See. I promised a quick up date and a better chapter. I hope this one lives up to your expectations. Please let me know what you think.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!.
The week went quickly and Kyoko found herself not wanting to get out of bed on Saturday morning. She had been thinking about her impending date all week and had not slept well. Every time she did get to sleep, she would wake up from a strange dream, and there had been many dreams all ranging from Ren not showing up to him taking her home to be 'alone'. Some of them had made her happy, some scared, and some had left her with that strange feeling that she did not understand.
Kyoko finally got up and ready for the day. She checked on the outfit that Catherine had helped her pick out. Kyoko had originally thought about making dinner for Ren like she normally did, but the stubborn man had refused. He told her that since this would be their first 'date' he wanted to take her to someplace special. He insisted that she dress up for the occasion. She petted the gauzy floral print dress. She loved the way the white gussets allowed the hemline to swirl as she walked. Catherine had shown her how to use the little rose clip to make the straight cut dress cling in just the right places. She felt like an English lady in the dress.
"Kyoko-chan." The voice of the Okami interrupted her thoughts. "Catherine-san is here for you." Kyoko grabbed her bag for the day and raced down the steps to her waiting manager. The sight that met her made her stop on the steps.
Catherine was already dressed for the evening. The dark dress she wore clung to her body and flared at the hips to a fluttering hemline. She could just make out the thumbnail size antique pink flowers sprinkled across the dark material. It was held in place by a line of small pearl down the front, and lacing down the back. The dress was completed with a few petal-like sleeves that hung from the shoulders just covering the top of the upper arm. Catherine finished off the outfit with the same lily jewelry she had worn to the benefit and a tight twist in her hair. Kyoko had to admit that her manager looked very classy.
"You're going to wear that today?" Kyoko asked when she reached the bottom of the steps.
"You don't like it?" Catherine twirled a little so that the hem flared out.
"It's beautiful, but…" Kyoko did not know how to explain her thoughts, but Catherine picked up her meaning.
"We are going to have just enough time to get back here this evening so that you can get dressed, so I thought I would save time later and start the day ready." Catherine smiled as she toyed with her car keys. Kyoko nodded her understanding. "Now if we don't get moving, we are going to be late." Kyoko said goodbye to her landlords and the pair headed out to start the day.
Kyoko sat on the bench next to Catherine's coat while her manage stepped away to get the actress something cool to drink. The summer was starting to wane, but it was still very hot out. Kyoko was amazed at how well Catherine was taking the heat. It didn't look like the woman even broke a sweat in that dark fabric. Catherine had decided to let Kyoko rest and pick up some milkshakes from the shop across the street from the park they were filming in. Kyoko watched the woman walk away as she turned her lines for the next scene over in her head. She could not help but notice that Catherine was almost as attractive as her best friend when she dressed up. Unfortunately, someone else noticed the same thing.
Catherine did not mind the two guys closing behind her until they were in her personal space. To her surprise, an arm snaked its way across her shoulder and she was pulled into the line of the man's body.
"Hey baby, is that for me?" He reached out to take one of the shakes that Catherine was carrying. Catherine moved it away from his hand before he could grab it and shrugged him off.
"No it's not. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." She continued on her route without even stopping. The two men took offence that she had just shrugged them off.
"Hey." The other man grabbed Catherine's shoulder and pulled her around making her drop her treat. "Listen here….." The rest of what the man would have said was lost when Catherine clamped his hand to her shoulder and preformed a joint lock on his arm that landed him face down in the spilt milkshakes. The second man, seeing his friend in trouble, tried to grab the girl off from him. Without releasing the first man, Catherine flipped the second one over to land on his back next to his friend. The fight was taken out of him when Catherine painfully pressed the sharp point of her heel into a very sensitive place while she bent the other man's arm back again.
"Listen here…" She used the man's word for affect. "You do not treat a lady like that. When she says no, you respect her wished and leave. Understand?" Both men nodded there agreement and Catherine released them. "Now get!" The two men picked themselves up and disappeared from her sight. Catherine looked down to survey the damage as Kyoko came pounding up with her coat. The actress had seen the manager in trouble and was coming to help.
"Are you alright?" Kyoko panted as she tried to catch her breath. Her eyes dropped to the blood starting to run down her manager's leg.
"I'm fine." Catherine looked at the milkshake staining the front of her dress. It had spilt on her when she dropped them, and she had gotten more on her when she flipped her second attacker. She had used her knee as a fulcrum to flip the heavy man, scuffing the skin and tearing the stocking in the process. Catherine picked up some of the napkins she had been carrying with the shakes and pressed them to her bleeding wound. "Let go back to the ice cream shop so I can get cleaned up." Kyoko agreed as Catherine picked up the empty cups and carried them to the closet trashcan before leading the way back to the shop she had just come from.
The owner of the shop was horrified when the dirty bleeding woman walked through the door. After a quick explanation of what happened, he was glad to lend Catherine a few hand towels, a first aid kit, and the bathroom to clean up. Catherine came out in considerably better shape than she when in and found that the manager had remade the milkshakes for the girls and insisted that they take them at no cost. Feeling a little guilty at his kindness, Catherine dropped a rather large tip in the jar and thanked the man before they left.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Kyoko asked as the two women walked back to the shoot location. She looked at the very wet front of Catherine's dress and the white bandage peeking out at her knee. Catherine had removed the damaged stocking and was running around in her bare legs.
"I really am ok." Catherine fanned the front of her dress a little. "It will dry and not leave a stain." Kyoko did not have much time to think about the attack when they got back to the site. The director had been looking for her to start the next scene and Kyoko apologizes and hurried to get to her place. Now that Kyoko was occupied, Catherine limped over to the bench and sat down. She had been forcing herself to walk normal around the girl so as not to alarm her. She hadn't really hurt the joint, but man did it sting!
Catherine inspected the items she could see from her seat on Kyoko's floor. The woman had donned the new stockings they had picked up on their way back and was sitting with her good leg folded under her, and the injured leg stretched out in front of her. She took in the pristine poster of the man picking the girl up and the slightly shredded poster of the singer on the wall. He considered the dried rose and Princess Rose's bed next to it. What really caught her eye were the lifelike dolls of Ren that were stuck around the room. There had to be twenty of thirty of them squirreled away in little nooks. The outfits were so delicately done and the faces were so lifelike that Catherine just had to smile. She picked up the pair of dolls that graced the top of the table. She could tell the male was Ren with dark hair and gothic clothing by comparing it to the other versions of him lying around, but she could not figure out who the matching girl was. She puzzled on it for a bit until Kyoko came back from the shower where she had just washed away the final reminiscence of Natsu. Catherine looked at the girl wrapped in the towel and realized the doll was her.
"Did you make these?" Catherine pointed to the matching dolls on the table. Kyoko looked at the item and blushed lightly.
"Yes." She admitted. "Those are the Heel siblings." She turned her attention back to getting ready.
"You do very good work." Catherine complemented her as she picked up a Ren doll that was just poking out from under the table. "You really caught his personality in this one." Kyoko looked back to see that Catherine had picked up one of the dolls with a scowl on its face. It was one of the ones that she used to chastise herself when the real Ren was not around. Kyoko blushed harder as the woman looked at the doll. An idea crossed her mind. "Would it be possible for you to make me one of these?" Catherine looked up at the young woman. Kyoko considered it for a moment before answering.
"Sure, but why?" Catherine smiled as the answer.
"I know someone that would really appreciate something like this." The faces of two people in America that would love to have a miniature Ren flashed in her mind. "But could you make him blond instead?" Kyoko giggled at the thought of a blond Ren and agreed to the odd request.
Ren pulled up in front of the Darumaya and parked behind Catherine's car. Both he and Yashiro were excited about the evening's activities. Yashiro had planned out exactly where Ren was going to take Kyoko and had come up with some spectacular ideas for ways Ren could confess his feelings for the girl. When Ren asked what Yashiro had planned for Catherine, the man just smiled and looked at him over his glasses before assuring him that they would have a good time. The two men got out of the car and went in to collect their ladies for the evening. The Okami meet them and showed them to seats at the bar before disappearing up the steps to get the women. The Taishou glared at the two well-dressed men before pulling out his biggest knife and running it up and down a steel to sharpen it. Ren swallowed hard as the man wiped the blade on a towel before pulling out a chunk of meat and carving the knife through it menacingly.
"Be sure to have her home before it gets late." The Taishou pinned Ren with an intense look.
"Yes sir." Ren answered. Yashiro snickered a little and elbowed the terrified actor. The Taishou turned his look to the manager and pinned him with the look he just gave Ren.
"Both of you." This killed Yashiro's mirth as he straightened up and promised the same. The two men sat in fear as they watched the stoic reduce the slab of meat into tiny chunks. The Okami came back down and looked at the pile of flesh before turning her attention to the pale men across the counter.
"The girls are on their way down now." She turned to get a bin to place the mutilated beef into. "I thought you said we had enough cubed meat." The men had already turned to see the girls coming down the steps, so they missed the Okami's comment.
Ren's breath caught as his eyes landed on the gauze wrapped woman. The dress hugged her just right, yet floated around her. He was sure he could hear soft music playing in the background somewhere. He could not help but looking at the necklace centered in the middle of the skin the modest neckline exposed. To Ren's delight, Kyoko had chosen to wear Princess Rose. Kyoko stopped on the bottom step and stared at the man's reaction. She was not sure what to do when Ren rose and closed the distance between them. Her heart nearly stopped when he captured her hand and guided her the rest of the way down the steps.
"You look beautiful tonight." Ren rubbed the back of her hand gently. Kyoko's mind froze at the intimate feel of his touch.
"You think I would let her out if she did not look good." The spell Ren had cast was broken and Kyoko remembered how to breathe again. Catherine smiled warmly at the girl. Yashiro approached her and bowed slightly.
"You look amazing tonight too." Yashiro complement brought a light blush to Catherine's cheeks. Catherine smiled shyly and thanked the man before bowing a farewell to the Okami and Taishou. The two couples left to go on their separate dates.
Author's note: Tune in next time when we get to the part that everyone has been waiting for….