A/N: This is a pretty short chapter, so I apologize if this upsets you…but I still have a lot to do before I am done with this semester, and I wanted to give you guys a little something. Please enjoy.
Money
It was almost noon.
Kyoko's heart stopped as she stared at the little white numbers on her cell phone background. (The cellphone background, by the way, was her boyfriend.) Her hands shook and bile rose in her throat. 'No. No. No! I…can't have over slept! I missed…' She stopped. Exhaling loudly, she flopped back on her futon, which was not nearly as comfortable after sleeping in a nice bed for so many nights as Setsu or as a guest in Ren's home, and allowed herself to calm down. 'I'm off today.'
The thought, which came so quickly to mind, left her baffled. Not once in her 17 years could she remember ever being 'off.' She had always had something to do, be it working in the kitchen or cleaning rooms…or, more recently, playing the nearly incestuous little sister of her boyfriend. Now…the remaining question was this; what does one do on a day off? Finding that there was no way she could get back to sleep at this point, she sat up and ran a hand through her short orange hair, shoving it out of her face. Yawning widely, she placed her cellphone back on the floor beside her and crossed her legs, propping her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands thoughtfully. 'I suppose I could study my scripts...' The idea, introduced after the recent realization of her day off, was surprisingly repulsive….but so was the thought of sitting in her room all day.
With that, there was a knock at the door. Her eyebrows furrowed and her lips turned down at the corners. She heard movement beneath her feet, so she was sure the Okami-san and Taisho were busy with the lunch crowd. So who could be knocking at her door? Not wanting to invite an unknown stranger into her room, she slowly stood, her legs rebelliously aching after hours of being curled up, and made her way a bit groggily to the door. She slid it open a little and came face to chest with what must have been a man. Slowly, her eyes traveled upward, feasting on the growingly familiar chest and shoulders until she found the smiling face of Ren Tsuruga. As always, her heart thudded loudly in her chest until she was sure her entire body vibrated with the pounding, the usual result of finding her boyfriend where she didn't expect him.
Stepping back mutely with a blush and a shy smile, she opened her door and gestured for him to come in before realizing that her futon was still lying in the middle of the floor, unmade and possibly dirty from a long night of sweating and moving around, and that she was still in her pajamas, which, since she was not Setsu, consisted of embarrassingly old flannel dyed a rusty red. Clasping her hands in front of her, she hoped that he didn't notice the fact that the super rich star didn't notice the fact that her pants were a few inches too short and that the shirt was covered in moth holes and missing a button. If he did, he showed no sign of it as his kind smiled dropped into a concerned frown.
"Are you okay?" He stepped forward and placed a cool hand on her forehead. "I didn't think you'd still be in bed. Are you feeling badly?" She blushed again, this time at being caught in bed so late, and shook her head.
"Sorry. I didn't expect you to come here today. I'm fine. I just…overslept." This time he caught the blush and chuckled, stepping closer and smoothing the erratic hair that stuck out at all angles from her normal style. Leaning down, he kissed her gently, pressing his lips against hers for no more than a few seconds, then pulled away.
"I should have called first. I'm sorry. I was just going to ask if you needed anything for tomorrow."
Once again, her traitorous heart sped up, this time in anxiety. Tomorrow evening was the Dark Moon closing party, and the day that they would be announcing…albeit casually, that they were dating. The plan was to arrive together and when, not if, the reporters asked about them, they would simply say that they were now seeing one another in a romantic relationship and let them guess the rest. It would also be leaked that Yashiro was now managing both the schedules of Ren and Kyoko. Lory hoped that this would calm some of the rumors about the 'sordid affair' between the manager and the actress.
Kyoko had never been to a formal party as a guest, and wasn't all that convinced that she wanted to go to one now. However, Ren obviously wanted her to go with him, not to mention her part in the drama they were celebrating. Still, her biggest problem had to be her dress…or lack there of. She couldn't afford a new dress, since her paychecks for Dark Moon and Box R were hardly enough to pay her acting school bills, and her current wardrobe held roughly…zero dresses. They weren't something she had ever owned, since most of her clothes came from the Fuwas, and she hadn't planned on becoming an actress while packing her clothes on her last days with them. Even if she had, it wasn't like she had ever owed anything nice enough for such a party. Therefore, she needed a dress.
She couldn't afford a dress.
Ren could afford a dress…but she was determined not to accept any expensive gifts from him.
Given her past experiences with him, she was trying to resign herself to the fact that he was going to buy her a dress. 'Well…' She thought as she wrapped her arms around him, tilting her head up for another kiss. 'It's going to happen anyway. I suppose I should try to enjoy myself…' "Um…actually…" She felt herself blush in embarrassment despite knowing that he wouldn't think less of her because of her lack of money. "I…don't have a dress for tomorrow." She forced herself not to cover her face in shame. 'I can't believe I'm about to do this…' "I…can't afford it." She mumbled, hands clasped and eyes trained on the ground. A few seconds later, a hand clasped her chin and tilted her head upward, while another grasped her hand.
"You don't have to be embarrassed. I understand." He spoke softly, aware of his discomfort. "Look, why don't you go ahead and get dressed, and I'll take you shopping?"
She wanted to argue. More than anything she wanted to shake her head and insist that she would just borrow something from LME. But she knew. She knew that he wouldn't allow it. She knew that he would find a way to get her a new dress, and probably some other things, one way or another. She, much to his delighted surprise, she blushed cutely and smiled up at him. "Thank you." She whispered, wrapping her arms around him and hugging him again. He kissed the top of her head, his soft lips brushing against the orange cowlicks, his nose nuzzling her hair.
"Of course." He murmured. Releasing her after a moment, he smiled and started to leave.
"Wait." He turned and looked over at her. "Um…you can stay in here." His eyes widened and she blushed. "I mean…you can wait in here…and I'll go change in the bathroom." She stepped over to her closet and dug through the clothes there as Ren watched with a fond smile. Finally she pulled out a pair of jeans and a simple blouse and, blushing a bit, scampered past Ren and out of the room.
Ren chuckled as she shut the door behind her and, walking quickly, knelt next to her purse in the corner. He had planned on doing this later, but he had a good opportunity now and he planned on taking it. Apologizing silently, he reached into her purse and pulled out her small wallet, then opened it, searching for money. He located a few coins and one or two bills, then, pulling out his own wallet, slipped three more 5,000 yen notes with the others, and quickly replaced her purse and placed his own wallet into his pocket, praying that she wouldn't notice for a long time. Of course, he knew that was expecting a lot, but he was worried. Since Dark Moon was ending, he knew that her income would be cut by quite a lot, and that she was struggling as it was. The president would take care of her, of course, but he hated to think that she would be embarrassed or ashamed of her inability to care for herself. Resisting the urge to stuff more money into her wallet, he glanced over at the small table and grinned broadly at the little Princess Rosa necklace lying out. Kneeling, he fingered the small jewel that had cost him a small fortune, and the little elegant wire cage that probably cost less than most of the onigiri that he purchased for lunch.
Kyoko appeared in the doorway, her pajamas folded in her arms, and he pulled himself to his feet. "Just let me do my makeup and we can go." She smiled hesitantly and he nodded, completely at ease. He was free for the entire day (a rarity afforded him because of Yashiro's persistence and Lory's power) and had reserved every second for Kyoko.
Ren had never watched a woman put on make up. Of course, as an actor, he often had it applied to his own face, and had caught glimpses of himself in the mirror as powder was brushed onto his face and tiny amounts of eyeliner were applied to his lower lids. Of course, special effects make up was different all together. However, apart from glimpses of his mother, he had never sat down and simply watched as a woman applied the make up to her face. Then again, he'd never been in love before either.
She started with a powder that, to his eyes, did little except for even her skin tone. Still, there was something fascinating about the way she ran the brush over her soft cheeks….this was his first clue that staring at her in the mirror as she worked might be a bad idea…especially when they were alone in her bedroom. Next she selected a different brush, taking a few seconds, and then dabbed it into a little square of color and brushed it over her eyelids. He placed his head onto his hand and watched as she applied three similar colors to her lids and brows, brining out the golden shine in her eyes. Eyeliner her was familiar with, but he had to wonder how she managed not to poke herself in the eye. Mascara made him ask the same thing; although he appreciated the way her gorgeous eyes seemed to stand out even more after the cosmetics were applied.
When she pulled out a small golden tube, his heart started to beat a little faster in anticipation. Small, delicate fingers twisted the tube and removed the cap, and a little stick of pink came into sight. She puckered her lips in the mirror and he stifled a groan, only mildly surprised that she was able to temp him without even thinking.
It was the lip gloss that did him in. The shiny color was barely finished spreading itself across her soft lips when a hand on her shoulder spun her around and smooth, soft lips crashed against her own. She squeaked and dropped the lip gloss when hands wrapped around her waist and lifted, spinning her around, and then somehow she was on his lap and he kissed her, tongue removing all traces of her lip gloss, franticly nibbling and tracing the skin there until it was swollen and red of its own accord. She groaned when he slowed down, entering her mouth and wrapping his arms around her, crushing her to his chest as he kissed her. She reached up and looped her arms around his neck, thumbs massaging his neck until he groaned as well, a deep, rumbly sound that she could feel as she was pressed against him. Something hard pressed against the place between her legs and she gasped, breaking the kiss for a moment and moaning at the shocking feeling traveling up her spine. She managed to open her eyes and peek at Ren whose eyes were both dark and shining, his lips curved in a lustful smile. His hands ran over her shoulders and arms, and then down to her small waist.
'I just wanted to put on make up…' That was the only coherent thought she was capable of forming as his hands trailed over her, staying innocent, in contrast to his lower body that was pushing against her in the most indecent way. She trembled, her breath coming harder as his lips joined his hands, pressing gentle kisses against her neck. After a few minutes, she pulled her lower body away, scooting back on his lap. She leaned forward and pressed her forehead against his chest, her body screaming at her for not getting as close to that wonderful pressure as possible, and tried to calm her breathing.
"Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing her back. Glancing up, she noticed that his cheeks were a soft red, and smiled, leaning up and kissing the red skin.
"Can I reapply my lipstick now?" He chuckled, then stood and helped her to her feet. She fought a sudden urge to look down at his lower body, heat rushing through her at the indecent thought, and stepped away.
"You'd better not." His smile was suggestive and she blushed brightly, reaching down and placing the cosmetic back on the table and, grabbing her purse, led him out the door.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading. I appreciate everyone's support!
