One Take Only (A Skip Beat! Fanfic)

Chapter 22: Anyyyybodyyyy?

A hotel? No, this time of night, the only place that might let him in without a reservation was a love hotel, and the last thing he needed on the eve of his summer tour was for some clerk to snap a picture of him in the red light district.

He could go back...Shoko would be happy. But then he'd spend another night sitting wide-eyed in bed, waiting for the morning to come.

Work was the only option. If he could just find someplace to focus on the song, he would at least be getting something done.

A neon sign caught his eye, and he smirked.

Perfect.

"So..." Ren said, seated at the coffee table across from Kyoko.

"So," she agreed.

What is this? He wanted to ask. Where do we go from here? But then, he knew she had no more sense of that than he did. He found himself staring at her intently, and when she squirmed under his gaze, flushing, he felt the usual impulse. To hug. To touch. And for once, he didn't resist.

Reaching forward, he caught her hand in his. "Mogami-san, am I right to think that we should be together?"

"Together?" She squeaked. "As in...as in dating?"

"That was my plan, yes." He chuckled warmly. "Two people who care for each other the way we do generally do something of the kind."

She frowned. "I'm not a child, Tsuruga-san," she said. "It's just..."

"What? Do you not want to?" He asked, still smiling, stroking a thumb across the back of her hand.

"I...of course, I do," Kyoko said. "I'm just concerned...about the president," she said slowly.

"The president?" He asked, a little incredulous. "What—why?"

"Well, I'd rather he didn't know," she said. "Or anybody, really."

"Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?" He teased, the overwhelming happiness he felt after the evening's events bubbling up inside him, refusing to be tempered.

She laughed at that. "Of course not! If anything, you're the one who should be."

The actor twitched an eyebrow. "And why would that be? Why should I be embarrassed of being seen with someone as beautiful and talented—"

"Tsuruga-san!" She cut him off, reddening. For him to say such things while wearing that smile—just how was she supposed to stay calm? "What I mean is, I'm a high school student."

"I was aware."

"And you're an adult," she said. "A very famous, accomplished adult. I can't imagine the media would let that pass them by. Especially since there's hardly been any news of your being in a relationship with anyone up till now. They'll want to know why you've decided to be with a newbie actress over all the other options you might have had."

"You're the only option I care about," he said, smiling.

"I—this is serious, Tsuruga-san!" Kyoko said. Her heart couldn't take much more of this.

"I know," he said, and finally, with a sigh, he released her hand and sat back. "I suppose you're right. It would be better for us to be discreet." The last thing he wanted was for their budding relationship to be plastered across the tabloids.