AN: I'm trying to create a schedule so I can regularly update my fics. With school and work weighing me down I'm not sure how possible it is for timely updates but I'm going to try. I hope that you enjoy yet another Skip Beat fic, my favorite trope in stories are people turning/or getting cursed into being animals. I hope you enjoy this.

Guided By the Flames

Chapter One – Our Love

I don't know what she is so worried about. Kyoko knew that I wanted to move to America years ago to start my acting career but living in Japan and taking international trips has been better for both of us. In this way we both get to live our dreams. I know that when I tell her that I have international shoots that might be for a few months, she wants to hold onto me and spoil me as much as possible.

That's why I wanted to take a long Japanese drama this time. So what if Taira Murasame is living in America and a C-ranked actor, I've been nominated for some major awards and I live in Japan but just work for a quarter of the year in America. I couldn't be happier. However, right now I'm trying to figure out what I want to talk to Kyoko about.

We're about to celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary and as a gift I bought her a decent sized house in this part of Kyoto, our part of Kyoto. As I hear the leaves crunch under my feet from the fresh rain, as I look up at the trees surrounding me, feel the cool breeze wrap around my body I start to feel whole. This forest – which Kyoko has dubbed 'Corn's forest' – matters a lot to me which is why I purchased the property deed to it.

As I hear my phone ring, I take another deep breath and pull it out knowing that the tone is Kyoko's. She's most likely worried about my eating habits, it feels around the time most people get hungry. I am about to answer it when I feel a sharp pain in my arm. I can usually withstand pain but something about the sharp shock is making this particular pain unbearable.

I grab to my wrist. Did I injure it on set or something? As I'm checking it over I hear a rush of wind before me and see someone materialize themselves from a clump of leaves. I don't understand this. I see the pair of wings on their back. A fairy? All of this time Kyoko was right and fairies do exist? I feel like I'm in some strange dream or on a hallucinogen. Fairies do exist!? My eyes are wide and I feel completely speechless.

"Hi?" I ask not knowing what else to say.

"Why hello there prince Corn," the fairy says mockingly and I rub my back with a nervous laugh. Maybe I should never have said that I was the prince of fairyland but it was an innocent untruth that a ten year old told a small girl in order to help her feel better. I get the idea that they are angry about that lie.

"Sorry about that," I laugh weakly but I meet their glare and manage to use a more serious tone. "I'm sorry," I apologize in a genuine way. "If I had known that the fairy kind was real then I would never have been so presumptuous. I do apologize about that," I tell him and the fairies eyes widen.

"Give me Kyoko," he tells me and I hold back a sound of shock, I try to take a few calming breaths.

"I'm sorry," I apologize not sure what to do next. I've stood up against many men before but nobody like this. "She is the one person that I can never give to anyone. She is the woman who I love. I'm sorry but I can't honor that request."

"You can honor whatever request I make," the fairy tells me and I look at him in complete shock. With just a hand gesture, he throws my body onto a pile of leaves like I'm a discarded toy or rag doll. I try to stand but he twists his hand and it seems to twist my body as well. "You really thought that you could remain a prince."

Pain. I've never felt pain like this before. It's unnatural but then it should feel unnatural. I'm face to face with a guy with wings. I try to struggle through the pain but he twists and contorts my body even more with just the use of magic. This isn't fair. I might be one of the strongest and most athletic men in the world – outside of professional athletes who train solely on their craft for years – but even I'm a pathetically weak mortal compared to those with powers. As much as I try to focus, I can't do anything and then I feel more pain as if my heart has burst open and the wet feeling of blood coats my insides.

"Sleep now," the fairy says as I fight against consciousness, "You'll need all the energy that you can muster when you wake up." I don't know what he means by that but somehow I'm still alive. The agony is brutal but somehow I'm still….I fall into the blackness as my body feels completely frozen. Kyoko. Have to get to Kyoko.

…

…

I really hope that Kuon isn't purposefully running away at dinner time. I've always tried to make his sizes smaller than mine and more manageable. I take a deep breath as I push my fingers through my long chestnut hair. Kuon doesn't really care about how I choose to look, he's supportive no matter what. I'm worrying too much. He's always supported me and maybe he just needed to silence the demons in his own head.

I try to think about happier things as I stir the soup and then hear the door open. I turn and run towards him, wiping my hands on my apron. Kuon – unlike Shotaro – always returns to me. He shows me so much love and understanding and even when I'm acting like a child, he will comfort me and support me unconditionally. I run to him and see a troubled look on his face.

"Corn?" I ask as I tilt my head to the side, "Welcome home," I tell him. Something doesn't seem quite right about him. I don't know what it is but it's as if there's some type of feeling that I don't understand. Something about his posture, some slight deviation on how he usually stands. No. I'm just worried and being paranoid but it most likely means that something is at least troubling him.

He gives me a small smile and turns to look at me in the eyes, he then walks forward silently and pulls me close to his body before giving a relieved sigh. Something must have happened. "I'm home," he tells me and I nod slowly. Well, this is just one of our homes.

"Are you feeling okay?" I laugh weakly. His eyes don't look the same. There's a type of possessiveness in them. Shotaro isn't visiting his parents, is he? They didn't happen to run into one another whilst he was coming back? That's one of the things that Kuon doesn't like when we're so close to Corn's forest, we're practically neighbors with the Fuwas. "Dinner is nearly ready. Did you manage to accomplish what you wanted with your walk."

Kuon laughs weakly before rubbing the back of his neck. "Dinner's nearly ready. I'm sure that your food is amazing."

I pause and turn to him, nodding slowly. Did he hit his head somewhere on his way back? I don't see any injuries. He's 'sure my food is amazing'. He's talking as if he hasn't eaten it before. We might eat out a few times a week but I cook for him often. I stare at him before noticing that he's not wearing his chain. It's a chain that he's worn nearly every day that I've known him. It was the trademark piece of Ren Tsuruga and a gift from Father and yet he's not wearing it right now.

"You didn't strain your neck, did you?" I ask him and he turns to me and blinks. I rub the side of my neck wondering if he took the chain off and didn't realize. It would be a strange occurrence if he did but if he pulled his neck or brushed against something then sometimes he does remove it.

"My neck is fine," he tells me before looking at me confused and I laugh.

"Where is it?" I ask before putting a hand over my throat. He stares at me and then runs a hand across his neck not seeming to realize that his chain is gone. I nod slowly, eyeing him cautiously. Something doesn't seem right about this but no, I'd be losing my mind to say that this isn't Kuon. It's not as if Kuon has a twin that I don't know about. "Never mind," I shake my head. Maybe he's just tired and he doesn't know what I'm referring to.

"So, you said that dinner was nearly ready?" he asks as he seems to be attempting to look into the kitchen. He licks his lips with a hum and something feels out of place. No. He must have just had a hard day and I must just be paranoid. I nod slowly before turning back to the kitchen.

"Go wash up and I'll bring it to the dining room," I tell him and he seems to be looking around for something.

"Wash up in the bathroom?" he asks and I raise an eyebrow. Okay. Maybe he's sick. I've dealt with Kuon when he's had a cold before and sometimes he really loses it. It was raining, maybe his head is a little cloudy.

I laugh, "Yeah. I mean, you usually do, you usually change your clothes too. You tell me that you want to make sur that you're presentable instead of that you've been walking around in the forest." He nods slowly before gesturing to where we have the home offices.

"Yeah, just…just get changed," he tells me and I look at him confused. Why is he wanting to get changed in there? I nod slowly and walk away. I'll question him about how he's feeling later. I'll also read up on any viruses going around. He usually has such a strong immune system but he can get taken down by a cold or the flu maybe once a year for a few days. I go back to preparing the soup.

…

…

I'm finding it hard to breathe. I have something caught over my mouth and nose. It's making it hard for me to open it but…I pause, is it really possible for a person to get anything stuck over their nose and mouth, maybe something sticky but this feels like a circle, some rope maybe, a muzzle? I don't understand but as I open my eyes I realize that the forest seems different, a lot bigger in some ways but then that's most likely because I was pushed into a pile of leaves by a fairy which I never knew existed.

Okay. I just have to keep calm. Calm is something that I'm not feeling right now. Exhausted. Tired. Stunned. Bewildered. Those are all things that I'm feeling. I just need to get home, get into some different clothes, talk things out with Kyoko. I try to take another deep breath in but feel the item still over my mouth. I need to remove it.

I try to reach my hand out but it seems different as if tucked in closer to my body and I look ahead of me, the colors around me seem different, in some parts they appear more muted but others are more vibrant. I then stare straight ahead of me where there is something similar to a crocodile mouth but with a more rounded feel to the end. It's wider as well.

Am I wearing a mask? Did he put a mask on my face. I see that my chain is caught over the end of the mask. So that's what is causing me to feel the breaths caught in my chest. I stretch my hand out to take the item off but my eyes widen as I look at what is in front of me, an emerald claw and scales with flecks of gold on them. What? I move the arm up and down before clenching and unclenching the claws.

A glove maybe? A costume? I look at my other hand and see that the gold of my wedding band is over one of the claws. Would someone go so far with these details? I need to get this costume off. It feels warm but tight in my body. I just need to go home and explain to Kyoko what happened. I just need to get to my feet. I try to push myself up but struggle. My belly feels huge and something has happened to my spine. No. I just need to get to my….I try to push myself up but the gloves have made it almost futile to even try.

I grab to one of my hands and tug but all I feel is a sharp pain as the claws go under the scales. It won't come on. They must be glued to my arms somehow. I just have to get up somehow. I try to push my heels into the ground, if I can get enough momentum, I can spring up from a squat. I feel something attached to my backside and turn around to see a long scaly tail with different colored shards behind me. As the moon bounces off of them, I can see some of the emerald scales looking like a burned sienna.

My eyes widen and I manage to get the chain off of the nose of the mask. I feel myself panicking. Something is wrong. Something doesn't feel right about any of this. I take a deep breath in but it doesn't have the calming effect that I was looking for. I feel something digging into my back and maybe that is what is weighing me down. It's an even distribution of weight but it's digging into my spine.

Okay, if I can't walk then maybe I can crawl. I push my legs into the ground and find them to be set wider apart than usual. This is too strange. This is far too strange and my gut is sinking to my stomach. I manage to crawl forwards to the lake where Kyoko and I often spent time together. I look into it as if I'm meant to. The water is drawing me to it. I feel a heat in my mouth with a slightly burning taste and as I turn to the water, I freeze.

Staring back at me is a gold and emerald dragon the type that you often see in the fairytales that Kyoko loves. I look around before trying to grab onto a zip of the costume or the head, the head is huge so mine must be in here somewhere. I try to wrestle it off but all I feel is constant pain. I lift my hand and the dragon's front leg lifts. I move my head from side to side and the dragon moves their head.

I have to see how this is attached to me. I move my body from side to side as if to see where the zips are, where the buttons are. I move more and more wildly. I have to get this thing off of me. I can't see where It ope- SPLASH.

I open my eyes to find myself under water but the huge costume is still on me. I try to shake it off but all that happens is that my body is shaking. I open my eyes and the water seems different, much clearer than usual even for me. I gasp in shock at how different it is and my eyes widen, if I don't get out of the lake now then I'm going to drown. I have to move with this heavy costume on, I've got no other choice.

As I struggle it suddenly dawns on me that I'm not feeling a loss of oxygen. It feels as if I could stay down here forever. I try to move forwards and my legs seem to feel more natural at swimming across the bottom of the lake. What happened? It suddenly dawns on me. I met a magical fairy and he must have cursed me to take on this appearance. My heart seems to both break and beat faster at the same time.

Kyoko.

Will she see me like this? Will she know it's me? I try to speak and say words but only growls come out. She wouldn't be able to understand me. I'm doomed. She wouldn't know it was me, people don't even believe that dragons exist. I look around and see that there is a large cavern at the other side of the lake as if created just for me. I swim over there. I have to think of a plan. I have to get my old body back.

…

…

Would you mind if I had a second second helping?

Those words prove to me that something is wrong. I am happy that Kuon seemed to enjoy my cooking but he's never come back to it twice. I really wonder whether his stomach is okay. He seems so different tonight. I've decided to take a walk through the forest. I hope he hasn't dropped his chain, it's very important to him. I sigh, I wouldn't be able to spot it anyway at this hour. It's so dark and it's most likely buried in a pile of leaves.

I frown and bow my head as I take in the brisk January weather. Something was very wrong with Kuon tonight, anyone could see that. Kuon doesn't really care too much for eating although he will compliment my food. To eat not only one bowl but three bowls is strange and alien to me but he didn't seem to understand why. More than that, he had his tea with milk and sugar and not just the normal amount, he had extra sugar.

As I come nearer to the lake, I see something glittering on the floor and bend down, getting my pants a little dirty as I pick up the chain. I turn it in my hand, it's a little damaged as if discarded so casually. Strange. Kuon really cares about this particular item. I look up at the sky wondering what happened to him and then hear something swimming in the water.

I grab my phone and use the light option and it terrifies me what I'm seeing. Coming out of the water is something that shouldn't exist, a dragon, the type of dragons that you see in Disney movies like Sleeping Beauty but this one seems considerably smaller.

As the dragon swims to the surface, I see the panic on its expression and it pulls back. The gold colored scales almost look like the same gold as Kuon's hair and the fact that there are emerald details that are the same color as Kuon's eyes makes me panic even more. I scream and the dragon backs away from me. It swims to the bank and I'm shaking. I wrap an arm around myself, please don't charge, please don't charge, I'm too young to die.

The dragon is just studying me. It must be the emerald and golden scales making me think this but the dragon acts surprisingly similar to Kuon. It looks cute and I feel a connection to the creature. It's not charging at me. I try to take a step back and the dragon snorts with disappointment, a little hot air appearing from its nose. The dragon is just watching me and something inside of me is willing me to go near the beast. As I approach slowly, the dragon looks wildly from side to side and backs up, making small whines of fear. It's really cute. Something inside of me keeps thinking that.

My eyes widen as I see something on the dragon's foot. It's almost as if it's burned into the scales but I would know that custom wedding ring anywhere. The dragon makes a strange moaning noise as it seems terrified of me. Knowing that it could lead to the loss of a limb but having the belief that it wouldn't, I pick up the dragons foot and let my finger go onto the gold ring. It's definitely Kuon's and it appears fused to that toe as if burned onto it. The dragon whines again and starts to back away from me.

It starts to rain and a flash of lightning appears in the sky but that scares me even more. As the dragon looks up at me with its head lowered in fear, I see the exact shade of Kuon's emerald eyes flash to a burnt sienna as the dragon stares at me. I freeze. Something inside of me is telling me that this dragon is the real Kuon but that doesn't make any sense.

I put my hand on the dragon's head as my eyes widen, "Kuon?" I whisper as I feel the fear rushing through me. The dragon nods slowly and I can't breathe. I don't understand this. The dragon growls making the sort of whine that a large dog might.

"Waw-ow-ow" the dragon says before his expression turns to one of shock and he pushes his head against the side of my body affectionately before getting into the water and swimming away quickly. What just happened here? Why did he run? I would have told him that I still love him and we'll find a way to break this curse together.

I am about to say that but hear a noise behind me.

"God, Kyoko," Kuon's human body says and I turn to look quickly at the lake before gathering my acting skill. I have to protect Kuon. I have to leave him and come back tomorrow and hope that he's okay. "I was worried about you. It's raining. You're going to slip and hurt yourself, who knows what type of dangers are in here."

"Sorry, I just felt like taking a walk. It was a silly idea," I reply trying to not look at the lake but needing to make sure that the dragon Kuon is okay. I have to draw attention away from the water. I don't know who this imposter is but he's a threat to the one I love, I know that much. I can't let him find out where he is. "Let's go back. I'll make you some more food."

"You'll make me some more food?" the fake Kuon asks and I nod. I don't have anything that I can use for this meal but there are drugs that I can put into the food. I look back at the lake unable to not take even one quick glance. Stay calm my love, stay safe, I'll rescue you.

End of Chapter One

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated