Could I write normal length chapters and update them on a normal schedule instead of writing mini chapters and posting them every day? Yes. Will I?
Chapter 5:
Kyoko was not even allotted a full 24-hours of sulking time before she came into the love-me room to find a box of chocolates with a note taped onto the front. She flushed at the sight but quickly collected herself. They probably weren't even for her. Ren wasn't the type to leave a box of chocolates for an apology. She would just quickly check the note with no expectations, then leave the box for whoever they were actually for.
She looked around to be certain she wouldn't be caught expecting the chocolates to be for her, then flipped the note open.
Kyoko it read, and her heart jumped sorry I've been a horse's ass, let me take you to dinner tonight to make it up to you. Meet me at the Eleanor's Steakhouse tonight at 8 so I can apologize, if you'll let me. If you don't come, I'll understand.
Kyoko was truly astounded by every part of the letter. There was nothing that didn't come as a surprise in it. A genuine apology, calling himself a 'horse's ass,' offering to take her to dinner, offering to take her to dinner somewhere where he would have to eat something substantial, and in public, no less? It was entirely unlike him to give so much away. A warm sense of happiness erupted inside her chest at the thought. He must really be sorry.
She read it a second time, to be certain that she hadn't misunderstood somehow, half-expecting to realize that she had misread the name, and that it wasn't for her at all, that she had been a fool to think that someone would apologize to her so earnestly. But there it was, in clear black ink, her name, her letter. She hugged the box to her chest for a moment, before neatly tucking it under her arm and leaving with it.
It was just a cardboard box of chocolates, but it radiated a sort of warmth into her that carried her through the day, through a long day of school and work, through Kanae gently prodding her ribs for more information about the chocolates, other than "they're an apology," and through her rifling through her closet for the perfect sundress for her apology dinner. The sight of the shimmering red cardboard revitalized her, when she switched from a yellow dress to a pink for the third time, unsure which best brought out the color of her eyes.
She couldn't feel silly dressing up for a man, she couldn't feel her feeling were unrequited because he had given her a physical proof of his feelings, apologetic, romantic, lovely. Her face was warm with giddy, school-girl romance, when she finally decided to eat one piece of chocolate before she left for dinner.
When she took the lid off the box she found that they weren't chocolates at all, but a small array of firecrackers.
She had entertained the idea that the box was not for her again and again before she accepted it, but she had not once considered that it might not have been Ren leaving it for her. No, it was Koga who had told her she was a firecracker, waiting to be lit.
Koga was the one who left the box for her. And the note. He was the one who had offered her a sincere and humble apology. And he was the one waiting for her to buy her dinner.
She shouldn't go. Any further contact with Koga outside of work was too risky. He clearly knew how to push her buttons and get her to reveal too much of herself. Kyoko shouldn't go, and she knew this. And yet she found herself eyeing the yellow dress she'd thrown over the bed.
She changed once more and grabbed her purse, and the box of fireworks off of dresser.