I am really glad to see that everyone that has stuck with me till not is enjoying this story. Thanks for your support.

Note: I do not won Skip Beat!.

Catherine fiddled with the mirrors and seat in the replacement car Lory had given her. He had tease Catherine into promising not to wreak this one before she snatched the keys away from the joking man. Catherine hummed lightly as she pulled out of the parking lot and into the streets of Tokyo. Kyoko sat in the passenger's seat pensively. She kept turning over the words that her respected senpai had said to her. Kyoko looked at the crumpled card she still had clutched in her hand. It took her a moment to smooth out the crimped paper enough for her to read the flowing handwriting held within. Kyoko read over the show of caring and support from the stranger. But it was the end of the card that had made Kanae tease her. Catherine glanced at her silent charge as she ran her finger over one word from the card.

"Is something bothering you?" Catherine stopped humming to address the confused actress. Kyoko closed the card quickly before the older woman could see the words inside.

"NO" Kyoko quickly answered and paused to think about it. "Yes." She admitted.

"Would you like to tell me about it?" Catherine offered. "I promise not to say anything to anyone." Kyoko considered her for a minute before opening the card back up and looking at the words inside again. She waffled on the decision before taking a deep breath.

"How could anyone think that I would make a good girlfriend for Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko cried out her indignation at the suggestion. This shocked Catherine to the point where she almost hit the curb. Once she recovered, Catherine snickered lightly. Kyoko glared at the mirth.

"Sorry." Catherine apologized. "I was just not expecting that." Catherine signaled to merge into traffic. "Where did this come from?"

"This card." Kyoko held up the crumpled paper. "They said they did not believe your statement that Tsuruga-san and I were not dating, and that they wished us the best." Kyoko ran her finger over the word that had given her such problems. "Kat-chan, they called me his GIRLFRIEND!"

"What's wrong with that?" Catherine shrugged.

"…" Kyoko looked dumfounded at her manager, as if the answer were as clear as day. "I can't be Tsuruga-san's girlfriend!"

"And why not?" Catherine grew slightly cross at the girl's answer.

"Tsuruga-san already has someone he likes!" Kyoko recalled the description the man had given. "She is fun-loving, dedicated, with a good heart, a little complicated, and makes him smile." Catherine shook her head.

"Doesn't that describe you?" Catherine pointed out. Kyoko froze at the idea, so Catherine continued. "You enjoy having a good time. You are always doing wonderful things for others. I have not seen a more dedicated person. You can be quite complicated to understand sometimes. And to be honest, I have never seen that man more happy then when he is with you." Kyoko's brain screamed its protests as her demons ran around in circles. This was very close to what Kanae had told her in the locker room. She had been able to giggle at the possibilities then because she believed her best friend was teasing her about the card. Yes, Catherine was her friend, but there was no note of teasing in her voice. The woman was serious.

"But that is impossible." Kyoko refused to accept the woman's reasoning. "Tsuruga-san's girlfriend has to be special and beautiful and.. and.. And I am just so plan and ordinary." Kyoko was shocked when Catherine slammed on the breaks in the middle of the road and turned to the teen.

"I DO NOT WANT TO EVER HEAR YOU SAY THAT AGAIN!" The anger that rolled off Catherine made Kyoko's grudges swim around in delight as the girl cringe away from her manager. "Whoever told you that was a dam liar and a fool!" Catherine calmed herself and started moving the car again. "Kyoko, you are one of the prettiest most interesting people I have ever had the pleasure of getting to know." Catherine saw that Kyoko did not believe her. "I will admit that you're not as hot as a tall busty fashion model." Kyoko nodded her agreement. "And I am sure that you could name a lot of people that surpass you in physical attractiveness." Kyoko thought of her best friend and how beautiful she is. "But Ren sees hundreds of those types of people every year. If he was easily swayed by physical beauty, there would be just as many scandals around the man as there are beautiful women." Kyoko thought about this for a moment as Catherine switched gears. "When was the last time you hear rumors about Ren's love life?" Kyoko blushed at this question, but thought hard.

"I never have." She admitted.

"Exactly! A man that deals with women like that every day and does not get involved with them is probably looking for something more. Beauty is not just skin deep. If the most beautiful woman in the world had a bad personality, how long do you think she would keep friends?" Kyoko shook her head indicating she would not have them, so Catherine continued schooling the girl. "See, it's not the package that men like Ren are looking for, it's what is inside. If you are not special inside, then no amount of varnish is going to draw their attention."

"But I am not special inside." Kyoko tried again. Catherine sighed what could only be called an NG sigh.

"It does not matter if you think you are special. All that matters is what he thinks." Catherine explained as they pulled into the parking lot of the hotel they were going to be filming in. Kyoko looked at her confused.

"But how do I know if he thinks I am special?" Catherine looked at the girl. If she had missed all of the subtle hints he had given, plus the obvious gestures, then there was only one answer that would work for her love blind charge.

"You ask him."

Kyoko laid on her futon staring up at the dried rose on her shelf. She turned the day's events over in her head for about the millionth time. The hotel shoot had been straight forward and not taken too long till the director was happy and released the actress. The two girls had spent the rest of the day sorting through all of the gifts and flowers that were piling up in the LoveMe locker room. When the pair had gotten back, the stack was twice the size it was before and kept growing. They had found an empty conference center to separate out Kyoko's massive stack from Catherine's surprising large assortments. The teen has received everything from simple card and flowers to stuffed animals and candies. She even received a cake from one of Tokyo's finest bakeries. Catherine drew up a thank you letter for Kyoko to sign and send to the addresses they were able to get off the packaged. It was a simple form letter, but it would show her fans that she appreciated their support. The two girls had agreed that Kyoko should not bother the restaurant with the overwhelming supply of gifts, so they had most of them sent to Catherine's apartment. Kyoko only took a few of the smaller things home with her. Tomorrow was a free day for her and she was going to spend it looking through everything.

Kyoko sighed and rolled over to bury her face in her pillow. The words of both her respected senpai and her manager rolled around in her head. It had been easy to accept Ren's words regarding the support her fans were showing her. This was the same thing that Sawara had told her about when she was first rejected by LME. She was still not sure if she could 'Love her audience' the way Lory wanted her too, but she starting to understand their love for her. It was Catherine's words that were really giving her trouble. She had been able to push them away while she was acting in the commercial, and there had been plenty to occupy her mind when they were sorting through the gifts, but now, there was nothing to stop those words from disturbing her heart.

Kyoko rolled back over and stared at the poster of the man she was considering. How could anyone possibly think that he loved her? Yes, it is true that he had been worried enough to call her while they were trapped and talk to her the entire time. And he had been there to catch her when she almost fell, but anyone would have done that. It was the kiss on the temple that she was having the hardest time with. Up until that one, she had been able to explain away every other kiss as either teasing or a misunderstanding, but this one was different. This one held emotions made raw by the situation, and at the time she convinced herself that is was just the stress, it was the only thing that let her get pass it, but now, after Catherine's words, she did not know. She ran her mind over all of the other kind things he had done for her. It was the soft looks she had not taken note of at the time that she remembered now. Even the occasional appearance of 'the Emperor of the Night' had been in response to something she had done.

As she laid on her back staring into space, she slowly warmed to the idea that Ren like her. He had been the only person to give her exactly what she needed, whether it was kindness or scolding. He always seemed to know which one she needed and how much was good for her. He never dulled his blades when she felt she needed a good slicing up, and he never turned her away when she needed his help. The more she thought about it, the more she could see his true emotions showing in everything. She reprimanded herself for her audacity, how could she presume that what she perceived was really affection and not her own misguided ideas spurred on by Catherine's words. She sighed and rolled over in her bed again. It was going to come down to Catherine's suggestion; she was just going to have to ask him. But she did not know if she would be able to do it. What if everything was just her imagination? How would she get on with her life if he told her the same thing Sho had? The answer she came up with was that she could not. She steeled her heart and set her mind in determination, she would not ask him, she would wait for him to come to her. If he really did like her, there had to be a reason he had not confessed his feelings to her yet. She had spent a long time living nursing an unrequited love and decided it would be much less painful to do so again then risk losing the man that had found his way into her heart, again.

Authors note: For those of you who want to know where I get these crazy ideas, I either dream them up (literaly while sleeping, in fact, this entire thing started with a dream about the brick incident and grew from there), find them on line (the truck wreak came from youtube, mostly), or run into them in real life (so got the shrimp thing from a truck wreak in Cincinnati Ohio a few years back). Otherwise, I sit down to write and see where I am led within the confines of the main plotline. I keep a complete finished plotline made out so that I can wander a little and still hit the important events to get the story to the end that I want. A few of the upcomeing chapters were writen while taking pain killers for a strained muscel. Those turned out intresting and I will get them up as soon as I can make sure that the spelling and wording are correct. Thanks your your intrest and comments. I really do live for the feedback.