Authors Chat: Two questions from last chapter to answer. 1) About future events (this story wise) to potentially happen, such as will Kyoko discover Ren's true identity and more up's and down's in their potential relationship. Sorry, gonna leave that one open for now. *grin* Can't spoil any surprises down the road!

2) If I was going to include any(more) Shou in this story. Truthfully, I don' t know for certain. I have the next few chapters planned out, but not past that.

I was intending to end this fanfic somewhat soon, but there seems to be desire from the readers for me to still continue it. I'll consider it.

Finally, an award to whomever catches the play on words toward the end of this chapter. What that award is yet, donno, but I'll do something!

That being said, italics text are direct thoughts of characters, text is in quotes, noises are done with asterisks.

DISCLAIMER: Skip Beat! and it's characters are not my original creation, they are owned and created by Nakamura Yoshiki.

Story Timeline: Y'all know the timeline by now. If not, go back and read it in an earlier chapter! (taken out for length).

Playing With Fire

Act 39

Kyoko had never had this problem before. She had always been around Shoutaro, so the love there just grew. She could see, now, the difference. He never truly had taken any initiative or ever even told her he loved her.

Even when they were at the ryokan on summer break. He always wanted to do things with her when they were young because she was the only one around. Then, with his love for husic, his parents tightened the leash on him and he found the most willing audience he could; Kyoko.

But now, she found herself admitting it was 'ok' to like Ren, and suddenly, she didn't know how to act around him. Words failed her, and she found herself retreating to her dressing room to avoid any possibly embarrassing situation.

Kaminari sat back in her chair watching the scene before her. As soon as the director had called 'cut', it had started yet again.

Ren tried to make small talk with Kyoko, but she would blush and excuse herself, running to her dressing room.

Kaminari knew her words from the morning had hit their mark, and while Tsuruga-san looked troubled, Kaminari felt pleased with herself.

Kyoko-chan was finally acting like a girl in love!

Kaminari smiled to herself as she climbed to her feet and headed down the hallway to the dressing room to check on her charge.

"Kyoko-chan," she called from the doorway of the small room, "is everything alright? Are you feeling okay? This is the third time you've run back to the dressing room in the past two hours." She knew why really, but it was fun to tease a little bit.

"N-no Kami-chan, everything is fine. I just… am more relaxed back here. I don't want to be around anyone in case I'm still contagious."

"But everyone out there has already had the flu and gotten over it. The crew is still sparse as it is Kyoko-chan. I don't think you're going to get anyone sick anymore." How cruel! Tsuruga-san, you better appreciate this!

Kyoko looked around the room, trying to find some distraction. It was clear to Kaminari that she was looking for some excuse to give her cause to stay right where she was, but Kaminari reached out her hand and grabbed Kyoko by her wrist, gently tugging the girl toward the door.

"Besides. At this point, it's good to be out there rubbing elbows with your coworkers and the director and producer! This is how you get more work lined up for your future! Play nice!"

Kyoko knew this, but the desire to run and hide overtook her, and she jerked her arm out from Kaminari's grasp, surprising Kaminari to a stop.

She turned and looked at the offender, her shock clear on her face.

Kyoko had a moment to stutter before finally spitting out an apology with a quick bow. She had no excuse, but her emotions and fear got the best of her, and she refused to move.

"I just can't go out there right now Kami-chan!"

"Why not? Is there something wrong?" She goaded Kyoko a bit.

Kyoko opened her mouth once, then twice, and finally managed to squeak an answer. "I… don't… know what to say."

"To who Kyoko-chan? I never noticed you were this shy! You already know everyone out there, right?"

"Yes, but that's not it Kami-chan. I don't know what to say…" she words decreased as she finished her sentence, too quiet to be heard.

Kaminari leaned in, "what was that Kyoko-chan? I couldn't hear."

"I don't know what to say to Tsuruga-san!" her face flushed red at her final admittance.

Kaminari smiled. "Why not? How is anything different today? You seemed to talk with him just fine a few days ago."

"Well, yes, but that was before."

"Before?"

"Be…before I knew… you weren't…"

"Aah, before, when you thought I was interested in him. Kyoko-chan, does that mean that yes, you do like him?"

Her face turned a darker shade of red. "I d-don't know for sure. Yet. Really. B-but… maybe?"

Kaminari grinned down at her as Kyoko looked up sheepishly.

"Is this your first love Kyoko-chan?"

What COULD she say? No? I was in love with that bastard Fuwa Shou? Hardly. That seemed so… trivial now. He had made a big impact on her, and she had thought she was in love, but it felt nothing like this. NOTHING.

"N… well… maybe."

Kaminari laughed. "Does that mean you don't know if you're in love? Or you don't know if it's your FIRST love?"

Kyoko looked sideways at Kaminari, waging a silent battle over what she should or should not tell Kaminari.

"C…. can we talk about it later? I'll need more time to explain."

"Sure Kyoko-chan. Lets do it over dinner. Will that be okay?"

She nodded, then allowed Kaminari to usher her out the door, back down the hall to the set.

Her bravery didn't last though, and she continued her routine of shooting a scene, then rushing off to her dressing room. More than once, Kyoko had to be fetched to begin the next scene, and the director looked tired and a bit irritated at the constant hassle.

Near the end of the day, when Ren could take it no more, he actually had reached out and caught her by the shoulder before she could run off.

"Mogami-san. Did I do something wrong?"

"N-no Tsuruga-san. Of course not!"

He turned her by her shoulder. "Then why are you avoiding me?"

"I'm—"

"And don't tell me you aren't. I know you are. Did I do something to upset you?" He looked genuinely worried, and it pained Kyoko to think she was giving him that impression, but try as she might, she couldn't think of a good excuse, and she got flustered.

"I… just…. can't…. be around you!" She said it haltingly at first, then the words came tumbling out. It shocked him, and as he dropped her shoulder, she turned and fled.

A few of the cast members watched the display, but as Ren turned to look at them, quickly busied themselves in their scripts, talking to each other, or just milling about and forcefully NOT paying attention. It was obvious to some that there was something going on between the two of them.

Let them guess. Ren snarled to himself, before storming off to his own dressing room. What the hell is she thinking!? She comes over, gives me hope, then leaves. Did she stay there and care for me for long? Must not have been… but the food was still warm. I wonder how long she was there… His thoughts trailed for a moment as he entertained the brief daydream of her changing the ice on his forehead like she had when he was sick the first time. His thoughts returned to the present, and Kyoko's avoidance, and he growled. "GRAAAH! What the hell is going on?" He asked no one in particular, then ran his hand through his hair. "I can't take much more of this. Fewww…. Get a trip Ren. Get a grip." He looked up at himself as he paced in front of his mirror.

"What must I DO!?!!"

"For what?"

Ren whipped around to see who had answered his rhetorical question. Of course, it was Yashiro.

"Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Never mind."

"Ren…"

Ren gave him a look that clearly said 'don't ask' and he left it at that. He handed Ren a bottle of cold water and sat, sharing a quiet moment, offering his ear if Ren would but only accept and start talking. He knew he wouldn't though.

He DID look at Yashiro for a hard minute though, and decided to concede one thing.

"I love her so much" he said softly as he tipped the water to his mouth.

"I know Ren. I know" and Yashiro followed suit.

They finished their short break in silence, introspective of what had been going on. Each in their own thoughts, Yashiro, of course thinking the worst possible situation. He was right of course, but Ren would never tell.

Kyoko finished her last scenes for the day while Ren had been out on break. They were her most fluid scenes of the day, and she felt an odd sense of relief as she calmly walked off the set and over to where Kaminari sat, watching and waiting.

"The director has excused me for the day. Can we go now?"

"Sure. Think of where you'd like to eat dinner."

Kyoko made a face as if to say 'dang, you remembered?' and Kaminari laughed.

"You're not getting out of it this time. Go. Get your things. I'll pull the car out front."

Kyoko moved a bit sluggish on her way to get her things. It would be hard to confide everything that had happened to another person, but she would have to start from the beginning. Kanae knows about Shou, and had suspected about Ren, but she'd tease me to no end if I told her, and probably accost Ren if she knew how far things went! Kyoko sighed.

She HAD agreed to tell Kaminari about what happened. How much of it would she have to tell?

Maybe I'm looking at this wrong… maybe it'll feel good to tell someone. Kyoko blushed to herself, then nodded, trying to convince herself it was a good thing.

She slipped her jacket on, then headed back down the hall, through the set, and out the door.

Ren noticed her leaving, but since he was on set, there was nothing he could do about it. He missed the days when she would wait around for him and catch a ride home. He missed having her around at all.

She looked back for just a moment before closing the door behind her, to take a final glance at her Sempai, but he had already returned to the scene.

She hurried down the path from the studio to Kaminari's waiting car and hopped in, throwing her bag in the back seat as was becoming habit.

"So. Where to? What would you like to eat?"

"I thought long and hard about this."

"And?"

"Hamburgers, with egg. Lets go to Pound and a Half."

Kaminari gave her a look, surprised at her decision after thinking so hard about it, but put the car in gear, and headed down the road.

"It took a lot of thought to come up with a burger joint?"

"Well, yeah. It had to be the perfect place! Good food, a decent amount of privacy between the booths, and… well… I love hamburgers with egg! If I'm going to tell you this whole story, then it's got to be comfort food!" She made a fist in the air. It was the first time Kaminari had seen her so full of vigor, and she smiled and nodded.

"Pound and a Half it is then. Though, I never COULD eat a full pound and a half of French Fries…"

"Don't worry about it. I'll help!" She nodded.

It wasn't far from the studio, and did not take long to get seated.

The menus were placed in front of Kaminari and Kyoko, but Kaminari couldn't wait anymore, and set the menu down immediately.

"So. What is it? Do you love Tsuruga-san, or don't you?"

Kyoko blushed at the bluntness of her questions. She really should have been used to it by now, but every time Kaminari opened her mouth to ask something, it shocked Kyoko every time.

"I-i… Um… I really don't know Kami-chan!" she wailed softly.

"I don't get that, how can you not know if you love somebody!"

"That… well, I guess you could say it was my childhood friend's fault?"

"What happened? Spill."

Kyoko sighed and looked up as the waiter returned to take their orders. Kyoko knew what she wanted and rattled it off, Kaminari just finally seemed to remember the menu. She gave it the quickest look over, then just picked something random with an "anything is fine. Really!" to the waiter.

Kyoko frowned and looked down at her feet, then began to speak softly.

"Well… I didn't have many friends growing up. It was because I was friends with this one boy. I stayed at his parent's ryokan every summer while mother was away on business trips." She shrugged. "He was my friend. We grew up, he became my only friend. All the other girls were jealous, and they were mean, and… "her eyes welled up with tears as she looked treasuringly at Kaminari. "and so I never knew what it was like to have any girl friends. Not until Moko-san. Well, and now you." Her eyes sparkled with a hint of excitement.

"I can't imagine ALL the other girls were mean? Just over a boy? What was so special about this boy? Best looking one in the class?"

"Well, you could say that. But it was more. He had the looks, he had the popularity, and he was a musician. He's a GOOD musician actually! The best there is!"

Kaminari took it with a grain of salt. It was obvious this girl treasured her friends and viewed them as if on a pedestal.

"So he was your first love then?"

The glimmer fled Kyoko's eyes, replaced by a dark sadness. "Yes. And no. I THOUGHT he was. But… He… used me, then threw me away like a used tissue."

Kaminari balked at the euphemism.

Kyoko looked up at Kaminari from her feet, the pain was evident in her eyes. Her friend had hurt her greatly, and it showed.

"You know the musician Fuwa Sho?"

"Yeah…"

Kyoko nodded and tilted her head, implying that it was him. Kaminari looked at her incredulously, but when Kyoko kept nodding, it became harder for her to believe it was a joke.

"Are you serious? You grew up with Fuwa Sho?!?"

"Yeah. He was so much fun!" her face brightened momentarily, then dropped again. "But his parents hated the idea that he wanted to become a musician. He was supposed to take over the Ryokan. They were very traditional. They refused to let him pursue music. He decided to run away, and asked me to come with him." She smiled sadly. "I was so happy." The smile fell. "I thought he loved me to. It was good at first. I worked two jobs, then three, just to keep the apartment while he worked to get a recording contract. It was nice to come home to him every day. I thought I was happy."

Kaminari could only listen on in silence. The weight of Kyoko's words sinking in. She truly was heartbroken over what happened.

"Then he stopped coming home as much. He was moody when he was there. I spent a lot of time cheering him up. When I wasn't working that is. I guess that's about when he landed his contract with Akatoki Agency. He stopped coming home except to get fresh laundry and leave the dirty."

Kyoko looked about ready to cry. Her tears vanished the instant her hamburger was set in front of her, and she refused to say more until she happily took her first bite.

"Yum!" she smiled, chewed, then swallowed before continuing.

"I really don't understand it Kami-chan."

"What don't you understand?"

"I don't understand the difference." She frowned. "With Shoutaro... I mean, Shou, it felt different. I was happy being around him. I loved making him laugh, I loved cooking for him, I loved coming home at the end of the day to him there. And feel like I love the same things about Tsuruga-san, though I know I haven't been in the same situations with him... but… it just feels different!"

Kaminari smiled knowingly. "That's a hard thing, love. It's unique for every person. Tell me, what did you want out of your relationship with Fuwa-san?"

Kyoko stared at her hamburger as she thought hard about Kaminari's question.

"I guess, I wanted to stay by his side. To cheer for him and see him do well. I wanted to always be friends."

"There you go."

"What?"

"You just answered the question."

"What question?"

Kaminari giggled. Had Kyoko really been that lost in thought that she forgot her own question?

"You didn't understand what was different. You said it. With Fuwa-san, you 'wanted to always be friends'."

"But I still want to be friends with Tsuruga-san too!"

"Well yes, but it's more isn't it?"

She sat in silence a few minutes, focusing on the food before her.

"I… I guess you're right. He makes me feel different. Like… a hand is in my chest, squeezing my heart until it hurts, and I can hardly breath. But it isn't a bad feeling. And I my skin gets hot everywhere that he touches." And when he kisses me… Kyoko blushed.

Kaminari sat back against the booth. "Yeah. You're in love all right. I think you probably weren't really in love with Fuwa-san to begin with Kyoko. You had a hard childhood it seems. Your mother was gone a lot on business you said?"

"Yeah, but when she was there, she w… she …. " Kyoko scowled.

"She what?"

"Well, she wanted me to get all perfect marks. And she didn't care what I did, as long as I wasn't in her way. She never really loved me. I know it. She never even wanted me there. She left me at the Fuwa's ryokan even when she was home sometimes."

"I'm so sorry Kyoko-chan." Kaminari spoke softly. "It's no wonder you didn't realize the difference. Fuwa-san was your only family. But Kyoko-chan? It gets better from here."

"How can you know that Kami-chan? Nothing ever goes my way."

Kaminari smiled, "It will if you let it, and open your heart to the possibilities. Just try."

Kyoko remained lost in thought for the rest of their meal while Kaminari chatted lightly about her own family. She seemed to be trying to convince Kyoko that not all families were like hers, and that Kyoko's could always turn out different.

"You already know that though, don't you Kyoko-chan?"

"Hmm?"

"You already know that. That a relationship with Tsuruga-san is bound to be different from anything you could ever build with Fuwa-san. I mean, Tsuruga-san is… Well, you tell me."

She smiled. She could play along with this part of the conversation after all.

"Tsuruga-san is smart, and kind, and gentle. He's talented, and good looking, "she blushed, "and though he can be scary sometimes if he gets angry, he cares a lot. His arms are so warm when he hugs you too."

"And he's good in bed?"

"And he's… WHAT!??!" Kyoko stood up hard, smacking her head on the low-hanging light.

"Oh. That's right. I haven't asked you. When you were sick… I sort of figured it out. I asked you if you slept with Tsuruga-san, and you said, ' only a little.' What on earth did THAT mean? Either you did, or you didn't?"

Kyoko was thunderstruck.