Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! Or any of its characters.

A/N: Been a few weeks since the last writing (in story-time not reality). First day of filming/on set. Please read and review! ^ ^

Lucky You!

Chapter 14 – Awkward Day Part 1

It was early on a Monday morning. The sun was rising high and the birds were chirping cheerfully in the faded yellow sky. It had been three weeks since Kyoko had last seen Ren. That night when 'it' had happened. Despite Kyoko wanting to know more, she had accepted that Ren knew what he was doing. Most of the time, at least. If there were secrets to be kept from her, there were reasons along with them. After they had spent a few moments sentimentally holding each other, Ren drove her home and wished her goodnight. Nothing more was said on the matter. But Ren hadn't come round. She hadn't seen him at LME. He hadn't even called. Kyoko thought that maybe he had been avoiding her. It would be logical. Whatever the reason, be it embarrassment, pride or anger, it was understandable. What happened was beyond Kyoko's basic comprehension, and most likely his too. It had all happened so fast, yet so slow. To be honest, she somewhat enjoyed it, despite what she felt at the time. Having such intimate contact with the man she loved...

Kyoko, early on this Monday morning, was making her way to the new set by bike. She woke up early to get there on time. Being late on the first day to her first main-cast role would not be a good impression, no matter what excuses she could conjure up. She just hoped that the director would be a nice man. Not necessarily like Director Ogata, but with the same intentions. The chances of this, however, would most likely be zero-to-one.

Regarding it being her first day, Kyoko thought that dressing up a little bit might be appropriate- it might get her in the director's good books at first sight. She wanted to appear more grown up and that she knew what she was talking about- and acting. Although in reality, it was almost the complete opposite. But what Kyoko did think, was that, even if it was only a little, she could understand enough about men as a starting point. Ren had actually been quite helpful- in more than one sense. Kyoko had chosen a more respectable outfit than her usual striking pink jumpsuit: a mid-thigh length black skirt, small heeled silver pumps, a silvery blouse with a low neckline and a gray jacket. Kyoko had thought of wearing something more her usual style and changing when she got there, but first impressions are more than just important. But then again, cycling in the clothes she chose was harder than it looked.

"It's a good thing I left early." she thought, puffing away. "Otherwise, I'd be late, taking the time I am. Of course, I could have phoned Ren. He may have driven me. But I would just be bothering him, no doubt." Kyoko visibly sank in her seat. Suddenly the sky came over gray. The sky darkened and heavy rain clouds rolled over. Kyoko looked up and began to pedal faster. Getting her new clothes wet would certainly be bad.

Finally, Kyoko could see the building. She dismounted her bike at the car park and chained it up to the bike rack. A few drops of water fell from the sky. Kyoko held out her hand.

Plop! Plop!

The drops were cold against her skin. Kyoko pulled her jacket up a bit and then hurried in through the door. Just as she got in, the door swinging closed behind her, the clouds suddenly burst and the rain pelted down against the glass door. Kyoko let out a small sigh of relief as she watched the rain outside. She released her jacket's lapels and turned round. She found herself standing in the hallway of the building. It was wide and fairly empty. A small woman in a smart suit tottered quickly past the conjunction in the hallway, a pile of papers in the crook of her arm. Kyoko walked forwards.

"Excuse me!" Kyoko called out rather timidly. The woman turned round and walked quickly over. "Anō...I'm Mogami Kyoko. I'm here for the filming..." Kyoko drifted off.

"Oh, of course." the woman smiled. "You're early Mogami-san, so no-one was here to welcome you. I'm sorry about that." she smiled.

"Oh no! Don't worry about it!" said Kyoko enthusiastically. The woman smiled again. Despite the woman smiling so much, which, to Kyoko, would presume insincerity, Kyoko thought her a rather kind person. She was dainty with blonde hair and dark eyes.

"So cute..." thought Kyoko to herself. She couldn't have been much older than Kyoko.

"Please, come this way." she said sweetly, gesturing in front of her.

"Oh, thank you." said Kyoko, following her. "I'm not any bother, am I? I don't mean to be." she said. The woman smiled.

"Not at all."

"But all those papers..." said Kyoko nodding at them. "And you looked in such a hurry." The woman looked down.

"Oh, these?" she shook her head. "These are just scripts. I'm just delivering them to the directors' pigeon holes. This is all part of my job. So no worries." She winked at Kyoko. Kyoko smiled.

"So nice..."

"I hear that you know Tsuruga-san very well, Mogami-san. He's you're sempai, am I correct?" asked the woman. Kyoko nodded. "You're very lucky. Many woman would trade places with you any day." she said. Kyoko looked down and blushed a bit. They walked through one last door to the set. There were people everywhere, passing things around, cameras, make-up artists, costume designers, the costumes and many other various things. Kyoko was lead to a room just off the set: the conference room. There was a long table down the middle with many seats. The woman gestured for Kyoko to sit down.

"The Director will be with you shortly. Please sit here for a moment." she smiled. "My name's Kiromata Naru, by the way. You'll see me around. If you need anything, just ask." she said before leaving. Kyoko nodded. Then she was left alone in the room. Kyoko chose a seat facing away from the door and sat. She huffed slightly before staring into space. A few minutes passed before Kyoko looked at her watch.

"8:55. They should be starting soon, so the director should be free in a moment."

There was a click behind Kyoko over to her left as the door opened.

"That must be the director now." she thought, starting to stand up.

"Director Fujimoto! Good morning!" Kyoko continued talking as she stood up. But when Kyoko looked up, who she saw was not Akihiro Fujimoto. Standing in the doorway was a rather wet Ren, holding his drenched coat over his arm, and a rather alarmed look on his face.

"Director Fujimoto?" thought Ren, confused. Kyoko stopped talking when she saw who it was. There was a long, awkward pause, and then Kyoko burned up into a red tomato as the memories of what happened three weeks ago came flooding back at the sight of Ren's handsome face. Kyoko sat back down and buried her face on the table. Ren looked scandalously away, his hand to his mouth.

"Poor thing..." the thought. "No doubt still plagued with what happened...How cute..."

Kyoko tried to stutter an apology from under her hair. Failing miserably, she tried to compose herself and sat up, avoiding direct eye contact with Ren.

"Please, forgive my mistake! I thought that you were Director Fujimoto! I was expecting him to be here in a moment, and when I heard the door open, I presumed it had to be him." Kyoko began to ramble. At a very fast pace. Kyoko stopped as she got very flustered. "Oh, forgive my redness!I don't know what's come over me!"

"I think I know..." Ren thought to himself. Ren walked over and knelt down in front of Kyoko.

"It's perfectly fine." he laughed lightly. "It's not as if you committed a crime!" Kyoko stopped for a second.

"Oh..." she said, cooling down a bit. "Right." Kyoko let out a small huff- getting so worried over something that has no consequence! A symptom of guilty love. Kyoko, looking more closely at Ren, suddenly gasped.

"Ren! You're wet through!" she exclaimed, watching his bedraggled fringe. His hair appeared ruined. Ren stopped for a second and looked at himself.

"Oh. So I am." he said casually.

"You can't shrug it off so casually! Remember what happened last time? You caught such a bad cold! What would Director-san say if you were to catch a cold on the first day? And not only that! What would I have to say?" Kyoko pouted at Ren, a little angry that he took his own health so lightly. Kyoko put her hands on her hips. Ren laughed.

"I know, I know. I don't take it seriously enough. But sometimes I fear that you might take it too seriously." he teased. Kyoko put on her matter-of-fact face.

"I'll have you know and recall that I was the one that was right. I was the one that had to nurse you back to health. And you were the one that doubted me last time." Ren stopped teasing her.

"Yes, I know. And I can never repay your kindness." he said, with the most sincerity. Kyoko's ahrd expression soon melted under his gentle eyes. Then Kyoko frowned.

"But your hair..." she said, stroking his fringe in her hand. "And your clothes..." she said laying her hand on Ren's chest. "They're ruined." Kyoko looked sorrowfully into Ren's eyes.

"Nothing a hair-dryer and change of clothes can't fix." he said, good-naturedly.

"Even so." Kyoko retorted. "We may have filming today. Things will be delayed. And-" Kyoko looked at Ren's slightly comical expression. She stopped worrying for a second. Stretching out her hand, she stroked his hair lightly. Ren's breath caught in his throat as he felt her touch. Kyoko looked rather sad as she felt his cat-like hair. She thought back to the time when they had been shooting 'Dark Moon' and Ren had used her lap as a pillow. She had stroked his hair then too...Kyoko's memories began to betray her. She thought back to Valentine's Day on the set, when Sho had kissed her so roughly...and then it had been contrasted with Ren's gentle touch of his lips against her cheek. True, Ren had convinced her it was nothing more than a memory erasing of Sho's kiss, but there was still lingering doubt, now that she was so in love with him. It may just be her own delusion...manipulating memories for her own sake, but it was none the less there. Ren and Kyoko's expressions melted as they looked at each other. Ren pulled up his hand and laid it on top of Kyoko's. They smiled gently at each other.

Just then, through the door, came a troop of men. Director Fujimoto, Hiroki-san: the main cameraman and various others. In walking in on the two, Director Fujimoto stood wide eyed. He could tell that the two had no idea that they had just walked in. Director Fujimoto walked over slyly.

"Already into character, eh?" he said, teasingly. Ren and Kyoko sprang out of their self-made trance, suddenly.

"Eh?! Anō...that is...!" Kyoko said suddenly standing up.

"Kyoko! Don't-" said Ren, but it was too late. Kyoko's right foot tripped up on Ren's knee that sat at the bottom of the chair she was sitting on. Kyoko, flying to the left, let out a small cry. Ren, leaping himself in Kyoko's path, clasped his arms round her and rolled over as he hit the ground. Kyoko had braced herself for a hard impact, but when she found that there was only a soft bump, she peeked out of one eye to find a wet Ren half on top her and half off; his arms wrapped tightly round her, and her head buried deep in his chest. Ren's face was creased as he held onto Kyoko tightly. Director Fujimoto watched the scene with great interest. He began to clap slowly.

"Very well done, Tsurug-san." he said. Director Fujimoto stopped clapping and replaced his hands behind his back. Ren detected slight sarcasm in what he said. Either that, or pure teasing. "Although your face looks as though you were about to lose her forever, and couldn't bare to." Director Fujimoto stifled a laugh. The rest of the gathering snickered slightly. Kyoko felt her blush growing stronger and stronger. The position they were in was too embarrassing! Ren's body pressed against her right, his right leg locked round her legs, his arms squeezed her tightly against him so there was no gap, and her head was buried in his chest. As well as that, Ren didn't seem to be moving. Finally, after what seemed like an age, Ren shifted off of Kyoko. Kyoko lay there, straight like a plank of wood. Ren sat up and looked at Director Fujimoto.

"But in all honesty, Ren: that was well saved." Director Fujimoto said, sincerely. Ren nodded at Fujimoto and then stood up. He held out his hand for Kyoko. Being broken from her stiffness, Kyoko lightly took his hand and rose to her respectable height.Kyoko fumbled with her hands and looked down.

"Anō...Ren. I'd like to say...thank you." she said looking up at him, her eyes shining in admiration. Ren smiled deeply at her.

"You're welcome." he said, in a barely audible voice. At that moment, Yashiro-san walked in. He peered past the other people and spied Ren and Kyoko, staring lovingly at each other. He fixed his glasses on his nose in disbelief.

"Why, Kyoko-chan!" said Yashiro-san, elbowing past the other staff. "Ren! You're both all wet." he said, a little alarmed. Director Fujimoto observed the two.

"He's right. You're soaked through, the both of you." he said. Ren was startled. He forgot that he had been soaked through when he grabbed Kyoko.

"Ah! Kyoko, I'm so sorry..." he said. Kyoko looked at her clothes.

"I didn't even realise..." she said, feeling her drenched clothes. Ren felt bad and looked at the ground. He could see they were new clothes and he had ruined them. Once again, Kyoko was taken back in her memories. Three weeks ago, she had sat, drenched on the bathroom floor in Ren's apartment, crying and crying until she could cry no more. Emotions threatened to come flooding back to her, but she held her throat tight and pushed them away. Kyoko's fingers stretched out and gently clutched Ren's sleeve. As she closed her eyes and fought back the tide of emotions, Ren felt a pull on his sleeve. He looked down at Kyoko, seeing her weak fingers gripping his sleeve. On her face, he could see she was dealing with something painful. Soon, everyone noticed that something was off.

"Say, Mogami-san...are you alright?" asked Director Fujimoto, getting worried at her silence. Kyoko looked up at Director Fujimoto. Her eyes were puffy and red, tears stining them. Director Fujimoto was taken back.

"Kyoko-chan?" asked Yashiro-san, timidly. Everyone grew anxious and looked around the room, searching for a face that could calm her. Ren's heart was being wrenched apart- watching Kyoko cry. He had been touched and shocked at the same time when Kyoko had reached out to him for comfort. People were whispering around, asking what they should do.

"Should we call someone?" one asked.

Then, everything went quiet as their attention was drawn to the pair before them. Ren, down on one knee, was holding Kyoko's limp hand in his. Kyoko's crying had stopped. She was staring quietly at him in anticipation. Ren, a pained expression on his face as he looked deep into her eyes, gently moved her hand up to his mouth. He closed his eyes, laying a long, flamboyant kiss on her hand. Looking up, Ren smiled at her. Kyoko instantly smiled back. The smiles that graced their faces enchanted the audience. Suddenly, there was no-one in their world but them. Their surroundings became sparkly and light. Director Fujimoto and the gathering stared in awe at the two. He began to think.

"The way they look at each other. The way they talk. The way they interact. This could only be one thing..." he thought. "However, I should probably leave it a little longer before jumping to conclusions. After all, if I got it wrong...that would be very embarrassing. Although I think Mogami-san would take it worse than I would." he concluded. In the meantime, Yashiro-san was leaking from his eyes like a waterfall.

"Aaaahhh!" he was thinking. "The atmosphere! The mood! I'm so proud of him! He's become so bold of late!"

Director Fujimoto took charge of the situation.

"Right." he said with a clap. "Ren-kun, Mogami-san, I'll have you two taken to your changing room where you'll be dried off and given a clean set of clothes. While you're gone your clothes will be dried fro you." He looked over his shoulder and a man and a woman came through the door. The woman was Naru from before. Kyoko's eyes lit up when she saw her. Naru nodded with a smile in return. They were about to be taken out, when Kyoko asked a question.

"But what about filming today? Won't this upset the whole schedule?" she asked with great concern.

"Luckily, today, we weren't planning to do any filming. We're going to be going through a little bit of acting without the camera so you two can get a feel for your characters first. Throwing you right in the deep end with not properly forming your character would be very inconsiderate of me." he smiled.

"I see." said Ren, close behind Kyoko's back. Kyoko's heart began to race. "Then we should get going." said Ren, placing a hand on Kyoko's shoulder. He smiled down at her. Kyoko pulled a hesitant smile.

"Yes..." she said quietly.

They were lead out of the conference room and to their changing rooms. The rooms were right next to each other, down a long corridor of identical looking rooms. Kyoko widened her eyes as she was lead to hers. Once inside, Naru-chan stood in the doorway.

"There's a curtain for you to change behind, Mogami-san. I'll be along with a towel and some clothes in a moment. After that, the hair artist will dry and style your hair for you. If you need anything, just ask." she said, smiling sweetly.

"Thank you, Naru-chan!" Kyoko said, smiling. Naru-chan was a little taken back by the familiarity in which she was spoken to, but then smiled and closed the door behind her.

"Naru-chan is so nice." Kyoko smiled.

Kyoko looked around the room. It was a rather large, white walled and fancy room. She sat down on the floor. Looking to her right, she saw that there was a door on the wall that lead to Ren's room. Her heart suddenly began to beat quickly. Then she dismissed any impure thoughts and calmed down.

"It's most likely kept locked. I mean, why would there need to be a door linking the two rooms?" she thought dubiously. There was a knock on the door and Naru-chan came in with a pile of clothing. She placed it on the floor.

"You should lock this door now." she said, about to leave. "Turn this nob to the right to lock it, and to the left to unlock it. Right, I'll be off now. See you on set!" she said. Then she left. Kyoko shuffled forwards and locked the door. Picking up the pile of clothes, Kyoko began to take her clothes. Eyeing the pile of clothes, she realised that there was something missing. It was only when she had taken off all her clothes that she realised it was a towel. Kyoko's irises shrank incredibly. Her clothes were wet, so she could hardly put them back on go and ask for one, she most definitely couldn't go out with nothing on, and she couldn't put on the new clothes because they'd get wet since she wasn't dry.

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!" thought Kyoko, almost dying.

Meanwhile, in the next room, Ren (with his shirt off) was looking suspicously at the pile of clothes he was given. There was two towels as well as his clothes. He had recently discovered the door that he presumed lead to Kyoko's room and was contemplating whether he should ask if she had a towel. Ren put the clothes down and held the pile of towels in his hands...

Back in Kyoko's changing room, she sat on the floor steaming about what to do. He face was manic. Just at that moment, there was a click behind her. The door opened and in came a shirtless Ren, chatting away, towels in his hand.

"Kyoko, I was wondering, I've been given two towels. I wanted to make sure you had one..." Ren trailed off when he looked down on the floor. He stood there, his eyes resting upon an unclothed Kyoko. His mouth hung open. Kyoko looked up at Ren; her heart had stopped beating. The room was silent. Ren saw no towel anywhere in the room. Then Kyoko's expression changed to a panicked face. She grabbed a piece of wet clothing and pulled it in front of her with a gasp. Ren still didn't know what to do.

"I'll take that as a no, then..." he said, a cheeky smile growing on his face.

"*NANTE KOTO!" screamed Kyoko at the top of her voice.

A/N:

* OH MY GOD!

Wow. OK, this and the next chapter were meant to be one chapter, but I promised certain people that this would be out today. Plus it's quite long, anyway, so it's OK, right? Anyway, please review and tell me what you think! The next chapter will be a direct continuation of this. Arigatō min'na for reading! Any SPAG (spelling, punctuation and grammar) errors, please tell me.