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 9

Next stop: Singapore.

Ren tried to relax in his chair as he waited for the plane to set off. Rest would be hard to come by when they arrive in their destination, with his schedule so fully-booked it was ridiculous. He had another 2 days of non-stop photo shoots, tapings, guestings in talk shows, more shoots... Just thinking about it made his head hurt. Not for the first time, Ren wished this plane was already bound for Japan instead of Singapore.

You wanted a challenge, so here you got one, Ren thought wryly to himself.

Beside him, Yashiro noisily flipped through a Japanese Newspaper he bought at the airport lounge.

"Oh! So this is what President Takarada was talking about," Yashiro said. Ren was quite sure his Manager's voice was deliberately loud to get his attention. The way he meaningfully glanced at him was a dead giveaway, too. Ren decided to ignore him.

"Nice photo we have here!" Yashiro commented, sneaking another glance in Ren's direction. No response.

Yashiro wasn't giving up yet.

"Wow, it's no surprise SHE's getting an endorsement deal out of this!" he said aloud.

"She?" thought Ren. Of course this was about Kyoko. She was the only topic Yashiro liked to bring up aside from Ren's schedule. He liked mentioning her name to Ren every chance he could get.

"Okay, fine! You win! You're really no fun at all, you know!" Yashiro said in defeat when he still elicited no reaction. He impatiently dropped the newspaper on Ren's lap and waited for him to pick it up. Yashiro made a face at Ren, but quickly got hyper again when the actor finally deigned to look at the newspaper.

"President Takarada mentioned that Kyoko-chan had a new photo in the Tokyo Buzz. It seems a reporter got wind of where Box-R does on-location shoots and took a photo of her. The stolen shot was taken while she was taking a break outside the set," Yashiro excitedly reported.

It was a photo of Kyoko dressed up as Natsu. She was in front of a vending machine caught in the act of retrieving a couple of coffee cans she just bought. It almost looked like she was posing for a coffee product ad, but the lighting was all wrong and it was quite clear she didn't know she was being photographed at all. You can see a bit of a closed-off area behind her, probably the Box-R set.

"The producers were a little concerned that the Media found out where they do their shoots. They're discussing if they should change location or just deal with the Box-R fans that will undoubtedly show up from now on," Yashiro continued.

"The fans would have found out about it sooner or later. They should just save themselves the trouble and stay put where they are," Ren commented absentmindedly as his gaze lingered on Kyoko's face. He remembered how upset she was the last time she was photographed. Would she be bothered by this recent one as well? She punished herself for the most random of things and wouldn't tell him that she was troubled, not unless he asked first.

Again, Ren found himself wishing he was in Japan already. It was so hard worrying about her while he was so far away.

Yashiro seemed satisfied with whatever he saw on Ren's face. "Well, my work here is done!" he cheekily quipped. "I'll clip that photo for you when we get to the hotel," Yashiro promised before turning around in his chair and then promptly falling asleep.

Ren wanted to throttle him. Now he couldn't go to sleep because he was too worried about Kyoko. Maybe he should just make his Manager's nap permanent, he maliciously thought as he glanced at the already snoring guy beside him.

He sighed and looked out the window as the plane took off. He'll call her as soon as the plane landed in Singapore, he promised himself. Until then, there's nothing else he can do but wait.

o-0-o-0-o

"WHAT?! DIDN'T I TELL YOU TO STO-"

Ren was surprised to hear the anger in Kyoko's voice when he finally got the chance to call her up. He was instantly concerned.

"Mogami-san? What's the matter?" he interrupted.

It was Kyoko's turn to be surprised. "Senpai!? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell at you!" she said, sounding flustered. "I wasn't expecting your call! I thought you were somebody else..."

"Who?" he asked. Ren's voice sounded casual enough, but Kyoko's chibi demons were instantly alert. He was grimly wondering who could be bothering Kyoko. Was it that Vie Ghoul guy? Or maybe Fuwa Sho again? Whoever he was, he's going to regret messing with Kyoko while he was gone.

Apparently thinking that she had angered Ren because she yelled at him, Kyoko started profusely apologizing. "Please don't get mad at me, Senpai! I promise to never do it again!" she cried out.

Ren suddenly imagined Kyoko going down on her knees and bowing to the phone in apology. There was a very high probability she was doing exactly that as they speak. She had a tendency to go overboard after all, he wryly thought to himself.

"It's okay, Mogami-san. I'm not mad at you so stop staying sorry, please. I just called to find out how you're doing," he said soothingly. There was a slight pause, and then he heard Kyoko heave a sigh of relief.

"In that case... I'm really glad you called, Senpai! I've been wondering how you are, too! So, where are you now exactly? Have you been eating well? I hope you're not working too hard."

Ren was surprised at how he'd missed hearing this perky side of her. It made no sense, but he could feel his exhaustion melting away with just hearing her voice. He leaned back on his seat and closed his eyes, a smile playing on his lips.

"I'll be here in Singapore for a few more days. There's a lot of work but Yashiro is making sure I'm eating right, don't worry," he laughingly said. His voice took a more cautious tone though as he continued.

"But I'd rather know how you're doing, Mogami-san... I saw your recent photo in the newspaper. I hope you're not upset about it like the last time...?" he asked.

Kyoko laughed. "No, I'm fine, Senpai! I'm sorry to worry you! I was surprised about it, but it turned out okay. In fact, I talked to President Takarada earlier today. He told me that I may get an endorsement deal because the coffee product company was very happy with the unexpected publicity. It seems like their sales suddenly went up because of Natsu," she shyly reported.

"I guess congratulations is in order then," he said warmly. "When I get back, will you let me take you out to dinner to celebrate?"

"You don't need to do something like that, Senpai! I shouldn't impose on you!" Kyoko instantly blustered out.

"No, I insist. You've been making me meals and doing a lot for me these last couple of weeks. Can't you let me treat you for once?"

Kyoko still tried to turn him down, but there was no winning against his pleading tone. Ren grinned widely as he heard her reluctantly agree. He won't ever let her go back on her promise even if hell froze over.

"I'm glad you're not upset about getting ambushed by a reporter," he said, getting back to their original subject.

"Oh, I wasn't really surprised. Well, I was surprised when he jumped out of the bushes... but since it was Wallflower-san, it's okay. It's kinda funny, actually," she said chuckling as she recalled the memory.

"Wallflower-san?" he asked, frowning.

"Remember I was telling you about my classmate from Kyoto - Monobu Kenta? I call him Wallflower-san. He's the reporter who took my photo. I just found out about it recently, but it turns out that he was also the one who took the photos when we guested at 'Tea-talk'. Cool, huh?"

Kyoko's voice turned thoughtful.

"It's a bit weird... Why didn't he just ask me, though? It would have been easier if he told me he wanted a photo of Natsu. It's a little embarrassing, but I would've gladly let him take a picture," she mused aloud.

As he listened to Kyoko, Ren got more and more concerned, especially when he found out that Monobu had actually been hanging around Kyoko these couple of days. If he'd known about this, there's no way he'd let that guy get close at all, he thought grimly.

If this Monobu was a classmate from Kyoto, then he knew about Kyoko's connection to that Fuwa bastard. Was he preparing to expose Kyoko & Fuwa's past to the public? Fuwa may survive the bad press, but Kyoko's reputation would be utterly destroyed if that happens.

But if that was his intent, he could just publish his article and Kyoko would be fodder to the rumor mill. There was no need to pretend being Kyoko's friend at all... Not unless this guy was just evil and wanted to make Kyoko hurt more by being betrayed by someone she trusted.

Ren's hand balled up into a fist. She's had enough betrayal in her life, courtesy of her mother and Fuwa Sho. She'll never go through something like that, not if he can help it. He'll kill the bastard first before that happens.

"... I think you'll really like him, Tsuruga-senpai! He's actually been a lot of help. He's even helping me in my research!" Mogami was cheerfully saying, blissfully unaware of Ren's dark thoughts.

"Oh, I'd be happy to meet him. You should introduce him to me as soon as possible when I get back to Japan," he pleasantly said. Kyoko happily agreed.

o-0-o-0-o

Monobu sneezed.

Mogami-san had left a voice-mail asking him to meet her at the Ice Cream shop in the middle of the Shopping District but she didn't mention why. Probably something about her assignment? She did mention yesterday that she had a plan that she wanted to tell him.

He looked at his watch with a frown. He was late for his meeting with her. It can't be helped since he had just been called to attend an early-morning meeting with the Editor-in-Chief. He hoped that he hadn't made her wait too long.

Even from a far distance, Monobu already knew it was Mogami who was standing in front of the shop. There was no mistaking that eye-catching pink jumpsuit. She was just tucking her phone away when he arrived.

"Hi Wallflower-san! I was just talking about you with my Senpai! He said he wants to meet you!" she said cheerfully in greeting.

Mogami's senpai? Monobu unexpectedly imagined a working class, middle-aged man in a shocking pink jumpsuit with the words 'Love Me' emblazoned on it.

"Oh, really? I hope you didn't say anything bad about me," he lamely said, failing to stop his chuckles as he followed her inside the shop.

"'Course not!" she scoffed. "And why are you laughing? Most people would love to get to meet my Senpai! He's the best in the industry, you know!" she said, taking offense.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever..." he said indulgently, waving her off.

Just then, the waitress sidled to their table. Without asking him, Mogami immediately ordered a humungous-looking Banana split and one peach cobbler. Monobu had a feeling the banana split was for him. He fervently prayed he was wrong, he wasn't fond of ice cream that much.

"Why did you ask to call me here anyway?" he asked when the waitress had gone away.

"Two things!" she said, eagerly holding out 2 fingers in front of him. "First thing is I wanted to treat you to show my gratitude since you said you're going to help me with my assignment."

"... Second thing is... because of you , there's a chance I may get another project to work on! Isn't it exciting?" she practically glowed with excitement.

Was she really that happy to get more menial work? As far as he knew, all Monobu ever did while hanging out with Mogami was look for gorilla suits and clean up store rooms, etc. Did she mean she was going to get more jobs like that?! If so, there's no way he'll help her do that kind of stuff ever again! No way!

As Monobu pondered about this, Mogami's mind has apparently moved on to other things.

"I saw the photo you took in the newspaper, Wallflower-san! You could have just asked for a picture, but still, it turned out great!" she congratulated Monobu.

"Yeah. It's fortunate that my editor was satified with the photo, thank God!" Monobu sheepishly said. He recounted his early morning meeting with his editor-in-chief to Mogami.

"Shio-san even assured me that the Chief will lay off my case for a couple days for sure. Now all I need is to get an interview from Kyoko before he starts bugging me again," Monobu mused.

All the while, Mogami listened to him eagerly. "Don't hesitate to ask, Wallflower-san! I'd be happy to help," she cheerfully said to him.

Monobu wasn't really paying attention though, because the waitress returned with their ice cream just then. As he thought, he got the humungous banana split. He eyed the big desert serving with some trepidation. He wasn't fond of sweets, but it would be rude to Mogami if he didn't eat. This was her treat after all.

"Don't worry about me. I'll manage to get the interview on my own somehow, Mogami-san," he absentmindedly said.

Mogami glanced at him, looking puzzled. "Okay, sure... whatever you think so..." she reluctantly replied. She wanted to say something else, but in the end she just shrugged and turned her attention to her peach cobbler.

"Anyway, what do you plan to do for your assignment?" Monobu asked as he mechanically shoveled the cold desert in his mouth.

Mogami instantly perked up. "I've got the next 2 days planned out! First thing is...

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Hey all! Thanks for reading again! Chapter 9 was supposed to be longer but I decided to split it in half. Chapter 10 will be more exciting (I hope). As always, I'd love to get your feedback!

Anyway... I was browsing through the Skip Beat wiki pages and found myself staring at Ren's image for a good 15 minutes. Ah... he's just too dreamy...