Yongo
Time Between Lightning and Thunder
Chapter 4: The Bed
Last Time
Exiting his bedroom and making his way to the entrance room where he left his bag, he heard a key twisting and turning in his lock.
Opening the door, he froze.
"Tsu-! Tsuruga-san!" Kyouko stared at him, bewildered. "What are you doing in my room?!"
NOW...
"Your room? This is my room," Ren managed to say with a sturdy voice. Luckily he had the door to hold on to. This girl had a way about her, she was able to figure him out. He hoped and quietly prayed she would not notice his jelly legs.
"Y-your room?" She looked puzzled. Ren reached for the paper she was now looking at.
"See, here Mogami-san." He pointed to some huge numbers plated in gold on the left side of the door. "This is 314 and this," he looked at her paper. "This paper here says... room 314..." He froze once again, his mind swirling with thoughts.
'The same room? Yashiro didn't... He couldn't..! The same room? That's taking it too far. There's only one bed!' His last thought sent a current through his body and his thoughts trailed...
"Ohhhhh...! Haha" Kyouko Mogami, the handsome Ren Tsuruga's kohai, gave herself a slight smack on her head and laughed.
"W-what?" Ren said seemingly composed. He had never been so grateful to be an actor than this current moment.
"See here, Tsuruga-san. Right here on your door. It has an A. My room papers have a B!" She laughed. "Thank God we're not sharing a room! Thank God! That would've been horrible! Phew! Crisis averted!"
"What?" Ren blurted out.
"Tsuruga-san! Aren't you relieved? This could have ruined my career! Haha! Sharing a room with Ren..." She continued but Ren was no longer listening.
'Huhn.' His heart was sinking. 'Ha... what a smack in the face. Of course... it would ruin her career...' Still in thought, he looked at her beaming face. 'She doesn't want anything to do with me... Why? Why do I forget she doesn't think of me the way I do her. I'm not in HER heart... Someone still occupies it... Her reason for being in my life. Him.' He turned away.
"- and I mean the tabloids! Our sharing a hotel room would've damaged you. I wouldn't want to be the cause of that. You've worked so hard over the years to be number one and I would take it away just by this misunderstanding. Aren't you happy... Tsuruga-san?" The girl had realized that the man in front of her was no longer standing there.
"Tsuruga-san? It's great isn't it?" He had already exited the small room and was making his way to his bedroom when she stopped him. "Yashiro would've been up to his neck in phone calls! Trying to explain and make people understand..." She trailed off as the man in front of her turned and was facing her. The look in his eyes was...
BOOM
The girl yelped and looked in the direction of the noise. The sky was rumbling once again. Her hand plopped back down to her side. During her yelp she had grabbed on to Ren's white sleeve. With the fierceness her hand hit her side, she realized that the man in front of her and yanked his hand away from her hold. She looked at his face again and was met with the anger she had witnessed before the thunder's interruption.
...
'Thunder?' Kyouko was in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed, right hand cupping her left elbow.
She chuckled and smiled, with more than a hint of fear in her eyes. It was funny how she found fear in her worst fear. It was odd but along with fear, there was a certain comfort to it. This was one thing... he... had never shared with her. Or rather, something, she had never shared with... him. As a little girl under the care of HIS parents, whenever it thundered she always hid somewhere in her room. Too frozen in fear to move. The mistress of the inn would always assume Kyouko was busy elsewhere and ...he... would doing whatever he did, not worried or wondering about her whereabouts. So, no one ever knew about this fear.
...
"How dare she!" Ren was putting his lavishly long legs to work, pacing back and forth in his luxurious living room. "How dare she!" Furiously running his hand through his perfect black hair, he continued to pace, head shaking from side to side in disbelief. Letting out a scoff he stopped. Elevating his hands to his head, and balling hair in his large hands he inhaled and let out a slow exhale. His hands falling down to his sides. The actor turned his head to the door, the previous scene with his kohai replaying in his head.
Shaking his head, as though to shake the film in his mind's eye off, Ren made his way to the bathroom, ran the water and picked up a towel. In his room, he mindlessly stripped and wrapped his bottom half in the towel walking to the bathroom. The room had a nice steam in there due to the water running, but Ren took no notice until he caught his reflection in the mirror. He paused. Hair ruffled, cheeks flushed making his high cheek bones more prominent. Turning away and ridding himself of the towel all in the same motion he opened the glass door to the shower, stepped in and closed it behind himself.
The muscle cuts on his body being accented by the running water, Ren spread the shampoo on his hands and began to wash his hair, mind still thinking about Kyouko.
"Thank God we're not sharing a room! Thank God! That would've been horrible! Phew! Crisis averted!" The memory of her words and glee made his stomach churn. He rubbed his hair furiously.
Stepping out of the shower, and picking the towel off the ground, the statuesque man patted himself dry and made his way to the bedroom. Ruffling through his bag, he found a change of comfortable clothes and adorned himself.
The room was dark by the this time. The sun's dusk light no longer penetrated the room. Tsuruga wandered over to his living room balcony and decided to take part in whatever little sunlight was left. The breeze was slightly harsh on his undried hair sending a cold shiver through his body. Leaning on the balcony wall, his hands grasping the edges he inhaled the cool air and let out a deep regretful sigh.
'How dare I let my mind go that far...' Coming to terms with the true source of his unsettled anger, he watched the sun dip behind the water's horizon.
...
"Yashiro-san, Oh~ It's been amazing!" Kyouko, laying on her large queen sized bed was glowing. Switching her body's position, she took the landline phone to her other ear. "I loved it! The shoot was fantastic!"
On the other line, Yashiro let out a chuckle.
"I'm glad to hear you had fun Kyouko-chan. I-"
"I just wish I could stay here a bit longer, y'know?" She cut in, voice still filled with excitement. "The shoot locations were great but, Oh goodness! The sites on the way! They were breathe taking Yashiro, I would love to check them out y'know? And the CV! It was soo much fun to shoot!"
"Yes, Kyouko-chan, you sound really happy, I'm looking at the test photos now. You did fantastic as always" Yashiro responded amusement in his voice, wondering if Ren had seen the intimate poses of one particular shoot. Ren Tsuruga's manager heard the young LME employee take a breath, about to interrupt, but before she could he quickly let out, "about coming back to Japan." The man heard a deep sigh on the other line and chuckled. "Now, now don't be so excited, haha" he mused jokingly, "about coming home, I had to move your flight to another day, so-"
He was again stopped by the excited squeals of the girl, who was now no longer laying on her bed but in an upright and excited position. "So I GET TO STAY?!" Her squeals continued and Yashiro knew better than to try to get information throguh to her in this state, he waited for an opportunity.
"Kyouko-chan? Ky-Kyouko-chan!" He said raising his voice a little, to get her attention.
"I'm sorry Yashiro-san, please continue." He could tell by her voice she did in fact feel sorry but was holding in her glee. He smiled. Ahh, youth.
"No worries Kyouko-chan. The flight has been postponed due to some climate change. Now it's most likely nothing serious, it's just a precaution. You know, Ren doesn't like waiting in airports and usually when things like this arise," pride filled his voice, "I, as his manager, make alternate arrangements for him to make him more comfortable." The other line was noticeably quiet. "Hello? Kyouko-chan, are you still there?"
"Oh!" She had a faraway sound to her voice. "I'm sorry Yashiro-san, I'm still here."
"Ah, good." Yashiro made a mental note to kick himself later. Knowing full well why what caused the change in her mood, he attempted to change the subject. "Yes, well, I thought I should let you know. I will send the new details to the front desk and have them deliver the papers to your room."
"That sounds great, Yashiro-san. Thank you so much for going through all this trouble." He could tell she was trying to cover up the somberness in her voice. He sighed.
"Are you alright Kyouko-chan?" Knowing full well what the answer was, he still asked.
"Is Ren alright?" She asked concerned. "I haven't seen him since we booked in four days ago and... well, I don't know." Yashiro heard the sincere concern in her voice. What was that man doing to this girl! He would have to remember to scold harder the next time he spoke to Ren.
"Oh, don't worry Kyouko! Because Ren is such a big name, he was booked for another shoot and so he's been keeping busy." This wasn't a lie, but it also was not the reason his star client had avoided the girl on the other line.
"Oooh!" Yashiro heard her voice gain light. "He's been BUSY," he heard her smile. "Good! Thank you so much Yashiro-san. Please send my hello's and thank you's to the President for the wonderful opportunity."
"Sure," The manager could not help but smile into the phone. "I will keep you posted with the details, until then enjoy your stay Kyouko-chan." With that, he hung up.
...
'I wonder what she's doing.' Ren Tsuruga mused sitting, cross-legged on one of the corner seats of three seater couch in his living room facing the turned off plasma screen. Script in his left hand and a cup of tea in his right he smiled, an image of a Kyouko happily zoned out over some latest fascination danced around his mind.
He had not seen her since the room key mix-up, but had used his star status to get to see the photos from her shoot. The were good. He put down his cup of tea on the table, even the ones with that... man. He furrowed his eyebrows and sighed. If they had been cast to do the same shoot, he could've been the man in the photos with her, not that no good male model!
Turning his attention back to his script, one of his next projects, he realized how dark it was in the room. When did it get that dark? Had his mind really wandered for that long? Placing the script next to the cup of tea, arching his back forward he stood up from the window and walked towards the light switch.
BOOM.
There it was. Ren sighed. The storm. So I guess it was true this time, he sighed and walked over to the open balcony door. Something flickered in and out of his right eye's peripheral. He looked to his right and saw curtain from the next room flying in and out of sight. Kyouko must have left her sliding door open, he shrugged sliding his own door shut.
In the other room, he heard his cell phone ring. Briskly walking to his room, he picked up the device off of the bedside table.
"Ren Tsuruga."
"Hello Ren." Uh oh. Ren could tell the following conversation with his manager would not be a pleasant one.
"Hello Yashiro, the reports were right. There seems to be a storm coming this-"
"Ren" Yashiro stopped him. "Have you spoken to her yet?"
"To whom?"
"Ren," Yashiro sounded exasperated. "Don't play with me. That girl sounded worried. You know you overreacted this time."
"Overreacted?" Ren was a bit caught off guard. Granted he had yelled at his manager for booking rooms that were so close to each other and ones that caused the confusion, but he did not expect his manager to see through the façade.
"Look, I have to get off the line soon. Your flight's back are going to be next to ech other, so unless you want an awkward trip back... make it right with her." The line fell quiet. "Hello? Hello? Ren? Are you still there?"
"Yeah." Yashiro let out a sigh.
"Alright, well," he trailed off, "I need to go, I will call back sometime tomorrow." All Ren could hear was the beeping of the dead line for a few seconds then silence. He put the phone back on the bedside table and let out a deep exhale.
For all his nosiness, Yashiro was right. Ren hadn't made a move towards seeing Kyouko since the room mixup. He knew why. He knew that everything Kyouko had said that day was right. Her reputation would have been ruined. Her dream of becoming a top actress and defeating...him was all she ever thought about. And his own reputation wouldn't have taken much of a hit, in fact it may have elevated his status to 'bad boy' actor. So why was he so angry?
It wasn't Kyouko's fault that they weren't two regular people meeting under different circumstances. It wasn't her fault that her heart got trampled on by that Shotaro guy. Even though she did make it painfully easy for her heart to be tampered with... Any female in their right mind would leave a guy that wasn't appreciative of their nature. But, Ren chuckled, Kyouko wasn't a regular female. She was fiercely loyal. He sighed once more. 'fiercely loyal enough to stay with Sho, but not fiercely loyal enough to come to my room every day and see if I was still upset?' He stormed out of his room and began pacing in the living room.
WHAT was she DOING to him? How had he become this, this, SELFISH, JEALOUS, BROODING man. If people knew, HA! If people knew what was behind his calm exterior they would be disgusted. He stopped and flung his head backward, letting out a groan. He needed fresh air.
His eyes sauntered over to the sliding door and saw droplets of water the wind had placed on the glass. Not minding the idea of getting wet, so long as he got some air, he meandered across the living room floor, opened the sliding door and was greeted by a gust of wet wind. Quickly closing the door behind him, he took support on the wall on his left and enjoyed the ocean view. Allowing his mind to wander.
BOOM. CRACK!
The thunder brought his mind to the present. Clothing slightly damp, he took his eyes of the ocean and as he was about to open his door, another gust of wind came at him and he noticed the flapping curtain once again. He rolled his eyes. That girl! The rain was going to carry itself into her living room and get the carpet wet. He walked the length of his balcony and crossed over to hers.
Where was she, by the way? It was fairly dark out, the shoot was done earlier in the morning, she should've been in the apartment. Tsuruga hands engulfed the door handle and as he was about to close it, a thought struck him. She probably fell asleep and left it open. He peered past the curtain and into her living room... no lights were on.
CRACK! BOOM!
"Ahh!" Ren heard a yelp in the apartment. His ears perked up.
"Kyouko-san?" Nothing. He tried again, and still there was no reply. Worry filled him. "Kyouko-san?" He said a bit louder and waited for a response.
CRACK!
This time he heard a faint whimpering sound. He had a hunch of what was going on. Taking a gulp,he entered the room casting any 'scandal' thoughts aside. He followed the whimpering. The layout of this room was exactly like his, just opposite. He cautiously knocked on the bedroom room that was slightly ajar.
"Ky-Kyouko-san?" He whispered. His current circumstance dawning on him. What if she had taken a shower, heard the lightning and was in this dark room somewhere... naked.
"Tsu Ru .Ga.S-San?" Responded the shaken voice in the dimly lit room. Upon hearing her voice, Ren's instincts took over. He opened the door more.
"N-No!" He stopped. Oh no. Was she naked?!
"Kyouko-san,... are you dressed?" Realizing how strange the question must have been Ren mentally kicked himself. But he had to know. Kyouko hesitated before answering. What would he do if she was naked. Leave her be?
"Yeah I- AHH!" Another loud thunder-clap ripped through the sky. Ren clenched his jaw.
"I'll be right back Kyouko-san, don't worry." He left and hastily made his way to the glass sliding door in the living room. Shutting it, he secured the lock and closed the curtains, making the room truly dark. tumbling his way through the darkness, he knocked on Kyouko's bedroom door again, only to hear whimpering.
"I'm coming in." He could hear her, lungs gasping for air to trying to make a verbal attempt to stop him from entering, but he didn't care.
She was sitting on the floor the farthest corner from the door. Her hands covering her face, knees point to the ceiling in an upright fetal position. She looked helpless. Ren's heart sank. He cautiously made his way over to her and one knelt in front of her, while resting his head on the other knee. He was awestruck. Was she... crying? Could this creature. This fiery creature. Ever in some state of hyperness be brought to such...
"Kyouko-san?"
"... Yeah?"
"Are you alright?"
"...Yeah."
"Are you... crying Kyouko?" He knew, of course he knew. But... he had to KNOW.
"No." She choked out.
"Yes, you are..." Yes. Ren Tsuruga was a certified idiot. But, he had to see for himself.
"No!" Her head shot up. Their eyes met, "I'm not!" She was. Her face was glistening with fresh tears, her innocent fear struck eyes building up with tears ready to drop at her next blink. She buried her head again, pulling her knees even closer.
The man in front of her was stunned. This girl in front of him. This obnoxiously loud, annoying, bubbly, kind-hearted girl... looked so beautiful it put him to shame. At this moment. In this state. She was his kryptonite. All he could do was stare. How did she do this to him?
The sky rumbled, and she gasped. Her sudden movement drew Ren out of his trance. He got up and at his movement his kohai lifted her head.
...
Tsurga-san had seen. No one knows, now he knows. He must think I'm stupid, and an idiot. I'm so embarrassed! I wish he would leave. But, I'm so afraid. No one has ever been around when this happens and it was always so... scary. I'm so scared.
She gasped and her body froze. The sky had rumbled. It sounded farther away than it had before... Tsuruga-san must have closed the sliding door. Thank God he came when he did. But... he saw... Oh, what he must think of me.
She felt Ren get up and fear hit her. She looked up and watched him. Where was he going? 'Please don't leave,' she begged in her mind. She would apologize later and make it up to him for being so, so weak, but... she needed him. For some reason, she needed him to stay. There was a familiar comfort. As if hearing her thoughts, Ren smiled at her. Her eyes followed his body as he took a seat next her, the leg closest to her stretched in front of him, while the other bent with his knee pointing to the ceiling. He just sat there. She wrapped her hands around her legs and rested her head on her knees.
...
Astraphobia. He smiled. Who would've thought. Oh all the things to bring this great force of a woman next to him down... the irrational fear of thunder. He wasn't going to leave her. Not now. Until he was 110% she would be alright, he wasn't going to leave her. His smile got bigger as he noticed her breathing get calmer and slower. Glancing at her he noted her new position. He flung away from him, her neck practically craning and legs sprawled out in front of her.
What kind of a man was he? He chuckled softly. What a low down dirty guy. He took pleasure in fear. No. His heart broke to see her so afraid, but to see her feel that strongly about something that wasn't the joker Sho. With Sho, she went to another place. A place where he still lived in her mind. This place she was currently in, was a place he could access. This place he preferred. With Sho no one could reach her. Even in her pure hatred of him, he still had a hold on her. But here, right now, Ren was present. Ren could be there with her in this. This he could handle.
With a loud exhale Kyouko's head changed positions and plopped itself on Ren's shoulder. His heart skipped a beat. Body frozen, Ren's eyes side glanced at his left shoulder. There she was, resting on his shoulder. Fast asleep.
The weather outside had quieted and all that could be heard was the pitter patter of the rain. After ten minutes of trying to move his body he couldn't take it anymore. He gently placed his left arm around Kyouko's waist, and just as gently changed his positioning to cup her body by having is right hand scoop her off the floor from behind her knees. Carefully elevating his body, a great core exercise, he made it to an upright position without her waking up. She was a heavy sleeper it seemed.
He walked her over to her bed and placed her on the side farthest from him, so he could support himself with the bed as he layed her down. One knee on the bed for strength and the other foot on the ground for balance he placed her body on the bed slowly. As her body made contact with the bed, she changed positions, rolling her head away from him to the other side. This movement made Tsuruga freeze and crouch down a little more so as not to wake her. Maintaining this position for about minute, Ren slipped his right hand from under her knees and attempted to free his left hand likewise. He was stuck. He was seriously stuck.
'Shit.' He thought. 'Shit.'
Ren was never one for yoga and at this moment he began to regret that. He could feel the shakes coming and those vibrations would sure wake Kyouko. He sighed.
'I can't believe this.' He blushed.
Ren, supported himself with the right hand as the leg that was balancing him out on the floor lifted it self on the bed. He brought his body weight slowly onto the bed, until his body acted as the 'big spoon' to Kyouko's little spoon.
'I can't believe this.' His heart was racing. Not only from the impromptu core workout, but at the fact that he was literally spooning with Kyouko who was practically unconscious. There HAD to have been laws against this kinda thing.
The rain subsided leaving the only audible noise of Kyouko's breath. The sound of her steady breathing paced his fast pounding heart. The smell of her strawberry hair calmed his nerves and relaxed his body. Ren's body loosened. Kyouko shifted in her sleep, and his body froze once again.
She had the worst timing and even worse, what would she think if she woke up at this moment. Woke up to find her sempai... cuddling with her. 'What a pervert!' She'd think. He sighed and studied her face. 'What WOULD her reaction be to this scene...' he wondered.
Her innocent eyes were closed had puff bags underneath, and her cheeks were slightly flushed. How had he never noticed how cute her nose was? Maybe cause every time he saw her she mouth was always taking attention away from anything else on her face with all her yap yapping, he silently chuckled. Those lips. Some stray strands of her short hair rested on her face. A few fell really close to her lips. He wondered if the hair in her face was a usual thing for her. If it bothered her while she slept. Her lips looked a little dry. Ren could nearly make out the lines of the bare lips. Following the lines, the all, more or less, led inwards. Hmm! Lips were perfectly parted. ...Perfectly parted? Perfectly parted for what, exactly.
Various scenes from past movies he had done flashed in his head. He had always drawn inspiration for those scenes from what it would possibly feel like to be in a situation such as this. A situation where one wants the other so badly, all reason doesn't seem to make sense in the moment. No 'acting' could beat raw emotion. Such INVITING lips.
Ren found his head leaning closer and closer to Kyouko's. His breath suddenly mimicking hers. Eyes transfixed on her slightly parted lips.
"Tsurusaan..." Kyouko murmured, chomped at nonexistent food, curving her mouth into a smile.
Ren, blood completely drained from his face, froze. Head still hovering dangerously close to Kyouko's. Gaining his composure, and breathing a hefty sigh of relief he backed away and settled back into his previous position. Chuckling, he gently shook his head. 'Timing.' Head settling on the pillow he looked at Kyouko once more and grinned. Her steady breaths, the soundtrack of the room, soon to be joined by his own.
The End.
I am so so sorry. I hope you liked it?