Sorry for the long wait. I am going away next week, but I will try to put up another chapter before that. I hope you will like this, even though it does not have too much going on. Sorry. The next will probably be more exiting.

Disclaimer: Skip Beat and all its characters are created and belongs to Nakamura Yoshiki.

----------------Chapter 5-------------------

"And he said it was not your fault?" Kyoko was at Kanae's apartment. They had just made the bedroom ready, and were resting in the kitchen. On a normal day Kyoko would be beaming with happiness, and gratefulness for the tea Kanae had prepared for her. She was spending the rest of the week there, while Daruma-ya was being renovated. The restaurant's owners was visiting their friends back in their home town. Nothing could make her happier than a week with her friend, but there were still one shadow raving in her mind.

"He said I did not do anything, but I must have." Kyoko was still feeling insecure about the incident that happened two days ago. Ren had seemed tired and easily annoyed ever since it happened. If she could just figure out what was annoying him, she could apologize. Moko had helped her out earlier. Hopefully she would use her talent in analyzing to clear up this situation as well.

"He tries to kiss you and you refuse. Then he reacts by sinking in to some kind of dark, negative state?" Kanae did not quite understand her friend. She had top marks at school, and her acting skills were frightening. Even Kanae viewed her as a worthy rival... But when it came to understanding Tsuruga Ren, the girl was no longer to be recognized. The reason; Fuwa Sho. That boy had hurt her badly. Kyoko's mind seem to be blocking out any hints of someone liking her. No doubt that it was great protection for her heart, but even so... Some things were just to obvious. Kanae had just broken down the information and given Kyoko the details she needed. It was no use. The girl at the other side at the table still looked at her with eyes full of hope, unable to come to a conclusion. "You are hopeless..."

"Did I do something that bad!?" Tears were threatening to stream out of Kyoko's eyes. "Please tell me, Moko-san!"

"No way. Figure it out yourself." Kanae put up her cold front and turned her face away from her. She did not like to see the tears of her friend, but she did not want to hand her over to Tsuruga-san either. It did not hit her that Kyoko might like him, but she was pretty sure of what he felt for her. Even tough Kanae did not suspect romantic feelings from Kyoko's part, they might start to develop after some time. That would lead to Kyoko's pink uniform being put away, and Kanae would be second priority in her life, at most. Looking back at Kyoko, she could see her back in the corner of the room. The rest of her body were probably curled up behind it. The standard position for a sulking Kyoko. What if she got mad at her for refusing to help? "Mooh... Ok. Listen. I will try to explain it in a way that even you could understand."

"So you do know what is wrong!? I knew I could count on you, Moko-san." The sudden change in Kyoko's mood and location made Kanae jump up from her seat, into defense stance. The chair got pushed back by her legs and slammed down at the floor.

"Kyoko! Do not scare me like that!" Kyoko looked up at her, from what earlier had been inches away from Kanaes face. "Jeez... Never mind." She picked up the chair and made Kyoko sit down, before she placed herself at the other side of the table. She felt safer with something between them. "Listen. Ren got mad when you rejected his kiss. People can get mad when they do not get what they want. So he wanted to kiss you."

"That is impossible." Kyoko did not know if she should laugh about Mokos silly mistake, or cry since she could not get any help here either. "Why would Tsuruga-san want to kiss me?"

"Maybe because he is in love with you?" Kyoko froze. Was this what they called a deja-vu? Has something like this happened before?

"Maybe Tsuruga-san is in love with you?" Kyoko whispered to herself. Her skin color turned back to normal, and she put her eyes, full of hope, back on to Kanae.

"W-what?" It was Kanaes turn to feel shocked. Did her words make Kyoko happy? She had even repeated them.

"Right after I was offered the role as Mio, we had a talk like this." Said Kyoko, with a bright smile on her face. "And that was what you said... Right before you came up with the real reason!"

"But... What if this IS the real reason?" Kanae let the wave of relief hit her, but she could not help feeling a bit frustrated as well. She had put great thought into if she should tell her or not. And Kyoko did not even consider that she might be right.

Disappointed, Kyoko understood that this was Moko's final answer. The answer to her problem seemed further away than ever.

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The night came crawling and the darkness laid itself over Tokyo, like the unanswered questions darkened Kyoko's face.

She could not believe that in the end, the problem had been to complicated for even Moko. Kyoko let out a loud sight, and looked over her shoulder to see if she had woken her friend. She slept in a bed and Kyoko was on a futon, so it was no use in turning. She was unable to see her face due to the difference in height. At least it sounded like she was still asleep.

What if he did get angry because he wanted to kiss me? But why would he want that? All our earlyer kisses were to build up some foundation for my Yuzuki-act. He did seem to appreciate that though. Until recently. He seems to break it of every time Yuzuki gets in the mood. Maybe that is it? I need to practice more? Maybe my lack in experience is so poor that Tsuruga-san can not keep in character. And he even tried to help me practice, by offering me a kiss. And I rejected. Like I said I did not need it! He must think that I believe that I am to good for practicing. I am sorry Tsuruga-san. No wonder you are mad at me. From now on I will do my best to get better. Even if my body might melt away with embarrassment.