Casanova

"Yashiro, I can't believe I told her I loved her and was going to marry her—on the second date. But I swear I couldn't help it after kissing her like that."

Yashiro inwardly danced around like a school girl. Ren had practically confessed to Kyoko—and he was being honest about it. He was finally opening up.

"Yukihito. I just told you that I might possibly have ruined any chance I have with Kyoko and you're laughing."

"You haven't ruined your chances with Kyoko. In fact, for someone as oblivious as her, it probably was good for her—to know where you stand."

Ren looked at his overly-happy manager with disbelief. "And how did you surmise this?"

Grinning, Yashiro replied, "Because she's looking at you like you're her prince charming."

Turning sharply, Ren saw the woman who had plagued his thoughts last night (who was he kidding—she plagued his thoughts every night). Kyoko blushed prettily and started crossing the set towards him. Ren didn't need any more prompting.

Quickly, he was at her side. Vaguely, he heard the director calling the next scene for the new action they were working together in. But all he really heard was the pounding of his own heart and the sound of her exhalations. He really wanted to kiss her again.

"Ren, I never got to reply to you last night—you left before I had the chance."

Ren bit back a grimace. Here it comes. He thought she was enjoying herself on the date, but that was probably just wishful thinking on his part. He didn't even know why she went out on that second date when their first one was so horrible. Pity. It was probably pity.

"I just wanted to tell you that—

"Mogami Kyoko. Emiko is needed in this scene. Hurry up!"

Kyoko colored at the reprimand and, with an apologetic glance towards Ren, she ran towards the director.

Ren hated the director about now. Yashiro took Ren's despondency as his cue to approach. He didn't need to ask what was said because he was eavesdropping. Ren knew this but wasn't in the mood to chastise him for it.

"She'll never want to speak to me again."

"I think you'll be surprised. So quit whining and watch Kyoko act. You have to do the scene preceding this tomorrow.

Ren obeyed and watched Kyoko portray Emiko—a wealthy girl who, due to her ex-boyfriend, got involved in drug trafficking. This scene was in the warehouse. Emiko was handing over her packages to Daiskue's—Ren's drug lord character—lackey. Three other girls, members of the gang, were standing nearby.

Ren was only twenty feet away from Kyoko and he missed her already. That was not a good sign.

Suddenly, the actor heard a foreboding crack. The scene came to a halt as everybody directed their attention to the ceiling.

It was collapsing. Ren's body reacted. The actors seemed almost frozen as everyone realized what was happening. Ren didn't register the screams or the shouts of "move" and "run". He didn't hear Yashiro yell at him to come back—he only had eyes for Kyoko.

The only thing he saw was her terrified expression—her death flashing before his eyes.

He did the only thing he could do: he threw himself on top of her as their world went dark.

The next thing Ren registered was Kyoko's supple body pressed against his own. He registered his hand on the back of her head and her light breathing.

He registered the pain, also. But he had more important things to worry about. "Kyoko, are you alright?"

"Ren?"—a soft hand went to his face—"It is you! Why are you here? Are you hurt? Where is everyone?"

Ren breathed a sigh of relief. "The ceiling collapsed—remember? I'm here because I love you and if something happened to you…I would never forgive myself."

"Are you hurt—of course you are, I'm an idiot. The ceiling collapsed. Oh God. Oh God."

The eighteen year-old began to hyperventilate.

Ren kissed her. "It will all be okay. Listen. Do you hear that moving? People are coming to get us out—they are saying our names." Instantaneously, the girl calmed.

"Thank you for saving me."

"I wouldn't really call this saving you—you are underneath a collapsed ceiling, after all."

"But I'm not hurt. And you probably are because you protected me. And I never even got to give you my reply. What if I didn't love you back—what if I didn't want to see you again? Then you would be hurt for nothing."

Ren's heart speeded up. "I wouldn't be hurt for nothing—even If you don't return my feelings, I will never stop loving you."

"I do love you, though." It came out as a whisper.

Ren couldn't help the pure adoration and joy that filled his being. He didn't care that it was pitch dark or that his body was throbbing. "So does this mean you'll go out with me again?"

His angel chuckled. "Of course. When?"

"Now. Or whenever they get us out of here. I hear hospital food is quite interesting."

"What about the media? This won't get passed them. I can see the headlines: Tsuruga Ren saves life of Mogami Kyoko by jumping on top of her when the ceiling collapsed—regardless of the other, prettier actresses who also needed saving. "

"First, that's a rather long headline. Second, no one is more beautiful than you. Third, we'll just tell them the truth. That I'm madly in love with you and I fully plan on marrying you."

"I'm okay with that." He could practically feel her blush—even though it was hid behind a teasing tone. Then again, he was blushing, too.

"Good."

"And we can tell our children that I was practically proposed to on our second date. And that we finally cleared the air when we were under a collapsed ceiling together."

"What can I say? I'm a Casanova."

A/N: Firstly, I'm sorry it's been awhile. School's been chaotic at best. And, if I'm being honest, I haven't had any motivation. I've been toying with this idea for awhile—it was hard to make it go with my other stories. How did it turn out?

Hugs,

Maya