Skip Beat Surprise!
Chapter 11
Happy Reading!
She lay in her futon, staring up at the ceiling. She sighed, placing her arm across her forehead, and coughed. Her body was aching from her tussle with that guy the day before and her cold made her head ache. She closed her eyes, and tried to sleep, feeling rather miserable. A memory came into her mind instead: A quiet forest, gentle breeze, and rays of sunlight penetrating through the trees and highlighting his golden hair.
"Corn…" Kyouko opened her eyes, missing the fairy prince from her childhood. She sighed again before sitting up in a hurry, her eyes lighted up in delight. She threw the thick blankets aside, and crawled out towards a corner of her room, where her things were neatly kept. Digging through her bag, she brought out her purse and dropped its content into her palm, clutching it tightly to her chest.
Kyouko went back and sat in her futon, smiling to herself. She held the stone between her fingers and held it up against the light, admiring its bluish colour. She could feel all her unhappiness practically draining away.
"Corn…"
A knock sounded on her door, startling her, and causing her to drop the stone onto her futon.
"Come in." Kyouko called out, while she searched for her stone between the blankets.
The door slid open a fraction, and the landlady looked in hesitantly.
"Kyouko-chan? Sorry to disturb your rest, but you have a visitor." The door slid open further and Kyouko looked in surprise at her visitor.
"EEH? T-Tsuruga-san?"
The both of them sat across each other, a steaming cup of tea placed in front each of them by the landlady who had left the room rather hurriedly. Kyouko looked downwards, clasping and unclasping her hands nervously in the awkward silence.
Her most-esteemed sempai had taken time out of his busy schedule to visit her, and she was only having a common cold. Just as she was prepared to beg and grovel for his forgiveness, making Japan's Number One Actor come all the way just for his insignificant kohai, he spoke up.
"Mogami-san…"
"Yes!" Kyouko sat erect with attention, cold sweat running down her back.
Tsuruga Ren was looking around her room, an amused look on his face. He looked at her and placed a hand on his forehead, a small smile on his face.
"I'm embarrassed…"
Kyouko stared at him in confusion.
"To think that you're a fan of mine. Having my posters on your wall and even those dolls that look amazingly like me… Miniature versions of what you gave Maria-chan for last December."
She blinked, and turned a fiery shade of red, realizing that he saw the dolls she made (to make fun of him), and the poster on her wall. She froze, another realization hitting her.
Shoutaro's poster and mini-dolls were also there.
She gulped, laughing nervously. "Y-You're m-mistaken… I, I…"
"But I see you also have Fuwa's posters and dolls as well…" She shrivelled under his gaze.
Seeing how uncomfortable Kyouko looked, Ren sighed and dropped the matter for the moment. "Well, you don't really have to explain now." He took a sip of his tea. "Besides, I'm here to see if Mogami-san is feeling better. Ah, and before I forget…" Ren reached for the huge basket of items and pushed it across the table.
"Yashiro-san is also concerned for your health. Please feel better s-" He stopped, and stared at Kyouko, who had tears running down her cheeks. "Mo-Mogami-san! What's the matter? Are you feeling all right?"
She sniffed, looking at him with big, teary eyes. "Tsuruga-saaaan! I'm sorry. I'm such an ungrateful kohai to have made you come all the way here for me! Please, feel free to punish me however you like!"
Ren resisted laughing as he looked at the girl, the only one who can make him feel so exasperated, worried and yet happy at the same time. Kyouko started coughing, turning away as she coughed continuously.
"Come on, you should be resting." She felt a warm, firm grip on her arms and sniffed again as Tsuruga Ren helped her back to bed.
He sat next to her, and pulled the covers up when something rolled onto the floor and caught his attention.
"Ah! Corn!"
He felt his heart skipping a beat at the familiar sound. Before Kyouko could reach over to catch hold of it, another hand picked the precious stone up.
"Ah!" Kyouko looked on as Ren raised the stone up towards the light, and watched as the stone changed colours.
"Y-You remembered?" She looked slightly surprised, but happy.
"Didn't you just say?" Ren passed the stone back to her, who held it carefully in her hands. "Corn, right?" There was a twinkle in his eyes, which she missed. "Your fairy prince gave it to you, right? This magical stone."
She looked up indignantly at his teasing tone. "I know. Tsuruga-san doesn't believe in what I said." She looked at her precious 'Corn' lovingly, and Ren had an indescribable urge to hold her in his arms. His fists clenched tight and he looked away for a moment to focus his thoughts.
"Mogami-san." Kyouko looked up, and blinked when she came face-to-face with the small, gentle smile on her sempai's face. "It's getting late. I should get going and you can get your rest."
Her brain seemed to have short-circuited from that smile, and she nodded her head numbly. "Ah! I-I'll see you out…"
Ren only pushed her gently back into her bed and covered the blankets over her. "It's okay." He placed a hand on her forehead. "At least it seems that your temperature is back to normal.
"Good night, Mogami-san."
"G-Good night, Tsuruga-san."
He left the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He stood there for a while, his back against the door, and sighed softly. He just could not press her for answers when she looked so vulnerable and fragile as she did.
His questions could wait. He looked back, a small smile on his face, and whispered.
"Rest well, Kyouko-chan."
She tossed under her blanket, trying to remove the image of Ren's smile from her mind and the feeling of his hand on her forehand. She sighed, and her face felt inexplicably warm. She shook her head vigorously, and pressed her eyes shut, blaming it on her fever.
She soon fell asleep, to dreams of fairies, castles, and her fairy prince.
He let go of the parasol in his hand, smirking, as the wind blew it out of reach. The girl in front of him gasped, and stormed towards him.
"You little-" She jumped and grabbed him in a chokehold, her demons swarming around her, lending her strength and cheering her on.
"Cut! Stop!" The director looked up in horror. "K-Kyouko-chan!"
Kyouko was oblivious to her surroundings, rather caught up in her anger with Sho. It took two burly cameramen to drag her away. Sho coughed, massaging his throat. It was not unlike the experience during the filming of [Prisoner].
"What is your problem?" Sho rasped, breathing hard.
They were having their final outdoor shoot today, while the rest of the scenes would be filmed in the studio. The director placed the clapper in front of Kyouko, and clapped it down several times, having heard and witnessed this weird behaviour of hers before. After a moment, Kyouko blinked, and looked into the concerned faces of the crew.
"Ah! I-I'm sorry!" She bowed, repeating her apologies.
The director sighed, "Well, the one you have to apologise to is Fuwa-san… Why don't we take five minutes' break? I'm sure both of you need some rest."
A vein started twitching at the side of her forehead when she realised she had to apologise to that guy.
"And Kyouko-chan?"
"Yes?"
"I hope you won't lose control of your emotions again."
I don't believe this. Just when we started filming again, she loses control. Sho leant into his chair, taking a gulp of water. And wasn't she also sick? Where does she get her strength from?
He took another swig from the bottle, massaging his throat. He shot an irritated look at Shouko, who was hovering near him, stealing glances at him now and then.
"I'm fine! There was no way that girl could have hurt me even if she tried."
Shouko sighed. If Sho could insult people like that, then he was most likely fine. Before she could speak, she saw Kyouko making her way towards them, an unhappy look on her face.
"Well, I guess I'll leave the two of you alone."
"Huh? Wha-?" Sho looked up, and realised what Shouko was referring to. "Tch." He looked away, folding his arms.
Praying that the two young stars don't kill each other in her absence, Shouko smiled at Kyouko, and quickly made herself inconspicuous.
A heavy silence hung between the both of them. Kyouko avoided looking at him, reluctant to apologise. Unable to bear the suffocating silence, Sho snapped first.
"What?"
Kyouko looked unwillingly at him, and spoke in a petulant tone. "I'm sorry. I hope I didn't injure you, Fuwa-san."
"That didn't sound very sincere." There was a smug look on his face. "And I thought I told you to stop calling me 'Fuwa-san'."
She flipped back a lock of hair that fell over her shoulder, and crossed her arms. "I shall call you whatever I like." She took in a deep breath.
"Fuwa-san. Fuwa-san. Fuwa-san. Shoutaro. Fuwa-san. Fuwa-san. Shoutaro. Fuwa-san. Fuwa Shoutaro. Fuwa-"
"Shut up!"
The bottle in his hand fell to the floor, wetting his shoes slightly, as he stood up. Kyouko blinked, as the distance between them closed in an instant. He lowered his head and she found herself pinned under his strong gaze, looking right into the brown eyes that she once loved so much. Sho smirked, knowing the effect his sudden closeness had on her. He spoke softly into her ear.
"What's the matter?" His smirk grew when she shivered slightly. "Nerv- OW!"
He jumped back, clutching his foot, staring unbelievably at Kyouko. His foot, which was stomped on by her heeled one, pulsed painfully. He made a painful mistake of taking her stillness and shivering to be anticipation instead of anger. Kyouko glared, her amber eyes flashing.
"You really are hopeless. Just as bad as that Beagle." With that, Kyouko turned and left, leaving Sho with a throbbing foot and wondering why she was comparing him to that copycat.
"Cut! Good take!" The director looked up from the camera, looking pleased. "That's it for today. Otsukaresama!"
Laughter and voices filled the air as they broke up filming for the day. As crewmembers made plans to go drinking together, Kyouko hurried towards the trailer, rushing to change out of her dress as she had make-up scenes for [Dark Moon] that night. After reluctantly changing out of her outfit and wiping off her make-up, she stepped out of the trailer.
And right into Fuwa Sho.
She stared balefully at him, and continued walking, making a wide berth around him. He made a 'tch' sound of annoyance and caught up to her.
"Hey! What do you mean by I'm as bad as the Beagle guy?"
Kyouko ignored him, choosing to rifle through her bag, searching for her mobile phone.
"Oi!" He stepped ahead and stopped right in front of her, causing Kyouko, who was absorbed in the contents of her bag, to bump right into him. She fumed, and placed a hand on her hip.
"Would you excuse me, Fuwa-san? I have an appointment on now." Kyouko took a step to the right, which was countered by him. She looked at him, irritated.
"You-"
"Mogami-san?"
Both turned at the voice, slightly shocked. Crewmembers milling around the area dropped their jaws in shock, a couple dropping their equipment onto their feet and several more walking right into each other, as Tsuruga Ren walked gracefully towards the two.
Kyouko blinked in surprise while Sho's fists clenched tight in anger. He stopped in front of them, his height easily making him the tallest among them, and smiled.
Kyouko shivered, and kept a tight control over her demons, who were going crazy inside of her, wanting to come out and savour the darkness.
"T-Tsuruga-san. W-What are you doing h-here?"
"I heard that you have an outdoor shoot here today and I was worried you might not be able to make it back to the studio in time for [Dark Moon], so Yashiro-san and I came to pick you up." His smile grew.
She gulped and looked behind Ren, and saw Yashiro standing next to the car. Briefly wondering why Yashiro looked so excited, she pushed those thoughts away and concentrated on the issue in front of her. Once again, she had caused trouble for her sempai. She fidgeted uneasily, wondering what to do.
A warm hand took hold of hers and she looked up, her face feeling slightly warm, as Tsuruga Ren pulled her gently. "Come on. We have to hurry."
She nodded her head numbly, her mind in temporary shutdown mode. Before she could take another step, another hand grabbed hers, stopping her. That cleared her thoughts, and she stared at Sho. He looked at her for a moment, wanting to say something, but instead he clenched his jaw and let go of her hand.
"Tch. Whatever." He stalked past them, bumping his shoulder against Tsuruga Ren.
"What was that about?" Kyouko was confused.
There was a gleam in Ren's eyes, which she missed. He looked back at her, a small smile on his face. "Come on, Mogami-san. We're going to be late otherwise." Still holding onto her hand, he guided her towards the car.
A/n: Sorry for the late update once again. I'm trying to update this as regularly as I can now, seeing that I'm probably going to end this soon. All along, I've only meant for this story of mine to be an arc in the actual manga. I started with the Valentines' arc but that kinda got lost after a while, so I'm hoping to end this with the current arc. By the way, I was just referring to the part where Reino (Beagle) spoke into her ear during Valentines' arc.
I truly appreciate all the reviews and please feel free to point out any mistakes ^^ Is it too OOC? Boring?
Thanks for the wonderful reviews =)
saizen24, TohkoXKetsueki, Saranha de Angelo, Katmonty, Shiroyuki76, creamy creations, skepsis66, DREAMLYN-LA-DY-BUG-
