I do not own Skip Beat!

Kyouko looked more like a tomato than an actress by the time she saw Ren later that day. Kanae had dragged her, quite willingly, all over town, window shopping and pointing out the many admirers Kyouko didn't know she had along the way. Kanae had even puller her aside and told her that one of the clerks at a shop they'd gone into was shamelessly flirting with her. She hadn't believed it until the young man tried to give her his phone number.

At first, Kyouko had thought that most of the stares directed their way were for Kanae. She became a little more aware that some were for her after the phone number incident, but it wasn't until after she and Kanae parted ways that she was no longer able to turn a blind eye to the attention she was getting. Her first instinct was of course, to wonder if she'd spilled something on her clothes or messed up her hair or makeup, but after many glances in reflective surfaces, like the windows she was passing, assured her that everything was in order, she gave up that thought. She then started to notice the expressions of the men staring at her. She had seen those expressions before, on Ren's face.

Those expressions were the face of attraction, Kanae had told her. These men were attracted to her. Ren was attracted to her. She couldn't quite wrap her mind around the idea.

"Good afternoon, Mogami-san," Ren said with a tentative smile.

Kyouko blushed even brighter, then frowned as she recalled the events of the latter half of yesterday evening.

"Could I talk to you for a minute?" Ren asked.

He wasn't angry anymore. If he was, her sensor would have alerted her to it.

"Um, ok," she agreed.

They found an unoccupied corner of LME and sat on the stairs. Ren let out a long sigh.

Kyouko looked up at him, wondering if she had again, done something to upset him.

"You don't have to be so worried, Mogami-san," he said with a small smile, "Though I know I only give you reasons to be anxious."

"Eh? No you don't," Kyouko said. "Well, maybe when I think about your eating habits and such, then I feel anxious about your health, but otherwise I think of you as a source of strength. Whenever something bad happens, I think 'Tsuruga-san will definitely be able to help,' and then I calm down."

Ren smiled weakly. "So I didn't make you anxious last night?"

Kyouko looked away. "Oh."

"I'm sorry," Ren said.

"Eh?" Kyouko asked, looking up at him.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I shouldn't have acted that way last night. I let my feelings get the better of me, made you uncomfortable and ruined our date."

Kyouko blushed scarlet at the term 'date.' So he hadn't been teasing. He'd considered it a date after all. She ignored the thousand sensations that rushed through her at that realization and asked the more pressing question.

"Eh? But, wasn't it my fault? Didn't I do something to upset you?"

"Mogami-san, you didn't do anything wrong," he said. "I was simply being childish and I let my own…issues affect my behavior towards you. I shouldn't have done that."

"But I must have said or done something to upset you, or you wouldn't have gotten so angry. If I don't know what I did, how can I make sure not to do it again?" Kyouko asked, eyes pleading.

"Again?" he asked.

"Of course I don't want to upset you again, Tsuruga-san," she said. She didn't want that fake smile directed at her ever again. Even if his other smiles did dry out her grudges and make her heart temporarily stop, even if it gave her false hope— But then, he did ask her on a date, a real date.

Her earlier conversation with Kanae flashed through her mind.

"That guy is attracted to you," she said.

"Eh? Isn't he just being friendly?" Kyouko asked.

"This is being friendly," Kanae said, demonstrating a friendly smile. "That is attraction."

"B—but Tsuruga-san smiles at me like that and he's—"

"Attracted to you!" Kanae shouted, drawing the attention of passersby.

Kanae had the dragged her away from the onlookers, all the while grumbling that Kyouko's obliviousness ought to have limits and that it made her do embarrassing things.

So Ren had asked her on a date and was attracted to her…

"So does that mean you'll give me a chance to make it up to you?" he asked.

"Eh? But I still don't know what it was that I did," Kyouko sputtered. He was asking to make it up to her, as if he'd been in the wrong, when clearly, something she'd said or done had upset him. She didn't understand.

"Can we make a deal?" he asked.

Kyouko furrowed her brow in confusion, but agreed.

"If you agree to let me have a do over, I'll tell you what it was that upset me."

Kyouko thought it was a little unfair that she should have to agree to something in order to know what she'd done. It seemed like common sense for him to tell her what she'd done so she could fix it. Then again, Ren taking her on a date didn't seem like such a horrible price to pay.

"Um, alright," she agreed, looking away and blushing.

Ren smiled and then sighed.

"The reason I got upset yesterday was because I was jealous."

Kyouko's head shot up.

"Jealous? Why?" she asked with a look of complete incomprehension. "Of whom?"

"When you mentioned getting closer to your goal…" he said.

"I was talking about you," she shouted, before realizing the import of her words. Her face turned bright red and she could no longer look Ren in the face.

"I'm your goal?" he asked with a dazzling smile.

"I— I want to be able to act opposite you and hold my own," she said, still studying the floor.

"I'm an idiot," Ren said, laughing at himself.

Kyouko ventured a glance at him again. "Eh? You're not at idiot! Why would you think that?"

"Because I was so jealous thinking that you were talking about beating Fuwa, that I ignored what turned out to be, possibly the best compliment I've ever gotten, and ruined my first date with the girl I— love," Ren finished the statement, haltingly.

Kyouko felt every muscle in her body tense. She couldn't move, her eyes were open wide in shock, and she could feel the heat from her blush covering every square inch of her body.

Ren loved her.

AN: Another busy day! Thanks for reading, reviewing, subscribing, etc. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Leave me a review if you'd like to let me know what you think. I will respond eventually, and I do appreciate hearing what you have to say, but for now I think I will go pass out ;)