Keep on trying

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of it's characters.

Chapter 38

Make it hurt

She saw the shadows on the wall, but still refused to turn around and look at her bullies. Maybe it was some kind of misunderstanding? But why would they follow her, when they saw how petrified she was. However Kyoko put a brave face on things. If they want to harass her, she would not give them any satisfaction from it. She faced the girls and tried to hide her panic. There were at least six woman in front of her, each with hatred in their eyes. 'What did I do to them?'

Whatever the reason, they were angry. Something in their facial expression made her tremble. Sho's fangirls in the middle school had some limits. They only wanted to scare her - not to hurt physically. This time things looked different. Three of the bullies stand close to her so that she could not run away. 'They don't have to do this. My leg won't allow me to do it anyway.'

"Well, well, well… it looks like you're trapped here." started the girl in the middle. "I must admit that it was nice to run after you. Actress can not exercise too much, can't she?" She giggled and most of her friends did the same. "I don't understand why you attended those lessons though." added the other one. "You slept with enough famous boys to get any dream role that you desire. Oh, well… I guess you weren't good enough." She laughed loudly with the group.

Kyoko tried to convince her body to move, but it only hurt her more. She imagined a drill making a hole in her bone. She bit her lip not to shout or cry. 'I won't give them any satisfaction.', "Why do you want to leave us so early?" said the first one. "Do you hate talking with commoners like us?" She came closer to Kyoko. "You little sl*t!" she spat and then pulled her hair. "Oh my dear! Your hair is such a mess! And those split ends! We should do something about it!" One of the women approached her with scissors. Kyoko knew what was to happen so she stopped flouncing and closed her eyes.

They did their best to terror her. She could feel her head getting lighter as they were cutting her hair. She heard a lot of offensive accusations, each one more hurting than the previous ones. No one has ever treated her like that and there was no one to help her. But she was a brave person. Kyoko decided to stay strong and there was nothing that could get her down. When they ended her new "hairstyle", they took some pictures with her. Kyoko looked straight at the camera with no fear in her eyes. It annoyed them extremely.

And then it happened. One of the bullies run towards Kyoko and kicked her sprained ankle. She shouted loudly as tears came streaming down her face. The other ones smiled widely, looking at her agony. It was not a quotidian sight. Someone you hate having a hard time. They could sense their hidden frustrations being released. They saw Kyoko as an example of all the things that they detested in other successful people. No wonder that they hatred was so strong. Kyoko could do nothing about it.

Ren walked into the empty building, feeling ashamed of his actions. 'What will I do if someone sees me here? I don't even know anyone well enough to act as if I wanted to meet that person.' He sighed deeply. He was to leave, when he heard a shouting from the outside. He could not ignore it. He run, leaving Yashiro behind. Soon enough he saw the source of that horrific sound. There was a group of girls staying in front of the other girl. He could not recognise her, but he instantly knew what to do about it.

Kyoko raised her head and saw him. The other girls haven't noticed him yet, so it was her potential advantage. But then she realised something. Tsuruga Ren was famous. If he helped her then she would be bullied forever. She felt like her relationship with Sho was the reason of their anger. Kyoko could not imagine how mad they would get I he did something for her. Using all of her acting skills, she looked into his eyes and gave him a message: "Don't interfere!" Ren understood, but disagreed. 'What is she doing?' Kyoko glanced at him once more and whispered: "Trust me." Then she looked at one of her bullies, trying to get her full attention. It worked.

"What?!" she shouted. "You've had enough? No?" she smiled in a fake way. "Maybe we should show you where your place is?" And she kicked her in the stomach. Kyoko embraced herself and looked quickly at Ren. She still didn't want him to help her. His eyes widened. 'What is she planning? I can't stay here, doing nothing at all!' But something in her face made him stop himself. He wanted to trust her. He clenched his teeth and let her deal with that situation. Kyoko closed her eyes for a moment and then she got up. Her legs were shaking, since she stood only on one of them, trying to keep her balance. Once again, the adrenaline helped her.

The group was surprised. They didn't want her to run, but it wasn't her plan. Kyoko gave them a chance to hurt her more. They used that. They hit her in various places and then Kyoko fell down and fainted. "She… can't be… you know?" asked one of the women. "No, she can't..." added the other one. "But what if…?", "Oh sh*t! Let's get out of there before someone sees us!" And so they did. They didn't know that Ren had already made a photo of them. He run towards Kyoko, scared if something had happened. He stopped when he was close to her and then he chuckled. "You should really consider being a professional actress, you know? You convinced me once more." And before she was able to say something he lifted her and held like a princess.

AN/ Disappointed? Me as well. I wanted Ren to help her so badly, but I realised it would only make things worse. But in the end he got his chance to impress her ;p. I hope you have a good day and see you soon~!