Disclaimer: Skip Beat! was created by Nakamura Yoshiki, and is published in Hana to yume. I have created nothing and have no merit!

Everything that's wonderful

Kanae glanced around the room, she was early. She sat down at a table, and took the menu distractedly, even though she already knew what she was going to order. This situation... It annoyed her, she couldn't help it. She felt a mixture of apprehension and excitement, and above all she was really curious.

That girl was all over the place. How could Kyoko leave her hanging like that? Did she not realize, that there were people around her, worrying about her? The text message she'd sent her in the meantime didn't say anything, and Kanae felt a bit left out. She felt downright neglected, in fact, like a third wheel. Of course, she was glad she didn't have to spend the whole afternoon in that stupid amusement park - she wasn't complaining about that. She'd brought Kyoko to him, then left, as planned, free at last. But she felt like she had been used as Tsuruga's express delivery services.

What a drag. She thought, looking up from the menu.

When he had asked her to take Kyoko to the prince and princess castle at a specific time, she was tempted to blow him off. So, that guy had big gift plans for Kyoko, and he knew he could count on Kanae's discretion? It was almost too easy for him, she was stuck, and he knew it. Kyoko had been in an indescribable state at that time and Kanae was worried for her. Between the gossip about Kana Kusunoki and the drama with that girl from the audition... Kanae couldn't help but feel that the surprise the actor had for her... It pained her to admit it, but she was convinced Kyoko would like it. Tsuruga knew damn well that Kanae would agree, if it was to make her happy!

Uuuhg it was so annoying. And now she really wanted to know what had happened afterwards! That ludicrous outfit he was wearing... The stuff Kyoko had said... It was just weird and she couldn't get it out of her head. That lingering curiosity alone was making her feel irritated.

"Hi, Moko san!" Kyoko sat down in front of her and smiled. "How's it going? You haven't been here too long, have you? »

"I just got here." Kanae said, a bit crankily. Though it was nice to see her friend, she still had some extra vexation to vent.

"Ah, I'm so happy! I feel like it's been ages since we've had ice cream together... Plus, you're the one who suggested it!" she said with stars in her eyes. "This is so cool. "She smiled as she opened the menu enthusiastically.

I can't believe it. Kanae thought. What a skit! Now she was completely normal again.

"Seriously?" She said.

"I'm sorry?"

Kanae took out her phone and held it up to Kyoko. "After that utterly incoherent message, what did you expect?"

Kyoko brought her face down, closer to the device to read the words that she had sent a few days earlier - and obviously, totally forgotten about.

'DEAR MOKO, THANKS FOR COMING WITH ME, IT WAS'

She took her face in her hands, mortified.

"Ooooooh, nooooo... Moko san! »

"It was?" Kanae asked, a little more sternly.

"I'm so..." Kyoko put her hands and forehead on the table, in dismay. "So sorry!"

"It was?" Kanae insisted. "Huh? It was what?"

"I was in another world entirely..." Kyoko regretted, raising her sorry eyes to Kanae, who folded her arms, still throwing her inquisitive looks.

"But there are things..." she said contemplatively, "that are not for me to recount..."

Kyoko seemed sincerely sorry, and Kanae felt kind of bad when she saw her friend biting her lip in remorse and frustration.

"So..." Kanae grumbled, "Then, it was good. That's that." She had made her point. She didn't want to hurt her feelings.

"It was..." Kyoko cracked a smile. "Frankly, it was, just... the happiest day of my life." she said finally, lowering her eyes modestly. "I' m sorry about the message, I... didn't even realize..."

Huh. You betcha. What kind of other world had that number one star taken her into, she'd rather not know.

A waitress came to take their order, which they passed quickly – vanilla and chocolate for Kanae, lemon and raspberry sorbet for Kyoko, their usual.

Kyoko took the opportunity to put her professional mask back on.

"So he really went all out for you, huh?" Kanae said disdainfully.

"Well, that is..."

"I don't even want to try and picture it." Just thinking about it made her stomach hurt.

"I can't exactly..."

"And what did you do next?" She had left Kyoko under a flowered archway, in front of a Tsuruga in a princely attire, with frills and everything, and blonde! What kind of crazy sh*t were these two into? Ridiculous.

"Well, actually..."

"What did he say?" As if she needed to ask the question… Kanae was in autopilot mode.

"Moko..."

"Come on! I'm sure he con-"

"Moko! "Kyoko said more sharply, her cheeks slightly redder.

At last, a normal reaction!

Kanae bit her lips.

"I'm sorry." She realized she was assaulting Kyoko with questions and not giving her a minute to answer. "Please go on, I'm listening."

"That afternoon, well, you know..." Kyoko said. "It was really… quite magical. I'm infinitely grateful to Tsuruga san for giving me this wonderful gift, and to you, too." She smiled to her warmly "For putting your own pride aside and accompanying me on this wonderful, ... fantastic adventure." Kyoko reached out her hands to Kanae's. "Your presence... Moko, I'm glad you were a part of this moment." She took her hands affectionately.

Kanae frowned. She didn't feel like she had been a part of anything.

"Great." she said gloomily, pulling her hands away as the waitress brought in their ice cream. "I just didn't understand anything, but you're happy, so everything's good." she shrugged in irritation.

"Moko, it's just that..."

"No, it's cool, no problem." she started digging into her ice cream, starting with chocolate. "I don't need to know anything more, after all, you're right. It's not like I did anything special. I just masqueraded as a princess, so that you could share this wonderful moment with your Tsuruga. »

The red on Kyoko's cheeks turned darker. Ah? What was she reacting to, now? The use of the possessive pronoun, maybe?

"Hum… After you left..." Kyoko scratched the top of her head distractedly. "Actually, I didn't really notice when you left..."

No kidding.

"I left when you ran to him..." Kanae said with a shiver. "and you held hands." Ugh…

"Hmm... Kyoko blushed a little more, "Well..." she picked up her spoon, mechanically "Afterwards, we went for a ride in a horse-drawn carriage." Suddenly her blush became even more intense.

Did she think of something? She totally thought of something. What did she think about?

"And then..." she started stirring her sorbet with her long spoon "And then he took me back to the Darumaya."

"And?"

"And what?"

"You're not going to have me believe that that was all." Kanae shook her head in disbelief. "A ride in a horse-drawn carriage, that's your wonderful moment? »

"What more would you want to have happened?"

"Oh, I don't know, like... Are you two together now?"

"Heee?" Kyoko hid her face in his hands. "No way!"

What did she mean 'no way'? It didn't make any sense.

"But..." Tsuruaga had to at least have made his intentions clear, that she was sure of, judging by his determined look when he requested her help.

"No! No, no, no. Oh, Moko san, if you say stuff like that..."

"It's just that... with all the trouble he went through , setting this up for you... It's hard to believe that..."

"Look..." Kyoko interrupted her. "I'm not really sure what it is that you're imagining." she said, her face still flushed. "But I can tell you... It's much more than that. In fact, it's..." she took a deep breath. "It's everything that's wonderful."

"Well... what are you then? In love, at least?"

Kyoko looked down again. She's not denying it. What was she thinking about? Her composed expression seemed to be slowly coming undone.

"That is..." She was still hesitating.

She looked up at Kanae with a slight smile. It looked like if Kyoko wasn't careful to restrain it, that smile threatened to spill over the edges of her face.

She remembered the serene look on her face when Kyoko saw blonde prince Tsuruga in the castle.

Her expression had changed, then. The emotion that was showing there was difficult to identify, but there was undoubtedly happiness. Kyoko, with tears in her eyes, had said... something, like Coh? Cohn? Unintelligible, really. At least, unintelligible to Kanae, anyway. Cause to Tsuruga, it seemed, it made perfect sense that she'd say… that. He had smiled too, and taken a few step towards Kyoko. The girl had brought her hands to her face, taking a small step, before rushing towards him.

Kanae had gone away at that, pestering. She was still irritated by the whole thing... She'd done all the dirty work, spending half of her afternoon in that damn princess themed park, and then Tsuruga came along, and she didn't exist anymore?

"The thing is…" Kyoko, all red, was still fiddling with the contents of her cup.

What a pair of morons. Kanae complained inside.

She had to face the facts. Whether it was a carriage ride, a confession, or even something else... Whatever Tsuruga had done, or said, or both- was the thing she needed most.

Thinking back on it, and seeing the same delicate smile blooming on Kyoko's lips right now... Kanae didn't need to intrude in their secret garden. There was definitely something between them. Something unique, something she had no right to touch upon.

"Actually..." Kyoko said, "it's a secret."

A small word:

Ah, come on! I know you are all thinking about it XD

So, here is the thing, my current dilemma: there's this story I've had in mind for years (probably one of my oldest ideas for a story), and a few months ago I started writing it. It's far from being over, but I thought I had time to work on it before canon progresses too much… I never thought canon would make what I had in mind and already written totally obsolete, but chapter 278 did. And (don't get me wrong) I love it, but it is kind of frustrating, cause now I need to decide what I'll do with the 30 pages I already have of this. Discard it? try to make it fit with new canon? or finish it as it is even though it's no longer canon? I don't know what to do! T_T

Here is 1 mn of silence to rejoice from chapter 278 and to honor the old way of writing Skip Beat fanfic.

Anyway, writing fanfiction is probably going to be very different from now on, so this short story here may not be much, but it's me adapting, lol.

I'd still like it better if Kyoko figures out the truth herself, but I wouldn't mind if something kind of like that happened. Oh who am I kidding, whatever happens in canon will be just perfect!

The title I chose is half random (and the title of a Lesley Gore song), so that if I write more short stories, I can put them here.

Sorry about the mistakes, this has not been revised...

Thank you for reading, feel free to let me know what you thought about it (it's always such a pleasure) and to come back :)

Brief epilogue:

Kanae (mischievously): I hope the girl who plays Yumika won't be mad at you.

Kyoko: Oh, about that... Um... Actually…

Kanae: Tssst! (with mercy) Come on, I got it, don't bother.