Hello everyone!!! Thanks for all your reviews from last chapter, and I'm going to say that Andreya133, SweetSarah8, Serenity Hidden and Shiroyuki76 guessed correctly, and layalatania half did (she made a very good point).
Anyway, to everyone else, read on!
Disclaimer: Skip Beat belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura!
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CHAPTER THIRTEEN!!
"What? You're saying it wasn't her?" Ren asked in disbelief.
"Yes. She's admitted to the notes though." Kyoko said, "So that's something."
Ren just stared at her. "Kyoko, that just means that we have no idea who did the rest of them. That means we still have someone targeting you, and no starting point to go on. We don't even know whether they're on the set anymore."
Kyoko couldn't really say anything to that. Ren looked half annoyed and half worried, and when he made to move she thought about stopping him. It was possible he'd still go and give Mayui a piece of his mind. Luckily, Yashiro stepped through the door just at the right time, and walked over to them. He told them what already knew: they had absolutely nothing to go on. Now that Mayui and the notes were out of the picture, it meant they had a dangerous person who could access the set, or at least knew where they were, who was probably stalking Kyoko. Well, they had to be in order to push her onto the road that day. So they probably knew her schedule. Also, now there was no indication to whether or not this was a personal or business grudge. Ren was now really worried. There was nothing definite he could do, it was like trying to catch smoke.
"Ok, I have an idea!" Yashiro said happily. Ren looked up. This could not be good, Yashiro was actually smiling in this situation, a fact that made him slightly angry, but more apprehensive because the only reason Yashiro would smile would be...
"Kyoko-chan, since you're in a bit of trouble, I was thinking you should stick around us more now. In fact, it would be good if you stay at Ren's for the next few days, because we'll be able to take you to and from the set." His manager announced. Kyoko looked a little shocked, but not against the idea.
"I mean, " Yashiro continued, "It's pretty dangerous, but if you stay at Ren's then he can keep you safe and you can make sure he eats. It's a win-win situation. He didn't eat breakfast today, you know."
Yashiro, you two faced...!
"Ren!" Kyoko admonished, "You're supposed to have three meals a day, not one!"
Ren apologized, while covertly shooting a glare at his manager that clearly said I'll get you later. Yashiro was probably banking on the fact that he'd be too happy to spend time with Kyoko to try to kill him later on. Ren acquiesced that this was probably true, as Kyoko was now totally onboard with the Stay-at-Ren's plan. Admittedly Yashiro had actually come up with a good solution; Ren really didn't want to leave her on her own right now. Somehow, he still had a bad feeling about all of this. He just knew it had to be something to do with this movie; nothing like this had ever happened to Kyoko before.
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Kyoko felt very happy. It had been three days since they found out Mayui was the one behind the poison pen letters she'd got, and as the girl had later apologised and promised not to do it again, they'd continued to work on the movie with no problems. It was just a little awkward sometimes, and Kyoko could tell that Ren hadn't quite forgiven Mayui. She was still staying at his apartment, although there didn't really seem to be a need now. Nothing had happened. Then again, she'd try to play it safe for the next week or so, and temporarily living with Ren was actually quite enjoyable. They'd fallen into a sort of pattern; Kyoko would wake up early and fix breakfast, and Ren would wake up halfway through and wander into the kitchen. They'd smile at each other, and Ren would get the paper and set the table. They'd eat and go to pick up Yashiro, before moving onto either the LME building or Ren's first job. As she had nothing major going on except Hana Akai, Kyoko would go with Ren to all his jobs. A quiet talk to President Lory made her exempt her from her LoveMe duties for the time being.
She had changed out of her latest costume and into normal clothing, as she wouldn't be needed for the next hour and a half. Ren was still filming, but they'd agreed to go and have lunch when he finished his current scene. She still had about 15 minutes before he came to get her. She was quite surprised, therefore, when a short time later there was a sharp rap on the door. She opened it and smiled politely at the other person.
"Hello!" she said, bowing.
"Hello, Mogami-san. The Director would like to see you in the old Props Room. Seems we've got a bit of a problem."
"Oh! Sure, one second." Kyoko walked over to her table and quickly scribbled a note to Ren: be back Soon. gone to talk with the Director!
"Ok! Let's go."
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Ren walked up to Kyoko's dressing room with Yashiro by his side, and tapped lightly on the wood. No response. He tapped a little louder. Still nothing. Getting a little uneasy, he decided to open the door, and was met with an empty room. However, there was a note on the table, which allayed his fears a little. The whole stalker incident was not quite as far behind as he could have liked. Ren unfolded the note: be back Soon. gone to talk with the Director! And his fears returned. He was just with the Director.
"Yashiro, this is not good."
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Whack.
Kyoko's head hit a prop backdrop as she was pushed hard, and she dropped to the floor. It hurt and was obviously cut, but not too badly. She'd managed to brace herself before she hit. Just minutes before this, she'd walked into the room feeling totally content, if a little hungry, when the door shut behind her. Now she was seriously worried for her own safety. Clearly someone was a few crayons short of a box. She'd agreed to go with them despite Ren and Yashiro's constant reminders not to go anywhere without witnesses. Well, this place was certainly deserted. She just had to wait until Ren got here, lucky she hadn't completely let her guard down and left a note for him. He was smart enough to pick up on the clue she'd left. A shod foot connected painfully with her arm. Kyoko realised it would be smarter to get up.
"What's wrong? Why are you doing this?" She asked, hoping to distract her assailant.
"Nothing's wrong. This is purely logical; you're in the way."
"That's not really an answer. There has to be something besides your job." Kyoko said, watching their facial features contort in the dim light as that mask of sensibility was broken by anger.
"Ok, fine. You know what? I used to be an actress. Or at least, I was trying to become one. But I never became as well known as you. You've been in two big projects already, this is your third and you're only a newbie. Why? WHY?! I was beautiful, young and talented, but I NEVER got the sort of things you're doing!" The woman shouted, looking more unhinged by the second. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. "I've been training that girl to be my replacement, but even then you ruin it. Well, she's not as good as I was, and I've need to nudge her a little bit. That psychology course I took really comes in handy. I knew about the notes, of course. I half suggested them. But they weren't enough to knock you off your game, not even finding out you were in love was! You just came right on back. I didn't think you were that kind of person. What sort of mind to you have?!"
Kyoko watched Saku Daichi as she finished her rant. So that was why. The lady had managed to convince herself it was all business, but she seemed to have some jealousy issues that were just waiting to flood out. They just happened to cumulate on her. Saku took a deep breath, doing the breathing exercises actors used to calm themselves down.
"Right. I'm sorry for going off like that. However, either way I have to get rid of you, so would you mind writing a suicide note or something? It's only polite for all the trouble you've caused me. I'm sure you'd hate to go without saying goodbye."
"No, I won't. I'm going to walk out of here." Kyoko said, feeling a little tug in her heart, like someone was on the end of a golden thread. She stood up, holding her arm, feeling blood trickle down the back of her neck.
"Sorry, but it's too late for that." Saku said.
"You're right. It's too late." Kyoko smiled.
And the door swung open.
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Ren walked briskly down the corridors, making for the main room where the other actors were currently filming. Interrupting a scene between Chauvelin and Citizen Robespierre, leader of the French Revolution, he made straight for the Director.
"You didn't send for Kyoko, did you?" He asked, knowing the answer in his heart but asking anyway.
Shinkai looked confused. "No, I didn't. Don't tell me…"
"Yep. Missing." Ren said tersely. "Shit! I told her not to go anywhere."
He passed the Director the note she'd written. There was something that was bothering Ren. Kyoko was an A grade student. She was very formal. There was something wrong about the way the note was written. Kyoko would never make grammatical errors.
be back Soon. gone to talk with the Director!
She'd capitalised the S rather than the B… So the capitalised letters were S and D. Then it hit him. He grabbed the note just to check that he was right, then scanned the room with his eyes. They alighted on Mayui, and he immediately walked over to her, followed by his manager and the director.
"Mayui, where is Saku?" he asked abruptly, dropping the suffixes. There wasn't time.
"What? Saku-san? I don't know, she left, she said she had something to do. You could try the old prop room, I found her in there once. She likes to go there to think."
"Thanks." Ren said, running out of the room in the direction of the Props Room. It was currently unused, and people barely ever went there. Plus, it was in one of the lesser used areas of the building they were now it, having left Lory's mansion two days ago.
"Ren!" Yashiro said loudly as he ran alongside the actor, "What makes you think it's Saku?"
"The note. Kyoko never makes mistakes, but the only capitalised letters were S and D. Saku Daichi." Ren could feel his heart practically pulling him towards Kyoko. He barely ever went into this part of the building, but none the less he didn't hesitate as he ran down the corridors, feet thudding dully on the carpet. It was all the other two men could do to keep up. A pull on his heart told him that, yes, she was safe, and just behind this door. They stopped in front of it, and they all heard a voice say:
"You're right. It's too late."
That was his cue.
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You may have noticed I put in more breaks than I usually do. Apparently people do that to add to the anticipation. Did it work? You probably guessed who it was before I said the name this time. Hope you're not disappointed!
Ok, random little stuff I put it before to amuse myself. First up, and the biggest one in my opinion, the name. Her name is SAKU. Aku means evil. No one would have got that, but meh. ^^ Like I said, for my own amusement. Second would be shoving her in and mentioning her when she wasn't needed. Also, in Chapter 4 she told Mayui not to let her anger show. Other people mention that she's good at controlling Mayui. And yeah, she told Kyoko she was in love to disturb her and make her unable to act properly. Basically, she's a jealous rhymes-with-witch.
Anyone else find it ironic that I got given a bag of bloody meat today?