I do not own Skip Beat!

Thank you Yoshiki Nakamura for all of your incredible talent.

Day four:

The Siege Continues

Today was day four of the little war on Kyoko's heart and the fourth volley of little 'love arrows' into the Romance Gland of her brain. Yesterday, another of the young men had made the grim discovery of competition as he was 'watching over' not 'stalking' her as she went about her evening with Bridge Rock at TBM. She was carrying a cute little lion on her person all evening. With that realization, a violet-eyed 'spiritualist' became a green-eyed 'monster'. He knew he would have to step up his game. He was determined to make Aka zukin-chan his forever. The next few gifts would firmly lock him into first place, he thought. They spoke volumes and he thought, fit her perfectly.

She knew this was not going to be her day. First the alarm clock went off three hours early, her toast burned, the shower was nothing but, icy cold water this morning, she had a huge hole in her left sock that had started to run and to top it all off she ran over a couple of tacks and both of the tires on her bike were flat.

"Kyoko-chan!" The cheery receptionist called to her.

"Yeah, yeah... I know..." she sighed and waved wearily.

With resignation she told the receptionist, "Huuuh, just have someone bring them to the LoveMe room.", then hung her head defeatedly and made her way to the locker room dragging her feet all the while.

Today's gift from our first contender (Ren), was a blown glass fairy queen, with flowing black hair, hands reaching overhead holding a tiny blue "corn stone" in a pink dress decorated with red roses, with stained glass wings rimmed with silver wire and topped with a diamond studded silver crown. All mounted on a mahogany pedestal in the shape of a tree stump. [You will always be the Queen of my fantasies. You hold my heart in your hands. I Love You and You only Dearest Kyoko-chan. With all of my heart, your Secret Admirer.]

She let out a tiny gasp as she remembered his kiss. Corn? It couldn't be...She shook with excitement.

Cupid watched with anticipation. Just a couple of dozen more arrows and she will be finished, he smirked proudly. Finally, after shooting her with his arrows everyday for the past almost two years, Kyoko was finally getting to the point of accepting her fate. This girl was a tough nut to crack but, she was almost there.

"Mo, what is it Kyoko?" Kanae noticed the change in Kyoko's demeanor.

"I think this one is from Corn." Kyoko answered in a breathy voice.

"You mean your 'fairy'?" Kanae asked in disbelief.

"Somehow, I don't think he's a fairy after all." she sounded a little perplexed.

Duh, ya think! Kanae shook her head.

It was troubling, very troubling indeed. If Corn isn't a fairy, then that would mean... No... That can't be right. She shook off the thought while placing the delicate little fairy back into the safety of her special container.

Our second contender (Sho), sent a ceramic princess with black hair, in a pink dress with blue ribbons and bows, standing before a kneeling prince with blond hair kissing her hand. This was mounted on black pedestal with gold leaf trim. [You will always be my dream Princess. You have my heart and love, allow me to share my kingdom with you. I Love You, Kyoko. Your Secret Admirer.]

"Ugh, I normally like stuff like this but, the prince looks a little flashy and it really makes me want to break it into tiny pieces." Kyoko growled.

Mistress, I'll do it for you. The little grudgling offered, whom by now looked as if she were tarred and feathered due to being covered in milk chocolate, gold flecks and little balls of stuffed animal fluff and beanies that had stuck to the chocolate. No, you've done enough. Kyoko scolded her mentally and gently patted her little grudge back down.

"She looks a little like you, don't you think?" Kanae pondered. But the 'prince' looks a little like that jerk Fuwa Sho. I wonder if she noticed. "Probably not." she mumbled.

"What was that, Moko-san?" asked Kyoko.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about an errand that I have to run later." she replied covering her comment.

"Oh." she nodded while re-wrapping the knick knack in its tissue and placing it back in its box.

Contender number three (Hikaru), picked out a small blown glass dove in flight carrying a tiny little heart in its claws and flying up a spiraled blown glass rainbow. It was mounted on a silver pedestal. [You send me to heaven every time I see you. Please let me do the same for you Kyoko-chan. Love from the deepest part of my heart, your Secret Admirer.]

"How cute!" She exclaimed with a smile when she noticed the little heart the bird was carrying.

"Cute but, sappy." Kanae stated dryly. "Ugh. Mo! Put it away it's giving me cavities."

Kyoko carefully repacked the delicate little glass art piece.

Lastly but, certainly not least was the gift from the spooky contender number four (Reino). He felt that the ceramic angel with black wings and flowing red-gold hair, dressed in silver armor holding a silver bow with arrow drawn, leaping through the air ready for battle depicted her perfectly. It was mounted on a ceramic pedestal made to look like a grey cloud. [You've won the battle for my heart, Kyoko. Please let me win yours. With love and eternal devotion, your Secret Admirer.]

"Well, this one is, umm..." Kanae pause as she appraised the gift, "interesting..."

"And a little disturbing...to me anyway. It's kinda giving me the creeps." as she quickly repacked the angel.

"Mo! Kyoko, these men have obviously put a lot of thought and planning into this pursuit. What are you going to do?"

"I just don't know Moko-san, I can't return them. I wouldn't begin to know who to return them to. Ugh! This is infuriating!" She whined in frustration.

"I hate to suggest this but, you have no other choice..." Kanae stated in a grim tone.

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"NO!" Emphatically cried out in denial. "I can't!"

"You have to, he's the only one who might be able to help." Kanae ordered firmly.

Kanae was right, there was only one that could help her with this impossible situation. Lory sat at his desk and sneezed. "Hm, must be dust." he mused.

"Sir, I think I have a problem."

"What is it Mogami-kun?" Lory asked.

With that question she brought out her treasures and the corresponding message cards, then sighed.

"It seems to me you have some very ardent admirers that would like for you to make a choice." Lory told her as he rubbed his palms together in glee. Looks like Kuon is moving along nicely and Ishibashi-kun is making it interesting. Kuon he knew about but, Hikaru he had only found out a few days ago with the plushy incident. He beamed inwardly with pride. But, who are the other two? Hmmm.

"How do I make that choice", she whined "when I don't even know who they are?"

"You go on instinct." he told her in a sage worthy voice.

"Instinct?"

"Well yes, how does each gift make you feel, Mogami-kun? Which set of gifts makes you feel that giver truly knows you and put thoughts of you into the gifts?" He asked in a gentle voice.

"Hmm, I guess I'll have to think about that one." She told him as she fell into deep thought and left elaborately decorated office.

As she waited for the elevator, contemplating, she shook her head and sighed, "I don't have time for this. I have a drama shoot today." Her mind was cleared with the sound of the elevator DING and a cherubic 'Love Deity' banged his head repeatedly on the cold hard floor, cursing himself in tears for having to use so many arrows and being so ineffective.