A/N: SO I wanted to go back and talk about the events during the Natsu Arc..if a bit briefly. Thanks for reading :)
Backtracking (to Queen Rosa)
Yashiro glanced at the clock on his cellphone, sighing in relief. "We made it. Just barely though."
Ren smiled, nodding. It had been a long night after the 'Happy Grateful Party' and he had nearly overslept. Luckily he had set more than one alarm. He suppressed a yawn and spoke. "Yea. It's a good thing we stopped to get some fast food rather than eating in somewhere." He looked over at the bag of food Yashiro was carrying.
"Hm. I just hope Kyoko doesn't find out. She'll throw a fit." Ren snorted.
"We'll just say it's better than nothing. That should calm her…" They froze when they saw Kyoko sitting in a chair in the corner, her hands clasped limply in her lap, her eyes dim and sad. Ren's heart leapt in anxiety, and the director walked over with an apologetic smile.
"I'm not sure what's wrong either. She won't talk to me. She couldn't get into character, so I told her to take a break. It almost seems like she's given up." Ren flinched and turned on his heels, heading for the vending machine. Yashiro and Director Ogata watched in confusion as he pressed a button and retrieved a can of flavored tea, then walked over to where she was sitting and knelt in front of her, placing the cold can in her hands. She looked at it for a moment, then looked up into his face in confusion. They had obviously expected him to do something...different.
"How about a drink?" He asked softly, leaning back and resisting the urge to pull her into his arms. 'This is a professional matter and I have to treat it like one. It won't do her any good if I don't take it seriously.' Her eyes widened as she stared into his gentle eyes.
The others watched as she spoke softly, her eyes sad and boring into his as she explained whatever was bothering her. Ren listened in silence, regarding her solemnly and nodding occasionally. Yashiro approached hesitantly in time to hear his soft reply. "So…you were late to a meeting…and made all of your cast mates wait for over an hour?" Taking a deep breath, she nodded. Ren looked down at the floor, steeling himself to speak coolly "What else?" Her eyes widened and she cocked her head.
"Um…that's all…"
"I see." He stood stiffly, nodding. "Okay. You've got five minutes to snap out of it. Alright? You'd better start now." He turned and strode away, ignoring Yashiro's incredulous look, until he felt a hand on his coat. He turned and looked down at her. "Hm?"
"That…that's it?"
"What?"
"I..I thought you'd be angry! You're never late! And I made them wait for over an hour!"
Ren sighed, crossing his arms. "Kyoko." His voice was a bit gentler this time. "You're already upset enough because of what you did. I don't see a reason to make it worse by getting angry about it. However, it does irritate me that you haven't gotten over it, and you're setting a bad example and lowering morale at this job. Honestly, you're being a pain." She flinched, then stared at him wide-eyed. He stepped closer, crouching down again so that his hands were on her shoulders, his face close to hers. "Yesterday, at the party, you told Takarada-san's brother that you wanted to be a famous actress. The showbiz world is harsh. People say that even if a relative dies, you have to act like nothing is wrong. There are going to be times when you have to joke and laugh even when you are upset." He lifted his hand and cupped her cheek, his eyes gentling. "To not let anything affect your work…that makes you first rate." He stood suddenly, looking down at her. "But you tend to become depressed easily, and you drag it out. If you can't act, you should be sent home." Yashiro stared in shock at the firm look in his eyes, then the way he turned and walked away, leaving her staring at the ground, hair covering her eyes.
"R…Ren! That was a little harsh, don't you think! She's already depressed!"
"I know that. But kindness alone isn't going to help her develop her talents. Besides…" He turned a little, glancing over at her with a fond smile. "I would never ask something unreasonable, especially of someone incapable." Yashiro's eyes widened when he saw her look up with a determined smile.
Ren drummed his fingers absentmindedly as he reviewed his scripts. He already knew all of his lines for the next day, but he needed something to occupy his time until Yashiro finished making his phone calls. A hesitant knock on his door caught his attention, and he pushed himself to his feet, placing the script beside him. Walking over to the door, he pulled it open. "Yes?" His eyes widened when he looked down at the top of a head full of orange hair. He smiled and took her wrist, pulling her into the room with him and closing the door. 'First things first.' He tilted her head and leaned down to kiss her tenderly. She stiffened a little in surprise, then met his loving eyes with happy ones of her own, slowly relaxing in his arms as she wound her arms around his neck. Sighing mentally at the height difference, he pulled her back and sat on the couch against the wall, settling her into his lap.
Finally she pulled away, resting her head in his neck. "Thank you." She spoke softly, her lips too near his neck for her words to register immediately. "Thanks to you, I was able to get into character and finish my job."
Ren breathed an internal sigh of relief. 'I'm so glad that worked. I was afraid that would hurt her. But she always wants someone to scold her.' He winced a little at the fact that he was the one she wanted to scold her. He was saved from speaking by another knock on the door.
"Sorry about that. Are you…oh." Kyoko eeped and turned around, causing Ren to catch her and keep her from tumbling from his lap. He chuckled at his manager's red face and carefully helped Kyoko to stand. She blushed brightly, her face matching his, and Ren stood with a smirk.
"What was that, Yashiro-san?"
"Sorry…I didn't mean to interrupt. Go ahead."
"We weren't doing anything!" She cried, halting his retreat and making Ren laugh harder. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Yashiro-san!" She bowed deeply. "Not that there was anything to see…but I'm sure that…" By this point, Yashiro-san was chuckling as well and he held up a hand to halt her apology.
"It's fine, Kyoko-chan. Don't worry about it. Are you ready, Ren?" Ren nodded, placing a hand on Kyoko's back as he walked beside her.
"Are you ready, Kyoko?"
"Huh!" She straightened out in a flash. "Um…yes. Of course!" She ran after them, blushing again when Ren caught her hand and held it. Yashiro chuckled at her obvious discomfort and Ren's smirk.
As they exited the building, Kyoko slipped her hand out of his and turned.
"Um thank you very much for everything today. I'll see you tomorrow. I'm heading this way." Ren frowned after her, as did Yashiro.
"Huh? Why? It's getting late. Let me give you a ride home."
"Oh, I can't bother you anymore, but thank you. Besides, I need to go to the store."
"At this hour?"
"Yes…I was going to go early, but I wasn't able to because of the way things turned out today."
"What did you need to get?" She smiled, a little embarrassed.
"Um…this vase?" Ren tried to keep his voice light and failed.
"Yea! Isn't it beautiful!" Her eyes were shining and he couldn't bear to disappoint her.
"It certainly….matches the rose."
"Exactly!" Yashiro was still speechless, his jaw slack. "Even if it were placed in the Palace of Versailles, it wouldn't look out of place!" She continued to fawn over the vase as Ren smiled fondly, crossing his arms and ignoring the strange looks they received from the other shoppers. "It's fit for the king of the roses!" She turned and stated toward the register to pay when Ren grinned and called out to her.
"Kyoko!" She paused. "That rose isn't king." She stiffened, staring at him sadly.
"It…its not?" She asked softly, tilting her head. He smiled gently.
"Sorry to burst your bubble. But no. It's the queen."
"What were you trying to do?" Ren glanced over at his manager with an amused smirk.
"What do you mean?"
"You know! Telling Kyoko that story about the princess. She looked like this the whole time." He did a scarily realistic impression of Ren's girlfriend, sparkling eyes and all, and Ren chuckled.
"Oh come on. She liked it. She'll have calmed down by now anyway."
Kyoko clutched her foot in agony, her eyes clenched shut as she leaned against the wall, as if holding her food would make the pain in her stubbed toe go away. 'Stupid story…made me excited…why was I skipping up the stairs!' Sighing as the pain subsided, she managed to climb to her feet and limp the rest of the way to her room. 'It's just a legend. There's probably…oh no!" The last part was cried aloud as she ran to the rose lying face down on the floor. "I'm so sorry my Queen!" She screamed, forgetting about the couple trying to sleep a few rooms over. "Let me place you in your proper…" She froze, staring down at the tiny jewel in her hand. 'No way!'
"REN!" Both the aforementioned man and his manager stopped in their tracks, startled. Ren managed to catch the girl that raced toward him and threw her arms around his waist. It was a pleasant change from her normal painfully shy in public demeanor, so he simply wrapped his arms around her and chuckled at the excited way she bounced on the balls of her feet. "IT'S TRUE!" She screamed, still jumping and gesturing wildly. He placed a hand on her shoulder, holding her to the floor for a moment.
"What's true, Kyoko?" He asked, his tone full of amusement.
"Look! Look what I found in the rose!" Yashiro nearly choked on his own spit a the small, obviously expensive jewel Kyoko held in her hands reverently. "The legend! It's true!" Ren chuckled again, nodding.
"Well, I suppose miraculous things really do happen to people who believe in them." She met his fond look with a little embarrassment this time and blushed, looking at the floor. Then, slowly making her way toward him, she hugged him again, reaching up on her tiptoes and kissing his cheek.
"Thank you." She whispered, then, still blushing, darted away.
When he finally came to, he saw Yashiro staring at him in obvious disbelief, shaking his head. "I don't believe you." He said softly. Ren smiled. "She can't seriously believe that!"
"It doesn't matter Yashiro-san. She's happy. That's the important thing."
A/N: Thanks for reading once again. Hopefully the next chapter will be up shortly. We are quite close to the end...relatively anyway. lol.
Also, a question. Has anyone read "I capture the castle" By Dodie Smith. I just have and I LOVED it. I would like to write a Skip Beat story using the premise...if not the entire plot. Anyway, that will wait until after this story is done. Just curious about if anyone would be interested.
