A/N: Hey! This is the first fic I've ever posted, and it's a Skip Beat one! Please enjoy and review!
Here's the first disclaimer I've ever written!: I don't own Skip Beat. This story randomly popped into my head, and I wrote it down for you to read! Hope you like it!
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"A present for all LME employees...from the president?" Kyoko asked Sawara-San after he handed her a small pink smart band that was the same color as the dreaded pink uniforms of the Love Me section.
"Yes. It's a smart band that's popular in wearable tech right now, but I heard that he had them specially altered by some tech guys he knows. Who knows what other features this thing has?" Sawara-san replied, showing off his own black smart band. "The president specifically asked me to give all Love Me members a pink one instead of the black ones given to everyone else.
"What features do these things usually have?" Kyoko asked. She had grown up in a ryokan in Kyoto, so she wasn't one to keep up with current technology. It wasn't even a year ago when she got her first phone, and she still didn't know all the things she could do with it!
"It can track the number of steps you take, your heart rate, the number of calories you burn, and if you sync it up with your smartphone it'll even show when someone calls you. There's probably other functions too, but I haven't tested them all out yet."
"Ahhh... Thank you Sawara-san!" Kyoko bowed. As she walked away from Sawara-san's desk, she put on the new technology she had just received.
Lory had been watching Kyoko receive her gift from his security cameras in Sawara-san's office. Perfect. He could put his plan into motion now that she wore the band. Now he just needed one more step completed for his newest scheme to begin. Time to call a certain top actor of Japan into his office.
...
Ren had finished his jobs for the day and had ended his day at LME to finish some paperwork. Yashiro had hinted that a certain someone might be in the Love Me section, so Ren had been roped into Yashiro's scheme to get him and Kyoko together when Yashiro had some 'important business' to attend to near the Love Me section. Ren was supposed to drive Yashiro home that day, so there was nothing he could do until Yashiro came back except to go visit the pink curse of a section the president had created. When he cracked open the door, he spotted Love Me number one sitting on one of the benches, engrossed with something on her arm.
"Good evening Mogami-san." Ren said to inform Kyoko of his presence.
"Tsuruga-san! I didn't notice you come in," Kyoko jumped, startled by Ren's sudden appearance.
"When I came in, it seemed like you were quite distracted, so I'm not surprised that you didn't notice me enter. What is it that you were so focused on with your arm just now?" Ren asked.
"Oh! The president gave all LME employees these smart bands as gifts, and I was just trying to figure out how to use it." Kyoko said while displaying her new band to Ren. Ren lifted his jacket sleeve to reveal a matching black smart band that he had received from the president earlier that day when he had visited him in his office. Lory had originally given him a pink one since he had said Ren would be in the Love Me section if he had had the brilliant idea sooner, but Ren had threatened to not accept the gift of it remained the same shade of pink to mock him. Lory eventually exchanged the pink band for the regular black band.
"It seems like a regular smart band to me. That's a first for the president. Normally his gifts would be more larger in grandeur," Ren chuckled.
"That's what I thought at first too, but earlier my band announced that my heart rate was high from exercising. That was after I had biked to and from the Darumaya to pick up a script I had left at home. I didn't know it would announce that so loudly, and I've been trying to figure out how to turn down the volume ever since."
"Oh? That's weird. I've never heard of smart bands to announce physical conditions based on heart rate. The president must have altered the band somehow. I wonder why?" Ren replied.
Lory was watching his favorite pair from the comfort of his office. He had sneakily informed Yashiro of his latest scheme to get the pair together, and Yashiro had agreed wholeheartedly to support him. He had lied to Ren about having work near the Love Me room, and he had actually went to the president's office. Yashiro stood near a set of switches, designed to operate certain installations in the Love Me locker room. Lory was confident that this time his plan would work. He nodded with a maniacal grin to Yashiro who in turn responded with his own maniacal grin. He flicked a switch, which then caused Lory's monitor to go black from the absence of light in the Love Me room. He didn't anticipate not being able to view his favorite couple during his scheme. Oh well. He could still listen to their conversation even if he couldn't see them from the hidden microphones in the room.
"Eh!? Why did the lights turn off?" Kyoko nervously asked.
"Increased heart rate due to feeling of fear," Kyoko's smart band announced.
"Mogami-san? Where are you? I can't seem to be able to see you," Ren said to the darkness that surrounded him.
"Tsuruga-san! The light switch won't work! It's like someone turned off all the power for this room!" Kyoko fearfully replied.
Ren knew he was near the door and was able to find the handle through the darkness, but when he tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. The doors had an electronic lock that could only be triggered in cases of emergency. The only other way they could lock was manually by a certain president too interested in his love life...
Ren was certain that Lory was behind this. The president had again meddled in his love life. But what was the president's scheme? It's not like Ren would confess his feelings to Kyoko just because they were locked in a dark room.
Ren waded through the darkness, trying to find Kyoko. He eventually found her when she slammed right into him, knocking him onto the floor.
"Tsuruga-San! I'm so sorry for falling on you! I was just rushing through the darkness to try to find some kind of light," Kyoko apologized. She could feel Ren's body under her own since she had fallen on top of him. She realized that her head was currently resting on his chest which caused her to blush from the close proximity to her senpai. She moved her head to get off, but stopped as she felt a warm breath on her face when Ren tried to move as well. She didn't know exactly how close she was to Japan's number one bachelor at this moment, but she knew that their faces were close enough together that if she wasn't careful she might accidentally hit him in the nose or bump her forehead into his lips...
His lips... She couldn't see them, but she remembered their feel as they brushed her forehead all those weeks before and her cheek that certain Valentine's Day. She wished oh so much that she could experience that intoxicating feel on her lip-
Kyoko started blushing furiously. Those were not pure maiden thoughts! And besides, she knew that Ren was in love with a high school girl and would never reciprocate her feelings...
"Increased heart rate due to feelings of love," Kyoko's band suddenly announced through the darkness.
Kyoko froze. All of the hiding of Kyoko's feelings for the man under her had become useless at the frank announcement from the device on Kyoko's wrist. No. Ren was going to be so disappointed in her. What a useless kohai she was for developing feelings for him just like every other girl! Tears started to form in her eyes from the impending rejection she knew was inevitable. No. She could still save her relationship with him. She just had to deny that band's accuracy with all her might.
"EH?! This band can't be correct! How does it even sense love with a heartbeat? That must be a faulty feature that the president added. It's so like him to do that sort of thing. He even created a section for that dreaded emotion-" Kyoko blurted out.
"Mogami-san." Ren interrupted her. Had he heard that band correctly?
Kyoko stopped her rant and tried to hide the tears that were now falling. She didn't succeed though, as a few of them had landed on Ren right below her.
"Mogami-san," Ren insisted again. "The bands have been correct every other time, so are you sure it isn't right this time too?" Ren asked. Kyoko could hear the hurt in his voice but took it as him being hurt that she was just like every other fan girl he had. Instead, Ren was hoping that the bands were not faulty. He really wanted the bands to not be lying. If Kyoko actually reciprocated his feelings, he would be the happiest man in the world.
"Increased heart rate due to feelings of love," Ren's wrist sounded.
Both of them froze this time.
"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko asked confused. Her heart had started beating faster, and she was hoping with all her heart that the bands had been correct.
"Increased heart rate due to feelings of love," Kyoko's band sounded again. This caused Kyoko's face to redden to a shade as to that of a tomato.
Ren dared to hope. Her band couldn't be wrong two times in a row, right? A heartbeat was always truthful.
"Mogami-san..." Ren started. He really wanted to test his theory. But after all his previous let downs with this girl's supposed love, could he really believe that Kyoko reciprocated his feelings? He decided to take a risk. He couldn't bear his unsaid feelings for her any longer. This was a perfect opportunity to to tell her how he felt.
"Mogami-san," Ren breathed huskily. "Tell me if you want me to stop."
Ren arched his head downward to feel Kyoko's ragged breathing on his face. He brought his hand out from under her and used his finger to touch where he assumed her lips were. As he felt her soft lips with his finger, he moved his hand to her cheek. Inching closer to her face until they were a breath's width apart, Ren heard her breath hitch. She hadn't pulled away though. Ren waited for what seemed like an eternity to him, but what was in reality only about 5 seconds. Still she didn't pull away. He took his chance and closed the distance between them.
Kyoko's grudges all died right when Ren's lips touched her own. As Ren deepened the kiss, she shifted positions to be able to kiss back just as passionately as he was kissing her. Ren's heart danced in joy when his lips felt hers copy his own movements. Both of them were so into the kiss they were sharing that neither of them noticed when the lights came back on.
In Lory's office, Yashiro had gotten the approval to flick the light switch for the Love Me room again after the silence after Ren's question. As both Lory and Yashiro watched the screen, they looked at each other ecstatically. Yashiro was of course squealing as his inner fan girl came out. Lory was tearing up at his favorite couple finally getting together. Their plan had worked! Who knew that all it took to get their favorite couple to get together were a few modifications to some smart bands?