DISCLAIMER: SKIP BEAT! and its associated characters are the creations of Yoshiki Nakamura. This author claims no ownership of Skip Beat or any of its characters. All other rights reserved.

Author's Note: The word for this one is "Gleam."

WARNING: This is a reaction to some panels I saw as a spoiler for Chapter 302 - I haven't seen the entire thing yet, and it hasn't been translated, soooo…lol yes, I'm writing before I have all the information. But just in case you haven't seen them yet, fair warning: this does refer to some recent events in the manga!

Noveisdoge - this one's for you!

Thank you to NCISduckie for the word.

Taking the Stairs

She…wasn't going to tell him. Nope. And now she supposed she was stuck taking the stairs all the way down to the ground floor of this godforsaken building, because she wasn't going to tell him why she was so awkward and stiff—and she wasn't going to be stuck in an elevator with him, either. She refused to be bullied into that. They had History in elevators. Things Happened in elevators, and goodness knows what would happen if she got into one with him again—especially after he so skillfully trapped her into eating half the eggs benedict he'd made.

Therefore: stairs.

Even if the stairs looked endless. Even if the stairs looked steep and it was late at night and she was tired…so very, very tired.

"Mogami-san?" She felt him drape his jacket over her, still warm from his body, and for a second she was lost in breathing in his scent.

She looked up from her contemplation of the vast distance below. He was standing at the first step, one foot already on the next. Why was he so ridiculously good-looking? He gleamed even when he had absolutely no need to. His shoes gleamed. His fake necklace gleamed. His smile gleamed. It wasn't enough to short circuit her and her grudges with his shine once—he had to keep doing it again and again.

"If you're too tired, I'll just carry you, Hime-sama," he said, and now his eyes were gleaming too. He held out a hand for her to take, but she just frantically shook her head.

"No thank you!" she squeaked, coloring red again. She was not going to take Tsuruga Ren's hand like…like his girlfriend. Would the mortification never stop? The man was impossible. Was she being played with? Was he having fun at her expense? He'd said they weren't going to change their relationship too much, right? So why had he insisted on eating with her? Why was he insisting on driving her home? Why did he look like he was relishing the idea of sweeping her off her feet and carrying her god-knows-how-many-steps down?

WHY? she wondered. But she squared her shoulders, gave him a stern look, and began descending down the stairs. He was following silently behind her like a shadow. She avoided looking at him, just in case he gave her another one of those smiles again. She didn't think she'd survive a second one.

Step. Step. Step step step. Flights of steps, followed by landings, followed by more steps flew by.

Would these steps never end? Just how tall was this building? They had rounded the corner on yet another landing when Kyoko felt her foot slip.

"Gaaahh—" she cried out, expecting a nasty spill. It wouldn't be the first time she'd fallen down a flight of steps. She tensed her body, waiting for the pain.

But he was there, instead, and he caught her. She fell into his arms instead of falling downstairs. For a few seconds, she remained still, dazed by the brief zap! of electricity that jolted through her when his hands wrapped around her body.

"Mogami-san?" he said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have insisted." He looked sheepish, as if he finally understood she was determined not to give him an inch in this game they were playing. "You're tired, after all," he said. "Let me…"

Before she knew it, he had wrapped himself around her.

The damn man was going to carry her after all. She started to squirm, but then he adjusted the way his arms were holding her and his proximity made her heart ba-dump in her chest. Shhhhh she told it as it began to beat wildly. Cautiously, she put her own arms around his shoulders in an effort to stabilize herself, feeling a little ashamed of herself for admiring just how muscular and solid he was.

He's just giving you a ride home…calm down, Kyoko! she thought.

But calming down was impossible when she felt herself lifted up in his arms.

Damn the man. He felt solid, and warm, and safe. In short, he felt wonderful. She knew she should tell him to put her down and insist on walking the rest of the way herself. But before she could say anything, she made the mistake of looking up at him. He was looking down at her at the same time. His eyes were deep and dark and fringed with the long lashes she remembered from the time he'd fallen asleep on her lap during Dark Moon's filming. She tried to break their gaze but she couldn't look away…not even when she realized a little too late that his lips were hovering close to hers. "Mogami-san," he whispered.

He had her trapped in his arms, held aloft on a landing somewhere in the middle of his building, and it was impossible to get away. It was just the two of them, and it was the middle of the night, and oh god, he smelled so nice and his eyes were so beautiful…she could feel him getting closer, and closer…and then his lips were on hers. Kyoko gasped a little into his mouth as he began to kiss her, but he just smiled without breaking the contact which he'd begun. He kissed her slowly, tenderly, as if afraid she'd spook and get away if he were any less gentle. She could feel his tongue run along her bottom lip, could taste the Earl Grey tea on his breath, and she could feel herself sinking into him. His kiss was like the taste of a single drop of nectar from the first honeysuckle of summer. It made her dizzy and breathless and giddy, and it made her stomach drop because it promised more. Far more. She didn't know how to respond—Corn had given her her first real kiss, but Corn hadn't done anything like this! She didn't know whether to panic or run or…kiss him back. And that thought in itself was cause for panic. Was she so shameless as to kiss him back? Wasn't that unthinkable!? He must've sensed her discomfort, because his large hands held her closer to him as his kiss grew in urgency.

"Urmmm," she whimpered, and he stopped to look at her. She put a hand on his chest and gently pushed him away. This wasn't like the kiss he'd given her on Valentine's Day—there was no mistaking it as a 'thank you' kiss in any way. But she still didn't know how to accept him—how was this 'keeping their relationship the same'? Everything had changed. Senpais did not kiss their kohais. Friends did not kiss friends. She was calmer than she'd expected, but she was also not yet ready. She looked at him, trying to convey without words that her push wasn't a rejection…just a postponement. "Playboy," she whispered at him.

To her relief, he smiled, resting his forehead against hers just as he had that other time in the elevator. "Only for Mogami-san," he said. She gave him a mock-glare in response and he looked at her questioningly before grinning and then shrugging his shoulders.

He tightened his grip around her, comforted that she wasn't going to reject him outright. "Very well," he said, and sighed. He exited the landing, swiping an access card at the nearest floor, and then they were in an elevator descending to the ground floor.

"Ano…Tsu-tsuruga-san…?" Kyoko said, her face burning in shame. It would not do to be seen like this, being carried by Tsuruga Ren in the middle of the night!

"Yes, Mogami-san?"

"You can put me down now."

"No."

"No!?" Who was this?! He was not being the gentlemanly Tsuruga Ren that everyone knew.

He looked down at her with a bemused look, daring her to squirm away.

"TSURUGA-SAN!" she said, and he just laughed at her. Finally, as the elevator came down to the parking garage, he gently placed her on her feet.

The ride home was relatively normal, something she was grateful for.

He stopped next to the Darumaya, where he normally dropped her off, and walked her to the door.

"Goodnight, Mogami-san," he said a little sadly.

"Goodnight, Tsuruga-san," she replied. He took his hand and caressed her face lightly, and then she had her key in the lock. She stepped in and waved goodbye to him before he turned around to go back to his car.

She watched through the window as he turned around and began to walk off, but then an impulse seized her.

Flinging open the door, she cried "Tsuruga-san! Wait!"

And before her courage could fail her, she ran after him, standing up on her tip-toes and tugging on his shirt until he leaned down far enough for her to kiss his lips briefly.

"Goodnight," she said, and stepped back. Her face was burning and she wanted to hide, but he was looking at her with dazed eyes and a goofy smile on his face.

"Mogami-san—" he said, but she was already running off.

"See you later, Tsuruga-san!" she said, waving frantically as she ran back to the Darumaya and shut the door. Seconds later, her legs had failed her and she was on the floor in front of it.

Things were definitely not the same anymore.