Author's Note: What is Ren in store for? Are you ready to find out? Here we go, chapter 3: the Dinner. I still don't own Skip Beat!

7:55pm and Ren was a nervous wreck. He had already paced a two foot trench into the floor of his flat. He managed to blushingly put on a nylon shirt, but he could not bring himself to don nylon pants, which he did in fact own. He had once played a character that was a professional ballet dancer. When the call came that Kyoko had arrived, he jumped so high, that he was sure he had dented the ceiling. He practically ran down to the lobby to greet her.

As he walked her up to his flat, Ren had to think to breathe while keeping his hands from trembling. Kyoko was wearing a nylon camisole that peaked out from under her loose fit nylon blouse. She also wore form-fitting jean capris and some woolly socks that were almost hidden by ankle high boots. Other than the socks, which seemed very out of place, she looked simply stunning. What really upped Ren's heart rate was that Kyoko appeared comfortable, confident, and determined in a way that was only enhanced by the light makeup she had applied. The gleam in her eyes as well as her overall demeanor told Ren that she was most likely not Kyoko.

As soon as they reached their destination, Kyoko went straight to work in the kitchen. Ren tried to relax on the couch as the fragrances from the kitchen began filling the apartment. He knew that if he dared to enter the kitchen, he might not be able to control himself. It was better for him to take the time to relax and, maybe get into character himself. If she was using acting, why shouldn't he?

Kyoko let out a long sigh when she had finally escaped Ren. This was torture. She was shocked that her body wasn't glistening with sweat. Acting had managed to give her some control of the situation, but she was still shaking with fear. How can he be so calm about this? Stupid playboy! Or perhaps he is just completely oblivious to the complexity of the situation. Kyoko pondering the reason that Ren did not seem to be angry at this very moment and that he was in fact playing along fairly well. Perhaps at least part of her was still on his good side. No! She immediately stopped her train of thoughts. She would not allow herself the luxury of such hope. Closing her eyes, she eased back into her character and began cooking.

Once the dinner was fully cooked, Kyoko again donned the character she had created just for this occasion. Originally she was planning on using either Natsu or Setsu to manipulate, not manipulate, her sempai. The problem was that leather would not work for this particular experiment. Also, she wanted to see Ren glow, not Cain. Natsu was simply too intense for the situation; Kyoko was not out to bully Ren after all.

Now in character, Kyoko picked-up the food and began carrying it out to the table using a Natsu-like walk.

"Ren! Dinner's ready" she hollered inwardly cringing at the informality, but it was necessary as she needed to be commanding for this to work.

Ren was shocked at first, but managed to quickly transition into his own character. He would not let her outdo him again.

"Coming babe!" called back with a small grin in place. If she was going to be so forward with him, be it intentional or unintentional, he was going to play the eager boyfriend and take full advantage of her bold behavior.

Kyoko momentarily froze. She certainly was not expecting that. Is he bullying me again? She asked herself, before remembering that she had already made up her mind about this evening. She was going to beat him and puppet him with the best of her acting abilities.

Kyoko set the food down on the table with an extra swing of the hips then carefully positioned herself in a casual recline along the side of the table. Ren strode over keeping his eyes on the poised body before him. Resisting the urge to touch her, Ren opted to take a seat on the opposite side of the table. He would definitely get to touch her later, but for right now he wanted to test the waters to see how far she was planning to take this.

"How's the food Ren?" Kyoko asked, stressing the single syllable that was the tall actor's name.

"The food tastes great, but I can think of something that would taste even better, Kyoko." The Emperor said with a sly grin.

Kyoko twitched. She was not expecting the Emperor to come out, at least not this early in the game. Regardless, Kyoko quickly overcame her shock; she was not ready to back down yet.

"Oh? And what might that be?" The actress asked while cutely batting her eyelashes at the man.
"I was thinking dessert." answered the Emperor with a gleam in his eyes and a growing grin.

"Tsk Tsk Ren, you only get dessert if you're extra good. Patience is a virtue."

Ren never wanted to finish his food so quickly in his life.

Boy is Ren in trouble! Comments, criticisms, cookies?