CHAPTER 122

I do not own Skip Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.

~~Magical Summer trip ~~

~~ part 28~~

~~~False quiet~~~

~~part 2~~

'"Right. Do you have clothes you don't care too much about?"'

She felt like she was thrown into an echo of the past as he asked her but it only took her a second to think, once she was actually pondering the actual question, she was pretty sure she had some. She guessed her puzzlement had been misinterpreted as a negation, though, because he continued.

"I could lend you some clothes if you don't, so – "

Hearing this, her ears perked up. She had been about to say she did have clothes to spare she could wear for whatever he had in mind but the chances were just too good to pass up.

She cleared her throat.

"Well, I'm sure I have at least jeans I brought that would work … but it's about the tops I'm not sure that – "

She was not about to say she had taken her nicest tops, knowing she was going to meet his parents. Which didn't mean she hadn't added a couple of outfits that could be torn down, depending on the activities.

What are you doing Kyoko?

It was so shameless of her to lie like that, and for an even more embarrassing reason. But she refused to let the opportunity to wear his clothes again slip by.

Ren smiled.

"Don't worry about it. I can just lend you one of my old tee, if that's okay with you."

She nodded.

"Thank you."

He went to look for it and she stared at his retreating back, fully aware there was no 'lending' in this affair. If she had her way, she would add it to her treasures.

She dropped her face into her hands, mortified, as she came down from the high of earlier.

That was close.

She had bitten him. For the second time in her life. Just to escape this situation. But she had been a hair away to jump his bones and crush her lips on him. How come she was losing more and more control? What was he doing to her? She felt possessed, connected to an electric line for every second he was a little close. It was maddening. But he was not helping things.

What with him giving kisses like that?! Why? There were other ways to pester her? Why that?

Her poor heart was still in perfect inability to calm down with how much touches she just had from him. She closed her eyes.

His lips … when they touched my neck…

It was like she could still feel them, as if her heart was precisely beating under that sensitive spot.

Her lips trembled as she let air out. If she hadn't pulled him back at that instant…

She didn't know what she would have done.

Her frustration at her own self grew, as she realized she was fully planning to endeavour into encouraging her cloth kleptomania. Well, her Ren's clothes kleptomania, if you wanted to be precise.

Her sigh was bottomless.

She was truly past salvation.

§§

When Ren returned, he presented her with a smooth dark blue short-sleeve tee, and she briefly wondered if it was one he used to wear when he was younger, as they respectively went to change. She found the pair of jeans that had seen better days in her suitcase and slipped on Ren's tee with a smile. It was still so huge for her. She let her palm brush against the soft texture and brought the cloth to her nose, getting the answer to her former question. His scent was way too present to be part of the shirts that stayed at his childhood house. She guessed she should have figured it out earlier, because she could imagine his muscle structure would still have to expand. Just the five years that had passed while she was away, and still, he had changed, expanded musculature, fuller shapes, a few unexpected added centimetres … many things. Yet, the same in so many other points. So, she could only guess the change between his sixteen self and his twentieth one.

She let the smell of the cloth saturate her senses until she started to feel like a weirdo and exited her room to join Ren. Which she prided herself for when she managed to do it without losing herself.

She met him as he was coming back from the kitchen with a couple of water bottles, and he smiled upon seeing her. He was wearing worn clothes too, and she wondered how he managed to look so damn appetizing in an old light blue long sleeve, that had turned greyish and jeans that she guessed used to be jet black and were rubbed thin at places. Yet, he looked like a model proclaiming his proposal of a new fashion trend with all the pheromones of a magazine half-nude drugged-and-drenched-into-sex-appeal man. He looked too good. Way too good. That chill outlook it gave off just made her think the clothes would tear easily if she tried to pull at some parts. And the threads of the top look so slim, so worn-out, it urged her to push it up to discover what was already visible when it was still down. The curves of his muscles shown, as if drawn by the texture of the cloth itself. He was also barefoot for some odd reason.

Too hot. Way too… Fucking fairy's pheromones.

That damn outfit had to look that awesome once on him. She would curse if she could.

"What?"Asked Ren looking down on himself once he noticed her stare.

She shook her head, shifting to the side.

"Nothing. I was just thinking these clothes truly look tired."

He chuckled.

"That was kinda the point." She glanced back at him once she had grabbed at the shreds of her composure, grinning.

"So you said. So, what did you have in mind?"

But she obtained no reply and he pointed his index forward.

"Follow me."

He led her all the way through the maze of the opposite side of his parents' house, and paused in front of a big wooden door carved into one of the two towers she hadn't visited yet.

"You can drop slippers and socks too, if you'd like."Ren said, and she proceeded as such, putting them on the side of the corridor, on a shelf that was clearly set up to hold shoes. She glanced back at him with curiosity.

He pushed the door open and let her by-pass him before closing the door behind them, and she stepped on dark rough-textured tiles as they walked a broad but short hall to an angle.

They curved around, and Ren caught her side to slow her before she could walk right into the shiny clear water replacing the solid ground, barely a metre away from them.

It took her a second to assimilate the sights of a five-metre-large passage pool filling half of the spheric surface of the ground floor, while a curved bar stood at the back and a flight of concrete stairs looking glued to the opposite wall to where they stood and going to the next floor.

The gateway of water on her left maintained its attraction, however, when her eyes followed its twenty metres length to what should have been the left wall, only to discover a huge opening leading right into the garden, as the crystalline blue continued its course uninterrupted, switching from an inside pool to an outdoor one.

She could barely make out the shapes but there was no doubt.

She didn't know when she had started gaping but she was.

"Does this mean the time for me to see the garden has come?"She asked, feeling excitement filling her at the idea to finally be able to see it. And she was not to blame for that. Ren had jealousy refused to show that part for several days now. Waiting, and making her think all kinds of crazy scenarios in her mind, the way he had goaded her.

He chuckled.

"That's part of it, yes. But it is too soon for you to be astounded."

She glanced at him, closing her mouth, and waiting for more.

"For now, I think you will already appreciate the extends of the pools, and it will permit you to discover a … sample, of the garden." He said mysteriously.

She stared.

"Did you just say pools, as in several?"

He nodded, his cheek catching a dimple as his smile and own enchantment grew, with each amount she showed of hers.

"If diving in with me is okay with you, of course." He added, and she looked down at her clothes.

"Were the worn clothes for this purpose?"She asked, puzzled by the conception, and wondering why he hadn't proposed to just put on a bathing suit. She had brought one, just in case. Though, to be fair, she would rather not be that denuded in front of him, so, she considered herself lucky of his choice, even if it was weird.

"Yes. They are."

Unbeknown to her, the choice of worn clothes in opposition to the obvious choice of bathing suits had been on purpose. As one might want to know, it had just been above the limits of a certain man to go in swimming attire with her, and he had decided to propose a safer idea for the mere sake of his sanity. One might want to add, some photo-shoot of a few days back had stretched a stone-grip control to slippery zones, and only the professional and ethical fortitude of said man had kept him onto the right path. Considering the shoot had kept things quite demure from what he had feared, just the pondering of the 'could be, would be' – such as a two-piece swimsuit, for example – … was a red threat to any kind of semblance of management. Thus, an emergency solution had to be found that avoided too much exposure of his retinas to what he considered to be heavens territories.

Ren cleared his throat and Kyoko couldn't help to ponder the whys he looked so uncomfortable, here.

"Again, only if that is okay with you." He repeated, as if he worried she would seriously not be.

"Of course." She said and after a brief smile to her, he went to put the bottles inside the fridge situated on the right. He walked right back and dropped two steps into the immersed stairs, before pivoting in her direction.

He lifted his hand.

"Milady?"

The corner of her mouth stretched as she shook her head and approached the edge, taking his hand and slipping her feet onto the first submerged step. Then the second, as he stepped down further until he had water reaching him mid-thigh.

She stopped before taking her foot down to the place that would make water reach her waist, as a thought strike her, and she pulled at his hand so he wouldn't bring her further, while she took hold of the rim of the overlarge tee she was wearing, giving him a glance.

"Do you mind if I make a knot in it?" she asked, not that she planned to give him back to him if she could help it, but it was still his t-shirt. He shook his head.

"It might leave a mark, though. Especially since we are going into water."

Ren chuckled, and he brought the top of her hand to his lips.

"Make as many knots as you desire in this t-shirt, Kyoko, I don't mind. For as far as I'm concerned, this is yours if you want it."

And there he was again. Mad tease. Though, now it was sure, he would not see this fabric again.

She could only roll her eyes to give herself some time to recover from yet another blow. She was unable to repress a growing smile, however, as she let go of his hand. As much as it drove her nuts when he played with her, sometimes, it was quite nice to have his undivided attention to her. And sometimes, sometimes, she truly had the impression he loved to spoil her. And for each time it hurt to know it was not in the way she wished for, she couldn't help but enjoy every second he would spare her.

She lifted the rims of the long tee – well, for her – , and made a loose knot above her belly button with her hands. She didn't want to tight it too much, in hope it would avoid risking to hinder the natural shape of the tee, but having such a large t-shirt move around once in water was not in her best interests. It would prevent it to drop too much, hopefully, even if the neck opening was already so huge it had settled under one of her shoulders. But without the knot, she was dreading it would just drop all the way down to her belly button. She pulled and pushed a bit again, verifying it would hold a few times, and looked up to cross the stare of Ren, fixated on her stomach. She still had her fingers around the knot, and self-consciously strained at it, only to notice Ren following the move with his gaze, as in transfixed. She tugged on it again.

"Does it look too loose?"She asked.

"Hm?"Was the very non-intelligible respond she got as he stared back at her, blinking.

"Is it too loose?"She asked again.

"… No, it's not."

His reply came back so flat, she just fixed him. He was making her nervous, looking at her with such an intensity.

"But you are staring at it like there is an issue with it."

"It is fine."

"Alright, I'm redoing it." She decided after such an unconvincing comment, going about unfastening the knot as fast as she could.

"Please don't!"He said, and his shadow outstretched above her head a second before she felt his hand around hers, too late, however, as the two parts lied loosely in each of her palms.

He made a weird sound and she angled her head up when she realized it had sound a little like a moan. She wanted to laugh, he looked so frustrated. Had she been that extenuating in how slow she was making it, though?

"I'll be fast, just give me a second."
He caught her hands before she could try to follow with actions her words.

"Just … – he mumbled – let me do it."

She stared, confusion evident. Why would he propose to –

"You want to tie – she shook her head – "I'm perfectly capable of – "

"Please."

She had to check when it came out as a plea, and her protest died in her throat when his fingers brushed her middle section by accident.

"… I'll check it won't be too loose," he added softly, after he had taken from her the two ears of cloth she had twisted and held a second before. She dropped her arms.

He let the cloth go fully down and gathered the left and right sections again. He was so focused on it, a new smile bloomed on her lips as she found herself thinking for the nth time how adorable he made himself. Yet, there was also a quietness, a careful languor that made her itchy.

Since Kyoko was a couple of steps up from down where he was, they were standing at eye level and she felt his hot breath on her face as his gaze remained downward.

He fastened the first knot and pulled tight, making her huff a gasp as all the air was pressed out of her.

"I – … need to breathe, Ren."She said and dropped her head against his shoulder with a laugh when he slackened the pressure and she was finally able to let air in.

"Sorry."He mumbled. "I will tight it less."

"That is why if you'd just let me – "

Her words collapsed when she felt the soft pads and a palm enter a precarious contact with the skin above her belly button, and her gaze lifted to find his, silent puzzlement swelling inside, but in no hurry to make him stop.

Seconds elongated as he didn't move his hand as he eventually broke words out.

"… If that's okay with you, so I can let one finger of space … between your … skin and the shirt."

Her chin made a nod, or she thought it did. She didn't really pay it awareness. All her attention and nerves had pivoted to the focal point of her midsection, of the warmth against it, and she was already having the hardest time not closing her eyes and blowing her secrets to fumes, right here, right now.

She felt more than she saw when his focus returned to his hands, and the moment her gaze was not the prey of the flame in his anymore, her eyes shattered close.

Control yourself…

"Your stomach is really taut…" He murmured as his palm pressed on her stomach, his voice was like a rumbling purr, caressing her ear. Her lips trembled, as above her skin, the length of his fingers felt endless as they stretched and her belly twitched. The tips of his fingers were ticklishly smooth, yet there were rougher areas, especially at the bottom junction between them and his palm. She wanted to feel that hand caress her skin around … everywhere.

" … well, I do have to keep my shape."

He hummed. Slowly, oh-so-very-languidly, yet, oh-yet, an eternity too short, his fingers slid up to reach just under the first knot, and stopped.

Was air coming in? She wasn't sure. Her gaze perked before she had made the choice to do so, falling inside pools of shadowy dark greens.

"Can you … stabilize my hand and place it right under where you would – …-like the knot?"He asked and she didn't really register her agreeing move or word, but felt herself move until her fingers set themselves above his own.

With her hand, she pushed his fingers upward. It was excruciating how heavy and heated his hand felt on her flesh, and how far she agonized in the pleasure she got from having it on her. Her movement had been slow – a smidge up, barely – but she had still underestimated the span of his fingers, and she had to abruptly stop, when his tips brushed against one of her breasts' sides.

His fingers fluttered for a whimsical exquisite instant, and drove down instantly.

A gritted 'Sorry' came from him the second that followed and she didn't know if she was more shocked or pleased to see a light colour appear on his cheeks.

"Not your fault."She whispered in return, shifting her gaze away as her own face morphed, and she did her best to bring back an innocent smile. She was unsure she had succeeded but she hadn't removed her own hand from above his and he made the second knot with a unique hand, harrowingly slow she might add, but so accurate it made her wonder if he had truly needed her help.

The moment he was done, he let his fingers glide down her stomach, and she failed to contain a shudder as he removed his hand from her.

And just when she thought she had been through more shocks her system could handle, he slipped backward, dropping the entirety of his body into the pool of water.

It was so fast her eyes had not even been able to catch if it had been on purpose or an accident.

"Ren!"

He reappeared merely a second later, however, looking as fine as ever, if she was to judge by the cheeky, if a little tense, smile.

She just had the time to realize his intention and curse before he made her tumble forward with a light pull of his hand, and she fell into the pool.

Cold water flooded over her head and her knees grazed the mosaic of tiny tiles of turquoise and other shadings of blue, before she closed her eyes again and pushed upward with her feet.

She erupted through the surface in waves of splashes, siding her locks above her head to get a clear sight, the spirit ready to seek vengeance as she perused her left and right and got on the ball of her feet, ready to pounce.

To her dismay, he was already several metres away and striding backward and outside, as the water slowly rose for each step he took back, his face full of mirth.

"You!"

She let her body drop down and dived forward, swimming after him and outside. Her ideas to half-drown him went right out the window the moment she floated her way to the outside pool, awed.

Once you swam outside, the tank of water shaped itself in a huge dewdrop pearl of water with grass areas on its left and right. She noticed first a flow of water falling from a tiny flat pond – barely the circumference of a wheel – and directly into the pool. Another one – greeting her sight and making her gape by its size – was pooling down from a proper mounded pile of somewhat square rocks of sandy tones, and gushed water down in a vigorous rush of water. That very real waterfall had her crane her neck a little once she closed up to see the top, as it was falling from at least a metre or more above the ground level, and it poured water on her head before she could avoid it in the process of looking up.

She gasped a couple of times after dropping head under water and losing equilibrium from the shock more so than from it real power, swimming away from the main drop to breathe properly. Ren was laughing. Madly amused.

And clearly, at her expense.

"You are not supposed to stand under … unless you want a sturdy skull massage."He said between snickers and she glanced his way, on the end section of the round pool where he was waiting for him.

"I can help you try it, if you want. It is … refreshing."She threatened and he chuckled with a shake of his head.

"No thanks. Watching you try it was enough."He added with a grin.

Fairy jerk.

She was distracted again when her eyes caught the third fall of water.

Standing at midsection of the one she had been washed with, but instead of pouring down into the tank she was in, it was sprinkling its water outside the pool and into the unknown, to a destination she couldn't perceive. Plants, in pots on the terrace or dug directly in the soil in left out triangular areas of the tiles, surrounded them everywhere.

But what fascinated her the most was … she couldn't see what was forefront. It was as if the end of the pool fell forward and even when she attempted to look further and turned her gaze on the left or right, she could only see more grass. Oh, she could see the end of the Hizuri land, way ahead, demarcated by a high number of trees surrounding it. But between where she was and that line, it was like a huge hole of non-visible remained. Her only clues were the grass sloping down a smidgen, when you followed its line on the right, and in the opposite direction, just before the rim of the Hizuri land, a gathering of trees and bushes seemed to be taking place.

"Are you coming or will you just admire the landscape?"Ren asked.

She smiled in his direction.

"How do you feel about drowning?"

§§§

He grinned.

God did he love when she jested with him. Which helped him ignoring how close he had been to lose touch with any form of limitation earlier. He had just been shredded in bits by one seemingly innocent move of her.

He observed her swimming her way to him as the depth of the water got deeper, an idea struck him.

"Wait!"He said, stopping her in her tracks. This wouldn't do. He wanted to her to get the full scope of this at once.

"I'll come to you." He added, and the gold of her eyes swam with confusion as she waited for him to join her again.

He reached her the moment he too lost touch with the ground under his feet, and raised his hands, palms up, at the surface of the water.

"I will guide you, close your eyes."

She gave him a suspicious stare, which made him laugh, but he insisted.

She closed her lids delicately, an amused smile he had no doubt was directed at what she considered his whims pulling at her lips, and he took hold of her soft fingers.

His legs began to paddle faster as he treaded backward, leading her near the edge of the pool.

He felt the ground under his feet when it began to elevate again, and used the strength of his limbs to push back faster, pulling Kyoko with him and making her laugh when it made her legs floated to the surface behind her, as he accelerated further.

Ren led her until they reached the border, water no farther than their waist once again. Her locks were wrapping all over her back, waist and front like clinging straps of silk, and the amber of her hair looked a darker shade – straining to copper – with the weight of humidity on them. His old t-shirt was barely staying on her, even with the knot they had made, and where the wetness should have made it easier to keep the piece in place, not only was it failing in that area, it was also bringing forth its whole can of issues to him. It was pressing against areas he really didn't want the memory printed on his retinas right now. Not when madness was threatening his every thought. Her belly was not the only thing that looked taut. Such shape… He wanted to rip that tee to verify if – …

He dropped his face in the water, letting go of one of her hands.

That knot was the culprit. That damn knot.

He had pleaded to stop the torture internally when she was fastening it earlier, and had tried to do it himself, just so she would stop moving the damn thing around. Accentuating the tightness it had had above her chest … and she had been tensing her belly and abs each time she was fumbling with it.

But if he had reached and proposed to do it instead so she would stop, the minute he had been close and touching her, he had longed to prolong the contact with her skin. And his reasons to plea – because it had been pleas – to be the one doing it had vastly changed. And no amount of ethic, or good manners, managed to bring back his common sense as he shamelessly used the excuse to feel her skin, how warm and firm it was. Hell, even with her controlling his hand, he hadn't gathered back his mind. And when the tips of his fingers had grazed … only the shock of what he was doing and how near he had been to trespass lines had brought enough cells back in his brains to make him recede. That had really been a first. Nothing had brought back control. Nothing had been able to contain her attraction. And he had truly abused it this time. He was still surprised she hadn't snapped at him with how far he had been from just … messing around with her, and joking.

"Ren?"Kyoko asked, lids still closed. "Are you going to let me open my eyes or – "

"One minute."

He scratched his throat at how rough his voice came out. He carefully incited her to sit on the immersed bench near the edge, watching as the droplets dripping from the tee and gliding slowly downward on her belly – on those tattoos – fell into the pool before joining the ocean of drops and disappearing when she sat, as her waist went under water again. A pearl of water shined under a ray of light when she shifted, and it glided from high on her temple to fall on her left lashes before diving down on her cheek.

Millions tiny pearls were there too on her neck, pouring on her collarbones from her locks, and between her cleavage.

He wondered what would be her flavour if he were to let his lips brush her neck to capture those mischievous drops winking at him in the sun. Her lips were still humid from her earlier dives and that hilarious drench she took from his parents' tiny waterfall.

Would her lips be as inflamed than the brazier frenzying his guts and making his legs go weak if he kissed that strawberry pink?

His fingers reached out on instinct, to thread and catch a strand of hair amorously pressing against her right cheek, and his thumb eagerly captured the drops still gliding down on her face, and he set the strand behind her ear. Her cheeks looked a little red, he didn't think she had a sunburn yet, but he would fetch for the after-sun cream once they would return inside.

"Ren?"She asked hesitantly.

Damn it.

He cleared his throat.

"I'm going to make you pivot slowly, and then I will give you the go to open your eyes."

I'm slipping.

Not just a little. All the time. As if he was spending his time catching himself back these days. Where was his stronghold restraint? Where had his collected attitude gone?

"You are not going to drop me into water again, are you?"Kyoko joked, and he could feel she was trying to alleviate the atmosphere and had caught on his oddness. Bewildering sweet woman.

"No, I won't."He said with a smile in the voice.

I might feast on every square centimetre of you if my last string of reign snatch, however…

He let his arms drove under water and his hands palmed her hips oh-so-very carefully, barely pressing to make her turn on herself, but no amount of quelling of his urges managed to prevent him to thread – for an eternity of nothing – his fingers in her locks swimming in the water behind her back.

Cool down … cool down.

His crumbling might and overflow of urges were not worth wasting this experience for her.

He just wanted to see…

"You can open your eyes."

She did.

Her gaze eagerly ate the sight of his parents' garden – the place they had put the most effort in the house, and his favourite area – , and his smile bloomed in time with her mouth breaching apart. His heart swelled as the gold of her gaze took that special glow mirroring the magic her eyes only, could see. They shined like the world was only made of beauty and joy. Of an unadulterated innocent love. It was one of the most wonderful sights for him. The glow of that woman as she stared at the world as if her gaze could not contain the wonders she was witnessing. As if it was overflowing from her expression itself when she was the sole reflection of it. Often, he longed for his palms to be able to catch a sparkle of her sights in the heart of his hands, to put them in his own gazing upon the outside world. A whimsical second of seizing an invisible realm manifesting itself under the lenses of his stare would suffice.

Since he could only bathe in the radiance of how Kyoko saw the world, for now, he was determined to bring more vitality to the twinkle that was her magical spirit. He laughed aloud as she twisted her head left and right, her eyes filling with more curiosity the longer she looked. He could have spent an eternity just watching her, so long as she was smiling.

"… How many basins are there?" she asked, gobsmacked.

"Counting the ones we can bath in or all of them?"He questioned.

She looked at him in shock, though it was an expression of pleasure that mixed her surprise.

"There are more?"

He nodded.

"Two others, but there are just ponds, there for nature itself, not for us."

He faced outward, his stare lingering on the huge pool two metres down from the one they were in. The ridged camel outer shapes tones that made the slabs, the tiles and the spread out mounds of stones and rocks, were dispersed all around a large basin of water, the form in vague resemblance of a circle. With bumps and extensions. The jacuzzi being one of them. Palm trees and bushes appeared to have sprouted naturally left and right all around the deep pool, even if he perfectly knew his parents had artfully asked the designer to make it seem natural, and that they had wanted to reproduce the atmosphere and colourings of an oasis in a desert. Which he had to admit was a success. With the fawns hues surrounded by vibrant grass and high palm trees, while themselves wrapped around a tiny ocean of turquoise, it was one of the first thing that popped into mind, so long you had the reference, upon seeing it.

The third basin – even further down – was connected to it, and though he was sure Kyoko could see they were close, he was quite certain she still couldn't take a sneak peek at the how, neither was she was aware of how the one they were in linked to the second one.

Like a kid impatient to show his last accomplishment – even though he had nothing to do with the doing of said garden – he let the excitement he felt of her discovering it shined in a tempting excited smile.

"Did you know all the pools are connected?"

"You are kidding."

He shook his head.

"Wanna see?"He proposed, pointing with his head downward.

She nodded and he stood, finally letting her see the place he had been hiding with his body. Water running down elongated purposely-coarsed steps the same tones of a few levels under, around the bank of water.

The steps descended in a slow curve to the left, and they couldn't see yet the end of them.

"This is…"Kyoko said, grinning so wide at the sight he had to applaud himself for hiding it from her. He set his foot on the first step, then the second.

He lifted his hand to her.

"The surface of the steps was roughened but I'd prefer if you held on to me just to be sure. Water is still there to make it tricky at places."

"Okay."

Her hand grasped his and he let his fingers wrapped themselves around it.

"Take hold with your other hand on the railing."He said, pointing at the sandy stone wall round outshape that reached just above their waist and followed the path of the steps – and made it perfect to rely on.

She followed his lead and they walked down the steps until he heard her laugh at how careful he was at each step he took before letting her.

"I slipped a couple of times on them, you know."He said, despite his smile at the sound of her laugh.

"You? That clumsy?"She shook her head, as she walked down to his level. "You are mocking me or trying to make me disregard another of your worrywart overdoing."

"I am not." Granted he had still been very young, four years old or so, but he had actually scared his dad when hitting his head that time.

"Huh-huh."She said, disbelief still obvious in her voice, just as they reached the portion they could finally see the slabs being replaced by longer ones as they ended their courses into the pool. He looked back at her and found her staring at him. The fondness in her eyes, an unexpected surprise, gave him a start – as his jumbled mind tried not to drown and lose reason in the affection he thought he was seeing right there – and confounded his heart into an erratic tempo.

He took the next step down as he tried to find back his voice, and felt his balance tilt backward, he fell.

He had the time to hear the shout of Kyoko as his back hit the water, and thought he saw her shadow above him before water went over his gaze, filling his ears with gurgling void.

Once under, his shoulders very briefly hit the slippery ground; however, he was quick to regain his bearings and the moment his feet graze the smooth yet roughish floor of the pool, he pushed upward.

" … en!" Slammed into his ears the moment he surfaced above the now agitated water of the basin, and eyes still shut, he couldn't help but grimace at the height of the shout, even through the splashes ricocheting against him from someone rushing in his direction.

A wet body demolished his chest and ripped the air out of him – making him huff out and stumble backward – just as he was removing his drenched hair from his sight, and vision came into focus.

Her scent reached his nose in advance to his brain computing who it was. His arms closed on her lean drenched shape before his eyes had locked with hers, and a torrent of questions rang in, just as his gaze begun to read the panic in her expression.

Her hands surged up to hold his face in their hearth, stroking his cheeks in distressed caresses repeatedly. He smiled like an idiot. She handled his head in tense feathery touches, as if scared she would press somewhere wrong, but it only made him want to relax at the soothing electrifying touch of her fingers.

"You okay?!" She demanded again. You're not hurt?! You hit the water pretty hard. Nothing hurts?!" She continued to ask and he was palpated on his sides and arms, and hips, in anxious rushed moves that did nothing to prevent him to be affected by her hands, and he held back a groan. He should have had accidents more often if it brought such pleasures in reward. "Answer me, damn it!" she growled at him, and he mimicked her stance, wrapping her own face in his humid fingers, and brushing the petals of her cheeks calmly, in hope she would calm down.

"I'm … fine."He said quietly, as his eyes landed once again in her furiously anxious stare swearing no compromise until it would have been given replies.

His lids barely reached the level of a half-blink before her arms crushed his ribs in a death grip, squeezing harder and rumpling the sodden shirt he was wearing in heavy wrinkles, when he wrapped his own limbs around her again.

"Idiot." She mumbled, shoulders tense and heaving fast from her stressed breaths.

He pecked her head, whispering an apology, but her body refused to ease itself from its tension.

"I'm okay."

"…"

"I'm okay."

He caressed her back softly.

"I'm okay."

Her respiration slowed a bit but it was still … not that. He had scared her real good. He glanced at the steps he had been standing on before falling. It had not been far from the bottom but it was still a hefty drop.

"What about your back?"She enquired, letting go of him to rub her palms on his back, up and down, up and down. She really ought to stop that, his body was already getting dreadfully aware of the tight breasts barely covered by a snug shirt of his, and stroking against his chest.

But then, her hand touched higher, around his shoulder's blade, and he flinched. She pulled back immediately, making him curse his inability to hide his reaction. Her frown was creasing by the minute.

"You are hurt. Show me."

"Kyoko, I'm fine."

"Show me."

He sighed, and before she could protest, he grabbed her under water, behind the knees, and lifted her. She yelped in surprise as the sudden unbalance, before they found themselves pressed against each other again, instead, her head a tad above his, this time.

"See, I'm all good."He said, attempting a cheesy smile and to prove her there was nothing to worry about if he could do that.

She stared at his face but shook her head, and he gave up the jesting approach, leading them to the border of the pool to sit her on the smooth sandy tiles.

He set one arm on each side of her, and bent an inch in her direction, noticing the concern still gleaming in her eyes.

"I'm alright."He told her, a clear lack of tease in the tone this time. He didn't want her to worry for real.

She turned her gaze away.

"… You could really have…"

"But I'm not."

She let her head fall against him.

"This was a huge fall, Ren…"

"I know."

She set her hands on each side of his hips and his thoughts convulsed a fast death as she touched him there. He was really going to become greedy, if she kept up with all the little touches. Without even adding what it was doing to his heart.

His next inspiration shuddered to a stop when all of sudden, she yanked him toward her – and he narrowly avoided gracing her with a hit from his chin, with how sudden the move had been – as she brought his hips between her legs. Hello?! Kyoko?! What are you doing?!!

Encircled tightly at the waist by her arms, he was hugged close in her embrace. He felt disputed between elation and shock she would do this, and rumbled the same set of words like an automate. A broken automate.

"I promise … I'm okay, I'm truly okay."

She tightened her hold on him, and he refrained from cursing his despair in the three languages he knew as the movement brought them even snugger. She was going to see how okay he was very soon, very quick, if she kept bringing their bottom cores closer. I need to tell her it is not the best position… He swore at his own mind for using that word at that moment. Yet, he couldn't resolve himself to move. Not when it meant moving away from being held in her arms.

"Idiot fucking fairy … you scared me." He couldn't refrain his smile at her swearing, even knowing it was not without meaning her proper manners had been dusted out right now.

She rubbed her nose like a kitten against his belly, from left to right, again and again, and he melted. This is unfair.

He set his hands on her shoulders' blades and stroked them softly. She pressed her head further into him and he wondered if the scare had broken her personal space sensor.

"I'm sorry."

She pulled away, and he nearly held her back, more interested in prolonging the contact than his own sanity, clearly. Some strands of her hair caught in the decorative buttons of his tee, on the side, but she didn't seem to notice as she looked at him with a grip that felt nearly feral. As if she had secured him in a deadlock and he was at her mercy. It also brought a physical response he hadn't anticipated as his body twitched with a little too much enthusiasm, and – once the ideas brought to bloom in his mind – promised plethora of dreams that would leave him with too little sleep on his account.

"Show me." She said. The voice was quiet but the lack of choice was evident.

"It's really not that bad. I'm all good."

She grabbed his wrists.

"Show me or I make you."

Well, now it was evident his reveries wouldn't be avoided. She had just turned up the inferno to the last notch. Was she really unconscious of it all? Or was he just that synced to her every move and word, it couldn't be avoided anymore?

Though, if he was honest, the idea to be the one to tight her up and caress her body through endless nights had still his preference. Especially if it meant he could bring her to heavens with his lips and his body.

"Ren."She warned, and he smiled, helpless.

"Yes, Kyoko."

All you want and everything you want.

He stepped back, water stirring around his hips as he did, and she let his wrists go, so he could remove his tee. In one swift move in front of her. The sun hit his nude skin, and the heat of it instantly started to dry droplets of water running down his torso. He loved the sun, despite the excessive heat it could sometimes provide, and he was pretty resistant to it, so it didn't bother him. He bathed in it for a second, closing his eyes.

Was he also trying to show off? Possible. He was battling a tough adversary, every weaponry available to his arsenal to make the great challenger fall was to be brought on deck, and be armed. It was war, and he was desperate, he was now willing to rely on cheap moves. He wanted to snort at his mental imagery.

She kept a firm gaze, waiting, and relenting, he pivoted, presenting her his back. He felt the stir of wavelets around his waist, and water washed over his belt, running under it and below.

He felt Kyoko's hands at his back, and shuddered at the feel of the pads of her fingers against his nude skin. A chill ran down his spine. She removed her hands.

"Did I hurt you?"

He shook his head, and stepped backward, knowing before she could ask for it, she'd want to observe the top of his shoulders and would need him to be closer. Truthfully, it was not so bad. He might get a bruise at worse, but he was pretty sure the skin hadn't broken, so.

Her fingers were on him again, and away from her gaze, he closed his lids, savouring her gentle hands as her fingers rose forward, gathering the drops remaining on his back as she reached the zone that had hit the pool's floor earlier. How could a human touch brought so much turmoil and sensations in one being was still beyond him. He was relaxing and being turned on at once, soothed and comfort at the same time excitation and desire fed the devouring fire already existing.

"It's red." She said, bringing him back from his quite torturous but philosophical thoughts. "And I think one area will bruise."

"See, nothing bad."

He felt her continuing to inspect it in silence, dubious, clearly, and verifying there was nothing more serious, and he was about to turn around when she grabbed his biceps on each side and –

—Kissed his back, right on the spot that had been hit, making him jump a little. It was just a brush of lips but … he had felt it.

"K-Kyoko? Wha – "

"…"

He cleared his throat.

" … not that I mind but- … Wha-What brought this on?"

" … To make it heal faster."

Sweet agony. She was trying to kill him.

She cough too.

"You should put ice on it too, it could swell."

He nodded, he would need at minima, to cool himself down. He did not turn around.

"Please."

That was enough.

Timeout. He needed a timeout.

He lifted his head and turned back. Looking into her eyes, he could see she was still worried, and he brushed a lock away from her face. He wanted to grab her face and crushed her lips with his. He took one step back. Another. Two more. Control, control.

Two more.

"Alright. This is what we are going to do. I'm going to get fetch water bottles, sun lotion – because I don't want you to catch a sunburn, he said, pointing at her face – , and ice."

"I could – "

"No."

He pointed at the pool.

"Enjoy yourself. And no peeking at the third basin until I'm back."

Her lips twitched but her worried glance followed him and he stopped in his retreat. He walked back to her just when she was jumping back into the pool.

"I'm not feeling dizzy, I didn't hurt my head, stop worrying."He pecked her cheek quick, and moved away, decided to go away while he still had some brain cells left.

"Be more careful and I won't need to," she grumbled as he exited the pool, before adding, "The famous worrywart has no room saying that."

He chuckled and gave her a reverse wave, without staring her direction.

It was only once he reached the fridge, he finally paused. Once he breached it open, his head dropped against the cold glass door of the mini fridge, hoping the freshness would alleviate him in the slightest.

Sweet lords of heavens… What the hell was that?!

And the clock continued to tick…

End of chapter

PS: For You Parker. If you survived… You're welcome. One of my greatest delights is watching you convulse after reading one of my chapters. Cackles like a demon. Probability of convulsions from all the readers as this chapter is being written further, analyse. Results: critical.

Besides this, obviously, I hope you will have enjoyed it and will all try to roast me alive in the comments.

PLEASE ENJOY THIS TO THE FULLEST OF ITS MADDNESS. MUAHAHAHAHA ^^

KISSES.

Mimagfan,

AUTHOR OUT.