What I'm Missing
Sariah Loire
Chapitre Ten

Skip Beat! And its characters, locations, terms, etc, do not belong to me.
This story began on the day of Act 151, February 15th. It follows all previous Acts exactly, and is a direct continuation of Skip Beat!'s main story. If you need back info, please read the official story.

"Mr. Tsuruga, I'm so sorry!" Kyoko's eyes were filled with tears as she inspected her mentor's face. After stalking to her dressing room (still as Natsu), remembering her actions seemed to have brought her back to herself. And as soon as Ren had exited his dressing room, Kyoko had ambushed him.

"Please, Miss Mogami, it's quite alright." Ren smiled at her, despite the bright red handprint on his face. "It shows how deeply you were in your role. You should be proud, not apologetic."

Mr. Yashiro, along with the rest of the audience of workers watching the filming, had gasped when Kyoko slapped Ren. The force of her hand sounded like glass breaking when it made contact with the actor's face. But now, Yashiro simply watched Ren and Kyoko in amusement. 'I'll have to inform him later that the ability to be slapped and turn it into something positive just shows how far gone he is.'

"T-the mark's not going awaaaay!" The girl's wail drew the attention of several crew members. One of the stage hands returned with a small bag of ice, as requested by Kyoko. She deftly twisted the ice in a piece of cloth, forming a make-shift ice pack. She shyly looked up at Ren before placing it on his face. "If this stays on it for a while, it should take care of the redness."

Yashiro was beaming broadly, watching the scene between the two. They were back at the indoors Box "R" set. Ren was sitting in a chair while Kyoko fussed over him, softly touching the marks on his face. Ren was smiling a genuine smile at her, making Yashiro even happier. 'Why won't he admit how much he loves having Kyoko near him? He could do a lot worse than telling her how he feels.'

Hearing a small giggle, he turned to see Ren relating a story to Kyoko about Mr. Yashiro trying to get used to his schedule when he first became his manager. He glared at the actor, who was revealing embarrassing details of his past failures. Ren beamed a sparkling smile back at him, giving Yashiro fearful chills.

"Kyoko?" Director Annaka had watched the exchange with great interest, glad to see his promising actress spending time with someone who could help her career. "The wardrobe manager said that you have a visitor waiting in the hallway for you."

Kyoko looked at him, puzzled, then back to Ren. "Hold this right here while I'm gone, don't move it!" Her slightly scolding tone was music to Mr. Yashiro's matchmaking ears. "Even if it gets too cold, don't move it!"

Ren raised a hand to hold the ice pack, his fingers brushing Kyoko's slightly. "Thank you, Miss Mogami. I promise I'll hold it still until you get back." He smiled softly at her. "You shouldn't keep your guest waiting, just to fuss over me."

"Of course, Mr. Tsuruga." Kyoko let go of the ice pack quickly, pulling her hand to her side. She bowed deeply to Yashiro and Ren. "Then, excuse me."

The director went back to watching the episode footage, and preparing for the other cast members to film their segment. Yashiro handed Ren a soft towel, smiling to himself. The actor took it, looking to Mr. Yashiro questioningly.

"Put it between your hand and the ice pack, or else your fingers will go numb." He smiled conspiratorially. "Kyoko would be very upset if you couldn't feel anything as a result of her actions on-screen."

Ren wrapped his hand in the towel, grateful for the warmth. His face retained a neutral, slightly bored expression, though. "Thank you, Mr. Yashiro. Indeed, any actress would be quite upset after slapping their co-star when it wasn't scripted."

Yashiro frowned, pulling out his schedule book. 'Sometimes Ren is too mature for his own good.'

Kyoko exited the set, rubbing her hand slightly. Her fingers had been slightly numb from the ice pack, but after Mr. Tsuruga had brushed them with his, they were quite warm. Kyoko felt her ears flush as she smacked her head. 'Stupid! Stupid! You left Natsu behind in the dressing room! Quit thinking crazy things!'

She couldn't help remembering the filming; it had left her head in a whirl. Everything was going fine, she was living completely as Natsu during the whole thing. Until she had spied the ring when Nobu had tried to slip it on the table past her sight. Natsu had instantly froze in her mind, causing her heart to skip slightly. 'What's that?' Natsu had whispered, her voice sounded like a child's.

Kyoko had forced herself to say the line with coldness, Natsu rising back to the surface once the shock was slightly subdued. When the word wife had left Nobu's lips, a dull pain beat in Kyoko's chest. Letting Natsu take over, she had slapped the man and stalked out of the office. Allowing Natsu to take over was a necessity for the filming, but it also had the added advantage of hiding the hurt Kyoko felt.

Scuffling down the hallway outside of the set, Kyoko felt that same dull pain when she thought about the scene. 'Maybe I'm sick? I know Natsu would have taken that hard, but the anger should have gotten her over it.' She knew how it felt to be betrayed, her anger (along with her grudge-demons) had kept her well taken care of all this time.

She pulled a small pouch out of her pocket, snapping it open. There was Corn, snuggled protectively in the cloth Kyoko had wrapped it in. She pulled him out, putting the pouch back in her skirt pocket. Clutching Corn tightly to her chest, Kyoko let memories of the young boy who had given her the stone fill her mind. 'I'm okay, I'm okay. I'm doing okay, even though you're not here, Corn.'

"What are you doing in the middle of the hallway?" Kyoko flinched, her demons stretching as they emanated from her body. "Hasn't anyone taught you it isn't polite to keep people waiting?"

"As if you know what polite is, Shotaro." Her teeth were clenched as she finally forced herself to turn around and face the thorn in her side. "If I knew you were the guest, I would have been happy to keep you waiting longer."

"Now, now, Kyoko," Sho said the word so sickeningly sweet, Kyoko thought she might gag. "Is that a way to speak to someone who gave you such a nice gift not that long ago?" He smiled triumphantly, as if waiting for Kyoko to start screaming and flinging her hatred at him. When it didn't happen, he prodded her further. "Not only did you get chocolate and a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, but you finally had your first kiss as well."

"First kiss?" Sho snapped open his eyes at the innocent tone. It was much different than the anger he had been expecting. "That," Kyoko waved her hand in the air, as if brushing away an unpleasant memory. "was not my first kiss."

She watched Sho's eyes narrow as he took a step forward. Kyoko held her ground, not willing to back away from what she had been taught. "It's only been six days, did something make your mind stop working properly?" He put a condescending smirk on his face, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Or do you mean to tell me that you forgot about the kiss?"

"That," She said it even with more disgust this time, Sho felt his skin prickle in annoyance. "was, I repeat, not my first kiss." Kyoko crossed her arms, nodding to herself proudly. "Mr. Tsuruga-" She stopped, dropping her eyes slightly. 'No, no need to tell Shotaro about the Actor's Rule of Heart. He would just exploit it, and I remember Mr. Tsuruga's warning…' She shuddered slightly.

"Tsuruga?" Before Kyoko knew what had happened, Sho had grabbed her wrist. She winced slightly; her right wrist was still a little sore from when Chiori had shoved her down the steps at TBM Studios. It had healed, but was still a little tender, especially after slapping Mr. Tsuruga with such force. "Finish that sentence, what did that half-rate actor do?" Sho's anger pulled her out of her daze.

Kyoko pulled against Sho, trying to free her hand, but it was no use. "Let go of me, Shotaro." She was holding back her demons, but it was getting more and more difficult to do nothing to her childhood friend standing in front of her. She heard whispers, there was no doubt people were going to gather to watch the sight.

"Let her go."

The low, very controlled voice was right behind Kyoko. She jumped, but her demons were swirling happily around the man standing behind her. She dared to take a look over her shoulder, then quickly looked away. 'Mr. Tsuruga isn't even smiling this time. He's going to murder me when we get away from Sho-'

As soon as his name crossed her mind, Sho jerked his arm towards himself, pulling Kyoko towards him. He flicked his wrist behind his back, moving in front of her, in between Ren and herself. "We don't need your interruptions; this is just two old friends trying to have a friendly chat."

Ren had sat on the set for a few minutes, holding the freezing cold cloth to his face. After Kyoko hadn't returned within a few minutes, he started getting a bad feeling. Handing Mr. Yashiro the slightly damp ice pack, he wiped his face off, and began walking the halls to look for his missing co-star.

It didn't take long, as voices and whispers travelled fast. He had followed the gossip calmly until the name 'Fuwa' was brought to his ears. He quickly rounded the corner and broke into a swift walk, following the line of traffic.

Turning another corner, he almost ran into a line of spectators. There was Kyoko and Sho Fuwa, at a standoff in the middle of the hallway. The other end of the hall was host to a crowd as well. A few fans had their cell phones in the air, alarming Ren even more. They didn't need the press to get wind of this, it would only end badly.

Moving past a few people, Ren had stopped when he heard his name. Straining his ears to hear more, his vision turned red when he watched the singer grab Kyoko's wrist. Her face showed pain for just a minute, but he was proud that she replaced it with anger, not fear. Ignoring Sho's insults to his acting abilities, Ren had pushed his way through the crowd towards the growing point on interest.

When Sho pulled Kyoko behind him, Ren's last nerve, along with the last chance of his sparkling smile winning out, snapped. His mention of a friendly chat made Ren want to laugh in disgust. He stepped closer to the singer, who stepped back a step. Kyoko squeaked, having her foot stepped on by Sho.

Ren narrowed his eyes, coming back to his senses just long enough to remember the amount of workers, co-workers, and possible fans in the hall. He didn't try to smile, but he held a reasonable tone in his voice. "But Fuwa, this is no place to have a conversation." He looked to his side, noting the door to an employee break room was left open.

Sho glared at him, struggling to keep a hold of Kyoko's arm. "That's fine, because there's no need for you to be involved in this."

Ren stepped forward quickly, looking to the crowd like he was patting the man on his back. Sho flew towards the open doorway, letting go of Kyoko in order to stop himself from hitting the ground. He turned to try and save face, but Ren was forcing him to back further into the break room.

"Let's chat, Fuwa."

Kyoko had stood in the hallway for a few seconds in a daze, before the sound of low voices inside the room brought her to her senses. She quickly ran forward, fumbling with the door knob. 'Locked!' she cursed under her breath, pounding on the door. "Mr. Tsuruga! Sho!" She felt tears springing to her eyes. Sho had ruined everything again, hadn't he? Mr. Tsuruga was going to be furious with her for going to meet him.

A pain ran along her right wrist again, not unlike the days when Chiori had to work as her 'right-hand' on Box "R". She winced, but continued beating the door. The voices were too low to hear, but she strained her best to understand what was being said. 'If Sho does anything to Mr. Tsuruga, I'll never forgive him!' Her demons quickly reminded her that she already had many things against him that she would never forgive.

She looked around her in panic, but was surprised to see that most of the crowd had dispersed. Mr. Yashiro, along with a few stagehands from Box "R", was moving along the few people left, asking them politely to give them time to sort things out. Between Yashiro's icy 'stay away' demeanor, and the words of a few well-meaning superiors, the hallway quickly became empty.

Mr. Yashiro was obviously worried, Kyoko could see it all over the manager's face. "Mr. Yashiro, Mr. Tsuruga will be fine, won't he?" She whispered to him, not even sure of it herself.

Yashiro glanced at her surprised, then let out a rueful laugh. "Yes, Kyoko, I'm sure Ren will be just fine."

The words had barely left his mouth when the door opened. Kyoko still had a hand in the air, raised to try knocking again. Ren was looking at Sho so darkly; Kyoko couldn't help but shiver slightly. Ren turned to the open doorway, his hand still on the doorknob. He still wasn't smiling, frightening Kyoko even more.

"Miss Mogami, I apologize for worrying you." His tone sounded apologetic, but cold and hard. "I simply had to teach Mr. Fuwa the polite way to greet a celebrity such as yourself." Sho glared at him, then at Kyoko. He brushed past them both, deliberately shoving Ren out of the way, as he stalked towards the studio's exit.

Kyoko watched him until he disappeared out of a far set of double doors before she finally let out the breath she had been holding. Finally gathering the courage, Kyoko turned to see her mentor's current mood. She was surprised to see him seated at the table, flipping through a magazine nonchalantly. "M-Mr. Tsuruga?" She took a step towards him. "Are you angry at me for g-going meet him?"

Ren froze for a moment, staring at the page in the magazine for a few seconds before meeting Kyoko's frightened look with a smile. "Did you know your guest was Fuwa?" She shook her head violently. "Then, Miss Mogami, I have no reason to be angry." He motioned to the magazine sitting in front of him. "And he even brought something to my attention."

Kyoko moved to the table, glancing over Ren's shoulder. She quickly diverted her eyes when the photos of herself as Natsu processed their way into her mind. Ren chuckled slightly, looking back at the magazine article. "Mr. Yashiro had told me it was printed, but I've been too busy to give it my attention. You did a fantastic job, Miss Mogami. I'm sure your acting in the episode will bring the same amount of praise as this article has."

"T-Thank you, Mr. Tsuruga." Kyoko bowed her head to his back, stepping a few steps away. Mr. Yashiro still looked nervous and jumpy, but Kyoko was very close to losing her breakfast over the tension that had been in the air a few moments before.

"Ren, where did you get that copy?" Mr. Yashiro finally managed to speak up, clearing his throat. "Was it in here?"

"No, no." He settled back in the chair, Kyoko could have sworn she saw a smirk grace his face. "Mr. Fuwa brought it along on his visit."

The time Ren and Sho spent in the break room was only two minutes, max. Maybe shorter. It might seem longer than it really was. ////

Thanks to everyone for all of the wonderful support you have given me! Please continue letting me know what you think/like/dislike about this chapitre and story!

Sari*