I love this manga! The characters are just so in-depth and life like. It's so easy to fall into the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat!

Man to Man

We're both men here, so why play games;
Why don't we call a spade a spade.

Tsuruga Ren stood on the sidelines, watching as Kyoko was overtaken by the character she had chosen to play. Though she'd been waiting for the chance to do characters that weren't mean or scary like Mio and Natsu, she had been scared to death to try something so different from her norm. They'd spent the entire night before working on it, and she'd begged him—after he told her that he had nothing scheduled for the day—to come to her first day, just to help her keep in character.

Though she'd never been to America, that was where her character had come from, traveling to Japan after running away from home. Her name was Jennifer and she was lively and enthusiastic, though very absent-minded. She seemed to float from place to place as the wind took her, carefree and pleased to do whatever she wanted. Now, he could only watch as Kyoko became this girl with no sense of tact or memories of pain.

He knew that she would do perfectly, so long as they didn't run in to him. For Ren, there was nothing worse than the thought of how that guy still had an effect on her. She just had to hear his name to think about him, to dwell on everything he'd taken from her—at least Ren had convinced her that she should be angry, not sad, about it. If she was angry, she was less likely to think about Fuwa as a person and would focus more on revenge. And it was so easy to turn her mind from vengeance when he wanted to.

A sudden silence came over the set, making Ren snap out of his thoughts. Louder chatter would have surprised him, but not as much as this quiet hush. On set, there was the eerie feeling of impending danger that usually followed a scolding.

And then he felt it. The familiar sense of something flying past him with a disturbing aura nearly threw him backwards, making him take a step back. He caught Kyoko's eye and found her glaring past him with a Mio-like intensity. Unable to help himself, he turned his head, determined to convince himself that it couldn't possibly be that damn guy that was always causing problems. How would he have gotten onto a closed set, anyways? Yes, it was perfectly illogical for Fuwa to be on the set.

Yet, there he was, making a beeline towards Kyoko, who had had to stop filming because of the change in atmosphere. Ren glanced back at her, found her frozen in her spot, and couldn't help the anger that flowed through him.

It was a bad idea, he knew. Kuon was still bleeding through ever so slightly everyday; Cain Heel had helped with that. He couldn't trust his reactions or the man that was making his way towards the girl Ren loved.

Still, he did it anyways.

He strode towards Sho, a gentlemanly smile on his face. Keeping his body relaxed, Ren couldn't help the small bit of anger that showed through, shocking Fuwa with the predatory gait. Still, the younger man didn't slow down, almost moved right around Ren, who stepped in his way, maintaining his polite demeanor.

"Fuwa, a pleasure as always."

The singer's glare might have cut through someone out, a lesser man. Blue eyes caught gray aggressively, though there was a small light of apprehension shining through. "Tsuruga," he acknowledged, noting all the people that watched them. "I came to see Kyoko."

The boy's easy use of the actress's first name irritated Ren much more than usual. What gave this child—who had hurt Kyoko like no other—the right to use her name so casually? While Ren still called her by her last, Sho was able to call her by her first with no hesitation. Obviously, this boy didn't understand just how little he, as a person, meant in Kyoko's life.

And she was only enabling him by letting him do as he pleased.

Tilting his head to the side, Ren grinned once again. "Oh, well, she's in the middle of filming. Maybe you should talk to her later." The added "or never" was insinuated in his too-sweet tone, which most people would have taken as a hint. Fuwa, however, still opened his mouth, obviously to argue. "You wouldn't want to get in the way of production, would you?" Ren added, making sure his voice was loud enough for everyone to hear. He knew that, otherwise, the idol would simply shove his elder aside and stomp towards Kyoko, but he couldn't risk ruining his persona in front of so many people in the entertainment business.

"I'll just wait for her here," Sho answered, clear challenge in his eyes.

Ren had known that he would do that; still, he was unable to calm the annoyance and fury fighting within him. Before he could stop himself, he took a step closer to Fuwa, saying, "I'm waiting for her as well, but it looks like it will be awhile before she's done. Maybe we should go somewhere and talk?"

A collective breath seemed to be inhaled throughout the entire set and he knew that Kyoko was watching. There was already speculation as to the girl's relationships with both Tsuruga Ren and Fuwa Sho; was this a love triangle?

Oh, how little the public actually knew.

With everyone watching, there was very little Sho could do but accept, though he did so grudgingly. He had never had a private conversation alone with Tsuruga Ren, but he knew better than to think that the older man would continue to be as soft-spoken and kind as he was in front of everyone there. A shiver of survival instinct-driven panic nearly swept up Sho's back, but he squelched it quickly. Everything he knew about Ren centered around the fact that he was a perfect gentleman that pushed others to do their best when involved with him.

Rather than taking the turn that would lead them into a coffee shop, Ren brought Sho into an empty conference room, nearly snarling at the younger man. Kuon was snapping at the thin tether Ren had managed to slip on him, fueled by the knowledge that Sho had hurt Kyoko, that he'd been the reason why she'd sworn off love. Forever.

He was the reason that, even if Ren had been a person worthy of Kyoko, he would never get her.

Closing the door roughly, Ren leaned against it, carefully crossing his arms over his chest to keep them from searching out the singer's face. Because he needed to punch something. Hard.

Moments passed in silence before Sho finally grew tired of the game. "You wanted to say something, Tsuruga? Then say it."

Ren's eyes narrowed and he pushed away from his post, taking slow steps towards where Fuwa stood on the other side of the table. He kept his composure, barely able to contain his need to slam his fists on the table. "You want me to be blunt?" he asked with a snarling smirk. "Fine, I will tell you exactly what I think." He leaned over the table, his hands taking his weight on the cool surface. "I don't think it's a good idea for you to try to see Mogami-san anymore. In fact, you should just completely forget about her all together."

Sho chuckled once, then twice, before moving to the edge of his seat to mock Ren's stance. "'Mogami-san'? You're not even close enough to her to call her 'Kyoko-chan'. And you think that you can take over my place in her heart?" A mocking smirk split his face. "I've known her her entire life. She left her home for me. And you think you'll ever be a part of her heart?" He laughed once again. "I am her heart. And that kiss only solidified the part of her that will always be mine."

Anger, coupled with pure, blind hatred, nearly gave Kuon the ability to overpower Ren, but he kept it back with a smile. "Oh? Because it seems to me like she hates you. Everything she has is to get revenge on you. Are you sure that that is love, not loathing?"

"There's a fine line between love and hate."

Jealousy had never controlled Ren as completely as it did in that moment. Otherwise, he might have controlled the words that came from the deepest chasm within him. He might have controlled the violent aura surrounding him at that moment. "Fuwa, don't think that this is an empty threat. If you hurt Kyoko again, I will come after you and I won't hold back. She deserved to have a better first experience with love than you gave her. And I will never forgive you for that." With that, Ren straightened, turning to go back to the door. The shocked look on Fuwa's face was enough for Kuon to be satisfied. At least for the moment.

Just as his hand met the doorknob, Sho's voice echoed in the room.

"What gives you the right to tell me what to do when it concerns Kyoko, Tsuruga?"

Ren couldn't help the hurtful smirk that came to his face, the one that spoke volumes to the singer when he saw it. Barely glancing over his shoulder, he couldn't help the dark look that came over his face. "Fuwa, she's mine now. I'm the one she comes to when she has problems. I'm the one that comforts her when she cries." He didn't miss the slight flinch that went through Sho. "And I plan to be the one that she spends the better part of her life with. I hope you realize that I don't lose."

The two men vying for Kyoko's affections held gazes for long, silent moments, until Sho's hands clenched and he couldn't take it anymore.

"The only reason Kyoko has gone to you is because I kicked her out! All it will take is two words from me and she'll forget all about you." The blonde man hissed the word as if it were the most vile thing he'd ever spoken. Standing, he slapped both hands on the table, fury making his usually good posture stiff and rigid. "I won't lose my place in her life. Especially not to you." With that, he stormed out of the room, nearly slamming into Ren.

But he was perfectly fine with that. Because now Fuwa Sho knew perfectly well that Tsuruga Ren was going to take Kyoko from him. Every aspect of her was going to be his.