We have now made it to Chapter 12. Who knew this could be so much fun. Please let me know what you think. Thank you.
Note: I do not own Skip Beat!
It was starting to get late when Ren settled into the driver's seat of his little silver sports car and looked at the tall form that he was use to inhabiting. Kyoko was sitting in the passenger's seat with her eyes closed and her head thrown back against the headrest. It had been a long and emotional day for both of them and they were glad that it was just about over. Yashiro had abandoned the pair in favor of taking the train home. The bespectacled man had thoroughly enjoyed the pair's predicament, but he also understood when it was time to back off and let the couple have the 'alone time' they needed. Kyoko had tried to convince the man to let Ren take him home, but Yashiro shot Ren a smile that spoke volumes and bid both of the actors good night before walking away into the growing darkness.
Ren started the car and turned it towards his home when a strange noise caused him to startle. He looked down to make sure that he had not left the parking brake on. He could not find anything wrong and started off again when the noise sounded again. This time he realized that it was the sound of his stomach protesting that they had not stopped for lunch. Kyoko opened her eyes and looked over at Ren who was now covering the noisy thing with the hand that was not steering the car. Kyoko laughed out loud at how cute the blush that rose up his cheeks.
"I did not realize how cute I looked when I blush." Kyoko commented as she studied the face that Ren was using. This only made the red on his cheeks darken.
"Now you know how I feel." Ren muttered to himself. Kyoko cocked her head so that she could hear the soft grumbled words.
"What was that?" She asked. Ren cleared his throat and spoke so Kyoko could hear him.
"I said that I think we should get something to eat." Kyoko was sure that was not what her senpai had said, but she agreed with him. "How about we stop for some take out?" Ren suggested. "It has been a long day for both of us and it would be quicker than trying to cook something." Kyoko grumbled her agreement and Ren headed to a place where he could get good Chinese takeout.
Ren laughed when Kyoko insisted on carrying the bags of steaming food up to his apartment. She had informed him that it was the male's job to take care of the lady and since she was the 'man' at the moment, she needed to carry up the bags. He had backed away with a wave of the hand and allowed Kyoko to take up the task, but he did make a mental note to use that one on her at some time when she was being stubborn. He was sure that she would later regret using this logic on him now. After disposing of their shoes, Kyoko and Ren headed into the living room where they could relax and enjoy their repast.
Kyoko stirred around the remains of the food she could not get down. Ren had chuckled when she had hit that full point halfway through her meal, but she glared at him and forced herself to eat more out of spite.
"Please don't finish it," Ren laughed from his side of the table. "You'll make me fat." Kyoko glared at him again and put her chopsticks down in defeat. She leaned back to lie on the floor and let the food digest a little. Her eyes sought out the iridescent flicker of the tiny fairy sleeping in Ren's potted plant and wondered when the small creature would be strong enough to change them back to their own bodies. Ren gathered up the empty takeout containers and tossed them into the bag to take them to the kitchen. He came back a few moments later with a digestive aid and some water for his beloved. He knew how she felt after stuffing herself so full. Kyoko sat up long enough to take the offered medication and laid back down. Ren sat on the floor next to her and looked down as his body and the girl residing inside it.
"SO… How did you like being me for a day?" Ren asked as he leaned back to support his weight on his arms. Kyoko rotated her head and looked up at her body and the man inside it. She had folded her hands up over her chest and laced her fingers together as she thought about the answers she should give.
"It was hard." She finally answered after a few minutes. "Modeling was a lot more stressful then I thought it would be." Ren rolled his head to look down into the face that was now turned towards him.
"That's because you were trying to play me while you did it." Ren explained. "It is usually a lot easier when you are not worried about trying to be someone else." Ren shifted his weight so he could free one hand to brush the loose hair back from Kyoko's eyes. He noted that he was going to need a haircut soon and went back to leaning against both arms. A little red bloomed on Kyoko's cheeks at the light touch. "You really did an excellent job today." Kyoko closed her eyes and sighed deeply, it made her feel good to get her senpai's approval.
"Thanks." She said without opening her eyes. She was still having some trouble with her emotions. She felt Ren shift next to her to lie back in a position very similar to hers, but he was facing the other way so his head came to rest of the floor near her waist. They rested in silence for a while as they processed their days. Kyoko shifted as she felt a familiar, yet dreaded, pressure growing in her gut. She tried to ignore it, but the feeling grew more urgent the longer she waited. Finally she pushed herself up from the floor and made her way down to the hall into the bathroom. Ren watched her leave from where he rested on the floor. He loved the food from that place, but it did have a tendency to go straight through him.
A long time passed before Kyoko came back out of the bathroom blushing and refused to look down at where Ren was still lying on the floor. Kyoko wrapped her arms around the body she was using and went to look out the window into the darkness of the city around them. Ren left her be as she sorted through her thoughts. Kyoko stared at the face of the man troubling her heart, at the blue eyes covered by brown contacts, and brown hair that she was sure was golden in color. Her mind was able to switch the colors in the transparent reflection in the window. One word kept swirling around in her mind and she rubbed her hands up and down her arms, Why.
"Ren-kun." She spoke his given name softly half hoping that he was a sleep and she could not ask the questions that were tearing her up inside. He was hiding his true form for a reason, but she was just dying to know.
"Yes Kyoko-chan?" Ren answered, he had been watching her through half lidded eyes since she walked back in the room. Kyoko shivered and gathered her courage to ask the question she wanted to know.
"Why do you dye your hair?" Kyoko spoke quietly and he almost missed the question from where she stood across the room. Ren sighed heavily and sat up from the floor. He rubbed his fingers across his eyes to pinch the bridge to the delicate nose on his face. He then ran his hand up into the short auburn hair on his head and ruffled it hard trying to figure out what to say to the girl waiting in his body. He decided to tease her a little as he worked up the courage to tell her the truth.
"What makes you think I dye my hair?" Ren looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. Kyoko blushed bright red.
"Well…. I …. In the bathroom….. golden…. "Kyoko stuttered as she tried to find a good way to explain how she had discovered his true hair color. A smile spread across his face as she squirmed.
"Oh you were looking at me in the bathroom." Ren stood up to face the girl as Kyoko's mouth worked without sound. The wail that issued from his beloved almost woke the little fairy as Ren watched in horror as she dropped to the floor in a dogeze bow.
"I'M SO SORRY TSURUGA-SAN! I COULDN'T HELP IT!" Kyoko balled out an apology.
"Oh Shit!" Ren cursed as he rushed to his fallen form as the apology from the girl inside his body degraded to a random collection of words. As he tried to pry Kyoko up, he caught the words 'restroom', 'pee', and 'wings', but the rest was too jumbled to make sense of. He had not meant to push her that far, he had let him mask slip away too much today and Kuon had given him too much of a snarky edge in the delicate situation. Ren levered Kyoko from the floor and rested her head on his chest so he could hold her as she cried.
"I am sorry Kyoko." He apologized to his love. "I should not have teased you like that, we have both been through a lot today and that went too far." Ren rocked and patted Kyoko trying to get her to calm back down. "We have both had some awkward moments today, but I don't want that to come between us." Ren chose his words carefully before he went on. This was not how he wanted to tell Kyoko how he felt, and with as delicate as her emotional state was at the moment, he was afraid that if he did she would disappear after this was over. "It does not matter what happens while we are changed, I will still be here for you after this is over." Kyoko nodded against his chest and sat all the way up to look at her senpai. He reached up and started to scrub her eye with a knuckle. Ren reached out and grabbed her hand before she could irritate it with the contact. "Why don't you go take those contacts out and we will talk, ok?" Kyoko nodded and left for the bathroom.
Ren stood up and walked over to his liquor cabinet and pulled out a bottle. He knew he should not do it, but he needed something to help him deal with everything that had happened and what he was about to tell Kyoko. He was not ready to tell her everything yet, just as much as she needed to satisfy her curiosity about his hidden hair and eyes. If she could take that, then he might work his way into darker secrets. Ren poured himself a shot of rum and tossed it back. It was not what he normally drank but it was the most pleasant alcohol in his cabinet. He shivered as the body he was in responded to the unfamiliar feel and he poured a second shot. He tossed back the second shot and placed the small glass back in the cabinet. Ren knew his limits in his body, but Kyoko had a much smaller and lighter body then he did, so he stopped well short of what he thought she could take. He pulled out a highball glass and poured a measure of the rum into this glass and replaced the bottle back into its spot before shutting up the cupboard. He took the glass over to wait for Kyoko to come back from the bathroom.
