Authors Chat: WARNING! THIS CHAPTER MAY CAUSE CAVITIES!
I would greatly appreciate your comments and constructive criticism!
That being said, italics text are direct thoughts of characters, text is in quotes, noises are done with asterisks.
DISCLAIMER: Skip Beat! and it's characters are not my original creation, they are owned and created by Nakamura Yoshiki.
Story Timeline: This fanfic is outside the timeline Nakamura-sensei has set forth. This would take place past the present storyline, but a not-so-distant future. Character development applies as I will attempt to keep the characters as Nakamura-sensei has made them. (Otherwise it just isn't a fanfiction but rather a fiction merely using the same names!) Just don't forget that some things may seem a bit out of character since they (characters) are in situations that Nakamura-sensei has not yet put them into or developed the emotional necessity for.
Playing With Fire
Act 11
It was a bold move for Kyoko, but she forced logic on her decision.
Tsuruga-san probably didn't want me on the unmade bed, so that's why he put me in his bed… I would probably upset him if I went and laid down on the guest bed. It isn't good for the mattresses to get people's dirt and facial oils on them… Tsuruga-san really does take care of his things. I-i-it's okay like this right? It's just sleep… He's asleep too, so he won't be watching me…. A-and he's already seen me sleeping besides…
Kyoko forced new excuses into her mind for every step she took closer back to Ren's bed. She stopped at the edge and looked down at him. The small amount of light from the hall shone down on his face through a crack in the door. He looked so peaceful sleeping there. Just like a child without a care… Kyoko found her hand reaching out to him to brush a strand of hair out of his eyes but realized and caught herself before she touched him.
I can't wake him! Just… just c-crawl in Kyoko!
She climbed onto the bed by the pillow, lifted the covers, and slid her legs in carefully back under the weight of Ren's arm. He didn't move as she slid in farther, his arm like a dead weight. Kyoko could not forget that it was his arm though and was excited but embarrassed just the same. Had there been light and a mirror, she wouldn't be surprised to find her face looking like a tomato.
She could feel a steady burn engulf in her cheeks and wondered if her heart would burn up like her cheeks if she stayed just like this until morning…stayed in Tsuruga-san's arms, stealing his warmth.
Sleep! It's just sleep! Everyone does it!
She forced thoughts of sleep in her mind and all other thoughts out as she clenched her eyes tight and forced herself to drift off.
Did his arm just get tighter?
Her one final thought before drifting off to sleep, and thought was no more.
Ren could not believe it. She actually chose to crawl back in bed with him. He thought that when she got up, she would not return. He had almost got up himself to check on her when he heard the toilet flush and the soft footsteps coming back down the hall toward his room. He forced himself to lie back down how he was and feign sleep. He wanted to know what she would do.
In truth, he had not expected her to crawl back in the bed. He expected her to try to wake him up, to bring her home, or to yell at him about seeing her sleeping again, or even to pass by the bedroom and go into the living room. Never would he be able to imagine her coming back into his arms willingly.
Anytime she had been in his arms had been his doing. Kyoko never made a move to be close to him. … or anyone other than Kotonami-san for that matter. It was almost comical at how desperately she clung onto her friend.
Ren almost let out a laugh, but stopped himself. He could not help but smile a little as Kyoko stopped at the edge of the bed. Had she leaned closer, she might have noticed his eyes were open just a slit, and he saw her reach toward his face, then fall short.
He was certain she was intending to wake him up. What had stopped her he wondered. Instead, she sat back onto the bed before drawing her legs up to her chest then lifting the blankets and sliding them back under the covers and under his arm.
Ren couldn't control his racing heart. He didn't dare to move for fear she knew he was awake. What excuse could he give her then? He felt like his heart was about to burst from his chest. She was in his arms, in his bed, and willingly so. He could die happy.
He watched her clench her eyes until they relaxed and her breathing slowed and deepened, then he tightened his arm around her, pulled her close, breathed in the sweet scent of her skin mingling with his, and slept.