A/N:Here you go, the fifth chapter! The next few chapters may contain negative thoughts from Shion's part. Oh, and, I will try putting in Ren x Kyoko moments where appropriate. But I guess, there might not be much scenes about them, yet.
Disclaimers:I do not own any of the Skip Beat! characters, but I do own my own characters. Contains OOC elements.
Please enjoy!
Chapter 5: Predator and Prey
During breakfast, Kyoko rarely spoke at all. Her mind was reeling with Shion. The feeling of seeing his loved one leave is something she can relate to very much.
But what was the reason? Why did Professor Hinamori leave Shion? Didn't he know that by doing that, it was practically throwing them to the world of cruelty? Did he not know that his children (the androids) had all long disappeared, leaving Shion all by himself?
A sigh escaped her lips as she placed the utensils back onto the half-finished plate. All of a sudden she lost her appetite.
Ren didn't know what was going through her head. Just a few minutes ago she was lecturing to him about proper nutrition taking, but now she was the one straying from her three-meals-a-day ideology.
"Kyoko-chan? What's wrong?" Yashiro asked worriedly. Kyoko is actually leaving half a plate full! And it was her favorite hamburger steak with fried egg!
"Eh? Oh, it's nothing, nothing at all!" Kyoko flashed an assuring smile. What am I doing? Making Yashiro-san worried like that!
"Really? You look so deep in thought." Ren pressed, maybe she would tell him?
Truthfully, she wanted to pour her thoughts out, but it's just too personal. She wouldn't burden her senpai with her own worries! She shouldn't keep relying on him, after all!
"It's nothing, really. I was just thinking about my role." She lied smoothly; well, as smoothly as she can go.
"Role… you mean Natsu?" Ren knew she was lying, but he wouldn't pry deeper. She would just desperately refuse to tell him, which will turn out worse.
"Eh? Ah, yes." Did I fool him? "Erm, but it's fine now. I figured it all out!"
Ren sighed.
She blanched and froze. That was the NG sigh! Oh god, he figured it out?!
And then all of a sudden he flashed his gentle smile, "I see. It's good to be so focused on your roles, but you need to eat properly."
He momentarily blinded her. All her grudges were dying of dehydration, screaming something about 'argh, the holy light!' and she willed herself not to look away.
Kyoko then saw the emptied plate of her senpai, remembering about all the nutrition lectures she gave him.
How can I pick on his eating habits when I'm doing the same thing?! I'm the worst kohai ever! I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san!
In midst of beating herself up, she didn't notice Yashiro sparing timid and panicking glances towards Ren, who wasn't smiling; not his eyes, not his lips.
Ren had a hunch why the girl was affected so much. After all, he too, was affected quite as much. The boy who's just so similar to Kuon, the boy whose parent left him without any explanation.
Shion is just like a living ghost of their horrible pasts.
That afternoon, the ochre haired boy had mentioned that he wanted to venture outside.
"Shion, are you sure about this?" Lory looked more than uncertain as he saw the wolf boy twirling on the spot in front of the full-length mirror.
"You wouldn't want me to be locked up here until Kyoko-chan is back." Shion smiled cheerily as he stopped spinning, facing the man sitting on the couch in the middle of the large office.
The long sleeves of the grey V-neck knit shirt failed to hide his well-toned arms, with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the dark denim skinny jeans he's wearing latched onto his legs like another layer of skin, . The V-cut ended half way down his chest, outlining his collar bones and revealing a little of his firm, fair chest.
Now that he's dressed this way, I can actually relate him to a 16 year-old Kuon, what with his height. The older gentleman mused. Though, he looks more like the younger version of Kuu... but why is Shion so similar to the Hizuri men? Could it be...
Shion walked back into the wardrobe and pulled out a brown casket hat, flattening his ears beneath. Sometimes I wish I was a human.
"Just don't cause any troubles, Shion." Lory warned lightly watching the boy wave a dismissal hand as he walked out of the office.
He spent the day exploring, from shopping malls to neighborhood areas with rows of houses, until it was late evening, close to 7pm, when he finally felt satisfied with the day.
Having Sebastian drive him around wasn't that bad. "Hey, Sebastian?"
The tanned man, now dressed in proper butler clothes, looks at him through the rearview mirror in the black Lincoln sedan.
"Where is Kyoko-chan filming Box-R?"
Sebastian merely continued staring.
As if understanding the reason for his silent treatment, Shion smiled innocently, "I'm just going there to surprise her."
"She's an up-and-coming actress, is it wise for you to barge into the set without her consent?" Sebastian questioned expressionlessly.
Shion looks out of the window with a huff, "Then get me anywhere else. I don't know where to go anyway."
"How about TBM?" The butler suggested.
"I heard about it before, but why there?"
"Our Bridge Rock hosts a talk show called Kimagure Rock there. Mogami-sama is the mascot."
"Kyoko-chan is the mascot?"
"Yes. However, Kotonami-sama will be substituting her for today."
Shion hummed in amusement. If he's going to carry out the Cupid plan for Lory, he would have to first gather some information from the people around the couple-to-be.
Kanae is the best friend of Kyoko; surely she would tell him a little bit about her oddball friend.
His lips pulled back in a toothy grin, "Take me there, Sebastian."
Fuwa Sho was never fond of the Bridge Rock, especially the leader—what was his name—since he had heard rumors of him asking his Kyoko out.
An arrogant smirk pulled at the ends of his lips as he flicked his dirty blond bangs with the back of his hands, triggering a chain of high pitched squeals from the audiences.
Once again, he was back to guest another session of Kimagure Rock. Shoko had been pestering him to make time for this session for a while now, after that Karuizawa incident with the Beagle.
Well, personally, he wouldn't have minded so much if it was to just attend this talk show, but…
His fingers itched to give another punch to the cool and collected silver haired dog merely two seats away from him. The damned beagle! Why must he be here too?!
"It's for your own good, Sho. If the media finds out that you and the Vie Ghoul's vocalist had a scuffle because of Kyoko-chan, those reporters would never let this piece of scandal go." Shoko had said.
It would have been better if she just said professionalism. Who would ever want to get into a fight just because of that plain and boring woman? He just did that to put that beagle back to his place.
And his pride and ego would never let him know that his thoughts and his actions were plain contradictive.
Sensing the tension between the two singers, Hikaru glanced at his brothers, specifically at Yuusei, who smiled brightly at the audience, "Now, Bo will be bringing out the eggs!"
Bo waddled in with the small basket of eggs for the questions. Inside the suffocating costume, Kanae didn't try to hide the scorn, anger and hatred she held for Sho, placing the basket on the coffee table before the Ishibashi brothers.
Nobody messes with her best friend.
Sho could feel the piercing glare from the mascot, and he wondered if it was Kyoko in there after all. Reino seemed to be enjoying the anger emitting from the chicken.
He knew it wasn't Kyoko, but still, a woman barely on par with the actress is very rare. The slightest smirk pulled one end of his lips. He's so going to find out who is behind that chicken costume.
Meanwhile, Shion was smiling from the backstage. He didn't know Kanae is the type to do such a job, even if it'll be for Kyoko. However, he was more concerned about the platinum haired man on stage.
He smells like danger itself. Not to mention the target of his smirk is Kanae.
Blue topaz eyes narrowed, he would need to do something about that man.
There! A snippet of Sho and Reino appearing! So, the question remains unanswered. "Why does Shion resemble the Hizuri men?" It's a rhetorical question, but you're welcome to make guesses.
Please R&R! :D