Revelations
Kyoko felt her lips go dry and almost licked them but stopped, remembering that was one of the Emperor's triggers. "Ren," she said, her hands on his shoulders pressing him down gently. He was so much taller than her, though, that holding him back completely was problematic.
"Hmmm?" he murmured, his face nuzzling her neck. She could feel his lips hot against her skin and gasped lightly, trying to focus.
"I wasn't, ah, Ren! Stop!" At her words he sat back, keeping his hands firm around her waist but waiting for her to speak. Impatiently, it seemed, as his eyes kept moving from her face to her neck, watching the area he had just been kissing. "I need your help," she confessed. "I was trying to figure out one of your acting techniques on my own, but I'm confused."
Ren tore his eyes from her skin to focus on her eyes. "The experiments were about acting?" He chuckled once, to himself, and let his hands fall from her sides. "I should have guessed." His words were borderline bitter, but his tone was gentle and his eyes full of kindness. "The only person on earth more consumed with perfection in acting than me… is you." He smoothed her hair back from her face. "What is it?"
Kyoko resituated herself on the couch next to him, a purposeful few inches away from leg contact. The Emperor still simmered beneath the surface, she was sure, and he would definitely interrupt her learning if she gave him an opening. Ren waited, watching her.
"You brought out a reaction in Koga-san that I wasn't expecting," she started bluntly. "It wasn't in the script, either, and I wanted to know how and why you did it."
Ren's eyebrows furrowed as he considered her words. "Unexpected? You mean during today's scene?"
Kyoko nodded. "I brought the tapes if you want to see. But I figured out, at least I thought I did, that it happened when you breathed on him." She blushed. Those words sounded borderline scandalous and definitely odd saying them out loud. The next sentence was going to be even worse, but she dove in anyways. "I-wanted-to-see-if-I-was-right-so-I-tried-to-do-it-to-you-without-asking-sorry-" Kyoko breathed in, avoiding his eyes.
"You what?" Ren laughed. "You wanted to- to breathe on me?" He started to chuckle, leaning toward her to catch eye contact. "Just ask next time. It doesn't matter how weird it is; I'm used to doing odd things to practice my acting."
Kyoko huffed. "Not just breath. You breathed on him earlier in the scene too. It was the way you did it I was trying to mimic. And it made him all flushed and like he'd seen the Emperor."
"Who?"
Kyoko sat bolt upright. "The… Emperor of the Night," she said, licking her lips. Had she never told him about the Emperor before?
Ren reached out and gently grasped her chin, turning her to look at him. She blushed and leaned in, putting her hand on his chest. She purposefully licked her lips again, watching him closely. His expression shifted, his eyes darkening as he watched her tongue. A predatory smile crept across his face and she yelped, sitting back again. "Him! That! There!" Ren blinked, snapping out of it. "That face- The Emperor of the Night! I haven't figured out all of his triggers, but licking your lips is definitely one of them and he is terrifying! I get this churning down in my gut that I'm going be eaten alive! With whipped cream and a cherry on top or something!"
Ren sat there, stunned. "Whipped cream and a cherry…" he muttered, his eyes slowly drawn down her torso. He started to shift again and Kyoko squeaked.
"How on earth is that a trigger?!" she yelled, batting at him. "Anyways!" She tried to refocus the conversation. "Koga-san didn't do any of that. No lip-licking, no whipped cream, no cherries. But somehow you still made him all red-faced and flustered like, well, like he wanted you to eat him. Not that I do! I mean, not right now! I mean, no!" Kyoko huffed in exasperation, flinging her arms about at the empty air in front of her.
Ren shook with silent laughter at her outburst. He gently tugged on her sleeve, patting the seat next to him. "Show me the tape," he said smoothly, his eyes liquid pools beckoning her to obey, to come closer, to trust him.
Kyoko thought carefully, leaning toward him, but stood up. The Pure Maiden team had won for this evening. "Thank you, Ren, but… it's just a little dangerous here right now. I think I need to go home for tonight. I'm sorry for not asking you before. I will definitely show you. Just- right now I'm not sure I can handle the Emperor!" She leaned down and pecked him on the forehead and fled with a squeak before his arms could wrap around her again.
The next morning, bright and early before her car left for the shoot in the north, Kyoko sat around the small table in the LoveME room with Chiori and Kanae. It was unusual for all three girls to be off at the same time, and Kyoko was reveling in the moment.
"There is nothing more precious in all of life than girl friends!" she sang, her body swaying with the imaginary music filling her head. Chiori and Kanae looked at each other over their breakfast trays and rolled their eyes, then broke into smiles. Both girls loved Kyoko's sappyness, though neither would fully openly admit it. Kanae finished her fresh fruit and yogurt fairly quickly and stood to prepare for work.
"Moko, wait!" Kyoko lunged for her sleeve. "Don't leave me! I need Girl Talk." The emphasis she placed on each word made it clear both Girl and Talk were proper nouns, capitalized for full importance. Kanae huffed but sat.
"What is it?" Chiori asked, lured in.
"Why would a man get all red in the face when another man blew on him?"
Kanae choked on air. Chiori spat out her orange juice. Both turned to stare fully at Kyoko, in unison crying out, "WHAT?"
"Moko, Chiori, I'm being serious! Why?"
Chiori and Kanae exchanged glances, shrugging with equal confusion. Kanae took the lead. "Mo, I don't know- anger?"
"No, Moko, he definitely wasn't angry. Though he should have been," Kyoko said, brightening. "That would make a lot more sense! He was being strangled after all."
"Well, there you have it. Strangulation will turn you red in the face," Chiori said matter-of-factly.
Kyoko frowned at them. "Not that kind of red. More like a blush, less like asphyxiation. And with a look in his eyes of need."
Kanae tapped her finger against her mouth as she thought. "What was the other man doing?"
"Straddling him."
Chiori coughed again, almost choking on her orange juice. Drinking around Kyoko was turning into a dangerous affair.
"St-str- what?! What were you watching?" she exclaimed.
"Lotus," Kyoko said simply, still not noticing her friends' distress. Kanae sat down next to her, her face concerned.
"The film you're in is explicit now?" Kanae asked softly. "We can find a way to get you out of the contract if you need to be released."
Kyoko's head shot up in alarm. "Released?! Explicit? What!" She shook her head wildly, patting the air for her friends to calm down. "Where did you get that idea!"
Chiori rolled her eyes. "You just described to us a scene where one man is straddling the other, strangling him erotically."
"Err-" Kyoko's mouth couldn't form the word.
"Yes, erotically," Chiori continued. "Why else would the man on the ground feel need for the one trying to kill him?"
"But- but- they're both-"
"Men?" Kanae offered, her eyebrow cocked.
"Yes!" Kyoko countered, pointing at Kanae as if her word was proof alone for Chiori's theory to fall apart.
Chiori smirked. "Even better, from some points of view."
Kanae rolled her eyes and patted Kyoko's hand, drawing her attention back. "Kyoko," she said softly. "Sometimes a man is attracted to another man. It happens. It's okay. But I don't understand why this happened in Lotus; I didn't think any of the characters were gay."
Kyoko mouthed the word gay silently. "Oh…" she said. "The character… isn't. I don't think." She looked up at Kanae, then at Chiori, her mouth framed in a silent "Oh." "The actor, though," she trailed off.
Chiori's eyebrow cocked at the juicy gossip. "Just who were the two men playing this role?"
Kyoko didn't hesitate to share it all with her best friends. "Tsuruga and Koga," she said simply.
Kanae gasped. "Who was on top?!" she demanded.
"Ren," Kyoko said. "Why does that matter?"
Chiori smirked. "Fanfiction." Kanae swatted at her.
"Mo, no. It doesn't, really. We know Tsuruga-san's preferences. Koga-san- well, apparently we know them now too." She paused, looking closely at Kyoko. "Mo, wait. Kyoko, didn't you say Tsuruga-san took Koga-san to an onsen earlier in the week?"
Kyoko nodded innocently. "I told him to take him out to make friends. Koga always seemed to act strangely around Ren." Kanae groaned, her usual self-control lapsing as she plopped her head in her hands.
"Kyoko," she said, her voice muffled. "Do you know what an onsen is like?"
Kyoko smiled innocently. "Yes, of course! We had one at the ryokan. And I got to go to one in Kariuzawa."
Leaning forward, Kanae spoke softly to Kyoko. "But have you ever been with a romantic interest?"
Kyoko blushed and shook her head. "At the ryokan I only went to bathe with Fuwa-san, or to clean it, and in Kariuzawa it was with Shoko-san." Kanae stood up and looked meaningfully at Chiori.
Chiori grinned wickedly. "Naked. Totally naked. Private room. Dim lights. Washing each other's backs. Reclining in steamy water that only somewhat hides the muscles. Drips slowly moving down the firm lines of-"
Kanae reached over and swatted Chiori on the shoulder. "Tsk! Hush! Can't you see you've fried Kyoko's brain?" Sure enough, Kyoko sat with a catatonic look on her face, staring unseeing at Chiori.
"Onsen…" she said quietly. "Oh my God!" Suddenly Kyoko snapped, blood rushing to her face then back out as she stood.
"It's totally different than going with a middle-aged woman," Chiori continued, a smirk on her face. "Absolute heaven if you're into the person you're with," she finished. "Or hell, I suppose, if they aren't in to you."
"But Koga and-" Kyoko stopped, looking from one friend to another for advice. Kanae scowled, unwilling to participate. Chiori grinned fiendishly.
"Ask Ren how it went," she suggested.
"Mo, you just want fodder for your writing," Kanae said, whacking Chiori again. Chiori shrugged. "Kyoko," Kanae continued, "You know you have nothing to worry about with Ren. He's obsessed with you. But Koga… I'm not sure that onsen trip meant nothing to him if he really did react that way to Ren on set."
Kyoko dug in her purse and got her phone, swiping to find the screenshot she'd taken of the exact moment in Lotus. She held it out toward Kanae and Chiori. The two girls leaned in and examined it. Kanae sat back without a word but Chiori leaned closer, a wide grin on her face.
"Definitely gay," she said, nodding with satisfaction. "Excellent."
Kyoko stared down at her phone, looking at Koga's expression. That look did mean need, after all. So when she had been at Ren's house, she'd also been able to- her face went red-hot and she clicked the phone locked, shoving it away in her purse.
"You know," Chiori said, watching Kyoko's reaction carefully. "You should see if Ren would take you to that onsen. A do-over of sorts, with the proper person." Kyoko gulped, staring wide-eyed at her friend. She turned to Kanae for help. Kanae merely shrugged.
"Yukihito and I went last week," she said simply. Chiori waggled her eyebrows at Kanae, making Kanae flush lightly.
"Maybe," Kyoko said softly, her eyes downcast. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of knowing Ren had such an experience with someone who wasn't her. Even if it was a man. "Maybe after the MV?" Chiori clapped.
"Text him now!" she urged. Kyoko shook her head, but Chiori pulled Kyoko's phone out and shoved it at her.
Nervously, Kyoko took the phone. She looked at Kanae, who just smiled at her, leaving the choice to her. Her hands shaking, she sent Ren a simple invitation.
-Would you join me at an onsen to celebrate the MV shoot once it's done?-
Kyoko froze once she hit send. "WhatdidIdo-" she mumbled, her face beet red.
Chiori laughed, hugging her. "Something wonderful! Kanae, let's take her to get a manicure and pedicure before they go!" Kanae tried to pout but couldn't manage to hide her amusement.
"Mo, don't worry, Kyoko," she said, patting her friend's head. "You can always go in the women's room instead of a private one if you don't want to go through with it." Kyoko beamed up at her, a look of total gratitude on her face.
"Moko," she sighed happily. "You always know just what to say."
Chiori snickered and whispered in Kyoko's ear, "Drips slowly melting down the hard lines of Tsuruga's firm muscles as he leans over toward you, his eyes dark with need-" Kyoko squeaked and upended her purse over her head, everything spilling out on the floor in chaos. Chiori laughed uproariously, hugging her friend before bending to collect the items and put them on the table. Kanae clucked at them both, her arms crossed but her face beaming.
A/N: Yes, Chiori is a whole heckalot like me. HAHAHA!