First Date Challenge Rules: Write a fic about Kyoko's first real date with Ren
Rule #1: Cannot be a "fake" date or a LoveMe assignment
Rule #2: Feelings must be established from at least one side, i.e. at least one of them has to have confessed to the other (doesn't need to have happened in the fic, but bonus points if you include it!)
Rule #3: There must be some sort of kissing (doesn't matter when)
Rule #4: You must incorporate a love rival into the story (we need drama/conflict! use any existing character you like, no matter how minor)
Rule #5: Must end with Kyoko/Ren!
Baby Steps
It had been a long time since Mogami Kyoko felt like her life was a fairytale. If she was forced to categorize her life since leaving Kyoto, she would most likely envision it as a surreal combination of Shakespearean tragedy, French farce, and contemporary melodrama. At least, that was how the young woman would describe her existence if she was capable of higher cognitive thought which, given her current mental state, would not happen any time soon.
The teen actress stood in the center of ground zero for what could only be described as a clothing bomb. It was either that or her closet had developed a serious case of indigestion that no amount of pink digestive tablets could help. From her position at the epicenter of discarded fashions, Kyoko smoothed her hands down her sides and over her hips as she turned to check her reflection one last time in the full length mirror the Taisho had kindly installed on the back of her bedroom door.
"Well, this is as good as it gets," she muttered resignedly as she turned sideways one last time and silently wished she had just a bit more maturity to fill the bust of the dress. A slightly dreamy smile crossed Kyoko's darkened lips as she imagined how gorgeous Moko-san would look in her outfit. It wasn't a difficult pull on her imagination since the dress had originally belonged to her slightly older friend. In fact, the vast majority of the clothes on Kyoko's floor had once belonged to Kotonami Kanae. As the two actresses increased in popularity and exposure, Kanae insisted that they needed better wardrobes to reflect their rising status in the entertainment industry. As a consummate spendthrift, Kyoko resisted the call of the mall with all her considerable will power, but she could never resist her best friend when she passed her discarded items in her direction. All it took was the hint of tears in her best friend's eyes, and Kyoko would graciously accept whatever gift Kanae offered her.
Finally noticing the time, Kyoko squeaked. She grabbed a strapped pair of black heels and a small matching bag and scurried down the hallway and the steps. When she reached the bottom, the actress froze momentarily when her eyes caught sight of the source of her current mental turmoil. Pasting a nervous smile on her face, the teen greeted her date.
"Good evening, Tsuru… eh, Ren," she stammered.
A twinkle of mischief ghosted through the tall actor's dark eyes, but he resisted teasing his date. Instead he returned her greeting with his own emphasis on her given name. The actress blushed slightly at the familiar sound of her name from her date's lips. Addressing each other with their given names was still a new enough experience in their relationship that it affected Kyoko. Fleetingly, she wondered how long it would take for the butterflies to stop their fluttering in her stomach every time Ren's deep voice murmured her name. His tone always seemed to make her feel like he was caressing her with his voice. It was exhilarating but frightening at the same time.
After securing her heels, Kyoko found her right arm captured and wrapped gently around Ren's left arm. Gracefully, the actor escorted his date from the private area of her home and into the public area of the Darumaya. The Okami-san placed a refilled pot of tea on the table before turning to the two young people.
"Oh, Kyoko-chan, you look lovely," she complimented with obvious affection as the older woman approved the simple black dress and understated make-up Kyoko chose to wear. Returning to her duties, she added, "I hope that you have a wonderful time tonight."
Kyoko's eyes followed her surrogate mother while Ren's eyes met and clashed with her father figure. The Taisho continued his food preparation without a pause, but Ren could not help a slight shudder when the chef's large knife bit a tad more forcefully into the counter than was needed to sever the fish. The Taisho's silent warning was clearly received, and the actor nodded in acknowledgment. Unaware of the subtle dance of male dominance being exchanged, Kyoko called goodnight to her landlords.
A few steps further found the couple in the humid embrace of the early summer evening as they strolled to the waiting limousine. Although Ren would have preferred to drive them to the docks, lack of parking and exposure to the public made the limousine service a better option. The vigilant driver expertly snapped open the door to allow his passengers access to the back of his polished vehicle. With the door closed behind them, the couple settled into the significantly cooler interior. Although not as extravagant as President Takarada's numerous limousines, the leather seats were clean and comfortable and the floor space allowed Ren to stretch his long legs comfortably.
As the limousine pulled into the still busy Friday evening traffic, the couple fell into an uncomfortable silence. For ages, the actor and actress enjoyed their moments of silence in each others company. Their lives were so full of hustle and bustle that stolen moments of peace were true gifts that their souls craved just as much as their bodies craved sleep, food and water. Perhaps, the food was not craved so much by Ren, but he did enjoy the smiles that Kyoko always shared with him when she heard that he had eaten properly. It was for those smiles that the reluctant actor had changed his eating habits.
Unfortunately, their normal peace in each others company was noticeably missing this evening. For his part, Ren was nervous because he wanted tonight to be perfect. This was the first of what he hoped to be many dates with the woman he loved. In his mind, he imagined a long string of dates culminating in the President escorting Kyoko down the aisle of a church in Southern California to permanently join him in what he can only hope will be wedded bliss for untold years.
For Kyoko, she was preoccupied with the concept of this single date and not the future. She was consumed with the racing reminders of how she reached this unbelievable condition. She was on a date. It was her first date. More importantly, it was her first date with Ren. Her mind still had not wrapped itself around how she had reached this point. She had never meant to reveal her feelings. The original member of the LoveMe section may have transitioned slowly from newbie actress to nationally recognized celebrity, but she had stubbornly refused to admit the change of heart that had slowly melted the defenses she had erected for her own protection. In fact, if last Tuesday had not happened, she would still be clinging desperately to her self-deluded denial of romantic love.
Tuesday had been a make her or break her day for Kyoko. She still was not sure which side had won.
Kyoko's current drama, a dark piece that centered around her character's slow struggle to reclaim her life after a series of tragedies, had screamed to a stand still because her one co-star had become so emotionally involved in the one scene with her that he had struck her during an argument. Although the blow and subsequent minor injury to her cheek had been usable footage which actually added to the intensity of the production, the actor became so distraught at his slip that he had been unable to do anything more then stumble through the rest of his scenes. He had gone from being perfectly in sync with Kyoko's character to resisting their chemistry so that he did not get drawn into her acting again. When the irate director had finally sent everyone home for the day, Kyoko had missed her window for lunch and even found herself late for her next job despite her frenzied pedaling on her sorely abused bicycle.
She had arrived at her second job of the day flushed, out of breath, and bruised. The director for the commercial had not been pleased and spent the next forty minutes of the shoot time ranting at Kyoko for being unprofessional. The hypocrisy of his behavior had truly grated on Kyoko's nerves. She had only been a few minutes, late but he delayed the filming almost an hour. This delay, in turn, made Kyoko late in leaving her second job and therefore late in arriving at her school. Since she was late arriving at the school, the actress missed the deadline for submitting the long term project for her social studies class. The project counted for half of her letter grade for the semester and missing the deadline would result in a letter grade loss.
In addition, the office administrator had refused to accept her permission slip for attending the class trip. The office staff had insisted that although she understood the special circumstances surrounding Mogami's enrollment at their school, it would be impossible for the student to attend the trip to Seoul, South Korea. Even with the eloquent letter from the powerful president of LME and his signature on her permission form, the school was not willing to risk the legal ramifications of taking the minor out of the country without the written permission of her legal guardian. Kyoko was devastated. She had been almost besides herself with excitement at the prospect of accompanying her classmates on the trip to visit Gyeongbok-gung Palace and the Korean Folk Village as well as having as day for playing at the Children's Grand Park, an amusement park entwined in a beautiful park complete with botanical gardens, a zoo, wetland habitats and a small museum. It promised to not only be an enjoyable vacation but also be a chance for Kyoko to embrace the joy of being a simple high school student. Sometimes the illusion of being a normal girl was soothing to Kyoko's soul. Kyoko had even turned down two financially beneficial acting jobs in order to clear the time for the trip.
The refusal to allow her to accompany the class was a staggering blow and a harsh reminder that no matter how hard she works that there are some things beyond her abilities to attain. The stabbing intimation that her mother will never care about her and love her like a mother should just added insult to the already injured teen.
Frustrated at the entirely useless trip to her school, Kyoko had left and again pedaled her heart out in order to arrive at LME in time for her meeting with Sawara-san. The actress had participated in an audition last week for the protagonist in a highly anticipated romantic drama scheduled to begin filming around the time she finishes her current drama commitment. Since Kyoko still did not have a manager of her own, Sawara had attended the audition with her, and he had been fairly impressed. He firmly believed that Kyoko firmly out-shined every other candidate for the coveted character. When the teen entered the Talento section, she did her best to push aside her frustrations of the day as she bowed her greeting to the overworked director of her current division. Raising her eyes, Kyoko had seen the unconcealed sympathy in her supervisor's unguarded expression.
"I didn't get the part, right?" she stated more than asked.
Sawara rubbed his head in frustration. "Yeah. The director called me to say that you were by far the best candidate for the part. You were passionate with just the perfect blend of quirky humor and casual intelligence. Unfortunately, he felt that your previous dark rolls would shadow the image he was hoping to cultivate for the program so he would be unable to use you. I'm sorry, Mogami-kun. I really thought you deserved the part."
"Thank you, sir, but I understand," she had gamely replied. After all, it had not been the first time this had happened to her. As she became more widely visible, more directors were offering her rolls without the need for auditions. Unfortunately, all the parts were dark roles or antagonists. Almost daily, the Talento department received requests for the actress to make appearances in all manner of PVs, dramas, and even a couple movies. Even though Kyoko kept taking the roles just like Kuu instructed her, she kept hoping that one of her auditions would give her a chance to embrace a positive role. Gone was her desire to be a princess in a fairy tale; she would have been happy to play the sweet girl next door who had a crush on the handsome playboy who never gives her the time of day. Kyoko would take anything to give her a chance to see if she can even play a soft part on screen. Even her commercial parts had somehow all developed into characters with attitude. It was taking its toll on the young actress.
Ever the fighter though, Kyoko again swallowed her frustration and excused herself from the office. As she moved down the hallway, she attempted to reach Moko-san only to remember that she was out of the country at a photo shoot for a new clothing line that had offered her exclusive modeling rights for their next four seasons of releases. Disheartened yet again, the actress had returned her phone to her bag. In the quiet as she walked down the hallway of the LME office building, the teen realized her head was pounding and that she was feeling a bit faint. Checking her watch, she had noticed that it was almost time to meet Ren for dinner. He had just returned from a three week location shoot and so she had planned to cook him and Yashiro supper as a welcome home. The actress walked out of the lobby and stood frowning as she stared at the sign where she normally locked her bicycle. The sign was there, but her bike was not. All that remained was her unfastened chain lock sitting forlornly on the sidewalk. In her rush to meet with Sawara-san, Kyoko had missed snapping the lock closed properly and someone had stolen her bicycle.
The now mentally, emotionally, and physically ill actress hailed a cab and grudgingly paid the highway robbery fee for depositing her at the studio where she was to meet Ren and Yashiro. As the rancid icing on the miserable moldy cupcake of a day, Kyoko had the misfortune of running, literally running, into Fuwa Sho at the studio. She had been checking her notes with the room number for meeting her favored senpai and his manager when she rounded the corner and plowed into the hard chest of her childhood friend. Although time had dulled the animosity she felt for her fallen prince and subsequently decreased the power of her grudge defense system, the long gone hatred instantly resurfaced when he touched her. If he had just used his hand on her arm to steady the stumbling actress, it might have been okay. Sho was Sho though, and he took the opportunity to pull the actress against his leather clad body while letting his hands travel decidedly farther south then they needed to go to keep her from falling. Momentarily shocked at the forwardness of his groping on her bottom, Kyoko had frozen for just long enough for Sho's body to start reacting to her physical proximity. When the rock star had pulled her even tighter against his body and whispered in her ear that she was finally back where she belonged, the actress' grudges had been reborn with a vengeance. Sho had moved to kiss Kyoko only to find himself frozen in the grip of her re-emerging demons. There might have been a number of angel Kyoko's helping too. After all, they were not as stubborn as Kyoko. The angels knew she was in love with Tsuruga Ren and fully intended to protect their mama from anyone who stood in the way of her connection with the dreamy actor. With Fuwa safely secured by the chilling pressure of Kyoko's collective angels and grudges, he had no defense against that palm that arched to strike him on the cheek.
"Grow up, Shotaro," she hissed before storming down the hallway followed by a chorus of hissing, seething grudge-lings and angels. Her skin crawled with the overwhelming desire to shower even as her head beat a steady rhythm of pain in time with her pounding heart beat.
By the time she reached the room where Ren and Yashiro were waiting, Kyoko was shaking from her dipping adrenaline rush. Knocking and then entering, her eyes fell on the handsome man who had held her heart for quite some time even if she wasn't willing to admit it to anyone. He and Yashiro were reviewing some proposals as they waited for Kyoko to arrive. Loose papers and scripts were scattered across the conference table. Both males stood as the teen entered the room. Ren's heart clenched as he basked in Kyoko's presence. The smitten actor offered the actress a tender smile as his manager inquired about Kyoko's day. Given the opportunity to vent, the teen took it. It started slow, but soon Kyoko was practically glowing with the emotions she was spewing. The idiot-in-love was so captivated by Kyoko's passion that his brain failed to follow the actual events of her day. The persona of Ren slipped away and Kuon could do nothing but stare in growing fascination at the goddess of vengeance glowing before him. Appropriately horrified by Kyoko's ongoing tale of woe, Yashiro's expression reflected sympathy for the young woman.
Unfortunately, Ren had barely begun to start processing the litany of her day when Yashiro turned to him and commented about what a day Kyoko-chan had.
"That's nice," the distracted actor replied without thought as his mind finally decided it was time to do something other than stare in awed appreciation for the gorgeous girl he had not seen in what seemed like forever.
"Nice," Kyoko repeated as her face became utterly blank. Somewhere inside Kyoko's consciousness, the final straw dropped on the camel and the shattered ungulate succumbed to the pressure. It toppled to the ground spilling its burden into a chaotic mess of wreck in her mind.
Yashiro turned horrified eyes to his charge as Kyoko repeated the same word with a bit more force.
"NICE..." she squawked as Ren suddenly realized that Kuon had been in the driver seat for the past couple minutes and that he really needed to get back in control of himself because he was missing something major.
"NICE!" screeched Kyoko at a decibel that made the windows shake.
In fear, Yashiro took a step back as energy seemed to crackle around the incensed teen. Her hair rose of its own volition in the wake of the swirling power seeping from the shaking vision of rage. Her molten eyes narrowed as they locked on her senpai who had finally reconnected the wires to his brain and processed at least part of the litany she had spouted.
Even Ren's hair shifted slightly in the strange wind as he stepped forward with his hands raised in supplication while he attempted to stutter an apology.
"Mogami-san, I..."
"TSURUGA REN, YOU JERK," she shrieked over his honest apology. "NICE IS NOT WHAT A GIRL WANTS TO HEAR FROM THE MAN SHE LOVES AFTER A DAY LIKE I HAD!"
For a split second, all that could be heard in the room was Kyoko's ragged breathing as she glared at the dumbfounded actor who stood with his mouth gaping and his eyes bulging in unprecedented shock.
The quiet was finally broken by a snort which turned into a giggle which built into full fledged rolling laughter as Yashiro dropped into a chair and held his stomach in defense of the roaring waves of mirth escaping from his body. The manager laughed so hard that tears streamed from his eyes.
Kyoko's shoulders slumped as the rage dissipated from her body. In a heartbeat, she transformed from the unstoppable goddess of vengeance to the badly broken child she had been previously. Tears welled in her eyes and a slowly building cry escaped from her lips. Her knees trembled, and she would have crumbled to the ground if Ren had not gathered her into his arms. Kyoko does not remember much of the next hour or so. She does not remember how she found herself in Ren's apartment sitting on his lap while he sat on his couch and whispered softly into her ears and endlessly rubbed and patted her back. When the hysterics had finally subsided along with the subsequent hiccups, Ren had finally allowed his and Kuon's desires to align and he admitted his feelings for the exhausted actress nestled in his arms. Emotionally and physically spent, Kyoko had taken the news of his long standing affection and attraction surprisingly well. She had simply thanked him and fallen almost instantly asleep. Although the actor had been sorely tempted to keep her in his apartment for the night, he realized that now that their feelings were out in the open that he would need to increase his vigilance in protecting the little slip of a woman from possible harm and that included from him. Ren had taken Kyoko home and deposited her in her own bedroom under the watchful eye of the Okami-san.
Kyoko had opened her eyes the next morning ravenously hungry and crushing a note in her fist. The note had been an invitation from Ren to attend the President's upcoming "Schmooze and Cruise" as the event was rudely called behind the eccentric man's back. Of course, being Takarada Lory, it was likely the gentleman knew what his employees called his annual event that forced prominent LME celebrities to meet and greet powerful members of the government and key figures in the business, banking, and even industrial industries. The man probably knew but did not care what they thought. Lory may be an exotic figure in his costumes and finery, but he was definitely a shrewd business man who realized how to keep the grease flowing in the cogs of his well oiled company. Being Japan's number one actor, Ren was never able to escape the event. The past three years, he and Yashiro had attended the festivities. This time, he was bringing a date.
The limousine pulled to a stop and the door swung open. Still slightly nervous golden eyes swept to meet twinkling dark ones.
"Are you ready, Princess?" Ren murmured softly as he held out his hand.
Kyoko took a deep breath and placed her delicate hand in the large outstretched one. Tingling warmth tickled up her bare arm and the butterflies in her stomach once more took flight. For a moment, Kyoko toyed with the thought that perhaps for one night she could have the fairy tale. Grinning, she stepped from the back of the limousine with every intention of enjoying her hopefully magical first date.
A/N: I can't resist making a bit of a statement... challenges are cool. I wish that there were more of them. I also really wish that folks would embrace challenges as a chance to work their imaginations. It isn't too taxing to develop Ren and Kyoko together because that is what is happening in the manga. It is more of a stretch to develop cohesive and believable stories with other kinds of plots. Perhaps it is just me, but I believe that true challenge makes one a better writer. Creating a story that skips outside the norm of the fandom should not be a negative thing. Unfortunately, I appear to be a minority in this opinion. Stepping outside of the box appears to make folks uncomfortable and at times unpleasant. This is frustrating for me because I understand the effort that writers place into their creations. It makes me sad to see good stories being ignored, discounted or, worst of all, ridiculed just because they are not Ren and Kyoko fluff. As a true egoist (and I mean egoist not egotist... thank you, Freud), I may not be offended by rude comments about the Hikaru challenge, but I do wish to make a single point. There are currently a total of 1088 fan fictions in English for SkipBeat but only 8 (count them with me... eight) fan fictions that feature Kyoko and Hikaru as the couple which means only .7% of the stories feature this couple and two of these stories were written before the challenge was issued. I am not sure how this could be considered too many stories about Hikaru lately. Logic... what a novel concept. Oh well, I guess I will go back to writing my statistically significant fluff and keep my truly snide comments to myself while I bask in the flames - jhiz