I do not own Skip Beat!

"How did this happen?" Kyouko wailed.

"Calm down, Mogami-san," Ren said. "It's really nothing to get upset over."

"Nothing to get upset over? Nothing to get upset over? It's a disaster. I can't imagine anything worse. What if this destroys your career? I can see the headlines now, 'Fledgling Actress, Kyouko Brings Down God-like Actor Tsuruga Ren By Destroying His Popularity Among Females With her Thoughtless Actions.' I can't be responsible for that. We have to explain. We have to hold a press conference. We have to tell everyone it was all my fault. I made a terrible mistake! I never meant to— to do that!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, holding up his hands as if to stem the flow of her words. "First of all, Don't you think that's a little too long for an article title?"

The actual title of the article glaring up at them from the LoveMe room table was 'Romance On Set?'

Kyouko pouted, but finally stopped panicking and started listening.

"Second, my popularity is hardly going to be ruined by one tiny little incident, third a press conference is entirely unnecessary, and finally, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine."

Kyouko stared at him. "Tsuruga-san, you really don't know the rabid mind of a female fan, do you?"

Ren chuckled. "Why do you say that?"

"Your fans want to fantasize! They want to believe, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, that they have a chance with you. If they don't have that, they might move on to some other entertainer. Though I suppose that this happening with some plain, boring girl like me might give the illusion that if you're ok with me, you'd be ok with anyone, that average girls are your type, so you might be able to get away with it just this once, but we can't waste any time! We have to explain quickly!"

Ren sighed. "You are not plain, boring, or average, Mogami-san. I doubt anyone would look at you and think that if I'd take you, I'd take anyone."

"But you're the Tsuruga Ren, and I'm just me," she said.

"You're not just anything," he said, offering her a warm smile.

"A—anyway, we have to destroy all the evidence, then we can explain to everyone who was there and beg them not to say anything," she said, blushing under his gaze.

"That's really not necessary, Mogami-san. Besides, the photo's already been printed, and it'll all blow over soon enough anyway," he said.

In truth, he just didn't want to have to delete the photos. It would be pointless anyway. Even if he deleted the precious items from his phone and computer right now, he wouldn't be able to get Yashiro to delete his copies even if he held a gun to his head, and there was already one on the cover of a gossip magazine. Even with Kyouko's determination, he doubted very much that she would be able to track down every copy of the article and destroy it.

"I guess that's true," she said, pouting. "No one will be worried. No one would think for a second that the Tsuruga Ren would l—lo— have romantic feelings for someone like me."

Ren sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming on.

"Eh? No way! That's not true!" Yashiro said, bursting into the room. Ren wondered exactly how long he'd been standing outside the door eavesdropping before his fangirl heart couldn't take it anymore.

Kyouko let out a little squeak and covered her mouth. "Yashiro-san! Don't sneak up on me like that! You scared me!"

"Sorry, Kyouko-chan, but I couldn't help myself. You were saying such ridiculous things! I mean, look," he said, producing his wallet. A long stream of photos fluttered out, extending from the wallet and reaching down to form a pile on the floor.

"What is that?" she shrieked.

"Pictures of you and Ren," he said matter-of-factly. "See? This is during a break on the set of Dark Moon. Oh, sorry, there are quite a few like that. I tried to get different angles. Oh, and here's one from when you were on location in Karuizawa. Here you are having lunch together. Oh, here you are together at LA Hearts. Here's one in the elevator (it's a still from the security camera). Here's one in the LoveMe room. Oh, and here are some stills from the Dark Moon party. I couldn't get those shots myself because the flash would have interfered with the lighting during the interview, so I had to get them from the broadcast later, but here are some from the party itself. See? You generated quite a lot of buzz that night. So many people commented on how good you looked together. So you see, no one would find it the least bit strange for Ren to be in love with you. Ah, but the latest one is definitely my favorite! You're both so cute together all—"

"Yashiro," Ren said with a tight smile. "Why don't you put those away." Or burn them.

"Ah, right," he said. "Sorry, Kyouko-chan. I got a little carried away."

Kyouko shook her head, waving off his apology, but his little show had certainly set her mind spinning. Her eyes were wide, her face pale, and it looked like a million thoughts were buzzing around inside her head.

"Mogami-san," Ren said, trying to pull her out of her thoughts before it was too late, "you really don't need to worry. People certainly won't think it at all odd for us to be together, but neither will they automatically assume that we are together from one little incident."

"But, your reputation—"

"Is not that fragile," he said. "Now why don't you calm down and simply act as you normally would. If there are any repercussions, we will deal with them as they come, together."

Kyouko swallowed a lump in her throat. "Really? Is it really ok to just do nothing?"

"It's fine Mogami-san. Despite his stalker-like tendencies," Ren said with a severe glare at his manager, "Yashiro is actually quite capable. He's squashed rumors before, and if it comes to it, we can always rely on President Takarada."

"That's right," Kyouko said, perking up. "Tsuruga-san, you're such a playboy, Yashiro-san must have had to squash hundreds, even thousands of rumors!"

"Um, well, no, not that man—"

"It must be hard for you, Yashiro-san! Well, I'm sorry to give you more work, but I'll be counting on you," she said with a bright smile.

"Um, no Kyouko-chan, really those rumors from before were mostly just women going after Ren one-sidedly. Not like you, Kyouko-chan," Yashiro said.

"You're right," Kyouko said.

Yashiro and Ren both looked at her, wondering if, for once, she understood the underlying meaning of Yashiro's words.

"Since I'm not pursuing Tsuruga-san, hopefully it will be even more insignificant than those other incidents," she said.

"Um, yes…well…" Yashiro trailed off.

"We ought to be going," Ren said, glancing at his watch.

"Ah, yes. Have a good shoot, Tsuruga-san. Goodbye, Yashiro-san," she said, bowing to them.

"Bye Kyouko-chan," Yashiro said.

"Goodbye. Have a good day." Ren said, " And Mogami-san, don't spend all day hiding in the LoveMe room. People will think you have something to hide."

AN: So, it seems that I seriously can't write unless I have something big and important I should be doing...like studying for my midterm tomorrow. Oh well! This story probably won't end up being very long, but it's got a few more chapters coming. Thanks for reading! Hope you like it. I always appreciate hearing what you think, so if you'd like to let me know, leave me a review :D