Always Be My Baby
by Kris Black
Summary: After going over lines for TDM, Kyoko and Ren have a night of passion and the result could not only cause a scandal, but ruin both of their careers. How will the two lovers withstand the trials of their love?
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Skip Beat! the manga or the anime. I do not own any characters listed in this story except those you don't recognize. This story is for entertainment purposes only and no money is being made off of the story as a whole, or in part.
"Kyoko-chan, are you alright?" Yashiro called out, meeting her in the underground parking lot at LME reserved for employees only.
"I'm fine."
He nodded gently and followed her as she marched into the building.
"Ren, the President and Director Ogata are waiting for us on the fourth floor," Yashiro said to her as they entered the elevator.
Kyoko pushed the number four in quickly and waited as the elevator rose silently. Yashiro stood a distance away, fearing the evil aura floating off of her in tidal waves. Yashiro couldn't have been anymore relieved when the elevator dinged, signalling that it was time to get off. Kyoko walked out first, followed by Yashiro.
"It's the third door down to the left," he explained and then followed her closely.
"Really Ren," President Takarada's voice rang clear through the vacant corridor. "Earlier when I said that you had a clean slate and that there had been no tabloids about your love life, I certainly wasn't suggesting this."
"President," Director Ogata began, but was interrupted by Yashiro clearing his throat, a warning that Kyoko was near.
"Kyoko-chan, I am so relieved that you made it," the director sighed and ran over to her. "The paparazzi didn't give you too much trouble did they?"
Kyoko shook her head gently before looking over to Ren. He sat in a chair across the table from where the president and the director had been sitting, looking the epitome of casual, like he was sitting on the couch in his living room.
"Ren-kun, what exactly is going on?" She asked.
He motioned for her to come closer, which she did subconsciously and he passed her several magazines.
"You may want to sit down," he warned and she plopped herself down in the seat beside him.
She pulled the magazines apart and read the headlines, which was all she really needed to get the just of what exactly was going on. She pulled opened the top magazine and flipped through to where the magazine said the article was located. The demons came out in full force again.
Katsuki and Mio Dating?
Ren Tsuruga, the actor who is currently staring in the popular series Dark Moon and the actress known as Kyoko, who is currently playing alongside him as the villain Mio, are suspected to be in a relationship. The pictures shown on the left are of Kyoko entering Ren's building complex late one night last month and then exiting, alone after the actor had left, early the next morning.
A source states that the two have been close since Kyoko started in the acting business, the pictures on the right show the two in an intimate embrace just outside the LME Studio...
Kyoko slammed the magazine shut, having read more than enough. She breathed angrily through her nose, just the thought of having someone following them and taking pictures was enough to boil her blood.
"Why now?" She demanded. "They must have had these photos for a month or two, why are they publishing them now?"
"Because Dark Moon has just broke the record for popularity and people are beginning to take interest in the actors involved," Ren explained.
"This wouldn't be such a big issue if you weren't a newcomer, and underage, you understand that, right Kyoko?" The president asked.
"I'm seventeen," she replied. "You can get married when you are sixteen, but you aren't allowed to visit a colleague at seventeen?"
"Is that all you were doing?"
Kyoko blushed and looked down at her hands, Ren snapped.
"I don't see how that is relevant. Whether what those magazines wrote is true or not, it is going to turn our lives upside down."
"I think that it is very important to know whether you two are together or not," the president argued. "How can we defend you either way if we don't know what really happened?"
"Well, maybe we haven't figured that out yet," Ren replied, trying to end the conversation.
"Well, it has been almost two months now since this photo was taken, I suggest that you both figure it out - and soon. Until then, we have to do some ground control."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Ren demanded.
"President Ogata agrees that it is nearly time to do some on-location filming. Kyoko and the cast are being sent there in three days, it is a remote location so hopefully everything will die down by the time you get back. Ren, you'll be sent in about two weeks."
"That's a long time," Kyoko argued. "Doesn't he have scenes to film too?"
"I have other work obligations before that, for a modeling company," Ren explained. "I have to finish that before I can come."
"But the paparazzi-"
"I can deal with them," he stated.
Kyoko nodded and looked down at her hands. For some reason, she felt like they were sending her away to get her out of the way so she wouldn't mess anything else up.
'No,' she thought. 'Ren would never do that.'
"I can't believe that I am being sent away. What if those paparazzi attack him while he is driving?"
The president had called the meeting to an end, but kept Ren and Yashiro there to work out his schedule.
'More like they kicked us out,' Kyoko thought darkly
"You love Tsuruga-san, don't you?" Director Ogata noted as he poked at his salad.
Kyoko slammed her chop sticks down into her salad bowl, sticking them straight up. The demons encircled her, powering her up. She wouldn't even think the word that the director had just haphazardly thrown at her.
"If at all possible, could you please say 'respect'?" She asked in a menacing tone.
"I'm sorry," he apologized, he forgot how strained that situation was right now. "Oh, right. Kyoko-can, it seems you won't be able to meet Tsuruga-san for the rest of the day."
"Eh? Really?"
"Yeah. He must be just leaving for his modelling shoot, then he won't be coming in until four, but you're leaving at three, right?"
"I guess we'll just miss each other..."
"And you're going on location in three more days, and Tsuruga-san won't be able to make it onto location for a while afterwards. You'll be apart from him for a while, won't you?"
"Yes..." Kyoko replied, smiling sadly.
Then her eyebrows furrowed.
"Excuse me; I have to run to the bathroom."
The trip home wasn't nearly as intense as the ride there. The paparazzi were still there, the flashes still blinding in the darkness, but she knew what to expect. They were lined up outside of the daruma again, and she still did not cover her head when she entered. She had nothing to be ashamed of.
Her cell phone rang almost immediately after she closed the door to her bedroom.
"Kyoko, I have great news! Japonet Scoop wants you on their show tomorrow!" The manager of the talent department yelled excitedly into her ear. "This is great news!"
"Are you sure it isn't just because of those articles that were printed?"
"It doesn't matter; it is great publicity for you!"
'More publicity is the last thing I need right now,' she thought dangerously.
"Everyone wants to know about the girl who plays Mio, and then when they found out you were the angel in Fuwa Sho's PV, they just had to have you!"
"The president said to keep a low profile, are you sure that this is okay?"
"Of course I am, it'll just be a few questions and answers, and it won't hurt any Kyoko-chan."
"If you insist..."
"I do," he laughed. "See you bright and early tomorrow morning!"
Kyoko looked at her cell phone like a foreign object as it beeped, indicating that the manager had hung up. She didn't have time to get angry over it though, it may have only been eight at night, but she was dead tired and couldn't think of any reason why. Instead of thinking about it, she pulled down her sheets and got into bed, falling asleep almost instantly.
The next morning, Kyoko's cell phone rang once more as she tried to button up a pair of jeans that had fit her perfectly last month.
"Hello?" She grunted into the phone as she pulled tight at the pants.
"Kyoko?"
"Ren-kun?" She asked back, abandoning the button on her pants for a moment. "Is there something wrong?"
"What? No... I-I was just calling to see how you were doing. I didn't wake you did I?"
"No, I've been awake for a while now."
"I thought you didn't have any work today."
"I didn't. The manager of the Talent Section at LME called me to tell me that Japonet Scoop wants to interview me today, so I am getting ready for that."
"Kyoko, didn't we just tell you yesterday that you should stay down low for a while?" Ren asked angrily.
"But I am still a newcomer, I can't say no to any work offered to me," Kyoko argued. "Don't worry, I'll be careful."
"It's not you that I am worried about being careful, Kyoko. Do you really think that this is about your acting career and not your relationship with me?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Kyoko asked darkly. Did he not think her acting good enough to be worth any praise?
"Kyoko, it –"
"You know what? I have to finish getting ready for work; apparently none of my pants fit me anymore."
"Kyoko?"
"I'll talk to you as soon as I can. Bye." She hung up the phone, demons swirling around it.
She tried to button up her pants one more time before ripping them off and throwing a sundress over her head, followed by a shirt around her shoulders to keep her warm.
'At least something fits,' she growled stormed out of the room, the conversation with Ren still a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.
Kyoko walked through the near-empty halls at the studio for Japonet Scoop, mulling over her conversation with Ren. Why had she been so moody with him? He was only tying to look out for her, as usual. But then again, he was treating her like a child who couldn't look after herself.
'Maybe I should call and apologize,' Kyoko thought sullenly. 'I won't be able to see him and apologize properly for a while...'
Her musings were cut off by a voice so ingrained into her demons that she probably could have picked it up from miles away.
'Why is he here?' She thought dangerously as she walked in an angry storm past the door that she heard his voice coming from.
'Come to think of it, "Prisoner" should have just been released – of course he would be here, the song undoubtedly went to number one,' she groaned.
Kyoko prayed to whoever would listen that he would be on one of those music channels, and not Japonet Scoop. She hurried to the dressing room designated to her and opened it with all her might, slamming it behind her. No one could ruin her already sour mood more than Fuwa Sho.
A knock on her dressing room door interrupted her thoughts. She walked over quickly and pulled it open. The man standing in front of her was definitely not a crew member, and was dressed in something that he would wear.
"Yes?"
The guy smirked and walked away without a word. Kyoko watched his back, thoroughly confused.
"Excuse me," Kyoko asked a crew member walking by. "Do you know who that man was who just knocked on my door?"
The man looked at her like she was crazy.
"You mean you haven't heard of him?"
"Should I have?"
"He is in a major band right now called 'Vie Ghoul'."
"Beagle?" Kyoko asked dumbly.
"No, 'Vie Ghoul' it means ghoulish life. Fuwa Sho would have taken first in the charts with his new song if it wasn't for them. They sound pretty similar and they used their company's power to sell more singles."
Kyoko scrunched up her brow again. No wonder his outfit reminded her of him, they were in the same industry. She quickly thanked the crew member and walked back into her dressing room, flicking on the TV. As she suspected, it was tuned to the Japonet Scoop station and Vie Ghoul was currently in an interview, which she also recognized completely. She has seen this exact interview too many times to count; she had recorded and watched it over and over again.
'Pathetic,' Kyoko thought darkly, storming out of her dressing room and down the hall.
"Shooo-taro!" Kyoko growled as she slammed open the door to his dressing room, remembering where she had passed it earlier.
He looked up at her, genuinely surprised. She glared back angrily.
"Long time no see. I want to talk with you."
Sho, still shocked, motioned for her to continue.
"I just met a band called 'Vie Ghoul' I was surprised by all the similarities to you and your debut."
"Did you come here just to tell me something so trivial?" He asked, putting his feet up onto the vanity he sat in front of.
"Oh trivial? So you don't care that those new comers took first place over you - even though they are so clearly copying you?" Kyoko ranted.
"Where is your pride as a musician? Why don't you do something instead of standing back and letting them walk all over you? What, do you think it would be un-cool to let anyone see any sort of upset emotion from you? You coward."
"What did you say?" Sho looked at her darkly.
"I called you a coward. They are stealing your fan base; surely you aren't so stupid not to see that! But all you are doing is running away from their provocation!"
"I am not running away!"
"Yes you are! How else could you say that they are 'trivial'?! It obviously shows that you are making music with feeble feelings! The audience doesn't care as long as looks, techniques, and sounds are the same! You have to prove to them that the original is better or else that copy-cat group really will take your place!"
"Shut up!" Sho yelled and smacked Kyoko across the face.
She looked stunned for a moment, before pulling her hand up to her face gently where a small cut was bleeding. Sho had never hit her before.
"Ah... I am sorry - Are you okay? I-I guess not. The wound let me -"
Kyoko looked up at him and glared evilly.
"You- How dare you? And to an actresses face of all things?" Demons swam around her in an evil fury. "You are hitting the wrong target!"
"Hey, Ren, I borrowed this from Yoshiko-san, wanna see it?" Yashiro asked, walking up to Ren and waving a disc in front of his face.
"What is it?"
"Kyoko - or rather Fuwa Sho's - PV!"
"I'm not interested, I'll pass."
"Even though it is a must-see, even though there is a precious image of Kyoko on it?"
"You watched it?"
"Yup," he nodded. "Kyoko-chan was really cute; not so much cute as beautiful; no so much beautiful as inhumanly gorgeous; not so much an angel but a goddess!"
"Even if you say all that, it's not going to make me watch it."
"You're odd. A normal person would be dying to see it," Yashiro teased before turning serious. "But I think it is strange, even though I have only known Kyoko-chan for a short while, her transformation really surprised me. I wonder what Fuwa Sho was thinking looking at her."
"What do you mean?"
"They were childhood friends, right? Maybe he was thinking 'was she really that cute' and began to take a liking to her?"
Ren shook his head.
'It's too late for that,' he thought. 'He broke her and it is too late for her to even think of him. But... the only man who can seem to shake her is him.'
'He is so lucky that crew member called me to the stage,' Kyoko mused darkly, touching the band aid she had quickly stuck on the cut his ring had made on her face.
"Mogami-san?" The interviewer asked gently, breaking her out of her reverie.
"Oh sorry!" She replied quickly and brought all of the demons back.
"It's alright. So, how do you like filming Dark Moon?"
"It's really amazing! All of the cast and crew are great and Director Ogata is really talented!"
"How do you feel about playing the villain?"
"I don't really think of her as a villain," Kyoko explained. "I think of her as a wounded princess who has been cursed to a life she never wanted for herself."
"That is a rather unique way of looking at Mio," the interviewer smiled. "The other cast members must be intimidating though – after all Tsuruga Ren has so much more experience."
"I try my best and give it everything I have, so I try not to get intimidated. The other actors are all really nice and often give me pointers."
"Do you have any roles lined up for the future? I must say, I am quite impressed with your talent, you were on the popular soda CM and recently played an angel in Fuwa Sho's 'Prisoner' PV, correct?"
"Yes, but right now I am focusing all my energies on Dark Moon so that I can play a Mio that everyone can enjoy."
"That's very encouraging to hear," the interviewer continued. "So, in contrast, who did you enjoy working with more, Fuwa Sho or Tsuruga Ren – we hear that they are both very diligent to their work."
Kyoko thought back to what had just happened with Sho and how lazy always was – diligent her ass. The answer was simple; she would rather work with Ren any day, even during his Dark Prince days, than ever work with him again. She opened her mouth to respond, but seeing the eager look on the interviewer's face she stopped.
Her eyes widened slightly, Ren had been right as usual. They were just digging around for information about Ren and her without asking outright.
'I'll be lucky if the answer that I give doesn't strike me down as I sit here,' Kyoko said to herself before responding.
"They are both very hard working professionals and I have a deep respect for Tsuruga-san as an actor and Fuwa-san as a musician. They are both incredibly talented and I would work with either of them if given the chance."
Meanwhile, Kyoko's demons began to swarm around her and her plastered-on smile began to darken.
"Well-um, well said," the interviewer stuttered, sensing the change in Kyoko's attitude. "Be-because Fuwa Sho is here right now!"
He walked out from behind the curtain. Kyoko scooted over as far as she could, her expression darkening steadily as he approached and sat down next to her.
His interview was pretty standard, and then the interviewer informed them both that they had a surprise for them.
"We managed to obtain a copy of the scene where your devil-character dies in you PV that had been cut!" The interviewer exclaimed and ordered to roll the tape before either Kyoko or Sho could croak out a reply.
The scene, Kyoko knew before it even aired, was when he had stared at her the unblinking while his character fell to his death at her hands.
"Very interesting," the interviewer said as the clip ended. "I wonder if you were acting, Fuwa Sho, or if this was the remnants of some relationship?"
"What is the meaning of this?" Kyoko asked.
"Where did you get that tape from?" She added darkly.
"Well, are you going to answer the question?" The interviewer egged on. "I thought that it was strange that such a new actress would have known both the top actor and top singer in Japan."
"You know what? This interview is over," Sho stated calmly, standing up and grabbing Kyoko's hand, dragging her off of the stage.
Kyoko pulled her hand from Sho's immediately after they got out of sight.
"Don't touch me," she glared at him.
"Kyoko, I-"
"Oh god," she interrupted him and ran over to the nearest trash can, spilling the contents of her stomach again.
"Are you alright?" He asked when she had finished.
"Do I look alright?" She asked afterwards, glaring evilly. "I am going home."
She walked away from him as quickly as she could, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. She pulled out her cell phone and called LME asking for a company car, she knew the paparazzi would be waiting outside.
The next morning after Kyoko had finished her morning routine of eating breakfast, being sick, washing up and getting dressed, she was surprised to have the daruma owner call up to her.
"Kyoko, you have a visitor!"
Kyoko walked down the stairs. Maybe it was just another person from the company sent to fetch her for work? She stopped dead, stunned when she saw Tsuruga Ren sitting at the bar, talking to the owner.
"Wh-what are you doing here?" Kyoko asked.
"I came to pick you up for work," Ren replied easily. "I have a bit of extra time this morning before any photo shoots, and I heard that you had a rough time at the interview I told you not to go to yesterday."
"I-I'm sorry. You were right..." Kyoko murmured with her head down. "And now you came all this way."
The owner exited the room quietly, sensing that the two people needed some privacy.
"It's alright; I wanted to visit the set today anyway."
"The paparazzi are going to have a field day with this, you know," Kyoko told him. "You really didn't have to."
"Maybe I just missed you," Ren offered.
Kyoko looked at her feet. He stood up and walked over, putting his hand around her shoulders and threw a blanket over head.
"At least I can make you cover your head for once," he joked and led her out the door and through the crowd of flashing and yelling paparazzi.
The car drive was silent, but not in an uncomfortable way. Kyoko stared blankly out the window, head resting gently on the seat. Ren kept his eyes on the road, looking over every few seconds to check on her.
"How did that happen?" Ren asked suddenly.
"Huh?"
"That band-aid on your cheek."
'I can't possibly tell him the truth,' Kyoko thought darkly, imagining Ren yelling at her for barging in on Sho in the first place.
"Um, an unfortunate accident," Kyoko replied. "I'm sorry; I know it was at an inappropriate time and that Mio's scar make-up will mostly hide it, but to get a scar on my face while shooting a drama-"
"You don't need to apologize, Kyoko," Ren laughed. "Just be thankful that it wasn't more serious."
Kyoko sighed in relief. Even mentioning the name "Sho" would have completely ruined the mood, especially in Ren's presence.
'Let sleeping dogs lie, I guess...' Kyoko thought. 'After meeting Ren-kun after several days, I don't want to make things gloomy.'
When they finally entered the studio, there was a large gathering of people around.
"What's with the gathering?" Ren asked the nearest person.
"Ren? I thought that you had work to do at the office," the director asked panicked as he ran over to the two.
"Kyoko-san, you - you have a visitor," he stammered.
Kyoko and Ren both looked over to where the director had just come from. They both froze, eyes growing wide. He walked through the crowd, shouldering Yashiro out of the way. He walked straight up to Ren and Kyoko, staring at her the whole way.
AN: That's it again. Join me next time when Ren and Sho confront each other and Kyoko and the cast are sent away! Please review to keep it coming at my reasonable pace!!