Here is the next installment for your enjoyment.

Thank you Modoc. I think you are right, I do feel that my writing has improved as this story has gone on. It really is a great learning process.

Yoshi… you have taught me that I have GOT to stop drinking things while reading reviews… I had just taken a drink when I opened that last review and I can now personally tell you that root beer burns when it goes up your sinuses. Please don't stop, that was the best laugh I have had all day.

Note: I do not own Skip Beat!

Ren listened to the door latch shut as he watched Kyoko finished unpacking her ingredients for dinner. He studied her movements for a while till his eyes caught a hint of red in one of the chairs under the table she was working at.

"What's this?" Ren reached down and pulled the missing whipped cream can from chair and held it up for Kyoko to see.

"I knew I had picked up whipped cream." Kyoko took the can and stuck it with the pile to go into the refrigerator. She thought for a moment. "Could you call Catherine and tell her that we found it?" Ren shook his head; he wanted to have a few more minutes with his love before having to share her attention with his other friends.

"It's only downstairs; they are probably on their way back now anyway." Ren reassured her. Kyoko shrugged and turned her attention back to the food she needed to prepare. Ren watched her work her magic in silence, just enjoying the way she looked in his kitchen. His mind stuck on that. Right now it was his kitchen, but in a short time it would be their kitchen. Kyoko turned at the sounds of a sigh to find Ren leaning against the wall with his eyes closed.

"If you're tired, why don't you go rest in the living room?" Her suggestion brought a chuckle from him.

"I'm not tired." He assured her. "I was just thinking about something." Kyoko looked over at him suspiciously. To her, eyes being closed meant you were sleepy. She turned back to her cooking.

"What were you thinking about?" Ren so wanted to go into everything that he had spent his day turning over, but Yashiro and Catherine had been gone a while, and he expected them to walk through the door at any moment. He pondered what truth to give her that would not lead them into deeper conversation. Unable to pick a good one, he when with what had cause the sigh in the first place.

"The future." Kyoko stilled at his words. She had been thinking about the future since they had left Lory's office. She slowly stirred the pot in front of her so the contents would not burn as she considered what to say to him.

"Ren-san, what's going to happen to us?" Kyoko asked him slowly. Ren pushed away from the wall and walked over to her. Kyoko tensed as he brought his arms down around her from behind and placed a soft kiss on top of her head.

"It will all work out, Kyoko-chan, I promise." Kyoko swallowed hard as she tried to find the right words to express her fears.

"How can you be so sure about it?" Kyoko shifted in his arms. "I mean, we really don't know that much about each other." Ren held her and thought about it for a moment longer. He wanted to tell her everything, but he was afraid that the two managers would walk in on his confession. Catherine already knew about his secret, but he was not ready for Yashiro to know. It wasn't that he did not trust the man to keep silent; he just was not ready to be revealed yet.

"We know lots about each other." Ren started where it was safe. "I know you're from Kyoto and your mother left you at the Fuwa's Ryokan where you grew up with Fuwa Sho." The air chilled a little at the mention of the singer's name, but Ren went on. "I know he broke your heart and you came to be a talent at LME to get revenge on him." Kyoko tensed even more from the hint of anger that colored his words, but Ren went on without pausing. "I believe you have moved on from that goal and now work to make a name for yourself because you enjoy it." Kyoko relaxed a little as the anger drained from his voice. "I know you like hamburger steak and eggs, fairytales, and that you had a fairy prince as a childhood friend." Kyoko blushed lightly at his words, but he did not stop. "I know that you are a good cook that worries about me and takes care of me when you can." Kyoko's blushed deepened. "I know you made me feel happy and alive." Ren turned the reddened girl around in his arms and looked deeply into her golden eyes. "I know that I love you and want to spend the rest of my life with you." Ren's words brought tears to her eyes as he bent down and placed his lips tenderly on hers. They held the gentle kiss for a long time before Ren pulled away and pressed the girl to his chest. "What more is there to know?" Kyoko's mind whirled as she tried to process his words. She was brought back by the smell of the food on the stove burning. Ren released the girl and stepped back as she scurried to try to save the scorching meal.

"It's ruined!" Kyoko cried in horror. She could not remember the last time that she had burnt food this badly. Ren chuckled from behind her.

"I am sorry." He bowed his head to her. Ren knew that he had been the direct cause for this. "Let me call Yashiro and see if they can pick up something on their way back." Kyoko nodded as she emptied the charred food out into his trash can. Ren slipped into the living room to get his phone. The tall actor was shocked when he saw the time; somehow he had lost two hours to the study of the girl he loved. 'Where could they be?' He dialed his manager and laughed when the man's phone sounded from the table next to his computer. Ren walked back into the kitchen with his phone.

"What did they say?" Kyoko asked as she ran water into the sink and added some soap.

"Yashiro left his phone." Ren chuckled again. He was just about ready to call Catherine when his phone sounded. He read the message from their managers. 'Out of whipped cream. Have a nice night. You can thank me in the morning.' Ren laughed at the message.

"What's funny?" Kyoko turned from her bubbly water to see what the actor had gotten.

"Catherine-san said they were delayed in returning and that we should get food without them." Ren smoothed over the truth. He was not sure what Kyoko would do if she had any idea what their managers were doing.

"Are you sure it will be alright?" Kyoko gave him a very concerned look.

"Oh, I am sure it's alright." Ren tried to keep the amusement out of his voice, but it did not work well. Kyoko shook her head and went back to soaking the burnt off Ren's pot.

"What should we eat?" Kyoko asked.

"There was enough food her for four, what's left?" Ren walked over to the dishes she had laid out on the counter. Kyoko thought about the little food that had not burnt and the rice sitting in the cooker and smiled. It only took her a few minutes to put together a meal for two with what was left.

"Onigiri!" Ren laughed when she presented him with a plate covered in filled rice balls. It was not Kyoko's first choice, but they had good stuff inside, so one night of them would not hurt.

"At least I know you will eat them." Kyoko teased the man with his poor eating habits. Ren smiled as he took one up.

"See. You do know things about me." Kyoko's smile faded away at the actor's words.

"But there is so much about you that I don't know." Kyoko lowered the plate and looked at the rice balls she had made. Ren stepped closer to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Let's see if we can change that."

Ren took the plate of rice balls and headed into the living room. Kyoko followed behind him with tea and the couple sat down to have a heart to heart talk. He had been preparing his heart to tell her the truth since he confessed to her in the restaurant, and now that Catherine had given him the chance, he was going to do his best to lay himself open for the girl he loved.

"What would you like to know?" Ren took a bite of his onigiri as he waited for Kyoko to decide where to start.

"Tell me about your family." Kyoko started with the thing that made her realize that she knew nothing about him. Ren considered how to tell her before choosing his words carefully.

"Well, I am the only son of an international superstar and a beautiful model." Ren admitted. Kyoko hung on his every word as he explained his parents to her; his father's doting ways and unusual eating habits, his mother's insistence to cook when she really can't, and both of their tendencies to be a little on the extreme side. "And I started acting under the name of Tsuruga Ren so that I could get away from my father's shadow." Ren finished and took a sip of his tea. Kyoko stared at him with an open mouth.

"Your parents sound just like Kuu and Julie Hizuri-san." Kyoko said in amazement. Ren looked at her carefully.

"That's because they are Kuu and Julie Hizuri." Ren held his breath as the shock crossed Kyoko's face. He knew this fact was going to be hard for her, but there was no way around it.

"YOU'RE KUON!" Kyoko nearly screamed at him when it clicked into place. She felt so foolish. She had spent a long time talking with Ren about her time with the famous actor and that she had enjoyed portraying his son while he had been in Japan. She dropped to a dogeze and immediately started begging his forgiveness for her audacity.

"Kyoko, it's all right." Ren raised her up from the floor. Kyoko kept her eyes turned down. Ren placed his hand under her chin and raised her face so she had to meet his eyes. "When I told you that you had done a good job with your interpretation, I meant it." This comforted Kyoko a little and she relaxed a bit.

"But I based his personality off of someone else." Kyoko felt ashamed to have to admit this to him.

"You based it off of Corn didn't you?" The question seemed to shake Kyoko, she was sure that she had not mentioned this to him.

"How.. how did you know that?" Kyoko turned it over in her mind. Ren sighed and stuck his finger into his eye. Kyoko gasped as Ren pulled the first of the brown contacts out of his eye and sat it on the edge of the plate. He pulled the second one out and blinked a few times before turning his startling blue eyes to her.

"Because I remember meeting a little girl by a creek in Kyoto whey I was visiting with my father." Tears welled up in Kyoko's eyes, but Ren pushed on. "I was ten years old and ran off into the woods to get away for a while. She mispronounced my name and insisted I was a fairy prince. She had been crying and it made her so happy, I just did not have the heart to correct her." Kyoko raised her hands to her mouth and shook her head. "We only stayed in Kyoto for a short time, but I left her with a stone that I always kept with me. In hopes that it would help her through her tough times like it helped me through mine." Kyoko was still in shock so Ren went on. "I never expected to see her again, but the day that stone fell down those steps, I knew something had brought her back to me."

"Corn?" Kyoko asked softly from behind her hands.

"Yes." Ren nodded. Kyoko's eyes darted to his dark hair. "Jelly Woods dyes it for me so that on one knows I am blond." Ren admitted to his biggest secret. Kyoko reached up and touched his brown hair trying to process his words. Her mind flipped back to another memory she had with Ren.

"Why didn't you tell me when I was upset by that dammed Beagle's words?" Ren could hear a slight bit of hurt slip into her words.

"It's not that I did not want to, I couldn't." Ren sighed, he pulled her hand from his hair and held it in his. He rubbed her knuckles gently with his thumb as he went on. "I have hidden my identity from all of Japan for a long time and I couldn't just come out and say 'Oh ya, but the way, I just happen to be the boy that you met in the woods when you were six' without going into details that I was not ready to reveal yet." Kyoko considered his words as he went on. "And I don't think you would have believed me at that time either." Kyoko had to agree with him on that one. If he had dropped this bomb on her then, she would have thought that he was teasing and being mean to her. She would probably have hightailed it as far from him as she could have gotten.

"You're right. I would not have believed you then." Kyoko finally found herself in the torrent his confession had caused. She moved to the next topic as she processed this one. "Why did you change your name?" Ren sighed deeply and tried to congeal his thoughts.

"Can I put these up before I answer that?" Ren pointed to the contacts drying on the plate. Kyoko agreed and Ren picked them up and deposited them in their case in the bathroom before returning to his seat on the floor. Ren took her hands in both of his and rubbed his nervousness lightly into her knuckles with his thumbs. Kyoko squeezed his fingers to give him the courage he needed to proceed. She could see the fear and pain glistening in his blue eyes as he explained his dark past to her. She figured he had darkness in his soul during the time they spent as the Heel siblings, but she had already forgiven him for it. She did cry when Ren told her about his part in Rick's death and his fall into despair. He ended his tale with Lory taking him away to start again under the name he held now. The pair sat in silence for a moment. Ren waited for Kyoko to pass judgment on him, and she worked to process everything he had just told you. To his surprise, Kyoko rose to her knees and wrapped her arms around his head and pressed it to her chest. He raised his arms around her to hold her against him. She petted his hair soothingly as he held on to her for dear life.

"Thank you." Kyoko kissed the top of his head and held him a little tighter. "I know this took a lot for you to tell me." Ren was grateful that she had not turned away from him for his deceit. "You have confessed so much to me that I want to be honest with you." Ren released her as she pulled away to reclaim her seat. "There is one more important thing that you don't know about me." Ren held his breathe as he waited for her words. "I am Bo." A string of emotions raced across Ren's face as he processed this before bursting into embarrassed laughter and falling over.

"I told you all those things, and you never once thought it could have been you?" Ren asked as he got control of himself again. Kyoko sat with her arms crossed and huffed at him. Ren sighed in relief. He was sure that her confession was going to be more extreme. "I am sorry." He chuckled as he sat up and tried to reclaim the serious he had before. The stupid grin that kept crossing his face made it impossible, so he settled for something else, gratitude. He reached out and pulled the grumpy girl into his lap and kissed her soft. Kyoko returned the light kiss and melted into his arms as he cuddled around her. "Thank you for always taking care of me Kyoko. Even when I did not know it was you." This calmed Kyoko's grudges that had stirred at his outburst. He rocked her gently enjoying the bliss she gave him by being in his arms. Kyoko enjoyed the soothing motion for a few minutes before her mind turned back to the important subject of the night.

"So, who knows you are Kuon?" Kyoko sat up and looked into those blue eyes. Her heart thumped oddly at their closeness.

"Lory does, and my parents, Jelly Woods of course, and Catherine." Ren listed the people who knew. Kyoko was surprised at the last addition.

"Kat-chan?" Kyoko asked. "But how?"

"Catherine and I use to work for the same entertainment company back in the United States. Kuu took a liking to her the same way he did with you, so she is practically family. She started as an actress, but quickly got into the stunt end of the business before going into body guard work." Ren explained. "Being older than me, my father asked her to look after me at work and she used to chase me down for my father when I would get out of hand." Ren recalled something that made him chuckle. "She was one of the only people that could take me down when I didn't want to go." Kyoko stared at this revelation with an open mouth. In the entire time that Catherine had been here, Kyoko could only think of one time that she had even let on that she knew him.

"I had no idea." Kyoko could think of anything better to say.

"That was the entire point." Ren smiled at her. Her breath caught at the sparkle in his dazzling blue eyes. "Now, it is late and we still have to get you moved tomorrow. Can you think of anything else important that we need to talk about?" A million questions spun through her mind, but they were all superficial. He had given her the most important fact already. Right when she was about ready to say no, one question did pop up.

"Umm… So Yashiro-san does not know." Ren sighed at the question.

"No. He knows that Tsuruga Ren is not my real name, but I have never told him anything about my past." Kyoko felt bad for the poor manager.

"Why not?" Kyoko asked. "Don't you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him, but Lory and I agreed when I came over that we could not tell anyone about this." Ren explained. "That way there was no possible way it could get out." Kyoko considered this for a moment.

"But you just told me." Kyoko pointed out to him. Ren smiled and squeezed the girl in his arms.

"Yes and I plan to marry you before the end of the year." Kyoko blushed hard as Ren pulled her in for a deep and passionate kiss.

Autors note: I know this chapter is a little long… I had planned to cut it in half after she made the rice balls, but I figured that would be mean to leave it hanging another day. I hope you enjoyed the fluffiness of this chapter.