A/N: Goodness! I got a lot of anonymous reviews. Since I can't respond to you all personally, I will do so at the bottom. If I haven't responded to your review, I'm really sorry. I try to be sure and respond to everyone, and I really appreciate you all!

A/N2: I went back and corrected a few things. Please let me know if I missed everything. (Thank you Happymeday for telling me about the issues.)

Prisoner

Shoko stared at her charge for a few moments from the doorway, and then walked over. "What are you looking at?" She wondered, hoping that he had at least finished the majority of his recording for the day. She peered over his shoulder and looked at the folder he was staring at. The papers were the information on the two girls they were trying to hire for the PV. Shoko had sent the request to LME for two young, female actresses for their next commercial, and the President had apparently recommended these two. "Are they okay?" She asked, touching his shoulder.

He placed both pieces of paper next to each other and stared at them for a few minutes. "I like the dark haired girl better." He told her simply, but he kept looking back at the short-haired girl, a strange look in his eyes.

"Sorry. She turned us down. Apparently she has another job she's focusing on at the time. The other girl hasn't got back to us yet."

"Hmph. She rejected my PV?" He rolled his eyes and stuffed the paper with Kotonami Kanae's name on it back into the folder, and then focused on the picture of the orange haired girl. "Kyoko…no last name?" He asked suspiciously.

"Hm? No. She's new to LME, like Kotonami, but hasn't received any offers yet. She just joined the training school and has been taking basic lessons, according to her paper." He nodded, still staring at her face. "I don't know her last name...or even if 'Kyoko' is her real name."

'The hair is shorter…and she would have had to dye it…but is it really Kyoko?'

"What are we going to do about the other actress?" Skoko wondered.

"Hm? Oh, just get the doggy." Shoko sighed.

"Right. The doggy." She rolled her eyes and pulled out her phone. He stared at the girl's picture.

'I wouldn't recognize her if I saw her on the street…and she wouldn't willingly come here…right? Or maybe she's trying to get close to me again.' He smirked. 'Of course. I knew she'd come crawling back.' The thought brought him a little relief. 'Well, I might let her come back to me and be my maid again…if she begs.'


Kyoko stared at the piece of paper, obviously irritated. Kanae peeked over her shoulder with a frown. "Sho Fuwa's promotional video?" She asked, cocking her head. Kyoko nodded irritably. "I got one too. Are you going to do it? I'm not." Kyoko shrugged, not responding. She was fuming and Kanae rolled her eyes. After a few weeks of friendship with this girl, she knew how to get her out of it. "Want to get some ice cream and talk about it?" Kyoko lit up, but then drooped again.

"I'm sorry, Moko-san! Tsuruga-san's giving me a ride home, and I have to work at the restaurant tonight." Kanae nodded and grabbed her bag.

"Alright. I have another stupid assignment. Something about paperwork. See you tomorrow." She waved and escaped before her subdued best friend could snap out of it long enough to attack her with a hug. Kyoko began rereading the paper for the fourth time, trying to think of a suitable reason not to do it.

The soft knock on the door went unnoticed, so she was startled when a large shadow engulfed her. "Hello Mogami-san." She looked up and smiled a little, folding the piece of paper and trying to keep it out of sight. His eyes followed the piece of paper, and he lifted an eyebrow.

"Hello Tsuruga-san." She turned slightly so that she could see him, bowing her head in greeting, and he sat beside her on the bench.

"What's that?" He wondered, nodding toward the paper.

"Um…just a job offer." She mumbled irritably, folding it again and putting it away.

"Oh. Congratulations. What sort of job?" He asked with an easy smile. She sighed.

"A promotional video." She grumbled.

He snorted. "You don't seem very happy about it." He laughed slightly, cocking his head and giving her a questioning smile.

"Well…I don't really care for the singer." She told him.

"Mogami-san." His voice was scolding, and her eyes widened as she looked up at him, although they were both sitting. "I thought you wanted to be a professional actress."

"Um…I do." She told him quietly, cocking her head, her eyes earnest.

"A professional doesn't reject a job just because they dislike the people they are working with." He softened his voice a little when her head drooped and ruffled her hair gently. "Hey. This could be a great opportunity to get your name out there. How did you get the offer?"

"Um the agency was looking for two girls to appear in a promotional video and the President recommended Moko-san…I mean Kotonami-san and me." He smiled a little at the nickname, but didn't comment, storing that information away for later use. "She said that she's not going to do it."

"Hm. But she already has a part in a drama, right?" Kyoko nodded. "Okay, so if you say no, you may not get any offers for a while." She sighed. "Do you want to be a famous actress?"

She thought for a second. 'I want revenge on Sho! And I can show him what a great actress I am…and I'll use him as a stepping-stone toward my goal…this man. I want to be an actress who can act with Tsuruga-san.' Her eyes lit up with determination and she grinned up at him. "Yes! I'll do it." She stood and bowed. "Thank you Tsuruga-san."

He chuckled a little. "Of course, Mogami-san." He told her kindly, standing as well. "Well, it's getting late. We'd better go before it gets dark."

"Okay. I'm ready…but you really don't have to give me a ride."

"Mogami-san, you can't walk around in the dark by yourself."

"But I'm troubling you!"

"No. It would trouble me if I knew you were walking around alone at night."

"It's not that late!"

"No, but by the time we get done arguing it will be." He deadpanned. She placed her hand over her mouth to suppress the surprised giggle and gave up the argument.

"Okay. I'm ready. Thank you, Tsuruga-san." He chuckled and nodded.

"Of course. Let's go."

Once they were in the car, she brought up his jobs and got him talking about his day. It wasn't until he was nearly to her home that he remembered their earlier discussion. "Oh. Mogami-san, who is the singer you will be working with?" He wondered.

"Um…" She mumbled something and he looked over at her.

"Sorry. I didn't hear you."

She took a deep breath and looked up at him, resigned. "Fuwa Sho."


Ren kept his hands clenched in his lap, determined not to let them raid his liquor cabinet. He had work early the next morning, and explaining a hangover to Kyoko, and then his manager, was not something he wanted to try. 'Fuwa Sho. Why? Of all the singers in Japan, it had to be that jerk.' He thought angrily. He remembered how heartbroken the girl had been when she told him about how the Fuwa kid had treated her after she had found him. 'If he hurts her again…' He gritted his teeth. 'I will hunt him down.'


Kyoko stared at herself in the mirror, determination setting her eyes on fire. She missed the Okami-san and Taisho peeking into her room in confusion as she talked to herself. Her bright pink Love Me jumpsuit glared back at her, and she tried not to focus on the horrendous color. "Okay. If I'm going to make an impression, I should wear this. I have to be just as manipulative as…that guy if I am going to be able to achieve my goal. Even if he laughs, I don't care! Can he still say that I'm a plain, ordinary girl?" The Okami-san and Taisho glanced at each other nervously, and then backed away, leaving their strange young tenant alone.


Ren glanced at his passenger nervously. The air around her seemed to be charged and he kept seeing small blue objects floating around from the corner of his eyes. He had asked night before if he could give her a ride. She needed to be at work at 10, and he wasn't due to pick up Yashiro-san until 10:30, so he assured her that it wouldn't interfere with his schedule. Though he had been mildly surprised to find her wearing her bright pink uniform, he had only greeted her warmly and left her to brood. Finally, he has asked if she was okay. She gave him a somewhat evil smile. "Of course. I'm fine." Unable to refute her, he only nodded.

"Alright. We're here." She thanked him and started to get out of the car, but he caught her hand. She looked back with her normal curious expression and he smiled kindly.

"Mogami-san, good luck." He squeezed her hand a little, relishing the tiny blush that tinted her cheeks. "Let me know how it goes. Call me when your done and I'll pick you up, okay?"

Kyoko had been readying herself to meet Sho and for the work she would have to do with him. But suddenly her grudges, which she had planned to use as a shield to hide behind (and weapons when necessary), screamed out in pain at the brilliance of the gentle smile the man next to her was giving her. Her face caught fire, and she was only able to nod and mumble something that sounded sort of like 'ok' before pulling away and fleeing to the relative safety of the building. Ren chuckled and drove away to pick up Yashiro-san, trying to school his expression so as not to invite unnecessary teasing.

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the receptionist and tried to shove Tsuruga Ren from her mind once again. "Hello. I'm the actress here to film the PV with Fuwa Sho. My name is Kyoko." She greeted the woman politely, who then greeted her in return and directed her to the waiting room. She took a seat in one of the chairs around the table in the empty room. She alternated drumming her fingers on the table, rereading her offer, and thinking about Tsuruga-san (which was actually what she did for the majority of the time.) She sighed. 'Why do I keep thinking about him like this? I know he…kissed me. But he had just hit his head and was probably delusional. I shouldn't keep thinking about that. He's my sempai…maybe…maybe a friend. Possibly. He…is really nice to me. Maybe I should ask him about it. It was very kind of him to give me a ride this morning, and to offer another one later.' Unbeknownst to her, the door opened and a man stepped into the room.


Sho froze in his tracks. When he had been sent to find the girl for the PV, he had expected to find his childhood friend, repentant and pleading. Instead, the composed young woman at the table had a dreamy, sweet smile on her face and was staring at her clasped hands. 'Is…is this…Kyoko?' He cleared his throat and took a hesitant step toward the girl. "Kyoko?" He asked slowly.

'OH CRAP! I never thought about how I should act! Okay, I need to make sure he doesn't recognize me. So…he'll probably be expecting me to be angry. So…ugh…do I really have to do this?'

Steeling herself, she forced herself to squeal. "Fuwa-san!" She cried, jumping up and down. "Oh! It's so nice to meet you!" She cried, running to him and attaching herself to his arm. Jumping away, she offered her hand. "It is nice to meet you! I can't wait to work with you. I'm a total newbie, so please be patient with me." He stared at her offered hand in surprise. "What's wrong, Fuwa-san? Do you not like to shake hands? Are you a clean freak or something?" She cocked her head and he shook his head.

"Erm…no. Not a clean freak…" He mumbled, staring at her strangely.

"Then shake my hand, Fuwa-san." She forced herself to giggle instead of gag as he shook her hand a bit limply. "It's nice to meet you."

"Eh…nice to meet you." He mumbled, then tried to remember why he was there. "Um, they brought you to the wrong room. We've been waiting for thirty minutes."

"Oh!" She seemed distraught for a second, then switched back to bubbly. "Well, I got here early, so it isn't my fault." She chirped. He looked over at her dubiously, then shrugged.

'Must not be her.'


The producer met them in the hall and a shorter girl with long black hair came tagging along. The producer introduced herself as Asami Haruki, and then the shorter girl as Mimori, who immediately threw her arms around Sho. "Hey Pochi." Sho casually greeted the girl gripping his waist. Kyoko cocked an eyebrow at the dog name, but didn't ask.

Mimori looked at Kyoko for a second, then greeted her coldly. "Nice to meet you." She said, hugging Sho tighter. Kyoko fought not to role her eyes and smiled a little.

"Nice to meet you Mimori-san."
"I'm playing the angel who is in love with Sho!" Mimori cried and Kyoko cocked her head.

"…huh?"

"I will not give you that chance!" She cried, while Sho observed them with cool detachment. Asami-san laughed softly at Kyoko's confusion.

"She's referring to the PV." The three teens followed Asami-san into the other conference room and she began to tell the story as the crew readied their lunch. "It is set up like a fantasy story. There is a cold-hearted demon, and two angels who are best friends. One day, one of the angles and the devil meet, and it is love at first sight. Even thought the differences in their standings is great, they can't fight their feelings for each other. Such a beautiful love story." She looked into the distance dreamily as Kyoko fought nausea at the thought of falling in love with Sho again. "However, the other angel finds out about their love and, fearing that her friend is in danger, and she kills the demon." Kyoko's hand shot up and she nearly shook with excitement. "Yes, Kyoko?"

"I want to play that role!" She cried. Everyone stared at her in confusion, and Asami-san smiled hesitantly.

"Um…which role, Kyoko?"

"The angel that kills the demon!"

"Um…are you sure, Kyoko?" The woman laughed nervously. "That…will be the antagonist role…"

"I'm sure. Please ensure that I can play this role! I've always wanted to kill a demon!" She didn't see the dumbstruck looks on Mimori and Sho's face, and stared determinedly at Asami-san.

"Um…alright." She said nervously.


"Yea, she's from LME." Kyoko heart her old friend's voice and froze in the hallway.

"Exactly! LME! I heard that they only looked at Ren Tsuruga's face and hired him on the spot!" Kyoko's eyes narrowed in annoyance, but she stayed silent. "You are so much better than him Sho! I don't understand how girl's get fooled by his pretty face!" Fury filled Kyoko's mind. 'How dare they talk about him like that! He's such a better actor than any of us!' Kyoko stopped listening and walked into the room, still angry but trying to hide it so they wouldn't know that she had been listening. Mimori, seeing the girl Sho kept glancing at curiously, approaching, threw her arms around Sho.

"Aww. How romantic. We'll be done with the filming in one day." She chirped, smiling down at them and ignoring Sho's suspicious expression. "You make a very good couple."


Ren shook the interviewer's hand and thanked the man for allowing him to be on the show. Yashiro stood on the sidelines, grinning at him, and holding out a bottle of water. He accepted it with a wary 'thanks' and took a drink. "So, did you give Kyoko-chan a ride today?"

He stared at his manager sideways for a minute. "Yes." He said slowly. "Why?"

"Hm. Just wondering. So have you told her that you love her yet?"

"What?" He stared at his manager and gave an incredulous laugh. "What are you talk…"

"Oh save it Ren." Yashiro smirked. "Anyone who sees you with the girl can tell that you love her."

'Yea…except the girl herself.' Ren shook his head with a chuckle. "She's a nice girl, and we are friends. That's all, Yashiro."

"Uh huh. Sure." Ren rolled his eyes, but had to fight the urge to call her.

'I wonder how she's doing now?'


Kyoko stared down at her bento, deep in thought. She knew that Sho's career, while moderately successful, was not much to brag about, and that this song, Prisoner, and the promotional video, were an attempt to boost his popularity. 'But will I be able to act with him? I don't have any experience, other than a few classes in the acting school. What if he guesses who I am? What will he think about me being in the lowly Love Me Department and being a newbie actress?'

"Sho! I woke up really early to make this for you." Mimori's hurt voice broke through her thoughts.

"Sho!" His manager spoke up. "She worked really hard on that. You should eat it." The older woman scolded gently.

"I know." He mumbled, taking it and pulling the cover off. He picked up the chopsticks and took a bite of an eggroll, then, unbeknownst to anyone but Kyoko, blanched. Kyoko stared at his face for a moment, then realized that the eggroll must be sweet. He glanced back and forth, and turned to the garbage can. Kyoko's eyes widened and she glared at him.

'She worked so hard to make that for you!' She thought angrily, grabbing a packet of salt, and flicking it across the table. He jumped and looked up at her in surprise, the egg roll still on his chopsticks. The others chattered around them, but Kyoko turned back to her lunch, knowing that look on his face. 'He knows who I am. I shouldn't have done that…but I got so mad when he was going to throw her food away.'

Sho stood still as they worked on his costume. "Well, their names are similar, but they aren't the same Kyoko, are they?" Shoko wondered. He didn't respond, thinking about the look on her face from before. He hadn't seen her in a while…not since Kyoto. 'Even though she looks so different…she's the only one who would know that I hate sweet egg rolls.' "Sho, are you listening?" He sighed.

"Yea, I'm listening." He watched as the make up artists walked over to the girls' dressing room and began getting them ready. He stalked in after them, enjoying the squeals of the women as they began complimenting him. Looking over at Kyoko, he contemplated her angry glare. He walked over and leaned against her, smirking at her uncomfortable frown. "Just then, you were captivated, weren't you?" He purred. She just looked incredulous.

"I was not!" She screeched. "I was just taken aback by how ridiculous you look!"

"Heh. Liar. You obviously like me." He gave her his winning smirk that typically made the women around him swoon. Instead, she looked horrified, irking him a bit.

"What! What are you talking about?" She backed up against the counter as he leaned forward, invading her personal space.

"I'm talking about how I'm a prince from a fairy tale." He whispered.

"Uh…Fuwa-san? Are you feeling okay?" She asked nervously.

"Hehe. Fuwa-san?" He placed his hands on either side of her on the counter and brought his face close to her. "Just call me Sho, like you use to." She flinched.

"Fuwa-san?"

"NO! STOP IT!" Kyoko sighed in relief when Sho was dragged away by Mimori. "Stop seducing that girl! You're ignoring me for her!" Kyoko rolled her eyes as Sho tried to argue with her.


Kyoko was alone when he approached her again. She had gone into the hallway to let Mimori change, and hadn't bothered trying to get away when the demon appeared. "Kyoko." She sighed.

"Hello Sho." She gave up, knowing that he would only continue to try and get her to slip up. "Are you going to fire me?"

He smirked. "Fire you? Why would I do that? I knew you'd come crawling back to me." Her eyes widened and she turned to face him.

"What!" She cried.

"You heard me." He leaned closer to her, his red eyes meeting her golden ones. "And I'll be willing to forgive you, as long…" He stopped when her shoulders began shaking. 'Oh no. She's going to cry.' He thought irritably.

"Haha!" She snorted and held her sides, and his mouth dropped open. "You...you thought…that I would….come back to you!" She screeched, and he turned red in embarrassment.

"Eh! Well…then what are you doing here!"

For a second, she was going to tell him that she wanted revenge, that she would use him like he had wanted to use her, and hurt him like he had hurt her. Then an image of Ren came into her mind. 'No…that's not why I'm acting.' She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, looking at him seriously. "Sho, I'm here because I'm an actress, and I was asked to act in your PV." She told him quietly.

"What? Yea right. I'll bet you're just here to sabotage everything…or to get revenge on me!"

She rolled her eyes and passed him, heading for the dressing room to get into her costume. 'If it hadn't been for Tsuruga-san…would I still be acting just for revenge?' She shuddered at the thought, reminding herself of her goal. 'At first, yes, that was my reason...but I want to find myself, and become an actress who can call herself Tsuruga Ren's equal.' She greeted the make up artists and sat in the chair. 'I can do this.' She told herself firmly. 'I will be a great actress, and it will begin with this PV.'

A/N: So, what do you guys think? Here are the responses to the anonymous reviews I got. ALSO: I am looking for a new forum (Since Franky house seems to be gone) where they discuss Skip Beat. Any ideas? Thank you everyone.

Bo: Aww. Thank you! I try to update at least every other day, but it doesn't always happen.

Anonn: Thank you. That is my favorite part of writing this story, bringing the real events up and putting a twist on them.

yukiXsnow: I'm very glad that you read all the chapters at once I'm glad you find it that interesting. Hehe. I know what you mean. Hope you were able to get some rest.

Geeky-chan: Yea, I looked back and realized that I started using italics in my first story, but it made all the words run together, and I got sick of dealing with it. I had just forgotten. As for the length, you might want to be scared. Lol. The Halloween Party was supposed to be 3 chapters at most. Of Age was supposed to be around 10, and I couldn't imagine it going over 20…so I must honestly say that I have NO IDEA when this will end or how long it will be. Hehe. Sorry. Hm. You don't like CainXSetsu. I love that arc, though it seems so long. But I don't know if it will be included or not.

Paltreehead: Hehe. I like your name. It is very cold here and I am dying to go somewhere with palm trees. Lol. Like I said above, I did start to use italics at first, but it messed with my formatting. I'm glad you enjoy the story. I also like the idea that Ren did not start out as a jerk. I think his behavior in the beginning is a big factor in how she seems to be afraid of him sometimes. He even emphasized at one point that he was her sempai, and now I bet he regrets it. Lol.