CHAPTER 123
I do not own Skip Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.
~~Magical Summer trip ~~
~~ part 29~~
~~~False quiet and pictures~~~
~~part 3~~
She let herself fall the moment he was out of view.
She hit the wet surface backward, in a loud splash, swallowed over by the chlorine-d transparent water. The scent was very faint, barely perceptible, and didn't suffice to disarray her mind from the raging storm going inside. Her heavy clothes clung to her skin as she resurfaced. Floating on her back, the cool feeling of water supporting her and soothing her from the warmth of the summer, and the rays of the sun, hot on her face, in her eyes – glowing and forcing her to shut her lids – , made a funny soothing contrast that would have been most relaxing and would have made her drowsy in any other circumstances. A loud gurgling-rushing sound surrounded her but she was too preoccupied to fully acknowledge its voice or seek its provenance.
Her heart was still fighting against her rib cage. Furious, scared and elated, all at once.
That fall…
… had bullet panicked her whole mind and soul. It hadn't been controlled. It hadn't been one of his acrobatics. Not something she would have known the risk of accidents to come very low. Because he nearly always had it under utmost control. No. He had slipped.
He hadn't been that far above from the ground. In a safe fall, it would have caused no worry to her. But the angle… Backward and head first, craned. For all the sick eternity his drop had lasted… And then, the wait. That lengthened awaiting before he broke the all-too-still shimmering water again. She thought he had bumped his head… That he must have hit the bottom floor of the pool with impact. She had seen his body diving deep towards the bottom.
Her mind only came to the conclusion she must have jumped after him when she suddenly felt the wet humidity surrounding her again, after he emerged. As if she had been able to regain her senses.
For one second I thought…
She didn't know what she would have done… She didn't want to think about it. Ever.
Wet beads dripped on her hot cheeks and in the corner of her eyes, as she brought her fingers above her gaze. The tension still seized her muscles and her breathing refused to sooth to its fullness.
Her cool? Vanished. Crushed under her nude feet by the soul hurting fright the sight of him falling head first has brought her.
Her control?
Soot blown away by the wind. A ruin, evaporating faster than the moist on her belly under this warming noon sun. Such a relic her compose has been, it dusted out in the path of her movement to his back. Not even a memory when she decided to press her lips against his bruised shoulders. To caress his cheeks. To hug his navel against her cheek. To rub her nose against the hard planes of his chest. To tighten her arms around his hips.
She bent at the middle, letting her backside dropping until the action brought her bottom close to the pool floor.
And what firm hips those had been…
No matter how long and how much she dived into the cold water of this pool, her body refused to calm down. Her former fright mingled with the dizzy feeling of exhilaration at touching so much of him in an instant. Of feeling his firm hot skin under the brush of her lips. It shook a frightening cocktail for her frazzled nerves.
She could only mumble that pathetic excuse of 'healing faster', hoping he would remember the time he had asked her a kiss to break his 'curse' and would not look further. Hoping he would put it on the account of her love of healing magic and wouldn't question it. As ridiculous as it sounded. She was truly grateful he had bought it.
She broke the water with a gasp, furious at herself. How? How was she going to continue like this? Now she was assaulting the poor man. Her friend. Her fists slapped the water in frustration.
She was taking so much liberties with him.
I'm losing grip on my reactions to him…
The feel of his arms around her. His reassurance to her fear. The feel of his warmth against the pads of her fingers. Under her lips. Their bantering. His teasing, his smile. His hand against her belly.
She stumbled backward, leaning against the border of the pool. His green eyes looking at her. His gentleness.
She crossed her arms in front of her, trying to contain, to refrain.
Talking with one another. Acting together.
But it is impossible.
Her body aches, her body zings with flames. Her heart glows in its lost battle. Her soul yearns.
I want to be with him…
A humid pearl falls, lose itself in the company of trillions that embrace her as one of them.
§§§
When he came back, she seemed lost in thoughts, frowning unhappily, and he wondered if she was worried about him, still. Her earlier reaction warmed his heart, and necessitated an emergency cool down – what's with all the touches? What's with the kiss on his back? Was she trying to make him go mad?– , but his attention distracted as he noticed she was turning flush on the arms.
She lifted her head in his direction when she heard him, and smiled as he joined her in the pool.
No more wandering eyes for him today, he decided in his mind. That was way too precarious at the moment.
The coal in his body was still fuming, ready to flare up at any moment. His shoulders still shuddered from the light press of her lips earlier, and the tingle it had ignited had glided all the way down his spine, through each vertebra, one by fucking one. Until it spanned out around his hips like a burning gentle veil, spreading. As if her hands were the ones wrapping themselves around his hips, her very fingers tracing the lines defining his body around. Before her palms would have ended their course and dived down, between his legs. Taking possession of him in an uncompromising ribbon of sparks.
He shook his head, glad he was back in the water, smiling back at her.
One kiss should not hold such a power…
He really didn't think this water was cold enough, however.
He handed over the sun cream to her, warning her face and arms were a little red, and she hurried to apply some, while he dropped the icepack on the top of his shoulders. A minute in and it was starting to numb a bit and soothed the light pain he was feeling, but the chill that ran down his back only reminded him of something else, and it was doing the opposite of cooling him down.
He had purposely avoided looking at her while she was applying the cream – he truly needed all the help he could have right now – , but she suddenly jumped up on the edge of the pool, making him look in her direction as she started to apply some on her slightly rosy uncovered belly.
Well, fuck.
How had sun been there?
He wished he was the sun warming her.
It was such a tempting spot, too, and now he knew how smooth and lean and flexible it was. And-
And my eyes are wandering again… Eyes up. Eyes up.
Dear Lord, this was not looking promising.
He told her he would do a couple of laps while she would finish applying it, and plunged right away. Water swayed and swelled in rhythm to the crossing of his arms as he crawled, rushing and wetting his face in a cool caress. His energy buzzed inside of him, relentless, refusing him ease and quiet, and he moved faster.
He came back to her after a couple more lengths, noticing her gaze directed at him.
"What?"
She shook her head, smiling.
"Just admiring your crawl, it is very smooth."She mimicked his earlier movement with one forearm. "The angle your arms dive in, is very supple and fast."
He stared at her. And stared. Was it him that imagined she was complimenting him more, recently, or was he completely delusional?
"Of course, I'm not a professional swimmer but look." And she closed in. Again. The water splashed around them as stepped on his side, and he contained a still position with difficulty as he felt the heat of her radiate near his waist and arm.
Suddenly her hand was on his right blade-bone while she held his arm up. She imitated the movements he did, before asking him to do it himself, and he obeyed. That's the timing she chose to brush her index on his blade again.
"See, each time you crawl, we can see your blades just before you plunge with your arm, that is why it is the perfect angle."She said, and her fingers brushed against that very spot again.
Here went his attempts at calming down.
A shudder ran down from that area when she did it for the third time, and she jumped back and away.
"S-sorry."She said, lifting her hands up and moving her hair away awkwardly, before taking steps to the side without looking at him anymore.
His sight followed after her like a drug addict, tired and tortured, and already missing the feelings of her hands on him.
He swam to the deeper part of the pool and took at least half a dozen careful inspirations, as he rejoined her. They took their time leisurely swimming and hydrating, on the right side length on the pool only. By orders of him. Until he decided it was time.
"Ready to see more?"
She nodded and he made them come out of the pool and onto the grass, before walking a large detour and commanding her to close her eyes halfway through. He took her hand and guided her the way down the small inclination the garden naturally had, careful as he proceeded in his curved advancement. The grass was dry under their nude feet but it never ceased to retain some slippery ness, he didn't want her to trip. It was enough one of them has fallen today, already. He only stopped when his steps came two metres away from the last basin's border, not wanting to bring her closer, less she'd fail to have some perspective.
In his hand, her fingers felt warm and soft when he pulled a bit so she would interrupt her own walk too. He wished he was able to wander on the streets with her hand in his every time they went somewhere. It touched so … right, to have her fingers in his. As simple as it was. It brought uniqueness to an innocent gesture, to such a mundane activity… Colouring his sight with softness and jitters.
He could feel the pulse of his heartbeat in the centre of his palm. The urge to keep her there, to cling to that hand was stronger by the second.
His fingers shook a little around hers … but he let go.
He walked around her and realized too late he was not making a sound – barefoot on the grass as he was – when she jumped at his presence, right behind her back.
"Sorry," he chuckled, " … you can open your eyes."
From where he stood, he didn't witness when she did, but he heard her gasp, and stepped back to her left side as shock and wonderment made light in her eyes, once more, since they got out.
" … this is no tiny flow."She said, "Those are true cascades of water."
He wanted to laugh at the merry amazement he could hear in her voice as he looked the way she had fixated her gaze. The last basin his parents had built was perpetually supplied with water coming from the pool they had just exited. A voluntary disordered arrangement of boulders – more or less round – made of several sizes were assembled on all the left length of the second bank of water, essentially making a wall out of stones going down in lieu of the dropped level the lawn was making. The artificially made cascades were no more than two and a half metres and were run down by continuous water coming from the left edge of the pool from above. They looked more impressive than that, now that he was seeing them, however. It was the one basin he had never had the occasion to see, as it was an addition made after he left from the US.
"It looks straight out of nature."She said with reverence, and he failed to contain his amusement this time.
"This is still very much artificial, I assure you. But I admit it looks very realistic."
She gave him a puzzled look, and he explained he had never seen it before.
"What? But … how?"
He smiled.
"I was already gone by the time they constructed this."
"Oh … sorry."
She diverted her gaze and he could see he hadn't duped her once again. He had no doubt she had perceived the dejection he felt. She was just that good at tuning on his moods, and reading him. He smiled, even as he was reminded of the forlornness she had noticed, and the reason behind.
And it was true. Even knowing it had been unavoidable and necessary, knowing his parents' lives had continued without him, brought about a new sort of melancholy he wasn't sure how to deal with. It was only natural they would. But the feeling of mourning events, things he would never witness, would be only made aware of years later if the subject came, … or maybe … ever. Joys and struggles they went through, projects he might ignore forever…
"It's okay. I'm just sad I missed so much."He let out, staring at the water rushing down eagerly.
He felt her arm around his waist as he was wondering who from his parents had had the idea of setting up such a thing. It was incredible but he could only imagine it must have been tricky to make it this realistic.
She hugged him against her side, and his questioning thoughts puffed out in a screen of smokes at the feel.
"There is still the future."She whispered, and he smiled, heart swelling. She was too good at helping him out of his grief.
"There is."
"And I bet such a majestic place has many fairies."He added after a minute, noticing how her gaze had been distracted and looking at different places.
"Shut up. I can look later."
He laughed, enchanted because she was not denying it, and because it might be the first time she was somewhat confirming she still believed in them, since she had returned to Japan. Not that he had doubted it but knowing that part of her innocence had lived on, was such a joy to him.
"Come on," he said, pulling her along, "I have one final spot to show you."
Their feet carried them on the grass a tad further, a tad lower, to the last portion of his parents' garden. Trees and bushes welcomed their sights as they got near and his lips begun to stretch the closer they got, eager expectation filling his chest and the shake of his cheek pulling up; just from knowing. And he was not disappointed when his ears caught the silent shush of the grass just behind him, sign she had stopped following.
"You have a forest in your garden."
Containing his merriment, he soberly replied, looking ahead at the little grass path going in between the bushes and the trees.
"Technically, it is more of a little wood than a forest but … yes."
Quietness filled the area behind his back – his sides got a light tremor as he resisted the temptation – and his head shifted to see her face, despite his intention not to.
An artful blend of exalted marvelling and frustration painted a wild expression on her face, accentuated by the damped alluring messy locks framing both her face and shape, and making it excessively funny. And quite irresistible.
Unaware, as always, she spoke.
"That is not a castle your parents have, it is a kingdom."
She made it excessively easy for him to focus on the aspects causing his calm hilarity, and his amusement ceased to be silent.
She refocused on him at his sounds, coming out of her dazed admiration with a start, only to roll her eyes at him. Which only doubled entertainment.
"Yes, yes. Laugh it off … seriously – …"She grumbled away and too low for him to catch her words, and it was only once he calmed down he explained.
"My parents made this happen for the purpose of having an orchard at first, then a greenhouse. I used to go here often when I needed some time alone when I was a kid." Though, now, he was wondering if the first reason of the existence of this place had not been more about giving a very nature-focused area for his dad when he made compromises with his mum after buying his childhood's house.
He led her on the little lush green path as his mind waffled with memories.
-'He was secured by vibrant greens, whooshing trees and the little tweets and trills of invisible feathered creatures above, weaving a blanket of nature around —a tranquil natural order that forced no interaction, that begged no complexity, that did not disappoint – a place you could just be by law. One you didn't have to fight for your existence, for your rights… One that gave a place to every creature, and every creature a place. Whether big or small, whether plant or fish, flying or running. You were there, irreplaceable. Not a copy, not a make-believe. But in your own uniqueness, living.
He let himself lean against the trunk behind, and his legs stretched on the mossy grass. His sight took note of a band of skin peeking between his shoes and trousers, realizing he had grown again and would have to ask his parents about it once more.
His nose absorbed the vibrant odours of summer, warm and thriving. Colourful and buzzing your nose with too much flagrance. So many flower perfumes. Large strips of violets stretched at the feet of hazel trees mixed with bistort flowers, though his mother just called them the tube pink flowers. Wood anemones spotted here and there, contrasting with the variations of pinks of the floors. Those didn't let out that much smell, however. But the few glorious purple lilacs submerged the whole area with their sweet aroma.
Eyes closed, he let the whole area soothe the rattling of despair roaring to have its cage opened, and the bitter melancholy numbing his limbs faded to each minute seeding away, to each wave of the ocean his ear managed to catch.
It was with surprise a sudden frr-frr pulled him out of his lulled hardly acquired serenity, and he opened his lids.
"Frr-frr."Came to his ears, again, and there! Right in the middle of the violet beds, something was making them wiggle wildly.
Then, a tiny white creature hopped out of them and towards him, moving softly and giving the time to Kuon to recognize the fluffy creature as a bunny.
The cute creature proceeded with his tiny hops until it found itself right between the human's legs resting down, and it began to sniffle around the cloth on it, before coming even closer. The human didn't dare to move anymore, letting the tiny cute thing move near him in peace. Moments passed in silent contemplation.
Only when the lapin settled down to munch on a strand of grass, did he allow himself to move his hand. And careful, he let his fingers approach to the muzzle of the bunny so it could scent him.
Tentatively, the little furry thing stared at his outstretched fingers and his humid nose touched the tips of them, the whiskers around ticking his digits' pads.
A smile grew on his face before he realized it, and hesitantly, he let a few fingers brush on the top of his fur, behind the ears. And the animal let him. Kuon ignored if it was really pleased by his ministrations, but it was certainly not discontent since it remained near him and even tilted his head here and there as he scratched its ears.
He was in the middle of wondering how he would break down to the cute little thing he had to move when he would have to leave, when he felt a very light pressure settling on his right shoulder. The opposite of the arm petting the lapin. And he was shocked to discover a tiny sparrow, and even chirping at him when he dared to move his head a tad to look in its direction.
Well, now, there was no way he was going to move at all.
One hour later, he was still in this position, but there were more birds and a dog he didn't know to whom it belonged to, around.
A loud rustle came from behind him, making fly away part of the birdies, though not his closest friends.
"Well, there you are."Said his dad emerging with a fond growing smile at the picture his son was making, as he slowed his movement to a stop. He heard his father chuckled more than he saw it, because he still refused to move, and soon his dad proposed to sit at the back so they could talk without disrupting his son's new friends.
Then, his father begun to talk,
and if Kuon did not know yet, this would be the discussion that would clock his fate and his heart into motion.'-
They reached the cleared flowery spot he used to sit for hours long sooner than he remembered, their voices silent as they listened to the music of nature. His parents had made sure that area would remain available to settle in a large portion of it, and he had loved to go there. Admittingly, he had taken refuge in those woods with a little too much indulgence, when he was young and he didn't know how to deal with his issues.
The area was just as his memories recollected, delicately lightened by sunlight and shadowed in an intricate alteration created by the wind and the trees' leaves. The massive increase of flowers was the only major difference his sight picked on, and he found a spot he would not crush too many flowers to sit, and took delight gazing at Kyoko as she spun her left and her right to grasp at every detail surrounding them. Her expression especially – mesmerized once more – made him want to selfishly find every little silly thing to create those sorts of faces on her. Such glowing joyful eyes.
After a while, she stopped, and moving closer to him, she bent to rest by his side.
"I want your parents' garden." She said with finality, and he couldn't contain his laugh.
They remained there, lying down and enjoying the freshness the woods brought. Ren told her about this place, how he loved to come to rest there without anyone around. How it used it to seclude himself from the world, forget about how aloof he felt, and how he much he had had the impression to fail at being worth to be his dad's son.
And finally,
"It is also here Dad proposed me to go to Kyoto, all these years ago…"He said, and he scented the grass in his nose when he let his head pivot to look at her, " … where I would meet you".
She smiled, and he saw. He saw how happy and teary it made her to be made aware of this … that he would share such information. But there was more.
He could see in the warmth of her molten amber eyes, an emotion, a thought shining through. One he could not pierce out without asking. No word uttered aloud from her, however, and he didn't push forward. Not this time. He had spent all his energy resisting her. His gnawing curiosity could wait he had stared at her to his contentment.
He ignored when his eyes had closed but when he came afloat again and his lids breached, the sight of long hair and her eyes, above him, greeted him.
Divine apparition…
His thoughts mingled to confusion at her warning expression, before shifting to a thrilled puzzlement when she pressed her finger on his lips.
"What is it?"He whispered with a soft smile against her finger, letting his head go backward in abandon, already getting bewitched by her touch, and she had a frozen moment, gazing at him. Her hand moved to caress his face for a second, making his heart soar, until she came closer, and murmured in a similar fashion as him earlier.
"Don't move."
His perplexity came back, distracting him, and noticing it, she restarted in an even lower tone, as she grinned.
"You've got yourself a friend." Her eyes angling downward and on his opposite side from the one she was leaning on.
He barely stirred then, just by reflex and she immobilized him by grabbing his shoulder.
"Careful."
He grinned at her concern, wondering what sort of animal it was but slowly starting to notice the warmth it was emitting against his side. Then, gingerly, he began to twist his neck and head to the side, until his eyes could get the angle to peek at his waist level.
And there, right in the dip between his hips and top chest, curled against his flank, a tiny tangerine fox was napping.
His lips stretched to incommensurable proportions.
"I cannot move."
"You cannot."She replied, making him chuckle at their downright agreement. She retreated with all the care and the precision of a goldsmith and the slowness of a snail, before crossing her legs to watch them. Ren lifted his hand and delicately let a couple of fingers brush against the little head of the young animal. The fur was smooth and soft, yet a little rougher at times on the tips. While he was no expert, the tiny fox could not be older than six months, and it stirred its body a little as the feel of his hand, in a somewhat pleased way, it seemed.
"Is it something usual for you?"
He continued to pet the cute thing as he diverted his gaze to Kyoko.
"What is?"
"Wild animals coming to you like this?"She said, grinning at the fox, rubbing his ginger dark-spotted ears against his hand.
He cleared his throat.
"Somewhat. Bunnies, unknown dogs and sometimes bird used to come to me when I stayed put long enough when I was younger."He said and added, "But the wilder kinds were rarer."
"How rare?"She asked, looking like she was swooning at the sight of the young fox. Not like he could blame her, it was fully relaxed against him and stretching, and was asking for petting.
"A fawn came once, and I got to pet it. But it is my first fox."He admitted, scratching under the chin of the cute thing.
His eye caught when she tilted her head, softly shaking it.
"You are really…"
"What?"He asked, confused at her reaction, and she lifted her gaze back into his.
His hand stopped rubbing behind the bottom of the ear of the fox, who protested with little bumps of his muzzle, demanding more. Jitters threatened to overtake his legs, and he only controlled it to not spook the animal.
A long wave of shivers ran down from the bottom tip of his lips down his throat and collarbones, down the middle of his chest. It settled low to twitter his heart into a dizzying flutter. It felt cold and warm, both at once, and he was overtaken by the urge to scratch that very area in the same way he had just done on the fox's ear.
"You amazed me." She said simply, "You have a real gift with animals." And in that soft, nimble tone, her expression selflessly gave more endeared affection at him he felt he had ever received. For once blessed second, he thought he saw her compassionate magical soul reflecting much deeper feelings he thought could be found, favouring him in ways that left him breathless. Then, that second passed, and her stare shifted to the fox again, letting him inspire and fumble to grasp at what had just happened, juggling to keep track of his thoughts.
" … and you wonder why I thought you were not human," She slipped with a chuckle, gazing at the young fox as Ren petted it on reflex, "you literally attract animals to you. I'm jealous, honestly. I'd like to be able to do that too."
"I'm sure you could pet it too, do you want me – "
But she had started a sentence at the same time and it overruled whatever he had been about to say.
"As if you needed anything to make you cuter…"
His mind broke. Thoughts poofing out into nothingness as he contained a very unlikely reaction for him. Speechless at this uncalled attack to his sanity, he used what was left of his consciousness to push up a brow, and she returned him another treacherous fond smile.
"Yes, you." Before waving at the fox. "This is utterly adorable."
Ah. The situation was. Now he got it.
"Which makes you even more charming you already are. Downright unfair, if you want my opinion."
He blinked, absorbing the shock of the tricked trap. So, he was involved after all. He could not even begin to process if she was speaking of him that way because she genuinely thought he was charming, or just because she could say this. His heart hoped she was, but despaired it might prevent her to see him in another fashion. But still rejoiced she was speaking of him like that. And despair. And sang in joy. It was like his poor heart had had one too many flutes of champagne, and did not know his left and right anymore. It pulsed at odds in his chest.
He was starting to question if he would survive this day. Truly.
"I think … I can help you… So, you could touch it."He attempted, and she followed suit with a mimicking expression of his earlier, though a teasing smile was there. As well as doubt, behind.
"I don't want to intrude."She jested.
"Just give me your hand."He ordered, in all honestly using this as a way to change subject definitively.
She obeyed without protest, and he took hold of her fingers with the hand still not caressing the animal, pulling her arm softly above his body so he could present her hand a few inches away from the nose of the tiny fox.
The young animal did not notice at first, but when it did, it sniffled Kyoko's hand a couple of times before relaxing and giving her fingers a couple of the same demanding head bumps of earlier.
The smile of Kyoko was radiant when the fox let her rub its head with her fingers delicately, and even around the ears, while he petted his flank. So much so, she did not notice she was half-lying on his legs to do so, and he tried his best to ignore it too.
They cared and played with the fox for a while, laughing as the tiny thing jumped after a butterfly and rolled on its back, before coming that to them. Until, yapping sounds came to their ears, and further away, near the border of the Hizuri land, for one second, a bigger ginger running creature came through the foliage, followed by two tinier white and tangerine ones. More yapping reached them, and their new friend jumped to its feet and from under Ren's hand, running away into the bushes, certainly to join its family.
§§§
They took some time watching the little family appear here and there between trees and some tufts of grass, before eventually heading inside for a frugal lunch once their clothes had dried enough. Well, frugal in Kyoko opinion, anyway.
They were joined back by his parents mid-afternoon, and just when he thought this day didn't reserve any more surprises to him, his mum had pulled a wild card.
"Kyoko-chan, would you like to see some pictures of Kuon when he was younger, and how utterly cute he was?"
"Mum!"
He had looked in her direction then, trying to decipher what sort of scheme she was concocting when she had just smiled innocently, refusing to look him into the white of the eye.
"I would love to."Kyoko had said, before looking in his direction with a pleading stare. "Please?"
Disarmed and baffled by her keen interest – as well as those unannounced begging eyes – he had caved instantly, not even sparing it any adding thought, with the echoes of his father's laugh in mind.
And that was how he found himself sitting by her side in front of a table way too full of albums, and in the opposite sofa, his parents.
§§§
Sitting on the couch, near a bewildered and clearly embarrassed Ren, Kyoko stared at the albums on the lowered table with no amount of small excitement.
Oh, of course, she knew some of the young Kuon. The one she had met in the past when he was ten. But she had never seen how he looked before. And she had had only glimpses of when he got older.
Julie-san reached out for one of the older-looking ones from under the pile, before setting apart the other ones.
"Let's start with the beginning, shall we?"She proposed, making Kuu laugh. On her side, she heard a faint wisp of air being made.
She eyed in Ren's direction and found him looking at her.
"Do you really wish to?"
"Are you going to rob us of the pleasure of showing how awesome you always were, Son?"His dad probed, and Ren's shoulders slagged.
"I'm sorry," She said in his intention, her lips quivering, "But yes, I'd really like to."
Ren's mum grinned as she pushed the first album in front of Kyoko's hands, opening it to the first page.
What's followed was commented by a concert of barely repressed borborygmus of all sorts and indistinct muffled sounds as his mother turned pages of Ren, or Kuon, when he was a very tiny baby. Her face split into two for each time she heard him, tremendously enjoying his endless sounds of embarrassment. His hands even reached out twice in useless attempts to remove from their sights the album altogether, but his mum was faster.
Fortunately for him and sadly for her, he managed to finally do it when his mum proposed to show some of the cute nude pictures of when he was a baby, and he confiscated that album and sat on it.
She was laughing so hard at his antics, as well as both his parents, it took a while for them to calm down, and he threw them a suffering glare.
"You are really cute, Ren."
"Please shut up."
She shook.
"There is no need to be ashamed."
"Indeed. My boy is so wonderful, so cute, with his little hands and – "
Ren groaned.
"All of you shut up."
"Pff."Kyoko made, holding her sides. "I think the present you is even cuter, though." She added, cackling.
He froze in his crouched position, and suddenly invaded her personal space, caging her shoulders as he lied one hand on each side of her, on the sofa behind her back. His eyes shined puppy eyes of a level she hadn't expected, and he gave a pitiful pleading stare.
"Anything… Anything if you dismiss it and forget – he grimaced – "I'll give you anything … but just … don't mention it."
Her lips trembled.
"You should accept. An offer to anything is a good deal."Commented Kuu, and his son glared at him. "What? Why miss an opportunity to be spoiled when she could?" His father added, and both Ren and Kyoko groaned, while Julie concurred it was a great idea.
"I'm not sure I can forget … but I can never mention it again."
The number of puppies grew, and her sides were overwhelmed with repressed shakes. Air came out from her nose, despite her attempts. She could hear his parents in shambles on the other sides, taking sides and betting.
"I can … try…"She eventually said, and he dropped his head on her shoulder.
She patted his back.
"It is not that mortifying."
He sighed.
"It is."
"I barely had a peek, I swear."
"Please."
She snorted, it had been nearly whine. Was he that embarrassed? He poked her side with his long index, making her ouch slightly, before she patted his back again.
"You should be proud of how big you were already at such a young age, Kuon."Julie-san said.
"Yes, and you started to walk so quick, it was so impressive on such little legs, Son."Kuu added, his eyes full of mirth.
Ren hit his forehead against her shoulder.
"Can I not bribe you into leaving the room?"Ren whispered in her ear. "Two dozen fairy books if you stop listening to them."
She exploded, and rubbed his back, tears ran down her cheeks so much she was laughing.
"So dramatic."She hiccupped in his ear back. "I swear to take it into the tomb."
Taking pity in him, despite how hilarious he was to her right now, she turned her gaze to his mum.
"Julie-san, is he in a decent state in the future albums?"
His mum smiled at her, and nodded.
"After three years old, I guess, yes. But you would be missing a huge deal of cuteness." She warned.
Kyoko glanced at Ren, still refusing to look at any of them, before returning the gaze to Julie.
"I guess I will be merciful."She said, and Ren pecked her cheek as he moved away from her.
"Thank you."
She smiled, but it turned nefarious near the edges of her lips.
"Don't thank me yet."
He looked at her, confused.
"Why?"
"For now … I will be merciful … for now."
His face paled.
"I don't want to be bribed but maybe I can bribe you to let me see them in the future." She added.
Julie giggled.
"I don't think there is anything you could do to make me allow it." He said, crossing his arms.
Ren's father snorted, and she glanced at him shortly.
"We'll see. Maybe I can find something that will make you cave, someday."She challenged.
"Not happening."
"You should never say never."
"In-deed."Came out strangled from Kuu, and he looked at his son as the later turned in his direction with puzzlement written on his face. His father gave him the most evil smirk she had ever seen him portray and they stared for a few seconds too long, before something apparently clicked in Ren's mind, and an outraged sound came out.
"Dad!"
Kuu, who had been, quite blatantly reigning himself in, lost it, and leaned on his wife for support.
He snorted and hiccuped.
"That will-hic – come- hic-biting you back in the butt-hic – son."
His wife could not contain it fully either, and she turned her face away.
"Honey, come on."
Their son gaped at them with the most flummoxed expression she had ever seen on him, and while she was positive she had missed a subtlety here, his face was so bewildered she could emit the guess that he had not expected the banter his parents had just served him.
"Dare I ask what this is about?"She enquired.
"No!"Ren said, making his parents laugh even harder. "They are being irresponsible sillies, and you cannot!"
"Who are calling silly, child?"Kuu protested between belly shakes. "It is the wisdom of experience speaking."
" … or the first few wrong screws of age coming to light."He muttered, making gasp both her and his mum, but Kuu only laughed harder.
"Kuon!"Protested his mother.
"I shall stop teasing you, if you are genuinely getting pissed."Kuu said, however, though Ren grumbled an apology for his words a second after.
The gleaming eyes remained in his father's eyes as he looked at his son, and Kyoko refrained her curiosity with some difficulty, as Ren sighed, looking tired.
The banter quieted as Julie pushed a few albums to the side, to open a new one, the dark wood frame and covers looking refined even through the years that had passed.
She pushed through the first pages with deft fingers, the soft smooth paper barely making a flutter as it moved, and Kyoko tilted forward as eagerness got the better of her.
Pictures came into views, of him, barely above three maybe, but looking so precious in his little clothes. Little jeans overall with a tiny white tee above. His eyes shined with an innocence she had never seen in him. Julie turned the pages for her, and she continued to observe the every expression he made as a child. Her smile, born from his cuteness in the pictures stretched each time she felt the eyes of the adult version on her, clearly still uncomfortable.
As she looked, she noticed he was often the sole focus of the camera, but sometimes he was also with his parents, looking so much younger than now, yet already embracing the grace they had today. In one, Ren was holding a flower to the camera, in another, you could see him extending the huge daisy to his mum with a joyful smile. He seemed happy.
In others, you could see him play with his father, of the latter holding him out in the air, or carrying him in his arms. Or listening to his father as he sat in his lap while Kuu made huge movements. He had often an attentive look as he stared at his parents, looking eager to learn. Other times, his gaze looked lost into dreams or wonders, as he looked away from the camera.
Pages spun, albums too, and with them, he aged and grew. Turning five, then six, as his mother said.
And she lost focus of where she was and with whom, as she delved into his expressions and memories, windows of his childhood.
The flutter of pages proceeded, and he lost some of his bubbly faces, his body growing leaner. His expressions morphed, as innocence begun to be disputed with some clouds and wariness, the first serious faces making day on the pages turning.
Some genuinely haunted looks started to appear in his eyes, hidden in shades of innocent smiles in album 6, just after he had turned eight, as Julie informed her, when Kyoko asked. The actual pictures depicting his magnetism on animals were the highlights of those shots for Kyoko, even as it didn't dissimulate the growing darkness in the young child appearing in them. She could not help to smile at them, however, seeing him surrounded by bunnies, birds and whatnots, or even napping on him. His mother seemed to notice her interest, but just warmly smiled at her, and the pages curled again.
Half an album later, Ren's mum was speaking about all the prowess he had been doing, how good he was excelling in school at the time, how much he was doing to understand acting, martial arts, and how hard he tried to learn from his father. And when she stared at her, she seemed genuinely unaware.
But all Kyoko could see as she stared, was how many shadows had already invaded his gaze. She did not turn to Ren, knowing she could not change the past, whether she noticed what had been there or not. And not wanting to thorn her way into things she should not. But she failed to hide it fully from Kuu, who witnessed some of her sadness before she could replace it with an oblivious smile.
He looked distress for a second before he closed his eyes, accepting what she knew he blamed himself for not seeing, and again, pages turned.
The moment she had anticipated came closer and closer, and her pain was diverted as excitement grabbed hold of her again, her heart racing as Julie-san broke the knot of the seventh album. Notwithstanding the couple which were disregarded for the sake of sparing Ren.
She knew right away it was the one, the moment the first picture came into sight. He was indeed a child, still, but older, just shy of a preteen. The vibrant green of his eyes shining even as more dusk coloured the emotions peeking behind his gaze, and his glowing blond locks switching to a longer, wilder familiar look. Only strokes of innocence still gleamed in the corners of the emerald stares, bringing whisks of joy here and there, pulling a smile out of him, or making his forest eyes glow a little coral for whimsical moments. When a cheeky grin would appear directed at his parents, sometimes, reflecting the child that was still there at the rims. Or when he made acrobatics or ran with abandon. But the moments he was tranquil, odd brutal maturity shattered alight in his gaze… Something that should not have been there.
His parents were aware he was different already at the time, judging by the sudden solemnity of their faces and their diminishing smiles.
Julie spun another page.
And there, right there.
The clothes were the exact same she remembered. The sports shorts and trainers and the cute vibrant blue tank top he wore when she met him in their clearing, all those years ago.
Unable to repress it, her face bloomed into a smile as her heart swelled with emotion. She let her locks fell around her and she leaned her body forward, hoping to shy her away from the storm colliding against the edges. Humidity pooled at her eyes once her head was shaded behind the curtain of her hair, but her hand lifted, rendering useless her attempt at dissimulating what she felt, she was sure. She felt the agitation of a grown man by her side, certainly starting to worry.
Slowly, carefully, three fingers moved forward to go rest on the picture of him in those clothes, looking towards the camera and smiling. Her pads caressed the picture above the protective plastic case.
There you are, young fairy.
There you always were.
All those years she had wondered. All those years after meeting him again.
All those years knowing.
Yet … Seeing that echo of the past, managed to pulse the present into that much more vibrancy. The truth beating like a rainbow of joy.
She was so happy to have met him. So happy he had been a fairy for her. So tremendously overjoyed he was still part of her life, that he had had such an impact on her. That he had taken so much room in her heart.
She felt Ren inch closer on her right, feeling his warmth near her, but the emotion continued to swell inside.
And it was with an ablaze smile but a quaking resonant voice, she demanded.
"Could I have this one?"
And as she asked, she took control of herself just enough for her eyes to dry and for her gaze to lift, planting them into Julie-san and Kuu eyes. Confusion and questions painted their expressions in inquisitive ways but they did not say no, and before they could actually reply, Kyoko turned to Ren.
"And if it is okay with you, of course."
His gaze shined in hers as he saw which one she was talking about, and a silent conversation the parents could not help but wonder its tenor, took place. As he replied, eyes a molten of soft that inflamed her, she caught a curious wonder in his stare, just as it disappeared.
"Of course, you can."
She pivoted back to his parents, and she could count the number of questions pressing to free out of their cages on the edge of their lips as they looked at her, at them.
But nonetheless, as gracious as she could only imagine Ren's parents would be, they pinched on their lips, and smiled. And nodded.
"Naturally."
Julie raised her hand and delicately detached the picture from under its protective section. She lifted it in her direction, and Kyoko took the frame in her fingers, grinning. His mother processed to sort through albums, making her wonder if she was pushing them away to make more room, but then, she pulled back one of the former ones they had already seen, and opened in her direction.
Angling the album her way, Kyoko was unable to see was she was searching for, before she stopped, caught something, and pushed another frame in her direction. Her shock was replaced by gratitude as she noticed which one it was.
"I noticed you liked that one too."She simply said, though she could see a witty non-fooling glimmer in her eyes as she looked her way, and Kyoko wished she would have been strong enough to pretend at that moment, to not be selfish but she just bowed and thanked her again. She tried to sound casual, to act it, but was not sure she was fooling anyone.
She had a last instant bashfulness when she looked back at Ren, to ask if it was okay for him too, and he nodded, though he seemed a tad embarrassed.
"Wasn't he super cute in this?"
Kyoko nodded eagerly, grabbing at the lifesaver that his mum just threw her with her words.
"He was. Especially with the animals."Kyoko added, innocently.
"He still is."Kuu added and Ren let out a sigh, followed by a number of laughs that eased the atmosphere.
"I must concur."Kyoko said.
"Kuon is very cute."Added his mum.
"Are you all done?" He groaned.
"Noo."They sang at the same time.
But eventually, Julie proposed her to continue looking over the next pictures.
The nature of the albums begun to shift, she noticed. They became more sparse, less full. And it became harder to have him look at the objective when a picture was taken. She watched as he grew taller and taller, turning into a fine preteen to a handsome teenager, looking so much older than the age she knew he must have had.
But the more pages turned and the hollower she felt, as she witnessed more darkness he couldn't dissimulate, more despair in his stances.
They were in the middle of the last album when she sighed, brushing against one of the pictures facing her, she realized only afterwards she had spoken the words aloud, when on her right, Ren jumped a little at her words and maybe, at the breach of silence. The living room sunk into silence for a while unprepared for the suddenness of her words.
"You look so sad."She had said.
He didn't reply. He didn't need to.
His parents did, however. Turning over the album to watch.
"He does?"
Kuu seemed to notice after inspecting it for a couple of seconds, and from the corner of the eye she saw it made Ren squirm. His mother appeared more doubtful before staring into her son's eyes.
"Were you in that picture? I cannot tell."
Ren rubbed his neck, nodding.
His father sighed.
"You were that good at hiding it, already, huh. I can see but only because Kyoko pointed it out."
Kuu pouted in her direction.
"How come you are so good at seeing it?" And she smiled, sheepish. She could just tell he was fully faking it. Could see the sadness peeking.
Ren laughed.
"Kyoko is the only one who is that good at piercing me out."
"You are exaggerating."
He didn't even bother countering her words, focus on a thought.
"And maybe Boss. Not as skilled as Kyoko. But Boss can always tell when I'm angry, at least."
Both his parents pouted, and Kyoko couldn't help but snort. It looked exactly the same as when Ren did. So cute.
They tried to win Kyoko into promising her to show them the subtleties that make her able to discern what he was hiding, and all. While Ren tried to convince not to.
And in the middle of it all, his mother decided since she was the only one able to see he was not okay on that picture, she had earned herself the right to possess it. Which Kyoko greedily agreed to, with a 'Sure' she managed casual and nearly uninterested this time.
For some reason, it made Ren frown, and he muttered something about her interest in the young seemingly cute him', needing to adopt animals or something. She chuckled in her corner, rejoicing too much to have succeeded into grabbing back some pretence near the end.
Safe. She thought. Still safe.
tic tac, tic tac...and the clock continued to tic.
PS: So, it seems I succeeded into finishing this one. Sorry it took me a while. May was... well, not good, to say the least. Bumpy and tearful at best.
Anyway, I hope you will love this chapter. It is a very cute one, and you should savor it while you can, the storm is still coming after all. I hope I will have done justice to young Kuon and pictures time. Those were moments really important, and I wanted them just right.
I wish you all a good week and a good day or night, and I hope you are all happy and will reach even more joy as each moment passing.
Kisses to you all, and see you next time,
Mimagfan,
AUTHOR OUT.
