Strings Attached

by

dancingfingers

Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Skip Beat! and its characters.

Beta-ed by the lovely regulusgal. Thank you, dear!

I hope my other beta, rsrdiall will get well soon and greet all of us with her brilliant works again :)

Chapter 12

"Kyoko-chan," he said, stepping forward. "It's been a long time."

Kyoko shook her head gently and blinked back the tears that had threatened to fall down her cheeks. Hands trembling, she gripped the arms of her chair and slowly stood up. She looked straight at the kind and wise grey eyes lookingback at her, mentally assessing her while she did the same to him. He was still the same man she'd known years before; still smiling and kind at her even though she had hurt someone, or a certain man who fathered the child clinging to her hand, understanding without needing her to tell him anything.

"Yashiro-san," she choked. Her heart swelling with emotions that she didn't notice Sachiko's hand slipping away from her grip, Kyoko walked straight ito his open arms and gave the poor man a bear hug. Hot tears trickled down her pale cheeks as she sobbed into his chest. The manager merely hugged her back and one hand rubbed her shivering back soothingly, while he murmured sweet-nothings to calm her nerves.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..."

Yukihito nuzzled the top of her head affectionately and leaned towards her ear, whispered, "No need to apologize, Kyoko-chan."

She pulled away slightly and glanced up. "But... I must have..."

Light brown hair swayed gently as he shook his head. "I am not the one who you need to apologize to, Kyoko-chan," he explained, slowly leading her to her seat and sat her down. "Besides, I think I know why you left," he added, glancing at Sachiko with a small smile on his face. Suddenly, his lips puckered into a pout. He turned a pair of sad, disapproving eyes towards the young woman. "Though I would prefer that you tell me, at least."

Kyoko looked down to her lap and heaved a sad sigh. "I couldn't. If... h-that person knew... I... he... we aren't... weren't even..." she trailed off and shrugged helplessly.

Yukihito closed his eyes and sighed. Of course he knew why. He also realized that had he been stopping all that nonsense of their physical relationship, Kyoko would have never left in the first place and hid her pregnancy from Kuon because she had thought that his charge haddn't want the baby... or that the unborn would ruin Kuon Hizuri's career. He was guilty too in this matter.

He shook his head inwardly. There was no use crying over spilt milk now. They needed to move forward and face whatever problems on their way. If he'd been somewhat ignorant towards their relationship before (since he was still focusing in his budding relationship with Kanae), he would not do that again now. His eyes then strayed to the emerald-eyed girl who looked at him curiously, and he could not help but imagine how Kuon would react when he knew that he had a child, a beautiful daughter at that, who inherited his green eyes and the mother's inky black hair.

He knelt down in front of the child and smiled. "Hello little one."

"Hello," the girl greeted shyly, her thick eyelashes fluttering. Glancing towards her mother, who nodded reassuringly, she held out her chubby hand, saying, "My name's Sachiko."

Yukihito shook her hand gently. "My name is Yashiro Yukihito, I am a friend of your mother's."

"He is Auntie Kanae's boyfriend, Sacchan," Kyoko interjected helpfully.

Sachiko's green eyes widened, her mouth forming an 'o'. "Uncle Yukihito? The one who loves dogs and shoujo manga?" she asked in awe. Unaware of the blush staining Yukihito's cheeks (since shoujo manga was his secret guilty pleasure), Sachiko continued, "Uncle, uncle, can I borrow one of your manga? Or let me play with your dog when we come to Tokyo? Okaa-san said that you have this huge white dog! She said that he is very handsome, but I don't think you can call a dog handsome, right? I mean, they're supposed to be cute! I always want one, but Okaa-san says that I can't have it while we stay here," she said, pausing to take a breath and ready to continue her babbling if her mother hadn't stopped her to it.

"Sacchan..."

Sachiko pouted, her lower lips quivering and cheeks flushed. "I only want to play," she mumbled dejectedly.

Yukihito resisted the urge to squeal loudly over the adorableness the girl exuded.

Sachiko then gestured the man to the empty seat beside her. He looked up at the woman sitting silently on Sachiko's side, then allowed himself to sit down when she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Yashiro-sama," she greeted. "I wasn't aware that you were here."

The bespectacled man scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Me and my charge are currently working now, Shiori-san," he explained.

"I see," Shiori replied politely, her attention then averted to Sachiko. "Let's finish your meal, ne, Sachiko-chan?"

As the green-eyed girl went back to her meal, Yukihito turned to Kyoko, whose face went white after the reality dawned on her.

"Yashiro-san—" Kyoko started, only to be halted by his hand.

He frowned at her. "Yukihito," he corrected.

"But—"

"I insist. We've known each other for years, after all."

Kyoko opened her mouth to protest, but then he gave her a look and she recoiled, mumbling something about 'improper', 'elder', 'senior', and the likes. She didn't see Yukihito rolling his eyes in exasperation, though she did see the knowing glint in his grey eyes when she stared at him.

"We are here for work," Yukihito started, eyes focused at her expression. "The President offered this international project to him for months. I think you've heard it before on TV or internet, but this is a project between LME and an agency from here. The movie is called after a novel, From Batavia With Love."

He leaned back against his seat and continued. "I was quite surprised when he decided to accept, because as we all know, he rarely takes a part on romance genre. He always says that he doesn't want any setting-up between two main characters outside the recording—well, I think after the last time with that actress, I fully understand his reasoning—but after he read the script, he only needed a few minutes to ponder and accept it. And," he waved his hands around him, shrugging minutely, "We're here."

The golden-eyed woman nodded, her eyes distant. "So that was him..." she murmured.

He raised an eyebrow. "What was that?"

She blinked, her gaze cleared once more. "I saw him when he walked to the location," she answered with a small smile tilting her lips. "I thought it was a dream, Ya—erm, Yukihito-san."

Yukihito smiled warmly at her and reached out his hand to squeeze hers gently. "It was not a dream, Kyoko-chan." And so was he was never spoken aloud, yet Kyoko understood. She squeezed his hand in thanks, and for the first time since she had moved to Indonesia, a light lit up her golden eyes, pushing the shadow in them away slightly.

"Here you go," Yukihito said as he handed a cool mineral water to Kuon. Said man accepted in gratitude, though his eyes never strayed from the monitor before him.

"How did it go?" the manager asked quietly.

Kuon rolled back on his heels and put his chin on his knuckle. "It went smoothly," he replied curtly in English, frowning a bit at a particular scene. "Although this one apparently needs a bit more of lighting there. It seems rather off to me, and my expression there turned out scary instead of surprised."

"I agree with you there, Hizuri," the director mumbled from his seat next to Kuon.

Kuon chuckled. "Seems that we should retake," he stated more than questioned.

The older man nodded. "Of course!" he exclaimed. Turning his gaze to the crew, he yelled, "Everyone, prepare for retake for the sixth scene in twenty minutes!"

Kuon smiled at the energetic director, then gulped down his drink. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, relaxing as the scent of the forest drifted to his nose and filled his lungs. Without opening his eyes, he asked Yukihito, "Where were you just now?"

Yukihito's eyebrows disappeared into his bangs, obviously startled as he was still scribbling on his planner. "I'm sorry?"

"Where were you? I didn't see you on location when I was recording."

'Ah, the question of the year.' Snapping his planner shut, he merely smiled and answered with, "I met someone," in cryptic tone.

"Hn..." Cracking one eye open, Kuon coaxed, "Who?"

Yukihito smiled mysteriously. "A long lost friend."

Before Kuon could ask for more information, the director signaled for retake. Sighing, Kuon dropped the topic reluctantly, tamping down his curiosity that rose after he saw his friend's smile. Behind him, the grey-eyed man coughed, covering the laugh that bubbled in his throat.

'Soon.' He promised mentally. 'Soon you will meet her too.'

Two pairs of emerald green and golden eyes widened in wonder as they watched sharks swimming above. One of the sharks snapped his jaw threateningly at a little boy who plastered his hands to the glass that separated the sea inhabitants and the human visitors, earning a surprised giggle from the kid.

"Wow," Sachiko exclaimed breathlessly. "His teeth are awesome!"

Kyoko nodded. "As long as they don't eat me or you, they're awesome."

Shiori chuckled softly, while Sachiko gasped in fright. "They eat human?" she asked, voice trembling.

"They usually eat smaller fishes, but of course they can eat us. They're predators," Kyoko explained. Seeing the pale face of her daughter, she hurriedly added, "But look, Sacchan, they can't eat us because of this," she tapped the glass gently. "It protects us from them, and protects them from us."

Sachiko tilted her head in confusion. "Protects them? Why would they need protection?"

It was Shiori who replied. "Some of these fishes are rare, and if they are caught, you can sell them with high price."

"Really..." Sachiko murmured incredously. "The sharks too?"

"Mm-hm. You remember, Sachiko-chan, we saw many restaurant that sell shark's fin for meal days ago. It is expensive, and popular here, I think," Shiori explained, her forefinger tapping her chin.

The girl punched her left palm with her right knuckle. "You're right, Shio-chan," she exclaimed. "But why do they eat the fin?"

"Uh, well..."

"Some said that it could be used for medicine," Kyoko interjected.

"Why only the fin? Why not the meat?"

It was Kyoko's turn to sweatdrop. "Uh..."

"What about the teeth? The tail? Oh! And does the fisherman take the oldest shark or the youngest? I mean, if you take the oldest, I think the fin is harder to eat than the youngest, but if they take the young, it is horrible! They are still babies! You can't eat babies because it is so mean! Okaa-san, we will never eat sharks, okay? I don't want to be a meanie and I don't want you to, beca—"

"Oh, look! A rayfish!" Kyoko shouted in mock surprise, interrupting her daughter's rambling. True to her words, a rayfish swam after a pack of turtles floating lazily among the streams of light in the deep blue water that hypnotized the eyes of the beholder. Sachiko gasped in delight.

"It looks like a kite!" she exclaimed in awe.

Kyoko and Shiori sighed in relief as the little girl clapped her hands excitedly, forgetting her earlier questions. However, because she was in the stage of wanting to know how everything works around her, she changed her question to her current interest much to the women's dismay.

"So... why does it look like that, Okaa-san?"

"I thought I was going to die there."

The auburn-haired woman chuckled as Kyoko all but fell onto her bed and laid on her stomach, too exhausted to change her clothes. Patting the back of the other woman, Shiori teased, "She is smart for her age."

Kyoko huffed. "I feel stupid," she grumbled, then moaned as her toes ached inside her sneaker. "It's been years since I last went to school..." she trailed off, then, as memories of the past darkened her mood.

"Is there a new information about the package, Kyoko-san?" Shiori asked gently, although her tone was full business.

A frown marred Kyoko's smooth forehead. "Yes... Honda-san has found something else there," she responded. She began gnawing at her nail as the knot twisted in her lower belly. "How did she know?" she murmured to herself. "Sho-chan should have... but she has connection... what should I do..."

"Know what, Kyoko-san?"

Kyoko snapped her gaze at Shiori, who stared back steadily at her. She gulped and looked away. "She... I think she knows about Sachiko," she uttered her daughter's name in soft whisper as if she was afraid that had someone heard it they would do something unimaginable towards the green-eyed girl, who was currently napping in her bedroom. "I don't know whether she truly knows or not, and if what my gut is telling me were right, then... she might know, although I don't know how and when she knows."

Shiori sucked in a sharp breath. "Are you sure?"

"I don't know," Kyoko groaned. "I hope I am mistaken and this is all only a cruel joke for an early April's Fool."

There was a pregnant silence as Shiori pondered about it. After several moments, she looked up, and reassured the distressed woman, "I will not let anyone harm Sachiko, Kyoko-san. You have my word."

Kyoko's lips curved into a small, grim smile. "I know," she mumbled, looking out the window through which she could see the sky starting to cry in drizzle. "I know."

Hello—long time no see! I am very, very, and deeply sorry for not posting in a long time. Writer's block seems to fancy me, and I can't just say, "Get out of here, you annoying disease!" Had I forced myself to write, it would not be a decent and enjoyable chapter like this one (or so I thought).

I will write the next chapter after this, while hmmm... contacting my beta and see that they are willing to beta my works again after disappearing for six months. Lol.

Ja ne, and hope to see you soon this month,

-dee

P.S I'd also like to thank whoever has recommended this story in one of Skip Beat! community. I am truly honored! This is my first baby, and I-oh, I don't know what to say! Just... I give my deep gratitude towards all who have given me support and love :)