Recap / Skip Beat Volume 34

A refreshing drink against the heat

Lory has realized that Kyoko has fallen in love with Ren, and she has no way of possibly playing this off as anything less than it is or denying it. Terrified as she is of his knowledge, he calms her down by stating that he has no intention of revealing it to anyone, and helps Kyoko come to terms with her awoken feelings of love.

But before things can settle into a routine, the final stretch of the filming of Tragic Marker gets underway and it's off to Guam for its actors, including Kyoko returning to her role as Setsuka.

And there, she has a meeting with a very old acquaintance of hers.

This volumes contains the following chapters

• Act 201: "Desperate Seesaw" ^note Kyoko is not looking forward to the day. Lory has asked her to stop by his office because he has something to discuss with her, which Kyoko is certain to be about her obvious reaction to Ren's hug previously. And Ren and Yashiro are there, too. Kyoko is tense, but feels relieved when Lory says that her school will start its final exams period soon, so he wants to give her a break in her role as Setsuka. Thinking that the worst has been avoided, she prepares to head out after Ren and Yashiro, but Lory tells her to please stay.
• Act 202: "L'entracte" ^note Ren and Yashiro leave Lory's office and prepare to head to their next destination, and they end up talking about White Day. Yashiro is surprised to learn that Ren hasn't prepared a return gift for Kyoko, but thinks that his busy schedule lately meant he'd have no time for it. Back in the office, Lory talks of White Day himself, before dropping the bombshell that he's fully aware that Kyoko has fallen in love with Ren. She admits it, but refuses to let her feelings get any stronger. When Lory asks if she'd be okay if Ren were to be happy with someone else, Kyoko breaks down and realizes that her feelings are showing her an even worse side than the 'foolish' one she had when she loved Shou. Lory gives her a mirror, telling her to decide if she'll let 'the curtain' for this story of hers stay open or be closed again.
• Act 203: "A Step Towards Atonement" ^note Lory makes Kyoko realize that everything that has happened in her life has shaped her, and was something she could go back on for her acting, with her recalling her experience in tea ceremony and similar. And now, this 'ugliness' of her feelings can be another thing to use to become closer to the goal of being a first-rate actor. Kyoko decides to accept her feelings for Ren and smiles in relief, ready to see what will come now.
• Extra: "Special Side Story" ^note Kyoko buys a magazine that includes an interview with Ren, and sees that he openly presents the gift she got him for his birthday. A sheep-shaped pillow, which even she admits looks very unfitting with the image of Ren Tsuruga. At LME, she meets with Yashiro and they head to the Love Me section room where Ren is currently napping, using the pillow. Yashiro leaves under a pretense and Kyoko succumbs to an urge, quickly snapping a picture of a napping Ren.
• Act 204: "Technicolor Paradise ~Hot Spot~" ^note Kyoko flies out to Guam alongside Jerry Woods, who is actually quite nervous about this. Ren is already in Guam, but as 'Ren Tsuruga' is merely a stage name, he had to revert to his Kuon Hizuri appearance; and Jerry still needs to meet up with him and change him into Cain Heel's appearance. Jerry tries to stall for time and it works, but Kyoko decides to use her lack of recognition and spend some time at a beach. There, she sees a very handsome, oddly familiar, blond-haired man appear from the ocean.
• Act 205: "Technicolor Paradise ~Hot Spot~" ^note Ren is wandering around Guam with his natural appearance and decides to waste some time before he needs to meet Jerry and go back to his role as Cain Heel. He goes to a beach and dives for some peace and quiet, only for his latest resurfacing having him come face-to-face with Kyoko. She immediately recognizes him as Corn and he, using a stick to write in the sand, asks if she's 'Kyouko-chan'.
• Act 206: "Technicolor Paradise ~Hot Limit~" ^note Kyoko is overjoyed to meet Corn again, unaware that it is actually Ren with his natural appearance. Ren decides to simply be Corn, but claims to have to 'borrow a voice' through magic, so that he can actually talk to her. He actually feels happy about the casual air between the two and even wonders if he could actually come to tolerate his existence as 'Kuon' again. Then Kyoko asks him why his physical data matches Ren Tsuruga's so much.
• Extra: "Dream Contact" ^note Kyoko is in her Setsuka Heel role when she meets Shou on an elevator, trying desperately to keep her hatred for him in check. She chooses to kick him in the shin as she has done before, then gets confronted by Reino. He reiterates how he loves her when she's acting, but still prefers her Mio-role much more.

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Chapters in this volume provide examples of:

• Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Avoided by Corn, which he instinctively wanted to do to Kyoko. He stopped, thinking that she might recognize him because he did it so many times to her as Ren and Cain.
• Bad Liar: Subverted, when Kyoko reveals when she initially fell for Ren. Lory thought he had caught her fresh from acting as Setsuka, but it turns out she managed to fool Lory for about six months!
• Bait-and-Switch Accusation: Lory says that Kyoko needs a break from acting as Setsuka for 'personal reasons', which she thinks is him about to tell Ren that she's fallen in love with him. Actually, he's referring to her final exams coming up and needing time for that.
• Blackmail: Kyoko wonders if she can find a weakness in the president, to use as a 'bargaining chip' to get him to keep his mouth shut about her feelings.
• Blatant Lies: Everything Corn says in regards to his need for magic to talk and look the way he does, and claiming that he can only use magic once a day. Fortunately, Kyoko believes him.
• Brutal Honesty: Kyoko makes it clear she has no intention of letting her feelings develop.
• Cute Mute: Corn acts like one because he knows his voice would be immediately recognized.
• Eagleland: The series takes a trip to Guam for the Technicolor Paradise mini-arc.
• Flower Motifs: It's a shoujo manga, after all.
• Flashback: Chapter 201 flashes back to what happened after Kyoko's eyes met with Lory's in the previous chapter.
• Girlish Pigtails: Kyoko wears them on the cover.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language
  • The title for Chapter 202 had its written guide be L'interacte, which means Intermission.
  • When Ren gets asked out by two girls in Guam, he speaks Russian and claims to not know English.
• He's All Grown Up: What Kyoko thinks upon seeing Corn.
• Inelegant Blubbering: As Kyoko admits to Lory about her feelings for Ren and how disgusted she is that she wouldn't be able to let him go, she breaks out in tears and can barely talk between sobs.
• I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Discussed by Lory. With Kyoko intent on not acting on her feelings for Ren, he asks if she could honestly be happy for Ren, if he were to find love with someone else and even get married. She can't even finish her sentence before realizing that she wouldn't be able to fulfill this trope.
• Magical Gesture: Corn pretends to use one while 'performing magic to borrow a voice'. He touches his face, then Kyoko's forehead, and snaps his fingers.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Yashiro expresses surprise that Lory didn't even mention that it was White Day, his second-favorite day of the year, and wonders if this is an indication of Lory perhaps being ill.
• Put on a Bus: In-universe, this gets done to Setsuka Heel when Lory wants to give Kyoko a break from the role. Citing it as 'Setsuka going back to the UK' as a reason for her absence to the other Tragic Marker actors.
• Sexy Shirt Switch: Kyoko appears to be wearing Corn's shirt on the cover for Chapter 206.
• Sherlock Scan: Kyoko realizes with a certain amount of horror that Corn's physical data is identical to Ren's. Corn claims that he appeared in a form akin to the last man she thought about, calling back to why his voice is similar to Ren's. She believes him.
• Squee: Kyoko does a silent version when she sees Ren napping, using the pillow she gave him for his birthday.
• What If?: The Dream Contact extra is nothing but a scenario of Kyoko encountering Shou and Reino as Setsuka.

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