Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! Or any of its characters.
A/N: Nothing is ever simple for Kyoko (as all us fans know). So now, you see how the plot unfolds. Thanks for reading! Please review! ;D
Lucky You!
Chapter 11 - Eternal Flame
"Congratulations, Mogami-kun. You've graduated from the Love Me section." Kyoko froze as those words echoed around in her head. Was she hearing this right? Kyoko looked up at Lory.
"You mean to say...I'm a properactress now? One of LME's?" she asked, breathlessly. Lory nodded. Ren couldn't believe this. No more annoying jobs to get in the way of them. Lory's face darkened.
"But." he paused. "There is one more thing you have to do." he growled. Kyoko gulped.
"What is it?" she asked timidly. Lory smiled, rather slyly.
"There has been a job offer for you, Mogami-kun. One for a rather greatly anticipated romance film that will be released some time next year. The role is of the main female protagonist." he smiled wickedly at her. Ren looked down at the floor.
"Hang on a moment...he can't be talking about..." Ren's eyes shot up to Lory.
"Oh yes," he said. "And Ren is the main male protagonist." A fake smile curled across his scheming face. "As a matter-of-fact, that's what I was talking with him about before you came in. He told me he had accepted it." Kyoko was looking into empty space.
"Female protagonist, romance role? And..." she swallowed hard. "Ren is my lover?!" Alarm bells were ringing in her head. "Mr. President knows I'm in love with Ren, which means he's doing this on purpose!" she concluded.
"You see," Lory continued. Kyoko looked up at him. "Only, if you have regained that very important human emotion and let it flow willingly through you, will you be able to complete this role." he said, hinting very obviously to Kyoko the fact that she needed to accept her feelings more openly towards Ren. Kyoko was contemplating what to do.
"If I take this role, I don't know how I'll act around Ren. But I could get closer to him." she mentally slapped herself round the face. "That doesn't matter!" Then it dawned on her. "...but it does..." she just realized. "The President wants me to accept my emotions towards Ren, and in doing that, I'll become closer to him, thereby helping me. Which means the President is looking out for me!" Kyoko sighed with relief. "I have to take this job: for my future career and love life!" Kyoko put on a determined face. She looked up at Lory.
"Alright." she said. "I'll take it." she said, firmly. Ren looked disbelievingly at Kyoko.
"Did she just...accept?" He wondered if he heard her right. "She accepted a job with me as her lover? I was sure, a moment ago, that she'd refuse and stay a Love Me member. Hold on...Boss never said Kyoko was going to be starring...he kept it from me." Ren ground his teeth. "He's taunting me..." Ren rubbed his hand on his face. Lory smiled deceptively at Kyoko.
"Then it's settled. I've arranged Yashiro-san to be your manager until you've completed this. After all, we can't be too hasty in getting someone in." He stopped. "Oh, don't misunderstand me, I have every faith in you that you'll succeed. But I'm going by the books. So to speak." He smiled.
"This should turn out to be very promising." he thought as he watched Kyoko and Ren drift towards the door.
"That should be all." he said, extremely pleased with himself. Kyoko bowed low.
"Thank you so much for this opportunity, Mr. President. I think I'm going to enjoy it very much." she said, smirking up at Ren. Ren was very surprised at the glance he had been shot just as she said that. Kyoko put her head back down and lifted herself from the hips, beaming from ear to ear. Lory looked at Ren expectantly. Ren was very distant.
"Oh, right. Thank you, Sir." he said, still distracted by Kyoko's glance. After that, Kyoko and Ren walked quickly out of the door and into the hall, leaving Sawara-san in the office.
All of a sudden, the air around them felt very awkward as they walked slowly down the hallway. Ren was pulling his eyes away from looking at Kyoko, who suddenly found the floor very interesting. They both tried to speak, but didn't know how to put it so it didn't sound odd. Finally Kyoko found an appropriate sentence.
"Ren?" she asked, looking expectantly at Ren. Ren looked over at her. "Do you think I can do this?"
They stopped in the hall and faced each other. Ren didn't really know how to answer without it sounding over-enthusiastic. He wanted to answer: "Yes, of course you can. I've always believed in you, from before the day I loved you. Which is somewhat hard to define..." but that would reveal his most prized secret. And that, he certainly didn't want. After considering what to say, he lowered his gaze to her and looked deep into her amber eyes. Kyoko, eyeing Ren carefully, loosened when she saw his expression. She stopped to think. She had rarely ever seen it. Ren's eyes were so soft and gentle, deep and intense. Even through she was looking up at him, she could see the emotions behind his eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, Ren spoke softly.
"How could I ever doubt you?" he asked. Everything around them seemed to dissolve into nothing as all they saw were each other. The hall seemed to e full of sparkles as they stood there, in complete harmony with each other.
As they said their goodbyes and walked away from each other, Kyoko had a strange, warm smile on her tender lips. She couldn't help it, and didn't realise it was there. The smile was so soft and subtle, yet it was impossible to miss it. When Kyoko came back to the Darumaya, to Okami-san and Taisho, she seemed completely oblivious to anything. She walked slowly up to her room and spent her time doing everything, the smile still strong on her face. Her eyes were deep, the colorful inflections bright. Kyoko gave off a warming glow as she sat in the darkness of her room. The moments they had shared that day stayed in Kyoko's dreams as she slept. It was like a candle that never blew out. An eternal flame.
A/N: OK. This was a shortie, but I'll try to update quickly. Sorry, I've just been really busy. Thanks for reading: please review! :) ;) ^ ^
