Disclaimer: Skip Beat! is not my creation. If it was, I would be pleasing all of you by making the new chapter instead of working on this. Which was supposed to be out Monday, no?
Authoress' Notes: So here is the brand new chapter, and I would like to dedicate it to my first reviewers Saya-chan, Shiroyuki76, and Yuki-Yasha Higurashi . Thanks so much guys! And yeah, Yuki-Yasha Higurashi, Ren is going to be playing a student! A graduating one of course... I mean he's only 21 despite being very tall. On an actual show on tv, Glee (which is great by the way), they have 27 year olds playing highschoolers, so why can't Ren? It's not unheard of, in fact it's more common, and he's really not that old looking!
Anyways, I know this story might seem like it's going awfully slow right now, but it can't all be fluff and adventure. This chapter is also out a lot earlier than I expected since I had some free time to write this week. Don't expect a week and a half between updates next time though...sorry. It's only the first week of classes and I already have a ton of work. I will do my absolute best though not to keep you hanging. I am also potentially considering a beta reader just because I can't always catch the mistakes. If anyone is interested, let me know.
Kyoko's Fairytale continues in 3...2...1...ACTION!
The sun was shining brightly through her window, and she didn't know whether to be happy that it was a beautiful day, or pissed off that she had been woken up before her alarm. Every precious moment of sleep counted. Instead of dwelling on it, she made some incoherent sounds and tossed away her covers, climbing out of bed and reaching aimlessly in the general direction of where her clothes should be. Last night she had already planned the perfect outfit for today's activity - looking put-together took a little bit of effort after all.
Finally, her hand made contact with the jean skirt and pale pink tank top she had chosen the night before. The white blouse that she had picked to wear open on top of her tank had managed to fall to the floor and land on top of the white tennis shoes she had selected to match the casual look she was going for. She slipped everything on and then yawned again glancing at her alarm clock.
'Three, two, one,' she thought before she slammed the snooze button, silencing the alarm even before it had made any noise.
'Now that that's taken care of,' her thoughts continued as she went to her stash of makeup and grabbed a black eyeliner pencil and some mascara. She went to the bathroom where she washed her face and brushed her teeth. Then using the mirror there, she applied her mascara and eyeliner quickly and artfully, not using too much and keeping in tune with the rest of her relaxed look. Next, she ran a brush through her hair, pulling it into two low pigtails on either side of her head. She was done.
"Too bad the motorcycle's in the shop today," she sighed. "Oh well. At least riding the bike will be exercise," her voice picked up its usual cheery tone when she thought of the calories she would burn.
She glanced at the clock next to her bed and debated internally whether or not she had time for breakfast. On the one hand, if she ate, she'd have to bike faster to make sure to make it to school on time and she might get all gross and sweaty. On the other hand, she could skip breakfast, and then she could ride slower - which meant of course less sweat.
"No breakfast it is," she finally decided before grabbing her bag and heading downstairs.
Thankfully, no one else in the house was up yet. She could make it out the door without anyone questioning her skipping a meal. She headed outside and grabbed her bike from around back before hopping on and pedaling off.
When she got to school, she was ten minutes early and perfectly sweat free. She locked up her bike and then headed inside, smiling and waving at the people she knew. When she finally reached the classroom, she saw her drama teacher sitting in his favorite chair looking a little nervous.
"Hi, Ogata-sensei!" she chirped while scanning the area for her friends.
Her teacher looked at her strangely before answering her in kind: "Hello, Kyoko-chan."
She frowned at her teacher, wondering how he could confuse her with someone else this far into the semester, and when she was working on the play with him too! Then she just brushed off the mistake and asked him what they would be working on that day.
"Ah, well we hope to be starting your scenes right after lunch, so right now you just need to go to makeup so they can start on the scar."
"Of course, Ogata-sensei!" she answered compliantly before waltzing off to where some of the students were doing the makeup for those students who were acting in the school play.
'Ogata-sensei always wants the rehearsals to be so realistic. Costumes, makeup, everything!' she thought while she walked through the hallways. She always had to get the scar makeup done before she practiced her scenes. She didn't mind though. Rather, she admired her teacher's dedication.
When she finally made her way to the room where the makeup was being done, she sat herself down at the request of one of her classmates and stared at her face in the mirror while they started powdering it and setting her up for the scar makeup that would take much too long to do.
Saki groaned when the first touch of the scar paint touched her cheek. It always reminded her of her brother's scar from the stupid fight he had gotten into when dealing with one of the more unruly clients of her father's m-. She stopped herself before she could continue even further down this line of thinking. She hated knowing how her father got the money to buy her the clothes she wore, the motorcycle she rode, the gorgeous house they lived in. She also hated that her brothers had gone and joined the stupid family business. At least there was no pressure for her to do the same. She was a girl. Girl's weren't welcome in the mob.
She suppressed another groan. The stupid mob. She was lucky her father didn't go around making his name known. She got to escape it all at school. She had her friends, she had her extra-curriculars, and she had her social life. And she had her number one rule: don't get involved. She imagined her father was the CEO of a big company and that that was where their money came from. If her friends asked how she could afford her motorcycle or her pool, that was also the lie she told. She just wanted to be normal. And being the rich daughter of a CEO was much more normal than being the daughter of a mob boss.
Ren walked in to the studio followed closely by Yashiro who was teasing him mercilessly about the fact that Kyoko was actually going to be on set with him today.
"I think I might have an important call to attend to at lunch," Yashiro hinted with a sly smile, "I guess you'll have to eat without my company, Ren."
Ren looked at Yashiro's smiling face and suppressed a shudder. It was almost creepy how interested his manager was in his love life - or lack thereof. Still, Ren was happy that Yashiro was excusing himself. Now he would get to spend some time relatively alone with Kyoko.
"Whatever," he casually answered Yashiro, much to his manager's disappointment. Yashiro loved teasing Ren about Kyoko, and was saddened when his teasing had no visible effects.
Yashiro was going to try again when he was interrupted by the director of Dark Moon, Ogata Hiroaki, rushing over to Ren.
"Ren-san," the director started babbling nervously, "I know that you have scenes to film, but since they only start in an hour, and your wardrobe and makeup only take fifteen minutes, I was hoping that maybe you could go see Kyoko-chan. She's acting a little strangely. Actually, I was hoping you might already know what's going on with her."
"Kyoko-san's acting strangely?" Yashiro asked, mercifully distracted from teasing poor Ren.
"Yes. She isn't really responding to her name and...well just behaving oddly in general. She called me Ogata-sensei. She's never done that before," Ogata tried to explain to Ren and Yashiro. "Really. If you just go talk to her, you'll see what I mean."
Ren wasn't too worried by this announcement. Kyoko often acted strangely, mostly because she reacted to things so uniquely. And if she wasn't brooding or in tears, whatever it was couldn't be too bad. Still, he dutifully followed the director to the makeup room where he saw Kyoko sitting in a chair having Mio's scar applied.
"Hello, Mogami-san," he greeted her, meeting her eyes in the mirror. She reacted strangely though. Her eyes gained a confused look and she stared at his reflection pensively.
"Ren-kun, why are you screwing up my name too?" she finally asked.
Ren was floored. She never called him by his first name. Ever. And screwing up her name? What could she mean? Did she want him to call her by her first name as well. He was about to ask her when Yashiro beat him to it.
"Kyoko-san?" Yashiro started curiously.
"Really now. After I already scolded Ren-kun, you mess up my name too, Yukihito-kun?" Kyoko said sounding well and truly exasperated. "Everyone thinks they're just so funny today. I mean, I know you guys know my name. We've only known each other for like forever. And it's so short and easy to remember too - so you really have no excuse. I just can't believe that you would actually forget a name like Saki." She sighed dramatically and crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at Ren and Yashiro in the mirror.
Director Ogata, who stood hidden behind Ren and Yashiro gave them a "you see" look. Yashiro just kept staring at Kyoko dumbly while Ren thought about where he had heard that name before. Saki. It was right there in his memory... He had read it! 'That's right,' he thought, 'I read it in the script last night.'
"Mob Daughter," is what he said out loud in realization.
Yashiro and Ogata just looked at him blankly. Kyoko, however, tensed and looked really defensive. The makeup artist left her side just then to go get some more latex for the scar, and Kyoko whirled her chair around and stood up so that she could face Ren.
"What did you say, Ren-kun?" she asked him with a deceptively bright smile on her face. The smile was reflected in her eyes, but her voice held an angry, cutting undercurrent.
'She's in character,' Ren realized before a grin broke across his face.
"Nothing, Saki-chan. You're right. We were all just teasing you. But that's what friends do, no?" he asked her.
Saki's arms fell to her side and she smiled genuinely at Ren, the anger for him mentioning the mob gone. "I know, but that doesn't make it any less annoying. Plus, I skipped breakfast this morning and had to ride my bike to school because my motorcycle's getting fixed. So I wasn't exactly in the best of moods to begin with," she explained settling back into the chair so that the makeup artist could continue her work.
"I'll tell everyone to cut it out, Saki-chan. Don't worry about it. And I'll make sure you eat a big lunch to make up for the breakfast you skipped," Ren told her and he saw her relax even more with the friendly, normal conversation.
"Thanks, Ren-kun. You should go and get ready though. Aren't they practicing your scenes for the play soon?" she asked him.
"Of course. I'll see you later," he told her while he excused himself from the room, dragging a spluttering Yashiro with him.
When they had cleared the door and had strolled down the hallway a few paces, Ren stopped walking and looked at the bewildered director, who had followed them, and his own confused manager. "She's in character for her newest role," he explained. "Right now, she's a student at school and all of this is practice for a school play. She probably called you sensei because in her character's mind, you are a teacher. Yukihito-san and I are her close acquaintances - which is why she addressed us so informally, something Mogami-san would never do."
"In fact, everyone here would be either a classmate or a teacher since for her this is highschool. The name of her character is Saki, which is why she's not responding to her actual name. Her character is convinced it was just some big joke that everyone was calling her Kyoko," he finished explaining.
"How do you know all this?" Yashiro asked Ren, amazed by what he had just heard. He knew that Kyoko could become so immersed in a character that she wouldn't snap out of it until a scene was done, but all of this just for practice? He was impressed with her dedication.
Ren was also impressed. Not once had Kyoko faltered and broken character. Her personality and reactions were all Saki's, not her own. She was living as Saki and accommodating her act to her surroundings. She had only accepted the role yesterday and already she had made progress with the characterization. Ren knew Kyoko though, she was probably still struggling with how her character would deal with some of the more personal relationships. Saki was not complete, but Kyoko was trying to flesh her out.
"I've taken a role in the same drama," Ren finally answered Yashiro. "It's the new one by director Shingai Seiji called Mob Daughter. Mogami-san accepted the lead role yesterday. If I hadn't known about her involvement though, I might not have guessed what was going on."
"So what do you propose we do?" Ogata asked Ren, worried that Kyoko would not be able to perform as Mio if she was acting out another character.
"Just tell everyone to call her Saki until she stops responding to the name and starts behaving like she normally does. This whole thing shouldn't affect her acting though. Mogami-san would never let an exercise like this affect her performance on set. She'll just go from Saki to Mio instead of from Kyoko to Mio. This all make sense in her head. Saki's performing in a highschool play, Mio is her role, and she'll act it out when she needs to," Ren explained to a suddenly very more relaxed Ogata.
"Alright then," the director breathed a sigh of relief, trusting Ren who knew Kyoko best. He had already started walking back to the set when he turned around and said, "She really is amazing isn't she? I'm so glad that I picked her to be Mio."
Ren had to agree.
"Saki-chan, you need to eat some more," Ren encouraged Kyoko in a complete reversal of their roles. Kyoko was still in character, and she was picking at her bento box instead of eating everything like she normally would. She also wasn't laying into Ren's eating habits and forcing him to finish his own box like she normally would. She really was a completely different person.
"I'm really not that hungry," Saki answered, pushing the box away from her.
Ren pushed it back. "You told me that you skipped breakfast today. Eat," he said to her, trying very hard not to laugh at how absurd this reversed situation was.
Saki grudgingly picked up a chop stick, stabbed it into something in the box without looking, and then popped that something into her mouth, chewing slowly and swallowing obviously. "Happy?" she questioned Ren when she was all done.
"Getting there," he answered and shoved the box closer to her, "now more."
This playful, relaxed attitude was not something he often got to see from Kyoko because she was almost always formal around him. And sure she was technically Saki right now, but Ren didn't really care. He was enjoying their time together regardless and he admired her dedication to simply practicing her new role.
Saki speared another bit of food with her chopstick. Then suddenly she grabbed Ren's chopstick and speared something from his bento box onto it before shoving it back into his hand. "If I have to eat, so do you," Saki told him, watching his chopstick and waiting.
Ren sighed. Even in character, somehow she had still figured out a way to make him eat. He popped the food into his mouth and watched as Saki did the same with a triumphant smile on her face. "There. That's better. Now if I'm going to get fat, so are you!" she teased.
Ren laughed. "Alright, alright," he said, and ate some more, satisfied that it also made Saki eat.
"The scenes you practiced today were really good, Ren-kun," Saki said after some chewing, "the ones that I saw anyway."
"Thanks. I'm sure your's will be excellent also," Ren told her smiling.
"I hope so." She grinned and Ren's heart faltered. Kyoko's smile, even if Saki was technically the one giving it, did that to him.
"Cut! And we're done for today! Good job, Kyo- I mean Saki-chan!"
Kyoko shook her head around a bit trying to shake off the remains of her character, and then opened her mouth and immediately began apologizing to the director, "Sorry for the confusion today, Ogata-san! I didn't mean to inconvenience anyone, but I thought everything would be okay as long as I still played Mio right. I really am sorry, but I just-"
Director Ogata just smiled at her. "Kyoko-chan, it's alright. We all now how into your roles you get, and it was no inconvenience for us. You performed perfectly. All of your scenes were only one take. Really, don't worry about it. We're all happy for you and your new role. You'll be great."
Everyone else on set murmured their agreement. They had all been calling Kyoko "Saki" since director Ogata had made a brief announcement to them that morning while Kyoko had been in makeup. He had told them Kyoko was practicing for a new role, and to support her by trying to remember to call her by her character's name instead of her own, and excusing any weird behavior. It had been a little weird for the people who knew her to call Kyoko "Saki" and watch her gush and bubble much more than usual (and without entering into any of her moods), but she had still slipped into Mio flawlessly when director Ogata had called the start of a scene. It was impressive for the crew and even the rest of the cast to witness.
Momose Itsumi walked over to Kyoko, who was still trying to shake off both Mio and Saki, and congratulated her. "That was great, Kyoko-san," she told her co-star, "you were totally on the ball with Mio, all while doing that whole acting exercise. I mean, I could see some elements of your own personality that you brought in to your character, but that was definitely not you on set today."
"Really? You saw some of my personality in Saki, Itsumi-san?" Kyoko asked curiously.
"Well, yeah. I mean you are rather kind to pretty much everyone, and when you're in a really good mood you do act sort of bubbly, you know," Itsumi tried to explain. "It must be great to be playing a character a lot more happy than Mio and Natsu."
"So Saki really came off as happy?" Kyoko asked excitedly, completely not hearing what Itsumi had said about ways her character was like herself. That's what Kyoko had been aiming for. She wanted Saki to seem happy and confident around everyone. She had realized that in the absence of anyone she could fully trust, Saki would keep all of her problems and troubles hidden inside herself, not letting anyone see them bring her down.
Kyoko hugged Itsumi and thanked her profusely for what she had said. Itsumi couldn't say she fully understood why Kyoko was so grateful, but guessed it was because she had complimented her character in some way.
"No problem, Kyoko-san," Itsumi laughed when Kyoko let go of her. "I'll see you tomorrow!"
Kyoko waved to Itsumi as she left, and then she headed to her dressing room to ditch her wig, peel off the latex part of her scar, scrub her face quickly, and hop back into her own clothes. She needed to bike back to the Daruma-ya and she was trying to beat the coming darkness. But when she emerged from the room, Ren and Yashiro were waiting for her.
"I saw your bike outside, Mogami-san. I don't have any more jobs today and I thought I could put it in the trunk and give you a ride home. It's already getting dark," Ren told her as soon as she emerged.
"Oh. I wouldn't want to inconvenience you, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko began babbling, but Ren cut her off.
"It's no inconvenience," Ren told her, "it's on the way." He gave her a "don't argue with me" look that Yashiro backed up with some eager head nodding.
Kyoko gave a defeated sigh before saying, "Okay then. If you're sure it's not a bother."
"It's not," Ren assured her.
The three of them walked outside where Kyoko's bike was locked up. She crouched down and unlocked it, putting the chain and key in her bag. When she stood back up, she saw that Ren had already started wheeling her bike to where his car was parked. She immediately assumed that Ren had thought she was moving too slowly, and had taken her bike to speed things up.
"Tsuruga-san, you don't have to do that!" Kyoko exclaimed, having to run to catch up to him and Yashiro.
"Relax, Mogami-san. I'm just being a gentleman and helping you out," Ren told her. Kyoko was suddenly suspicious, remembering an incident that had occurred on her first day, before she had officially become a Love Me member at LME. This suspicion disappeared as fast as it had come on though when Yashiro spoke.
"Kyoko-san, it's okay to let people help you," Yashiro added with a smile.
Kyoko just blushed guiltily, scolding herself for thinking her bad thoughts, and followed the two men silently to Ren's car where she climbed into the back seat while Ren and Yashiro managed to fit her bike in Ren's trunk.
"Thanks again," Kyoko said when both of them had climbed into the car.
"Really, Mogami-san. It's no problem," Ren assured her.
And then there was silence.
Kyoko was looking out the window, so she didn't notice Yashiro in the front nudging Ren, trying to get him to speak to her. Ren meanwhile was concentrating very hard on ignoring the pointy elbow that kept jabbing him in the arm. Finally, Yashiro had had enough.
"Kyoko-san," he began, "I heard you're playing the main character in a television drama. Congratulations."
Kyoko smiled in the back seat and uttered her thanks.
Yashiro continued with a grin bigger than the Cheshire Cat's on his face, "Do you know who else is in the drama with you?" He wanted to draw Ren into the conversation somehow. Whether it was actually the man himself who spoke or just his name that came up, well, Yashiro didn't care.
Ren was suddenly paying attention to his manager's every single word. He hadn't told Kyoko he was in the same drama as her yet. If Yashiro told her, she'd probably think that Ren had been keeping that information from her for some reason. And then, most likely, she'd get upset with herself instead of with him.
Ren heard Kyoko's reply: "I actually have no clue. They just gave me the script for the first episode and said shooting starts in two weeks. I'm thinking there'll probably be a cast meeting or something before then. I hope so anyways. I'd like to meet everyone before filming begins. Maybe then I'll be a little less nervous."
"I'm sure they'll have some sort of prep meeting. They're probably just waiting for confirmation from all the actors who will be working on the drama before scheduling it," Yashiro told her, shooting a glance at Ren and making it known to his charge that he thought Ren should tell Kyoko.
Ren didn't take his eyes off the road as he pulled over, though he could feel Yashiro's stare still on him.
"Yukihito-san. You're home," Ren said evenly, glad that the timing had been so perfect. Yashiro couldn't possibly do anything more now.
"Ah. So I am. Thank you Ren. I'll see you tomorrow," Yashiro said as he got out of the car. "And goodbye to you as well, Kyoko-san. You can move up front now if you'd like. Keep Ren company on the way to your place."
"Oh no! I'm fine back here. Really," Kyoko answered quickly. Not that she minded sitting next to Ren, but she didn't want to be even more of a bother than she had already been, what with them having to fit her bike in the car and Ren going out of his way to take her home.
"Kyoko-san," Yashiro whispered to her conspiratorially so that Ren couldn't hear, "it's a little impolite to leave Ren all alone in the front."
Kyoko looked at Yashiro with big, questioning eyes. Yashiro nodded once and then walked away from the car smiling smugly. Kyoko spent about a second longer deciding what she would do, before she quickly hopped into the passenger seat and smiled shyly at a surprised Ren.
"So what are you going to have for dinner?" Kyoko asked in a way of making conversation when Ren pulled back onto the road.
But Ren paused too long.
"You weren't planning on having anything for dinner!" Kyoko accused angrily, glaring at Ren. If one thing could get her worked up, it was Ren's awful eating habits.
Ren grinned sheepishly after seeing Kyoko's angry face. "Then how about I take you to dinner and then you can make sure I eat," Ren told her trying to placate her and spend more time with her at the same time.
Kyoko was stunned into silence for a second by the invitation, but then she sighed heavily as if what she was being asked to do was the biggest chore in the world - and sort of was seeing as how determined Ren seemed to be to skip meals when not pressured. "You really need to eat better, Tsuruga-san. It's so unhealthy. You'll get sick again."
Ren flashed her a brilliant smile that put her in a daze and stunned her little grudges. "I know," was all he told her, glad that it had been so easy to convince her to have dinner with him. It wasn't a date, but it was still time spent together.
So, Ren drove them to a restaurant where they served eggs over steak, and he even let Kyoko order for him when she accused him of ordering things that were not in the least nutritional. She chattered happily about her week and how she had gotten to spend time with both Chiori and Kanae together, and Ren listened to every word, taking it all in and remembering her facial expressions. Finally though, he knew he had tell her that he was going to be in the drama too - or else when she did find out...well it couldn't be good.
"Mogami-san," Ren began, trying to get Kyoko's attention. Kyoko turned her eyes from her now empty plate to look at Ren. Only when Ren knew she was listening did he continue, "About the drama that you're going to be in...Mob Daughter?"
But Kyoko interrupted him before he could tell her what he wanted.
"Oh yeah! I was meaning to ask you what you thought of my character. I mean, she's not done yet, but I think I have something good to work with. What do you think?" Kyoko talked quickly, preparing herself for what she was sure was going to be an unfavorable, though probably helpful, response.
Ren just stared at Kyoko, who had turned her eyes downward again and looked as if she was bracing herself for his answer - her hands were, after all, gripping the table. "It was good, Mogami-san. A great start. It really felt like you were someone else, and I think you nailed how Saki would act at school with her friends."
"Really?" Kyoko asked dumbfounded by the praise. She was so startled that she looked up and was greeted by an earnest look on Ren's face. This look sent her thoughts racing in quick succession, but somehow one coherent idea managed to pop out of the queue and to her attention. "Wait! How do you know how Saki would act?"
"Oh, well," Ren mumbled while he quickly decided what he would say, realizing this was the perfect opening for his bit of information, "the truth is that-"
"The truth is that you're just trying to make me feel good," Kyoko interrupted, "it's okay though, Tsuruga-san, you don't have to lie for my sake-"
"Mogami-san," it was Ren's turn to interrupt, "what I was actually going to say was that I accepted a role in the same drama, so I've seen the script and know a little bit about Saki's character. I'll be Yahiko, the police chief's son."
It took Kyoko a second to process what Ren had said. "You're in Mob Daughter?" was the eloquent reply she managed to come up with.
Ren was trying to read the look on her face but he couldn't figure it out. Maybe that was because Kyoko wasn't sure exactly what she was feeling. She was both excited that she got to work with Ren again and watch him act, but also scared - because she had to interact quite a bit with his character. She might even have to fall in love with the police chief's son. When Kyoko's facial expression didn't change after a few seconds, Ren answered her question.
"Isn't that what I said, Mogami-san?" Ren tried to make light of it all, hoping that his announcement hadn't upset Kyoko in any way.
"Oh. Okay then," she finally managed to murmur. Then she realized that she was being very rude. Ren was her sempai. He had just payed for her dinner. He always helped her out. And she should feel honored that she got to be in another production with him, that she got to watch him bring to life another character, that she got to co-star with him. And suddenly she gained the enthusiasm that she should have had right away in her voice and countenance, and she gave herself a mental kick for being dumb. Then she looked back at Ren and said in all honesty, "I'm so happy that I get to work with you again Tsuruga-san! I won't disappoint you!"
And then, before Ren could fit in a word edgewise, she continued, "And did you really mean that about Saki? I'm so happy that someone as good as you thinks she's off to a good start. It really means a lot to me that you believe in my character."
"I believe in your character, Mogami-san, but I also believe in your ability to develop her and bring her to life. I am honored to work with you on this, and I know you'll be great," Ren praised her.
Well of course Kyoko blushed furiously, insisting that Ren was giving her too much credit. "I'm still just a newbie to the business!" she protested. This was followed by her insisting that he was being too nice to her.
Ren just listened to her protests, telling her she was better than she gave herself credit for in the brief intervals when she stopped to breathe, as they walked back to his car. Him and Kyoko climbed in, and while they drove, Kyoko finally stopped her protesting so that she could ask Ren about his opinion on how she should act out Saki.
"What do you mean? I think you definitely have the right idea. You just need to see some more of the story, and to meet and interact with the rest of the cast to give her some more dimensions," Ren told her confused. Her Saki was already quite good given that she had so little information to construct her from and such a narrow environment to test her in.
"The thing is, what you saw today, that's the easy part of her character - the part I can understand. But Saki has to love her family...and a man. I can probably manage the familial love once I meet the other actors and actually try it, but to love a guy...I just don't know if I can do it. I mean, I know it's supposed to be Saki who's in love, not me, but I can't love! So how can I express my character's love?" she confided in Ren. She had told Kanae the same thing because she was her best friend. She told Ren because he was her sempai and she trusted him, especially since he had helped her so much in the past.
"Well," Ren began, "you don't have to worry about your character falling in love for a while yet, right?" Kyoko bobbed her head in a signal for "yes", just as she had done when Kanae had asked her the same question. "The more you act your character, the more she'll become whole, and maybe, through the rest of her actions, you'll discover the way she would express her love for her important people. You have time. Just believe in yourself and try your best. You've overcome everything that's been thrown at you so far, right?"
Kyoko was shocked by the last thing Ren had said. She realized suddenly that she really had overcome all of the obstacles that had come her way since the whole thing with Sho had happened.
The time when her idea was stolen for the Kyurara commercial. When she had to get over her anger for Sho when she had participated in his music video. When she had to find her own Mio. When she had to find Natsu and show the director of Box "R" that her Natsu was who he wanted - not some Mio copycat. She had overcome all of those instances and still more. Ren believed in her. Kanae believed in her. Sawara believed in her. Maria believed in her. Lory believed in her. The couple at the Daruma-ya believed in her. 'And,' she realized, 'maybe it's time I start believing in myself.'
"Right," Kyoko answered Ren. It was a confident answer. She really felt like she had already overcome so much to get to where she was. She could do this. She would do this. She'd figure out how to express love.
They were minutes away from the Daruma-ya when Kyoko's phone rang. Ren watched out of the corner of his eye as Kyoko dug rapidly through her backpack to pull out the buzzing cell. She checked the caller id and saw that the number was unlisted. Someone from the office then.
"Hello?" she answered curiously.
"Ah. Kyoko-chan," Sawara's voice said on the other end.
"Sawara-san," Kyoko greeted him before asking, "Why are you calling?"
"Director Shingai phoned our offices today and asked us to let you know that your motorcycle lessons start the day after tomorrow, and that there will be a cast meeting in four days time. I had the package of information delivered to your home," Sawara explained.
"Oh. Thank you, Sawara-san!" Kyoko babbled into the phone.
"Don't mention it. I'll speak to you tomorrow about it all in person. Make sure that you try to organize your schedule around the motorcycle lessons and the cast meeting tonight though. The lessons are flexible, but the cast meeting is when it is," Sawara told her.
"Of course!" Kyoko eagerly answered before saying goodbye to her manager and hanging up.
"What was that all about?" Ren asked Kyoko having missed the bulk of the short conversation, which had been held on Sawara's end.
"Oh. It's just some stuff for Mob Daughter," she told him. "Sawara-san was just telling me all of the information that he had received from the director today, like that I have my lessons the day after tomorrow. Oh, and that we have a cast meeting in four days."
"Your lessons?" Ren couldn't help but be curious.
"Yeah. For learning to ride a motorcycle. It's going to be so much fun!" Kyoko told Ren excitedly.
Ren couldn't hold in his automatic reaction. He groaned. Luckily Kyoko wasn't paying him much attention as she had drifted off into her fantasy world, imagining what it would be like to ride a motorcycle. Ren just had a bad feeling in the bottom of his gut that the petite Kyoko and a motorcycle could not be a good combination.
Just look at how dangerous she was on a regular bike.
Authoress' Notes: Yes she's learning to ride a motorcycle. Why? Because I realized she's not old enough to drive a car in Japan. My initial plan was for her to drive a nice, sleek car in a few scenes in the drama and of course in my story, but since she's not old enough and her character's not old enough, well that doesn't really work. She and her character are however old enough to ride a motorcycle. Mob daughter's got money, but her daddy's not the type to spring for a driver. With three older brothers...I can totally see Saki riding a motorcycle to have her independence (and maybe a little under her bros' influence). As for Kyoko...we'll see. Oh...and please review! It helps me and motivates me!