Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! And its characters…

I AM SO SORRY for the VERY late update… Life happens, you know… and sometimes it just hit you pretty hard that you got to have to take a few minutes to get back up… well in my case a few weeks… And so I don't want to keep you from reading the next chapter any longer, so here it is… Enjoy! ^_^

Chapter 28

Kyoko came out of the dressing room all dressed up, but she still has no idea why she was dressed that way. She was confused as hell because Sebastian only told her that the president told him to escort her inside. But before she could talk, much less see the president and the baby, she was dragged by the make-up artist to the dressing room and they started working on her. She tried to ask, but she could not get a single word out because they were working so fast as if their life depended on it. When they finally were all done, they escorted her outside.

"There she is!" Exclaimed the president when he saw Kyoko. She made her way next to the president. "Director Arai-san this is the daughter of a cousin of mine, Hizuri Kyoko." Kyoko bowed gracefully and discreetly took a glance at the president. Is it really okay introducing me with that name, president? She thought nervously. And why am I here getting all dressed up like this and introduced to the direct- She gasped inside in surprise when she realized what that means. It couldn't be…

"Nice to meet you, Director Arai-san." She greeted with a smile that perfectly covered her inner thoughts.

"It's my pleasure to meet you. Thank you for accepting this job in such very short notice." The director said and Kyoko looked at the president with a smile that said 'Please, explain what he is talking about'. The president cleared his throat.

"They needed an actress to fill-in in their commercial and since we have important business with Ren. I thought it would be the quickest solution to our problems." The president explained with a smile.

"Is that so? Then, I'm glad to be of help. I hope I will be able to do an acceptable job." Kyoko said to the director, unable to refused as she noticed Ren arriving with Yashiro a step behind him.

"Thank you. Uhm, Are you by any-" Director Arai was cut by the president.

"Ren, Do you still remember Hizuri Kyoko?" Lory asked Ren dramatically. "Well, she was Takarada Kyoko when you met her." Lory elaborated, discreetly hinting at Ren.

"Of course." Ren smiled his actor signature smile which cause a chill to run down Kyoko's spine. But Ren was not mad at her, he was mad at the president's careless actions, especially introducing Kyoko with his real last name. The baby stirred in his sleep and Kyoko and Ren's gazes immediately landed at the baby. Lory excused himself and went to find a quiet place so the baby could sleep peacefully. He let them discussed the commercial on their own. But he would have loved to see Kyoko's reaction when she heard the last part of the commercial. But he wasn't so worried because he had a faithful servant to take a video of it.

After the director explained the whole commercial, Kyoko was still smiling. But inside she was in turmoil. "Can you do it?" The director asked Kyoko in concern. "I mean, you are married as I heard from the president. Would your husband be alright with this?"

Kyoko glanced up at Ren for a second and then to the director as she replied. "Yes… Of course… after all this is only for a job. It's purely professional. There are many married actresses and actors out there that do this and even more than just k-kissing. It's not like-" Ren cleared his throat. She looked at him and at the director again. Ren was trying to hide a smile, the director looked at her in concern and Yashiro, who was standing silently on the side, was trying hard not to chuckle at Kyoko's nervous babbling. She blushed as she realized what she did and recalled all the things she babbled about. She composed herself and took a deep breath. "I can do it." She said confidently to the director. And my husband won't mind because he is the one I'm actually going to be k-kissing. She added silently in her thoughts.

"Alright, that's the only answer I need. Thank you." The director smiled at her.

"Director Arai-san, can you please give me a moment to put my baby somewhere quiet so he can sleep peacefully?" Kyoko asked the director.

"Yes, you can put him in one of the dressing rooms that is not used. I can get one of the crews to keep an eye on him." The director suggested.

"Oh, no. It's perfectly okay. I'll just ask Sebastian to look after him." Kyoko replied.

"I'll help you." Ren said. Kyoko wanted to protest but when she met his serious eyes, she kept silent. They made their way to where the bunny president and their own cute baby bunny were and took him to the unused dressing room. Ren and Kyoko put him gently to the sofa and put things that would hold him there and prevent him from falling down to the floor. They each kissed the peacefully sleeping bunny baby and straightened up.

"Are you okay?" Ren broke the silence.

"…Yes…" She replied.

"Do… do you want to practice before the final scene?" Ren hesitantly asked her. Kyoko's eyes widened and her cheeks slowly colored. Her mind was thinking all sorts of things and it was making her dizzy, so she summoned her disguised character as a shield.

"Uhm, thank you for the offer. But I think I'm going to be okay." She replied with a small smile. Ren was silent for a moment as his heart took some damage. When Ren recovered from the blow, he just nodded and they went out of the room as Sebastian went in to look after the baby.

They started filming immediately when Ren and Kyoko returned. The scenes went on smoothly with all the extras who were almost violent to each other, including to Kyoko. But with that many security/body guards on set, they were able to hold off the extras from Ren and Kyoko after each scenes. The real Kyoko was getting more and more nervous as the final scene was approaching. Even if she was in character of the die-hard Tsuruga fan or in her disguise mother/wife character, she could not handle it. Her characters were all incomplete. She lacked the feeling of love, especially when it comes to physical love.

"Hizuri-san, you're done, now." The make-up artist smiled up to her in the mirror. There was no escaping it now as she went to change into the final costume for the final scene that she was dreading. If she was not an actress, everybody would have seen her trembling like crazy by now. But she was an actress, a very good actress. She summoned all the courage she had and built a solid wall on her heart as she took a deep breath and walked out to face her fate.

The scene started as Ren came out of the limo and pasted his signature smile for all the paparazzi and his fans. He walked to the open red carpet and posed for a few minutes and he went to sign autographs for his fans. He was looking down at all the pictures and notebooks the fans wanted him to sign. After signing a picture, he looked up to smile at the fan and saw an angelic smile with pearly white teeth and breath fresh as mint as the beautiful woman squealed his name. He was captivated and he wasted no time to capture that lips and taste that fresh breath. But it was all ruined when Kyoko didn't move as soon as Ren touched her. She was very still and rigid like a mannequin. So the director had to call out 'cut!'.

"Hizuri-san, I can understand that this must be very difficult for you because you're married…" The director said sympathetically. "I know this may be out of line for me but, can you please… imagine, just for one second, that you're kissing your husband. Please, one second, that's all I need."

Kyoko blinked twice before she nodded silently. How am I going to imagine that when I don't even have a husband? She shouted in her head helplessly. And even if I use my disguise character, I haven't even kissed my husband!

The director walked back to his chair. Ren grabbed that few minutes of opportunity to talk to her. He bent down to whisper in her ears. When Kyoko felt Ren so close to her, she froze again. "Relax…" He told her. "If you can't imagine what the director told you, then imagine this… You are Cinderella and I am your prince. Imagine how Cinderella would feel when her prince kiss her." Ren whispered in her ear which sent shivers in her back. "Their first… true love's kiss…" He added in a deep husky voice.

Ren straightened up in time when the director yelled for them to move to their places. When Ren looked at Kyoko, he was surprise and amused to see a very cute blushing Kyoko. Didn't think it would really work… He chuckled quietly to himself. "Ready?" The director shouted. Kyoko hurriedly recomposed herself and slipped into her character. "And… Action!"

Ren signed one of the pictures that caught his eyes. After he signed he looked up to smile at his fan when he saw how beautiful the woman in front of him was. Her luscious lips, pearly white teeth and when he took a breath, that delicious fresh breath hit him full force. In an instant, his hands pulled her into him and his lips landed on hers. She was surprise for a few seconds but slowly melted in his kiss and started kissing him back. Her hands found its way to his neck as she pulled him closer to her and deepened the kiss.

"Cut!" The director yelled. All the crews relaxed and went to their usual routines after each scene. The security/body guards immediately ran up to protect the stars. But the two did not seem to notice it because they were still in each other's arms kissing the hell out of each other. Until when their lungs screamed for oxygen, they finally parted.

They were both breathing hard and Ren helped Kyoko to keep standing up when her knees could not. Ren looked around and found that all the wild extras weren't there anymore and all the crews were busy with their jobs. The director was looking at the footage they just filmed. Kyoko was coming out of her daze and was now breathing normally. She too looked around and she meet Ren's eyes and she turned red, really red and clumsily leaped out of his embrace. Ren tried to hide his smile.

Everyone was quiet after they came out of their daze and no one really looked them in the eyes… without blushing. The director congratulated them for their job well done and let them go after they changed into their own clothes.

The president and Yashiro were all dancing and celebrating inside their heads. They were like a crazy clown who can't stop grinning. Sebastian was still the same with his poker face as he handed the itty bitty bunny baby to Kyoko. They all made their way to the president's stretched limo in silence, except for the president who was humming and skipping cheerfully like a real bunny.

They all went inside the limo as Sebastian pulled away from the studio. Yashiro served drinks to the rest of them. Kyoko was looking down intently at the sleeping baby in her arms, her cheeks were still tinted pink. "So… What is this important business you have with me that you risk our disguise for?" Ren asked the president sarcastically. The president sighed.

"Well…" The president started. "I have news!" And after that he was silent again as all three of them looked at the president expectantly, waiting for him to tell them the news.

"So?" Ren asked impatiently. "What is it?"

"I don't know how to break this to you gently but…" Lory paused dramatically. "We found a good family who wants to adopt the baby."

I know, another cliffy… I'm sorry… or not… lol I'm also sorry for not making it longer but at least the kissing scene you've been waiting for is finally done… right?… right?… anyways, what a night, huh? First, they were kinda force to kiss, which I think they really liked :3, and now… the president told them that playing House is over because the baby's going to have a real new family now… Wonder how they will take it? What do you think?

And thanks so much everybody for all the love and support you give me through reading, reviewing, alerting and fav-ing my stories… Love you guys… ^_^