Edit:

(15/12/19)

Hey, guys! First of all, thank you so much for reading FotPB and for your support over the years. Unfortunately, I am writing this to state that I'll be officially discontinuing this fic. I think it's better to state it here rather than keep your hopes up in vain for an update that won't come.

FotPB has garnered plenty of mixed reactions, especially in the beginning. You guys have no idea the hate I got writing this fic. Many reviewers were livid at how unhealthy this relationship was, of how horrible Ren is, etc, and you guys would be absolutely right. He is not a good person in this fic—that's the whole point. I'm tired of reiterating this over the years. This isn't a happy, rainbow-filled relationship. And I won't lie and say I wasn't exhausted by the negativity I got by readers who constantly ignored my warnings in my A/Ns.

And then there were some reviewers who raged at me for updating so slowly. I remember one reviewer who said the actual Skip Beat! manga updated faster than me, and saying how ridiculous it was for me to update so slowly in comparison. I'd never forget how angry I felt when I read it.

Obviously the manga would update faster, because the mangaka is getting paid for her work. She is contracted to update monthly with a publisher. I do not work with a publisher, and I write for free because it's my passion. I don't follow a schedule, and neither should that reviewer assume I should follow one when I'm not contractually obligated to update for said reviewer.

Of course, this isn't directed at most of you. There is still the majority of you who are sweet and encouraging and have been so supportive for so long. To those readers, thank you so much. I'm so grateful. I just thought I should share how I felt writing FotPB over the years, things that I've never shared before.

As for my other Skip Beat! fics, those are not discontinued yet, especially not Sugar. Hopefully not. Until then, see you guys around, and thanks again so much for everything! x

-LJ

Chapter 1

Mogami Kyoko stared at the bottle of pills in her hand. She hadn't taken any today, and her lips were tightly scrunched together as she contemplated what to do. Furtively, she gave a cursory glance around her deserted study room, despite knowing the whole house was empty. He had left early in the morning to attend to his busy duties as one of the most famous and well-known actors in the world, and due to his intensely packed schedule, probably wouldn't be back until the end of the day. It was a miracle, indeed, how the famous star constantly made time for her. It touched her heart.

Kyoko had begged him to keep their relationship secret. The last thing she needed was publicity. Many would think, perhaps, that she was dating Tsuruga Ren for just that, publicity. For his wealth. For his fame. She wasn't part of the showbiz world, after all. She had little to no money for herself; her earnings as a social worker were meager. And above all, people—if they caught wind of her relationship with him—would also be certain of one thing: that she most definitely wasn't being with him because she genuinely loved him.

Well, they were right regarding that last aspect.

It had started out that way, anyway. When Mogami Kyoko had first met Tsuruga Ren by chance, she had been awestruck. Having an ex-boyfriend who was a singer pop-star helped, for one, and she'd ended up complying after Fuwa Sho had effortlessly manipulated her into serving as a waitress of sorts at his little party held in his luxurious home. Several other celebrities had been invited, including Sho's rival and Japan's number one actor (his manager had insisted that it would be poor for Sho's public image if he didn't at least extend an invitation to the man, who had shockingly accepted), and Kyoko had embarrassed herself that night when she had spilled the glass of wine she was serving all over his suit.

He hadn't been angry, which was shocking. If it was Sho he would probably have murdered her, or something. Spewing mad apologies profusely, Kyoko had been abashed when the actor had smiled gently at her instead, and asked if she was alright. Things hadn't exactly gone better when she had impulsively grabbed her handkerchief from her pocket and attempted to clean the front of his expensive suit, only to realize with horror that she was using a hankie that she had used to clear up some butter from the kitchen counter earlier. For that terrible moment, she had simply stood there frozen and stared at him, her mouth wide open with the hankie hanging limply off her stiff hand. She didn't know what to do. It wasn't as if she could afford to pay him for ruining his Armani suit.

She didn't know what to do.

And then he had started laughing.

It wasn't a derisive laugh, not like Sho. It was simply laughter—he was amused, he clearly found her a source of humor for reasons she didn't fathom, and so he was laughing. She stared at him harder, wondering if he had gone mad. After a while, Tsuruga Ren had told her amidst chuckles, very kindly, that it was alright, and that she didn't need to worry herself about it.

He was so very kind.

Kyoko had watched him closely, then. He was no doubt an extremely attractive man, with his towering, dignified stature, his silky dark hair and mesmerizing, enigmatic dark eyes, and she didn't need to look past his ruined attire to know that he was very well-built and strong. He was toned and powerful (she'd heard he was gifted in every form of martial arts, even), and very, very intelligent. Too intelligent, sometimes. His prowess and skill as the best actor in the whole of Japan was known to all. He was truly a fine masculine specimen.

He would make the perfect sperm donor.

That was something Mogami Kyoko had been looking for, at least for a while now.

It had started a couple months back, when her best friend, Kanae, had had her first baby in the hospital. He was the most beautiful little thing Kyoko had ever seen, with his tiny button nose, round apple cheeks, and large trusting eyes. She had seen the way the newborn baby gazed at Kanae from where he lay as a clothed bundle in her arms—as if his mother was his only world. And the normally stoic Kanae… she had looked happy.

It was a miracle, indeed. But then babies were all miracles.

Kyoko had been envious. For someone who had been alone a great deal of her life, seeing that little scene before her in the hospital ward had been heart-stirring. She wanted to have a baby of her own to love and to protect and to cherish, to have such a child so precious to her that she could spend her life with. She wanted to wake up to sound of its cries for her, and to go to sleep at night after singing it to sleep. She didn't want to wake up alone, like she did every day. A baby was what she wanted more than anything else right now.

"You need a man before that can happen, you know," Kanae said flatly, before cooing to her baby, after Kyoko had told her.

The baby giggled.

Kyoko looked stonily at her friend, her usually cheerful demeanor disappearing. "Please, no."

Her brief romance with her childhood friend Sho had hardened her—he had used her feelings for him so that she would willingly serve him and fulfil his daily needs then as if she was no more than his own personal servant (or a slave, technically, since it wasn't as if she had been paid), before promptly dumping her one day for a beautiful model he had met.

Men weren't to be trusted. Besides, Kyoko had been raised throughout her childhood by a single mother, and she had done pretty well for herself, hadn't she, without a father?

Who ever said that a father was necessary for bringing up a child?

But a father was necessary for creating one.

Tsuruga Ren was perfect. If any man should father her child, she wanted it to be him. He had the best genes a child could ever want from a father.

And yet she was beginning, over the past month of their relationship, to feel guilty, and to feel other emotions she couldn't understand.

He was incredibly good to her. He was gentle, and yet at the same time, there was a sort of dangerous steel in him. It thrilled her more than she would admit. Lovemaking with him was, suffice to say, different. She wasn't sexually experienced—the furthest she'd ever gotten in that aspect was with Sho, who, admittedly, wasn't bad at all in bed. But all the same Tsuruga Ren was unique; he was careful with her at the same time and yet also very strongly dominant. He left no corner of her body unexplored. He made her breathless. He made her heady. He made her drunk. He made her feel loved.

He made her scared.

Things were going too well. And when things went too well, most of the time they weren't going to last long. Kyoko knew that she was growing steadily attached to him more than she ever planned to in the first place. What did he really see in her? She didn't dare to take in that soft look in his dark eyes when he gazed at her sometimes. Was it affection, like it seemed to be? It was true that she had never had a more doting boyfriend in her life. He was a star, and yet he was dating a woman who was not even in the world of showbiz, which was rare of him. She'd known from past articles and news that he had been together with actresses and models before, though their relationships never lasted very long.

Playboy.

The word was bitter in her lips. Was she a new taste for him, him being with a woman who was not part of the acting industry? If his previous relationships had been fleeting, then why would theirs be any different?

Which was a good thing, Kyoko told herself. That was the plan. Tsuruga had told her that he would be heading to Guam soon to shoot a criminal drama, and his stay there might extend up to two months. He had asked her to go with him, but she had refused, saying that her doing so might expose the nature and secrecy of their relationship. He hadn't responded after she had said that, but had simply looked thoughtful, and she had wondered what was going through that enigmatic head of his—he was so mysterious, sometimes. The truth was Kyoko didn't really grasp what Ren actually thought about her persistence in keeping their romance a secret; she had requested it, and he had simply not denied her. That was all she knew from his input in the matter.

No matter. When he headed to Guam—which was in a month's time—she would be ready. That was the time to strike. She would leave him then, and disappear from his life. When he returned he would find her gone. Kyoko's main goal now was to conceive within the remaining time she had left with Ren, and once he was gone for Guam, she would go on her own, with a piece of him embedded in her. He would never know of her pregnancy.

Kyoko inhaled sharply, and placed the bottle of contraception pills firmly back onto the shelf. From today onwards, she was going to stop taking it. She had a month to go, thought she was certain, judging by their active sexual life, that she would conceive very, very easily and swiftly. They were both healthy, and he was absolutely virile.

She moved down the mahogany stairs. It was a large, lavish terrace house she was currently staying in; she had moved to his home since they had started dating. She highly doubted, anyway, that he would want to stay in her tiny apartment, though he had visited her there several times before at the start of their relationship.

Kyoko cracked her knuckles, and rolled her disheveled sleeves up. She was determined to make a proper dinner for Ren today, and with that thought in mind, she grabbed her jacket from the coat hanger by the door and put it on, prepared to head out to the supermarket.

Kyoko had never really been an expert when it came to fashion. Much as she loved dressing up, she simply didn't know what to wear, and at the moment she was wearing a long-sleeved sweater (the weather was getting very cold) and knee-high jeans. A diamond necklace, a gift from Ren, lay around her neck.

The Queen Rosa.

She smiled to herself, fingers reaching to tenderly touch the tiny object lying on her collarbone.

It seemed there were other pieces of Ren that she could also take away with her, after all. Her gaze sobered as a saddening realization abruptly came to her.

No. She couldn't take this with her, and she knew it.

"I'm telling you, I got this figured out," Kyoko insisted as she vigorously cut the vegetables on the chopping board, the knife pressing now and then into the hard plastic. Her cell phone was currently trapped between her shoulder and her ear as she cut away. "I had this planned from the start—"

"Please, you had nothing planned," Kanae snorted from the other line, ignoring Kyoko's indignant splutters. "All you had in that mind of yours was a baby, and then you went right ahead and tried to seduce him—"

"I did not try to seduce him!" Kyoko shouted defensively. She pouted her lip, sniffing theatrically. Her hands clamped over the cut pieces of vegetable before scooping them up and tossing them carefully into a bowl. "Really, Moko-chan, you know nothing about me at all—"

"I know too much about you, that's the problem," Kanae retorted. "This isn't the way, Kyoko, though I supposed I've told you that a million times before. You—" She paused, and Kyoko could hear the baby—Coco-chan—whining in the background. A few seconds passed as Kanae cooed something to him, and then she spoke to Kyoko again. "Honestly. Are you sure you're prepared for motherhood? It's very tiring, you know."

"I'm always prepared!" Kyoko said enthusiastically. "I'm going to buy the baby clothes as soon as I can, and you know I recently saw these fairy PJs on sale, and it's the most adorable thing, I tell you, they even come with rubber wands, Moko-chan, rubber wands—"

"Yeah, yeah, don't drag your fairy fetishes into this, please," Kanae grumbled.

Kyoko's mouth dropped. "Moko-chan, Coco-chan is right there with you! Don't say such inappropriate language!"

"Well, in any case," Kanae said unconcernedly. "What's your plan now? You're still on birth control, right?"

"I... I'm not anymore starting from today," Kyoko said, more soberly this time. She glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine. He was going to come home soon, and she bet that he hadn't eaten dinner—as always. "He's heading for Guam in a month's time."

"And?" Kanae said quietly.

"That's it." Kyoko told herself that it was the sting of the onions she was now chopping that was causing her eyes to tear up. She coughed. "I'll have to go, then."

"You sound sad," Kanae said skeptically. "Your great plan isn't all that great, is it? You don't even want to leave him."

"There's no point in staying on anymore by then," Kyoko said simply. "I told you, you don't need a father to raise a child. What's wrong with a single mother?"

"Nothing," Kanae said. "But you're cruel, you know."

"C-cruel?" Kyoko stammered, nearly dropping the chopper.

"Using him as your personal baby-maker, that's what," Kanae said bluntly. "I know you have little to no faith in men, but Tsuruga-san is different. He truly loves you."

"I need to go," Kyoko said quickly.

"What? Wait! Is it because of what I said? Love? Kyoko, don't be foolish, for heaven's sake—"

"Seeya," she chirped, and hung up the phone with her food-stained bare hands. She sighed, wiping her dirtied phone with a towel.

Alright. It was time to finish up making the rest of his dinner.

It was half an hour later when she finally took out the metal tray of steaming turkey from the oven. She inhaled deeply, and smiled at the delicious aroma wafting to her nose. Her stomach grumbled audibly, and her face flushed, smile faltering. She was hungrier than she'd anticipated. Still, she refused to eat until Tsuruga-san was home, and with that in mind, she gingerly lowered the tray onto the table with oven mitten-clad hands.

Kyoko checked the rice cooker. The small light on its white surface was flickering green, a sign that it was done. Once she finished checking, she heaped the cooked vegetables from the saucepan onto a plate.

She was just about finished when she heard it; the sounds of the sleek car's engine rumbling in the driveway. Excited, she removed her mitts and rested them on the side of the counter.

She opened the kitchen door, and skipped down from the head of the staircase, peering enthusiastically at the main entrance and watching as the large oak door of the house slowly opened.

A tall, dark-haired man came into view, his footfalls graceful and sure-footed. His silky raven hair, despite him having been out and active the whole day, framed the sides of his angular, elegant face smoothly. He was wearing a long trench coat, along with full-length leather-tight trousers that clung to his long sinuous legs. A satchel hung off his shoulder.

He looked up, and smiled the tender smile that caused thousands of his female fans to swoon every single time they saw it.

"I'm home, Mogami-san."

It was strange, she knew. Despite having dated for quite a while, the pair remained on a last-name basis. Kyoko hadn't dared to call him by his first name—she had no idea what his reaction would be, and it felt so strangely informal to acknowledge him as such. Calling him by his first name left her with a pang of startling intimacy that she wasn't prepared for, that she wasn't sure she would ever be prepared for. He never pushed her in this aspect, and had always politely regarded her with the similar formality that she addressed him with. She wondered if he was just as guarded as she was, or if he was simply reciprocating her refusal to breach the invisible boundaries between them.

The only times she had accidentally called him Ren were in the midst of the heat of their lovemaking sessions, when the name had fallen uncontrollably—intimately—from her lips. He seemed to have liked it, she realized, for his ministrations on her body always sped up whenever she called him that.

But all the same, it was rare for any of them to address each other by their first name in the day.

"You look really tired, Tsuruga-san," Kyoko said in concern as she lowered the plate of cooked vegetables onto the dining table. "Was work tough for you today?"

Ren smiled at her. He took off his trench coat, revealing the long black loose turtleneck sweater he wore underneath.

"A little, I suppose," he conceded. "But there's nothing surprising about that." He cast his warm dark gaze on the dishes on the marble table. "And I see that you've done an outstanding job once again. You shouldn't have."

"Of course I should!" Kyoko insisted. "You didn't eat dinner again, did you? You must be starving!"

She had barely finished speaking when a drawn-out growl suddenly echoed in the initially quiet air. The unexpected sound was loud—loud enough that she froze in her tracks. Both of them stilled, and they stared at each other for a shocked moment. Still standing by the edge of the table, she could feel her face reddening as she met amused obsidian eyes.

Why did her stomach have to ruin things at a time like this?

He smiled teasingly at her. "Well, now that you mentioned it, I am starving. Shall we eat?"

"Stop laughing at me!" Kyoko cried theatrically, regaining her ability to speak once more. She ripped her already loosened apron off from around her waist and pressed the fabric to her heated face, making sure that all her features were covered. "This isn't funny! You're laughing at me, aren't you?"

"Mogami-san—"

"Yes, you are! I can hear it in your voice! Stop it! It's not funny!"

A large adroit hand gently descended onto her small one, and she stiffened as he softly tugged her fingers away, peeling the apron from her crimson face. She probably looked like a tomato right then, with her red cheeks and disheveled copper hair sticking out.

Damned his face! His mesmerizing dark eyes were glimmering imploringly at her, his raven head tilted slightly to one side. She recognized that look; she'd seen him use that alluring expression many times before.

"Let's eat together, Mogami-san."

She flushed.

A few minutes later they were both seated by the table, tucking into their dinner. A companionable silence had stretched on between the couple, save for the sounds of cutlery clinking lightly against their plates. Most of her embarrassment had finally faded away throughout the meal, and she munched on happily at last, beaming at him.

"Mogami-san," he said quietly.

Kyoko brightened. "Yes?"

"I believe you know of the upcoming awards event," he responded. "I spoke to you about it, yes?"

"Oh!" Kyoko nodded. "Yes, you said there's going to be a huge awards event held next week, and that you were nominated. It's a sort of film award show, isn't it? Lots of other famous actors will be there too."

"That's correct," he said gently.

"What about it?" Kyoko said, chewing away on her rice. "Don't worry, Tsuruga-san, knowing that it's you, you definitely already won the award! Next week is going to be a great week for you!"

It was simply, she thought, ridiculous to even think that Tsuruga Ren hadn't won. Even from where they sat in his home she could see the accolades and awards he had achieved over the years throughout his acting career situated on the tall shelves around them. The upcoming award show was simply another achievement that he would be adding to his shelves in no time next week.

And that amount would only keep growing, she knew. It seemed his success as Japan's top actor was only becoming more and more immense as time passed. After all, everyone—everyone—knew that as long as his name was etched in the credits of a drama series or a movie (or any film production, really), the result would be certain: the ratings for the film were going to be sky high.

"I'm flattered that you think so," Ren said, smiling. "But no, that's not why I'm mentioning this to you."

She widened her eyes. "Then… why?"

He lowered his cutlery gracefully on his plate, and then gazed at her. Something about the intensity of his stare made her suddenly uneasy.

"Y—yes?" she asked timidly, swallowing.

"I will be expected to turn up with a date," he said, with deceptive mildness.

She flushed. "I—I… Well, if Tsuruga-san really has to, it's alright! You can go with anyone you like! I really don't mind! It's all for work, isn't it?"

"Really?" he prompted gently. "I can go with anyone I like?"

She forced a smile. "I mean—well, yes. Don't worry about me, Tsuruga-san. I'll be fine. I—I won't be jealous, or anything—"

"I see." His large hand unexpectedly landed on hers, where she had been resting her hand beside her plate. His appendage was so big that he enveloped her tiny hand completely. She squeaked, and jumped in her seat, nearly whipping herself away from the sudden contact. "Then may I please have the honors of having you go with me, Mogami-san?"

Her mouth was wide agape, probably showing him an eyeful of the half-chewed up rice inside, but she was too shocked to care. "Me?"

"Of course." His baritone was quietly casual, but there was a blunt quality to it that stunned her. "To be honest, I've been considering it for a while now. I believe it's time."

"T-time?"

"To make our relationship public," he said gently. "What do you think, Mogami-san?"

Her face had gone red again, and she was stammering and spluttering incoherently under her breath, nearly choking on her rice. He waited patiently for her to regain her composure, his hand still resting wordlessly over hers.

She wasn't ready for this. It wasn't supposed to be part of her plan, after all. If their being together was made public, what was going to happen to her after she broke up with Tsuruga-san?

What she needed was for things between them to be discreet and covert. Revealing the truth about their relationship to the public wasn't going to help at all, especially once it reached the point of time where she intended to end things with him. She wanted to make a clean, quiet cut. A little slip and she would be out of his life forever. What if the media recognized her later on?

She wondered why she was suddenly feeling a clench of pain in her chest.

A sudden sound rung through the air, shrill against the initial silence. It stretched on, persistent and incessant. Kyoko jumped in her chair, and Ren, who was startled as well, loosened his hand above hers. Thankful for the distraction, Kyoko blurted out hastily, "Excuse me," before fleeing and making a mad rush for her cell phone, which she had left in the kitchen.

She didn't dare to look at his face.

Once Kyoko had gotten her hands quickly on her cell phone (which was resting on the kitchen counter), she impulsively answered the call without even so much a glance at her caller ID. Her embarrassment and discomfort was still gnawing away at her, and she was desperate to drag things out for as long as she could here in the kitchen without having to return to Ren, and above all, answer his request.

"Hello?" she said, half-expecting to hear Kanae's cool, irritated voice.

"Kyoko." A very familiar masculine voice drawled in her ear.

Her eyes widened as she inhaled sharply. She could already feel her heart plummeting to the bottom of her chest at the caller's voice. Oh no. Almost immediately she regretted picking up the call.

"So I finally managed to contact you, huh," Fuwa Sho said. "You've been completely MIA recently, at least for the past month. You never pick up calls, you never answer texts, and when I go over to your flat, you're never at home. Not even in the middle of the night. Where are you now?"

"Y-you stalker!" Kyoko spat, her fingers clenching over the hard granite of the kitchen counter. A part of her was very tempted to just hang up on him right then, but she had a feeling he was going to call back the moment she did that. "It's none of your business where I am!"

This was not good. She did not want to talk on the phone with Sho when Tsuruga-san was in the house. It was known to her that the two felt a mutual disdain towards the other. Sho had once openly and publicly challenged Tsuruga-san a long time ago, declaring that he was going to surpass the actor in both popularity and status one day. The actor had not even acknowledged his challenge, which had only fueled the singer's loathing towards him. Ren's personal contempt towards the singer had also worsened over time as well once Kyoko had begun dating Ren; after all, the actor knew that she was Sho's ex. On the other hand, Kyoko was also not too keen to let Sho know that she was now romantically involved with Ren.

This was a very, very bad situation indeed.

"Who are you calling a stalker?" Sho snorted. "Don't flatter yourself. Now where the hell are you? You're not at home. I checked. Where the fuck have you been for the past month, Kyoko?"

"And how is this any of your business?" Kyoko shot back. "I'm busy now. I'm—"

"Not so fast," Sho drawled. "If you ignore me, I can make you very, very sorry."

"Oh, is this the part where I'm supposed to be intimidated?" Kyoko mocked. "Sorry, I'm not scared of you."

"If you're not scared of me, then why don't you tell me where you are?" Sho taunted. "Oh, I know why. Someone's terrified that I might find her. Terrified of me, to be exact."

Kyoko's jaw dropped indignantly. "Who's terrified of you?"

"Hmmm, let me guess—oh, I know, how about the person who's been hiding from me for the past month?"

"I haven't been hiding from you!" Kyoko barked. It was infuriating, how he could so effortlessly get under her skin, like she was some sort of puppet whose strings were always readily available for him to play with. He was always manipulating her. "I've been—been busy is all!"

"Busy?" Sho asked. "Busy with what?"

"Once again, it's none of your business!" Kyoko retorted.

Of course she hadn't been at home for the past month. She had moved in with Tsuruga-san, which was why Sho hadn't been able to get hold of her. He had no idea that she was staying with Ren, after all. She had a very good feeling, though, that if he found out he was going to go nuts with fury.

"Look," Sho said, his tone grudging. "Let's just say that wherever you are, it's not a good idea for a girl to be wandering around outside alone. Where have you been if you're not at home? Do you have any idea how dangerous your current situation can be?"

Kyoko blinked. Was the singer actually—?

No. He couldn't be. It was just her imagination. There was no way Sho could ever be concerned about her.

"I'm not alone, okay?" she snapped. "Besides, I'm perfectly fine on my own anyway. What do you take me for? Some defenseless sort of girl?"

"Yes," Sho said bluntly. "And what do you mean, you're not alone?"

She straightened, feeling too angry to realize her accidental slip. "I'm sorry? And just how in any way do I come off as defenseless to you?"

"In every way," he said matter-of-factly. "And answer me already—"

"Baka Sho!" she yelled into her phone. "You're an idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

And with that, Kyoko hung up furiously, and slammed her cell phone onto the hard granite of the counter, glowering at the innocent device. It was just like Sho to annoy her like this—every single time he called her he always made her angrier and angrier with his constant quips and taunts. She hated how he always got the better of her in every one of their arguments, no matter how much she tried to keep her cool around him.

Damn him!

Still muttering curses under her breath, she spun around, arms folded grumpily—and froze.

Ren was leaning languidly against the doorway of the kitchen, watching her like a lazy yet powerful feline. He looked utterly expressionless; she couldn't read a single thing from the impassive angular features of his face. And as she stared back in horror at him, all she could think of was—

How long had he been standing there?

"Tsuruga-san," she squeaked. "H-have you finished dinner?"

He looked back at her, and immediately she quaked at the coolness in his liquid dark eyes.

"Who was that on the phone?" Ren inquired, with deliberate slowness. She didn't miss how his velvety baritone had become distinctively cold.

"It was, um—"

What was the point, really, in trying to hide it from him? She'd yelled out Sho's name less than a minute ago during their argument on a heated whim (even if Ren hadn't been eavesdropping by the doorway he'd definitely have heard it from the dinner table thanks to the volume of her voice), and now she was beginning to regret her impulsiveness more than ever.

Why couldn't she ever think before she acted?

"It—it was Shotaro," Kyoko finally admitted, feeling as if she was about to choke on the name. "But it was really nothing—"

"I thought things between the two of you were over?" Ren's voice was flat.

"They are!" Kyoko cried out desperately. "They couldn't be more over, really! He and I, we have nothing to do with each other anymore—"

"Then why is he still contacting you?" Ren said, still in the same flat tone of voice. She could practically feel her skin prickling uneasily as his smothering onyx eyes raked her face intently. "Unless the both of you are now, perhaps, friends?"

Kyoko's head jerked. "No, we're not!" she said at once. "I'd never consider that thing my friend, especially after how he treated me! We really have nothing to do with each other anymore, Tsuruga-san, it's just—" She fumbled blindly for the words she needed to express. "Sometimes he harasses me, because he likes making me angry! He's a—a complete jerk!"

"When I first spoke to you that day long ago, shortly before we went out," Ren said coolly, "You were his waitress, weren't you?"

"I didn't volunteer for that!" Kyoko said, her hands waving wildly in an effort to convince him. "I thought I told you before, Tsuruga-san! He completely manipulated me into it! He challenged me, because at that time he accused me of being frightened of him, and I wasn't, and I got really mad, and next thing I knew I was helping him out as his waitress to prove myself—"

She swallowed, suddenly too fearful to continue. Ren's toned arms were crossed, and the look on his face was frightening—quite a contrast to his usually gentle exterior. He positively towered over her, she suddenly realized, feeling intimidated.

"You're far too naïve," he said, taking a step towards her. She cowered at his reprimand. "If you continue like this, you're always going to be manipulated by him."

"I know, I know!" Kyoko wailed remorsefully. "I'm trying to change, I really am!"

He moved nearer to her, and she backed away instinctively. And yet he continued approaching her, and she flinched, still moving away step by step while he came nearer and nearer. Squeaking, her back hit the counter, and she froze.

And then she felt his masculine warmth brush past her as he reached over gracefully and took her phone from the counter behind her.

"Tsuruga-san!"

He ignored her, pressed onto the button and browsed through her phone. She wrestled the urge to wrench it from his grasp, but that, she knew, would only seal her guilt further.

"Hmm," Ren commented at last, after a few tense seconds of silence, lowering the phone. "Looks like I'll have to get you a new phone. And a change of number." He glanced at her, eyes impenetrable.

"But, Tsuruga-san—" she spluttered.

"You said you were trying to change."

"I am!"

"Well, this is the first step, is it not? I believe you said yourself that you don't wish to be manipulated by him anymore. Well, not letting him contact you anymore would be the first step."

Kyoko bit her lips. "Well, yes—"

"Then what seems to be the problem?" He eyed her calmly, still holding up her phone with a single large hand.

"Nothing, it's just…" She couldn't find the words.

To be honest she wasn't even sure why she was objecting to his request, assuming what he stated could even be called a request, judging by the steel in his demeanor. Perhaps it was because she didn't want to be in his debt any more than she already was. She knew that there was no way she could afford a new cell phone, or to buy a new phone plan along with a new number. She simply didn't have the finances for it, and she couldn't let Tsuruga-san pay the money like this. Sho was her problem. She wasn't going to drag Tsuruga-san into this.

Not when she was going to leave him soon in a month's time.

There was a pause, and then Tsuruga spoke again.

"I see." He laid the phone softly back onto the counter. "So that's how it is."

And then he was sweeping away from her, towards the exit of the kitchen.

Her paralyzed senses seemed to spring to life again when she realized what was happening.

"Wait!" Kyoko dashed after him, her bare feet smacking against the polished timber floor. He paused in his tracks, not looking back, and she panted slightly as she came to a stop, before reaching up and grabbing hold of his broad hard shoulder. In contrast, the soft cashmere of his loose turtleneck rustled beneath her touch. "Please don't misunderstand! I do want to change! I will change!"

He turned slightly to gaze at her.

"I won't let myself be done in by Sho anymore!" Kyoko insisted, making sure she met his dark piercing gaze head on. "I swear!"

He remained silent.

"I won't answer his calls anymore," Kyoko ranted determinedly. "I promise. He's such an asshole anyway, why would I want to talk to him? I'd be happy if he rots somewhere! That's right! I wouldn't care less about what he wants to do with his stupid life! Right now, all I just want is…" She faltered slightly as she continued looking at Ren. "Please don't be angry with me anymore, Tsuruga-san."

A flicker of a heartbeat passed.

Before Kyoko could so much as take in his reaction, she found herself letting out a shocked squeal when strong arms abruptly reached out and scooped her small body up. Her squeals rose slightly in volume as her head ended up pressed against the hard planes of his chest, and she could feel her face reddening like a chili pepper at the unexpected contact, and at the sensuous warmth enveloping her body like a wondrous coat.

"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko whispered, turning her head slightly against his chest.

He didn't reply, and he didn't have to, for the next thing she knew they were moving—moving to the vinyl couch just across the dining table. He glided swiftly, still carrying her bridal-style, and she remained stiff and unmoving in his embrace, too embarrassed to move.

He lowered her gently onto the surface of the sofa, long masculine fingers briefly skimming through her copper hair, and for a moment she thought that he was back to his usual self—the kind, soft and warm Ren. But then his heated lips landed on hers roughly, and she let out a small moan as he moved against her mouth fiercely, unapologetically.

He was crouched above her, though she noticed through a rapidly growing haze that he was making sure not to crush any of his muscled weight on her. She tugged at him closer, her hands going around the dignified column of his neck, and kissed him harder. Feeling his powerful physique pressed against her body was making her feel steadily more and more delirious, and she emitted another breathless moan as he suddenly moved away from her mouth before raining shattering kisses down the creamy path of her own exposed neck. The places along her skin where his smothering mouth had ravaged felt raw and throbbing.

Kyoko whimpered, tensing as she felt his sharp teeth sink into the milky flesh below her collarbone, near where the curve of her breasts lay. Her hands tightened helplessly over the silkiness of his raven hair at the resulting assault of sensations smothering through her veins. And then Ren's long talented fingers were probing the neckline of her shirt, and she nearly choked on her breath as he swiftly popped the buttons below in fluid, unhesitating succession, parting the cloth. His large hand swept across the cotton-clad mounds of her breasts, brushing across her bra.

She felt exposed, and she turned her head against the vinyl of her sofa, her face red. "Don't look, Tsuruga-san…"

She could feel the vibration of his low, husky chuckle run up her chest. "Even after countless times… you never change."

She would have felt more miffed at the idea that he was laughing at her if not for the fact that his adroit fingers had abruptly shifted to the bra strap by her side. His other arm moved around to her thin back, and she squeaked when he lifted her slightly. Instinctively she clung tighter around his strong shoulders, her face flushed a deeper shade of red as Ren deftly undid the bra clasp behind her.

His dark head bent as her bra fell away, and he kissed the slight pink indents the firm straps of her bra had left on her otherwise smooth alabaster skin. His hot lips against the raw skin made her cry out, and she buried her face against his hard shoulder, inhaling his masculine scent deeply.

She loved being held by him. She loved the way he made her feel loved. Until now Kyoko wasn't sure if the latter was simply an illusion for her, but the fact remained that being with Tsuruga-san had engendered the warmest sense of security and happiness she'd ever gotten from a male figure in her life. He made her feel safe. He made her feel cherished. He made her feel so very alive.

But then again, he was an actor, after all. This was what he did best in, perhaps—stirring illusions in his audience's hearts… He was truly incredible, for even she, who had long lost faith in men, had fallen for his show. She didn't even know what to believe anymore.

Only it didn't matter. Whether he truly loved her or not was one thing, but it was definitely true that he was so very good to her. He dedicated much of his life to her, and she couldn't deny that even if he was acting, it was an act that was kind and tender. She owed him too much.

"Tsuruga-san," she whispered, her hands clutching his muscled shoulder tighter. He paused, stilling, and she forced herself to continue.

"I'll go with you to the awards show."

:tbc: