A/N: I do not own Skip Beat!. SPOILERS SPOILERS Read up to Ch 326 once it's translated. :P

Howdy all! This is a reaction short fic from the ending of Chapter 326 where Ren jumps into the fight between Murasame and who I believe is named Bill.

I hoped to get the chapter translation before posting this, but I am getting ahead of myself and wanted to send it out to the world. I may have some names or happengins wrong, so oops. This isn't meant to go anywhere, so it is complete. I just wanted to share my thoughts and the chapter since I was so excited about the happenings.

So please enjoy this short walk into the future that is guaranteed never to happen because I like making our lovely couple much more forward than they ever will be written. :P OOC warning.

Cross-posted in AO3. Trying to decide if I should move there or stay here. Thoughts?


It was all so sudden. The moment they entered the studio, they all saw that Murasame was getting attached and then boom Ren was over there in the blink of an eye.

Kyoko didn't realize it until someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back that she was walking forward in bated breath. Kyoko glanced at the man who grabbed her, noticed it was Yukihito, and obliged with his need to get her safely behind him. She barely noticed Kanae beside her as her attention focused entirely on Ren.

From the moment he blocked the kick aimed to hurt Taira, worry, dread and adrenaline filled her from head to toe. She was instantly on high alert, preparing to stop him. She was ready to step up and yell to stop him from going too far and falling into that black hole of despair. Her whole body hummed with tension.

Don't hurt him.

Don't hurt him.

She chanted in her head as Ren stepped between Taira and the other man, who she recalled was named Bill Nelson. She didn't want Ren's first night here to be tainted with him sending someone to the hospital. He would never forgive himself for that. Plus, there was always a chance they would kick Ren out of the film if he did irreparable damage to a co-star.

Apparently, it didn't matter who it was that Bill beat up because he wasn't even hesitant to turn his aggression to Ren. Kyoko felt the tiniest desire to warn the American but knew that it would be useless. He was blinded by his pride and rage as he threw a right haymaker at Ren. Ren easily dodged and even pushed at his arm to make the smaller man unbalanced. The man literally growled and turned to try and do another kick but Ren once again deflected him easily. The ease that Ren showed avoiding him was making Bill angrier. Kyoko was sure that Ren being larger than him was probably pushing him further on edge, but honestly, she didn't care.

Her whole world right now was analyzing Ren.

He is angry, but I don't feel that deathly aura from before.

Maybe he's okay?

She watched him masterfully avoid Bill's messy, sweaty attempt at a fight like a matador with a raging bull kicking and bucking at all angles. If she wasn't so nervous, she might have recognized how in awe she was watching him move. No, Kyoko excused her racing heart and flushed face to worry, not admiration. She believed her desire to watch him was out of concern and not something more primal.

"Where is security?" Kanae mentioned right beside her, loud enough to distract her momentarily.

"That's a good point," Yukihito replied and looked around. "I'll go look for them."

Their guard left and Kyoko stepped up slightly, wanting to get a better look at Ren's expression. But he was moving too fast and circling the other man too often. She found herself starting to move to the right so she could try and look at his face and accidentally bumped into someone.

Alarmed, she quickly turned towards them, bowed, and apologized in Japanese.

"Excuse you," the reply snapped back angrily in English.

Kyoko looked up to see one of the American actresses who was blowing them off at the party the other night. It was the tall dark-haired actress. Her mind failed to pull up her name. Kyoko switched gears to English, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to walk into you."

"Right…" The woman dismissed and turned back towards her little group.

Kanae appeared next to her, wrapping her hands around her left arm and pulling her away from the group slightly. Kanae softly warned, "Are you looking to start a fight with the girls too? I don't know about you, but I can't fight like that, so let's not, okay?"

Kyoko took a breath to reply, but then overheard the girls next to them start to talk, "Who is that guy?"

"I don't know but damn…"

Kyoko looked at them recognizing the obviously interested tone in the woman's voice. She followed their gazes to see Ren once again block and push aside another wide swing.

"I didn't think there was anyone alive that could take that asshole down. Is he one of the Japanese guys?"

"No way," A third girl chimed in. "He must be with security or something. Did you see how badly he is whopping Big B's stupid face." The three girls laughed, but Kyoko frowned not understanding their words. Ren hasn't hit him once. Why would they say he is whopping him? What does whooping mean? Is it like whipping? Because it does look like Ren is whipping around him like wind.

The first girl, the one she bumped into, purred, "He is totally my type. Anyone that can move like that must be great in bed."

Kyoko flushed at their words and Kanae nudged her. "What? What are they saying?" Her face burned brighter and shook her head. There was no way she could repeat their words. She looked up at Ren and she could feel her heart flutter as she thought about what they said. He was starting to sweat and the dark strands of his hair fluttered around his face as he focused on the assailant. It made her want to run her hands through it, brush it back out of his face so he could see.

Bill grunted out as he tried to kick Ren immediately after trying to hit his face. Kyoko gasped as Ren lifted his knee to block both and it was so quick that it felt like he barely managed to stop it. It made Ren even sway at the force of it. Kyoko bit her lower lip with concern. They started to talk about him again, and she forced her mind to translate their words.

"Woo, look at his forearms. God, I wish he'd take off his jacket."

Kyoko's eyes couldn't help but listen and notice the things they were talking about. He had his sleeves pulled up to his elbow but not beyond it and yeah, she could see the muscle and veins of a well-tone arm flex and swell at the effort of the fight. She knew exactly how he looked without his jacket, without a shirt even. Though many in Japan have pictures of him shirtless, so it's nothing special even if those pictures were beautiful to look at. Touching him, however…. Her face flushed and she quickly shot it down but she mindlessly rubbed her fingertips as her memories of touching him made her fingertips tingle.

"How tall is he? 6'5" or so?"

Kyoko instantly wanted to correct them but held back. They don't need to know how tall he is. Her eyes followed his tall frame and her face softened. He's tall even in America.

"He's taller than everyone else here."

One of them snorted, "That is going to piss off the little prince."

"Shut up." The first snapped at the other. It seems she was the lead which figures that Kyoko bumped into her.

"It looks like he is one of the Japanese actors. That's too bad," the second girl stated.

The leader shook her head and smirked. "That will just make him that much easier to manipulate. I'll show him what a real woman is like in bed." Her gaze purposely went to Kanae and Kyoko, "I'm sure he is sick of these prepubescent girls by now."

Kyoko took a breath to state how disgusting she was when the Director clapped his hands together loudly to get everyone's attention.

Kyoko turned around to find Ren had pinned Bill down on the ground. He had his knee pressed on the middle of the other man's back and his right arm twisted around and locked in a hold. The man was flushed such a dark red that she thought his head would pop. She could feel the fury and embarrassment of being bested by Ren. It was so strong that it overpowered her senses of feeling out Ren's emotions. She looked at Ren's face and it was serious, filled with alert tension watching and forcing the other man to stay beneath him.

"Everyone back to your rooms immediately! You will be contacted about this shortly." He sounded upset and there was good reason to.

Ren had to hold Bill until Yukihito came in with security to ensure the fight ended. Not everyone dispersed immediately. Honestly, Kanae and Kyoko stayed put as did the three girls beside them.

They giggled among themselves. "Oh yeah. He can pin me down any day. Let's go see how he is. You know…" The leader smiled brightly, "Maybe I can take him to my room and make sure he's okay."

Kyoko wouldn't let them near him. She stomped in front of them before they could take a full step forward. "You cannot take him," she said each English word carefully and clearly so they would understand.

The taller woman sneered at her. "What the fuck…"

Kanae jumped next to her and grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?!" She asked in rushed hushed Japanese.

Kyoko didn't budge. "The Director said to go back to your room." She repeated in good but slightly accented English.

The woman tsked. "Yeah, so go. No one is stopping you." The group was going to sidestep Kyoko and Kyoko was about to stop them again, but Director Leonard stepped up.

"Ladies. That's enough. Time to go."

They begrudgingly switched direction, heading away from Ren, but not before sending a scathing glance back at Kyoko.

Kanae tugged at her arm. "Come on, let's go."

Kyoko moved but then noticed that Ren was standing very still. Kyoko dismissed everything else and immediately went to Ren, but hesitated to touch him. She literally felt the waves of heat from his body. He was sweating. Drips of sweat ran around his face. The tips of his hair were stuck to his forehead and neck. He was breathing hard but carefully. It was when she noticed that he wasn't looking. His eyes were not seeing anything. In a slow deliberate movement, she reached out and took hold of the front of his jacket.

His hand instantly grabbed her forearm. She expected that. He was still in fight mode and anyone touching him would get burned. Except he noticed it was her a heartbeat later and instantly let go. He blinked down at her, flushed, and started to stammer an apology. "I…I'm… so…"

"I'm fine." She assured him and then reached over with both hands to lightly place over both of his that were still ready for action. "You are fine." She affirmed in a solid voice. She looked up to meet his deep brown eyes. "You did good."

He licked his lips and nodded. "He isn't going to stop after this," he whispered.

Kyoko frowned but before she could ask what he meant Yukihito interrupted, "I can't believe this insanity!" Ren twisted away from the group and Kyoko dropped her hands to her side.

Kanae was walking up with him and he was angry too. As soon as he was within earshot, she asked, "What's going on? Is everything okay?"

Yukihito shook his head. "They were talking very fast, and damn it I wish I listened to more of those English conversation tapes, but I believe they are trying to put all the blame on Murasame-san."

"What?!" Kyoko exclaimed in shock.

"They said he was the one who was cursing at them with the group and picked a fight on Bigbie."

"Big B," Ren corrected over pronouncing the man's nickname, and all three looked up at him. Kyoko looked up at him and he looked like he was back to normal.

"How…" Yashiro started to ask how he knew who it was and Ren quickly answered, "I memorized the casting photos and names."

Kyoko frowned because she didn't remember that on the casting list, but Yukihito continued without another thought, "Anyway, they are going to investigate to see what happened."

"You mean to let them tell more lies," Kanae chimed in. "Did anyone mention how they dumped water on all of us simply to make us stand there in our underwear and bathrobes like fools?"

"Yes, that will be mentioned. Don't worry," Yukihito confirmed, but Kanae was still annoyed. "I'm staying here as well as a few of the other managers to ensure the right story gets told."

Kyoko perked up, "I should stay too then."

Yukihito shook his head. "I'll take care of it. I was here from the beginning, so I know what has happened from start to end." Kyoko wanted to argue because she wanted to help, but Kanae wanted otherwise.

"Whatever, I want to get dressed. Come on Kyoko," she grabbed her best friend's arm and pulled her to move.

Kyoko wanted to stay, but she also knew that Kanae must have felt extremely uncomfortable right now. Her charge took precedence! She did however look back one last time to see Ren's face. He caught her eye and waved bye just before losing sight of him.

Kanae went off in a rant as soon as the trailer door shut closed. "What sort of immature asinine idiot goes to this extreme of a method to haze us?!" She yanked her robe off and started to pull the clothes Kyoko brought not caring what it was. Knowing Kyoko, she would have picked out the best outfit for her to wear. She overthought Kanae's outfits more than she did herself.

"The fact that they did it to the whole cast and not simply one person like the lead. It is over the top," Kyoko agreed.

"And then they had the audacity to say Murasame started it. He was the only one brave enough to call them out." Kanae hesitated and then added, "Or stupid enough."

Kyoko smiled thoughtfully, "He is not one to back off from a fight."

"Like an idiot," Kanae repeated. "If he waited a bit longer, Director Leonard would have seen our state and put two and two together. Then it would have totally been on them."

"Actually, no one was coming. The meeting is fake," Kyoko told her.

Her eyes went wide and she grumbled in irritation, "The nerve…" She stormed to the back of the trailer to refresh her hair and make-up when Kyoko's phone chimed.

1 message(s) Tsuruga Ren

Tsuruga Ren: Are you free?

Kyoko frowned and bit her lip. She instantly wanted to say yes, but she also didn't want to abandon Kanae. She started to type but he followed up with another message

Tsuruga Ren: Once you are free, can we talk? Please.

She stood up. Everything within her wanted to run to him. Kanae came out looking refreshed and looked at her perplexed. "What's wrong? You okay?"

"I, um… Should we go to the hotel?"

"Yeah," Kanae said tiredly. "Did you hear anything about what is going to happen?"

She shook her head. "Not yet. I can call Yashiro-san and find out?"

"No, he said he was going to take care of it, so let's leave him alone to do so," Kanae said very practically, which surprised Kyoko. She was such a take-charge kind of person, not relying on anyone, so to see her relinquish a task to someone else showed how much she respected Yukihito.

Kyoko replied to Ren that she would walk Kanae back to the hotel room and then visit him. He immediately replied.

Tsuruga Ren: I'll be waiting.

The message made her want to pick up the pace, but she noticed Kanae looking all around her as if something was going to jump up and scare her.

"Are you okay?" Kyoko asked and Kanae straightened up and cleared her throat.

"Fine. Why?"

She contemplated dropping it or at least not calling out her fears directly. "I was surprised at how quickly things escalated."

Kanae snorted, "Yeah, I mean I knew they were laughing at us, but why? It makes no sense to antagonize half of the cast before filming."

"I don't know, but it seems like they are all in on it. Everyone there seemed to know exactly what was going on and came to watch. Only one person was missing which was Benedict-san and the Director," Kyoko shared her insight.

"Maybe they were together?" Kanae offered.

Kyoko shook her head. "Then Benedict-san would have come in with the Director, but he is missing altogether."

"Perhaps he isn't part of the hazing then," Kanae concluded, but Kyoko didn't offer an agreement. Something about Cedric bothered her, so she wasn't willing to say yes or no to that statement.

They quietly walked in silence as Kanae recounted the events that happened a moment ago. Then she remembered Kyoko's part and had to ask. "Hey, what were those girls saying to make you react like that?"

Kyoko flushed. "They were commenting on the fight between Tsuruga-san and Nelson-san."

Kanae narrowed her eyes. "That would not make you that upset. What were they saying?"

"Eerrrmmmm…" Kyoko hesitated not really wanting to answer which made her best friend whip around and glare down at her. Before she could threaten to end their friendship again, Kyoko blurted out with eyes shut tight, "The tall dark hair woman was saying dirty things about Tsuruga-san!"

First, it was a snort and then a full-blown laugh erupted from Kanae which made Kyoko open her eyes to look. Sure enough, Kanae was belly laughing out loud and with tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Kyoko let out a held breath and then smiled because even though it was at Kyoko's expense, it looked like it was also helping Kanae out with the tension and stress built up within.

She pouted, "It's not that funny."

Kanae waved a hand as she tried to catch her breath. "No," she breathed, "No, it totally is, aahh, oh my God. That is so great." She rubbed away the tears from her eyes as she finally calmed down.

"You didn't understand what they said, it was bad. Terribly dirty stuff."

Kanae gave her an incredible look, "What? Like she wanted to fuck him or suck him off or something cheap and dirty?"

Kyoko flushed a bright red, "Moko-san!"

"What? Did she go into details? Like wanting to strip him naked and lick…mmrmrmmmm." Kyoko pressed her hand over her mouth and shouted, "Stop it! Stop saying dirty things!"

Kanae gently removed her hand and softly spoke, "Sorry. I don't really care about such things either, but you must know everyone says things like that about him."

"Not when I'm around!"

Another snort and Kyoko huffed and stormed off towards the hotel which was now within sight.

"Kyoko," Kanae called out and quickly caught up to her. "You can't think of dating him if you get this jealous this easily."

That made Kyoko abruptly stop which made Kanae stumble to a stop too. "We are not dating," she said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, but like you want to, eventually. I mean, isn't what you two discussed and said that was like the end goal once you are of age."

Now Kyoko looked uncertain, "I guess so. I mean yes, but no one talks about him or Hiromune or even you like…"

"Okay stop." Kanae interrupted. "That's not true. I've had people tell me those things to my face, and I guarantee that Tsuruga has received worse. Men in the business get propositioned more than women do by both men and women too. Men are more at risk because they are more willing to go into an empty room with someone while women know better than to be alone with anyone."

Kyoko bit her lip never thinking about that and she recalled the feelings she felt with Reino. When she didn't respond right away, Kanae continued, "Granted, it looks like Tsuruga-san can fight, so I guess I'd pity the person who tried to corner him into something he doesn't want to do."

Kyoko snorted and gave her a genuine smile. "That's true." She bashfully looked down feeling shameful. "I admit that I simply didn't like what they were saying about him."

Kanae sighed and pulled Kyoko's arm around her own. "And that is why love sucks. Alright, let's get back to our rooms. I'm tempted to take a nap after all this," Kanae declared.

After dropping Kanae off, there was no hesitation when she turned to her left and walked down to Ren's door. She still hadn't changed from her LoveMe overalls or cleaned up from the unexpected shower from earlier, but she was dry enough to not care. She knocked at his door and wondered if she should have called or texted instead, but he immediately opened his door.

The moment she saw him, her heart started to race and a smile spread across her lips, but then she looked up at his face and it fell to worry. He was closed off. His mask was firmly in place and he was void of all emotion.

"Come in," he whispered and opened his door wider for her.

A small thought came to her mind about what Kanae said about being alone with someone and she shook it away immediately. It was much too late to be concerned about that with Ren. She walked in and set her bag down as the door closed behind her.

"How….Oh." Arms wrapped around her and a heavy weight was pressed on the top of her head. Her body instantly tensed up as stiff as a board. "Ummm…"

He let go and softly whispered, "I'm sorry."

That soft voice made her forgive him instantly and she turned around with a furrowed brow. "Tsuruga-san?"

"I shouldn't have… I know…" He was disoriented, and Kyoko stepped up to help.

"It's okay," she assured him, but he looked away from her. "I was just surprised that's all." He leaned his back against the door and didn't say anything. "Let's go sit down, okay? You wanted to talk, right?" When she didn't see his weight shift to walk, she stepped up and took his hand. It was then that he looked back at her again with a blank face. She led him into his room and it felt oddly familiar being alone in a hotel room with Ren again. There was only one chair in the room and she directed him to it. Once he plopped down again, she sat down opposite him on the edge of the bed facing him.

Not one to sit idle, she started the conversation, "Did Yashiro-san tell you anything yet about what is happening?"

He looked up at her, blinked, and something inside of him shifted. He let out a breath, shifted in his seat, and licked his lips to talk. "A little bit. They threatened to get the police involved but since Murasame was the only one that is showing any physical damage, they backed off. Murasame agreed that he didn't want to press charges."

Kyoko chuckled softly. "Murasame-san would never get the police involved. Even when you nearly…" she stopped herself knowing that she was going into a taboo topic. "Being a former gang member and all. He probably doesn't like the police."

Unfortunately, Ren took hold of that little slip-up and ran with it. "When I nearly what?"

"You were acting, so…"

"No, I wasn't," he snapped.

Kyoko licked her lips. It was her turn to look away. "It's in the past, so there is no reason…."

"It just happened again!" He yelled suddenly making her jump. He slumped over burying his face into his hands.

Kyoko sadly looked at him and pushed off the bed to sit on her knees before him. "It didn't," she said softly. His fingers sunk into his hair as he pushed his face farther down. She saw him claw his scalp in frustration or anger.

"It didn't happen again," she said stronger. "This is not the same as last time."

He jerked back crazed. "You don't understand! It's exactly the same as…"

This time she interrupted him. Her hands went onto his knees and she pushed herself into his face. "Then explain it!" The shock of her face so close to his, her hands on his person, and the fierceness of her voice caused him to short out. When he didn't speak, she continued, "Explain what you saw, what you felt, because what I saw out there was nothing like what happened in Tragic Marker."

Ren sat back, then proceeded to clench and unclench his fists with nervous energy. "I blacked out into a fight again. Without hesitation, without remorse. I was probably smiling again," he mumbled in self-loathing.

"No," Kyoko shouted. That was not her intention but she didn't like what he was saying. She shifted closer to him, unknowingly going between his knees to plead with him, to convince him that he was wrong. "No," she said softer. "That is not what you did. You jumped in the moment you saw that Murasame-san was getting hurt. You allowed Murasame-san to get out of harm's way and dealt with Nelson-san like no one else could."

"Right, because I'm the same as him. I can handle it."

"You Are Not The SAME," she lashed out. "Are you telling me you truly did not know what you did? Ren, you didn't once hit him. You did not once kick or punch him. The only thing that you hurt was his stupid pride." She looked up into his eyes which were wide with fear but were also focused and listening to her every word. She reached up and hugged him. Forced herself over him, her arms around his neck, and hugged him. "Ren, you did so good. Everyone was so scared, and you came in and handled it so well. You were in control and focused and didn't hurt him. You didn't harm a hair on his head and still managed to help stop the situation from getting any worse."

Strong arms wrapped around her and squeezed ever so tightly. His head fell to her shoulder and she felt him breathe out a shuddering breath at the crook of her neck. He shook as if he was crying, but she felt no tears.

"I wanted to hurt him," he whispered against her neck.

She closed her eyes and moved her right arm down enough so that she could stroke his hair. "I know. I could feel how angry you were, but you didn't. I'm so proud of you, Ren. You could have hurt him, but you didn't. You held back."

He shuddered and ran his hand up her back, reinforcing his hold around her waist with the other, causing her body to shift so that she sat on his lap. Wanting to continue the comfort, she continued to recount the fight from her own eyes. "You were so fast, too fast, that everyone was in awe watching you. The way you dodged every punch, blocked every kick. It was like watching a dance."

Ren snorted and it made Kyoko smile. "Only you would think a fight would look like a dance."

Kyoko giggled and let her head fall to the left. It was apparent that she stopped thinking because her fingers started to play with his thick hair and words that stemmed from her heart instead of her brain came bubbling out, "I'm not the only one who thought so. The other girls were saying things too. It can't be helped if everything you do looks so beautiful."

She felt the shift in their interaction immediately. Everything happening quickly came to the forefront of her mind.

I'm sitting on Ren's lap with his arms around me. My fingers are in his hair. The heat of his body pressed against mine. It feels like I'm burning up. My face is probably burnt red and his face… his face… he pulled his head up and his face was a hair's breadth away, looking at her with desire – the desire to kiss her was plainly written on his face. She began to pull away and his arms tightened around her. Her eyes went wide and she licked her lips to which his eyes immediately darted down. Instead, he softly asked, "You thought I was beautiful out there?"

She flushed and there was an edge of humor in his voice, so she immediately thought he was teasing her. She rolled her eyes and pushed off. Thankfully, he let her go as she answered, "Handsome okay. Can't a man be beautiful too? Besides, it is better than what the other girls were saying."

He caught her hands and it stopped her from retreating to the bed again. She looked back at him nervously.

"I don't care what they said or thought. I want to know what you think. What do you think," he took her hand and lifted it so that it cupped his own cheek. "I didn't scare you?"

She blinked down at him confused. Scared? Was I scared? She realized that fear was not really what she felt. She was worried about him hurting someone, not because of the person getting hurt, but because he would be upset about it. It was this exact situation that she was worried about.

"No," she finally answered. "I was not scared. I was worried, but it's rather amazing to see how you move. So, no, you don't scare me when you fight."

He grinned and she felt him shift into the Emperor of the Night. Every hair on her body rose as well as the temperature in the room. He shifted her hand slightly towards his mouth. "But if I do this…" his voice was husky and he moved just enough to rake his teeth along the apple of her palm and she felt the hot moisture of his mouth on her skin causing her to gasp and yank her hand away. He chuckled masculinely and he leaned back into his seat satisfied.

Yes, that side of him did scare her. It was so intense and she didn't know what to do with the feelings he caused within her. Kyoko glared at him as she protectively cradled her hand to her chest. "Bully," she grumbled. He laughed and it sounded good. "Well since you are feeling better…"

"No wait," he was about to jump out of the chair to stop her but she stopped on her own. She glanced back at him waiting. "Stay, please, Kyoko-chan."

Once again, her face burned at the sound of her name on his lips and damn it all, it was all too much too. She whispered while looking at the ground, "I don't know…"

He stood up concerned. "Why? Do you need to do something with Kotonami-san? Is there an event planned tonight?" Kyoko shook her head, so Ren persisted. "Then stay please."

"Tsuruga-san…"

"Ren," he insisted.

Another sigh and flutter in her stomach, and she shook her head. "We shouldn't be alone together."

That comment made him pause in confusion. After all this time, the countless times they were alone in his car, his apartment, and a hotel room exactly like this one, and Now is when she finally realizes she was alone with a man. Nevertheless, the fact that she recognized it, acknowledged it, and is now being cautious about it made him want to do the most nefarious, mischievous deeds.

"Perhaps you are right," he said suddenly. Kyoko turned back to look at him surprised by his agreeance. He continued looking down with an expression that did not fit his face. "After all, I reached out to you, invited you to my hotel room secretly in obvious distress." Kyoko's eyes began to widen as she started to recognize that was a look of girlish innocence and fear. "And in my moment of vulnerability, you crawled onto my lap, and almost kissed me…"

"YOU ALMOST KISSED ME!" She said outraged at the accusation. "I hugged you AFTER you hugged me and you were… you were…"

He laughed which made her more upset. She stomped to the head of the bed and grabbed one of the many pillows the hotel gave. "You!" She started hitting him with it accentuating each hit with another word, "dare," thwack, "accuse," thwack, "me," thwack, "of," thwack, "taking," thwack, "advantage," thwack, "of," thwack, "You!" thwack, thwack, thwack.

The fact that he was letting her hit him made it all the more infuriating. He held his arms up as a guard but made no move to stop or take the pillow away from her even though he was more than capable. He fell onto the bed and she followed to continue thrashing him.

"Alright! Alright! You're innocent! You're innocent!" he laughed and she stopped with her up on her knees with the pillow up overhead high above him threatening. He raised his hands in surrender, sweaty and out of breath, with his hair in wild disarray around his brightly smiling face. He looked happy and unearthly handsome even now.

"You've won. I surrender completely to you," he exaggerated teasing her once again.

"ARRG! You Bully!" She shoved the pillow into his face and this time he deflected it so that her arms shifted above his head and she was forced over his face once again too close for two people in love to find themselves. Ren was smiling but then was taken aback at the look of agony on her face. He took a breath to say he was only playing with her and asked what was wrong but she beat him to it.

"Ren," she whispered distraught. "Don't be alone in a room with anyone else."

He frowned not understanding. "What…"

"Like this," she repeated. "Alone, when no one knows who is with you and they can corner you like this and kiss you, and touch you, and…." She was starting to cry and that was the final straw.

"Hey…" He said gently and sat up forcing her to sit back with bright red watery eyes. He reached up and cupped her cheek. "Where is this coming from?" Alarm filled him as his mind went into overdrive, and fear and rage started to fill him. "Did someone approach you in an empty room?"

"What?" she answered confused, "No, I'm talking about you! Don't be lured into a room alone with anyone." Her voice started to drift off and she started to mumble the last bit, "Like a tall raven haired American or something."

His heart slammed in his chest and he couldn't help the happy smile on his lips as he recognized jealousy in Kyoko. In order to prove his point, he slipped his arm around Kyoko's waist and spun her around so that she was lying flat on the bed with him over her. She looked up at him like a doe in the headlights.

"Kyoko-chan," he whispered and her face went dark red. "Name someone who would be able to do this to me?"

She didn't even hesitate to answer. "I did. You are incredibly easy to take advantage of. I was in your lap just a few minutes ago. I flipped you over and took off your shirt without even a moment of resistance from you a few months ago."

He had the decently to flush in embarrassment. "Okay, that's not really… you are sort of the exception for that."

"I'm half your size in every way. How could I be the exception?" She proceeded to shove him off and once again she followed through with her abnormally strong arms to shove his surprised and effectively weakened body to the bed where she straddled his stomach once again. She shoved his arms above his head, leaned over his body and he was effectively caged by the woman he loves.

"See!"

With his pride completely shattered by this 100-pound girl, he tightened his core, twisted his hands to grab her wrist, and lifted both her and himself into a seating position. She shifted down his torso to land deliciously on his crotch which was not missed by his person, but he had to prove a point. He twisted her arms around her back, careful not to hurt her, so that she was captured completely by him.

"What are you doing?" She exclaimed and tried to pull her arms free from his grip in vain. Ren groaned as she wiggled on his lap and he tightened his hold on her making her whimper.

"You need to hold still," he said darkly and she swallowed a lump in her throat. Her eyes darted down between them and she could feel him hard pressed against her core. She flushed and wondered how she got herself into this position with him.

"Ren, please let me go," she said timidly.

He did immediately and his will faltered, "Kyoko, I didn't mean to scare you. I wasn't going to do anything more than show you that I can protect myself." His hands suddenly moved to run up her thighs that were still on his body and took hold of her hips. "But you have this way of making me feel weak and why would I ever stop the woman I love from pinning me down and ravishing me whenever she wanted," he said lustfully as his hands slipped around her and up her back.

She pushed herself off him and he let her go. "I-I-I w-w-wasn't r-r-r-ravishing you!"

"A man can dream," he replied huskily.

She flushed so prettily with her hands on her burning face. "You are too much!"

He grinned. "Kyoko-chan, you trust me, right?" She nodded but her voice would not come out. He stood up and approached her. She was frozen in her spot holding herself tightly. His presence darkened over her and rather than feeling afraid or intimidated, she felt flushed and felt the need to meet him rather than run away.

"But she's really beautiful," she whispered. She looked down and added softly, "And she is willing to be with you… intimately."

He sighed and shook his head slightly. "Know that you are the only person I ever want to be alone with. No one is going to tempt me or convince me otherwise." He reached up and with the barest of touches ran his fingertips along the side of her face. "And as much as I want you intimately, I already told you that I'm willing to wait." His heated eyes held her in place as his hand tentatively touched her. "To hold you, to kiss you…," she felt his thumb lightly caress her lower lip, "…to make love to you." Her body clenched instinctively and she had to bite back a whimper. "Until you are ready, until you want me as badly as I want you. I'll wait." He withdrew his hand and she swayed to keep it but caught herself before falling.

"Do you believe me?" He asked and she wholeheartedly nodded in agreement.

"Good." He smiled softly. He smirked at her lecherously but in a joking way added, "But perhaps we should get out of here because having you here in my room when you've been in my arms and in my lap twice in less than an hour is giving me hope that maybe there will be a third time."

Kyoko gasped at the thought. "You playboy!"

He grinned. "Can this playboy take you out to dinner?"

Stunned, she stammered, "Dinner? Just the two of us?" She had to think about it before replying, "Well, Um, yes, okay." She agreed with a delicate blush on her cheeks. "Oh um, but is that allowed?"

"We are free to leave the studio. I can take you out someplace nice and we don't have to worry about the press here."

Kyoko licked her lips looking at him and he lurched slightly wanting to kiss her. She looked so adorable and he wondered what was going through her head as she licked her lips while looking at him. Whatever it was, he wanted her to continue her stray thoughts. Finally, after her mind probably couldn't come up with a reason to say no, she answered, "Okay. Yeah. Let me change into something nicer." She started to walk to the door and turned around. "How nice is this place? Like red carpet nice?"

He raised his eyebrow intrigued. "Did you pack something red carpet nice?"

She instantly deflated. "No. I have a few dresses but no.…"

He stepped up and took her hand. "Do you want to be dolled up for dinner? We can go buy you a dress before heading over?"

She flushed. "N-n-no, th-that isn't n-necessary."

She watched him bow and raise her hand towards his lips. His kiss was barely felt over the rush of blood through her veins. "As my lady wishes. Dress up as much as you like and I'll take you somewhere appropriate."

He watched her get cuter by the second as she excitedly nodded. "Okay, I'll be back in thirty… no twenty minutes."

"You can take longer if you like. We are not on a time limit."

"Oh, um okay," she flustered. "Um, then I'll take a shower first and um…"

"Text me when you are ready and I'll come pick you up, okay?"

She nodded again and this time reached the door to open it. She stopped and turned back momentarily. "Room 401, okay?"

He nodded and repeated, "401." She grinned and it made his heart burst in happiness. He held the door open for her, but stopped her, "Hey." She turned around and blinked those big beautiful eyes up at him. It made him want to tease her again. He leaned in and smirked. "If you want to maybe bring your things down here, move into my room, you can make sure I'm safe while we are here. It could be like old times, living together."

She glared at him, but then she gave him a little Setsu smirk. She stepped into his personal space and pressed her fingertips on his chest. "I would, but then I'd be worried about taking advantage of you when you are vulnerable." She let her fingers slide up along the muscle of his chest so that her palm would touch him. "Like when you are sleeping or taking a shower." She purposely let her eyes drift down the length of his body. Memories of those days filled him and thoughts of her doing different things, things that he fantasized about late at night made his blood rush south. "Who knows what might happen…" She let her hand drift down his chest to his stomach, when her fingers reached his belly button, her eyes rose to look into his eyes which were deep, dark, and heated at her words. "I would hate for you to be on edge," her fingertips reached the band of his jeans, and his eyes dropped his gaze to her hand. She was trailing her fingertip along the edge of his pants as she spoke, "all the time, worried about what might happen."

"Kyoko," he growled.

She withdrew her hand and he just about jerked her whole body back into the room. She blinked up at him with big innocent eyes. "See. You are too easy to take advantage of. Room 401. I'll be ready within the hour." She licked her lips and her eyes drifted down his body. "Take a shower," she turned to leave but then stopped and added, "Remember not to let anyone else in your room." Again, she moved but then hesitated again. "And no more fighting. You are too sexy when you fight. I don't like it." She nodded once as if finally voicing out everything she wanted and pulled the door closed behind her.

Ren stood there stunned as he wasn't sure if he was turned on, concerned, or pleased. Did she call me sexy? One thing he did know was that he had a date with Kyoko in an hour. Sexy when I fight? Does she like watching me fight? He promptly shook his head.

"No, Kuon. No. It is not worth it," he quickly told himself and moved to get ready.