A/N: I do Not own Skip Beat!

Hello everyone! I'm very excited to finally submit chapter 1 of RenKyoko 2020 week prompts. I'm so sorry it's late. I'm terrible with my time management.

I started writing this after Chapter 283 and takes place in Mid-January after Kyoko's 18th birthday. I did not put in the details after 284 and beyond.

As always, please enjoy the story. Don't mind my terrible proofreading skills and I will post the next chapter tomorrow. *Cheers*

Chapter 1 - Chance

Today was a very busy day. Busy for LME, busy for LoveMe, busy for Kyoko, Kanae, and Chiori. There was absolutely no warning for the day's outcome. It was an average cold winter day, past Christmas yet not Vain Day and everyone was out and about trying to get things done. The only problem was that everyone decided that it was the three LoveMe girls that would be the ones actually doing everything.

With nothing to do that day Kyoko was the first to come to LME for her duties at 7 AM. The first task was to assist the costume department set up Lory's theme of the day – Steampunk. Now Kyoko never knew much about that genre other than old fashion mechanical themes, but she was in awe of the things they were setting up. Wild, complicated, detailed machines were set up in various spots. At first, she thought they were plastic or some sort of shiny aluminum, but NO! These things were outrageously heavy. It took a few of them to cart them to their destinations and then position it just right. Each time they were done, someone stayed behind to turn them on. YES! Turn them ON! They actually did something. Unfortunately, Kyoko couldn't stay behind to see what they did because they rushed her away to continue the task. She speculated that the one in the break room was a real coffee machine even though it looked like a car motor.

She was barely able to have breakfast before the next task came in. It was around this time that Chiori came in. Kyoko had also noticed evidence of Kanae showing up, but to do what and where she wasn't sure. Chiori came in for a specific task set for 10 AM. When asked about it, Kyoko was able to catch half of her sentence about the music department, when a man knocked at the door.

"Are you girls able to help me?"

Chiori's mouth twisted, hesitating long enough for Kyoko to reply instead.

"I can help," Kyoko replied already knowing she'd be working alone.

The look of relief on his face was almost comical. He was from the dancing department and found out that the printing company sent all of the pamphlets for the troupe's new show flat instead of folded like they were supposed to be. Kyoko's never gotten so many paper cuts in her life. Thankfully, about a third of the way through the stack, Kanae came in to help. She was already dressed in LoveMe pink from earlier and looking tired.

"Moko-san!" Kyoko cheered out and burst from her seat to squeeze her tightly.

"Stop!"

The one-word command instantly stopped Kyoko from her tracks. Something about her demeanor was radiating more torment than normal. Kyoko peered at her best friend for a moment and then remembered. Today was that day.

"President Takarada is still having you do that?" Kyoko asked timidly. This was a hot button for Kanae, one that was not mentioned lightly.

Kanae's lips pressed together tightly and anger gently radiated from her body. Within her, Kyoko's little grudge demons came out with a wistful sigh of delight. They didn't get fed nearly as often anymore. Life had taken such a turn that they rarely get to come out anymore.

"Don't… Just don't," Kanae grumbled and took a seat next to the boxes of pamphlets Kyoko was folding.

Kyoko didn't ask any further. She simply sat next to her and thought of something else to talk about hoping to take her friend's mind off of her personal hell. About a month ago, President Takarada had assigned a new task for Kanae – she was to assist the teacher in an Acting Class being held at LME. One would think that this would be a great task. In fact, Kanae wondered if perhaps this was more a task for Chiori since it would force her to help fellow actors and actresses that she would normally loath. However, if the task came from the President, the LoveMe girls all knew that there was something he wasn't completely telling them.

The class was for up and coming - CHILDREN - actors.

It took every ounce of strength and willpower to keep Kanae from running away screaming insanities. Out of all of the tasks that Lori could assign the girls this was by far one of the worse comparatively. Both Kyoko and Chiori could only mourn silently as Kanae spent two hours a week helping Fuyukama-sensei try to "teach" newbie 3-8-year-olds how to act in a film.

Kyoko happily kept up the mild chatter while they folded paper. Kanae sat quietly and asked a few questions here or there. It was almost 11 when Kanae's phone chirped in alarm. It was a reminder set up for the class. Kyoko remained silent as her eyes flickered from the phone to Kanae and back. She really didn't know what to say, but she wanted to trade places with her so badly. Kyoko would happily take this bullet for her if it would mean her happiness. She even offered to sell her soul to Lori if it would mean getting her out of the class obligations, but Kanae refused.

"I'm not going to let that man beat me! I'm going to teach the hell out of those brats. They will be the best actors this world has ever seen!" Kanae declared, determined not to fail.

Even after a month, it was hard for her, and it took her a while to force herself out of the seat and off to the class.

"I'll call you later, Moko-san," Kyoko called out to her best friend's back. Kanae acknowledged it with a small wave back but didn't waver from her path. Any hesitation could send her running the other direction.

It was a little after 1 o'clock when she finished the 1000 pamphlets. Seriously, did they really need that many?! They should have sent the items back to the printers and told them to fold them properly! They must have paid for FOLDED pamphlets. Every single one of her fingers had a paper cut and felt sore. Thoughts of leaving for the day started to form in her head as she headed to the LoveMe room. Surely, she had done enough for today.

The zipper of her pink jumpsuit wasn't halfway down when Chiori came in.

"Kyoko-san, are you available to help me with this task? One of the funky machines is clogged up and I can't carry the tools and flashlight up when I climb into the damn thing."

"Of course," Kyoko said as she zipped her jumper back up.

Chiori was on top of what they found out was a copy machine. It was long and wide, nothing made from this world. Kyoko remembered helping push this thing down the hallway with four other people. The old printing press had been upgraded for easier use. Lori wanted people to use the machines he had made. They would put the paper they wanted to be copied in the feeder. It would scan it and then send the blank pages through what seemed like hundreds of rollers to finally come out at the end. It was very flashy and fun to watch it work as intended. However, people didn't know how to use it, or perhaps they were using it too much because the thing became jammed rather badly.

Chiori was on top of it with half of her body in the machine while Kyoko held the lid up above her.

"I got it!" Chiori yelled out and started to pull the paper out. "Shit," she cursed.

"What's wrong?" Kyoko asked worriedly.

"It ripped… hold on." Chiori squirmed in deeper and wormed her hand out to hand the said ripped paper to Kyoko to throw away. Five more wads of paper later, Chiori pulled herself out.

"There are so many gears and rollers and flaps in there. I bet more than half of that isn't necessary."

"Um, Amamiya-san," Kyoko was trying not to laugh and gestured to her hands.

"What?" She looked down and saw her hands were covered in black ink. Her pink coveralls were also smudged and sprinkled with black.

"Damn it." She tried to rub some off with a paper towel and it did nothing. She tried to do the same to the overalls and it made things worse.

"Oh, I'm not paying for this. It's his ugly uniform. LME can pay for it!" She clamored as she stormed off to the restroom or maybe the showers to clean up.

Kyoko cleaned up after themselves, putting away the tools they borrowed and cleaned up the paper they scrapped. She also stopped by Mikamoto's desk.

"The printer is fixed now," Kyoko notified the secretary who asked for Chiori's help.

"Oh thank goodness," she said, pleased. "I started this job only a week ago, and I thought I broke the President's machine. I was so scared."

Kyoko smiled sweetly at her. "You would have been fine even if it did break. The President is very nice."

"Oh well, that's nice to hear, but thankfully, you girls fixed it. Thank you so much!"

"No problem. Did you want to try it again?" Kyoko was kind of curious to see it run.

"NO! I'm not touching it again," she quickly countered. "The president may be nice, but I don't want to lose this job. How many people can say they get to work at LME with movie stars and musicians?! No. I'll use the normal copy machine down the hall."

"Okay. Well, have a good day then," Kyoko said her goodbyes which were answered with more gratitude. She left pondering the last statement Mikamoto stated. It left a little sour note in her mind, and she didn't understand why. There were thousands of people out there who wanted to be close to famous entertainers. Kyoko has witnessed people waiting outside for hours in horrid weather to meet a star or spend large amounts of money to get front row tickets to a concert to be closer to their idol. So why would her reason for wanting to work here bother her? Kyoko smiled a little to herself as she realized why Maria torments some of the staff here.

Kyoko passed by LA Hearts and her stomach growled loudly. A delicate blush rushed to her cheeks and urgently made her way back to the LoveMe room for her lunch. She didn't stay though, as she was too afraid of someone else coming in to ask for more help. Instead, she found a quiet room on the fifth floor to eat in peace.

Halfway through her meal, she got a text from Kanae. The class ran late. I'm going home to take a long hot cleansing bath. I'll be back later… maybe.

Kyoko looked at her watch and pouted in pity for her friend. It was 2:20. The class ran very late. Usually, Kanae does stay more than a few hours but she was always less willing to do LoveMe work after that class.

Take care, Moko-san!

After lunch was eaten, she felt like she could do a little more. So she packed up determined to see if there was anything new in the request box. If there wasn't, she would go ahead and take her leave. Of course, the moment she walked out the door she was stopped.

"Oh good. Here," A man handed her more than a dozen rolled-up posters of something which she quickly started to drop.

"Put those up on the ground floor. Get the keys for the cases from Haruno-san on the third floor.

"Wait what? Cases?" Kyoko stuttered as she tried to hold all the posters.

"You'll figure it out. I have to go," he stated as he promptly left.

Kyoko huffed and dropped three more posters.

Haruno-san explained what the cases were as he handed her the keys. They were locked see-through cases that showcased advertisements that they didn't want anyone to touch. He gave her the keys and sent her off once again fumbling with the posters until she ran into Chiori who agreed to help.

Apparently, the busy day was busy for everyone since they felt like they were in everyone's way as they put these posters up in the cases. It does make sense if you think about it. Why would they put advertisements in locations that no one would see? Of course, the cases were in locations where everyone would pass by so they got looked at, and therefore, everyone kept hastily passing them, making Chiori more and more frustrated.

She was holding on to the posters while Kyoko opened the cases and pinned the posters into the corkboard. It was killing her cut up fingers but she persisted through. They had to look around for each of the large cases so they were on number 6 of 15 when the third person "accidentally" knocked into Chiori's shoulder causing her to spill another poster again.

"EXCUSE ME!" Chiori growled at the person who looked back slightly but kept on walking.

"Do you want me to hold on to them while you pin them up, Amamiya-san?" She asked hopefully.

"No, it's fine." She glared at anyone who was passing by them too closely. "You're taller than me, so you can reach the top on your tiptoes while I'd have to get a step stool. It's already bad enough trying to carry these through the place let alone a step stool."

Kyoko nodded. They were already trying to make themselves smaller by hugging the wall, so yeah a step stool or small ladder would make things worse.

The next ones were across the room, so they did their best to make their way through the passing crowds. Kyoko never noticed that so many people worked here, but perhaps that's because today was so bizarre. Not even halfway across the room, Chiori bumped into another person causing her to drop everything. That was not what made her snap though. It was the person who stepped on one of the posters right in the middle that made Chiori scream bloody murder.

"WHY DON'T YOU WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU ARE GOING!? HEY! YEAH, I'M TALKING TO YOU! DON'T RUN!"

Kyoko was trying to gather the posters up before anyone else kicked or stepped on them while Chiori took off wanting to yell at the offender.

"Amamiya-san!" Kyoko called out as another poster was kicked away.

"Excuse me," she pleaded to the crowd and chased the rolling poster.

Her fingertips were a breath away when it was picked up.

"Here you go."

Kyoko's heart started to race at the sound of his voice already laced with humor. She had to prepare her heart and face before she looked up at him, stalling by taking the poster from his hand and then finally looked up to meet his smiling face.

"Hi," she breathed and knew her face was flushed red.

"Hey," he smiled down at her with that divine heavenly smile. It felt like ages since she saw him last, but it was only a couple of days. The blood rushed to her face as she remembered their last ride together. The memory of it made her whole body warm and fuzzy.

"Do you need some help?" Ren offered and lifted his hands up to assist with her load.

"Oh, um," she suddenly remembered that she was holding the posters. They suddenly became a huge burden as one was sticking out far enough for someone to bend it back behind her as they walked past, which made one drop again and the others shuffle out of control in her arms.

Ren helped her sort them out, taking a few of them while she fixed them back up. Chiori stormed back up at this moment and stopped beside them with a huff.

"He got away," she grumbled and glanced up at Ren and his posters. "I can take those, Tsuruga-san," she said and started to take them back.

"Okay, but did you need help?"

"Oh, no, it's okay," Kyoko quickly answered. "I'm sure you have much more to do than put up posters, but thank you for helping me."

"I'm happy to," he said with a honey warm voice. Chiori smirked at the two of them and shook her head. She stepped between them towards the case again.

"Let's get this over with, Kyoko-san," she said in passing.

"Ah yes, okay," Kyoko stumbled in a step as she also wanted to bow in thanks to Ren.

"Thank you again, Tsuruga-san," she said with a flush on her face, making Ren smile wider.

"No problem," he assured her and watched her chase her friend and then suddenly remembered why he was there.

"Mogami-san," Ren called out causing her to halt and turn around. He made up the distance in a few steps and spoke, "I need to speak to you about something. When will you be done here?"

"Oh, well I can put these up and then be right with you. Where are you going to be or I can call you? You shouldn't have to wait if you are busy."

Ren smiled at how adorable she was. Kyoko was still rather nervous around him, eager to please and make sure that everything suited him rather than herself. It was cute and frustrating for different reasons.

"I need to gather a few things upstairs first. Once I get the scripts, I can come down and help you finish these off." He touched a poster she was holding somehow making her blush. He smiled and finished, "Sound good?"

"I'll try to be done before you get back. There is no reason to have you help me. So I'll be quick and then we can talk. Okay," she started heading to Chiori as she spoke. "So take your time and I'll see you soon."

Ren softly laughed and waved goodbye to her, which prompted Kyoko to wave back but then quickly regretted it as a poster started to fall. She caught it and turned to finish her task. He turned towards the elevators and quickened his step. He would like to help her but knew that she probably would have everything done before he came back. It would be like her to pick up the pace simply so he wouldn't have to do it. As if putting up posters was beneath him or something.

He headed upstairs where Yukihito went to gather this week's paperwork. It was the end of the day for them as one of his shoots was canceled. It was a good time for them to visit LME and get things sorted out. When Ren arrived at Yukihito's barely used desk, he was already throwing things out in the recycling bin.

"Did they come in?" Ren asked hoping he didn't sound eager.

"Hmm," Yukihito replied, momentarily distracted reading something to see if it was important. "Yes, it's…." set the pile of mail on his lap and twisted to his desk. He lifted a stack of papers up and pulled out a thin book. "…here. The commercial series for R-Mandy," he finished as he handed the book to his client and then returned to the mail. "Though I don't know why you are so eager for it. They still need to hold auditions for the person who will act with you."

"Exactly," he said as he flipped through it.

Yukihito sighed. "She is not going to do it."

Ren pouted. "You don't know that. It's a job, one that could get her into the door for modeling if she wanted. Do you have any other offers to give her?"

He snorted. "Sure, Take these," he handed him two manila envelopes and then reached into the recycling bin. Deep into the recycling bin. "Take this one too. It will make your commercials seem pure." He pulled out a rumbled one from the bin and Ren tentatively took it. He pulled it out to read as he walked away and promptly ripped it.

"I'm not giving that to her," he yelled back and threw it in the nearest waste bin.

When Ren came down, he found Chiori and Kyoko still pinning the posters in the display cases. It looked like they had about three left to do. He made his way through the crowd as he watched Kyoko stretch up to tack the top corners of the poster to the corkboard. Even in the pink monstrosity of a uniform, she was enchanting to him. Seeing her lean body stretched out like that made him want to wrap himself around her, to hold her hands up above her and slide his free hand down the length of her body.

Chiori noticed him before Kyoko did, and he quickly removed himself from his thoughts and shook his head to the girl while bringing his index finger to his lips. Don't tell her. He thought to her and she seemed to understand. Chiori took a step back as if she was expecting him to scare Kyoko. While it wasn't his intention to do so, it's true that his surprise would most likely cause her to jump.

Kyoko must have been getting tired, as she was struggling to get the thumbtacks into place. Her calves were shaking with effort and her already sore fingers were struggling with the small tacks. It shouldn't have taken them this long to put up 15 posters, yet here they were still doing it. So, it's only been 20 minutes, but the rush of wanting to be done put her on edge.

Once Ren arrived, he took the remaining posters from Chiori and quietly thanked her. She happily left him to assist with the chore. Ren watched her fingers try to push the pin in and noticed several red cuts swollen and angry. She gave up trying to straighten it. She slumped down with a sigh and offhandedly spoke to whom she thought was Chiori, "That should stay, right?"

"Sure," the masculine deep voice replied and then leaned in and casually pushed the pin in completely, "But it doesn't hurt to be extra sure."

Kyoko's whole body heated up as Ren's body crowded around hers to push the pin in. She could instantly feel him all around her, his scent invading her lungs and his divine presence making her heart race. She tilted her head back to look up at him and found him looking down with a wide heart-stopping smile.

"Amamiya-san needed to go, so I can help you with these last ones," he offered. "What happened to your hands?"

"Paper cuts from an earlier job," she timidly answered. Kyoko reached out to close the case making Ren step back so she had the room to do so. Once done, they walked to the next one closer to the entrance of the building.

Kyoko coughed to clear her throat and swallowed her heart back into her chest. "So, you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Hmm, yes, perhaps over dinner tonight?" He asked hopefully.

She frowned. "I thought you had a shoot today? What happened?" She asked as she stuck the key into the lock.

"It was canceled due to scheduling problems. The location they booked was double booked and they had to reschedule it to later this week instead."

"Oh boy, I bet the director wasn't happy with that," Kyoko added as she opened the door and motioned for one of the posters he was holding. However, instead of just one, he handed everything including the offers to her. He held back a single poster and started to unroll it for the case.

"But I can do that," she quickly interjected in hopes of him stopping.

"So can I. Let me save your fingers," Ren said and held the poster in place. "Tack?" he held his hand out waiting.

"They are in my pocket," Kyoko said defeated and carefully reached in for four thumbtacks. She dropped them into his hand and then mumbled, "Thank you." She wasn't looking up at him, instead rearranged everything in her arms. He watched her see the offers but made no mention of it, simply tucked them under her arm.

Ren's smile widened as he secured the poster. "I'd do anything for you, you know that." His eyes flickered to her to watch the blood rush to her face knowing how that comment would affect her.

"Someone might hear," she whispered ever so softly with her reddened face hidden behind the two remaining posters.

He leaned in making Kyoko take a sharp intake of breath into her lungs as he whispered, "Then perhaps I should lean in and whisper it?"

Though he thought it was impossible, she grew an even darker red. He chuckled and swiped the keys from her hands and then stepped back to lock the case. Once closed, he stepped around her to the next case.

Kyoko scrambled after him. When he stopped to open the next case, she angrily growled at him, "You know when you said nothing was going to change. I did think nothing was going to change, but your flirting has increased a hundred-fold!"

He thought about it for a moment and then replied, "Hmm, I don't think so. I think you are just finally noticing it." He held out his hand for the next items.

Her jaw dropped. "WHAT!" She yelled out causing some people to look at her oddly. "You liar. You were never this forward. You said comments here and there but never so bluntly," she stated quietly as she handed him the next poster and the corresponding tacks.

Ren laughed softly. "That's because they always went over your head. Now they hit you square in the face. I love it." This poster was done… onto the last!

"You are mean! A mean flirty bully," she mumbled to herself as she followed him mindlessly.

Ren sighed, taking the last item from Kyoko. "Do you want me to stop? I will if you want me to. I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"No," she said softly and he glanced at her carefully. She was looking down towards the wall blushing so brightly and looking so adorable it made his chest ache. "I don't want you to stop," she confessed in a barely heard whisper. She was now holding on to the offers in both hands since there were no more posters.

He groaned loud enough for her to hear and locked up the case with a little more force than necessary. He leaned in towards her and she met his gaze with wide deer-in-the-headlights eyes. "You know you make it difficult not to flirt with you when you make such faces at me."

Her hands jerked up to cover her face. "What faces?!" she asked her voice muffled from behind the papers.

He stood up with a huge grin. "All of them," he told her and tossed the keys up and down in his open hand. "All done. Where do these go?"

She snatched them from his hand, shoved her offers back into his chest, and proceeded to storm off without a word. Ren smiled, quickly grabbing the files and followed her. He knew she could lose him if she wanted but she made it easy to follow her. Even though she decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator. He still happily followed her up.

"You don't have to come with me you know," she stated as she climbed up.

"I want to. Besides, I wanted to talk to you, remember?"

"Ah," Kyoko hesitated at a step but quickly continued. No, she had completely forgotten why he was there. All she could think about was that he was here and that he was paying attention to her. This is why I didn't want things to change! How does one function feeling this way?!

"Wh…what did you want to talk about?" She asked as they reached the second story and on she went.

"I was hoping to talk to you about it maybe over dinner?" He asked, purposely avoiding the topic that was in his hand. If she knew it was for an offer she would take it and then end the story. No fun in that. She missed a step after hearing his request. His hands immediately went to her hips to steady her. "You okay?"

"Ah, yes," she murmured and moved forward quickly leaving his touch. "Would Yashiro-san be coming with us?" Ren pressed his lips together.

"He can if you feel more comfortable with that," he stated his voice monotone.

It made Kyoko stop completely. "Don't do that."

He stopped two steps away from the landing and looked up at her who was two steps up on the next set of stairs. "Do what?"

"Look, we both agreed that we wouldn't pursue this. Don't get hurt so easily. It's already difficult enough being around you, to be alone with you. Even now it's…" her voice drifted off.

"It's what?" He reached up to touch one of her hands that clenched the railings. She jerked her hand back like he burned her.

"It's impossible," she declared and then stormed off. Her small feet stomping quickly up the stairs. Ren gave chase and slammed the door to the third floor closed as he caught her. She gasped and huddled there underneath him. His huge body leaning over her tiny one. She could feel him all around her and she felt happy and with that came fear. She shut her eyes tight as he leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"It is not impossible. It's wonderful, scary, exciting, nerve-racking, heart-pounding, torturous – but it is not impossible. It's only impossible if you don't let it happen." He stood up and stepped to the side to put his hand on the door handle going out. "And let me make this one thing very clear…"

He paused and she risked a glance up at him. He caught her eyes and then continued, "I NEVER said that we shouldn't pursue this. I said we should WAIT. There is a distinct difference in that," he reached out and very lightly ran the tips of his fingers through the bangs of her hair by her temple and softly added, "And if I need to, I am more than happy to remind you every time you doubt my sincerity that I want to be with you. I want to be with you every day."

Kyoko wasn't able to speak, her throat was choked up and her eyes were blurry with tears. Instead, she nodded a little too quickly. He turned the handle and the door clicked open. He held it slightly ajar because she was in the way of opening it completely. Kyoko stepped aside allowing him to open it. They walked to Haruno-san office and Kyoko wiped at her eyes and took a few deep breaths before knocking. The man yelled out to enter and Kyoko went inside while Ren held up the wall. She was quick and he had to hold back a smirk when she was surprised to see him still there.

"Are you okay to leave?" He asked as he pulled away.

It took her a moment to understand him. "Yeah, I've been here all day, so it should be fine," she answered but didn't move to leave, still unsteady on her feet after that dose of Ren.

"Okay. Let's head to the LoveMe room so you can change and then we can go," he said but did not move.

Nervous energy filled her as nothing happened. "Aren't you going to move?"

He smiled at her. "After you," he prompted with a sweep of his hand. Pressing her lips together wishing she could suppress the heat rising to her cheeks, she quickly walked in front of him. This time she went to the elevator.

"No stairs? It's one floor down," he casually mentioned.

"There is no point. I didn't think you would follow me if I took the stairs. Might as well take the elevator and maybe we won't be alone," she explained as the door dinged.

Ren sighed. "I knew you had a sharp tongue, but I didn't think for every compliment I gave, you would lash out so harshly."

"I am not!" she yelled and saw a man walking by look over to them. She lowered her voice, "I am not trying to lash out at you." The elevator door dinged and before them was an empty elevator room.

"Oh… empty. Now do you want to take the stairs?" he asked and she huffed, angrily walking into the little room. Ren walked in behind her with a tight-lipped smile. He pressed the button for the 2nd floor where the LoveMe room was located and the doors closed in on them slowly.

"You know I can't help but smile every time I'm in an elevator now," he said casually and could see her ears burn crimson.

"Good for you," she griped.

"Why are you so angry at me? Am I being that unbearable?"

"Yes," she snapped and then hung her head down with immediate regret. "No. You're not. I'm…" the doors open and she shut her mouth and quickly walked out. The passengers wanting in waited for Ren to leave before entering. He followed her silently to the LoveMe door and almost entered when she stopped him.

"I need to change, so, um could you wait out here, please?"

This time he flushed slightly in embarrassment. "Yes, of course. Sorry," he muttered and she lightly nodded and disappeared behind the door.

It took her a bit, nothing abnormal in regards to changing, but Ren had to chase off someone wondering if one of the girls was in to help with a task. No way was he going to let her get wrapped up in another excuse not to eat with him.

"Thank you for waiting," she announced.

Ren smiled. "Of cor…rrr" he choked as he looked at her. She was a vision in blush pink and he wasn't talking about her face. She was wearing this blush pink eyelet outfit that was sexy and cute at the same time. The top had long sleeves that hugged her arms but hung loosely from her shoulders with small ruffles going across her breast and at the hem. The same patterned mini-skirt took over, except it was tight from her hips to thighs to end with the same ruffle pattern at the hem of the skirt. She was wearing tights for the cold winter months with small ankle boots.

"Are you okay?" she asked as he stood there looking at her.

He coughed. "Yes. I was… so then you are ready to go?"

She nodded. "Car in the garage?" she asked when he didn't move.

"Ah yes, right. Garage. Car," he said dumbfounded and turned to walk. Kyoko looked up at him curiously but followed him without question. They took the elevator down to the ground level and remained quiet as others were in there with them. When the door opened, she felt the heat of his hand at her back to escort her through, making her quickly walk forward. It wasn't until they reached his car when she dared to ask.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is perfect," he answered honestly as he opened the car door for her. But she still frowned up at him before getting in. He watched her gorgeous legs stretch that little skirt to get in and felt his blood rush through him. After closing the door, he took several deep breaths to calm himself down while walking to the driver's side door.

The moment his door shut closed, she continued, "You are not acting okay."

He hung his head and snorted. He looked at her, looking so huggable and shook his head. "You tell me to stop flirting with you and the moment that I do, you pester me to continue."

"I am not…"

Ren interrupted by picking up her hand. Her voice stopped and her eyes grew wide as he lifted it up towards his lips. The Emperor of the Night peered down at her as he whispered in a husky voice, "You look breathtakingly beautiful in your outfit." He pressed the tiniest, softest kiss to her knuckle. It was barely felt, but to her, it felt huge! She jerked her hand away and he let her.

"I didn't… that's not…. I wasn't trying…" she spluttered.

"May I ask why you are wearing it? Did you have plans? With someone?"

"N…n…no. I just… I want… um… it's n…new and…and… uh…"

"Breathe. You don't have to answer if you don't want to. I was… curious that's all." He said as he started the car.

She shut her eyes and huffed. "If you tell me the truth, I'll tell you the truth."

Frowning, Ren agreed. "Yes, okay."

"You first," she insisted.

He smiled as he backed up the car. "What truth do you want?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Ah," he said. He thought his words through as he maneuvered out of the parking garage. When they were on the road, he spoke, "I thought you looked especially nice and was wondering if you were wearing it for someone. Wearing it for someone other than me." There… that didn't sound too possessive, right? He thought.

"Have you always been a jealous person?"

Guess it did…

"No," he instantly said. "Until now, I never had anyone to get jealous over."

She squeaked and he risked a glance towards her. She was looking out the window but he could still see the color in her face.

Smiling, he prompted, "Your turn."

He heard her take a breath and let it out slowly. "I recently bought it because of the top. It was a set so I thought to see what it would be like wearing it completely. I knew I was going to be in LoveMe today so if I didn't like it, I wasn't going to have to wear it for too long."

"You don't like it?" He asked his voice shocked.

"The skirt is shorter than I like," she stated. Movement caught his eye and he saw her run her hands over her thighs. Ren gripped the steering wheel harder wishing he could do that for her.

"I see. Do you want me to stop by your place to change?"

Kyoko looked over at him. He was keeping his eyes on the road. "Do…do you… think it's nice?"

"Yes," he instantly answered, and his voice dropped an octave lower, "I think it's more than nice."

She smiled softly to herself. "Then I'm okay," she whispered and the air hung heavily between them.

They ended up at a restaurant of Ren's choosing. They were seated at a curved L-shaped booth in the back of the room exactly as it should be except for the table choice. This sort of exposed both of them to the room.

"Excuse me, but could we change…"

"This is fine," Ren told her and slipped in, sitting profile to the rest of the restaurant. That left Kyoko facing the room which was better but not ideal.

"Okay," she said and the waiter left. She took a deep breath and moved to sit down and found that the booth was much more intimate than others. Her knee found his almost immediately and she flushed to find a place that didn't interfere with his space.

"I wish you weren't so nervous with me. We've bumped knees before, this is no different," he said as he looked at the menu.

She scowled and jammed her knee against his thigh because that was where she wanted to sit. "Maybe if you didn't hog up all the space under the table every time, we wouldn't bump knees. Go to the other side of the pole!"

He dropped his menu and whispered, "Why do you think I "hog" up all the space, hmm?"

"Because you're…" she was going to continue her rant but she had to look up at him. He was smirking at her, his eyes suggesting so much more than what his question said. She flushed. "You do it on purpose!?" she said outraged.

He chuckled and pulled his leg out and casually stretched his legs out on the other side of the pole as she wanted. "I especially was careless when we both wore shorts."

Her head fell down onto the tabletop and she covered her head with her arms. "OH MY GOD," she yelled through clenched teeth into the table.

The waiter decided to come to their table at that point but sounded a little unsure, "Would… you… like something to drink?"

"Water for both of us, please," Ren answered and Kyoko gave him thumbs up unwilling to pick up her head.

"Okay. Would you like to hear the specials for today?"

Kyoko lifted her head still flush but answered in a calm demeanor, "Yes, Please."

Halibut was the fish of the day and he said the chef had a new Unagi dish available. The moment he said the two items, she looked at the menu for the first time. Expensive! She knew he shouldn't have picked the restaurant. It was traditional, except that everything was three times the price of normal restaurants.

The waiter came back with the waters and asked if they were ready to order. Ren prompted her to go first, but she hesitated.

"You first," she said.

"I'll take the Wagyu beef," he stated and Kyoko choked.

She leaned in towards him. "That's the most expensive thing on the menu!"

"I know. Maybe that will make you order what you want."

She narrowed her eyes at him. She looked up at the waiter. "I'll take the Tonkatsu."

Ren sighed. "And the Unagi, please," he added, and Kyoko bit back an objection.

"Will that be all?"

"Tea," Ren said. "Kyoko-chan, which do you prefer?"

She pressed her lips together at the sound of her name and smiled brightly. "Green."

"Which one, Dear? They have several."

She kicked him and he bit back a laugh. She took a very quick glance. "Fukamushi."

"Ah, very good. I'll have that out for you soon," the patient waiter said. As soon as he left, Kyoko grabbed her menu and started to hit Ren with it.

"That was rude! And Mean! And how dare you do that in front of someone!" Her voice started out angry but soon she sobbed the last and he grabbed her hand to look at her. She was genuinely crying.

"Ah, Mogami-san. I was only teasing. Please don't cry."

"It wasn't funny. Ever since then, ever since that day in the elevator, you have teased and bullied me and I can't handle it anymore!"

"Wait, what does that mean?" Ren said, suddenly worried.

She took a shaky breath. "It means that my heart is going to explode one day and it's going to be your fault!"

Relief filled him. He smiled softly and watched her wipe away her tears with her napkin. After a breath, he tapped her shoulder. She peeked out at him smiling softly at her. "Do you trust me?"

She narrowed her eyes at him and replied, "No."

He snorted. "Please? Please do this for me without question and without pulling away."

She leaned back. "What are you going to do?"

"A hug, nothing more."

She stared at him, watching, waiting, weighing the pros and cons in her head, and after several moments later, she found that she wanted to be hugged by him. She swallowed and nodded. Smiling softly, he lifted his arms and she had second thoughts. An expression he must have seen.

"Please?" Ren asked again. Licking her lips, she slid over to him and leaned in, her shoulder and head fell near his shoulder but not touching. Not until he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in, not her body but her head so that she was at his chest.

"Listen," he told her and laid his hand over her left ear pressing her right against him. It took a moment to shut down her reaction to listen. His heart. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest as if it was trying to escape the cage of his chest.

She pulled away and he let her look up at him.

"I wish you understood how much you mean to me, Mogami-san. Every time I see you my heart starts to race as if trying to beat my feet to get to you first. Talking to you, being here with you," his hand ran down her arms giving her goosebumps along her skin, "every second with you makes my whole body feel alive."

Kyoko took a shaky breath and laughed soundlessly. Truly, she was dreaming. She couldn't find the words to reply, so she ended up falling forward, her forehead landed high on his chest and nothing else. He welcomed the touch, his hand reached up and patted her hair. She felt him let go of a breath he was holding against her hair.

Their tea arrived and Kyoko pulled back but did not move away which pleased Ren to no end. He informed them that they started to steep the tea two minutes ago. Which was fine, it would allow the water to cool before it was ready to drink. Then he left them alone.

Kyoko took a breath and reached out for the glass of cold water. She took a long draw before putting it down. "I don't know what to do when I'm around you," she said.

"You don't have to do anything. I'm not expecting anything from you," he said trying to reassure her.

"No, I mean I emotionally fall apart the moment you come by. I can't breathe. I start to shake. I forget what I was doing. I can't control my reaction," she explained, making Ren's heart dance.

"I'm nervous around you too," he admitted and lightly touched her hair.

She shook her head and hung her head. "It's not the same. You are used to people saying nice things about you, saying how handsome you are or talented. I'm sure you are even used to women propositioning you."

"I do not proposition you," he said defensively. He pulled his hand back with the uncomfortable thought.

She closed her eyes and licked her lips. "My point is that you are used to the attention and probably don't bat an eye with one person fawning over you, but I've never had that done to me before. It frustrates me that you can go about your day whistling a happy little tune while I'm a mess for hours after seeing you."

"Hours?" He asked with a smile.

"Do not take pleasure in my misery!" she whined. She covered her burning face. "This is Vain Day all over again."

"Mogami-san, I know I've been more honest recently than perhaps you are used to," he started and she snorted. Some of the edge was shaved off at her laugh. "I told myself and you that things were going to stay the same. We would be friends, we would do exactly the same things as before, but before I knew it, you would blush when I said something you normally wouldn't notice. You would laugh or smile at something that didn't affect you before, and I grew greedy."

Dropping her hands, she looked over at him confused. "Greedy?"

He tilted his head and smiled adoringly at her. "I wanted to make you laugh and smile and blush every time I saw you. I hoped that it would grow into a casual touch and then a hug." She blushed now and Ren lightly touched her cheek. "Like that."

The waiter came by with what they ordered. They pulled away and sat quietly as he put everything down. He asked if there was anything else and Ren dismissed him. Kyoko moved over to eat much to Ren's disappointment. It looked like she was trying to swallow her emotions to have a calm lunch. She picked up her chopsticks and started to pick at her meal.

"You wanted to discuss something?" She said, trying to change the subject.

"Yashiro-san wanted me to give you your offers." He grabbed the paperwork for her and put it next to her on the seat.

"Those…" she pointed to them recognizing them from earlier. "Those were for me?"

He hummed an affirmative as he forced the first bite into his mouth.

"Why didn't you give them to me at LME? Or when you handed them to me the first time," she complained.

"Greedy," he said simply as he took a drink of his water.

She sighed. "You are going to be the death of me."

He shook his head. "I won't let you go. I'll give you mouth to mouth before that happens, so if you don't want that, stay strong."

She hit him with a manila folder. "Stop it!"

He smiled loving the crimson flame on her face. She focused her attention on the offers, and he let her because he was worried about pushing things too far. He nibbled on his food while she ate hers. She set the first one down and then picked up the R-Mandy one. The cover of it only had the name of the company, R-Mandy.

"I think this one is for you," she said, handing him the booklet.

He glanced at it and shook his head. "Nope."

Frowning, she took it back to look at the first page. "This is your brand," she stated, "For commercials?"

He nodded. "I got that information packet a while ago."

"Why would Yashiro-san give it to me then? I thought R-Mandy only did Men's clothing," she asked as she skimmed the summary page. He watched her read it, the color on her face growing in intensity with each and every word until she slammed it shut.

"You said yes to this?!" she whispered as if afraid to offend someone.

He smiled. "I'm under contract. I can't say no."

"But… but… but…" she stammered. "This… It's…. um…." she struggled to find the words.

"Sensual?" He offered.

"Sure!" she squeaked. "Let's go with that. They can't expect you to go along with every idea simply because you are under contract. You have limits, restrictions. You do get a say about what you are willing to do, right?"

He nodded casually. "Yes, but those don't encroach on them."

She slammed the paper down. "How could it not be? You are expected to… to…" she couldn't say it so she moved on, "You must have objections to the third commercial."

"No, it fades to black, and we do not go beyond unbuttoning my shirt. The point of the commercial is to show off the clothes, so it would be pointless to act beyond what would normally not require clothes."

Kyoko was dying. She was slowly dying with every word he said. "How can you sound so nonchalant about this?!"

He looked her dead in the eyes. "I've modeled underwear, and I've done intimate scenes in the past. This is normal and very high-profile work. Not to mention, these do not go into mature ratings. Commercials need to be for General Audiences."

She frowned and forced air into her lungs to calm herself down. "Then why do they say that kissing is involved and it says that the third commercial will have an implied love scene."

"Because that is true. I believe it mentions lingerie too. You can't spring that up on people trying to audition for the part," he explained, and added casually, "Are you going to eat?"

"Oh, yes." Putting down the offer, she picked up her chopsticks and rice bowl to eat. He kept his eye on her, trying not to smile as she thought about it while she quietly ate.

A few bites in she couldn't hold back her questions. "So you have to kiss someone?"

"Yes," he answered. "Does that bother you?"

She glared at him. "You have no right to ask that just as I have no right to say anything other than no."

"It would bother me," he said gently ignoring her comment. "Merely because we are actors, that doesn't mean we have to be unaffected by our work."

"So then how do you do it?" She asked softly with concern.

A small smile stretched his lips. "The same way you bully your friends on film. You go through the motions and then move past it once done."

Kyoko frowned. "I don't think acting out kissing and lovemaking can be the same as bullying on film." Her tone was lighter and Ren felt some of the tension release his heart. She was transitioning from abject horror to professional intrigue. Hope sprung up in its place.

"It isn't?" he said rhetorically and continued. "You are saying and doing cruel things to someone you are friends with. You are doing something you normally wouldn't do with that person leaving both of you uncomfortable or on shaky grounds. Imagine if you were contracted to torture someone on film."

She grew pale. "Why?"

"It's out there. You are a well-known antagonist. There may come a day that someone wants you to star in a major motion picture and you'd have to beat them, cut off fingers…"

"Eating Here!" she bellowed looking green.

Ren laughed. "My point is you act out everything to the best of your ability and you can be grossed out by it, but you move on. Kissing and "love-making" is the same thing."

Her cheeks heated up. "But you are actually kissing them. That's not the same."

"You are actually saying those mean things to them. How many times have you actually pulled some girl's hair? Or you pushed them and they genuinely fell," he pointed out.

Pouting, she defended herself, "I was very gentle."

"Doesn't mean you didn't do it, and just because you did it, doesn't mean you meant it," he concluded.

She shook her head. "I don't think I could grow accustomed to doing the things you do on film."

Again, he laughed. "You would if you tried, but if you are good with being type-casted as the antagonist for your entire career, let Yashiro-san know. He will find you better roles with that in mind. You'll be ripping fingernails off and breaking knees within a year."

She groaned. "Don't think I don't see what you are doing."

"And what is that?" he asked casually eating. "Did you want tea?" He pointed to the ignored teapot.

"Oh, right," she took it and poured them both a cup while she continued, "You are trying to get me to audition for the role."

"Am I?" He said. "Yashiro-san passed the offers over to me. I had no idea that one was in there."

She sat down with a glare. "This is why I don't know what to do around you. You are too good of an actor and therefore an excellent liar."

"I take offense to that," he grumbled. "What are the other two offers then?"

She took a breath and lifted the first one up. "This is open casting for a side character in a sci-fi anime adaptation. There are multiple roles available but I would be a soldier of some kind in a war. It looks likes the main character is already picked. Any character I land would be someone passing by in his life." She picked up the other but hadn't read it yet. He gave her a minute to read it through while they casually ate and drank their meal.

"This one is another open casting for a tragic drama. They want to cast the sister of the main character, who dies in order to promote the main character's growth."

He smiled. "That sounds… great."

"Liar," she scoffed. "Nevertheless, I should be open to any opportunity because one never knows what opportunities could come for a role. If they want me, I should be grateful," she recited.

"That is an excellent philosophy," Ren said with a smirk.

She took the small teacup and sipped it. "I'll audition for the CMs too." She watched his reaction.

"That's smart," he said as he concentrated on his food.

"There is no harm in trying," she continued and noticed the table was starting to shake.

"Exactly. Anyone of those roles could help you," he stated before taking a drink of his water. He was bouncing his leg under the table nervously or perhaps he was excited.

Ignoring his comment, she continued, "It would be foolish not to try to catch R-Mandy's eye. Even though they will take one look at me and put me in the No pile."

Ren went still as stone. Kyoko leisurely picked up a piece of the eel and ate it. She was amazed that it was taking him this long to say something.

"Just say it. No filter."

He dropped his chopsticks carelessly on his plate. "I hate how you demean yourself. Why would you think they would reject you? You are gorgeous. If only you could see how attractive you are, you would have this in the bag."

She smiled touched by his words even though it was said an irritated voice and because of that she wasn't as affected as much as usual.

"Thank you." She sighed, "But I'm pretty sure I'm not what they are looking for. They are trying to sell clothes, so they would want to make you, their spokesmen, to look good as possible. Wouldn't they want someone equally as beautiful to match you?"

"Kyoko," he growled with the brightest gentlemanly like smile. She didn't need her grudge demons to tell her he was rather upset at that statement.

"I'm sorry, but I'll go so far as to say I'm cute, but they want sexy," she continued. "Tsuruga-san, you are the most attractive person in Japan. People look at you and their noses start to bleed…"

"I don't think that's..." Ren tried to interrupt but Kyoko kept going.

"No, seriously, I'm not trying to make you sound better than you are or myself worse than I actually am. These are the facts. One that has been very difficult to accept that you could ever like me. Let alone take advantage of your size just to play footsy with me under a table."

He chuckled. "How can you question your own sexuality when 'Japan's sexiest man' wants nothing more than to touch you? Even going as far as using underhanded tricks to do so?"

"Ah, well, um," she coughed to clear her throat. "That may be the case for you, but you need to understand that others don't see me the same way you do."

"Only because you don't let them," Ren said sincerely, making Kyoko frown in confusion.

"You are the only one stopping everyone from seeing how beautiful… no, sexy," he clarified making her blush. "You are sexy," he said and let his eyes show some of the desire he felt for her. She wasn't able to keep his gaze and looked down nervously at their dinner. "Didn't anyone tell you that Natsu was sexy?"

She had to think about it and after a moment shook her head. "Mature," she offered and then added, "I've gotten beautiful before."

"Setsu was sexy as hell too," he put in.

Kyoko laughed. "Only to you, Nii-san."

"No, believe me, not only to me. Just ask Murasame. From the very first day, he took an interest in you," he told her and then muttered, "Thankfully I was there to stop him trying anything."

"Those are different," she countered. "Setsu was to match Cain's image. I wasn't trying to impress anyone. Natsu is supposed to be fashionable. Her character thought she looked good no matter what she wore."

"And that is called Confidence," Ren informed her. "Confidence is all a person needs to appear sexy in front of anyone."

A sad expression fell upon Kyoko's face which Ren quickly wanted to counter. He placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her face up. "I love you exactly how you are. I would find you attractive in a short black dress or gray sweatpants." She shook her head, her chin leaving his fingers. "I don't care if you do this. You don't have to audition for it if you don't want to, but I also don't want you to think it's because of your looks that you can't do it."

She sighed and then gave him a small smile. "Thank you. I'll think about it."

"That's good," he said. "You have time to think about it and if you do it – great. If you don't - great."