Disclaimer: Skip Beat not mine.

Summary: She sits alone in her crumbling tower, and the sweet briar patches stretch on for miles. He's not coming.

Love Song

There's unopened chestnut pudding on the floor and silence between them.

Sho stares down at the meager offering and for a second, the force of his pity for this girl undoes him. His vision slips out of focus; his pulse thunders a sonorous beat; and Sho is choking on mouthfuls of contempt.

Lifting his head, the words are pooled acid on his tongue. "You're-"

You're as cheap and pathetic as this store bought pudding.

Kyoko leans forward eagerly, fingertips splayed over her thin knees. Beneath the tangled fall of hair, her glowing eyes fix on his. The sheer weight of her love closes over his head like quicksand, buries Sho alive.

"Shou-chan?"

His hand slowly clasps the snack. "…-not going to get me a spoon?"

Just a little longer, Sho tells himself as Kyoko rushes away. Let her keep this much.

She sits alone in her crumbling tower, and the sweet briar patches stretch on for miles. He's not coming.

(Stupid, stupid little Kyoko.)

Sho is not sorry, not when this sleek-haired, smoky-eyed glory of rage and ambition is the result. He sculpted this. Every line and curve of her bears his imprint. Kyoko is his masterpiece, and no amount of writhing temper could snap the leash.

Her beatific face offers a shy smile from the screen.

He deigns to nod back. "You're welcome."

His voice is husky heartbreak. Kyoko turns up the radio and lets the irony of that surround her. The song describes a kiss, a walk in the dark, a simple boy and a complex girl.

She wants to snort at the absurdity and predictability. Always in the dark or in the rain. Just once, she'd like to hear a love song set in broad, glittering daylight with two unbroken lovers.

But as the refrain thrums into silence, Kyoko shakes her head. Sho never lies when he sings.

It's their first public meeting for almost two years. While the cameras flash all about them, Fuwa Sho and Mogami Kyoko stare each other down. Silent battle lines hover, waiting to be drawn.

Kyoko extends her hand. Sho accepts.

For a moment, they present a stilted and piercing tableau. The lights catch in the tousled gold of his hair, the beaded silver of her dress.

He holds onto her hand without shaking it and Kyoko lets him.

"You've come a long way." This is not what he planned to say.

Beneath the elegant sweep of her fringe, Kyoko's dark lashed gaze rests on him. It's been a lifetime since she's looked at him like this. "You helped."

Something in him catches and is released, along with a slow exhale. It could be relief, regret. Only a tiny pinpoint of hurt remains.

He quietly kisses the back of her hand before stepping away. "Mogami-san."

No one will come. Kyoko looks out her window, over the forest of thorns and to the horizon. She rolls up her sleeves.

-end-