A/N: So, Skip Beat is liscensed on Manga Fox, the place where I typically read Skip Beat…does anyone have any ideas for a better site. I don't like EatManga because the names are wrong. (Maria is Margaret and Natsu is Shouka…) Also, the translation isn't very good. Manga reader wasn't working when I tried it…ideas for a new site to read it? Thanks
Grateful
With a face as red as a tomato, Kyoko climbed off of her boyfriend's lap and perched on the couch beside him, keeping her gaze on the floor as her father sat his empty plate on the table. "I'm sorry. Are you hungry? Did you want a sandwich?"
"No thanks, Dad." Kuon grinned at his father, glancing questioning look. Kyoko managed to shake her head, still blushing. Kuu chuckled at his daughter's discomfort, peeking around his son to look at her.
"Are you sure, Kyoko?" He asked with a grin. "I can whip us up something." She shook her head again, still mortified at having been caught making out with her boyfriend while straddling him…by not just his father, but her father as well. 'Wait…can he still be my father?' The thought made her frown. 'If he's Ren…no Kuon's father…how can he be mine?' Kuon noticed her sad frown and took her hand.
"Hey. What's wrong?" She looked up and realized that both Kuu and Kuon looked worried.
"Oh! Nothing! Sorry. Um…no, I'm not hungry." She grinned brightly and they nodded slowly, not quite believing her.
"So what are you doing here so late?" Ren asked softly, putting his arm around her and pulling her so that her head rested on his shoulder.
"Um, I was showing Fa…Hizuri-san my new offers and the script for Box R." Kuon nodded, but Kuu frowned.
"Hizuri-san?" He asked, crossing his arms. "I thought I told you to call me father." He looked hurt, and she hurriedly leaned over Kuon.
"Um…I'm sorry. I just thought that since you were Kuon's father…" She trailed off, sitting back and looking at the carpet. Kuu sighed and shook his head, reaching out and taking her hand.
"I can still be your father Kyoko." He said softly, squeezing her hand and prompting her to look up at him. Kuon was smiling as well, looking down at her softly. "And if you get married, I can be your real father." Kuon groaned as Kyoko turned bright red and buried her face in her hands.
"Dad!" He cried, his face turning a soft red. Kuu chuckled.
"What? I want grandkids and you aren't getting any younger!" Kyoko buried her head in Kuon's shoulder. "You'd better get a move on before you can't…"
"Dad, don't finish that!" Kuon warned. Kuu chuckled.
"Oh alright. I'm just kidding. Here, look at this script. It's the reason Kyoko was here so late. The director told her to just act like Mio." He frowned, showing Kuon what he thought of that. Ren frowned as well, taking the script and flipping through it. He was silent except for the occasional 'hmm' or 'oh' and Kyoko peeked over his arm, rereading as he did.
"It's an interesting script. You'll do great with Natsu's character." He smiled at her. "What other scripts have you gotten?" She reached into her bag and handed him the small stack of papers and they spent the evening looking them over.
Kyoko glanced over at Ren as he drove, super aware of his hand wrapped around hers. Her purse sat between her knees, and she had an urge to pull the hem of her skirt down. Fighting to keep from fidgeting from nervousness she looked out the window, watching as the scenery rushed by. "Everything okay?" His deep voice, soft as it was, seemed to boom in the car, making her jump.
"Of course. Why do you ask?" He grinned.
"You seem fidgety." She could hear the teasing in his voice and blushed a little.
"No…I'm not…fidgety. I'm just…um…I'm fine." He chuckled, his deep voice setting her on fire.
Ren glanced at the digital clock on his dashboard, which told him it was nearly midnight, too late to come up with any excuse to stay with her any longer.
"Are you hungry?" He looked up in surprise when her quiet voice reached him.
"Um…a little." He spoke hesitantly.
"I…I was just wondering…if you wanted to…um…if you don't mind…if I could cook something….for you…at your place." She was looking at the floor as she spoke by the end of the sentence, until Ren squeezed her hand. Glancing up, she was temporarily blinded in the dark by his bright smile.
"Of course."
Ren watched her move around his kitchen, her face a continual soft red. He smirked a little at her embarrassment, but had to ask the question on his mind. "Kyoko?"
"Hm?" She asked from her position stirring a pot.
"Why did you want to come over?" She blushed even brighter, turning the heat down on the stove.
Ren approached her as she looked down into the pot. "I…um…" She peeked up at him. "I…just thought you might be hungry." He lifted a teasing eyebrow and leaned against the counter, looking up into her eyes. "I wanted to see you." She mumbled finally. She met his eyes sheepishly, relieved when gentle, loving eyes met her own. He lifted his hand to her cheek, rubbing his thumb over her soft red skin, then leaned over, hesitating when his nose was nearly touching hers. Blushing brighter, she moved forward and pressed her lips against his, squeaking a little when he wrapped his arms around her, pausing for a second to turn off the burner, then pulled her backwards as he kissed her.
She had no idea how he successfully led her to the sofa while walking backwards and kissing her passionately, but before she knew it she was back on his lap, her feet dangling by his knees as she rested on his thighs. His hands trailed up and down her back, tugging at the hem of her shirt, but she was too busy concentrating on his tongue caressing hers to ask him what he was doing, and before she could speak her blouse was off and he was unclasping her bra. Trailing her hands up his chest, she rested them on his shoulders as he moved from her mouth to her neck, making her gasp. She felt her bra straps slide down her arms and, for the first time, realized what he was doing, but his mouth on her breast shoved all her questions away.
"Ren…" She mumbled. He didn't answer, taking her waist and pulling her closer. She gasped when something pressed against her core and whimpered. "Ren…" She whispered, a little more urgently this time, but he didn't respond, moving back up to her collar bone. "Kuon!" Finally he pulled away and looked into her eyes, and she could see love and…something else there. Shaking her head a little, she prayed that there was no fear in her eyes. "Kuon…I…"
Ren took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. 'She's not ready for that. Not yet. I can't push her into this.' Softening his smile, he kissed her cheek and wrapped his arms around her, holding her, pretending that the fear in her eyes hadn't hurt him.
"I'm sorry." She whispered against his neck, then kissed his throat gently. He sighed as she kissed up his throat to his mouth where he responded happily.
"Don't be sorry." He whispered against her lips, kissing her again briefly.
"But…I can't…"
He kissed her again, grabbing her bra and slowly pulling it back over her shoulders. "You don't have to."
'Ugh! I'm so bored! Why isn't there anything fun to do?' Kyoko stared at the script as she froze in the middle of the sidewalk. 'Wow. I was born and raised in Kyoto, I've been alive for sixteen years…and a few months…and I've never said anything like this! What a difficult script.' She sighed. 'I was reading it with Ren…but I wasn't really thinking about this part. Princess Natsu seems to be from a middle class family, does well in school, and has a commanding presence…..but that's not enough for her…what a selfish, hateful girl!' She paused. 'No! I can't let my emotions control me here! I'm going to be a professional actress like Ren and…'
"Ugh! I'm so bored! Why isn't there anything fun to do?" Kyoko paused.
'That voice…just now?'
"I hate how the Japanese always just copy everyone else! Like, Halloween! Recently there have been little kids running around asking for candy! There really should be a limit on how much foreign culture we are willing to accept! And now adults are getting into celebrating Christmas? This is too much, right? Obviously most of the citizens are not Christians! I'll bet Christians wouldn't participate in Buddhist festivals!" She paused in her ranting when there was a tap on her shoulder, and she came face to face with Ren.
"Hello Maria."
"Ren-sama!"
"Hehe. You seem to be in a bad mood today. You're cuter when you smile."
Kanae froze when she saw Kyoko crouching behind a small Ren doll, speaking to a blushing Maria. "What…are you idiots doing?" She snapped, tilting her head as the office worker Maria had forced into sitting with her disappeared.
"MOKO-SAN!" She flinched as Kyoko threw her arms around her, squealing in delight. Kanae sighed in resignation. It had been a while since she had seen her best friend, so she hugged her back. As soon as Kyoko pulled away, Kanae snatched the doll from her hand and popped off the face.
"Ew! Kyoko! Why do you have a doll of your boyfriend anyway?" Kyoko blushed brightly and giggled.
"Eh…"
"Onee-sama! The doll! I want a Ren doll!" Kyoko smiled softly.
"I'm sorry, Maria-chan. This doll can't be given to anyone." She placed her hand on Maria's shoulder, wincing as her spirits seemed to sink. "Um…Maria…are you excited about the parties? I mean…the parties at your house must be great on December 24th."
"No. I'm not a Christian so I've decided that we won't celebrate Christmas at our house anymore."
"Oh…um…well I'm not either. Speaking of he 24th…isn't that your birthday?"
"I don't celebrate my birthday." Her eyes dimmed. "Because that's when Mommy died." Kyoko's jaw dropped and she felt her eyes widen.
'Oh…poor Maria. She doesn't want to celebrate her birthday because of her mother.' Kyoko sighed thoughtfully, the smiled in realization. She dropped to her knees and took her 'little sister's' hand. "Maria, will you help me with something?" The little girl cocked her head and listened as Kyoko whispered in her ear. Kanae, starting to feel left out, leaned forward to listen, then narrowed her eyes.
"Mo! I'm not helping you with this."
"Of course not! It's my idea!" She said with a smile, then turned to Maria. "But I would love it if you would help me." Maria's eyes widened. "Just help me write the invitations? You could just write, please attend the party I'm holding on the 24th because I want to thank you for everything you've done for me this year. And after that, we can serve all sorts of wonderful cakes and cookies and desserts! And everyone will have a great time together." She cleared her through and peered down at Maria. "Ehm…do you like the idea?"
Maria grinned happily. "I love it!"
Ren leaned back against the wall and flipped through the magazine sitting in his dressing room, legs crossed as he waited for Yashiro to return. Suddenly, he turned the page and froze, his eyes widening as he took a closer look. 'Hmmm Queen Rosa…' He smiled softly, formulating a plan.
"Happy Grateful Party?" He pulled the pink invitation out of the envelope and peeked up at Kyoko.
"Yes. It's a party organized by Maria and me to express our thanks to everyone who has helped us this year."
If Yashiro hadn't been standing behind him, he would have had at least one teasing remark, but instead he only read further.
"OH. It's at the President's villa. So this was the President's idea?"
"Em..no. It was my idea. But the President wanted to do something…and since Maria wouldn't let him help, he offered the venue. Um…Ren…?"
"Yea?"
"Um…I think you'll probably be getting an invitation from Maria. I know that you're really busy…but…do you think you could stop by for just a little while?"
He smiled. "Of course. I wanted to give Maria her birthday present as well."
Kyoko's eyes lit up and she beamed at him. "Thank you so much! Maria will be so happy!" He smiled kindly.
"So, Maria will be the only one who will be happy?" He asked teasingly. Yashiro snorted.
"No! The other guests will be happy as well?" Yashiro bit back a laugh but Ren only grinned.
"And you?" She froze, then blushed brightly.
"Um…of course I'll be happy to see you." She stared down at the floor and he grinned stepping closer. Glancing around to make sure that no one except Yahshiro was around, he reached down and kissed her, earning a squeak of surprise as his lips made contact with her cheek. Yashiro grinned at the way her face turned bright red.
Pulling away, Ren took her hand and squeezed gently. "It sounds like it's going to be a great party. Thank you for inviting me."
Kanae pulled the invitation out of the envelope and rolled her eyes. "Grateful Party? Well at least it's a little better than 'Thank You Party.'" Suddenly she froze, something out of the corner of her eye making her aura turn black, and bystanders stepped away from her. Turning around, she walked back up to the window. Shivering, she stared at the magical fairy tale make up kit. 'No. I would never think of buying such a ridiculously corny make up kit.' Suddenly the image of Kyoko crying happily popped into her head. 'No! It's probably a special edition make up kit. So close to Christmas, they're probably sold out.' Another image of Kyoko thanking her popped into her mind. 'CRAP!'
A/N: I feel like this was a lot longer than it was. Lol. Sorry if it was too short, but I hope you enjoyed it :D
