Chapter 1: Deciphering the Feelings
"I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san. I've caused you so much trouble. I don't deserve to be treated so well by you. I'm sorry."
She moved to bow to him from her seated position.
"Kyoko."
She looked up and was met with his lips crashing against hers. They were soft, and warm and she could feel him smiling.
He pulled away slowly and looked at her closely. "Shut up. I love you, and I was happy to take care of you."
Kyoko stared at him for a moment before she felt her heart swelling with happiness.
"I-I love you too."
A smile lit up Ren's face and he leaned in and kissed Kyoko once more.
That moment replayed in Ren's mind over the next few days both when he was awake and asleep. Unfortunately he had not gotten to see Kyoko since then because they were both busy catching up on missed work and (for her) schoolwork. As much as he wanted to spend every moment with her, he was a professional actor and had to remain focused on his work.
One thing that Ren was having trouble accepting was what Kyoko had said after their kiss.
"I don't think we should tell anybody about this yet." She said looking down at her hand that was entwined with Ren's.
He was surprised. "Why not?" he tried to keep his voice nonchalant.
"I just think it might cause a lot of trouble if everyone knows." She saw the troubled look on his face. "I mean, we can tell Yashiro-san, Moko, and the president. But just not the public. Is that okay?"
Ren had agreed immediately but it still bothered him. He had told himself that she'd been through a lot lately and still needed to adjust back to her life. He just hoped she would adjust quickly.
He had just arrived back at LME for a meeting in the afternoon. Yashiro was walking with him giving him details about the meeting. When they turned down the next hallway they saw Kyoko. She was wearing her pink LoveMe uniform and struggling to carry three somewhat large boxes.
Without a second thought Ren moved forward, a box began to fall from Kyoko's arms but he caught it. He took a second box from her leaving her with only one.
She looked up to say thank you but the words caught in her throat when she saw who it was. By this point, Kyoko had convinced herself that the kiss and love confession had all been in her head.
Her face blushed bright red. "Thank you, Tsuruga-san."
Ren smiled at her. "You shouldn't be carrying so many boxes at once. You only just returned to work."
Kyoko nodded her head but was no longer able to meet Ren's eyes.
"I'll help you carry this. I have time before my next meeting. Where are we headed?"
Kyoko stared at him in shock. If I'm right and that kiss was an illusion… he's tricking me again. Testing me.
Ren was surprised at the gloomy expression that crossed her face. Kyoko smiled at him quickly. "You don't have to help me. It's LoveMe work so I shouldn't receive help doing it."
If they were still just co-workers and he was hiding his feelings he would've just tossed the boxes back into her arms and been on his way. But now that she knew his feelings, he could help her honestly.
He leaned down towards her. "I really don't mind, Kyoko. Besides, I don't know that you'll be in the LoveMe section too much longer after we talk to the president."
Kyoko stared at him. Could it be that that wasn't a dream? Did it really happen? He wouldn't call me Kyoko unless it had right?
Kyoko wanted to ask him but she wasn't sure how. "Now," Ren continued as he stood upright, "Where are we taking these?"
Kyoko gave in and told him which office it needed to go to and they began walking.
Ren wanted to talk to her but she looked so focused he didn't know how to start. She knocked on the office door and someone opened it.
"I'm delivering these packages." Kyoko informed him with a slight bow. The man nodded and pointed to a nearby desk to put them on. He gave a questioning glance at Ren who only smiled.
After receiving her full marks stamp from the man they began to walk away. Kyoko could no longer take the wondering. She needed to know what was going on.
She opened her mouth to talk when Ren's phone rang.
"Hello, yes. I understand. I'll be right there." He hung up and turned to Kyoko.
"That was Yashiro, I have to go to a meeting now but we can talk later."
She nodded and he turned to walk away. But he stopped and turned back and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before taking off for his meeting.
Kyoko stood in the hall frozen in place. "It really happened." She said finally as she touched the spot on her cheek that was burning.
She glanced around trying to make sure that no one had seen. She wasn't sure why but she didn't want this to be known by everyone just yet. Heck, she didn't even know what they were yet.
Does this mean we are a couple now? Kyoko blushed at the thought.
As she went through the day she was distracted anytime she wasn't in front of a camera. She spent some of the afternoon filming some make up scenes for her drama but after that found that she was free.
"I guess I'll go home." She said to herself as she packed up her things into her backpack and started to walk back to Darumaya.
As she walked she tried to imagine what it would be like dating Ren. She'd never really been on a proper date… her date in Guam with Corn flashed through her mind.
She shook her head. No, nothing like that. She found herself thinking about when she and Sho were living together. Would Tsuruga-san ever ask me to clean and cook in his apartment? She pictured her being at his apartment, wearing an apron while cooking dinner and cleaning the house and being there to greet him when he returned from work.
"No," she sighed, pounding one fist into her open palm. "We'd both be working so we probably wouldn't eat dinner together most of the time."
Wait! Why am I assuming I'd move in with him? She sighed at her own assumptions.
"What would he say if he heard my thoughts?" she wondered aloud. She quickly dug through her bag and pulled out her doll of Ren that she'd made.
"Why would you assume I'd ask you to live with me?" the Ren doll scolded her. "Surely I'd get tired of seeing you all the time."
She hung her head in shame over her thoughts. I'm hopeless…
Buzz! Buzz!
Kyoko dug through her bag again and found her cell phone. It showed three missed calls from…
"Tsuruga-san?! Why would he be calling me?"
Kyoko's mind flashed back to their earlier conversation. Oh! That's right, he said we would talk later. And then he kis- No!
The phone began to buzz again. She quickly fumbled with it and opened it.
"Hello?" she answered nervously.
"Are you okay?" a panicked voice came through the phone and she felt that strange swelling in her heart again. He was worried about her.
"Kyoko, are you okay?" Ren asked again, his voice filled with concern.
"Huh? I mean, yes I'm fine. I'm sorry I didn't answer until now."
Ren sighed. "You forgot to turn the sound up on your phone again, didn't you?"
Kyoko blushed. "Yes. It was in my bag so I didn't feel the vibrate. I'm sorry if I caused you to worry."
"It's fine." Ren answered. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was actually calling to see if you wanted to go to dinner with me tonight. We can discuss things."
"I-um I mean, sure. Yes. That would be fun."
Ren struggled to hide the relief in his voice. "I finish work around eight. Where should I pick you up?"
"Well, I'm heading back to Darumaya right now."
"Perfect. I'll pick you up there at eight-thirty. See you then, Kyoko."
As they hung up, Kyoko's face was flushed. She just couldn't get used to him using her first name. She stopped walking as she realized something.
He's going to want me to call him by his name. No more Tsuruga-san.
She sighed heavily. This was beginning to be more trouble than she had originally thought.
Kyoko arrived home and went to her room to change for her date. She went through her small wardrobe debating on what to wear.
A skirt or pants? Dressy or casual? Heels or sandals?
She quickly decided against the heels because she still wasn't used to wearing them. She wound up deciding on a cute skirt with a pretty top, some sandals, and for the finishing touch-
"Princess Rosa!" she exclaimed as she fastened it around her neck. She had figured she should wear it for good luck.
Kyoko put on some light make up for the occasion and when she was finished she looked in the mirror.
"What do you think?" she asked her Ren doll that she had propped up leaning against the mirror.
"You look fine if you were going on a normal date… but do you really think this is good enough for a date with me."
Kyoko sighed at her Ren doll's critique. "Of course he's right." But before she could think about it anymore there was a knock on her door.
"Kyoko-chan, you have a visitor. There's a very handsome man waiting for you downstairs."
Kyoko blushed at her landlady's words. "I'll be right down." She called out.
She grabbed her purse and quickly transferred her necessities. She included her wallet, her phone, her lipstick, her pouch with Corn's stone, and after a moments debate, she grabbed her Ren doll and stuck it inside.
"All right, now I'm ready!" she told herself before heading downstairs.
She spotted Ren immediately because he looked so out of place in the small restaurant. He was wearing jeans and a fashionable shirt. His smile made Kyoko want to run back upstairs but she told herself she couldn't back out now.
"Are you ready, Kyoko?"
She nodded and he wrapped an arm around her waist as he led her outside to his car. He opened her car door and helped her in before walking to his side and getting in.
"You look beautiful," he told her as he looked into her eyes. Ren felt pride flow through him as he noticed the necklace that hung around her neck.
Kyoko blushed and quickly looked down at her lap. She began to play with her purse strap. Ren thought he heard a mumbled "Thank you," but figured he'd better just move on. It seemed Kyoko was having trouble adjusting to this new relationship between them.
As he began driving Kyoko managed to find her voice. "Where are we going to, Tsur-"she stopped quickly hoping he wouldn't say anything about her calling him by his last name.
Is it really so hard for her to call me Ren? He wondered silently. Aloud he replied to her, "There's a restaurant nearby that opened up recently. I thought we could try it together."
Kyoko nodded. "That sounds good." She gave him a small smile.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Ren gave his name to the host and she led them to a small private dining room. She instructed Ren on the button to call for service and set down their menus before leaving.
Ren watched Kyoko to see what she thought of the restaurant. She sat down and put her purse next to her. As she glanced around the room she began to fidget with her purse once again.
Ren smiled at her nervousness. "Are you okay?" he asked her.
Her eyes darted up to his own and she blushed. "I'm fine. Just nervous." She answered honestly.
"What are you nervous about?"
Kyoko mumbled something.
"What was that?"
She sighed and answered without looking at him. "I'm nervous you might kiss me unexpectedly again."
Ren struggled not to laugh. It seemed that that was the only way he ever kissed her. He felt a slight pain in his heart though as he realized he had made her scared of his kiss.
He leaned forward over the table and tilted her head up so she was looking at him.
"I promise, I will not kiss you again without warning you."
His smile made her feel weak. She looked away. "I'm not sure that's much better." She grumbled and this time Ren could not hold back his laugh.
"Should we order our food yet?" he asked her.
Kyoko looked at the menu for the first time. The food all looked so good. Then she saw the prices.
She quickly opened her purse and searched for her wallet. Ren didn't even have to see her hands to know what she was doing.
"You don't have to worry about it." He told her sternly. "The money. I'm paying for dinner."
Kyoko shook her head, "I can't let you pay for it. It's so expensive, it wouldn't be right for me to take advantage of your kindness."
"Are you trying to make me look bad?" Ren asked her seriously.
Kyoko's face showed her confusion.
"How does it look if I take my girlfriend to a place like this and then let her pay for her portion?" he watched her face carefully to see if she reacted to the word "girlfriend".
Kyoko looked down at the menu again. I guess when he puts it like that…
She looked back up suddenly. "Wait, is that what I am?" she asked. "I mean, are we-"
Ren interrupted her. "What do you want us to be?" he unconsciously held his breath as he waited for her answer.
"Um… I-I'm not sure."
Ren felt a pain in his heart. He put a smile on to hide his pain. "Well, why don't we order our food." Before Kyoko could say anything else he pushed the call button and when the server came she took their orders.
When they were alone again, Ren excused himself. "I need to use the bathroom."
Kyoko watched in silence as he left the room, leaving her to sit alone. She let her face hit the table.
"Why am I such an idiot? Why can't I do anything right?" she sighed. She reached into her purse and pulled out her Ren doll.
"What was I supposed to say?" she asked him.
"You should've been honest. What kind of terrible person can't even be honest with the one they love?" the doll scolded her.
"I know!" she cried in frustration. "But how can I be honest with him when I can't even figure out what to tell myself honestly?"
A/N: so that was chapter 1 of my sequel story. I hope you liked it! I have a lot of stuff planned for it. Please review! Thanks.