Chapter 5: Can I Continue Like This?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skip Beat, for if I did, Ren would totally troll the Sacred Lotus set.

Ren's body tingled all over. He felt like he was approaching the big boss at the end of a video game before he could save the princess. Plastering on his gentlemanly smile, he greeted Kanae despite her intimidating gaze. "Good afternoon, Kotonami-san."

Kanae narrowed her eyes and replied coolly, "Tsuruga-san."

Before he could continue with mindless pleasantries, Kanae's beautiful face contorted into a scowl. "Mo! I don't know what game you're playing but if you hurt her you will have to answer to my sword," she seethed through clenched teeth.

Ren was taken aback by the malice of her words surprise evident in his eyes. He recovered quickly and smiled genuinely at Kyoko's best friend. "I'm glad she has a good friend like you watching out for her."

Kanae flinched slightly. She had never been on the receiving end of one of his Godly smiles as Kyoko often called them. It was no wonder her friend never stood a chance against him. How could Kyoko not notice that she was the only one to see behind this man's mask? Kanae shook her head weakly, her friend really took dense to a whole new level. She really did feel sympathy for the guy.

"Mo, I'm her best friend so just tell it to her straight, otherwise, she just gets lost in her head with her insane logic," she said lecturing Ren.

Ren's face was a mixture of shock and confusion. What did she mean? Did she talk about him? Dare he have a little hope? This was the most words he had ever exchanged with the raven-haired beauty, he didn't know what to make of her words. Was she actually trying to help him? Was he so transparent? If so, why was Kyoko the only one unable to notice his true feelings for her? "Thank you for the advice, Kotonami-san," replied Ren with a grateful smile.

With a huff, Kanae said, "Mo! I'm not doing this for you! I'm doing this for her! You'll owe me!" Ren nodded his agreement and bid her farewell. Now that he passed the Boss, he continued his quest to confront his princess.

Ren took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly trying to steady his nerves. He knocked on the door of the LoveMe room and waited for what seemed like an eternity. He gripped the door handle when he finally heard her call out, it's open. Ren stepped in to find Kyoko adjusting the strap of her outfit giving him the impression that she had just finished changing.

His eyes swept over her taking in her appearance. She was wearing a light blue spaghetti strap dress that was fitted on top and flared out on the skirt with a pair of tights beneath and a pair of flats. Ren's heart rate sped up as memories of his delicious dream floated through his mind. Kyoko shivered and looked up, her eyes briefly confronted those of the Emperor of the Night.

Ren quickly regained his composure by thinking of random things; old unattractive men, Yashiro in drag, his mom force-feeding him her food. When his blood was no longer pumping to his lower region, he flashed her a warm smile and greeted her. "Hello Mogami-san, are you ready for lunch?"

Kyoko returned his smile wearily and bowed. "Go- good afternoon, Tsuruga- san!" she said nervously. I must have only imagined the Emperor. Before she lost her nerve completely, she bowed deeply speaking to the floor, "Tsuraga-san! Please forgive this lowly Kohai for her rude behavior yesterday! I don't know what came over me." She knew exactly what had come over her, she just couldn't say.

Ren felt relieved and returned her bow. "I should be apologizing since I was at fault. In the future, if you're displeased with anything I do, please scold me properly. I don't want to ever upset you."

Kyoko sprang up surprised by his own apology and responded waving her hand in front of her, "Ah Tsuruga-san, you did nothing out of the ordinary. It was just my overactive imagination jumping to conclusions. Let's forget about it. Okay?"

Ren wanted to press her on the subject but decided to add it to the ever-growing list of things for them to discuss tonight. She was acting like her usual self at the moment so he would too.

Kyoko tried to contain excitement his words brought to her. She focused on the fact that he used the word "future." Perhaps, it would be okay to hope that everything would turn out fine. She could continue to stay by his side.

"Shall we go to lunch? You probably, no doubt, didn't eat a very good breakfast this morning," Kyoko scolded.

Ren feigned hurt by grabbing at his heart. "Hey, I resent that. I was good this morning, honestly. I promised I ate a proper meal." Kyoko giggled at his theatrics. She couldn't say he was acting the same as usual when it was just the two of them. He seemed to be more carefree today.

They bantered back and forth as they headed down to the LME café, LA Hearts. It was mainly Kyoko lecturing him about eating nutritious meals three times a day and Ren silently enjoying being admonished by her. According to her, he was too careless with his health. She didn't want him getting sick and fainting again.

"Oh, I don't know. Falling ill once in a while isn't so bad. If I have the right nurse," he said whispering that last part. Kyoko felt a thrill run through her body but chose not to acknowledge his words, playboy!

People that they greeted on their way had never seen Ren look so relaxed and silently made note that the two looked really cute together. Women fainted from the pheromones Ren exuded as he walked down the hallway next to the woman he loved.

During lunch, they talked about her work. Stamping down his jealousy Ren asked, "I'm interested to know who they found to play the male lead in your new drama." She told him that it was Hiromune, Koga.

"I've worked with Hiromune-san before. He doesn't seem like a bad guy and takes his work seriously," replied Ren.

Kyoko was surprised by this information. She had not known that they had worked together before. Did he really not know that Koga disliked him and just by her association with Ren that petty guy didn't like her either?

"Oh? So you're familiar with him. I don't think he's very happy that I got the part of Momiji. He doesn't seem to like me very much."

Ren frowned in response. He couldn't understand why Koga or anyone for that matter would dislike her? She was gorgeous and talented. His thoughts turned dark making her grudges stir merrily. Could this guy actually be interested in her? He needed to do some recon, stat!

While they ate, they casually spoke about her meeting yesterday for Sacred Lotus. The cast and crew she met weren't very welcoming. It was thanks to Ren's parting words that gave her the confidence to be herself. She hoped, in the end, she made a good impression.

Ren assured her that he doubted anyone could dislike her. She was beautiful, hardworking, and humble. Kyoko struggled to keep her brain and heart from overheating from all his flattery. She had deflected his words so easily in the past, why was he catching her off guard today?

She blushed at his compliments and muttered, "Playboys have no problems uttering such sweet nothings."

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that Mogami-san," Ren asked leaning closer in her direction across the table his eyes dancing with delight.

"It's nothing, nothing," she said stuffing her mouth with food. He was just being biased since he sounded like Cain nii-san.

Ren made the conscious decision to stop teasing her no matter how easy she made it and focused on his food. Yashiro ended up joining them with 15 minutes to spare. He sighed in relief at the pleasant atmosphere that the two were radiating. He had been watching them, secretly, for the last ten minutes and taking pictures on his phone like a stalker. He would send them to Lory later. He thought it was a sin to interrupt them since they were getting along so well but duty called.

Ren's schedule was light today since he returned early from Guam. Yashiro managed to squeeze in two interviews; one for a popular men's magazine and the other for an entertainment network. He also had a modeling gig lined up but Ren had asked him to decline it. He didn't outright admit but he said he would be too busy. Yashiro snickered assuming that it was for the dinner he had planned with Kyoko. In actuality, Ren didn't want to be placed in a position where someone would be fiddling with his wig.

Since Ren's first interview started later than Kyoko's script reading, he asked to tag along. He wanted a sneak peek of her portrayal of Momiji.

Kyoko's amber eyes widened in surprise, "Why did you both coming into the office? Wouldn't it have been better if you stayed home and rested?"

Ren chuckled. He didn't know the meaning of rest. "I had a meeting with the President here before lunch." She didn't need to know that his meeting with Lory was just an excuse to see her earlier today rather than wait for dinner time. He wanted to spend as much time with her before he dropped all his baggage on her. After tonight, she may no longer want to speak to him ever again.

Kyoko nervously chewed on her bottom lip as Ren held the door open for her to enter the building where the first Sacred Lotus script reading was held. Once they were all inside, he casually fell into step beside her as if it was the most natural place for him to be. Yashiro hung back walking behind his favorite duo. His inner fangirl was practically melting with moe at all the murmurs circulating around the pair.

He had never taken advantage of his status in the industry before nor had he ever done anything so unprofessional since establishing his name as Tsuruga Ren. His motives for coming along were impure and selfish. For one, he wanted to scope out his competition and two, he wanted to prolong the time he could spend with her. He wasn't sure if things would change for the worse or better after tonight. For now, he was going to spend as much time with her as possible. He planned on having her by his side for the rest of his life if he could help it.

His mood changed every time his ears picked up something another cast or crew member said about them. If there were positive, he was elated, leaving catastrophes in his wake. If they were negative, the demon lord reared his head and would glare down the offender. Meanwhile, Kyoko was squirming next to him. One minute her grudges would be swirling with glee, the next, they would be rendered useless by his Godly aura.

She wondered if she had done something wrong to upset him. Whenever she glanced up in his direction, he would look at her with a natural warm smile putting her at ease even if her heart was preparing to jump out of her chest. She soon realized that his moods were dependent upon the chatter around them when she glimpsed his fake gentleman smile aimed at two women.

The ladies did not hide their distaste for her standing so close to Ren and purposely spoke aloud for all in the vicinity to hear. Kyoko's heart plummeted. She was used to women disliking her. Back then, it was because she was friends with Shotaro and now it was because of Ren.

She put more space between them when she overheard their comments. Ren was much too good to be seen with the likes of her. Ren felt a rush of cold air on his right side when he realized she had moved away from him. He closed the gap between them again, his body aching for the earlier warmth.

He leaned down and whispered, "All gossip whether negative or positive is good gossip. It means they're noticing you."

Kyoko smiled at him but she couldn't help thinking, no Ren they're noticing you with me. She looked up to his face and sighed internally, this guy was so clueless.

He continued, "You're an amazing actress and you earned this role. Your hard work landed you here so have more confidence." Kyoko brightened up, he was right, she couldn't give in just yet.

Koga glanced up when the door to the meeting hall opened. Well, well, well, it looks like Kyoko-chan brought Tsuruga-kun with her. Amused, he watched as Ren glared at two actors that were unabashedly staring at Kyoko. This is going to be so much fun, he thought, making a beeline towards the couple.

AN: Thank you, everyone, for reading and a big thanks to those who reviewed. I appreciate all feedback.

This has been cleaned up from original post so I hope it reads better.

Until next time, ja ne! ^_^