Authors Chat: Next few installments will be partial chapters. Mid-terms are basically over now (I did very well!), but I just need to rest and recharge a bit. Shorter chapters for now, as mentioned previously.

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 50a

Kyoko looked down at her cell phone, upset. She had missed a call, and had a gut feeling it was probably someone important, but the number was blocked and she was sure it wasn't Ren.

Ren was still on stage, down the hall from her dressing room. Kyoko had just finished her scenes for the morning and had many hours to kill before shooting her scenes in the afternoon. Working with people's schedules sometimes gave other people bad timing, and though Director Shingai usually tried to work around her schedule, on days she didn't have other commitments, he worked around others schedules.

Today was one of those. Kyoko intended to spend some of her time shopping for a few new – and cheap – outfits. Something she could wear out on a date, if they could ever get ahold of Ren's schedule. It had been over a week since Operation Secret Date had started, and they still couldn't get his schedule from Yashiro's tight grip.

Ren was dead set on having a date though, and gave her the Puppy Dog eyes when she was brazen enough to say she didn't need a date; spending time with him was enough. For some reason, to have this date was important to Ren.

Kyoko's thoughts were interrupted as a soft knock rapt on her dressing room door.

"Kyoko-chan? Are you dressed? May I come in?"

It was Kami-chan. "Un! I'm dressed! Come in!"

The delicate woman opened the door and stepped inside as she spoke. "So. Director Shingai wants you back at 3:00 this afternoon to work on the scenes with Choko and her father. Do you have anything you wanted to do in the meantime?"

"Actually… I was thinking of going shopping for a little."

Kaminari's lips split into a smile. "Perfect! I was going to ask if you wanted to go shopping with me anyway! I'd like a new dress. My husband has a dinner party coming up for work that he'd like me to attend with him."

Kyoko felt giddy. She was going shopping with a girl-friend! Kaminari basically invited herself, so Kyoko would have to be careful not to talk about the reason for going shopping in the first place, but that didn't seem hard. After all, normal girls go shopping just for the heck of it, right?

"Okay Kami-chan! Just let me finish with my hair, then we can go!"

Kaminari stepped out from the room then, allowing Kyoko to finish getting ready.

Kyoko turned back to the vanity and picked up her hairbrush, the cell phone forgotten. A few quick brushes and a little styling gel spray, and she was ready. She threw her belongings into her bag hastily, then hurried out of the room to find Kaminari.

The actors were standing off stage as the set was being changed. They were between takes, and Kaminari was found standing with Ren and Yashiro.

"… this isn't funny Kami-chi!"

Kaminari was laughing whole heartedly at something Yashiro had done or said, while Ren was trying to hide a smirk.

"I'm sorry Yuki! It's just… It's just… You've had this problem since… since we were in high school! Maybe they really DID put a microchip in your brain when you fell down in middle school. You'd think there would eventually be made some sort of cell phone that CAN'T be defeated by you!"

Yashiro signed. "Ren-san… I'm going to have to go back to LME and sign for yet another new cell phone." Yashiro opened the infamous date-book. "You'll be at this shoot for the next few hours. I'll be able to make it there and back with no problem."

Kyoko stepped up beside Ren and gently tugged at his sleeve.

"Um, Ren-san… I'm sorry to interrupt, but may I have just a moment?"

He smiled at her. "Of course. Excuse me for a moment Yashiro, Tsutsui-san." He turned and followed Kyoko a few feet away and bent down to hear her whispers.

"Ren-san… I couldn't help but notice. Yashiro's planner isn't the same one he's been using."

"Mm, so you're right." He didn't seem to grasp what Kyoko was hinting at.

"So um… He should still have the old one, right?" It still didn't seem to click.

"Can you give me his apartment key? I want to go find the old planner since I have a few hours. Since this new one is so new, he should still have the old one probably at his home."

He looked at her hard for a moment. "Kyoko… I wasn't going to say this before, but I don't think we should break into Yashiro's apartment."

Kyoko had the perfect response to this. She had been anticipating it actually, and had been perfecting her argument. She blinked a few times, then looked up at Ren with a child's expression and tears in her eyes, then softly and simply said "please?" It was her own version of the Puppy-dog eyes, and this was a perfect chance to test its effectiveness.

He seemed to hesitate, then sighed and hung his head. "Meet me in my dressing room in five minutes."

She smiled and then bounded off to chat with some of the other cast members. Had anyone been watching, they would have noticed her look at her watch every few seconds, counting down the time.

Ren walked with Yashiro back to his dressing room, going over his afternoon schedule "just in case" Yashiro could not make it back to the studio by the time Ren was finished for the day. He had just enough time review the schedule, then see to it Yashiro had indeed left the building.

Kyoko peeked around the corner leading down the hallway, monitoring for Yashiro as well. Seeing he was nowhere in sight, she walked down the hall and knocked on Ren's dressing room door, just as he had pulled it closed.

The door popped open, Ren grabbed Kyoko's arm and spun her inside before hastily shutting and locking the door behind them. He pulled her around and up against the wall as he leaned down close to her.

"Ren!" she said in surprise, "w-what-"

"-I said to meet me in my dressing room, but you still have to convince me to give you the key."