Wow, we made it to chapter 6! Thank you everyone that has come along on this rider. I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am.
Now, let's get back to the story!
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
Ren, Kyoko, and Yashiro got out of the car and made their way to the front door of the building. Yashiro excused himself to head to his office to pick up something he needed to help with Ren's scheduling and the two actors headed to the LoveMe locker room so Kyoko could help Ren with his bra. She tried to walk cool and confident like Ren usually did. Ren tugged on her arm so she would lean over so he could talk to her quietly.
"Please stop using the walk the I taught you for modeling." He whispered to her. "You're going to draw attention swinging my hips like that." Kyoko stopped dead in her tracks as she realized what she was doing.
"I'm sorry." She whispered as a blush ran up her skin. Ren sighed, this was going to be a long day.
"It's ok. Just don't think about it and walk normally." He instructed and she stood back up and tried to walk as normal as possible. "Relax Kyoko." Ren reassured her. Kyoko stopped again to take a deep breath and relaxed till she felt at easy before starting off again. This time she just let the body she was in move naturally. "There you go." Ren smiled at her. Luckly, no one noticed anything different about the two actors as they made their way to the safety of the LoveMe locker room.
"Now let me help you with that." Kyoko turned to Ren as soon as the door was shut. He was happy to oblige her. "Take off your shirt." Ren pulled the shirt over his head and turned so Kyoko could unhook the offending strap. He had managed to get one end of the strap tucked up through the armhole and twisted. Kyoko quickly righted it and rehooked the clasp in the back.
"Better?" She asked as Ren moved his arm around, the pinch was gone.
"Much." He told her gratefully.
"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" Both Ren and Kyoko turned to the sound of the angry voice coming from the new arrival. Kanae stood in the doorway glaring daggers at the tall actor. Ren quickly stepped back from Kyoko. He was not sure how to explain the situation to the young actress.
"MOKO-SAN!" Kyoko cried as the infuriated actress closed on the girl in Ren's body. "I can explain!" Kanae did not catch the use of her nickname coming from the tall actor trying to defend himself. Kanae's fury pushed Kyoko back and she placed herself between what she perceived to be the offending man and her topless best friend.
"YOU BETTER EXPLAIN YOURSELF!" She nearly screamed at the male body in front of her. Ren took the opportunity to put his top back on and went to help his kohai with her best friend.
"Kotonami-san." Ren placed his hand on the dark haired woman's shoulder. "There's been a misunderstanding." Kanae turned to look at her friend. She was shocked to hear her friend call her formally by her last name. She turned her attention back to the man holding his hands up protectively in front of him and her mind replayed the last few minutes in her mind.
"Did you call me 'Moko-san'?" She asked the tall actor. Kyoko nodded at her and relaxed a bit, she might be able to make it out of this one alive.
"I did Moko-san. Let me explain." She used her nickname for Kanae again. She looked at the tall man that sounded like her friend and then to her friend that did not sound like herself. Confusion filled her face as she pointed from one to the other and back. Finally she was able to put her thoughts into words.
"What's going on here?" Kanae looked at the two actors for answers.
"It's a long story Moko-san." Kyoko answered as Ren released the girl's shoulder and stepped back. Kanae eyed the tall man wearily. Kyoko sighed and launched into the story about how she found a fairy and took it to show Ren. Kanae listened intently as her eyes shifted from the tall man explaining things to her friend standing silently with her arms crossed at her chest. Kyoko finished her story by explaining that she was helping Ren straighten out the bra strap when Kanae walked in. Kanae looked at the two in complete disbelief.
"That is the lousiest lie I have ever heard." Kanae rounded on the actor again.
"But it's the truth." Kyoko whined and stepped back from the furious girl.
"If you really are Kyoko, tell me something that he," Kanae pointed to Ren with her thumb, "would not know." Kyoko thought about it for a second and launched into the story about their first commercial audition and how they went out for ice cream afterwards. Ren covered his face so the blush rising up it would not be seen. He was glad that they were alone in the LoveMe locker room and no one could see the flowers popping out around Kyoko as she spoke about her best friend. He should never have that look on his face again.
"Enough." Kanae raised her hands to stop the stream of words flowing from the tall actor's mouth. Those were definitely Kyoko's thoughts coming from the man. "Say I believe you," Kanae still was not sure what to believe, "are you too going to be stuck like this?" She worried about her friend.
"Not for long." Ren answered calmly. "The fairy that changed us is working on correcting the problem. We should only be like this for a little while." Ren still had not told Kyoko that it would be days till they changed back. A knock sounded from the door as Yashiro came looking for his charge.
"Ren?" He called as he pushed the door open to see the three actors standing there.
"Yes?" Ren answered. Yashiro turned concerned eyes to the young actress facing the tall actor's body. "She knows." Yashiro nodded.
"We need to get moving to see Takarada-san." Yashiro looked at his watched. "I cancelled your morning schedule, but the photo shoot this afternoon is going to be a lot harder to take care of." Ren nodded and turned to Kanae.
"If you will please excuse us, Kotonami-san." Ren bowed to the actress. "Come on Kyoko-chan, we need to go." Kyoko begged her friend's forgiveness as she hurried past her and followed Yashiro and Ren out the door. Kanae sat down on the sofa in the room and rolled what she had just seen around in her head. Her best friend acting like Ren and the tall actor acting like the excitable teenager her best friend was. She thought back over what she had eaten this morning and remembered the nutrition shake she had substituted breakfast for. It was the first time she had tried it and she vowed that it would be the last. Obviously it was making her hallucinate. She slipped into her LoveMe coveralls and decided to go get herself a cheeseburger to try and counteract the effects of the shake.
Lory looked at the three people sitting in his chairs. Yashiro had called to let him know that they were coming in, but he didn't explain what was going on. Lory knew that Ren was supposed to be at a recording this morning and he had gotten a very concerned phone call from the director when Ren had called in sick. He looked over the tall man sitting unusually straight. He looked ok to Lory.
"Tell me what is going on Ren." He addressed the actor but was surprised when the answer came from the young girl lounging in the chair across from him. He looked at the relaxed way she sat in the chair, it was unusual for her to be so improper.
"I don't know how to explain it without sounding mad." Ren started. He looked up at his boss and friend. "Kyoko-chan and I have a bit of a situation and need your help." Lory just stared at the young girl in confusion. Had she just said 'Kyoko-chan and I'? He looked at the girl talking and decided to let it go until he knew more.
"How can I help, Kyoko-chan?" Lory addressed the girl. This time the tall actor answered his question.
"Well, something has happened and we need you to clear our schedules." Kyoko answered as she blushed in embarrassment. Lory's mouth fell open at the red rising up Ren's skin. He had never known the actor to be so sensitive. Then it hit him, he had asked Ren what was going on and Kyoko had responded. Then he asked Kyoko what they needed and Ren responded… What was going on?
"Before I do anything, please explain to me what in the world is going on." Lory looked between the two actors then to the man smiling at them. Yashiro pushed his glasses up taking on a more serious air despite the smile that was trying to turn up the corners of his mouth.
"Kyoko found a fairy that switched their bodies." Yashiro explained as the grin stretched his face. Ren glared at him with Kyoko eyes and the man tried to school his face back to seriousness. Lory looked at the manager as if he had lost his mind. Maybe the stress of taking care of such a big name as Ren had finally gotten to the man. He looked to the two actors to see they were both nodding their heads at the bespectacled man's words.
"Wait, you're telling me a 'fairy' switched your bodies?" Lory could not believe what the three people were trying to pull on him. All three people nodded together. Lory looked at Ren setting with his hands folded between his knees and then at Kyoko nodding her head. He looked at his calendar to make sure that is was not April first because this was the best prank he had ever heard of. Lory laughed at the joke. "Ok, very funny. Now what is really going on?" The smile died on Lory's face when the two actors both turned serious eyes to him. He watched as the young actress stood up.
"I need to talk to you for a moment." Lory followed behind Kyoko as she led him to a corner and told him things she should not know. Either Ren and Kyoko had gotten a LOT closer or they were telling him the truth. Lory stood flabbergasted as Ren explained their situation using Kyoko's body and voice. After a few minutes the pair returned and Lory stared at the two actors.
"Alright." The shocked president said. "I will be happy to clear as much of your schedules as I can, but there are things that I cannot change." Both Ren and Kyoko looked at their boss.
"Like what?" Kyoko asked. Lory looked at the tall man speaking and had to remind himself that it was Kyoko.
"Well, we worked hard to get Ren a special shoot today." Lory answered. "Marianna Adual is only here for today and it would be impossible to reschedule it." Kyoko's eyes widened at the name of the French runway model posing for the female line of the brand Ren was representing.
"Isn't there something we can do?" Ren asked. Lory was having a problem seeing the actor in Kyoko's body.
"We could cancel on them, but it would be a breach of contract and it could lose you the label." Lory explained the problem. Ren sighed, it would be a blow to his reputation, but he obviously couldn't model as he was now. Ren opened his mouth to tell Lory to cancel it but never got the chance.
"I'll do it." Kyoko spoke up from her chair. Lory, Ren, and Yashiro stared at Kyoko. "I can't ask you do that, Kyoko-chan." Ren said as he looked at her. Kyoko set her jaw and sat taller.
"I can't let this hurt your reputation." Kyoko knew what losing his label could do to the man. "I can do it." She said again more firmly.
"But you don't know the first thing about modeling." Ren explained the problem to her. This just made Kyoko even more determined to do it.
"You can teach me what I need to know." Kyoko insisted. "You taught me how to walk like a female model, you can show me how to be a male model." Kyoko pleaded with her senpai through her eyes. Ren stared at her in disbelief. How could his face make such cute eyes? He thought about it for a moment longer. If anyone could do this, it was Kyoko, and it would save his reputation. He nodded.
"Alright," He agreed to her request. "But we don't have a lot of time, so this is going to have to be done quickly." Ren stood up and looked around for a good place to teach the girl what she needed to know for the photo shoot tonight. Yashiro let out a loud squee at the prospect of watching the lesson. Ren looked at the excited man and then back to Lory. "Is there someplace where we can work in private?" Yashiro's hopes crashed to the ground.
"Sure, you can use my private rooms." Lory led Ren and Kyoko to a door in the corner of this office and let them into his secure room. Ren thanked him and followed Kyoko through the door and shut it tightly behind him. Lory turned to the pouting manager. "Want to watch?" Lory asked him as he went to another room set in the other corner of the room. Yashiro nodded excitedly and the two disappeared into the security room to watch the fun through the cameras.