I'm so sorry I've been gone from this story for such a long time. I had a massive case of writers block and tried to start the chapter about 10 times and never liked how it turned out. So I left it until I knew I could do a good job because you guys deserve the best I can give you! Taking part in the Skip Beat Secret Santa and reading through all the wonderful reviews for this story finally gave me the inspiration I needed to finally finish off this chapter! HOORAY!

There will be one more chapter after this :) but a sequel story has been playing in my head for ages now so there could be a sequel! ;)

Chapter 17

Kanae rested at the back of the press room, the sturdiness of the pillar supported her aching back whilst she surveyed the area with a half-hearted glare.

The room was full to the brim with reporters and paparazzi from every magazine, website and news channel of importance. The flashes from the cameras would have given the raven-haired actress a migraine were it not for her trusty sunglasses (hence the reason for the glare). A smattering of rumour-induced whispers echoed about the stately room. Kanae just sighed, happy to have a break from the old woman's constant nagging.

It had been an exhausting day. After filming in the morning she'd gotten another call from the president, asking her to take a LoveMe job, one which (according to her source) tied rather closely to operation Jane Eyre.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she gave a small huff of frustration. Surely she was done for the day? With a reluctant heart she awaited her next assignment...

Ren's just gone to pick up Koyko, no paparazzi are following him. It seems operation "date one" is a success so far! - Yashiro

Kanae's eyebrows raised and she found herself wondering why on earth he was texting her. She didn't pause to question how her lips had lifted into an affectionate smile as her fingers typed an automatic response.

I can't keep up with all of these covert operations. Anyway, I'll find out from Kyoko what happened later. Thanks for letting me know though.

The lights dimmed. The crowd stopped chattering amongst themselves. A nervous energy filled the room and Kanae suddenly felt a strange sense of power, being the only one in the vicinity who truly knew why they were all there. She grinned rather smugly at the poor idiots; they'd all been completely fooled by their own greed.

Her phone pinged again- Hey cheer up! This is a success for all of us regardless of if the date goes well at least we've played our part perfectly...

Before she could reply to Yashiro's text another one came through: Although I hadn't considered the possibility of the date ending badly. Oh god! What if Ren screws it up?!

Kanae fought back a brief chuckle at the poor manager's slow-building panic as her charge for the day approached the stage. Lillia M, a famous actress from many years ago had been persuaded to come out of retirement a few weeks ago when the role of a lifetime presented itself. Cleverly, the President had managed to play on Lillia's famous theatricality and spread the rumours until every journalist was clamouring for a story. Until at last, Lillia had mysteriously announced that she was to give a press conference for a "big announcement". Kanae had to admit, she admired the President's underhandedness as much as she feared it. That man was the biggest love fan-boy she had ever seen.

Yashiro shouldn't I be the one freaking out here? It's MY best friend going on a date with some guy half her size, what if he tries to take advantage of her and I'm not there to kick his ass?

It was as Kanae sent her last text that Lillia M finally revealed her triumphant return, to uproarious gasps and applause. The dark-haired actress sagged her shoulders in a rather unglamorous and uncharacteristic fashion, but damned if she cared at that moment. She was tired, and the signal for her release from duty had been given. All she looked forward to now was going home, and hopefully hearing from Kyoko later on.

"Ren wouldn't do that!" whispered a voice right behind her, causing her to leap out of her skin in fright. She spun around to face a bespectacled, slightly flustered young man. The last person she expected to see tonight.

"Yashiro-san, what the hell are you doing here?!"

Kyoko stood bent over the bathroom sink, her nose wrinkled and almost pressed to the bathroom mirror, her eyebrows crinkled into a deep frown of concentration.

"This time," She mumbled to herself "this time I'll get it right for sure."

Outside the bathroom Okami-san giggled to herself, lifting a kimono-covered hand to her mouth to stifle her amusement. It wouldn't do for Kyoko to know she was spying on her; the poor thing was already stressed out enough as it was.

"ARGH! STUPID EYELINER! WHY WON'T YOU DO AS INSTUCTED AND LINE MY EYE?!"

On the other hand Okami began to worry that Kyoko would make herself ill with nerves. That was definitely unacceptable. She raised her knuckles and rapt on the door softly.

"Kyoko dear, do you need any help?"

A squeal, the sound of clattering and a rapid fire response followed her question. "Ah, n-no Okami-san! I'm f-fine, I don't need any help (I need new eyeliner)." Okami was fairly sure Kyoko didn't mean to mumble that last part so loudly. She chuckled once more.

"Are you sure?" She offered, trying to mask her amusement and replace it with gentle concern. "Because my sister ran her own salon for twenty years and I learnt a thing or two. I'm certain I can help you if you want to."

There was a silent pause before the bathroom door clicked open and Kyoko peered out, looking somewhat sheepish and ever-so-slightly hopeful. Okami tried to hide her smile and failed miserably. There was a dark smudge of eyeliner under Kyoko's left eye, which itself was tinged slightly pink clearly from where she'd angrily rubbed at it.

"Can you really help me?" The young girl asked shyly, her voice coming out as a nervous whisper, avoiding eye contact. "I- this- it just needs to be perfect and he'll be here soon and I don't know where we're going or what we're doing and-"

"Kyoko-chan, Kyoko-chan, breathe, just breathe." Okami reassured, stepping into the bathroom and putting a calming hand on the panicking actresses shoulder. Kyoko visibly relaxed at this motherly show of affection, the tension in her back released and she took a great shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry Okami-sama, I'm just worried that things will go wrong. I've never been on a date before and it's with...well..." Kyoko blushed and averted her eyes, trying visibly to hide her true feelings- Okami couldn't help but laugh once more as she lead Kyoko to the bath tub and motioned her to sit down on the edge.

"I know you're nervous, but the two of you have been friends for a long time haven't you?" Okami asked as she dabbed hot towel on Kyoko's face, removing the wayward eyeliner. Kyoko smiled to herself, for the answer to Okami's question ran far deeper than anybody knew. It was their secret, Ren's and hers alone.

She thought of all the times they had been through together; the childhood fairytale, the misunderstandings, the laughter, the tears, the times when she'd been his hero as much as he'd been hers. Looking back on it now, it seemed inevitable that this would happen. How silly she'd been for not spotting it sooner...which only made this date so much more important. This night would change everything for the two. There would be no turning back.

Breathe Kyoko, breathe.

"Did you know," Okami began as she took a makeup sponge and began applying concealer to the reddened area under Kyoko's eye "during my first date with my husband, I was so apprehensive I couldn't speak."

Kyoko blinked in surprise and earned a little admonishment from Okami, who insisted she must stay still. "Really? But...Taisho he-"

"Is a man of few words, yes." Okami nodded fondly at the memory, and giggled. "So you can imagine how awkward it was at first. But we both knew we had feelings for each other. He came to my house to ask my father to court me and he knew that my father would have said no if I disliked it. My father was, shall we say, rather ahead of the times. Close your eyes dear."

Kyoko obeyed and the two women sat in content silence.

"So, how did it work out, if you both didn't speak? A-h if you don't mind my asking that is!" Kyoko couldn't hide her curiosity; she'd been reading happily-ever-after stories all day to keep her hopes up and remind her that true love is possible to find, however it hadn't been all that effective in keeping her anxiety down. Perhaps a real story might calm the storm of anxiety that kept threatening to drown her heart.

"Well it had been almost half an hour without a word. We were walking through a lovely garden back in our hometown, I wasn't sure what he had planned, but we'd not spoken for so long that it seemed more awkward to start talking." She shook her head in exasperation at her past self, which Kyoko didn't see. She felt the tickle of the makeup brush sweep her eyelid. "He led me to a little clearing with a bench, it was spring and the roses were in full bloom. He pulled one off of a bush and removed the thorns. I looked at him curiously and the next thing I knew, he was putting the rose in my hair. I couldn't help but say thank you and after that we began conversing fully but once we started, we couldn't stop."

Kyoko sighed. "I never knew Taisho could be so romantic!"

"It is difficult to picture, but he's such a gentle soul. It was at that moment I knew he had my heart and I had his. We have had a good marriage and, though we had hardships, I always remembered that moment and knew we could overcome anything. That feeling has only grown stronger over the years. There you're done."

Kyoko opened her eyes and turned to the mirror and was amazed by what she saw. Okami had managed to match her makeup to her outfit, a flowing knee-length floral dress, perfectly. Her eyes were subtly-framed in black eyeliner that flicked up around her eyes; her eye shadow was natural with subtle hints of gold sparkle that reminded her of the way Corn's hair used to catch the light. She looked older somehow, more mature. But she was still her, Kyoko, just a pretty version.

"Okami-san- thank you so much." Kyoko managed to choke out, trying not to tear up and ruin the illusion.

"You look beautiful dear, you always do." Okami's eyes began to shine despite herself and Kyoko, for the first time in her life, truly felt like she had a motherly presence to guide her. She wrapped her arms around Okami in a loving gesture which was whole-heartedly reciprocated. "Just remember dear, to enjoy yourself and wait for that beautiful moment where you will realise that you two are meant to be together."

"How will I know for sure?" Kyoko stepped out of the embrace and looked down at the floor, all her worries flooded back at once. She almost fell over when the unmistakable sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house.

Okami smiled once more.

"Don't worry dear, you'll know."

Just then the doorbell rang and Kyoko fell her stomach fall through the floor. He was here.

"I see. So the President asked for you to stay away from their date for the evening." Kanae couldn't help the grin escaping as she nursed the cup of (decaf) coffee in her hands. It was unusually warm that evening and so they decided to stop at an outdoor cafe down the road from the press conference, just far enough to feel safe conversing about the date out loud.

"Not in those words exactly, but he made it clear that we have to give them privacy. The pair of them are going to a secluded location outside of the city and the President guarantees that there won't be any press there, especially with the drama which we helped create tonight."

"So I guess we just sit back and wait for news as to if the date went well or not." Kanae leaned back in her chair, crossing her legs as she did so, and wondered when her life had started revolving around other couples and love. It was quite disturbing to her, but more alarming was the fact that she didn't really mind.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that it took her a few moments to realise Yashiro was vibrating like one of the mobile phones he frequently broke. She raised her eyebrows at him and was about to question what he was doing, he finally burst out-

"It's just so hard!"

Kanae raised an eyebrow "excuse me?" her eyes couldn't help but glance down towards his lap.

It took Yashiro only a moment to realise how Kanae had interpreted it and he went a delightful shade of pink, before his face drained of all colour and his mouth opened in horror. "Oh crap I didn't mean- I just meant it was difficult to wait for news from Ren about how their date is going, I didn't mean it like that I promise. I- oh jeez please don't report me to H.R, they'll definitely fire me!"

Kanae burst out laughing, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Relax!" She replied "I was joking! Sheesh, everyone around me is so crazy; you're all too easy to mess with." She looked up and, when she met Yashiro's eyes, the laughter died on her face. He was looking at her in a way that no man had ever done so. Sure men had looked at her before but always hungrily, so much so that she felt like asking them to clean up their drool. Yashiro on the other hand was looking at her in a completely new way that she couldn't quite understand.

And it terrified her.

Just then her phone bleeped in her pocket and Kanae said a silent thanks to whoever was behind it for breaking the weird moment she'd experience with the odd manager. Once she read through the message, she grinned and held the phone towards Yashiro.

"Here, this should tide you over for now," she said, smiling as Yashiro beamed at the message, bouncing up and down in his seat like a schoolgirl at a wedding.

I'm off for my date! Wish me luck!- Kyoko XxXx

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, it's all building to that first date! Will it turn out alright for our two hopeless heroes? :) Hmmm I wonder!