Disclaimer: "Skip Beat!" and its characters are the property of Yoshiki Nakamura.

Chapter 3 : Sunrise

"Mogami-san?" he seemed to hesitate. "It's always a pleasure."

He knows, she thought fearfully. He knows and he hates me.

Despite his gentlemanly smile, the aura that surrounded him as he opened the door didn't leave room for much doubt. What a fool! Why had she confided in someone other than Kanae? Why had she confided in anyone at all! Shouldn't it have been obvious that any woman would repeat everything the first chance they got? He was her most important person and she was about to lose him, just because she hadn't been able to hide her feelings from someone she didn't realize was a jealous rival.

"Hum… Good evening, Tsuruga-san, I'm sorry for coming here unannounced…"

He motioned for her to come in.

"What brings you here?"

"Huh… mm… I came… to… apologize" she answered, looking down, and hurriedly coming in. There's no going back now, she thought.

"There's really no need, Mogami-san, you didn't do anything wrong." He said, closing the door.

"But…" she didn't know where to start. "I can feel you're mad at me…" she added, turning her back on him, embarrassed.

He let out a deep sigh.

"I'm a little bit vexed, but I'm not angry at you." He said, and she turned back to face him.

"But… Chiori-san…" she started, not understanding.

"Chiori-san did what she thought was best and I agree with her decision to inform me." He interrupted harshly. "How long did you intend to hide this from me?"

He was positively furious, even if he was trying not to let it show. Kyouko swallowed hard, paralyzed by her shame.

"I… I know I shouldn't have… But, I was so ashamed. And I feared the way you'd react…"

His face softened, as he took a step in her direction.

"There's no reason for you to be ashamed, you know, it's only natural…"

Natural? That was too much. Was he just telling her it was normal? Of course, he was used to it; so it does happen to him every day! It felt like his words were squeezing her heart.

"I'd just… Have preferred to hear it from you, that's all." He continued, in a dejected tone "I thought we were friends, you should trust me enough to talk about these kinds of things." he finished sounding truly hurt.

She looked down. She was getting more uncomfortable by the minute. Was it not hard enough to have fallen for someone like him, with no hope of this love ever being returned? Was it not a big enough torture to have him so close to her without being allowed to dream of him? Did he really have to blame her for not telling him about it? Did he really have to pour salt on her wound, reminding her that they were only friends?

"If I may… Actually, Tsuruga-san, it was quite the opposite." What, did he think it was easy? Just because he had girls confessing to him all the time, did he not realize how hard this was, especially for her? "You were the last person I'd have wanted to talk about this to… I didn't even tell Moko-san…"

He looked slightly surprised.

"You told Chiori-san, whom you've only worked with for a couple of months, and you didn't tell your best friend?"

She was at loss for words. She was very embarrassed and mostly terribly sad.

"And why would I be the last person you'd want to tell this to?" He ground his teeth. "Is it someone I know?"

She looked up, puzzled.

"…Who?" she asked carefully.

"Well, the person Chiori-san told me about. The one she suspects you fell in love with." His jaw clenched. "Is it Fuwa?" The dark aura was back.

Huh? The room suddenly started to spin around her. The person I…? But… That's… Chiori hadn't said anything! Of course, she really is a good friend! They really were linked by the pink curse! But then… Why was he so mad? And why had Chiori gone to him with some tale about some other unknown person? She tensed.

"What exactly did Chiori-san tell you?"

"Well… Shouldn't you know?" He raised an eyebrow. "What was it that you told her, exactly?"

Kyouko was baffled.

She had revealed her feelings to the men in her vision, but to Chiori… What had she actually told Chiori? Nothing really! At least nothing compromising and she only realized that now… Stupid Kyouko! All this was nothing but a misunderstanding, her secret was safe! Or was it?

Just now, her surprise had transpired… She felt her whole body become cold. How was she going to get out of this? It was too late, she had betrayed herself. He would know if she tried to lie her way out of it… Well, it's worth the try…

"Hah, ha ha" she tried to sound casual, "Well, yeah, that's exactly what I told Chiori-san. I told her I was…." She stopped from the look he was giving her. The harm was done. He had realized she was hiding something.

"Why did you feel the need to apologize to me, Mogami-san?" his intonation was demanding an honest reply, he wouldn't let go of her before she provided a satisfactory one.

"Humm… I came to apologize, because I should have known it's okay to talk to you about this, instead I put my trust in someone else?" She could feel her cheeks flushing, her heart was beating fast and every hair on her body seemed to bristle. "I'm sorry. I know I can trust you completely, of course… Ha ha, it's silly actually; I just didn't want to bother you with such insignificant…"

"So, it's Fuwa, is that it?" he cut her words sharply.

How had he come to that conclusion? How had the singer fought his way in the conversation? Stupid Shou… Would things go back to normal if she let him believe she'd fallen for that prick all over again?

"No." She answered, emotionlessly. "No, he's got nothing to do with any of this". She dropped her gaze to her shoes, staring as if they were currently holding the key to her salvation.

They remained silent for what seemed like hours before she started to speak again.

"I… I just… This should never have happened. I really didn't say anything to Chiori-san, but somehow, I thought she'd understood…" She didn't move an inch, "… that…" It was too late, now. "I thought she'd understood, and she told you everything… that… that I…" She had prepared for this, anyway, when she'd thought Chiori betrayed her trust. "I thought you were mad because she told you…" She would just get out of his life and leave him be. "I thought you knew I…" She risked a glance at him, and saw him still standing steadily in front of her "I fell in love, that's the truth." She breathed in deeply before continuing in a whisper, "I fell in love with you." Her eyes went back to her feet as she said a little louder, "You're the one I fell in love with." Might as well get this over with. She would heal… right? "I'm in love with you Tsuruga-san." she finally confessed, looking at him in anguish.

When Ren had opened the door, he hadn't known what to do.

A LoveMe girl had come to him earlier in the day for advice about Kyouko, asking him what exactly her problem with love was, and if he thought it possible that she'd learned to love again. Apparently, she thought there was someone.

He hadn't thought she was ready. Was he wrong? The symptoms her friend had described were usually associated with one precise person…

He was presently feeling very edgy, to the point that he'd asked his manager to move a meeting to the following day. He needed to be alone.

And there, she showed up at his doorstep, apologizing. What is it that you want from me?

He did his best to contain his consuming jealousy; he didn't want to press her with questions. He needed to know only one thing. Is it about him again? There seemed to be more to it than just learning to love again. What was she hiding? She ended up trying to excuse herself for something that she refused to clarify. Is there a manual for thisgirl?

It wasn't about Fuwa, she said, so he waited. He stood there and looked at her. His heart broke when she admitted having fallen in love, but then... He heard it.

And then, it registered.

"I'm in love with you Tsuruga-san."

There. She made him unable to move again. What was this feeling? Relief? Fear? He'd imagined hundreds of time the way he would confess, he feared her rejection, he'd never imagined…

She's in love with me? He didn't have time to analyze this fact that was beyond his wildest dreams, she started moving already. Before he said anything, she turned around with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry" she whispered and rushed for the door.

He was faster. Oh no, you don't get to act as if you were rejected! He caught her wrist before she reached the handle.

"I'm really sorry!" she insisted, with her head down. "I…"

"I'm not," he said as he moved close to her. He put his arms on both sides of her against the door. "You really should have talked to me about this from the start, Kyouko-san."

She swung between his arms and lifted her face with a bewildered look. He closed his eyes and he gently pressed his lips on hers, until she steadied. He moved away from her face to look in her glittering eyes.

"Only I can help." he said, finally letting all his contained love run free.

He placed a hand on her neck and brought her to him, as he leaned in to kiss her again. She was stiff at first, but she let him nibble her cherished lips, that she soon began to move against his own. He felt her hands on his back and when he ended the kiss, he embraced her strongly.

"I'm in love with you Mogami-san," he whispered in her ear.

She tightened the hold of her arms around him and they didn't say anything for a couple of minutes. When he pulled away, the most adorable image he'd ever seen was facing him. Her back against the door, her head slightly tilted to the side; though her eyes were agitated, her face was wearing the lightest of blushes, and the most delicate smile.

"Okay," she said.

He couldn't help but kiss her again.

Did she really expect he'd trample on her feelings? She must have shared the same fears he had… Did she fear I would despise her? Did she think he would get mad, laugh at her, or try to let her go easy? It must have cost her so much, he thought as he held her close. How can I do the same for her?

"There's one more thing I'd like to confess, Kyouko-chan. Will you come and sit inside?"

The daybreak sky was bright, thousands of stars twinkled in the fading moonlight.

The grass beneath her feet was green and freshly wet with dew. Birds were singing in the sycamore tree and a floral scent embalmed the air. A soft breeze caressed her face. She had conquered the feeling and she welcomed it now. Her choice was made: There was no choice, it was obvious.

Behind her was the sea, wild and strong. She didn't need to look back, for she knew exactly what was there: Back there was her old life. The waves chanted the memory of a long forgotten battle. The sound of those ancient upheavals, echoing from the other end of the universe, had become comforting to her.

She had overcome.

Before her was her prince, standing with his arms open towards her, waiting for her. His hair shone like the bright morning, his eyes had become the only constellation in her sky.

"You're here..." She smiled.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world".

She ran to him in the rosy dawn. The moon was about to set and the sun to rise.

Love is our only defense against the abyss in this meaningless universe.(Lisa Simpson)

Author's note : This chapter's main scene was written in French quite a long time ago, then I had the idea to to build a story around it, because in my other story someone commented that they wanted to see Kyouko confess, but I hadn't planed it this way. It originally had a very mature ending, but I cut it off (sorry :/) thinking it didn't match the character development at this point (since this is supposed to take place immediately after manga time), at all.

When Lisa said that sentence in the Simpsons' episode a couple of weeks ago, I just thought it was perfect, and I wrote this story. Thanks for reading it!

Also thanks to Orietta Rose for agreeing to be my Beta again. She's the one who makes it look like I'm good with English (like changing all of my "worst" to "worse", for instance, ha ha ha)!