Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Manga, it's characters, plots and etc...

My cousin suddenly died... Of a heart attack... He was only 35... He was our eldest cousin in my mom's side and he was like our older brother among us cousins... :(

I hope that explains my late update. Anyways, please excuse any grammatical errors and typos. I'm sorry if it bothers you too much. And please excuse my lack of knowledge about Japan, Japanese culture and how their transportation works and everything. I've never been there. Well, the only comfort I have is that this is fiction and I can write whatever the heck I think is real in this world that my mind and words created. But I did make the effort of researching and making it as real as I possibly could. But online research can only get you so far... I hope you ENJOY this chap!

Recap:

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.

Chapter 50

It was like lightning has strike and thunder growled with it at the same time. Everyone in the room stood up and shouted their questions all at once as if timed like an alarm clock.

"What is her name?" "Is she an actress?" "How long have you known her?" "How old is she?" "Is she one of your leading co-stars?" "Is she a chef?" "Where is she right now?" "Do you love her?" "Is it a serious relationship?" "Is she in love with you?" "Do we know her?" "Is she famous?" Can you give us a hint of her identity?"

Most of the questions where about his newly announced girlfriend. But there were still some decent people in the room who shouted questions about the baby.

"When was the baby adopted?" "How did you feel when you parted with the baby?" "Did you love the baby too?" "Who adopted the baby?" "Why didn't you adopt the baby yourselves?"

And some Ren couldn't decide whether they were hopeful, positive response to his new relationship or they were just planning for the future of his relationship so they will be the first ones to get the news.

"Do we expect wedding bells in the sometime future?" "Are you two going to get married?" "Would you have kids right away?" "How long till you reveal her identity?"

Ren raised his hand for the room to calm down and for everyone to be silent. "Please, everyone. I won't answer some of your questions if you won't give me a chance to speak." The room gradually went silent.

"As I said earlier, I respect her wishes to not reveal her identity and the way you guys responded just now, I can understand why she would not want to be known yet. I love her and I want her to be safe and sound all the time. If keeping her identity a secret will protect her from being hurt when all I want to do is shout to the world that she is the woman I love, then I will do anything to protect her. But I can assure you, everyone. She is not the kind of woman who wants to be protected and hide behind anything or anyone for long. She is stronger than me and full of courage. She will reveal her own identity in due time and I will be very proud for you meet her." Ren explained seriously.

The room was silent again when they were made speechless and stunned for the second time that day by Tsuruga Ren confessing to be very obviously in love with a woman. They were more and more curious and dying to know who the woman who made the the top actor of Japan be so smitten by her. They wanted to see the face who made Tsuruga Ren crazy about her because it was just preposterous and only a handful of times to witness a happening like this in one's lifetime.

The Tsuruga Ren they knew was a very talented actor and so focused on his work to turn his head on any beautiful actress or model to actually fall in love. They were just as surprise to know that he took care of an abandoned baby. A baby! It wasn't even his and he got attached to him to actually take care of him for more than two months. It was out of character. He was the hottest and most eligible bachelor in town and he just took an abandoned baby home with no qualms whatsoever and suffered through taking care of him for more than two months and in the process fell in love with this mysterious woman. It was preposterous. Utterly absurd.

But there he was declaring his love so easily and seriously. Everyone got a shock when they heard about the scandal. They couldn't believe it. And it made them think that the most behaved bachelor maybe all bright smile and gentlemanly but underneath it all, he has some secrets. But this... Well, it wasn't as bad as the scandal was. But it was also as shocking to everyone. It's like everyone woke up one day and found out he was off the market... taken, unavailable, whatever you call it, without any warning or any indication as to how it got there.

Ren was surprise to see he had made everyone speechless. Wow, if I had known this is how to make them shut up, I would have said I was in love with someone from the very beginning. Then no one would have any questions and I can go home to my family already. He smiled thoughtfully but he knew he still has a lot to say.

"As to those who are asking for Baby Ren, he is in good hands now. Yes, I love the baby. He was a joy to take care of. It wasn't always smooth sailing and easy as most parents know. Now, I really do appreciate what my parents did for me when I was little." Ren smiled thoughtfully. "You know, the first time I changed his diaper, he peed on me. The first time we bathe him he got us wet. I couldn't sleep much when he was teething. The first time I feed him all alone by myself, we ended up wearing all the food." He let out a laugh and everyone was now listening intently to him.

Some smiled and some frowned, they were having trouble imagining Ren trying to feed the baby and instead wearing all the food. It was like when Yashiro was imagining Ren's face when he sent Kyoko to cook for him.

"He almost even turned my hair gray when we woke up one morning and he wasn't there on his crib. We still don't know even until now how he got out of his crib. We frantically looked for him everywhere and we found him in the closet playing with one of her high heels." Chuckles echoed in the room as they were slowly enjoying Ren's funny baby Ren stories. "I really am gonna miss him. And as for my stand on having kids, I would love to have kids. As I said a week ago on my interview, I would like to have six kids. Five boys and one girl, if possible. But it all depends on their mother. She's going to be carrying the baby's for nine months and give birth to them. I wouldn't want to make her go through so much pain just for my selfishness."

"And for those who asked why I didn't adopt him myself, I'm really not in the best position to adopt right now and we wanted him to be with a stable and secure family who will raise him properly and lovingly. I'm too busy and I don't want to depend on her too much in caring for him. It's not fair to her." Ren continued to explain. "And as for wedding bells, all I can say is you'll just have to wait and see. But I can assure everyone that when I am getting married, I will let the whole world know about it. And I am not going to hide it when we will be expecting our babies. I am proud of the woman I love and will be of our children. They are too precious to be hidden away like some dirty little secret." He paused to give them time to let what he said sink in. "Thank you everyone for coming and for respecting me enough to believe in my every word. I will see next time, hopefully, with her by my side."

Ren smiled brightly and feeling very relieved. He stood up and walked out of the room full of people who were still stunned speechless of what they had witnessed. The president didn't allow it to be aired live on TV at the very moment of the interview. He wanted it to be aired at a convenient time where most people were free to watch Ren's answers. So that night, it was the top and biggest story of every channel in the six o'clock news.

Everyone was obviously shock and very intrigued. But most of Ren's obsessive female fans were seeing red and ready to kill and tear this girlfriend he was talking about. And some were wishing they were the one who got stuck with helping Ren take care of the baby, so Ren would have fallen in love with them instead. Everyone was in a frenzy about the news and everyone was talking about it the next day.

Ren, Kyoko and their entire family including Kanae and Yashiro and except for Tashio and Okami were at the Takarada Mansion having a peaceful, quiet day off. Lory predicted it to rock the media and he was right, so he planned for all of them to relax in the safety of his home and let the storm pass for a day or two. But the next day, the office called and burst their happy little bubble.

Fuwa Sho was calling the agency for Kyoko. Kyoko had changed her number since the last time Sho had bothered her and Lory made sure that she would not be bothered again at Ren's request. Lory knew all the dangers of being a celebrity and he didn't take any stalking or harassment of his employees lightly. He did not send any warning to the other agency at Kyoko's fervent request of not making more trouble but Sho was already on their sort of black list for Kyoko.

The whole family was at the home theater room, watching one of Kuu's old movie when he was still an actor in Japan. It was mid afternoon and the baby was taking a nap in their room. Lory hated to interrupt their fun but Fuwa Sho was causing a problem and disturbing his agency. He had to do something.

"Excuse me, everyone." He said as Sebastian paused the movie and turned on the lights. "I'm sorry for interrupting but we have a small problem that needs solving. I would have just asked for Mogami-kun to step out but I think all of you needs to hear it too."

"What about Kyoko, boss?" Kuon asked immediately after he heard Kyoko's name.

"Fuwa Sho has been calling the agency nonstop since they aired the press con." Lory informed them. "Last night, he was only calling to talk to Kyoko. One time last night he was so frustrated already he asked if Ren's girlfriend was Mogami-kun. We ignored that as well. But today, he called to talk to you about a job offer. When they asked him to submit papers for the offer or what kind of offer it was, he couldn't answer. He only said he wants to discuss it personally with Mogami-kun. That phone call was early this morning and several minutes ago, he called again."

"Boss, you should report it to his agency so they can do something about it!" Kuon exclaimed in frustration. "Or better yet, to the police so we can file a restraining order against him."

"Calm down, Kuon. I am going to report it to his agency as soon as we get this problem out of the way."

"What the hell is the problem?" Kuon asked and Kyoko run a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.

"He called and asked for Kyoko because of some emergency. Family emergency." Lory finally told them the problem.

"What? What happened to his parents?" Kyoko asked in genuine concern.

"That's the problem." Lory said somberly. "He won't tell them unless he talks to you."

Kyoko only took a second to decide. "I'll talk to him."

"I was afraid you'd say that." Lory murmured but gestured to Sebastian to give Kyoko the phone before Kuon could utter a single protest.

"What happened?" Kyoko asked without courteous greetings or what-not.

"Finally! Can you imagine how much I went through just to talk to you?" Sho exclaimed in exasperation. "What are you? The prime minister now?" He continued whining. "Just because that pin-up, pea-brain actor said he loves you, you believe him and feel like your some important figure now? How can you be so naive? He's ju-"

"Is this the emergency?" Kyoko barked at him in annoyance. "Because if it is, I will report you to your agency and file a restraining order against you, Fuwa Shotarou-san." Mio-like voice cold as ice that bit like frostbite.

"What?" Sho shouted. "How dare yo-"

"If you have nothing emergency to talk about then goodbye." Kyoko was about to end the call.

"WAIT!" He screamed through the phone desperately. "Kyoko, there's an emergency. Dad had a heart attack and he is at the hospital. Mom asked for you, too. I'm leaving tonight for Kyoto, I already bought you a ticket for you and me and I'll meet you there."

"I'll go depending on my own schedule." She replied, irritated.

"NO!" Sho replied in a panic. "Please, Kyoko, I want my parents to see that everything is alright between us. I don't want to cause more surprises for my father."

Kyoko's nose flared as she glared at nothing in particular because the one she wanted to give death glares at was not in front of her. "Then you better have more than one ticket for me because I certainly am not coming with you alone. The president will send someone with me whether you and me like it or not which is totally okay for me. He knows all the harassment that you have done to me, Shotarou, and he's not taking chances."

"Harassment?"

"Take it or leave it, Shotarou, because I can go there just fine without you." Kyoko gave him an ultimatum.

Sho didn't have a choice but to agree and told her the details of their journey. Kyoko hung up the phone and turned to her family.

"So, who's coming with me?" She asked without pause. "Kuon or Sebastian?"

"What about me?" Kuu asked, feeling hurt because he didn't get chosen.

"Tou-san, you cause traffic just going out of your car in a public area. I don't want people to get hurt in the rail tracks just because they wanted to see you and get your autograph." Kyoko answered and everyone tried not to laugh or smile at her spot on answer, while the subject himself was pouting like a little kid.

"Why did you choose Kuon then?" He retorted childishly. "He can cause that commotion too."

"Because I know no matter what I say he's going to want to come with me anyway." Kyoko said, resigned.

"Then, it's settled then." Kuon said as he stood up and went to gather Kyoko in his arms. "You know me quite well." He drop a kiss on her nose. "But first, we have to call the Fuwa Ryokan to check out if what that idiot said is true."

Kyoko called the Ryokan and she was answered by a frantic waitress who sounded like she was going crazy because the Okami wasn't in and there were a lot of guests. So, Lory called Jelly and she transformed Kyoko and Kuon.

Kuon came out looking like a total otaku. He wore waist high flannel pants, a cute anime character print T-shirt that was tucked into the waist high pants, a pair of worn out tennis shoes, a very ordinary looking one-sling backpack, and a manga in one hand. His hair was untidy and looked like it hadn't been combed for a really long time, a rectangular, black-rimmed eyeglasses and mouth mask that had a skeletal print of the mouth and jawbones and everything behind the mask. He also slouched to make his height seemed just a bit shorter and to make him look even more unattractive, unapproachable and harmless, so Sho wouldn't mind him tagging along.

Kyoko was transformed into plain old Kyoko before she found out the truth about Sho. Clean, no make-up face. Her hair, or wig, was black and several inches below shoulder length that was tied ordinarily into a low ponytail at the base of her neck and untidy bangs crowded her forehead and hid her eyebrows. She wore faded and worn out jeans, plain loose t-shirt that made her look shapeless, very cheap looking jacket and a pair of knock-off shoes that looked very plastic. No one would recognize her. People don't really recognize her much in passing, only when she dresses up or when people really, really look at her that they recognized her.

Kuon smiled at her even if she couldn't see it under the mask, his eyes did it for him. "We should go on a date like this. No one would so much as take a second look at us." He suggested. "Though I'd prefer without this mouth mask."

"I think you should keep it." Kyoko advised. "One flash of your smile and everybody either faint or have heart-shaped eyes."

"Jealous much?" Kuon teased as everybody chuckled around them.

They bid them good luck and safety and Julie assured Kyoko that she would take good care of the baby until they get back. Kyoko and Kuon kissed baby Ren goodbye and they went on their way to Tokyo Station where they would meet Sho and catch a fast ride straight to Kyoto.

They went to the ticket office to collect the tickets that Sho had reserved for them and they went up to the platform and into the right car number and seating. They were at the 16th car. The very last car. They found their designated seat and made themselves comfortable. Kyoko looked around the car for any signs of Sho but he wasn't there.

They saw two guys with them inside the car. They were seating near each doors of the car, the front and the rear doors. Something inside Kuon stirred and he was beginning to have a bad feeling about it. Kuon and Kyoko sat in silence in the middle row of the car as they tensely waited for the visual kei singer. Minutes ticked closer till the doors closed and five minutes before it was schedules to close, Sho came in dressed so ordinarily with a beanie hat and sunglasses a disguise.

Sho entered from the rear door and Kyoko stood up and turned to look at him. He took his sunglasses off and Kyoko was surprise to see him with fear in his eyes and very pale face.

"Do you have someone with you?" He asked almost pleadingly which sounded like 'tell me, you have someone with you.' Kyoko was confused.

"Of course, Shotarou. I'm not stupid enough to come with you alone." Kyoko answered in annoyance and slight confusion.

Then, the two men at each end of the car stood and blocked the doors. Kuon threw the manga he was pretending to read on the floor and flew to cover Kyoko from any harm in three seconds flat.

Sho licked his pale lips nervously. "I am so sorry, Kyoko. I didn't have a choice."

Kyoko frowned in total confusion at his words and at the actions of the two men who was guarding the doors. Something moved behind Sho and she saw what looked like a barrel of a gun peaking out behind his shoulder as it was slowly pointed to the side of his head.

"Oh, come on, Sho. I thought I was doing you a favor. You wanted to see and talk to her desperately, don't you?" A female voice said in a mockingly sweet tone.

Kyoko felt her blood ran cold and her veins turned to ice. All functions ceased as her brain processed the recognition of the female voice. As if that wasn't enough, the body the voice belonged to, stepped out behind Sho and Kyoko meet her all too familiar stone cold eyes.

And then she heard the doors closed and the train started moving...

I know, I'm cruel for ending it like this... I hope you look forward for the next chapter and I hope I write and update it faster this time. I'm sorry there's no baby Ren moments in this. I'm kind of rushing this, huh? I'm so sorry, I'll do my best next chapter. Anyways, who's this familiar stone cold eyes belong to? I'm sure you already know. Hmmm... What do you think does she want with Kyoko now?

Thank you all so much for your continuing support. I love your reviews, favs and follows and I'm very happy for everyone who are reading and liking every chapter of my stories. I really appreciate it. May God bless you all and take care... Read yah next chap... :]