DISCLAIMER: SKIP BEAT! and its associated characters are the creations of Yoshiki Nakamura. This author claims no ownership of Skip Beat or any of its characters. All other rights reserved.

Word prompt: Restlessness

The Perils of Restlessness

It was good to be back in Japan.

America was all well and good, of course. The first Sho Fuwa North American tour had been a great success. He'd enjoyed meeting his fans overseas—the American market was huge, and if he ever really wanted to be Big, he'd have to be Big over there. Big like BTS. Big like Taylor Swift, or Beyonce. He wasn't big like that yet, and he knew he had a long way to go. But sometimes it was good enough to be big in Japan.

He'd expected a bigger crowd at the airport welcoming him back. Instead, it was Shoko and perhaps a few dozen people, all of them holding roses and little signs. It had warmed his heart, but it hadn't been the chaos of screaming fangirls all whipping themselves into an extreme hysteria over his return. That was the welcome he wanted. That was the welcome he deserved.

"Did Akatoki not tell anyone I was coming back, Shoko?" he'd asked his manager. Shoko had been somewhat short with him lately. He didn't know why. He was making her tons of money, after all. Didn't she get a commission for every show and appearance he booked?

"There was an announcement on the Akatoki media pages," she responded. "And on your official social media."

"So where is everyone?"

"Didn't you just spend the last half hour signing autographs?"

"Yeah, but it's not like they had to shut down traffic or anything," he said. "Last time Kuu Hizuri was here, it was total chaos!"

"You're not Kuu Hizuri, Sho." Shoko rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I thought your fans were very sweet. Lots of artists come back home and don't have that kind of welcome."

"I'm at least as famous as Kuu Hizuri, Shoko." He was pouting. "Anyway, I'm hungry."

=.=.=

An exhausted Shoko had refused to let him into her apartment that night, so Sho bunked down in his own place. Akatoki had hired a cleaning service to maintain it while he was gone, and he was glad to finally sit down in his own living room and watch his own TV. He hadn't seen any news crews covering his arrival, but he was certain there were at least one or two people in the press corps covering him.

The 10 pm entertainment news coverage was up, and he sat down with the pudding he'd had shipped to his apartment in a discreet package. Surely Entertainment Japan would cover his return. There was going to be a very excited news anchor talking about his triumph—they would say something about how American audiences were discovering his music, or something about how his music had universal appeal…or maybe how his music was so good it transcended language barriers. He waited for the opening sequence with his music to come on, perhaps with some of the clips of his show in LA…even though that show was in a smaller venue than he would have liked.

But his music didn't come on at all.

Instead, Entertainment Japan showed him…Kyoko.

Or at least, they were showing some girl they were calling Kyoko. Whoever the bitch was, she didn't look anything like his childhood friend. There was some movie they were promoting—Lotus in the Mire, some jidaigeki-or-other complete with sword fights, acrobatic stunts, and epic war scenes. The trailer showed an impressively athletic kunoichi fight off a gang of men in a whirlwind of flips, kicks, and jumps. That couldn't be his Kyoko. No way. Had to be some other girl named Kyoko. At worst, it had to be a stunt double. Or CGI. Since when did Kyoko whirl two swords around like that? No way she was doing all those kicks and punches.

The sizzle reel ended and then he heard the host say, "WOW. Isn't that amazing, ladies and gentlemen? Can you believe it? Aren't you excited? Now have we got a treat for you! Please welcome to the show…KYOKO!"

It was like a scene out of his worst nightmare. There was no doubt it was Kyoko. Kyoko-Mogami-Kyoko. The girl he'd grown up with. Cleaned up and styled and made-up, but it was definitely her. There was no mistaking the amber-gold eyes, or the chestnut-orange hair. She was dressed exceedingly stylishly, but she wasn't unrecognizable the way she'd been in that trailer.

"Oh my gosh, Kyoko-chan!" he heard the host squeal. "I can't believe it. Did you really do all of your stunts yourself?"

"I did!" she said. Ugh, he thought. She was doing that super-cheerful-Kyoko voice that made him think vaguely of a girl dressed in pink and about to transform in some magical-girl shoujo anime. "It was a lot of work, but I learned so much, Ami-san."

"That's…amazing," Ami-san said. Sho could remember being on that show himself—Ami-san had never called anything he did amazing. He felt like sulking, even though he had absolutely nor reason to sulk.

"We heard all sorts of things." Really, that host was just eating out of her hand. Sho rolled his eyes. Ami-san was being taken in. Too bad. He was sure Ami'd had a crush on him last time he was on Entertainment Japan.

The host couldn't see him rolling his eyes, of course, so Ami continued, "Koga-san was here last night and said you can actually throw your darts and your stars for real—"

The audience gasped. Ami turned to them. "Yes! You all heard that too, right?"

They cheered. "Anyway, Kyoko-chan, do you think you could show us?"

Ha, Sho thought. This is where she chickens out and shows what a big fraud she is.

But he was wrong again. Kyoko stood up, surprisingly sexy in heels and a body-hugging black dress, smiling as the crew brought out a target board. "Of course," she said, smiling. An aide brought her the stars and the camera panned close. He and the audience were shown that they were, in fact, actual metal…and very sharp. "Is everyone ready?" she asked.

The audience cheered. She smiled at all of them—where had she learned to smile like that? She looked…incandescent. And then, as the audience counted down 3…2…1, she changed. One second, she was Kyoko, his childhood friend. And then the next, she was a steely-eyed kunoichi, flinging the stars onto the target so quickly the camera could not catch the movement of her arms.

Ami gasped. The whole audience gasped. Sho himself gasped, because when the camera panned over, he could see that all of the stars formed a tight cluster in the middle of the target.

"Lotus in the Mire, everyone!" Ami said triumphantly. "I know I'm going to see it for sure."

=.=.=

Two days after his return to Japan and Sho couldn't catch a break. He was tired. He was restless. Everywhere, there was Kyoko, Kyoko, Kyoko. Everywhere he turned, there were movie posters of her, silhouetted against a full moon, looking deadly in the night. He couldn't concentrate. He couldn't work. He couldn't think.

"Why aren't they covering my albums?" he'd whined to Shoko. He'd been driving her crazy, calling her every half-hour and asking about the lack of attention being paid to him, or about too much attention being given to Kyoko.

"Your album's a year old, Sho," Shoko replied. "You know how the media is. They always want something new. So if you want that coverage, you'd better get back into the studio."

"FINE!" he'd grumbled, and stomped off to find his guitar and a piece of paper.

Except nothing was working. Everything that came out of him was about her. He certainly hadn't intended to do it, but he'd look down at his scrawl and there would be a line about her eyes. Or about her smile. It was infuriating. Surely there was something else he could write about. Anything else. He had a dozen songs, some of them actually decent, but he would never, ever let them see the light of day. Absolutely not. Over his dead body.

He flung down his guitar and paced his apartment. Maybe that was it. Maybe he needed a change of scenery. His apartment was clearly not a conducive place for his creativity. Minutes later, Shoko had him booked at Tokyo Sound, a well-appointed studio near Akatoki.

That would be good, at least. He'd be able to record there. He'd recorded some of his biggest hits there, Karuizawa notwithstanding.

He piled into a car with Shoko and groaned when he realized that the studio had been booked right before his session. Worse: it had been booked for a radio interview with her as the guest. He paused from across the hallway. He could see the red "RECORDING" sign was lit, and the feed was live. It was, apparently, one of those 'let's-get-to-know-the-celebrity' media interviews.

Ugh, he thought. I can't get away from her—shouldn't she *know* not to be in a recording studio? He needed to get away from her, get her out of the way so that he could finally come up with new songs. New songs not about her.

"Oh, no, I don't have a boyfriend!" Kyoko was giggling. "I'm too busy and I have too many goals to date." Why did they care? As if that soul-sucking demon would ever have a boyfriend, he thought.

"Oh but that must be so disappointing to your male co-stars, Kyoko-chan," the interviewer was saying. "Rumor on the street is that you have quite a few people with crushes on you. Hikaru Ishibashi-san?" the host asked.

"Oh no, no no," Kyoko said. She sounded shocked. "Hikaru-kun is a wonderful friend and colleague, but that's it."

"Mmm," the host said, sounding disappointed. "And Koga-san, of course, speaks very highly of you."

"Koga-san thinks of me as his little sister," Kyoko laughed.

"Well, do you have anyone you have a crush on?"

That was it. Sho was smiling. Yes, Kyoko, he thought. Confess. Confess how you've always loved me—

"Oh, I know so many wonderful people," Kyoko said. "But I'm really a very simple girl. Maybe someday I'll have time to think of things like that, but right now, I'm truly focused on my career."

Sho felt himself begin to grin. Of course she wouldn't admit it. Of course. But he knew he was the one. He was her first love. Her heart would be his forever.

He was stewing in his satisfaction when he saw him. Tsuruga Ren, coming out of the opposite hallway. Calmly he waited outside the door of the studio, checking his watch. Sho retreated further into his corner.

Surely he couldn't be waiting for Kyoko, could he?

But the interview ended and Kyoko bowed and thanked the host…and then smiled and blushed as she spotted him there. Sho saw how their eyes met—and how surprised the host was.

"Tsuruga-san!" the host said. "I—we—didn't expect to see you here!"

"Oh, I'm just here to pick up Mogami-san," Ren said. "We share the same manager, you see, and we're both due at LME after this."

Turning to Kyoko, he said, "Yashiro-san is waiting for us in the car. He couldn't find a good place to park so he's circling the block."

"Oh!" Kyoko said. She turned to the host. "Thank you for the interview, Haki-san," she said, bowing. "I look forward to hearing it."

And then with the host's mouth agape, the two of them walked down the hall. Sho followed at a discreet distance. He knew he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but he wanted to hear what that elevator-shoe wearing bastard was telling her. Hell, he was doing it for her own good, wasn't he? What if Tsuruga Ren took advantage of her? She was enough of an idiot to let him!

"I didn't like the way he was asking about boys, Kyoko," Ren said. Sho started. Since when does he call her Kyoko? he thought.

"Ren, you're worrying too much," Kyoko responded. REN? SHE CALLS HIM REN NOW!? Sho was not having a good time at all. "And besides, if you don't want him suspecting you, you should have sent Yashiro-san up," she added.

Ren grinned at her, and Sho watched from around the corner. "Actually, it's just me today," he said. "Yashiro's already at LME."

Sho watched as Kyoko shook her head, smiled at the man, and blushed.

Oh, he thought. Oh.

His steps faltered as they continued walking down the hall, just a little too close to each other. There was nothing obvious, no clear sign. Nothing anyone could point to. But he knew there would be no point in watching over her anymore. Worse, he could see that she'd moved on.

The realization was…surprisingly painful.

And then he told himself: Next time he felt restless, he would stay home.

=.=.=.=

Author's Note: The word-prompt for this one is 'Restlessness,' which is also this week's word for ncisduckie's word-a-week challenge. Kinda half-baked but…hey! Free entertainment! [does a little dance, takes off hat, sneaks off the stage…] XD