Chapter 185: Some Explaining

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skip Beat, for if I did, Yashiro would be used to interrupting RenKuonKyo doing naughty things by now.

While Yashiro waited for his charges to return from filming, he was stuck on an unexpected three-way conference call with Lory and Linh. He had texted the President back at the hotel once the news report, placing Ren and Kyoko at the scene of Cedric's incident. Lory had been tied up with other matters that he couldn't engage with Yashiro at the time. When he received Ruto's message for the call, he was bummed. Yashiro wanted nothing more than to immerse himself in his OTP's filming. Watching them together would surely take his mind off his precarious relationship. A glance at the clock on his phone, while Lory was talking, told him that Kanae was due home soon.

He had spent half the day yesterday shopping L.A. and a couple of hours on his computer browsing for the perfect apology gift. The email notification he received an hour ago confirmed the delivery. Surely she couldn't keep ignoring him once she got the package. Could she? No, she wouldn't be able to stay upset with that face.

It was obvious that her lack of communication was waning on him. He would make a terrible actor. Kyoko had seen right through him when they met in the lobby. It was played off that he was troubled about last night's events, but his facade crumbled when he turned to Kanae's best friend for help. Yashiro didn't dare burden Kyoko with his relationship woes and conveniently left out the last conversation he had with Kanae as he drove to the hotel once filming wrapped. She had sounded listless and sad when he broke the news of his delayed return. It was so unlike Kanae that he had no idea what to think or do, so he consulted professionals. The friendly hotel staff he had come to familiarize himself with daily had been more than willing to offer him advice.

Last night's charity gala allowed him to forget his little dilemma and Cedric's confession and its rippling effects on both his friends and Tina managed to distract him further. The internet had blown up over Cedric. Fans felt betrayed and many believed he should serve jail time for his crimes. At least they did until he was injured. Cedric's shooting had them changing their tune again. To kill time while watching over Tina, he perused the American gossip sites for any hint of correlation to Cedric's victim and Kuon. Yashiro wanted to be one step ahead of the game should that information leak to the public. So far, no one had made that distinction yet.

Just when Yashiro was about to wallow in self-pity, Cedric got shot, and naturally, his charges were right in the thick of it, witnessing the heinous crime. After getting the full story from them over the phone, Yashiro flew into crisis aversion mode. He contacted the president right away for guidance and began preparing an official company statement just in case. Lory advised him to take the wait-and-see approach before jumping the gun. Yashiro waited and he followed the news of the incident until Damien relieved him of his duty.

The only relief he got for not being there to protect them was that they weren't physically hurt. It wasn't until he got up to the Penthouse Suite to check on the couple that he saw Kuon's battered hands. He would need to have a stern talk with his friend to define not hurt since clearly, the man was clueless about what constitutes physical pain. He had to let Debbie and Phil know about his charge's hands so they could prepare a workaround. To top it off, a news outlet identified them at the scene of Cedric's crime through a bystander's video. It would only be a matter of time before LME's PR director demanded an official statement.

Leaving the couple for their hospital visit with the Hizuris, Yashiro had hunkered down in his room to get some sleep after texting Lory. When he woke up several hours later to get ready for work, he eagerly snatched up his phone, foregoing to wear his gloves to search his messages for one from his girlfriend. A quick scroll through his inbox showed nothing from her. It was only when he had downtime that he became distracted by her nonresponse. He was going to give her until ten o'clock at night Japan time before he took drastic measures and called her family. Kanae's silent treatment was leaving him no choice but to go against her wishes by giving them their address so someone could check on her.

"Yukihito, are you still there? Hello?... Ruto, I think we got disconnected?"

"The call is still connected, Takarada-sama," he heard the president's right-hand man comment. "Yashiro-sama, can you hear us? You may be on mute if you are communicating."

Yashiro shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on the call. "I'm sorry. I was a bit distracted. Please repeat the question."

"Hmmm…" Lory hummed. Yashiro could hear the amusement in it clear across the ocean.

"I'm very sorry. What was the question."

"I was simply wondering where you were throughout this ordeal, Yashiro-san. Why weren't you with them?" Linh asked with a hint of disappointment, lacing her tone.

Yashiro gulped, knowing she wouldn't like his answer, but he couldn't just tell her the truth; that would mean exposing Kuon before he was ready. "I should have been with them, but I was watching over a dear friend that was affected tremendously by Bennett-san's confession. I couldn't leave her unattended."

"Oh, well, I hope your friend is okay," Linh replied, sounding contrite.

"I'm sorry I failed in my duty to protect them. I assume all responsibility for not performing my job properly and understand if disciplinary action must be taken against me."

Lory began to chuckle. "Slow down, Yukihito. No harm, no foul. You are one of our best managers here at LME. It's about time they get into a little trouble. They're still young, a few scandals in America would give them some good exposure in the entertainment world."

"With all due respect, Takarada-san," Linh cut in before Yashiro could respond. "Their trouble is not little. I have a men's magazine wanting to put Kyoko-chan on their front cover for all the PDA at the bar. She's not a gradol for goodness sake and she's still underage. Once the video goes up tomorrow, more offers like this will come flooding in. I fear if they don't tone down the affection, it might send the wrong message to the industry."

"As Morimoto-kun's manager, I have faith in your ability to steer her in the right direction," Lory praised.

"Wait, did you say video? What video?" Yashiro exclaimed, not sure if he heard her correctly. He was concerned about the contents of the video that would lead people in Japan to believe that Kyoko was some sort of gravure idol.

"You don't know about the video, Yashiro-san?" Linh asked, incredulously.

Yashiro winced. What were his charges hiding from him? "Unless you're talking about Bennett-san's accident then I don't know about this new video."

"Takarada-san?" Linh addressed the president.

"I'm sending it to your inbox now," Lory informed him. "It's mild compared to what it could have been. Japan's top celebrity gossip column plans to release it first thing tomorrow on their website."

Yashiro excused himself from the call when his phone chirped twice indicating new messages. He froze when he opened his inbox and spotted two messages: one from his boss and one from his girlfriend. He sighed, bypassing Kanae's mail, and clicked on the one sent by Lory. Right now, he was working and needed to act professional, even if it took all his willpower to not read it.

He had to rein in his inner fangirl as the video displayed his favorite couple locked in a heated embrace in some obscure hallway. Christ! Yashiro fanned his face as he watched their tongues entwine and Ren's hands roam underneath her coat to places only Kamisama knew before they broke away panting. As they began walking, the quality of the video finally occurred to him.

"Someone filmed this from a security monitor," he stated, returning to the phone call. "Do you know where this happened? I need to speak to the owner immediately. They need to know they have a security breach."

"According to Ren, this took place at the bar the other night. The owner is aware of the problem. All we can do is wait for the fallout tomorrow morning," Lory explained.

Yashiro let out a sigh of relief since that part of the issue was handled. It was one less thing for him to worry about; however, he couldn't understand why they didn't tell him about this impending video. As Lory said, they couldn't predict how the fans would take this hot makeout session video until tomorrow, Japan time. He would have to put out one fire at a time if any arose.

They began discussing possible negative scenarios that would crop up from it and brainstormed solutions. Unfortunately, they all focused on Kyoko, admitting she would suffer the most from this scandal if they let it fester. He didn't know how long their little powwow had stretched, but it was taking far longer than Yashiro expected. During the meeting, his mind had wandered several times to the unread message waiting for him in his inbox. He was eager to read it, but a small part of him was too scared to open it. What if it held bad news?

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the meeting ended with plans to resume the next day for them and later tonight for Yashiro. After saying his goodbyes, Yashiro steeled himself to open the long-awaited message. He calmly read her words, once, twice, and five more times for good measure. Thank you for the flowers and...gift. I still love you.

Yashiro wanted to cry out with relief as his eyes slightly watered. It was short and to the point, typical of the woman he loved. All tension and anxiety that had been plaguing him since this morning was released from his body. Yashiro was elated by her response and finally understood the meaning of the American idiom being on cloud nine.

"She still loves me!" He whooped inside the privacy of Ren's dressing room. Wanting to hear her voice, he immediately called her. Almost thirty minutes had passed since she sent the text, so he hoped she was available before she went to bed. The phone rang until it connected to her voicemail. It took him a moment for it to register that she didn't pick up and quickly left her message.

He read her text again as a feeling of contentment overcame him. Now that his personal life seemed to be back on track, it was time for him to seek out his charges. They had some explaining to do.

…

Once outside the room, Ren tugged Kyoko gently toward their dressing rooms on the other side of the beach house. He bypassed his door knowing Yashiro was still in there sulking and headed further down the hall to her room.

"Sir," Miles called out from behind them. "Let me…"

"I got this Mr. Miles," Ren replied, brushing off the man. He was too eager to get her alone to wait for the bodyguard to do a sweep of the room. In his opinion, those bumbling idiots were incapable of sneaking into this place. Trusting his gut, he pushed open the door without hesitation and was pleased to find the room empty. At the very least, he thought he would have to chase out her beauty team, but it seemed to not be the case.

As soon as the door clicked shut, they were all of each other; hands and mouths desperately pulling at each other. The last scene had made them both ache for more. He pulled her up against him from the back of her thighs, causing her to embrace his neck and secure her legs around his waist. Kyoko released a breathy moan as he backed her up against the door and gyrated his hips so his erection rubbed against her hot center.

"Fuck, baby. What you do to me? I can barely control myself around you," he whispered between the hungry kisses he rained on her neck. It had been extremely difficult trying not to touch her the way his body wanted to during filming. He struggled to keep his hands from wandering down to cup her ass or stroke her breasts. In the comfort of her dressing room, he threw all inhibitions out the window and allowed himself to selfishly grope her the way he wanted. With leverage from the door, his hands were finally free to roam. One hand squeezed her ass while the other slid across her leg. The urge to rip off her tights was paramount. He wanted nothing more than to caress her silky thighs and knead the supple flesh of her ass cheeks, but her pesky tights were hindering him from fulfilling his desires.

"Kuon," she sighed as her hips bucked hungrily against his bulge. The sound of his name from her lips, burning with desire, nearly undid him. She had him on the verge of creaming in his pants. His mouth trailed back up to her lips, kissing her deeply one last time before he tore himself away from her.

Why? Her lust-filled eyes screamed at him as he placed her gently back on her feet.

"As much as I want you," He rasped, pecking her lips. "Right here," he whispered with another peck. "Right now." His husky voice was deep with desire and he felt a shiver course through her body from his words. "We can't. I can't make another mistake like the other night. I've already crossed the line. I'm sorry, it's not fair to you."

Her lips turned up into a beautiful smile as she rose on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his in a sweet kiss. "There's no need to apologize, Corn. I'm just as guilty," she whispered against his lips. God, she was making it difficult for him to be nice. He groaned and lifted her into his arms bridal style, carrying her to the accent chair where he plopped down with her on his lap.

To keep his mind off how wonderful she felt on top of him, he decided to focus on work. He pushed her messy windblown hair out of her face and stared into her eyes for several quiet moments.

"Is there something on my face," she joked, swiping at her cheeks. He grinned flashing her his pearly whites. Between her disheveled styling and her impromptu cry fest, she looked like a hot mess. Despite her hair resembling a bird's nest and her mascara staining the skin beneath her eyes, he couldn't help but find her breathtaking.

"Even if there was, you would still look stunning to me," he answered truthfully.

"Spoken like a true playboy," she muttered, as her face burned with embarrassment. He laughed and kissed her cheek.

"Are you okay?" He asked in a serious tone.

"What do you mean?" She cocked her head cutely, confused by his question.

"You cried. We never rehearsed you crying," he murmured, looking deep into her eyes. He lifted his hand to brush the back of his fingers against her rosy cheek.

"I couldn't help them," her voice trembled. He nodded and pulled her closer against his chest, stroking her hair. He wasn't sure how long they sat like that before their moment was interrupted by a knock on the door. Kyoko tried to scramble off his lap, but he held firmly, not wanting to let her go just yet. If his hunch was correct about the interloper standing outside, then they had nothing to worry about.

"Come in," his voice rang out.

The door cracked open. "Is it safe?" Their manager teased as he finally poked his head in with his eyes closed.

"It seems like someone is no longer moping. You must have received some good news while you were 'working,'" Ren smirked. Yashiro's eyes flashed open and a blush crept to his cheeks. By that reaction, he must have hit the nail on the head.

"Did Moko respond to you?" Kyoko exclaimed, jumping off of his lap and snatching up her purse. She pulled out her phone excitedly and tapped on the screen. A moment later her elation deflated, replaced by sadness.

"It was just a short text, Kyoko-chan. I'm sure she will respond to you when she has more time t to sit down and properly write to you," Yashiro assured her with a logical explanation.

"You're right, Yashiro-san, that sounds like Moko-san," Kyoko smiled, her mood immediately improving.

"How was filming? Everything go okay with the scene?" He asked changing the subject.

"The director is currently reviewing the film. From her initial assessment, everything seemed to be to her satisfaction."

Yashiro nodded his approval. "I'm sorry I missed it. I had an unexpectedly long conference call with Linh-san and the President. Would you two like to know what it was about?" The manager narrowed his eyes and pinned them with his stare.

Ren gulped. There was something in Yashiro's expression that told him he was not talking about the incident with Cedric.

"Yashiro-san, we're very sorry for rushing out on our own to help Bennett-san. We will try to be more cognizant of our safety in the future," Kyoko and spoke on their behalf.

"I'm glad to hear that, Kyoko-chan. It would behoove you both to be more selfish, but I was referring to another matter. I'm very upset that I, Yukihito Yashiro, your manager that is right here, currently in your present company, had to hear about a scandalous videotape from a third party."

All the blood drained from Ren's face as he processed what Yashiro just said. He had specifically asked Lory to keep the sex tape a secret from his manager. The President was usually a tough nut to crack, how on earth did Yashiro manage to get the information out of him?

Kyoko's mouth opened and closed like a guppy as her cheeks heated up. She turned to him for help.

"I'm sorry, Yukihito, with everything going on I forgot to tell you. For Kyoko's protection, I preferred to minimize the number of people that knew about it," Ren answered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

"Are you kidding me? According to Takarada-san, the video is being released in Japan tomorrow morning. The whole country is going to know about it."

"What?" Kyoko's face paled. "I thought you said the President took care of it," his girlfriend whirled on him. His heart clenched as he watched her eyes pool with tears.

"Hey," he soothed, rubbing small circles on her back. "Everything will be okay, I promise." He said the words with more confidence than he felt. What was the President thinking about releasing that video?

"Kyoko-chan," Yashiro began nervously. "I know you're unused to these types of scandals, but Linh-san and I promise to do everything in our power to minimize the damage to your career. It's really not as bad as you think. So you shared a passionate kiss in a hallway where you thought you were alone, big deal. The whole country knows how much you love each other. They can't fault you for this."

"Did you say hallway?" Ren asked for clarification.

"Yes, the back hallway at the bar. Someone took a video of the security camera monitor."

"Oh, that video," Kyoko sighed with relief.

"What do you mean?" Yashiro's eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Is there something else that I don't know about?"

"Oh, no, no, no, no," Kyoko exclaimed and flapped her hands defensively. "There's nothing else. Why would you think there's something else? I mean what could be worse than a video like that, right?" She babbled for a few seconds more until Ren cut her off.

"What Kyoko's trying to say is that we're sorry we failed to inform you and promise to do our best to not let it happen again." This little lie will be his to bear.

"Thank you, that's all I can ask," Yashiro replied just as a knock rapped on the door.

"Hello," Debbie greeted as she pushed open the door. "Everyone decent," she laughed and entered, carrying a laptop with Phil in tow. Kyoko's blush returned at the director's teasing. Were they that obvious?

"So I think what I have is perfect, Phil thought it would be best to show you the footage and make sure you are one hundred percent comfortable with it. This way, when the video is released there will be no surprises.

The couple, along with their squealing manager, watched the scene over and over from different camera angles. He held Kyoko as she cutely watched between the fingers covering her eyes. When it was all over he turned her to face him directly.

"I want you to be honest with me, Princess." Ren looked her dead in the eye. "Are you uncomfortable with anything we just watched, anything at all? It's okay, to tell the truth, no one would be upset with you."

"I wish I didn't take your shirt off," she admitted without hesitation while she stared at the screen of a barechested Ren. His eyes widened at her response, shocked that it made her uncomfortable to see herself on film with him in such an intimate situation. Her next words left the room speechless. "I'm going to have to beat off women from you once they see you looking ridiculously sexy," she grumbled and folded her arms.

"What?" She asked when they just gaped at her.

"Ren, aren't you happy that Ms. Kyoko is willing to defend your honor," Yashiro ribbed him with his elbow. He wasn't about to admit it to Yashiro, but he was quite happy.

"So does that mean you're okay with it Kyoko?" Debbie asked for clarification.

"Yes, sorry," Kyoko bowed. "There's no problem with your work. I'm just dreading the influx of admirers he will have once they see the MV."

"Something tells me he won't be the only one with an increased fanbase," Debbie winked at Kyoko. "Now that it's settled, please get ready for the final scene. We have a short window and need to get this right, so I would like to rehearse the scene in the meantime."

Tina shivered pitifully under the sheets as chills wracked through her. The pounding in her head and every limb of her body was sore.

The bed lurched, sending waves of nausea rolling through her head and down to her belly where last night's contents churned, threatening to come back up. "Ow, fuck, shit!" A very familiar and masculine voice hissed.

Somewhere at the back of her lids, a light flickered on, sending sharp needles of pain jabbing into her skull. All she could do was groan in anguish and weakly tug the covers over her head to block it out. Despite her current condition, Tina noticed the presence behind her as the bed dipped in.

"Tina," his voice sounded hoarse from sleep. "I need to pull the blankets down for a moment okay, sweetie."

She gasped at the sight of her new beau, sitting on her bed, shirtless, and looking so very delectable.

"I need you to sit up a little and take your medicine," he cooed, helping her up into a more sitting position. He handed her a couple of the painkillers to take and watched while she washed them down with water. She had successfully swallowed the pills.

Before she could slide down into her warm cocoon, Damian stopped her. "Hang on. I want to wipe the sweat off you and change you into another shirt."

Even though Tina felt like a train just ran her over, she managed to smirk at him. "Are you trying to get me naked?"

"That's the plan, gorgeous," he winked and yanked her shirt off, exposing her lacy undergarments. Another shirt was pulled over her head in its place before she could blink. After changing, he placed a cool cloth over her forehead and began the meticulous process of wiping her down with another cloth.

Less than five minutes later, Damian shook Tina out of her fitful slumber.

"Tina, baby. I'm taking you to the hospital," Damian told her as he pulled on a t-shirt and stuffed his feet into boots.

"I don't wanna," she cried, trying to sit down but he held her firmly. Sifting through her shopping bags, he found a pair of sweats she could wear. After putting his leather jacket over her shoulders, he carried her out of the room, down to the lobby, past the curious reporters, and into his car.

The drive to the hospital was relatively short without all the traffic on the road.

"What the hell?" Damian cursed as he pulled into the emergency room parking entrance crowded by over a hundred people, reporters, and police rearing to go. With luck, he found a close space and scooped up Tina from the passenger seat then carried her into the emergency room demanding to see a doctor. The employees were not impressed and told him to get to the end of the line.

Tina found herself feeling a little better as the pills Damian had given her earlier started to work their magic. She watched in a daze as he tried to charm the lady at the front desk to bump her up on the priority list of emergencies. Damian groaned and came back with a stack of papers that needed to be filled out. Insurance was no joke these days.

While he filled out the forms, the news program on the screen mounted to the wall in front of her came on. She watched with rapture, devastated by the news. There was no way this could be right, but all those people they saw outside confirmed it to be true. Cedric had been and was now being treated in this facility. She needed to see him before it was too late.

AN: Holy frick guys I'm over 900K words...Whaaaa? Thanks for always reading and for the lovely reviews. I appreciate you all! You guys make it easy for me to keep going! *XoXo*

I hope this would clear up some of the confusion about what happened to Kanae. I'm trying to mate this up with the end of chapter 168 (Valentine special). I kind of jumped the gun on that chapter end but always planned on synching it up because of the time difference between Japan and Cali. Let me know if it's too much and doesn't make sense and I can rearrange Kanae's part to a future chapter. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it.

Until next time, ja ne! ^_^