Gossip can be such a terrible thing
A/N: After several years, I started re-reading Skip Beat! again, and wow am I enjoying myself. The Dark Moon arc in particular really struck me. I had so much fun watching the extras gossip in the background and seeing how it tied into major scenes a few panels later. So, in honor of the Dark Moon extras who made several of my days, I wrote this one-shot.
This one-set is set between chapters 78 and 79, a few days after Ren has successfully aced his acting test as Katsuki.
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! That honor goes to Yoshiki Nakamura sensei.
Bam! Kyoko slammed her hands down onto the table, a ferocious gleam in her eyes as she earnestly requested, "Tsuruga san, please call me by my stage name from now on." Kyoko's brows scrunched up tightly, her hands gripping the table until her fingers turned white as she stared intently at Ren.
Ren's eyes widened slightly in surprise, while the corners of his mouth twitched, the subtle movement betraying the massive effort taken to hold back a smile. "Mogami san, I didn't realize you wanted me to call you by your given name so badly."
Kyoko shook her head vehemently in denial. "Not my given name, Tsuruga san, my stage name!"
Ren blinked twice innocently and tilted his head in an endearing manner. "But, Mogami san, your stage name is your given name."
"They're different!" Kyoko shouted, "The meanings behind them are completely different!"
"Oh?" Ren leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table and his gaze firmly on the huffing and puffing Kyoko standing in front of him. "How so?"
Kyoko sucked in a deep breath and began her desperate attempt to explain. "Asking you to call me by my stage name is a simple request, as it's the name that everyone in showbiz calls me… but!" Kyoko's eyes flashed with righteous fervor. "Asking Tsuruga san to call me by my given name is a sin far too heavy for me to bear! It would be extremely presumptuous for a newbie talento like me, who can't even be called an actress yet, to make such a brazen request to a famous actor such as yourself, Tsuruga san!" Kyoko breathed out heavily with her nose, her head making a sharp, tiny nod to give emphasis to her words.
Ren looked at her quietly for a moment, then smiled, a gentle aura slowly reaching out to encompass Kyoko. "I wouldn't mind…"
"Eh?" Kyoko blinked once in confusion, turning her head a little in order to keep from facing Ren's heavenly smile dead-on, while pretending to try and hear Ren's words more clearly.
"I wouldn't mind…" Ren repeated patiently, "if you asked me to call you by your given name… Kyoko chan."
*ba-dump*
Kyoko's face stiffened, her expression subtly distorted from noticing her heart's alarming reaction. It took almost all of her willpower to keep her hands down on the table instead of pressing her hands to her chest, to shield her heart from Ren's soft smile and sweet words.
"Please disregard my request just now, Tsuruga san. I've changed my mind." Kyoko stated bluntly, the tips of her fingers dug little holes into the table as she struggled to maintain her composure.
Ren's smile widened happily, causing a massacre among the little grudge Kyokos who had been hovering around Kyoko on high-alert. "So you do want me to call you by your given name, Kyoko chan?"
"No."
Ren's smile froze as Kyoko bowed to him.
"Please continue to call me Mogami san from now on, Tsuruga san." Kyoko requested firmly, keeping her eyes focused on the table that was less than an inch away from her nose. "I had misjudged the consequences of my request earlier and would like to apologize for wasting Tsuruga san's time." Her larynx visibly rose and fell as she tried to swallow the bile rising in her throat, her discomfort hidden by the grace of the table's proximity.
An ominous silence presided over the room, with a chill settling over Kyoko's shoulders. Very carefully, Kyoko lifted her head to gauge Ren's reaction. The gorgeous, brilliant smile she saw chilled her to the bone.
"Mogami san," Ren called softly, his eyes narrowed to slits, "Did you find it that offensive to hear me call your given name? Hmm?"
"N-no!" Kyoko stuttered, waving her arms frantically as she took a small step back. "T-that's not it!"
"Then what is it, Mogami san?" Ren clasped his hands together, resting them ever so gently on the table.
After taking a brief moment to gather her thoughts, Kyoko forced the saliva in her mouth past the big lump in her throat and said, "It's too suspicious."
Ren raised an eyebrow in confusion, then kicked the brilliance of his smile up a notch. "Me calling you 'Kyoko chan' is too suspicious?"
Kyoko flinched, then nodded emphatically. "Yes. I realized just now that if you suddenly change the way you call me, it would be even more suspicious to the Dark Moon crew than having Tsuruga san continue to call me 'Mogami san'."
The smile dropped off Ren's face and he frowned, genuinely puzzled now. "Mogami san, why were you in such a hurry to have me call you by your stage name in the first place?"
Kyoko bit her lower lip, her teeth brutally gnawing on the tender flesh. "The girls in the Dark Moon crew… they were gossiping about how Tsuruga san was the only one in the entire crew to call me "Mogami san", that it was… really odd since my stage name is just "Kyoko" with no last name. They dared… to say that Tsuruga san calling me by my private last name rather than my public stage name was like we were flaunting the fact that we… have a close relationship in private." Kyoko looked at Ren with earnest, pleading eyes. "Tsuruga san, I really did try my best to make them understand that we only have a regular senpai-kouhai relationship, no, even less than that! But even though they nod their heads when I educate them, I've caught them gossiping about it multiple times… so I thought if Tsuruga san were to call me by my stage name, the threat to Tsuruga san's pristine reputation would disappear…"
"So, all this time, Mogami san has been desperately trying to uphold my reputation against gossip and rumors, is that right?" Ren's eyes grew gentle as he looked at Kyoko's cautious nodding, a hint of sorrow hidden in their depths.
"If I don't deny their malicious gossip, they'll take as fact all the ridiculous things they spout at each other…" Kyoko muttered, frustration and exasperation on full display.
"Would it really be so horrible," Ren asked, "if others think we are close?"
Kyoko stared at Ren in mute horror, before she leveled Ren with a flat gaze, her mouth stretched thin into a grim line. "It would be blasphemy," Kyoko stated solemnly, "For a lowly newcomer such as myself to be considered to be on close terms with the best actor in showbiz, you, Tsuruga san." To emphasize the point, Kyoko narrowed her eyes and repeated, "Blasphemy."
Ren let out a quiet sigh and closed his eyes for a moment. Yashiro, who had been quietly watching everything unfold from the corner of the room, looked at him with pity in his eyes. He silently lamented Ren's absolutely horrible luck in getting anywhere with the girl he loved, all while wishing he had some popcorn to munch on.
"Kyoko chan," Yashiro interjected, trying to salvage at least a tiny part of Ren's heart, "If you're asking Ren to continue calling you 'Mogami san, then are you alright with allowing them to continue to think that the way Ren calls you is special?"
"Guh," Kyoko let out a strangled sound, her body jerking in surprise. "I-I…" Kyoko stuttered, "Will do my best to educate them on brutal reality rather than letting them remain dangerously delusional."
"But you've done that several times already, haven't you?" Yashiro pressed on, "It doesn't seem to be working that well. In that case…" Yashiro continued slyly, "Why not stick with your original plan and have Ren call you 'Kyoko chan' like everyone else?"
"Absolutely not!" Kyoko slammed her hands down on the table again.
"But why?" Yashiro asked, head tilted innocently to the side, "If someone asks, you can just say that you asked Ren to call you by your stage name from now on. There are plenty of reasons you could use to explain why you'd ask a colleague not to use your personal name while working, especially in showbiz. Isn't that why you asked Ren to call you by your stage name in the first place?"
Ren glanced at Yashiro with a slight smile, before returning his gaze to Kyoko's disgruntled figure.
"That… was my intention…" Kyoko responded hesitantly. "But it would only make things worse. Not only would more people in the crew be alert to the way Tsuruga san addresses me, any reason I give for Tsuruga san's sudden change would make it seem like Tsuruga san had done something wrong by calling me by my private last name. To sum everything up," Kyoko said bluntly, "having Tsuruga san call me 'Kyoko chan' would be very bad for my cardiovascular health."
Yashiro stared blankly at Kyoko, while Ren let out a short burst of laughter.
"Alright, Mogami san." Ren gratefully took over for the stunned Yashiro. "If I understand you correctly, you would prefer to have me continue to call you 'Mogami san', even if I am the only one to do so in the Dark Moon crew. You just want the crew members to stop gossiping about what kind of relationship we have. Is that correct?"
"Yes!" Kyoko lit up in relief, her whole body radiating happiness at being understood.
"In that case," Ren gave her a rueful smile, "If you hear them gossiping again, you can tell them I call all my coworkers by their last name by default, to be polite. It's only if they give me permission to call them otherwise that I change how I address them."
Kyoko beamed, "Yes! If I show them I'm not special at all in being called by my last name, that should finally open their eyes!" Kyoko's respect for Ren continued to grow at a rapid pace as she mentally admired Ren's code of conduct. "Thank you, Tsuruga san, for helping me find the best way to educate those girls. I'll make sure they stop smearing your reputation!" Kyoko gave Ren a snappy bow, his heart softening as he saw the happy grin on her face when she stood back up.
"I'll be heading to the set now, so if I hear them spouting nonsense again, it'll be the last time they ever do so!" Kyoko said proudly.
Ren stood up from his chair and grabbed his keys. "I'm heading to Fuji TV for another job as well. I'll give you a ride, let's go."
Kyoko gave Ren another quick bow, "Thank you, Tsuruga san."
Ren stopped moving towards the door and looked back to Kyoko. "Mogami san, I meant it when I said I wouldn't mind calling you by your given name." He smiled tenderly as Kyoko's eyes shifted from side to side in her awkwardness. "So, I'll be waiting…"
"Eh?" Kyoko's gaze snapped up to meet Ren's heavenly smile dead-on.
"I'll be waiting for the day you give me permission to call you 'Kyoko chan'."
Kyoko watched through nearly blinded eyes as Ren left the room, an overwhelming sense of having just escaped a life-threatening ordeal washing over her. As she hurried to catch up with Ren, she shouted internally, 'I'm sorry, Tsuruga san. For the sake of my physical and mental health, that day will never come!'
A few days later, the Dark Moon set was once again plagued by gossip.
"Hey, even if she is a friend of Tsuruga san's, don't you think the girl who plays Mio is too much?"
Yashiro glanced out of the side of his eye and looked at the trio of extras playing Mizuki's friends. It looked like their gossiping session had just started, and Kyoko was their main topic. The brunette was gesturing animatedly at the others, who nodded in agreement.
"I know, right?" The blonde scoffed, shoving one fist onto her hip with such force that Yashiro winced. "Even if they are both from the same agency, how dare she have Tsuruga san drive her home?"
'Well, shooting did end close to midnight last night,' Yashiro mentally replied. 'There's no way Ren would let Kyoko chan go home alone at that time of night.'
The girl with black hair snorted and said venomously, "She is taking advantage of Tsuruga san's gentle nature way too much! Who does she think she is?"
'If anything, Kyoko chan's not taking advantage of Ren enough.' Yashiro thought drily, 'Ren would probably be over the moon with joy if Kyoko chan relied on him more…' A muffled shriek of longing shook him out of his reverie.
"Ah! If I could have Tsuruga san chauffeur me around, I'd be the happiest girl alive!" The blonde cried, clenching her fists together cutely and looking up towards the ceiling with stars in her eyes.
The brunette smirked, "You want THE Tsuruga Ren to be your chauffeur? Dream on! I'd much rather go on a travel date with Tsuruga san."
The girl with black hair nodded. "Mo too! Oh, a travel date sounds so romantic. Being able to flirt with Tsuruga san within the close confines of a car…" All three girls blushed and shrieked with excitement.
'No, no. Something like that definitely wouldn't happen.' Yashiro grumbled. 'There's absolutely no flirting that happens even when Ren drives Kyoko. That guy says such nauseatingly sweet words to his co-stars so naturally, yet only says, "Oh" with an expressionless face even when the girl he likes says, "I didn't want to lose your trust, Tsuruga san".' Yashiro rolled his eyes in exasperation. 'I have no idea what kind of thoughts run through that guy's head for him to have that kind of boring reaction to such a moving confession!'
Yashiro's thoughts smoldered until the brunette's words caught his attention again.
"Going back to Mio though, she's constantly sticking to Tsuruga san's side whenever I see her. Even when Tsuruga san is acting, she'll go stand next to his manager just so that she can be the first one to rush to his side once he's off set." The brunette said with disdain, tossing her hair over her shoulder as the other two nodded in agreement.
"Whenever the director pulls the main actors over to discuss something, she's always, always right next to him no matter what." The blonde girl sighed with dissatisfaction.
"She even refuses to eat if Tsuruga san's not around." The girl with black hair exclaimed.
Yashiro frowned, leveling the trio with a side-eyed stare. 'That's going a bit too far.'
Shaking off a sudden chill, the blonde leaned forward and asked in a conspiratorial mock whisper, "Do you remember the day L.M.E.'s president came to test Tsuruga san's Katsuki?"
"That's exactly what I was talking about!" The girl with black hair replied. "That girl straight-up refused Tsuruga san's manager when he said Tsuruga san was busy and offered to eat lunch with her instead, saying she couldn't possibly eat before Tsuruga san."
"Then she had the audacity to go and fetch Tsuruga san after his meeting with the L.M.E. president just to make sure she could eat lunch with him!" The brunette chimed in, rolling her eyes in disgust.
'Now that they mention it, something like that did happen the other day,' Yashiro mused, 'But I'm sure Kyoko chan eats perfectly fine when Ren's not around. Ren on the other hand…' Yashiro stifled a quiet chuckle, 'Sometimes it feels like Kyoko's only around to supervise Ren's eating habits rather than to actually have lunch with him. Actually, that probably is the reason she eats with him. Poor Ren, he'll never have a proper lunch date with Kyoko…' Unfortunately, the trio refused to allow Yashiro to ignore them, as their voices grew louder and louder.
"I want to eat lunch with Tsuruga san too!" The brunette continued, envy oozing out of her words. "They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I'd love it if Tsuruga san deliciously ate a bento I personally made for him!"
The blonde nodded enthusiastically. "Me too! Me too! I'd love to have a picnic date where Tsuruga san tells me I've made all his favorite food. Kyaaaa!" The girls covered their cheeks and shrieked in excitement again. It appeared to be a common occurrence in their little chats.
"Rather than a picnic date," The girl with black hair offered, "I'd much rather cook Tsuruga san dinner in his home. We could have a romantic candlelight dinner. It would be a dream come true if Tsuruga san were to gently whisper in my ear, "That was the best meal I've ever had in my entire life"." The girls screamed and wriggled around with shy fervor, much to the detriment of Yashiro's poor eardrums.
The brunette sighed, cupping her cheek with one hand. "What would be even sweeter for me is if Tsuruga san was sick in bed... and needed me to feed him with loving care so he could get better. While he's woozy from the fever, I'd tenderly take care of both his body and his heart, so he could never do without me again."
Yashiro shuddered in horror at the wild delusions the happy trio were spouting. 'No wonder Kyoko was worried about the way they talk about Ren. Thank goodness it was Kyoko chan who filled in as Ren's temporary manager when he got sick. I don't even want to think about how these girls would take advantage of him if they were in her position instead.' Shaking his head to clear away the scary thoughts, an inadvertent glance down the hallway revealed Kyoko leaving her dressing room and heading in the trio's direction.
"Ah!" The blonde cried happily, unaware of the ominous energy quickly making its way over to her. "I want to see how sweet and vulnerable Tsuruga san looks when he has a bad cold. I'd take care of him all night long!"
"You dare to wish for Tsuruga san to fall ill?" A deep ominous voice resounded behind the blond. The trio looked back to find an extremely dangerous-looking Kyoko looming over them. "Then how about I curse you all to be sick for the rest of your days?"
The trio simultaneously let out high-pitched strangled shrieks of horror and backed away from Kyoko until their backs hit the wall. "W-we're sorry!" They wailed, the blonde apologizing the loudest. They tremblingly bowed deeply and profusely over and over again to the enraged Kyoko. "We w-were wrong to say such things. P-please forgive us, Mio sama!"
"I'm not the only one you should be apologizing to." Kyoko said acidly, then pointedly turned her gaze towards Yashiro standing only a few steps away.
The trio's faces blanched; all color leached from their faces. It was one thing for Kyoko to have heard them, but for Ren's manager to have heard them was an entirely different horror story! They quickly lined up in front of Yashiro, bowing lower than 90 degrees to express their apologies. "W-we are extremely sorry for w-what we said! It w-won't h-happen again, w-we promise! We beg of you, p-please don't tell Tsuruga san what we talked about!" Every word spoken was a desperate plea for amnesty.
Yashiro hummed noncommittally, and the trio felt like they were immersed in a fierce blizzard once Yashiro looked down at them and spoke icily, "You girls should watch what you say from now on." After leaving the trio frozen like glaciers in a blizzard, Yashiro cheerfully called out to Kyoko, "Kyoko chan, shall we go eat lunch?"
Kyoko smiled happily, "Yes!" She quickly stepped around the glaciers and strode forward to leave with Yashiro.
A few moments later, the thawed-out trio glanced at each other, then watched Kyoko's and Yashiro's backs fade into the distance. "You know," the brunette said slowly, "Maybe the one she's close to is actually Tsuruga san's manager, and not Tsuruga san."
The girl with black hair cautiously nodded. "Their scary auras were really harmonious just now."
The blonde then spoke a little too loudly in her excitement. "Maybe those two are dating and Tsuruga san is their cover!"
"Shhhh!" The other two shushed her frantically, then looked around to make sure that no one else was in the vicinity,
Let's just hope Ren never hears of that particular theory.
A/N: While checking the first few pages of Volume 14, to make sure I got the timing of this one-shot right, I realized that Director Ogata makes a comment that ties in neatly with one of the comments the trio made. When I read that, I immediately thought, 'The director was in on the gossip too!' That sure put a smile on my face. I'm glad I was able to segue into that scene through this one-shot, however unintentional it may have been on my part.
Thank you to everyone who has read, followed, reviewed, and favorited this chapter. I really enjoy reading everyone's reactions to what I've written.
Have a wonderful day!