Chapter 2: Of Laughter and Accidents

As Kanae stepped inside the Ren's apartment, she felt her phone buzz in her back pocket and opened it to reveal a message from the very woman who had gotten her into this.

Moko-san, I'm so sorry, but something came up and I have to go back to the Darumya. Could you please just cook Tsuruga-san dinner? He's so stubborn that he won't eat unless he's forced. Oh and you'll thank me for this later. Good Luck(:

Kanae quickly sent back a curt text that was sure to keep Kyoko trembling until the next they met.

You are a dead woman.

Snapping her phone shut, Kanae took to perusing her surroundings, taking in the fine wood floors, to the sleek furniture to the very expensive looking kitchen. Oh yes, she could see that being a good actor definitely had its perks. As she continued her perusal, her eyes fell on her rather amused host and she flushed crimson in embarrassment.

"Sorry."

"No it's fine. So to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit Kotonami-san?" Ren asked. Kanae sighed a she tried to convey the least suspicious story she could to him as an excuse for her unexpected presence in his house.

"Kyoko was coming to cook you dinner and asked me to help her in carrying the groceries up to your apartment. But something came up and she had to leave, but she asked me to carry them up to your apartment for her in any case."

Ren raised his eyebrows, sensing a discord in the story.

"Then why didn't you just ring the doorbell?"

"Because- because, well because if you hadn't noticed I kinda had my hands full." Kanae crossed her arms and huffed.

Ren frowned.

"Don't take this the wrong way Kotonami-san, but don't you think that we've been spending an awful lot of time together lately?"

Kanae rolled her eyes at him and shrugged out of her leather jacket, flopping down on to his couch unasked.

"Yeah. And it's your fault." Ren blinked. His fault?

"Excuse me, but how is it my fault?" He said, taking the seat opposite her.

"It's your fault because you kept making googly eyes at her the day she needed to go 'water her cats'." Kanae said sarcastically, making air quotes. Seeing Ren's uncomprehending stare, she elaborated.

"The idiot thought you were looking at me." Ren's eyes widened as he realized his kouhai's incorrect interpretation of the situation.

"You mean she thinks I'm in love with you?" Ren looked positively horrified at the idea and slumped back into his chair. "This is awful!" He moaned, burying his face into his hands.

"Gee thanks. I love you too." Kanae said, miffed by his reaction and Ren looked up, realizing he'd offended her."

"Oh no. Please don't be offended. That isn't what I meant. It's just that the one day she actually does see my feelings she thinks they're directed at someone else. She's just completely sidestepped the fact that the one I love is he-" He stopped abruptly, realizing that he'd just told Kyoko's best friend he was in love with her. Ren looked at Kanae almost fearfully, to see her in front his full length mirror in the hallway to the front door, giving him a wry smile as she let her hair loose.

"Relax." She said as he watched her hair tumble down her back in shiny black waves. "The world can tell that you love her. Subtlety isn't exactly one of your strong points." Kanae said as she pinned her back and made her way into Ren's kitchen. She began to rummage through the paper bags set on his counter and pulled ingredients out, setting them on the countertop.

"What are you doing?" Ren asked in an effort to divert the conversation.

"What does it look like? I'm making dinner." She said as she washed her hands in the sink ignoring Ren's look of surprise.

"Wha- Oh you don't have to do that Kotonami-san." Kanae glanced at him as she tied the apron that Kyoko used around her waist.

"Why? Do you want me to leave?"

"What? Of course not! I just meant -"

"But nothing. The whole point of coming was to make you dinner. And since I'm here, I might as well. Not to mention I'm hungry myself." Clapping her hands together and closing the topic for discussion rather decidedly, Kanae turned around and opened the refrigerator to inspect his food supply to see what extra ingredients she could use.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, she found it empty. Kanae then when went to the cupboards and cabinets and found the same dismal results. She turned back to a sheepish Ren; glaring, hands on her hips. By the time she had finished, every cabinet, cupboard, shelf and drawer was exposed.

"Mo! Are you human or what? How does anyone survive on –" She hefted up a rack of fine wine, a bag of plain white rice, and mouldy can of tofu. She gestured erratically at the items, unable to express her incredulity and frustration.

"They serve good food on set?" Came Ren's uncertain answer, feeling more like a question than a statement under the weighted stare of Kanae.

"Jeez," Kanae shook her head. "Kyoko wasn't kidding. You really are hopeless when it comes to nutrition and taking care of yourself." She rolled up her sleeves and cracked her knuckles. "Alright. Just give me one hour and I'll have dinner ready. You," she said suddenly pointing to Ren with a rather large butcher knife. "Since I'm doing this because of you, you will keep me company. Don't you dare think you can just sit and relax while I'm slaving away in here."

The older man nodded furiously, he had been taught early in life that arguing with a woman was impossible. Especially if they had a knife.

For the next hour, Ren and Kanae talked about everything and anything. They started with the usual pleasantries and when that got them nowhere, they decided to just throw formality out the window and ask each other whatever they pleased. Ren's questions of course had to do mostly with Kyoko and her relationship with Kanae.

"Seriously, sure I hated her, but I didn't expect to slap me. Then the whole fiasco with the bottle versus the can...I swear, when I can't keep up with her, I want smack her sometimes!" Ren chuckled. He was learning that Kanae was actually quite an interesting person to talk to once you got her going.

"I mean, take all of last month for example. You remember the day she said she needed our help to get something out of the storage room? She was fully going to shove the both of us in there, expecting to declare our undying love or something!" Ren smiled amusedly.

"Well, Mogami-san can be a tad...eccentric sometimes. It's one of her finer points I think..." He trailed off, noting Kanae staring at him. "What?" He said defensively as she walked over to him, ladle in hand.

"Don't you ever get tired of this?" She asked suddenly, causing Ren to look at her strangely when she gestured at him.

"You just pointed to all of me." He said.

"Well, yeah. Honestly, there is now way this is your real personality. You're twenty years old for god's sake. Where's all the stuff that normal twenty year olds do? Take Kijima for example, he's roughly your age and yet he kinda seems more real than you..I mean I'm not saying I want you to be like him, oh god no. And I get that you have a public persona that you have to keep but still. It just seems like you aren't..well...you. You act more like – like – oh I don't know, like an old man."

Ren stared at her for a brief moment before bursting into laughter.

"Old man!" He cried, shoulders shaking with laughter. "You actually compared me to an old man! To my face!" Kanae regarded him from a distance. Had she flipped his crazy switch? Ren got up suddenly, gliding over to Kanae, who backed up until her back hit the counter. Ren leaned close to her, using his body to pin her there, arms on either side of her on the counter. Something about his entire demeanour had changed. Everything about his movements was suddenly more beguiling, languid, smooth even.

"Like Kijima, you said Kotonami-san?" Ren whispered in her ear. "You mean I should act like this ? Is this the realism in me that you were looking for?" His breath skimmed over the skin of her bare shoulder, in her tank top. Kanae could barely keep upright as her hands flailed blindly, looking for something – anything- to get her out of this position. Her hands suddenly landed on the rolling pin, one end of which she dug into his cheek to push him away from her, though his hands didn't move. Kanae breathed in deeply once she could relax and glared at him.

"Pervert. That is not what I meant." The raven haired woman, ears a flaming red hue, Ren noted bemusedly. Clearly, she was like Kyoko and didn't have much experience in men. She knocked his hands away and strode over to the stove, concluding that the stew and rice had finished cooking. She turned them off and turned to the chicken fillets and hefted a large bag of flour and bread crumbs to the counter for her dredge. And they were huge bags, Kanae thought venomously. I had to hold them by myself for twenty minutes outside his stupid apartment! Her thoughts were cut short as Ren reached behind her to snatch the clip from her hair, evoking a hey! From his target as he held it out of her reach.

"What are you thinking about Kotonami-san?" He asked, dangling the clip in front of her, watching as she studiously ignored it and began making her breaded chicken. Hey she was the one that wanted me to act real. Well, here I am. The real Hizuri Kuon. Can I help it if I like to annoy people? Especially girls? It was an unfortunate coincidence that Kanae was very similar to the type of girls Ren often hung out with in his youth. Cold, aloof, but easily shaken if you got too close.

"None of your business, and if you get a hair in your food, it's not my problem."

"I shall treasure it forever if I do. So tell me, were you thinking about me? " He asked teasingly, as Kanae grabbed a fist full of flour to put into her dredging bowl.

"Like hell I was!" Kanae retorted. "It would a nightmare if I thought about you!" She pointed at him suddenly to prove her point and accidentally threw a fistful of flour into the actors face. Kanae could only stare at the now very white Ren, with flour covering most of the T-zone on his face and forehead. Ren stared back at her, flour covered eyes blinking slowly. Kanae swallowed hard.

And began to laugh.

A/N: Oh wow. Thank you to those who reviewed. Remember, I like them, theyre what keep me going! For those reading Turned Tables, that story will be concluded either today or tomorrow. (: Happy Reading!

Disclaimer. I don't own skip beat!