Thank you for returning. This is Chapter 2 corrected. Please enjoy.
The use of 'he' and 'she' in this story is a little odd. To anyone in the story that knows what is going on Ren(in Kyoko's body) is referred to in male form and Kyoko( in Ren's body) is referred to in female form, that is how they view themselves no matter what physical form they take. To anyone that does not know, they still think about the person according to what they see. I have worked to make it as clear as possible on who the story is talking about, but if there is any confusion, please let me know so that I can correct it. Thank you.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
Yashiro watched in concern as Kyoko held a one-sided conversation with the table and her open hand. Unsure about what to do for the confused girl, he came over to check on his unmoving charge. As he reached to wake Ren, Kyoko grabbed his wrist and stopped him before he could touch the sleeping actor.
"Not yet." Ren held his manager's hand back from Kyoko in his body. "Tell me what you see." He held out the fairy. Yashiro looked at Kyoko's outstretched hand confused by her actions.
"Umm….Your hand." He answered with a raised eyebrow. The fairy shook her head sadly at the older man unable to see her. Ren shifted as he thought about the problem.
"Try it without your glasses." Ren asked. Yashiro took off his glasses to humor the young woman and looked again.
"It's still just your hand, only fuzzier." He sighed. Ren tried to recall the many myths he had heard about fairies.
"Try looking out of the corner of your eye." He pleaded with his manager. Yashiro shook his head and started to replace his glasses. "PLEASE!" Ren begged in Kyoko's cutest voice. Yashiro sighed deeply unsure what she was playing at, but he couldn't refuse when she spoke like that. He turned his head so he could see her hand with just the corner of his eye. Gasping, he turned back to see the fairy waving at him from the girl's palm. Once the magic that keeps fairies hidden had been broken, it was not hard to see the little creature clearly.
"What is that Kyoko-chan!" Yashiro leaned close to the little creature. She blushed at the intense inspection.
"It's a fairy." Now that Yashiro could see the creature, he would be more likely to accept what Ren was about to tell him. "I am not Kyoko, I'm Ren." Yashiro sat up and looked at the girl holding the fairy in surprise. He looked down at the sleeping actor and back to Kyoko holding the fairy.
"Quit pulling my leg." Yashiro shifted back in disbelief. Ren had hoped that seeing the fairy would help Yashiro to believe him. Yashiro looked in disbelief at the little fairy nodding her head. After a moment considering the pair, he turned to Ren. "If you really are Ren, tell me something that Kyoko does not know." Ren sighed and thought of the one thing Yashiro knew that Kyoko had not yet accepted.
"I love her with all my heart and would do anything for her." Ren did not need to explain this to Yashiro as his eyes grew in surprise. Ren thought of one more thing that Kyoko didn't know that would cinch Yashiro's disbelief. "You also have a large collection of anime ranging from..."
"OK." Yashiro cut him off before the actor could reveal how much of an otaku he really was. "I believe you, but how…?" The manager waved at the body Ren currently occupied and the sleeping form he was supposed to be in. Ren looked to the little fairy resting in his palm and sighed. She had curl up for a nap. Ren lowered his hand to relieve the fatigue pains from holding it up for so long.
"Kyoko came over last night to show me a surprise." Ren looked down at his cupped hand.
"The fairy." Yashiro stated as he started to put it together. Ren nodded.
"I couldn't see her, so I thought Kyoko was just fooling around." He blushed as he admitted his assumption. "I said something absentmindedly." Ren looked down to where Kyoko was sleeping. Yashiro considered them for a moment.
"What did you say?" Yashiro asked. He couldn't think of any comment that would give the fairy the idea to switch the actors' bodies.
"I wished I could see things through Kyoko's eyes." Ren sighed looking down at his new body. Yashiro snickered a little trying to hold it in, but Ren's serious look coming from Kyoko's eyes set him laughing out right. Ren stood up in a huff as his manager rolled on the floor in tears of laughter. Ren went to find a pillow to place the small fairy on so he could get Kyoko up. He was unsure if she had anything scheduled today and it might take a while to explain what happened. If she felt anything like he had when he woke up, then he would need both hands for this.
By the time Ren came back, Yashiro was laying on the floor wiping the tears from his eyes. The laughter had died down to little chuckles every now and them. Ren stood over his manager and looked down at the stupid grin on the man's face.
"Better?" Ren asked with his normal serious expression. This sent Yashiro into another fit of giggles. The withering glare Ren shot him only made the giggles harder, but after a few more minutes and some deep breaths the manager pulled himself together and sat up.
"Better." He informed Ren. The two friends looked down at Kyoko still sleeping on the floor. Yashiro snickered again but swallowed the mirth to face the real problem.
"I think it would be best if you wake her up." Ren suggested to Yashiro. "If she's as disoriented as I was, she might take it better if she didn't see me yet." Yashiro agreed as Ren went to stand behind the couch. He could watch from there, but would be out of Kyoko's direct line of sight. Yashiro knelt next to the sleeping form on the floor and tapped its shoulder gently.
"Kyoko-chan, it's time to wake up." Ren watched as his body moved and groaned.
"Oh my head." Kyoko raised her hand to stop the pain bounding behind her eyes. As she started to sit up, Yashiro reached out to stabilize her.
"Carefully now." He warned as he helped Kyoko to sit up awkwardly. Yashiro coaxed her into stretching her legs out and leaning back against the couch. She tilted her head back so it was pillowed on the couch with her eyes closed. Ren shook his head; he knew exactly what the girl was going through.
"I don't feel so good." Ren grabbed up the wastebasket from the corner and passed it to Yashiro just before Kyoko threw up. He got her a glass of water and a damp towel and set them on the table where Yashiro could reach them when his hands were free again. At the moment, the manager was supporting Kyoko so she didn't knock over the can as her stomach convulsed.
"There, there." Yashiro patted her on the back before lifting the water to her lips. She took a sip and opened her eyes for the first time. Yashiro helped her lean back against the couch again so she could recovered.
"Yashiro-san." She started to speak, but stopped. She cleared her throat before starting again.
She wasn't sure what was wrong, but her voice sounded off. "What happened?" She raised her hand to her head to rub at the pounding in her temple.
"Just relax, Kyoko-chan. Everything will be fine." Yashiro soothed her. "What do you remember from yesterday?" Kyoko closed her eyes again and tried to think through the fuzziness filling the space where her memories should have been.
"I found a fairy injured in the park." She pressed her mind for information. "I brought it over for Tsuruga-san to see, but he couldn't." Kyoko stirred more of her memories. "The fairy kissed his cheek and he passed out. REN!" When the memory of his faint hit her she flailed looking for the fallen man. With calming sounds, Yashiro placed his hands on her shoulders to push her back against the couch gently.
"Ren is fine, you're both fine, just calm down." Yashiro soothed her. "There has been a misunderstanding and things have happened." Yashiro explained vaguely. "But everything will be fine." Kyoko looked at him with concern not understanding what was going on.
"Where is Tsuruga-san?" She asked cautiously. She raised her hand to her throat again. Her voice sounded oddly familiar, but it didn't sound like her. Her fingers touched the cord of a necklace that she could not remember putting on. Pulling it out to look at it, she recognized the charm that Ren often wore. She stared at it puzzled for a moment before noticing the hands that held it. Pushing her hands out if front of her, she looked at the familiar hands that had no business being at the ends of her arms. She started trembling as she looked down at the body she now possessed. By the time she registered the feet and legs, she had wrapped her now long arms around her torso. She was visibly shaking as she lifted her fingers to her face to feel the familiar features of her beloved senpai. Running her hands up through her hair, she looked up at Yashiro kneeling in front of her. The look in her now brown eyes was sheer terror as she spoke. "Where's Tsuruga-san?" She asked again. Her voice trembled on the edge of panic.
"I'm here." Ren answered and stepped around the corner of the couch so she could see him. Kyoko looked up at Ren standing there in her body and screamed as hysteria took over. Yashiro did the first thing he could think of and slapped her soundly across the face. The physical impact seemed to stop her for the moment, but she was still shocked beyond speech.
"You hit me!" Ren cried indignantly as he dropped to the frightened girl's side to look at the cheek Yashiro had struck. "Well her, but it's still me."
"What was I supposed to do, let her wake the entire neighborhood?" Yashiro defended his action. Kyoko listened to the two 'men' talk.
"The walls are sound proof here." Ren protested as he picked up the cool towel he had brought to the manager and pressed it to the red, hand-sized welt forming on her cheek.
"Couldn't you think of something else?" As Ren griped at his manager, Kyoko studied the face of the person tending her with amazement. She recognized the auburn hair and golden eyes set in the face she saw every time she looked in the mirror. To have it in front of her and not behind glass was disturbing. Bewildered, she reached her hand out and touched the image of herself moving before her. Ren paused in his argument with Yashiro as her fingers caressed his skin.
"Ren?" She questioned softly, not quiet believing what was happening. Ren smiled softly at her.
"Yes Kyoko, it's me." He closed his eyes and let her touch his face and hair. He loved her soft caresses. He opened his eyes up when she spoke again.
"But… how?" She stammered. Ren was about to answer her question when it hit her. "THE FAIRY!" She nearly yelled the answer as she snapped upright. Ren jerked back in surprise at the sudden movement.
"She granted the wish I made." A strange smile curled Ren's lips as he explained. Kyoko tilted her head and gave him a questioning look.
"Wish?" She asked, she could not remember him asking for anything.
"Yes, I wished that I could see the world through your eyes, and she took it literally." Ren sighed shaking the amusement from his face. Yashiro had moved back to give Ren space and tried his best to not laugh at his friends' plight. He held most of it in, but little snickers were escaping at how cute Ren's body looked with Kyoko's innocent and sincere expressions on his face. He decided he was going to invest in a video camera so he could record the next few days for later enjoyment.