Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat! I own nothing!

Of Love and Of Heartbreak-Chapter 3

"You'll be apart from him again for a while wont you, from Tsuruga-kun"

"*sigh* Yes…"

Now I know why my heart felt so unbearably heavy then, when Director Ogata reminded me that I won't see Tsuruga-san for a while.

"Uhmm Tsuruga -san…Is there something wrong?"

"Huh? Ah. Well, Kind of. I was worried about you Mogami-san. Have you prepared everything for tomorrow?"

Now I realize why I was so happy that time when he called me and fussed about me.

"I'm sorry…Just leave me alone for a while"

I now also understand why I was so afraid to lose his trust and so afraid that he would hate me that time when he found out that Shoutaro saved me and looked away from me.

"Don't worry. Corn has become a proper adult. His wings have grown and he can fly freely."

The comfort and the security that I found in his arms, those warm feelings that I've never felt before…

"Let me try this again…Happy Birthday Mogami-san."

The feeling of happiness—so strong that my heart feels like it's going to leap out of my chest…

"Don't let it happen a second time, Okay?"

The feeling of despair at the thought of disappointing him…

"Thank you. The Gelee Au Vin was delicious."

The feeling of excitement when he's close—so intoxicating I lose all reason.

This man in front of me has redefined my feelings with regards to love. What I previously thought as love, where it should always make me feel light and fresh has been slowly broken and reshaped by the love that I feel for this wonderful man. My feelings for him have taught me that love can be light and refreshing at one moment but heavy and painful the next. Although there are things about him that I do not know, things that he would never let me find out, I am confident that I love this man—that I can love him despite him having feelings for someone else already.

Despite that, I'll still love him. But I'll love him from far away. I just can't let him know. Because I love him, I can't burden him when he has already generously taken good care of me as his Kohai. I'll love him from afar. I won't burden him with these feelings. I can't let him know…I won't. I have to act like usual…

"Tsuruga-san! Good Morning!"

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' "I don't think I need Setsuka anymore Mogami-san". That's right." That's how I'll say it.' Tsuruga Ren thought firmly as he walked down the hallway, that lead to the Love Me Section. He spent the entire week debating on whether or not to let her go and came up with the conclusion that it was for the best if he didn't expose her to his dark self. 'I can't have her around when I'm playing a role like this. I can't afford Mogami-san to see me act like heartless killer. I can't afford to have her see me…the real me. I will clearly tell her that I don't need Setsuka anymore, but what should I tell her if she asks why?'

Stopping in front of the room, he took a deep breath and steeled himself to tell Kyoko about killing off Setsu's role. He took one last breath to steady himself and opened the door. And there she was, hands poised to reach for the door. He was so surprised to see her standing right in front of him that all he managed to say was a 'Hello, Mogami-san.'

As he waited for her reply, he noticed her stiffness and silence. 'Something's not right.' he sensed as she stared blankly at him, frozen right at the spot.

"Mogami-san?" Ren asked again, growing more worried by the second.

"Tsuruga-san! Good Morning!" Kyoko hurriedly replied, her shoulders relaxing and the whole atmosphere around her visibly changing. "I didn't expect to see you here this early. What brings you here to the Love Me Section?" she asked with a gentle smile laced with a bit of sadness.

Ren was so taken aback and bothered by her unusual behavior that any thoughts of killing off Setsu flew from his mind. He couldn't bring himself to kill her character especially now that he's noticed a change in her. Not an awkward change but a subtle change, but since he couldn't understand how the change could have happened between the ten seconds that they stood at the door, he was thoroughly bothered by it.

'She looked as if her world was turning inside out. What could have happened to her?' he thought. When he saw that Kyoko was looking at him, expecting a reply to her question, he quickly remembered that he couldn't possibly tell her that Setsu was going. Instead he said the first thing that came to his mind.

"I came to pick."

"Huh?" Kyoko answered quite bewildered.

"Setsu. Remember?" he supplied in a whisper making sure no was around to hear them. "Setsu has to come with me on set." Ren was disappointed in himself not only for giving such a lame excuse but also for tying his own noose. Not only did he keep Setsu alive but he also told Kyoko that Setsu should stick to him the whole time tonight on set. 'That was stupid of me! I should have just told her I was looking for Kotonami-san or something. But...' he thought while he looked at Kyoko's perplexed expression as if she was trying to remember something. 'Her expression after she saw me was one of shock and then the next moment she looked relieved but sad at the same time. I can't possibly tell her something so mean after that. She even paused for a couple of seconds before she answered me. I'm really worried. I hope it's not about Fuwa again.'

"Tsuruga-san! Tsuruga-san!" called Kyoko breaking Ren's train of thought. "I know that I should stick around Cain Heel but its only 10 in the morning." She said, giving Ren an amused look. "The shoot won't be until 6 in the evening. Plus, I have a shoot today."

Not only did he give a lame excuse but he also gave an illogical one. "Haha. I'm sorry Mogami-san!" Ren replied nervously. If Kyoko asked why he made the mistake, he didn't know what answer to give. "Well, now that the misunderstanding on my part is all cleared up, where did you say your shoot was? Maybe I can give you a ride as an apology for taking your time."

"Ah…uhm…"

Now it was Kyoko's turn to fidget and become nervous. 'I can't tell him that I'm shooting at TBM. If I do, he might follow me to the set and figure out that I'm Bo! No!' Kyoko thought nervously. "Ah! No need to worry Tsuruga-san! Even if I leave right now, I'll still get to the set on time with 40 minutes to spare. Unlike your schedule, mine is pretty free so there should be no reason for me to be late." She hurriedly told him with a smile.

'She does seem to have a problem!' thought Ren as he observed her nervous reaction. 'Well, I can always ask her later. I'll definitely find out what's wrong but right now I want her to concentrate on her shoot.'

"If you say so Mogami-san." He said with a smile and he saw her visibly relax. "But at least let me walk you to the front hall." He offered as they walked out of the room.

"Ah! No. It's okay Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko flushed consciously affected by the concern that Ren was showing.

"No, Mogami-san. I insist." Ren said gently.

While the walked towards LME's reception hall, Kyoko sneaked a glance at Ren. Feeling so overwhelmed by roller coaster of emotions that this man had put her through she couldn't help but think how lucky it was that she can easily act normally around him. She then softly smiled to herself when she thought of the reasons why she fell in love with him. It was not just his looks that drew her to him. Behind the smiling gentleman, the incorrigible façade was a normal human, capable of feeling intense anger and also capable of genuinely caring for others.

"Well, thank you for the reminder Tsuruga-san." Kyoko said as she turned to face Ren with a deep bow. "I'll be seeing you later then." And she went off with a smile.

"Take care Mogami-san." He replied as he waved his hands in goodbye.

As she stepped out of the building Kyoko heaved a sigh of relief knowing that she can still act normally around Ren. Despite being in love with him, he was still her sempai and that title demanded a lot of respect and professionalism from her especially when they were playing the Heel siblings. The Heel Siblings…siblings…

Kyoko almost tripped over herself when she realized how difficult it was going to be when she had to act as the overly protective, obsessive and incestuously amorous little sister to Tsuruga Ren's Cain Heel. Little did she know that figuring out how to act like Setsu without being embarrassed was going to be the least of her problems.

Author's Notes: I APOLOGIZE! I apologize if there wasn't a lot of progress in this chapter but I've always thought that Kyoko would react this way when she finds out that she has feelings for Ren. She would think that her feelings are just a burden for Ren and she would stay quiet about it…That's my defense…

Also, I won't be able to update for a while. I have been troubles registering for courses in my college and I have to get ready for Immunology, Microbiology and Ecology courses this semester so I apologize for the slight halt in the story's progress.

Special thanks to Shiroyuki76 for pointing out my error in the second chapter. Hopefully, you won't stop reading the story….Please put your rants and complaints in the form of a review…thank you=)