A/N: This is my first fanfic. I tried to do my best. ^_^

This story was inspired by a very popular Indian drama couple who had similar characteristics with Mogami Kyoko and Kuon Hizuri. I have been on hiatus for around 5 years now. Came back to finish this story because I am motivated again. For the readers who stuck with this, I am forever grateful.

I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters.

Chapter 1

"Kyoko! I cannot find the tie for your Father!"

"Kyoko-chan! Do you know where the flower decorators are?! There is something wrong with the order!"

"Kyoko! Could you go see if your sister is ready yet!? The groom's family has already reached there!... KYOKO!"

"Kyoko-chan!..."

"Koyoko-chan! Where are you!?..."

"Oh! We are going to be late! They will be so upset! Kyoko!..."

"WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT UP!", said the bride in furious rage!

"Since the break of dawn you guys are continuously shouting! Can't you do anything by yourselves?! What is the point of having a big family then? I could have just eloped or something!", she continued with a glare!

Everyone in the house, upstairs and downstairs, were dumbfounded, well at least they had the decency to look embarrassed.

With a deep breath to calm herself down, the bride reduced the pitch of her voice and said,

"Mother…. You've been running around with father's tie in your hand! Oji-san, the decorators are over at the rehearsal, you already have their number! Oba-san! The grooms were supposed to arrive there early! We still have an hour to leave… and if I hear any more of you calling Kyoko one more time, I'm not leaving this house! Find someone else to marry off! Do we understand?"

"But… sweetheart… where is Kyoko?", her mother asked in a soft voice, quite embarrassed for not paying enough attention and panicking.

"Mo…! It took me hours to persuade her to go to sleep. She is sleeping in our room", said the bride in question, letting out a sigh. Her stupid sister would've had worked herself to death if she hadn't interfered. It was her wedding rehearsal and the maid of honor shouldn't collapse during the ceremony.

"Wedding…. Huh?", the mere thought of it still disturbed and scared the crap out of her! This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to go through this. She studied hard and her grades were great. But her family decided for the easy way out…. The groom's family were rich and in this type of financial crisis she became the escape-goat of her family. Her father was only a restaurant owner. Who spent all his lives savings for her uncle, aunt and good for nothing cousins. Never once thinking about his own daughters. Her mother was too kind for her own good. They didn't see what she saw. The family which was leaching of them and in the end putting them in debt was nothing her parents thought them to be. Even the marriage proposal was brought by her aunt and her uncle persuaded her father to agree. Something about it being good for the family. Even though…. Even though she knew that they didn't have good intentions, she couldn't refuse, she knew her parents were desperate! Letting out a sigh she slowly went up to her room.

The red dress she wore made her look beautiful, her sister went to her usual La La land after seeing her in it. Kanae couldn't help but smile at the reminder of her younger sister. At least one thing was good. Kyoko was happy to see her getting married and she was oblivious to her family's real motives.

She opened the door to her room and entered. Sat down on the bed and watched her adorable stupid sister sleep. She still couldn't comprehend how lucky she was to have her. Remembering the day her father brought Kyoko to their house. She tried to remove the black bangs from her face, the girl with two ponytails, looking at her with her wide golden eyes, hiding behind her father.

"Kanae…. Umm this is your gift…... This is Kyoko, your younger sister. Happy Birthday!", her father, the Taisho of Darumaya said in his usual serious tone with a hint of awkwardness. She wanted a puppy for her birthday and got a puppy alright…. She smiled at the memory.

She now knew with all her heart that on her 8th birthday she got the most amazing gift any girl would be lucky to have. Kyoko was 6 at that time.

However Kanae never dared to show her emotion or love openly to Kyoko. Her obsession with Kanae made her life very difficult. But Kyoko doted on another individual and the mere thought of that stupid best friend of hers, What was his name again? Oh yes! The spoiled brat of Fuwa ryokan!, irritated Kanae to the core. It wasn't jealousy she felt because Kyoko loved that stupid fake prince. It was just that Kyoko didn't see how Fuwa sees her and what he considers her. Kanae was sure that brat is only using her sister and playing with her feelings. But she couldn't bring herself to warn her or for that matter talk ill of Kyoko's precious Sho-chan in front of her.

'I'll just have to threaten the brat that I would beat the crap out of him if he hurts her, when he comes to the wedding.' She thought with an evil smile.

She got up and finished getting ready. Kyoko and Kanae were both very orderly like their parents. She is going to miss this room.

Ryouji Kanae, the wife-to-be of Ryouji Yasu, was supposed to live in his house as a traditional Japanese lady of the house after marriage. She was far from traditional. If anyone was traditional that would be Kyoko. It was going to be a hard job impressing her in laws. The shotgun wedding didn't leave much room for getting to know her future husband. She took a deep breath and looked at the mirror.

"I'm prepared. I will make this marriage work for the sake of my parents even if it kills me. I refuse to lose.", she said in a low voice, then slowly walked to the bed to wake Kyoko up.

She wasn't a heavy sleeper and just a small nudge was enough to wake her up, she blinked a couple of times before her eyes focused on Kanae.

"AH! Mo-nee san you look like a princess!" She said while sitting up.

Kanae smiled and said, "I wanted to let you sleep some more, but we have to get going"

Kyoko's face lit up like a Christmas tree as she jumped out of bed and went straight to her closet. The blue dress she was supposed to wear was already sitting there with other necessary things. It took her 10mins to get ready and Kanae did her make up as soon as she was done.

No words were exchanged between them and both worked in their usual silence. Kyoko knew her sister and father didn't talk very much and got used to it, she had her mother to talk to and her kaa-chan was more than happy to have someone to talk to in the family.

The door opened and their parents came in, ready to leave. The Taisho smiled ever so slightly upon seeing his daughters. The eldest was undeniably beautiful with her jet black straight hair and mature personality. What caught his attention was the youngest, who didn't look like his little Kyoko anymore, with her long wavy black hair replacing her ponytails and proper stance of a lady, she was every bit as beautiful as her sister.

He was a very proud father; both of his daughters excelled at studies and were well behaved. It hurt him to put Kanae in this situation but he was also glad that she took responsibility.

"Let's go dear! How long are you going to look at our daughters like this? I know they look beautiful" His wife said with a smile. Kyoko grabbed his hands while they all came down. He couldn't help but remember the day he brought her to this house. She was so small and Kanae loved her. Now one of his daughters is going away.

They reached the church where the wedding rehearsal was being held. The Ryouji family was already there and greeted them. Kanae was as usual hard to read. No emotion apparent on her face whatsoever. They did the rehearsal with ease. After that the families started interacting. Kanae was being kept by her in laws and given lectures about her future duties. It was apparent that her in-laws wanted her to show gratefulness for her marriage and it made her furious.

Her uncle and aunt were buttering them up like a toast! What surprised her more was that her fiancé was looking very satisfied with their behavior. She looked around for her sister, at least to distract herself from this madness. But she couldn't find her.

Meanwhile, Kyoko was moving around the garden with a mesmerized look in her face.

'It's so Beautiful!' She thought while smiling. As she danced around the flower bed in full La La land mode she heard faint voices coming out from a distance. As she drew closer she saw two of her cousins talking near a tree. She opened her mouth to greet them but abruptly stopped upon hearing,

"When is this drama going to end?! Mom and dad are so busy with Kanae-nee chan's wedding that it seems our lives depend on it.", said Midori, the younger daughter of her uncle.

"Well it does, don't you know? Dad wants to make a deal with the company of the Ryouji family. It will be a huge profit. And Oji-san is already in debt, so he couldn't refuse his younger brother's request.", her elder brother Aoi replied with a smirk.

"It's always like that. Dad gets away with anything! Oji-san is so stupid right? Oji-san took the debt to help dad when he wanted to buy the house we live in. Does he expect dad to return the money? Cause as far as I know dad won't even dream of giving money to anyone.", Midori said while laughing. "Serves them right though, specially that good for nothing Kyoko! How dare she call herself Sho-kun's best friend? She is so dumb! I bet Sho-kun thinks she is dumb as well!" Midori exclaimed in a jealous tone.

Kyoko felt as if somebody knocked the air out of her lungs. She knew in her heart that her cousins as well as her uncle and aunt were respectful towards her parents. So does that mean that Mo-nee chan lied to her about knowing this Ryouji guy? She needed some answers. Was she the only one who didn't know? Father loved uncle, she knew that for sure. So uncle used her father? Even stood so low to use her sister? What was going on? She knew her cousin's weren't really fond of her and Midori bullied her in school, but they were a family right?

It was faint, but she knew she heard it when she walked back to the gathering to look for her father, the sound of a lock being opened.