Part I: Scene II: Ren

"Setsu," his voice was husky and soft and the way he said her name was like a caress on her skin. "What is it?" he asked of her.

Always so perceptive, it should have been no surprise to her that he saw through her so easily, but still she tensed, her heart leaping to the back of her throat.

She swallowed against it as she said, "It's nothing, Niisan."

"It's no use lying, Setsuka."

His voice held humor and careful rumination as he said, "Your pulse is hammering beneath my fingers." He pressed lightly against the base of her throat for emphasis. "Are you that uncomfortable with my affections?"

"Of course not!" Setsu - Kyoko - bristled. She shook her head frantically, "It's just - " Her breath caught and her next words died on her tongue.

She gulped loudly and fell silent.

"Just?" He prompted after a moment.

"I - that's - "

"You were going to pull away," he interjected softly. "Setsu...your feelings for me...have they changed?"

Kyoko's eyes widened and he clenched her teeth to keep from gasping out loud.

Tsuruga-san was right! Setsu wouldn't have pulled away, nor would she have hesitated.

Tsuruga-san knew that Kyoko was too self conscious to continue acting properly. If she didn't get it together, he'd NG her at any second!

Frantic to get her emotions under control, Kyoko summoned all her willpower and blurted the first words that came to her mind when she felt Setsu resurfacing within her.

"Don't say stupid things, Niisan." Setsu narrowed her eyes in light disapproval as she met her brother's level stare. "How can these feelings change for you? They reverberate through the blood pulsing through my veins. You've ingrained yourself in every part of me."

"Then why did you stop? Why were you hesitating?" Cain asked.

"I was overcome..." Setsu sighed, "with longing. I kept thinking...if my heart is beating this hard touching Niisan...then would I die if he were to touch me instead?" Setsu gave Cain a small, forlorn smile, "I was longing for that wish that if my heart were to stop now, it'd be with you and I like this, Niisan."

The words fanned across his skin, and Ren had to keep from shuddering as he watched Kyoko try to keep her composure.

After speaking, her face faltered for a moment and he saw the small yet heavy blush on her skin, her cheeks a beautiful, rosy shade complimenting her pale skin just right.

If he was being honest, he hadn't been Cain for a while, having lost his character after first feeling her lips on his skin. He basked in the delight he felt at the knowledge that she had never done something so intimate with another man before, secretly thankful for not the first time that Fuwa never had interests in her in the way he had other women.

Ren had every desire - every urge and yearning - to be the one to receive and give Kyoko each one of her firsts; their current state and its implications were not lost on him, and even though he manipulated her into saying such words to him then, and even if those words were said by Setsuka Heel to Cain Heel, they delectably tumbled off Setsuka's lips with Kyoko's voice and Ren couldn't feel guilty at his coercion even if he had wanted to.

He glanced at her, still feeling her pulse hammer against his fingers. "And I as well, Setsu," he murmured. "There's no place I'd rather be. No one else I'd rather be with, if not you."

Ren shifted then, sitting up, wrapping his arms around Kyoko's stiffened form as he held her to him. Kyoko's body was warm and soft against his firm chest.

He lowered his head to the crown of her head as he said, "I won't make this promise to God, but to you, Kyoko. I'll live as your me."

He felt, rather than heard, her intake of breath as Kyoko turned completely rigid in his arms. He knew that was to be expected, and Ren opened his eyes and stared somberly at the blonde wig Kyoko wore, yearning to feel her actual short, bright auburn locks against his cheek. And though it was slow and steady, his heart pounded relentlessly against his chest; painful, yet desired more than any other feeling he'd ever felt.

It was only seconds, but it felt like hours; to him, at least ( - he couldn't speak for her). He felt a vibration against his chest as he heard her laugh quietly; the relief she felt at her admission was obvious by the way she seemed to deflate and mold against him. He swallowed harshly as he felt her hands fist the front of his shirt with trembling fingers.

He didn't lose himself to her then; that had already happened a long time ago.

He flipped their positions. His leg placed in between her legs, his eyes roamed her curves and their situation appreciatively.

"I should engrave here..." his hand, of its own accord, not his own, found the space above her breast that caged her fast beating heart, "my monopoly, right, Setsu?" Ren asked Kyoko, leaning forward.

He was intoxicated by her scent; sweet, and mouth-watering, hers; his lips brushed against the lobe of her right ear - did he imagine her breath hitched and she shivered, or could he allow himself to believe she had, really? - and he said, "While I'm at it, I'll show you the proper way to leave a kiss mark."

He skimmed his lips lightly along the side of her neck, his eyes on the skin over her heart. He brought his face close to her chest, and lowered his head until -

Two small, feminine palms shot out against his lips, stopping his contact with her skin. Ren looked up at her, his face betraying his displeasure. "Setsu - "

"Don't!" she said to him, to his surprise. "I knew that you'd been with other...but for you to...! Don't touch me in the same way you've touched other women!"

He blinked once, slowly, eyes widened in surprised. He watched her eyes carefully then; the way something flashed within them and disappeared just as quickly. She was quiet, breath held, lips in a pout that was masking her true emotions from him.

Ren said, "You're the first woman I've ever touched in this way."

Somehow, Ren could tell, whether it was because of the way his voice broke on the words or simply because she knew him so well, a flash of understanding crossed her features; though what it was she understood, Ren didn't care to know.

He changed his destination, lips trailing down her arm and lightly caressing the pulse in her left wrist; it fluttered wildly under her skin, and Ren had never anticipated something so desperately.

(TBC...)