Here is the next chapter for your enjoyment. Please let me know if you see any errors that need correcting. Thank you
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
It was only a few more minutes until they arrived at Ren's apartment. Ren helped Kyoko with the bags and left Yashiro to help Catherine if she needed it. Ren opened the door and ushered all of the guests into his living room. Kyoko took the food into the kitchen and set to making a wonderful meal. Yashiro settled Catherine on one end of the sofa and sat down on the other end. They sat in silence for a moment, neither knowing what to say to the other.
In the kitchen, Ren gathered the things for tea while Kyoko put on the kettle and prepared her ingredients. Once the water was hot, Ren took the refreshments out to his guests. It had only been a few minutes since he left the two alone, but they seemed a little uncomfortable. He sat the tray down and bowed to his guests.
"Please forgive my manors and the tardiness of my introduction. I am Tsuruga Ren. I am pleased to may your acquaintance." Ren stood up and offered a hand to the shocked woman on his couch. Catherine stood and shook the out stretched hand of the actor before her.
"The pleasure is mine. I'm Catherine Saunders. Kyoko's new manager. Please call me Kat." Catherine released his hand and bowed to Ren. Yashiro also stood and bowed to her.
"I am Yashiro Yukihito. Ren-san's manager," he introduced himself and offered his hand to her also. Catherine turned towards the other man, shook his hand, and bowed. She smiled at the formality of the two men.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me." She replied to Yashiro. "I hope that we can work well together." After the introductions, the two managers sat back down on the couch. The heavy atmosphere was gone; Ren smiled and served them tea.
"So, I hear you were sent to look after Kyoko by Hizuri Kuu-san," Ren questions as he poured his own cup of tea. He looked up at her with knowing eyes. Catherine stilled for a moment as his look penetrated her. She relaxed, smiled, and sipped her tea. Yashiro looked from one to the other confused. Was there more going on then he knew?
"That is right," she said, "Hizuri-san is very worried about the safety of his 'son'." She leaned forwards, placed her glass on the table, and sat back up. "I have known the Hizuri family for a long time. So when he told me 'Kuon' was in trouble, I could not say no." Ren tensed slightly at the use of his real name, but forced himself to relax before Yashiro could notice. Catherine continued with her story. "I mean, I've known Kuon for many years and I found it hard to believe that he would have had an issue with some upset fans. So I was surprised to find that the 'son' Kuu was talking about was really a young Japanese lady." Catherine smiled at the men sitting with her. "I have heard many good things about your Kyoko for both Kuu and Lory. They seem to all be true." She turned towards the doorway to the kitchen. Kyoko was just on her way out to the living room. She had heard what Catherine said and blushed lightly at the praise.
"So you know Kuon?" Kyoko asked. She walked over to the table and sat on the floor next to Ren. Ren passed her a cup of tea silently trying not to freak out. Catherine glanced at the two men sitting with her and back at Kyoko. She had looked a Yashiro so as not to let them know she was checking on Ren's state of mind. She knew that Ren was concerned about his identity, but she wanted to let him know it was safe with her. She was not going to give him away.
"Kuu took me under his wing when I first started acting and I naturally got to know his family. Kuon and I ran in the same circles for a while, but I have not heard from him recently." Catherine chose her words very carefully. She was could see from the gentlemen's smile on his face that Kuon/Ren did not want his past known to the group. "But, I never lost touch with the Hizuri family. They were always good to me. But, that is a conversation for another time. So Kyoko, what is for dinner?" She changed the subject before Ren could get any more upset.
"Obanzai Ryori! I was just about to start," Kyoko popped up from her seat and turned back to the kitchen. "I was just giving the rice time to cook properly." Catherine raised her hand to stop the girl. She did not mean to send her back to the kitchen so soon.
"Do you need any help?" Catherine stood up to follow the girl.
"No." Kyoko turned and smiled at her. "This is a dinner for you and Yashiro-san. It wouldn't be right if you helped to make it. Please sit and rest." She then turned and disappeared into the kitchen. Catherine turned back to the two men. They were both smiling softly at the girl that just left. Catherine sat back down and picked up her tea.
"Well, that was interesting," Catherine exclaimed. "Is she always like that?" She asked the men. They looked at each other and laughed.
"Yes" they both laughed at Catherine's expression.
"She is very serious about her food." Ren explained. He was starting to relax again. He was impressed with the way Catherine had dodged Kyoko's question. They all laughed and relaxed to chat about Catherine's opinions about Japan and LME.
"I couldn't believe how eccentric Takarada-san is. Kuu made is sound like he was flamboyant, but I never expected him to be that far off the deep end." Catherine shook her head thinking about the president. Ren and Yashiro looked at each other with knowing grins.
"We have grown to expect that from the President." Ren sighed remembering when he first came to LME.
"He has been like this for as long as I have known him." Yashiro added with a sigh.
"Can anyone tell me what is up with that awful Pink outfit they make Kyoko wear?" Catherine cringed at the thought of it. She shook herself to rid her mind of the image. Both Yashiro and Ren grinned at her.
"It is to help the LoveMe members regain love." Ren explained to her.
"By embarrassing it into them?" Catherine retorted. They all laughed together. At that moment a loud bang issued from the kitchen
"If you will excuse me for a moment, I want to go make sure Mogami-san has everything she needs." Ren rose from his seat and left the two managers to entertain themselves. He went to the kitchen and stopped in the doorway to watch the love of his life bustling around. He sighed deeply, composed himself, and stepped into her world. "Do you need anything?"
"Um….. yes." Kyoko looked over at the new arrival to the kitchen. "Could you get out the small bowls and set them on the counter." She continued to stir two pans at once before tossing some vegetables into another. Ren had no idea how she could tend so many pot without them burning. This really was going to be a great dinner. Ren placed the requested flatware on the counter and Kyoko dismissed him from the kitchen to set the table as she started to dish up the food.
In a few minutes all the food and guest were seated at the table. Kyoko had really out done herself by serving up five Kyoto style dishes, each one in its own little dish. Catherine was very impressed with the speed and skill with which the young woman cooked. It was no wonder that she lived above a restaurant. Kyoko stood up and said a few words before the meal.
"Thank you for coming. This is to thank both Kat-chan and Yashiro-san for their hard work. Thank you also Tsuruga-san for the use of your home for our meal." Kyoko bowed to her companions. "Please enjoy." She sat down and said "Itadakimasu!"
"Itadakimasu!" the rest of the group followed and the meal was on. Ren was surprised at the first bite. He knew Kyoko was a good cook, but this was the best he had had to date. She really worked hard to tease the flavor out of the simple yet delicious food. Catherine and Yashiro were enjoying their meals as well. Kyoko watched for a moment before starting in on hers.
"Kyoko-chan," Catherine looked at her, "this is fantastic!" Kyoko blushed at the complement. Catherine took another bite as the other two dinners agreed with her. "You must teach me how to cook like this. I am only familiar with western style food." Everyone turned back to their meal wanting to finish it while it was still hot. Kyoko didn't even have to scold Ren into eating.
Once dinner was finished, Ren and Yashiro pushed Kyoko out of the kitchen and took care of the cleanup. Everyone had protested when Catherine offered to help, it was improper to let the injured party participate in the chores. Kyoko and Catherine were banished to the living room to drink more tea. Finding a pause in their conversation, Kyoko glance nervously at her manager before turning her attention to the glass in her hand, the hard part of the evening was coming up. How was she going to convince the older woman that she needed to stay here at Ren's apartment? Ren had convinced Kyoko that it was the best situation. Neither of them knew what Catherine's living arrangements were, so they didn't want to invade her space, but she was not to be left alone. Ren only had one guest room, but he did have some extra futons in case of an emergence. After talking with Yashiro, they decided that they would all just stay at Ren's apartment. Kyoko and Yashiro had already dropped off the needed supplies for their night, and Lory had supplied Ren with a bag for Catherine. Knowing Lory, Kyoko had inspected to make sure the contents were decent enough for her stay. Kyoko looked up from her drink to find Catherine holding her head with her eyes shut.
"So, Kat-chan, how are you feeling? " Kyoko asked as she sat her cup down on the table. Catherine shook her head a little and blinked hard trying to clear the tiredness and pain from her head.
"That was such a fine meal but my head is starting to hurt again. I think I need to be heading home soon. It has been a very long two days." Catherine sighed. This was the moment that Kyoko had been waiting for.
"Alright," Kyoko stood up and turned towards the kitchen, "You rest here for the moment and I will be right back." Catherine sat back on the couch and closed her eyes as Kyoko disappeared into the other room.
The guys had just finished putting the dishes away when Kyoko stepped into the room. She paused in the doorway just long enough to watch Catherine close her eyes.
"She said her head is starting to hurt again." Kyoko whispered to the boys. "If we leave her on the couch for a little longer she may fall asleep."
"We still have not decided on how we are going to get her to stay," said Yashiro. He wiped his hands and hung the towel up to dry. His eyes flipped between Ren and Kyoko. Then something crossed his mind. "Has Saunders-san taken any of the pain killers that the doctor gave her?" Kyoko looked confused at him.
"No I don't think so," She responded. Yashiro grinned before pulling a glass down and filling it with water.
"I think it is time she did what the doctor told her to do," Yashiro took the glass out into the living room. Ren and Kyoko looked at each other confused. They both turned and followed the grinning manager. Yashiro went over to Catherine's bag and pulled out the bottle of pills from the hospital. He sat down on the couch next to Catherine and touched her shoulder. "Saunders-san, it's time to take the medication the doctor gave you." Catherine opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I was waiting till I got home to take that. Those pills make me drowsy." Catherine ignored the water glass offered to her. Yashiro became very serious.
"It says that you need to take these with food and if you wait till you get home it will be too late." Yashiro pressed the glass and pills into her hands. Catherine looked at him confused. When she did not move, he took the bottle back and pulled out one of the large narcotics the doctor had prescribed to her. "Take it." He insisted while placing the pill into her hand. She was taken aback by his demand so she placed the pill in her mouth and chased it down with the water. "There, that was not so bad." Yashiro took the glass back to the kitchen leaving Catherine shocked. Kyoko and Ren looked on surprised by the mild tempered man. Yashiro was usually much gentler then that. They followed him back into the kitchen. "Now we just wait for the pills to kick in and put her to bed. Problem solved." Yashiro smiled as he cleaned the cup and put it away. Kyoko was awed by his audacity.
"That is very under handed of you," Kyoko reprimanded him. Yashiro turned a questioning gaze towards her.
"Do you have a better solution?" he asked.
"Umm…." She could not think of one and sighed in defeat. "Ok, you guys go sit down and I will bring out some dessert." Ren just watched the exchange with wide eyes. He would have to remember not to cross his intrepid manager.
After about twenty minutes the pills took full effect and Catherine was sound asleep on the couch. She had laid her head back and was slouched over onto Kyoko's shoulder. Kyoko felt really bad about tricking the kind woman into sleeping, but she knew it was for her own good. Yashiro stood up and picked her limp form up as Ren and Kyoko went to the spare room to get it ready for her. Yashiro placed her on the bed and Ren pulled out the extra bedding. Kyoko chased the boys out of the room and changed her manager into a pajama set and tucked her in for the night. Once everything was settled she went out to sit with the guys, it was starting to get late and they still needed to make plans for tomorrow. Catherine was going to be very upset with the lot of them.
"So what do we tell her tomorrow?" Kyoko asked as she hunched over her tea. "She is going to be so mad."
"We tell her that she fell asleep and we could not wake her so she had to stay. And you stayed to take care of her. It's almost the truth." Ren suggested. It would be the easiest explanation.
"But we tricked her into it, knowing this would happen." Kyoko continued as she started to wilt from the weight of her actions.
"Don't worry about it, Kyoko-chan," Yashiro tried to calm her. "If Saunders-san is going to be mad at someone, it will be me. I made her take that pill." He sighed. Tricking the girl he just met was not a good way to make friends. "Besides, this was the basic plan anyway." Kyoko nodded in agreement.
"We will just wait for tomorrow. There is nothing that can be done tonight." Ren sighed and stood up. "We all need to be heading to bed too." He turned to Kyoko, "Please let us know if you need anything tonight, Mogami-san." He picked up the dessert stuff and took it to the kitchen to be washed. Yashiro and Kyoko finished cleaning up and the three friends wished each other good night and went to their rooms.