Disclaimer: Skip Beat! belongs to Nakamura Yoshiki. I do not own or claim to own these characters, this is a fan-fiction for entertainment purposes only.

Author's Note/Content Warning: I have rated this fic T because to my best understanding of the guidelines, I think that is where it belongs. That being said, I wanted to be safe and give a general warning that for some darker themes (online harrassment/bullying) and that reader discretion is advised.


1 - A Public Affair

Less than a week after Ren's impromptu elevator confession, a blurry photo of the actor helping a woman out of his car late at night was published in a tabloid. If it had been any other actor, perhaps no one would have noticed. But because Tsuruga Ren was the most popular actor in Japan, of course the photo made the rounds across the internet. But what really got people talking was the woman in the picture. Whoever she was, she was clearly not Kusunoki Kana. People chimed in online, offering their theory as to who the mystery girl might be and what her connection was to Tsuruga Ren. Some claimed that the photo was perfectly innocuous: Ren was known for being a gentleman, it wasn't strange for him to help a woman out of a car. Others argued it was something more, pointing out the time of the photo or claiming the body language between the two was indicative of more than just polite behavior.

It only took the really dedicated Ren fans a handful of hours to identify Kyoko as the mystery girl from the photo. Her distinctive hair color combined with her association with Tsuruga Ren through Dark Moon convinced many people that the young LME actress was the woman from the photo. And as soon as there was a name attached to the anonymous actress, the real discussion began.

What was some newbie doing with Tsuruga Ren late at night? Who does she think she is? Tsuruga Ren could have any woman he wanted — he had Kusunoki Kana! — there was no way he was with someone like Kyoko. Tweets and posts began to chime in with opinions: Kyoko's face was too round. Her nose wasn't slim enough. Her lips were an ugly shape. Some people thought she was too fat, others said she was too skinny. Ren is a man, one commenter wrote, and what man would want that? Almost everyone agreed that she was too short. The idea of Ren and Kyoko as a couple was preposterous. Some thought the actor was just getting it out of his system. Despite his mature personality, Ren-sama was only 21 — it was perfectly natural for a guy his age to want to date different people. Sure, they didn't think much of his pick, but it was just a fling. But others online were not so nonchalant. Some fans would have been outraged by the idea of anybody trying to cozy up to Tsuruga Ren, but the idea of some lowly, no name actress associating herself with Ren-sama was unacceptable. The message boards on Ren's official fan-site were full of theories. The only reason why someone like Tsuruga Ren would be with a no-name actress like Kyoko was out of pity. It would be easy, a user pointed out, for some conniving, cold-hearted bitch to sink her claws into their beloved Ren-sama. Kyoko must be using him. The call to action was clear: they had to save Ren. The fans began to organize themselves, coordinating mass efforts to tank the ratings of everything Kyoko had ever appeared in (with the obvious exception of Dark Moon).

Kyoko had gone to bed one night as a promising new actress and woken up the next day to find that she was Japan's newest online punching bag and probably (at that moment) the most hated woman in the nation. LME had to temporarily shut down her page on the agency's website as calls and emails kept coming in with complaints, demanding the agency sever the actress's contract for her 'rude and unprofessional' conduct (the conduct in question being caught by a paparazzi with Tsuruga Ren). Some even mailed envelopes full of photos of Kyoko that had been ripped to pieces. The buzz continued to build as celebrity gossip blogs and entertainment news outlets got wind of what was happening. Things got so bad that Kusunoki Kana's agency released a press statement, saying that the actress and Tsuruga Ren were not in a relationship. But the statement hardly mattered given the photos of the two kissing that the entire public had seen weeks before. Instead, people took the press release as evidence that Kusunoki Kana was trying to graciously cover for being dumped, which only further infuriated the online mob. It was decided: Kyoko was a man-stealing whore. No words of reason were going to stop the witch hunt.

There was nothing Ren could do to stop the torrent of hate that was being directed at the girl he loved. Tsuruga Ren had a kind and gentlemanly public persona— he was expected to take the high road, of course. In every interview, when he was asked about the photo Ren said the same thing: he met Kyoko shortly after she started at LME. She was a wonderful, hardworking actress, someone he considered his coworker and a friend. He had not, at any time, been in a relationship with Kusunoki Kana. No, he was not seeing anyone at the moment— his schedule was much too busy for any kind of private life. Ren practically begged his fans to leave Kyoko alone.

It didn't work.

«×»«×»«×»

Most days, there were people waiting outside the gates of Kyoko's school. Some onlookers were always lingering— fans hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite young celebrity on their way to class or beg for a photo or autograph. Nobody had ever recognized Kyoko before. Usually, she was able to slip inside without anyone noticing she was even there.

Ren called the moment Yashiro told him the news. She picked up after two rings. The actor didn't bother with greetings.

"Are you alright?" He asked, then wanted to smack himself. Stupid, stupid.

"I'm fine," Kyoko said. He had to give her credit — there was almost no wobble in her voice. If his manager hadn't told him, Ren might not have known anything had happened.

"There's no way you're alright," Ren said vehemently. "Yashiro showed me the news. You were attacked—"

"I'm fine," Kyoko insisted. "I wasn't attacked. It was just some eggs." She tried to laugh, but it came out sounding horribly fake. "Really, they had terrible aim. And it was too crowded, really, for anyone to get a good shot…" she trailed off.

Ren winced. As much as she was trying to put on a brave face, Kyoko was scared. Of course— who wouldn't be? Thousands of people online were harassing her, and now they were coming after her in public. And all because of Ren, because of some photo that a lucky paparazzi had snapped of them.

"Where are you?" he said at last.

"LME," she replied, confused by the change in subject. "I'm supposed to meet with someone from the p—"

"I'm coming. Wait for me," Ren commanded. He hung up before Kyoko could protest.

«×»«×»«×»

Kyoko felt incredibly awkward but — since her senpai demanded it— she mustered up the courage to ask to delay the meeting until Tsuruga-san arrived. This earned her a very strange look from the LME PR rep, who had no absolutely no notion of starting a PR strategy meeting about a celebrity couple without half of said-couple being present. Lory, who was also present, just shook his head as if in disappointment, which made Kyoko want to hurl herself on the floor and immediately beg for the President's forgiveness. But just then Tsuruga-san arrived with his manager in tow, and the meeting began without Kyoko doing a dogeza straight into the conference room carpet.

The best thing to do, the public relations specialist explained, was to wait for the scandal to blow over. The public had a short attention span, and an even shorter memory. The news cycle would move on whenever the next piece of hot gossip broke out. The PR department was monitoring the situation online and doing their best to moderate any malicious information and threats that they could. Kyoko was advised to stay away from social media, which was not a problem since Kyoko (being the middle-aged housewife that she really was), barely knew how social media worked. The teen was beyond horrified to hear that Ren had gotten some minor backlash from Kana's fans. She looked ready to slice open her own stomach, despite the entire room — Ren, Yashiro, Lory, and even Yoshie-san from PR — insisting that Ren's reputation was fine. There was always some small amount of hate being directed at Ren, it was part of being in show business. But Tsuruga Ren had an army of zealously devoted fans to protect him, and Kyoko did not. The few comments that Ren had seen were laughable compared to the multiple posts online directed at Kyoko, telling the actress it would be better if she just keeled over and died, otherwise she would get what was coming for her. But Kyoko could only focus on the fact that people were speaking badly about Tsuruga-san because of her. She looked borderline hysterical and only Ren scolding Kyoko that having a fit was not behavior befitting a professional actor finally made the actress calm down. Mostly.

When Ren and Kyoko were advised to keep their distance from each other to avoid being photographed together again in public the teen actress agreed with such immediate ferocity that both Yashiro and Lory had looked at Ren with pity. The PR rep would have been equally sympathetic towards the actor, if Yoshie-san hadn't been overwhelmed by Kyoko's intensity as she declared that she and Tsuruga-san were not currently working on any projects together and had no reason to meet at all.

"A-alright," the PR rep said, cowering in the conference room chair and trying to back away from Kyoko's aura. "There's no n-need to shout, Kyoko-san! I understand perfectly well…"

Lory cleared his throat pointedly, bringing everyone back on track. He adjusted his tricorn hat, which was sitting on top of the most perfectly curled luscious brown wig that Kyoko had ever seen. The President calmly suggested that Mogami-kun do her best to lay low for the time being. LME would provide a discreet vehicle for her to travel to and from school to, if she wished, or it could be arranged for her to study from home for the time being. He politely but firmly ignored her attempts at demurring such an offer, for which Ren was eternally grateful. With that, the meeting was over and they all stood up.

"Mogami-san, if you're done for the day I can take you home," Ren offered immediately, hoping to spend some more time with the actress.

"Oh! No! That's quite alright," Kyoko squeaked, stepping a full three feet back from Ren and bowing repeatedly. Ren could practically see her building the wall between them. "Besides," she added, glancing at the spot Yoshie-san from PR had just vacated, "I think it would be best if…"

"Ah, right," Ren said. He ran a hand through his hair. "I guess— I'll call you, then?"

Kyoko nodded, her head still lowered, bowing one more time to both Ren and Yashiro before she scuttled out of the conference room.

«×»«×»«×»

A week passed with no improvement or other major news story to draw the public mob's attention onto their next victim. Ren's fanbase was massive, and they were organized. Leaders in Ren's fanbase began to emerge. Factions began to form and fight each other, with some arguing that Lotus in the Mire should be boycotted and others saying they would be going on opening day so they could have the pleasure of watching Kyoko's slaughter on the big screen.

Playing Momiji should have been the role that launched Kyoko into the public's attention, but instead she was in hiding. She was excluded from any planned promotion activity by the producers. Offers for roles were withdrawn, and new offers entirely dried up. Kyoko was turned away from auditions before she even arrived. Sawara told her not to worry, but she could see the deepening crease in his forehead. It was easy to see that the section head was stressed by her mere presence in his office. Kyoko took the hint and stayed away, holed up in the small Love Me section office and doing paperwork and other odd jobs people asked of her. When there was nothing to do, she pulled out her schoolbooks and tried to get ahead on her homework. But it was hard to solve pre-calc equations when part of her brain was incessantly worrying. What if her career was over, before it even really began? Kyoko tried to push the thought aside, but it was impossible. The thought crouched in the back of her mind, a small voice muttering incessantly that refused to be quiet or go away, no matter how much she wished. Despite everyone — Ren, Yashrio, Lory, Yoshie from PR, even Kanae— telling Kyoko not to look up what was happening online, she hadn't been able to help herself.

There were pages and pages of comments. She could scroll for days and probably not hit the bottom. A lot of people said she was hideous or they wished she was dead. Some people didn't even bother writing nasty words and just tweeted photos of her face along with the puking emoji. Those were easy to shrug off: she became Natsu, scrolling through the comments, distinctly unimpressed by their lack of effort. She thought that words couldn't hurt her. Especially not the words of a stranger. After all, Kyoko was used to people bullying her for nothing more than daring to associate with a popular guy — it was her entire life in middle school. But for every hundred things Kyoko could scroll past without blinking, there would be a few that hit her like a knife to the chest. The ones that said she had no star power, that without makeup she was just a plain, average girl who didn't belong in the entertainment industry, that there was nothing about her that was noteworthy or interesting. It wasn't their malice but their indifference as they spoke the truth that made Kyoko shrink. It was easy to ignore the people saying she was ugly — Kyoko knew she was no beauty queen, but she was hardly ugly. But it was much, much harder to forget the comments that said the idea of Ren dating Kyoko was a joke, because in her heart, Kyoko thought they were right. He was Tsuruga Ren. What could she possibly have to offer? Nothing. Someday — probably soon — Ren would realize that them being together was a mistake.

Kyoko would have sat there spiraling for hours, if not for Chiori. The veteran actress shut the borrowed laptop (almost getting Kyoko's fingers in the process) and forcefully dragged her friend away from the computer. Chiori claimed she had to watch some awful rom-com for a Love Me assignment, and she refused to suffer through it alone. They sat on the squashy couch in front of the TV, watching mostly in silence (apart from Chiori's occasional snort at a particularly cheesy line of dialogue).

"Thanks," Kyoko said softly as the credits rolled.

"The public sucks," Chiori said, instead of acknowledging Kyoko's gratitude. She stared ahead at the screen, watching the names go by. "There's nothing you can do," she said blankly. "Just let them think what they want. It'll go away eventually, and then you can start making your way back up."

Kyoko knew that her friend was speaking from experience and she appreciated the attempt at comfort. But privately, Kyoko couldn't help remembering the pages full of hateful scrawl that she'd found on the set of Box R and worrying about how she would ever recover and what it would cost her.

«×»«×»«×»

Despite the scandal (or perhaps because of it), Ren's schedule was packed from early in the morning until past midnight. Still, he did his best to contact Kyoko every day. Sometimes all he could manage was a good morning or goodnight mail. Kyoko's replies were prompt and courteous, but never invited more conversation. It made Ren feel like he was texting a customer service representative. When he could, he tried to call her. If he couldn't see her face, he at least wanted to hear her voice.

"Let me do something," Ren practically begged.

She was quiet.

"There's nothing for you to do," Kyoko said. "I just have to wait for it to go away."

She didn't sound resentful, only resigned. Their conversation ended shortly after that — Ren felt too guilty to continue to try and hobble along through the topics they both wanted to avoid. He convinced himself that the awkwardness between them would go away, if he could only talk to her in person.

Fate gave him his chance. One afternoon, Ren found himself at the LME headquarters with a few minutes to spare before his meeting with Lory. He had just finished up the strangest audition of his career so far. Meeting Leonard Herbert had certainly been… something. Show business was full of eccentric people (just look at the President), but even by those standards, the man was odd. But nobody could deny that he was a visionary, and Ren was thrilled to be cast. It was the opportunity he'd been waiting for. Ever since he'd moved to Japan with the vision to become Tsuruga Ren, he'd been dreaming of this kind of role. There was one person he wanted to tell, to share his excitement with, and Ren found his feet carrying him to the Love Me Section's open door.

Ren knocked on the doorframe. "Mogami-san."

Kyoko looked up and was almost immediately blinded by the force of Ren's smile. It was like a beam of sunlight suddenly breaking through a cloudy sky, going directly into Kyoko's eyes. She had to look away, wincing, as she stood up and returned her senpai's greeting with a proper bow.

"It's been a while," Ren observed. She was smiling at him, now meeting his eye. Were her cheeks slightly pink? He thought she looked happy to see him, but Ren didn't trust his imagination not to get his hopes up.

"Yes," she agreed. "Did you need something, Tsuruga-san?"

You, he wanted to say. Obviously, I came to see you. He looked at her. Normally, Kyoko's cheerful aura was almost as bright as the glaring pink of her Love Me overalls. But now, as Ren studied her under the harsh fluorescent office lights, she looked a bit washed out. Still lovely, of course — Kyoko was always lovely. But she looked tired. There were shadows under her eyes, and even her smile seemed a bit wan as she waited for his response.

"I—" Ren cleared his throat. "I thought I'd stop by and see if you were in. I just came from an audition," he added, unable to help himself.

"What's the project?" Kyoko asked. She didn't bother asking if the audition went well — he was Tsuruga Ren, after all. There was no doubt in her mind that if he wanted the part, he would have it.

"It's this foreign director. He makes even the President look normal," Ren said, smiling.

Kyoko had too much deference for the hierarchy to laugh, but she smiled and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Do you think you'll take the role?"

"I've already accepted, actually. Verbally, at least — the President just has to sign off on the contract," Ren said gratefully. He pulled out a chair, sitting himself down across the table from Kyoko.

"Oh." She paused. "When does filming start?"

"I'm not sure," Ren smiled, relaxing. The initial awkwardness had faded. Now that they were face to face, there was none of the distant, professional politeness that Ren had in her messages. Despite everything that had happened, they could still speak to each other like normal. Internally, Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "The cast is being finalized, so filming won't start for a few weeks, but I'll want to fly out a bit early, so that Y—

"Fly out?" Kyoko repeated. She blinked. "You're leaving?"

Ren looked at her. "Oh— right. The director is American," he explained. "We'll be filming in the States."

Kyoko's face was blank as she processed what he was saying. America. Tsuruga-san was going to America! It was so far away. She felt something tighten in her throat.

"Mogami-san?" Ren prompted. He reached out a hand towards her. "Are you alright?"

Kyoko twitched her hand out of reach. "Of course! I'm fine," she said, beaming at him. "Wow! Congratulations, Tsuruga-san! I'm so happy for you!"

Ren tried to ignore the sting he felt as she avoided his touch. He frowned. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing's the matter! Everything is fine," Kyoko insisted, hanging onto her smile with grim determination. "I was just surprised! That's all!"

"That's not all," Ren said evenly. "You're acting strange." At his accusation, Kyoko twitched. It was small, but not small enough to escape Ren's notice. He leaned forward over the table with a smirk, enjoying the growing color in her cheeks.

"Are you going to miss me?" He asked, his voice lowered and just above a whisper.

Kyoko practically trembled in her chair. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and she was leaning back so far that she was a hair's breadth away from tumbling backwards. The sheer audacity of this man, to summon the Emperor in broad daylight! While they were at work, no less!

"No?" His voice was lighter, but still far too dangerous for Kyoko's liking. "How disappointing."

"I—" Kyoko almost shouted. She was about to launch into an explanation when there was a loud knock on the open door.

"Ren," Yashiro said, popping his head in and quickly glancing between the two stars. "Sorry to interrupt — the President is ready for you."

Ren sighed. Reluctantly, he stood up from the table. Kyoko sat, eyeing him nervously. The way she was curled up in her chair reminded him of a frightened chipmunk. His face softened as he smiled down at her. "Apologies, Mogami-san, it appears I have to go," he said. "Will you still be here in half an hour?"

"Y-yes." Kyoko tried to swallow. "I think so."

Ren's gaze lingered on her, long enough that Yashiro was forced to clear his throat loudly. The actor tore his gaze away.

"Wait for me," Ren asked. It was half plea, half command. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

He and his manager vanished through the Love Me door. Kyoko, rooted to her chair, stared after them. Her breath was shallow, and she felt like something was clutching at her chest, as she waited for Ren to reappear.