I'm back~! Did you miss me? No?
Fine, then. Did you miss the story?
Yay. Well, I'm sure that you know by now that I don't own Skip Beat. The manga would be much fluffier if I did.
Please enjoy, and refrain from throwing things at the authoress until after you've read this chapter. ^^
Outside of Darumaya, Ren opened the door of the car for Kyoko and grandly waved her inside. "My lady," he smiled, eyes sparkling with fun, anticipation, and mischief, "your carriage… awaits."
Kyoko met his eyes; Tsuruga-san was acting… carefree. He seemed younger, somehow; she'd rarely seen him like this, but had enjoyed the few times she had. Perhaps, she thought, allowing a small smile to creep across her face, today won't be a disaster after all. He beamed even more widely in return; she averted her eyes to avoid going blind – and noticed the decal on the side of his car: A pumpkin rolling and turning into a carriage.
Ren watched with fond amusement as Kyoko descended into la-la land at the sight of the small Cinderella-esque image. He'd known that she'd like it, and so had ordered it online in case of an event such as today. If he had his way, she would spend the entire day in a similar – if not heightened – state of joy, and so would be distracted to the point of not worrying about imposing on him. This, anyway, was his hope.
Of course, Kyoko is Kyoko, and therefore shatters hopes. At the sound of his soft laugh, she realized that he'd been holding the door for her for quite some time. This, in turn, reminded her of the whole of her self-dubbed idiocy in accepting his (again, Kyoko-dubbed) kind but kidding offer. She then spiraled down into despair, and would have doubtless gone into a dogeza had Ren not caught her shoulders.
"My lady," he began, pulling her out of her pit of despair and self-loathing with the odd form of address, "I have sworn an oath to thee, and shall enjoy its fulfillment. Will ye yet rob me of my joy and sworn duty?"
She gulped, flustered as much by his words as by his touch. Some part of her mind (Setsu, no doubt) commented that his words were awfully close to Cain's excuse for spoiling his little sister. "O-Of course not, sir knight."
He grinned at this, and then handed her into the 'carriage.' After shutting her door and sliding into his seat, he inquired of her, "Would ye first like to visit thine subjects, milady, or would ye prefer to don attire more befitting your station prior greeting them?"
She seemed genuinely thrown by this question, and simply gazed at him for a moment with her mouth open. Then, as if realizing how ridiculous (ridiculously cute, in Ren's mind) she looked, she shut it abruptly. "I…have no preference, sir knight."
"Then may I suggest," he paused, carefully measuring her reactions to this odd play, "that we first go among thine subjects? They might be less intimidated to see thee in thine casual wear than in thine royal finery."
She nodded her approval, perplexed. He beamed at her – her grudges hissed from their vantage point behind Mio – and began driving the 'carriage.' Thus far, she seemed to have accepted his actions. He was a bit surprised, yes, that she had dubbed him a knight; he wouldn't complain, though, as it gave him some material with which to work. After all, in relation to her, a knight was…. He grinned as something occurred to him. Yes, this would work quite well, indeed.
He hadn't planned all of this himself, of course. Yes, he'd had some ideas previously, put it all together, and organized everything, but he'd had quite a bit of help along the way. Yashiro, for example, had been extremely helpful – even if he was, and would remain, utterly unaware of this. Over the past two months, Ren had paid careful attention to what his manager said concerning Kyoko – more careful than usual, that is – and had made mental notes of what useful ideas his manager actually had. Maria had also been helpful; one day, he'd casually brought up the subject of Kyoko in one of their conversation, and the young girl had gone off on a long tangent about her trip into onee-san's la-la land. He'd worked as much of it as he could into their day together – obviously, there was nothing he could do about her 'best friend' set of fantasies – and had been intrigued by a section Maria had said was roped off with caution tape. The only information Maria had given him about this was that there was a tall, awfully familiar figure behind the caution signs. She'd pierced him with a long, meaningful stare at this point, as if to give him a hint. He'd refused to let himself hope – after all, he should know better than to expect anything romantic from Kyoko by now.
Key word being 'should.' Hence, his very long planning period and several excursions to Disney websites in search of date ideas (even if she vigorously denied it and he feebly attempted to deny it, that was really what their outing most closely resembled). This bit of his browser history had been, unfortunately, discovered by Yashiro. Ren had just refrained himself from throttling the man only by repeating to himself that he was unlikely to ever find another manager as capable as Yashiro… but only just.
It really was amazing, he mused as he drove, how neatly Kyoko had him wrapped around her little finger. If she knew, and ever chose to take advantage of it (though, knowing her, she wouldn't even dream to do it – but her characters had, and would do it if they saw fit), he knew that he would be powerless to refuse her every whim. He already was, wasn't he? It would just get worse if she actually dared to consciously pull at his heartstrings. If only she knew….
Shaking his head, he pulled into a parking space in front of a park. He then pulled his baseball cap on his head, and offered a floppy white sunhat to her. She smiled and thanked him for it as they got out of the car, commenting that she liked the spring green color of its ribbon. He wondered if it reminded her of Corn's eyes, or if she just liked the shade for its own sake. He was not sure which answer he preferred.
"My lady?" he inquired, after he had opened the door for her.
She paused in her steps, and looked back at him. He was offering her his arm. "Of course, sir knight. I would be honored."
As she tucked her hand into the crook of his arm, he replied honestly, "The honor is all mine."
She ducked her head, not quite sure how to respond to this, and they began their walk through the park in silence. After a few minutes, she glanced up at him in time to catch him watching her. He grinned sheepishly at her, and then gestured her along a short path through the trees. Intrigued, she led the way along the path, eyes sparkling when she recognized the clearing. They'd come here a little while back for a bottled water commercial; this was where she'd spent some lovely time communing with the faeries. The faeries, now, fluttered out to greet their friends and landed on their arms. Several settled atop Ren's head. Kyoko giggled at this, and explained to Ren what was going on when he gazed at her with questions in his eyes. Then, to his pleasant surprise and her positive delight, the faeries elected to grant Kyoko's wish of Ren being able to see the faeries, too – for that day, at least.
"Breathtaking," Ren whispered, watching Kyoko twirl around with her loyal 'subjects.' The faeries, upon hearing Ren's explanation, were more than happy to help him help their dear human friend.
"I know! I'm so glad that they've let you see them for the day," Kyoko gushed, having temporarily forgotten all about her noble role. "They're gorgeous, and so fun – have you tried dancing with them yet? They're wonderful dancers, and always help you cheer up!"
He grinned and took her outstretched hand, allowing himself to be pulled into her faerie dance. He hadn't really been talking about the faeries, but she didn't need to know that just yet. He didn't want to spoil her fun even more than he ached to tell her how he truly saw her. That would come later; he could wait. For now, he would spin with her and play the loyal subject – which he was, of course – ever her loyal subject. Now, if only he could get her to believe him when he told her….
They stayed among the faeries for quite some time, dancing and playing odd little games (like Prod the Frog and Spin-Twirl-Flick, for example) until Kyoko finally collapsed into the dandelion patch from exhaustion. Ren joined her, silently admiring the fact that she'd lasted as long as she had at full energy. The faeries settled in among the dandelions, taking care to avoid the ones that had gone to seed. Kyoko lay back in a halo of these, smiling contentedly as her 'subjects' sang songs of the fae to her. Humming along as if she'd known these songs from a young age – which, he realized, she probably had – she rolled onto her stomach and began gazing at the dandelions gone to seed.
"What are you looking for?" he asked softly, after a few moments.
"I'm looking for a good wishing dandelion," she whispered back, never tearing her gaze from the plants. "I… have an important wish to make, so I need to find a good one."
"I'll help," he offered softly, but she waved his offer away.
"It's fine. I'm sure that you have your own wish to attend to—ah!" she plucked a dandelion triumphantly. He watched, entranced, as she closed her eyes – and then let out a large breath, scattering dandelion seeds into the air. Not a single one yet clung to the stalk.
"What did you wish for?" He plucked, and then blew, his own dandelion stalk. It may not have been perfect, but he really had no way to tell, as he was not an expert like Kyoko.
She sat up, looking scandalized. "I can't tell you that!"
"Why not?" he inquired, bemused. He was leaning on his elbow, so he had to look up to see her. He appreciated the new angle as she flapped her hands around nervously.
"Because if – if I tell you, my wish won't come true!"
"We wouldn't want that," he rejoined, sitting up fully and dusting off stray dandelion seeds. "But have you dreamed of faeries lately?"
"Just last night, actually. There were a few in my dream, just popping in and out," her voice grew quieter at the end of her sentence, and her cheeks flared. "Why?"
"Well, then your wish will come true," he informed her seriously.
Her brow furrowed. "Huh?"
"It's been said that your wishes will come true when you least expect it when you dream of faeries," he explained. The surrounding faeries nodded from their yellow seats.
Her eyes sparkled. "Really?"
"Really," he grinned. "But just to be on the safe side, I won't ask you if you won't ask me. Deal?"
"Deal!" She extended her pinky finger, and they shook. He then switched his grip to her entire hand, and pulled her to her feet. She was thankful when the motion did not bring her crashing against him, as she was not sure if her poor heart could take that at the moment. The past few hours – glancing at her watch, she realized that their park excursion had taken up the whole morning – had been something out of her most wonderful dreams. It was with a small sigh on her part that they bid farewell to the tired faeries, and left for lunch.
Upon his asking what she would like to eat, her response was, "Anything but frog legs."
"Then how about eyeballs?" he joked, holding the car door open for her.
"What type?" she shot back with a smile, sliding into her seat with a word of thanks.
He appeared to think for a moment as he walked around to his side of the car and got in. "Egg, perhaps?"
She looked at him, perplexed. "Egg eyes…?"
"Yes, yellow ones." He nodded, pulling onto the road.
"I've never heard of those before," she murmured, after wracking her brain for any glimmer of recognition.
"I read about them somewhere," Ren commented, referring to a manga he'd read out of sheer boredom while waiting for a costar to arrive on-set. "Apparently they are delicious, especially when fried."
"I look forward to them, then!" she beamed. A few minutes of comfortable silence followed, and then she spoke again. "Thank you."
"For what?" he inquired, pulling into the parking lot of a restaurant.
"For making the offer and keeping it, for giving me such a wonderful morning, and for – for always taking such good care of me. I really don't deserve your kindness." She ducked her head.
He parked the car, and asked softly, "Do you really think that I'd do anything for you if you didn't deserve it?"
"Yes, because you're a good person," she nodded, unbuckling her seat belt and making to open her door.
He stilled her motions with a hand, and hurried out of his own door. He then appeared on her side of the car and opened the door for her. "I wouldn't do anything for you if you didn't deserve it, Mogami-san." He offered her a hand out, which she simply stared at. "You deserve to be treated properly."
She blinked.
"Won't you let me?" he inquired, hand still held out to her.
She stared at him for a moment longer, gaze flickering between his eyes like a caffeinated butterfly's wings, searching for any mistruth. When she found none – only an emotion she refused to name lurked behind his sincerity – she tentatively took his hand and allowed him to help her out of the car. He celebrated his small victory even as she released his hand and they made their way into the restaurant – after shutting and locking the car, of course, as it's utterly moronic to leave a car unlocked in a busy city (or anywhere, really).
Kyoko glanced around their surroundings and raised an eyebrow at Ren. "Why would a family restaurant serve eyeball fry?"
He beamed at her, and offered her his arm. "You'll see."
She took the proffered appendage, and allowed him to lead her to a table. He spoke quietly to the waiter – too quietly for her to hear, she noted – who nodded and winked. Kyoko spent the next few minutes cheerfully (her morning had been far too wonderful for a mystery to upset her) attempting to wheedle a clue out of Ren. And though his grin slowly grew to resemble that of a certain disappearing cat's, he released not a bit of information. Fortunately for him and his game, it did not even occur to Kyoko to use puppy eyes; that would've cracked him, and his surprise for her would've been ruined.
After a short while of Kyoko's failed hint-retrieval, the waiter appeared with two covered plates. "Eyeball fry for two!" he announced in a voice that sounded as if a frog had swallowed its own tongue, and then attempted to speak Swahili. He made several flourishing movements, placed the plates upon the table, and whipped off the lids to reveal –
"Hamburg steak with fried egg on top!" Kyoko gasped, eyes sparkling.
"The yolk is the pupil of the eye, so the egg is the eye," Ren explained, batting a few stray sparkles away from his lunch. "It's your favorite, right?"
"Yes, but how—?"
"You told me," he shrugged with a smile. "When you were my manager, we ate it here, so I thought that this place would be safe. I'd have tried to cook it for you myself, but I'd probably set the kitchen on fire if I even attempted to cook something like that."
This last comment made Kyoko laugh, which was good – she'd been stuck somewhere between her heart's danger zone and simple awe at her sempai's memory and kindness, and had not known how to respond. Still giggling, she dug into her favorite dish. Had Ren had his way, he would have simply sat there and watched her eat; but that was not to be.
"Don't you like the Hamburg steak, Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko inquired after a silence filled mostly with sounds of her chewing and Ren's occasional happy chuckle. "You haven't touched a bite of yours."
Ren jerked slightly, realizing how long he'd been wearing a love-struck smile while watching her eat. "Huh? Oh, no," he assured her, picking up his utensils, "it's perfectly fine. I just got a bit lost in thought. My apologies."
"Oh, it's fine!" Kyoko blurted, dropping her utensils onto her lap by accident in her frenzied fluster. A rather startled squawk followed this occurrence. To Ren's credit, he was able to keep a relatively straight face about this, and even began eating without Kyoko (expressly) telling him to do so. He even managed to avoid choking on his "eyeball fry" when Kyoko asked, "What were you thinking about, if you don't mind my asking?"
No, he did not choke; yes, he froze temporarily. After all, Kyoko wouldn't exactly take it calmly if she was suddenly told that her sempai had been seriously planning to bring their children to this restaurant one day, would she? (The authoress asks the reader to take a moment and truly appreciate how utterly hopeless Ren is.)
"Tsuruga-san?" Kyoko inquired, noticing the sudden tenseness in his muscles, but also noting the utter lack of angry sparkles.
Ren shook himself slightly, and then smiled to reassure her (this worked, as it was not his gentlemanly smile of doom and gloom and sadness – and sparkles). "I was just going over our plans for the rest of the day, my lady. Please forgive my momentary mental lapse."
"Oh, but of course, sir knight!" Kyoko replied, only slightly thrown by their return to the noblewoman and the knight. As she continued eating, she asked, "And what, pray tell, are these plans to be?"
He took a few more bites of his own food before answering, "Why, we still have not had thee clad in garments befitting thine rank."
She raised her eyebrow, and took another bite of her food. "Garments, sir knight?"
"Yes, milady," he nodded, beaming. "Garments befitting a princess like yourself."
After a few moments of desperate internal struggle and several mental reminders of what the offer had been, Kyoko simply stated, "I would like for our luncheon to be finished before we do anything else."
He nodded, and then raised his glass to her. "As you wish."
Hello. :D
So… yeah… no complete reveal yet. ;) Feel free to scream and yell at me in a review.
What do you think of the story thus far? Yay/nay? Are the characters okay? Do you like where this is going, and how I'm handling it?
Did you catch the references? :D There's one to a manga and one to a book/movie. :D
I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! See you again (somewhat) soon!