he had done something very interesting. Next to Kenji, Yoshi glanced away guiltily as he pretended he wasn't about to poke Kuon one more time for good measure. Kuon glared up at them halfheartedly and their smiles seemed to wilt.

"You didn't sleep very well did you?" Kenji asked, his chipper tone adding to Kuon's irritation.

"No." Kuon's voice was harsher than intended.

"Now. Now. Don't get grumpy with us." Kenji started. "Just be glad we're waking you up before the doctor gets here. What would Doctor Kei say if she saw you sleeping on the floor huddled in a pile of blankets?" Ren looked down to find himself covered with not one blanket but four in a tight wrap of cloth.

"You were talking in your sleep and crying." Yoshi explained as Ryu nodded in agreement.

"So you gave me your blankets?" Kuon asked as his irritation subsided and confusion took its place.

"You were shivering too." Yoshi added.

Ryu walked closer and knelt on the floor to bring his face level with Kuon's. "You were dreaming of your woman weren't you? I could tell from the way you said her name."

Kuon nodded as he felt new tears threaten to spill from his eyes. We always dream of her.

"So what's she like?" Ryu questioned as he looked at Kuon expectantly. "The woman you cryed out for in your dreams… She must be pretty special."

Kuon tried to speak around the lump that seemed to have formed in his throat. "She is special. She is… She is… well…" His head drooped as his words failed him and he let out a frustrated sigh.

Ryu looked at Kuon with understanding. "You aren't ready to talk about her are you?"

Kuon just shook his downturned head.

"That's Ok. But remember you have to talk to Doctor Kei about her today." Kuon lifted his head to look drearily at Ryu as he continued. "Because that was your goal for yesterday. And it has to get done today, because you'll be back out in the world at this time tomorrow."

Kuon's mind went blank as he tried to remember why that last piece of information seemed so important. His eyes widened and a sharp inhale accompanied his realization. Kyoko is coming to get me tomorrow.

Back in Cain's hotel room…

The alarm on the bedside table sprung to life, blaring a rock song Kyoko had never heard before. Slamming her hand down on the off button and bolting into an upright position, she looked around the room in a panic. Where am I? What am I doing here?

The realization was slow as she took in her surroundings. She was in a hotel room. Alone. The blankets had been thrown off the bed in a haphazard manner and she sat wrapped in Cain's trench coat like a small child borrowing her father's clothes. A blush crept quickly up her cheeks as she remembered how she had ended up in this situation. As her natural pale complexion transitioned to cherry blossom pink, she remembered wrapping Ren's scent around her and drifting off to sleep feeling like the luckiest woman alive. Now however, she scolded herself. What were you thinking sleeping in his clothes?!

Kyoko straightened her back and cupped her face in her hands. Slapping her cheeks lightly with both hands she started talking to herself. "Ok. I can't dwell on this. Cain needs Setsu. So that is exactly what he is going to get." She closed her eyes and counted backwards 5, 4, 3, 2, 1… She opened her eyes again… and was still Kyoko. It's not working. I can't concentrate on becoming Setsuaka. I just keep thinking about Tsuruga-san.

Misery seemed to seep out of Kyoko as she went about Setsuka's normal morning routine. First, she tended to her skin. Then she walked over to Setsuka's suit case and started to dig through the bag to look for an outfit. She had managed to get a pair of tight pants almost all the way on before she remembered the blistering heat outside. Reluctantly Kyoko pulled the leather pants back off of her slender frame and traded them for a pair of form fitting black shorts. Once she was dressed she just had to brush her hair, do her makeup, and somehow get back into character before going to face Cain's co-workers at breakfast.

Ten minutes later Kyoko found herself standing in front of a full length mirror in the hotel room entryway. Her hair was artfully messy, her makeup practically perfect, and she still had no idea how to get into Setsuka's character. Too many other thoughts swirled through her mind as she sank further into a miasma of her own self-loathing.

I'm SOOOooooOOOOoooo Sorry Tsuruga-senpai! I'm unworthy of being your kohai! I keep doing embarrassing things: I turned into Setsuka in the middle of an audition because I was worried about you; I got in a fight with Murasame because he insulted you; I slept in your clothes because I missed you; and now I can't get into character because I keep picturing how disappointed you are going to be when you find about what I did. Love really does make you do stupid things.

Mid-morning in the psychiatric hospital common room…

Kuon watched Yoshi as the teen excitedly watched the clock. Over breakfast Yoshi had delighted in telling Kuon that room 205 had control of the communal TV from 10am to noon every Tuesday. So it wasn't surprising at all to see the teen counting down the seconds until he could ask the nurse to turn on the TV and change it to the only Japanese channel broadcast in Guam.

As the second hand finished its revolution Yoshi stood and looked expectantly at the nurse in the far corner of the room. She nodded to him and grabbed the TV remote off of her desk. "Same channel as usual Yoshi?"

"Yes please!"

The TV flickered to life and Kuon felt himself smiling as Yoshi scampered off to sit in front of the large black box. Picking up his coffee Kuon joined the excited teen on the couch as a Japanese entertainment news program started up. Kuon recognized the hosts and cringed. The last time he had seen them they had been trying to get Ren to admit to sleeping with one of his co-stars in the drama Purple Down. He hadn't slept with her of course, but the hosts were far more interested in creating scandal than any real entertainment news.

Kuon was unimpressed. Yoshi on the other hand, was captivated as the hosts talked about 'the stars biggest secrets'. A few minutes later all of the residents of room 205 sat together in front of the TV as the hosts of the show made wild accusations about a number of the top talents in Japan. Kuon didn't really want to watch the show, but he couldn't seem to pull his eyes away from it either.

The program was almost over when Doctor Kei entered the common room and tapped Kuon on the shoulder. "Kuon," she whispered, "After this show ends I'd like to talk to you a little more. Would that be Ok?"

Kuon answered in the affirmative and then turned back to watch the last 3 minutes of the show.

"We'd like to end our show with a warning to all of Japan's entertainment stars. Just because you are filming overseas, doesn't mean we aren't watching you." The male host of the show seemed to really be enjoying the buildup and for a moment Kuon wondered if Ren's secret was about to be unveiled. He could see the headlines now "Tsuruga Ren revealed to be son of movie icon Hizuri Kuu after a mishap on set led him to be admitted to an insane asylum'. On second thought that might be a little long for a headline. The reality was so much worse than that. At least for Kuon.

The female host smiled sweetly. "That said. We would still like to congratulate Taira Murasume on his stunning new girlfriend."

Kuon felt the coffee cup fall from his hand as his jaw dropped. Not even one second later his anger overwhelmed his momentary shock. On the screen in vivid color was a photograph of Setsuka with Murasame's hands on her waist.

In the photo Murasame was looking down at her with lust clearly written across his face as she looked back up at him with her hands balled in the collar of his shirt. She was leaning into him as if she were trying to crawl up his body; her right knee pressed between his legs and her hips tilted forward as if she intended to grind them against him. Her left leg was supporting her body weight as it created a sensuous long line of flesh from her dainty foot up to the lacy edge of her black panties. Her tousled hair made it look as though she had just rolled out of bed and Kuon could barely see the tank top she wore through the thick mass of blonde locks that fell around her.

Kuon felt his blood boil. Kyoko was too innocent for this and Setsuka would never make an advance on any man other than her brother. Murasame took advantage of Kyoko. Pure, innocent, trusting, Kyoko.

"I'll Fucking Kill Him!" Kuon rumbled as he rose to his feet. His voice was quiet, but the menace in it resonated through the room. His roommates scattered at the sound and all other eyes turned to watch him. "How Dare He Touch Her!"

Kuon stood before the TV with every muscle in his body taut. His limbs shook visibly as he fought off the urge to smash the TV to dust. His eyes held a dark light and as he looked out on the other occupants of the room he knew that they would never be able to look at him the same way again. Kuon recognized that look in their eyes.

Real fear. Not the shadow of fear the Cain evoked, but real fear; the kind of fear that paralyzed people and turned their lives into waking nightmares. He had forgotten that look. Intentionally erased it from his memories. I never wanted this. I never wanted to be a monster. I only ever wanted to protect myself. I only want to protect her.

The world around Kuon seemed to be losing color as he sunk into his own inner darkness. To protect the woman he loved from himself, he willed the darkness to swallow him whole.

Kuon! Ren's screamed in their head. Stop!

You were right. She isn't safe with us. She isn't safe with me.

No Kuon! I was wrong!

Ren's words never reached him. Kuon wasn't listening anymore. He was transfixed by his memories as they took form and played like silent movies before him in the all-consuming darkness.

Doctor Kei stood frozen in place. Fear. She thought to herself as she forced her mind into action. No this is more intense than fear. This is terror. The doctor had worked in a hospital for the criminally insane for nearly 15 years before transferring to this facility. Yet in all her years of working with murderers, torturers, and rapists this was only the second time she had felt this level of mind numbing, body paralyzing terror.

The man who invoked a similar terror was the very reason she had left that hospital. He wasn't crazy. He just knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that he was the scariest thing in existence. And he wore that knowledge like a badge of honor. Even heavily sedated and tied up in a straitjacket, his presence was enough to make the doctor's skin crawl. He was the only person she had ever met that had literally scared someone to death.

Every fiber of the doctor's being told her to flee from Kuon. Yet she held her ground as the other people in the room fell to pieces. Despite the overwhelming aura of violence, Kuon hadn't made a single move towards anyone. He seemed to have no interest at all in what anyone else was doing. Rather it looked like he was folding in on himself, trying to raise the same walls Doctor Kei had seen him build around himself the day before.

The doctor watched as the young man in front of her pulled his walls securely back in place and bowed deeply. Without looking up Ren addressed the occupants of the room. "I'm terribly sorry about my outburst. I have been playing the role of serial killer for my next movie and I seem to have lost myself for a moment."

Around that same time in Cain's hotel room…

Kyoko stood at the foot of the bed with her hands on her hips, trying to mimic Setsuka. Laid out on the bed before her was an assortment of Cain's clothing and Setsuka's largest purse. She sighed in defeat as she sunk into the arm chair in the corner of the room.

She had spent the last hour and a half trying to do things that Setsuka would do in order to get back in character. It just wasn't working. In a final act of desperation she had decided to try to pack a bag for Cain. At the time it had seemed like something Setsuka would do. She would definitely have thought to bring clean clothes for her brother to change into after he checked out of the hospital… But the more Kyoko considered it, the less likely it seemed that Setsuka would actually do that.

She might pack a bag, but she would probably forget to bring it with her the next morning. Then there was the problem of not actually having a bag big enough to pack Cain's clothes in. None of Setsuka's purses were large enough to fit a pair of Cain's pants no matter how tightly Kyoko folded them up. There was also the problem of the 'get well' gift that President Takarada insisted she take with her. The President had been quite adamant that the gift needed to be delivered before anyone else could see Cain… But once the little box had been stuffed in Setsuka's purse, she couldn't fit anything else in the bag except for her foundation compact and a small hair brush.

A knock at the door redirected Kyoko's attention from her packing dilemma. Figuring it was probably a maid with the hotel Kyoko stood and walked over to the door to ask them to come back later. As she approached she heard another knock and a familiar voice.

"Setsuka-san?" Director Konoe spoke through the door. "I'm getting ready to go to set but I wanted to check on you since you didn't come down for breakfast. I don't think it's healthy to lock yourself up in your room like this." He paused. "Actually we are working with a large group of extras today and I was thinking that you might like the opportunity to act in your brother's movie."

That was an offer Setsuka just couldn't refuse. Her soul wrapped itself around Kyoko like a second skin and she called back to the director. "Just let me get my coat." With that Setsuka sauntered over to the bed and wrapped Cain's trench coat around her once again. Because this is what Setsuka would do. Kyoko reassured herself as she basked in the memories of Ren's embrace once more. Because she is his. And he is hers.

The psychiatric hospital after 'the incident'…

Ren sat alone in Doctor Kei's office as the sounds of a heated argument filtered through the heavy door. It had taken nearly 2 hours for the staff to put the hospital back in order after Kuon's outburst. Several of the patients had fainted in place and needed to be carried back to their beds. A number of others were found hiding in various places after they had fled the community room. The few in the room that had remained conscious seemed to be too scared to even explain what had happened. As the doctors and nurses tried to coax the information out of them more than one of the patients started weeping openly.

At the end of the damage control effort all of the patients were back in their rooms and the hospital had used an alarming large amount of its sedative supply. Now the staff was trying to sort out the particulars of what had happened. There had been three nurses in the community room at the time of 'the incident' as it was now being called, but two of them had fainted along with the patients. The last nurse had just looked at Ren while the doctors asked her what had happened and screamed at the top of her lungs when he stood from his bow.

Doctor Kei it seemed was the only one who retained some of her composure; though she had still visibly flinched away from Ren as she led him down to her office. Now she stood in the hallway justifying her decision to bring Ren to her office instead of immediately locking him away. "He isn't a threat." She shouted.

"Isn't a threat?!" Another doctor yelled in disbelief. "You said yourself he threatened to kill someone!"

"Plenty of people make threats they'll never act on. He was angry but he never moved to act on that anger."

"Never moved to act?! You saw Victoria's face as she stared at him. She was absolutely terrified. We have an entire hospital full of near comatose patients because of one interaction with that man. And you expect us to let something like That walk the halls?!"

"Kuon is an actor. That is just one of his characters. He saw his fellow actors on screen and got over excited. That's all."

You're wrong Doctor Kei. Ren thought to himself. It's because he was holding Kyoko.

In their head Kuon watched as his younger self turned around in slow motion. He had heard the rev of the engine and sickening sound of breaking bones. Then he saw Rick lying motionless in the street as his blood flowed onto the asphalt. The vehicle that stole Rick's life was long gone but it didn't change the fact that Kuon knew who it was. He stood there frozen on the side of street as Rick's girlfriend ran to hold the man's broken body in her arms. "Murderer!" She screamed at Kuon and he knew it was true.

This was the 6th time Kuon had watched the scene since he retreated inside the darkness. Losing Rick had devastated him when it first happened, but as time went on it haunted him more and more. I was supposed to be the one that died that day. The driver was aiming for me. If Rick hadn't chased me into the street he would still be alive.

Elsewhere, on the set of Tragic Marker…

Murasame looked skeptically over at Director Konoe as he instructed Setsuka on how to play one of BJ's victims. It had surprised Murasame when the director suddenly announced that she would be acting in today's scenes. In the weeks spent filming with Cain, the actor's little sister never showed any interest in anything that didn't directly involve her brother. Yet today she was supposed to be an actress. She even had a line. If you call screaming for help a line.

Of course Murasame barely recognized the girl now that she had been to wardrobe and makeup. While she was usually a disinterested gothic beauty she looked almost normal in jeans and a t-shirt with her hair pulled up in high ponytail. Well maybe not totally normal. Even with light makeup that was supposed to make her look 'natural' she was still Setsuka. She carried herself with an air of indifference and even when people spoke directly to her she seemed to look past them as if they weren't really there. For her no one but her brother existed.

After settling into his chair by the camera the director spoke to the assembled actors. "Ok places everyone. Extras remember not to push Murasame-san, Manaka-san, or Setsuka-san forward with you as you run away from BJ. They need to be at the back of the group. Ok… Ready… and… action."

All of the actors surged forward with looks of horror on their faces as they rounded a corner and started running directly towards the camera as if they were being chased. Murasame ran at the back of the group as he pulled Manaka along behind him. Setsuka ran slightly in front of them and all three of them lagged a few steps behind the escaping extras. According to the plot line Manaka's character was injured so she needed help to run, but Setsuka's character was just unfortunate enough to be wearing 5 inch high heeled sneakers when the undead serial killer appeared.

Murasame watched as Setsuka suddenly tripped. She fell to her knees with her hands splayed out before her as panic marred her beautiful face.

"Oh my god! Setsuka are you ok?" Manaka squealed as she stopped mid scene to try to help the fallen woman.

The look on Setsuka's face transitioned from panicked to disbelieving as she blinked up at Manaka. "Did you really just stop the scene so you could check if I was Ok?" Setsuka questioned as her expression got darker.

Manaka nodded. "Of course. The wellbeing of all of the actors on set is important."

"So… You stopped the scene where I was supposed to trip and desperately try to scramble to safety… because you saw me trip?" Setsuka's tone got colder with every sentence that followed. "It's not exactly easy to fall in high heels without hurting yourself. So I'd appreciate if we could do this scene in as few takes as possible. Though I recognize it might be hard for second rate talent like yourself."

Manaka drew back from Setsuka like she had been slapped and Murasame stepped in between the two. "You were acting?" He asked with uncertainty in his voice. I was sure she had really hurt herself.

Setsuka's gaze shifted up to Murasame . "Well, I am my brother's sister." She answered in her normal sultry voice. "Of course my acting puts the rodent's to shame." Inhaling deeply she spoke again, her voice saturating with desire. "I just can't wait to act with my brother."

Doctor Kei's office 3 hours after 'the incident'…

"Kuon?" The doctor asked as she walked into her office flanked by three muscle bound orderlies.

"He's not available at the moment. Can I take a message?" Ren responded flatly.

"Then who are you?" The doctor questioned as she settled into her high backed chair.

Ren looked at the slight woman from his perch as he considered how to answer. He had wheeled the armless office chair into the far corner of the room and now sat with his back to the wall. The chair was spun around the opposite direction and his legs straddled the backrest as he hugged it to his chest. He looked every bit the gentlemanly model he was supposed to be. "Tsuruga Ren." He answered.

"Ah. But Tsuruga Ren is just a character that you play isn't he Kuon?"

Ren ignored the question. "What is going to happen to me Doctor?"

A/N: I feel like I should apologize for taking so long to get Kyoko and Ren/Kuon in the same room. I'm sure I've lost some people because of the pace of the story, but for those of you who've stuck with me chapter 7 is titled Reunion.

I'd also like to thank everyone for their comments. It delights me to no end to have gotten such a warm reception to the Skip Beat! fanfiction community.

Well… That's enough procrastinating for today. Thank you for reading everyone.

Edited: 8/20/2017