I don't own Skip Beat! If I did, I'd make Ren do a lot more than this.


"Kuon," Kyoko said, feeling embarrassed, "I need that."

"Mmm?" Kuon paused in what he was doing, but didn't look up.

"I said, I need that," Kyoko repeated. She tried to pull her hand from Kuon's grip, but he held fast. "I'm trying to cook."

"Hmm," Kuon said petulantly. "I'm not hungry."

"Well, I've already started," Kyoko replied, turning away from the tall man behind her. She was doing her best to avoid him. He seemed dangerously close to changing into the Emperor of the Night. "So it would be a waste to stop now."

She felt Kuon move behind her.

"A waste..." he said slowly.

He released her hand and drew away from her. Relieved, Kyoko reached for the knife she had been using to chop the vegetables. Before she could begin, however, a long, strong arm snaked around her waist and pulled her back. Kyoko felt herself go stiff.

Kuon wrapped both arms around her motionless frame and locked her into a warm embrace. He placed his head on her right shoulder. Kyoko could feel his slow, even breath on her neck. His weight on her shoulder felt heavy - more heavy than it really was, she knew.

Every time! No matter how often this happened, or how much she got used to it, he always managed to catch her off guard. He was probably enjoying it. No doubt he found this funny.

"Yes, it would be a waste to stop now," Kuon whispered softly in her ear.

Kyoko felt her face flush red. Her ear itched terribly now. She had the vague urge to reach up and bat his words away, as if they were flying around near her head.

But that might put her hand in his reach again. She couldn't do that.

"Ehh..." Kyoko began slowly, trying to keep her voice steady. "W-what are you doing?"

Kuon didn't respond immediately. He blew at a strand of hair that had strayed from behind Kyoko's ear, making her heart beat in a furious staccato.

"What, this?" he asked lazily. "This is my privilege."

As if for emphasis, he swayed back and forth, making Kyoko move with him. She gripped the knife nervously, trying to calm her heart.

"Eh!" she said, with what she hoped was a convincingly angry voice. "What privilege! I didn't give you any-"

She froze. Or rather, Kuon froze, and Kyoko was rendered immobile by the strength of his arms.

He lifted his head and turned to look at her.

"Would you do this with someone else, then?" he asked with a deadly calm.

Kyoko didn't dare look at him. She knew that tone, and she didn't want to see the face that went with it.

"N-no," she said quickly. "I w-wouldn't do this with anyone else. O-only with y-you-"

In the corner of her eye, she saw Kuon smile. All the tension in the room evaporated.

"Then there's no problem, is there?" he said. He put his head on her shoulder again and began to sway once more, taking her along in the rhthym. He was moving more vigorously this time, and Kyoko hastily held the knife out away from both of them.

"Careful!" she said. "What if one of us is cut?"

"Mmm..." Kuon slowed thoughtfully. He smiled again, mischievous this time. "I'll kiss it and make it better."

"K-kuon!" Kyoko objected, but he only laughed.


With all the tension in the recent chapters, I just wanted Ren to tease Kyoko a bit. That, and I wanted to play around with the idea of Kyoko calling Ren by his name.