DISCLAIMER: Full credit goes to Nakamura Yoshiki, the creator of Skip Beat, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Height's, and Yoshishige Yoshida's Arashi ga Oka. A full bibliography of works cited will be included with Chapter 10. The only thing I own is the character O'Hara Cho (an OC).


My thanks to the wonderful OnePlotThickens for their help Beta-ing this story.

They've helped to give it a finesse I couldn't achieve by myself.


STORMY HILLS


9| Byronic


"We do not know how this has happened, Mogami-kun," Director Lory stated seriously, clasping his hands under his chin as he rested his elbows on his desk. "But might I add that I am incredibly proud of you and Ren-"

Kyoko shrieked, rapidly shaking her head and slashing her arms out wildly. Why would he assume that- that she a-and Ren!?

Lory Takarada's eyes were bulging out his head in shock; "My apologies, I… well, I thought…" He pouted, "It really wasn't Ren?"

"N-no Sir," Kyoko stuttered, feeling heat rise into her cheeks. Kanae and the assistant- whom Kyoko had dubbed 'Sebastian' in her mind, watched on with morbid fascination.

"Then?"

"I'd rather not say, S-sir," Kyoko had flushed from what felt like the top of her head to the tips of her toes. No part of her was saved from this mortification- and for it to be published in the news!

How lowly must they think of me, she thought. Tsuruga-san is going to kill me for being unprofessional about it!

Kyoko turned stone-cold in horror.

Lory stared at her probingly for a moment, but chose not to press the young actress. Even if it wasn't Ren she had been cavorting with, he couldn't help but feel the relief that Kyoko was moving away from her revenge-orientated, and into the embrace of romance. His laughable LoveME section could change lives, after all, despite the early reception it had garnered by other departments. Now he only had to worry about Kotonami and Chiori's futures, for Kyoko was well on the way to a love-filled life.

"Don't worry about a thing, Mogami-kun. We shall sort it," Director Lory assured. With the right amount of legal strong arming, any unflattering article could be corrected and swept into a dark corner. He clapped his hands, dismissing the subject as though they hadn't just been speaking of it; "So, 'Stormy Hills' sounds like an interesting project, Mogami-kun."

Kyoko tittered nervously as Kanae narrowed her eyes at her fellow LoveME member; clearly LoveME #2 wasn't happy about being left out of the loop.


"Why are you brooding out here, Kijima-san?" Director Ogata asked, watching the actor release curls of smoke from his mouth from the drag of the cigarette he had just taken. Without knowing it, Kijima Hidehito had become Heathcliff, and their own resident Cathy- Kyoko, had him turning in ever-confusing, dizzying circles for some time. What amused Ogata more, was the fact that Kyoko had no idea of the effect she had on him. Kijima was a perpetual flirt and notorious bachelor; it would take an incredible woman to wrangle him into a relationship, and feasibly Kyoko would be the one to do it.

Edgar Linton, or rather, Mitsuhiko, stood between them. Tsuruga Ren had monopolised Kyoko's attention for the most part as her trusted and respected senpai. But Tsuruga-san was weak hearted, as shown by his inability to capture Katsuki as they started shooting the scenes between said character and Mizuki for Dark Moon. He had been able to pull it off eventually, but Ogata could tell and act from real emotion. Kyoko was very much the same, having struggled to commit to a rather intimate scene between Onimaru and Kinu.

"I don't know," Hidehito replied, shifting on his feet.

"I think you do," Ogata stated. In his hand was a rolled up, trashy magazine. Hidehito knew exactly which magazine it was; it was the same one his manager had lobbed at his head that morning, demanding to know what was going on. Hidehito could only watch coldly as the manager raved at him, knowing that while he had made a mistake and that Kyoko had been implicated in this, the article was pure speculation. There was only one thing that bothered him however… "Do you feel threatened by Tsuruga-kun?"

"No," Kijima bit harshly.

Director Ogata hummed; "I would be, he's very attractive after all…"

Hidehito looked at him strangely; "I'm married," Ogata confirmed, as though this made sense.

Hidehito shook his head.

"The fact remains," Director Ogata continued, "That you are feeling slighted by this article. Kyoko is a brilliant young woman-"

"Don't I know it, she's been leading me," Hidehito interjected, huffing.

"Not for a while now. You're pushing back, and it's incredible to watch." They shared a silence. Hidehito dropped the butt of his cigarette onto the floor and ground it under his foot. Director Ogata bit his lip; "A-are you going to pick that up?"

Hidehito frowned, but gathered the flattened end of his cigarette lightly in his fingertips with only a slight, disgusted curl of his lips.

"You get on well, and balance one another out," Ogata nodded sagely. His tone was soft, fond; "People wouldn't place Asami and I together, some might say I don't deserve her; yet here we are- and we're very happy."


Young Kinu knelt before her uncle, the latter now cleaned of her father's blood. In his plot to take all that had been denied of him by Hidemaru and Mitsuhiko, Onimaru had decided that death would be a fitting punishment. She carefully undid a set of strings and coverings wrapped around a small wooden box. Inside lay an oval mirror, which she took from the gift box with timid hands.

"This was my mother's, wasn't it?" Kinu asked.

Onimaru said nothing.

She re-wrapped the precious mirror carefully.


Kyoko tried her best to avoid Tsuruga-san around LME until it was time for her to book it to the studios they were filming Stormy Hills in. Her plan had worked well so far, until an observant Yashiro-san had spotted her from across the lobby as she made her escape, hunching down as though to ignore their fast approach. Dragging a bemused Tsuruga-san along with him, they cornered her in a pincer maneuverer.

"I thought we were past ignoring each other, Mogami-san," Tsurugan-san said disappointedly. His following smile could crack marble. Kyoko felt her mouth pop open in terror, and she stuttered to respond.

"Uh- ah, I'm l-late for my next appointment of the day. I've got quite a way to travel," She told them, in the hopes that they would simply let her go.

"Could we offer you a lift?" Yashiro asked slyly. "Ren has somewhere he needs to be as well, and it would be no trouble Right, Ren?"

Tsuruga Ren stonily agreed.

So came to pass the second most awkward car ride in Mogami Kyoko's life. Yashiro would feign pleasantries to try and diffuse the oppressive tension between the two actors sat in the front seats of Ren's car. Hushed directions would be given to Ren as Kyoko occasionally glanced up from her bag, which she had set in her lap. She had been exercising her x-ray vision by visualising every mortal thing she had hidden in there should she need it. So far, all she could see was the white and blue exterior, and how the handles had folded across the top of it. Ren had not yet uttered a word, and they were very close to the Studio gates now.

Luckily, no paparazzi had congregated by the entrance. Director Lory's… very persuasive legal team had dissuaded them from taking further pictures of Kyoko and her mystery man.

"I read a very interesting article this morning," Ren said suddenly, jolting Kyoko from her distracted unease.

She tittered fretfully, rubbing the back of her neck with one hand and discreetly unbuckling her seatbelt and grabbing her bag with the other. "I-is that so?"

Kyoko grabbed for the door handle and rocketed out of the car before he could stop her; "I'msorryTsuruga-sanbutI'mverylate!" She said in a rush, dashing past the entrance guard towards the Stormy Hills studio quick enough to leave a dust trail.

"I've said it before, and I'll say it again," Yashiro piped up from the cramped backseat of Ren's car. "Kyoko-chan is frighteningly quick on her feet."


Kijima Hidehito's head snapped up from his script inhumanly quick as Director O'Hara welcomed Kyoko into the studio. The latter was quickly ushered into costume and makeup, with Hidehito not far behind as he was prepped for his final scene.

He had recently finished filming on location for Onimaru as he sadly dragged Kinu's coffin away into the mists surrounding the mountain. The battle scenes with Yoshimaru had been filmed the week before, and he had not seen Kyoko since then. The article had him distancing himself somewhat, and Kyoko's reaction to his kiss had hurt him. He knew that she was shocked and angry, the action had come out of the blue even for him, and he usually took delight in kissing. Deep down however, an irrational part of his pride was wounded.

Director Ogata had been chatting to the head of the costume staff, but excused himself to hand Kyoko a sleek invitation. Hidehito had received one earlier, as it was for the Dark Moon afterparty. Ogata had decided to give those two theirs in person, seeing as he would be interacting with them; all other invitation had been delivered to the actors and actress' respective agencies.

Kyoko thanked the Director with a polite bow, the latter mouthing 'plus one' very forcefully over her folded body to Hidehito, who rose his eyebrows in response.

Director Ogata left them to the mercy of the costume and makeup teams; after changing they were herded into two parallel makeup chairs, and took great pains not to look at one another while the makeup artists rushed to and fro. For five minutes or so, the pair were left alone in their chairs in obdurate silence.

"So," Hidehito drawled, and Kyoko flinched. "Are you ready for today?"

Kyoko shook her head, "I don't really know."

She sighed, tempted to rest her head in her hand but ultimately resisted. If the makeup team discovered she'd ruined her the cosmetics they'd applied, then there would be hell to pay. "I've got Kinu's character sorted, but I can't get over the fact that I feel like I'm losing control of myself…"

"Because you're afraid of your emotion?"

Kyoko scowled at him, "Yes, Kijima-san. I don't feel safe."

Hidehito eyed his invitation to the Dark Moon after party, which he had propped up against his script by a small vanity mirror the makeup artists used. "How are you going to get around the plus one rule for the party then? Most people are required to take a date."

Beneath Kinu's smooth, waxen-faced aesthetic, Kyoko's pallor lost all colour. She ripped at her own invitation, and worried her lower lip between her teeth as she read the innermost contents, thankful that she hadn't had her lip colour applied yet.

"I had a box," Kyoko murmed. Hidehito waited for her to continue patiently. "I had a box that I kept my heart in, figuratively, I mean, in my head. It had nasty things inside it before then, but they were released by Sho. After that I put my heart inside and let the hatred run free. It was chained up tightly, Kijima-san, so that no one could ever hurt me again like he did."

Hidehito could understand, he also wished he could remove himself entirely from Fuwa's presence at the Akatoki Agency; a heavily padlocked box seemed ideal.

"Kinu destroyed all of my defences, and I couldn't do a thing to stop her. I'm scared of changing again!" Kyoko wailed. "So, I locked her away inside of my box and left my heart defenceless."

She failed to add the 'to you' on the end, biting down on her tongue to make sure it did not betray her.

"At the risk of being slapped again," Hidehito began, "What have you got to lose? Eventually there will be a time when you find someone you want to be with, and you'll have to open up. Why not take the opportunity to do that now, and show Fuwa that you are capable of finding someone better than him?"

Kyoko's eyes widened; "I honestly never thought of it that way, Kijima-san. I was consumed by my hatred for him, and single-mindedly followed him into showbiz because what he said to me."

"And what was that?"

Each word she uttered felt like a stab wound or an arrow to the chest, and she counted them off on her fingers; "Plain, no sex-appeal, submissive-"

Hidehito snorted, "Just when I thought I couldn't think any less of him. I presume Tsuruga knows about all of this?" Her shy nod told him everything. As much as it pained him to, Hidehito suggested perhaps asking him to go as her plus one or vice versa.

"He's not very happy with me at the moment…" Ah, the article, Hidehito realised.

"But you'd feel safe with him?"

"Yes," Kyoko answered. "He's my most respected senpai."

Ouch, Hidehito winced internally. That had to hurt right in the unrequited feelings. He smiled welcomingly, "Would you feel safe with me if I took you?"

"You said that you felt safe with me," Kijima repeated as he and Kyoko settled onto the tatami mat flooring of the set. The golden shoji screens had resurfaced once more onto the main set, and enclosed the two inside what would appear on screen as a small, sacred chamber.

"Yes, Kijima-san."

"Even after I-"

"Even then, Kijima-san," Kyoko replied, though her eyes never left the flooring.

Hidehito swallowed. "Will you trust me, on two occasions- and I mean, fully place your trust in me?"

Kyoko thought on this momentarily. The cameras were being set up to roll incredibly soon, so she would have to decide on an answer swiftly. "I believe you told me to think on what I could possibly lose. I will trust you, Kijima-san."

"Call me Hidehito, and first of all, allow me to take you to get pampered before the party."

Kyoko nodded, relenting this time. She hadn't given him a true answer when he'd asked before.

"Second of all…" He hesitated. Kyoko met his eyes warily. "Let Kinu loose."

Panic flitted across her features, and her mouth popped open to protest.

"Trust me," he reassured her, and watched her shoulders lose some of their tension.

Kyoko closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. The clapperboard sounded. When she opened them the next time, Kinu was in control:

"You would leave us?" Onimaru growled. "I curse you!"

"I curse you that you will never cease loving me," Kinu snarled back, her eyes hardened granite chips-(1)

Onimaru lunged for her, ripping at her yukata and sneering into her lips. Kinu snagged her hands into his shaggy mane of hair, pulling and tugging at his mouth fiercely. She writhed and struggled against one another, their clothing falling to the floor, forgotten. They consumed each other, becoming one unanimous soul- where one bled into another. They had known since they were younger that would always be one, as no one understood them as well as they knew each other.

Her hands were like ice.

His touch trailed fire across her skin.

They parted, gasping, their foreheads touching lightly as they knelt. This was a dance for courting birds, synchronized, innate gestures came naturally and brought them ever closer. How would they be able to separate after this? After Kinu had chosen to marry her relative in the hopes of remaining away from Edo?

They clashed and scorched each another, different stations, status and lineage, yet they knew they could never truly be parted. Hands caressed each other's faces, bodies close, hearts and souls entwined.

Onimaru and Kinu were one. Together they were a demon wrapped in silk.


(1) These lines are taken from the subtitles of the film Arashi ga Oka