Chapter the Third: Royal Fool

The pigeon girl and the actor sat staring openmouthed at pages upon pages of blank paper. Kyoko and Ren were sitting on the floor of Ren's living room, enjoying tea and getting ready to peruse the script for the Maleficent skit together. That is, if there had been a script.

Kyoko, ruffling frantically through the papers she had been charged with delivering to Ren, began to panic. "There must been some mistake… this is probably all my fault… must have grabbed the wrong envelope… please don't kill me, Tsuruga-saaaaaaan!" She moaned, rolling on the floor in distress. "Aaaah... a stain on the kohai is a stain on the senpai…."

Ren did all in his power to keep from spitting his tea out in disbelief. Seriously, this girl… "Mogami-san, there's no need to get worked up over things like this. It's just the president. He enjoys messing with people. It's his hobby." He reached out to Kyoko, who cowered in shame, staring at the white oblivion of blank paper covering the high-end coffee table.

"I agree, but… wait, what's this?" She caught sight of a note written in very light pencil on one of the pages. Picking it up, she read it aloud to Ren. "'The skit is to be a silent drama, much in the way of a ballet, with only a few key words spoken here and there. The only way to prepare for your role is to study the source material, which I know that you have not seen. Further instruction will come at the first scheduled rehearsal on the evening April 20th at nine o'clock, which Yashiro has already added to your agenda.'"

Here Ren clucked in annoyance. Of course his manager was in league with the president!

"Is everything all right?" Kyoko asked, fearing his potential anger at her.

"Yes, yes, everything's fine. Do continue."

"There's not much left… let's see… 'Yours truly, His Excellency, President of L.M.E. and Guardian of Love,' and etcetera, 'Lory Takarada xoxo.' Oh, and 'P.S. This had better be good. I'm looking forward to your performance.'"

"The president's explanation had better be good," Ren growled. "Practically forcing me into…"

"Welcome to my life," Kyko said, standing up and gesturing about like a tragic hero, mock expression of self-pity upon her face. "'Tis but the curse of the Love Me section to cater to the whims of the advocate of hearts. When he bids, we acolytes do."

"He's always so nosy, digging into my personal life." Ren sighed, unknowing that halfway across Tokyo His Excellency's nose twitched. "Anyway, Mogami-san, I'm assuming you've been invited to this Half-o-ween party too?"

Kyoko sank to her knees. After witnessing Ren's reaction, she wasn't so keen on attending the party either. "Yeah… and I'm also in the Maleficent skit."

Ren smiled, taking a sip of tea. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as he thought. But then again, there was the president's scheming to consider… "Well, that puts two of us into the same boat, then. I don't think I told you my role. I get to be King Stephen, the dad, I think."

Kyoko frowned in disappointment. "I thought Tsuruga-san would be the prince."

"What, are you Sleeping Beauty?" Ren's breath caught a moment. Was she disappointed that she didn't get to kiss him?

"No, I'm Maleficent. I just think that Tsuruga-san, as one of the most senior members of L.M.E., should be one of the starring roles in the skit. The king is only a minor character. Why do I, with so little experience, get to play the main character? What is the world coming to?"

Well, there was one hope dashed, but not for the first time. Ren lifted Kyoko's chin gently with a sweep of his fingers. "Mogami-san, have a little more faith in yourself and take this 'job' for what it is. The president is recognizing your talents and allowing you an opportunity to shine. Seize it, and it can be valuable experience. And honestly, it can be boring to be a protagonist all the time. Bit characters can sometimes be even more interesting than the lead, like Mio or Natsu."

"But…" Kyoko went red at Ren's indirect compliment. How was it that this man always said just what she needed to hear?

"And also it's just the president, that royal fool. You have to take all of his ideas with a bucketful of salt."

Halfway across Tokyo, His Excellency erupted into a magnificent sneeze, causing him to inadvertently hit the worst possible option in his otome game.

The next day, Kyoko was at L.M.E. chilling in the Love Me Section's headquarters waiting for a meeting with a supervisor when the door banged open. In stormed Kanae Kotonami, her long ebony locks streaming behind her, still managing to look as gorgeous as ever despite the menacing look on her face. Kyoko, startled, threw down her book of fairytales. "M-moko?"

"Mo! Kyoko! Did you get invited to this stupid party thing too?" Kanae shoved a bright pink flyer proclaiming fun and festivities into Kyoko's hands. "Or should I say court-marshalled? And look at that text there! 'Entertainment to be provided by Love Me Section and other talents!'"

"Y-yes, Moko, and I'm…" Kyoko began excitedly before being cut off by her best friend.

"The nerve. To think they can go sign me up without my permission…" Kanae snatched the flyer back, stomping about the room.

Kyoko tried not to laugh, remembering Ren's similar lines the night before. "I know, Moko, I know. I have to act in a skit."

Kanae stopped mid-stomp, her booted foot hovering just above the seat of a chair. "Are you in that Maleficent thing too?"

"Yes. Only thing is, I haven't actually seen the movie."

"I rented it from Crown Video. You, me, Chiori-chan. My place, tomorrow at seven. We're going to watch it."

Kyoko flushed in excitement. "I've heard that there's a lot of fairies in it," she gushed, on the verge of entering Fairyland. "And that Aurora is really pretty. She's a perfect princess…"

"Oh, will you shut up?"

What secrets will our heroines uncover? What will they find in the mysterious disk? Will the demon lord surface? To be continued…

A/N: Thank you for the reviews, follows, and faves! They really motivate me to get my sorry self in shape and write this story, as well as make me happy. :3 I really appreciate it. I realize that I have failed to update more frequently than once a month, and will still endeavor to do better as we travel into the meat of the story. But no promises- haha. Don't worry, this story WILL be finished. At some point.

I hope you all had a marvelous winter holiday. I am looking forward to another year of Skip Beat!

Cheers!