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.
AN: A short but sweet chapter with our beloved Kuu. Some explosive things are soon to come, so stay tuned. The next chapter should be up within the week, so no worries! Enjoy guys~!
He had asked for Kyoto-style food – she had made him Kyoto-style food. What the hell was his problem? Just because he was some big-star celebrity who made it in Hollywood didn't mean that he could just take all of her food and throw it into a huge trash bag!
She was, in one word, pissed.
And no one pisses off a pregnant woman.
And the nerve he had to pretend like he forgot how to speak Japanese! What kind of idiot would forget his native tongue?
She had made the food to his exact specifications and he had the audacity to call it trash? And then to call room service and tell them that he would eat anything? She was just about to blow when that stupid actor let go of the straw that would break the proverbial camel's back:
"You're in the Tsukigomori remake aren't you?" He gloated, holding her the bag full of her delicious food out to her. "I want you to give these to the male-lead, whatever his name is."
If the demons hadn't made an appearance before, they were on the full scale attack now. There was no way in hell she was going to let that bastard get away with insulting her food and Ren; especially not in the same day.
Hell, not even the same decade.
"It's Ren," she muttered in response.
"What?"
"The actor that will soon surpass you beyond your wildest imaginations – his name is Tsuruga Ren. You would do well to remember that," she answered in the most sinister she could muster.
She glowered at him, all her hate aimed straight at his blackened heart.
"You are backing him a lot," he commented. "Do you have any special feelings for him?"
"Of course," she replied. "I respect him."
"Is that all?"
"Of course it is! Despite what you might read in Japanese headlines, Tsuruga Ren is just a very important colleague to me! He is honest and trustworthy and I fully believe in him as an actor. As an actress he is so above me he is akin to godliness!"
He just stood there, stunned for a moment. How could anyone be this passionate about anything?
"And you were going to make him eat leftovers? I don't think so! This food was made for you so you are going to sit down and eat it yourself!"
Hizuri Kuu stared at the petit girl in front of him, evilness and hate wafting off of her like stink wafting off of dung. Did he dare say no? He could just imagine what she would do to him if he said no, and it wasn't in the least bit pleasant.
So Hizuri Kuu, superstar extraordinaire, plopped himself down at the table and began eating his leftovers out of a plastic garbage bag.
"What are you playing at?"
President Lori pulled the phone away from his ear and away from the furious voice that bellowed from it.
"What am I playing at?"
"Don't act dumb, please." Ren spat out. "This is regarding Kyoko. I know that you stuck her on an assignment to that person. What are you scheming?"
"Don't be disrespectful. She is a Kyoto native, so I figured she could cook decent Kyoto-style food." He paused. "Is that all you wanted to know?"
Ren took a deep breath. Now was the time to tell President Lori that Kyoko was pregnant, he should be the one to do it and it should be now. In fact, in probably should have been two weeks ago, but he could just never find the right time to do it.
Now, with Kyoko in his clutches perhaps he should tell Lori if only in an attempt to free her.
"Actually," Ren gulped and took a deep breath. "I do have something important to discuss with you. Could you meet with me tomorrow?"
"We can have lunch together, if that's alright with you," President Lori replied.
"I'll be there."
Hizuri Kuu was watching television while he finished eating, which further irritated Kyoko. The television program was going on and on about how he had returned to his homeland and how he was the most prestigious actor they have had in decades.
'Blah, blah, blah,' thought Kyoko.
If they knew what his personality was really like, the show would probably be singing a different tune.
Speaking of bad personality and singing a different tune, the program switched to the music portion. Fuwa Sho's face appeared almost instantly and Kyoko's face turned stone cold.
"Fuwa Sho has just released his new single, making him the first artist in decades to have a number one hit for this many weeks in a row..."
The news reporter went on, but Kyoko had stopped listening. Sho had completely changed his musical style since the last time she had heard him. He had changed his music so completely that she had a hard time believing it was true.
It was true, wasn't it?
Her body went dead, it wouldn't respond to any action she wanted to do. She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry, she wanted to... what could she possibly do? She was fighting a losing battle it seemed.
She was about to collapse from despair.
"Mogami-san, what is wrong?" Kuu asked, putting down his chopsticks and turning towards her.
She looked like a zombie and she was acting like one too. What was her problem?
'I am going to lose,' was all that Kyoko could think.
There was no way that she could win against him. There was no way that she could reach his level. She had just begun as an actress and he was already dominating the top of the music career. She had just had her debut and he had dozens of songs that had already hit number one.
Soon, she was going to have to stop working as an actress for a while. She would have to take a break to take care of her child. During that time, would Sho just keep getting better? Would he be able to elevate himself to a place so high that she couldn't even see?
She was losing.
"What the hell is wrong with you, Mogami-san?" Kuu asked, tired of her zoning out and turned the television off.
The popping sound from the television, combined with Kuu's voice snapped Kyoko from her uncontrollable thought process.
'Snap out of it,' she lectured herself. 'You can still beat that no-talent asshole. This is only a small set-back.'
Kyoko looked up at Kuu, who seemed genuinely surprised at her sudden change in demeanour. Only moments ago she had been all doom and gloom and he was sure that she was somehow making a portal to hell for him. Now she managed to look straight at him with a determined smile.
She opened her mouth, about to tell him she was fine, when her cell phone rang. Her whole body vibrated as she quickly pulled the phone out and answered.
"Ah, Mogami-san! I have been trying to reach you for days!" The manager of the acting department practically shouted. "We have some job requests that have come in for you. Will you be able to come down to the office tomorrow and review them?"
"Job requests?" Kyoko asked. She had always been the one who went out to search for jobs, always. She had never been asked by the employer to work for them.
"Yes, we have four or five parts here that you are being considered for."
"What kind of roles are we talking about?" Kyoko asked, dread filling up from her stomach.
She was pregnant. She couldn't accept any job that was more than a week, maybe two, long. She was beginning to show and she didn't want to give companies a hard time because of her own selfish wants to work – not when it would be detrimental in the long run. Unless these offers were for a commercial or extremely short term, she would have to turn them all down.
Was this the price that she would be forced to pay for having sex out of wedlock?
"They are all villain parts in dramas!" The manager said excitedly. "You could be involved in another hit! You are lucky to have been given so much work possibilities in such a short amount of time after your debut, most actresses have to wait years to be recognized!"
Kyoko ran a hand through her hair. If it was a villain for a drama, there was no way that she could accept any of the jobs.
Besides, would she want to be type casted as the bad guy for the rest of her acting career (however long that might be, now)?
"I am sorry," Kyoko replied lowly. "I-I am scared that I will be type casted as the bad guy. I don't want to play only mean girls. So please, can you ref-"
Kyoko was cut off by an angry Hizuri Kuu who snatched the cell phone out of Kyoko's hand.
"Hi, it's Hizuri Kuu here. Just disregard everything Mogami-san just said. She'll call you back once her fever subsides."
With that, he shut the phone and glared at Kyoko.
"What did you do that for?" Kyoko demanded.
She had gathered up all of her courage to refuse those jobs. She knew that she wouldn't be able to work during her pregnancy, but it didn't mean that she didn't want to work! Now she was going to have to go in and tell the manager all over again that she couldn't accept the job!
"Do you think that you are such a special actress that you have the right to pick and choose your jobs already?" Kuu challenged. "Dark Moon was your debut! No one knows yet if you can act any other way than mean and yet you expect to get other job offers? You're lucky to be getting job offers!
She knew that. She knew that she was still considered an amateur. She knew that she should be thankful that she was getting job offers.
But no matter what Hizuri Kuu said, she couldn't accept any of them.
"You have to develop a different character for each part, no matter how similar they may be," he continued preaching. "Each of your characters should have their own personality, their own walk, and their own looks. If you keep repeating the same performance, people will begin to get bored with you. If you only get bullying or evil character parts, you must make a different and higher grade of bullying each time you get a part. Only then will you be able to become an accomplished actress."
"When I was in school, I was bullied," Kyoko confessed. "It was mostly the standard stuff, like stealing my shoes and drawing on my textbooks and desk though. I don't know any other sort of bullying..."
"You don't know? If you get a job offer involving space, the future, or something whimsical will you simply turn it down because you don't know about it? Because you haven't experienced it? Because you haven't seen it?"
Kyoko knew he was right. She still knew that she couldn't possibly accept the jobs, not if she wanted to save Ren's career. These few refusals might even save her career. But, he was right; she needed to be able to think out of the box more. She needed to be able to develop characters; she needed to expand her mind.
She needed to beat Fuwa Sho at his own game. And she was determined to do so.
A superstar actor was offering his sage advice, he was offering his guidance. This was a chance for her to get a step up on Fuwa Sho. This was her chance to seize an opportunity and better her skills.
"No, Sensei," she replied to his rhetorical questions.
"Good," Kuu smiled at her. "Now all I need to do is give your imagination a boost. There is no way you can be an actress without properly developing your imagination. I'm going to give you a theme. You're going to construct a character from that theme for me by tomorrow morning, do you understand?"
"Yes sensei," she replied.
Pregnant or not, there was no way she was missing the chance to be tutored in acting by a senior. She would take all the advice that she could get and put it to use.
Kuu thought for a moment. He needed a role to teach his new-found (albeit accidentally) student how to develop a character, something quick that he wouldn't have to think hard about, something unknown.
He had just the thing.
"I know the perfect role for you."
"You do?" Kyoko asked, hoping it was something amazing like a fairytale princess or something.
"Yes. You are going to play my son."
"A boy?!"
AN: Don't forget to review! The next chapter should be longer and like I said, some interesting things are planned to happen.