Here I am again! I bet some of you thought I was dead, lol. But no, I'm back again, with a chapter slightly smaller than usual, but I guess I'll have to change the lenght of my chapters anyway if I don't want to udpade once every 6 months. I'm sorry for being a really slow writer... Thanks for all the reviewers so far, your reviews make me exceptionally happy ^^. Still no beta on this chapter, so yeah, all errors are mine.
EDIT: Sorry for those who read this chapter already, you'll have to reread it once, since I completely changed the end. This chapter is dedicated to Rutoh-chan, who was a wonderful help for the dialogue part (that means that all of the errors before that are mine alone). Thank you!
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Skip Beat!, but I do own DYFS. No money off this.
Enjoy!
Chapter 9: Sweet feelings
The following morning was as busy as the previous days since they got here. They did a few more scenes by the beach, where Kyouko thoroughly enjoyed herself. She played with the water, truly sparkling while doing so.
"Come on, Ryu, don't you want to have a little bit of fun?" Eri exclaimed, a playful (but still innocent) smile on. Ryu couldn't help but smile back. She irradiated life miles around her. Who was he to resist such a beautiful creature?
"I guess I could... At least for the pleasure of drowning you in the water." And with that, he launched at her, while she let a horrified cry.
"You wouldn't dare, you stupi-...!" But it was too late, he had already tackled her under the water.
Eri emerged with a loud splash, and threw daggers at Ryu. "You'll regret ever doing that, you evil human!" And with a war cry, she threw herself at him, in an attempt to make him taste the salty water. Ryu chuckled and used this opportunity to catch her and made them both plunge. When he saw her face as they resurfaced, he broke into fits of laughter. Eri pouted, and splashed him straight in the face. Now, that was a sight that made HER laugh. The Almighty Ryu, cold to everything and always draped in his dark aura, looked like a drowned rat. Ryu retaliated, and they went on for a while, before deciding to get out of the water.
The scene ended with Kyouko looking tenderly at Ren, her character and herself both relieved and glad to see such a joyful demeanor from Ryu. After the director called it a wrap, Kyouko shook her head. It was getting harder to separate her own thoughts from her character's. She absolutely had to concentrate harder on this task, or else she'd end up treating her senpai like Eri would treat Ryu. And THAT couldn't possibly happen.
…...
Shoko sighed. Her charge was lazying around once again, a smug look on his face. When he wasn't working, he always wore this kind of expression since his Valentine encounter with Kyouko. He wouldn't tell her exactly what he'd done, but he obviously was pleased with it.
Sho was lying on the couch, his eyes in the general direction of the TV. He wasn't really paying attention to it, it was time for the ads anyway. He quickly glanced at the current one. There was a big crowd walking in a heavy atmosphere, and there was a small girl in the middle that was trying to walk against the flow. Nothing interesting.
Suddenly he stood straight, his eyes firmly locked on the girl. He had caught a glimpse of golden eyes, the kind of color that could only belong to one person. "What the hell...?"
Shoko frowned at him. What now? She followed his gaze and exclaimed in surprise: "Oh, my! That's Kyouko-chan, isn't it?" She too focused on the ad. The scene had changed, and Kyouko was looking longingly at a handsome man. It was obvious that she liked him, but didn't dare to go up to him. The scene changed again, and there was an elegant perfume bottle in her hands now. She inhaled its scent and turned her eyes to the camera, a firm look of determination in them. The next scene made Shoko gasp and Sho dropped the remote, mouth agape.
There she was, in a indecent yet incredibly sexy dress, slowly making her way to the man, walking like a feline about to jump on her prey. The skimpy red dress was complimenting her not-so-plain forms, Sho noted. He licked his lips unconsciously. The glow of her jewelry added to the enthralling aura she was emitting. A teasing smile tugging at her lips, she bent towards the man, showing off a bit of skin. Her soft-looking lips approached the man's collarbone first, then the nape of his neck, and finally his ears, without even once touching his skin. Sho gulped. He couldn't help but look hungrily at this goddess-like creature that was supposed to be his childhood friend.
She began to touch him. Lightly, first, just stroking his chest, then more demanding as one hand reached his right cheek, while the other caressed his neck on the way to his hair. They were about to close the distance between them, when she suddenly pushed him off her, and sexily walked away, a wicked smile on her face.
Sho awoke from his trance with a start. Somehow, he had felt as if he had been the man in the ad. As if it had been him she had teased the way she had. As if she had wanted to play a sexy game with him. Reality sank in as another ad began to play. It hadn't been him.
...
It was their last night on the site. Ren had proposed that their first fighting session should be held at the beach late in the evening, so that nobody would bother them, and if they fell, they wouldn't hurt themselves. Kyouko had happily accepted, and soon they found themselves all alone under the moonlight near the calm sea. Ren internally sighed. Why couldn't she at least feel a little bit anxious? He was a man, with needs and desires, and if he had wanted to seduce her and make her his, this would have been the perfect time and place, with all the romantic scenery a girl could dream about.
"Okay, so the first move that you'll be learning is how to free yourself from an unwanted grip." He gently took her wrist, and directed her other hand on his upper arm. "All you need to do is apply pressure here... and I'll let go, if I don't want you to break my arm. It's quite simple, but effective. You only need your opponent to have their arm stretched for it to work." Kyouko nodded silently.
"Here, try on your own." He took her wrist again, more aggressively, and the girl tried to pull from his grasp while lightly pushing on his arm. He chuckled. "Now, if you really want to break free, you'll have to put a bit more strength than that." She pushed harder. "You need to be quicker." She was too afraid to hurt him to make things work. He murmured the magical words: "Fuwa Sho". Ren quickly let go, before rubbing his arm a bit. "Yeah, just like that."
"I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san! Did I hurt you?" She looked so contrite that he couldn't help but smile heavenly at her. "Don't worry about me, I'm not made of glass, Mogami-san."
They viewed some other tricks that would hurt the assailant's arm, then moved on to something a bit more difficult. Ren caught both her arms behind her, and leveled her chin with his free hand. 'I'm so going to hell for this...' "I'm about to kiss you. What do you do?" She tried to free her arms, not to avail, and, as he was coming nearer, she turned her head. He chuckled. "That could work, but I'll still end up kissing you, only not on the lips. And I can force you to look my way if I use just a little of strength." He matched his actions with his words, his eyes totally focused on her lips. "I'm going to kiss you if you don't find something quickly."
'He can't be serious?' She thought, totally petrified.
'Please, let her stop me...' He silently prayed, unable to stop himself. He saw her close her eyes in panic, and gulped. 'If there is any kind god out there...' And then he saw stars.
He gasped and fell on his knees, eyes almost filled with tears. She had kneed him. "Offff... ugh... I... suppose that... works just fine..." He whispered, silently thanking whatever god that effectively stopped him from doing something stupid, while cursing from the pain.
Kyouko crouched down next to him, and began to repeatedly apologize; "I'm so sorry, Tsuruga-san! I panicked, and I reacted on instinct. I'm really, really sorry!" She wasn't an expert, but she knew that that part of a man's anatomy was especially fragile. She had seen drunken men pass out from the pain when in a fight. 'What if I castrated him?' That thought rendered her almost hysterical. 'Oh my god, what if he can't have babies anymore?' She was on the verge of crying, while imagining Ren pursuing her in court for the abrupt halt she had caused to the Tsuruga family.
Ren slowly got over the pain, and with just one look at her face, he knew she was in Dreamland again (currently re-baptized Horrorland at the moment). He inhaled deeply, and composed himself again. "Mogami-san?"
"I'm so sorry! I swear I didn't want to kill the Tsuruga dynasty, Your Honor! Please, spare meee!" She wailed. Ren stared at her, and decided he didn't want to know. 'This is getting embarrassing...' "I'm fine, Mogami-san, there's no need for you to panic." 'At least, now I know I won't have unwanted thoughts for a while...'
"I'm really sorry..." Kyouko softly said, returning from her imaginary trial.
Ren lied down on his back, and the poor girl sat silently beside him.
"So pretty..." Ren said after a moment of companionable silence. He was contemplating the bright stars, but he could also have meant that about her still flushed face. Kyouko looked up. "Yes, they are..." They each got lost in their reveries until Ren sat up. "Give me your hand."
Kyouko silently complied. He gently took it, and both of them could see how petite her hand seemed into his big one. He felt her pulse, and then began to touch the place on her wrist under the articulation of her thumb. He was searching for something, she could see, but he was lost in his thoughts, a frown on his face. 'Her heart beat is so calm... She isn't anxious at all about us being all alone here, about me touching her... As I thought, she really doesn't see me as a man...' Absorbed in his depressing thoughts, he didn't pay attention to what his hand was doing, until she yelped, retrieving her hurt wrist in a hurry.
"Ah, sorry, Mogami-san. I wanted to show you a weak spot on the wrist, but I got lost in thoughts. As you could feel, there's a special place that hurts a bit, and it could be useful for you to know. Here, try to find it on my wrist." He gave her his, and she took it with both her hands, on her lap. She examined it and hazardously pressed where she thought he had on her own member. Without much success. Five minutes later, she was still at it, a big frown on her features, but as determined as ever. 'I'm going to find that stupid-ah!' Ren had winced. She beamed at him (and strangely, she forgot to apologize for hurting him).
"I see you succeeded, but if you take that much time, it won't be of any use. Try again, on my other wrist." She nodded and set to work. A few seconds later, Ren winced again.
"Found it! I guess it was just about practice!" The man slightly chuckled. He said nothing else, not wanting to remove his hand from hers. It was Kyouko that broke the silence first.
"So, what do we do, now?"
Ren sighed. "I think it will be all for tonight. I can only show you some tricks, since I'm not really training you in martial arts. Next time, maybe we could see movements to immobilize your aggressor instead of simply free yourself, although I'd rather you don't do it unless forced to." Reluctantly, he withdrawn his hand, and got up. He missed the frown on the young girl's face.
The slowly got back to the hotel, talking about everything and nothing.
...
A few days later found Kyouko on a desk, doing some stupid paperwork for her LoveMe job. She doubted it would help her recover her 'lost emotion'. She was moodily doing her job, when Kanae entered the room, a stack of papers under her arm. She looked ready to kill.
Kyouko wisely chose to greet her calmly instead of hugging her to death.
"Hello, Moko-san. I see you have the same fate as me?" Kanae humphed.
"Paperwork! They make us do paperwork! Moh, how long do they plan to use us as their servants? We are actresses, we live to be on set, not to do stupid paperwork!" Kyouko smiled apologetically at her friend.
"I guess it's just part of the president's scheme... On the brighter side, we get pretty good opportunities to broaden our horizon." She was thinking of her job as Bo and the first time she got to play against Ren.
Kanae grumbled something that looked strangely like 'lucky to be a chicken, my *ss'. She sat down on the opposite site of the desk, and set to work.
Kyouko went back to her own papers as well, but it wasn't long before her mind drifted to the fighting lessons she was getting from her senpai. She couldn't help but remember the way his hands had felt on hers, and she shivered.
"What's up, Kyouko?" Asked Kanae. Kyouko froze. She hadn't thought that the other girl would have noticed.
"Nothing, Moko-san, there's nothing wrong with me!" She shook her hands before her in a panicked movement, which rose Kanae's suspicion. The girl looked like she was caught red-handed. But what for?
"Spill it. I know you're hiding something."
"I assure you, Moko-san, that there is absolutely noth-"
"Am I your best friend or not?" She looked at the horrified girl with teary eyes. "Don't you trust me? Kyouko-chan?"
And the deal was done. Kyouko told her everything that was on her mind (almost). Most of it concerned Ren, not that it surprised Kanae.
"So don't you think I'm being a huge burden to him? I mean, he's already helping me with my acting, and now he's teaching me how to defend myself from possible attackers... Isn't he wasting his precious time on me?"
"But you teach him how to cook in return, right?"
"Yes, but that's so little compared to what he's doing for me! And it's not like he can't take lessons from a real chef either!"
Kanae sighed. "Did it ever occur to you that maybe he wanted to spend as much time as he could with you? That he appreciates your company?"
Kyouko frowned. "Looks like he does, but I can't even begin to see why..."
Kanae rolled her eyes. "Oh Kyouko, it's quite obvious now. At first I wasn't sure, but he did things that can't be mistaken for friendly actions. He's head over heels in love with you."
Kyouko scoffed. "That's ridiculous. I mean, he could have any woman he wants, why would he chose someone like me?"
Kanae pondered for a while before answering. "Maybe he's a masochist? He knows that you're LoveMe number one, but still tries to get your attention."
Kyouko shook her head. "No, that can't be. He doesn't love me. But I feel that he sometimes treats me like a child... So maybe that's it? He sees me as a little sister and feels responsible for me?"
Kanae shook her head in defeat. "Alright, let's say he does. What are you going to do about it? Don't you want him to acknowledge you as a grown-up actress?" She knew better than trying to persuade her that the tall actor was in love with her. If she was going to help them - reluctantly, mind you - she would have to be pretty subtle. But this was her best friend, and although she didn't like the idea of that man at her side, she knew he deeply cared for her. She would be happy with him. So she wouldn't spare any effort, and help them get together.
"Well, I plan on showing him my acting skills to the best of my ability. I'm trying my best in the drama we're starring, and I hope that at the end, he will acknowledge me as a professional actress. I wish he could deem me worthy of playing against him." She had a far-off look on her face, as if she was dreaming about the situation she just described. That made Kanae wonder if she wasn't falling for the man, too.
"Kyouko, what do you feel about him?" The question shook her friend out of her reverie. She frowned.
" What do I feel?... Well, I respect him and he's my senpai, so it's normal for me to look up to him. I admire his professionalism and acting abilities. He's really nice to me, so I feel grateful... That's all, I guess." 'If we exclude the silly sensations I get when I'm near him... But those don't even deserve to be acknowledged. I won't let them get in my way, I'll bury them so deep in my heart that they will disappear after a while...' Kyouko didn't voice her thoughts, and she smiled kindly at her friend (or so she thought), hiding them from her. After all, if she wasn't going to acknowledge them, why would she talk about them?
They talked a bit more, and then went back to work. Kanae, after seeing the creepy smile her friend had sent her, had dropped the subject.
...
It was soon time for lunch, and the two LoveMe girls were on their way to L.A. Hearts when they saw a commotion in the entrance hall. Curious, they approached. Kyouko soon regretted it.
Fuwa Sho was leaning on a column, his arms crossed and his face closed. His manager was begging him to come with him, that he had work to do, but nothing she could say was affecting him. His eyes soon fell on his ex-childhood friend, and Kyouko cringed. He strolled towards her, as if he owned the place. When he finally stopped right in front of her, she opened her mouth.
"What are you doing here, Shotaro?" She spat at him. He sneered.
"I came to talk to you. In private." He added, after glancing at the crowd.
"I have nothing to say to you. Go back to work." Shoko-san prayed that the young man would listen and follow her, but she knew better than hoping for the impossible.
"You may not, but I have a lot to say to you, and I don't think you'd want an audience to hear about it."
Seeing as he wouldn't change his mind, she decided to end this quickly. He was, after all, disturbing the people at her workplace. "Fine, let's go." She motioned for him to follow her, and told Kanae that she would join her at the restaurant. "I won't be long, I promise." Kanae only nodded, a bit worried that she would face her enemy alone. It wouldn't be good for her image if she killed him in the LME building, with all those witnesses. A dark, quiet place would have been so much better.
Hoping that nothing would go wrong, she went to the restaurant, a frown on her face.
…
"What do you think you were doing?" he rounded on her, once they had reached a scarcely used corridor.
"What are you talking about Shotaro?"
"You know what I'm talking about!" he shouted, becoming angrier by the minute.
Not liking his attitude one bit, she replied coldly, "I can assure you I don't know what is going on on your head. And I don't want to have anything to do with it."
"You sure didn't mind having something to do with that guy," he sneered, disgust evident in his voice.
"'That guy?' Who are you talking about?" Kyouko frowned, not knowing where he was heading at all.
"You know, the one you were clinging onto like a love-struck idiot in your stupid CM. But then maybe there was another one you were thinking about? Maybe you like to cling onto that stupid tall actor, too?"
"My relationship with Tsuruga-san is of no concern to you!" she growled, offended by his sneaky allusion. "We're only kouhai and senpai, after all..." she added softly to herself, her eyes to the ground, her voice crestfallen. However, Sho caught it, and his eyes widened at the implications of this sudden reaction. But before he could utter a word, she had already straightened herself and glared at him. "I'm not a 'love-struck idiot', Shotaro. I won't be fooled twice, and I'll never fall in love again."
Her words were lost on the young man, who was still dumbstruck. 'What the hell was THAT!' He thought. 'She acts as if she wants to be more than a simple kouhai to him! But she can't have fallen for him, can she?'
While Sho was trying to convince himself that she couldn't be in love with Tsuruga Ren, Kyouko was still speaking. "So you see, you don't need to worry about being associated with me, even as ex-childhood friends. I'll act the way directors want me to, but outside the set I will never be seen acting all clingy to a man." She then turned to leave. "I believe that was the reason why you wanted to talk to me, and now that you're assured that your image won't be tarnished because of me, I have nothing left to say to you."
She walked away, leaving the blond man gaping at her like a fish. He didn't have to know her heart was already wavering.
There, all done! I know, it's short, I'm sorry about that. I have a few things to ask you people. I will stop posting (you won't see the difference anyway, since I'm so slow lol) until I've completely written the grand lines of the story, and then I'll update more often, so that you won't have to wait for half a year to get an update.
Knowing that, let's see what I want to ask you:
- first, do you want me to post chapters of the length I usually post, or should I post much shorter chapters?
-second, I know I made grammar mistakes, could you point them out to me? I can't improve if I don't know where I did them, and I really want to improve (I'm not asking for a beta, I gave up on that, but if there's a kind soul somewhere that could help me with it...EDIT: I have now a beta, and a very good one at that! Thank you Rutoh-chan!).
-third, I think the story won't be more than 20 chapters (more like 15ish), but I'd like to know what you people would want to see more in this story: more DYFS scenes? More Ren/Kyouko scenes? Or Kanae, Sho, Reino, etc.? More action? More romance? More humor? I know, I'm asking a lot of things, but I think I would write more quickly if I knew what you think.
-fourth, I'd really like to know how you found this chapter too XD. I had a hard time with it cause I wrote it bits by bits, on at least 5 different supports, I lost some, then had to rewrite some parts so I got doubles of some scenes, etc. .
Okay, that's the longest A/N I've written in a long time... I'll try to do my best to update quickly, it's a promise.
