From this chapter and forth, the speech is all in Japanese. Before, it was just English.

And should this chapter be rated M? It's only simple things but I'm not entirely sure if it fits in T or M. And if this chapter IS rated M, then I'm guessing that it might be the only one that will.

Note: In this chapter, Ren is 17. Kyoko's age is still unknown due to the fact she's not a HUMAN. And the words in bold are when they're both talking in English rather than in Japanese.

Two years had passed quickly in Japan. Their summer was steaming hot, but they made due with it as many ate shaved ice, with their abundant flavours. One particular tall teen went over to buy one, with the flavours of melon and strawberry. He was eyed by many of the women on the beach, but he ignored them all. He was concentrated on getting his order, and going back to his girl.

He was rather possessive when she was surrounded by men. He always worried that some day, she would leave his side. Although... she wasn't really his. And he didn't even know that the feeling that possessed him every time was jealousy. He always assumed he felt that way because her innocence might get her hurt again, and he should be guarding her.

He was, as most would say, her loyal guard dog.

When he came back with his cup of shaved ice, his eyes narrowed as she was, once again, surrounded by men. It was either men or teens around his age, and right now was men. He growled at this.

She was looking around at them, and was frightened at the attention she was getting. She was wearing pink-striped bikini, with a few ruffles on her top. On her right wrist hugged an orange flower bracelet. The same went for the one she placed on her arm. Her hair was cut and dyed to a wonderful fiery orange, which highlighted her golden eyes. With a few basic brushes of blush and eyeliner, she managed to bring cuteness to whole new level.

She was originally going to sit with Ren on the towel that they brought, with the see-through daisy umbrella she brought (she thought it looked adorable). She just didn't realize that with her alone, she looked like an all-access pass. It seemed like she wanted to get picked on. Not too sexy, mind you, but she was just so alone to the mens' eyes!

"Hey, cutie. Are you alone? We could treat you real good." A man, who flexed his muscles impressively, said to her in a sultry voice.

Another leaned forward, occupying Ren's space, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "You must be lonely, if a girl like you is just sitting here by yourself."

"No, I'm not alone. But thank you for the offer." She smiled politely. She glowed literally, but in the eyes of the men, her glow was too much to handle. Many were bombarded by her flashes, but others fell onto the sand, blood trickling down their noses.

She blinked, and wondered what happened to them, until she led her eyes to someone she so patiently waited for.

"Ren! You came back!" she exclaimed. She saw the Demon Lord instead of Ren, but kept her composure. He might have knocked them down... or not. She beamed, and pointed around her. "These nice men offered at free dinner to us both! Isn't that nice of them?"

What?.! We didn't say that! They sweated as they saw the teen smile. Usually, they wouldn't be threatened, but the guy's height was... abnormal. Too tall for his age, and he looked like he was twenty (He's actually just seventeen)!

"Ah... never mind. Nice meeting you two!" And they fled for their lives. After meeting the Demon Lord, they definitely didn't want to mess with him. Some dragged their men away, leading a long wave down the beach.

Ren, who sat down calmly, picked on his dessert, and soon scooped it up. Letting it melt in his tongue, he glanced to the side where she was looking at him. "What?" he asked. He dropped his hands to the side, placing the cup away, and tilted his head. "Did I do something wrong?"

"You did it again."

"I did... what?"

"I keep telling you to stop beating people up for no apparent reason. Why did you do that?"

He lifted the styrofoam cup back up, scooped a bigger piece, and swallowed. He continued to that, annoying her even more.

"UGH! Just finish your dessert and... hey! I though you didn't like sweets!" Kyoko said. She remembered him always shaking his head when the President was offering chocolates while being in a tooth fairy costume. (Bad fairy! You can't give teeth rotting sweets even if you do like to collect teeth!) "Why are you...?"

"It's hot today. I might as well have some... do you want one bite?" He scooped down to the last bit, and held it up near her lips. "It tastes really good, you know."

This would make girls instantly wanting to get that indirect kiss he was offering. Kyoko, however, just shook her head. "I can't eat, 'member?"

"Ah... that's right." He then finished it, and went over to the garbage can quickly and back again. He didn't want any more people trying to pick her up every time he left her. As he got back, she was still alone (Thank goodness), and she gleamed brightly when he came back.

"Why did you want to come to the beach for?" she asked.

She was happy to finally learn fluent Japanese after two years. She learned quicker than Ren, however, due to her mother tongue, which was Witika. It was an "alien language" to humans, as this was the language of the stars. Due to the fact that humans were made of star dusts long, long ago, the language they make had bits and pieces from her language. It was kinda like Japanese had bits and pieces of Chinese. For her, every single language on Earth had bits and pieces of Witika.

"I auditioned for a part yesterday, for "Reactions". If I get the part, I might get a debut," he said.

She clapped, laughing when he bowed. "But wasn't the President going to give you your debut?"

"Yes, but I can't just wait around and expect opportunity to fall on my laps. I might as well go around and audition for a more better chance for public exposure."

When the two were finished for the day, after playing with each other, they both drove back to his apartment. Ren was given one, thanks to Lory, and Kyoko lived with him. She was fine with sleeping on the roof, but Ren insisted that she slept in the guestroom. He just couldn't let a young girl sleep outside each time. It was fine before, in the hamper during summer, but once the harsher winters came forth, he couldn't stand but let her stay inside for now on.

Even if it meant she wasn't near with the stars.

She hopped to the kitchen, and grabbed her apron. It wasn't a frilly, pink apron, but it still made Ren wish he could just hug her tight every time she smiled, just chopping those onions, and how her luscious lips could curl to a smile... If he could just touch them with his own...

WHOA! What the heck...! What was he just thinking just now? Ren staggered, holding onto his couch for support. He sat stiffly, soon releasing his whole body backwards and plopping onto the couch. Staring at the ceiling, he heard the whirring of the fan. Just staring at that...

He then sat up, and watched as Kyoko just "magically" finished his dinner in just three minutes.

"I don't want to eat..." he would complain.

"But you have to," was her reply.

She was a wonderful cook, despite not being able to eat. She just copied the chefs on TV, the Internet... any resource she could use, she would just copy.

She might seem like a maid to him, but she wasn't. He felt guilty every time she cooked, so he one day decided to help too. If it weren't for the explosions and the burning, he might have been banned by his own kitchen if she didn't have any sympathy for his lack of cooking skills.

She taught him basic ones, which he failed badly in the beginning, but with her as his teacher, he managed to get through quite a lot of recipes.

"Thank you for the steak." He clapped his hands, said his thanks to the gods for this wonderful meal (and thanked Kyoko, of course!) and he then was about to get his first bite when Kyoko stood up. "What is it?"

"I think... I should make a date with-"

"A DATE?.!" This caught his attention. "With who?"

She shook her head. "No! Not that kind of date. Just a dinner date."

WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE? "With who?" he asked again.

"Zeus," she said, "and Hera."

He then sighed with relief. It was just those two. If it was just Zeus, he would be more worried. Sure, Zeus was already married to Hera, but that didn't stop him from pursuing for more women in his life.

Ren was already worried, but he soon calmed himself down. "I can come as well, can't I?"

She blinked at this, and bit her lips. "I think... I guess you could?" She wondered if the god and goddess would want a mortal at their table. And it was really rare that a human could live after the sight of an immortal. This was one of the few reasons why they were always coming down to Earth in a different form, rather than their usual look.

Kyoko often went to dinner with the immortals, as they adored her. She was like a little sister of theirs. She was liked by them all, especially Zeus, but they couldn't pursue her any further than a simple hello thanks to Ren always being near her. Although the only time he wasn't was when she went to the bathroom or to sleep, they still didn't want to risk his anger. His rivaled a god's, and that frightened them the most.

She was like an angel, despite the fact the was born from gas and dust. It didn't really matter really, as Aphrodite was born from Ouranos's blood. Gods and goddesses weren't born the "usual way", not always, so Kyoko wasn't an oddity to them.

Not being Greek at the slightest, these gods still fell in love with her, as if she was one of their own.

"Ren! What was wrong with you? You kept glaring at Zeus all night!" Kyoko shouted as the two got home. Home... it was like it belonged to the both of them, and not just him.

She flew, flying him down to the roof of his apartment, and she let the two sink down until they got to their floor. It was a good thing their rooms were at the top floor, or people would wonder how an imaginary elevator got installed without them knowing.

"You're just lucky he didn't zap you with lightning. If he did..." she shuddered. She looked around and patted his chest. She wanted to pat his shoulder for not getting obliterated by the god, but she couldn't reach him due to her short height. "Man... Zeus made me too short. Or at least, he made you too tall."

"What? He didn't make me!" Ren cried out.

"You're right... Epimetheus made you too tall." She then walked away.

Left alone, Ren blinked. "Who's Epimetheus?" he cried out.

At a luxurious apartment, a certain teen was groaning in agony.

Ren sighed heavily as he read the letter he got the very next day. "I got rejected... again! What did I do wrong? They just asked me to play a man in love, and that's what I did!" He crumpled the paper and threw it into the trash can. "I've been in love before..."

"Have you really? Women always leave you, dumping you every time." Lory puffed a cigar. He was at his house, inspecting on his progress, and he was shaking his head in disapproval. "I told you I would set your stage for you. Weren't you listening?"

"I was... it's just that-"

"Yeah, yeah... I heard it all from Kyoko." He jammed his cigar into the ash tray, and looked over at the fireplace. There were several frames of him and Kyoko together. The most recent one was the one with the two of them at the beach, as that was the only one with her hair cut and dyed. "It's a shame her hair was cut. She looked really beautiful with it long before."

"Uh... yeah..." Ren thought painfully at the time where she was forced to cut her hair.

*Flashback*

"R-Ren!" she cried out. Her arms were tightly locked with rope. Her wrists were tied against a knob, with her body practically half exposed to him. She cried even more when the man groped her in such a way, she felt her stomach lurch. The man already ripped her clothes with his knife. Her pants were unseen on her, revealing her bare legs, as they were already ripped off of her body. Only her panties were seen. If only he could stop her struggling so he could remove her top...

Ren was also tied, but unlike her, which she was standing upright on her knees, his hands were tightly against his back. He was lying on the floor, watching his friend getting raped before him. "HEY! Stop that!"

The man watched him, and wondered whether or not to let her go. "Hmm... should I?" He grabbed her chin, and lifted her to look at him. "Should I?" he asked again. He didn't let her answer, as he slipped his hand under her shirt, and plucked open the clip on her bra. Her eyes widened, as she felt the fabric fall from her chest, and onto the floor. "Mmm... I wonder what you look like without any clothes covering your virgin skin?"

"St-stop!"

"Oh? Is the boyfriend jealous? Judging from her appearance, she looks like a virgin..." He snaked a hand under her shirt, and felt her perky nipples, and teased them.

She winced, and wanted to run from him, and free Ren, but she was all tied up right now.

"Lovely..." The man rested his whole hand on her right breast, and squeezed it."They're small, but very firm. I can't wait to see what those tiny breasts look like..." He bent down to lick her neck, causing her to shiver in fear, not pleasure.

"Stop it..." Ren growled. He pushed his knees to the floor, and attempted to lift himself up. "Stop doing that... TO KYOKO!" Staggering to stand up, he ran up to him. Despite losing his energy trying to free himself, he had enough in his legs to give him a good kick.

Kyoko, who was weary from struggling from the raper, was panting. Her monstrous strength wasn't there, as she was too frightened at the experience. She then screamed when Ren was knocked down.

"REN!" she screamed. Her body lurched forward, but she bounced back to the door she was imprisoned on. She saw blood coming out, from his wrist and his... head. "No... don't die on me!"

"SHUT UP!" The man dropped Ren down to the floor, and tore the rope off from her. She whipped around and wanted to slap him, but her power lowered the more the man touched her. "Ah... you struggle too much. Maybe a few pills will calm you down. No, better yet!" The man bent over, and took a log of wood. "If you're unconscious, I could do whatever I want with you."

He slammed it down on her head, but instead of blood coming out, a fury of light came flying into the man's eyes. He was the one that was unconscious. Kyoko suddenly freed herself, but she ended up cutting the rope into too many small pieces. She did the same with Ren's. If the man woke up, he would do the same to other women... he would rape them. She couldn't let that happen. So the next longest thing to strap the man in was...

*SHING!*

... her hair. The long curtain of hair held in her hands wrapped around the man's wrists and legs so he would look like a pretzel when the police came.

When Ren woke up the next day, he still saw Kyoko's clothes all tattered, with her skull glowing from the man's blow. What surprised him the most was the fact her hair was cut short.

*End of Flashback*

"After that, you really went all out to kill that guy. Good thing you didn't. He just hanged himself after, as he didn't want to go to jail a second time for rape. Why in the world would they release him is beyond me..." Lory looked at the frames and he walked up and took one. "Other than picture frames, you have an album of you two together, right?"

"Yes, I do." Ren said. He had two right now, one for each year they were together.

"You're awfully protective. Is it because of... you know what?"

"Yes! Why would I want that to happen a second time?"

"All this for a friend?"

"Yeah... what's your point?"

Lory placed the frame back, and glared at him. "I will never be your special one."

"H-huh?" What was the President saying? "Pardon?"

"The weight of your love and mine is different."

"..." Still not getting it...

"I feel even more lonelier when we're together."

"What are you saying to me?" Ren just watched as the President recited many break-up lines to him. "Stop it; you're freaking me out."

"Aren't these the lines that your previous girlfriends used to break up with you? They're quite popular, and they make the words "I want to break up with you" seem like poetry to your ears, don't they?" Lory smiled. "And how did you react to them?"

"I let my girlfriends leave me. Why?" he said in a straight tone. "I did it since they didn't love me as much as they thought they did. So I let them go; I was only thinking of their happiness."

"FOOL! Ugh... no wonder Kuu says you're hopeless. They wanted you to be jealous, since you have such a fake aura around you, and you probably just treated them as if they were friends. What would you do if Kyoko said that to you? If she said, "I want to break up with you."?"

"We aren't even dating," stated Ren. He glared at him. "Please don't make a ruckus soon. I understand that every time love is involved, there must be a time bomb of love lectures about to explode. Don't wake Kyoko up."

Lory waved his hand. "Whatever... just answer me! What would you do if she said that?" he asked.

"I would do what I always do. I would say, "I see, you don't love me. Well, then it's okay for you to brea..."." Ren blinked his eyes. "It's okay for you to break up with m..."."

"You just can't do it, can you?" Lory chuckled.

And this left Ren to his thoughts. Why can't I? It's not like we're dating! He kept reminding himself that.

*Flashback*

"Tsuruga!" she shouted out.

Kuon jumped at the sound one day, as it was when they were all eating breakfast, minus Kyoko of course. He leaned to the side, and saw her reading a newspaper. She already knew Japanese already (oh... how that made him jealous), but he knew that right now, she wasn't rubbing it in.

"Tsuruga? What about it?" he asked.

"Ren Tsuruga! Doesn't that sound nice?" Kyoko said excitedly.

He was going to comment on it, but Lory beat to the punch right past him. "It would be Tsuruga Ren, since in Japan, it's surname first, the first name last."

"I-Is that a good name?" she murmured.

Sighing, Kuon smiled. "Took you a week to come up with a name... and I thought of yours in just seconds."

"Hey! At least you have an alias now!"

*End of Flashback*

As Lory left, Ren closed the doors quietly, he walked first to the guestroom. He always did, just to make sure she didn't get any nightmares. When he saw that she was sleeping soundly, he went back to his own.

With the sheets over his head, he murmured to himself, "It was just an act. All I had to do was say I didn't care—so why couldn't I do it?"

The bikini that Kyoko wears in this chapter is the same as the cover of volume 13.

Aphrodite: Goddess of Love

Ouranos: Better known as Uranus, he is the God of the Heavens/Sky

Epimetheus: Titan of Afterthought, created humans and animals, and gave them the characteristics. And NO, it wasn't Prometheus that made humans. He's the Titan of Forethought, BTW. He just inspected and gave the humans fire. (That's the myth I got at school. If anyone else got something different, let me know.)

Just in case people don't know who Zeus is, and if they think he ISN'T a playboy... well, to me he was. He had many affairs, with goddesses, titanesses, and mortal women when he was married to Hera, the goddess of marriage. What makes me curious is that she didn't just leave him or AT LEAST kill him for doing that. I would just hate to be around a man that does that behind my back.

Random note... I just noticed that I use ellipses (...) A LOT. Huh, I never noticed that until now. XD Maybe I use it TOO MUCH, but I'm not entirely sure.