Disclaimer: "Skip Beat!" and its characters are the property of Yoshiki Nakamura.
Chapter 2 : Blue Moon
A loud clicking sound resonated through the cold night.
"Yes, I do!"
She balled her fists and faced the men in front of her.
"I love him, I do. Is that what you want to hear?" She dropped her head. "I love him more than anything; I love him more than I've ever loved anyone… More than I everthought possible…" she cried, looking up. "Are you happy now? What do you think you can do about it?"
Blazing tears were flowing on her cheeks. She knew this was insane, but her feet were moving on their own, and the pit was getting further and further behind her, as she advanced in the dark.
" I've never known a love like this… Do you even have any idea, how fearsome this love is?"
She looked at the sky and realized the clouds were moving. She closed her eyes and breathed in the air.
The girl in the pink uniform was wandering around, aimlessly, in the halls of LME. She had finished her LoveMe tasks for the day and was about to go get changed in the locker room, but she was in no hurry to do so. Her mind was in a dark place and she couldn't seem to find her way. Luckily, her dangerous mission was not to resume for a few days, and she was happy that she could go to school the next morning and the following days.
School was pretty much the only occupation that kind of took her mind off of things.
Since she had given in to her feelings things had only gotten worse. At first she'd thought it would be easier, Chiori was a good friend, one that she could trust with such sensitive information.
And she didn't even blame me nor make fun of me for my bold stupidity, she thought. But now, it was too late…
Why had she chosen that road? Why had she not jumped in the abyss? It was going to end up the same anyway, since she'd sworn that she would go back to being a nakai if this was ever to happen.
She had managed to act Setsuka decently, but at the cost of her sanity. What was she thinking, really? Her interpretation of Setsu was only getting better and better now that she…
Stupid love, she grouched to herself.
She knew it was only a matter of time now, before her blatant feelings became obvious to others as well, and she had to keep to her word. Why did she have to make that foolish oath to that stupid Shou anyway? Didn't she already know, at the time, that it was impossible not to fall for…
She leaped. Him.
What's he doing here?
She panicked and hid behind a coffee machine.
Damn it! She tried to merge with the wall behind her.I haven't had time to prepare myself! How is he always there when I least expect to see him? It was her mistake for thinking she had no reason to run into him, just because the Heel siblings act was on break.
Of course, he works here, you dummy. She gathered up her courage and took a peek in his direction, which only made things worse. The tall, handsome actor she had been with just the night before was looking as astonishing as always. How could he be so sexy, by just standing there?
Sexy? No, no, no, this is wrong, this is… Who was she kidding? Yeah… Sexy… Hot… And gorgeous… She shook her head. Come on, Kyouko, get yourself together. This was no time to fantasize! There are things in this world that are very, very difficult to forget, she realized.
She kept her position, trying to see who he was talking to. This was not his manager. This was a girl.
She growled. Who's that girl and what does she want with him? She looked closer as they started walking, and her face blanched... No way!
There was no mistaking this blasted color and the lame logo on the clothing… Chiori-san?! She couldn't believe her eyes. But, you promised! Her fellow LoveMe member was talking to Japan's number one star, and obviously getting his full attention. No way…. No way, no way no way, you wouldn't do that, would you? Why had she been so naive as to trust anyone?! She thought they were on the same team; they shared the same curse that had been placed on them by a capricious chameleon wizard.
No, that's not right. Chiori had not been imposed the pink spell, she had chosen this fate for herself! Something was most certainly suspicious about the girl! And she had trusted her!
She drew back as they approached her hideout. Her antenna deployed instantly, and small demons started sprawling in the thick anger that was coming her way. Oh no… She froze. He's mad! She crawled under a bench.
"… really worried about her."
"I understand. This is very disturbing in fact."
"I thought so…"
"You were right to come to me about this; I think it would be…"
That was all she could hear, but she had sensed enough: He was assuredly fuming.
She watched discretely as the two silhouettes disappeared towards the exit. Thank God, they didn't see me. She started moving again. Did they? She looked around and tried to calm down.
She couldn't understand why Chiori would break her promise. She said she wouldn't tell anyone, and the first thing she did, just a couple days later, was to go and reveal everything to the very person who should never find out.
Why? Why would she do that? Did she want to ruin her relationship with her senpai? Did she want him for herself? Of course! She knew he would repudiate her the minute he found out! You… you… You vicious little snake! She spotted the door to the LoveMe room.You're worse than Sho Fuwa, she thought angrily. I trusted you with my most guarded secret, and this is how you repay my friendship? Hah!
She rushed to the door that flew open. I won't let you have it your way! I won't let you have Tsuruga-s…
She stopped in her tracks. Who was she to even think that? She had no right to want to monopolize his attention? Chiori-san could be his kohai. She felt a pinch in her chest. She'd never realized until now, how much she needed to be special to him.
Well, all that mattered right now was that he'd forgive her.
What am I gonna do? She wondered as she entered the room. She had to apologize. Forget Chiori for now, she would deal with her later.
Whatever her intentions were was no priority, what concerned her more was…
She fell to the floor as she remembered his reaction. He seemed so upset. She didn't remember ever seeing him that mad, even the times she had lied to him, or when Shou was involved. He said it was disturbing… Had he been so disgusted by the truth? She knew there was no way he'd share the same feelings as her, she was not that deluded, but to emit such wrath… Did he feel insulted by it?
This kind of things must have happen to him perpetually.
Maybe… Maybe he was disappointed in her? Maybe he expected better from her as an actress? Because he thought she was influenced by Setsu's feelings, and she wasn't able to differentiate between the act and real life? Maybe that was it…
Well, it was kind of true. She had been utterly defeated by her character's feelings, but… This was not from the act… If she was totally honest with herself, she had to admit those feelings had been threatening her long before the dangerous mission had even started. Maybe if she made that fact clear to him he would forgive her and treat her like any other admirer of his?
Maybe he'll try to console me, tell me it's nothing and I will eventually meet someone else? He was the kind of person who would minimize the situation, try to reassure her and let her go easy, wasn't he?
Meet someone else... How could she? Someone other than him… He brought love to a whole different level; anyone else was insipid compared to him.
She stood up. It's so unfair! Didn't he realize he was partly responsible for this mess? If he wasn't so… Well, all of those amazing things that he was, she would not have ended up so miserable! She would have moved forward and reached her goal, without ever considering returning to that pit of death.
Her phone started to ring. She looked at the caller ID and hurriedly picked up:
"Yashiro-san, It's good that you… Eh? What? He did? Oh my god, Yashiro-san, I'm so sorry! I'm afraid I might be at fault… Well, no, I just… Okay, I'm going there right now!"
She left the building only minutes later, determined to fix whatever harm she was responsible for. He's so serious about work, something's wrong… She thought. Is he feeling sick? For him to cancel a meeting and hang up on his manager, he must have been really displeased. He's so disgusted by me he doesn't even want to go to work? Yashiro had sounded really alarmed, on the phone. He's probably gonna ask that I get removed from the dangerous mission. Her already heavy heart sunk a little more at the thought. She couldn't stand the idea of being despised by him. Maybe…Maybe Chiori-san didn't betray me after all? She hoped. Maybe she talked about something else?But, right after she'd admitted her feelings in front of her, what else could she have told him, that'd make him so mad?
Kyouko was terribly scared at that moment and she was in pain. She didn't know what she was going to do, but she had to see him, make sure he was alright and would not turn from her. He had to know, at least, that this was not about their roles. It was really about them.
The truth will make it all better, she thought as she rode her bike to his place, it has to.
"A love like that…" she contemplated the feelings that were getting out of the box, like fireflies "It's a love that will conquer anything." She raised her eyes.
Up in the sky, stars slowly started to light up. The wind seemed to revolve around her, it gave her strength she never knew she had.
" This love is stronger than you. You can't even imagine what this love can do."
The stars were becoming more numerous by the minute, and right there, she understood: What was shining in the sky were not stars, as she'd first thought… No… Those were the lights that came from the box in her heart.
"I'll never stop loving him" she admitted painfully, and she looked down.
The wind instantly stopped blowing.
The men were finally quiet. They'd gotten what they wanted from her. She had given up, and it was worse than she'd imagined. Now that she'd accepted it, she knew there was no going back. She was condemned to endure the knowledge that she'd lost. She was doomed to this eternal night.
She didn't notice the magnificent full moon that was beginning to come out of the fog.
Author's note : I realize I'd probably get more reviews if I made you wait for the rest of the story, but I don't really care, so since the story is done, here's all of it! Next chapter is the last. Hope you'll like it!
