Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Or any of it's plots, characters and etc...
I'm sorry for the very late update. I took summer classes, was busy with work and stressful moments in my life. I can't write when I'm stressed and worried about something. I'm really very sorry. I won't delay you much further with what you really want to read which is not about me. So get on with it and ENJOY! ^_^
Chapter 49
Desperate for changing, starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started, I'm chasing after you
I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know what I'm diving into
Just hanging by a moment here with you
Just hanging by a moment
Just hanging by a moment
I'm hanging by a moment
Just hanging by a moment here with you...
The electric guitar echoed as Fuwa Sho finished his performance. Then, the studio was filled with applaud and fan girl shrieks and squeals. The lights turned bright from the their dim settings for the performance and Yuusei went to welcome another famous guest.
"Thank you for that intense performance, Fuwa-san. Welcome back to Bridge Rock everyone. I'm quite sure you're very happy to tune in tonight for this exciting episode." Yuusei said as he went to welcome the singer and led him to his seat that was put on the stage across from Ren and Kyoko before the singer performed.
"Isn't this exciting?" Shinichi commented. "This is the first time we have three big time guests in one episode."
"Yeah, I hope nobody in the studio audience has fainted yet." Hikaru looked worriedly at the audience.
Kyoko and Ren breathed deeply to keep themselves calm through the half of this variety show and put on a pleasant smile on their faces. Sho scowled when he saw how they sat close to each other. He wasn't going to admit it out loud but he was excited he heard that Kyoko was going to be in the same show with him. He hadn't been able to contact her no matter how much he tried ever since their lotion commercial.
"Fuwa-san, you were with Kyoko on that lotion commercial, right?" Shinichi asked as Sho turned to him and answered yes. "What a small world, huh? That's the one that landed Kyoko with this new mini series and now you are doing the theme song of that same project."
Sho smirked as he looked at Kyoko and then to Ren as he answered. "I guess it's fate."
Kyoko leaned to Ren and whispered in a very soft voice that was barely audible even to Ren. "...or a curse..."
Ren couldn't help the amused smile that curved his lips upward. Sho's eyes narrowed as he saw Ren's smile and it had the hosts curious of what was going on because they could surely feel the air crackle between the famous actor and the famous singer.
"What did you say, Kyoko-chan?" Shinichi who noticed Kyoko's lips moved when she whispered to Ren, asked.
"Oh, I'm just feeling really grateful for all the help Fuwa-san has given in my career." Kyoko said sweetly with a fake smile. It was bit different from Ren because hers has a bit of smugness mix into it. "If it wasn't for his PV I wouldn't have been given the role of Mio in Dark Moon and now working with him in a commercial, I got this amazing opportunity to debut with Tsuruga-san. Maybe it is your kind fate to help a rising actress like me to succeed, Fuwa-san, just like someone helped you succeed before you made it big in this industry." Her eyes silently glinted for mere seconds at the last sentence. "Am I right, Tsuruga-san?"
"Absolutely." Ren readily agreed. "Even I wouldn't have made it this far without everyone's help. That's why I'm so grateful to them and I do as much as possible to appreciate them for there huge help." He drawled out the words appreciate and huge in emphasis.
"Yes, yes. Very true, Tsuruga-san." Hikaru agreed while the other two nodded.
Sho nearly growled. He had trouble hiding his scowl as he seethed in front of them. The three hosts felt the crackle in the air again and tried to steer the interview into a more suitable atmosphere for a variety show.
"Alright, moving on." Yuusei said and cleared his throat. "Because our guests are promoting their new show Maddie's Love-child, the theme for our 'Hatching the Egg' special is a game called 'Let's Get Married!'"
"Bo, where are your eggs?" Hakiru called to the chicken and Bo came out with his egg questions. "The rules are simple. We ask a question and you answer for your partner. But since we don't have a partner for Fuwa-san and Kyoko-chan know and have worked with him too, we would like for Kyoko-chan to answer for both of them and for them to answer for Kyoko-chan. Is everyone good with that?"
Kyoko reluctantly nodded. Ren hated the idea that Kyoko would answer for Sho, but it was work and he was a professional. Though, Ren had the urge to restructure Sho's face when he saw the blonde smirk in challenge at him. Well, two can play this game. Ren thought.
"Ready?" Shinichi asked. All three nodded. "Okay, first question... How many kids do you want?"
All three digested the question and Sho answered first, "None!"
"Hhmmm... Let's see. I think three should be enough for her." Ren answered. Kyoko lightly blushed.
"I say, none for Fuwa-san and two for Tsuruga-san." Kyoko replied.
"Two? I want six." Ren complained. "Five boys to form a basketball team and one precious little princess."
"I feel sorry already for your future son-in-law, Tsuruga-san." Yuusei muttered and Kyoko giggled when she heard the comment.
Hikaru asked Kyoko if the guys' answers were true, and she answered, "Last year, I would have answered none at all, but recently, a little angel has been changing my mind. Someday, I would like to have my own and two would be great." Her cheeks flushed pinked as she smiled.
"So close." Ren muttered regretfully.
Kyoko's answer wiped the smirk out of Sho's face as a frown appeared on his forehead. The hosts asked Sho for his own answer to the first question. He said that he's still too young to be thinking about that question.
"Question number two, money principles: what's mine is yours or split 50/50 expenses?"
"What's mine is yours!" Kyoko answered pointing to Ren and pointing to Sho, "50/50 expenses."
"50/50 expenses." Ren replied with a sigh.
While Sho replied, "What's mine is yours."
"Guilty as charged." Replied Ren while Sho only nodded when the hosts turned to him for answer and now they looked at Kyoko for hers.
"Well, I once got taken advantage of for my generosity, so I've wisen up to 50/50 expenses and I'm not comfortable spending other people's money or when they spend money on me."
"Being generous is not a crime, Kyoko-chan. The ones who take advantage of someone like you should be the one who should wisen up!" Hikaru vehemently defended her.
"Yeah, they're scum." The other host agreed. Ren tried really hard not to smile but his lips lifted on its own when Sho flinched a little at the hosts harsh and judgmental words. Ren thought Sho was about to explode.
"Question number three, sex: before or after marriage?" Yuusei asked with a boyish grin.
"Before." Kyoko pointed to both Ren and Sho while the men answered "After" at the same time for her.
"Hey!" Ren protested to Kyoko instantly when he heard her answer for him. "I can wait after marriage, you know."
"I doubt any girl would want to wait after marriage if they can get their hands on you, Tsuruga-san." Shinichi commented.
"That's not very nice, Shinichi-san! Not all girls are without brains." Kyoko protested and suddenly, Kyoko felt a chill ran down her spine.
She heard the all too familiar low voice said, "Are you saying that only dumb girls fall for me, Kyoko-chan?"
Kyoko's eyes widened and she started bowing to the dark lord with the bright fake smile. "I am so sorry! I didn't mean it like that. I am so sorry." She stopped bowing and looked pleadingly at the hosts. "Can we please go to the next question?"
The audience and the host chuckled at her unknowing insult to Ren which pleased Sho and his smirk was back in place again.
"Question number four, do you like your in-laws?" Hikaru asked.
"Yes." Sho and Ren answered.
"She met my parents at LME and she liked them." Ren added.
"Who wouldn't?" Shinichi muttered to himself.
"No." Kyoko answered.
"Why?" Yuusei asked Kyoko.
"My father passed away when I was young and... I rarely see my mom." Kyoko lowered her eyes. The hosts immediately said their sorry for her father and for asking something uncomfortable and unpleasant.
"Okay, this is a bit weird. Question 5, will you clean the toilet?" Shinichi asked them.
"No." Kyoko answered first for the two men as they answered, "Yes" for her.
"For the record, I can clean the toilet if I want to." Ren again protested to Kyoko.
"Everyone can, Tsuruga-san. But not everyone will and I don't think anyone would make The Tsuruga-san clean their toilet." Kyoko retorted. Ren opened his mouth to reply again but he was cut of by Yuusei.
"Alright, old married couple, enough with the bickering. Let's go to Question number six, what are your hobbies?"
"Cooking!" Ren exclaimed while Sho answered, "Daydreaming." almost at the same time.
"Hhhmmm... Work?" Kyoko answered for Ren and then turned to Sho. "Uhm, playing guitar and writing songs?"
Ren wanted to protest but when he thought about it, he didn't really have any hobbies and he didn't really have that many days off.
"I think Tsuruga-san's hobby is going to the gym." Yuusei commented jealously. Everyone agreed and they proceeded to the next question after Kyoko answered that it was "cooking" and Sho answered, "Sleeping."
"Question number seven, how often do you drink?"
"She doesn't drink." Ren and Sho answered while Kyoko replied, "Occasionally."
"Fuwa-san is still underage, Kyoko-chan." Hikaru said. "He'll turn 20 soon, as you all know. But until then, that answer is considered wrong."
"Question number eight, have you ever hit someone?"
They all answered, "Yes."
"Question 9, have you ever cheated on someone?"
"No." Ren and Sho answered while Kyoko "No" for Ren and a questioning "Yes?" for Sho.
Sho glared at her as he corrected her with a sharp, "No."
"And finally, Question ten, twenty to thirty years later, would you still be married the same person?"
They all answered "Yes." But Kyoko reluctantly answered yes for Sho only because she didn't want any trouble and she just wanted to get the show over with so she and Ren could get the hell away from Sho.
"Now for our results! Who are getting married tonight, folks? Kyoko-chan and Fuwa-san?" The audience got wild and Sho smirked. "or Kyoko-chan and Tsuruga-san?" The audience got even more wilder.
Ren could not help but grin at the audience reaction while Kyoko sighed in relief. Sho was furious and jealous as hell and was barely controlling himself.
"Audience choice is Kyoko-chan and Tsuruga-san, and our results are..." Hikaru announced. "Kyoko had six correct answers for Fuwa-san and nine correct answers for Tsuruga-san. Fuwa-san had six correct answers for Kyoko-chan while Tsuruga-san had nine correct answers for Kyoko-chan."
"There is no denying it, the old married couple wins! You two really sound like it, always bickering on trivial answers." Shinichi said.
Bo came out from back stage and put a clip-on bridal veil on Kyoko's hair and pinned a boutonniere on Ren's suit jacket. Then the rooster put Ring Pops (candy ring) on their left ring fingers. Bo helped Kyoko stand up by holding her hand and led her to the side of the stage where they had a lot of room.
"Now, it's time for the newlywed's first dance!" The three hosts announced.
Ren followed Kyoko and the chicken. He took Kyoko away from the chicken's grasped and pulled her to him. "Get your own bride." He told the chicken off and everyone laughed.
Then, the song "Endless Love" began to for them to dance to. The lights dimmed and a spot light from above was directed at the couple making it looked like they were the only people in the room. Ren put a hand on her waist and Kyoko's hand on his shoulder while their other hands clasped each other. They began to dance.
My love, there's only you in my life
The only thing that's bright
My first love, you're every breath that I take
You're every step I make.
They gazed into each other's eyes and the female audience who was the majority of the audience shrieked and was close to fainting from the really sweet and super lovey-dovey scene they are witnessing. And Sho was burning in his seat in jealousy and rage.
And I, I want to share all my love with you
No one else will do.
And your eyes, your eyes, your eyes
They tell me how much you care
Oh, yes. You will always be...
My endless love.
"Thank you everyone for tuning in to our show this evening! Anymore of this and everyone will faint. So, thank you so much Tsuruga-san, Kyoko-chan and Fuwa-san. We enjoyed your company here tonight. See you next time, Minna-san!" The hosts announced as they show ended and stopped broadcasting.
Kyoko and Ren said their goodbye and thanks for the hard work of the hosts, staff and crews and briefly to the audience where they signed some autographs for them before they went out of there. Sho was swamped by his fans and he was too late in noticing that Kyoko and Ren already went back stage. Their two managers were already waiting for them with their belongings so they went out of the studio as fast they could.
Kyoko got on her manager's car heading to the president's mansion while Ren went to give Yashiro a ride home. They were still careful in not being too obvious about being together all the time and going home, which was the president's mansion, at the same time.
A week passed busily again. They found out that Kyoko's mother was at Osaka before she abandoned baby Ren. She was not Mogami Saena anymore and her name was Takahara Saena now. She married Takahara Takemitsu who was the second cousin of the wealthy CEO of a baby care products company. The man did not want any kids ironically, and according to Saena's OB/GYN, she had not found out she was pregnant until she was eighteen weeks along. She did not have much symptoms and she was very busy in planning to make his husband take over the company. Her sister-in-law found out about her pregnancy and her plan to have abortion and the in-laws didn't allow it. So, Saena was force to have the baby. But her husband did not want it and planned to divorce her. Her in-laws did not want her to put the baby for adoption. So, she wanted to take care of the baby silently. She disappeared for a week to make that happen but when she came back her husband went out of the country already and left a signed divorce papers for her through his lawyer. Whether she sign it or not, the lawyer was going to file for divorce on behalf of his client. She emptied her accounts and every amount of her husband's money that she could get her hands on and disappeared again. Nobody knew where she went. The trail ends there.
It was already too long to postpone the press conference for Ren's scandal. So they went ahead and prepared for it. They announced the time, date and venue to reporters, journalists, newspaper and TV news station they wanted to be there for the interview.
Now, Ren was very nervous sitting in the private lounge room for him before he went outside to clear his name. Not that he really cared what anybody other than his family and loved ones think about him. They already practiced it a hundred times. Already memorized the story. They were going to stick close to the truth but leave out Kyoko's name and baby Ren's true origin and his relation to Kyoko. The time came sooner than expected and he went outside, sat on a chair in front of a table with many microphones and all the people who was dying to know the truth.
"Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming." Ren started. "I sincerely ask a favor that you will listen quietly as I explain everything and to the very end before you ask any question."
The reporters were a bit taken aback for a moment but nodded silently as they readied their fingers on the keyboards of their laptop, record buttons on their tape recorders and video cameras to take every second of this very intense and thrilling revelation.
"I don't have a wife. I don't have a son or daughter. I have never been married nor had children before." Ren said it real slow, pronounced every syllable correctly and clearly for everyone to hear and understand. "On the 23rd of January, I found a baby on the hood of my car outside the convenience store that I went to. It was freezing outside and I didn't want to attract attention, so I brought him home. He was about nearly five months. I found this note on the blanket that was wrapped around him." He showed them the note and then read what was on it. "I'm poor; I can't raise this baby. Please take care of him."
Half of the reporters gasped incredibly at the note.
"A friend of mine stopped by that night to cook dinner for me because she knew that I only eat convenience store food or take out food when I'm at home and when I'm at work, I'm so busy I often don't have time to eat." Ren explained. "We were really just friends. Nothing more. She was like a mother hen, always trying to take care of everyone. She has this way of fixing things that no one else could make right." He paused as he knew everyone in the room was skeptical about them just being friends. "She helped me took care of the baby. We didn't really know much about babies so we researched on the internet. I called the president about the baby and I asked him to find a good orphanage for him. He was not going to find it in an instant, so we took care of the baby for the mean time."
"He filed a report of the abandoned baby and found a good orphanage but we kind of got attached to him while taking care of him, so we decided to continue to care for him while the president look for a suitable family who will properly and lovingly raise him. We named him after me, so his name is also Ren and we call him Baby Ren. The president found a suitable family eventually and he was happily adopted last March." He paused and drank some water that was served for him on the table.
"Yes, those photos in the papers were real. We were there at Taiwan. She was tickling me and I got my revenge by blowing raspberries on her neck. My co-star on that toothpaste commercial was her. My original co-star was unavailable and I was running late on my meeting with the president and the two of them. So, the president killed two birds in one stone by suggesting she fill in the role." Ren passionately explained. "You don't know her and I respect and adhere to her decision that she wishes for me to not reveal her name or anything substantial that could lead to her identity. Sometimes me being famous has its down side and scary part."
"And lastly... Yes, she and I grew closer during our time taking care of baby Ren together. We disguised ourselves as a married couple while taking care of that baby. But I can tell you that during the entire time we took care of that baby, nothing happened between us." Everyone in the room had their mouths open at what the famous actor was saying. "And finally, a few weeks after the baby was adopted, we finally got the courage to confess our feelings for each other which we could not deny any longer. I am here telling you the truth and revealing my heart, I hope you will not trample my honesty and sincere feelings by making me into a liar. Thank you."
Ren ended his speech and he pulled away from the microphones and leaned back into his chair. There was silence since nobody could process in their brain that the great Tsuruga Ren had just revealed to the entire world that he was finally off the market.
Off the market! Tsuruga Ren finally had a girlfriend!
When they finally got that through their brain, all hell broke loose inside the conference room.
Again, I am very sorry for not updating for a long time. I am truly sorry. I hope you liked this chapter. This had its juicy parts in it. In our language (if you are Filipino you will understand this) we call it, "Kilig moments." I'm sorry if I didn't put enough Sho torturing in it. LOL I didn't really elaborate on how bad and about to explode he was feeling. I hoped you just used your imaginations on that part as I did mine. :D I really hoped you liked it and next chapter would be the all-hell-broke-loose of the media and then a very unexpected result of Ren's press con... Can anyone guess it? ^_^
Anyways, I am sincerely grateful for all your love and support by reading, liking, fav-ing and following. I really appreciate it. Thank you so much everyone. Love you, guys! Take care and God bless... Read yah next chap... ;P