A/N: Back to the action. Perhaps more fluff here, perhaps less. Who knows how far I'll get here.

I'm not going into detail about the movie shoots or anything for several reasons. First, and foremost, is because people wanted a shipping fic and since they're trying to avoid disclosing their relationship, Ren and Kyoko's interactions are very boring shipping wise here. Also, filming for actors involves lots of sitting and waiting, which isn't always exciting, particularly when Ren and Kyoko are trying not to show any relationship between them. I'm not inclined to write Oscar-bait script, so I'm going to write small things about their characters and relevant scenes, but not go all out on it.

P.S. One scene (after the 4th cut) may be a bit disturbing to some, so read with discretion.

Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat.

A Surprising Scene

Ren had barely dyed his hair back to brown when he and Kyoko rolled back onto set January 2nd. Because they were using backlots near LA to film, Kyoko was able to stay with the Hizuris. Unfortunately for Ren, he was still hiding his identity and therefore could only get away with it for the first night back when his hair was still golden. That meant he would be staying far away from her holed up in some top hotel he didn't want to wait around at.

Here he was, with his brown hair and Kyoko walking to set with him for the last time this film. He wished it wasn't, but it had to be. Unless…

Ren was brought out of his thoughts by the very man he was dreading for so many reasons. Said man gleefully walked towards him and quickly wrapped an arm around Ren.

"Ren! How was Japan? It's great to have you back on set!" The energetic man had light brown hair cropped short to his head for the movie. The make-up and costume indicated to Kyoko that he was playing an American guard. If he knew Ren, he must have been one of the actors, not an extra. He finally noticed Kyoko, "And this must be her! Kyoko! Nice to meet you! I'm Brent Wilford." He reached his hand out to shake Kyoko's.

Although Kyoko was taken aback by his use of her first name so casually, she reminded herself that it was normal in America and reached her hand back out to shake his. She wasn't sure how many shakes were appropriate, so she let him do all the moving.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Wilford," Kyoko said.

"You don't have to be so polite, call me Brent," he jokingly chastised her. "Hey, you got a good girl here Ren," Brent added. Kyoko gagged, worried their secret had been spilled, but Ren stood calmly flashing his most annoyed smile. Kyoko knew what it meant, but Brent didn't and he kept joking around with Ren. "Don't worry, I won't pull a Kuon on you," he laughed.

Just then, someone called him back to set and he mercifully left them alone. Kyoko noticed that Ren flinched as Brent pulled his phone out and began to type.

"Be careful of him Kyoko," Ren warned. "He's not always the most trustworthy."

Kyoko cocked her head in confusion, but said nothing.

Ren took his phone out, spent a minute fiddling with it, and showed it to Kyoko. On the screen was what appeared to be a twitter account under Brent's name. The latest tweet was from only a few seconds before and read:

"Met Kyoko today! She's super sweet. She arrived with Ren today, so I guess that's a thing." There was even a heart and kissing emoji afterwards.

Kyoko looked up at Ren, this time with a horrified expression on her face. "Lory will know better," Ren assured her, "but the tabloids might not. Brent's a rare breed of actor that thrives off of tabloid drama, so he gets himself involved with it. That's how he gets his fans, even though he's a good enough actor that he doesn't have to do it."

"So, he'll expose us?" She whispered to Ren.

He shook his head. "He'll try, but he'll have no solid evidence. It's enough to start the rumors because he's our costar, but without any video or picture evidence in this day and age the media will be quick to move on from it. We just have to make sure he doesn't get pictures," Ren quietly lamented. He knew Brent would try, the gossip king he was.

Kyoko paused in thought, but once again cocked her head in confusion. "So what did he mean by 'pulling a Kuon'?"

Ren flinched. Kyoko swore she saw his face contort into a Cain-like expression for a second, but let him explain himself. She knew Kuon wasn't anywhere near who Ren was today, but that didn't mean she didn't feel a bit jealous at times.

After a brief pause to make sure they were alone, Ren began in a hushed tone. "I'm sure you know I slept around when I was younger," he waited for Kyoko's nod. "Well, towards the end of that period, I heard rumors that Brent's girlfriend was a beard and wanted to get laid."

Kyoko looked confused once more, probably by the American slang. She still wasn't good at that, and hadn't looked at the slang dictionary Kuu had gotten her.

"Basically, the rumor was that he was gay and had a girlfriend to hide it. Because he wasn't actually interested in her romantically, she didn't sleep with him, and wanted to sleep with someone." Kyoko's slightly wider eyes told him she had gotten it, so he went on. "I'd never met him, but his girlfriend was working with me on a project, so I asked if she'd sleep with me and she agreed. Brent found out and broke up with her, but I never did get to meet him. That was pretty soon before Rick died."

He tried to read Kyoko's face, but she maintained a level expression. He'd hoped she wouldn't be too mad at him, but was relieved to only receive a small slap on the arm. "You were a real scumbag back then, you know that? It's good you're not like that anymore."

Ren nodded. "I was too young to be involved in that stuff, but I was anyways. I'm a bit horrified myself being reminded of that," he admitted. "In all fairness, I think he does have a boyfriend now, so it's possible the rumors were true and the girlfriend was just looking for an excuse to break up with him." Kyoko gave him another small slap to indicate to him that she didn't like his justification, but didn't seem terribly angry.

"So what's she doing now?" Kyoko was generally curious. A scandal like that in Japan would ruin a girl's career, and she wondered if it had done that girl in.

"I haven't kept up with American pop culture, but I think she's still in the industry. Brent and her are a few years older than me, so it's possible she tried to use the scandal as a jumping off point for getting more mature roles," Ren said. Kyoko was a bit shocked that they hadn't tried to play down the scandal, but assumed the phrase Kuu had told her ('any attention is good attention') was really true in American show biz. Not that she wanted to take advantage of that. She still had a career in Japan that was much more important to protect.

"We should get back before they notice we're gone. Brent's probably noticed if no one else has," Ren said, leading Kyoko back to the set.

"Ah! Ren, Kyoko," said the director. "You're here. I don't have anything for you to do today, but I have the revised scripts and shooting schedule for the month to give you. I think they're on my chair," he told them as he pointed to a canvas chair in a dark corner of the building near a large camera. "Brent can't focus on the scene, so we're going to call it a day today anyways. Why don't you just go home since you can't watch anything?"

Both heartily agreed, grabbing their papers up quickly and walking out the door.

Due to the newly rearranged schedule, Kyoko's first day on set wasn't for until a few days after she had arrived, so she hadn't seen Ren. She could only call him when she was absolutely sure Kuu was out of the house, so she didn't get many opportunities to do so. Of the few times she was able to try, he was only able to pick up once.

The first day on set was a scene with Brent. Ren wouldn't be on set that day. Instead he was doing various modeling jobs and travel commercials for the Japanese market during his free time. Kyoko often wondered if Yashiro was as much of a workaholic as Ren to help him get and schedule all of his jobs.

She had read this scene quite a few times to make sure her lines were perfect. It was her first day on set, and on location the full staff hadn't been there. Today was another day she needed to prove that she belonged in this movie. She was the first to show up, before the set was even unlocked, and sat quietly in hair and make-up to seem professional. No amount of tugging or fussing would make her flinch as she went over her lines and her planned actions.

Today she would only be doing one scene, and it was only one of her two scenes with Brent. As if Ren's words of caution about his love of gossip and scandals were prophetic, he turned out to be playing an adversary of sorts for Ren. The character had a similar background to Ren's, a young American-raised man figuring out his future, but had a different fate because he was white: serving in the military as a guard at the prison camp. That and the character's tendency to harass the prisoners, particularly Kyoko's, put him at odds with Ren's character. Several more shots between their characters had been filmed on location, but Brent was only seen eyeing her or commenting about her from afar, so she wasn't made privy to that plot point. Kuu had warned her that they wouldn't tell her some small details about her storyline so she could give more genuine reactions if possible. That was apparently one of the director's favorite tricks for getting good performances out of actors, no matter how experienced they were.

They would be filming the scene in which he first confronts her near the watch house. Kyoko knew he was scripted to say the nasty things to her, but that didn't do much to make her less scared of Brent. She wondered if that was intentional. The script for the second scene hadn't reached her hands, and she was asked to leave the room during the read through of that scene. Perhaps they wanted her to be scared and caught by surprise. So far their attempts at both were working. Due to the current sets built, and what would be built next, her other scene with Brent wasn't set to be filmed until the last week. That would make her apprehension stew.

The days on set were spent with so much waiting time, Kyoko's apprehension was given time to grow. She filmed many scenes on set with Ren and Kuu.

Although out of order, she had gotten through her whole storyline with Ren by the end of the third week of January. Only little details and the scene with Brent were left. Her character bonded with Ren's character over their shared apprehension for the future and their treatment at the camp. After Kyoko's uncle, Kuu's character, dies, their characters would only find their friendship grow stronger because they had no relatives or other friends they knew.

Kyoko had many scenes with Kuu's character, although the last ones they shot were enough to draw real tears from her eyes. In those scenes, she tried to nurse his very sick character back to health in a futile attempt to keep him alive. Those feelings made her question if she was really happy not to have parents: was it better not to have to mourn them, or to have them to take care of and love you?

That answer came the day of shooting before her last scene with Brent; the day they filmed Kuu's death scene. As she watched him "die" through the eyes of her character, she knew how hard it would be to lose her parents. Even so, she knew she couldn't become who she was today without Kuu or Julie. The love she had received in only a few short years, or months as her character had, was more than enough to justify any pain of loss. The emotion of the scene left her crying long after it was shot, so much so that Kuu spent time reassuring her that he was okay. It took half an hour before she could begin re-takes of the scene, but she got through it.

When the shoot for that day was over, she was so relieved she forgot that something big was happening the day after. Unfortunately, Ren called to break her out of her reverie. He had gotten to set that day to film a scene where he comforted Kyoko over Kuu's "dead" body, but left earlier than her due to a call he had with Lory that night.

"Kyoko," he said softly, almost cautiously. "Are you prepared for tomorrow?"

She shook her head, but remembered it was a call. "I never got the script for it," she replied.

"So he doesn't want you to know. I just want you to know I'll be there to help you, both inside and out of the scene, okay?" That made Kyoko more nervous.

"I know," she said, entirely confused as to what he was nervous about.

"Just know you'll be okay," Ren assured her. "I should be getting to bed. I love you Kyoko. I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up.

Kyoko lay awake that night, wondering what about the scene had made Ren so concerned. If she could get through today, she could get through anything. That's what she tried to tell herself, at least.

The next morning when Kyoko arrived on the set tensions were high. Ren was forcing Yashiro to do something that would occupy his day, but Yashiro doubted his motives and was therefore not ready to budge quite yet. The director was giving very stern instructions to Brent. A laugh from Brent sent the director on even more of a tirade.

Even when Kyoko exited her make-up trailer an hour later, she could tell something was off. Now Ren was confronting the director and asking him with a positively deadly smile why Kyoko wasn't made privy to the details of today's scene. She swore he would go ballistic if he let the slightest inclination of Cain or Kuon through. Brent sat in a corner looking like a scolded child, but sporting a mischievous grin indicating he was ready for more trouble. Just what was being filmed today?

She knew the scene took place shortly after Kuu's death, when she was mourning in their little space of the internment camp, but nothing else was told to her. The costume she recognized as the one she had worn (in a more disheveled form) for the location shoot in which she and Ren had run out of one building and through the forest of the island.

Ren noticed her coming in shyly and immediately ditched the director to talk to her. In a bold move he hugged her and assured her that her acting would own the scene, no matter what the director did. As he had the night before, he once again assured her that he would protect her, to which she nodded. They broke apart quickly and went to get final touch-ups before filming.

Only a few minutes later, the director ordered the actors to set. Ren waited to the side in his chair, as did Brent, while the first part of the scene was shot. It was a simple scene of Kyoko crying in the corner, but they had wanted several takes and angles of it. Thankfully no props needed re-setting or set dressings needed to be changed so filming went relatively quickly.

This was where Kyoko didn't know what would happen, and that scared her more than anything. Not only was everyone tense about this scene, but she also didn't know how well she could improve. The old fear of failure and disappointing those relying on her crept up on her as she sat on the "dirty" floor waiting for the director to call action. He gave one final instruction that made Kyoko even more nervous: "Kyoko! Try to get away from him, struggle!" She didn't know what that meant, but she would find out soon enough as the countdown to filming began.

Brent, in the cocky stance of his character entered the set and approached her. That alone took five or six takes to get right, only ramping up Kyoko's nervousness. She saw that multiple cameras were being brought in to film the next scene. She'd only seen this done for one other scene – a fight scene Ren had not been privy to, so they would get all of his raw, confused emotion the first attempt with no re-takes necessary. It took careful precision and disguises for the cameramen, but the director insisted on it.

Finally, the countdown to what Kyoko assumed was making everybody tense happened. Shortly after the scene began, Kyoko understood why.

Brent, in character, came upon her with some rude remarks before grabbing her chin roughly and appraising her face. Soon he pulled her into a rough kiss. Partially because of instincts, and partially due to the director's instructions, she struggled to get free from his hold, but she found it impossible. Her small frame was no match for that of a hulk like Brent. Her eyes continued to drip fake tears from the earlier scene and her hands remained shaking. Her weakness allowed his hands to get to her shirt, ripping it open and exposing the period-appropriate bra she was wearing. Kyoko tried to crab-walk away before he brought her hands hostage above her head and slipped his other hand up her skirt, skimming his hand along her butt.

Just as she thought she was about to be molested on camera, Ren's character burst into the scene and practically dragged Brent off of her. No matter how good of an actor he was, Kyoko could see that real anger was fueling his aggressive performance. She still shook, but a feeling of relief fell over her to have him here. This was acting, but everything felt real due to the shock. She wasn't sure if what the director had done – allowing her to go into this unknowingly was even legal – but she knew it had gotten the best performance out of her. That didn't mean she would ever, ever allow this type of thing to happen again. No wonder Ren was so angry and the set was tense.

Suddenly, Ren grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the corner to the fake outside on the set. There was a brief pause to change the cameras around as she reached the door, but Ren didn't assure her further. She saw Brent get his phone out while the two of them waited, and assumed the threat of his rumor-mongering was holding Ren back. Still Brent watched with hawk-like eyes.

They were moved to a different set, only a short distance away from the first, which was set up like a forest clearing on a slope. She assumed this is where they ended up after the running scene. Kyoko was only given a few short lines to memorize for the scene and with very few details, so they felt no need to give them a lunch break to practice on. Instead there seemed to be an urge to get this day over with, and understandably so.

Both Ren and Kyoko entered the set from the "downhill" side and sat down on rocks. Ren was panting while Kyoko continued to sob. Instead of the prescribed dialogue, when the cameras began rolling both left the scene a silent testament to their struggle. It took two full minutes before Ren got up and slowly walked over to Kyoko, who was holding her shirt closed. He grabbed one hand and said only one thing to her: "Daijoubu?" He asked in Japanese. Kyoko couldn't tell if he was in character or not the way he looked at her with severe concern.

She couldn't help it any more. She was upset about that scene; she was upset about the director's methods; she was upset that no one had told her anything, even Ren. Kyoko gave in to her emotions and buried her head into Ren's chest, softly pounding at it as he wrapped his arms around her in an enveloping hug. It wasn't a romantic hug with soft caressing, but instead one that was firm and in control, as if to tell her that she would be okay.

When the director called cut, several members of the staff were teary-eyed, and the director himself clapped.

"That was a great performance! More than I could've ever imagined. You are both free to go for the day," the director informed them. Ren helped Kyoko get up. As they walked off to their trailers both gave small bows to the director, but neither felt the need for a more respectful deep bow or handshake. Where Kyoko made eye contact, Ren was tempted to ignore the director.

Kyoko had the trailer to herself to change, but she went over to the bed to cry first. Today wasn't okay, and she knew it.

Suddenly, someone began to furiously knock on the door. She hadn't locked it, and the person must have found this out; the door began to open quickly. It shut just as quickly, and she heard the lock click shut. God she hoped it wasn't the director or Brent or Kuu or even her make-up artist. But when she turned around, she saw Ren walking towards her.

Ren gave her a deep but tender kiss. He had been angry all week about the scene from today, and he wasn't about to let Kyoko deal with its consequences on her own. He would help her come to terms with what the idiot director had made her do. She was his top priority, even if Brent had posted pictures of their hug at the beginning of the day and in the last scene to various social media platforms with the caption 'And people say they aren't dating?' Even if he really had seen Brent with his camera ready watching him enter Kyoko's trailer. No. That could wait for later. She was the only thing in his world right now. Nothing could draw him away.

She let him crawl into the bed next to her and for once she allowed his arm to wrap around her waist. Ren heard her stop crying after he rubbed one hand along her arm, so he continued to do it until her even breathing indicated she had fallen asleep. He joined her soon after.

Kuu had rushed to set as soon as he saw the blow-up on social media. It involved something about Ren entering Kyoko's trailer. He was half excited to see if they were really dating, and half worried something had gone wrong with the scene today that caused Kyoko to freak out. Either way the photo Brent posted of Ren going into her trailer didn't look good out of context. Nor did a tabloid's tweet citing an anonymous source on set claiming the neither of the two had come out quickly.

Brent's photos had been taken down quickly by the production company, the first set by explaining he posted photos from filming and rehearsal that were not to be made public yet. The picture of Ren entering the trailer was almost immediately taken down, but the tabloid refused to delete their tweet. Kuu knew his son fucked up big time. That one would be hard to explain away.

At first he knocked gently on the door, but after a minute he decided to try the door. Unfortunately it was locked, and even more unfortunately a sleepy and very angry Ren greeted him when the door opened. Kuu forced his way inside, not trusting Ren to tell him any truths.

"So, son. Did you think this was a smart idea?" He began to appraise the scene. Kyoko's costume was nowhere in sight, and the door to the trailer's bedroom was shut. He wouldn't be able to assess her condition. Ren's clothes were slightly wrinkled and his hair slightly mussed, but nothing like it would be after a romp in the bed. Kuu began to sniff around, seeing if he could smell any sex in the air, but he couldn't.

"Keep quiet. She's asleep," Ren hissed at his father.

"And why are you in here exactly? And for four hours? Surely you know it's a scandal by now." For emphasis, Kuu showed the tweet in question to Ren, along with the pages of fan reaction tweets.

Ren blanched. He knew this would be hard to fix: he couldn't just explain this away by telling the truth or bending it slightly. When two individuals with dating rumors surrounding them were alone in any capacity, but particularly one with a bed, it was near impossible to prove suspicions of sex wrong. As a teen, he'd learned that lesson well, even if the suspicions were always true when he was younger.

"I also know at least one US entertainment show and a few tabloids have picked up on the romance rumors surrounding you two. You're not well enough known or liked here to justify much coverage, but they'll give it just enough attention to add more intrigue to the production. In Japan it hasn't gone into press yet, but I bet it will," Kuu scolded him. "You better come up with some way to protect my daughter's reputation."

"Lory will figure something out," Ren said, trying to sound hopeful. Both he and his father knew he wasn't naïve enough to really believe that.

"Just hope there's some big story to cover this up soon. In the US it may blow over quickly because you're not well known, but in Japan this'll be news. Your couple name is already trending in Japan, and it's not even morning there yet!" Kuu turned around, frustrated but amused. He and Lory had failed to force them to date because of any previous scandals, but surely to protect Kyoko's public image they would need to now. Yes, this was unintentional and far more scandalous than they wanted, but it would work well. First, he needed to know what really happened. "Kuon," Kuu said to get Ren's full attention. "What really did happen?"

Ren turned his back to Kuu, refusing to face him. He had no idea if Kuu was told about the nature of the scene, but didn't want to be the one to inform him. If Kuu found out, he would certainly cause a scene. Ren knew he had to be vague about the scene, but would tell the truth about what had happened afterwards. Sometimes the truth would help his case the most, and here he may use it to prevent Kuu and Lory from using the incident to scheme. "We filmed a very tough scene today. Kyoko was not informed about the details, and because the scene was highly upsetting to her. After we finished filming, she remained crying, so I came here to make sure she was alright. She asked me to stay with her until she was done, so I did. Now she's asleep, but I don't think it would be good to leave her here alone tonight."

"Is that why you looked so sleepy when you answered the door then, Kuon?" Kuu raised an eyebrow. "You were keeping her company? In the bed?"

Ren's eyes fell back into a focused ire directed at Kuu as he turned to face the man in question. He would lie. "No, on the couch."

Kuu could tell easily the couch was too short for him to fit on, but didn't want to upset Ren further. He walked to the bedroom door and peeked inside to check on Kyoko.

"Why don't you help her to my car so I can take her home for the night? She doesn't have any filming tomorrow, correct?" Kuu questioned.

"No. I believe she's done for the project. I have three days left and then we're doing the wrap party," Ren said icily. He entered the bedroom as Kuu sat on the couch to wait for them.

Inside the bedroom, Ren woke Kyoko with a kiss. Her eyes fluttered open in confusion until she saw Ren.

"Good evening, Kyoko," he said smoothly. He got the street clothes she'd come in out of her closet and brought them to the bed for her. The costume hangars and bag were on a nearby chair. "Kuu's here to pick you up. I'll go out so you can change, okay?"

Kyoko nodded, but grabbed his sleeve. "Don't leave, Ren." He was surprised, but moved to sit on a chair. She turned bright red. "B- but can you turn around?" He did so, staring at the now empty closet until she declared herself ready to go.

They walked out of the room together to find Kuu ready to leap off the couch. He hugged Kyoko, but said nothing beyond a greeting. All three walked silently out to Kuu's car and left the set for the day, thanking their lucky stars the day was over. They weren't ready to think of what the next day would bring.

A/N: There is no A/N.