Aljan Moonfire does not own Skip Beat!.

Chapter 5: Prisoner

"Sho-kun!" Kyoko's smile lit up the air around her as she joyfully flung herself into his arms. She wrapped her own limbs around him tightly as he hugged her in return, leaning down to meet her height as he did so. Her face, hidden from his sight as she half-buried it in his shoulder, winced in pain, and she shivered slightly.

"Sho…" she repeated; her voice a soft mummer of intense affection that gave no hint of her discomfort.

He leaned back and reached up to cup her face, his claws softly brushing her jaw and hair-line. His lips turned up in a soft smile, and he leaned down to press his forehead against hers. "Kyoko." He returned, and her eyes closed at the sound of the low rumble of his voice. Her face relaxed, and his eyes slowly closed too.

.-.

Sho watched her go, his eyes following her every movement until she was out of sight. Then he turned sharply at the sound of a rustle of cloth behind him and was brought up short at the sight of another, entirely unfamiliar, angel.

He scowled, "Who -?"

"My name is Mimori." She said shortly.

His eyes widened at the name. "Are you her -,"

" – best friend?" She cut him off again. "Yes. And that's why I'm here." She shook her head when all his face registered was a subtle confusion. "Kyoko didn't tell you anything, did she?"

.-.

She wrapped her hand around his throat and raised the knife, "Goodbye, Demon."

The blade fell as he closed his eyes, unresisting. This way… This way, she would live.

Red splattered everywhere…and the world…went dark.

.-.

Mimori raised her crazed, blood splattered face from her deathly silent kill, and wide, dilated blue eyes but met shocked, horrified violet.

Mimori's eyes widened still further.

"Kyo…ko…?"

.-.

"Sho-kun!" She shouted, desperately shaking his still figure. "Sho-kun! Sho! SHO!" Tears welled up in her eyes and poured down her face, sobs shaking her body and choking her voice. "Sho…" She almost keened the name as she dragged him towards her to cradle him in her arms, her hands and sleeves soaked such a deep red as to be almost black. "Sho-kun…" She whispered. "No…NO!"

And then she was suddenly still, and her head rose slowly to glare at the now darkly-winged angel that she had thrown aside in order to get to her lover's body. "You…you killed him." She whispered starkly.

Kyoko gently lowered his body back to the ground. "You killed him." She repeated, standing.

Mimori, rising from where Kyoko had thrown her, just chuckled and admired the dark, wet blood that now decorated her hands. She grinned crazily, "So I did."

And Kyoko was at her throat, hands clutching at her collar, dragging the other angel forward to face her. "Why…Why!" she screamed. "I told you not to -," she panted for breath, almost incoherent with anger and grief. "Why!" And, staring into the eyes of the Fallen angel, she noticed, for the first time, the dried tear stains on her face.

And suddenly Mimori's eyes were calm and sad; peering directly into Kyoko's still tearing ones.

"For you."

.-.

Mimori fell almost slowly, her eyes never leaving those of her killer. She didn't even try to stop her fall with her wings.

Kyoko turned away before Mimori hit the ground, tears still pouring in steady streams down her face.

Her wings faded to the darkest of colors behind her, white and black fathers drifting in her wake.

.-.

Kyoko slowly picked up the still bloody knife and knelt down next to his body, her sobs now long since faded. Slowly, she raised it before her.

"She killed you, for me." She said softly, voice still hoarse from her sobs. "...For me, Sho-kun." She closed her eyes. "Because of me." Her black feathered wings spread downwards behind her, making it seem as if she was slowly being devoured by the darkness.

She raised the knife.

.-.

Asami pressed the pause button with an almost trembling hand, stilling the image of Kyoko's 'suicide' mid-motion. She had been carefully observing the now CG-d playback, eyes wide and clutching a pen uselessly in her other hand - which hovered over an empty page in her notepad, fully ready to take note of any flaws she may have missed live the first time around.

Flaws, which she hadn't found.

This…this was beyond anything she could have expected. She blinked furiously, still slightly disbelieving, and looked over to where Kyoko was being attended to by various and sundry make-up personnel, who were struggling to remove the dried remains of the fake blood from her face.

When they had finished filming the climax of the video, and Kyoko lay silent next to the still – and, she slightly suspected, equally shocked - Sho, there had been a very long moment of silence. She had not been the only one shaken by the supposed newbie's performance; everyone on the set had been caught up in it, stunned by her expressions, by her obvious, sincere, emotions; irreversibly caught up in everything she said and did.

It was something she'd rarely heard of herself, and never even heard a hint of a rumor of in someone as young and supposedly inexperienced as Kyoko. Normally, even with very skilled and experienced actors, and even in the midst of intense scenes, there is always an assurance kept in the back of the mind that 'this is just acting – it's not real'. It was very rare in and of itself that an actor, or multiple actors, were able to damage that reassurance.

Actors themselves normally kept themselves at a distance from the characters they play, always aware that this is an act – that, even to them, this is not real. Kyoko – as far as she could tell – didn't do that. Even in a music video – arguably something far less serious than a drama or a movie – she gave herself over completely to her character, to the script. She didn't act out a character – she became her character.

It was…completely amazing – and slightly terrifying.

That girl… She looked back at the paused image – Black CG wings draped behind her, hooded eyes staring down at Sho, dagger raised high – and then at the real young woman again. Who was this girl?

Who was 'Kyoko'?

.-.

Sho fiddled irritably with the hairline of his wig, once again feeling the loss of the claws that had hampered his hands for most of the day – a loss he was blatantly grateful for. As he fussed at the now shorter silver-blond wig he had to wear for the last 'scene', he tried to focus his thoughts on the 'scene' and what he was going to be doing in it.

It was the last little clip of the music video; taking place just as the song ended. A little bit of an epilogue, hinting at other things that could have happened. It was romantic, he supposed, and would hopefully appeal to his fans; the 'lovers reunited' and all that. He didn't quite get it, but then, he also wasn't a girl. And from what he knew, girls were usually fascinated by this kind of thing, at least if Kyoko was any –

He cut his thoughts off even as her face flashed through his mind, again.

He'd been attempting to distract himself from the stupid girl that had refused to leave his thoughts all day – not think of her even more! He groaned inwardly. Needless to say, it wasn't working. He sighed, this time audibly, and finally, finally gave up. Thoughts of Kyoko immediately filled his mind, memories of both his childhood friend and the familiar stranger that had showed up for this job swirling around each other in his brain. It was as if an immense flood had been unleashed, and his mind was abruptly filled to the brim with the golden eyed girl he'd once thought he knew as well as he did himself. But, it seems that he didn't know her at all as well as he'd thought he did.

That she would be capable of something like - something like that…

It had been growing slowly ever since her first scene with Mimori, he finally admitted - if only to himself; this odd respect for her acting skill. At first, after their – his and Kyoko's, that is - first scene together, he had been curious, feeling challenged and very much up to matching her. If there was one thing he did well – besides his music, of course – it was flirt. He took pride in being able to make any woman he met blush for him. But in the last scene they had together (alive, that is)…

He growled slightly, his ego taking an enormous beating just by thinking it to himself.

But, just by saying his name… just by saying it like that…

Well, he guessed that the way she had hung onto him had also played a part – he could still almost feel her small breasts molding into his chest, her delicate hands curling into fists at his back, as he thought of it (he was a teenage male, after all)… – but in that last scene there was nothing he could term, even to himself, as simple flirting. It had been all emotion, all tenderness.

He cursed inwardly and a grimace pulled at his lips. He had been pulled completely into her flow in that moment; in a way he had sworn not to be after Asami had forced him to acknowledge that she had one. A 'flow', that is.

And then, what came after… He drew a deep breath and sighed harshly on the exhale.

It had been easy enough to do the part with Mimori – all he had to do was look demanding, and then confused, and then close his eyes, basically. But, then suddenly she was there again, and all he could hear were her screams as she threw Mimori aside and began weeping over his – supposedly dead – body. And he'd frozen, as if he were as dead as was pretending to be.

He'd been immensely grateful in that moment that his eyes were already closed.

He never could stand it when Kyoko cried.

The whole time he had wondered if she was thinking of her mother in order to sob like that. But… the whole time, she'd also been crying out his name. It had almost made him wonder how she'd react if he died for real. And then she had left his side – to 'kill' Mimori, he knew - and come back again. Then there was more fake blood splattering over him and she had collapsed beside him, almost on top of him. He could still almost feel her breath on his neck.

He stilled his thoughts for moment at the memory. …He had never seen – heard, he supposed – someone act like that. For a long moment, before he felt her breath, he'd been half-afraid that the blood was real – though he should have already known that there was no way she'd kill herself over him.

The frown that had overtaken his face as he thought deepened into a scowl. He didn't want to acknowledge anything about her, even if just to himself. She was Kyoko – his Kyoko: she wasn't supposed to have any real talents! And especially not any that she could even think of matching his with!

He huffed under his breath.

He'd always underestimated her a bit, he realized in retrospect, but who could really blame him. She'd been his best friend – at times, his only friend – but that had only been because she'd followed him around like a lost puppy. And that had sort of been how he'd seen her throughout their childhood; as a particularly loyal, well… dog.

She would have done anything for him at the drop of a hat, and he'd known it and taken advantage of it.

In a way he'd always loved her too; had cared when she cried, done his best to make sure that she was happy, when he noticed. But he was just a kid, and honestly, she was still a girl – what'd you expect, him to dote on her as well? But above all, she had been his – Mogami Kyoko had belonged to him. It had been a fact in his mind, and had stayed one for almost as long as he'd known her. It had seemed right, almost – though there had always been some guilt there too - to do what he liked with her. It wasn't like she'd ever complain; and no matter what he did, what he said, she'd always love him, always follow him, always just…be there.

But then one day he went too far, said too much, and suddenly she…wasn't there anymore.

Even after she'd erupted at him at the studio, he hadn't thought she'd really meant it – she was just angry, and she'd gotten mad at him before. He'd talk to her once she'd calmed down, and everything would go back to normal. It wasn't until he unlocked the door to the condo they'd been half-sharing and realized that all of her things were gone, that it had really sunk in. And even then, he'd just completely thrown himself into his work and hadn't allowed himself to even think of her again until he saw her face in lights up on the side of a skyscraper.

He'd been the one to suggest her and that other girl in the commercial to Asami – he was the reason she was here. He'd wanted to know – if it really was her (and it had been) - had she really meant what she'd said? Where had she gone? What was she doing? Did she – could she – really hate him now?

But now, on giving it more thought, he guessed that he'd really done it because the first thought that had entered his mind when he'd seen her giant smile up on that giant screen was to wonder if she actually was still following him – if she had really followed him straight into show business.

He grimaced. And he certainly had his answers. She did hate him. She had meant it. He likely was the reason why she was in show business. And as for where she'd gone and what she'd been doing… He had some idea, but he still didn't really know. And that both frustrated and confused him – frustrated him that he didn't know; confused him as to why he wanted to know so desperately to begin with.

But he did – he did want to know.

He'd fought against it of course – against her and her acting and the thought that maybe – just maybe, mind you – that the last time he held her in his arms, and she'd said his name like that…

That maybe it really did mean something after all.

That maybe, she hadn't just been acting.

And the thought lingered, somewhere in the continuously and stubbornly ignored part of his mind, that maybe he hadn't been either.

.-.

Kyoko held herself perfectly still before the mirror of the dressing room, letting (read: inwardly rejoicing) the make-up artists tend to the costume they were fitting around her. Violet eyes stared back at her from the mirror and she did her best to focus all of her attention on the magic the artists were casting on her. With quick strokes, the last of the fake blood was removed from her face, and she let her gaze drop down slightly to take in the new costume they had had her put on.

The school uniform was rather simple, to be honest - just a pleated black skirt that reached mid-thigh, a white blouse with a bright red bow loosely securing the collar, a fitted black blazer, knee-high socks that hugged her calves, and comfortable black shoes – but it was still immediately identifiable as what it was to anyone who looked. Since she was now actually going to high-school the uniform didn't induce the fantasies that had so absorbed her during the Curara shooting, but it still shot a shiver of pleasure down her spine to wear one every time she put one on, even if it wasn't the same as the one she actually went to school in.

She raised her gaze to meet her own eyes in the mirror and swiftly took in the subtle changes that came with each stroke of a brush against her skin or wig. The wig itself was different than the one that she had been wearing for the last several hours, the blonde wig having been switched for one of equal length, but a soft, light brown in color. She watched on as an artist pulled the thick hair of the wig into a similar style as the one she had been wearing earlier.

She blinked at herself in the mirror again – in less than half an hour she had gone from being a blood-stained angel to a simple school-girl. She smiled slightly – no matter what Moko-san said, make-up was magic, and the people who could really use it, magicians – or fairy-godmothers, depending on the situation (and gender).

She then sighed; even the distraction of the make-up wasn't enough to completely divert her thoughts this time. She still couldn't get it out of her head; the feeling of it from lingering on every inch of her skin…

Even now she couldn't quite believe what had happened, what she had done. She had been dreading what that part of the music video would be like to act out since…since even before she realized that Shotaro would be playing the demon. The depth of emotion that had to be shown in that segment compared to the others was immense, and she hadn't been at all confident of her ability to act it out. If she, herself, had never felt such depths of emotion, how could she believably act it out before a camera?

But, the moment the call for action reached her ears it was like the sensations that had been lingering in her chest since she first began acting opposite Sho unexpectedly erupted, completely overwhelming her. As if, in the space of an instant, her normal self was shunted to the side and the character she had been building in the back of her head took over her body.

And even then, that didn't exactly describe it, because she had felt everything the angel had felt – or would have felt in that situation. In that moment, for the course of those 'scenes', Kyoko – the inexperienced actress, the girl that could barely stand to think of love in relation to herself – was 'Kyoko' the angel; confident and brilliant and glowing and very nearly drowning in every emotion that practically erupted from her at the seams.

She had noticed it before of course, when she had briefly gotten so lost in her character that she didn't even realize what she was doing with Shotaro... But this? This seemed so different and so similar at the same time – and she still barely understood what had happened. She barely understood herself.

All she knew was that for that brief (all too brief) moment in time, she had been someone else entirely. And that rather than being afraid – though a slight tinge of panic at the utter lack of control therein had traced her thoughts once she finally came out of it – she had been elated. She had absolutely reveled it – in the sheer emotion of it; in the passion and pain and sorrow and…and all the feelings that she hadn't thought she even possessed any more – if she ever did to begin with.

And maybe she, herself, didn't – the thought had occurred to her more than once since. Maybe she would only ever be able to feel that much when she acted – when, for however brief a period of time, she simply wasn't herself.

Kyoko would not love - would not allow herself to love (if it had hurt so much to be thrown aside when she hadn't even really been in love with the one who betrayed her, how much worse would it be if she really was?). It had become an almost unconscious sub-routine in the back of her mind; one that had constantly come to light in her eyes over the past few months. She was an empty shell of a girl, one that didn't - couldn't – understand what it was like to feel something deeply.

But, it didn't precisely follow that the characters she played couldn't feel; couldn't love – because, at the heart of things (at least in her mind) the characters she has played (and will play) were not Kyoko.

They would not carry her curse.

When Shotaro had thrown her away it had become solidified in her heart, this utter conviction – she was cursed, by circumstances, and by Fate, and perhaps even by her own nature. No matter what, her love was destined to be unreturned. It had nearly physically hurt to acknowledge it to herself, but even as she had she'd felt the truth of it in her heart.

No matter how much she gave away of herself, no one would ever give of themselves in return.

And when Shotaro had turned away from her, and the pain of it forced a piece of herself to die silently inside her… Well, in that instant that it was hope that had finally left her behind, angry and hurt and resigned to the inevitable. When there was no hope, what was the point of even trying? If it was impossible for anyone to love her back, than she would not allow herself to love in the first place.

When Pandora opened the box, all the evils of the world rushed to escape, and when she belatedly closed the lid, only Hope was locked inside…

She didn't look at it that way consciously though; in Kyoko's mind it was simple: there was Love, and there was Kyoko, and the two just didn't – no, couldn't - mix.

And on top of that, there was Shotaro.

Shotaro, who, as if to spite her rage, was still so tangled up in everything she was that she was still finding pieces of him that he'd left behind in everything she did. And also with Shotaro came her reason for even beginning on this path: revenge (and she would get her revenge). And even on top of that there was the tightly knotted ball of feelings that always came to rest in her gut at the mere thought of him, that she knew she would never – could never - try to sort out.

And that was it.

For her it wasn't complicated at all, even if it did still hurt slightly, and she quickly pushed even that pain away. She opened her eyes - suddenly realizing that she hadn't noticed when she'd closed them - as the final make-up artist finally said she was done. She would act her part (become her part) and, if not outshine, then at least match the bane (the motivation) of her existence on a stage of her own choosing.

She glanced at the violet eyes in mirror once more as she stood.

It was time to end this.

.-.

As Shoko edged her way around the camera teams to stand with her fellow manager – Mimori's being the only one there, as Kyoko didn't seem to have her own yet, though she was sure it was just a matter of time – she did her best to keep an eye on Kyoko and Sho as she did so.

It was there, she was sure of it.

The chemistry was there. It moved between them, even when they were on opposite sides of the room. She was surprised, actually, that she seemed to be one of the only people there that saw it, even when they weren't filming. If she had to compare it to something, it would probably be lightning – harsh, dangerous, and electric; warding people off even as it inexorably connected the two them together.

There was history there too – undeniable and mysterious, except to the two of them. She always had to restrain herself from asking Sho what had happened between the two of them, for them to have ended up like this.

The only thing that she could see that made them seem like something less than lovers, would be affection – but even that, she saw hints of sometimes. The way they could read each other, the tenseness she'd seen in Sho after the suicide scene, the almost competition that had sprung up between Kyoko and Mimori (no matter how much the other crew members would call it one-sided, she could tell that, at least in part, in wasn't)…

It was there.

She moved her attention briefly to the scene the crew members were just touching up before filming. It was a stage – one of the low ones that people sometimes set up on the sides of the street; convenient and easy to set up and take down. It took up most of the fake sidewalk and faced the street.

Sho's band members were checking their instruments there as well. Between the sounds of them checking their equipment and the rest of the crew, it was rather noisy, as some of the later would be acting as extras in the scene.

She ran it over in her head, as she was sure Sho, and maybe Kyoko, were at that very moment. Sho would play his song with the rest of the band, and cuts of them playing would be thrown in between the scenes that had already been shot. Towards the end, Kyoko and Mimori would move up through the crowd, Kyoko would catch Sho's eye, and they'd watch each other, fascinated. As he sang the last notes, he'd detach his mike from the stand and move forward to reach out to her. She'd take his hand and be pulled up onstage with him, and they'd stare at each other – 'held prisoner in each other's eyes', and finally remembering – as the camera faded out.

She watched them for a moment longer, taking the time to note the newest transformation Kyoko had gone through, before Asami came up from behind her, passed her with Mimori in tow, and began to speak to said girl, Sho and Kyoko – likely going over the last part with them one last time.

She knew they'd likely get it in one take – Kyoko was too good an actress, and Sho too fascinated by her for them not to. Mimori…well, since Kyoko had finally been revealed as herself, she become more of an afterthought than anything else to Shoko, but she'd done very well in her last few takes, so she shouldn't have any problems either.

She caught Sho's gaze lingering on Kyoko again, as well as the quick, subtle glances said girl occasionally sent him when he wasn't looking and smiled to herself. Yes, she thought, they suited each other very well indeed. She had been worried about him recently. After Kyoko had overhead them and then proceeded to disappear, he had almost seemed to be forcing himself into a lot of the behaviors that had previously come naturally to him. Surprisingly, his music had almost been better than ever, but it became almost all he appeared to want to think about.

Because of his dismissive attitude towards her, she hadn't even considered Kyoko to be the cause of it, but she supposed she had been wrong. She smiled slightly. It seemed she wouldn't have to worry as much anymore.

She then winced almost imperceptibly as the glances intercepted and quickly became glares.

Then again, maybe she should worry more than ever.

.-.

Sho leaned further into the microphone and closed his eyes as he sang; the only English line of the song ringing stridently through the air with only a slight accent as the guitars and keyboard played to the harsher beat of the drums in the background, "I'm a prisoner…in paradise…"

He opened his eyes to stare into the small audience his eyes coming to a rest on Kyoko as she came closer to the front of the crowd. "You've been pierced by…all of my darkness and my lies…" the Japanese lyrics almost felt harder to pronounce; he almost choked on the truthfulness of them when her eyes finally met his. "I'm a prisoner…in paradise…"

Her eyes widened slightly and her brow creased in confusion as he sang directly to her, "There's a thorn in me…that will never be pulled out…" He smiled slightly and closed his eyes again briefly before deftly detaching the mike from its stand and moving towards the edge of the small stage. "I dedicate…this life to you…and I will never…ever…leave your side…!"

He reached out his hand to her and, slowly, she stepped forward and took it. "Because of this…cruelly, beautiful thing…called love…" He lowered the microphone from his lips and, taking a step back as he did so, pulled her up onto the stage with him. More suddenly than he had expected, she was beside him, stumbling slightly as she tried to regain her balance. He wrapped an arm around her waist as he steadied her. She reflexively placed a hand on his chest as well and looked up into his eyes again.

An endless moment passed as they stood there, unmoving, as the music slowed behind him.

"And…cut! That's a wrap, boys and girls!" Asami called out.

At her words Kyoko started and pulled away from Sho, turning her head to avoid his gaze. She quickly took a few steps back from him as his expression morphed into something between a puzzled frown and his customary smirk. She glanced back to stare again, suddenly wondering at the lyrics of the song he had just sang. She knew she shouldn't read anything deeper into it, but still…in places, it almost felt like he was…

She quickly averted her gaze once more, wrestling with the strange feelings in her chest as she hopped down off the small stage again. She almost didn't even notice as Asami approached, smiling widely and already speaking. As she reached the young woman, Asami noticed her distraction and leaned down slight to speak closer to face to face. "Kyoko-chan?" she asked, slightly concerned, as she met said girl's eyes more clearly. "Kyoko-chan, are you listening to me?"

"Ah!" she said, surprised, before nodding, "Yes, I was."

Asami raised a brow skeptically, but didn't saying anything further about it. The woman continued to congratulate her on her performance and thank her for accepting the job before moving on to speak to Sho. Kyoko brushed past Mimori without a word, ignoring the other girl's stare on her back as she walked away towards the dressing room.

.-.

Mimori hesitated slightly before the closed door of Sho's dressing room, her expression slightly crumpled as she thought about the last scene. Sho had looked so cool up there, so hot, so amazing, that she'd had to fight really hard not to squeal in amazement. As she had moved closer to the stage with Kyoko, her excitement had grown even more. It was like being at one of his amazing concerts, right in the front row. When they finally got really close though, towards the end on the song, she had almost forgotten that it was supposed to be part of an act.

So, when Sho had at last looked down towards the front, she had been sure that his eyes would land on her…but instead it had felt like Sho had looked right past her. Like he hadn't even seen her at all. His eyes had landed right on Kyoko and hadn't moved for the rest of the song. It didn't even occur to her until after the director called for the wrap that they were supposed to be acting. It was like it had really happened – like, right before her eyes, Sho had chosen his childhood friend over her.

But they were acting. They had to have been acting. Everything she had done to earn his affections would mean nothing if they weren't. Everything…even pretending to kill Sho would have meant nothing.

They were acting, she carefully told herself. Acting.

She took a deep breath and pasted a bright and happy expression on her face before raising her hand to knock on the door. When she did, she was surprised to see it open slightly with just that. Her expression brightened into something a bit more real as she heard Sho give a brief grunt of acceptance of the intrusion from inside. Perhaps he had been waiting for her?

"Sho-chan ~!" she called out as she entered, a smile erupting over her face. "Thank you for the hard work!" she continued, even as she saw the anticipation disappear from his face. "I hope to work with you again soon!" she finished the polite words cheerfully.

Sho just stared at her blankly for a moment before speaking, "….What? So it's just you?" he raised his magazine again and sank back down on the lounge chair.

Mimori felt her heart break slightly at his reaction before anger swiftly replaced it, "So…so mean! What do you mean, 'So it's just you'?! Who were you expecting to come?!"

He paused for a minute, expression still hidden by the magazine. "….I'm not expecting anyone."

"Liar!"

"It's the truth." He returned evenly, though his thoughts were completely to the contrary. 'Now that I think more about it, there's no way she would go looking for me of her own accord. The acting must have thrown me off…'

Mimori's face crumpled once more at the obvious lie. 'Liar…you were really…waiting for that girl…' Suddenly, she really wanted to cry. "Sho…"

At the sound of his name he glanced over at the girl, who now had an obviously depressed aura hanging around her as she shrunk into the door. "Hey, what wrong now?"

Mimori glanced over at him again. "…Because…you…she…" she murmured softly, unable to put words to the thoughts that spun through her mind – of him and her and… She couldn't restrain the soft sob that erupted from her throat.

Sho just sighed exasperatedly in reaction. "How troublesome…" he got up a moved to stand behind her before patting her on the head. "What's wrong?"

She was silent for a moment, seemingly debating something. "Sho-kun," she then said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Ki – kiss me…" she blushed heavily.

"Okay, sure. C'mon, turn around." He pulled her to face him and went for a peck on the lips.

"Noooooo!" she pushed him away, and he stared at her, utterly bewildered.

"Do you want it or not?!" he yelled back.

"I don't want such a casual kiss!" she cried, before bursting into sobs. 'I can't feel any affection what so ever! I want a passionate, lover's kiss, but…! He doesn't even…'

"What?" he stared at her, once more annoyed. 'So weird…God, this is so troublesome…' he shook his head slightly, "What's wrong with you?" He grimaced slightly, 'And this is why I like older women...'

Ignoring her soft sobs and protests, he pulled her into his arms and said, "Please stop crying…you make things so difficult for me, Mimori…" Mimori immediately melted in bliss at the feel of his arms around her. Sho snorted inwardly at how easy it had been to calm her down, 'But no matter what their age, it's so easy to please a girl…for me at least.'

He looked up then, suddenly feeling like he was being watched. He started and immediately dropped the previously sobbing girl when he met Kyoko's eyes.

Mimori's manager, who had been walking not far behind Kyoko, quickly hurried to take the girl away, worried that she was sick or drunk, not having seen Sho hug her. As she was hauled away, Mimori opened her eyes, and the only thing she saw was Sho, standing far too close Kyoko. She immediately closed them again, and began to sob in earnest. The hug…his words…they hadn't meant anything after all. All Sho saw…was her.

.-.

Kyoko watched Mimori's manager flee with her charge for a moment before turning back to the blond. "That gave me shock." She said sarcastically. "Never knew you had it in you – and you seemed rather good at it too."

"Huh?"

"That amazing ability you have: to be able to stop a girl's tears in seconds..."

'She…how long was she there?' he suddenly cursed himself for not closing the door again.

"It seems like your gentleness only ever had a price…for me." She stated stoically.

"You…you're talking about when we were kids?"

"Yeah." She gave a slightly sad smirk, "You could only ever stand and watch me cry with that dumbstruck look on your face."

He almost flinched at the almost-accusation. "Th – That was..!" he inhaled deeply and, suddenly remembering his previous thoughts about the girl in front of him, did his best to actually vocalize everything he was thinking. "It's not like I only know how to stand and watch stupidly when you cry...it's because I never knew what to do!"

She raised an eyebrow at the seemingly contradictory statement and then had to resist the urge to step back when he slowly began to move closer to her. "Even if you never said anything," he continued, only pause when he saw her face begin to twist slightly at the thought of her mother.

He tried again, "I didn't think I had any right to try and console you, when I always basked so blatantly in the love of my own parents. I thought, it might just seem like I was…boasting, or…" he finally trailed off just as he reached out to touch her arm.

She caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and drew away just enough to force him to abort the motion. She then closed her eyes, and responded, "I would have been grateful, I think, even if you thought it might have sounded off. But I already knew all that. So, naturally, I did my best to never cry in front of you again – because I didn't want to make things hard for you."

She opened her eyes to hold his gaze as solidly as she could as he processed that, suddenly realizing that she had never admitted that to him before. "So, that means…" Sho began slowly, "…that when you went missing sometimes, you actually went somewhere else to cry?"

"…Yes."

He stared thoughtfully down at her for a moment before sighing. "…You…idiot…"

"What? Why am I suddenly an idiot?! You're the idiot he –"

He reached out and grabbed her upper arms, shaking her slightly, still stuck by the realization, "Do you really think it would have troubled me that much to help you, you absolute idiot! You were my best friend – do you really think I would have minded…?!"

"-re, and let me tell…you…" she stared up at him blankly, trying to process what he just said. "What?"

He shook her again. "Do you really think that I wouldn't have tried to comfort you somehow if you had just let me?"

"I…" She shook her head, "I…What?"

"Despite everything, you were still my best friend back then. Even I'm not that bad."

"No." Kyoko said. "No." It wasn't a statement that merited a response in her mind. Even as he opened his mouth again, she immediately flared up in confused, almost panicked, outrage. "No, you were the one who said that I didn't mean anything to you – that you just brought me along with you as a… No." She glared heatedly, her demons rising around her slightly in an ominous aura. "How…how dare you try and…"

Confused himself, and struggling to keep up with the sudden mood-swing, Sho reflexively glared back. "How dare I try and…what?"

She growled incoherently and turned and stalked off, mumbling under her breath. Sho raced to catch up with her, chasing her a good few meters before he caught up with her. He grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "How dare I…what?" he repeated.

She glared up at him and shouted, "It's none of your business! Now stop following me! How disgusting!"

"Disgust-!" Sho growled back, suddenly just as angry. "The disgusting one is you – wearing such a god-awful uniform…!" He quickly shot off the insult at the only thing that grabbed his immediate attention.

They two teens, suddenly locked in a different kind of debate all together, didn't even notice as Shoko and Asami approached from the opposite end of the hall. The two women certainly noticed them though. "Eh?" said Asami, "its Kyoko and Sho – no wonder they weren't at the lounge; they must have been here…" He voice trailed off as the other two continued shouting, their voices growing louder and softer in turns as the argument progressed. Shoko and Asami watched on in fascination as they inched ever closer to each other.

"At first I thought you were a stranger, so I held back, but since it was really you all along, I'll be frank! That uniform is embarrassingly ugly! You really have no taste – that thing should have never been put on a human being!"

"Wh – What?!" unable to come up with a defense for the uniform she herself hated, or any insults for what he was wearing himself, she shot her insult straight at him. "As the worst human being ever, you have absolutely no right to criticize me! This is what the company told to wear! And you also have no right to tell me I have no taste – I swear, I'll announce it to the whole world: that your real name is Fuwa Shot-"

His eyes widening rapidly at the threat, he quickly jumped to seal her mouth shut with his hand. "If you dare tell anyone…" he said menacingly, an aura almost equal to her own erupting from him, "I'll also let out a secret that will kill any reputation you'll ever manage to gain. I'll say," he whispered, "that your stage name, 'Kyoko', came about because the only things you suggested were names like 'Princess Cindy' (short for Cinderella) and Princess Rose (From Sleeping Beauty) - things that your company couldn't use in a million years!" Her eyes widened in horror and he grinned, "That's what I'll say!"

"How…how did you know…?" she whispered in horror.

"What? You mean that really happened?" he laughed, loudly, "Then I'll be doubly sure to publicize it!"

"Gah…You…!" She screamed, "You mean you were just guessing?! You cowardly, cunning, man!"

"Keh! Yeah, and you were dumb enough to fall for it!" he laughed even louder as he dodged the punch she sent at him, still grinning widely.

Shoko and Asami continued to stare. "…Are you guys…still going out?" Asami asked loudly, freezing them in their tracks. They immediately turned on her.

"I'm not going out with him – and why is it 'still'? We were never really going out to begin with!" Kyoko exclaimed at the same time Sho growled, "You just had to look to know we were only arguing – what are saying?"

Asami just raised a skeptical brow and thought, 'Anyone who saw that would think it was just normal bantering between couples…'

Shoko had an almost identical look on her face, thinking, 'They looked so happy and innocent though, even if they were arguing. I've never seen Sho look like that before…'

"More importantly though, to me this idiot," They declared at the same time, "is an Either-You-I-Die-Enemy!"

There was an awkward pause as they realized they had said the exact same thing at the same time and Shoko faintly thought, 'And what's that – something like a mortal enemy?'

Then they once more turned to each other and shouted, "Stop copying me!"

Asami just smiled at them, like they were two children trying to keep a secret that she already knew, and said, "Alright, alright…Anyway, I came to find you two. We're having a small get together in the lounge to celebrate some before we all head home, as the actual filming is over ahead of schedule. All that's really left is the editing…and the publicizing, which you won't be needed for." She directed the last part at Kyoko.

Kyoko, now steadfastly ignoring the still fuming Sho nodded interestedly and said, "Of course I'll come. I'd like to at least say good bye to everyone before leaving."

Asami smiled back and they walked off together, chattering happily, and leaving a slightly annoyed Shoko to try and calm Sho down. As soon as they disappeared around the corner, Sho immediately dropped his angry expression and sighed in relief. He glanced at the now confused Shoko and smiled slightly. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Shoko just stared at him, "For what?"

He glanced away, "For coming when you did…that would have ended…badly…" He snorted inwardly, 'Yeah, and awkwardly…and loudly, knowing her.'

"Oh?" Shoko made an interested sound. "Did something happen?"

He flushed very lightly, vividly remembering what he'd actually ended up saying to his childhood friend. He immediately turned away, trying to hide the flush, and walked away. "No! Nothing happened!" He called back over his shoulder.

Shoko, who had seen the blush, despite his efforts, immediately raced to catch up with him. "Sho…! Come on, tell the truth here!"

"Nothing happened!"

"Really?"

"Yes!"

"…Really?"

"…"

Author's Note

So, yeah, I finally managed to squeeze this one out of my head – feels like I've been working on it for forever and a half, though.

I'm a bit worried about your reception of it, because, to be honest, a hell of a lot happened this chapter. I hope you like my Sho and Kyoko monologues – and my reasoning/portrayal of how they think, and how they think of each other. I hope you like what I kept of canon towards the end. I hope you liked the other POVs I threw in there. To be honest, I just hope you like it – I feel like I've been looking at it for too long, so at the moment I'm not too sure of my own feelings on it.

Either way, I hope you take the time to review.

~ Aljan Moonfire