Disclaimer :
I write this fic for entertainment purposes only. I do not own SkipBeat! and all of its plots and characters. All of them belong to Yoshiki Nakamura Sensei and the crews. I only have this idea of mine and another fanfic of my own to use for Kyoko's new drama plot.
English is not my first language, not even my second language, so please bear with me. thank you so much.^^
x-x-x
Chapter 3 : Her Worries
"Just spill it." She put the cup of tea she had just sipped a while ago onto the table.
Yashiro blinked. Eh?
Kanae sneered, then leaned closer to the man with specs before her. "Don't give me that look. Of course, you wouldn't expect me to believe that you brought me here only to give Kyouko's schedule, right?" with that words being said, Kanae leaned back to her chair and crossed her hands across her chest, waiting.
Yashiro sighed inwardly, It begins, —He thought, then braced himself before speaking to the Raven-haired girl in front of him.
He cleared his throat before he took another sip of his coffee and smiled, "Well, I really wanted to give Kyouko's schedule to you."
"You know that I can get it from Sawara-san, right?" She squinted her eyes to him, not buying his answer.
"Yes, but it was me who have the most updated schedule." He smiled.
"And of course you can only send me her schedule, right?"
"I prefer to put her full schedule in my planner."
"Of course you can just email me the copy of your planner or just take a picture of them and messaged me, right?" Kanae rolled her eyes in annoyance.
"But I don't have your email nor your phone number, so how could I do those things?" He innocently said.
"Just say that you want to give them both some time together, right?" Kanae retorted before his words before dawned upon her, "I'm sorry, what?"
Yashiro smiled, "I said, I don't have your email nor your phone number, so how could I do those things."
It was Kanae's turn to blink. He got a point, —she thought.
She just opened her mouth to talk when Yashiro beat her to it, "But since you asked me about it, I wonder why you asked me that. Why should I give them some time together?" He then took another sip of his coffee before facing her again, readying himself for another blow from the young actress before him.
Kanae chuckled, "You don't think that I don't know about your schemes between them, right? You don't think that I don't know you sometimes created a matching schedule between them, right? So that they can have some free time at the same time."
"And yet they never met at those same free time, am I correct?" Yashiro shot back.
Kanae was taken aback, Oh shit.
"I didn't notice," Kanae answered shortly before she took her cup from the table and sipped her tea again. She needed it. She had never guessed that Ren Tsuruga's Manager was quite a rival in throwing words. She usually saw him together with Ren, and she rarely talked to him. But now, they had talked longer than usual, and already touched the 'landmine'. A landmine that only she and Kyouko knew about it, about why that 'landmine' even existed between Ren and Kyouko, and most importantly, she didn't have any intention to share it with Yashiro.
Kanae raised her eyes slowly from her cup and stared at the man before her from below her eyelashes. At the moment, he was taking some papers from his planner and began to copy Kyouko's schedule for Kanae.
Kanae sighed, and while she waited for him finished copying, her mind wandered to the two months before that day, exactly when Kyouko told her about her worries.
(Flashback)
"Are you sure you heard them talk that they wanted to go here?" Kyouko said in panicked inside the LoveMe room.
Kanae nodded, "Yes, of course. Why?" She squinted her eyes suspiciously at her, "Do you have an appointment with him today?"
Kyouko quickly shook her head, "No, I am not. But I can't meet him right now. What to do? What to do? What to do?" She kept on walking back and forth inside the LoveMe room before she spun around and faced Kanae, "If I leave now, do you think I still have time to avoid him?"
There was a deep frown between Kanae's brows, "I don't think so. He's probably close and will arrive here in five minutes or less, and you don't know which way he's coming from."
Kyouko blanched, "What to do then? What to do then? I can't meet him." She kept on fidgeting on her fingers nervously.
Looking at Kyouko's panic state, Kanae hardened her face, then she gripped Kyouko's shoulders tightly, bringing Kyouko back from wherever her mind brought her to. "What is going on here between the two of you? and don't even try to tell me that nothing is going on." She pulled a warning tone towards her friend who was already opened her mouth to deny it, and Kyouko immediately shut her mouth. "Did he..." Kanae paused, "Did he try to take advantage of you?" She narrowed her eyes to her friend, eager to get her honest answer because if she was right, she would make sure that 'That Tsuruga Ren' would get his lessons for being an a** to a pure girl like Kyouko.
Kyouko's eyes widened in shock.
"HE DID?" Kanae snarled, "I swear I am going to kick—"
"NO, HE DID NOT!" Kyouko cried, furiously shaking her head, "Of course he did not! He wouldn't... He would never do that."
Kanae let out a sigh of relief, "It's good then." If she was being honest, from the deep of her heart, she did think that Tsuruga Ren wasn't that kind of man. Okay, he might have a secret and some mysterious side of him behind his too gentlemanly smiles, but for him, doing something like that was so unlikely. Even though Kanae didn't like him, she knew the fact that the man was head over heels for her friend, so there was no way he would do anything dishonorable towards Kyouko.
"So..." Kanae continued, only to be cut off by Kyouko.
"Besides, why would he anyway? To a girl like me. He would never think to do those kinds of things to me. I am just... just—" Kyouko stopped talking as her face turned into a crimson color. "He would never—"
Kanae's grip on Kyouko's arms grew tighter, "Kyouko! He's a man! of course, he will—" She paused as she saw Kyouko shook her head even more furiously than before, "NO! He wouldn't think about me that way. He wouldn't..."
Kanae groaned exasperatedly, This girl... She was too innocent for her own good. Or too oblivious if I may add. Even I could see it from the way he looked at her sometimes. She then stared at her friend again. If she could choose between explaining the 'hunger look' of Tsuruga Ren towards Kyouko sometimes and listening to Kyouko's self-deprecating like this, she would choose to explain the look of Tsuruga Ren without any second thoughts.
"Kyouko, listen to me. He—"
Her words stopped as she heard a knock on the door.
"Oh my God! He's coming! What to do? What to do?" Kyouko's panic began to rise again.
"Just meet him," Kanae said, "It's fine."
"But I can't!" Kyouko cried in despair, "Not here. I... I—"
"Why?"
Before Kyouko could answer, there was another knock on the door, louder than before.
Kyouko was trembling, "Moko-san, please help me. I...I am gonna hide. Please tell him that you didn't see me, okay."
"But why?"
"I can't tell you, please Moko-san"
Kanae rolled her eyes, "I'll tell him that you're here." She then turned around and picked up her feet towards the door, but then she stopped when she felt Kyouko wailing on the floor crying while desperately holding onto her legs as she tried as hard as she could to prevent Kanae from opening the door.
Looking at her friend's miserable face, Kanae gave up, "Okay okay. I'll tell him that you're not here. Now you hide."
Kyouko's eyes beamed as her tears began to stop, "Thank you, Moko-san."
"But promise me that you will tell me the truth today," Kanae said again in an unarguable tone.
Kyouko nodded.
x-x-x
Five minutes later, Kanae and Kyouko already sat down on the chair, sitting face to face. Kanae had succeeded to convince Tsuruga Ren and his manager, Yashiro that Kyouko had taken a LoveMe work outside of the LME building, and after that, she would go to her next job at TBM. So they gave up asking and excused themselves before leaving the LoveMe room.
"Now tell me." Kanae said firmly, "My next job is around two hours from now, so I am still having quite a lot of time. And don't even try to lie, I know that you're avoiding him. I've noticed it since one month ago. So why? What's going on? I think it's been around..." She paused, counting, "It's been seven months since his confession, and you had admitted that you also have romantic feelings towards him, but I do think that for six months after that day, both of you are fine. I mean, you're still acting as usual towards him, and him towards you, but since one month ago, something was changed. What happens? Did your feeling for him suddenly change, and you couldn't tell him about it? or... Did he ask you to 'upgrade' the relationship that makes you uncomfortable with it? After all, you told me that both of you had an agreement that there won't be that much of a relationship changing between you two, right? It will be like, I like you, you like me, both of us know about it but we also have a purpose that we have to achieve first, so just take it slowly, right? So what's wrong? What makes you behave this way?"
Kyouko gazed at Kanae, contemplating the thing she had to share. But after seeing Kanae's determined face, she wisely thought that she would better share it with her. At least she would have another person to share her burden. Then maybe, if something like that day would happen again, she could help her in avoiding Ren.
She then let out a long and deep sigh before she began her story. She told Kanae that her worries began to happen around the moment Hansel and Gretel Chocolate Commercial being filmed. She met one girl in the commercial who acted as the witch in the commercial, Sayuri Ueda-san, who was happened to be the leader of one fandom in Japan. RenKa Fandom, or in another name, RenKa Shippers Fandom.
Kanae cut her story at this, "Wait, RenKa Shippers? What the hell is that?"
"RenKa. Ren and Kana. It's Tsuruga-san and Kana-san shippers. The fans of their couple thing, to be exact. They want them to be together by all means because they like them so much."
Kanae squinted her eyes, "Do you mean they're kinda 'obsessed' with them?"
"Well..." Kyouko paused, "It seems like that."
Kanae frowned, confused. "But their relationship isn't true, I mean, they never admitted it publicly, and they just let everybody guess and have their own thoughts about it," Kanae said. "So how could they be so sure about it? I mean the RenKa shippers?"
If Kyouko wanted to hide her troubled feelings at that time, she was failed to do so. There was a hint of pain flashing across her face which Kanae could see even as she answered her question while pretending not to care with the words she said, "Well... They said that they were so good together. There won't be a chance that the news isn't true. Or at least that was what Sayuri-san told me at that time." Kyouko faked a smile, almost as fake as Tsuruga-san's fake gentlemanly smile.
"But what is the connection between this fandom and your different behavior towards Tsuruga-san?"
Kyouko shut her eyes tightly. "They're scary. I am scared. Especially for Tsuruga-san sakes." She admitted.
"Huh?" Kanae shifted in her chair, "What do you mean by that?"
"They're hardcore shippers, they are everywhere, and they would try to destroy everybody who tried to deny the couple, or everybody who tried to get close to the man, I mean Tsuruga-san."
"Like what?"
Kyouko sighed again, heavier than before, "Well, there's this one day, someone was coming to their online forum, saying that Tsuruga-san and Kana-san's relationship is a lie. There's nothing happened between them because Tsuruga-san's heart belongs to somebody else."
"Belong to whom?" Kanae asked carefully.
"Momose-san."
Kanae gaped at her, "Mizuki from Dark Moon?"
Kyouko only nodded as an answer.
"Then?"
"Then they attacked her verbally on that forum, they even tried to exposed her private life online, they even found her embarrassing high school pictures and posted those pictures on that forum. It was so scary."
"They would go that far?" Kanae's eyes widened in shock, unable to believe the thing she heard from Kyouko.
Kyouko nodded.
Kanae sighed, then tapping her fingers onto the table, "But again, what's the correlation between that story and you started to avoid Tsuruga-san?"
"Because on another day, they posted another picture of an LME employee who was blushing and nervous while she was talking with Tsuruga-san, here in LME and they were shaming her online."
Kanae's eyes widened even more, "Wait. So you mean that they have someone here, in LME?!"
Again, Kyouko nodded.
"But who?"
"I don't know! and it might not be someone, but some two or some three or more. I couldn't take the risk." Kyouko cried exasperatedly. "I can't let these scary things happened to Tsuruga-san."
Kanae blinked.
"I am sorry, what?"
"I can't let Tsuruga-san get these scary things."
"Wait, wait. You are afraid for him? I thought you are afraid for yourself? I mean, if someday they exposed your past with that singer."
"I am! But I am more afraid for Tsuruga-san."
"What kind of thing they could expose from him anyway? If there is someone who should be afraid to be exposed for anything, it should be you. That'll ruin your career more than his."
"Everybody has a secret, and I am sure Tsuruga-san has," Kyouko said adamantly, "And I don't want them to destroy his career or something he was thriving for just because of a baseless rumor with someone... like me."
I am sorry, Moko-san, but I can't tell you that Tsuruga-san is also struggling with his own self, even I don't know what it is, but I can't let them exposing whatever it is. Their ability in investigating someone is too scary. —Kyouko thought.
"Baseless?! And what's wrong with you anyway? Kyouko—" Kanae frustratedly groaned.
"So please help me, Moko-san," Kyouko begged.
"Have you ever talked about this to Tsuruga-san?"
Kyouko looked horrified, "Of course, not."
"Why?"
"I just don't want him to think too much about something not important like this."
And yet you made him think too much about why you avoided him —Kanae thought—, If only you saw his expression today when he couldn't find you again —Kanae sighed—, but again, it's not my business. You wouldn't believe me anyway if I told you that man is head over heels for you.
"Moko-san. Help me..." Kyouko's eyes were teary, and she had this hopeful look in her eyes while tugging on Kanae's sleeves.
"Well, okay."
(end of flashback)
"This is the copy of Kyouko's schedule. I had written it for you." Yashiro said, giving her a paper.
"And these? what's these?" Kanae pointed her fingers toward the added information at the bottom of the paper.
Yashiro smiled, "That's my email and my number."
Kanae frowned, "Why would I need them anyway?"
Yashiro gave her a professional smile, "Trust me, someday you may need them. We will be working together in a drama as manager, and our charges are the main leads, so of course, someday we might need to talk about them, I mean, their work, or their schedules."
Kanae narrowed her eyes towards him suspiciously, "Is it some kind of way of how you want to ask for my email and phone number too?"
Yashiro cleared his throat before he sipped the last drops of his coffee, "Well, as I told you before, we might need it someday."
Kanae was silent, contemplating, while Yashiro still waiting. Then somehow, his phone rang, so he snapped his gloves and accepted the call, "Yes, Ren? Oh already. Okey, I'll get the car. You and Kyouko-chan just wait for me in the lobby, okay. I'm on my way." then he hung up the phone.
"Okay, Kotonami-san. I should leave, for now, thank you for your time, and see you later." He smiled.
He just stood up and was ready to leave when she suddenly gave him a small piece of paper from her purse, "That is my email and phone number. I have to warn you that it was for work only," she paused, "Oh, and for emergency things only."
Yashiro nodded, "Okay, Kotonami-san, I understand. Again, thank you for your time."
x-x-x
Half an hour later, the three of them were still on their way to Darumaya to take Kyouko home when finally, Yashiro couldn't hold himself to ask anymore. The silence in the car slowly 'killed' him, and he thought that if he didn't ask about anything, he would not be able to sleep that night out of curiosity.
His curiosity started from the moment he picked up Ren and Kyouko from the lobby. He had just stopped the car, ready to get out of the car when suddenly, Ren hastily opened the door for Kyouko, but Kyouko, as if she didn't see it, hurriedly went to the other side of the door and opened it before she entered the car. Then after that, Ren also got into the car and immediately closed the door.
And then... silent.
Feeling confused, Yashiro then looked at them in the rearview mirror. The two of them sat far apart from each other while looking at their side of windows, ignoring each other. One thing Yashiro noticed from them was that their faces were flushed red as if they'd just been exposed to a high level of sunray, but since they're in the lobby earlier, Yashiro was certain that the color of their faces at that time wasn't caused by the sun.
"What's wrong?" He finally asked, breaking the silence.
"Nothing." They answered in unison, then silent.
"Are you sure?" Yashiro asked again.
"YES!" Again, they answered in unison before another round of silence engulfed them.
"But..."
"Yashiro-san, just drives," Ren said, "There was nothing wrong."
"But why both of your faces were so red? Is it so hot in here? but we're just..."
"Just drive." Again, Ren and Kyouko talked in unison.
Yashiro gave up his intention to get the answer from his charges and scrunched his lips before he focused to drive again.
I want to knooooooooooooooooow...
.
.
Kyouko began to fidget on her seat and biting her lips nervously, while Ren kept on looking to the outside of the window, staring at the passing buildings and streets, then their mind wandered to the moment before Yashiro picked them up from the lobby.
(flashback)
"Y... Your idol?" Kyouko asked incredulously.
"Yes. My idol." Then Yuuna's sullen face immediately turned into a proud face, "She's my idol. I met her and her brother in Guam. And I looooooove her attitude and her styles so much." She squealed in her fangirling way.
Kyouko gaped at her, What? When did we meet? I don't remember. She then glanced at Ren, but he shook his head slightly, clearly as confused as her at that time.
"Ah... Okay." Kyouko said, "What a..." she paused, "Unique style of an idol." she smiled.
"Of course," She smugly smiled, "She's cool. His brother was quite a unique person too, but I know that they love each other."
Kyouko and Ren blinked.
"What?"
"I can see that they love each other." Yuuna said dreamily, "Well..." She paused, tapping her fingers lightly to her chin, "But honestly, if I thought about them again, even if she called him oni chan, I wonder if they're really siblings."
"And why is that?" Kyouko couldn't help but ask and cursed herself internally after. Stupid Kyouko, why couldn't you hold your question —She thought— If you're too curious, she might suspect that there is something behind your question.
"Well, I remember when she asked her brother to buy her ice cream, she had this longing gaze towards her brother. A gaze full of longing that a sister can't possibly have towards her own brother."
Kyouko's eyes widened and her face began to flush. She then started to cough uncontrollably, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Are you okay?" Ren worriedly asked, and she quickly nodded without words before she then looked away from him, embarrassed.
"And," Yuuna continued, bringing back their attention towards her, "It's not only her. Her brother too. I mean, I saw this look of him when he stared at her sister who was eating her ice cream at that time. It seems that he wanted to eat her instead of his own ice cream."
It was Ren's face that turned into a crimson color after that innocent words said by Yuuna, and as a result of it, he looked away from Kyouko, unable to see her face.
And just in time, Yashiro came.
.
.
(End of flashback)
"We had arrived," Yashiro said, snapping both of them from their reverie.
"Ah yes, thank you for driving me home, Yashiro-san, Tsuruga-san," Kyouko said.
"You're welcome, Mogami-san." Ren smiled, "Are you—"
A ringing sound coming from Kyouko's phone, immediately stopped Ren's words, "I am sorry, Tsuruga-san, I have to take this call. It's from Okami-san."
Ren nodded.
Almost ten minutes later, Kyouko was looking at her phone in a complicated face. It seemed that Okami-san and Taisho couldn't come back on time that evening from a few hours trip of visiting a sick relative in Sapporo because there was a sudden snowstorm over there, so the airport was closed until the next morning. They had tried to find another way of transport like the train, but it seems that all the tickets were already sold out, so they didn't have any other choice except to wait for their plane in the morning. Then, when Kyouko thought that she could stay with Kanae that night, it seemed that Kanae wouldn't be back from her current job at least until midnight, and since there were still another six hours to go, she had nowhere to go at that time.
"You can stay in my place for a few hours," Ren offered, "I don't have any other job tonight, and after that, I can drive you to Kotonami-san place."
Kyouko's eyes widened at this. "What? No! Of course, I couldn't impose on you. I... I'll just stroll around the mall to kill the time," She said in panicked. There was no way she would go to his place. To Ren Tsuruga place. She couldn't take that kind of risk of being spotted together with him around his apartment. Not when the Renka Shippers might already put their secret cameras or maybe some insider around his apartment.
Nope, she wouldn't take that risk.
"You're not imposing on me, Mogami-san. I'd be glad to help,"
And honestly, I missed you in my apartment, talking, laughing, eating together, it's been more than one month already since your birthday dinner —He thought.
Kyouko's hands were flailing in front of her face, more panicked than before, "No! I mean it Tsuruga-san, I... I can't. I... I'm just going to the mall. It's fine."
"Then I'll accompany you," He firmly said, "I could use some disguise."
"What? No!" Kyouko shrieked. That'll be worse. Me? and him? strolling around casually at the mall? no way. "Of course not. People might recognize you since there're not many people like you in Japan, with your height or your body and legs proportion and other things. I am quite sure that they could recognize you if they looked at you more clearly."
I remember I've seen a picture of you in disguise in Renka's forum before, Sayuri-san showed me that.
"But—"
"And what about Kana-san?" Kyouko blurted out, and Ren was taken aback.
"What's with Kana-san?" Ren asked while trying to keep his emotion out of his voice. Before it was imposing on him, then she was afraid that people might recognize him in the mall, and then it's about Kana-san?
"You... You wouldn't want to be seen with me in the mall, together. Every people in Japan know that you're having a relationship with Kana-san—"
"I don't have any relationship with Kana-san. People were just guessing. I never admit that." Ren stated.
"I know that you never admit that, but people do think that way."
"So what?" Ren retorted. He was still trying to keep his frustration out of his voice, but he was beginning to fail to do so, "So what if they thought that way? We know that it's not true. You know that it's not right."
"I know!" Kyouko cried, "But they don't!"
"So?"
"I don't want them to think that I was trying to take you from Kana-san!"
"Why would they think that you're trying to take me from Kana-san?" Ren retorted, "It's not that I am hers, to begin with."
Kyouko sighed, "They might think that way. And it won't be good for your reputation, especially if you are seen with me."
Ren was again, taken aback because of her words, "What do you mean by especially with you? What's wrong with you?"
"Tsuruga-san!" Kyouko cried desperately, "You are Tsuruga Ren, the number one actor of Japan, and I am just Kyouko Mogami. A rookie actress from Kyoto."
Ren began to lose his composure. He really can't. He just can't listen to this kind of self-deprecating anymore.
"And what's wrong with that?" He dangerously said.
"It's wrong! It's all wrong!" Kyouko cried exasperatedly. "Because it can't be true. It can't be. People won't buy that. Because, why would you want to be with a girl like me when you have a woman like Kana-san? That was so wrong in people's eyes."
And that's it.
Even if he had tried to hold onto every ounce of self-control he had left at that time, it seemed that they had already flown out of the window. He was angry, of course, but more than that, he was also hurt as he listened to her words.
"But it is so right in my eyes." He firmly said and made her startled. "And it's the important thing, right? About what's right in my eyes, and what's true in my heart?"
Kyouko was stunned as she saw his painful expression, and realizing that she was the cause of that painful expression, she suddenly felt an urge to raise her hand and touched him to relieve the pain, but she fought that sudden urge with all of her might.
"I—"
.
.
"I think I am going to get some drink," Yashiro suddenly said, stopping whatever words that wanted to come out from the two people in the back seat, and without even waiting for their responses, he quickly opened the door and get out of the car, suddenly felt relief that he didn't have to listen to the 'couple fight' again.
They surely had forgotten that I was still in the car with them, didn't they? He desperately thought while walking to the nearest convenience store. I don't care if they will pull each other hair and fight or if they will pull each other hair and kiss after that, I don't care. Even if they want to make out in the car after that fight, I don't care. All I know is I don't want to be still in the car when they do whatever it is. Yashiro shivered. He just walked about a few steps before he turned around and looked at the car again, then sighed, I hope they could solve their problems, I really hope so.
"Mogami-san."
"Tsuruga-san."
Again, they talked in unison for the umpteenth time of the day, and then silence filled the car again.
"I—" She tried to talk, then stopped. Then as if she couldn't hold the tension inside the car anymore, her hand went to the door handle, ready to open it when he suddenly put his hand over hers, preventing her from running away. Kyouko froze as she felt his hand on hers, and he noticed her reaction. Did I scare her that much? —He thought— "Don't go. Please listen to me," He pleaded.
She waited.
A long and deep sigh escaped him, "I..." He paused, "I just want to ask you something. Would you please answer me honestly? About Imposing on me if we go to my apartment, a fear that some people might recognize me at the mall if I walk with you, and all the talks about Kana-san, all of those excuses, was that only your way to avoid me? I mean, if you don't want me to be near you, you may just say so." He softly said.
Kyouko blanched, then she shifted on her seat and turned towards him, "What?"
Ren took another deep breath while bracing himself to ask the question that had stuck in his mind for the three months he thought that she was avoiding him, "I notice it. I mean, you were avoiding me, but I don't know why. I just thought that you may just tell me your reason. Whatever it is." He paused, then gulped, "Are you... Uhm... are you having a change of heart?"
Kyouko's eyes widened, "What? No! Of course, not. My heart is still the same as before!" She blurted out, then immediately regretted her sudden reaction as she felt that her cheeks were suddenly burned. Panicked, she intended to open the door again, but before she succeeded to open it, Ren suddenly snaked his arms around her waist and pulling her closer to him.
"Tsuruga-san!" She shrieked, and if it was even possible, her face became redder.
"Mmhmm?" He gently smiled.
"Let go of me," She said, lowering her head as she was unable to see his face at the moment.
"Why? Is it not comfortable?"
"It's not that!"
"So it's comfortable," Ren teased.
Kyouko pouted, "I've told you that I can't think if you're too close." She complained, "And..." She shut her eyes closed, "And don't give me that look."
"What kind of look?" He asked again, amusement was evident in his face.
"That look. As if... As if you want to... to..."
"To what?" He asked again with a more teasing tone. He was happy and relieved when she said that her feeling was still the same as before. And she blurted it out, so of course, she was being honest, right? Then, she didn't deny that it was comfortable for her to be so close to him at that time. Technically she was inside his arms, and it seemed that she was... fine.
"To..."
"To eat you?" He teased her even more, "As Ishikawa-san's sister told you today."
"TSURUGA-SAN!" She hissed, pouting before she braced herself to look up at him. "Don't tease me that way. You know that it's not true. She had seen it wrong," Kyouko said in denial.
"I never said that she was wrong,"
"TSURUGA-SAN!"
Ren couldn't help but laugh at her reaction, but then he decided that it would be wiser not to push her further. So he reluctantly let her go from his arms before he leaned closer to her ear and whispered, " Well, honestly, I am looking forward to seeing that kind of longing look you have." Then he straightened his back and held her eyes in his unwavering gaze.
The intensity of his gaze held her captivated, unable to look away from the mesmerizing eyes before her. Something about those eyes weakening her even more, and she was grateful that she wasn't on her feet at that moment.
"Mogami-san," He said, breaking the spell, "I think I know a place where we can talk together without having to worry that other people will notice us."
"Where?"
He smiled, "You'll know."
He then took his phone and pressed one button, "I think it's time for us to call Yashiro, what drink do you want?"
.
.
(To be continued)
x-x-x
Notes:
Hello, it's me again. I just thought that maybe I should make some kind of excuse for something different in Kyouko and Ren's behavior towards each other. ^^
Maybe I can say it this way, it's been 9 months since the confession, 6 months of them trying to get used to the new 'change' of the relationship between them, some nervous moments, some sweetness moments, some 'still in denial' moments and so on. And then after that, 3 months of Kyouko literally avoided Ren, hid from him, and only communicate with him over the phone. And do not forget to mention that maybe, in those 3 months of time, if she met him, she must've felt too self-conscious, and afraid that people would see them together (I am sorry Kyouko for this, you know that I love you to the moon and back, right? It's just for plots T_T). And Ren, almost 3 months of confusion and thoughts that maybe she had a change of heart but she couldn't tell him about that, while he also didn't have the courage to ask her about it because of his fear that everything they had back then would be blown to pieces along with his hope.
So yeah, I think a little bit of 'embrace' between them isn't too out of place (I hope so, it's an excuse anyway). Hahaha…^^
Thank you for reading, and thanks for all the comments for the previous chapter. I love to read them. ^^, please give me more opinions on this chapter. I really hope it's not that 'OOC'