Thanks Arith for the advice. I did start writting drival and think I have come up with a great idea for my next story... should be intresting. ... and I was able to get back into a nice grove. Also thanks to everyone for their continued support.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!.
Yashiro and Catherine came back out to find Ren and Kyoko still cuddled up on the floor where they had left them. Catherine really did not want to disturb the cute couple, but now that they had their disguised in place, they needed to talk about what they were going to do in the next week. It had taken a long time to change all of their hair so Kyoko started to make lunch while the other three leaned against the counters and talked.
"We will stay here again tonight. There are some things we need to arrange before we can get moving." Catherine explained. Kyoko pursed her lips as she watched Catherine absentmindedly rubbing her hand across her stomach again as she talked. "What makes you getting married harder is your dual citizenship. Japan does not make you chose one or the other until you turn 22, so they still see you as an American legally." Ren pondered this; he had not considered that fact. He figured that since he was Japanese through his father, he could just get married the normal way. "So to make sure everything is legal and binding, we are going to treat you as if you only held an American citizenship. So, there is the matter of a sworn affidavit that you need to sign, but we need to make an appointment at the Japanese consulate. I have the number and we can call after lunch." Ren noticed the unconscious motion of Catherine's hand.
"Are you ok?" Ren asked. Catherine paused in her movement to think about what the man said. She dropped her hand from her stomach as she realized what she was doing.
"No, no, I'm fine." She reassured the tall actor. Yashiro shook his head.
"I have seen what you consider as fine, let me see." A blush rushed up Catherine's face as the manager knelt in front of her and pulled up her shirt so he could see the smooth skin of her stomach. Not able to see anything wrong he dropped the material and stood back up.
"See fine." Catherine seemed embarrassed by his actions. "Now can we get back to business?" Yashiro nodded but noted to watch the woman closer. She continued to explain that they were going to travel around spending each night in a different hotel so that they would not draw attention as they gathered everything together to make the marriage legal.
"But what if someone recognizes us?" Kyoko asked as she filled the plates with food.
"Your actors." Catherine explained. "Act!" Kyoko gave her an odd look. Ren picked up the idea and explained it to her.
"We just have to not act like ourselves." He explained but Kyoko still did not follow him. How was she not to act like herself? Ren could see that she was lost. "For example, since I look American, I can act like an American." With that Ren closed on the girl he loved and draped his arm around her in an affectionate way. Kyoko blushed at the forwardness of his action. It was definitely not something done in public in Japan, but would not have been out of place on the streets in the USA. Kyoko nodded as she finally understood. Ren placed a kiss on the side of her head, another very American gesture that made Kyoko blush a little more. She turned things over as they moved the plates of food to the table to eat. Something important hit her.
"What about the family registry?" She knew that her husband would have to be listed in her registry to make their marriage legal.
"Easy." Catherine shifted around the extra large portion that Kyoko had given her. "Because Ren's father is Japanese, you can be listed down in their registry." Catherine pointed to a stack of papers that was pulled out of one of the boxes. "Julie was kind enough to send it to me to make things easier." The group considered everything as they ate. Something popped into Kyoko's mind and she swallowed her mouthful before asking the question.
"If Ren is an American citizen, does my marrying him make me one to?" Kyoko asked. Catherine shook her head as she cleared he mouth to explain.
"It does not make you one, but it gives you the right to become one. You still have to go through the proper immigration systems in the US." Catherine had spent many hours hunting up this information on the net while they traveled so there would not be any hitches when they went to actually get married. They spent the rest of lunch talking about the proper process and what they needed to do in the next week before Kyoko's birthday.
Once lunch was over, Catherine helped Kyoko clean up and left Ren to make his appointment to get his paperwork. Yashiro had offered to do it, but Catherine had left his bag in his apartment, so he did not have his gloves to protect the electronics, so he was not able to use the phone. Ren chuckled at the man's plight and took Catherine's offered phone. Once that was done, the only thing left for them to do was to wait.
Kyoko decided that they needed to restock Con's kitchen. He had been so kind in letting them stay, it would be improper to leave without supplying the nice young man with some kind of reward. Catherine agreed and the two girls drew up a shopping list. Catherine insisted that Kyoko stay where it was safe while she went to get the needed supplies. The young actress was not exactly happy about letting the woman go, but when Yashiro said he would go with her, she agreed. Ren did not want Kyoko out in public either. When they left, Yashiro was surprised to see that the car that they came in was gone.
"Where is the store?" Yashiro looked around at the quiet neighborhood that they were in. All of the houses were the same in the base housing.
"Since Con is not here, we can't go to the NEX, so we will have to head a little father out." Catherine smiled as she walked over to the motorcycle. She picked up one of the helmets and tossed it to the man and pulled on the other. He looked at the machine skeptically as Catherine got on and started it. Catherine looked at him when he did not climb on. "Don't worry, it's not that far, and between the saddlebags and the luggage box, there should be enough space for everything." This was not why Yashiro delayed, but he buckled on his helmet and climbed on behind her. He had wondered why she had forced him into Con's leather jacket on top of the warm clothing she had given him. Now he understood. He wrapped his arms around her as she fired up the machine and they were off to get food.
Kyoko looked up from what she was doing when she heard the sounds of the motorcycle turning over. She had half a mind to get up and yell at Catherine to get off that thing, but they were long gone by the time she could. Ren noticed the anger coming off his love and could not figure out what had caused it.
"Is everything ok?" He asked.
"She took the motorcycle." Kyoko sighed. Ren did not understand how this was a problem.
"I know it's a little cold, but they should be fine." Ren tried to sooth the girl.
"But she does not need to be on that thing." Kyoko seethed. Ren couldn't figure it out. He has listened to how much fun she had had on their trip across Japan. The only thing that he could think of was that there may be something wrong with Catherine. Ren turned concerned eyes to his love.
"Is there something wrong with Catherine?" Ren asked. He could tell from the way that Kyoko froze that something was up, but she assured him that Catherine was find before going and finding cleaning supplies. She decided that she should take her frustration at the woman out on the dirt of the sailor's apartment.
Author's note: I did a lot of research on marraiges in Japan, so I hope I got that right. Please forgive me if I have made an error