AGENT WALLFLOWER
Kyoko has a journalist-friend? Everybody else is suspicious except of course, Kyoko. How do you protect a clueless actress with secrets from a possible enemy masquerading as a friend?
Disclaimer: I do not own Skipbeat!
CHAPTER 3
As per Sato-san's custom, there was a fresh cup of coffee and the day's newspaper waiting for him at his desk. Since he's the editor-in-chief of Tokyo Daily, he already knew the gist of what's going on in the newspaper, but he liked to reevaluate it at the same time as the rest of the Tokyo population were reading it.
He briefly scanned the articles to check if there was nothing amiss. As he reached for his coffee, he saw a pink post-it left on his desk.
"Re-arranged the entertainment section a bit for Monobu-san's article - Shio-san" it read.
He quickly flipped over to the entertainment section with a frown. When he found the section, his frown slowly turned into an approving grin.
Shio had bumped down some articles to make more space for Monobu's piece. It was a pretty bland article about the almost-stampede in front of the TBM building and then some generic information about the Box-R cast and Tsuruga Ren who also guested in the talk show yesterday. There was an accompanying picture of the handsome actor and also a group photo of the Box-R girls. But what really drew the attention was the bigger photo of Kyoko as Natsu apparently looking straight at the camera with a dazzling smile on her face. The photo caption read 'Natsu gives Love back to her Fans'.
If his intuition is correct, Tokyo Daily will be selling like hotcakes today.
-o-o-o-o-
"Wow, you're up early," Shouko commented as she sipped on her cup of coffee. A bleary-eyed young man paused at the bedroom door, nonchalantly scratched his belly, and then shuffled off to the toilet. After a few moments, he came back out, shuffled to the table, wherein Shouko handed him a coffee mug which he took a mouthful of. Then he shuffled back to the bedroom and reappeared with a towel that he brought with him to the bathroom. The sound of running water could then be heard as Shouko continued to sip her coffee and read the newspaper.
When a few minutes have passed, Shouko stood up, grabbed a change of clothes from the bedroom and went to the bathroom door. Just then, a hand shot out of the door and Shouko handed the clothes over. Then she went back to the table to wait some more. As she waited, a little frown started forming on her brow.
Sho, her Superstar charge, was usually predictable and pretty easy to manage most of the time. Despite his arrogant and somewhat childish character, he was quite dedicated to his music and could mostly be depended to do his job. Sure he had mood swings, but Shouko had learned how to handle them. After being with him for almost a year, she could detect his moods and could usually persuade and coax him back to work when needed. But there was just one thing she could never predict about Sho – and that's his reaction when a certain short-haired actress is concerned.
She stared at the smiling picture of Kyoko accompanying a short article in the newspaper she was reading and wondered if she should hide it or not.
Too late.
"What're you reading?" a fully recovered Fuwa Sho asked. He abruptly plucked the newspaper from her grasp and looked at it. Shouko watched with trepidation. He stared impassively at the photo before tossing it to the couch.
"So it's the idiot…" he said with a shrug. Shouko breathed a sigh of relief. At least he wouldn't be storming off to look for the actress again.
"I was checking if there were any gossip cropping up about you again," Shouko fabricated. "Anyway, it's about time we head over to the studio now. We're having a breakfast meeting with the producers." She stood up and grabbed her purse and the car keys.
"Can't you let me finish my coffee first?" Sho whined.
Shouko rolled her eyes, gestured for him to go on and went out the door. Sho hurriedly gulped down his lukewarm coffee before getting ready to leave. As he moved across the couch though, he slowed down and picked up the newspaper he had tossed away. He scanned the article and then quietly stared at the smiling girl for a few moments. He used to see that blinding smile everyday way back when. Now, everything he does to her just make her scowl. He carefully stuffed the newspaper in the pocket of his guitar case as strode out of the room.
-o-o-o-o-
When Ren arrived at L.A. Hearts, he was met with a rather odd looking Yashiro, who had a newspaper in one hand and a pair of scissors in another.
"Ren! Have you seen the newspaper? Have you? Have you?" he asked excitedly.
"And a Good morning to you too, Yashiro," Ren said calmly.
Yashiro reddened and tried to collect himself. "Yes, Good morning!" he said composedly, and then broke into a big grin again.
"So have you seen the newspaper?" he demanded.
Ren mentally rolled his eyes. His manager was acting like a hyperactive puppy so early in the morning. He fervently hoped it wouldn't last all through the day or he might seriously end up breaking something. He tried to ignore him as he placed an order with the waitress for coffee.
"No, I haven't. Is there something in there I should be concerned about?" he finally asked as he settled down on his seat. As answer, Yashiro slipped the folded newspaper in front of Ren.
"It's a very nice picture," Yashiro said slyly.
Ren briefly looked at the newspaper. "Me? That's nothing to get worked up about. I've had my pictures in the newspaper before."
Yashiro stared at him blankly, glanced at the smaller photo of Ren and then hurriedly flipped the newspaper. "No! I meant this! THIS is a very nice picture!"
Yashiro watched in satisfaction as Ren stared at Kyoko's smile for more than a second longer.
"I see… I'm glad Mogami-san's finally getting more recognition now," Ren said placidly and Yashiro pouted.
"It would be nice if you got more excited," Yashiro sulkily said. "Anyway, I'm going to cut this out for you even if you don't ask me to. Because I'm a good manager."
Ren wondered where the connection between being a good manager and cutting a newspaper clipping for him was. Just then, the waitress sidled over with his coffee. As Yashiro claimed the newspaper again, Ren caught a last fleeting glance of Kyoko. Her voice demanding if he'd eaten breakfast yet echoed in his mind.
"I'd like to order some sausage and eggs, please." He said to the waitress, and then to Yashiro,"I think we have some time before our meeting with the president, so we might as well have some breakfast first."
Yashiro glanced down at the Newspaper, and then at Ren. "Wow, Kyoko-chan's amazing. Even her picture alone can make you eat," he whispered. "I'm sooo going to use this next time you skip lunch."
Ren glared at him. Maybe it's about time to change the subject, Yashiro belatedly thought.
"Errr… I'll have what he's having, and another coffee for me, too" Yashiro hurriedly said to the waitress to avoid looking at his companion.
"So let's go over your schedule for today…"
-o-o-o-o-
Monobu couldn't believe that his first article for Tokyo Daily could be such a hit.
Well, not really his article since it was just a bunch of stuff he took from the web. But his classmates in the university were very enthusiastic about the pictures he took, especially of Natsu.
"That was your first article for Tokyo Daily, right? You really got us buzzing, congratulations!"
"Maaaan, that picture you took was sweeeeeet!"
"Your boss might give you a job in the news section now like you originally asked, eh?"
"I never knew Natsu could smile so prettily like that, and you were the one who captured it in a shot! Congratulations! She always has that kinda half-smile or that smirk, though she's hot like that."
"Yeah, come to think of it Kyoko doesn't have a lot of smiling photos at all, noh? They always show her scowling or worse, that creepy smile."
"Say, Monobu-kun! How close were you to her when you took the picture? Get me an autograph next time!"
"Yeah, me too! And Tsuruga Ren's too!"
Monobu didn't have any idea what they were talking about at first until they showed him his newspaper article. He stared agape at his own photo and his classmates were more impressed when he told them that his shot of Kyoko was purely accidental. Somebody commented that he must be quite lucky since his first piece was causing a big stir.
"You'll be some big shot real soon, I'm sure! Don't forget us little people!" a girl joked, causing Monobu to blush.
By the end of his last class, Monobu was feeling full of himself. But the feeling wasn't meant to last long.
"I was right about you! That photo you took of Natsu was magnificent! You have the makings of a great paparazzi! A natural stalker!" Sato-san said proudly, thumping Monobu at the back. Monobu grinned although he wasn't sure if he should be happy to be called a natural stalker, whatever that was.
"S-so, Sato-san… Will I get assigned to news articles now?" Monobu asked eagerly. The room suddenly seemed chillier than usual.
"Eh?" Sato-san halted in mid-step. "You do know that the article you wrote is crap itself, right? The only redeeming factors were the pictures you took. And now you actually want to be assigned to news?" Sato-san's voice turned icier with every word he said. He turned around and loomed over Monobu , poking him hard on the chest.
"I decide WHEN you can write news articles, WHEN you deserve to write news articles, and IF you should write news articles! And your years away from THAT! Got it, hot shot?" he growled.
Monobu mutely nodded. Sato-san straightened up but kept glaring silently at the young man. Monobu started fidgeting as the awkward silence stretched between them. Suddenly, Sato-san marched back to his seat behind the desk.
"Tell you what… I'll give you a chance to prove yourself," he said slyly.
"If you can find me a real juicy showbiz article story, I'll let you do news articles. You can pick anybody as subject as long as it's about showbiz, it's all up to you. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"
A smile slowly spread on his face as he got an idea. "Piece of cake!" Monobu thought smugly. He had the cat in the bag with his knowledge about Mogami Kyouko and Fuwa Shotarou. Wasn't running away from home with a guy pretty juicy stuff?
"Sure thing, boss!" Monobu said eagerly as he stood up. "I won't come back until I get a story!"
Sato-san tossed him the camera and growled, "You CAN'T come back until you get a story, kid. Don't bother, because then you're fired."
-o-o-o-o-
"Good morning, Kyoko-san!" Chiori greeted her Love Me sempai. They were in the locker room and she had just finished slipping into her shocking pink jumpsuit uniform and was just waiting for the other Love Me members to arrive. In her hands she held a newspaper opened to the entertainment section.
"Good morning, Chiori-san!" Kyoko chirped back as she opened her locker to deposit her bag. "Do you have any acting jobs today?" she asked conversationally. She took out her own shocking pink uniform and started slipping into it.
"Oh, I'm supposed to attend a casting call later in the afternoon, but I'm free this morning," she answered with an indifferent wave of her hand. She looked excited about something else, but she restrained herself until Kyoko was finished changing.
When Kyoko finally closed her locker, Chiori jumped up eagerly.
"Have you seen the paper, Kyoko-san? We're in it! Especially you! Look!" she thrust the paper in front of Kyoko's face.
Kyoko also started jumping excitedly, but then her eyes widened as she gave a good look at the page Chiori was holding out and the expression on her face turned to horror.
"Why is he -? Why am I -? Why is the group shot -?" Chiori heard Kyoko sputter out unintelligibly in anger. Chiori was confused. Shouldn't she be happy they were featured, especially her?
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…!"
Before Chiori knew it, Kyoko was out the door and screaming through the halls like a banshee.
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- Hi everyone! Thank you for the really kind comments! I'm really glad you like my story so far. Monobu and Kyoko WILL meet, I promise. I'm scrambling to get the next chapter out.
It's very encouraging to read the reviews, it gives me the energy to struggle to put my topsy-turvy ideas into words. So please leave some more. Thanks!