Summary: Kyoko's fate is intertwined with that of Ren and Sho as the world of entertainment notices the rising tide that will either sweep her away or raise her to stardom. Ren x Kyoko.

Warnings: Het, movies, lyrics, songs, theatrical death, theatrical gore, and violence.

Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat or any of the affiliated people, objects, songs, movies, or inventions. They are being used here for non-profit purposes and purely for fun. I DO own all of the song lyrics used in the PVs of this story as I originally wrote them as poetry. Do NOT use them without permission.

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Rising Tides

By Moirae Ma'at

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Chapter 1: Out Shopping

This was it; if he didn't find the demons for the band's song today, he was going to have to use the psychotic punks that had showed up to the audition last week. They really weren't very good actors and they were the wrong sort of demon for the image the band wanted to portray. Those ruffians – he was sure they were in a gang – would make everyone think that his band was a group of useless hooligans! Takahiro refused to let that happen after all the work he had put in over the past year to bring Devil's Dance to the public's attention.

They were a completely different sound from that fake-punk Fuwa Sho and they needed their debut PV to reflect that. It was a pity they had never found the right couple to do "Devil's Dance" as a PV, although the band sincerely wanted their first single and their name-sake song to be their first PV as well.

The manager was so absorbed in his thoughts that he wasn't watching where he was going and bumped into someone. Stepping back and giving a quick half-bow couples with a low "pardon me," Takahiro looked up to find a pair of dark, cold eyes glaring murderously at him from under pitch black hair.

Automatically stepping to the side in order to leave the darker male's line of sight, the manager watched in shock as the other male swept by him in a flutter of black clothing, shepherding an attractive, punk-looking blond girl along with him. They were perfect!

When Takahiro's mind restarted, he hurried after the couple, managing to catch up to them just as they were about to enter a clothing store. The manager slipped in front of the couple, cringing at the glare leveled at him from the tall, dark man.

"I'm Takahiro Juuji, manager for Devil's Dance. I was wondering if I could talk to you about appearing in a PV," the frightened man managed to press out with a bow, extending his card with one hand.

The other male just glared at him, reaching out an arm to brush him aside, when the girl next to him latched onto his extended arm and began to speak.

"Nii-chan, it sounds like fun! Don't you think that it's appropriate, considering what we're here for? It'd be no fun to just leave," the slighter figure said as she pouted and cuddled her brother's arm. Setsu wanted to see more of her big brother's expressions and any opportunity to do so was welcome! Besides, Cain had bought her a CD player so she'd have something to do on set and she liked the accompanying CD by Devil's Dance – it was just her style!

The dark man looked down at the girl at his side and a wry little smirk appeared on his face before he looked over at Takahiro and shrugged nonchalantly. Cain knew what his little sister was up to, but hey, he really couldn't say no to her anyway. Besides, Ren was pretty sure that the PV would require close contact between the two of them and that was always a plus in his book.

"Then if you'd please follow me to our building, it's right this way," the manager said as he guided the two punks toward the recording studio. He was pleased that he'd found the right type of people, but exceedingly nervous about turning his back to the male – it felt like the guy wouldn't even give a second thought to killing him.

Takahiro lead the two punks into the music building and guided them towards the studio his band was warming up in. they entered the open room and the band got their first look at the girl their manager had recruited. Both guitarists fumbled their strings and the drummer dropped one of his drumsticks before all five band members noticed the dark figure lurking behind the hot blonde.

Devil's Dance slowly set down their instruments and approached their manager when he motioned for them to come meet the two newcomers.

"These are the two people who will be playing the demons in your PV," the manager informed his stars, stepping back and watching as all five musicians gave shallow bows and introduced themselves.

"I'm Setsuka Heel and this is my brother Cain," the punk-looking girl said as she casually leaned on her brother's arm, both siblings looking nonchalant at the introduction to a famous band.

"Well, the song you'll be acting in is called 'Demons in my Head' –" Takahiro began.

"I like that song, it's pretty good," Setsu interrupted carelessly.

"Thanks," the drummer said with a slightly suggestive smile, only to back away at the dark look sent his way from Cain. The guy made a mental marker not to talk to Setsu just to make sure the dark male behind her would have no reason to have a "talk" with him. He wasn't going to cross the guy who looked like a serial killer, no siree! He'd rather make more music than end up dead in a ditch somewhere, so it really wasn't even a hard decision not to flirt with Setsu, even if she was exceptionally hot.

Takahiro gave a scolding look at his band – they were not going to lose these two and force him into using those try-out idiots – and continued, "If you both would go into the dressing rooms and change –"

"Nii-san's not going to change, but I'll try whatever you've got for me," Setsu calmly interrupted the manager once again. Kyoko was bowing repeatedly inside at her rude behavior, but there was no way that she could allow Cain Heel to be revealed as Tsuruga-san. If she had to be rude to prevent that, then Setsu would be as rude as she needed to be. Besides, Setsu wouldn't want to inconvenience her brother with changing after she had dragged him into participating in the PV in the first place, so Kyoko was still in character as well.

Takahiro gave a tight smile to the girl, annoyed at the way she kept interrupting him, but nonetheless escorted Setsu backstage towards the costume and makeup department, Cain following along behind them due to the tight grip his sister had on his arm. Kyoko was not going anywhere with these strangers without Ren, just incase they turned out to be similar to the Beagle in any way, and Setsuka would want her brother with her at all times.

The costume designer met them halfway there and began to babble at Setsuka.

"We don't want to change your make-up or your hair – they're perfect for this – but we would like you to change into this outfit," the perky brunette said as she held up a bloody red bustier and a short black skirt. "Your boots are already in there, so why don't you go change while I find you some jewelry?"

Setsu nodded nonchalantly and grabbed the two articles of clothing before slipping into the nearby room to change.

Kyoko slipped on the small black skirt and the tall high-heeled boots before trying to lace-up the small bustier she had been given to change into. The blonde twisted this way and that attempting to tighten the strings of her shirt but failed to get the lacings tight enough to keep the corset up. She couldn't think of any way to lace up the bustier other than asking someone for help, but there was no way she was going to ask some random member of the crew to come into the room and touch her bare back. She'd rather ask Tsuruga-san to do it than someone else, because at least she knew him, even if it would be exceedingly embarrassing. Kyoko debated it in her mind for a couple of minutes before blushing and forcefully switching into Setsuka in order to call out for her brother.

Cain lounged outside the door to her dressing room, obviously intending to stay there and wait for her to finish changing, but ended up entering the room when Setsu asked for him through the door. Her brother entered the small room and was immediately shocked back into Ren at the sight of Kyoko's almost bare back, as the strings of the bustier delicately crossing the white skin didn't really provide any cover. The skirt almost reached the middle of her thighs, but the fact that it was slit on the right side almost up to her hip discounted the coverage it appeared to give Setsu. Ren really didn't want anyone else seeing Kyoko with that much skin showing, although the Emperor of the Night was very appreciative about seeing so much bare skin and wanted to thank Kyoko for the view. The dark-haired actor was shocked out of his approaching seductive mode as Setsu's words finally penetrated his mind.

"Nii-san? Nii-san, are you listening to me? Beloved big brother, would you tighten this for me? Onegai? I can't reach it," Setsu almost whined, upset her brother had been ignoring her, although Kyoko was mentally blushing in embarrassment at having to ask her senpai to lace up the back of her corset. It was highly improper to ask Tsuruga-san to lace up a bustier for her, although it would be nothing between two siblings like Setsuka and Cain. In fact, Setsu would probably like it. Kyoko, on the other hand felt awkward asking the question, even if she had been getting better at accepting casual contact between them without becoming embarrassed – especially after that shower fiasco – but nonetheless she was still nervous about him lacing up her corset.

Setsu stood there, shifting her weight impatiently as she held up the front of the bustier to her chest and waited for her brother to secure the shirt. The punk blonde felt her brother's hands softly brush her skin as they grabbed the strings used to tighten her top and gently pulled them taunt before tying off the black ribbons at the bottom of her spine.

Ren liked the small touches that had allowed him to feel Kyoko's skin – it was so soft – and had to pull himself away from adjusting the bustier further in order to feel more of her skin because Cain wouldn't do that, Cain wouldn't look at his sister like a lover. The black ribbons looked beautiful against her skin, but he couldn't touch her like he wanted, he could only look at her like a brother looks at a sister. It was quite a pity he couldn't spend more time in contact with her, but he'd make sure he was the only one who had that pleasure. There would be no way Ren would let anyone else touch her in this shoot and Cain's dark glare should discourage all comers. If anyone was going to touch Setsuka, it would be Cain and no one else.

Setsu turned around and smiled at her brother, thanking him for helping her and latching tightly onto his arm as they left the room. The blonde didn't even notice the way that people all around the room stopped in their tracks and stared the moment they saw her. The director's sharp reprimand and Cain's demonic glare got everyone moving again, although some brave souls kept their eyes on Setsu while they were walking and ran into various parts of the set. Setsu didn't even notice the commotion, all of her attention wrapped up in her beloved big brother.

The bubbly brunette from before met the two and draped a complicated set of glimmering silver and black chains around Setsu's neck before dragging her over to a make up chair to put the rest of the jewelry on the blonde. The brunette began to fit a complicated ear cuff to Setsuka as a guy came over and showed the girl several tattoos.

When the punk girl pointed out a tribal looking design that went well with her outfit, the other girl slipped a malicious looking black and red bracelet on Setsuka's right wrist before sliding the attached ring onto her middle finger. The chains from the bracelet shifted as the blonde girl moved the ring from her middle finger onto her ring finger, preferring the way that the bracelet and matching ring looked there.

The staff member with the temporary tattoos applied the one that the female Heel sibling had chosen around the bicep on her left arm as the brunette added a small silver anklet with looping chains and dangling red stones over Setsuka's left boot. Once the girl's tattoo was drying, the man cautiously moved towards her scary brother and began to talk to him.

"Heel-san, if you'd wear this we'd greatly appreciate it," the male with the temporary tattoos said as he pointed out a small design intended to travel across Cain's forehead before curving around the older sibling's eye to trail down his cheekbone. It was similar to the one Setsu had on her upper arm, but slightly more masculine in design.

The male Heel shrugged apathetically in response and Setsuka immediately appeared at her brother's side, the harried brunette girl still trying to loop a silver chain belt around the blonde's waist.

"I'm the only one who gets to touch Nii-san's face!" Setsuka said with a pout as she swiped the tattoo from the man and proceeded to apply it to her brother's face. Kyoko couldn't afford someone getting too close to Tsuruga-san and recognizing him, so it was up to her to do any makeup that her senpai needed.

The blonde's touch was gentle on her brother's face as she carefully laid down the tattoo and made sure it transferred correctly, using a black makeup pen from the PV's staff to touch up parts of the design. Ren had leaned down so she could reach and had to restrain himself from looking anywhere that wasn't Kyoko's face. Thankfully, she finished quickly and he didn't have too much time to think about the cute way her lips pursed in concentration.

Setsu carelessly tossed the black pen towards the makeup crew and once more attached herself to her brother's side as they moved towards the set, the punk blonde drawing unknowingly drawing attention with every move she made.

Takahiro met the two siblings as they were leaving the backstage area, making sure to keep his eyes away from Cain's sister after a cursory inspection of her costume. She was exactly what they were looking for and her creepy big brother would add that needed edge of danger to their music video. After all, the song wasn't exactly light and fluffy, and he wasn't sure how evil Setsuka could look, despite the dangerously sexy way she looked and walked. Just because she was darkly alluring didn't mean that she could look evil enough to purposely haunt people into insanity.

The manager carefully guided the Cain and Setsuka over towards a tall, thin man with long white hair before introducing the three to each other.

"Tezuka-san, these are our two demons, the Heel siblings; Cain-san, Setsuka-san, this is our director Tezuka-san," the manager said before leaving to attend to his wayward band.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both; I hope we'll work well together. I'm sorry, but you'll have to excuse me, there's a situation over there that I need to take care of," Tezuka said with a polite smile, using the first excuse he could think of to get away from the other dark-haired male that was glaring at him and looked like he wanted to murder the PV director.

Cain wrapped his hands around his sister's shoulders and she leaned back into her brother, Kyoko completely unconscious of the way it made them look like lovers rather than siblings. She thought it was nice the way Tsuruga-san was keeping her warm by wrapping his arms around her shoulders, as the bustier didn't cover her shoulders and she was beginning to get goose bumps from the temperature on set. Ren, on the other hand, had a completely different motive and barely managed to hide his smirk at the way several men turned around once they spotted the way the two were standing, obviously not willing to risk the Cain's wrath in order to talk to the pretty girl relaxing in his arms.

A few minutes later the director returned and began to lay out the plot of the promotional video.

"You two are demons that are haunting the Devil's Dance at the club they're performing in, so if you two would lean against that building to start with, then Setsuka-san will…" the director began to say before he trailed off at Cain's evil glare.

"I'm sure we'll be fine, director," the female Heel sibling said casually as she exchanged a look with her brother, seeming to simultaneously scold and hold a conversation with the older male.

Tezuka nodded his consent, more due to his fear of her creepy brother than out of agreement with her, but she took it as agreement anyway. The two siblings situated themselves on the set and simply waited until the director had the extras arranged to his satisfaction and started filming, telling the camera to focus on the brother for the first stanza of the song before switching to the sister.

"Look outside, / There's something in the dark, / Staring back, / Menace in mind. / Take that dare, / Ruin the world with a smile."

The darker of the two siblings leaned against a shadowy building casually, and pulled out a cigarette as his eyes traveled around the set before concentrating on Setsuka as she sexily sauntered towards the entrance of the on-set club. She was walking to the beat of the song and unknowingly drawing the eyes of the men both in and out of the video to her body in the process. He didn't like other people looking at his sister, but they'd get the message by the end of the video, Cain thought with a vicious smirk. The camera focused on the expression, carefully capturing the malicious twist of his lips and the cruel glint in his black eyes.

"Play the horns that trumpet death, / Pound the drums that summon war, / Raze the world down to the ground. / Lure them in, make sure it never ends."

The male Heel casually struck a match and used it to light his cigarette before pushing off the wall and walking forward, his feat hitting the heavy beats of the song. Cain carelessly tossed the still burning match behind him, lighting the building on fire as he followed his sister. The growing fire cast eerie shadows around his form as he moved, his long coat flaring with every stride and serving as a startling counterpoint to the light flaring behind him.

Setsuka turned slightly when she reached the club, almost seeming to pose in the doorway, but actually checking that her brother hadn't done something evil – the fire wasn't a big deal – before smirking at her brother and going inside. Cain followed her easily, the majority of the people on the street subconsciously moving away from him and simultaneously managing to follow his sister into the club.

"And cut!" the director said before quickly sending people to put out the fire and hustle the extras into the fake club so he could give them a short list of instructions. Tezuka made sure to avoid giving the Heel siblings any directions, as they'd done something on their own that even better than his idea for the beginning of the PV – and that had been without any instructions at all.

Tezuka reminded his camera men to focus on Setsu for most of the time, but not to ignore the band that was going to be playing on stage for his part of the PV. After all, the video was intended to promote the band and should focus on them, not just the story they were trying to tell with their music.

"These demons in my head, / They'll dance until I'm dead. / Eyes as black as night, / They make all my fears take flight."

The camera focused on the way Setsu moved to the music, before zooming out to show the way that a couple of the band members looked over at her and seemed to appreciate the view. She didn't see their glances, as most of the blonde's concentration was focused on avoiding the grasping hands of the extras around her. Kyoko didn't want these strangers grabbing her – it wasn't proper! – and she didn't know them, so they shouldn't be even trying to touch her.

Setsu was dancing nearly in the center of club's floor by the time that her brother entered the club and settled on a wall near where she was dancing. Setsuka seemed to ignore the new man in order to dance for a while and her brother calmly smoked in his corner, girls congregating close to him due to his looks. Kyoko had to forcefully block out the fact that people – especially Tsuruga-senpai – were watching her dance in order to keep dancing, eventually resorting to encouraging Setsu's enjoyment of the fact that her brother was watching her dance to keep moving.

Suddenly the two siblings looked at the band on stage at the same time and gave evil smiles before returning to their previous activities. The camera made sure to catch the matching smiles before once more focusing on Setsu's dancing and leaving Cain in the background. The girl kept a cold but somehow inviting smile on her face as she danced, people crowding further and further around her.

The band member's eyes met Cain's and they visibly flinched away from him as they played their instruments before suddenly becoming more aggressive in their playing, as if they were challenging the dark male leaning against the wall with their music.

"They infiltrate the world, / Fake smiles pasted on their faces, / Masks up, / Find the beat and dance, / Seduce them and steal their soul."

Abruptly Cain moved away from the wall and began to move forward through the crowd, a small smirk on his face as he slipped up behind his sister. He wrapped his arms around her waist and the camera focused on the way she relaxed into his hold instead of moving away from him as she had with the other men who tried to touch her.

"These demons in my head, / They'll dance until I'm dead. / Eyes as black as night, / They make all my fears take flight."

They danced together, Kyoko mentally embarrassed at how close she was to Tsuruga-san and Ren enjoying the extended close contact with his love interest. The blonde once more managed to suppress her blush and push Setsuka forward. The punk girl reached back and looped her tattooed arm over her brother's neck as she pressed closer to him, happy to have her brother so near her.

In return, Ren pulled her closer and shifted his one of his hands to her hip before letting the other splay high up across her stomach, the tips of his fingers stopping just short of her chest. Cain buried his smile in her neck, covering it from the camera with her hair. He wasn't going to let his sister win their little contest, and Ren just wanted an excuse to stake his claim when all of the men on set had been looking too closely at Kyoko in her revealing clothes.

Cain and Setsu stayed close to each other and locked their eyes on the musicians at the front of the club as they kept dancing to the beat. Their bodies moved in perfect sync with each other as they focused on the band members, who slowly noticed the eyes concentrating on them and looked up to face them.

"I can do anything / When they watch me, / No fears, no doubts, / Take 'em down, / Shake 'em down, / I'm gonna rule the world."

The camera panned out until it was possible to see both the dancing siblings and the band playing onstage, the music slowly rising to a crescendo as the musicians became more and more aggressive in their actions. The two Heel siblings kept their eyes on the band and the musicians stared back at them as they played faster and louder every second until they hit a sharp pause and the lead singer spoke the last line with an ironic smile.

"I've got demons in my head."

As the last line sounded out over the crowd, the siblings looked right up at one of the cameras from the middle of the dance floor and gave two slow smiles fill with malice, their eyes a startling contrast of fiery amber and black death. For a single moment the girl's orbs almost completely reflected her brother's black eyes, all the way down the dark color and the malevolent spark of cruelty.

The scene sent shivers down the backs of the crew and the band; the expression on their faces were so malicious that you could almost believe that the two really were demons. Tezuka wouldn't even need to use computer effects to turn the girl's eyes black for the last scene, which was really what scared the director. It wasn't normal for people's eyes to suddenly turn black, no matter how good they were at acting…

It took Tezuka a little bit to shake off the intimidating aura the two had produced and stop the filming. Takahiro had wanted something different from Fuwa's PV and he had definitely received it! The usual following for Devil's Dance would love it because it was right down their alley and other people would watch it because of that girl. Her brother might be the scariest person on earth, but the girl was plain-out, dangerously sexy. A couple of the crew had almost ran into equipment and walls when she had first walked out in her costume, although the piercing glare from her brother had dissuaded most of the crew from approaching the blonde.

Meanwhile, the male members of the PV crew were thanking their lucky stars they had taken the male's earlier "warning" and stayed far away from the girl. She was sexy, but they weren't going to risk their necks in order to talk to her. They were pretty sure that the guy would have killed them for touching her, so it was safer to just avoid the beautiful girl. She hadn't seemed to have minded, doting on her brother and hanging off his arm when one of them wasn't filming for the music video. In addition, the look in her eyes after she saw her brother set fire to the building a the beginning of the PV and the smile at the end of the video gave them the idea that she might decide to kill them, so it was safer to just ignore the girl – no matter how alluring she looked.

Takahiro and Tezuka spent a few minutes reviewing the filming before coming over to talk to the two siblings, the two older males smiling from ear to ear at the high quality of the video.

"You both did a wonderful job," the director told the two Heels, being careful to look at the dark-haired male and not his attractive little sister. Setsuka looked amazing in her outfit – it was hard to image that she could look as evil as she did in the video – but her brother was scary enough to warn anyone way from hitting on, or even admiring, his little sister.

"Why don't you keep the outfit, Heel-san," Takahiro said with a friendly expression. "You did perfectly in the PV and the outfit seems like a fitting reward for all your hard work."

Cain's glare pierced the manager and the other man took a subtle step back as Setsu glomped onto her brother's arm.

"It's not bad," Setsu said with a smile as she leaned against her brother, Kyoko furiously apologizing in her head for Setsu's callous attitude about the gift. Kyoko thought she didn't deserve the expensive outfit for a simple PV, but Setsu really didn't care because the outfit wasn't a gift from her beloved big brother. That was Setsu's general opinion on everything: if it didn't come from Cain or have something to do with him, then she really didn't care about it.

Cain's eyes softened slightly as he looked down at his sister and began to lead her out of the building. Sadly, the two siblings were forced to pause at the door when it was flung open for Fuwa Sho to enter the studio. The blonde strutted into the room with his head held high, but Setsuka's flashy costume caught his eye and he paused to take the time to look the girl over from head to toe.

The singer's view was interrupted when a dark male stepped in front of the pretty girl and glared at him viciously, using his body to block any glimpse of Setsuka from view. Sho shrunk back slightly from the dangerous look and moved out of the doorway enough for the elder Heel sibling to usher his little sister through the door, the taller male's hand firmly placed in the middle of her back.

Fuwa simply stood there in shock, a little stunned that the punk girl in the black and red revealing costume had Kyoko's golden eyes. He'd gotten a quick glimpse of the female's face right after her costume had grabbed his attention, but the terrifying male escorting her had shocked him with the glare and the startling change between what looked like Kyoko's golden eyes and the male's evil black orbs had caused the singer to step back in reaction. The male was absolutely terrifying and Sho couldn't imagine why Kyoko was spending time with such a hooligan. In fact, she really shouldn't be hanging out with a guy like that, especially not if she was trying to catch up to him – not that he cared or anything, but if she was going to be spending time around a punk, he could to a lot more for her career than that no-name creep.

Once the singer had finally recovered from his shock and processed what had just happened, Sho quickly turned around and swiftly hurried out the door after the two siblings. He was disappointed to find that the girl with Kyoko's eyes and that guy had quite effectively disappeared from his sight and he was unable to locate them or even what path they might have taken. The singer eventually returned to the studio, a sulking expression that was obvious only to his manager present on his face.

Shouko gave a put upon sigh at her charge's actions and ushered the boy towards a more protected area so she could figure out what was wrong this time. She needed him in a good mood for his PV, so she needed to fix whatever was bothering him quickly. Sometimes she wasn't sure if her job was worth it or not; Sho could be such a brat…

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AN: I hope you enjoyed the story so far and thank you for reading. This will probably be around 20 chapters (that's generally what I have planned out for this story) but some chapters might spill over or be combined, so no promises. Updates will be slow, as I'm quite busy right now and I have several other stories, but I keep track of story progress on my profile if you want to see when new chapters will be coming out. But hey, 5,200+ words in ten pages isn't a bad start, ne?