A/N: So this chapter is mostly Kuu and Kyoko...and fillerish. Sorry. But I hope you enjoy :)
**Don't own Skip Beat...at all**
Homework
Kuu felt his jaw drop at the sweet, nervous smile on the girl's face as she pressed the hotel phone against her ear. One hand clutched the phone as the other twirled a strand of hair. Taking a few deep breaths, she giggled nervously. "Oh yes, it's Mogami. How are you?" She paused for a moment. "I'm good thank you. No, there isn't a problem. I think I may need to work harder to figure some things out, but I'm sure I can do it. Thank you. Hehe. Goodbye." She took a deep breath as she disconnected, then smiled, holding out the phone. "Thank you." She smiled at him brightly. "My report to the President is complete." He took it and hung it up, glaring down at her.
"Why did you lie? You know that you could have just told him that I was being mean to you and causing you problems."
"Being mean and causing me problems? Hehe. Drunk customers often act that way. But I can't stop doing my job." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she giggled..
He glared. 'Oh…she's good. Well I'm going to have to try harder.' Walking over, he grabbed the tablecloth full of food. Wincing a little inwardly, and hoping that at some point he would be able to apologize to the poor girl, he scooped up all the food and shook it. "You made such a disgusting mess with leftovers in a nice hotel." He held it out, ignoring her fury. "You made the mess, you take it home. Eat it with your lowclass friends. You're in the remake of Tsukigomri right? Go ahead and share it with what's his name…the male lead." 'I can't believe I'm talking about me own son like this. I…' His thoughts were cut off when giant dents appeared around the hotel room. His eyes widened as he took a step back.
"Ren." She spoke quietly, her hair covering her eyes. When she finally looked up, he could see disgust and loathing in her eyes. 'First this jerk insults my cooking skills, and now he is degrading my boy…' She shoved the blush away. 'boyfriend, calling him a low class person! He's the number one actor in Japan!' Clenching her teeth she went on. "Tsuruga Ren. He's the one who will soon surpass you as an actor, so you should probably remember his name."
Kuu's eyes widened and she caught a hint of amusement in them. "Wow. It seems like you are fond of him. Do you perhaps have special feelings for him?" She felt her cheeks redden and she looked away.
"I respect him!" She snapped. "To me, someone who wants to be an actress, he is like a figure in the heavens!" She grabbed the leftovers, thrusting them in his face. "And you talk about him like he's a commoner and tell me to feed him dirty leftovers!" He jerked away as she shoved it at him. "You made the leftovers! Now eat it!" She thrust a bowl of slop at him and his eyes blazed.
'SLOP! She wants me to eat slop!' "How dare you!" He roared. "Who do you think I am! I'm a Hollywood star!"
"So what? You're a guest here!"
"What's with that tone! Treat your elders with respect!" He ordered angrily.
"Shut up!" His eyes widened. "If you deserved respect, I'd give it to you!" His fists clenched as he towered over the furious girl.
"What do you mean! That I'm so despicable that I don't deserve respect?"
"No, I just don't think you deserve any respect."
"You! Don't you have any manners?" And so the screaming continued.
"You idiot. You really got into a fight with Mogami-san?" The President smirked as he handed his old friend a cup of water with digestive tablets.
"I didn't plan on arguing with her." He mumbled irritably. "First I just wanted to make her cry by being mean, and then…" He dropped his head into his hands. "The food was so good." He mumbled. "I couldn't stop eating...that girl is scary."
The president laughed, nodding. "I told you so. If you want her to cry, you'll have to put more effort into it."
Kuu sighed. "I feel sorry for the girl, but…as long as she gets into contact with him…Boss...if I make her cry…will he really come?" The President wanted to laugh but forced himself to look serious.
"Oh yes. He will come, and he will be furious."
Kuu sighed. "I guess I'm just jealous of her because she gets so much attention from him." Lory chocked a laugh at the image that flew into his mind, sure that Ren would be furious, but only rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'll just use this jealousy to be worse to her tomorrow. And if she calls you again to report, just tell her to do her job." Lory lifted an eyebrow.
"What? I didn't get a report. My secretary said she called but I was on the other line." Kuu stood abruptly.
'She…she fooled me with acting! ME! I'm a world class actor!'
"I'm so sorry." Kuu froze as the girl bowed deeply. He had been about to yell at her when she had apologized softly. "You insulted my respected sempai." 'And my boyfriend.' "and I got angry. But that was no excuse for the way I spoke to you." He looked down at her hands and smiled a little. She was red.
'She's a good girl.' He realized. 'NO! I have to be a bad guy!' "Hmph. You Japanese people will bow and apologize for anything. If you have time to stand around you have time to get to work." Her eyes lit up.
"Thank you so much! I'll make you breakfast Hizuri-san!" He watched, eyes wide, as she skipped away.
'Wow. She must be glad I didn't fire her. This is going to get harder and harder. She's obviously a professional that cares about her work.' A soft smile took over her face.
"Fuwa is singlehandedly monopolizing first place!' Kyoko stared at the Television in silence, a strange feeling in her chest. 'I shouldn't care.' She told herself. "I have Ren and my work at LME and I'm happy…but…' A tiny pain stabbed her chest as she turned away from the TV. 'I'm not going to focus on this. I need to be thinking about my roles. I got three offers and all of them are antagonists. Should I follow Moko-san's advice and turn them down? Or should I talk to Ren? I don't want to bother him…' She sighed as the TV show continued to praise Sho. 'He's getting better. His career is advancing and…what about my own? If I continue to only accept antagonist roles, won't I get typecast? What if everyone starts to believe that I can only plan antagonists?' She sighed as she picked up her phone and dialed Sawara-san's number.
Kuu looked around irritably. 'Where is that girl?' He placed the rice back on the table and glanced at the countertops again, just in case he missed something. "All she makes me is rice? Where are the side dishes?" He mumbled under his breath, shoveling another spoonful in his mouth, and then heading for the living room. He stopped when he saw her small form slumped over as she held her cell phone against her ear.
"Yes I understand." She spoke softly.
'What's the matter with her?' Against his will he felt a little fear stir in his stomach. 'Is she okay?'
"I know…but if I don't give them an answer it will be troubling, and I know these offers are hard to come by." He took a half step closer, curiosity winning out over propriety as he shamelessly eavesdropped. "But I'm afraid that if I keep accepting roles that just want me to act like Mio, then I will get typecast and I won't be able to get any other offers. I didn't become an actress to play bully roles." Kuu lifted his eyebrows. "So I'm going to have to turn down all the offers…"
Taking a giant step forward, Kuu carefully grabbed the phone and pulled it out of her unsuspecting grasp. Her eyes widened as she spun around, but he already had the phone against his ear. "Hello? Hizuri here. Please ignore everything she just said. She needs time to cool her head and think about this."
"Um….who is this?"
"Kuu." There was a stunned silence on the other end. "She'll call you back later." He hung up and tossed her the phone easily, spinning around and heading back to the kitchen.
"H…hey! I don't need to cool my head!" She cried angrily.
"You obviously do since you're willing to throw away such a precious opportunity. Are you such a great actress that you think you can pick and choose your roles? People have only seen you in Dark Moon, so Mio is the only thing they are sure you can do."
"But…how can I grow as an actress if all I am asked to play are bully roles!" She cried, following him into the other room, her voice desperate.
He sighed as he sat down. "You act them differently." He said simply.
Her eyes narrowed as she slammed her hands onto the table. "Differently? Having all of your classmates ignore you! Having your belongings thrown away. Having your desk hidden. Having funeral flowers delivered to your desk? I've had all those things happen to me! But I can't use them as references for acting!"
He spit out his mouthful of rice, choking a little. 'This girl! She…she's really had all of this happen to her?' She was looking down at the table and he felt his eyes soften. 'I wonder what kind of past this girl has really had…' He was quiet for a minute.
"No matter what, I can't think of a way to make my acting more powerful." She said softly. He sighed loudly.
"Who asked you to make it more powerful? You thought about how to create Mio right?"
The image of Ren helping her came to mind and she nodded a little sadly.
"Well then, just use your imagination. You'll think of something." She slumped sadly in the corner and he jumped up in surprise. "Hey! Don't get depressed before you've begun!" She didn't move and he placed his chin in his hand. 'What can I do? Her talents are obviously uneven. She needs to learn how to adapt to any role.' "I'm giving you homework, and I want you to show it to me tomorrow." She turned to him with wide eyes and tilted her head.
"Um…homework?"
"Yes. If you want to train your creativity, then you'll do it."
Determination suddenly shined in her eyes. "Who do you want me to act?"
"Someone you don't know. My son." She was sure he was kidding until she saw the challenging smirk in his eyes.
'His…son?'
"What? Just because you are a female actress doesn't mean that you will always get female roles. You have to learn to observe everything around you, and use that in your acting. So, how does a teenage boy act? Walk? Speak? Always pay attention to what's going on around you." She hesitantly lifted a hand.
"Um…sensei?"
'Sensei?' "Yes?"
"Can you tell me something about your son?"
"Were you even listening to me?" He asked irritably.
"Oh yes!" She assured him hastily. "But….any character has something…a trait to base them on."
"Fine. I'll tell you one thing. He's smart." She opened her mouth to thank him. "He's a man of his word. Handsome. Masculine. Cute. He's warm hearted."
"Um…no…I just…"
"He's like me, an incredible athlete, as beautiful as my wife, my living jewel!"
"Um…sensei…" He stood, lifting his hand as a spotlight shined down on him.
"In a word, he is more than beautiful! He is elegant and sparkles like the diamonds! Even while standing silently he radiates an aura of dignity."
"That's more than…"
"My precious wife and son are more beautiful than the gods!" She blinked as he stood on the chair and continued.
'Wow…I've never met one before…a doting parent. I can't believe there are parents that truly love their children this much.' She looked down sadly.
"In short, he is simply fantastic. But…my memory of him stops at 15." He sighed. "I wish I could see him now at 20." Something in the back of Kyoko's brain tugged at her.
'20? A handsome….wonderful man…who's 20… Wait. Kuu…if I look at him in the right light….'
"Corn." Kyoko felt her heart stop.
"Corn." She repeated faintly.
"Huh?" He looked up at her.
"Your son…his name is Corn?"
"Co…no. I'm used to pronouncing it the American way, but in Japanese, it is Kuon." The world tilted around her and she took a deep breath, nodding as he gave her the instructions for her homework.
'Kuon…'
'Hizuri Kuon…'
"Kyoko?" She looked up in surprise when someone touched her shoulder. She was sitting on the sidelines of the Dark Moon set, her script resting on her lap, and Ren was now crouching in front of her, his hand resting on her knee. "Are you feeling okay? You look like something's wrong." She shook her head wearily.
'There has to be a reason he hasn't told me. It isn't really that big of a deal.' "I'm fine. Just a little tired."
"So…you've been waiting on Hizuri Kuu?" She nodded, wondering how he knew already. "What has he been having you do?"
"I just cook his meals." She smiled a little as he pulled up a chair and sat beside her, his hand finding her and squeezing gently.
"It must be difficult. I've heard about his legendary stomach."
'Why are you hiding your past from me?' "It isn't too bad. It is kind of interesting to watch him eat fifty portions of food." She enjoyed the way he blanched. "But I wonder if there will be any leftovers tonight…" She glanced over. "Do you know him?" She wondered quietly. "Hizuri-san…have you met him?"
"Um…no. I mean, I've never really met the man before." She nodded slowly, her eyes sad. "Why? Is he being mean to you?" She shook her head.
"No, not really." She glanced up when a crewmember showed up, calling her to set. Pulling away, she said goodbye softly and went to the set.
Ren drummed his fingers on the chair arm. 'What is he doing to her? Why does she seem sad? Did I do something? Does she suspect…' He shook his head. 'No. There's no way. She couldn't have figured it out…right?'
Later, when they had finished filming for the day, he stood outside of her dressing room, knocking softly. "Hello?"
"It's me. Can I come in?"
"Sure." He opened the door and found her dressed in a casual skirt and top. Smiling he shut the door and walked over, opening his arms and wrapping them around her. To his surprise, she only leaned her forehead against him and stood still.
"Kyoko?" He pulled away and looked down at her. "What's wrong?" He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, stroking her cheek gently. "Did I do something?"
She shook her head and gave him a bright, fake smile. "Of course not. Nothing's wrong. I'm fine. Are you about ready to go? Do you mind giving me a ride? If you're busy, then I can walk." He took her hand and pulled her over to the sofa, sitting with her across his lap.
"Please tell me. What did I do?" He whispered, his nose touching hers. She shook her head.
"You didn't do anything." She scolded herself inwardly. 'He doesn't have any obligation to tell me anything. He can keep any secrets he wants.' To her surprise, his eyes narrowed and he stood abruptly, careful to help her so that she wasn't dumped from his lap, but let go as soon as they were standing.
"Fine. If you are so adamant about keeping your secrets, then I'll just take you home."
She crossed her arms. "You're going to get mad at me for keeping secrets, Corn?" She spoke softly, even in her anger knowing that she had to keep his name secret. He turned, jaw slack.
"He told you?" He whispered.
"He mentioned a name. I figured the rest out on my own." He sighed deeply, looking down at the floor. "I understand that you have secrets Corn. Everyone does. But…to look into my eyes and lie to me? I wouldn't have pressed you about your past. "
"I'm sorry, Kyoko." He reached out and took her hand, his eyes pleading. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you everything…I just…." She shook her head, pulling away with a small smile.
"Corn, you don't have any obligation to tell me all your secrets." He flinched at the closed expression in her eyes as she pulled away. "I have to get up early tomorrow, so I'm going to go ahead and go. I'll see you later, Corn." He couldn't make himself insist on driving her as she walked away, shutting the door behind her. Dropping back onto the sofa, he rested his head in his hands.
"I'm not angry at him." She mumbled it again and again as she made her way home in the dark. "There is nothing to be angry about. He loves me very much and he is always good to me. I am just…sad." She sighed, pulling out her house key and slipping into the front entrance. 'He doesn't trust me with his past.' She closed her eyes and leaned against the door. 'If he doesn't trust me…does that mean he doesn't really love me?'
A/N: Hopefully you didn't all hate it. I really love the Kuu arc after he starts being nicer to her but I'm afraid it is boring to read about...well anyway, the next chapter will hopefully be up this weekend.
