Hey everyone, another late night update. It seems I'm much happier with my chapters when I post at night, so I hope you enjoy.

Disclaimer: Don't own Skip Beat! Already said that in Chapter One.

Chapter Two: Just the Start

Two hours.

That was how long Kanae had been sitting in the terminal waiting for her client. She was pretty sure all of her pulse points were showing as she shifted her sitting position again. It also didn't help with the annoying whispers from passing strangers about her uniform, or her ass, or sometimes both if they were really creative. If she wasn't here for professional business she would have already given them a piece of her mind…and then some.

During her first hour, the airport itself had been jam-packed. Multiple business individuals came and went with their compact suitcases with shiny cellphones glued to their ears the moment they walk out the plane. Everyone and their mother looked at her as if she was some kind of new species let loose on the streets. Kanae swore to herself the moment she graduated from Love Me she would burn the "Pink Monster" and throw its ashes into the sea.

With a huff Kanae looked outside the window, but thought better of it as the heated glare from the afternoon sun came through. Barren landscape and flat roads didn't really appease her.

A loud yawn gained her attention back to the terminal seats as a sleeping gentleman, about twenty feet away from her, languidly stretched his tall frame. Kanae was curious when his flight arrived; he's been sitting, correction sleeping, in the exact same spot for as long as she's been here. After the man stretched, Kanae thought he was finally going to wake up until she saw him cross his arms across his chest and go straight back to sleep. Kanae only sat there with astonishment. Whatever incredible substance he took to sleep through all this noise, she wanted some.

Since she had her eyes on him she noticed he was definitely clothed for a flight. A set of charcoal studio headphones snugly fit against his broad neck. From head to toe he was clothed in light athletic wear, donning an unzipped white jacket that revealed a loose red tee shirt, black loose-fitted pants, and tennis shoes. A large canvas duffel bag was squished underneath his seat, and what looked like a guitar case was placed right next to him. She couldn't tell what type of guitar it was, but figured it to be expensive.

'This guy has some nerve to think no one will steal that.' Kanae thought as she crossed her legs over in boredom.

A short male with neck-length black hair and brown eyes thought the exact same thing as he signaled his friends from the other side of the terminal to come forward. One of them, an attractive individual with short bleached blonde hair and pretty blue eyes, made a beeline for the help desk and started chatting with the flight attendants, asking redundant questions the two women were obliged to answer. The other, an average man with semi-long brown hair and brown eyes, walked towards the sleeping male in a relaxed fashion, took a quick glance at his surroundings, and scooped up the guitar case with ease. Said brown-haired individual gave a slight nod to their leader and both men stood up and walked towards the main hallway. Noticing their movement, the blonde man waved goodbye to the flight attendants and intercepted the two, quick high-fives going around the trio.

…

…

'Dear Kami did I really just see that?!' Kanae quickly stood up in shock as she watched the trio fluidly walk away, 'a robbery-that's robbery, right?' Looking from the sleeping individual to the now farther away trio, a news report suddenly flashed in her mind.

Apparently over the past few months many foreign travelers from multiple airports complained about having precious items stolen while waiting for their flights, but they could never fully describe the characteristics of the perpetrators. Thus, those people earned the nickname 'Airline Assailants'. To think from then to now these people have become so organized they can come and go without a trace. Kanae suddenly shook away the thought. This wasn't the time to compliment a group of crooks, she needed to do something!

Kanae really wanted to wake the guy, but if he could sleep through a full terminal with screaming babies and all, there was no way a few shakes would wake him up. And she's starting to lose sight of them. During her contemplation, she heard some of the other travelers whispering amongst themselves.

"Those were the 'Airline Assailants' right?"

"Whoa, they actually exist? Tough luck for that guy."

"Shouldn't we inform the police?"

"No way. Those people are long gone now, no use trying."

Kanae became angrier and angrier with each sentence coming out of their mouths. She couldn't believe they were just going to stand by and let them get away with this. So she decided to do something she knew she was going to regret later. She was going to pull a 'Kyoko'.

"AH MOU!" Kanae yelled out as she ran after the retreating thieves, shocking the passengers in the near vicinity. As she stormed away she didn't notice the tanned individual suddenly jolt awake, revealing sleepy hazel orbs. With confusion he turned towards the young woman running in what looked like a hot pink jumpsuit. Getting a good look at her face, recognition and surprise etched his features.

"No way…Kanae?"

'I really need to start running again,' Kanae thought between labored breaths as she caught sight of the three men. She grit her teeth when she saw them laughing, the brown-haired male holding their newest "prize" with poor care. With a deep breath, she called out to them.

"Hey!" All three men stopped in their tracks and discreetly turned around, giving her silent glares. Kanae stood her ground and slowly walked toward them. "That guitar you have," she coldly stated, "isn't yours. Give it back and I won't say a word about what happened today." The three men looked at each other and suddenly started to laugh, amused by Kanae's antics. That was when their black-haired leader spoke.

"I'm sorry miss," he started with a very fake smile plastered on his face, "but my friend here has had this guitar his whole life. We came to pick him up from his very tiring trip." Thinking he convinced the poorly dressed woman, he continued, "Now if you'll excuse us, my friends and I are very busy people. See you-"

"I saw you," Kanae interrupted, earning a frown from the other men, "from Blondie over there chatting it up with the attendants, to Brownie taking the case and nodding to you to leave. Now I will say it again…hand over the guitar, and I will forget this ever happened." The leader of the trio deeply frowned as she heard the other members begin to argue.

"I told you to be more cautious!"

"Forget you man, you're the one who gets too distracted flirting with the attendants. You're supposed to watch my back in case someone was watching."

"And I find it really hard to believe that you of all people missed…that." Blondie stated as he pointed at Kanae. After glaring at each other for a minute, Kanae watched as the bleach blonde's blue eyes grow…darker. "Now that I get a good look at you," he started slowly, separating from the group and coming up to Kanae, "even with that thing on…you're really hot."

…Uh-oh

"Masaru." His leader gave a warning tone when Blondie approached Kanae. He glanced around to see they were starting to gain an unwelcome audience. If she screamed, security would be all over them. He just had a feeling this woman brought trouble with her.

"Relax Kaito, I'm just talking here," the blonde called Masaru taunted back, not leaving eye contact with Kanae. "Now pretty miss," he said in what she believed to be a seductive tone, "instead of just saying we could forget it all, how about you come with us?" he slowly started to reach out for a strand of her dark hair, "I'm sure with that guitar, the four of us could make beautiful music together. What do you say?" Kanae ignored the unwelcome chill that ran down her spine as he reached for her hair. She was ready to tell him to 'shove it' and flip him when a large tanned hand suddenly skimmed past her face, planting a vice grip on Masaru's shoulder. A loud, girlish yelp could be heard from the blonde as the force almost made him lose balance.

"Get your hands off her." A deep voice in English rumbled from behind Kanae. She couldn't get a good look at the man's face, but she did recognize the sleeve of a white athletic jacket. So that idiot finally decided to wake up.

"Buzz off Darky!" Masaru angrily retorted, grabbing at the man's hand to release him, "the missy and I were just having a nice conversation. So just- YEOWCH!" The grip on his shoulder became ten times stronger, the pain already making him lose feeling in his left arm. Glaring at his supposed "friends" for help, he noticed the both of them looked…afraid.

Daring a glimpse past the dark-haired girl's pretty face, Masaru witnessed a very tall individual with a strong build and tan skin glare down at him with hardened hazel eyes. Eyes that spoke of death if he wanted to finish that sentence.

Masaru was almost ready to beg for forgiveness when he caught two security officers on both ends of the hallway zone in on them. With all his might he squirmed underneath the hazel-eyed man's grip until the officers arrived, said men spoke with stern voices to have him unhanded.

Kanae weaved out of the officers' way as they asked Masaru what happened. Noticing the other two officers behind the nervous Brownie and Kaito approach, she did the best thing she could do in this situation.

She began to cry.

Everyone froze when they heard strangled sniffles and crystal tears stream down Kanae's face. With warbled tones she softly spoke to the worrying security men. "W-when I was coming back from the food court, I-I saw those men take my boyfriend's guitar when he was sleeping. I-I asked them to give it back but…but…" Kanae gave Masaru a heated glare as she pointed at him, "that man wanted to…wanted to…" as if it was too horrible for words, Kanae burst into more tears and turned around to hit a warm, hard chest, her smaller hands slightly gripping his tee shirt as she cried.

Right on cue, the hazel-eyed man gently wrapped his strong arms around Kanae, rubbing her back in a smooth, comforting motion. She noticed his warm breath on the top of her head, whispering "don't cry, you're safe now," and "everything's alright" in a warm and caring tone. During her fake sniffles, she ended up whiffing a scent of spicy honey, fresh oak, and something else she couldn't quite place.

For the first time in a really long time, Kanae actually felt…guilty.

It didn't take too long for Kaito to yell "SCATTER!" followed by running footsteps, yelling officers, and a loud clank off in the distance. The man embracing Kanae froze his movements at the sound, but quickly ran his hands over her back again to continue soothing her. Kanae gave herself about a full minute to make sure the noise around them returned somewhat normal. Not exactly sure if the person holding her can speak the native language, she tried her hand at English.

"I'm okay. You can let go." The young man released her a little quicker than she anticipated and took a couple steps back, giving her a bit of space. Kanae gave herself a chance to wipe her eyes, glad that they didn't feel as irritated as they have been before. Satisfied that the residue from her eyes was gone, she looked up to thank the man who helped her…but she wasn't expecting him to speak.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said in fluent Japanese, "some of the people sitting around us were worried about you when you stormed out of the terminal. I'm glad I got here just in time." Kanae just stared at him as if he grew an extra head.

"You-you can speak," Kanae stammered, having the grace to blush when she realized he understood when she stated her sob story.

That she claimed this man as her boyfriend.

…

Hazel eyes twinkled in amusement at her sudden embarrassment, but tried to appease her. "Well, at least everything's over," the man stated cheerily while walking towards the abandoned guitar case, "but I have to say, that was a pretty neat trick you did…the whole crying thing." Kanae stiffened as she watched the tall man open the case and sigh in relief.

So he knew…that I was faking? I thought my presentation was good.

…

Wait a second, why am I beating myself up?! It's his fault for sleeping in public in the first place!

"Well it was needed," Kanae coolly replied, "those men would have accused you in a heartbeat if I let them. I just took advantage of the situation." 'In more ways than one.' she added to herself. The man nodded at her reasoning and grabbed the case, walking back towards her in a relaxed manner.

"And for that I thank you," he said giving her a smile, which quickly set into a frown, "but I'll have to ask you to never do that again. That was really dangerous. Who knows what that guy would've done if he grabbed onto you." Kanae gave him an irritated look, retorting that this situation wouldn't have happened if he hadn't been asleep in the first place.

"And why do you even care?" Kanae asked, feeling her temper flare, "you're not my father!"

"I may not be your father but I'm…I'm…uh." He felt himself lose steam at her heated glare, trying to find a way how to explain who he was without freaking her out. Or get beat up. It was either one or the other with her.

Honestly, he wasn't even expecting her to be in the area at all.

…Oh well, time for Plan B.

"The truth is," he started, giving her a confident look, "I am your client."

Silence was his answer for about five seconds while Kanae raised a brow in suspicion.

"My client?"

"Yes."

Kanae gave him a silent look while she crossed her arms together.

"What makes you think I'm not going on a plane myself?" The man nearly snorted in laughter.

'I have a feeling you'd rather die before you wear something like that freely in public,' was what he wanted to say but stuck with, "just a hunch."

Judging by the growing frown on her face, that was the wrong answer.

"Alright fine, you want proof, here it is." With an exasperated sigh and the grace of a bull in a china shop, he shoved the guitar case right in front of Kanae's face, nearly hitting her nose. If the case wasn't in the way she would have given him a full on death glare…until she noticed the name on the ID card.

Kenji Dranias

Kanae's eyes widened in surprise at the name and quickly pulled out the folded up photo in her uniform pocket, glanced down at it, then back up at him. The man called Kenji gave her a knowing look through hazel orbs, as if he already confirmed what she knew without having to say a word. He even took out his American license to solidify the proof. She could tell he really wanted to rub it in.

"Diana-nee-san's flight should be here in about an hour," was all he said before walking back to the terminal, Kanae slowly catching up to him soon after. Once she caught up, and Kenji got his duffel bag out of the seats, he gave her a big grin and asked if she wanted to sit for a drink to kill time. Kanae gave him a curt 'yes' as they walked together to the nearest café.

She resigned to the fact it was going to be complicated from the moment she met her client's brother.

Author's Note: Hey you made it, welcome and thanks for reading. Look forward to the next chapter coming soon. Bye.