Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!, Nakamura Yoshiki does. But I do own this story.

Pairings: Ren x Kyoko/Setsu

Chapter Ten

"Return"

Ren, with his usual frown back on his face, glanced over at Kyoko's direction.

She caught his eye and simply sent him a small smile of recognition.

He nodded at her before turning back to listen to the director who was now currently giving Murasame instructions as to how he wanted him to perform the next scene.

Something was definitely wrong with her. That much he knew. What exactly was wrong with her was something he was still not entirely too sure of. But ever since he had hugged her earlier, she had been acting even less like her usual self as she had for the past week.

He turned to glance at her again.

Their eyes locked once more but now her brows shot up in amusement as well. Ren had been turning to look at her as often as he could manage considering they were still in the middle of filming. The only breaks he had were the one between takes or when the director decided to instruct them about one thing or another.

And there it was again.

His gaze was still on his "sister" but this time her face had gotten quite pink again.

This had gone on almost nonstop now since he let go of her from his embrace earlier. She had been blushing more than usual the past week but now the blush on her face seemed resolutely stuck there. If there came a time for the color to die down, it didn't take long for it to crop up again either.

Yes, something was definitely going on and although he got a vague suspicion of what it might be, he'll never know unless he confronts her about it.

When Ren's eyes finally averted from her, Kyoko sighed and immediately turned to look down at her fingernails and started pretending like she was checking them for dirt.

She can't risk catching his eye again and really, this is the only sensible reason she could think of as to why Setsu would ever take her eyes away from her brother.

Ever since they shared that intimate-enough embrace earlier, Ren had taken to looking over at her so often that she was starting to worry that it would affect his performance during filming.

But sure enough, he did his scenes perfectly. It was she, on the other hand, who was failing miserably in her performance as Setsuka Heel.

'He saw,' she told herself while still scanning her fingernails. 'He definitely saw it.'

When they pulled back earlier, Kyoko had tried with all her might to put on a straight and mild expression on her face. She thought she had pulled it off perfectly and totally disguised her true emotions from him but she wasn't entirely sure because not long afterwards, the director had called out for him and the rest of the cast to start a run-through of the first scene they'll shoot for the day.

"Okay, everyone back to the previous position!" one of the director's assistants called out when director Konoe made his way off the set.

It was only then that Kyoko decided it was finally safe to look up again.

She was wrong.

Ren's eyes immediately met hers and from the kind of look he was giving her now, it looked as if he had been looking her way all this time.

The heavy blush that rose to her cheeks was instant.

His eyes widened perceptibly and the look of dawning realization that overcame his features led Kyoko to gasp and cover her mouth with her hand.

'He knows!' she thought, horror-struck.

"Scene twenty six, B. Take two," a man announced loudly before snapping his clapperboard in front of the rolling camera.

It was only then, at the very last second, that Ren finally tore his gaze away from her.

"ACTION!" Director Konoe declared.

Kyoko was trying very hard to not start wringing her hands for that would be very un-Setsu-like so she settled on twirling a finger around her hair.

"I'll have someone call for you later."

She turned to the door as Ren entered the break room with director Konoe stopping just outside.

He nodded at him in understanding.

"You did a great job earlier Heel-san," he said before turning and walking down the hallway.

Ren closed the door and stood there for what Kyoko felt like was way longer than necessary.

When he finally turned around to face her, the look on his face was indecipherable.

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak all the while wishing she sounded more normal than how she felt. "Is something wrong, nii-san?" she gave a mental sigh of relief. She didn't sound like squeaky mouse at least.

He didn't reply, instead simply continued to watch her.

She felt even more uncomfortable now. The heat in her cheeks seemed to intensify as well.

'Stop it,' she scolded herself. 'Setsuka Heel, you do not blush in such a way in front of your brother!'

"Setsu," Ren finally said in a most impassive voice but which made her jump all the same.

Kyoko mentally cursed herself. Setsu wasn't one to be so tense and easily agitated.

He had a brow raised now.

Now he wasn't acting Cain-like either. Since when did Cain Heel make that kind of face?

She was sure now that he definitely knew. Or that he had a suspicion at least. But she would not let him bait her. She'll hold her silence about the matter for as long as her nerves would let her!

"Yes, nii-san?" she asked in the sweetest voice she could muster. It made her internally cringe though since the sound of her voice made her sound almost too fake.

Ren shook his head and sighed.

Kyoko fidgeted.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

'He definitely knows,' she thought. It wasn't just his question that gave her that idea but the look he was giving her too. Yes, he most definitely knew.

She felt like crying now. She settled on shaking her head at him instead.

"Really?" he asked, stepping closer towards her.

Instinctively, she backed away. She could kick herself right now.

"You really have nothing to tell me, Setsu?"

The corner of her eye twitched.

"W-What?" she demanded, crossing her arms in front of her.

Ren moved quickly then. He took hold of one of her arms and pulled her closer to him. She staggered forward in surprise but he easily caught her and settled both his hands on the sides of her face. He pulled her head up to look up at him.

Kyoko's eyes widened at the position they were in.

This was not something she wanted after only just realizing her feelings for the man in front of her. Looking into each other's eyes in such a close distance did nothing good at all to her heart. Or her sanity.

She felt her entire face burn.

"W-W-What?" she stuttered in the mousey squeak she so dreaded earlier.

Ren leaned even closer towards her.

If he were to get any more closer to her, she was sure he'd hear the frantic beating of her accursed heart.

The look on his face was getting more un-Cain-like and more Ren-like by the second. He was clearly telling her the jig was up and that he didn't care that they were still on the Tragic Marker studio.

Heel siblings be damned.

Kyoko couldn't take it anymore.

"All right! All right!" she suddenly burst out, trying not to cry from embarrassment and fear. "I admit it!"

Damn. Was she that obvious? She may as well be wearing a blinking LED marquee on her head that said "I'm in love with Tsuruga Ren."

Kyoko sagged, leaned forward until her forehead rested against his chest.

"I admit it," she repeated in the most defeated voice Ren had ever heard her use.

"Why did you try to hide it?" he asked gently, hugging her in return to give her reassurance. It would do no good to start accusing her.

"What do you mean why?" Now her voice had a choked quality to it. Great. "It's… It's embarrassing."

When the words left her lips, she could feel her face flare up once again.

'All this blushing has got to stop,' she told herself, trying to calm down.

"What's so embarrassing about it?" Ren asked, slightly perplexed. He was actually glad that her memories have returned but she sounds as if she'd rather have lost it forever. "I'm relieved by it."

Kyoko pulled away suddenly to look up at his face.

"You are?"

He nodded. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"But I… I thought you would…"

Her eyes were wide as she continued to stare at him, intently watching for his face to crack into a joking smile or something. But no, he looked as sincere as he could ever be.

"…disappointed," she finished faintly.

"Disappointed?"

He was confused now.

Was there a reason to be disappointed that she regained her memories? Well, there was the fact that they'd be sleeping in separate beds now. And that they won't see each other every single day unless he was scheduled to shoot for Tragic Marker. Yes, those were disappointing. He had gotten so used to her and the routine they fell into the past month, a part of him felt even sad by the idea that they won't get to continue it anymore.

But then why would she feel disappointed about it too?

This shot a pleasant feeling down his spine somehow. So she enjoyed their time together as much as he did?

"Yes," Ren finally continued, a frown on his face now. "Come to think of it, I am disappointed after all."

Kyoko felt her heart sink.

So it was true then. Her previous worries about Ren being surely disappointed in her for falling in love with him were on the mark.

She pulled away from him, turned around, and crossed her arms in a defiant looking way. She will not let him see her cry. She. Will. Not.

Clearing her throat she spoke again although this time in a more dignified tone. "Well, anyway, you should eat," she said, gesturing at one of two bento boxes on the nearby table. "You don't know when they're going to call for you."

Ren, puzzled now at her odd and erratic behavior, did as she told although still keeping his eyes locked on her.

There was still something wrong.

The rest of the day went on as normal.

And it felt like hell to Kyoko.

While Ren continued with filming on set of Tragic Marker with her tagging along and following him as she usually did as Setsuka Heel, she felt worse and worse that by the time they had only an hour left until the day's schedule was over, she felt like dying.

She wanted to go. She wanted to leave. She wanted to be anywhere else but here where Tsuruga Ren was.

To make matters worse, he had still gone on with his usual glancing and staring at her even after their disastrous talk in the break room. Didn't the man have enough? Hadn't he already shredded her heart into pieces? What more did he want from her?

Feeling the back of her eyes sting yet again, Kyoko feigned looking up in interest at the ceiling to hold back her tears.

'I will not cry. I will not cry. I will not cry…' she chanted in her head. Those words were her new mantra. To hell with people thinking she wasn't acting like the usual Setsu, she just wished they wouldn't see her dissolve into tears. Not only would that be the most un-Setsu-like thing to do, but it would damage her pride worse than it already had at the moment.

"CUT!"

She had only flitted her eyes back down to the set but Ren was already striding towards her in a most ominous manner that everyone from the rest cast and the crew were openly staring at him.

Kyoko could only guess they were thinking along the same lines as she was. That Ren was going to hit her or something.

She flinched reflexively the moment he stopped in front of her.

"W-What?" she hissed, trying to sound unafraid and unaffected by his weird actions. The look on his face clearly showed his foul temper as well.

"Let's go," he replied simply before half lifting, half dragging her out of the studio.

It was apparent that Ren was pulling her in the direction of the break room again so they could speak in private. But much to his annoyance and to her relief, the moment they stepped into the room, their attention was broken by his already ringing cell phone.

Trying not to openly grumble in annoyance at this bad timing, he let go of her wrist and went over to his assigned locker.

Kyoko said a mental prayer in thanks for the moment of reprieve.

"Yes?" Ren snapped into the cell. He didn't even bother checking who it was who was calling first.

"Ren?"

The voice brought him back to reality.

"Shacho," he acknowledged in a calmer tone. If he were to let slip to the LME President about his foul temper, the man would bug him about it to no end. Or worse, he might start thinking he was back to being Kuon and come stalking him on set again. "What is it?"

"We're here to pick you and Mogami-kun up. We're parked in the lot across the studios."

Ren sighed and rubbed his temple. He had forgotten that he had left him a message telling him about Kyoko's returned memories earlier during lunch. Now he wish he hadn't. At this point, even he wasn't sure that Kyoko was entirely back to normal to deal with Lory and everyone else. Her behavior since lunch had only gotten weirder and stranger to him.

"Okay. But why are you here?" he finally asked.

"I want to see her, Maria too although I didn't take her with me. She and the others are waiting for our return at LME."

"You already told everyone?"

"Of course. This is a cause for celebration!"

'Everything is a cause for celebration to you,' Ren thought, regretting more than ever that he had told him. He was surely going to blow this all out of proportion. Again. He can only imagine what sort of "party" the man had prepared.

Kyoko blinked.

When Ren had told her earlier about them having to leave, she didn't question him. She was too glad he wasn't able to have a talk with her about her behavior in the afternoon which she was sure what brought on his temper earlier.

So when he led her out of the studio to an unfamiliar trailer waiting for them across the street, she was surprised when Lory and Ten- who was using crutches –came out to greet them.

The pair, however, barely said a word to her. They didn't question her or say anything of significance. The only thing they did that involved her compliance, was blindfold her.

Once this was accomplished, she felt her clothes being pulled and her head being touched which she guessed was Ten's doing, while they were driving to wherever they were going.

This baffled her.

What were they playing at? Wasn't she supposed to be Setsuka Heel? When did Setsu ever consent to being treated in this manner? Except, perhaps by her brother. So did they know then? That her memories have returned? Otherwise, she shouldn't have met Ten or the president since she didn't know them when she believed herself as Setsu. Or was this some sort of play that she didn't understand?

No one told her anything. She can't blame them either because she didn't bother asking. She was still at a loss. Too many questions ran through her head that she didn't know what to ask first.

Everything was all too strange to her that she ended up contemplating the situation all that time until they arrived at their destination.

Someone- one of the three, she guessed –led her out of the trailer, down a few steps, an elevator, then down a long walkway.

Then her blindfold was off.

And here she was, standing in front of the double doors to Lory's gigantic office at LME with only Ren as her companion, standing right next to her. And Ren was dressed as Tsuruga Ren now with no traces of Cain Heel on him, from his pristine hair, to his white button-up shirt opened wide around the collar, to his khaki well-fitting slacks, down to his white loafers.

He looked good. Kyoko hadn't seen him dress as himself for the longest time and the image of him right now made her weak in the knees.

This confused her even more. Now nothing really made any sense to her.

She could here scuffling on the other side of the large doors and guessed that Lory and Ten had probably went in ahead of them. In which case, she also guessed that Ren had requested this so he can continue his earlier intension of talking to her.

Tension immediately returned to her at this thought.

But then a minute…

Five minutes…

Ren continued his silence.

Kyoko looked up at him but his eyes were resolutely fixed on the double doors in front of him. He didn't look like he had any intention of saying anything to her either.

"Uhmm…" she started but immediately shut her mouth when he turned to look down at her with piercing albeit inquiring eyes.

"Yes?"

"N-Nothing," she mumbled, looking down.

She got another surprise when she looked down and saw that she wasn't wearing Setsu's ensemble anymore either but instead was wearing weaved wedge heels that matched her white dress. The thin sleeves were ruffled, as was the hem of the skirt and there were a few embroidery patterns of yellow and orange flowers in random areas. The material felt light which could only explain why she didn't feel much of it when it was put on her.

The outfit was quite simple. And she matched Ren.

Kyoko could feel her face burn yet again. Seriously, she had blushed a year's worth of blushes just this very day.

"I… What's going on?"

This question was mostly directed to herself so it came as a surprise when Ren bothered to answer her.

"The president has something prepared for you," he told her.

Her eyebrows shot up. He was referring to Lory as he usually did and he was talking as he usually does and there was also the fact that he currently looked like his usual self too.

It was obvious as day to her now.

"So you also guessed that I got my memories back," she whispered.

This revelation would have horrified her if it had happened before Ren found out she was in love with him. But now, her anxiety over this fact wasn't as much of a big deal anymore. Not after she got rejected.

She could feel her heart ache again.

"What are you talking about?" Ren asked, frowning. She had such a destitute look on her face, it made him forget about his frustration and confusion over her depressing mood that afternoon. "We talked about it earlier. You admitted to it in the break room," he pointed out. "And what do you mean 'also guessed'? What else did I guess?"

Kyoko looked at him, her eyes wide and her jaw open now.

"W-What? So you were talking about my memories? You thought I admitted to that? You didn't find…out…" she trailed off as everything finally sunk into her. 'So Ren guessed that my weird behavior all morning was because I had my memories back and not because he guessed that I fell in love with him?'

Her heart started pounding.

'So he doesn't know about my feelings for him?' she thought, getting ecstatic now. So she wasn't rejected after all!

"What were you talking about that time then?" he asked, getting her attention. "I didn't find out about what? What were you admitting to if it wasn't about your memories?"

Ren watched as her grinning face turned horrified then turned embarrassed.

"I wasn't admitting about anything," she told him although way too quickly to be perceived as the truth.

He gave her a look.

She looked away.

"Mogami-san," he started in a warning voice, "what were you admitting to?"

Author's Note:

Whose read the latest chapter to Skip Beat!? I can't wait for the next update even if it's not for another month. Ugh. Sucks having to read something that won't be updated for a month at a time.

I won't say much for my other story though. I haven't gotten around to update that yet. Eek! Even for this story I totally forgot to update it even if I've had the chapter ready for ages. I've been that busy.

The next chapter will be the final one by the way. So I hope you enjoyed my story thus far.

'Til next time!

Raeny