Forgive me….V_V

*Click*

"Yashiro? This is Ren. I need your help." Ren was speaking fast and quietly. Yashiro paused in his gloating to wonder for just a moment…"It's about Kyouko-chan. Can you please come help me?" And Yashiro's sympathy disappeared.

"Ren, this is an assignment given to you by the President and the GODS! You have to take hold of this opportunity with your own hands. I'm sorry, but I cannot help you." The professional tone was completely at odds with the gleeful grin on his face. "If you'd like to make a record of everything you do and give it to me later though, I'd be in your debt."

"Yashiro wait! You don't understand! Please, I nee-" Yashiro decisively hung up the phone. Whatever happens between those two had to be fate at this point.

Yesterday:

The President swirled a glass of wine and looked down from his throne at Ren with the matchmaking smirk of a king. Whatever he wanted, Ren knew it wouldn't be good.

"Ren, I'm to understand that you've openly begun the pursuit of Mogami Kyouko. Is this correct?" Considering he fostered and planned out Ren's confession on live television, Ren took this to be a rhetorical question. "If you truly love her, I have an assignment for you. It's not for the faint of heart. And you cannot receive outside help, nor can you resign in the middle. This is an all-or-nothing assignment, and I'm offering it to you only because you need serious help. This is also in direct opposition to Mogami-san's will, so you cannot complain about it if you accept the assignment either. Do you accept?"

Ren sighed and paused a moment. "Boss, you haven't told me what the assignment is yet. How can I accept when I don't know what it is?"

Lory shook his head in mock shame and resignation. "Do you need to know more than that it involves your beloved and will help your pursuit? Ah, well. If you must know, Mogami-kun is sick, and needs to be taken care of, since she's recently begun living alone."

"I'll do it. Whatever it is, if she needs help, I'll provide it." Lory's eyes lit up and he grinned. Ren's worried face and tapping foot spelled out impatience to get to Kyouko's side. That was perfect.

"I'm glad to see your love is true, my boy. In that case, here's the assignment…."

Return to present:

Ren silently contemplated his phone. Did Yashiro just hang up on him? Or did the ten second phenomenon happen again? With a glare at the phone, Ren decided Yashiro hung up on him. He would exact revenge somehow….

A throaty voice called out quietly. "Ren….? Reennn…." The teary quality had him rushing back to the bedroom. "Where did you go?" Kyouko sniffled and tears gathered in her eyes. "Why did you leave? Didn't you promise to stay by my side?" Ren grabbed her hand and tried to think of any excuse. "You don't want me anymore? You lied to me?" The tears began to run down her red and sleep-rumpled face.

"No! I...I had to make a call! That's all! I would never leave you Kyouko! I love you, remember? I will never abandon you! I'm always by your side!" Ren's assertions and fingers rubbed the tears from Kyouko's face, but her doubtful pouty look sent arrows straight to Ren's heart and made him want to cry. "I'm right here, love, see? Go back to sleep. I'll be here for you."

Kyouko sniffled a little more. "But I'm hungry…and my throat hurts….Ren…..feed me?" Her large pleading eyes and the blanket tugged up just below her mouth with her delicate fingers clutching them lightly presented such a sweet and adorable image that Ren's heart stuttered for a moment and her words didn't process for a while. "Ren…?"

"Eh? Ah! Food? Yeah, no problem! What do you want to eat?" As soon as the words left his mouth he knew it was a mistake. Her eyes sparkled and her mouth curved into an adorable smile.

"Hamburger steak with an egg on top! And lots of veggies too! But….I want REN'S homemade food….Is that too hard for you to make?" As a man…Ren couldn't let that challenge fall unanswered….but as a chef…he really was better off ordering take-out. But her expression was too cute. He couldn't disappoint his cutey honey. He had to answer!

"I can make it. But to make it I'd have to leave your side." As her expression began to fall, he continued with the most sickly-sweet lines he'd ever had to say in his life. "But Kyouko, my heart will never leave your side. My thoughts are also wrapped only around you. You're what keeps my heart beating my love, so don't worry. I will be within calling distance. But you cannot leave this bed. I will come no matter what if you call, but you cannot leave this bed. Alright?"

Kyouko's face showed her warring desires, but food prepared by Ren won out. "Okay…" Her pouting but resigned face nearly made Ren decide to move the bed into the kitchen so she wouldn't be left alone. But the dimensions of the bed wouldn't fit, so he reluctantly kissed her on the forehead and moved to the kitchen where his true battle awaited.

Two Hours Later:

Ren smiled down at the messy charred hamburger and the over-fried egg surrounded by washed and haphazardly chopped vegetables with pride. He'd finally finished. His cell phone's battery was dangerously low from the constant use, but he'd made and tested the meal, and he knew it was edible. He was certain Kyouko would be happy with it.

"Kyouko?" He peeked into the room, carrying the tray, to see her sweat-dampened face flushed with sleep and fever, her clothes halfway off her body, and her blankets in disarray. The tray dropped.

"Nnnn….Ren? Did you make it?" Kyouko opened her eyes to the sight of Ren staring at her blankly and a tray with food scrambled all over it lying in the floor. "The food…did you drop it? It's still on the tray, so I'll eat it." She sat up and her shirt gaped open. Ren's face flushed and he quickly dropped to his haunches to pick up the tray. He debated remaking the food for her, but with a quick thought to the state of the kitchen and the dwindling food supplies, decided this food would have to do. He stood up and set the tray on the table next to her bed, before leaning over her and attempting to button the shirt back up. 'Think of children' became his mental chant until she started fighting him.

"Noo….." Her eyes grew teary again. "It's hot…It's too hot Ren!" Her mouth opened and pants came out in her effort to fight him. "I can't take it! Please…." Ren glanced up at her and immediately waved a white flag of surrender in his mind. Please, Boss. I really want to quit now. I can't take this pressure. She's driving me crazy.

"Alright. Um, I guess try to eat." He set the tray on his lap and looked around for some easy way for her to eat. Finding none, he began to grow frustrated.

"Ren….Will you feed me? I think I'd drop the fork." Ren's frustration disappeared, but a flustered boy took over his body temporarily. He gaped at her and waved a hand in rejection.

"No, I couldn't! I'd-" Her eyes grew damper and a single tear slid down her cheek. As she opened her trembling mouth, he cut her off. "Understood. I'll do my best. Tell me if it's too hot." And signing his death warrant, he raised the fork.

Thirty Minutes Later:

Ren panted for breath and covered his face in the privacy of the kitchen. Now he had to change her clothes, her bed sheets, and wash her body because of his failure to feed her properly. There was food everywhere, and her facial expression when she drank the milk and it ran down the side of her mouth….Please Boss! Save me! I might commit a felony soon! Why didn't Yashiro help me? What did I do to deserve this?

"Ren…?" A sniffle could be heard. "Ren…I feel gross. Please…" Ren was immediately by her side.

"Do you think you're going to throw up? Maybe that food was too heavy for you when you're sick." (A/N: No duh.) Ren cradled her head with his hands and looked into her most dangerous face yet. Kyouko's eyes were sleepy and heavy lidded. Her cheeks were pink and her forehead was dotted with sweat. Pants escaped in small, delicate breaths, and as she gathered her will to speak, her tongue slowly swept across her lips and back. In a daze he followed the path her tongue took, nearly unable to resist the urge to take that same path with his own appendage.

"Ren…I'm gonna be sick…" And all thoughts shut off as she threw all his hard work right into his lap. From her stomach.

Without the slightest thought, he immediately stripped down to boxers and as he started to pull the boxers off, he noticed her interested look. With a flush, he realized that she was still sitting on the bed that reeked, and clothes that had bits of …well, it wasn't neat and tidy at all. "I'm sorry Kyouko! I'll clean you up right now!"

Ren bent down and picked her up, carried her to the bathroom, set her down in his lap (to the side) and began stripping off her pajamas. When he could see her underclothes, he flushed cherry red and froze. "Um, can you do it yourself Kyouko? I know how you have such avoidance to showing too much skin to other people so I…"

"Ren…Please….Can you clean me up? I'm sorry I'm such a bother…But it smells so gross….and my arms keep trembling…Ren…." Ren keeled over slightly and squeezed the poor girl trapped in his arms. She was gonna be the death of him, and he'd gladly go.

With a resolute expression, he reached over and grabbed the medium sized towel from the hanger. He firmly tied it over his eyes and then finished undressing her like the playboy he used to be. If his fingers trembled and fumbled occasionally, well, that was because he couldn't see anything. Finally he had her stand up and he scrabbled to find the stool so she could sit on something besides him. Then he turned on the water, and began the most heavenly torture of his life.

His hands slid around cautiously until he found her arm. Thanking the heavens it was her arm he'd grabbed, he slid his hand down her arm to her hand, and began to spray it with the showerhead. He worked his way up to her neck with one hand on her shoulder, and then took a guess as to where the rest of her body was and let loose the water.

"Nn! Ren…Warn me next time." Kyouko sure is taking this all in stride… He grudgingly thought. But then…how was she gonna get washed….And the demon lord briefly surfaced.

Ren reached out, found a washrag and the soap, and soaped up the rag after handing the water to Kyouko. It sounded as though Kyouko were trying to spray her head, because she was sputtering just a little and causing all sorts of rambunctious thoughts to bounce around his head. He turned off the water without a word, and as Kyouko opened her mouth to ask why, he reached out and found her thigh. The words cut off and his fingertips slid slowly up her hip, around her rib cage, eliciting startled giggles, behind her arms so he eventually was gripping one of her shoulders.

"Ren?" Kyouko questioned slightly before she saw the soapy rag. "Ah. Thank you." With a silent nod, Ren moved the wash rag to her shoulder and worked his way down both arms separately before he moved back up to her neck. Wrapping her in his arms slightly, and getting them both soapy, he washed her back. Then with a muttered "In the name of cleanliness…" he went down her front thoroughly and gently, making his way all the way down to her hips, then working all over her legs and feet. As he silently contemplated it, Kyouko's voice broke into his thoughts. "Ren…you missed a spot…but I can do that one myself. Give me the rag." For a moment he wanted to argue, to scream that he deserved a reward, and that she was too weak to be doing anything right now, but her voice continued. "Besides, you're kind of stinky right now too, and you should probably take off those gross boxers soon." Startled, Ren realized he still had on his boxers and they had been subjected to Kyouko's upset stomach. Offering the rag to Kyouko, he turned away and stripped down. Then he reached for the soap and washed up without a word, then rinsed himself off and offered the water to Kyouko.

"Okay, I'm all rinsed off, but I want to wash my hair…I bet it's really gross. Will you give me a minute?" Kyouko asked in a conversational voice. Ren's voice finally rang out with three words she hadn't expected to hear.

"I'll do it." He lifted the towel from his eye just long enough to find the shampoo and moved behind Kyouko. His fingers threaded through her wet hair and then he poured a bit of shampoo directly onto her head. Kyouko let out a sputtered laugh that died quickly when his hands began massaging the shampoo into foam all over her head. It felt so good, Kyouko felt as though she could drift off to sleep. As her body began to lean back, Ren leaned forward and whispered huskily.

"You're not going to fall asleep here, are you?" Kyouko nuzzled into the warm chest behind her and murmured something indistinct. "Kyouko?" When there was no response, Ren stripped off the blindfold with no thought to his soapy hands. Kyouko had fallen asleep. In the shower, with a naked man. Well if that isn't a blow to my ego, I'm not sure what else it could be. With a sigh, he gently rinsed out her hair and resisted the urge to look her over and explore. He picked her up cautiously, since they were both wet, and stepped out of the bathing area, then found a towel and awkwardly placed it over her. Wrapping his arms around her and the towel, he managed to her get her covered, but then found a new problem. Her bed was covered in food, the kitchen was a mess, and she didn't have a couch here. There wasn't anywhere to set her. With a sigh, he went back to the bathroom and set her inside the still unused tub. It didn't look too uncomfortable, and there wasn't anywhere else besides the floor, so he shrugged mentally and went to clean up his mess.

2 hours later:

Kyoko woke up warm, dry, in new pajamas, on new bed sheets, and wrapped in Ren's arms as he slept outside her blankets. "Tsu-ts-tsuruga-senpai?" Ren woke up and shined a heavenly smile down at her.

"See? I told you I wouldn't leave your side, Kyouko." Kyouko flushed and weakly sat up, getting away from the heavenly being. She had no idea what he was talking about, but it sounded romantic and her heart throbbed a little just thinking of it.

"Tsuruga-senpai, what are you doing here? Where's the caretaker the President assigned to me? Why is everything different? What's going on?" Ren slowly sat up, and his eyes widened in realization.

"You don't remember a thing, do you? You don't remember me coming here to take care of you, you immediately attacking me (with hugs) with cries for me, or anything after that?" Ren mentally continued to count out the things she'd done before he'd broken and called for help. She'd attached herself to him, cried out about how lonely she was, demanded his love and a promise to not leave her side, and then snuggled herself on top of him on her bed before falling asleep clutching him. All of this was before he'd had to dry her off and dress her, then put her in a newly made bed and then clean the entire house because he'd tracked food all over the place. He was exhausted from taking care of the childish, demanding and utterly adorable sick Kyouko, and she didn't remember a thing? With a resigned sigh, Ren sank back down onto the bed and jerked Kyouko back down too. "Go to sleep. You and I both need the rest, and we can work it all out later."

Kyouko considered struggling, but saw the misery and strain on Ren's face and decided to play nice. With a nod she settled down to sleep.

Ren's last thought before he drifted off as well was Damn you Boss…All of this work, and I didn't make any progress at all. I didn't even think to take a picture!