Ren's Birthday

A/N: Okay, first things first, I apologize for taking so long to update. I was extremely busy with school, well, I still am, but I will try not to have such a long interval between chapters again. Four months really is too long, it might make me go off track if I'm not too careful... Anyways, I hope you like this chapter, I was stuck for a while, but it turned out pretty well.

Since there's been a bit of confusion, I'll state this in the beginning, the first flashback comes from the scene between Ren and Kyoko right before Ren did his acting acting test as Katsuki.

Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, put my fanfic on their favorites and story alerts. I really do appreciate it! ^^

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters. I do own Takumi though, haha.

Chapter 36

"Begin."

Ren and Kyoko froze, an icy tension pervading the set as they stared at each other, a mixture of confusion and anguish reflected in their eyes.

Standing in front of the dark blue sofa, Ren and Kyoko almost seemed to blend into the background because of the dark coloring of their clothes. At the same time though, those same colors stood out against the cream colored walls of the set.

As if the ice was broken, if only for a moment, both models quickly shifted their gaze away from each other, with Ren looking down in shame, and Kyoko turning her body away from Ren, her body language screaming out 'I can't look at you right now. I don't want to look at you right now!'

Ren's eyes shifted away from the ground, towards the wall opposite of Kyoko. A tiny spark of surprise shined in his eyes, as if he had just rediscovered the mirror on the wall, the mirror that reflected the air of depression that had enveloped Kyoko, who had turned her back on him. 'I wonder if she's remembering how Mizuki reacted during the acting test…'

Slowly walking towards the mirror, Ren stopped just before his figure would obscure Kyoko's reflection in the glass. Lightly touching the mahogany frame of the mirror, Ren sighed deeply and closed his eyes for a moment, his body slightly bent over.

Acting as if Ren's sigh made her come alive, Kyoko slowly raised her head and looked over her shoulder, seeing for the first time the air of sadness and regret surrounding Ren. Kyoko felt her limbs grow heavy, as she struggled to come to terms with seeing Ren acting so forlorn.

Clasping her hands together over her diaphragm, Kyoko shivered lightly, biting her lip in indecision. As if unable to bear the sight before her any longer, Kyoko closed her eyes and turned her head sharply to the side, causing the pins in her hair to gleam dully in the warm light emanating from the Tiffany lamp next to her. Her fingers slowly untwined before she crossed her arms, grabbing her elbows to bring them closer to her body for warmth.

Ren opened his eyes, examining Kyoko closely in the mirror with heavy-lidded eyes, before shoving himself off the wall. 'No, not like Mizuki…' Ren mentally shook his head. 'I've seen this somewhere before though… where was it?'

Ren continued to mull over the question in his mind as the shoot continued on. It wasn't until the end of the photo shoot when Ren stood directly behind Kyoko's shivering form, that he finally remembered. Understanding lit his eyes for a moment, before fading as his eyes grew dark once more sorrow and frustration. 'So this is what Director Takumi meant…' Ren thought absentmindedly, as he slowly reached out his hand, almost touching Kyoko's back, before pulling his hand away reluctantly, not allowing himself to rest his fingers on the wide expanse of pale white skin laid out before him. His frustration seemed to almost overtake his sadness for a moment as his hand unconsciously formed a fist, before being forcibly relaxed again.

"Okay, we're done!" Takumi called. "Take a ten minute break, then go change for the final stage."

Ren relaxed, letting most of the tension flow out of him. 'She wasn't acting with Mizuki in mind, Kyoko was just being herself…'

Ren stared wide-eyed at Kyoko's fiercely dark expression as she sat on a prop that looked like a tiny island, her knees pulled up to her chest. "Wha… what… are you doing… all alone here?" He asked haltingly.

"I'm enjoying my solitude." Kyoko answered sullenly. "Can't you tell by watching me?" Her mouth pursed lightly into a childish pout before she turned her back on Ren, still curled up in the fetal position. Her back seemed to give off an aura that shut everyone out, leaving her isolated on her little deserted island.

Ren paused for a moment, before moving closer. "Are you… angry about something?" Ren asked quietly.

"I'm not angry!" Kyoko bit out.

'You are.' Ren thought, resting his hand against his hip.

"I won't get angry about something like this! I'm used to it!" Kyoko retorted, before continuing on in a sadder tone, "Everyone knew about it… but I didn't. It's always been that way."

Ren's eyes narrowed as he realized what Kyoko was referring to. "…Do you… mean… about today?"

Kyoko peeked over her shoulder, the eye that was visible was wide open, glaring at Ren in suspicion. "Tsuruga san… you knew… that I didn't know about it?"

"Um… well… sort of… yeah." Ren answered sheepishly. 'I thought you'd say something like "Please do your best with your acting test," if you knew about it. Knowing you…'

Silence reigned after Ren's little confession, with Ren staring at Kyoko's back, trying to find a way to break the ice that had suddenly formed between them.

Deciding to take action, Ren sat on the prop, shortening the distance between them. 'I… didn't tell you, but it wasn't to be mean." Ren stated quietly.

Kyoko remained silent for a moment, taking in Ren's words. "I understand… I'm not angry…" Kyoko said softly. "But… I was the last person to be with Tsuruga san… yet I didn't know something this serious…was happening to you. I was the only one who didn't know about it," Kyoko hugged her arms, her head dropping slightly, with her hair parting to reveal the back of her neck. "… and I feel miserable." She finished, her voice filled with sadness, as if she were about to cry…

'Although it's not exactly the same, there's definitely a resemblance between then and her acting just now.' Ren gave Kyoko a tiny smile, which went unnoticed by the still slightly distraught female, before frowning after taking another look at Kyoko's expression. "Mogami san, what's wrong?"

Kyoko stared at Ren in surprise. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Ren's mouth turned downward in concern. "You look like you're about to cry…"

Kyoko's eyes widened, realizing that her vision was indeed a little blurry. Quickly wiping the tears out of her eyes, Kyoko smiled brightly. "I guess I got a bit too caught up in feeling sad. I just kept thinking that I don't want to Tsuruga san to hate me, or worse, feel sad because of me…" Kyoko explained, her eyes becoming watery once again.

Ren's face turned expressionless as he watched Kyoko continuously rub her eyes to try to wipe her tears away. 'What… what do you expect me to do after hearing something like that?!'

Acting as an observer to the little scene that was unfolding right in front of him, Takumi did his best to hold back his laughter after seeing Ren turn to stone upon hearing Kyoko's heartfelt "confession."

Catching sight of Takumi's expression out of the corner of his eye, Ren's eyes narrowed slightly in displeasure. "Mogami san, I think it'd be best to wash off any make-up you have on, so it doesn't get into your eyes." Ren said abruptly, taking Kyoko to a more private setting.

Takumi's mouth twitched in amusement at Ren's attempt at keeping Kyoko to himself. 'Well, I don't really care how lovey-dovey they get after this, as long as I get to capture it on film later.' Takumi shrugged, turning back to his camera.

* * *

Kyoko washed off the last of her make-up before gently patting her face dry. Letting out a depressed sigh, Kyoko looked at her now dry eyes in the mirror.

"Mogami san, I need to talk to you." Ren said quietly, making sure that no one could hear them.

Kyoko stiffened, unable to think, as she paused outside her dressing room door.

"It doesn't have to be right now, but, we do need to talk sometime today." Ren finished, watching Kyoko closely.

Kyoko nodded slowly, keeping her eyes on the door in front of her. "Alright, Tsuruga san." She waited until she heard Ren's door close before entering her own dressing room, letting out a big sigh as she headed towards the sink

Kyoko bit her lip as anxiety swept over her. 'I can't put this off forever. I have to apologize to Tsuruga san for looking in on him while he was changing.' Kyoko squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment, doing her best not to remember what she had seen. 'I was okay for the last stage since I didn't have to look at Tsuruga san…' Her eyes flew open in realization. 'I can't act out the next stage, not if I leave things as they are now.' Her cheeks reddened slightly in embarrassment. 'E-even if it's embarrassing, I have to go apologize to Tsuruga san!'

Building up her determination, Kyoko pulled open the door just as a staff member was about to knock, startling the poor girl quite a bit. "K-Kyoko san, Director Takumi said to tell you and Tsuruga san that there is going to be a delay before starting the final stage."

Kyoko nodded slowly in understanding. "Is there something wrong?"

The girl shook her head, regaining her composure. "No, Director Takumi just said he was going to go over the film of the seventh stage before deciding if he needs to modify the instructions he'll give you for the final stage. I will inform you when he's almost finished so you can get ready."

Kyoko smiled, "Alright then, thank you for telling me… Have you already told Tsuruga san this information?" she asked curiously.

The girl once again shook her head. "No, I have not."

Kyoko's eyes brightened. "Then I can tell him for you, if you don't mind."

The girl smiled. "Thank you for offering, but it would be unprofessional of me to defer my job to someone else." 'Like I'd ever give up a chance to talk to someone as handsome as Tsuruga Ren!'

"Of course, I didn't mean to take away your job." Kyoko said quickly. "I'm sorry."

"No harm done. Well then, if you'll excuse me…" The girl bowed before turning around to knock on Ren's door. 'I love this job…'

Kyoko stepped back inside the dressing room, closing the door before Ren could spot her. 'Not yet. Not yet. Not yet…' Her mind ran around in circles as she vaguely heard Ren and the female staff member talking outside.

"Thank you for telling me." Ren said graciously, smiling at the staff member.

The girl blushed profusely. "Y-you're welcome. I-I'll be going now."

Ren watched as the girl ran off, shaking his head in amusement at the sight. About to go back inside, Ren froze as Kyoko quickly stepped outside, leaning against the door for support. "Um, Tsuruga san, since we have time to s-spare, if you don't mind, c-could we talk n-now?" Kyoko stammered, her face pink with embarrassment.

Ren blinked once in surprise. "Of course, come in." Ren ushered Kyoko into his dressing room, closing the door behind him.

A/N: Just to clarify, if anyone wants to know the exact pages, the first flashback occurred in volume 12, chapter 72, pg. 15-19. (Actually, page 20 is one of the best reactions we get out of Ren in all of Skip Beat, in my opinion, but I decided to omit it from the flashback for various reasons, haha.) I used the official Viz Media translation since it worked best, but yeah, please tell me how I did on that scene. That was the probably the hardest scene to write out of the entire chapter for me, so I would appreciate some feedback on it. Thank you in advance, haha.

I thank everyone who took the time to read this chapter and this fanfic, I hope you have a nice day. ^^