Hi everyone! Your excitement and reviews totally pushed me for a speedy update! Lol. Thank you so much for your support and incredibly kind words. I hope I didn't disappoint you with this one! Please Read and Review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.

She felt so warm...safe.

Her fingers dug deep into the fabric of his sweater, shamelessly holding onto him as if he was hers to hold. One of his arms was wrapped securely around her slender waist, the other resting upon her back with his fingers tangled in her hair as he cradled her head into his shoulder. She could feel his chest rapidly move up and down with each ragged breath, his concern palpable in the air.

Kyoko kept her eyes closed, listening to the sound of his heartbeat. It calmed her frenzied thoughts that were still trying to digest the fact that she could have died—again. But she didn't. She was very much alive, all thanks to him.

When she gently pushed back to give him some space, his grip on her only tightened.

"Not yet," he rasped. His heart fluttered as he felt her body relax back into his embrace. "Not yet…"

Ren knew this was wrong. How was he going to explain his intimate behavior to her when he finally looked her in the eye? What kind of lie could he come up with now? But he couldn't let her go. For the second time in his life, he felt as if a part of his soul was viciously torn to shreds. Seeing the car barreling towards her frozen stance brought the whole nightmare back like a hurricane.

He probably hurt her when he pulled her so roughly away from harm, slamming her slender body against his own. But he had to save her, protect her, do what he didn't before. The threat of losing her was still too fresh. He'll take the pain of losing her love, but losing her was not an option. It never will be.

"Tsuruga-san?" her muffled voice called.

Ren sighed in relief. "Are you okay?"

She nodded.

He loosened his grip so that he could see for himself. Her complexion was white as a sheet and her eyes were the size of giant orbs. He checked the faint scar on her forehead, but saw no blood. She was fine.

Kyoko watched his eyes scan her body for injuries, worry in every contour of his face. He cared so much about her. Her knees trembled when she thought about how he had called out for her. He said her name. Right before he pulled her to safety, he shouted her name.

Was it a coincidence that the return of a memory coincided with the exact moment he yelled after her? That memory was the clearest thing she had remembered in a month and yet, it was still as puzzling. The sound of the voice was clear, but did she really know who it belonged to?

She locked eyes with the actor when he looked back at her face, her gaze oddly unwavering. His eyes widened just a touch in alarm, but did not turn away. As if she could pull the answer from its depths, Kyoko continued to stare into them, silently asking the blazing question: Was that you?

Their voices sounded so similar. But that was all she had. No face to the voice, nothing at all.

Voices sounded similar all the time. Did that mean he was there with her that night?

Then there was the memory of that green-eyed man. They didn't match at all. How was she going to reconcile that memory with this one?

Ren watched the panic grow like wildfire in her eyes. "What's wrong? Did something—?"

"Kyoko-san!"

As if burned, his arms unwillingly released her. He turned towards the female shout. A young woman in a pinstripe suit ran towards them in her short kitten-heels, her hair slightly disheveled from the wind. She was carrying a brown briefcase in one hand and a folder in the other. Ren had only met her once, but he knew who she was, who she managed. Looking for the one person he didn't want to see, he turned to the left and right, but the musician was nowhere in sight.

"Shoko-san," Kyoko said in bewilderment as the manager approached her. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just picking up some things for Sho until I saw you standing in the middle street! Are you out of your mind, Kyoko-san? Was once not enough for you? If Tsuruga-san wasn't there, you could have seriously gotten hurt!"

"I'm sorry," Kyoko mumbled with her eyes lowered.

Shoko shook her head and exhaled deeply. "Well, what matters is that you're fine now. And Sho will be relieved too."

"Sho-chan?"

"He's been calling your phone non-stop. Apparently, you have never come home this late before."

Wanting to kick herself in the shin, Kyoko quickly reached into her purse and pulled out her pink cell. She had missed 13 calls from him. "I can't believe I forgot to call! I just—" Kyoko looked back at Ren, disappointed to see how much distance was put back between them.

"That was my fault, Shoko-san," the actor apologized softly. "I'm the one who invited Mogami-san out so late this evening."

"Tsuruga-san, that's not true! I—!"

He silenced Kyoko with tight smile. "Why don't you go home with Shoko-san instead, Mogami-san?"

"Are you sure?" Shoko asked in surprise, looking back and forth between the two them. "I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Ren shook his head. "I believe I have taken far too much of Mogami-san's time already. Besides," he turned back to Kyoko, "I think you want to go home, don't you?"

Kyoko stared at him in stunned silence. She should have said yes. She should have agreed. But instead, all she felt was hurt that he was so eager to push her away. The cold came back even though she was still sporting his coat. But knowing there was nothing else to say, she made a move to slip out of his jacket, when he suddenly held up a hand to stop her.

"Don't. It's still cold out."

"But I—"

"You should both go," he cut in, looking back at Shoko. "It's getting late."

Kyoko could have sworn the two shared some sort of glance, but before she could say a word, Shoko placed a hand upon Kyoko's arm. "Then please allow me to take her home, Tsuruga-san."

Ren nodded.

"Let's go, Kyoko-san."

Allowing the young manager to lead her in the opposite direction, Kyoko turned around to look at the actor who remained in the same spot. He watched her go with an unfathomable expression. A part of her wanted to run back to him, to ask him why he was suddenly acting so cold. But in just a few steps, Shoko held the car door of her black vehicle open and ushered her into the seat. With a quiet start of the ignition, the car made a U-turn and drove down the road, far away from the person she didn't want to leave.

Feeling a solemn mood settle in the car as soon as she continued to drive down the road, Shoko glanced quickly at Kyoko's hanging head once before asking, "Did I interrupt something?"

Kyoko's head sprang up in surprise. "I'm sorry?"

"You and Tsuruga-san," she clarified. "If I ruined your night out, I'm really sor—"

"No! You have it all wrong, Shoko-san!" she cried in horror, her hands flailing like fish. "It's nothing like that! Tsuruga-san and I are just—" She swallowed the hard knot tightening in her throat, "—friends. Just friends."

"Have you been spending more time with him lately?" she asked innocently.

As if chastised, she looked back down at her lap. "Yes," Kyoko admitted in a softer voice. "I have."

Catching the guilty look upon her face, Shoko retracted quickly, "I don't mean to imply that you shouldn't, Kyoko-san. He is after all your colleague."

She didn't reply.

"Is it Sho?"

Kyoko turned to Shoko in surprise.

The manager let out a huff of air as she stopped at a red light, rolling her eyes. "Kyoko-san, whatever that Sho has been telling you about Tsuruga-san, I would advise you not to let that cloud your judgment. You two have worked together for years, and it's highly illogical for you to stop seeing him just because of Sho's own skewed views."

Remembering the musician, Kyoko suddenly felt a newfound shame course through her veins. She knew how much Sho hated the actor. In fact, every time she would come close to even mentioning his name, Sho would just give her his back, as an attempt to hide the frustration she knew would be marring his face. So out of respect for his feelings, Kyoko would quickly change the subject and ask him how everything at the studio went, if the recording of his song was finished, or when his next album will be released.

If he knew that she was spending time with the actor, he probably would get really angry with her. After all, wasn't that some kind of betrayal to him?

And yet…there was something about the actor that was prickling the back of her mind. He seemed so familiar to her somehow. There was just no way she could be so comfortable with someone she wasn't close to. But at the same time, their interactions so far have not spelled anything more than just a work relationship. So really, what she was riding on was pure and unreliable intuition.

Then there was the matter of that memory…and that voice. She couldn't deny that her first thought was that it was his. But how ridiculous did that sound? What would he be doing with her at the night of the accident? And not to mention, Sho was the one—

Kyoko's eyes widened.

No…that wasn't right. Now that she thought about it, Kyoko had always assumed Sho was there, but did she ever really ask the musician point blank? He was there at the hospital with her, but so was a whole bunch of other people. That didn't mean he saw the accident…did it? But at the same time, he was the one who took care of her afterwards, so it would only make sense that he was there, right? Kyoko closed her eyes and gave a tiny shake of her head.

She was running in circles. Feeling a headache coming on, she pinched the bridge of her nose with two fingers, breathing in slowly as she waited for the throbbing to ebb. It didn't.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that they had already arrived back at the apartment. Shoko opened her door and stepped out with Kyoko following close behind. They reached the front lobby and entered the ascending elevator together. Once the silver doors slid open, Shoko waited for Kyoko to step out first. She walked towards the front wooden door and inserted the key. The minute the door swung open, Kyoko saw Sho pacing the hallway, his eyes ridden with concern and irritation.

He met her gaze with a flash of relief before resurfacing with hardened eyes. "A phone call would have been nice."

"I'm sorry, Sho-chan," Kyoko mumbled as she approached him. "I lost track of time."

"Where have you—?" He paused when his eyes fell upon the large jacket draped over her shoulders.

"She's had a long day," Shoko interjected as she stepped forward, seeing the steely look upon his face. "It's probably not the best time to interrogate her about her night. Besides, you've been pretty busy too, right? Did you finish writing your song?"

"Most of it," he replied, eyes still locked on the coat.

"Then get some rest." Turning back to the actress, Shoko's gaze softened and said, "You should too, Kyoko-san."

"Thank you, Shoko-san."

With one tiny smile in her direction and a strange hard look at Sho, Shoko dropped off the folder upon the table next to the door and walked out. Once it quietly closed shut, Sho let out a deep breath and ran a hand through his tousled hair. Ignoring Shoko's advice, he looked back at Kyoko and asked, "So where were you?"

She made her way into the living room and sat down on the white couch, placing her purse onto the glass coffee table. She looked up at Sho's towering figure and steeled herself for what was going to come next. "I was out with Tsuruga-san."

His expression hardened. "So is that his?" he inquired, gesturing to the coat with his chin.

She nodded, instinctively touching it with her fingers. "He and I grabbed dinner," Kyoko murmured with her eyes downcast. "I ran into him after work and we went and got Ramen together. But then…"

"What?"

She clasped and unclasped her tightly clenched hands in her lap. "Another accident happened."

"WHAT?" He quickly sat down beside her and grabbed her face with both of his hands. "Are you alright? What happened? Did you get hurt?" Sho frantically looked down at her body, but stopped when she placed a hand upon his knee.

"I'm fine, Sho-chan. Really. Tsuruga-san…he helped me."

His blue eyes blazed like ice before he shook his head and resurfaced with a more placid expression. "Well, if I couldn't be there, then I guess it was good that he was."

Kyoko nodded slowly as she nibbled on her lower lip.

"What?" he asked in a puzzled voice at her distracted look. "Did something else happen?"

"Sho-chan…can I ask you something? It's going to sound weird, but humor me, okay?"

"Alright," he said slowly, dragging out the last syllable as he fully turned to face her. "Shoot."

Kyoko breathed in deeply before she met his curious gaze. "Were you there with me the night of the accident?"

He blinked in alarm. "What?"

"The night the car hit me…did you see it happen?"

"Why are you asking me that?"

"Because."

"Because…?"

She clenched her hand tightly. "Don't I have a right to know?"

"But why now?"

"Is there a specific time I should be asking?"

He shook his head, murmuring, "Kyoko, where is this coming from?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you suddenly so curious?"

"It's a simple question, Sho-chan."

"I know it is, but it just doesn't make any sense why—"

"Nothing makes sense!" Kyoko cried, jumping to her feet, the jacket sliding off of her shaking shoulders. Unable to stomach the tumultuous feelings roaring within her, she paced the floor and dragged her fingers through her hair. "Nothing about this makes any sense! I don't know anything that happened that day, last month, or even last year! I'm trying so hard to piece everything together, to get a glimpse of the person I was, but the things I'm remembering, the memories that keep coming back, they don't fit! I'm so scared! I don't know what's going on and I—!"

Sho grabbed her hand and pulled her into his chest.

She hiccupped in surprise before settling into his embrace.

"Kyoko, why are you trying to remember something you should want to forget? The accident was a fucked up thing that happened to you. You don't need to remind yourself of what happened. All that matters is that you're here, safe." He leaned back to look at her. "If it's causing you this much pain, then don't you think the answer is to not remember that night at all?"

"But I—"

Sho grasped her chin and lifted her face to his. With his blue eyes on hers, he slowly leaned down and placed a kiss upon her lips. It was barely a feather of a touch, but Kyoko felt as if her heart was electrified. He pulled her back to his chest and murmured in her ear, "Trust me on this, Kyoko."

She nestled her cheek into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Do you trust me?"

"I do trust you," she whispered.

"Then let's not bring this up again."

She knew this was his way of caring about her. After everything he had done for her, this was his only way of protecting her. It must be hard for him to see her fight so hard to get her life back together. Sho has always been helpful and it was unfair for her to lash out like that. But when her eyes fell upon the crinkled coat upon the floor, the nagging feeling returned. She couldn't forget. She couldn't dismiss the feeling that something was wrong, especially when she couldn't help but notice that Sho didn't answer her question at all…