Chapter Seven: Sacrifice

Disclaimer: Don't own Skip-Beat! It belongs to the rightful owner, Nakamura Yoshiki.

Flashback: I raise a brow as I see three figures get out of the vehicle. I look up to see Lory's shining eyes and Hoshi's narrow violet eyes watching the figures move to the entrance. "Who's car is that?" I ask, waiting for either of them to reply.

They both turned to the doors, walking out. I follow close to their heels and hear Lory's cheery voice as we walk out the doors, "Come along Ren. We don't want to keep Mogami waiting!"


For the last twelve minutes we have been waiting in room A3. No word from Haru on his whereabouts. The clicking of Hoshi's nails on the glass table is slowly striking a nerve. The sharp ticking of the clock doesn't help. A breath I didn't know I was holding in releases. I rest my chin on my clasped hands.

My eyes look up at the older man seated at the head of the table. His alligator skin clad feet are propped up on the edge of the tabletop, long legs crossed at the ankle. Leaning into back his aniline leather chair, he taps his slender fingers against one another in a slow, pondering motion. A bored expression is etched across his face. Thin lips are pursed into a line, and brown eyes seem to stare dully at the air.

"Haru did say he was here," Hoshi mutters. I glance over at her, watching manicured nails click away. "So what's taking him so long? What, is he lost or something?" She closes her eyes in annoyance and scowls.

We hear a low chuckle from the head of the table. With a merry grin on his face, eyes gleaming, and one of his hands cupping the side of his face, Lory leans on the chair arm.

"No need for the impatient attitude Hoshi," he laughs, "Haku has been in this building quite a few times, and more so than not to visit this very room in particular."

This doesn't seem to help bring ease to our fellow agent at all. She simply sits upright in her chair and crosses her arms. A quick huff is her only reply.

The sound of a click on the far side of the room brings our attention to the door opening.

"Hm, and not a moment too soon! Wouldn't you agree Hoshi?" Lory jokes, moving his feet off the table. She keeps quiet, but I notice her roll her eyes curtly.

As we stand behind our chairs we watch three figures walk into the room. Slowly approaching are two men and a woman.

One of the men looks quite sharp, with a head of short edgy auburn hair; tinted shades; an onyx suit; and a hazel tie. He is thin, but not in a frail sense, and is mere inches shorter than the woman. To be honest, considering the fact that he's an older man, he's not just short- he's remarkably short. If I hadn't known we were doing business with him I'd think he was a high schooler who got lost and walked in here or something.

The other man is taller than the others. He reminds me of a bodyguard. His shoulders are slightly broader than the other man's. Full, black spiked hair covers his head. He wears a murky colored suit with a crimson tie. Tinted shades cover his eyes also. I notice the shine of piercings in his ears.

Finally, my eyes fall upon the woman. She is dressed in a dark short sleeved jacket with blue buttons, a white blouse showing underneath, and a snowy knee length skirt. Her hair is tied back into a ponytail. Although she is looking up, her eyes are cast down, as if she's uncomfortable with the idea of eye contact.

So, I suppose this is Mogami? Funny. As ridiculous as it may sound (okay, as it does sound) I somewhat expected an exact replica of the girl in the photo. Fry cook uniform and all. Yes that's quite silly, especially for someone who will be a part of this organization, but I suppose the ridiculous uniform simply suited her in my eyes. But I must admit, the formal attire does give her the look of a professional.

As they approach us, Lory steps up to the shorter man; the later smiles and bows, "Takarada-sama! Good to see you again sir,"

The lightly bearded man does the same, "Same to you Ishibashi Hikaru-san."

Wait, Hikaru? I thought he said the man's name was Ha-

In a flash Hoshi approaches Lory and leans in to urgently whisper in his ear. Even from where I'm standing I can tell she is the confused. As a response to whatever she said, being the man he is, Lory only smiles warmly and chuckles. I grin seeing that this seems to unnerve Hoshi as she bites her lip.

Lory glances at me, already figuring that I was thinking the same thing as Hoshi. "I'm sorry for misleading you two," he starts off, "Haku is merely the name Hikaru-san refers himself as. Well by me anyway."

The man whom Lory is referring to nods and smiles, taking off his shades to reveal almond brown eyes. "Indeed. Takarada-sama and myself have agreed to use different names when referring to each other while around other people,"

"Yes, like the code names the agents use! It's a sense of privacy is all," My lips tug into a half grin at their response although my eyes narrow. And knowing her, Hoshi is most likely doing her best to keep all comments about how Lory 'didn't trust her' quiet.

Okay then, moving on. The young man -whose name is supposedly, Ishibashi- walks towards Hoshi and I and bows. We bow respectfully back, and state our real names as opposed to our code names. (cough cough) Truthfully, I would never say this aloud but bowing to an grown man the height of a teenager is pretty awkward.

Next, the dark haired man steps forward, and introduces himself as Sanataro Shinichi. We bow and introduce ourselves again.

After a few hesitant beats, the young woman steps forward. Her torso bows low with a controlled grace behind it. ". . . M-Mogami Kyok-ko," she whispers so softly that my ears strain to hear her.

Yep, I can totally see a pale, blushing fry cook from the photo standing here. Definitely.

Hoshi bows first. "Kotonami Kanae," She dips low, and as she rises up her head is ducked down. Strange.

Now then, my turn eh? Time to leave a good first impression.

In a matter of milliseconds my lips tug into a bright smile as I bow slowly, "Tsuruga Ren, glad to make your acquaintance Mogami," Five points for velvety voice, and another five for a smile that melts the roughest of exteriors. Survey says?

The girl's eyes widen and her shoulders quiver slightly. With a hurrying to the table, her skirt practically billowing behind her. Of course, I still got it!

Once Mogami and Company are seated across Hoshi and myself, Lory remains standing and grins, his eyes beginning to glimmer. "Very good," he announces cheerily, "Now that introductions are over let us begin shall we?"

Here we go.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Understanding these terms and conditions of this job along with the objectives of the mission we are placing onto you, Mogami-san, do you agree to these responsibilities and expectancies? Including your inactivity in your career for however long of a time period; whether be temporary or permanent?" Lory's voice is steady, and focused. He had long ago stopped taking this or any thing about his proposal lightly. It was time to make the deal.

It has been two long hours of contract drafting, editing, and revising, followed by a few heated discussions over how the L.M.E company must be sure to keep quiet about their actress's absence and to keep the drama she running smoothly, and all in all. . . a refreshing bottle of water and a cozy nap sounds great right about now.

My head hurts like hell. I'm beginning to wonder if there's a loony lumberjack in my head hacking at the nerves in my brain. And by the sounds of it, Hoshi sounds quite irritated too with that constant damned clicking. And good God that clock! With all that ticking! Wait Ren, take a breath and calm down. You're just tired is all.

One deep sigh later, I feel the atmosphere changing. Tension as thick as cotton fills the air. My eyes slowly open to see Mogami's eyes focused on the completed five papers thick contract that we have all agreed upon. All she has to do is sign it. Good, then this meeting can be over and done with and I can get some rest.

But what's between me and that delicious rest is the fact that Mogami seems hesitant. A little too hesitant. She couldn't possibly thinking about rejecting this, well not like she really could.

Takarada Lory is a persistent man, and I'll put it like this. When there are seven-point-four seconds left on the clock for the auction for exclusive shoes designed by Noritaka Tatehana(1) that are now priced at 490,402 yen, he'll be damned if he sees the shoes go under another name that it isn't his, and will do everything in his power to get them. . . Well would you look at that? I'm so tired I'm not thinking straight. . . where is this story even going? Um, well the point is, Lory gets what he wants. No questions asked, capiche?

Click tap. . Click tap. . Click tap. .

Ugh I'll just clip those pretty little nails off myself if I hear them one more time! Surprisingly, my gaze doesn't meet Hoshi's nails, instead I see Mogami holding a pen. She's pressing the top on the table repeatedly, rhythmically. Looking up, I see her biting her lower lip, and her topaz eyes scanning over the paper in front of her.

"Do you agree to these responsibilities and expectancies, along with the fact that you will be sacrificing your career for however long of a time period; whether be temporary or permanent?" The line is repeated once more, echoing throughout the almost vacant room. Lory's voice is passive and gentle, as if he wasn't asking the girl to make a life-changing choice, but would she would like some cookies and a glass of milk.

Mogmi's eyes narrow.

I must admit, if I were in the position of this young woman, I'd probably be furious and rip the contract into shreds before hurrying to the exit to take the next cab. By agreeing to become my partner and a part of N.S.S -a government spy agency for crying out loud!- she will not be able to go about her life as she normally would. She'll have to be distant and vague with her friends about her life, and probably relocate, as a few of our agents did.

But what must hurt the most is the knowledge that she is leaving a career that she has worked so hard for, and turn to a job structured around secrecy, knowing the reason you get up every day is so you can keep our people safe, and possibly a deadly amount of lack of sleep.

Okay, all jokes aside I sincerely don't blame her. Not like I chose to be here by will myself.

Hikarmi and Shinichi look closely at their actress. Sometimes they say a few words, like 'you don't have to do this if you don't want to'. But it's very clearby the small frowns on their lips, they know there is nothing they can do. It's their company against the government. What more can you do? And Mogami knows it too.

With a heavy sigh Mogami places the pen down, and her eyelids slowly fall, "I don't mean to be so hesitant," she says apologetically. "But, I have a question," she glances at each of us as she speaks, as if asking permission to continue.

Lory, Hoshi and I nod. "From what I understand," she continues. "By signing the contract, I am agreeing to the idea of relocating, correct?"

"Well, you don't have to," I offer. "Under these type of circumstances, it's merely a choice,"

The younger woman nods and mutters an 'I understand'. After a short pause she continues, "And what if I said that I choose to be relocated?"

What?

"And why would you want that?" Hoshi asks. My thoughts exactly.

Mogami wrings her hands a bit before continuing, "Um, well, it's for the safety of this organization actually. I know that in the contract it states that L.M.E has agreed that all information the company knows about N.S.S and this meeting will not be spoken about to the public, and somehow they will replace my role with another actress. But what about the photographers from gossip magazines and the paparazzi? They'll start snooping around the hotel once they learn that I've left, and one day, I may accidentally lead them here and. . and. . ."

She doesn't have to finish. All of us at this table understand the hell that would break loose if that were to happen.

I nod. Mogami seems to take this opportunity to finish her thought. "A-And, with that in mind, on my own account, I choose to relocate,"

Lory curves a brow thoughtfully. Wow, dislocating? By will? I must say, this girl has some guts.

"Very well Mogmai-san, then you shall! And under the very best protection we have. Right, Ren?" Excuse me but, was that my name in that sentence? No, it couldn't be.

"Uh, how about what?" I ask uncertainly.

"I believe what he is trying to say," Hoshi intervenes, crossing her arms across her chest and closing her eyes, "is whether you accept the proposal or not, we will see to it that Kyoko will move into your accommodations."

. . .

. . .

"S-She'll be where now?" I stutter aloud.

"Your place as previously stated, Ren, please keep up," Lory says sternly, although his grin is anything but. "Well? How about it?"

He's joking. He has to be. There's no way I can take her in, I-I don't have the space! Okay so maybe I do, in fact there's probably enough room for a small family in my apartment. (I don't know not like I checked!) But I can't take this stranger in out of nowhere! And right now, especially a female! And can I. . . can I just not want to do it? Why couldn't Hoshi take her in? Or any other agent? Or even better, get book her into a motel! Excuse me for sounding rude, but I simply cannot do this. They all must understand this. Especially Lory! Ohh. Especially. Lory.

My mouth opens and my confident reply of 'no' comes out.

"Wonderful!" Wait, what?

"In that case, Hikaru-san and Sanataro-san, please have her packed within 24 to 36 hours," What is he talking about?

"And Ren, I expect you to respectfully and warmly welcome your new partner, and now roommate." No. No! I said no! Didn't I?

My eyes helplessly watch the name 'Mogami Kyoko' appear on the solid line at the bottom of the contract. A small pale hand reaches out towards me, "I'll do my best through the future," Oh my God. I said yes, didn't I?

Unable to stop myself I take her hand in mine. I feel her hand shake meekly. "Please take care of me Tsuruga-san," she smiles and then bows her head.

Well shit.


(tl;dr is below underlined)

A/N: (Half assed the end since it's 4 in the morning here sorry. . and God I'm terrible with Japanese honorifics.)
So, Kyoko is now in the friggin' picture! So, now what'll happen? And will Ren be up for the challenge? Find out next ti- *bricks and rotten tomatos thrown at me, knocking me down*

Readers: *holds fire and glares at me* What was the holdup loser?

Me: . . . *Kyoko-style-dogeza* I am oh so so so so sorry guys! :,-( Dear God, I haven't updated in a year! SCREEECH. I'm a terrible author, I KNOW. And although nothing I say, er write, will make up for my absence to you guys, I'm still going to explain.

First, the Killer Writer's Block. That bastard killed my muse. Like a savage. Nothing was left behind; it hid all evidence of my muse ever existing.

And reporting the incident to the Writing Police helped nothing so I decided to write out some crap- so I don't let you guys down and this story just ends up being a piece of shit- I made a [former] SB playlist chapter, which was crap, but I just wanted to get the creative juices flowing to help my muse revive in any way possible. That didn't help much.

But what pissed me off was that not too long after I had started write a few paragraphs at a time and. . .well, I'll put it this way. You know how Yashiro's (bare)hands are like butter when it comes to touching technology? Well actually phones, but anyway, I had one of those episodes. .

Like in late August, being the technological disaster I am, I dropped my laptop . . . outside . . . on bricks. . . It's a dumb story and yeah I know having the capabilities to do something that stupid sounds bad . . . but this isn't the first time something like that has happened to anything that happens to be in my possession! ( . . .and that helped nothing!)

Then my mum and dad made it a big deal about how I would pay for it, aaaannd long story short after a month, my dad just got it fixed but gave me a lecture about my clumsiness with expensive things. (It's funny it's like if something costs more than 100 dollars bad things happen to it.)

And school has started being a butt! D-: But with it being at home it shouldn't take away from my writing too much. . I don't know.

Now that that's done, I would like to quickly say that once the laptop was fixed I checked up on & edited this a bit. And to say I merely smiled at the fact that you guys are still interested in this incredible mess of a story would truly be an understatement. I will try my best to keep the story going. . . Not gonna make promises anymore after being unproductive for a year now, but I'll do my best! *Kyoko-determination-GO!*

Readers: . . . whatever loser, just update sooner next time or else.

Me: |-D Y-yeah, okay.

tl;dr: I am horrible at updating, a grade A klutz, this story is slowly getting somewhere (sorry it's taking so long), writer's block is a bitch and you guys are the best. Bye!

Note: (1) Noritaka Tatehana - famous shoe designer in Japan