Diclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat!
Chapter 2 – Dinner
Ren sat on the couch in his apartment, waiting for Kyoko to arrive. He sighed, thinking of the last time Kyoko had come over…he had very nearly showed her what he really felt…nearly kissed her.
Speaking of Kyoko…Oh Shoot! He thought suddenly. Disastrous, it would be…Kyoko would be disappointed, she would be angry, she might… Ren's mind raced past the many possibilities.
His fridge was was going to kill hi– Ding Dong.
"Tsuruga-senpai?" He could hear her outside the door, along with a pang in his heart. Only her senpai. "Will you let me in?"
He sighed heavily, opening the door for Kyoko. Her arms were laden with many plastic bags. Ren eyed them like they were weapons of mass destruction. However, he shifted his eyes to her face, surprised to see a smile.
"Senpai, I demand to see your fridge," her aura turned dangerous and deadly. Ren gulped, his eyes wide. She gave him a thorny glare and stormed into his kitchen. He swore he saw the entire kitchen turn an evil black and dark plum colours.
Kyoko didn't come out, so Ren carefully moved into the kitchen. She had laid down her bags, each filled with ridiculous amounts of food. Her movements were silent yet quick as she stirred some kind of batter. He snuck up behind her, putting his hands on either side of the bowl on the counter.
She flushed at the intimate closeness. Why am I feeling this way? He's only my senpai; he could never look at a girl like me anyway. I can't fall for him just because he's my co-star now...can I? Kyoko turned around with her eggbeater, deciding to scold him for his lack of food.
"Tsuruga Ren! What did you eat for lunch" Her voice trailed off, soft and evil. Ren unconsciously took a step back. "A–a bento box…" he lied smoothly to her face. She switched into "Natsu", taking a step forward, caressing his cheek with her free hand.
"Really, senpai…I'm glad." Kyoko smiled seductively. She closed her eyes, leaning in…freaking Ren out. She…where did all this maturity come from?! He decided to play along, savouring the moment.
One kiss couldn't hurt…could it? Just before they're lips met, Kyoko made a snap switch back to herself. Starting to hit him with the eggbeater, she scolded him.
"Don't lie to me! No one can run out of food with your kind of money!" She yelled. The eggbeater flung some batter into his face as he backed into the kitchen counter.
She ran over, cleaning the batter off his face worriedly. "Ah…Tsuruga-san, gomen…" He closed his hand over an egg, conveniently lying on the counter behind him. "Payback," he said simply, crushing the egg on her red-gold hair.
Kyoko just looked at him dumbly for about two seconds. Then, a glint appeard in her eyes…if he wanted a fight, he would get one.
If only she wasn't ticklish…Ren had reached out and found her sensitive spots while she considered the best technique to bring him to his knees. She ran out of the kitchen, coming to a dead stop at the couch.
He had given chase, shocked to see she had stopped. Unfortunately, he crashed into her, pushing the duo over the edge, only to have Ren land on top of Kyoko, in a very compromising and awkward position.
Ren used every last shred of his acting skill to keep himself from turning into the Emperor of the Night, ducking his head and kissing her. She flushed again, so hard that she invented a new colour. I shouldn't be feeling this way for Senpai! Stop it, Kyoko…On the other side…She'll never forgive you if you do it, Ren…Hold off!
He got off her immediately, albeit reluctantly, offering her his hand. "Are you alright?" He asked worriedly– he knew we wasn't light. "I'm fine, thanks," came Kyoko's reply, although her head was evidently in the clouds.
He reminds me of something, her mind whirred to think of what. It's Something… Someone… close. Pretty close indeed, but who? Shotaro? No… He's too gentle, too kind. Shit, did I just say that?
Ren watched her as she stressed herself thinking. She had gotten up pretty unconsciously and walked to back to the kitchen, attending to the batter again. He sunk his face into his hands and sighed, depressed. How could he hold off her, especially when Mio ends up looking at Katsuki with the love he longed for?
He tried to stop thinking about it – it would help him lose too much sleep and eye bags would cause a few problems with his jobs. He heard the sound of the gas being turned on and ingredients being dropped into a stew of sorts. The cake seemed to have moved into the oven already.
About an hour later, Kyoko and Ren sat in silence, chewing the delicious beef stew, sitting across each other. They cleared their plates in silence, Ren completely not aware of what he was doing.
He almost leapt out of his chair when Kyoko leaned over his shoulder, her face dangerously close to him, hoarsely whispering, "Can I take your plate, senpai?" His face paled considerably, taking into consideration that he was already so pale to start with. She chuckled the way he loved it and took his plate away.
As he watched her in her bright pink apron walking away, he sighed again. It was going to be an extremely long night. After all, he wanted to…practice with her. It would be difficult, after all, Mio and Katsuki married.
He would thank Ogata later.
Kyoko, on the other hand, had her heart pounding as fast as a hummingbird's. Not even filming yet and already falling for him…I'm a sucker. It's going to be a very long drama indeed.