Author Note: I hope you enjoy this. This chapter is going to show one of the biggest trials in this fic which will show you how much tamer than my other fics that I'm trying to make it. Also, I had a question about the last chapter with the actors not being able to date. This was in the 35th volume of the manga as an omake. I actually don't base things from after the Momiji chapters because of how aggravating I find reading Skip Beat on a monthly basis. I started to read in, I believe 2009, when chapters of the manga sometimes came out twice a month. It was really tiring to keep up with especially due to the lack of activity in some chapters. Now I try to read a bunch at once.

Well, I hope you enjoy 😊

Chapter Five – I Don't Have a Boyfriend

The next day, Ren couldn't keep the smile off of his face. He was dating a girl that he had liked since he was a ten-year old. Thankfully at eighteen and twenty-one the age difference wasn't too bad. Soon he would be twenty-two, but even that wasn't too bad. It wasn't as if she were considered under age any longer.

As he walked with Yashiro for his next job, he saw his manager staring at him with a playful grin on his face. Ren blinked and then sighed, he knew exactly what Yashiro was thinking. "Are you wanting to hear about my date with Kyoko?" he asked even though it was obviously true. He laughed before offering a small smile. "Will you be satisfied with just hearing that it went well and she and I are very happy right now?"

Yashiro raised an eyebrow, "Well, that's a start but I'm desperate for details. I mean, this isn't just any girl that you've gone on a date with. This is Kyoko, this is a girl that I feel I had a hand in setting you up with," he said before pouting. "Of course I'd like to hear more."

"I think you give yourself too much credit," Ren said with a smile as Yashiro paused and then looked away with a weak chuckle. "I mean, she and I got to know each other very well as the Heel siblings." Ren knew that he couldn't talk about their meeting when they were children or the fact that he was Kuu's son. Those were definitely important things in his relationship with Kyoko, but they didn't need to be made public…at least not yet.

"You're still thinking about her, I can see that grin on your face," Yashiro commented.

Ren laughed softly, "You know," he said with a nod, "You're right, but you told me before that when my face is like this, interviews and even filming go better. I wouldn't want to disappoint the hosts or the director."

Yashiro hummed and nodded, "I suppose that's true. So, are you seeing her again tonight?"

Ren shook his head, "I finish about ten and I think that would be too late to impose upon the couple that she's staying with. I don't want to give them the impression that I feel like I can take Kyoko out at any hour. I was thinking of going shopping after work, however."

Yashiro laughed at this, "You want to find a gift for your girlfriend," he teased before thinking realistically, "You do know that even if she is your girlfriend, Kyoko-chan is going to be unwilling to accept anything which is too expensive."

Ren laughed, "How do you know that she will be aware of how much it actually costs," he said before smiling at the ground thinking about Princess Rosa and the story about Queen Rosa. That had been a gift that had cost him a lot of money, but he had managed to weave that story around the gift and made it one of her favorite possessions. Surely, he could do that again.

He was, of course, the fairy prince named Corn.

Yashiro smiled, "Well, I hope for your sake that everything goes okay," he said as Ren nodded.

"So do I."

…..

…..

Kyoko always felt a little nervous because of interviews, but she didn't know why they wanted to do a profile of her now. Ren had told her on the phone that this particular talk show liked interviewing stars who had just turned eighteen. This was the age when a lot of students would either have finished school or be finishing school and therefore be free to tackle longer projects, more challenging projects, or just projects that were more high profile.

She had already been in Dark Moon which was still being discussed as one of the best Japanese dramas. Then her Natsu character had drawn a lot of attention and so had one of the roles she had just accepted. She was nervously especially with one of the questions that this very indiscreet woman enjoyed asking.

Did she have a boyfriend?

She was prepared to tell the country that she was the lucky girl who was able to hold Ren Tsuruga's hand in public. Or rather…she had been prepared.

She didn't know whether it was the pressure of being the first person who said it which worried her or if she would disappoint those in Japan. She also kept thinking of when people would bully her in school because she was close to Shou. She had the feeling that a lot of people had grown up and weren't bothered by who was dating who anymore, but what right did she have to think that.

Then there was the issue of Shoutaro who had told her that she shouldn't fall in love with Ren and she had lied and said that she never would. She didn't really understand why she had said that, but this wasn't about why and why not certain events were happening, this was about the fact that even though she had sworn off love, she had succumbed to it.

Would Ren really be upset if she wanted to hide their relationship?

Would she be a burden to him and he would break up with her thinking that she didn't want to be with him?

She had to keep thinking that Ren was an adult, he was mature, he wouldn't have a childish tantrum because she refused to drop his name in the conversation. That seemed the easier thing to do, to try to proceed during the interview without even mentioning his name. She could think about him, but she wouldn't air those thoughts especially through an interview.

If she needed to apologize to him afterwards then she would.

She just wasn't ready to let the world know about something so special to her, something she treasured so much. It just wasn't their business to get involved in.

…..

…..

Kyoko was glad that the question about her personal life hadn't entered the conversation, at least not yet. Maybe they viewed her as a professional already. She had been in dramas since she was sixteen after all and now she only had two more years of being a teenager. She smiled happily as she answered questions about her acting technique, what plans she had for the future, her dream roles.

Then it had happened. Kyoko knew that she wouldn't be lucky enough to escape the one question this host liked to ask every guest.

"So, Kyoko-chan, do you have someone special in your life?"

Kyoko froze. She looked down and then shook her head. Okay, that was a quick decision to make although she wondered what would happen if Ren…no, Kuon later caught this interview. Would he be mad at her for lying? Would he consider it unprofessional how she hadn't told the truth on live TV?

She was nervous about a lecture from Ren Tsuruga. She was even more worried that she had emotionally hurt Kuon Hizuri.

"No, I don't," Kyoko replied though her heart squeezed in her chest a little. "Right now I really am concentrating more on my acting than having a love life. I feel that right now I have to concentrate on my work, to get distracted by a romantic interest might jeopardize my work as an actress."

"Fair enough," the woman smiled. "I think I like that answer, so many young girls of your age are rushing into relationships. It's nice to meet someone with a good and logical head on your shoulders."

Kyoko froze. This felt even worse than if they had continued the questions about her love life. These compliments that she was receiving only made her feel guiltier about not talking about Ren. She was lucky enough to have Ren Tsuruga think she was beautiful and be in love with someone like her. To be told that it was better for her not to be with him really hurt.

She would have to talk to him. Maybe before Valentines Day they could come out and tell everyone. Then again, would Ren say that she had just lied to all of Japan and about Ren Tsuruga no less. She froze and tightened up in her posture.

"So, do you think that you'd ever find someone or are you a career girl?" the host asked.

Kyoko felt her body relax. This was a question that she was more than happy to answer. She could sidestep the fact that she had already had a first date with her boyfriend and she wouldn't have to deny his existence in her life.

"If I met the right person, the right man, I think I could fall in love for the first time. When I was sixteen I swore off love, I think acting has helped me open my heart. Still, if I did have a boyfriend, I would only find someone worthy, someone who I trust with my whole heart and someone I know wouldn't hurt me. I mean, if I had a boyfriend, I would want to show him how much I love him and how much he means to me and I would never want to hurt him," Kyoko said honestly as she snuck a look at the camera hoping that if Ren…Kuon did see this that he would know that she wasn't trying to shove him away and that she cared about him as much as she had told him.

"You are a romantic inside," the host said. "I'm glad to see a more open Kyoko."

….

….

Yashiro watched Ren as he stood looking at the TV screen. Even though he knew that Kyoko was wanting to hide their relationship, she had delivered to him a love message which was cloaked in hypotheticals. He understood why she had denied her relationship with him. She was still fairly new in the acting field whereas he was still at the top. He just wished that he hadn't taken her to such a public place for their first date. From now on he would have to be more careful.

"I don't know how you can smile so much," Yashiro pouted. "I don't think that I would be able to smile like that if someone that I loved flatly denied the fact that you are her boyfriend."

Ren laughed, "I think that Kyoko handled that interview very well, it only reminds me that I have to be more secretive. It's not as if she said that she didn't love me."

Yashiro frowned, "Weren't you listening? She had the chance to say that she was dating you and that the two of you were in a romantic relationship."

Ren raised an eyebrow, "Could you define what kind of romantic relationship you are referring to?" he asked, "Kyoko and I haven't passed that line yet, I don't think we will for some time as well. Kyoko is a shy and pure girl, I am willing to take my time with her and let her control the pace of our relationship. I'm not such an animal that I can't suppress my desires though you have said otherwise."

"I'm not talking about intimacy," Yashiro frowned. "You talk so much like a Westerner, Ren, you need to be careful about that."

Ren laughed. "Well, if you're talking about kissing and holding hands, then we can do that in private. It doesn't matter who knows and who doesn't know as long as I know and she knows, who cares about everyone else?"

"Well, I think it would do well for your image to know that you can open yourself up to women," Yashiro frowned.

"I care much more about Kyoko's image. Now, should we get going, I don't want to be late for the next job," he said as Yashiro sighed but nodded accepting that things might not go as smoothly as he thought. Ren though was so in love with the younger woman that he didn't care if he had to keep this as a secret. Maybe there was more between the two of them than he thought possible.