What I'm Missing
Sariah Loire
Chapitre Twenty-Nine

Skip Beat! and its characters, locations, terms, etc, do not belong to me.
This story began on the day of Act 151, February 15th. It follows the first 151 Acts exactly, and is a direct continuation of Skip Beat!'s main story. If you need back info, please read the official story.


"Sho, what are you doing here?" Kyoko beat Ren to the question he wanted so desperately to ask, though she put it in a much more polite way than he would have been tempted to. He had given Kyoko a ride to TBM, where they were scheduled to appear on Kimagure Rock. They had barely gotten through the side studio door when Ren and Kyoko came face-to-face with a certain blonde singer.

Sho was dressed up in his rock finery, full of spikes and studs, and in black from head to toe. It was a good setting, since his glare was turned up full power, and directed at Ren. Ren wanted nothing more than to take the younger singer by the arm and throw him headfirst out of the TBM Studio entrance, but he knew better than to do that… when people were around. Instead, he managed a gentleman's smile, even if it was with clenched teeth. "Yes, Mr. Fuwa, it's quite a surprise to see you here." 'Liar, you heard from the director that he was going to make a special appearance in the movie.'

If it was possible, the boy made his glare even more powerful. "I'm performing at the end of Kimagure Rock. Apparently you," he turned solely towards Ren at that point, "aren't capable of promoting your own movie. So they sent me in to take care of the rest." He crossed his arms, his countenance changing into a smirk while leaving the glare in place. All of a sudden, his head jerked back a little, as if he had been struck. "Ow!" He slapped a hand over his forehead, looking around him.

'Is he losing his mind?' Ren watched him in interest, as Sho turned more and more red. "Why is it that this only happens when I'm around you?!" He jabbed a finger towards Kyoko, who looked as if she was in Mio-mode. Ren glanced at her hands, but they were empty.

"That could be remedied by you staying away from me." Kyoko crossed her arms, her head high. "All you do is cause trouble for me when you show up." She walked past Sho, still holding her head up. Ren watched her until she entered the waiting room and closed the door. Sho's head was turned as far as it would go, as he stared after her, wide-eyed. Ren was proud of Kyoko; she had done nothing to Sho, and said very few words to him, despite his arrogance. 'Not too long ago, she would have entered a screaming match with him.'

"Well, Mr. Fuwa, I'll have to say good day. It's such hard work promoting one's own major role." He walked past the singer, who still looked as if he was in partial shock. He took a few more steps past him, before turning his head back. "There's one good part to be said, though. This movie's relationships seem to be coming along so natural for us." Ren smiled at Sho, then turned and made his way towards the waiting room Kyoko had escaped to.


The main part of the show went well, even despite Kyoko's anxieties. If it wasn't enough for Sho to wait for her to arrive to try and make her angry, it was made even worse by Ren spotting Bo in the hallway. He hadn't said anything for a while after he entered the waiting room, besides asking if she knew the name of the large chicken walking around. But every time someone knocked on the door, he jumped up to answer it before she could.

The first time someone knocked, it had been Mr. Yashiro, who had taken care of the arrangements with Bridge Rock, about what questions could and couldn't be asked. Kyoko hadn't thought about doing that, but she knew the Ishibashis wouldn't dare to say anything about Bo on air. After giving the news to Ren, Yashiro had ducked back out of the room, grinning broadly as he closed the door.

The second time there came a knocking, it was the Ishibashis. They introduced themselves to Ren, all quite awe-stricken by the man. Hikaru fumbled over his words for a few moments, until Yuusei broke the ice by telling Ren and Kyoko to 'not mind Hikaru, he's trying to find a way to steal Mr. Tsuruga's height'. His comment made for a good laugh, and Bridge Rock was soon chatting merrily with them. Kyoko joined in, despite her brain working overtime to try and make up an excuse for Ren of how she knew the three men so well.

Along with the third knock, which took place after the Ishibashis left the room, there came Bo. Kyoko was expecting Ren to be happy to see his 'old friend' again, but she could have almost sworn he looked nervous. "I believe this chicken is our escort, Miss Mogami." Was all Ren had said, after Bo had wordlessly lifted up his dry-erase board, that had 'Follow me!' scrawled across it. Ren seemed to have calmed down a little, but Kyoko didn't.

It felt a little odd, to say the least, for Kyoko to be the one sitting on the part of the stage that was for guests. Bo had run around, bringing things to Ren and herself, and helping Bridge Rock, but she knew the audience would be complaining over the next few days that he wasn't as animated as he normally was. She felt a little sorry for the replacements for Bo; they always had to deal with negative talk from the viewers.

The Ishibashis had done their research well; Kyoko wished she could have been there as they prepared for the show by asking each other the trivia questions about her, Ren, and the upcoming movie. She was thankful that this was one of the shows Ren had mentioned to her a few days before, after the almost-fiasco with Nanami. She had even felt a little bit of pride to be a part of an 'upstanding show' that wasn't 'looking for dirt'. The interview had been enjoyable, and Kyoko even felt herself relaxing.

It didn't last long, however, because when Kyoko heard Sho being introduced, she had to paste a bored smile on her face to stop herself from leaping up and strangling him. His quip at Ren earlier, when she first arrived at TBM, had almost sent her off the edge. Not wanting to get permanently banned from TBM (again) had been enough to keep her from doing something she shouldn't. The other reason was because Mr. Tsuruga, her esteemed mentor and acting god, was standing at her side. It had been an inner struggle, but she had come out victorious and had done nothing to Sho except hit him with one of her grudge demons.

Now, Sho was on the stage, playing the opening notes of the song that would be played in Promised Dreams. Kyoko crossed her arms, leaning against the wall in disgust. She was standing right off the set, as everyone cleared out when someone preformed, in order to 'increase their stage presence'. 'Shotaro has enough of a swelled head, he doesn't need his 'stage presence' increased.'

"The show's going quite well, isn't it, Miss Mogami?" Kyoko nodded up at Ren, who was standing at her side. He was in a surprisingly good mood for being around Sho so much; Kyoko hadn't felt any anger from him during the entire interview. 'If I didn't have to listen to that idiot's music, this show would have been terrific.'

"Yes, Mr. Tsuruga, it's been a lot of fun." One of the questions Hikaru had pulled out happened to have been about Ren's height. Kyoko had watched the boy's face fall when Ren answered with the exact centimeters, and hadn't been able to help but laughing along with the other Ishibashis, not to mention the audience. "Bridge Rock is always good for a laugh, it's no wonder their show is so popular right now."

"I've noticed that." Ren chuckled as Shinichi Ishibashi ran by, waving to the duo, followed by Yuusei. Kyoko knew they weren't supposed to leave the immediate stage during performances, but they almost always used that time as a break. "Speaking of which, how do you know the group so well, Miss Mogami?"

Kyoko would have frozen up, if she hadn't spent the last thirty minutes going over her excuse until she had it perfected. "I've done quite a bit of LoveME work for them, since they're from LME." She clasped her hands together, hoping her explanation sounded reasonable. 'After all, it did start out as LoveME work. It just… evolved a little.' "I ran errands for them, helped set up for shows, things like that."

"So… you've met that chicken, then?" Kyoko felt her eyebrows rise, and her mouth felt more than a little dry. "The one on the show, what did you say his name was? Bo? Do you know him?" He was looking nervous again, much to Kyoko's surprise, until it dawned on her why. 'Mr. Tsuruga is a renowned actor, if word got out that he read words wrong on his scripts, and had gotten fired so many times in the past, people would ridicule him! He must be worried that Bo might have told his secrets!'

"Bo's not usually around when I am, Mr. Tsuruga." She forced herself to look apologetic. 'Well, that's partially true, as well. I am Bo, so I don't have the chance to speak with the others who play him.' "I've never had the chance to meet him. Why do you ask? Do you know him?"

"I've spoken with him in the past, on a few occasions." He looked relieved now, almost back to normal. 'Not that I'll ever be able to tell him I'm Bo, now.' She groaned inwardly. If Ren ever found out she was the chicken, there wouldn't be enough apologizing in the world to save her from the Demon Lord's wrath. "He was helpful, not to mention… honest." Ren chuckled slightly, drawing a sigh of relief from Kyoko. 'At least he doesn't suspect it's me. As long as the Bridge Rock guys keep quiet, I can deny Shotaro if he says anything, he doesn't know anything definite.'

"Kyoko, Mr. Tsuruga! Mr. Fuwa's performance is over; we have to get back on stage!" Hikaru ran around the corner, waving them on ahead of him. Kyoko blinked a few times, before walking ahead of the boy. 'It's over? I didn't even realize he had started singing.' She cast a glance up at Ren, who was already walking back towards his seat on stage, met by the screams of fans. Once again, he had removed Sho completely from her mind.


After the final notes of Kimagure Rock's theme song faded away, the three hosts all clapped each other on the back and celebrated the end of another show. Assistants lined the stage, preventing the over-enthusiastic audience from making their way onto the stage and attaching themselves to Ren or Sho. Ren breathed a sigh of relief, and turned his attention to Kyoko, only to find the shortest Ishibashi trying to convince her to join him for lunch. 'Not on your life.'

While Ren was running through ways to interfere, Kyoko turned Hikaru down, telling him that he and the other hosts could eat together in her stead. Hikaru looked so defeated, Ren could have laughed. 'Though, it's not very funny when I go through the same thing on a regular basis. At least I'm not the only one she misunderstands.'

"I have to get to Fuji TV for a Box "R" filming, Mr. Tsuruga." Kyoko was digging through her bag, and happily produced a cell phone. "Miss Amamiya is around here somewhere; she messaged me and offered me a ride." She looked so happy at the mention of her co-worker; Ren couldn't even try to talk her into getting a ride from him.

"Good luck on your filming, Miss Mogami." Ren stepped in front of her, pushing the door open. 'Might as well help her get out of here before he shows up.' "Have a good day."

"Goodbye Mr. Hikaru, Mr. Yuusei, Mr. Shinichi!" Kyoko bowed to Ren. "Thank you, Mr. Tsuruga!" She walked out the door, and Ren stepped back inside the building, letting the door close behind him. He looked around, searching for one of the Ishibashis. The taller ones seemed to be trying to comfort Hikaru. Something about him not being short, it seemed. Hikaru looked depressed, but the others were trying their best to not laugh at him.

"Excuse me, has… 'Bo' left already?" The boys stopped talking, turning to face him. They all glanced at each other, then back to Ren.

"Ah, sorry, Mr. Tsuruga." Yuusei nudged Hikaru, who was slumped over slightly. "I think Bo left to go to another job. Did you need him for something?"

"No, no, it's fine." Ren flashed them a blinding smile, while Mr. Yashiro gathered Ren's few things. "Good job on the show; I look forward to working with you again." Yuusei and Shinichi expressed their goodbyes, and made their way out of the studio, patting Hikaru on the back.

'Why would the chicken leave without even saying anything? He went as far as to seek me out at other times, but he doesn't bother speaking when I meet him like this?' "Ready to go, Mr. Yashiro?" Ren felt a little indignant, but there was no need to let Yashiro see that. 'Besides, at least he didn't say anything in front of Kyoko. That could have turned out badly.'

"Yeah, sure, Ren-"

"Not so fast." Ren stilled, looking over his shoulder at the cold voice. Sho had obviously waited until the room was empty, because he wasn't even trying to hide the contempt on his face. He glared at Ren, taking a few steps closer to him. "I want to speak to you."

"Go ahead, Mr. Fuwa." Ren crossed his arms, keeping a sparkling smile in place. With the attitude that was coming off of the young man, the sooner he got through this, the better. "I'm not pressed for time today."

"Alone." Sho sneered in Yashiro's direction, jerking his head towards the door. Ren watched in amusement while Yashiro glared back at the singer, then shot a look at Ren. Ren smiled apologetically at Yashiro, and he sighed, making his way outside the studio.

As soon as they were completely alone, Ren let his smile fall. "Okay, Fuwa, talk."

"I want to know why you're stringing Kyoko along." Sho pushed himself away from the wall, standing a few feet away from Ren. His fists clenched and unclenched slowly. 'Probably wondering how they would feel hitting against my bones.' "Are you getting some sort of sick amusement from it? Do you think it's all fun and games to treat her like that?"

"I don't know, Fuwa, was it fun?" Ren took a few steps closer to Sho, desperately grasping at what little control he had left. "When you brought her here, knowing how she felt about you? When you let her give up everything for you? How about when you threw her away, like an old toy? Was that 'fun and games'?"

"No!" Sho slammed his fist into the wall he was standing against. Ren stopped moving; even through his rage he could see the desperation in the boy's eyes. "I didn't… I didn't know what I was doing. She was always there; I was stupid enough to think she always would be there." He shook his head, and glared at Ren. "But now you waltz in, thinking you can just-"

"You broke her heart. You made it harder for anyone who's ever tried to get close to her since then." Ren couldn't bring himself to feel pity for the boy. 'If it wasn't for you, Kyoko wouldn't have such a distorted view of love.' "What's happened is your fault, Fuwa, and no one else's. The blame is on you alone. What do you expect me to do?"

"I expect you to drop her, and get out of our lives." Sho folded his arms; he finally looked in control of his emotions. "And I expect you to do it soon."

Ren smiled coldly, feeling the blood pulse in his ears at Sho's use of the word 'our'. 'There won't be an 'our' between you and Kyoko, Fuwa. Not again.' "I'm afraid I won't be doing that." He stepped closer, looking down at the boy. "I won't let Kyoko go. Not for you, not for anyone."

"Why?!" Sho flung out an arm, almost hitting Ren. "Why can't you pick someone else, anyone else?"

"Because, Fuwa, I didn't pick Kyoko. I wasn't looking for someone and 'just happened to stumble across her'." Ren put his hands in his pockets, backing away a few steps. "I don't want Kyoko for what she can do for me, or how she can help my career." He leveled a gaze at Sho, willing himself to hold it. "And I won't throw her away, I won't hurt her."

Ren didn't say 'I love her', but those words hung in the air, as real as if they had left his lips. Sho stared at him for a few silent minutes, before turning and walking away, his shoulders and head slumped.


"We've given it all this time, Kuu, what are we going to do?" Juli was perched on the side of their bed, staring at her packed suitcase in the corner. She had packed over a week ago, and begged Kuu every day to let her go back to Japan. "Do we keep looking?"

Kuu sighed, rubbing his temples. "No, I can't put this off anymore. We have to tell Kuon, even if there's no way we can assure him that everything won't go wrong again." He glanced at the stack of envelopes, one had arrived every morning since they had been home. Instead of just recent things, the last two packages had included old photos and police reports about Kuon's past mistakes. "We just have to be prepared for the consequences of our decision to tell him."

Juli wrapped an arm around Kuu's waist, leaning on his shoulder. "We have to be there for him. I'm not leaving him again until this is over, Kuu."

Kuu stood up, pulling Juli to his feet. "Okay, Juliella Hizuri." He kissed her cheek, taking her hands into his. "We're going to Tokyo."


Yes, I know Kimagure Rock is a variety show, and not really a plain talk show. But when Sho was on it the first night, he was interviewed. So yeah. I thought that the PD-featured episode could be interviews, just like that one.

Please let me know what you think!

Sari*