Patience Is Its Own Reward

Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters.

Kyoko is still attending school and is trying to make the most of it before it graduation, with Ren and Sho chasing her every step of the way.

Chapter 37 – Hiou's Birthday

Have you ever had a crush on someone too old for you? Have you felt the exhilaration of watching someone who seems to already possess all of the qualities that you admire, and still felt the hopelessness of seeing the unattainable? Have you felt young, raw, and ridiculously immature as you examined yourself through the eyes of someone older, someone you desperately want to impress?

With his family background, and his own early success as a child actor, Hiou had always been full of self-confidence. Of course, he hated it when the other actors talked down to him as if he were still a small child. Sure, he had hated being small and looking young for his age. But those were just irritants… okay, that's not true. He hated it! He hated being talked down to! He hated being short! He hated looking in the mirror and seeing a young child when he should have been able to see a pre-teen.

And then she was hired. Hiou had been around beautiful actresses and models all of his life, but he had never been impacted the way that he was when he met her. Everything about her, her cool aloof manner, her total focus, her slender frame, her beautiful face and long, raven hair; all of it captured his attention and made his chest ache. But it was when she spoke to him that she captured his heart. Unlike every other adult on the set, she had not only guessed his true age, but she had treated him as if he were an adult.

Of course, there was a brief time when he had tried to get her fired. First, she had treated him like a child, holding his nose and forcefully feeding him something he didn't want to eat. And then she had thrown him across the room when they were supposed to be acting out a child-play scene. At that point he had thought that everything she had done before had been a lie. But her demon-girl friend, Kyoko, had forced him to go to Kanae's home, and after seeing Kanae with her family he had understood.

And then, on Valentine's Day, she had told him that he was one of the few actors who she looked up to and aimed to emulate. He had never heard words like that before, and they had made him feel ready to fly.

Since that time she had dominated his heart. He didn't like to think of his feelings as a crush, but he was also fully aware that his was an impossible love. He was a child, and she, a magnificent, unrivaled, and unattainably beautiful adult. He knew that, but it didn't change his feelings for her one bit. And now he was in the middle of a growth spurt that might finally make him look at least his age.

And today she was coming to his home for the first time.

* * *

Kyoko, Kanae, and Yumi rode together in Ren's car. Kyoko had been as confused as Kanae when Hiou had come up to them while they were between takes and asked Kyoko to introduce him to Yumi. She had been even more surprised when Hiou had bowed deeply and extended an invitation to her diminutive manager. "Egami Yumi-sensei, when my grandfather heard that you had returned to Japan, he insisted that I beg you to come to my birthday party as well. Our family would be greatly honored if you would attend."

Despite her tiny size, Yumi was the epitome of class and dignity. She accepted the invitation graciously, returned Hiou's bow, and said, "Please inform Uesugi Kotetsu-sensei that I would indeed be honored to visit the Uesugi home."

Kyoko watched Hiou walk away and turned her attention back to her manager, "Yumi," she began suspiciously, "I've noticed before that a lot of older people seem to treat you with enormous respect. Is there something you're not telling me?"

Yumi was her usual calm, composed self, "Why, Kyoko, don't you think that people should treat each other with respect? I'm sure that they were just being polite."

"In other words," Kyoko pouted, "You're not going to tell me, are you?"

"All in good time, Kyoko dear," Yumi smiled benignly, "Young people are always in such a hurry about things. Oh look, they're getting ready for the next scene. Better run along, dear."

* * *

Author's note: Even though the filming took place before the party, the scenes will be presented afterwards, to keep the two storylines separate.

Uesugi Ryataro and his wife, Nabatame Yuuko, both famous film stars, greeted the Ren, Kyoko, Kanae, and Yumi at the door. While they were extremely gracious to everyone, Kyoko noticed an almost worshipful deference was given to Yumi. Kyoko had intended to grill Ren about Yumi, but filming had run behind schedule and they had barely finished in time to pile into Ren's car. If Ren noticed any particular deference being given to Yumi, he didn't show any evidence of it.

There were a few young people at the party, all of whom Kyoko recognized from various films or entertainment magazines. She also noticed that they didn't seem that interested in spending time with Hiou. That didn't seem to matter to him, because his attention was completely taken once he saw Kotonami Kanae enter the room. He had carefully arranged things so that she was sitting across from him, so that he could see her and talk to her. Kyoko had started to tease Kanae about Hiou's crush earlier in the week, but one warning look had made her back off. Kanae hated being teased about her admirers.

Kyoko sat next to Ren, of course. He seemed to already be on familiar terms with Hiou's parents, and they included Kyoko in their conversation. When Hiou's grandfather, Uesugi Kotetsu, entered the room everyone bowed deferentially. Not only was the elderly man famous as an action film star of the past, but he was also the martial-arts trainer and instructor for many of the actors and actresses for the last thirty years. Despite his age, which was somewhere around sixty, as far as Kyoko knew, he was extremely upright and strong looking. He was also almost fluid in all of his movements, more like a dancer than a fighter.

He was polite and welcoming as his grandson made the introductions. He seemed to pay special attention to Kanae when Hiou introduced her. He looked deeply into her eyes, and Kyoko had the feeling that he was carefully weighing her character against his grandson's interest. She must have passed, because he was attentive to her for the remainder of the evening. That was, of course, when he wasn't focused on Yumi.

"Egami-sensei," He said, bowing lower than he had to anyone else, "We are truly honored to have you come to our home again, after so many years."

"And I am honored to be invited to come, Uesugi-sensei," Yumi said, bowing. Then her eyes twinkled, "Now let's stop being so formal and you can tell me all about how you've been keeping those ancient bones of yours out of the museum for the last twenty-five years."

While the younger people looked on in astonishment, Kotetsu laughed delightedly, "It has been a struggle, Yumi-chan. Unlike you, I have felt every one of those years. How is it that you are still so young and beautiful looking?"

Yumi laughed, "Bribes, old friend, lots of money in the right pockets. You always were an old flirt. My husband never felt safe leaving me around you."

The elderly man's eyes grew sad, "Luke was a good man, Yumi. I shall miss him."

"Thank you, Kotetsu," Yumi shook off her sad look. "Now this grandson of yours sure is a handsome fellow. He certainly didn't get that from you. He has Yuseki's mischievous eyes. She was always the prankster in your pair."

"Most of which she learned from you. So tell me, old friend, have you kept up your practice?" His eyes were challenging now, the sadness had been pushed back for a more private moment.

Yumi glanced over at Kyoko, who was paying attention to every word, "We'll talk about that later. Actually, we may have need of your services for a new role that Kyoko has. But that's business, and I don't want to detract from young Hiou's birthday party."

* * *

Kanae had thought long and hard about what a thirteen year old boy would enjoy for a birthday present. Finally, she had fixed on finding something that would go with his martial arts focus. When she found what she wanted, it had been hard. She knew that she shouldn't spend that much, but as soon as she saw it, she couldn't imagine giving him any other gift. He had told her once, between takes, about winning his latest invitational competition. They had continued the conversation two hours later, during another break. He had told her about the Uesugi family crest, and his intention to carry on his grandfather's work.

Kanae hadn't wanted anyone (meaning Kyoko) to make a big deal about the value of her gift, so she had kept it until she could share a private moment with him. She had let him lead her off to show her the family's sculpted garden. Once there were no prying eyes, she pulled her gift out of the tote bag she had been lugging around. He took it eagerly, but opened the package almost reverently. But as soon as he saw the silk gi inside, he forgot the wrapping and let that fall to the ground. As he held the uniform up to inspect it, he grinned from ear-to-ear. It was silvery-white, with a fire-breathing dragon on its chest.

Kanae's intention of keeping her gift a secret, however, was defeated. Hiou wore the gi for the remainder of the evening.

* * *

Episode 10

[[A sad song plays in the background. Yasuda slumps on his couch, his legs stretched out in front of him, listening to soft rock. He holds a drink in his hand, but he doesn't drink it. Instead he is staring off into space.

There was a loud, repetitive knock at the door. Yasuda grabbed his service weapon and moved to the door. "Who's there?"

"It's Amori Isako! Open the door! Emiko's…" Yasuda opened the door to find Isako standing there, tears running down her face, "They have Emiko, Sensei!! Makuda has Emiko!"]]

[[Theme song plays, ending with Isako's eyes…

(In the center of the screen the words "Earlier that same morning…" appear on the screen for thirty seconds)

The image of Isako's eyes morphs into the eyes of Gensai Jotaro as he laughs with his friends. While he is interacting with them he is darting occasional glances over towards Amori Isako's empty desk. He sees Isako walk in and slump, an action totally out of her normal character, and he frowns. He sees her lean over and say something to Nagase Kimiko. Then he sees Kimiko stand and walk back toward him and his three friends.

Jotaro narrates: {For as long as I've known Amori Isako, Nagase Kimiko has been there beside her. I never really liked the girl… there was just something odd about her… but I was nice to her for Isako's sake. That's how I knew that something was wrong when Nagase so casually brushed off Isako and sauntered back to talk with us.}

While Kimiko acts unnaturally flirty and sultry, Jotaro looks past her and watches Isako with concern. He looks back to see the irritation in Kimiko's eyes. She clearly wants him to look at her.

{I knew that Nagase had a crush on me for a long time. But I've never been interested the slightest bit in her. It's never been a problem, because she was always so meek and shy. I wondered at that moment what had changed, and if the change had something to do with Isako}]]

[[Josuke Juro walks along the grass strip behind the gym and talks on his cell phone. He stops at a cyclone fence and looks through it, watching Makuda and several of his boys talking. When Makuda starts to turn, Juro steps back out of the line of vision.

"How is everything there, Toki?... Yeah, Makuda's getting agitated. His guys are walking all over the school, but nothing's going down yet… Hey look, you were there when we grabbed them, Toki. If you didn't like it, you should have said something then… Just keep those two under wraps… I'll come straight over after school… Since when have you ever been worried about your grades?... Fine, I'll get somebody else to watch them tomorrow… I don't know what we're going to do with them. We'll decide that tonight… I gotta go, bye."

Juro closes his phone and gazes off into space with a look of worry… The scene transitions from Juro to the slumped forms of Deguchi and Fujita. They are tied back-to-back against a floor-to-ceiling metal pole in the middle of an old warehouse. Toki, still in Undead makeup and costume, paces the bare concrete floor in agitation]]

[[Gensai Jotaro feeds his books into his bag as everyone else files out of a lab class. Nagase Kimiko saunters up to him, clearly hoping to catch his attention.

Before Kimiko could speak, Jotaro spoke up, "What's going on between you and Isako, Nagase-san?"

Kimiko frowned, "We've been friends since we were little, Jotaro-kun. Why won't you call me by my first name?"

"Fine," Jotaro answered irritably, "I'll call you Kimiko-san. Now, what is going on between you and Isako? I saw how you were acting this morning…"

"She's just upset because she's been faded out by Josuke Juro," Kimiko replied with a dismissive tone, "When she didn't want to do anything about Iwasaki-chan, we decided that it was…"

"Iwasaki Kenichi? What happened to Kenichi, Nagase?"

"Please call me Ki…"

"What happened to Iwasaki?" Jotaro's irritation cut through Kimiko's playfulness.

"H-he… and his little brother… were attacked. They're in the hospital…"

"Great! And you all decided to take revenge, right? Wait! What do you mean, she was faded out?"

Kimiko tried to show off her big eyes, "I mean that she's not the queen anymore. Now we…"

"Isako was the Queen!?! That idiot! Do you guys think that you're playing some child's game here? Makuda and his boys don't play nice, Kimiko-san! I need to talk to Isako."

Jotaro turned and started to walk away, but Kimiko caught at his arm, "Jotaro! Forget about her for once. Why won't you look at me for a…" Jotaro yanked his arm out of her hand.

"Kimiko, I'm sorry, but I love Isako. I'm not interested in you or anyone else. Now take my advice, get as far away from those Undead idiots as you can, and go find a safe corner to hide in. Because things are probably about to get rough." He stalked away, leaving a dejected and very angry Kimiko behind.

Kimiko looks down as Jotaro walks away. Her breathing is ragged and agitated. When her head finally lifts up, her eyes are on fire with jealousy and rage.]]

[[Nagase Kimiko storms into her house, past her mom, and up to her room. Once inside, she locks the door, goes to the mirror, and stares with baleful eyes. Then she gets on her knees, reaches under her dresser, and pulls out a plastic bag. Her eyes have a malevolent shine as she pulls the anodized black handgun out and drops the bag.]]

[[Gensai Jotaro paces irritably in front of his band in the garage where they have are set up for practice while he waits for someone to answer his cell phone call. He slaps the phone shut and starts to throw it, but then he stops himself and turns to his band.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I need to go take care of something. You guys can wrap it up or stick around and practice. We'll hook up tomorrow night for one more practice before our concert." Before the others can agree or protest, he stalks out of the garage.

"Probably girl problems again," one of the members muttered.

"You mean Isako problems. That boy needs to find a new hobby."]]

[[Yasuda Hisaki gently pulls Amori Isako into his apartment and guides her to the couch. Isako is almost shaking with fear for her sister. Once she is sitting he puts a hand under her chin and makes her meet his eyes.

"Snap out of it, Isako-chan. Tell me what has happened to Emiko."

"I told you! Makuda has her. He wants his boys back, but I don't know…"

"Isako, how do you know he has her? Did he call you?"

"No! He left a note. His note said that he wanted Deguchi and Fujita back. He said that he would call my cell phone when he's ready to talk to me."

"Can I see the note, please?" Yasuda was fighting hard to keep his own composure. He didn't want Emiko to be hurt.

Isako looked sheepish, "It's back at my apartment. Why do you need that?"

"It might give us a clue where she is. Isako, I need to understand: why did they target you and Emiko? Are you part of the… wait… you said that they won't listen to you anymore… what did you mean?"

"I am the… I mean I was the…" She clearly didn't want to say it.

Yasuda prompted her, "I need you to tell me, Isako… for Emiko's sake. What is your association with…"

"I'M THE QUEEN! OKAY!?!" Isako was back up, standing and glaring into Yasuda's eyes as he remained sitting. "I started the Undead. I've been their leader. But they went off the deep end when Iwasaki and his brother were attacked, and they stopped listening to me. They must have grabbed Deguchi and Fujita, but I don't know…"

"My god, Isako," Yasuke ran his hands through his hair, "We never even suspected… that's not important now. What is important is for you to talk to someone who is in charge, and for me to talk to my boss."]]

[[Gensai Jotaro stands at the door of the Amori apartment and knocks repeatedly. When there is no answer, he tries the knob and finds it unlocked. The apartment is a mess. The furniture is slashed and turned over, objects are broken, and all of the family pictures lay in pieces on the floor. Jotaro notices a single sheet of paper sitting on the counter, and he moves to examine it.

As Jotaro read the note, his fearful eyes became hard. Then he pulled out his cell phone, "Fumiaki, this is Jotaro. Get the boys together and tell them to come armed. Meet me in front of Isako's place… you remember it?... Okay. Be quick, because those b*st*rds went too far this time."]]

[[Josuke Juro reclines on a couch with his girlfriend, relaxing and feeling powerful. Five others sit around on different furniture. Juro looks at the two teens tied up to the pole occasionally and laughs. He has a large drink in his hand, and he is pulling out ice cubes to throw at the two captives.

Juro's cell phone rang and he looked at the number, "Hello, Isako. Have you come to…" He sprang from the couch, dislodging his girlfriend, "They WHAT!?! Those… of course he wants them back, Isako, but that doesn't… don't get testy with me! I grabbed… No, I'm not going to tell you where… look, Isako, they know better than to hurt… fine! I'll call you back."

Everyone's attention was on him now, "Valhalla grabbed Amori Emiko, Isako's little sister." There were gasps of dismay all around. "Makuda says he wants those two jokers back, but…"

"How do we know that he'll give Emiko back safely?"

"Hey, I haven't said that I'm going to give them back!" Juro protested.

"Look, Juro," Nissan Akikazu got in Juro's face, "We followed your lead and cut out Isako. But she's the Queen. She's the one who got us together and she's the one who gave us back some measure of control. If you think that we're going to abandon her and her little sister, you've got another think coming."

Juro looked into Akikazu's eyes. Then he scanned the other hard faces. He opened his cell phone and his the speed dial, "Isako, this is Juro. Okay, we'll give him his boys back… they're not in the best shape… okay, where do we drop them off?… Fine, we're in warehouse 4 of my dad's complex… You have who with you?... Are you nuts?... Okay, okay. Fine!" He closed his cell phone and shoved it into his pocket.

"What's going on, Juro," Akikazu demanded.

"She's bringing Yasuda-sensei with her."]]

[[Amori Isako's cell phone rings as Yasuda drives down the road towards the warehouse. The scene switches back and forth between Isako and Makuda.

"Hello, this is Isako."

The scene focuses on Makuda standing beside Emiko, who is still in her school uniform, tied to a chair and gagged. Emiko shrinks away as Makuda pets her hair.

"You're little sister is such a pretty little thing." Makuda's voice was deliberately sensual.

"You keep your d*mn hands off her, Makuda, or I'll…"

"Now, now, Isako-chan, is that the way to talk to a high school friend?"

"Let me talk to her!"

"So demanding; so forceful… hmmm… I like that in a woman. After this is all over, we need to talk on a more… personal level. Here she is." He held the phone by Emiko's face as he used his other hand to pull the gag away.

"Onee-chan! I'm…" Makuda pulled the gag back in place.

"There you go. A nice, sisterly chat…"

"Makuda, I'm going to…"

"I want my boys, Isako. And after I take your little Undead friends apart, piece by piece, then you can tell me all about what you're going to do to me. I'll call back in a few minutes. Get me my boys, Isako, before I decide to spend some quality time with your sister." He hung up.

"YOU…" The connection was dead. Isako looked desperately over at Yasuda. "Please tell me that you're confident about all of this?"

The scene switches back to focus on Emiko, who fights her bonds in frustration as the music thumps in the next room.]]

Notes: The three gangs and the police will all meet together soon. Doesn't that sound like fun?

You probably noticed that little of consequence happened between Kanae and Hiou. Please remember, at this point in the story he just turned thirteen. Who knows what the future may bring? Or how soon? Who are the real competitors for Kanae's heart? And why haven't I written more about Sho recently?

The next chapter: The Mysterious Tinkerbell

Thanks to everyone for faithfully reading and reviewing. To fight writer's block, I finally made the time to read several great SB stories submitted by others. There are some great stories out there!