Hello, my darlings! I am back with the sequel to "The Truth about Onee-san"! :D

If you've not read it, that's fine – I'll give you enough information for this to stand alone – but reading it might help you understand where Kyoko is emotionally right now.

I do not own Skip Beat! Enjoy, darlings~!

It had been, all in all, a very bad month for Kyoko.

The month before had been decent, and the month before that had been absolutely wonderful – that was when she had spent the night with Maria.

But this month, this week in particular? It had been a disaster. Everything that could possibly go wrong had gone wrong – and time won't even be spent here describing this horrendous week, as Kyoko has asked that she not be forced to relive it outside of the authoress's twisted mind. She conceded that, as it is necessary to the story, the final horrendous day of the week – the one that drove her to her breaking point – may be presented to the reader.

It had started out as any normal day might, and Kyoko was filled with the hope that this day might break her six-day (well, thirty, really, but who's counting?) streak of bad luck. Her alarm had gone off on time, she had not burned breakfast, and she had made it to her destination, the all-day Box "R" filming, early. She became Natsu, and performed for her first set of scene wonderfully. The morning was fine, indeed. Natsu and her posse had decided to sit together for lunch.

That was when things had begun to go wrong.

The chain of disaster's first link was small, just like it had been for the previous six days – in fact, it was small enough for Kyoko to overlook it, as she was not an easily upset girl. Her ketchup packet had squirted straight up into the air upon her opening it, and had landed with a splat on her tray. Fortunately, it did not get on her clothes, but it was messy nonetheless. Natsu laughed it off cheerfully, and urged the other girls to laugh with her. It was not every day, she informed them, that such a bizarre experience occurred over lunch. The other girls smiled, and moved on with the conversation, this time turning to a deliberation of their next attack on Chitose.

Then, when they were about to be called back, one of her bra straps decided that it had been used far too much; it therefore chose that precise moment to snap and die. This resulted in a highly undignified squawk of pain and shock from the poor girl, and Natsu fled her body. She was forced to quickly explain her situation of Chiori, who in turn told the director that Natsu's wardrobe had just experienced a serious malfunction, so she might need a few minutes. Fortunately, Kyoko always had a spare set of clothes with her – unfortunately, the only spare undergarments she had with her were Setsu's. Normally, she would have simply stitched or otherwise fixed her broken bra strap, but she needed to get back on-set as soon as possible, so she didn't have the time to do so. Instead, she was forced to wear the bra she usually only wore as Setsu. Her mood was not helped when Chiori poked her head into the room to check on her, and nearly caught a glimpse of Setsu's nude, black, and red lace. Natsu resurfaced, and made Kyoko's day even worse when she decided that she liked the bra – and decided to change into the matching panties before heading back out. Fortunately, Natsu had the good sense not to mention to the director what exactly had malfunctioned, but instead stated that she was ready to go.

The scene had, thankfully, gone smoothly – her bad luck did not seem to expand to include her acting, and that was the sole reason she was not a blubbering mess by now – with one tiny exception, not caught until it was too late. And, to Kyoko's (and, when it aired, Ren's) utter horror, the director decided to leave the scene unedited. The scene was one of mild seduction – Natsu was flexing her bullying muscles, so as to further manipulate people. In the scene in question, she convinced one of the boys in the class to lead on and then dump the main character. This was done with a few carefully worded suggestions and a rather large bit of personal space invasion. The actor playing the manipulated boy also noticed the unusual addition to the scene, but merely thought it was a (rather convincing) addition to Natsu's game of seduction and an attribute to the normally modest actress's professionalism.

As it transpired, the stage lights permitted the actor – and the audience – to see the red and black strips of Setsu's brassiere. The skin-colored strips did not show up, thus creating some rather… interesting speculation. Kyoko nearly died of humiliation when she had to explain to Chiori that she hadn't had a chance to see her friend, so the undergarments were still in her bag – and she had no spare bra. Chiori giggled, but felt bad for her poor sempai. It was not Kyoko's best day, but Natsu lapped up the attention, even going so far as to blatantly flirt with a few of the spare actors on-set for the seduction scenes (which the director had elected to film all at once, and with a variety of actors, for different reasons). This greatly improved the chemistry, so the director was extremely pleased (as were the fans, some of whom had almost unhealthy attachments to Natsu). Kyoko was mortified, and more than pleased to leave for the day when she was able to retreat to her dressing room and temporarily fix her abused bra. Then, clad in Natsu's ordinary undergarments, she made her way down the steps (as taking an elevator with her current bad luck seemed unwise, as she was likely to get stuck). Her day got infinitely worse when she heard a noise behind her, paused on the landing, and looked up.

"Look out!"

Someone had been pushing a large cart of pop cans past the top of the stairs, presumably to refill the vending machines, when the wheels on the side nearest the stairs simply snapped off. This caused the cart to tilt, and pop cans to go hurtling down the stairs. Some of them were punctured somehow, and so sprayed their overly fizzy contents everywhere, including all over Kyoko. She managed to get out of the line of direct fire, and so avoided any severe injuries – and, thankfully, managed not to fall down the stairs – but in the process, she had to move. This movement, of course, led to her stepping, and then slipping, on a pop can; she consequently landed on her bum. She then huddled in a corner of the landing until the pop cans stopped falling, and silence fell. The person who had been pushing the cart bowed his fervent apologies, and she assured him that she had not been hurt.

"I'm simply unlucky this month – this week in particular," she sighed, taking his offered hand up.

"Poor kid," he chuckled sympathetically. "Why don't you call up some of your girlfriends, or your boyfriend, for a night out on the town? You look like you need one."

She smiled, and said that she would love to, but that she had work tonight. He patted her shoulder, and wished her the best of luck.

Her day had not improved from there.

She dropped by Darumaya briefly, just long enough to change completely and avoid further costuming chaos. After bowing quickly to okami-san and taisho, she bolted down some dinner and pedaled away to don her chicken costume. Unfortunately, she ran over a bit of glass on the way; this glass lodged itself in her bike tires, but she did not have time to notice before locking up her bike and dashing into the building.

That day, Bo was even clumsier – and therefore funnier – than usual. He kept tripping over his own chicken feet, and once even landed atop Hikaru (who, to his credit, was able to laugh it off, despite his crush on the girl within the chicken). The audience was in stiches, and the guest confessed to never having enjoyed an interview quite so much – and even asked if she might make a repeat appearance someday. The Ishibashis were exceedingly pleased, and spent a good portion of the show bantering with the guest. Bo gestured wildly, indicating welcome to the point that he fell over. The audience and guest laughed further and the Bridge Rock trio hurried over to help a flailing Bo to his feet. Bo then bowed in apology… and his chef hat (they had just successfully finished the Cheers to Gluttony portion of the show) popped off and rolled into the audience.

There was a moment of dead silence, during which Bo attempted to cover up his bad buzz cut, vividly remembering the occasion with Ren. Then the audience, the guest, and even Bridge Rock burst into laughter. Bo hurriedly grabbed his hat, stuffed it back on his head, and temporarily fled the stage – but not before he stuck his wing back out and waved the hat for all to see, increasing the hilarity. By the time the audience had calmed down, Kyoko had changed into the basic Bo costume and was bringing out some tea. Of course, the sight of Bo simply redoubled the laughter, thus rendering everyone speechless for a few more minutes. Bo did not help this, as – after setting the tea down – he proceeded to flap around everyone, miming that he wanted to know the joke. That night, the ratings shot through the roof, even when Bo dramatically yet accidentally flapped off of the stage and into the audience. Fortunately, no one was injured, but Bo grew even more flustered after this, and thus caused more lovely chaos on- and offstage. The curtain fell to much applause (and, for whatever reason, a single bowl of applesauce was presented to the stage hands).

Kyoko was exhausted, and truly didn't know if she had the energy to bike home. She moved sluggishly after the Bo costume had been shed, and barely managed to wish her co-workers well as she left.

"Are you okay, Kyoko-chan?" Hikaru inquired.

"Ah!" she gasped, and turned back to Hikaru. "Yes! I'm sorry that I crashed into you!"

He waved her apology away. "It's fine. The audience ate it up." He cleared his throat, and then smiled at her. "Would you like to join us for something to eat? I know it's kind of late, but we can give you a ride home later."

"That would be nice, but my bike –"

"We can put it in the trunk. Come on, Kyoko-chan, it'll be our treat. You were the best part of the show tonight," he grinned at her, and the other two Ishibashis appeared at his shoulder, nodding.

"That's not true!" she protested. "You three were really good with the questions and all the banter!"

"Yes, but you were the best," Shinichi laughed. "How about pizza? There's a good place just down the street."

"Sounds like a plan," Yuusei nodded, and messed up Kyoko's hair in a brotherly manner. "Little sisters are supposed to listen to their big brothers, right?"

"Yes, but –"

"And, as your honorary onii-sans, we are telling you to come have pizza with us – our treat – unless you have another job this late, and then accept our ride home."

She hung her head. "Yes, Yuusei-onii-san. Thank you."

"Good girl!" he laughed. "Grab your stuff. I'm sure you'll feel better after you've eaten something."

At this, she smiled. "Thank you. I'm sorry to have worried you." She hurried off to fetch her bag, leaving Hikaru and Shinichi to gape at the third Ishibashi in amazement.

"What?" he shrugged. "I just want to make sure she stays safe until she finds someone else help her out." He grinned, waggling his eyebrows at Hikaru, and added, "I really do think of her as a little sister, so I can play that card – unlike someone."

"Oi!" he yelped, flushing.

"Aw, chill," Shinichi grinned. "At least she's coming with us this time. Maybe we can figure out why she's been so down lately."

Hikaru nodded quietly, whatever remark he would have given in return cut off by Kyoko's reappearance. "Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"No problem, Kyoko-chan. What type of pizza do you like?" Hikaru grinned, following her lead out to gather her bike.

"Hmm…" she deliberated for a few moments, and then smiled. "I'm not too sure. I've only had it once or twice before, though I would like to learn how to make it someday. I'm sure that anything would be fine."

"Then how about we get a large with everything on it, to split?" Yuusei suggested.

"Or we could get half with everything, and half with just cheese," Shinichi countered. "In case someone doesn't like something."

"Then wouldn't they just pick the stuff off?"

"Nah, that's too much of a bother."

Ignoring the continued bickering, Hikaru asked, "Which bike is yours, Kyoko-chan?"

"It's this one, Hikaru-onii-san," Kyoko smiled, approaching. "It—" she broke off abruptly, and crouched down to look at her tires. "Oh, no…"

"What's wrong?" Hikaru also crouched down, and grimaced at the sight.

"I must've run over a bottle or something," Kyoko said softly, her shoulders drooping. "Both my tires are shot." After she apologized to her bike, she simply put her head in her hands and sighed. "What a perfect end to a perfect week at the end of an absolutely perfect month."

Hikaru looked to the other two for help, and rubbed her back comfortingly. "That bad, huh?"

She sighed again, and looked up at him. "I'm really sorry, but would you mind if I gave you a rain check on that pizza? I'd really just like to go home and sleep. Maybe next month will be a little better for me."

"Of course," he said softly, helping her up while the other two put her bike in the trunk. "Don't worry about it, Kyoko-chan. We understand. Do you want us to just take you home? It's dangerous to walk this late at night."

"Thank you," she sighed. "With my luck lately, I'd probably trip and drown in a puddle. That's probably one of my least favorite possible embarrassing ways to die, right up there with death by rubber duck." She gave them a small smile, and bowed her thanks for the ride. They smiled in return, and drove her home in a comforting silence.

"Thank you again for the ride. Enjoy your pizza," she smiled, bowing, after they'd gotten her injured bike out of the trunk. "Good night."

"Good night, Kyoko-chan," they chorused in return. "We hope your luck improves."

"Thanks," she smiled. They watched her lock up her bike before slipping inside, and then drove off to eat pizza and hope that she cheered up a little.

Kyoko climbed the stairs tiredly, greeted her landlords with a somewhat forced, tired smile, and went to take a bath. She'd hoped that a nice long soak would improve her mood, but it did not; on top of everything else that had happened lately, she'd had to deal with the opening of her locks. The bath brought back memories of a certain character who loved long soaks, who in turn brought memories of the man behind the mask (though she had yet to fully realize that there was yet another mask between them). After about ten minutes of unsuccessfully attempting to rid her mind of the memories and enjoy the soak, she simply admitted defeat and washed up, donned her yukata, and retreated to her room. There she took up her hairbrush and attempted to marshal her thoughts into something less depressing or dangerous. Once her hair was taken care of, she got out her darts (a gift from taisho, when he had overheard her talking with Moko about Shotaro) and threw them at the poster of a certain singer, getting a vindictive pleasure when every dart met its mark – eye, eye, nose, mouth, throat, ear, hand, hand, shoulder, and heart. She then carefully removed each one, cleaned them, and stored them carefully.

She bustled around her room – it wasn't really late enough for her to sleep; it was just dark early nowadays – trying to do anything she could to distract her mind from the month she'd had, and from the man against whom she was attempting to re-lock her heart. She studied her scripts (that worked). She worked on her dolls (that failed miserably, but at least she had an excuse for analyzing him). She did anything – anything – but stare gloomily at her phone, noting that he would be calling soon. Shortly after she'd slept over at Maria's, they'd agreed – she'd suggested, actually – that they talk on the phone every night. He'd mentioned that he always slept better after hearing her voice, having gotten used to their nighttime chats as Cain and Setsu; and she, concerned for his health, had suggested that they contact each other before bed, for the pure purpose of helping both of them sleep. For she, after all, too slept better after hearing his voice. Really, this extra bit of contact and chat about mundane things had helped her keep her spirits up all through this perfectly horrendous month.

But tonight, after the day she'd had – no, after the week, after the month she'd had, and avoided telling him about, not wanting to pester him with her petty problems – she wasn't sure if hearing his voice would help or hurt her. If she did, she might spill her guts and tell him absolutely everything that had gone wrong this past month – Moko being away on location for a movie in a foreign country and so not being able to talk, her tripping over everything, her losing and breaking things, food burning in obnoxiously short times, objects squirting her and ruining her favorite outfits, pop quizzes and long essays, that idiot somehow getting her phone number again and calling her at all odd hours, a pot nearly falling on her head when she was helping taisho cook, a fellow actress getting ill on-set (the poor girl!), schedules being moved around, the special horror of the director's decision to keep today's film – and that wasn't even half of it! She didn't want to bother her sempai with any of it; there wasn't anything that he could really do about it, anyway.

Besides, if he offered to try to cheer her up, she might actually accept the offer he'd made two months ago, when Maria had dared him to whisper something sweet but true into "Kyoko-onee-san's" ear.

Her phone rang; she checked the caller I.D., and then answered.

…And then there was the way he'd started to address her during their daily (well, nightly) chats, further weakening her resolve not to accept his offer. "Good evening, princess. How was your day?"

"Good evening, Tsuruga-san. My day…" she trailed off, not wanting to lie. She'd been evading this question successfully this past month, but something about today had snapped her resolve. The words of the gentleman from earlier resounded in her head. Why don't you call up some of your girlfriends, or your boyfriend, for a night out on the town? You look like you need one. No, he wasn't her boyfriend, but he was a friend (he'd insisted that she consider him thusly during one of last month's chats), and it wasn't like she could really call Moko back from Taiwan just for something like this. Plus, hadn't he offered, two months ago?

"Mogami-san?" he questioned, worried by her silence.

"My day was awful, Tsuruga-san; this whole month has been absolutely terrible," she confessed, her angels cheering her on while her demons tried to close her mouth, screaming about how this could possibly grind the locks into dust.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Mogami-san. Would talking about it help? I'm more than willing to listen." …even if I am confused as to why you didn't mention this any other night that we talked.

His sympathy, and his sincerity, was obvious to her in his voice – she knew him so well by now that she need not even look at him to tell his emotions.

"Actually, I… I was wondering something," she whispered, the part of her that had snapped egging her on.

"Yes?" he prompted, gently.

"Is your offer from Maria's Dare still good?"

She heard his breath hitch.

Aaaaand cliffhanger! Are you upset with me? Be glad I didn't leave it when her phone rang. That was another option for the cut-off point. ;)

Don't worry, you'll find out what the offer was in the next chapter. Probably. I think.

I hope that you liked it! Not much action, I know, but it was necessary. Poor Kyoko had to have such a horrendous month to actually even seriously consider accepting his offer, so I needed this to set things up. Never fear; you'll get your fluff soon! ^^