I do not own Skip Beat!

"So, then, what can I do for you?" the costumed Kyouko asked after they had reached a suitably deserted hallway.

"Um, have you heard the rumors?" he asked.

Kyouko fought not to visibly react.

"Ah, about you and that new actress? Is she the one? Are congratulations in order?"

Ren let out a long sigh.

"Sorry, never mind," Kyouko said. "Go ahead."

"No, you're right. It's her, but I don't know if congratulations are in order," he said with a harsh laugh.

Kyouko's heart nearly stopped. After his confession, she'd been sure that the girl he'd been talking about was her, but believing it to be true and hearing it from his mouth were two different things. Now she had definitive proof.

"So, you're not dating?" she asked.

He laughed again. "Does one disastrous date count?"

She wasn't sure what to say.

"Depends," she said, trying to play it safe.

"On what?" he asked.

Kyouko was, again unsure of what to say. They weren't really dating were they? Maybe she should have just said no. She may have had experience with love, but she didn't have any experience with dating.

"Um, on whether you go on another date?" she tried. One date wasn't really dating, was it? She wasn't sure whether two dates was dating either, but it had to be closer.

Ren seemed to brighten up for a moment, before crashing back into a cloud of despair.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I had a promise for another date, until I screwed up," he said. "Now I'm lucky if I can get her to look me in the eye."

Kyouko felt her chest tighten. Was she really the one responsible for Ren's gloom? Did her avoidance really bother him so much?

"What do you mean by 'screwed up?'" she asked.

"I confessed too soon," he said. "Now she's terrified of me."

"It's not you," she said. "It's love."

"What?" he asked.

Kyouko panicked, realizing what she'd just said.

"Um, she's a member of Lory Takarada's famous LoveMe section, isn't she?" she asked. "Doesn't that mean she has some sort of aversion to love? So it's probably love she's scared of, not you."

She waited for Ren's eye's to light up with comprehension, for him to snatch the head off of her costume, give her his most terrifying glare, take back his confession and tell her that he could never again associate with such a deceitful and despicable kohai. Instead he just sighed, for what seemed like the dozenth time.

"Isn't her being scared of my love for her and her being scared of me the same thing?" he asked, pinching the bridge of his nose.

She couldn't say it. It wasn't his love she was afraid of. It was her own. If she loved again, she would no doubt get her heart broken again, and when he stopped loving her, she didn't think she'd be able to save herself by simply turning her love to hatred this time. When he abandoned her, she would break. If she was his kohai, she could be his kohai forever. If she was the girl he loved, it would only be temporary.

"Well, maybe it's for the best," she said.

Ren looked up at the chicken with wide eyes.

"Didn't you say that you couldn't love anyone anyway?" she asked. "Or is it different now?"

"No," Ren said. "I still don't have the right to love her, but it's too late."

"Maybe if you just focus on your career for a while," she suggested.

"What's with this attitude all of a sudden?" Ren asked. "Aren't you the one who told me to seduce her as if my life depended on it?"

Kyouko felt herself blush from head to toe. She actually had told him something like that. She took a deep breath and tried to regain control of herself.

"Ah, yes well I thought it would help you out, but now you just seem upset. Maybe it would be better to give up on that girl. You're the Tsuruga Ren after all. You can get any girl you want."

Ren looked up and met her gaze with a terrifying glare. Even the barrier of the costume wasn't enough to keep the waves of anger from reaching her. Her anger sensing antenna fought its way through Bo's headpiece and began basking in the glow of Ren's hatred.

"Could you refrain from rubbing in the idea that I can get any girl except the one I love?" he asked.

Kyouko fell to the floor in a dogeza. It was rather difficult, as she was encumbered by the body of a giant chicken, but it was her automatic response to Ren's anger.

"I'm so sorry!" she said. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it. I just thought you might be happier with someone who wasn't so difficult to deal with."

"Could you not insult her either?" he asked, laughingly. His anger had mostly dissipated.

"I'm sorry," she bowed again. She never would have thought she would be bowing down to apologize for insulting herself.

"It's fine as long as you understand," he said.

She finally righted herself and sat back down beside him.

"It really would be simpler if I didn't love her," he said with a sad smile.

Kyouko's chest clenched. "So will you give up on her?"

"That's impossible," he said.

"So what about what you said about not being able to have a relationship with someone important?" she asked.

"It'll be difficult," he said, "and she may hate me later, but I'll just have to make sure to make her happy and hope she'll forgive me when the time comes. That is, if I can get her to give me a chance in the first place."

"Eh?" she asked. Sometimes Ren didn't make any sense.

"It's nothing," he said. "Thanks for listening. I'll try talking to her again."

"No problem," she said.

Ren rose to leave and she got up to go change out of her Bo costume.

"Oh, by the way, you wouldn't happen to know where Kyouko works, would you?" Ren asked, turning back. "She has a job at TBM too."

"Ah, I've never run into her before," Kyouko said. Well, it was true, strictly speaking.

"Ok," he said. "Maybe I'll asked at the front desk again."

"Ah! But I think I know someone who might know, wait right there and don't move!" she said.

Ren stood there, blinking as Kyouko waddled as fast as she could down the hall.

Kyouko ran to the room where the costume was kept and changed at light speed. She peaked out the door to make sure no one was watching and then sped back to where she had left Ren. She paused to catch her breath just out of sight and then walked casually up to him.

"Tsuruga-san, what are you still doing here?" she asked, affecting great surprise.

"I was hoping to see you again," he said, unleashing his dreaded god-like smile on her. "Are you done with your job yet?"

"Um, yes," she said. "I just finished."

"Is your ride terribly set on taking you home, or could I have the pleasure?" he asked.

"Ah, um y—you can," she said blushing. Her ride was her bicycle. It wouldn't mind waiting at TBM.

"Good," he said. "Then shall we go?"

"Alright," Kyouko agreed, and they made their way to his car.

Kyouko could feel Ren's eyes on her in the passenger seat as he cast her a gentle smile. She was thankful for the darkness. Their recent conversation was playing on a loop in her head, and she was sure her blush would give her away.

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