My utmost appreciation for you guys who faved, followed, and reviewed the previous chapters. And the followers of 'True Reflection' are still growing in number!

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip-Beat!

A/N: Rewritten due to some grammatical error and details addition.

Chapter 13: Days Before Party ~Being Tailed~

"I'm so glad that you have come, Big Sister!" Maria exclaimed happily from across the very wide hall of one of Lory's numerous vacation house just near the outskirts of Tokyo. "Come here! The candy glass panes for the Beast's castle have just been delivered!"

Kyoko quickly shrugged her thick coat off with the help of Sebastian, who at the moment acted as their assistant. She strode in excitement towards the little girl, almost bouncing in her way. "You mean it? Let me see!"

Soon enough, the two were engaged deeply in their almost magical conversation, that it was only Sebastian who noticed Ren walking into the room. "Tsuruga-sama," he bowed deeply as was his custom.

The tall man greeted him back with a nod. "I didn't expect you to be here."

"The Master instructed me to be here to give Maria-sama and Mogami-sama whatever help they may need, in the guise of monitoring them to make sure they do not do anything that can ruin the house."

Ren chuckled. "I take it that the President acts as the Daddy Long Legs again this year; am I correct?"

"The assumption is correct, Tsuruga-sama."

"Is the President here?"

To the actor's surprise, the stoic man before him frowned. "Currently, he is in a meeting with Kisaki Eri-sama regarding the court hearing on the 26th. The Master has been summoned as witness."

"Is that so…" Ren trailed off gloomily, his eyes focusing on Kyoko who was chattering away with Maria. "Give my regards to the President."

"Understood, Sir."

The brown-dyed haired-man walked over to his girlfriend and tapped her on the shoulder, gaining her and her little companion's attention. Maria quickly squealed and tackled him onto the already artificial-grass-covered floor. "Ren-sama!"

"How are you, Maria-chan?" he replied with a wide smile, trying to sit up. "You look very excited about the party this year."

"Of course I am!" she huffed proudly. "This party will definitely be better than the last! But I won't give you the details, Ren-sama! You'll just have to wait and see."

He chuckled and shifted his gaze to Kyoko, who was smiling at him. "You won't tell me either?"

"Unfortunately, no," the actress shook her head. "Otherwise, it won't be a pleasant surprise for the guests. And need I remind you that you're one of the guests."

"I see," he said easily before throwing her Cain's puppy eyes.

Kyoko was quickly gob smacked. Damn him and Cain-niisan's puppy eyes! No, I can feel Setsu coming! Noooo! Setsu, don't give in! Hang in there! "Ren-san, can you please stop that?"

"Stop what?" he asked innocently, leveling up his puppy eyes.

"Whatever you're doing right now," she mumbled weakly, still trying to rein Setsu's brother-complex in.

Ren sighed and faked a pout. "Alright then," he said, lifting Maria up so that he could stand up. He dusted his pants and continued, "I'll pick you up at 11, okay?"

"Sure," Kyoko hummed.

Maria looked at Kyoko first then at Ren. "Are you two in a relationship?" she asked abruptly.

Kyoko froze. Oh no! Maria-chan adores Ren-san! She's going to hate me for sure! She started to open her mouth to utter an explanation, but before she could say anything, Ren beat her to it. "Yes, Maria-chan. We're in a relationship."

"So does that mean Big Sister is your girlfriend, Ren-sama?"

"Uh-huh."

I'm screwed! Kyoko screamed inwardly.

Much to the contrary of her extreme mind, Kyoko found out that Maria was actually okay with the entire idea of her and Ren dating. She even congratulated the two and asked when they would be married.

"I knew it from the start that Ren-sama felt something towards Big Sister," she explained idly, her hands and eyes were focused on painting the Styrofoam-made castle walls with glittery gray paint. "And I once heard Grandfather in his office, muttering to himself, scheming on how to get you two together. Knowing Grandfather, I was surprised that Big Sister and Ren-sama took this long to get into a steady romantic relationship."

"You're not angry?" Kyoko asked timidly.

Maria chewed her bottom lip in deep thoughts, and then shrugged her shoulders lightly. "Well, if I say I'm not annoyed, then it'll be a big fat lie," the gingerette said. "But I love you both and I can't find myself doing all the pranks I've done to Ren-sama's other fans to you. And actually you two do look good together when I picture it in my mind."

The actress sighed in relief, "Thank you, Maria-chan."

"No problem," the younger girl answered cheerily. "But as compensation, for my present you have to make me a life-sized Ren-sama's doll with Ren-sama's voice saying my favorite phrases recorded and embedded in it!"

Kyoko could only laugh. "Trust me; that can be easily arranged."

"But this is rather a strange job for me, Mogami-san," Mori Kogoro scratched the back of his head with an uneasy grin and his other hand gripping his phone's receiver close to his ear. "No one ever asked me to keep a close eye on a celebrity, one as well-known as KYOKO even."

"Do you think it's an impossible job for you, Mori-san?" his caller asked in a rather dangerous tone.

The comb-mustached man stuttered, completely taken aback. "Ah, no, it's just, with how well-guarded a talent agency as big as LME is, it will be tough to find out her schedule for the week and give you the result by tomorrow–"

"Mori-san," the woman cut him off. "I'll give you three days, which I believe is more than necessary. The payment has been stored in your mailbox at your home, hasn't it?"

"Uh, yeah…" Mori trailed off, his eyes warily looked at his ceiling, knowing that on his dining table laid an elaborate hakozushi waiting to be devoured by him and the other occupants of his little home. And that had cost him a third of the payment he had found in the mailbox, sent by the woman on the other line of the phone.

She chuckled darkly. "Then, I'm waiting for the best result I can get, Mori-san. Have a good evening." And with that the call was abruptly ended.

Mori threw his head down, resting his forehead onto the cupping palms of his hands. He groaned in frustration. When his newest client had called and introduced himself as Mogami Saena, he did not suspect anything. But right at the moment she had explained that she wanted to know KYOKO's schedule for the week, something had screamed at him inside his head to just decline the woman or he would face a very wrathful Kisaki Eri.

He had realized he had been completely doomed when Saena had mentioned the already-used payment.

Shit! Damn me and my money-spending habit! He groaned once again, hitting his forehead onto his desk. Eri's so going to kill me now.

Kyoko was flabbergasted to see the familiar figure of Akatoki Seijuro standing at her school gates. He was slumping against the wall of the gates, his hands crossed, and his eyes moving back and forth restlessly.

It was clear enough to the world that the man was not comfortable in his position, or rather, his predicament. The flush on his face deepened when other students started snickering at him and whispered to one another with their eyes staring at him with smirks. He even could hear a girl murmur to her friend, "Who's he stalking? He totally gives me a bad vibe."

"Seijuro-san!" Kyoko called him, noticing how relieved he became when he set his eyes on her approaching figure. "Why are you here?"

He sighed happily. "Kyoko-chan! I'm glad you're here already!" he said. "I don't think I can wait any longer than this. Do you have anything after this?"

"Err… I don't think I do… Yoshimoto-san hasn't informed me of any sudden job yet, so I'm free for the day," she answered with a slight suspicion in her voice. Well, I suppose he's here because he has an important reason. And Maria-chan's supposed to be having tutors at her home now and she has the key to the vacation house, so I can't work on the decorations…

"Great!" Seijuro cheered. Smiling at his gob smacked niece, he asked, "Would you mind having lunch with this lonely old man?"

Did he just use a pick-up line on me? "Uh… Sure?"

"Then let's go!" the president of Akatoki Agency quickly grabbed her wrist and sprinted to his car, tagging her along.

The chestnut-haired girl was still unable to register everything that had been happening in the past half hour. When she came to it, a hotplate of her favorite, Japanese hamburger steak with a sunny side up on the top was on the table in front of her. She glanced cagily at Seijuro who was already stuffing his mouth with little chunks of cut-up slab of sirloin.

"Err… Seijuro-san?" she asked tentatively.

"Yeah?"

"There must be a reason why… you invited me to lunch, right?"

Her uncle's hands froze. He heaved a sigh before putting down his cutleries and leaning onto his comfortable seat. "I expected no less from Kento's kid," he mumbled. "You're sharp. Or is it from your mother, I wonder?"

Kyoko stiffened a little at the mention of Saena. Seeing that, Seijuro huffed inwardly. "I'm here because Marina's been acting like a coward."

"Marina-san?" she asked, entirely puzzled.

"Yup," he nodded. "You know that the hearing is in a couple of weeks."

"Yes. I've been summoned as a witness."

The older Akatoki nodded again. "And two days ago, Eri-chan – our lawyer, I mean – brought up the speculation that you might have wanted to meet Saena before the trial."

Her eyes widened in surprise.

"And Marina's been stressing over that, fearing that we've been doing the wrong thing," Seijuro continued. "Honestly, I know where she's coming from; Saena's your birth mother, and until some point she's the one that raised you up. Some people might want to say, 'Oh, I miss her, I want to meet her' when they're put in your shoes, but how about you?"

Kyoko chewed her inner cheeks. "And what will happen if I say yes?"

"The restriction Marina's has placed and informed your manager will be removed, and Saena's free to see you, although we'll still tell Yoshimoto to keep a good eye on your safety with her around. We don't want to risk anything, you see."

They were silent for a while. It was Kyoko who broke the silence. "What's your opinion, Seijuro-san?"

"Me?" he pointed at himself. "Well, if I were you, I wouldn't; she's an insane nut-case, please excuse my language. But maybe – just may be — she really regrets her attitudes towards you in the past and wants to make amends. No one can tell what's on her head.

It's not that I'm trying to scare you when I said she was insane!" he quickly added when he saw Kyoko begin to pale. "It's just my view of her. Kento seems to still believe in her, though."

"He loves her," she mumbled, "that's why."

"But this's about you," Seijuro immediately added. "Put all what other people told you aside; what do you personally feel?"

Kyoko chewed her bottom lip. The images of her mother snubbing her and leaving her in the Fuwa Inn flashed in her mind. "It's too painful to see her now."

"Now," her uncle repeated. "Then that means you might want to see her someday in the future?"

Her brows furrowed. "Perhaps."

Seijuro smiled widely and picked his cutleries back up. "Let us know when the time comes then, Kyoko-chan. Okay? We won't bite. Oh, and don't forget to tell Marina what you told me just now. She can use some stress-relief on herself."

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Mori grumbled to himself, peeking secretly at the infamous chestnut-haired newbie from behind the electric pole. "At this rate, people will just call this famous great 'Sleeping Kogoro' a celeb stalker."

His trip to LME earlier had been unsuccessful, as he had not been able to get through the reception desk. He even had almost gotten thrown out by the burly security. So he decided to follow KYOKO and wait for her to talk about her schedule.

Mori was surprised to see her walking out of a gourmet restaurant with a much older man. Is she dating an older man? Then this can be a gossip – wait, what the heck am I thinking?

"What's your schedule like today?" he heard the older man asking the girl.

"Let's see…" KYOKO trailed off in thought. "I'm working on the party's decoration again with Maria-chan tonight, so I'm free for the rest of the day until the evening. Ren-san will drive me to the venue."

The man laughed. "From what I see, he really loves to be your chauffeur, doesn't he?"

"Seijuro-san!" she scolded him. "Ren-san is not like that! He cares about me, that's all!"

"Alright, alright, I get it. What about the rest of the week? Doing the party stuff?"

"Yes. I still have to finalize the list of desserts–"

"Desserts!" the man called Seijuro exclaimed happily. "I like desserts! Make sure you make the best of the best, okay? Now I can't wait for the party."

KYOKO laughed. "Please leave it to me!"

So she's having a party, Mori repeated to himself. This might worth a check.

Getting an invitation, though, was harder than he expected.

He had gathered all the possible guests invited to the so-called 'Grateful Party' and so far there was no possibility for him to get a spare invitation.

Instead, he was awed by the list of guests he had managed to get. Never in his mind had he imagined that a very famous veteran actor such as Hizuri Kuu and his wife would attend such event organized by a newbie. Unless there's something going on between them, he speculated.

But from his investigation, he had found out that the purpose of the party was to thank everyone that the hostesses – KYOKO and a little girl called Takarada Maria – felt gratitude for.

So, Mori concluded, the only way to get an invitation was to do something to help them and make them feel grateful to him somehow.

His train of thought was cut off when he heard Ran, his daughter, squealing over the phone in her room. "The invitation is so cute, Mom!" she said. "So, what date is it? I can't see it clearly. The 24th? Isn't that Christmas Eve? … Sure, sure, I can come and accompany you! It sounds like a very good party! I wonder why Sonoko has never mentioned it to me. Can I bring Dad and Conan-kun too? … Why not? Dad will surely behave, I promise you."

Damn you, Eri, Mori grumbled.

Ran got out of her room, still holding her cell phone close to her ear. "Okay, I'll see you soon. Bye, Mom! Love you!"

"Is that Eri?" Mori asked uncaringly.

"Yup!" the long-haired girl answered cheerily. "She wants us to accompany her to this party on the 24th! And guess who the hostess is!"

He sighed heavily. "Beats me. Must be one of her very rich clients."

"It's KYOKO!" she squealed. "KYOKO from 'Dark Moon' and 'Box-R'! I'm a big fan of hers!"

"Yeah, yeah, good for you," Mori mumbled. A second later, his eyes widened and he instantly snapped. "Did you just say KYOKO? KYOKO the actress?"

Ran nodded.

I got my answer! He grinned.

"Thank you for your purchase, Tsuruga-sama! Please do come back again next time!"

Ren nodded to the shop attendant who was giving him a polite bow, and left the shop with a box he handled with utmost care. He walked towards his car and got into the driver's seat. "Sorry for making you wait, Yashiro-san."

"That's alright," the bespectacled manager replied, shutting his notebook closed before pocketing it in his coat. He gave his charge a devious grin. "You don't have to worry about it, especially when it concerns Kyoko-chan."

The actor groaned, "Why does everything about me have to do with Kyoko?"

"Of course because she's the love of your life!" Yashiro answered with fervor. And a split second later, he already leaned himself towards Ren in a position not unlike a gossiping lady. "That box; it's Kyoko-chan's birthday present, right?"

Ren smiled heavenly. "Uh-huh."

The shorter man squealed in ecstasy. "What did you get her this time?"

"If I tell you now, then it won't be fair for Kyoko, will it?" the dark-haired man said. But I do hope she will like it.

Saena was silent when Mori informed her that Kyoko was hosting a party on the 24th, and he was going to attend the said party together with his family. The silence unnerved the detective in a really bad way, and he could not help but shivering in fright.

"Err… Mogami-san?" he stuttered, trying to break the silence. "Is everything okay?"

Eerily, she chuckled. "So the hopeless girl still cannot give up her dream of living like an innocent princess, huh?" she mumbled. "How typical of her."

Mori was expectedly baffled. "Huh?"

"Don't mind me, Mori-san," Saena told him. "It was just me talking to myself. So, any other activity scheduled for her this week?"

He skimmed through his notes. "I found that she has just established an exclusive contract with 'Atelier Utahime' as their image, and they will have another photo shoot on the 27th."

"Do you know where the photo shoot will be?"

"An abandoned English mansion in Saitama, but–"

"That's all I want to know, thank–"

"Mogami-san," Mori cut her off. "She's going to stand as witness in the hearing on the 26th for your case against Akatoki Marina-san; why don't you just wait until then to meet her face to face?"

She didn't say anything for a while before she calmly said, "It's none of your business, Mori-san. But thank you for your work. You didn't fail my expectation."

Additional Disclaimer:
-Of course everyone knows that I do not own Mori Kogoro, Ran, Conan (although it's only his name mentioned), and Kisaki Eri. Aoyama Gosho does.
-And even if I want to, I'll never own 'Atelier Utahime'. Hidaka Banri does.

I plan to wrap this story up in 5-6 more chapters, so the climax will be up quite soon. And I absolutely have no idea why this story has turned into a cross-over (although I notice most of my reviewers don't really mind).

Please review :) Thank you!