Patience Is Its Own Reward
Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or any of its characters.
Witnesss, the writer of "Dance," inspired me to take a stab at Kyoko's school life. This will be a series of shorts based around the idea that Kyoko is still attending school and is trying to make the most of it before it graduation, with Ren and Sho chasing her every step of the way.
This story begins around the timeframe that Setsu and Kain emerge as characters. They will be a part of this story, but not immediately. This is a stand-alone story with no relation to any of my other stories.
Chapter 1 – The Invitation
"She's at it again," the veteran actor, Samiko Keiji, whispered to his companion as they both gave the pink-suited whirlwind a wide berth.
His companion, Tojiro Nami, watched the very agitated girl in the pink suit trying to wear a hole in the marble floor by walking in circles and muttering to herself. "Who is she, and why is she dressed like that?"
"That is Mogami Kyoko. She's wearing that suit because she is part of the President's pet project, the LoveMe Section. People who are put into the LoveMe Section are supposedly missing a true understanding of the meaning, value, and power of love. They have to work there until they find that missing ingredient."
Nami rolled her eyes. Anyone who had worked for LME for any length of time knew about Takarada Lory's "love" obsession. "Poor girl. But what's with the pink jumpsuit?"
"His idea again. He wanted them to stand out; to advertise their presence so that people know that they are available for whatever odd job is needed. At first everybody thought the two girls in there were jokes. But lately both girls have been making quite a splash in television. Have you seen Dark Moon?"
"Of course. Tsuruga-san's really dreamy as Katsuki." Nami sighed.
Keiji rolled his eyes. "Well that girl is Mio. She's also Natsu on Box-R."
Nami stopped dead and looked back at the small pink cyclone. "Her!?! But… but… those two characters are nothing alike… and… she doesn't look like either of them."
"Startling, isn't it. I don't think that anybody expected her to completely nail two such dynamic character types. But when that girl is on the set she's like a completely different person. Oh… and have you seen Fuwa Sho's "Prisoner" PV?"
"Yes, of course. Who hasn't? They show it on all of the billboards… wait… you're not going to tell me…?"
"Yep. She's the angel that strangles the demon."
"Maybe I should join the LoveMe Section," Nami commented as they continued to their destination.
Kyoko was completely oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place. She was too busy arguing with herself at that moment, "He's my sempai… not my friend. He's much too busy to waste time on something like this… I'd feel really silly inviting him… I don't know why I don't just give this last ticket to somebo…"
"Mogami-san?"
Kyoko stopped dead, a look of horror on her face as she realized that the man she had been mumbling about was standing in front of her, "Tsu….Ts… Tsuruga-sempai!! I didn't realize that you were standing there… have you been there long?"
"Long enough to see you trying to drill a hole through the floor with your pacing. Is everything all right?" Ren was making his regular daily visit to the LoveMe Section… ostensibly to check up on the fledgling actresses. In truth, Yashiro, Ren's manager, had begun to make sure that there was free time on Ren's schedule every day that just happened to match with Kyoko's LoveMe work. Yashiro thought of it as Ren's daily "pilgrimage" to see Kyoko.
Kyoko was clearly having trouble meeting the tall actor's eyes. "Mogami-san…" Ren prompted sternly. "What are you trying to hide from me?"
"Nothing! I mean… it's not like that… it's just… I know that you're really busy and that you don't have time to waste on frivolous things and that it's silly for me to even offer you the ti… well I mean that…"
"Kyoko! Calm down, please and just tell me what you wanted to tell me." Ren was used to Kyoko's odd moments. In fact, he found them strangely… cute. These frantic episodes were a part of who Kyoko was, and he was enchanted by everything about this odd young lady.
Kyoko took a big breath and then her face took on a look of trepidation as she quickly reached into her pocket and extracted a thin, rectangular piece of paper, "Here. I know its silly but I had five tickets and I gave one to Moko-san and Maria and Taisho and Okami-san but I had one more and I thought… well I don't really expect you to come or anything but… well… I have to go now. I have a job. Bye!" With that, Kyoko fled down the hallway and promptly disappeared around the corner.
Yashiro, who had been standing behind and to the side of Ren, stepped forward to look at the slip of paper in Ren's hand. "I didn't know that anyone could talk that fast without taking a breath. What did she give you?"
Ren held it up for Yashiro to read. "Admittance Ticket ~ Kijima* High's Annual School Festival."
* * *
"Please, Sho-kun!?! Please, please, please!?!"
Sho kept his eyes closed and his arm across his face, hoping that Mimori would leave. "Go away, Little Doggy. I don't do school anymore. Why would I want to go to a school festival?"
"But my class is doing a play and I really, really, really want you to see it!"
Sho rolled sideways on the couch so that he could at least admire Mimori's figure while he tried to ignore her begging, "Why would a high school that caters to show people hold a festival anyway? Doesn't everybody there have more important things to do?"
Mimori preened, aware that Sho was looking her over, "A few of us girls really wanted to have a festival, like a normal high school. We petitioned the administration and they finally gave in." She gave Sho her best puppy-dog eyes and even put her hands up in front of her like a little dog, "You just have to come, Sho-kun! I'm the female lead in the play and I'm really good. At least we're doing something interesting. It's not like Mogami's class; all they're doing is one of those silly cafés where the girls all dress up in little costumes and prance around while they serve customers."
Mimori continued to talk, and plead, and cajole for a little longer, completely unaware that she had already won her case; Fuwa Sho was going to the school festival.
Notes:
*I have no idea what Kyoko's actual school is named. I looked and looked, but didn't find any place where the school was actually identified. If you know the name, please let me know and I'll make the change.
Sorry for the short chapter. The others should be longer.