Notes: Skip Beat! belongs to Yoshiki Nakamura, not me. Also, SPOILERS for ch. 163, don't say I didn't warn you.
After reading the first chapter of MysticSorceror's "Cleaning It Up" and becoming horribly depressed about the foreboding feeling of chapter 163 (especially since we won't find out what happens until Oct. 5) , I decided to try writing a fic about it to make myself feel better. This is actually my first fic, so any reviews (kind or otherwise) are very welcome!
-Start-
The smell of smoke and burning rubber hit her nose as she ran towards the scene of the accident. Shoving her way through the sobbing fan-girls that had minutes before been throwing themselves at Tsuruga Ren's feet, she sprinted closer to the wrecked car and the Dark Moon crew members trying to herd people clear of the smoldering wreckage. Kyoko approached the site and stopped to look around. She scanned the scene, avoiding only the flaming body of the stunt car, and searched for Ren's face, his tall frame, among the drivers and passengers of the vehicles affected by the crash. There was Momose Itsumi, whose side of the car hadn't collided with the front of the semi-truck, laying on the ground with her head bleeding but still coherent. Nowhere to be found, however, was Tsuruga Ren.
She continued running until she approached a trembling Oohara-san, standing some meters away from the fire. She could hear the sirens approaching in the background and could feel the heat of the flames lash at her face. Stopping to take a breath, she croaked out, "Where is he? Tsuruga-san?"
The older woman looked at the burning car and looked away, shoulders slumped she stifled a sob. Knowing that she could get little out of her, Kyoko continued running until she came as close to the fire as possible without getting burned. She peered inside as best as she could through the heat and smoke but could see nothing except the scorched metal frame, no trace of a person, no trace of him. Starting to smile to herself, she thought, 'No way could he be in here. There's nobody in the car. He must be sitting on the other side, getting a drink of water and recollecting himself. I knew there was no need to make that protective charm.' She continued reassuring herself until she felt someone garb her arm harshly; she turned around to see Director Ogata's tear-streaked face. "Kyoko-chan. Come away from the fire," he pleaded , "There's nothing you can do for him now."
"For who, Director Ogata?" Kyoko half-laughed, "Wh-who are you talking about? There's no one in there."
"Kyoko-chan, it-it's Ren. Ren was in the car."
"Haha, no. No, he wasn't. Momose-san is fine. Tsuruga-san's fine, too." Kyoko angrily replied.
Director Ogata gave her a pitying expression and looked toward the blazing mass and back into her eyes.
"NO! Ren was not in there! HE IS NOT!" Kyoko shouted furiously at Ogata.
She turned to look at the wreckage once more and stepped back. All of a sudden the world's sounds and smells seemed to cave in on her. The orange-red flames of the car seemed to lick at the blackening clouds above and burn at her eyeballs. Every crying person was shouting directly into her ears and the screeches of the fire engines were trying to deafen her. She couldn't breathe from the smell of the thick, black smoke. Her airways were constricting and constricting and it felt like she was the one tangled and burning in the arms of the crumpled vehicle, not Ren.
Kyoko jolted awake, sweat dripping down her body, making her black camisole stick to her skin like some unwanted binding. She pressed her palms to her eyes to calm herself and tried to figure out her surroundings. She looked down at what she was wearing and realized she was in Setsu's clothes. 'Setsu's clothes. That must mean I am in the hotel.' Kyoko looked around and, sure enough, there were the hotel room's sheets on her bed, and the light from the kitchenette shining on her arms, and to the left the nightstand that Cain and Setsu share. And further than that - there he was.
Sleeping on his left side with one hand under his head he looked so innocent and relaxed, a complete opposite to Kyoko's disheveled state. She thought of the small accident earlier during Dark Moon's filming, how Ren had caused the stunt car to skid slightly before regaining control of the vehicle and how that minor incident had been the fuel for her much more frightening nightmare. Now, Ren's peaceful and calm face, slightly illuminated by the light behind Kyoko, looked so out of place with Kyoko's nightmare and the image she couldn't help supplanting with what she knew was reality. In her mind his face covered by matted hair and blood, smeared by ash from the fire and full deep burns that penetrated to the bone; Kyoko couldn't get this false image to go away. Unable to hold in a sob, she clasped her hands to her mouth, hoping that Tsuruga-san hadn't heard her.
Ren opened his eyes and looked up to see a frightened stiff Kyoko, awake and with her hands covering her mouth. "Setsu, what's wrong? Have a nightmare?" he grumbled, half-asleep. He cleared his eyes only to see large tears falling down Kyoko's cheeks.
"I-I'm sorry, O-onii-chan..." she stuttered, "I had a nightmare that... you were hurt. I'm sorry."
Ren sat up and looked at Kyoko knowingly. He couldn't help slightly slipping out of Cain Heel, "No, I'm sorry that you had a nightmare. I won't get hurt, not while you're here to protect me. I promise."
Kyoko sobbed louder and leaped out of bed, flinging herself onto a mostly propped-up Ren and wrapping her arms around his neck. 'It's Setsu's reaction,' she tried to tell herself as she started realizing what she'd done, 'If she had a nightmare about Cain, Setsu would do this. It's alright, I – she's just scared. It's her fears that are making me like this, fueled by that stupid dream.' Noticing that Ren was still frozen in the same spot as she clung to him bodily, face buried in his hair and body pressed against his, she panicked and pushed herself away. 'How are you going to salvage this, Kyoko, you idiot? You just leaped into a man's arms, on his bed! Would even Setsu do this to Cain? And now Tsuruga-san is stuck like some robot. You're going to get an NG, worse, he's going to ask you to leave! What should I dooooo?'
"C-can I sleep in your bed,Onii-chan? J-just for tonight, like when we were kids and I used to get nightmares?" Setsu meekly asked while looking up into Cain's eyes with a slight blush on her face. 'Good going, Kyoko! If I bring up their childhood, there's no way he can realize that it was Kyoko who did this and not Setsu!'
Ren gave Setsu a strange, almost pained look before reverting back to Cain Heel. Her sudden hug and the way her slightly wet body had felt against his had chased Big Brother Cain out completely. 'It's obvious that she did have a nightmare, and if she really needs the comfort tonight, I will just have to control myself,' he thought. Besides, he neither wanted to embarrass Kyoko by pointing out that this was inappropriate behavior nor lose an opportunity to be so close to her. He coughed while fully regaining his composure, "Of course, Setsu, just like old times. My bed's always open to you."
Kyoko let out a strangled laugh, "Haha, of course. That's why you're the best brother in the world!" 'What is he doing, is he really agreeing to this? Is he so lost in Big Brother Cain Heel's head that he's actually okay-ing this? No, Kyoko! Remember the Actor's Rule of Heart! Just be Setsu and it'll be okay!' Squaring her jaw with determination, Setsu flung the covers of Cain's bed up and leaped in. She turned to her side, facing away from Cain and awkwardly shouted, "I've lost enough sleep already and I don't want to look like a mangy raccoon tomorrow morning so good night Onii-chan!" Kyoko shut her eyes as tight as she could and willed her breathing to slow down.
Ren looked down at the strangely rigid body lying within hugging distance to his own and sighed, 'After a long day, this is going to be an even longer night. I should've figured.' He laid down to face Kyoko and pulled the covers around them, "Good night, Setsu, sweet dreams."
Eventually, his breathing quieted and his body relaxed. Kyoko lay silently awake, flushed now not from her nightmare but from her proximity to the man behind her back. Her eyes drooped shut and she smiled to herself, 'I'm sure they'll be better this time around.'
-Stop-
A/N: I feel like Kyoko jumping into Ren's arms was totally OOC but I had to make something good come out of the horrible nightmare. And I figured, if she was a) terrified, b) kind of in Setsu mode and c) had just woken up and not in her right mind, she might (and that's a big 'might') do it. Thanks for reading!