Ch ? part 3

author note; Thank you everyone for the reviews! I'm happy people are enjoying my story.

I wanted to take a step back slightly to give Kyoko a learning moment and a chance to learn that- although hot- her previous situation was unhealthy. I don't think Kyoko would've been exposed to pro-consent literature, or anything about healthier BDSM dynamics (I don't think she ever used the internet ever in the manga, so no google for her) so I wanted to create a situation in which she could learn.


Ren froze as he heard his name. His first name. Without any honorifics! Echo out from the other room. He tried to not reach too much into it- she was probably very flustered, after all- but even as he tried to keep his cool he felt his heart flutter and some of his anger dissipate. Even if it was a slip-up from being embarrassed… that meant she was thinking of him that way in her head, right? He felt a small smile light up his features. Maybe he had some hope after all. Feeling considerably lighter, he finished preparing the tea and the headed over to the living room where Kyoko was waiting for him.

"Tea, Kyoko-chan?" he asked, placing a mug in front of her. She nodded, a hand flying out from beneath the blanket to grab the mug. Upon touching the side and finding it still too hot, he watched as the hand retreated to its protective shell. He couldn't see her face very well- it too was hidden under the blanket- but he knew she was probably still blushing. He had spent the entire time it took to make tea debating the best way to calm her down, and decided to keep it as professional as possible.

"Kyoko- to start with, I just want to say you don't have to feel embarrassed at all. I know Natsu-chan is a very strong, mature character, and you were merely fulfilling the brief. I still respect you as my kouhai" he said, unleashing a gentle smile in her direction. After a few moments of consideration, he saw the blankets shift and a small head pop out from among them. She looked at him, still nervous, but nodded.

"Do you want to go over how you felt the scene went, first?" He asked, then fell silent, waiting for her to talk.

It took several minutes for Kyoko to begin. He didn't push- he knew this was a hard topic for her to cover. "Natsu was extremely confident in her seduction of Chitose's boyfriend. She was originally planning on just flirting with him… but she seemed to have liked what she was seeing and decided to take it further. I think she was planning…. On doing immoral acts… while Chitose was watching" as she made her confession, Kyoko turned bright red and covered her face once again with the blanket.

Ren sat there, trying his hardest to calm his quickening pulse and to prevent an ecstatic smile from breaking out on his face. Natsu liked what she was seeing, did she? Did that mean Kyoko found him attractive on some level? He felt a decidedly unmanly giggle of joy start to rise in his throat but used all of his willpower to keep a straight face. He didn't want Kyoko to think he was laughing at her! He took another breath as he struggled to stay on task.

"Ah, that makes sense then. I was going to say that you started extremely well- Natsu was definitely flirting by expressing her desire with her eyes and the light touching of the arm. The removal of her shirt was taking it a step beyond what I would have expected, however- that would be considered more than light flirting that would be appropriate in public" he explained, trying to keep things as dry and professional as he could. He knew Kyoko had to have some experience, but with the way she acted… he wasn't sure exactly what her experiences were, and if they were warped. Best to start easy. "However, if Natsu was trying to engage in intimate acts with Chitose's boyfriend then it definitely would make sense to progress things that way. However- I wasn't quite sure what to make of Natsu's final action. Going into a dogeza there was not normally how things would progress. I would rather expect her to move in and start kissing the target, eventually removing his clothes as well."

Kyoko nodded as she followed along with Ren's explanation. Her blush was still raging furiously and she could feel her stomach flipping with nerves and anxiety every time Ren mentioned what Natsu had done- but his dry and frank description of events was helping. He was making it seem normal, removing the raw emotion from her actions. That's right. She was just acting according to the brief. Nothing was weird about it. Channeling her professional acting spirit, she tried to keep her emotions calm and collected. "Natsu-chan was behaving under the assumption that Chitose's boyfriend was ready to act upon the desire she had been instilling in him." she replied, feeling not quite as successful as Ren at describing the situation clinically "As for her final action- well- Natsu-chan knows that men love it when women beg. When women submit. She thought that'd be perfect to spur him into action" To Natsu-to Kyoko- this was just a fact of life that had been instilled in her since her youth. She didn't feel embarrassed admitting it, because she just thought it was a universal truth.

Ren looked at Kyoko, slightly aghast. That fucking bastard. He couldn't handle the emotional mood swings this night was bringing him. From slightly excited, to incredibly turned on, to deep anger, then happiness, and now anger again. He took a deep breath, reigning himself in. He was Tsurugara Ren. He could control himself. He WOULD control himself. Control. Control. Even as he repeated that refrain in his head he couldn't help but let a measure of anger, of darkness, leak out. He could feel his mask slipping, just a little. Kuon wanted out. He wanted to rage and to destroy. But Kyoko was what was important. Kyoko. He stood up and moved over to sit directly next to her, reaching out an arm and patting the back of her blanket. He wasn't sure how to explain the next part exactly, without butchering it terribly, but it needed to be said.

"Kyoko, I will admit that some men enjoy that greatly. But not all men do. Some men like their women to be equal partners in their intimate activities- they want the woman to have as much (or even more!) agency as they do. " he said gently "of course if both partners in the relationship communicate outside of an intimate setting that they do indeed want to have a relationship where one has inherently more power than the other- well, that is the business of two consenting adults. But it should always be communicated beforehand, and in such a way that both sides of the partnership are getting their wants and needs met at all times. There shouldn't be any underhanded manipulation of those needs to cause inequality in the partnership." With that said, he moved back to the scene "From the rest of the scene, it felt to me that Natsu was very comfortable taking charge of the situation. So it wouldn't necessarily make sense for her to suddenly switch the power balance over to Chitose's boyfriend by submitting, no?"

Kyoko shifted uncomfortably as she listened to Ren. He was her Senpai, and she had found his advice incredibly reliable thus far. But his words just seemed so outside her realm of experience. Equal partnership during activities? No manipulation of the other partner's needs unless discussed beforehand? It didn't square with her previous experiences. She had to admit it felt right, though, in a way. Like what life would be in the perfect fantasy in her head. What if everytime she had needed it, Sho had been there for her and just helped her, instead of making her degrade herself to get it? But even though it felt right it also felt wrong. Because even though she had hated the things Sho had been making her do, she couldn't deny how much her body reacted to them. And didn't that mean that was what she actually wanted deep down? What all women actually wanted? Thats what Sho had told her... that she wanted that, no needed that, because it was a part of her biological makeup to serve men.

"Tsuruga-san" her voice called out from within the next of blankets, her face still hidden "what about spankings? And making someone do something they don't want to do for a reward? Should those be a part of Natsu's scenario?" she hadn't thought it was possible for her face to become more crimson, but it was. She was glad he couldn't see it! She desperately hoped that Tsuruga didn't see through her deception- if he thought she was the one doing those things she might die. Better to blame Natsu.

Ren felt himself startle slightly as Kyoko brought up corporeal punishment, and rewards. In this context… How did she know about those things? Ren desperately hoped that it was just from something she had seen, that Natsu had remembered. Not something that she had dealt with as someone who was uninformed. You know exactly why she's asking you that, don't you? She likes it. Kuon whispered to him, the devil deep within him. You know she trusts you, you're her precious Sempai. The God of Acting that she looks up to. She believes anything you say. Why don't you tell her that you'll spank her all she wants? That some spanking is normal between Kouhai and Sempai? She'll believe you. You know exactly how she thinks. How to manipulate her. How to get her into your bed. Stop being such a fucking gentleman about it.

SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP. He thought to himself, shoving those treacherous thoughts down as deep as they would go. He would not take advantage of Kyoko's nativity. He wouldn't. He couldn't do that to her after him.

"Well, Kyoko" he began instead "those things can be included in intimate relationships- either as a part of the power play I was speaking about before or just by themselves. However, again, it is incredibly important to discuss these things outside of the moment and make sure they're accomplished in such a way that both partners feel like their needs are being met and that they have a say. They should never be done without mutual agreement from both parties. Additionally, it is incredibly important that this mutual agreement isn't forced, and is instead freely given." He hoped he was doing an alright job explaining this to her. He wasn't an expert by any means, but at the very least he was a little more experienced than she was. Beyond that, he knew how shy she was, and how she really didn't have anyone else she could ask. It was better that he inform her- what if she went her whole life thinking it was normal, and that was the loose thread that let her back to him? Absolutely inexcusable. He would do his best to explain so that at least she could make informed choices. "However, all that being said, it is definitely not that unusual- in fact, I could say that it is a fairly common desire. A good amount of people find spankings and other such actions very physically stimulating."

Kyoko shifted under the blankets, glad that she wasn't too weird at least. But now that she was calming down a bit, she felt an overwhelming desire to run away. To get away from Tsuruga-san. She couldn't believe she had asked him that! She had so much new information to process, and to try and get over what she had done tonight. How was she supposed to face him again on the Dark Moon set!? Struggling out of the blankets, she quickly belted out "Thank you Tsuruga-san for all your valuable advice tonight, I'll take it under advisement! Thank you so much for allowing me into your home, I'll see you on the Dark Moon set!" hardly stopping to take a breath she then sprinted out of the room, out of his apartment, not waiting for him to respond, her tea left completely abandoned on the table.