Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! or any of its characters.

The following week Kyoko walked onto the set for her scheduled time for recording. Ren was nowhere to be seen since they were going to be shooting her scenes with Michiyo. She took her seat in the makeup chair and watched as her face as Izumi was brought to life. A simple spring dress was the scene's costume and she stepped out to see Michiyo dressed in comfy shorts and no t-shirt for their picnic scene.

"Megumi, beautiful as always!" he said and got to his feet as she joined him on set. He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. His dark eyes were handsome and he had muscles in all the right places.

"Actors get into place!" the director shouted and Kyoko sat with Michiyo on the blanket.

Their couple only had four, very short scenes to record speaking together and they would serve only as memory flashes Izumi has at one shot in the movie. Their final role together was shooting Izumi finding her husband's body cut several times and his blood all over their living room.

"Haruo, I only just got off work. There was some kind of construction work going on," Izumi called out and placed her purse on the kitchen table. She hummed as she walked into the next room and screamed. She ran to her husband's side and fell to her knees. "Haruo! Haruo! Wake up!"

Haruo remained still and didn't show a single sign of breathing. Izumi hit his chest and looked at her hand to see the blood she felt. She looked up as a door slammed in the house. She jumped to her feet and ran after the sound. She got to the back door and saw a note.

-You need to run now!-

Izumi ripped up the piece of paper and missed when she tossed it in the trash can. When she bent to pick it up a knife hit the wall only inches above her head. She cursed and then screamed. Tears ran down her face as she ran out of the building and left her husband behind.

"Cut!"

Kyoko stood at the edge and wiped the tears off her cheeks as she left behind her character. She loved the skills she held with her job. She hated how she got too far sucked in at times.

"That's all we're shooting today," the director said as he walked to her with a tissue.

"No, I'll be fine. We can do more once I clean up," Kyoko said and rubbed the cloth under her eyes.

"Lory told me you would need time to recoup from emotionally powerful scenes. I wanted to get these out of the way and then we can meet again tomorrow for more," he said.

And just like he said, they met again the following day. She didn't know how or why he did it, but they didn't shoot any of the scenes needed done with her and Ren together. At the moment, she sat tied to a chair and appeared to be locked in a room. Ren stood out of her sight watching them do the recording.

An older gentleman ran in and used a knife to cute her wrists free and she ripped the tape from her mouth.

"Toad?" she gasped and shook her head. "Where's Kenji?"

"He's taking care of some guys out front. Come on, we have to get out of here." As soon as he turned around three fighters rushed in to take them out.

Toad dropped to the ground and spun his foot to knock one of the men backwards. He jumped forward and began punching the fighter in the face. Izumi got onto the chair once holding her captive and jumped to kick the other two men charging her in the face. They stumbled backwards and one of the guys smacked his head on the wall causing him to pass out. Izumi crouched down and hit him with a hard punch to the stomach. He gasped as Izumi delivered another kick making him fall to his knees.

"Let's get out of here," she said and they ran out.

"Cut!" The director scratched his head and looked at everyone. "We have hit all of the intense scenes today and tomorrow will be as many of the romance takes between Izumi and Kenji as possible. There will be a short break period after tomorrow and then we'll shoot the minor scenes that are left."

The actors and actresses left the set and went to get themselves back into their real life attire. Kyoko put on a comfy pair of shorts and a cute t-shirt with a symbol of hope on the shoulder. She stepped out and Ren walked over to her from where he stood with another actor.

"Kyoko, will you go out with me tonight?" he asked and held out his hand for her answer.

Without a second thought she took his hand and smiled up at him. She had missed spending time with him and she was glad they were working to talk again. It felt so lonely without having the time to spend with him. Even if he crossed the line into touching way too fast, she wanted to see where they were at.

The lights on the buildings as they passed by in his car caught her eyes in the most beautiful way. Ren could not believe he had given her as much time to think as he managed. She was the most gorgeous woman he ever knew and he had to have her. He wanted her physically, emotionally and any way possible. She was the little girl he loved as a young boy and found again as a grown adult. There was no way he could let her leave him alone tonight.

"What's this place?" Kyoko asked.

"A little steak house I've gone to a couple times. Really nice people," Ren promised and turned off his car. He jumped out and ran over to open Kyoko's door and took her hand as she stepped out. "It's time I did things right."

Kyoko was shock when Ren asked their waiter to take them to their own special table on a patio away from everyone else. She felt complete happiness as they sat with one another completely alone.

"Ren, what is going on?" she asked as wine was poured.

The waiter walked away and Ren answered her question. "After I cornered you in my kitchen and you turned away from me I realized I was doing something wrong if you pulled away. I want you in my life Kyoko. I want you to look at me more than a sempai and I need to tell you something I have fought away for a long time. Kyoko, I love you."

Kyoko put her hand over her mouth as it dropped open in shock. She had her suspicions, but hearing his words made it all solid. A tear of happiness escaped and she smiled as she spoke. "I love you too, Ren. So much more than I ever thought possible!" She got to her feet and he stood to catch her as she ran into his arms.

"This all came out because some man had us act in a movie together," Ren said and ran his fingers through her hair.

"If only he would have done this sooner!" Kyoko chuckled and buried her face into his chest.

"I wasn't ever going to tell you, but can I share a secret I've been hiding from you for a while. I guess you could say many years," Ren said. He put his finger under her chin and raised her face to look in her eyes. "I know about you story with the fairy prince named Corn. Kyoko, I am the same boy you met many years ago."

Kyoko shook her head. She adored the prince as a child and would have done anything to run away with him. "I wanted to be his friend forever, and then he left to go back to his kingdom."

"I left to come back here. If someone ever told me I would meet you again in the future I would have not believed them at all. Kyoko, we were meant to be together. I feel it all through me. What about you?" Ren asked and stepped back with his hand sliding into his pocket.

"Oh, Ren! I don't ever want us to be apart!" she said with a positive smile.

Ren got down on one knee as he pulled his hand out of his pocket to show off the ring box he kept hidden from her for too long. She gasped as she looked down and saw a stone with a shade of blue matching the stone Corn gave her exactly. "This stone once held all of my sad feelings. I made it into a ring after my time spent with you and now it only has the ability to hold my happy feelings. Kyoko, will you help me continue to fill this stone with happy feelings and marry me?"

"Yes! Oh, Ren! Yes!" she let him slip the ring onto her finger and dropped to her knees to pull him into a hug. It was amazing to think a simple friend in a childhood could grow and give her amazing love in the future.