…Hello. Please don't be too mad at me for the last chapter. I just wanted you all to suffer a little, because I love you. That's the same reason I torture the characters from time to time (all the time): I love them. :)

I hope that you enjoy this, even if I don't own Skip Beat. I hope it lives up to your expectations!

"Actually, I… I was wondering something," she whispered, the part of her that had snapped egging her on.

"Yes?" he prompted, gently.

"Is your offer from Maria's Dare still good?"

She heard his breath hitch.

"Tsuruga-san…?"

This time, she heard a soft intake of breath, but nothing more.

Stupid, stupid Kyoko! Of course; nothing else this accursed month had gone well, so why should this? "I-I'm so sorry. I-I should have guessed that it w-was just for the game. I'm sorry for asking. I shouldn't have taken it so – so seriously. I—"

"Kyoko?" His use of her given name, sans honorifics, was enough to stop her rambling instantly.

"…Yes?"

"Yes." Then, sensing her possible confusion, he clarified, "Yes, the offer is still good. The Dare was, after all, to whisper something 'sweet but true' to you. I am more than willing to fulfill the offer I made you that night."

"Really?" she squeaked, her grip on her cell phone tightening.

"Really," he confirmed, thankful that she could not see his highly undignified expression. "I'm glad. I'd thought that you'd forgotten about it."

"How could I forget an offer like that?" she asked, flabbergasted. "You know that something like that is—" she cut herself off, blushing.

"An offer you can't refuse, no matter how much your sense of propriety and non-imposition protests?"

"Yes," she answered, in a very small voice.

"Well, I'm glad that your desire won out this time. I must admit that I got a little too used to spoiling you during the Heel siblings. You make such fun expressions."

"Tsuruga-san!" she groaned, catching his teasing tone. "You know full well that Cain only managed to spoil Setsu so much because of that wounded puppy pout!"

He raised an eyebrow that she could not see, but sensed. "And Annabel didn't do the exact same thing to me over the phone two months ago?"

"I didn't – you couldn't see her expression!"

He chuckled. "I didn't need to, Mogami-san. I know you far too well for that."

Surprisingly, she did not protest this. "But… the offer doesn't involve being spoiled, does it? Because if it does, you know that I can't accept it. It wouldn't be proper."

The corners of his mouth twitched. "Not even if I pull Cain's wounded puppy pout?"

"Tsuruga-san!" she yelped, sounding scandalized.

"Kidding, kidding," he placated her. For now. "No, it doesn't involve being spoiled solely in the sense of material goods. I have other plans."

"You have it all planned already?" she asked, too amazed, fed up, and tired to worry about imposition.

"Yes. I had a few ideas floating around, and thought that they'd fit you perfectly." He'd had said ideas for quite a while prior to the offer being made, but he did not mention this.

Her grudges gave up attempting to stop the locks from being ground into powder and instead fled to the Kyoko meeting room to huddle with Mio. "I'm honored, Tsuruga-san," she murmured.

She heard his breath hitch again; his voice was suddenly nervous. "So when would you like to meet for this? Do you have anything tomorrow?"

"No, but I'm sure that you're busy. I don't want to interrupt your schedule."

He mentally went through his schedule, and decided that his interviews and single photo shoot could be rearranged if he mentioned to his manager that Kyoko was involved. "You know that my schedule is always light on Sundays. In fact, I actually have the day off tomorrow. I'd love to spend it with you."

"But you should rest on your day off!"

"Trust me, Mogami-san," he smiled, "I'll have enough time to rest afterwards. Besides, you wouldn't want my planning to go to waste, right?"

"Of course not! But—"

"And," he added, his voice softer, "I hate seeing you upset. You said that you've had a bad month, right? Let me cheer you up – at least as a friend. Okay?"

"Okay," she smiled, not daring to hope what his 'at least' could imply. "Thank you, Tsuruga-san. What time should I meet you, and where?"

Ren quickly began organizing his thoughts from the ball of pure ecstasy that had arrived with the unnamable emotion in her voice. "I'll pick you up at eight thirty tomorrow morning, and we'll go to part one."

"Th-Thank you," she stuttered, having sensed his heavenly smile even through the phone. Her grudges hid behind Mio to avoid the deathly rays.

"As much as I'd love to continue our chat tonight, we both will need to be fully rested for our day tomorrow," he smiled, scarcely refraining himself from using the word 'date.' "So I suppose that this is goodnight, Mogami-san. Sleep well."

"Goodnight, Tsuruga-san. Sweet dreams." She shut her phone and sank down onto her futon, her exhaustion suddenly too overwhelming for her to even question her acceptance of his offer.

He waited, as always, to hear the click of her shutting her phone before he shut his. He beamed at it for a moment before realizing with a groan what he would now have to do. Opening his phone, he chanted 'she's worth it' in his head in an endless loop as he dialed.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Yashiro… I know that this is short notice, but could you clear my day tomorrow? It's urgent."

"This has something to do with Kyoko-chan." It wasn't even a question – it was a statement, and a hideously gleeful one at that.

"You can't possibly know that," he sighed, thinking that he might need to call Kyoko back later to calm his frustrations enough to sleep.

There was a silence on the other end of the line.

He sighed heavily, and admitted, "Fine. Tomorrow, if my schedule is clear, I will be spending the entire day with Mogami-san." He paused, and then added, "At her request."

The responding squeal nearly deafened him, and he was quite glad that he'd pulled the phone away from his ear as soon as he'd finished speaking. "You have a date with Kyoko-chan? She asked you out?"

"I never said that I had a date with her. She simply inquired if an offer I made her some time back was still valid, and I replied that it was. The word 'date' never entered the conversation." He could imagine Yashiro wilting with disappointment at this news.

"You are so boring."

"So I've been told."

"I'll fix your schedule."

"I appreciate it."

"I expect to hear more about this offer, you realize."

"If things go as well as I hope, I expect that you'll be able to get her to tell you."

This thought was a bit too exciting for Yashiro, who was of course (incorrectly) inferring from this that Kyoko would be falling into Ren's arms. Ren was consequently (and, thankfully, briefly) subjected to a very loud series of cheers before Yashiro abruptly hung up to go arrange things. Not fifteen minutes later, he called back to inform Ren that things were ready to go. Ren thanked him and hung up before the older man could tease him any further.

Japan's top actor sighed and leaned his head against the back of his couch after making another few phone calls to set things up – and dealing with a few more (only slightly less exuberant) well-wishers. Even with all the teasing he was going to suffer after this, he could not keep the grin from his features. She'd accepted his offer. He'd hoped, yes, that she would take him up on it – it was an offer that was right up her alley, of course – but he had never actually expected her to accept. Even if it wasn't technically a date, he still was going to be able to spend the day with Kyoko and – contrary to what he may have told her – he was going to spoil her as she deserved to be spoiled, if anything of what he'd managed to hear about her month from various sources was true. He would put his best effort into cheering her up and following through on his offer in the process.

Kyoko turned over in her sleep, her mind giving her a dream that was actually a two-month-old memory….

He shifted tentatively closer to her, placing one hand on the side of her away from him so that he engulfed her without trapping her. He swallowed and leaned close to her, eyes shutting when his lips nearly brushed against her ear. He murmured to her, softly, so that none but she could hear what he said.

Lory and Maria watched, intrigued. Kyoko – who had fully returned from Annabel while Ren was in his stupor – sat, slightly stiff, in Ren's almost-embrace. While at first downcast from something she refused to name, her eyes were soon lit with curiosity at his murmur.

"Of course, what of them?"

Ren murmured softly once more, his lips now brushing against her earlobe.

Kyoko's face grew pink – though from his words or his touch, the observers could not be certain (except for Sebastian, of course, who is Sebastian and therefore hears all). But even they could not miss the look of absolute longing that she gave him as he drew away, one that nearly snapped his control and completely melted Lory's heart – a look of longing tinged with something she refused to name, a dark something broken only by the purest light… a something that he could not yet give her, and a something that she was not yet ready to receive.

The next morning dawned very early for an over-excited Ren… well, if he was going to be honest, an over-excited Kuon. He very much doubted that the gentleman Tsuruga Ren would display quite so much glee over the thought of spending a day in the sole company of a single girl… but this was Kyoko, and all rules he otherwise held dear seemed to fall away when she was involved. Today, he sensed, was going to be a good day – a day she deserved. He rolled out of bed and hurried off to get ready. He had hours before he was due to pick her up, but he was too excited to sit still. A bird chirped on his windowsill; today would be a good day, indeed.

Kyoko gave a soft moan and rolled off of her futon, landing face-down on the floor. She rubbed her eyes sleepily; this did not bode well for her day… again. She'd slept well, which was a relief; over the past month, she'd gotten very used to functioning on little sleep. Perhaps, she mused, that was the only good thing that had come of this month. Sitting up and stretching, she glanced at her clock: eight fifteen. She stared at it for a few seconds, wondering why she had the nagging feeling that she really ought to be panicking right now. She knew that she had the day off… so why did she currently have the dull ache that preceded her full-on panic mode? Surely she hadn't made plans with Moko-san… she would've remembered! Slowly, she got to her feet and began dressing – she wore a pair of jeans and a light blue top, nothing special - as she knew that, once she remembered why she ought to be panicking, she would want to be dressed. After hurriedly running a brush through her hair and applying a thin coat of make-up (it seemed the proper thing to do in the face of unknown plans), she scampered downstairs for breakfast. Perhaps a bit of food would help her remember what she'd forgotten.

It was eight twenty-nine.

Ren glanced at the clock in his car and hurriedly scrambled out. He would not be late for this, no matter how nervous he might be. Today was about Kyoko; yes, it hurt a bit that she hadn't told him earlier about her awful month, but he understood that she simply hadn't wanted to worry him. That was why he would spend the day treating her as she ought to be treated: Like a princess. He entered the restaurant, which had just opened for breakfast but had not yet acquired any customers, in time to see Kyoko scurrying down the stairs and into the kitchen. He smiled at the sight of her.

Kyoko froze, having suddenly remembered what had been planned for the day. He – he – was here to pick her up to kindly fulfill his offer, and she hadn't even had breakfast yet! She was a terrible person – how could she forget about that? Hadn't she been agonizing over whether or not to accept his offer for two months? She pushed the heels of her hands against her eyes, willing herself to remain calm.

Taisho, noting her discomfort, stepped out of the kitchen (recently sharpened knife in hand) and simply stood there, his gaze leveled on Ren. Ren bowed and gave a standard greeting, then explained that he was there to pick up Mogami-san for their day out.

"She hasn't had breakfast yet," taisho stated simply, without prompting or self-introduction. His tone implied that Kyoko would not be allowed to go without breakfast simply because someone was here to pick her up.

"In that case, I'm willing to wait for her or take her out for breakfast – whichever she prefers," Ren nodded, and then caught sight of Kyoko now peeking cautiously around the edge of the doorway, face pink with embarrassment. He smiled. "Good morning, Mogami-san."

"Good morning," she returned, stepping into the doorway and bowing. "I'm really sorry for not being ready yet! I woke up late and was disoriented and—"

"It's fine," he soothed, as taisho's grip on his knife tightened. "Would you prefer to eat here, or elsewhere? Either is fine by me."

"Oh – um, here, please. I'll go make myself something quickly."

"No need to rush. We're on a very loose schedule today," he assured her, but she rushed back into the kitchen anyway.

"What are your plans for the day?" the taisho asked abruptly, as soon as Kyoko was out of earshot.

"My plans consist mainly of taking her out and treating her as she ought to be treated," came the honest, if slightly awkward, reply. "We'll probably spend some time in the park as well, so that she can commune with her faeries."

The taisho raised an eyebrow, and Ren fumbled with his words.

"I mean – she says that they're there, I can't see them – so I thought she'd like to… er…. I'd just like her to have fun today."

The taisho's knuckles were no longer white. Ren took that to be a good sign.

"The day is my treat, of course, though she'll probably argue with me over that." A nervous chuckle escaped his throat. Yes, he'd met his girlfriends' parents in the past, but none were quite so… intimidating. And, he noted sadly, Kyoko wasn't his girlfriend.

"Of course, if she has something else she'd prefer to do, the plan will change accordingly."

The taisho eyed him for a moment longer, nodded once, and then made eye contact. During that brief moment, he ran his fingers lovingly along the blade of his knife, not needing to speak to get the message across loud and clear: If you hurt her in any way, your remains will be the perfect size for stir-fry.

Well, maybe not that exact wording, but Ren has a rather active imagination, and the effect was the same.

Okami-san smiled at Kyoko, who was eating her breakfast as quickly as possible without choking. "Relax, Kyoko-chan. I'm sure that your date won't mind waiting for you to finish breakfast."

The girl froze mid-bite. "He's not my date, okami-san. We're simply colleagues spending the day together."

The older female, having glimpsed the smile Ren gave Kyoko when he saw her earlier, clucked in amusement. "Whatever you say, dear. Just let me take a picture before you go, alright?"

"Um… yes," Kyoko replied between bites, a bit confused but willing to please nonetheless.

"Good girl," okami-san smiled fondly. "Be sure to have fun today."

Kyoko finally allowed herself – despite her constant fretting over her decision while making breakfast – to smile in anticipation. Today, she had a chance at a fairytale. "I will."

"Do you know what you two are going to be doing today?" okami-san inquired, rummaging through the cupboards.

Kyoko gave a soft squeak. "W-We're probably just going to walk around a park. I-I don't really… know…."

"He made the plans, I take it?" Smiling, the elder woman pulled a camera from the cupboard.

Kyoko nodded, ate the final bite of her breakfast, and stood to wash her dishes, only to be shooed away by her landlord. "But I—"

"Have a very handsome man waiting to take you out. Go finish getting ready. I'll take care of things here," came the smiling rebuff. "Now shoo." The budding actress nodded, thanked her, and scurried up the stairs to gather what she would need for the day. Okami-san, giddy over her almost-daughter's non-date, walked out to stop her husband from scaring the poor boy more than necessary. "Hello," she bowed, having reached the men.

"Good morning," Ren bowed in return; had he not been an actor, he would have been visibly nervous. "I hope that the two of you do not mind my borrowing Mogami-san for the day."

"Nonsense, it's perfectly fine," okami-san smiled; her husband's face contradicted her words. "She needs to go have fun more often. All the poor girl seems to do is work."

"Get her home at a decent time," her husband growled, hand still caressing his knife.

Ren swallowed. "Of course, sir."

"I'm sorry for making you wait!" Kyoko yelped, hurrying back into the room.

"It's quite alright, Mogami-san. I wasn't waiting long," he assured her, giving her a soft smile. She looks even more beautiful than usual today.

Her remaining demons, huddled and feeding off of Mio, cringed from the feel of it, but did not die. Mio, they decided, was their new leader.

Kyoko relaxed visibly; honestly, what had the girl expected him to do? "Shall we get going, then?"

She nodded, suddenly shy and mentally berating herself for imposing to the point of taking his offer seriously.

"But first, stand together and smile!" okami-san ordered, holding up her camera and ushering them closer. "There – oh, come now! Pretend you like each other. Smile!"

Her words, of course, had quite an effect on both people involved. Kyoko's cheeks had flushed, and Ren had to work very hard to avoid any dangerous expressions from crossing his features. They dutifully shifted closer, however, and smiled for the camera. They then bowed their good-byes and left.

"Why?" taisho inquired, finally sheathing his knife as he and his wife returned to the kitchen.

"I'm sure that they'll want some recording of their first date eventually," she smiled. "Even though Kyoko-chan kept insisting that it wasn't a date."

Taisho nodded his approval. "What did she call it?" he inquired, pecking his wife on the cheek before turning to his cooking.

"Colleagues spending the day together," she chuckled, pecking her husband's cheek in return. "Although I think that her friend – that's Tsuruga Ren, yes? – thought quite differently. Did he tell you their plans?"

"He's taking her out and treating her like she ought to be treated," taisho grunted, chopping meat very enthusiastically.

"As she deserves, especially after this month. She's been looking so worn lately."

An affirmative grunt and slightly less enthusiastic chopping met these words.

"She'll be fine with him, dear. He's the one who drops her off when it gets too late for her to bike home, remember?"

"She'd better be fine."

Okami-san smiled. "You're always so protective of your loved ones, dear."

A nod.

"Thank you."

"Welcome."

And they settled to preparing the restaurant for the day.

Outside of Darumaya, Ren opened the door of the car for Kyoko and grandly waved her inside. "My lady," he smiled, eyes sparkling with fun, anticipation, and mischief, "your carriage awaits."

*slowly peeks around*

…Hi. Um, yeah… so, no reveal of the whisper. Author's prerogative. Sorry (not really), but it'll be more fun this way (for me) and more challenging to write. Please don't throw too many things at me.

I've hinted at it, though. Any guesses?

In reply to a guest review… I have no clue how long this is going to be. -_- There's at least one more chapter (obviously – I wouldn't just leave it there; I'm mean, but not that mean)… beyond that, who knows? I might have a spotlight with Yashiro, Kanae, Lory, and/or Maria finding out about their non-date. That would be fun. :D

I love taisho and okami-san. They don't get nearly enough love in this fandom!

Please review! You can yell at me there. ;)