CHAPTER 77

I do not own Skip Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.

First trip and its wonders: part one.

Two days later.

She locked her door and placed a hand on the wooden surface. A shudder ran up her back.

She wished she could say she felt anxious- and it would have been better- it kept her alert. But it was the opposite. Exhilaration rushed her every nerve, yet it was coiling loose in lazy bubbles in her belly, and blooming to coat her whole body into tranquil serenity. The natural thrill that tagged along each meeting she had with Ren was oddly cocktailed with breathless exuberant ease. It brought about a dangerous unexpected confidence and a glee tingling her fingertips. Vision coloured by a new perspective, she couldn't help but to feel like knowledge of his little possessiveness about her, even if it was just as friends. The acknowledgment from him of how much she had changed. Those words about considering their bond special, ever so tiny it could be.

The faith that had blazed in his eyes, while talking about her.

It was blasting a spontaneous relentless elation from her, and an uninhibited sensation of assurance in the future of their relationship. However friend-constricted it would be.

This recent emotional flurry had dislodged her anxiety in a strike, and the prospect of a whole trip with him finished to make her all fuzzy breezy. So, it's with unbidden carefree she stepped down the few stepped and hooked her bag to her shoulder. She pulled her other baggage, the little trolley, behind her as a grey Porsche parked in front of her. She made her way to the silver car but before she could greet him or ask him to open the trunk, he was by her side and stealing her luggage.

A chill interrupted her in her upcoming plans of a diatribe about how he didn't need to be always so attentive to her, and she fastened tighter her trench coat. She was fast to regret braiding her hair as it uncovered her neck and gave an entry for the cold air to penetrate. Weather was clear and sky bright blue like it could be on a frosty still day. She hoped she had taken clothes thick enough, but she had the intention to go shopping upon arriving the station as she just didn't have the Winter Mountain Equipment. She still had to wonder if her normal clothes would be enough when they wouldn't be skiing, though. She knew cold but was not stupid enough to not be aware it would be different in the mountains.

"Hello,"Ren greeted her with an easy smile as he robbed her of her trolley too, and she was distracted from both her potential incentive and clothes issue when she actually saw him. Oh, of course, he was still looking perfectly neat and handsomely elegant with his tailor-cut black coat, his brown turtleneck delightfully loose and undulant, showing his collarbones but cherishing his torso just enough to let his muscles show, and his dark fitting slacks. He looked dashing if only for his face.

She printed her fingers around his forearm before he could make the quick retreat he had in mind to hide his face -she was sure-, and be the stubborn gentleman, as usual.

"Why are you in this state?" She asked, her voice thickening with worry. "You would look transparent if it weren't for the purple under your eyes."

He smiled apologetically.

"I'm okay."

She gave him an eye.

He sighed a little but finally nodded.

"Okay, you are right." He admitted and hid his face in his elbow to let out a yawn. "I had to wrap up a couple of jobs to be able to be free during the next two weeks and it ended being condensed up to the last three days."

"Did you even sleep?"She asked with a frown.

He shrugged nonchalantly and tried to hide the new yawn that escaped him. He could barely stay upright.

"A couple of hours. I will sleep when we reach the station."

How reckless.

"That's 20 hours from now."

"I'll be fine. Don't worry." He said and tried to move to put her bags in his trunk. But she didn't let go and waited until he turned back again toward her with non-understanding eyes.

"Ren…you are nearly sleeping upright."She said and shook her head as he was about to open his mouth before insisting softly, "Kuon. You are in no state."

He stared at her for a whole two seconds then tousled his hair in defeat.

"Sorry, I just need to rest a bit and then-"

"It's okay, I don't mind waiting." She said and let her hand glided down until she wrapped her fingers around his own, and noticing instantly how the otherwise usual warmth his huge hands emitted had vacated. He really needed to rest. Sleep deprivation was the perfect way to fall sick, and she could only hope he had no fever still.

"But I could also be the one to drive if you'd like?" She proposed him easily. "That way, you could sleep while I drive."

"…well, and if you don't mind, that is…"She added, feeling self-conscious. She might have a driving licence but she knew some people didn't like to lend their car. Especially if it was a luxurious one.

He blinked and glanced at the car before looking back in her direction with concern for something else altogether.

"It's a 20 hours' drive."

She shook her head, entertained by the ever-so-expected reaction of his. He just could not help himself.

"I know. I will take breaks, you don't have to worry."

"I don't want to let you drive all that by yourself." He protested but still got his keys out of his pants' pocket.

She tilted her head in reassurance and lifted her palm.

"I will take a twenty-minute pause every three hours at most," She promised, "and we can still take turns later, if you feel a bit more rested."

"You shouldn't have to drive." He said, a tired apologizing expression making day on his face, but it was already no more than a side remark rather than a counter-argument.

"Don't be ridiculous. You are not a machine and if I can't be of help when you're tired, what's my purpose?"She said with a light jestering grin but he frowned at her comment as he placed the keys in her hand."Come on," She encouraged him lightly, taking the fingers that had just dropped the keys and tugging him to the passenger door. "I swear I will drive safely and not bump your shiny car anywhere, trust me."

His lips tilted up.

"I don't doubt that. And you know I do." He said as he all but dropped on the passenger seat with a sigh and folded his long limbs inside with no more complaints. She had to wonder for a second why he simply didn't have a bigger car. With his size, she was sure it didn't always come into handy. Porsches were fancy but not necessarily huge on the room available. Grabbing the belt, she moved past him and buckled him up fast and efficient. She knew his worry and stubborn spirits weren't completely out yet and she did not want to risk him changing mind.

He lifted a brow in clear amusement, certainly aware of the reasons behind her action.

She saw him ready with new words on the tip of his tongue but then he relaxed in his backseat, and handled her hand in his deft fingers of his to raise it upward before brushing his supple lips in the seat of her palm. A tired but joyful teasing grin tickled right in the heart of her hand, a chill sparked from there to her toes.

"Thank you for flying to my rescue, Milady."He said and she snatched back her hand with a fake glower. She cursed his ability to tease her even in his lamentable state.

"No banter until you have slept." She forbid him sternly, though her eyes twinkled at his choice of words.

She could see he had seen her reaction though at the soft amusement on his face. He just knew her too well. Damn fairy.

But he chose to graciously ignore it for her and only chuckled in acceptance.

"Noted."

She closed his door and went to settle in the driver seat after removing her coat -too much of a pain to drive with it on-, and chuckled. It brought out a questioning sound from Ren's side and she replied his silent inquiry.

"I had forgotten how huge you were."She explained. She needed to move the seat forward. Even with her new height, the pedals were just too far from her feet like this. She heard Ren snickered. She lifted an eyebrow though she didn't turn in his direction as she looked for the handle or button to advance the seat.

"One might question the signification of this sentence," He simply told her with mirth in the tone and she looked back at him in confusion for a second. One, two. It downed on her.

She groaned a half-snort and turned away to hide her blush at the abrupt turn of conversation.

"I believe I'm starting to have a fairer idea of how tired you are." She clipped out. Where was that damn handle?

"It's not my fault your words were ambiguous." He protested, playing innocent, and when she looked back at him, she could see just how satisfied he was, she had gotten his comment.

"Not really, no." She said. "But I'm positive your groggy mind makes you think under the belt if you want my opinion."

A silence followed and the nagging feeling he was fixing her made her look back at him pointedly.

"Sleep, you are tired."

"I hope you don't really think it's just that." He said, ignoring her. "I may be able to behave like a gentleman but if you seriously think my mind is always pure and that I don't have inappropriate thoughts then you-"

Pushing her up, she shut him up with a palm on his mouth. She started feeling around for Ren's seat handles with grumbles. That was far too many unnecessary and maddening precisions he had just given her that she didn't need to know. For her mind's sake.

Ren pulled her hand away.

"What are you doing? Pawing at me?" He inquired with a bewitching curiosity visible before adding, "not that I would mind but-"

She gaped at him in shock. Her fairy had officially kicked out his filter for now.

"I'm searching for the seat knob and-…Wait, what sort of nonsense is that?" She asked as she realized his words. "You wouldn't mind-…"

She let out a gurgling sound at the idea of what he was suggesting then, trying to block out the images coming.

He shrugged in answer, a sombre playful expression peeking out, and she decided right there and right here it was far too dangerous to ask for further information. His drugged-with-fatigue induced state equalled nitroglycerin for her right now. It could only be cataclysmic.

She found the backward handle of his seat and pulled. The backrest fell back until it was nearly horizontal, bringing Ren with it. He was now mostly lying down, beside his legs. And she was right above him.

She was about to command him to sleep but he flashed her a wicked lopsided grin before professing with a hand on the heart.

"Now what? I'm at your mercy, Milady. What are you going to do to me?" He mocked happily.

If only you knew my thoughts…

"You are babbling incoherence. Sleep."

"I don't babble," He protested, "I'm teasing you."

And bringing it to fucking new level! She thought.

"Kuon."She said.

She put one knee on his seat between his legs and placed her palms on each side of his head resting on the backseat, her braid-end pompom fell in his neck.

She fixed him with an unmoving insistence before repeating with a tone that suffered no bargain.

"Sleep."

He shot a tired but conquered look at her- bewitching as he closed his eyes and beamed wide at her with a happy grin full of shiny teeth-, and she pulled back as if she had taken a jolt in a power socket. Her chest shifted into a resonance case with how loud her heart was suddenly beating. What a glow sorcerer.

He had no need to switch the glowing up, she would have drawn back soon enough.

She retreated hastily, sat back in her seat and presented him with her coat.

He looked non-understanding so she verbalized further.

"With how tired you are, you must be cold, use it."

He spread out her coat with a pointed glance at her.

"Yes, I know you wouldn't fit in it," She half-scoffed before a snort escaped, "But you can use it as an extra cover."

He looked back at her. "Won't you be cold?"

"It's unhandy to drive and I have the car heater if needed."

He didn't counter again and she saw him lay out her beige greatcoat on himself without further protest, and dropped an arm over his eyes. He really was exhausted. She worried her bottom lip for a second, hoping he would be fine, and turned back in search of that damn seat handle. The car she was used to drive was very basic- an occasion, as she had preferred invested in brand new for her motorbike-, compared to his.

"…there is a button on the low side of the seat," He mumbled in amusement after two minutes of her shuffling about.

"Thanks."

She found it fast with this precision and was able to adapt it to her size, then she buckled up. She was grumbling internally against everything being button-inclined, even the start-on of the car, and decided to make a turn-of-the-block area before beginning the actual drive to get used to this car. It was a sportive sensitive thing that needed a feather touch compared to the languid reaction her car had. But if it disturbed her at first, she soon noted it was a bit similar to her motorbike sensitivity, and once she had gotten that, she was able to drive it as smoothly as her own car.

She took the first road allowing out of the district area of Tokyo and soon engaged herself on the highway. Traffic was not too heavy so she permitted herself a glance in Ren's direction, and found him staring in all nonchalance, the arm that had been hiding his eyes now behind his head, serving as a cushion. She turned back to the road.

"What are you doing awake?"

He groaned something unintelligible, and she eyed him for a quarter of second before looking back at the road. She could feel his eyes on her, he had to stop it, it was rising every nerve termination on standing guard.

"You got used to it pretty quickly." He commented. There was something odd in his voice. She couldn't decipher what it was but this low tone of his was stroking her at places it really shouldn't at the moment. She wiggled in the seat, trying to ease the rigidity of muscles she had tensed, and clenched her pelvis. This inflection in his voice felt as if the soft pads of his fingers were stroking her spine with those valuable hands of his. From the top of her nape, a supple precise caress, to scorching her tail bone. Imagining those prompted generous hands wrapping their flame around her hips. Imagining their lush texture on her nude skin. The fire igniting by his carnal care. Her thighs quivered and she swallowed. STOP. It was not the time nor the place.

"Sorry if the jolts of earlier kept you awake," She said with a new tiny glance, "but it will be fine now, sleep."

He shrugged at her with a small smile.

"Sports cars are touchy, don't worry about it."

She breathed out heavily.

Stop staring!

"Sleep Ren."

"Yes-yes, ma'am." He sang happily and she wanted to hit him. "Do you mind if we turn on the radio, though?"

She arched a brow in question, ready to ask if it wouldn't prevent him to find sleep but he replied before she could voice it aloud.

"Quite the contrary," he told her, "If it's not too loud, it will help."

She nodded and tried to find a station with some music.

Three hours later.

A sound pulled him out of his slumber and as he breached his lids, the frosty vibrant sun of Winter cast some rays in his eyes, blinding him. Time had passed, he figured, as the inclination of daylight shifted toward him. But as grogginess shadows let go of him, the slow humming wiggled its way back to make him pay attention. His first thought was to identify it as the song coming from the radio singing an old song of the backstreet boys.

But for each lyric pronounced, a low hum followed them in rhythm.

"I don't care,

"Who you are,

"Hm-hm-hm"

"Where you're from,

"Hm-hm-hm"

"What you did,

"Hm-hm-hm"

"As long as you love me."

"Hm-hm—hm-hm-hm-hm."

And when he tilted his head up, he saw her, dangling her head to the languid beat of the song. Her high profile was as straight as ever. Neck discovered in a tantalizing angle -for peppering kisses- with one of her damn off pulls accentuating those sumptuous denuded shoulders he dreamed to stroke and nip on. He still hadn't figured out if she was doing it on purpose or not. But each and every single time she wore one of those, it was fanning the embers of his lust with an incredible brio. And the few glimpses he had only made it worse as it had shown with evidence how amorously slender she was. He felt like he was mad with desire half of the time, and mad with love the other half. Each physical area of hers called to him like a luring melody. A beckoning spell to worship and embrace her. Not even his teen years could stand the comparison of this magnetic fever that urged him to honour her body and devour.

He let his praising gaze down, wanting to look a bit longer.

This provocative lean back he longed to revere with caresses as he would glide his palms on her blades and on the tight muscles he could guess under the cloth ignited his blood like no other. It was all in small casual bits. Charming but discreet and natural. One of the many new shapes her maturity had taken. Yet, that only pushed her sensuality further.

This confidence and nonchalance in uncovering ever-so-little more while keeping so much grace in herself exalted him and drove him to the she was not trying too much, she was remaining herself.

But also because what enthralled him the most was not physical. Her smiles brighten his days. The life in the gold of her eyes was always certain to inflame a staccato in his heart. Her passion and joy as she played a role burned him alive like a wildfire, driving his own ardour for acting to new lengths. Her purity and love of fairies, of magic, felt like a million first suns reentering his cold night every single time. And melt bitterness from every hidden corner of his head, each time making him feel he had regained child innocence.

She was-… Enchanting.

"I thought you could not utter a right note." He said at last when he had grabbed some semblance of bearings, and she made a cute little jump in her seat, startled by his sudden words, he thought. But once she had calmed down, she turned back to him with a smile. That's also when he noticed they had just parked somewhere.

"It was just humming, and you actually witnessed the upmost of my singing capabilities, as you might remember." She stated with a warning tone, as if anything more would be horrendous. Not that he could totally contradict her. He had heard her false notes once in the past. Though he hadn't believe her at first- she had a tendency to diminish her talents after all- he had had to admit it was really not her forte.

He grinned and pushed up in upright position, stretching his limbs to try to remove the persistent tiredness he still felt.

"But you actually can hum right." He highlighted. It had been very soft and beautiful.

She blushed and turned away, looking a bit pale before looking back at him with a twisted grimacing nose. Adorable.

"Thank you for the compliment but I think it might have been bare luck."

He shrugged and shook his head, giving up trying to convince otherwise for now.

"It's our second stop, how are feeling? A bit better?" She asked as she scrutinized him with attention. He loved when he had her eyes on him, all her attention for himself. But he didn't want to worry her. He did feel less as a shadow of himself but the overweight over his eyelids and the urge to nap were still poignant. The grimness clang to his every cell like an annoying too tight second skin. He rubbed off the sleepiness from his face and craned his neck out with a hand, groaning at the soreness sleeping in a car always gave you.

"Somewhat, why?"

"Because you still look like dirt." She commented with a frown.

"Well, thank you." He mumbled but she was already out of the car and coming to his side. She opened his door and he filled out from the passenger seat and outside with another groan at the overload of grogginess.

"You know, I think I'd rather sleep some more in the car." He tried but she caught his arm before he could twist on himself and back to the car. "Oh no, Ren. It has already been six hours, you need to hydrate and some food." She stated with that determined tone of hers he always found so attractive, unless it was food-related.

She plopped one of the caps he usually left in his car if he needed to go out in public and sunglasses, and dragged him away from his car toward the small outdoors area siding the station.

"Come on, it will do you good." She said with an encouraging face and a small grin when she saw him yawn in response, "Let's go stretch and take some air before going for lunch."

Anything as long as you stay with me…

They took the small paved path between tiny lawns of grass, a few trees, bushes and some benches. They took their times elongated their limbs from their extend time of stillness, and he could see even Kyoko was a bit sore. She was massaging her shoulders tightly. He proposed her a hand with that, and she accepted. They sat on a bench, and he focused on applying just the right pressure and rubbed the tenseness away, trying very hard to not hear any of the oh-so-pleasant sounds she was making under his hands.

Then, they went to grab some food, and he diligently respected the portions she served him, a bit too pleased with how much cared she had given it. Not too little but still smaller than usual, as if she had known he wouldn't have much of an appetite. And she even let him have one of those onigiri he liked.

They made their way back to the car after that, and despite his proposition to be the one driving this time, she refused to let him this time around again, saying he should sleep yet a bit more before they would switch.

And he felt bad for imposing but he also knew she wouldn't have taken any risk if she had felt she wasn't up to it anymore. He knew he could count on her, and he was determined to let her understand how much he relied on her. Which meant he should control his usual overflowing- even he admitted it was sometimes overbearing- concerns and show her more that he trusted her. So he cave without too much insistence.

Their trip pursued and he slept for the three following hours under the light roar of his car with a content face. But eventually, at the next stop, she let him switch. She judged he looked decent enough after nine hours and not too weary anymore. And he was glad he didn't have to fight her to trade because she looked positively drained, which was to be expected after so many hours honestly, and he pushed her to rest as they stopped to supper. She slept during the next three hours before Ren found some place to park so they could both rest some more during the high of the night. They woke up at 5 a.m. and ate some light breakfast with the remains of the food Kyoko had packed for the trip before Ren resumed driving. They still had six hours and one hour on the ferry and one more once they would have disembarked.

This time, though, they were synchronized and felt both awake so they had the occasion to chat more, and as they discuss merrily eventually the subject landed on Kyoko's time in the states.

They talked and talked. About everything. He wanted to know in what she acted in. He knew of a few, he had looked it up, but him being in Japan at the moment hadn't made it easy to access everything. And seeing wasn't hearing it from her anyway. She shared samples of her experiences in most times. Evoking some villains she had played, and the detective she was now interpreting that was one of the funnier roles she had to act. But what she talked about the most was the role as that condemned artist. Explaining her interpretation had to be ravenous about creating the perfect representation of her former lover. Of her former happiness. Painting and painting, covered in colours. Drowning her life away just to capture a single moment on the canvas nailed on the trestle. For the pigments to show and impregnate the cloth with the memory of what it had been, of what could have been. The glow in his eyes, the awed and disbelief on her own face.

If he hadn't died.

Only to throw her worn-out figure out by the window when despite her best efforts she considered she had failed at it. Kyoko explained to him then that her character was supposed to discover the man she loved was alive when she would have become a spirit, and be miserable to have given up, to not have tried to live harder. That, if she had just waited a little longer, they could have been reunited when the man inevitably visited her workshop barely a week later.

But at the time, Kyoko told him, she had spoken with the director and shown him another possible end to him, a version that she thought had suited better her character, and the director had accepted it. She took the time to explain to Ren that she had done her best to make it clear she wasn't imposing her vision and propose it in a non-offending way, and he had to chuckle at how worried she looked for an instant. As if she thought he was going to scold for non-professional behaviour like good ol' time. But as the director had agreed, she said, they had gone with that second version. In that, her role wasn't miserable but so overcome by happiness that he was alive that nothing could bring her back from her cloud, and she watched over him for a while, even pushing to move forward. In Kyoko's view, her role was far too dedicated and kind for being selfish, nothing mattered more to her than him being alive.

As he heard her talk about it and as she said it was one of most emotional role she had had to act until now, he wished he had been able to see it and swore to find a copy for his next free evening. He wanted to see that happier end. He wanted to see her interpretation of it.

Conversation switched topics, and he asked her what she did when she wasn't working on her role and acting. He would have gladly returned the share if he had been able to. But it was cut short as his other activities compared to work were so meagre they could barely be mentioned at all. The only new in private for him, were him meeting his friends, and even that he wasn't sure it could count totally, considering he had met them through work.

So, it was with great delight for him and some grumbles about him being a workaholic from Kyoko that they switched back to her.

"I spent a lot of time in nature," she told him, "I learned and did windsurfing but also rock-climbing."

He shot her a glance, surprised, and she grinned back in reply.

"I was very careful, don't turn on your worrywart gears."

"I know, I'm sure you were and are." He said, containing any remark and trying to not imagine her in a dire situation. He focused on the road but then his mind went to the other activity she mentioned. Which did not make it better, as his mind keep imagining her in far than dressed-up attires.

She bumped her shoulder against slightly and smiled.

"Come on, no need to be so shocked, I know someone else who loves to be in nature." She said with a conniving affectionate smile that drove him to a slow melting shut down.

She grabbed the top of his thigh suddenly, startling him and making him jump high as she told him to focus on the road.

"…Right, sorry." He mumbled.

After that, they discussed a tint more but soon the time came to embark on the ferry, and there was no more time for chit-chat. And despite the amount of time supposed to be spent on the boat, it all seemed to pass in a blur as they went from place to another. And before they knew it, they were on the other side and disembarking.

The part before reaching their lodging area passed fast as they took a quick meal before driving the little hour remaining, and soon they were reaching Hokkaido.

PS: Hello everyone, I hope you are all well and healthy, and having a great beginning of the year. I'm sorry I couldn't post earlier. Still a lot going on over here. I hope this chapter won't feel too much like a filler but it was also important to show some of the evolution starting to take place between them. The dynamic changing a little.

I know a lot of people are wondering, well, a lot of things. But this a drive, a drive to their adventure, smirk, if you knew it all, it wouldn't be as fun, would it?

Anyway, expect some surprises and drama during the ski trip, maybe? Hehe. ^^

And most of all, enjoy yourself. I did. Kisses to everyone.

Feed me.

Mimagfan.

AUTHOR OUT.