I'm back! I just read my other chapters over to see the mistakes or add more, but there wasn't that much. Anymore mangas/ animes? If you do have some, please suggest it, so I can try it out. School work is stressful, and reading manga really takes my mind of it. It's like my drug! Hahaha! I do not own Skip Beat (too bad). Well, here's the pre-first day, or night should I say, in Guam. Also, Happy Thanksgiving!


They stepped out of the plane, and the first things Kyoko noticed was the smell of the ocean, the sound of crashing waves,...and the flashing cameras. There were hundreds of them. With the engulfing darkness of the night, she thought she would go blind.

"Miss Kyoko and Ren!" a woman reporter shoved through the crowd. "You came in the same plane, is there something between the two of you?"

'Wow, right of the bat' Kyoko thought. 'Good thing Takarada-san warned us before hand.'

"No, we're just friends." she answered.

"Really?" a man emerged. "I'm sure Tsuruga-san has many 'friends', but we're asking which one you are. Good or bad?"

"Wha- "

"No comment" Ren growled. Ren Tsuruga is known for his breath taking smiles, so when he glared at them, it took them by surprise.

"Don't want her to know of your past, Ren? Well, there's no point since all of Japan knows!" a guy reporter joked. The rest laughed.

"Miss Mogami, how does it feel to be invited to the Summer Bash in merely a year?" someone in the mesh of bodies asked her. Kyoko smiled.

"I'm honored that people are acknowledging my hard work, and so much that someone like me was invited to something as important as this."

"You seem different from the characters you act, Mio and Natsu, or is this anther one of your acts?" Kyoko felt a bit offended at that one.

"I am very different from Mio and Natsu. They are both bully antagonists, but then again, they bully for different reasons. Mio bullies because she hates everyone, and she wants them to feel the pain she felt. She gives off a aura that keeps people away from her and isolated. Natsu bullies because she can; she wants a little fun so that her world won't be as boring, so she plays around with the people around her to see how they'll react, and then she'll plan her next move. She may be mean, but people are still attracted to her. I'm nothing like these characters, who is either all alone or seductively dangerous, but I'm very happy to have been able to create them, for I would not have been here now." Ren secretly smiled at the girl's professional reply.

"Are you two in any other projects together?"

"No, not as of yet"

"So you plan to work together again?"

"Yes, I hope so. Every time I work with Re-Tsuruga-san, I learn so many things. I admire him and hope that someday, in the far future, I can be on the same level, but while I am growing as an actress, he will be also, so it's going to be hard, but I won't give up."

"So he's your goal?" a man asked. Kyoko smiled and nodded.

"In just business? Or in personal affairs too?" Kyoko blushed, and Ren scowled at him.

'Time to go.'

He pulled her by the arm into the swarm of reporters, who were being held back by the body guards and a rope.

"Wait! Miss Mogami and Ren! If you guys aren't acting in anything together, what about individually?!"

"Oh, um- " Kyoko turned back to answer, but Ren kept tugging her forward.

"It's fine. You don't have to answer, we need to get going."

"Okay" They made their way to the limousine, but was once again bombarded by the reporters.

"Are you sure you two aren't together? Ren seems to be very protective of you." a blond haired woman tried to make a last attempt at the topic.

"N-No "she said, pulling her hand from Ren's grip. "Ren and I are just friends."

"But you've acted with him in Capture, a romantic drama. Ren is known to be a co-star killer, maybe you may have been another victim?" Kyoko's jaw tightened, and she swallowed.

'Another victim?... Have I really become another victim?'

"...No comment" she said with a plastered smile. Ren quickened his pace, and they could finally see their limo not too far ahead.

"I can take that 'no comment' as a yes?" Kyoko said nothing. The woman grinned. "Well, this is news! 'Japan's star newbie falls in love with the great Ren Tsuruga'!, and for a subtitle, 'Another hostage'" She turned to Ren. "How do you feel about this Ren? Having had another girl added to your vast collection?" Kyoko's heart sped up.

'Vast collection...' the words repeated itself in her head like a chant.

"...No comment" Her heart sank. He had rejected her in front of millions of people with two little words. She scoffed at herself.

'I already knew he didn't and never would return my feelings, yet it still hurts. Love really is a pitiful thing.'

Tears filled her eyes, blurring her line of sight, but she didn't let them fall. She couldn't. There was no way she would disgrace her senpai in front of millions of people even more than she had already. The body guards had put up their wall again, protecting them from harm, but it was too late, the damage had already been done.

"Wait! One more thing!" the woman cried. They got to the limo, and Ren let her in first. She scooted over, and he followed in. Kyoko let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, and a single tear had escaped. She quickly wiped it away before anyone could see; the reporters and their cameras continued to snap pictures inside the car, until the very last minute they pulled off. They rode in silence, and once again, Kyoko just looked out the window. It was becoming a habit.

"Kyoko?"

"Y-Yes?" She cursed herself when her voice trembled.

"Are you alright?" he asked worriedly. She smiled.

"Why wouldn't I be?" This time, she made sure her voice was even.

"Well...the paparazzi can be a little intimidating at first, and my being there didn't help." She turned back to the window.

"...I'm fine" Ren sensed the distance she was putting between them and became worried.

"Kyoko...about what that reporter- "

"What's the Summer Bash like?"

'She's pushing me away again.'

"Kyoko- "

"What kinds of things do you usually do?" Ren sighed.

'It's all that damn reporter's fault that I'm back at this point. they never give you the time of day.'

Kyoko knew that she was being rude to Ren, but she couldn't stop herself. That reporter had put her feelings out there, and he rejected her on the spot. Even though she knew that there was no future for them, the truth still hurts. So much that, in fact, tears were threatening to fall. The car was stuffy, and she did't even know how long it would take to get where they were going.

"Is it as crazy as people say it is?" Ren didn't answer straight away, but gave in at the end.

"I'm not really sure." Kyoko head tilted in confusion.

"But you're invited every year."

"But I usually leave the next day before anything starts, so I don't really know if the things they said happen actually happened, or if they exaggerate. The event was made so that only the people involved, unless they tell someone else, knows what happened, but as word passes from mouth to mouth, the words start to change, so the actual truth isn't revealed." Kyoko nodded, then covered her mouth with a yawned. It was late, and the jet lag was starting to take its toll on her. It felt like lead had replaced her bones. As the trees and buildings passed by in a blur, she slowly began to drift off to sleep.