The Short Second Life of Cain Heel
Sariah Loire
Chapitre Five

Skip Beat! and its characters, locations, terms, etc, do not belong to me.

Cain Heel has no problem being around his sister, Setsu, 24/7. Ren Tsuruga, on the other hand, has many problems when it comes to being with Kyoko Mogami at all times.

There's… no way Cain would write in a journal. So, for now, I'm taking a break from it.

I just wish I knew if this was the right thing to do. Help me, Setsu.

Ren's decision upon waking was as easy one to make. His night had been plagued with sweet dreams of the girl who was in his arms throughout the night, and that was enough to make him willing to not cause her any more anxiety than needed.

Before his alarm went off, Ren untangled his arms from around Kyoko's warm body, not giving himself time to watch her sleeping face. He quietly walked around the bed and drew back the covers on Kyoko's own bed, and picked up the sleeping girl to deposit her onto it. After he had replaced the covers over her Ren could finally breathe a sigh of relief, and he dropped onto the edge of his own bed, putting his head in his hands.

He was being slightly hypocritical, if he would have been honest with himself. Cain wouldn't have minded sharing a bed with his little sister every night, and Setsu would have loved it. But, despite how much of a stickler Ren was for fleshing out his character to the max, he wouldn't, couldn't, let Cain have free reign of that particular situation.

'That would only end in trouble. Major, dangerous trouble.'

But still, Ren had decided sometime during the night that he was failing miserably at staying in character, just because the girl he loved was the one who just so happened to be playing his sister. 'It's time to get into Cain's mind, and stay there.' He looked down, at the watch that was strapped to his wrist.

It was his 'protective charm', so to speak. It was a reminder, to himself, about what he had become, and who he would never be again. But if he, as Cain, could learn to fully rely on his sister to keep his darkness in line, maybe Ren could once and for all conquer the 'Kuon' that was still such a large part of his life.

Ren unstrapped the watch, and buried it in the bag by his bed, under folded clothes. Rubbing his bare wrist, he looked over to the sleeping form of Kyoko. 'I'm depending on you. Don't let Cain down, Setsu.'

"I wish you had woken me earlier, baka Ani!" Setsu had been complaining ever since she had woken to find Cain fully dressed and waiting for her to wake up on her own. He wasn't going to wake up his precious little sister, especially if it got him out of eating breakfast. "We don't even have time to get breakfast before you're due on the set!"

Cain glanced sideways at Setsu, but didn't respond. She continued her arguments until they were outside on the curb, waiting for a taxi. There, he finally turned to face Setsu, purposely drooping his eyes slightly to fix her with a pitiful look. "I couldn't help it, Setsu."

His look stopped her in her ranting, causing her to stammer slightly. "W-why?"

"It's rare that I'm up before you, and you just looked so incredibly adorable that I couldn't-"

"Okay, Onii-chan, enough!" Setsu moved behind him, pushing him towards the waiting cab. "Now just get in, before we're late!"

"You're even cuter when you get embarrassed-"

"Cain, STOPPP!"

The filming was harder on Ren than he had expected, especially the murder scenes like the one he had just filmed. After all, he was Kuon being Ren, who was acting as Cain, who in turn had a job to perform as Blackjack. It took everything he had to keep it up when he wasn't on the set, because when the camera began rolling, he lost his self in the labyrinth.

He rolled his shoulders and stepped off the set, hoping to be able to shed off BJ like a cloak. The eyes of all the crew members made it easy enough to pull on Cain, especially since they were staring at him with many a terrified expression.

"Good job, Ani." Setsu held out a bottle of water, smiling mischievously. "You looked great out there."

Cain reached out a hand and touched Setsu's cheek, keeping Ren at bay even when the eyes he was looking into were obviously Kyoko's. He patted her cheek a few times before putting his arm on her shoulders and spinning her around to walk in front of him. Ignoring the looks of the others around, Cain led her to their personal waiting room like that.

He paused outside of the bathroom, waving the familiar small container. "I'm going take my contacts out, Setsu." She nodded, and within a few moments, he was back at her side. Setsu kept looking up at his face until they reached the room that was set aside for the siblings.

"Onii-chan's blue eyes are so pretty." Setsu pouted, sorting through the racks of clothes that BJ would eventually wear in the movie. "Why am I stuck with these plain eyes, and you get the fancy ones?"

"I have to cover them up anyway, these damn Japanese want something more 'normal' looking for this role."

"You should have let me have a talk with the director!" She pulled out a long coat, draping it over her arm. "I would have talked him into letting you show your eyes. Why don't you wear this tonight, Ani?" Setsu brought the coat over to the table, and dropped it in front of where Cain was sitting.

"What's wrong with my normal coat?"

"You're taking me out to dinner, and I don't want you smelling like smoke." She wrinkled her nose for affect, and Cain reached out and tweaked it. At her blush, he let his hand linger longer than he would have otherwise.

"What about you, are you going to borrow some of BJ's clothes, too?" For a moment, Ren's thoughts overpowered his as he thought of Setsu in one of his shirts, with her long legs sticking out the bottom of it. A few buttons undone and… 'Focus!' Cain withdrew his hand slightly and stuck it in Setsu's mop of hair, mussing it up.

She squeaked out a complaint, grabbing onto his hand with both of her own. "Baka, stop before you- Ow!"

Cain tried to pull his hand free, but a button off of his sleeve had gotten caught in the mass of hair. He stopped pulling, standing up and leaning across the table. In his mind, Ren knew it was a wig, but Cain wasn't thinking about that. "Move your hands, so I can see." He studied the tangle for a moment. "Sit on the table, Setsu."

She obeyed, but was sending him pouty glares as she did so. He listened to her mutter complaints under her breath, until he leaned forward to undo the hair from his sleeve button. She quieted down, and within a few moments, he had his hand free, and Setsu's hair looked no worse for the wear.

"All done."

"Stupid baka Ani, if you could keep your hands to yourself for once, we wouldn't have had that problem." She started to move off the table, but Cain reached out a hand around the back of her head and pulled her to his chest in a one-arm semi-hug.

"I can't be faulted for trying to spoil my only little sister, can I?" He said the words low in her ear, effectively silencing Setsu. She shook her head, and Ren was glad that he couldn't see the look on her face. "Now go and get changed so I can find us a nice place to eat tonight."

The stares that people sent towards the Heel siblings were, at best, indiscreet. There they were, in one of the most expensive restaurants in Tokyo, dressed like the hoodlums everyone took them to be.

The short, black dress Cain had bought for Setsu that morning before she woke up had been delivered straight to their waiting room, and she had accepted it without too much complaining. All it had taken was a slightly-injured puppy look, turned up a few degrees. It was her style, after all, and she couldn't deny that she loved it.

On the way to the restaurant, Setsu had insisted on taming some of the cowlicks in Cain's hair. "At least let me get out the ones that aren't supposed to be there, Onii-chan!" She had argued, and he consented. Besides, he liked having her pamper on him almost as much as he enjoyed doing it to her.

Their reserved table was waiting on them at the restaurant, but their appearance was obviously a surprise. The host had looked at them in slight disdain before seating them. The older Heel couldn't have possibly cared less about what the man thought of them, but that didn't stop Setsu from complaining.

"Ani, that man was so rude to you! Why didn't you say something?" She pulled a small piece of bread off of the plate at the center of the table, reaching for the short butter knife. "He treated you like a bum!"

"It doesn't matter what they say, Setsu." He watched her eat, reaching for his own glass. She pouted for a moment, before taking a bite of the hot bread. Her eyes lit up at the taste.

"Mmm, this is wonderful! Try it, Ani!" She tore a piece of the bread off and held it out to Cain expectantly. "And don't tell me you're not hungry, you haven't eaten anything since that box lunch they served us."

Before Ren could stop 'Cain', he reached out and pulled Setsu's hand towards his mouth, using her fingers to pop the fresh bread into his mouth. He watched her eyes widen and her familiar blush spread across her cheeks. Chastising the character he himself had created, Ren chewed thoughtfully before letting go of Kyoko's hand.

"You're right, it is good."

Back in the familiar hotel room, Ren leaned against the bathroom wall, watching the steam billow out of the shower. Soon it would be twenty-four hours since he had taken off his watch, and he had managed to stay in-character for a large portion of the day.

It had slipped a few times, which was to be expected, but not nearly as much as it had in the first few days of the assignment. Truth be told, he was a little proud of himself. He had acted like the frightening brother with an overbearing, alarming sister-complex, and had enjoyed it.

'Getting through this filming should be easy if I stay as Cain, and think of Kyoko as Setsu. It will all go well… right?'

"Onii-chan, are you in the shower? I need my nail polish, I left it in there!"

Ren looked down at his half-undressed body and back to the door, which Setsu was pounding on. He sighed, and pulled off the rest of his clothes, throwing them into a Cain-like pile on the floor before climbing in the shower. "The door's unlocked, Setsu." He heard her enter the bathroom and reprimand him for leaving his clothes where she could trip on them. After a few moments, she left back out, closing the door behind her.

'This, easy? That'll be the day.'

I hope this chapitre doesn't seem too ill-fitting with the story so far, but I wanted to flesh it out a little. I'll still be throwing Ren into pity-inducing situations, but I think the story needs a little more than just embarrassing moment after embarrassing moment. It sorta seems like Ren's getting his revenge on Kyoko, though.

And I did not need my writing muse to come back two weeks before a very tough year in university starts up. Thanks a lot, my fanfiction writing colleagues.

Sari*