Authors Chat: College is finally done! DONE done! I graduated! I'm still doing some things for work that are time consuming; I'm actually out of town at the moment. I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I know many of you have been patiently waiting (some of you not so patient! Lol), so here's a tidbit to tide you over. I'll still be away from home for another two weeks, so don't expect to see anything more until then.

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.

Playing With Fire

Act 56

The remainder of the day was rough, but NG after NG, and finally on the last call, Kyoko was able to put her 'homework' out of her mind to focus on her character.

It was not until later – much later – in the evening after arriving back at the Daruma Ya, when Kyoko finally started to think more about the task assigned to her. She had showered, thinking to prepare herself for whatever may lie ahead, got dressed for bed, then began pacing in her room as she attempted to come up with a plan. Her mind was reeling, and she began to panic as she realized she knew nothing about how to please one's self.

She had learned the basic functionality of male and female sexual anatomy in school, but the Kyoto Junior High school system did not promote promiscuity, and so did not teach much past the scientific way babies were made, and rather, how to prevent them from being made. Needless to say, pleasure is only necessary for the man in order to procreate, thus where Kyoko's dilemma stemmed.

She could remember many cold days when a light jacket had not been enough. Her nipples became cold and overly sensitive, sending tingles through her chest when her undershirt would brush across them.

Well, Kaminari-chan said women are pleased from the outside… so I suppose that's a place to start. Wait, I can't believe I'm even doing this… I should just tell her tomorrow that I did and she would never know what happened. But… what if she asks me questions? Waaa! I wouldn't be able to answer convincingly. She stopped pacing for a moment, stared at the ceiling for a moment then let out a long sigh she had been holding. Is there no way around this? How does this help me with my acting anyway? Just because I was curious about her friends, she has to go and tell me to do something so embarrassing! I am a pure and good Japanese maiden! I can't do something like that… can I? It's not like I have any roles currently where I have to have been in such a situation, though, maybe if I did, I'd be able to finally get out of the LoveMe section and be considered a REAL actress… UGH. How do I do this! Moko-san would know. What am I thinking! Kotonami-san is a pure and good Japanese maiden too! She wouldn't know! But maybe… she has so many siblings, maybe she does know?

Determined, Kyoko picked up her phone and almost dialed Kanae. She entered in the digits, and almost hit the connect button. She almost waited until after the first ring to hang up, then she almost hung-up on Kanae as she answered "Moshi-moshi." A silent pause. "Mogami-chan? Are you there?"

"M-Moko-san! I didn't mean to call! It was an accident! I never meant to hit connect! I know I can't bother you every time I have a problem! I shouldn't have called."

"Well you've already called, so now out with it. Might as well tell me your problem."

"Ano… "

"Well? Mogami-chan, if you don't spit it out right now, I'm going back to bed and won't call you back."

"Oh no! I woke you up! I knew I shouldn't have called!"

"KYOKO-CHAN! Stop it and just tell me what's wrong! I wasn't asleep yet anyway."

"Ano… it's a homework assignment for work."

"Ugh. A LoveMe assignment? What's Takarada-san making you do this time?"

"Not Takarada-san, Tsutsui-san. She's… making me … do bad things Moko-san!"

"Oie, Mogami-chan, if you're worried, you can always call the police and not do what she wants you to do. Why is she wanting you to do this bad thing? Is it for a role?"

"Um. Not exactly."

"Not exactly? It either is or it isn't Mogami-chan."

"Well then… no. It isn't for a specific role… but it's something to help me get out of the LoveMe section!"

"Something to – Mogami-chan, what exactly is she making you do?"

"She wants me to…" her words could only be heard as a mumble.

"Say that again?"

"She wants me to to…" again, the words were so jumbled.

Kanae signed harshly. "Mogami-chan, if you want my help, you have to tell me. Even better yet, if it'll get us out of the Love Me section, maybe I'll even help you!"

"N-NO! You can't do that!"

Kanae was a bit hurt by the harshness of her words, but mostly, she was surprised and thinking her friend would be hauled away to jail.

"Fine. If you don't want my help, I'm going to hang up. Good Nig-"

"NO! DON'T HANG UP!"

"Ow, no need to yell in my ear. Just tell me what you have to do. So I can hear it this time too, or I really am hanging up."

Kyoko took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Okay. I'll say it. She wants me to… touch… myselfuntilIorgasm." The last few words were said quickly and quietly, but Kanae could hear them perfectly, and sat on her bed in stunned silence.

"M-moko-san? Are you still there?"

"Um, yeah. I'm here. Just… surprised. And uh, how exactly will that help you out of the Love Me section?"

"Well, if I'm able to portray love and passion better in my future roles, it'll help with that."

"Okay. So. Step back a minute. Why did Tsutsui-san give you this assignment in the first place? Did you get a new role?"

"No, I kind of… asked. We were out and met two of her friends who were 'together' and I had to ask about why they were together. Oh, I'm regretting it now Moko-san! But what do I do!"

"Okay. Be quiet for a moment. Just let me think. I can't deny that Tsutsui-san might be right, that it would help you portray your roles better, but to tell you to do… THAT… and as a homework assignment? I mean, what? Is she going to somehow tell if you've done your homework or something?"

"I don't know. She could ask me questions I would only be able to answer if I had."

Kanae signed heavily into the phone. "Okay. First of all, I think you should do it. You shouldn't really have to ask me this sort of question either."

"But I had no one else to ask." Kyoko sounded on the verge of tears.

"No, I suppose not. Okay, first of all, stop thinking of it as something bad. You won't go to jail for that. Oh, and you won't grow hair on your palms, will not make you go blind, nor give you cancer."

"You can get cancer from it!"

"No! I said it will NOT give you cancer. Listen better Mogami-chan. This isn't an easy subject to talk about. Now. There are good things with it too. It helps to relieve stress, can relieve headaches, and helps boost your self-esteem, among other things. So it's not a bad thing, just not something people talk about."

Kanae could almost hear Kyoko nodding.

"So just go ahead and do it, and stop worrying!"

"But that's the problem Moko-san, I don't know how!"

"You-what? You d-don't know h… Oie, Mogami-chan, this isn't something you can just teach someone over the phone."

"Then, can you come over and teach me?"

"No! That's not something you do with just anyone!"

"But you aren't anyone Moko-san, you're my best friend."

Kanae loved hearing that, but was resolved. "It isn't something you do with even your best friend. That's something that you have to learn about by doing it yourself or looking up on the internet… or with your boyfriend." It angered her to suggest that, but there were just some lines she was NOT willing to cross no matter how desperate her friend was. "So, if there's nothing else, I'm just going to… leave you to it and go to sleep now."

"Ano… does that mean that that you do it too? I mean you don't have a boyfriend…"

"That is not something I'm willing to discuss Mogami-san! Good night!" and with that, she hung up the phone.

Kyoko looked at the now silent phone in her hand, "… but I still don't know how to do it…" I guess I could look it up on the internet, but the Taisho's computer is for their business. I couldn't ask them. Maybe I could go to an internet café…oh, but there are no trains running this late. I could call Tsuruga-san… but … I guess I'll just have to figure it out on my own. Her cheeks burned at even the thought of asking Ren how to do such a thing.

Kyoko finally lie back on her futon, determined to figure this out. With no instruction to guide her, she felt awkward and silly by placed her hands on her breasts over her pajama top and gave them a gentle squeeze. It felt good, but there was no sensation other than a slight relaxing of her pectoral muscles, and a little embarrassment.

Kyoko tried a different tactic and gently slid her hands up over her breasts, grazing her fingertips over her nipples, then circled back in, gently pressing the soft flesh back toward her center and mounded her breasts into the palms of her hands. It felt good.

Sensation coursed through her body, heating things deep within her core. She began to pull her hands over her skin again, focused on the sensation it caused, confused by the desire welling in her body.

It felt somewhat familiar, yet different. She couldn't pinpoint what, but there was something…. Just… different. Not as thrilling.

Her hands continued to caress her soft flesh as her thoughts drifted to her only experience, trying to remember what Natsu had done when she had gotten away from her.

Her thoughts blocked the sensations and heightened them all the same, and when a moan slipped from between Kyoko's parted lips, it startled herself back to realization of what she was doing. Embarrassment washed over her and she threw the covers over her head, pretending to sleep with the fear someone had heard her. Not long after, sleep took her.