He saw her face and did it without thinking. Pulling her trembling form into his arms, he kissed each of the bruises on her cheeks. And again for good measure.
"Tsur--uga--san?" she questioned through her tears.
"What's going on? Won't you tell me?" he gently pleaded.
Kyoko let out a small painful sound, but gave no answer. She only clung to him, hiding her face in his chest as he hugged her tightly. Ren tried to wait patiently for an explanation, but it was difficult when Kyoko was so obviously in pain. Then he heard her mumble something into his now dampened shirt.
"What was that?" he prodded.
"I'm leaving. I have to leave."
His heart throbbed unpleasantly.
"What do you mean? Leave, why? Leave what?" Ren asked, but now she was shaking harder than before. It seemed like Kyoko was having difficulty remaining upright, even holding onto him. So, he scooped her up into a princess hold, and carried her down the hall towards his dressing room. She didn't even protest, she just continued to hide her face in his shirt. She didn't want him seeing her like this. Ren open his door and walked into the thankfully deserted room before setting the wounded girl on the couch. He went back to close the door, and came back to sit next to Kyoko, only to pull her onto his lap.
"Now, what's going on?"
His face was too close. There was no way she could hide it from him any longer. The seventeen-year-old leaned against him and let out a soft sigh. Ren brushed her hair off her face to get a better look at it.
"My mother," she whispered.
Her mother? Ren remembered that Kyoko was still underage; her mother had legal custody of her. She must have come back for Kyoko. Kyoko had definitely been hit. And now Kyoko said she was leaving. This didn't look very promising.
"Is your mother forcing you to leave LME?" Ren asked, his voice tight.
"Yes," Kyoko whispered. Her eyes darted upward to give him a hopeless look, tears in her eyes.
"When?" he asked, scared for the answer.
"Tomorrow. We're leaving for Kyoto tomorrow," she paused, "At least I was able to finish Dark Moon and Box R."
Ren closed his eyes in pain. He couldn't lose her now! Not when he had finally realized just how much he needed her.
"There must be something we can do," he said desperately.
"There isn't. It's all been settled with the president. I'm really leaving."
Kyoko was confused. Tsuruga-san was holding her like he didn't want to let her go, and his face: it looked as if he was being tortured. He didn't care about her that much did he? They were just friends, weren't they? Not even friends, just sempai and kouhai. Why was he so upset? She had been dreading the goodbye to him these last few days, so much that she had completely avoided him, but he had noticed something was wrong and sought her out. Still, she thought he would only be angry that she was quitting right in the middle of things. She had assumed that she would be the only one to miss their shallow relationship. Shallow and unimportant, but she didn't want to lose it. He meant a lot to her.
"Tsuruga-san," she touched his face softly,"don't look that way. It's making me sad."
Of course she wouldn't expect him to be so disturbed. She probably thought he would send her off with a singular 'good riddance' and that would be that. She was an idiot.
"Kyoto," he said mournfully, holding her even more tightly. So far away. More than two hundred miles. For a split second, he considered going with her. But no, he couldn't. He had no real excuse to be with her, especially now that she was leaving LME. If only...
But he had no claim on her. He couldn't make a claim either. He'd been so deceptive to everyone, he couldn't be in an honest relationship now. He put his face to her hair and breathed in her scent. Any moment now, she would realize her position and start to squirm.
"I'll visit you when I can. And I'll write to you every day," said Ren. Kyoko looked up at him in astonishment.
"No! You're so busy already! I won't cause you any more trouble than I already have."
Silly girl. As if he could live without her now.
"It would trouble me more if you refused," he told her.
Now this was just getting too weird. Tsuruga-san coming to see her in Kyoto? Come to think of it, he had just kissed her, not on the lips, but still. And carried her to his dressing room. And now she was here with him, sitting on his lap. Her sudden realization was apparent in her face, and Ren knew that she was about to pull away. He held her in an iron grip; she wasn't getting away from him quite yet, not if this was his last chance to be with her. He put his head on her shoulder, his face against her neck.
Kyoko's neck and face were getting hot, but Tsuruga-san was holding onto her like a boa constrictor. There would be no escape. It reminded her of the time she had fallen in his kitchen, and he had caught her. He had held her tightly then too, but they had been acting, so that wasn't so strange. Having him this close was making her very nervous indeed.
Ren's thoughts were swirling chaotically in his head. He had to consider all his options, and do it very quickly.
"You'll be eighteen in nine months. Will you come back?" he asked her, his words whispered directly into her ear.
"I don't know. I wouldn't want to cross Mother," she said uneasily.
Ah. Kyoko loves her mother. Her mother who would never love her in return, never accept her as the wonderful being she was. He didn't want her spending the rest of her life unloved, trying to please her hateful mother. Kyoko had turned on his lap to face him better, and now he rested his forehead against hers, his eyes shut. It was now or never.
"Please come back," he whispered. He felt her tremble, but not from her tears this time.
Tsuruga-san's words were creating an even greater anguish in her heart. She hadn't expected this. She didn't like to see him like this; it felt like she couldn't tell him no. Her words caught in her throat. He was still so close, with his arms wrapped around her. She couldn't focus.
"Kyoko," she heard him say. He never called her that.
"Kyoko, I love you." There, he said it. Come what may.
...
...
...
...
...
WHAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
This was definitely unexpected. He loved her? Tsuruga-san? Loved her? He still wasn't letting her go, despite her fight-or-flight instincts kicking in. Love? Love? Love...
Ren kissed her on her cheek, and then released his hold. She didn't move. He had expected her to jump out of his lap at the first opportunity. She was probably still paralyzed with terror at the idea of him loving her.
In actuality, she was. Kyoko couldn't really fathom it. Tsuruga Ren, the hottest, the most talented, the most beautiful actor in all of Japan, loved her. When did that happen? Her first instinct was to run away and never see him again, but as soon as she thought about doing that, her heart wrenched and gave her the biggest surprise of her life. She didn't want to leave him. He loved her, and she didn't want to leave. Did that mean she loved him too? If so, now what? If she loved him, she still had to leave, right?
"Doesn't make a difference in the end..." she murmured. Except that she was now twice as crushed. Love was awful; she was here with him now, but she'd be gone tomorrow, and what good would loving Tsuruga-san be then? Tsuruga-san? No. Ren. She did love him. Here. Now. The last time she might see him in a while. She looked at him. He really was beautiful. His chocolate coloured hair fell into his face with unearthly grace, the suffering in his eyes seemed to penetrate into her soul. She touched his face.
"Ren."
Ren's eyes widened at his name. She hadn't dashed away at his confession, and now she was looking at him, like--she loved him? He didn't want to hope for it, but he couldn't help it. And then she pulled his chin down and kissed him. His initial shock didn't stop him from responding. He kissed her back with all the pent-up passion in his system. He could feel her tears on his face. Kyoko eventually pulled away, still on his lap, and rested her head on his shoulder. They were both breathing heavily.
"Ren, I think I love you too. I don't want to leave you," she whispered to him.
"Then don't. Stay with me," he whispered back. Screw "can't have honest relationships". He would tell her everything.
"How? I have no choice but to leave with my mother."
Ren thought about it.
"You can return when you turn eighteen..." They both winced. That was a long time to be apart, even with letters and occasional visits.
"Or..."
"Or what?" Kyoko asked. Ren kissed her again.
"You could marry me."
If 100 people ask for a sequel/2nd chapter, I promise to write one. ;D
Otherwise, I'm just too lazy. And besides, I kinda like this ending! (MWAH HA HA!!!)