Summary: The President is at it again, this time he's throwing a masquerade. Could a mask give Ren the courage to ask Kyoko to dance? Will the naive talento guess who's behind the mask?

A/N: Welcome to the first ficlet in my "Hero" stories. I was debating posting the lyrics in their entirety, but if you really want them, you can google them. Instead I'm going to post only the relevant lyrics at the beginning of each chapter, and I will close with the Chorus of the song. I've already decided what lyrics to use in each ficlet, and what the basic plots will be. I don't plan on them connecting, but if they work out flowing that way, then they might be able to be taken together. All stories forcus on the Ren/Kyoko pairing in third person perspective. There may be hints of Yashiro/Kanae included because it's pure adorableness.

Word Count: Around 3885, not counting notes and lyrics.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say that I don't own Skip Beat? And since I'm a woman, is it really necessary to inform you I'm NOT Enrique Inglesias? Honestly, I suspect you people are smart enough to figure this out...

Lyrics

Would you dance if I asked you to dance?

Would you run and never look back?

Would you cry if you saw me crying?

Would you save my soul tonight?

MASQUARADE

The large room was elaborately decorated in gold, silver and pearlescent white in honor of the president's latest bit of scheming. There wasn't any particular holiday in store, no festive celebrations, no big production wraps to party over. This was just one of Lory's whims. One day, he'd woken up, and upon spotting his latest flight of costume fancy (the Phantom of the Opera) he decided to hold a ball based on the grand Masquerade scene. He of course had a costume as the Phantom, everyone else had come up wth their own, allowing access to the full costume and prop department at LME to prepare, if need be.

Lory currently sat at a grand organ at the top of the ellegant stairway that sloped down to the main ballroom. A flowing blac cloak shrouded hs black clad appearancee, and a white mask covered half of his face. Each time a new attendee entered the room, he would blare a nonsensical chord on his instrument, causing the gathering crowd to cringe and turn their attention to see who had arrived. He never announced who it was behind the masks, only that a new guest was present.

Somewhere in throng of party goers stood a tall form dressed in a green hooded tunic, an intricately carved wooden mask hid his face. From beneath the tunic his legs were covered in brown leggings madde to look almost like thin strips of bark. Green shoes shod his feet, and upon shoulders he wore shimmering gossamer wings. Over the hood rested a simple circlet of golden woven vines. He feelt like he'd done fairly well on his costume, the only thing he hadn't hidden was his height, and that was hard to do. For the most part, though, he as Tsuruga Ren was unrecognizeable.

From the top of the elegant stairway a hideous organ blair assaulted his ears, drawing Ren's attention. His breath caught in his chest as he saw her standing there, the feathered mask that covered her eyes not hiding the sudden discomfort she felt at being the center off attention. Blushing cheeks and a sheeepish smile smile cast toward the president were still evident.

As the young woman descended the stairs, Ren couldn't take his eyes off her. She was the reason he had been so thorough in his costume. Kyoko might well refuse to dance with him knowing who he was, bust if he could get her caught in the fantasy of a fairy prince, then maybe he could steal a moment to remember without scaring her away.

His eyes swept over her costume as he smiled, noticing Fairytales certainly seemed to be something on her mind. Aside from a mask ddecorated in white feathers and golden trimmings that covered her eyes, the girl wore a slee white dress that flared into a shredded, feathery sort of texture from mid thigh to kneee befor stopping altogether. Her tights were a pale gold, and white slip on flats finshed covered her feet. Gold and white bracelets decorated her wrists, and a pair of what might be called angel wings if he didn't know better were on her back. Upon her head sat a dainty tiara or gleaming gold.

As the talento mingled among the crowd, Ren kept a careful eye on the distinct orange hair that marked her location. He had to move carefully, not rush into anything or make her feel cornered.

Of course as he saw other costumed men admiring the object off his affection, he grew a touch impatient and sligghtly nervous. So he knew he had to move quickly. Weaving his way through the crowd he steppeeed in front of a shorter man who was dressed in a puppy get up of some sort (such a strange costume for a grown man...) and intercepted before the other could speak to Kyoko first.

With a sweeping boow befitting oof a fairy prince, he glanced up from behind his mask. Through the holes left for his eyes, she might recognize the original color of his irises, the color of Corn's eyes. In his most fairy prince like voice he spoke, "Odette-hime, I thought I saw you enter."

With wide eyes the rising starlet blinked. This man wwaas the first to accurately guess who she was meant to be! No one else had been quite sure. Not only that, he was dressed as a fairy prince, and he had Corn's eyes! This was all too much to register at once, and she gaped a moment in awe.

Ren straightene, smiling at hher from behind his mask, his merriment showing in his eyes. After another moment, Kyoko finally found her power of speech, "Fairy-sama...you caught me by surprise...I...wasn't expecting to see you..."

At the last remark she flicked her golden gaze up to his, finding herself unable to tear it away again. The way he stare at her, looking nto her heart, like he'd always known her, it was enough to make her heart skip and her ind freeze.

"Yes, well," He replied, still smiling as he watched her gently, slowly lifting a hand, palm out in offerring to her,

"I suppose I am rather unexpected..but I couldn't resist the chance to dance wiith the lovely Odette-hime."

Blushing brightly, Kyoko must have moved automatically, because the next thing she knew, his hand was cllosing around hers, which hhad been gently place in his larger one. The fairy prince pulled her toward the dance floor with all the grace of a fairytale. This had to be a dream, because there was no way it was anyone but a real fairy prince behind that mask...it had to be Corn, those eyes...it just had to be!

Ren was just glad this was working out so well. He and the girl he loved were spendding the whole night dancing, chatting as their real slves (in his case that was Kuon) and as their costume characters (which was something of a mix of Ren and Kuon for him.)

Having such a grand time, the pair was completely caught off guard by another organ blast that caused Kyoko to jump, startled, and cling to the fairy prince a moment before blushing and stepping back. She and herr prince turneed too look at Lory who was grinning far too happily down at the gathered crowd,

"Now!" He clapped his hands together in an eager and conniving manner, "This part of the evening is a surprise I thought some of youu might likke! I did hapen to ntice a few of you getting rather cozy on the dance floor out there..."

He fllowed that last phrase, which had been delivered in a stage whisper, with a wink. Ren felt his stomach churn, this didn't sound like it was going to end well. He thought he might have to pull a Cinderella and flee. Then he felt a tug on his tunic sleeve, and glanced down at Kyoko. She was looking up at him with hope...hope that he knew would be crushed in a moment...he'd have to see this through, and explain.

Lory's grin grew broader, "I see some of you hhave figured this out already! Well, for those who haven't: Everyone take off your masks! It's time to find out who we've been dancng with and fawning over! Wherre love's spark has taken us!"

Some of the costume were more easily seen through than others. For instance Everyone knew it was Kotonami Kanae dressed as Snow White, likely due to begging from her best friend. Others were far from obvious; such as Yashiro, who revealed himself to be Prince Charming after slipping on his glasses and mussing his hair down from it's sleek, slicked back look; much to the shock ooff Kanae, who had bbeen dancingg wiith him. This was made know with a loud shriek of, "Mo! Glasses-kun?!"

The biggest surprise of all had to be in store for Kyoko. She watched as her fairy prince hesitantly reached for his mask and hood, just knowing that beneath them waited Corn. First, he had to remove the crown, painfully slow enough. Then he dropped the hood, brown hair, dark brown hair...her heart sank. Maybe he was disguised to pass as human...this was fairy magic...but then the msk ame off, "Tsu-Tsuruga...san?"

Tears blurred his face in her vision, ad her sshoulderrs and lip trembled. For therre stoo Tsuruga Ren, with only Corn's eyes remaining. This was some cruel prank for him to play, because she had told him about her faairy prince, "H-how could you? How...how dare you?!"

Seeing her glare tearfuly up at him broke Ren's heart, he didn't intend to hurt her, he had to explain now, and he had to do it this instant, regardless of the risks of who might hear, "Kyoko-chan-"

"Stop that!" She sniffled and glared more harshly, herr haan twitching as she fought an overwhelming desire to slap her sempai, "Stop! You can't call me that!"

Ren could tell she was more than wounded, she was angry, and any moment she would run. Taking up a cautious but chase ready stance, "No, wait...just let me-"

"No!" Kyoko shook her head emphatically with a shout, losing the battle she'd been fighting and lashing out to slap her mentor across the face. With eyes wide at her own action she turned and fled, tears streaming from her face.

Ren lifted a hand to touch the red mark upon his cheek, muttering a curse in English to himself. Yashiro and Kanae were at his side almost instantly. The girl dressed as Snow White fixed a deadly glare on the actor, "Mo...I don't know what you did, Tsuruga, but-"

"She's getting away!" Yashiro half whined, half yelled, "You obviously did something, you can't just let her run away now! Go get her Ren!"

Ren looked to his manager just long enough to register his words. That pulled him from the shock of the slap and remindedd him he fully intended to chase her down, "Right!"

He raced up the stairs and out of the ballroom. With a headstart of even a few moments and her speed, Kyoko could be anywhere by now. He had to find her, though. Searching the grounds woud take a long time if he didn't somehow narrow down the possibilities, so he tried to think like she would.

That wasn't too hard, provided she would still act as she had done when she was young. Her favorite spot to escape from her troubles then had been a magial looking spot near a stream, that was where they had first met. He simply had to find someplace solitairy and magical.

There were maze like gardens on the grounds, he kew, and at the center of those he was fairly certain would be a fountain. That seemed a likely spot. Destination in mind, he took off at a trot. He seemed to navigate the maze on instinct, soon enough within earshot of sobbing that let him know he was closing in. Then, there at the fountain, on a bench beside it, sat Kyoko.

Her knees were pressed tight together as she seemed intent on bending herself in half, her arms wrapped around her legs as she wept. How could her beloved sempai do something so cruel? She had hoped he at least saw her as close enough to a friend to respect her tales of Corn rather than mock them! There was a rustle andd she glanced up as Ren stepped into view around a bush. Narrowing her eyes she prepared to stand and take off again.

"Kyoko, wait!" Ren reached out as he caalled to her in deperation, the sound of frantic need to speak with her filling his tone. She sniffed angrily and folded her arms across her chest, but she gave him her attention for the moment, "Right, thanks..."

Running a hand through hair with aa sigh of relief he approached and stood infront of her, "I know I screwed this up...I can explain though, if you give me the chance. You still might be angry...you can slap me again if you are..."

Ren gave a smile she'd never seen from him before...it almost seemed nervous. Well, the whirlwind of grudges trying to protect her might have had somethng to do with her. Stll she gestured to the seat on the bench next to her, though she carefully maintained some distance betweeen them.

As he sat, Ren sighed softly, trying to decide the best way to go about the reveal, "Then I think you might understand beest this way...would you mind if I tell a story?"

Kyoko thought it an odd request; but she wanted to know what he had possiibly been thinking wiith his stunt. So, still too upset to speak to Ren,she nodded her consent.

Ren shifted slightly, looking at his hands, which were folded in his lap, "Once, in a land across the ocean, a handsom man and beautiful woman had a son, you could call them royalty of sorts, peoplle certainly admired them. As the boy grew, he knew he wished to one day follow in his father's footsteps. Everytime he tried, though, people expected him to already be as skilled as his father, but with little experience of his own. It made him frustrated and sad."

Kyoko looked at Ren as she listened. The story seemed somehow similar to Corn, a prince trapped by his father's large hands...just worded differently. In a slightly less fanciful way.

"When the boy was ten, his father flew with him across the ocean to the land where his ancestors were from, the land where the overwhelming force that was his father had been born." At this point, the man looked up at the girl by his side with a tender gaze, "It was there that he met a young princess. She was playing by a stream that he stumbled upon, and seemed so sad he had to try to make her smile. He told her his name, but because of being raised in a foriegn land he pronounced it the aay he was used to hearing it mispronounced there, and when she repeated it back with an even more skewed pronounciation, he didn't correct her..."

Kyoko was pale now, because his words sounded way too much like her own story of meeting a fairy prince named Corn. This was just from the prince's view. She swallowed hard, very much wanting to tell him to stop talking, that his prank had already gone too far. The tale felt important, though; as if she needed to hear this out. Not only for Ren, but for herself.

Their eyes locked together. She was in denial, still stubbornly trying to figure out how he had so perfectly mimicked Corn's green; he was so capivated by the intense beauty of her golden gaze, frightened that if he dared glance away she would run again. The way he seemed to stare into her was sending gooseflesh along Kyoko's arms as Ren continued his narration, "Sadly, one day the boy had to leave. He was most certain he would never see the girl again, and to show his appreciation for her friendship, he gave her his most prized possession, then he returned the land across the ocean with his father."

Now Ren dropped his gaze to the side; this was the hard part. He was fairly sure Kyoko might understand the Kuon and Corn parts, and even accept them. He wasn't nearly as confident about the fact that he had killed a man being forgiven. Drawing a shakey breath he plunged onward, "When the boy returned home, he was back to living in his father's shadow. Every job he got was given due to his father's name, and lost because he did not live up to his father's standards. Understnd, the boy loved his father very much, but he grew more frustrated, and began to lash out. He had a friend ho tried to save him...he tried very hard to save the boy..."

Kyoko was surprised to see her sempai's shoulders were trembling. Blinking she realized he was cryingg as his spoke, though he tried not to, "Tsuruga-san?"

Ren shook his head, swiping his thumb and index finger over his eyes to wipe away the tears and giving a broken smile, "It's alright...I have to finish the story...the boy's friend tried to save him, but the boy's foolishness cost that friend his life. With a heavy burden of guilt the boy began to hut down, until a very eccentric man camee from the land of his ancestors to offer him a new start. It was a chance he took, to run from the guilt, to get away from the pain and out from his father's shadow. He made himself a promise that if he could fly on his own, without people realizing his connection to the great man who was his father, then he would face his parents again. He's been doing very well at that promise, convincing the world he's someone he's not, changing his appearance to fool everyone. Then one day, out of the blue, this girl showed up, a spunky girl fighting her way into his workplace seeking revenge on someone who wronged her. At first he didn't like her much, but then he saw beyond her motives, to her purity and talent...and then the truth fell from the sky. That small token from his childhood, a tiny stone that he'd once treasured so, landed at his feet, only to be claimed by that spitfire of girl."

Ren could see the wheels as they clicked into place in her mind at last, unable to deny the truth of who he was any longer. Tenderly he gazed at her, cautiously inching closer as he concluded, "Once his eyes had been opened to the truth, perhaps it was inevitable that the more time they spent togethe, the further in love he would fall. Of course, he knew she had been badly broken by the musician that betrayed her, and he couldn't risk scaring her...that's why when the opportunity to hide behind a mask and dance with her came, he took it."

"Ts-Tsuruga Ren is...Corn?" Kyoko gasped wide eyed, staring at him in utter shock. Her hands flew to her mouth as she gasped gain, recalling one of the first wished she'd ever made on the Corn stone, that she might one ay meet her precious fairy prince again, "Corn...Corn is Tsuruga-san!"

"Ah...yeah..." The actor gave a slight smile, she seemed to be overlooking the part where her precious Corn killed someone, and he had to make sure she understood that as well. For now though, the identity matter came first. With shrug he answered, "Pretty much. Though I should probably clear up the Corn thing, after all this time. It's not reallly 'Corn,' Kyoko-chan...can I call you that now? You did say I could when we were young...anyway...my name is actually Kuon."

Suddenlly Kyoko lept to her fet, a shaking finger pointing at her mentor. He wasn't certain if she might suddenly have figure out that he was a killer or not. Some nagging part of him also thought there way something else in what he'd told her she wasn't responding to yet. Rather than shriek in terror she let out something betwen a squeal of surprise and recognition, "Hizuri Kuon! Your Otou-san's son! But...but I thought you were dead!"

"Yeah...that's me" Kuon shifted again, "The lost son of Kuu Hizuri, run away from his crimes to atone with his acting skills."

"Does Otou-san know?!" She plopped down again, with a gasp and a dropped jaw, "Omigosh...it was me!"

"He does," The actor smiled at her typical concern for others. How flinched and turned away when she seemed to collapse onto the bench in horror. Then her words registered and he glanced up in confusion, "Umm...what was that?"

"Me! It was me!" Kyoto raised a trembling hand to her suddenly flushed cheek, "The high school girl you loved but thought you couldn't! Th-that was me, all this time? Why me, of all the people who love Tsuruga Ren, why me?"

"High school..." Kuon's eyes went wide with realization. He'd only ever mentioned his crush in those obscure terms to one person, "It seems I'm not the only one keeping secrets...Bo."

He was satisfied with the sheepish embarrassment on his love's face, and continued before she could begin apologizing, "I love you for your earnestness and work ethic, honesty and natural talent. I love that you understand me as few really do, that after all this time you kept that stone. I love that you still believe in good and fairytales, despite how you've been hurt. I love that the lonely girl I knew has grown strong and beautiful. I wish you could see these things yourself. I mostly love your pure innocence...and I know I shouldn't love you at all...I don't deserve to, not after what I've done...but I'm too selfish to just let you go, Kyoko-chan..."

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes; his gaze now focused on hands folded in his lap. He didn't dare to look at her. No, he was far to ashamed. Then he heard a shuffling, and her small hands came into view covering his own. Glancing up, he saw her kneeling before him, looking at him with caring concern.

"Kuon," Her voice was soft, careful and warm as she spoke, "I don't know exactly what happened...and you don't need to tell me unless you want to. But I do know you!"

She gave his hands a firm squeeze as she spoke more boldly, "The Kuon from my childhood was kind and caring. He took time to cheer up a girl no one else really wanted. He didn't have to do that. Tsuruga Ren is courteous and thoughtful. He has time for his kouhai, and always does his best for others. He can be scary, but I don't believe him to truly be dangerous...maybe to my heart, but..."

That last muttered line caught Kuon's ear, but he couldn't comment before she continued, "And if Tsuruga-san is an act, part of him is still real! If your friend died, I don't think you meant for it to happen! It was an accident, right? Do you think he would want you to still be miserable over it? Hizuri Kuon, onegai, I want to see my fairy Prince fly high...but with this weight upon your shoulders, how can you?"

Now tears flowed freely down her face as well as his. Lunging forward, Kyoko threw herself across his lap, wrapping her arms around his waist, "Let me help you, Kuon! Let me share your weight so you can fly! You've already done so much for me; let me do this for you!"

"Kyoko..." The man looked in surprise down at the girl squeezing him by the waist. A warm smile bloomed over his features even as he wept, his hand smoothing over her hair, "You've done more than enough already..."

"If...if you love me..." Kyoko peeked up at shyly, "Then that means I can love you too..."

"Absolutely!" Kuon beamed as he stood, sweeping the girl up in one swift motion and twirling around before kissing her tenderly, "Kyoko, arigato."

Chorus

I can be your hero, baby.

I can kiss away the pain.

I will stand by you forever.

You can take my breath away.