Hi there! So, this update is a lot faster than I thought, but I don't think it'll be too much of a problem. Thanks again for all the support and I apologize if my story isn't always accurate. Haha, anyway, please read and review!
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of its characters.
Kyoko couldn't find the voice to answer him as she found herself drowning his eyes. Her heart seemed to have lost all function because the blood that was supposed to be running through her body went cold. She couldn't understand why his question didn't register in her mind. Kyoko had such a hard time believing that he actually asked her to sit next to him. It was just impossible!
But then, seeing his kind face made her feel a tiny glow emanate within her, like a joy of some kind. She couldn't find the will to say no, even if she had wanted to. So with a small, shy smile, Kyoko nodded and said, "I'd love to, Tsuruga-san."
The smile he returned seemed to have gotten ten times brighter since Kyoko found herself stunned from the light. Then very gently, with his hand to still wrapped around her wrist, Ren led Kyoko to the two seats saved in the third row. Kyoko sat next to the window while Ren sat in the seat beside her. As soon as she dropped herself down onto the chair, Kyoko couldn't get over how comfortable it was.
Immediately, she buckled up the seat belt and took a look around the cabin. It looked way too good to be true. There was a large, flat-screen television set at the very front, a mini bar at the end, and all throughout the room, each chair had its own recliner so that it could be pushed farther downwards in order to pull out into a bed. Even more surprising was that each chair even had its own touch-screen television as well.
Kyoko had no idea that flying first class would be so elite. She expected it to be cramped and crowded, but there was so much space that it almost felt like they were just staying in someone's living room. She was absolutely mesmerized.
Ren, on the other hand, wasn't as impressed. In fact, he didn't even pay much attention to the plane at all. He was too busy looking at the awed girl beside him. Ren couldn't believe how lucky he was. To spend a twelve hour flight with Kyoko was more than he could ask for. This would be the longest time he would ever be around her in just one sitting.
He couldn't help but smile as he watched her face shine with excitement at the plane. He knew that it was the first time she would be traveling and was quite pleased with her reaction. Her enthusiasm was somewhat contagious since Ren was starting to feel excited as well.
Ren chuckled silently to himself as he slightly shook his head. "How you have such a control over me Kyoko, I will never understand."
However, Ren didn't realize that Kyoko was watching him out of the corner of her eye. She noticed how he had this amused look on his face whenever his eyes trailed to hers. Curious, she fully turned to him and asked, "Is something wrong, Tsuruga-san?"
He shook his head with a smile and replied, "Not in the least, Mogami-san. Why?"
"I don't know," she began with a slight pout. "You seem to be laughing at me."
That made Ren laugh out loud as he put up a hand and said, "No, no, I'm just happy that you're enjoying yourself is all."
"Well, it's hard not to," Kyoko replied with a swivel of her head as she took another look around. "This is amazing."
"This is your first time flying, right Mogami-san?"
She nodded. "I can't wait to see what it feels like to be in the air. How about you, Tsuruga-san? Have you ever flown before?"
"Once or twice when I was younger," Ren replied as he slyly averted his gaze. That wasn't exactly true since he lived with a famous father who constantly traveled around the world, but he didn't want Kyoko to know about that. It would raise unnecessary questions that Ren wasn't ready to answer just yet.
"Where did you go?" she asked curiously.
"Um, well, I went…around," Ren said with difficulty.
"Like where?"
Ren racked his brain. He wanted to keep it simple so he decided with, "Las Vegas."
"Really?" Kyoko exclaimed excitedly. "You went there before? What's it like?"
Ren cleared his throat and replied, "I don't want to ruin it for you, Mogami-san. It should be a surprise."
Kyoko nodded and slammed her fist into the palm her hand. "You're right, Tsuruga-san! It's more thrilling if I'm kept in the dark."
He chuckled. "I guess you can say it like that."
But before Kyoko could reply, a female voice went over the intercom and said in a smooth voice, "Welcome to Continental Airlines, First Class. Before we take off, I would like to notify you of our safety regulations upon this plane. As you can see there are three exits: one at the front, one in the center, and one in the back. Above each seat will be an oxygen mask that will be released when necessary or with a push of a button. Please place the mask securely over your nose and breathe in deeply if such an event occurs. If the plane is ever submerged in water, below each seat will be a life vest. It can be strapped on around the waist. Please keep your seat belts on at all times unless the pilot gives you the signal that it is safe to wander around the cabin. And finally, thank you for choosing Continental Airlines and enjoy your twelve hour flight to Las Vegas."
Then with a soft click, the voice disappeared. Kyoko stared up to the ceiling and murmured, "Wow, she must get tired saying of all that."
Ren laughed. "It's like her lines right?"
"Sure, but reading the same ones over and over again? It must get boring."
Ren smiled as he felt the plane speed up in motion. Instinctively, Kyoko turned her head to the window and watched the plane drive down the runway. Everything seemed to whizz by and she could feel the rumbling of the wheels as it drove across the cement. It was also quite loud too. Kyoko turned around to see Ren leaning towards her to stare out the window as well. In fact, everyone was looking.
Then with a great lurch, Kyoko instantly felt the wheels leave the ground and hover in the air. Even though nothing changed outside the window, she knew that they were no longer planted on firm ground. Suddenly, Kyoko felt as if her stomach was turned inside out as the plane soared up higher and higher into the sky. She looked down outside the window and realized everything was getting smaller and smaller.
Although she could hear the sounds of excitement from everyone else on the plane, Kyoko was anything but awed. In fact, she felt kind of sick. There were times when the plane would hover and it would seem as if they were falling. It almost felt like someone had their hands around her intestines, twisting it this way and that.
The pressure on her ears was building and she found it slightly hard to breathe. Gripping the armrest with tight fingers, Kyoko pried her eyes away from the window and focused on the television set in front of her. Feeling how wide her eyes were and tense she was, Kyoko tried to breathe in deeply, but it was like all the air was sucked out of the cabin.
Suddenly, a soft hand was placed over hers. Kyoko turned to the side and saw Ren's anxious gaze. Oddly enough, even though it seemed like her ears have stopped working, she could clearly hear him ask, "Are you alright, Mogami-san?"
Kyoko tried to reply. She could feel the heavy lump in her throat and tried her best to swallow, but to no avail. Instead, she forced herself to nod as the plane gave another lurch. Kyoko gripped the armrest even harder, turning her face away.
It was obvious that Kyoko was not fine. Ren could see how green she was getting and the terror that was blatantly spelled out in her eyes. Of course, he was fully aware that the beginning of any flight was probably the shakiest. However, given some time, things would get calmer once they were at the right altitude. But seeing the fear in her face, made Ren feel highly uneasy. And when his eyes wandered down to her hand, he could see how violently her arms were shaking.
Ren would have reached out and held her. Or at least whisper something consoling in her ear. But Kyoko wasn't like everyone else. She hated to be treated like a child and he knew better than to do anything like that. Instead, Ren kept his hand on hers and gently rubbed his thumb in small circles, hoping that somehow it would soothe her.
Kyoko could feel her heart throb as she felt his hand on hers. She looked back into his face and realized that Ren wasn't looking at her, but keeping his eyes ahead. Even when she was terrified, Kyoko felt extremely grateful to him. He was trying to give her space, yet at the same time, trying to make her feel better by being there. Kyoko breathed in deeply and decided to focus only on his hand and how soft it felt upon hers. She could feel the circles he drew into her skin and concentrated on his movements.
Very slowly, the lurches of the plane decreased bit by bit until it practically stopped. There was a slight bobbing every now and then, but her ears had popped and she managed to breathe normally again. However, Kyoko was highly pent up. She was expecting for more pseudo-falls and could feel her body remain alert and tense.
"Mogami-san?"
Kyoko turned her head and smiled weakly. "I wasn't expecting that," she replied softly as she looked at his anxious gaze.
Ren smiled back reassuringly. "It gets pretty scary."
"You seemed okay," Kyoko said with a shake of her head, disappointed at how pathetic she must seem in his eyes.
"Not really. I was quite uneasy too," he lied. "I was just too focused on you."
Kyoko sighed heavily. "I'm pathetic."
And right then, the plane made a slight turn which elicited a small whimper from Kyoko. Ren held her hand tighter.
She turned towards him and asked feebly, "How long is this flight?"
"Twelve hours."
Kyoko leaned her head back and closed her eyes with a groan. "Twelve hours," she thought with a grimace. "How am I going to survive twelve hours?"
Ren bit on his lip, trying to think of something that will keep her mind off the flight. As long as she didn't notice that they were in the air, she should be fine. Ren looked around the cabin and realized that everyone else seemed okay. The chatter of conversation was starting to bubble up again and nobody noticed Kyoko's discomfort.
"Good," he though silently. He didn't want Kyoko to suffer any embarrassment about her fear, even though it was absolutely natural. A fear of flying was nothing to be ashamed of, but she wouldn't think of it that way.
Ren racked his brain for an idea. He just had to keep her preoccupied. At first, he thought about asking her questions, just to get her talking, but maybe that would be too much right now. It might stress her out even more. But suddenly, a plan clicked inside his head.
Reaching into his duffel bag, he quickly pulled out a note pad and a black pen. Kyoko curiously turned her head to the side and saw him unfold the table between them. He met her gaze and smiled.
"Since it's such a long flight, it's going to get boring eventually. So how about we play a game?"
"A game?" Kyoko asked with slight difficulty. Her stomach was starting to feel queasy. "What kind of game?"
"Nothing too busy, just something that will kill time."
Twisting her body around so she faced him, she asked, "What's it called?"
Ren smiled, seeing a flicker of interest in her eyes. "Hangman."
Kyoko raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I've never heard of it."
"It's really simple. You just guess the word I'm thinking of by choosing certain letters."
When Ren could still see the confusion in her eyes, he chuckled gently and said, "It'll be easier to understand once we play."
So flipping open to a blank page, Ren pulled the cap off of his pen and drew what looked like a large seven that had a line drawn underneath it as a base. He raised his head to see Kyoko still immersed in his movements. Smiling, Ren thought about what word he should choose. Then remembering something that he knew Kyoko would appreciate, he nodded and said, "Okay, the subject is desserts. And it consists of two words."
He turned back to the paper and said, "The first word consists of four letters." Ren drew four little lines, each space indicating a letter.
"The second word," he explained as he left a space between the words, "has five letters."
Kyoko nodded slowly. "Okay…"
"So now, all you need to do is guess the letters. If you get it right, I'll write in the letter, if not…well, you'll see."
"Okay," Kyoko said with a tilt of her head. "Then my first letter is…A."
Ren grinned and shook his head. "Nope."
And he drew a little circle hanging from the picture he drew earlier. When he saw Kyoko raise an eyebrow, he explained, "You see, every time you guess the wrong letter, I draw a body part of a man. Since there isn't an A in the any of the words, I drew his head. If you get the next one wrong, I draw his body and if you get the next one wrong, I draw an arm and so on. By the time I draw his head, body, two arms, and two legs, and you still don't know the word, you lose."
Then in a blink of an eye, Kyoko's eyes glowed with understanding. "Oh I get it! Hang-Man!"
Ren nodded. "Exactly. Now remember, the subject is desserts."
Kyoko's face suddenly screwed up in concentration as she looked at the blank spaces. "Desserts…desserts…" she mumbled. Then with a snap of her fingers, she said, "E?"
Ren smiled and nodded. "Yes, there are two E's."
And he wrote an E in the last space of the first word and in the second space of the second word. Kyoko smiled widely with a look of triumph.
"How about…N?"
"Right again," Ren replied as he wrote an N in the third space of the first word.
Unfortunately for Kyoko, the next few rounds didn't go in her favor. She missed almost every letter (guessing S, T, R, I, and O) and eventually, Ren had already drawn in a body, two arms, and one leg, and this was all Kyoko was able to fill in:
_ I N E / _ E _ _ _
He chuckled as he saw the frustration in her eyes. "One more," he teased.
Kyoko growled. "Desserts…desserts…"
But nothing was coming to her. She had one letter left and if she missed it, this was all she could work with. Kyoko racked her brains. What dessert could he be spelling? She went through the typical, such as ice cream, cake, pudding. But of course, none of those words fit. Kyoko just hoped that she would say one and miraculously, it would have the same number of letters in the right spot.
Ren smiled evilly as he saw her eye twitch. "Give up?"
"No way!" she exclaimed heatedly. "Let's see, pie, cookies, flan, candy, chocolate…"
And slowly, her voice started to rise in exasperation.
"…SORBET! CHEESECAKE! FONDANT! MOCHI! CRÈME BRULEE! CREPES! PASTRIES! JELL-O! JELLY—!"
Kyoko froze. Her eyes widened as she looked at the last word. She couldn't believe it. "It fit. Jelly actually fit. But what's the first word?"
Kyoko bit on her bottom lip. "What has I-N-E in it?"
Suddenly, it hit her, like a full on collision. Kyoko couldn't believe that she actually forgot all about it! She stared at the first word and realized that only one letter could fit there. And of course, he would have chosen this dessert since…well, wasn't she the one that gave it to him?
Ren laughed as he saw the answer click in her eyes. "Yes, Mogami-san?"
She looked up with a beaming face. "W?"
Ren nodded and wrote the letter W in the first space of the first word.
Kyoko giggled triumphantly and yelled, "WINE JELLY!"
Then without further ado, Ren filled in the other letters and chuckled. "That's right. You got it."
"I win!" Kyoko exclaimed happily. "Yes!"
Ren smiled widely as he saw the twinkle in her eyes. Even though it was such a simple game, he was glad that she took so much joy from it. Knowing that she was the competitive sort, Ren figured that challenging her would be best to keep her busy and he wasn't wrong at all. The color in her face had returned and she didn't even seem to realize that they were still high in the air. She was too focused on the piece of paper in front of her.
"Okay," Ren said as he handed the pen over to her. "Your turn."
"Me?"
He nodded. "Think of any word, draw out the spaces, and tell me the subject."
Kyoko smiled and racked her brain. She wanted to think of a good word that would be difficult, but also relevant. Choosing a random one wouldn't be as fun. Kyoko turned her eyes to the ceiling and thought.
"Hmm…a word…a word…something that relates to Tsuruga-san…how about…actor? Too easy…how about…tall? So lame…why not…"
Kyoko slyly looked back at him and saw him patiently waiting for her, twiddling his thumbs in his lap and looking at all the other passengers. And without realizing it, the word that popped into her mind was ATTRACTIVE.
She immediately shook her head from side to side as she chanted silently, "STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!"
Ren noticed her behavior and narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Anything wrong, Mogami-san?"
"Nothing!" she replied quickly. "Just thinking!
Ren chuckled with a shake of his head as he gave her more time. Kyoko breathed in deeply. She couldn't believe how ridiculous she was. How could she possibly put attractive? It would make things so awkward! But when Kyoko stole another quick peek at him, she realized the word was actually quite relatable. After all, he was voted the most handsome man in Japan so it fit for him.
Kyoko sighed quietly. But still, that would be weird.
"So what's another word that has the same meaning, but not as awkward?"
She tapped the pen on her chin for a few seconds before it suddenly came to her.
Excited, Kyoko brought the pen down and drew the same picture that Ren drew before and wrote out the spaces. Ren turned his attention back to her and realized that she chose only one word with six letters.
"So what's the subject?" he asked.
Kyoko smiled and said, "A person."
"Person?"
She nodded as she saw puzzlement flicker in his eyes.
"Okay, first I'll guess…A?"
Kyoko grinned and shook her head. "Sorry Tsuruga-san…"
Drawing a head, she thought gleefully to herself, "But there's no A in Prince."
"Hey! Hey! Do you see that?"
"Oh my gosh! That's so sweet!"
"Can you believe it?"
"If you guys talk any louder, they're both going to wake up."
"But how can you resist? Just look at how comfortable they are."
"And how cute they look!"
"Should we wake them up?"
"ARE YOU KIDDING?"
"SHHHH!"
"Sheesh you guys, keep it down!"
"President Lory, take a look!"
"Oh my, looks like our Ren finally has his walls down."
"Aww, Ren-chan looks so cute. Doesn't he, Darling?"
"What about Kyoko? She's so innocent."
"Kyoko innocent? Yeah right."
"Ruriko, stop with the resentment."
"Yeah, another thing you need to learn to stop doing."
"Shut up, Kotonami!"
"BE QUIET! You're going to disturb them!"
"Hey, how about we take a picture?"
"Yeah!"
"Do it!"
"Everyone, that's really quite intruding!"
"Oh come on, Director Ogata. It's only one shot."
"Does anyone have a camera?"
"I do!"
"Good going, Yashiro! Hurry up and take one."
"But be quiet!"
"Like a ninja!"
Slowly and slyly, Yashiro quietly sneaked up upon the two and placed the camera in front of his eyes. With one silent click, he captured the picture without disturbing them in the slightest. Yashiro quickly made his way back with a grin as everyone swarmed around him.
"Let me see! Let me see!"
And with one huge smile on everyone's face, they stared at a picture they will never forget: Ren and Kyoko comfortably sleeping together, with her face leaning upon his shoulder and his head gently placed upon hers.
