Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

A/N: This is important if you're a bit confused about the last chapter and how they didn't recognize each other, if you understand then please carry on! Once again thank you sooo much for reading, reviews, and giving my little story the time of your day!

Felt I needed to explain a bit before continuing!

First and foremost; in dream someone is their utmost natural self (ie. natural hair color, natural eye color, no tattoos, no piercings) with one exception being that haircuts carry over. Don't know why but it seems accurate LOL

So Kyoko in dream, which is all Ren has ever seen, has short black hair and in her daily life she has it dyed chestnut. And he's never seen her with makeup on or anything like that.

Ren in dream is blonde with green eyes. I'd do the whole alias name thing and make his name actually Kuon, but I don't think mentally I could keep up with that nor is it really necessary for this storyline. I also 110% prefer the name Ren, idk, I can't see that name fitting this character as that is like "fairy prince man" ya know? His visual disguise WILL make sense when the time comes. I promise.

But essentially I wanted to clear this up, I felt I quite possibly wasn't explaining it well and didn't want any confusion or anything while reading. But yeah, that's why neither recognizes the other in the last chapter!

Once again many thanks for reading and reviewing!

The music seemed to be getting louder as the pounding pain slammed through Kyoko's head while she made her way back towards the booth. Her ruined dress clung to her torso uncomfortably and she felt her skin getting sticky as the sugary drink began to dry on her pale flesh.

Despite all of that, her mind kept wandering back towards the tall figure that had stunned her into a clumsy mess. He reminded her of something… someone, but she couldn't put a finger on it. The club too loud and distracting for her to remember someone so strange yet familiar, her mind wracking over the length of his limbs, the arch of his straight nose. The measurements of him were so familiar yet foreign that it felt as if she was grasping at mere strings that were covered in an oily substance which made them continuously slip through her fingers any time she felt she had a hold of them.

Kanae noticed her first, the look on her face was full of concern after she took in Kyoko's stained dress and how she seemed to be rubbing the back of her head in pain. "Oh my god," she said, scooting passed Amamiya's knees and coming towards her. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" Kyoko let out a light laugh while waving both hands in front of her. "Nothing happened. I just— my heel slipped and I kinda fell and hit my head a little."

A stern look came over her face and Kanae walked around Kyoko, running her fingers gently through her hair feeling for the bump that had formed.

Kyoko felt an overwhelming sense of comfort in the action, like a big sister checking their clumsy younger sibling for any booboo's they suffered while playing on the playground. Once she was satisfied that Kyoko was fine she asked, "Do you want to come sit down?"

"Oh. Uhm, I was actually going to grab my bag and let you guys know that I was calling a cab." Kyoko replied, pulling her crossbody purse over her head.

"I can go back with you," Sho said while grabbing his things and standing up. "If you'd like." He seemed a little unsteady on his feet, and Kyoko finally glanced at the table they had been sitting around, the small marble top was almost completely hidden underneath countless bottles, cocktail glasses, and several baskets of peanut shells.

The idea of being in the backseat of a cab with Sho for the second time that night, especially when he seemed to be quite intoxicated wasn't entirely something Kyoko wanted to experience — not even if she wasn't trying to hide the emotional breakdown she was currently battling. Watching him clumsily stuff his phone and wallet into the front pockets of his skinny black jeans like he was in some type of hurry to be alone with her, had her feeling even more on edge about the possible situation.

A firm "No. We're going with her." Resounded next to Kyoko, stunned she turned to look at Kanae, who was staring daggers at Sho. "We already planned a girls day out for tomorrow, so we already agreed that we'd be spending the night at Kyoko's."

A questioning sound was about to escape her lips when she forced herself to swallow it down. She had been able to avoid the fifteen minute cab ride with Sho, and instead she would have to endure a whole night with the two girls. Yes, she wanted the time to herself. To think about her and Ren. To sleep and dream and hope he showed up. But on the other hand she was finally going to have girl friends over and she felt her eyes begin to water at the thought.

Kanae had glanced over at Kyoko after she had shared the spontaneous and short notice plans to the group, and she watched as her eyes went from confused to uncertain until finally landing on full blown sparkly and she briefly wondered if she would regret tonight.

Soon enough Kyoko was standing between Amamiya and Kanae as they took the elevator up to her floor. She felt elated. She had been floating on her own little cloud of excitement while in the cab, her mind wandered and leapt at the thousands of possibilities for the evening, and the feeling seemed to continue to grow as the small box they stood in rose, like she was in fact flying upwards. "What should we do?" she thought, "Could they be hungry? No… Kanae had been complaining in the cab about how she had eaten too much this week and she was going to start cracking down on dieting and her fitness regime and Amamiya had agreed with her…." Her mind teetered towards activities, and she mentally counted the number of face masks she had under her bathroom sink, they were all imitations of animal faces, and Kyoko wondered if it was too childish for the two mature women even though she could easily imagine the tiger mask suiting Kanae perfectly and the panda mask fitting Amamiya's style as well.

The bell dinged announcing that they had hit her floor and Kyoko led them down the short hallway to her door where she quickly punched in her code on the small keypad.

It was almost like Kyoko had planned ahead for spontaneous guests. She hadn't been able to sleep well the night before so she had gotten out of bed much earlier than she needed and had cleaned her apartment spotless before going to work. Only a few freshly polished wine glasses hung on the drying rack were left for her to put away, "Don't bother," Kanae said to her as she went to put them on their appointed shelf, "I could totally use a glass."

"Oh yes, me too!" Echoed Amamiya as she situated herself on the white sofa, pulling a lavender throw pillow onto her lap to hug on to.

A soft laugh escaped her as she browsed her wine cooler. Was she actually about to split a bottle of wine with friends? Choosing a bottle of a deep red, she carried it and the three glasses to the couch.

"Do you guys want any fruit? I picked up some peaches from the market and they smell amazing. I can cut a plate up for us?" Kyoko asked as she poured their glasses.

"No, no," Amamiya answered, reaching for the glass of wine, "this is perfect."

Kanae hummed in agreement as she took a sip, the red liquid staining her lips.

At a loss for anything else to offer them, Kyoko decided to just make her own self comfortable since both girls seemed content with their wine and lounging. "I'm going to go change out of this dress," she told them, "do you both want to change now? I have plenty of pajama options…" she trailed off.

"Oh! Gosh, I totally forgot about your dress. Let's change and then pick out a movie!" Amamiya exclaimed, placing her glass on the coffee table and standing up. "Kanae?"

Tapping at her phone, Kanae had completely missed the last things said in the conversation, "Huh, what?" She asked, looking up. "Sorry. Hiromune is blowing up my phone. The two trouble makers are doing just that; causing trouble. I guess Hidehito was caught dancing with some girl and her boyfriend lost it on him. So Sho punched the guy…"

"Sho punched someone?! Jeez! Of course the excitement happens after we leave." Amamiya complained.

"I don't know if you'd think it was so exciting if you were there. Supposedly the new manager of the club stepped in and it got concerning. Hiromune says he knows the guy a bit, but he'd never seen him in action before and it was a bit intense."

"Action?" Kyoko asked, the mention of the new manager had peaked her interest after what B had said about him, and something about the scary man she had seen watching over the crowded club like it was his domain made her wonder if they were one of the same.

"Yeah and about that, what was with Hiromune knowing that guy B? They seemed pretty friendly. Did he used to work there?" Amamiya asked Kanae, and Kyoko connected the dots that Kanae knew Hiromune Koga a lot more than she had let on during work hours.

Kanae stayed silent as they followed Kyoko down the hall to her bedroom for a change of clothes, and the two waited patiently for her to tell them what she knew. "The club… well, it's not just a club. I mean, it is. But it's also one of the few establishments owned by this guy Lory and his gang of members." She paused. "Hiro was a member for awhile. It's been a year or two, but I guess he made an impression if B remembered him and said the boss would like seeing him."

"The new guy, well, he's been around since before Hiro joined up. I guess he's a family relation or something and was brought in in his early teens. None of the members know much about him cause he's always kept to himself, but to a lot of them he's considered 'Lory's Pet'." Kanae said.

Lory… it wasn't a common name, but she had heard it before. Kyoko was mulling over the information she was receiving - and she didn't think it was a coincidence. Such an odd name and to also be a boss… Ren had never specified exactly what it was he did; he had only said it was occasionally dangerous, demanding, and high stress. When it came to his work, he usually talked about the people and not what it was that they were doing, just their personalities and small moments that stuck with him. Like his partner Yukihito, and how he was a bit nerdy and serious but also had a really hilarious side that enjoyed romance dramas and attempting to play matchmaker. And most of all, he had always talked highly of Lory, he told her how Lory had taken him in when Ren wasn't having any luck working with his family's business.

"Anyway, Hiromune isn't a part of that anymore. So it'd probably be best if you don't bring it up at work or anything." Kanae finished, grabbing a pair of grey joggers and a long sleeve shirt from Kyoko's drawer.

Amamiya snorted, "Oh yeah, that's exactly what we had in mind. Just bring it up right when we see him like its small talk, right Kyoko?"

"I was actually thinking I should pester him the entire shift about it," Kyoko joked, "maybe it would make him work faster."

Kanae rolled her eyes but Amamiya had laughed at the implication that Hiromune was a slow worker. "How do you know him so well anyway, Kanae?" She asked.

"We went to the same school. He was in my brothers grade but we had a few classes together." Kanae explained.

Kanae could tell Amamiya was about to ask more questions, but she cut her off saying that they should hurry up and change because not only was the stain settling into Kyoko's dress, but their wine was also getting warm.

Both of them changed rather quickly, then made their way back to the sofa to start searching for a good movie while Kyoko put a gentle stain remover on her dress and took a quick shower to wash off the sticky residue that still clung to her. The water was pleasant and hot as she stepped into the stall, the steam rising and quickly fogging the glass and air around her. It was comforting after the evening she had but she still felt a curious uneasiness coiling in her stomach and she wished she could crawl into bed, see Ren, and ask him all the questions she had buried up inside. But she couldn't. It was only 8:26 and she knew the two friends she brought home had plans of staying up late, drinking a bottle of wine or two, and watching a good movie. Kyoko herself was hoping they would agree to some late night takeout despite the earlier talks of dieting since she hadn't gotten to eat anything after they had left work, and she believed it would relax her for the rest of the night. Warm rice always did that, it was like a hug for her soul.

They had chosen a popular horror thriller, and Kyoko couldn't help but feel grateful that it wasn't a romance. Instead of ordering food, they made a quick batch of egg fried rice out of some leftovers in Kyoko's fridge, deeming that it was probably too late for any restaurant to be serving anything fresh or well made, plus they didn't really want to wait since all three of them in the kitchen had it done in under twenty minutes. About thirty minutes into the film Amamiya had opened their second bottle of wine, and an hour later she had opened their third.

"I- I think it's time for me to sleep," Kanae groaned, from where she was sprawled out on the floor on a mess of pillows and blankets, her hand resting over her eyes.

Kyoko watched with half lidded eyes as Amamiya practically crawled off the sofa and plopped down next to Kanae, her head surprisingly landing perfectly on a pillow as she giggled at every slow and clumsy movement she made, "Meeeee too!" She exclaimed, pulling the blanket up to her chin and off of Kanae.

The two girls drunkenly bickered awhile longer over the blanket until they managed to straighten it the right way so it covered them both. Kanae had huffed and yelled at the shorter dark haired girl for crowding her space, while Amamiya just laughed louder and scooted closer the more angry her friend got. It made Kyoko a bit jealous, in her intoxicated state she began to realize how alone she was in this new place, reasoning with herself she told herself it was just the drink, she was already becoming good friends with the two of them, and they had in fact made huge progress tonight as they all hung out. Even speaking less formally and feeling comfortable and relaxed together.

"You guys have everything you need?" Kyoko asked, stumbling to her feet, and her golden eyes getting more and more bloodshot the longer she stayed awake.

They hummed in response, both already falling asleep.

Popping two ibuprofen, Kyoko filled a glass with water and stumbled into the bathroom to brush her teeth before climbing into her bed. Her room, dark and bathed in moonlight, was comforting. The sheets were cool but her blankets warm, her pillows fluffed. Even lying down she felt like the room was spinning. It had been awhile since she drank so much and she forgot how relaxing it was for her brain to be so drunk that it couldn't fixate on the things that were bothering her when she was sober, until she fell into sleep.

Kyoko could sense that something wasn't right. Everything was blurred around the edges like she was looking through fogged glass, she had a dream like this once before, and was thankful that she had forgotten most of it as soon as she woke up. The feeling was eerie to her mind but pleasant to her body, the air was thick, and it seemed to hold her in place, forcing her to act through the emotions her subconscious was experiencing.

She hoped that Ren wasn't here, watching where she couldn't see, because right now the worst thing that could possibly happen; was happening. Her mouth was moving languidly against the full lips of another, his mouth was warm, and his tongue slipped easily between her parted lips and began exploring the curves of her gums, smooth and perfectly slick. She was hyper aware of her hands roaming up his forearms, to his biceps, caressing his neck until her fingers crept up and twirled into the soft blonde locks of the man above her, pulling him impossibly closer when all she really wanted was to push him away.

Time was fleeting, between snippets of cool familiar blue eyes meeting hers and hungry hands that couldn't explore the others flesh quickly enough, Kyoko didn't know how long it went on.

"Kyoko."

And everything snapped around her, like a lightning strike landed in her dream, changing her surrounding until she was standing in an open field, the sun large and orange setting low against the horizon, making the tall sweet grass turn an unnatural shade of golden green.

About thirty paces away from her was Ren, the sun was at his back as he walked towards her, and as he got closer she could see the expression of his face, his mouth was set in a hard line, and he seemed to be clenching his teeth. But it was his eyes that made the realization slam into her. He had seen. The green depths of them shone, like peridots swirling in dark murky water that couldn't be described as anything but hurt.

"I- " she began, but he cut her off.

"It's okay." Ren said, his voice smooth and even.

He was fighting his feelings and frustration licked at her mood like a blue flame. Even after seeing her with someone else he was still being neutral. Was she really forever going to be someone he just occasionally made time for? He hadn't seen her in over a week, even after their last conversation where she told him how much she wanted to see him more often, how she was worried about losing him, worried about the new place and new job causing new dreams. And now he had shown up in the middle of a dirty dream she was having about Sho.

"How long were you there?" She asked, slightly uncomfortable at the idea of being seen like that.

"Long enough." Ren felt his heartbeat ramp up, and the inner corner of his left eye twitched. "Who is he?"

He had sensed her distress in the dream, but it didn't seem to matter. Her subconscious liked the guy, a little pipsqueak of a man that was all too familiar to Ren as he had just broken the guys nose a few hours ago for picking a fight at the club, enough for her to have a dream about him like that. And as far as Ren knew, she had never dreamt of him like that. No, he always had to be there, right? She'd never make up a scenario like that with him on her own. Jealousy bubbled under his skin and he took a sharp intake of breath to try to calm down and actually listen to what she had to say.

"A coworker." She answered briefly, studying his expressions. "It's been awhile, I thought you said work was calming down."

"Work never really calms down, Kyoko." He said. "You know I don't purposefully stay away for so long."

"I know you don't, but because of it I now know what takes first place on your list of priorities." She watched his jaw clench harder and she didn't know why she wasn't just explaining that she didn't like Sho. She loved Ren and she wanted to see him and she missed him and she wanted him to show her that he missed her, too. That he wasn't and would never be okay with her being with someone else. That he was hers and she was his. Sho wasn't a part of that and if anything his flirtatious nature made her want to be with only Ren even more.

"Things went south. I fucked up. And the boss flipped my whole world upside down because of it. I've been selfish and wallowing in my own self pity." Ren shot back, irritation now starting to show its presence on his once stoic face. "So, do you like this guy?"

There it was, and Kyoko smiled to herself inwardly, he was finally showing how he truly feels, the real him, not just the playful and comforting facade he had been forcing on his face the last few visits.

"No. Of course I don't like him. You know I know enough about your dream hopping to know you could sense that I wasn't comfortable with that dream. If I was enjoying it you probably would've left, I doubt you'd stepped in." Kyoko replied, scoffing.

Ren would've laughed at the implication if he wasn't so upset. A dream? About that scrawny try-hard of a guy? Ren knew he wouldn't be able to support that no matter how much she liked him or how hard he tried. "I would've certainly disrupted the absolute fuck out of that dream whether you were enjoying it or not, like, are you joking?"

"Why?!" Kyoko shouted at him, and the wind in the field began to pick up, blowing her short dark hair all over the place. "It's not like we're together! You've said it over and over that you're not ready for more and I've waited and waited patiently for you to grow! To change! To succeed in whatever the hell job it is that you work so goddamn hard for! But what about me? What about what I want? I've voiced it over and over and it doesn't seem to make a difference to you or our situation. So what does it matter if I like a coworker or not?! You're not my boyfriend, Ren. And that's only because you don't want to be."

Before she finished the last sentence he was covering the last ten steps towards her with long and fast strides. His eyes were darker than usual, and his face more angular. He had lost weight, she thought. Cupping his hands around her cheeks he held her face up to meet his, their eyes swimming in each others gaze, one full to the brim fiery hot irritation and the other swimming with jealousy and hurt. "You're right about it not mattering if you like him or not, and only because you just said a moment ago that you don't." Ren said. "It would be much different if you did."

And then he was bending down towards her until his face hovered over hers and her golden eyes began to flutter closed, and he closed the last few centimeters between them until his lips met hers in a soft and slow kiss. He didn't let go of her face as he pulled his face away, "I'm sorry I wasn't around. Give me a little bit more time to get everything sorted out, I'm so close to being done, and then I'll be ready." He pecked her lips. "I promise."

Nothing was sorted out. Nothing had changed tonight. Even seeing him jealous didn't comfort her as much as she had thought it would in the moment, but she had hope. Hope that he was right, that it was only going to be a little while longer, and then he would be ready. No matter how tired she was of waiting for them to move forward, no matter how much she wished she could be content with where they were at, no matter what she wasn't going to give up. She wanted more, it could just be a coincidence — a dead end, but something in her gut told her she was on the right track. There were just too many questions left unanswered, and an idea started to blossom in her mind.

"Have you ever been to the Blue Velvet?"