Disclaimer: Skip Beat! belongs to Nakamura Yoshiki. I don't own zilch.

A/N: I just wanted to write a short, simple one-shot with the characters of Skip Beat! It's a sorta romance. Hope you like!

Rainy Days

The rain had been coming down hard for days now. Looking out of her window in the room she lived in, over the Daruma-ya , all she could see was the torrential sheets of grey effectively blocking out everything.

Sighing, Kyoko went back to her desk. Taking out the first book to hand, Kyoko flipped to a random page, stared at it for a couple of seconds and slammed the book shut almost immediately. Rubbing her throbbing temple, Kyoko leaned back in her chair and sighed again.

She really needed to get out; she felt suffocated in her small room….but what to do?

The rain had been coming down for days, making travelling through the city especially difficult. This meant that filming for Kyoko's latest drama had been cancelled until the unseasonal storm abated, and the cast and crew could reach the location without drowning.

When Kyoko had been first told this by Sawara-san, she figured that she could use the time wisely to catch up on her latest assignments for school, one couldn't forget that though she was an up-and-coming talent, school was still important, especially in the unlikely event that she should fail in beating Sho- after all Kyoko was a senior student now. Exams were coming up and she really needed to study…….

…..But this had been over two weeks ago and the rain didn't show any sign of abating, in fact it looked like it was getting worse.

Sighing for a third time, Kyoko put down the text book (Biology for those who are wondering) and picked up her script. During the time let up from filming, Kyoko had had time to memorise the entire script cover-to-cover, she could even recite the damn thing backwards. Kyoko let out a frustrated snort and started pacing up and down.

Finally giving in her pent up frustration, Kyoko picked up her coat, bag and shoes and leapt down the steps.

"Hello, Mogami-san. Are you going out?" The okami-san called, noticing Kyoko standing there in her coat and shoes.

"Hai, okami-san." Kyoko replied, bowing in respect to her boss's wife. She couldn't help notice the okami-san looking a little strained. Business at the Daruma-ya had been pretty poor lately on account of the terrible rain. No one was willing to risk the possibly dangerous conditions to get food at the restaurant even if the food was very good.

"Are you sure about that? The weather doesn't look very good…" The okami-san looked worriedly out the window.

"I'll be fine." Kyoko said, putting all her confidence in that statement, she really needed to get out. "I'm just going to get some books out of the library for an assignment. Could you tell taishou-san where I'm going?"

Wrapping her coat firmly around her, Kyoko stepped back out into the rain. She'd spent the last few hours perusing the aisles in the library, working on her assignment and getting some inspiration for her latest role, which was in an historical drama. Which was all well and good but it couldn't keep her mind off the matter that had been nagging at the back of her mind over the past few weeks.

She really needed to think.

The rain hit her-hard- as she stepped out of the safety of the library doors. The cold seeped through her already rather damp clothing. It was rather…..refreshing. Heading over to where she'd parked her bike, Kyoko mulled over the issue that decided to surface today. Her temples started to throb again, she was going to be really sick tonight.

Jumping onto her bike, Kyoko rode in the direction of the park- risking a serious drenching (not that she wasn't already soaked through). But today seemed like a good day to clear her mind, and as the thought flashed through her mind so did the object of inner turmoil…

"Ren." Kyoko breathed.

Tsuruga Ren, Japan's top performing artist and most huggable man- Kyoko'd had her suspicions about him for a long time. This nagging feeling that she was missing something important about the enigmatic actor started about the time she got the role for Dark Moon. The feeling intensified after her encounter with that stupid beagle(Reino of La Vie Ghoul). And when she was 'looking after' Hizuri Kuu, Kyoko could almost taste the feeling…and yet it kept eluding her grasp.

Kyoko had to admit that she wasn't the brightest person in the world but there were some things that even she couldn't miss. There was something familiar about Tsuruga-san but it was more then just that.

Reaching her destination, Kyoko headed for bench overhung by a willow tree which would provide some protection against the rain. Kyoko sighed for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day, leaning her bike against the bench. Drawing her soaked coat closing to herself, though it wouldn't help- the motion made her feel a little better, Kyoko sat down, mind drifting back to the issue at hand.

For over a year, she'd managed to ignore the issue, to busy with filming, Love Me work and school. In this time Kyoko had made quite a name for herself in the showbiz world- people were recognising her as a serious contender for the top spot in the Japanese showbiz industry, and this came with a whole new territory. People were noticing her on the street and quite a few times, people had come up to her asking for autographs. And there was also the fan-mail, a large percentage of which were love letters from a considerable number of males across Japan.

This coupled with the demands of school and work served to distract her from any personal problems. But today, there was nothing to distract her, nothing to take her attention away.

Because if there was one thing Kyoko knew for sure, it was that ever since joining LME, Tsuruga Ren had become a very special person to her. The last thing she needed was this niggling feeling getting in the way of their friendship. She really needed to work out what the hell the problem was so that things would be alright when she returned to work.

Standing up, Kyoko walked out from under the cover of the willow tree into the icy rain. Turning her face to the heavens, Kyoko allowed herself to be swamped by the downpour.

And that's when it hit her……Corn!

Fumbling in her pockets, Kyoko pulled out the small blue stone given to her all those years ago. The stone never failed to mesmerise her with its many hues and colours, and it never failed to make her feel better when she was feeling blue. Looking at the pretty blue stone once again, Kyoko found herself slowing getting lost in it depths, her mind stopping its ceaseless buzzing, seemed to open up to the world. And it was only in this state at this present moment in time that Kyoko would have ever been able to find the answer to all her problems.

With a sharp intake of breath, Kyoko dropped her precious blue stone, eyes open – not quite believing what her mind and heart were telling her. It didn't make any sense……..

…But then again, it did explain everything because it made absolute sense.

Mulling over her sudden epiphany, Kyoko failed to notice the shadow behind her, until a cough alerted her to its presence.

Turning around slowly, Kyoko found herself face-to-face with the object of her dilemma.

"T-Tsuruga-san." Kyoko stuttered, as she looked upon the taller man, painfully aware of her very wet clothes clinging to her person.

"What are you doing out in the rain, Mogami-san?" Looking at her, Ren couldn't help but notice how beautiful she looked with her wet locks framing her face like that and her overly bright eyes looking so intense and bewildered…..

A blue glitter caught his eye, and glancing to the ground Ren saw the blue stone that Kyoko was always carrying around with her, the stone that he'd given her some many years ago - though he was a very different person back then.Ren could feel a small smile quirk at his lips, which he quickly got rid of seeing as how uncomfortable Kyoko already looked (He wasn't Japan's top actor for no reason).

He bent down to pick up the stone, allowing himself a moment to smile, standing up fully composed Ren was surprised to see the sudden change in her demeanor.

Whereas just moment before Kyoko had looked shocked, bewildered even at his sudden appearance, she now looked determined, her brow furrowed in concentration, fists clenched.

"Mogami-san, I believe this is yours." Ren held out the small blue stone her, beckoning for her to take it. However, Kyoko merely stared at it as if it was the whole world, and then with equal intensity she looked up at her senpai, eyes boring into his. It felt like she was looking into soul. Fighting back the urge to shiver, Ren looked back at Kyoko, his arm still outstretched. As he gazed at her, Ren noticed that she seemed to be going through some inner turmoil, she was constantly biting her lip and though she kept her eyes trained on Ren, it was clear something was troubling her.

As Ren appraised her, Kyoko slowly opened her mouth. But Ren was not expecting to hear the words that came out of her mouth.

"C-Corn. K-Kuon" Kyoko stuttered, her voice barely audible above the rain. Seeing Ren suddenly appear behind her had startled her no end but it had also surprisingly hardened her resolve. It was now or never, after taking so long (and yes, it has been a long time) to figure things out she needed to do this or….or what?

The expression on Ren's face, the usually calm and composed superstar, scared her, it was just a flicker but that instant showed her depths to his character that she's never seen before. This wasn't supposed to happen. But as soon as she saw it, it had vanished, replaced by the façade of Tsuruga-san.

" I'm s-sorry, I d-didn't mean to…" Kyoko's determined resolve slipped away, and there stood a girl terrified- it wasn't that Ren's countenance was dark or angry or evil, on the contrary it was because it was so..so vulnerable. This was a side of the actor that Kyoko had never expected to see, and it did strange things to her heart. B-but how, she'd made sure never to let anyone in again, to keep herself from feeling anything after Sho, but it also seemed that the handsome actor had found a hole in her defences, slowly worming his way in….

…and there stood a girl terrified. Ren was shocked as he saw Kyoko's countenance change once again. Damn! How could he have been so stupid? He'd never meant to scare her? Didn't she realise how much she meant to him? Ren didn't expect this to happen, he'd only let his mask slip for a second, he didn't think that she'd have seen it. But…

Eyes full of concern, Ren gazed back at Kyoko and noticed for the first time how wet she was, she was completely soaked through and shivering.

Quickly taking off his jacket (risking a serious soaking), Ren walked up to the frozen girl, who took a step back.

"Kyoko, its okay, I'm not mad." Why should he be? Approaching Kyoko for a second time, she didn't move as he put his jacket around her shoulders. And didn't remove his hands.

Kyoko subconsciously pulled the jacket closer around her small frame. Then tilting her head back, looked back into Ren's incredibly dark and expressive eyes.

"K-Kuon?" This time it was a question.

"Yes." Ren breathed, fighting the urge to step closer and inhale her scent. He was already to close.

"Why?" That simple phrase had so much packed behind it. Why did Ren/Kuon leave her all those years ago? Why didn't Ren tell her he really was when they were reunited? Why? Why? Why?

In answer, Ren leaned down and brushed his lips against her forehead.

"I'll never leave you again." Ren murmured into her hair.

Leaning into his warm embrace, Kyoko smiled with content, this wasn't quite what she was expecting but maybe falling in love wasn't such a bad thing.

A/N: Thank you for reading. I know that the ending kinda sucks but I do hope you enjoy. And reviews would be deeply appreciated by the author. It would make her very happy. XD

Thanks, BM16