Kyoko and Ruriko watched the kiss with jaws dropped.
It wasn't unusual to watch two men kissing in a booth that had been built for the express purpose of smooching in the name of charity.
Nor was it completely unheard of in Japan for two, smoking hot and prohibitively famous celebrities to lock lips.
However, judging from the mixture of disappointment and morbid fascination emanating from the crowd , it was obvious everyone shared the same thought..
The kiss was unexpectedly..passionate.
It lasted barely a minute, but to the audience time came to a standstill and the kiss seemed to go on for minutes if not hours.. No one interpreted the rough manner in which Ren grabbed Sho Fuwa by the collar as a hostile interruption for what would have undoubtedly been Kyoko's second traumatic kissing experience. No one batted an eyelash at the way Ren drew blood from Sho's lips with his vicious bite.
What they did see was Ren Tsuruga, the well known gentleman, lose his cool in a fit of lust and jealous rage to grab the young singer for a passionate kiss. A kiss with plenty of biting and tongue thrusting, spit swapping and moaning on the part of Sho.
Action packed and absolutely mind boggling!
'And so freaking fantastic..', one of the women sighed.
Kyoko felt something shatter inside her at the sight of her sempai kissing her most hated enemy. Her first thought when Tsuruga san pushed her away, was that he was trying to save her from that leech's disgusting tongue attack. But now..
She closed her eyes confused by the emotions whirling inside her.
Surprise... Who would have thought Ren Tsuruga would take the kiss for her? He had just shared a kiss with the one person they both hated. Or at least she thought they hated.
Relief... She didn't have to kiss Sho thanks to Tsuruga san! Oh joy!
And finally realization... Kyoko suddenly felt a fuzzy warmth deep inside that had everything to do with the possibility that Tsuruga san cared..
No! Her demons screamed at her, fearing for their lives as they watched the turbulence of emotions wrecking chaos in their master's heart in a way only thoughts of Ren Tsuruga could do. You couldn't possibly be the one!
She winced at the stabbing pain that last thought left her with. Hope was a double edged sword at times. Sweet and warm one minute and then a permanent black hole of icy despair the next. There could have been a number of reasons why her sempai chose to take that kiss for her.
He was a compassionate man with a deep sense of honour and chivalry. He knew her history with Sho and had already witnessed that disgusting display of Sho's possession on Valentine's Day. Naturally he wanted to save her the trauma of going through that hellish experience a second time!
And of course there was another possibility..
A possibility she would never have dared contemplate but so many things from the past made sense now that she thought hard about it. Particularly her conversations with him when she had been masquerading as Bo. He had admitted to being in love. If only he had told her the complete truth at the time!
"Er..Tsuruga san?", Ruriko uncertainly placed a slender hand on Ren's shoulder. A minute ago she had been caught between hilarity and shock. Now, looking at the angry frozen expression on his face she was inclined to feel a little afraid. Touching him was probably not the brightest idea in the world but it did manage to shake him out of his passion induced daze.
Kyoko stared at the hand elegantly on Ren's shoulder, giving him a gentle squeeze. She felt a pang of envy for Ruriko being able to shake Ren out of it- something Kyoko was too frightened to do herself. She was terrified that the slightest skin on skin contact would provide Tsuruga san with a miraculous x ray vision into her feelings. She clenched her hands and rooted herself to the spot, resisting the urge to run to him and run her fingers comfortingly through his silky hair before she dragged his head down to permanently erase Sho's fucking DNA from his mouth.
Ren roughly shook off Ruriko's hand and strode away from the booth leaving behind an affronted Ruriko and gobsmacked audience. Sho Fuwa had left the booth minutes ago but the impact of the kiss still lingered behind..
There was an uncomfortable silence in the booth. Neither of the two girls dared look at each other. The cheerful, festive mood seemed to have disappeared completely, leaving behind a cold, unfriendly atmosphere.
A few hours passed with no signs of Ren returning to the booth. The customers dwindled as it grew dark. Kyoko looked anxiously in the direction Ren had gone every five minutes. She had a very good idea how he was feeling now and hoped he wouldn't do anything rash.
Finally, unable to bear the suspense of not knowing what was happening with her sempai any longer, she ran off in search of Ren. Ruriko resignedly watched her leave and decided to shut the booth for the day.
Kyoko ran to the other end of the park where there were no more stalls. She came to a stop near a fountain with a beautiful statue of two swans at the centre. However, the fairy like vision failed to captivate her today as thoughts of a man occupied her thoughts every minute now.
A man who was currently sitting dejectedly in front of the fountain with his head in his hands.
Kyoko felt love and happiness well up in her heart once she saw he was safe and sound. But it tore her to see him so unhappy. She stood there for a few minutes torn between leaving him to his thoughts and giving in to her desire to comfort him. As much as she would like to explore her new found feelings, she knew deep down that she could never be truly happy if he wasn't.
Kyoko took a deep breath and fiercely wiped away the tears that had already started to spill out. She would go to him. He deserved better than her deserting him when he needed someone to hold him..
She bravely walked up to the bench and sat next to Ren. He didn't move and Kyoko sat there quietly, desperately hoping he would never look up, that time would stand still and she would never have to do what she had prepared herself for.
Ren had calmed down a little by now. He was furious with the president for setting up this whole plan. Furious with Fuwa for showing up. Furious with himself for taking that stupid kiss to teach the brat a lesson! Furious and fed up with everything that had happened so far..
And worst of all- Kuon had been unleashed. Completely. Ren could feel Kuon on a rampage deep inside, and tried to supress him. But the harder he tried, the more Kuon rebelled. He could still feel an occasional spasm of anger when the memory of that absurd situation earlier filled his mind. If he hated Fuwa before, it was nothing compared to what he was feeling now.
Ren was startled out if his reverie when he heard a soft sigh beside him.
He looked up and turned slowly to find Kyoko sitting beside him. She was gazing straight ahead at nothing in particular. A sad smile was etched on her perfect features. In the sun set light, she seemed to be giving out a divine reddish glow, that made her the picture of perfection.
Ren felt Kuon rise once again at the sight of his love. His eyes softened and he finally spoke,"Mogami san?"
Kyoko looked at him startled.
"Are you feeling all right Tsuruga san?" There was a tenderness in her voice and eyes that warmed and surprised him. He squashed down that treacherous feeling of hope that flooded him in moments like these. He'd done it so many times, it was almost second nature to him. But he never learned his lesson. He never stopped hoping..
She looked down at her clenched hands, her face a tiny shade of red. She looked so cute, and so adorable, that Ren would have been only to happy to surrender to Kuon and take her in his arms. Had he known the thoughts running through her seemingly innocent mind, he would have done just that.
"Yes, I'm better now.", he replied softly, looking at her face half tenderly, half sadly. "Thank you for your concern. I hope I didn't inconvenience the booth?"
Kyoko shook her head as she finally turned to look up at him. " There is something I need to talk to you about Tsuruga san."
He nodded, curious about the determined expression on her face.
"I know why you did that earlier. You know? That.. kiss?", she said a little hesitantly. He nodded , forcing himself to keep calm. He turned his face trying to hide his raging emotions and fury against Fuwa.
"You do?", he finally asked her, cautiously. She couldn't possibly know. She was too dense when it came to his love for her.
Or..did she?
Kyoko nodded and ploughed on valiantly. "I understand why you saved me from that kiss with Sho."
"I suppose you think I did it out of kindness? To save you from humiliation and possible embarrassment?", he replied, unable to keep out a faint note of bitterness from his voice as he once again stamped down that treacherous hope.
Kyoko shook her head. "You did it because you are in love Tsuruga San.", she said quietly.
Ren's head snapped in her direction, his eyes widening with disbelief. "And what makes you so sure about that?", he asked, forcing himself to keep calm. He had to be absolutely sure... He didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing..
Kyoko gave him a small smile. "After witnessing that..incident, I started to put two and two together from various incidents in the past. Whenever something happened between Sho and me, you always seemed to get mad at me. I wondered why would you dislike Sho just because I wanted revenge. But now i realize how wrong I was.. that anger... it was jealousy wasn't it?"
She looked at him expectantly. Ren gave a tiny nod, holding his breath.
"And that incident reminded me of Valentine's day. You didn't want Sho kissing me both times."
I don't want anyone kissing you as long as it's me!
Kyoko smiled at him ruefully. "I've hurt you so much haven't I Tsuruga San?"
You? Hurt me? Oh honey, if you only knew! But..I think you do..
"You can never hurt me Mogami San.", he assured her gently.
She sighed again, and turned to look at the fountain. "Unrequited love can hurt a lot Tsuruga san. Both you and I know that.", she replied quietly.
"But now, I'm going to put an end to that!", she said suddenly, turning to him once more.
"What do you mean?", Ren asked desperately hoping she would say the words he wanted her to say.
"I mean, I am going to put an end to your pain once and for all. Your love will no longer be unrequited. Your love will be returned and it will stay that way forever.", Kyoko looked at him, love for this man burning in her eyes. She would do anything to make him happy.
"So you mean you are..okay with my love ?" he asked just to make sure. Kyoko nodded at him smiling.
Ren felt Kuon roar with victory within him. He let out a cry if joy and flung his arms round kyoko. "Thank you Kyoko.", he whispered. It was the first time he had called her by her first name. "You have no idea how happy you've made me!"
Kyoko , after an unsuccessful struggle felt the tears flowing freely now.
"I thought you would neve accept.. with your past history with Fuwa..", Ren continued.
Kyoko managed to keep the sobs out if her voice as she replied, "Tsuruga san, no matter what history we had together, I meant absolutely nothing to Sho! You on the other hand are different. Sho hates you now, but I can help you change that." She felt Ren stiffen.
"I'll do whatever it takes to get you two united.", she continued sadly.
Ren jerked away from the embrace, his eyes flashing with a fire Kyoko had never seen before.
"What did you just say?", he asked in a low dangerous voice. Fury and pent up frustration due to months of unrequited love threatened to shatter his Ren Tsuruga facade. He should have known there was something off! He was a born idiot to have hoped!
Kyoko stared at him in fear not understanding.
"Are you suggesting that I am in love with Fuwa? Fuwa of all people? Is that what this was all about Kyoko?! Selflessly sacrificing me to that brat?! If you had to fantasize me with a man couldn't it at least have been Yashiro san?"
Kyoko started to tremble, her face confused. " I.. It's nothing to be ashamed of Tsuruga san! I don't like you're choice much but if he makes you happy-"
But before she could say another word, Ren's lips came crashing down on hers.
