Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed ^_^
I can't believe how predictable my story was… though then again, I realized after I wrote all of this that I gave the answer away in chapter 6… =P
Let me know if you like it please, any advice you've got helps me make my writing better ^_^
DISCLAIMER: I do not in any way own or have claim on Skip Beat or any characters in this story.
Chapter 10: FINALLY!
RECAP:
Kyoko was just plain shocked. "Six months… six months…" She just kept muttering to herself earning worried and guilty glances from the others. All of a sudden she looked up and much to Ren's horror decided to correct them. "We haven't been dating for six months, you guys are way off!" She seemed to almost bounce off her seat as she said this then slapped a hand over her mouth. "Um, I mean, ah you see…" Her face started turning different shades of red getting darker by the second. She attempted to hide behind Ren, opting for feeding him to the dogs.
"Ok then, spit it out! Five months, four? How long?" It was Kuu who spoke first, hardly keeping his excitement in check as the fantasies of the potential wedding exploding in his head.
"Yeah, yeah, how long Ren-sama? We all want to know!"
Before Ren could even be surprised by Maria's outburst, both Kanae and Yashiro yelled, "HOW LONG?"
There was a long stretch of unbelievable silence as the entire room waited with abated breath, watching Ren open and close his mouth like a fish out of water. Six bodies scooted impossibly further down their seats, grips tightening on the ends of the couches. Faces full of expectation and curiosity slowly melted to scowling and glaring at the poor actor trying with all his might to unfreeze his vocal cords. After what seemed like ages but what had only been about half a minute, Ren found his voice.
"Uh, well, I don't think you guys will be too surprised, I mean you know us best…" He glanced down at Kyoko whose face was slowly decreasing in color. "We've been going out for a little over a ymfhgh!"
Slapping a hand over Ren's mouth, Kyoko exclaimed," Yes! Just a few weeks, ahahah!"
"That's a lie!" Left eye twitching slightly, Kanae sat back in her seat and folded her arms. Everyone's attention was drawn to her as she began interrogating Kyoko in a somewhat calm voice. "You may have these people tricked but I know you! Every time you lie, you put on that Tsuruga Ren's famous I-am-angry-but-you-don't-need-to-know-that smile. It's the mask you use any time you want to get away from something. You should know it doesn't work on me!" Out of the corner of her eye, Kanae saw Yashiro trembling and Lory, Kuu, and Julie smiling knowingly. But what freaked her out the most was that now Ren was wearing his infamous smile.
"If you would excuse us for a minute, Kyoko dear, we need to talk." That said, Ren took her hand and walked out the door. Unbeknownst to them, when the door clicked shut and the footsteps stopped, all hell broke loose as everyone scrambled for a place to stick their ear.
"Sho! Great, that was the last job on your schedule. You're free for the rest of the night. You should go home and get some rest. You look like you've seen a ghost." At this rate, he won't be able to make it to Kyoko-chan's party. I wonder if that's a good thing though… Shoko stared at her charge with worry written all over her face.
"Isn't having the same dream several nights in a row some kind of premonition?" Sho looked at Shoko, a defeated air surrounding him.
"What are you talking about Sho? It could be, but what is the dream about? I mean, it may not mean anything at all!" As she was talking, Sho just seemed to sink deeper into his depressed state.
Slumping his shoulders, a very un-Sho like thing to do in public if not at any time, Sho started walking out of the building. "I think it would be best if I don't see Kyoko for some time. It might just make things worse…."
Oh no! Maria-chan, I failed and I didn't even try yet! "Wait, Sho! What are you saying? You can't just decide to ignore Kyoko-chan like that! You have to see her some time. And besides, if you're going to be in this kind of mood, it would be better to see her so that you can get back to being the normal Sho, right?" You're a genius Shoko! ^.^ Shoko hid a grin as Sho perked up.
"You're right, if I see her and confirm it, then everything will be good again and that stupid nightmare will go away too! Hah! Just you wait Kyoko, I'll prove it once and for all that you're mine! So, when is she going to be free for me to get a good amount of time with her for myself? Does she have any more filming for Box-R or something today?"
Oh boy, what did I just do? "Uh, actually… I got an invite for you from LME. They are doing a surprise party for Kyoko-chan for her big movie debut."
"Movie debut? She already got that far? Since when? How long have you known about it?"
"Sh-Sho! You never wanted to watch the commercial for the movie! I never kept it from you.
And then you started sulking saying you didn't want to see Kyoko-chan's face or even hear her name. Geez!"
"What movie is it?"
"That huge movie that they recently started talking about, Elements."
"Ok, and when is this party of theirs?" Sho looked a little peeved but was otherwise unusually calm.
"Actually, we have to be at LME tonight at 9PM. They want everyone there before Kyoko-chan arrives. I made sure to keep your schedule empty just in case you decided to go."
"Then what are we waiting for? We've got a party to go to!" Fully revived, Sho trots over to the car, bouncing on his heels as he waited for Shoko to open the doors.
Ren pulled Kyoko a little distance away from Lory's office doors and stopped, turning to face a confused Kyoko.
"W-why are you angry, Ren?"
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Ren took a moment to organize his thoughts. "Kyoko, do you want to tell them or not? Why'd you jump like that all of a sudden?"
"Uh, well believe it or not, I had a really bad feeling just now but it's gone now. I don't think it was about telling them how long we've been dating. It's just that it came at that very moment… you know, it got me kind of worried…" Peeking up at Ren, Kyoko immediately regretted it as the all too shiny demon killing heavenly smile was sent her way. Geez this man. No matter how many times I see it, it's still freaky and to think such a thing is directed at me alone!
"It's ok Kyoko. Even if the world was to find out about us, no matter what they do or say, I will still love you forever." [Cue the shiny flowery background]
"F-fine, let's go back and get this over with… if they're going to kill us, I want it to be quick." Blushing heavily with a hand over her heart, Kyoko turned and made her way back to Lory's office, Ren trailing behind her holding back his laughter.
"Curses! Why did they have to go so far away? I can't hear a thing!" Everyone looked at Lory and his little outburst before they heard Sebastian clear his throat.
"Sir, you do have a camera set up outside your office door…" Although he never showed it on his face, Sebastian's eyes were alight with amusement as he held up the remote to the large screen TV set behind Lory's desk. Embarrassed at their antics, everyone began to straighten themselves as Lory took the remote, slight tinge on his cheeks.
"Sorry everyone, I completely forgot about it in my excitement." However, their little victory was short lived as once the screen came on, everyone saw Kyoko and Ren heading back to the office. Turning the screen off, everyone settled into their seats and waited as the two walked back into the room.
Taking their seats, Ren opened his mouth only to be interrupted by Lory's office phone. Lory nodded to Sebastian who picked up the phone. "It is for Maria-chan."
Bouncing up from her seat, Maria answered the phone with a cheery hello only to put it down the next moment and bounced back to her seat. Seeing the questioning glances she received, she just mouthed 'later' and looked at Ren.
"Ok then Ren, you were about to say?" Everyone looked from Lory's expectant face to Ren's, sipping their tea and waiting for an answer.
In a small voice Ren started, "Well uh, let's see hm… when she turned 19, huh, hm… about a year officially, another half if you count me trying to convince her it's real…"
It was now everyone else's turn to spit and choke on their tea. Even Maria and Lory were subject to the shock of those last words. The last six had Lory going through several lectures about love to the imaginative anti-love Kyoko in his head.
"We actually want to keep it a secret for now." Ren and Kyoko spoke together, breaking the silence. They both looked at Lory waiting to see what the man had to say.
Lory smiled as he looked at his two favorite people like any proud parent. "You two have grown so much! Who knew you could hide something so huge and exciting from us all this time while we broke our backs trying to get you two together." Lory looked at the two with mock anger as they broke into smiles and giggles at the memories of their friends' attempts to get them together as much as possible.
"And here I've been saying you two were probably the stupidest, most dense people on earth because you never even batted an eyelash at our efforts. I have to apologize." Yashiro looked at the two guiltily though his sarcastic tone did nothing to support him.
"Mo! You two," Kanae jutted a finger in their direction then turned to glare at Kyoko, "are seriously good actors!"
"Aw Moko-san! Don't be like that, we just wanted to surprise you guys. Right Ren?" He raised an eyebrow then nodded his agreement. "See? We really didn't mean to lie to you… besides, it was all Ren's idea anyways." Kyoko's semi-desperate attempt to appease her best friend seemed to have as much effect as coffee when you want to sleep (A/N: Doesn't work that way for me, coffee makes me sleepy… What about you guys?). It was only when Kanae saw Kyoko get up and get all glittery did she loosen up her irritated aura to save herself from getting glomped.
Lory cleared his throat making sure he had everyone's attention. "Well, we'd celebrate but I have some work to take care of so all of you are free to go." Everyone shuffled out of the room, Kuu and Julie following Ren and Kyoko out to celebrate on their own.
Ahahaha! I crack myself up! Hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing it =]
Anyway~s ^_^ As always, thanks for reading! Reviews help and if you have any ideas or anything you want to see, drop me a note :)