Disclaimer: Skip Beat belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura…unless the anime creators continue to screw up.

On the first day of Christmas Shotaro gave to me….

A stalker in Sakura tree.

12 Showbiz Days of Christmas

December 1st

Black clouds filled the muddy gray sky completing the damp, cold morning. Sparse piles of snow were scattered along the edges of the sidewalk and on bits of bare earth and leafless trees. It was unusually quiet in the park, except for the sounds of the cars passing by; the park was empty of its normal bustling crowd. He was grateful, in a fashion. His manager might decide to end her pacifist vows and strangle him. Heh. A frowning Shoko was entertaining; sometimes, he deliberately annoyed her just to see her frown. Lately, it wasn't as entertaining playing around with Shoko. He knew where the fault lay.

Before hitting puberty, he had been aware that large breasted women were his type, and flat-chest women a zero on his radar. The ideal woman, in his opinion, was slim, with D or larger breasts and was tall, but still shorter than him. Attractive, definitely not a plain Jane. She would be an excellent chef and house maker who would cater to his every little whim, utterly devoted. He didn't like sycophants, the woman would have to have some personality to her. Not the wishy-washiness that his fangirls possessed. Older then, like Shoko or Asami, not as mature though.

Shoko was too mature, she never freaked out when he flirted with her or listened adoringly to his every word. He was the center of her world only because the company president told her he was. As a kid everyone had always lavished their attention on him, even now as the top singer in Japan people worshipped and catered to him, and that's what he expected. Which is why it was so damn mind boggling that the one person filling his head was the antithesis of that ideal woman.

Why?! Why…Did he have to fall in love with that girl!

Part of the reason he'd came to Tokyo in the first place was because he didn't want to get stuck in an arranged marriage to her in the first place. Of course, that was before he knew she cleaned up so well. Not to mention, underwent a complete personality change. No, Kyoko was no longer the teary-eyed obsessive little girl who followed him everywhere, worshipping him and doing everything in her power to make him happy. Now, Kyoko hated his guts and abhorred everything he did. She was also hell bent on getting revenge on him. Yes- it was entirely his fault that that long black haired girl with loving eyes and an endlessly smiling face no longer existed. His fault she held utter contempt for him. His fault he couldn't stop thinking about her.

For all that he had treated her as an irritating nuisance, and made her a slave to his whims for the largest part of his life, she was also his guardian angel. No one else had the ability to cheer him up and make him laugh as much as she did. No one else knew his tastes and personality as well as she. No one else knew his past as well. No one else but Kyoko could have brought him out of that depression two months ago like Kyoko had, and then motivate him to become the undisputable number one singer in Japan for those same two months. If it weren't for Kyoko those annoying Beagles would have defeated him, and he would have returned to run an old-fashioned inn. She was his savior, and she hated him more than anyone else, possibly even her mother. And he, he loved and desired her more than ever.

The past three months were all about improving his music to become the top singer in Japan, to make himself uncatchable, so uncatchable that she would only be able to focus on defeating him, so she would only think of him. Him. Not that damnable, pretentious pretty boy Ren Tsuruga. His rival. He couldn't forget their meeting in the staircase out of his head. That man wanted his Kyoko, and he'd be damned if he would let that bastard. The Beagles were less irritating to him than that man, but at least he knew Kyoko would be protected, unlike with the Beagles. He really hated Reino more than Tsuruga, because of what lengths he'd gone to torture him. Kyoko was to be kept safe, and he would destroy anyone who tried to harm her. He needn't worry about her heart, she guarded that more than anything. Anyways, he was her priority; everything else was a distraction from her hatred.

Oh yes, he could take her hatred, because that meant he was still the center of her life, and no one would be able to dislodge him from it. He would find a way to get her to change her mind, but his main priority was to ensure no one else stole his place before that could occur.

It started to rain a light slush. He didn't budge from the park bench he was seated on. The schedule that had been arranged for him was booked as a result of his growing status. He needed freedom to think about her. How to keep her attention. Right now, all he could do was be the best. A love song, he had written one for her, he made the President arrange to have it released on December 25th, her birthday. At some point she would hear it. Unfortunately, she probably wouldn't listen to the lyrics to know he was writing it about her. But that would be alright, because in the end it would ensure he would still be the number one in her unforgiving heart.

There were so many regrets he held: the time he slapped her because she had only told him the truth. Never had there been a worse taste in his mouth. Even he thought it unforgivable to harm a woman, yet he had in his miserable self-pity. She wasn't surprised, just furious. That had stabbed him, slowly turning the knife in the wound. He had completely lost her faith that day he called her his unattractive, plain boring servant. It wasn't until the Beagles incident that he was able to fully realize the magnitude of the loss. Now it was all he could think about. Unwittingly, she had given him the inspiration, the motivation to further his place in the music industry.

Kyoko finally managed to achieve the one thing she desired more than anything else in their child; she had his heart, and now she no longer wanted it. He couldn't allow that to happen. He refused to let her leave. Sigh. He drew a deep breath, and got up.

"It's times like these I need those Beagles to show up. I need to blow my steam off someone."

Grudgingly, he left the park. It was time to return to work. The longer he stayed at the top, the longer he would stay the center of her world. Oddly, the snow covering the branches of the trees made the bereft Sakura appear to bloom.

Whew! This fic turned out a little more serious than I planned.

This was a oneshot of Shotaro at Christmas, not an ongoing fic. That means it is one of my various Christmas ficlets. They will not all involve Shotaro. I plan to introduce each character in their own situation.

Thanks to Miyabitayozora for giving me the name to this Fanfic, and helping me edit!

Please Review!

False Sourires