A/N: I do Not own Skip Beat! or Christ on Cafe. Yes, it's a real restaurant, found it online.
Chapter 7
Sunday Night...
"I look like a doily," Kyoko said to her image in the mirror. She turned left then right, looking at the dress she wore for tonight's date with Hikaru. It looked pretty when she first tried it on, but now it seems all wrong. It was a black and beige form fitting dress. It looked like two dresses in one, a beige eyelet dress in a very elaborate see-through pattern with a simple black dress underneath. It was actually very pretty, and Kyoko looked great but in her eyes nothing would look good.
It didn't really matter what she thought of it, since Hikaru would be here any minute now. She didn't have enough time to change again or did she? She glanced at the clock. There is five minutes left, I can… There was a knock at her bedroom door. Nevermind.
Kyoko grabbed her purse and opened the door. The Okami-san was there with a very sweet smile. The caring older woman announced the arrival of her date and that she hoped she had a good time. Since it was the start of the dinner crowed, Kyoko said her goodbyes then and there. Once the Okami-san was gone, she picked up her black open toed flats and headed down stairs.
She smiled softly as she saw him. Hikaru was wearing a simple white button up dress shirt with dark brown slacks. He was standing casually, waiting patiently at the side door. Everyone was too busy to entertain him, and he didn't want to be a bother, so he stayed there. The moment she came into his view, his whole face lit up with such a radiant smile.
"You look beautiful, Kyoko," he said softly with a hint of awe.
Kyoko blushed lightly. "Thank you, Hikaru-kun. You look very nice too. Though I have to admit, I'm a little worried about going out on your motorcycle in a dress. Why did you ask me to wear one?" She asked as she slipped on her shoes.
"Hikaru, no kun" he reminded her and then grinned and addressed her concern, "Because we aren't going on my bike. I got a car for us tonight." He reached into his pocket and took out a 500 yen coin. "This is for you," he said and handed her the coin.
"Why? I don't need any money," she stated confused and tried to hand the coin back to him.
He laughed. "It's for tonight. That is going to be the fate of our date, though you can keep it if you like. It's only 500 yen," he explained. Kyoko became more confused causing him to laugh again. "Come on, I'll explain it in the car." He opened the door for her, and they set out.
"Okay," he started once in the car. "Tonight's date is up to destiny. As soon as we drive to the first intersection, you are going to flip the coin. If you get heads, we go right. If it's tails, we go left. Then we'll drive down the street for a little bit, and we will flip the coin again for any place that looks interesting, Tails for yes, Heads for no. So first thing first, are you hungry or do you want to have some fun first?"
Kyoko thought this whole idea was strange but thought about his question. "I'm a little hungry."
"Alright, so we will drive and at the first restaurant we see, you flip the coin. Deal?" He asked her enthusiastically. His smile and humor was so contagious that she nodded with a rather excited expression herself. He started the car and pulled out of the parking garage.
"Do I flip now?" Kyoko asked as Hikaru was trying to find an opening in traffic.
He grinned loving that she was already loving the idea. "Can't. It's a one way street. As soon as we have the option, you can flip it." Kyoko blushed, embarrassed at the obliviously stupid question. Hikaru drove down the street until they came upon a stop sign with a two way street.
"Okay, now flip," he ordered. She light tossed the coin in the air and caught it with both hands.
"Heads! So that means right," Kyoko announced.
"Alright, let's drive for a minute and then we can see what is available," he turned right and found groceries stores, some apartment complexes and small outdoor shopping strip.
"Do you see anything yet?" Hikaru was going to have to depend on Kyoko's eyes for this, since he had to make sure not to run over anything. Safety was priority, but he kept an eye out.
"Oh, there is a fast food place. Do those count?" She asked curiously.
"That depends. Do you want to eat at one?" He glanced at her and saw her cringe slightly making him laugh. "That's a no. So no, let's go somewhere a little better for us. There!" he pointed up ahead, "that looks like a restaurant. Flip it." Kyoko quickly flipped it and got heads again.
"Heads so that's a no," she pouted. She glanced up and smiled. "Oh but there's another one." She flipped the coin again. Heads. "No, destiny likes heads."
He smiled. "Okay, there is one more on our left and then a light. So let's flip for that and if we get another heads we'll take a turn." She quickly flipped the coin.
"Tails! Yes! Where are we going?" She asked playfully.
"Um, Christ on Café. Yeah, I have no clue what that is, but it says Italian cuisine under the little red cross. You still game?" Hikaru asked hesitantly. He wanted her to have fun with this but at the same time didn't want to force her into something she didn't want to do. He would always allow her the presidential veto where ever they go.
"Of course, we can't go against destiny, and the mighty 500 yen coin has decided we should eat there," she said with conviction raising the coin like a precious item in the air. Hikaru laughed out, and Kyoko joined him as they pulled into the parking lot. They found their way into the restaurant and were momentarily stunned. It was a lot bigger inside than it looked outside. It was very bright with two extremely elaborate colorful chandeliers hanging on the ceiling with a small mock picture of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling between them. Though that wasn't the only light, next to the two massive chandeliers where parallel lines of small gold chandeliers.
After they noticed the lighting, they saw the decorations. It was modeled like a showbiz Christian church, with dozens of crosses, picture and statues of saints and of Christ. There were fake candles next to shrines as if they were available for lighting. It was all very flashy. The most normal part was the furniture, beautiful white tables with overstuffed white chairs and couches were available as seating, but they also had traditional wooden chairs with smaller round glass top tables.
"Wow," Kyoko whispered as she tried to take in everything.
"Yeah," Hikaru replied a little worried. The sign made a lot more sense now but he was worried about Kyoko's religious views now. Would she be offended by this? He, himself, wasn't Christian, and he didn't know many to begin with. He turned to give her another out but found her already speaking with the hostess.
"Yes, two for dinner, please," Kyoko said politely. The hostess smiled and took up two menus.
"Would you like one of the private booths?" She asked. "We have one left for this evening."
"Yes, we'll take it," Hikaru finally caught up and answered before Kyoko would have the chance to deny it.
"Follow me, please," the young hostess said and led the way to the little room. It was a pure dark red, a dark contrast to the rest of the areas with red curtains for privacy. The little room could easily fit four people comfortably or six without much effort. It seemed a little much for just the two of them, yet at the same time, she would love it if more restaurants had this type of privacy for her work dinners with...Stop it. Kyoko pressed her lips together and reminded herself who she was with.
Kyoko sat down first, and Hikaru quickly followed her on the same side. While there was more than enough room, she was a little self conscious about the seating. The hostess bid them a wonderful dinner and left them with their menus. They featured a lot of salads and seafood pastas. They even had pizza which Hikaru, thankfully, didn't order. She ordered the clam pasta, and he got the daring Tagliolini de Mare, which was cherry stone clams, sea scallops, calamari, shrimp and mussels in a tomato and white wine sauce topped on fresh-made squid ink taglioline. When the plate came, there was more random seafood than pasta.
"I'm happy to see you aren't on that diet anymore. Maybe next time you would be willing to try the okonomi-anpan?" He joked.
Kyoko quickly shook her head while laughing. "No way. Sorry Hikaru, but I will never touch that fat bomb. I'm sure it is delicious, but I'll take your word for it."
"Aww, where's your sense of adventure?" Hikaru teased.
"I'm came here, didn't I," she said defensively. "However, I believe your thirst for new things is much greater than mine. Do you do this flip coin game often?" Kyoko thought the game was fun and would have never entered this place if it wasn't for the game, but she was curious what brought it up.
He blushed suddenly. "No, this is the first time. To be honest, I was so nervous about tonight that I couldn't think of where to go in the short amount of time we have. Plus, I thought it would be fun. I love trying new things or new places, because there is always something new to learn. When you stop learning, then it's time to die."
Kyoko's eyes widened at that life philosophy. "Isn't that a little harsh?" she asked baffled as she started to eat.
Hikaru smiled. "Not at all because we learn something new every day. Can you honestly tell me you didn't learn something new today?"
She thought about it. Today was actually very uneventful. She was probably as nervous about tonight's date as Hikaru was. She spent most of the day digging through her closet and trying things on. She was stressing out so much in fact that the Okami-san came in and helped her when it was slow down stairs. A soft smile spread across Kyoko's lips when the Okami-san started telling Kyoko about her first date with her husband. She found out that the Taisho was actually a wonderful singer and serenaded her at a karaoke bar. She nodded replying to Hikaru's question and then frowned.
"What if it's just about a person?" she asked.
"That's fine. People are the most interesting subjects to learn. Like today, I found out someone can make eating pasta the most elegant thing in the world," he confessed with a charming smile.
Kyoko froze with her fork halfway to her mouth. She glanced at him puzzled and then looked at her fork and blushed. "I do not," she flustered and set her fork down in embarrassment.
He chuckled softly and responded, "Yeah, you do. I didn't think anyone could eat noodles without getting everything all over their face or table. My sisters are terrible compared to you. Where did you learn to eat like that?"
She opened her mouth and then closed it again, unable to find an answer. She shook her head and laughed softly. "I don't know, Hikaru. I just eat," she said bashfully, her hands cupped her heated cheeks. "You're embarrassing me," she admitted.
Hikaru's smile widened and a look of pure adoration shinned on his face as he looked at her. He reached over and gently caressed her hair line next to her temple causing her to look over at him. Her eyes widened as she took in his expression. She curled her hands against her cheeks and slowly lowered them down. She took a small breath as he leaned in to kiss her.
She closed her eyes as his feathery touch brushed across her lips. He pulled away only slightly enough for him to whisper, "I didn't mean to embarrass you, Kyoko." He kissed her again as his fingers combed through her hair tenderly. He was so very sweet and gentle, unlike R...
NO! She screamed in her head, and a dark handsome image shattered in her mind.
They continued their dinner and conversation about learning new things, and Kyoko was absolutely stunned at everything that he has done: rock climbing, skiing, snow boarding, surfing, wind surfing, hiking, mountain biking, paint ball. He's played almost every sport imaginable for fun: football, American football, tennis, roller hockey, track, even basketball. Out of all the sports he played, baseball was his favorite.
Kyoko smiled as Hikaru turned back to his meal. She looked at him and remembered her new offer and was eager to tell him. "Well, I've got some news if you would like to learn something else?"
"Absolutely! What is it?" He asked with excited curiosity.
"I got a offer for a movie, like a large full screen production," Kyoko said with a nervous glee. She told him the plot and all about the character that she would be playing.
"That's wonderful!" Hikaru immediately congratulated her and asked, "When do you start?" Then he frowned as he thought of something else and added, "Are you going to have to quit being Bo?"
Kyoko laughed and shook her head. "No, I can still be Bo," she replied making Hikaru beam a bright smile. She responded in kind but not as sincerely as she continued, "I actually haven't gotten the role yet. I need to audition for it first."
Hikaru frowned again. "But I thought they offered you the role, doesn't that mean it's technically yours if you say yes?"
"Um," Kyoko had to think about it, "No, I guess not. Sawara-san told me that they offered it to several new actresses, stating that they wanted a new face. I suppose that they want to test out the new talent before they pick the lead actress."
"Well, that makes sense, I guess," he reluctantly agreed. "Are they doing the same for the male lead?"
"No, but he hasn't agreed to playing the part yet," Kyoko said purposing omitting Ren's name.
"Well, that's not really fair. Who is it that they would offer no competition to him but make you jump through hoops for the role?" Hikaru said almost angrily as he defended Kyoko.
"No, that's not how it is, Hikaru. It's understandable that they would make new actresses audition for the role. This role will be a huge break for anyone who plays in it. They are giving us a chance to debut and become famous. Of course, we have to work for it. They can't hand it out without us proving ourselves first," Kyoko tried to defend the casting directors making Hikaru shake his head.
"Alright, I think you are talented enough to not need an audition, but I guess it doesn't really matter since you'll get the role if you really want it," he complimented her making Kyoko blush and shake her head in modesty.
"So who is the actor?" Hikaru asked again.
"I don't know, no one has accepted it yet," Kyoko again dodged the answer.
"Okay, so who did they offer it to?" Hikaru tried again.
Kyoko hesitated, not wanting to tell him who it was she was going to act opposite with but couldn't find a way out of answering the question. "Tsuruga Ren," she finally stated.
"Wow, really?" Hikaru said impressed which gave Kyoko a little shock. "Okay, I can see why they wouldn't make him audition for the role," he said and then sat thinking about it. Kyoko was waiting, a pregnant pause of dread filled her as Hikaru sat silently. Finally he spoke, "You know if you get this part, everyone in Japan will see it. You'll be an overnight success! I really hope you get it, Kyoko. We will celebrate when they give you the real offer."
Stunned again. Kyoko didn't understand why, but a huge sense of relief filled her as Hikaru seemed to embrace the fact that Ren would be her romantic lead. She thought for certain that he would be... Angry? Hurt? Jealous? Her mind really couldn't settle on an expected emotion but excitement wasn't one of them.
Soon dinner was over and for once Kyoko didn't object when Hikaru paid for the meal. When they climbed into the car again, she took out the coin to take them to their next destination. This time their goal was entertainment. This took a little longer since it was a little difficult to tell if a place was to entertain or shop. The mighty 500 yen coin rejected a park, a karaoke bar and a dance club. What did destiny want them to do?
Play video games.
They arrived at a very large arcade, one with a restaurant, a bar, hundreds of video games and table games.
"Hey, want to play pool?" Hikaru asked as soon as he noticed the tables. There were four of them and only two of them were currently taken, one by a group of three guys, the other by what looked like a gokon, or a group date.
"Um, I don't know how," Kyoko replied loudly, trying to be heard over the random noise of the games.
"I'll teach you. I'm not the greatest at it, but I can play," he said with a cheery smile. Remembering his little rule about learning new things, she promptly nodded. They went over to the counter and purchased an hour of play. They received their cue ball, some tokens and their two weapons of choice.
"Alright," Hikaru started. He used one of the tokens to release all the balls for the table and started racking them up. "We will keep it simple. The object of the game is to sink all of your balls and finally the black 8 ball into these pockets." He showed her the black 8 ball and indicated the pockets as he spoke. Once all the colored balls were in place, he carefully removed the wooden triangle frame and put it away. He walked over with a pure white ball in hand.
"This is the cue ball. This is the only ball you are allowed to touch with your cue stick," he explained and gestured to the stick in her hands. "Use your cue stick to strike the cue ball and hit your desired target, pushing it into one of the pockets." He was looking at the table as he explained so he didn't notice the complete lack of understanding on her face until he glanced at her.
He smiled brightly. "Okay, let's get started, and I'll show you along the way. Maybe it will be easier if you see it." She smiled weakly at him but nodded.
"The first thing is the break. We take the cue ball," he lifted the cue ball up allowing her to see it, "place it before these first set of diamond on the side of the table here," again he showed her what the little diamond markers he was talking about, "It doesn't matter where as long as it doesn't go past those markers," he explained and set the cue ball directly in front of the triangle of colored balls.
"Take your cue stick, hold it like so…." He leaned over the table, took his left hand on the table and rested the smaller end of the cue stick on a little V created by his thumb and the knuckle of his forefinger. "Take aim and drive the cue stick into the ball." He pushed the stick with his right hand which was placed at the far end of the stick into the center of the cue ball and sent it crashing into the cluster with a large crack.
The balls went everywhere on the table, but none of them went into a single pocket. Hikaru frowned. "Ideally, something should have went in," he stated with a little blush. "I told you I wasn't that great," he admitted with a smile. Kyoko smiled at him feeling a little better that he wasn't great at the game, not that she would know the difference.
"If you didn't notice before, there are two types of balls on the table, striped and solid. If something went in like it was supposed to, which ever type that was sunk, would be the ones I would go for while the others would be yours. Right now, we have an open table, so the first one to sink any of the balls OTHER than the black 8 ball or the cue ball, gets to claim that group." He stopped talking and looked at the table, then suddenly pointed at an orange 13 ball.
"Okay look at this one. Come here," he unconsciously wrapped his arm around her waist and walked her to the other corner of the table. He pushed her back to bend over the table. "Line up your eyes with Ball 13 and the cue ball in front of you. You can see that there is a straight line going from the cue ball to the pocket with only Ball 13 in the middle. This is an ideal shot, straight, no tricks or anything in the way." They both stood up, and he looked at her. "Would you like to try it?"
Kyoko glanced at him and then at the shot and grew concerned. "I'm not sure I can," she admitted shyly.
"Would you mind if I helped you?" Hikaru asked cautiously.
"Please," she responded, making him smile brightly.
"Alright, place your left hand on the table. There are lots of ways to rest the cute stick, but I'll show you the two that I know," he started to explain and morphed her hand exactly the way he was holding it. "You can raise your knuckles up or down so you can change the angle the stick will strike the ball. The pros will sometimes hit it in such a sharp angle that will make the ball bounce over one and hit the one behind it."
Kyoko turned a shocked face to him and asked, "Can you do that?"
He laughed. "No way, unless you want it to land on the floor," he said jokingly. Kyoko smiled and played with her hand, raising it up and down. "Now the other way is to use your fingertips on the table like this." He lifted her hand again with her pinky, ring and middle finger on the table and continued, "Now rest the stick on your middle finger and wrap your index finger around the stick." He manipulated her fingers to do as he specified. "Your thumb will stay under the stick. Again you can lower or heighten your fingers to change the angle. For this shot, you want to strike it dead center of the ball."
As Kyoko was trying to figure out the center of the ball, she felt Hikaru step up next to her. She turned towards him and found him leaning over her with his arm wrapping around her intimately. She was about to stand up and ask what he was doing until his hand joined hers at the front of the cue stick and at the back. He was going to take the shot with her. She looked around the room and noticed that no one seemed to care that he was so very close to her. Okay, he was practically on top of her. Her heart started to race as the breath of his words caressed next to her face.
"To aim, you can move the cue stick in any direction and it will make the ball go where you strike it. If you make the impact of the ball towards the left," he gently pushed the stick forward, the smooth polished stick sliding between both of their fingers slowly until the tip was right next to the cue ball on its far left side, "The ball with shoot to the right since you pushed it that way." Hikaru pulled back the cue just a little, taking her right arm with him. He leaned in closer to her, and she could feel the hard contours of his body press against her side. His hip was now pressing against the curve of her butt and his dress slacks were tickling her bare legs.
If she didn't know better, she would have thought he planned all this.
"Same goes for the right, too much and you will make it go left," he told her as he demonstrated. "As for height, well, too low and you can scratch or bounce the ball off the table. Too high and you might miss. I'm sure there are other reasons but that's my experience so far," he said with a little chuckle, the laugh causing his chest to rumble and reverberate down her body.
"Okay, so in the middle," he whispered. He pulled back the cue stick, his arm perfectly curled down the length of her arm. "Line up the shot, your eye is focused into a straight line from your ball to the pocket with Ball 13 in the middle." Kyoko decided to try and ignore his close contact and focus on the task. She felt that she was off center to create a straight line and made adjustments; however, this meant that she had to move closer to Hikaru. She looked down and placed her foot between his spread apart feet and shifted her body further underneath him.
Hikaru inhaled sharply as Kyoko pressed her little body into him, her hips grazing the front of his pants in a very nice way. If she noticed his reaction to her movement, she didn't respond. Before he came to, she was already taking the shot. She slammed the cue stick into the cue ball as hard as she could driving both Ball 13 and the cue ball into the pocket.
"I did it!" She yelled out and jumped up excitedly, forcing Hikaru to quickly move back before she smacked him.
He grinned at her. "That was great, but do it with a lot less force," he told her as he moved around the table to get the cue ball. "You don't want to sink the cue ball, just the intended ball. If a person sinks the cue ball at any time, they lose their turn even though they sunk a shot."
"Oh, okay," she pouted, almost making him groan at her cuteness.
"You sunk a striped ball, so all the stripped balls are yours. Ignore everything but the stripped balls. I will work down the solid ones. To win the game, you need to sink all of your designated balls and then finally the black 8 ball here." He walked back to Kyoko and handed her the cue ball then pointed to the 8 ball.
"But that is solid," she countered.
"That's true. I have no idea why we do it this way, but that's the way I was taught," he said with a laugh. "I do know that if you sink the 8 ball before you are ready to, you lose the game, not just a turn like you would for the cue ball."
"Okay. No 8 ball then," she repeated as she tried to remember all the rules. As soon as she finished, a waitress came up to their table.
"Hi, would you to like anything to drink?" she asked with a cheery smile.
"Um, water please," Kyoko requested.
"Golden Cola," Hikaru said.
"The bar is open if you two prefer something stronger," the waitress offered and both shook their heads.
Kyoko looked at him curiously. She wasn't old enough to drink but he certainly was. "You can drink if you like, Hikaru. I don't mind," she told him honestly.
"Ah," he started with a little blush, "I'm not really much of a drinker. For one, I think sake tastes awful, and two, one drink and I'm pretty much gone." He flushed as he admitted his weakness to alcohol. That wasn't cool, right? A man was supposed to be able to handle his alcohol.
Kyoko laughed softly as he blushed in embarrassment. He's so cute. She thought sweetly. It was kind of nice knowing that he wasn't much of a drinker. Ren drinks so much as Cain, it was sort of frightening how much he could handle. Though, it never seemed to faze him.
"Well, you sunk the shot, so that means you can go again. You can put the cue ball anywhere before this point," Hikaru told her, indicating the spot and snapping her out of her thoughts. She sighed internally. No thinking of him, Kyoko.
She turned to Hikaru confused and asked, "But I also sunk the cue ball, so I lose a turn, right?"
He smiled. "Yeah, but you didn't know that, so I'll give you a pass."
Kyoko frowned at him suspiciously. "Are you playing favorites?"
"Maybe," he admitted with a sly smile. "Why?"
"You shouldn't go easy on me just because I don't know how to play. How will I learn the game if you don't teach me properly," she whined cutely making Hikaru chuckle.
"Well," he drawled out the word, "Maybe I'm going easy on you because I like you so much. Would that be okay?"
Kyoko blushed and quickly shook her head. Hikaru sighed and took the ball from her hand. The game continued, and Kyoko knew Hikaru was playing badly just for her sake. He goofed and played around with her and the shots, making them do all sorts of crazy things while explaining different things.
The next table over with the three men were started to get rowdy, drawing everyone's attention every few minutes. The three were eagerly partaking of the bar's services and were not slowing down for one second. Kyoko tried her best to ignore them, focusing on what ball to aim for. She ended up on the far side of the table closest to the disruptive group and bent over for the shot.
Hikaru's eyes flickered back and forth to the girl of his dreams to the three men leering at her backside. He knew the appeal of that sight since he has been trying to place himself in constant view of it. He thought fate was on his side tonight with how short and tight that dress was. It was like the start of a wet dream for him; however, he quickly realized that he wasn't the only one that appreciated the view. He watched the three other guys stop playing completely and openly stare at her as she bent over for the shot.
Kyoko was concentrating so much; she didn't notice what was happening around her until she felt someone touch her back side. She quickly jumped in shock and found Hikaru's back touching her back and a much bigger man in front of him.
"What? I was just going to introduce myself," the other man said with a sneer. Kyoko hid behind Hikaru as best as she could, looking over his shoulder at the other man. It was obvious he was drinking and said drinks were making him bold, stupid and smell bad.
"Ah, please allow me," Hikaru stated with no false pretence. He was wary and on high alert. "This is my girlfriend, and I am her boyfriend. It was not nice to meet you, and I would appreciate it if you just left us alone," he said fiercely.
"That wasn't nice. Here I am trying to be civil, and you are being so rude," he said casually as if it didn't bother him at all. His eyes found hers making him smile an ugly smile and blow her a kiss. Kyoko looked away in disgust. She clenched Hikaru's shirt tightly behind him and hid her face between his shoulder blades.
"Hikaru, let's just leave," she pleaded softly. She saw movement to her right with the other table. They were all watching the show with fear and apprehension, one of the girls had left, running out of the room.
"Aww, we don't want you to go, do we boys?" The leader said causing his two friends to come to his aid. "We just wanted to talk, ask you if you would like to learn from a better teacher. This kid barely knows how to play. We can teach you all kinds of tricks, sweet cheeks."
"Don't call her that," Hikaru threatened.
"Why not?" The awful man asked, laughing boisterously. He leaned in, causing Hikaru to draw his arm back trying to shield Kyoko even further. "You and I both know what a fine piece of ass she is. I saw you stealing glances of her all night. You can't really blame us."
Now Hikaru was angry making all of her anger demons come bursting out wanting to feed. Hikaru shifted under her hands, and she looked up to see him gripping the other man's shirt angrily.
"Don't talk about her like that, you piece of shit," Hikaru growled and shoved him off. The man instantly went into a rage, came back and punched Hikaru with a right hook.
"HIKARU!" Kyoko screamed in a panic. Hikaru didn't fall, but swayed to the left and forced himself back in front of her, forcing his arms back to keep her behind him. The fact that the drunken man didn't take him out in one hit just further infuriated him.
"You stupid little fuck," the man cursed and pulled his arm back to strike again. Kyoko quickly braced herself, hid her head behind his back and wrapped her arms around Hikaru's waist for support. Her eyes were tightly closed and was squeezing tightly but didn't feel the next impact.
"You need to leave, now," another voice said sternly. Everyone turned to find a security guard at the billiard's entrance with the girl that left standing behind him. She went to get help, and Kyoko has never been so happy with anyone in her life. The three men snarled in disappointment but left quietly. Even with their inhibitions lowered, they knew when to quit or when something was simply too much trouble. The guard escorted them out of the building and everyone started moving again.
"Hikaru!" Kyoko quickly stepped in front of him to examine at his face. "You shouldn't have done that. You are already swelling! We could have just left. I think you might get a black eye. You really shouldn't have done that," she cried as she fussed over him.
Hikaru wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her. "I'm not going to let anyone talk to you like that. I'll go to any lengths to keep you safe," he whispered. He pulled away gently to look at her face and asked uneasily, "Are you okay?"
She sighed but smiled in his arms and hugged him back. "Yes, I'm fine, thank you," she affirmed.
Suddenly he blushed, "About what they said…" he paused as she looked confused. He blushed harder knowing he would have to continue. "about me… stealing glances… at you," he murmured embarrassed.
"Oh," Kyoko said, blushing brightly, "well, we are dating so…" her voice weakened to a very soft whisper, "it's okay." She finished but wasn't able to look up to his face. Hikaru grinned and stole a quick kiss making her blush even harder.
Management of the place came up to them after the commotion and gave them a voucher for four hours of free play on their next visit and returned their money back for tonight. Hikaru accepted it graciously, but wasn't sure if they would return. They left instead of taking advantage of their free play. Hikaru was hurt and Kyoko wanted to treat him. The idea of playing while he was hurt just didn't feel right.
"Sorry the night ended so badly," Hikaru said sadly.
"I had fun, but I doubt you did after getting hit," she replied with a little pout.
He laughed and flinched. "Okay, yeah, ow. That's definitely going to leave a mark," he admitted and gently touched his left cheek.
"We should ice that as soon as possible," she pulled his hand away, so he wouldn't hurt himself.
"I'll drop you off and ice it at home. I just hope Toyokawa-san doesn't kill me," he joked.
"No, we should do it now. Daruma-ya is about twenty minutes away. How far is your place from here?" she asked.
Hikaru turned to her a little shocked but quickly looked around. After a moment, he recognized the area. "Actually, we are really close to my place, but I'm still going to have to take you home. It's easier to do that first then come back."
Kyoko frowned. "No, you are in the entertainment business. The way you look is very important if you are going to make appearances. We need to ice it as soon as possible to try and reduce the swelling. Let's go to your place, get you settled, and I can walk home."
"I DON'T THINK SO," Hikaru yelled out outraged. "You are NOT walking home at night without me." Especially in that dress. "We'll call you a cab if anything," he finally stated.
"That's a waste of money," she countered. She wished she was old enough to drive, these conversations with everyone wanting to drive her places or take cabs were getting old. "Then let me stay at your place."
Hikaru was so stunned with that statement that he started to drift into the next lane until a honk woke him up. His eyes flickered back and forth from the road to Kyoko as his imagination jumped from innocent date to Dear Penthouse.
"Ah, Kyoko, I'm not sure that's a good idea. My flat is really small. I have extra futons since the guys like to crash, but we would be pretty much sleeping in the same room," he stated, hoping that was enough to drive her away.
"I don't mind. I sleep on a futon myself so I'm use to it, and I'm sure if it can fit all three of the Ishibashi group, then the two of us will fit just fine," Kyoko said with a smile. Then finally a thought came to her, and she grew worried.
"Oh! I'm so sorry. I would have to borrow your clothes. You probably don't want that." She sighed. "I guess…"
Hikaru didn't hear the rest, his mind started filling with images of her dressed in one of his shirts, Kyoko completely naked after a shower coming out of his bathroom in a tiny shirt. For once, he was thankful he was so short, that would mean that his shirts wouldn't cover much. He was definitely thicker than her, but they would still be really short. His pants grew uncomfortably tight as he thought of her tiny body slipping into a futon next to him. His eyes glanced at her legs next to him as he let instinct take him home.
He pictured those legs sliding against his, wrapping around his waist as he ripped his own shirt off of her body. It was well worth the sacrifice. Her face flushed as his lips started kissing her neck, her shoulders down to those perfect little breasts. He gripped the steering wheel tighter wishing it was her soft pale flesh. His lips pressed together almost able to feel the hard little bud between them. He could even hear her cry out his name.
"Hikaru."
"Hikaru!" She yelled out, snapping him out of his thoughts. He turned to her and blinked trying to clear his mind.
"Yes, what?" He asked as he looked around.
"Is this your place?" she asked and pointed to the building he stopped in front of. It was a two story apartment complex, simple but well kept.
"Ah, yes," he quickly answered and looked around, "I was…um… just looking for a spot to park. I found one." He pulled the car into his designated spot and turned off the car. He sat still for a moment trying to calm himself down. Thank you kami for it being so dark. He was a little worried about standing up but forced himself to do so when Kyoko opened her door. He led the way to his apartment, trying desperately to think of something other than being alone with Kyoko in his apartment.
He opened the door to his place as she looked around patiently. It was a cool night and felt wonderful so she didn't mind waiting. In a desperate attempt to get rid of his hard on, Hikaru quickly rubbed his bruising cheek shooting pain down his whole body. That worked.
"Welcome to my home," he said with a strained smile and held the door open for her. Kyoko smiled sweetly at him and his face fell. Okay, no it didn't. Damn cute smile of hers.
Hikaru quickly closed the door behind them as Kyoko waited patiently at the entrance. He nervously looked at the little storage unit for shoes and cringed. Mud, leaves and all of his shoes were pretty much everywhere except in their proper place. The only thing he had in the little cubicles was his sisters' slippers. He grabbed one of them and squatted down before her feet.
"I'm sorry I don't have any guest slippers, but you can use these," he told her. He stood up slightly embarrassed. "They belong to one of my sisters but don't worry they are clean," he quickly added. Kyoko smiled at how nervous he was. She really wasn't worried about the slippers. They both traded their shoes for the slippers. She wanted to laugh at how gently he treated her black flats, putting them away in his unused shelving unit. He even picked the cleanest cubby hole he had while he just threw his shoes on top of the pile next to it.
"Well the first door here is the wash room," he knocked on the door immediately to their left just after you stepped into the tiny hall. "At the end of the hall is the main living room," he explained. As soon as Hikaru approached the opening, he quickly turned to block her view.
"Wait," he snapped out with his eyes closed. He held his hands up in a stopping gesture. He flushed not wanting to admit what he was about to say. "C…could you wait right here for just a minute please?"
Kyoko looked at him baffled. "Why?" she asked.
He smiled embarrassedly. "I had some friends over last night and didn't clean up. Let me take care of a few things before you see it, please," he begged.
She laughed. "Hikaru, I grew up in a ryokan. I'm sure I've seen messier places than yours," she admitted, and then got serious, "Besides, we need to ice that bruise, it's starting to color." She lifted her hand and lightly touched the bottom of his bruising cheek causing him to practically melt.
"Just a minute, please. I promise I won't take long, and it would make me feel so much better showing my girlfriend my place. Just one minute," he pleaded with big puppy eyes. Kyoko nodded, took a step back and leaded against the wall. Hikaru smiled happily and left running into his place.
So he's messy. Kyoko laughed softly to herself as she heard his hurried footsteps running to and fro in his apartment. She smiled to herself as she waited, wondering what was in there that would cause him to worry so much. She really has seen a whole lot worse. She would often clean the rooms at the Fuwa Ryokan when she didn't want to bother Sho's mother. She was everyone's little helper. The worse she could remember was a family of five. Those three children trashed the place, destroying the walls and even ripping up one of the futons. Kyoko was in her early teens when this happened, but she never knew parents would let their children get away with such acts.
Surely nothing Hikaru has is as bad as that. Still, she would honor his request. If she thought her place was improper for a guest, she would want to tidy up a bit before they saw it, especially if it was someone she cared about. My girlfriend, his words came back to her, and she stiffened. Her mind started processing that phrase and the implications of that word causing her heart started to race.
Alone
With Hikaru
In his apartment
My boyfriend's apartment
ALONE
"Kyoko," Hikaru called out, making her jump. "Oops, sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's as safe as it can be," he stated and blushed, "I really wish I had more time though."
Kyoko smiled nervously and shyly stepped forward. She watched Hikaru carefully as she stepped up to him, but their situation didn't seem to make him act differently. He was still smiling cheerfully and looking as sweet and calm as he normally was.
He held up his arm to guide her through his home. She hesitantly stepped under it and allowed herself to look around as he spoke, "So to your right is the restroom, in front of you is the living room and to your left is the kitchen."
"Oh, the kitchen! Great, go sit down, and I'll get something cold for your cheek," she ordered and quickly rushed into the freezer without really looking around his place. The moment she realized she was alone in her boyfriend's place, her nerves shot into overdrive. He likes me, so that means he finds me attractive, right? She found that kind of hard to believe. But he did say he was looking at me at the arcade. He was even embarrassed about it. Kyoko could feel her face heat up as she remembered exactly what part of her those three men were referring too. Does that mean he was looking at my… She couldn't finish the thought and decided to drop it and finish the task at hand. She opened several drawers and found a box of plastic zip lock bag. She filled it up with ice and closed the little bag.
"Do you have a little kitchen towel?" Kyoko yelled out as she pulled open a random drawer.
"Um, there are hand towels in the closet right across the counter," he replied. Kyoko looked at him and found him pointing behind him to a door beside the bathroom door. She walked over and found all of his towels, spare blankets and extra futons all rolled up. She took a small hand towel and wrapped it around the plastic bag. She shifted the ice to make it as smooth as possible as she walked over to him. He gave her a weak smile, his hands nervously drumming on his thighs.
So he's nervous too. At least I'm not the only one then. She returned his smile with a genuine one and sat down on his left. "Hold still," she spoke softly. She took his chin with her left hand and applied the ice bag on his cheek. He immediately flinched at the rough touch of the towel.
"Sorry," she whimpered. "Perhaps we should have used one of your shirts instead, it's softer," she offered.
"Na, this is fine," he responded. Hikaru reached up and took over holding the bag against his face, able to apply the pressure as needed. He turned towards her with a warmer smile. "Thanks, Kyoko," he mumbled, not wanting to move his face too much.
She blushed lightly. "I should be the one thanking you. You got this because of me," she said and bowed down lightly. "Thank you for defending me, Hikaru. It was very sweet, scary and stupid, but it made me happy too."
Hikaru laughed making Kyoko smile. "Yeah, going against them was pretty dumb, but I would do it again," he admitted.
"I certainly hope you won't ever have to," she exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I don't ever plan on being a punching bag for anyone on our dates again. Though I do enjoy you nursing me back to health," he teased making Kyoko hide her blushing face behind her hands.
"Hikaru!" she squealed behind her hands. Unexpectedly, Kyoko felt his warm hands tenderly touch hers. She lowered her hands and found his face extremely close to hers with a look of she's never seen on him before. Her hands fell from her face as his left hand cupped her cheek. She licked her lips, knowing he was going to kiss her again.
Hikaru could only take so much, Kyoko in his apartment, on his couch, blushing so cutely in that sexy dress. He had to kiss her, and he was tired waiting for her to meet him half way.
It's only the second date, Hikaru! You need to be patient. His head screamed at him while his body was yelling, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO, GO!
Kyoko's eyes widened as he gave her not one but two... now three small kisses on her lips. She felt his hand slide to the back of her neck and the other join in at her waist. She stiffened, and he pulled back with a little sigh.
"Kyoko, do you not want to kiss me?" he asked slightly frustrated.
She blinked in shock and confusion. "Yes, w… why? Am I doing it wrong?" she stuttered in doubt.
Hikaru looked at her, blinking. She watched him think something through and a slow smile spread across his lips. "Kyoko, am I your first kiss?"
"A… n… y… I…" She opened her mouth and only sounds came out. Finally, she simply nodded.
"Kiss the back of your hand," he told her.
"What?"
"Please," he asked without giving a reason. Frowning, Kyoko lifted her right hand and gave it a little peck.
"Good, do that against my lips," he explained and leaned in to kiss her again. Again, she felt that feathery light kiss from before but instead of moving away, he stayed there. She quickly pecked his lips and could feel her face heat up as he pulled away slightly.
"Again," he breathed against her lips and pressed his lips firmly against hers. As she moved to kiss him, he moved his lips lower, applying an extremely small amount of suction on her lower lip, letting her feel some of the wetness of his mouth. She pulled away quickly, her hand moving up to touch her lip.
"Sorry, I've been wanting to do that for a very long time," he confessed as he pulled away from her.
Kyoko really didn't know what to say or how to respond. The fact that someone wanted to kiss her, to be with her was too unbelievable. Yet, here this man was, dating her and kissing her whenever he can. He's never asked her to do anything for him or mistreated her in anyway. He even took a punch to defend her honor. She watched him retreat, placing the ice bag against his cheek again in effect hiding his face from her view.
"Don't be sorry. It was… nice," she whispered timidly. She placed her hand on his bent arm and pushed it down. He turned towards her as she wanted and was pleasantly surprised with a Kyoko-initiated kiss. It was quick but soft and it sent little waves of warm pleasure down his body. He let himself fall against the back in bliss, resting the back of his head on the back of the couch with a big smile.
"I should be going. I'm going to call for a cab," Kyoko said as she reached in her purse for her phone.
Hikaru snapped up, the ice pack falling from his cheek again. "I thought you were staying here."
Kyoko blushed. "No, I shouldn't. I'm sorry to put you through that, Hikaru. I wasn't thinking about what that meant."
"Then let me take you home. I can drive just fine," he stood up as he spoke, dumping the ice bag on the table.
"But your eye," she whined softly.
"I'm sorry to say that icing it now won't make it disappear over night. It's going discolor and everyone will be teasing me about it for the few days I will have it. Don't worry about it, Kyoko. Let me drive you home," he said and held out his hand for her. She simply sighed knowing he was right and let him take her home.
