Ren's Birthday
A/N: As per arethreanynottaken's request, I'll state the time line clearly. The story started on Thursday, February 8th, then the shopping with Moko occurs on Saturday, February 10. The photo shoot is from Tuesday, February 13th to Thursday, February 15th. Ren's Birthday is on February 13th (in my fanfic only, it hasn't said yet in the actual manga!) and the party will be on Saturday, February 17th. I hope that clears up any misunderstandings. ^^
Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read, review, and put this fanfic on their favorites and story alerts. ^^
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip beat! or any of it's characters, I just own this fanfic. ^^
Chapter 7
Moko took the phone and held it out of reach.
Kyoko shot Moko a horrified glance, the intensity of her emotions sending out waves that caused the steel frames of the fitting room to quiver. "Moko san, what are you doing?"
'I don't know, but, I know I don't want to lose to that guy! I hate that you preferred his choice over mine! Aren't I supposed to be your best friend?! You won't choose mine whether you accept his gift or not, so I might as well make him owe me a favor...' Moko inwardly grimaced, but outwardly fixed Kyoko with a stern glare. "Have you already forgotten when the next time you see Tsuruga san is?"
Kyoko blanched, the color slowly leeching out of her face. "I haven't forgotten, but-"
Moko ruthlessly cut her off mid-sentence. "Just imagine how Tsuruga san would feel having his gift to you rejected on his birthday. On top of that, didn't you say you wanted to do your best on Tuesday so as not to inconvenience Tsuruga san on his birthday? It'd probably hurt him more than you doing poorly at the photo shoot!"
Kyoko fidgeted nervously and bit her lip, hard. 'Ow...' "What if I asked to pay him back on Wednesday?"
Moko threw Kyoko a dirty look, "Why don't you ask yourself that question?"
Kyoko blushed in embarrassment. 'Of course I can't do that. Waiting that long before mentioning it would be highly disrespectful.' "But there's just no way I can accept something like this, I have to pay him back!"
"He hasn't actually bought the dress yet, but he's going to since you chose it though."
Kyoko looked at her suspiciously, "How would you know if Tsuruga san's already paid for it or not?"
"Tsuruga sama bought it about half an hour ago." The other saleswoman intruded into the conversation, having come back unnoticed.
"What?!" Moko's outburst startled Kyoko, who seemed confused as to why she was angry all of a sudden.
'That bastard tricked me. He thought all along that he'd win. How dare he?!'
"Tsuruga sama specified that regardless of whether Mogami sama chose his or Kotonami sama's selected outfit, Tsuruga sama wanted Mogami sama to have this dress as a reward for doing so well in her debut drama, Dark Moon."
"Moko san's...outfit of choice?" Kyoko's eyes seemed to bore holes into Moko's body as she said, "So Moko san... planned this out with Tsuruga san?!"
Moko crossed her arms and huffed, "It wasn't my plan. Tsuruga san just asked me to go along with it." Moko turned away from Kyoko and muttered, "I was sure you'd pick the one I chose for you too..." 'Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!' Moko forcefully gave Kyoko back her cell phone. 'No, no. I have to be calm, have to be calm... I'll still be in a better position if he owes me a favor. Plus, if the only reason she accepts his gift is because of me, then I still win!' Moko's features softened into a more neutral expression. "Just think of it this way, you wanted Tsuruga san to be happy on his birthday, right? He'll be extremely pleased if you are happy with his gift, but will probably be in a bad mood if you reject it."
Kyoko pondered Moko's words. 'She has a point. I'd already decided to do everything well so as not to ruin Tsuruga san's birthday, and if I tell him I'm happy with the dress on Tuesday, he'll be in a good mood.'
"...with that director."
Kyoko blinked innocently, "Sorry Moko san, I wasn't listening. Can you repeat that?"
Moko sighed, "Mo! You always do this! I said, the last thing you'd want this Tuesday is Tsuruga san mad at you, especially with that director. You did say his name was Director Takumi, right?"
Kyoko slowly nodded.
Moko huffed in irritation, "I've heard that he's quite the playboy. Apparently, he especially likes to come on to his female models. Do you really want to deal with that alone?"
Kyoko started to shiver, violently shaking her head in denial as she remembered what had happened at Karuizawa when Ren had been away. She hung her head and spoke softly in a small, tight voice, "I'll accept the dress."
Moko gazed upon Kyoko's trembling form with a hint of pity in her eyes, but quickly erased it from her expression. 'Sorry Kyoko chan, but I can't forgive Tsuruga san that easily. I wasn't going to say this, but...'
"Hopefully, no, most likely he wouldn't hit on me. I'm a talento, not a model." The tremor in Kyoko's voice gave away her trepidation.
Moko sighed, "But you will be modeling for him for three days. To put it simply, he doesn't just hit on models, but if you do model for him, it's almost guaranteed he'll look your way."
Kyoko looked at Moko in shock. 'I agreed to work with this kind of person?!'
Moko folded her arms across her chest. "Well, you can't back out of it now, so I suggest you stay as close to Tsuruga san as possible for those three days. Otherwise, you'll be like a little lamb all alone who, unfortunately, has caught the attention of the big bad wolf."
Kyoko put the cake in the pre-heated oven and set the timer. "Good, almost there." She leaned back onto the counter. 'Tomorrow's finally Tsuruga san's birthday...' Kyoko flinched as she recalled what Moko had told her about Director Takumi on Saturday night.
.o.O.o.
"I've heard he's quite the playboy. Apparently, he especially likes to come on to his female models."
.*.*.*.*.
'Playboy...' Kyoko's face hardened with anger. 'I hate playboys. They all remind me of that stupid idiot.' Kyoko ground her fist into her other hand in the face of Shotaro's memory. 'No! I don't want to think of that idiot now!' She deliberately retraced her steps. 'Playboy... well, Tsuruga san will be there, so everything should be okay.' Kyoko took a deep breath and sighed, tilting her head backwards. 'I can't disappoint Tsuruga san tomorrow, especially not on his birthday.'
The timer went off, leaving Kyoko to take the cake out of the oven. She set the cake down on the table and set the decorative supplies next to it.
She smiled faintly as she played with the red glaze that reminded her of Moko's dress. In the end, Moko had chosen a crimson dress that was similar to the green one she had picked out for Kyoko, only with criss-crossing ribbons on the back and thin wispy sleeves that looked softer than silk. Kyoko pouted, 'Moko san wouldn't let me see her in her dress, how mean... I guess I'll just have to wait till Saturday.' She smiled happily, 'I'm sure Moko san will look beautiful!'
After the cake cooled down, she set to work decorating it, which took about an hour because of how carefully and slowly she was working. Finally, she put down the red glaze container, and looked at her mini work of art. 'I hope Tsuruga san will like it.'
She giggled softly and put the cake into a white cake box, leaving it to cool in the refrigerator. "Yosh! All done!" She looked at the clock. "9:30... Well, I guess I'll go to sleep early then." She stiffened, but forced her body to relax. 'I'll be fine, I'll be fine. Tsuruga san will be there too.' The words ran through her mind over and over like a mantra as she climbed the stairs to her room.
.o.O.o.
"Ren, I expect you to watch over Kyoko chan,"
.*.*.*.*.
Ren bowed his head as he sat with his back to the bed. 'Of course I will. Kyoko chan's not the kind of girl that pays attention to men, but...' He raised his eyes to glare at the wall, 'I don't think I could stand the sight of that guy flirting with her!' He stood up to turn off the lights and lightly touched the wall with his fist. 'Like hell I'll allow it!'
A'N: Finally I finished this part! ^^ While I loved writing it, I'm really glad we're finally moving on to the photo shoot and Ren's birthday, yay! ^^ I thank everyone who has taken the time to read this fanfic, I really appreciate it. ^^