CHAPTER130

I do not own Skip Beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.

Summer Trip

~~REQUIEM~~

Her script in hand, she was lying on the ridiculously and utterly too comfortable bed the guest room they had given her provided, and the silky sheets that had swallowed her every single night in a cocoon of softness, since she was under the Hizuri roof.

But tonight, she felt restless. They had come back from the Disney castle a little over four hours ago, and Julie-San had warned her, Kuu had proposed Ren to go out this evening, and that they would probably be out until late at night.

Julie-san said she also had to work on a late designing project that needed impromptu last-minute changes, and while she apologized being unable to stay the evening with her–it was too pressing to ignore, unfortunately. Thus, she told her not wait if she was tired.

Which she had done, and reason why she was now lying on the bed.

Utterly unable to relax.

It had been a little early to sleep for her, and she had rolled on the bed for an hour … the sheets were just too clingy to her legs, too silky, too perfect today.

Eventually, she had forsaken sleep for the meantime, and lighted up the lamp to read first a book, then a script. But for each, she had been unable to focus on.

An owl hooted cutely outside. At regular intervals. Probably hunting, or just wakening.

It was a very soft night, not too hot but enough to keep the windows open and let the summer breeze caressed the heated skin of her back, as she lied on her stomach, and the strands regularly swinging in front of her eyes to the tempo of fluttering air. Like a tickling friend. It whispered to her ear a joyful tune. As if it knew a secret she ignored. Murmured the rumour of something about to unravel. The bloom not quite there yet, but its tingle already in the fairy wind. A trembling chrysalis reaching its last upgrowth.

It tempted her curiosity, the whiff of air inviting her outside, to seek– … something out.

She shuddered at the odd feeling.

But her mind reeled against going, too preoccupied by what had happened. She could see it still. Her sight filled with the vision of his sad smile. He had explained, she had apologized for her mishap. Her awkward way with words was a curse. But she could not help but think–no, feel–it had not been all.

Something else was afloat, and it brought a dreadful feeling in her guts. He had looked too hurt, too closed off … too…

Not okay.

But he hadn't wished to speak about it, and she knew to respect that, even when she felt she was the cause, even when it was killing her.

He had gone for a drink, and she truly wished they had been able to talk again beforehand. But maybe speaking with his dad was what he needed right now. Maybe it was for the better.

Her hair fell around her in a curtain, grazing her arms, the words mushed out to the distinct sound of trickling water her subconscious knew belonged to the waterfalls of the garden. Crickets sang in harmony from her open balcony, merrily.

The dances of the breeze continued to caress her forearms, her feet, her head, soothing … lulling her with its tender secrets.

The owl hooted again.

Her worried raw heart appeased.

She succumbed to slumber.

It was the sound of voices that woke a sleep not as deep as one would have expected. Or maybe she had already been waking up. Maybe it was supposed to happen…

Her lids cracked open to the hushed voices that rang ever so clearly from the widely opened window. She gathered her limbs, recognizing Kuu's and Julie's voices, as she closed up to the opening. The air was still as soft as before she fell asleep, though, she ignored how long she had napped. The breeze was louder now, however. More vibrant, wider. Wrapping around you in gush of soft air, rather than just brushing every once in a while. Her eyes got attracted by tiny yellow lights twirling in this end-of-July warm night, and she realized the first fireflies had bloomed, giving an eerie, even more magical tone to the incredible garden of Hizuri castle.

Subdued voices continued, but even in her bleary half-awake state, she was sure they weren't on this side of the garden. She would have seen them, and the voices would have sound closer. She realized it must have come from the front, and since she was awake anyway, she slipped into jeans and a white shirt hastily.

Maybe she could catch a late word with Ren…

She rushed outside the room, trying not to lose herself in her precipitation until she finally reached the entrance door, and came out.

She found Julie-San and Kuu at the end of their alley, just inside and near the wooden gate. Right near what she assumed was one of Kuu's car, parked near the pathway.

Her nude feet moved on their own, eating up the distance on the paved way until she was a couple of metres away, and stopped, hesitant. Maybe she was disrupting them in an intimate, or at least private moment. Maybe none of this concerned her, and Ren was in bed or elsewhere already. She cleared her throat, as they hadn't noticed her yet, and they turned to her, surprised. She pulled at her hair.

"Sorry, I heard voices, so…"

Kuu smiled at her, reassuringly. Though it was a little slow and weary.

"It is quite alright," He paused, glanced at his wife for a second, and she thought she saw him pondering something, before he abruptly added, "I'm glad you are here, actually, I will need help, I think."

Confused, she walked up the remaining distance, and Kuu opened the passenger seat, permitting her to discern a dozed off Ren.

"He drank way too much, I'm afraid."His father said, contritely. "I can't say I was fully familiar with how far went his tolerance, and when he assured me it was more than good, I didn't pay it too much attention. And since it has been so long we got out together. Hell, a proper evening of this sort, he had been too young for it to happen when he had still been here."He mumbled in that same sheepish tone.

He coughed.

"Anyway… I didn't realize he had been throwing down strong alcohols only…"At that Kuu frowned unhappily, "He looked totally fine for a long while … and I'm afraid I didn't know parts of the drinks he was having … which I now suspect was done on purpose to not let me intervene."He grumbled out, giving a dirty look to his son.

Kyoko sighed, he was too good at pretending to be okay for his parents.

"That and the fact I, too, had had a couple… I only noticed when he stopped replying to most of my words…"

Ren's father sighed, clearly unhappy with himself. "But by that time, it would have been generous to say he was fully conscious still."

Julie-san shot him a glare.

"That was not the most responsible I have known you."

"I know. I think I got a little too excited."He said, looking at his son with concern.

"But how come you are perfectly fine, Kuu-san?"Kyoko inquired, glancing regularly towards Ren. He never does it halfway, huh.

"Indeed, honey," Julie-san said, voice cold, "I truly hope you didn't drive the car inebriated, with our son inside."

And the unsaid threat laced in her words sent chills into Kyoko.

Scary.

Kuu gave an appeasing smile to his wife, and shook his head.

"I had to help him to most of the way to the car, which sobered me quite a bit … the boy is heavy, let me tell you, and I'm doubly impressed you were able to carry him fully when you were only a teen, Kyoko."He told her, with amazed eyes in her direction. "I only had to help and stabilized him the way to the car, so carrying him fully…"

She grinned back, teasing words on her tongue but he cut her attempt with knowing eyes.

"Not that I couldn't have done it, obviously."

"Obviously."She said, mutely.

Julie-san looked at the both of them with an arched brow, and Kuu returned to his explanation.

"Once that done, I took a small nap, and called one of our emergency drivers." He finished.

"At one a.m.?"Kyoko said, surprised someone would even have picked up at that time. She had noticed the hour on the clock when she had passed the living room earlier.

"Well, it must have been only midnight when I called, after my nap."He said.

Still, she thought it was pretty late for someone to still be awake to do that work, without warning at least.

"L.A. is the city that never sleeps," he reminded, grinning with understanding at her sceptical face. "And those emergency drivers are paid for those sorts of instances."

"Point is, I didn't drive. Don't worry, honey," he said, "the man just left".

"But it is our car."She said.

"He had booked a taxi to come here and bring him home once he had dropped us off, sweetheart."He explained easily, and she saw Julie-San finally relaxed.

And she too, felt herself unclench, glad they had been safe about it.

Julie-san gave a peck to Kuu's lips, wrapping a hand his fingers.

"Alright, forgiven then."

Kyoko turned her gaze away, giving them their intimacy, and she fixed her gaze on the figure in the open car. He appeared so peaceful there, you would never have guessed he had drunk so much if you saw his toned profile lying gracefully on the leather seat of his father's car. What had pushed him to drown himself out like that? Or maybe it was because he had been with his father?

She was pulled out from her reflections when Kuu suddenly called her name. She turned back to him with a start, her eyes drifting back to the car here and there, unable to completely tore her sight away from him.

"Kyoko-chan?"

"Yes?" she said, turning again.

"Would you be okay taking care of him?"He asked, and if it had not been so dark, she might have seen the cunning expression on his face as he asked her. By his side, Julie-San stayed quiet, not duped in the slightest.

"I have to talk to Julie about something that is rather urgent, you see."Kuu said innocently. "And while I would never ask you to do such a thing otherwise, since I know you can carry him if needed, and this matter really cannot wait, exceptionally … if you don't mind– "

"Oh. Of course."Kyoko said, realizing she still hadn't replied, she might still be half asleep after all. "I don't mind at all."

He grinned.

"Great. Let me give him to you."Kuu said, turning back to the car and going to his son. "I don't think it is to the point of being fully unconscious, so you might not have to carry him–and he will be grateful for that in the morning he said with a shared chuckle from everyone awake–, but you will have to help him, for sure."

After several attempts, Kuu managed to pull out a drowsy Ren from the car, and she had to hold her smile at how cute he looked supported by his father, mumbling a bit in protest at the awakening.

"Hopefully, the nap he took would have helped eliminate some of the alcohol already."Kuu added, as he finished hoisting him on his feet, and Julie-San frowned worryingly.

"He will have a hell of a headache tomorrow." She said.

"We will give him the same treatment we gave Kyoko-chan."Kuu reassured her, and Julie-San cheered up, pressing her perfectly manicured hands together.

"Smoothies and tomato juice it is, I will make them this evening."

Kyoko snorted. He would be so happy about this.

Kuu cleared his throat, giving Kyoko a knowing look, as he held his son.

"If you don't mind," he then said at her intention, and she rushed in to grab at Ren's waist, already taking part of his weight, as Kuu freed one of his arms to press it around his wife's shoulders.

"Let me take care of it, honey. It is late already."He said with a convincing smile, and she looked suspicious for a second, before nodding.

He let Kyoko take the full weight of his son, and stepped back.

"Thank you again, Kyoko-chan," and gave her a genuinely apologetic look, "I'm sorry to leave him to you like this, but it is for the best and I really cannot postpone."

She waved it away with a shook of her head.

"Really, don't worry about it. I will bring him to bed, and that's it."

He nodded with a grateful expression, and hurried Julie away and into the house to discuss whatever was so urgent it couldn't wait even the morning.

She secured her two arms around Ren's waist, and his chest leaned against her. Her feelings shifted to a mixture of worry at his state and scowling. Why had he done something like that? It was so bad for his health.

She couldn't help thinking something more serious had come into play, something he didn't want to let transpire to the outside.

She glanced in the direction of the house, but no one was in sight, and returning her sights to him, she brushed some of his locks away.

He was frowning unhappily, and his father had been right, he wouldn't be standing if he were fully unaware. But he appeared to be falling asleep on repeat, resting his forehead heavily on her shoulder. She tightened her hold around him, and petted the back of his hair.

What had happened, really?

He was so quiet too. If she hadn't felt the variations of his breaths, going from soft and barely perceptible to slight hiccups, most probably provoked by his body preventing him from falling into a deep slumber while standing, then she would have thought he was unconscious.

She was not in any kind of hurry to move. However ashamed she might feel of taking advantage of her current predicament, with his feet still on the ground, he was not too heavy for her, and would not be for a while.

Still.

Even if she could carry him with ease, it would still be easier if he was awake. A dead weight was harder than an awake one. But, mostly, she had an inkling he might prefer that too, if possible. Accepting her to carry him for fun when he was aware and willing was not the same as needed help from her. Oh, he was humble enough to accept it if it was necessary, of course.

And she knew he was far and not the kind to put emphasis and care on masculine pride, as clichés went–rather, she was even persuaded he would always put other values to the forefront first–, he had even taken with grace her help from when she had still been a teen, as humiliating as it might have been after being drugged. Still, it didn't mean he possessed none. And the drug part had been a case of major force, too. Here, he had inflicted this by himself.

If there was no other choice, then that was it, anyway. But maybe he could walk on his own if she supported him and he leaned on her.

She patted his cheek gently.

"Ren … wake up."

He tightened his grip around her middle, but that was the only sign of response.

"Come on."

She rubbed his back.

"Wake up, please."She said again.

He mumbled something that looked like her name but she was unsure.

"Yes, that's it, now shook yourself, come on. We are going to bed."

"Kyoko … where–?"He looked groggy as he spoke, and she could already feel him slacking back against her.

"We are at your parents' house." She replied, hoping to jerk him awake again. "You drank too much. Stay awake, please."

"Okay."He whispered, and the hot breeze of his respiration tingled her neck base, as he spoke.

"Good. Let's go, then."She said, relieved.

"Where to?"He asked merrily.

"To your bed, come on." She said. "Rest your arm on me, and make your legs work."

She moved him until one if his huge limbs were lying above her shoulders.

"Sorry."He whispered as if he knew he was being a pain in his state, and she wrapped her left arm around his torso.

She chuckled, even wasted he was as cute.

"Don't be silly, all is okay."She responded. "But stay conscious, okay?"

He made a vague wave of the head, and they started walking in the direction of the house lightened entrance. A rectangular beacon attracting their gaze as they progressed, careful and slow.

§§§

"Now, dear husband of mine, no more pretence and tell me what you are plotting."Julie said, the minute they were inside.

He shot her a guilty look, and she crossed her arms.

"I don't believe one second you have an urgent matter to discuss… And last time I checked, you knew your alcohols damn well."She said with a point.

He gave a glance to the outside, but they remained tucked away from direct sight, in a corner.

"I know, Julie. I know."

He frowned sadly.

"But something happened between them this afternoon, and– "

"I gather … not something positive."She said, worry making day on her face, lightened by the post lamp on the low table of the living room.

Kuu took his wife's hand, rubbing the tops of her fingers, and shook his head.

"If you had seen him…"Kuu shuddered.

"He was not able to dissimulate it from me, Julie … even his pretence for Kyoko-chan was weak, and I could see her worry over him, even as he smiled through his teeth at her…"

"Worse, I know from his time as Ren, he has a polite smile reserved when he cannot make it genuine … but this– …"

Kuu sighed.

"It was not fake … he truly smiled at her when he did…" he said, uncomprehending, " … but it was like … the smile you give to something you genuinely appreciate … but that is so tiny, so meagre, to what you wish for … yet, it had that small content resignation of when things are immutable…"

"But you still love genuinely what you have…"

Kuu was struggling with words, and he could see Julie saw it too. The pain of seeing his son like this was still clogging his throat, the panic rushing inside at the idea of his son living even a minute more absurd pain he had already endured. He couldn't bear it.

"But in every living moment of settling for that … it is like the other half of his soul is dying … crushed by this unalterable fate. A boulder so thick he is embracing it, rather than conquering it."

"And the moment she was not looking, I could see how much he was trying to dissimulate the vastness of his pain to me … and how much he was failing."Kuu said, and he saw Julie had begun to tear up at his words. He rubbed a stray tear from her face, and hugged her.

"He shied his eyes away from me earlier … when he noticed I had seen."

Kuu took a deep breathe, soaking him Julie's scent to soothe the memories of his son's crying soul, and Julie rubbed between his shoulders' blades, right where she knew it always relaxed him.

"I don't even know if it was the shame of what happened or, of not being able to hide it from me, but…"

He topped his chin on Julie's head.

" … if he had been giving up, it would have been easier to cheer him up.."Kuu said, reliving what had prompted his invitation.

"But it looked like consent, no, like a welcoming … no, an embracing of the situation." With utter abandon, he thought with sadness. It hurt more to be the witness of that–on his son!–than seeing any someone getting rejected.

And he could feel both the confusion and echoing sadness in Julie as she shook a little.

"… I could not see him like that, so I got him out and away," he explained, "I had hoped he might tell me … confide a little … or at least, to alleviate whatever was happening." He said, pulling away.

"But those–," he paused, " … what he feels for her… I still know my son enough… I'm pretty sure he would want to shout it to the world and back … if he could."

A tiny smile made its way on Julie's face as she nodded.

"But it is also like …–he sighed, struggling again–, " … you know our son had always been less outgoing than us, Julie, more private."

She nodded.

"Yes … sometimes it felt like our exuberance was pushing him away … or like he ignored how to interact with us when he was little."

Kuu nodded.

"But sometimes… It is almost like he is treasuring this like he would if she let him be what he so wished for it to be, for her … like the most intimate part of himself."

He grabbed a pack of cookies, and swallowed it all, trying to appease himself. Crumbles fell into his stretched hand. Damn, already empty.

"I don't always understand the relationship they have together." He said at last, and Julie shared a similar feeling to him.

"Not because of the ambiguity that obviously exists already." She added.

" … but because of the intricacy of the connection they already have."Kuu finished, a smile shot at his wife, glad she understood.

"There are so many layers you sometimes wonder how … what you are witnessing are friends' interactions."She added.

"He clamped up the moment I tried to poke a bit, Julie."Kuu said after a minute. "I didn't even get a change to even see the tiniest glimpse of what could have happened… Yet, two days ago, he had accepted to speak about it way more freely…"

"But just earlier, it felt like I had crossed an invisible line that had never been my business to poke from the first place."Kuu finished, feeling lamer as a father he had in a long time. And he didn't consider his past days so confidently in the first place.

"So, when he drank, and drank… I didn't stop him. I didn't have the heart to stop him … when it might have been what he needed tonight."

Julie pressed a hand against his face.

"I understand. And maybe you were right."She added. "Maybe he truly needed that. Maybe he went so far because he knew he was safe with you, too, you know?"

"Maybe."

"I doubt he has that many occasions to fully let go, outside his private place, Kuu."Julie added.

He doubted that too, but that didn't truly make him feel better.

"Is that why you mostly threw him at Kyoko?"She asked. "I must also confess, I might have made a failed attempt this morning at prodding with her. Which was not only very unfruitful but very confusing, and I also failed to communicate properly, sadly."

He rubbed her arm, though a slight worried frown appeared.

"Yes, I was hoping that whatever had happened could already be smoothed out a little if they spent time together. And please tell me all about that discussion later, honey, I'm quite concerned right now."

She frowned too, but not for the same reasons.

"Our adorable son is barely conscious, right now, Kuu."

"I would even say he is utterly trashed, sweetheart."

"Indeed," she said with a grimace for the expression, making Kuu's eyes dance with intended amusement, "which is why I do not see any coherent discussion happening right now."

"Oh. Maybe he will sober up a little and–" He started tentatively.

"Kuu! He will not even remember your evening together with how far he is gone, right now!"She whispered angrily."Or do I have to remind you the one time I saw you in such a state, and what happened in the morning?!"She inquired, with a cunning smile.

Kuu grimaced.

"He is taller than me, and considering the amount of time he remained coherent despite how strong those were, his tolerance is even higher than mine."He protested meekly.

"Maybe. But you didn't have as much alcohol, and if what you said about his consumption and yours are true, it doesn't change the fact he is in a similar state you were at the time."

Grimly, he acquiesced, and sighed.

"You are right. The wiped memory is high. But he is not me!"

"Kuu!"

He lifted his hands.

"Okay, Okay. I admitted, the attempt was clumsy at best. I just hate seeing my son like this. And the solution was–and still is–right in front of us and him, so I jumped at the occasion, and didn't really think."

Julie snorted at last, giving up. If there were one thing you could not reproach the man, it would always be how much he loved his son.

"But I had another reason too."He said, and he took a quick look outside again.

"What sort of– "

"Just a hunch."He cut her. "Quick, they are coming."And he pulled her behind the curtain, to be able to see on the outside patio, just metres away from the door. They could even hear them from here. They snuggled close behind the curtains, and Kuu wrapped his arms around Julie, pecking her head as he did so.

She laughed quietly, and set her arms above his own around her waist, as they peek through the hidden window. Something you could only think of looking for if you knew the house by heart.

"You are crazy."She whispered.

"I know, I know. But I promise you I have a good reason for it."

"I hope so, because all this sneaking around is shortening my life with stress and excitement."

He sighed, hating when she was saying those sorts of things, even with how false they were, and even used to it.

"You are as young and healthy as any woman, and you have decades in front of you, Julie." He said, tweaking his words, even if after all this time, he was sometimes at loss with how to be genuine–even feeling so still–, so much he had repeated the words. "And excitement is good once in a while."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he placed a finger in front of it.

"If you keep babbling about absolutely and utterly improbable and forbidden premature death of you, dear, I will make sure to ingrain how young and healthy you still are right behind this curtain right now, Julie."

She pouted, and he grinned, tightening his embrace around her.

"Now hush, they are coming."He said, hearing the sound of feet coming close.

"Come on, Ren."They heard Kyoko-chan say, now only fifty centimetres away from the door, maybe.

But they stopped abruptly, and there was a huge bang in the second that followed, frightening the hell out of them, and nearly made the both of them tumble down into the curtain feet.

Gathering themselves, they peeked through the tiny window again, and only saw the tall back of their son first, seemingly leaning face first against the large length wall of their house. Only until they heard the grumble of Kyoko-chan, apparently crushed under him, they noticed she had her hands holding his sides, just enough so she wouldn't be squashed completely to the wall.

They heard their son rumble something but they could not make out what it was.

And– …

Astonishingly, Kyoko burst into bubbling laughers, and she pressed his head against her shoulder.

"No, silly, you cannot sleep here. Even just for a little."
He tilted his head in her direction, and at the same time as the profile of their son got into view with lids closed and clearly pleading, Kyoko-chan's face appeared in the movement too. Stupefying them both as the most endeared expression overcame her with softness, as she gazed at their son. He snuggled against her further, hugging her so tight Kuu feared for her sides, but she just chuckled some more and caressed his head.

"Just a few minutes … tired."

She snorted, giggling in her corner as he dropped his head in her neck further.

" … you are so stoned…" she said, patting his back.

"… I know a fairy who is going to have the worst hangover ever."She commented, and both parents were puzzled as to why she used the term fairy. Before being reminded how much she liked fairies. But still, to the point of comparing them. Was there a story there?

"… Sleepy," he muttered again.

"I know. That is why I'm trying to bring you to bed, silly."

" … a minute."

She sighed, rubbing his back, but nonetheless, she was smiling.

"… Fine. A minute."She accepted.

And then in the softest of murmurs, as she continued to rub his back.

"You are way too cute as a drunk, seriously…"

His parents would have whole heartily agreed if they had been in any capacity to talk at the moment. They had never had the occasion to really see him this drunk when he was younger. Though, they were certain he had just dissimulated well he had had a couple of drinks when he was a teen. But this mushy sleepy son of them was a facet of him they never had the chance to witness.

Yet, no matter how rare the sight was, they were dazzled by something far more unexpected.

Very slowly, very discreetly, they shifted to permit their stares to connect with each other. Disbelief and amazement mirroring in a funny way.

"Does it feel like she–" Julie whispered excitingly, before stopping, not daring to finish the thought.

"Yes."He whispered back with as much rush bombing excitement than her … if not more. He could not even speak, for fear he would shriek or squeal.

"Did we just imagine seeing– "

"No. I don't think so, at least."He said, correcting himself after a second. That look, just now… No one could fake this.

Julie shut up with difficulty, as they continued to spy on the kids.

Tranquil as statutes, both of them stood outside in quiet immobility, as the young woman held him against her, and caressed his hair while he dozed, face tilted upward with a soft smile.

" … there is so many stars tonight," she murmured. Then, just like a responding blow from the universe, fireflies appeared, twirling on the patio, and around the two young ones, in infinite circle of life. Joyful and bright, glowing magically in tiny dots resembling stars in the air, just like the countless galaxies above them. Kyoko-chan's smile turned enchanting her gaze followed the little shining fairy bugs, and always the wind persisted to sing an unsaid change, a breezy tickling melody, whispered as giggles of unknowns made knots in her locks.

The two peeping tom remained frozen in time, hoping, crossing fingers as they caught something they should not have.

An unguarded Kyoko-chan.

Then, their son rambled something loud enough for them to finally catch it.

"You smell divine."He tipsily said, clearly still totally high from the booze he had had with Kuu, as he nuzzled Kyoko-chan's neck.

She snorted as she said.

"Alright, that settle it. Time for you to hit the bed, come on."

She made him lean on her shoulder again, and she walked him inside, careful he wouldn't trip on their way inside the house and the kitchen. Until they disappeared in a corridor, and they failed to hear them afterwards.

"She really does, huh."

"The way she looked at him just now…"Kuu said, as his mind failed to understand how things could be so messed up if she indeed felt what they now were nearly sure she did.

"But then how– " Julie asked, concurring his thoughts.

"I don't know."

"Do you think she doesn't know what he feels?"

There was a long pause, before he replied.

"It is actually the only thing I'm positively sure about, honey."

"Can we tell Kuon what we suspect?"

"You already know what I would have told you before today's mess … but can we afford to mislead him if we are wrong, with how deeply he could be hurt?"He asked.

"No."She said, and he knew she was reminded where his limits stood for meddling. Pushing two people into a room to discuss was one thing. Talking about the relationships of other people like you knew better when most often, you didn't know anything at all … was a red line. Especially assuming how those people felt. Asking Kuon about it was one thing, and he was very grateful for the discussion he had had two days ago and where Kuon had let him in, remotely.

But son or not. He refused to go further than this. No matter how much he wished to, no matter what they suspected, it was not up to them to make the call, to decide and clear things out. They were adults, unfortunately.

"And do you think he would ever believe us if we did?" Especially after today, he thought.

"No."She replied grimly.

"Then, it's up to them to sort it out."

"But Kuu– "

He shook his head, worry settling in him at the idea to poke the bear further.

"We might make matters infinitely worse, Julie."He warned her. "If they are not ready … or if they are, but misunderstandings pile up because of our intervention. Which reminded me of the discussion you mentioned having with Kyoko…"

He took his wife's hand, seeing how worried she was already.

Will you tell me everything you talked about with Kyoko tomorrow morning, please?"

Julie nodded.

"I would ask right now if I was not so tired, but Kyoko-chan is a lady of subtleties and if I ask you every detail, I fear I will miss things if you tell me now."He said with a yawn.

She smirked.

"When you sobered up might also be better."

He grinned, and kissed her.

"Indeed."

"Come here, now."

And they retreated to their bedroom chambers.

The rest of the way to his bedroom went in a steady but excruciatingly slow way. Especially because she lost herself midcourse, taking a wrong corridor, before finding back the large hall curving towards the area was situated his bedroom.

He did not say anything all the way to, but while he was drowsy and mostly quiet, he still walked without any difficulty all the steps through, and she found herself just remotely assisting him and leading him to his bedroom into the brightly lit hall.

The most troubling moments were when she found him beginning to slumber against her shoulders, instead of continuing advancing. Utterly adorable, especially because he would manage to curl his mammoth body around her side until he would be just low enough to sneak his nose in the slope of her neck.

Removing him turned into a battle of will, and he was not making it easy for her, when he kept snuggling closer.

He was also getting quite liberal with his other hand, petting her waist and shoulder during those occurrences, like he wanted to measure the amount of flesh they had in them. She could not say she minded, obviously, so she let him do as pleased while they progressed.

Eventually, though, they found themselves in front of his door, and she brought him in—the room inhaling her in his scent and old memories and making swell urges and curiosity all-over again–, as she thought about setting more comfortable clothes, and maybe a bottle of water and aspirin on the side of his bed before leaving. An odd sense of intrusion settled in her guts as she tiptoed with him in the shadows of his childhood room, only briskly alighted by whisk beams of moonlight slithering under the draw curtains like glowing white stripes. It alighted her nude feet and his shoes as they stepped forward, and the shades embraced them up in cosy dark blues and blacks, rippled by the silver stripes and the white walls. His teen furniture, dark patches contours in the phantom room, and clouds of grey zones toning the usually light-maroon carpet.

She helped him to his bed, only letting go of his arm and waist when he plopped down on it, making ruffle sheets sound in the penumbra. Circling the already quite huge bed, she moved to the window, and breached it open, the summer night air twinkled in, and blew on her face. It chilled the tad of heated air in the room to a cool agreeable breeze, and again her ears picked the owl hooting as she abandoned the window, permitting the door to exhale wider, swept by the wind and unnoticed by her. His head was dangling down and not looking at her as she approached again, but she figured he was already welcoming the void of sleep once more, and made him tumble carefully down on his back so he would lie on his bed properly. She pulled off his shoes and socks–he didn't even stir–and removed her hand from its stand on his bed. The breeze blew on his face as he inclined his head to his profile, and bewitched a couple of strands to disarray. He was the picture of sinful innocence, a beautiful vulnerable pose in clothes ruined by her own hands earlier.

Her mouth broke apart without her permission at the sight.

Her fingers lifted to skim his cheek, and she tucked a strand lying on his aquiline nose back behind his ear. His chest rose and downed softly, like an enchanted prince befell in a deep slumber.

She remained in full contemplation, browsing his every inch with her sight for a minute, pleated away another treasured moment into a slip of memory, for her and only her…

Before retreating.

She rose up, careful not to make the slightest noise in the sound room, and turned, quietly leaving.

She did not get the opportunity to make four steps away from the bed, however.

Her arm was grabbed from behind, immobilizing her in a firm clutch just as she was lifting her foot, and when she looked back, she found him sitting, just as two minutes ago.

His head tilted at a diving angle, she was still unable to cross his eyes, and she had suddenly a doubt he had been awake during his movement.

"Ren?"She asked, trying to confirm it.

He didn't pronounce a word in response, and she thought she had been right, at first. But when she attempted to tilt her arm away from his hand, he tightened his hold. It was not hurting at all, but it was too firm for her to escape without having to resort to hold-breaking skills.

"Ren?"She asked again. "Can you– "

"Stay."

There was a lengthy silence as she tried to process his word. Then, as she tried to make sense of it. And failed.

"Ren … you need to sleep it off."

"Stay … with me."

Her thoughts and words abandoned her as she fixated her attention on him with something akin to annoy, and helpless frustration. She took a deep breath.

"You are drunk," she said, trying both to insist on the fact for him, and for her, and to imprint he needed the rest.

"Stay."He repeated, and her heart bled at the desperate tone he was borrowing–thanks to his drunken condition–, making her nonsense feelings plea it would be genuine … that it would be everything for him, and not induced by his current state.

He linked his fingers with her other hand, binding their digits together, and soon did the same with the arm he had been holding captive.

"Stay … stay."He repeated, sounding so heartbroken by the opposite prospect, her mind and heart fought to make sense of his behaviour, to unknit what would provoke him to say those words.

"Ren … rest, okay?"She whispered. "It will make sense in the morning, but right now you need to lie down and–

"Please…"

"Come on, you are tired and–"

But it seemed Ren was tired of asking, because he simply took. He pulled her to him with their linked hands, bringing her forward and in between his legs, a thread away from smudging her to him.

Swiftly, his hands drifted away from her fingers, and moved, encasing her waist in cuffing unmovable arms. Dubious she could elude those arms so long as he held her so tight and refused to let go–as much as she'd prefer to stay–, a helpless sad chuckle broke out from her lips. It turned akin to a sob near the end, though. And she breathed shakily, seeking composure again.

"Seriously … how much did you drink?"

He didn't reply to her question.

"You need to let me go … and sleep."She repeated with as much conviction as she could muster in her voice, when her heart wasn't in it.

His fold around her middle shaped into stone, efficiently blocking any hope of exit unless he let loose. And lord … the worst part? She wished he would never stop, that he would press her closer … harder.

"No."He muttered. The sound had been low … but it didn't lack stubbornness. She wanted to cry and laugh all at once.

She pinned his face between her two palms, and pulled forward, forcing him to look up. Once she finally crossed his sight, her gut twisted, his eyes were nebulous and undirected, and she felt even worse seeing it. He was so out of it.

"Let's rest, okay? We can talk tomorrow."She attempted, and she pushed on his arms, trying to nudge him into letting go.

He didn't react. Though, when she eventually managed to make him loosen his tight around her an inch with her hands, she thought she had finally gotten through him.

But then, he sheathed his limbs even tauter, and she felt his muscles strain around her waist, clinching her so snugly she had to breathe with the top of her thoracic cage, and then … she was propelled upward.

Promptly lifted in the air as if she weighed absolutely nothing, he settled her right on his lap, the same fluttering sound of sheets under the front of her calves thundered in her ears in the silent room, as he folded her until she was straddling him. Between the warmth seeping into her jeans under her thighs, and the one around her waist, a feeling of dizziness trumpeted inside her, as she tried to wrap her mind around what was happening.

That was about that moment she realized she might be in a little more trouble she had anticipated.

Let's stay calm. Calm. He was certainly not aware of what he was doing.

"You need to sleep, you– "

Again, it seemed he had not even been listening, as he ducked his head in the heart of her neck. If not fully aware, his intents in extending his touches were turning distinctly clear.

The moment her growing suspicions were confirmed as his lips touched her neck for the first time and her mind started to fog; fear also bloomed like gangrene at the idea of taking advantage of him.

The swirl of that terror snuffed out in its bloom by his distraction when he didn't content himself with a light skim of flesh.

Shudders erupted all over her as he stroked every millimetre made of her neck with feathery lips. Up and down.

Upward in revering brushes.

Downward in veiling touches of warm lips.

It was soft like a beam closing around your nape on the first spring day gathering proper sun heat. The return of life. Divine. It was torrid. Like the promise of thousand burns to come, a scorch never to be appeased, but always entertained.

"Ren, you are–… drunk, you–"

His palms glided up, the stretch of forearms enclosing on her blades, as his fingers clutched at her nape, and lost themselves in her hair. Her mind slipped again, pleasure and joy bombing inside at the feeling of being touched by his hands. Her emotions spilling in after-shakes.

She shook her head. Literally. She needed to think. She needed to think. He was drunk. Utterly inebriated. And while it did make her wonder if he could settle himself with her because of the alcohol in his blood–maybe he could feel attraction to her because he was not really aware of whom she was in his state–though that really left an ashen bitterness in her mouth at the thought–, but this … this was wrong. She would be villainously abusing his trust if she let this proceed. He was not in any ability to defend himself. To realize what he was doing, and who he was doing it with, right now.

He applied more pixie brushes against her, his lips tracing a breathy path down to the top of her collarbone, and she hiccuped her next inspiration, losing footing of her thoughts again. Her breasts heaved strongly against his chest, squeezed so tightly between them, and bringing welcomed tingles in the way down to her body, yet also un-welcomed. Crushing any attempt at clarity she was fighting for each second passing.

Why is his chest so blazing hot?

Why—

Focus.

Focus.

Think, Kyoko. She had to keep her mind working. She tried pushing against his shoulders, ashamed of both how feeble her limbs felt, and how subdued her attempt turned out to be. Hard to push back when her heart longed for him to continue.

She hardened her resolve.

"You are … intoxicated."She said, trying again to bring some distance between her and that stone-hard, yet so willowy, so tangle-able around her, soft body … and his aroma, so tantalizing fresh and masculine, yet so– … Focus!

He hummed quietly. The sound reverberated in his chest … and hers, and she clenched her thighs. Only realizing her mistake when the shapely strength of his own thighs fit themselves between hers tighter.

"You need to–."She said again, trying to override the stimulation at every sensation against her nerves.

But he wasn't listening.

Instead, he was focusing below, his fingers doving down in drowning grazes, before settling at her hips. She didn't have time to prepare that he slipped his thumbs under her shirt on both sides, and squeezed her hips. Tight and pinning, they crushed her hips in a compressing hold full of strong fingers, and she sank, the sensation overloading her senses. A gasping tiny moan escaped her.

The source of her troubles rubbed his nose on her collarbone as if he was pleased, and– … dared to do it again!

Her head dropped against his shoulder, feeling debilitated, and a weird rumble escaped him. It sounded a little amused, and she had half a thought of thinking it was what his chuckle would be like in such a wasted condition.

Damn man. He had no idea how hard it was to fight him and her feelings right now! When she wanted nothing more than to let him do as he pleased with her.

She was considering her options, still trying to recover from the last underhand attack. Maybe if she knocked him off, she could escape. He wouldn't thank her in the morning, though.

She froze. The morning. She didn't want to think about that, right now. Not when she was still in his arms. Not when she would have to face him, and pretend everything was fine.

The thought cooled her off some.

He moved again before she could put any sort of plan into action, though, wrapping his arms around her waist in another lock.

Compared to everything else he had just perpetrated on her willing body, it was rather safe, and she thought she might have a couple instants to finally make him let go.

She was so wrong.

Her next expiration, and he was heaving her up again, and propelling both of them back. Delving them backward until he could lean on the wall near the open window, digging both of their bodies into the bed.

Once fully onto the bed, he chose to push up his legs at an angle, prodding her, until she sloped from the top of his knees, all the length down of his thighs, sailing on taut wide muscles till she would be burrowed low, in the crease between his thighs and his bust, right on his crotch.

He kept his legs bent even after he had gathered her back against his chest, and this time her legs didn't close around his own. Instead, her knees ended up far behind his back in her kneeling position–only an inch in the air from one pivotal point, customary to her very quick thinking–and her thighs ended closing up around his hips.

Very unlady and undignified curses swirled in her mind, until some eventually ran out from her lips in rash panicking–and excited if she was honest–shouted whispers. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." When she eventually succeeded in expelling her held breath, that is.

He didn't give her the luxury of keeping her backside away from a very compromising situation, and grabbed her the last inch down.

She was sitting on one very aroused man.

A white buzz settled in her brain at the perception, her eyes popping to another size, and heat seized her body in flushing furnace.

He was there.

She could feel him. A nail away from possessing her all. A mere barrier of clothes separating their cores.

He is here.

I'm in his arms.

His warmth, his strength, the care in his touch … it closed on her like a binding veil. A deal she wished to abide unbridled in those wicked godly arms of his. A cloud of sensory inputs luring her in, to abandon her whole flesh to those lips, those hands … those hips. His comforting scent willing her body to ease and relaxation. The familiarity of that odour permitting him to unlock her like hacker would. Unnoticed until it was too late.

He was rubbing her spine like you would a kitten, soothing her muscles to mush, pushing reason to relinquish its last threads.

Burning heat pressed above the plane of her stomach, a gigantic hand spreading its digits in every direction in sensuous rubbing, teeth scraped her lobe … and bit her ear.

And in a last effort to preserve what already was, and not lost herself in what couldn't, she muffled his mouth with her palm, and lift her hips a tad, alleviating the pressure and bringing shreds of clarity back into her lost thoughts.

"Stop." And she hurried her hushed words before he could spell her away with his body again. "You are drunk. Blind drunk even. You wouldn't do this if you weren't. You would not even consider it if you were not so out of it. Please rest for now."

Unfocused eyes gazed at her as he pressed small pecks into the centre of her palm. But even in the blurriness of his stare, some seriousness seems to appear, and he lifted a hand to her cheek that would have seemed uncoordinated and even a little gauche if he wasn't so naturally graceful and adroit with his body. It settled on her face with care instead, bringing tears of emotion to her eyes, with the unconscious feeling of what he was still capable of, even utterly trashed.

" … you … don't want to–?"He mumbled his question to her, and it took her a little too long to realize what he was asking, so much the question was preposterous to what might matter to him. Then, she coloured heavily.

"That's not–… it is not–… it's you who would not–…"She shook her head, trying not to imagine anything related to his question. She didn't know if it was the sincerity she imagined shining in his eyes, or her inability to lie to him in this instant, but eventually … she replied.

"… I"–She hesitated, and sighed, renouncing to camouflage it this time–" … would … if you were in your normal state … if you truly wanted this…"The whispers escaped her softly. "If you were the one to– … She regretted saying it aloud as soon as it was out, another kind of fear gripping her…

… about … later.

When he would wake up … if he remembered…

The foggy eyes of his, when he bored his stare into hers, clashed with the tone of his words when he let them out. Sliced non-fluid murmurs, but filled with a reverent passion … and offence.

"… Want…"He plunged near her nape once more, the rough, next word rasping in her ear as he pronounced it, " … you…"

And when he tilted his head back, no matter the lack of clarity, the vagueness of his eyes, there was not a cell in her body that stayed indifferent to those words directed at her, that didn't shake. Nothing could have prevented her from losing herself in the emerald of his gaze.

The mere knowledge … even illusory … that he had said this to her … even if he would have never thought them otherwise … even if… Even if it was all the power of booze.

It bathed her starving soul into a fantasy of joy and love nearly just as powerful as it had been real, as every imagination skill she had was requisitioned to envision the scenario where it was the truth … where it was reality. Where he meant it right to his core.

… if only for one dim instant of infinity.

She drenched her soul in the beauty of that vision … as if she could impregnate her pores, her skin, her very organs … the whole sentient thing that constituted her in that vision.

And when she emerged from the fancy pipe dream, she felt … grateful. For that instant of infinity. For this crossed timeline where this could exist, as something else than a reverie.

Then, she knew she could try again.

Her hand rose, and she grazed his face, her heart melting despite herself at the sight of her way-over-high fairy. Boundless affection surged to overflow her expression, and it was with a sad low laugh that she brushed her lips against his forehead.

"Yes. And that is why I know alcohol is the one trying to spell me, and not you, you adorable tipsy man." She murmured in the gentlest of tones. "I refuse to abuse your trust– …

… no matter how much I wished to be in your arms."The undertone sighed words so low she was not sure he would have heard, even if he had been in capacity to understand their meaning.

She tilted up away, preparing herself to use hold-breaking skills if he did not let go this time around, even as she felt him encase her waist in a stronghold again.

She was puzzled to see something akin to frustration appear on his heavy-lidded face, and he nuzzled his nose against her own as he muttered against his breath.

––

"Stubborn…" he banked his head to the side, " … woman."He finished in a complaint, and hot air wafted to her mouth, luring her like a bee to a flower.

"Let … me … touch you."He pleaded.

He dunked his head in her neck again, roaming her back, kneading, carving … no muscle, no angle could scurry from his palms, his fingers. Rushing to the meet of her shapes with the pounce of a tiger wanting to claw at her … but with the raw care of soft paws.

She wanted to grab at him, let loose and abandon her thoughts to his arms.

And always, he returned to her hips, petting them, grazing them, clutching them! Doing the most wonderful things.

She felt herself sag, her body turning limp and more pliable to his hands by the second.

"You– "

She sensed his lips pressing at the junction of her collarbone with her neck, felt the draw of her skin between his teeth … pulling and pulling … and sucking the spot into coiling tingles ascending everywhere … until she was rasping her air out.

"You need to– … stop…"Kyoko mumbled, feeling less and less coherent. But pecks and brushes shaped in urgency continued, begging for something.

And then,

The friction of a dense lever between her legs when he ground her hips hard shot her system.

"Ahh…" Shocked at the suddenness of the sensation and move, her throat locked the sound in a wisp of a whine.

Her back arched as a gunshot of pleasure zing her nerves, and she grabbed his back for support, as her mind sailed adrift. Eyes shut, she rested her chin at his nape, trying to understand … trying to make sense … how things were degenerating so far.

She needed to disentangle herself from him fast. Before the remaining of her will left her.

Her thinking was already coming late, though, as her sight focus abruptly changed, and she felt herself being inclined down, lowered on his still bent legs, like you would on a backrest. Instead, the backseat was his thighs.

Vertiginous, and unable to fight the angle with her knees bent, she let go of his back without a hesitation and dropped her limbs on the mattress, staring up into the sombre of his eyes as he caged her down, enclosed between his thighs and his torso, she had no loophole to escape.

"Wait … you can't– "

She tried to lift herself, but he pressed their busts tight before she could, she was trapped. And the only feeling it brought was an excited staccato in her chest.

His arms wrapped low between his thighs and her, at the dip of her back, and her eyes misted again.

How can you be so tender when you are this drunk?

A couple tears escaped before she could blink them away.

"Fuck…"

He kissed them dry, brushing her cheeks softly.

"Ren…"She let out, lost in the intensity she saw shining in his eyes as he grabbed her face.

But then, he was gripping her hips again, and his hair tickled her skin when he started nuzzling her nape with little nips and brushes of the nose. The alternation of wild, then soothing making her sink deeper.

She grabbed at the first thing she could–his legs–and encased his calves and joints with her arms and fingers, to anchor and hold. Her digits caressing the softness of his ankles as they wrapped them. Who knew ankle could be so firm, yet so soft to the touch? Her head dropped to the sidelines, against his knees, and she wondered.

She truly did. She considered it.

Would it be truly so bad to let him do whatever he currently wanted to do? Would it be so terrible to let him?

Would he forgive her if she did?

More importantly,

Would she? Could she forgive herself if she let it happen?

When her response came, her heart and body cracked apart a little more. But despite the rush of blood still pumping to her head, despite the pain sizzling to a closer numb, only alleviated by the physical high she was experiencing at the moment, she heard it.

Her ear caught the shush snaps … as if buttons were unfastened.

"What are you—

She said but stopped mid-sentence, just as her eyes shot back open, and Kyoko twirled her head upright, dismayed to record he was indeed undressing her. She gaped at her already three unhooked buttons, putting her cleavage in display. And it would have already revealed her breasts too, if the pans hadn't held in place, thanks to the kind of fabric it was.

His hand glided down towards the next link, and one of her own hands bulleted to his fingers before he could unclasp another one.

This man!

"Ren!"

" … want to– … see."He said in guise of explanation, and she blushed. There was nothing special to see, but he was too torched for that to matter.

"You are damn dangerous when you are wasted, Corn."

But of course, any hope that she could have a coherent conversation was in vain, and after barely a pause, he tried to make her let go of his fingers.

When she didn't, he intertwined them with hers instead.

Then dove down to her bust. Or, so she thought.

He had plunged to her shirt, in fact.

Bewildered, she had to watch him as his teeth landed on the next button, just a little lower, and he pulled it open with his tongue.

To think his tongue was so nimble… Kyoko thought. He might be even faster with it than he had been with his fingers.

I'm never ever letting him drunk near me again, was the idle determination that followed.

She was too stunned to enact the simplest of acts against it, as she observed each button breaking away, one after another, methodically. All she could do was look. Chest heaving faster, sharper at each progression. One hand hooked around his ankle–resting on his inclined thighs and his other arm–the other tangled with his, lying on the sheets, pressed down by his palm in a stronghold.

Three fireflies caught her eyes as she remained still, dancing around Ren, joyful and bright … and clearly … on his side.

No matter how unaware he was, they were twirling like appraising guardians around them in the shades of the room only aglow by the same beams of the moon painting the ground. She picked two others curling in glow of nimble whirls, but she didn't have much mind left to wonder the whys, eyes glazed at the sight he was giving her.

It was one of the most sensuous acts she had ever witnessed … she stood mesmerized by the sight of his lips, teeth, tongue…

The grace of his movements penetrating her mind to set in her memory, like everlasting ever-burning embers.

The last button didn't resist his charm, however, and it came loose on his tongue, lying there for a second, until he spit it out into the room.

The tails of her shirt unfolded, revealing up to her sternum, and only holding by mere luck over her breasts.

His palm set at the bottom of her neck, she shook.

"R-Ren … please."

Circling it, he let a couple fingers glide down from there, following the stripe of skin through her cleavage, grazing at the centre of her chest, on her stomach, and down to the edge of her jeans. There was an edge to his touch that set her off. A lush slowness that made her tremble.

"Stop, you don't know wha– …"

His lips replaced his fingers, and both his arms crossed behind her back, holding her still.

Wet lips caressed down the path his fingers had borrowed, and her fingers lost themselves in his hair, gasping, as he applied mouth-open kisses lower and lower.

But he paused once … his lips landed between her breasts.

She was too lost in the feel to cease in the opportunity, and when his mouth moved again, his kisses turned into long-drawn-out leaning pressure. Leisure and ever-so gentle, but with a grate of his teeth on the very end … when he would retract.

Each time he would prolong it a little longer. He would slow it a little more.

It gave her a taste of despair… A desperate possession. Like a damage scream.

It didn't make sense.

But it resonated in the depths of her living flesh … like broken echoes.

"Ren…"She murmured, grabbing unconsciously at his nape with her palm. Scratching a little.

She felt him reach just above her belly button, and she tried to catch the scraps of her sanity before the last of her willpower escaped her into oblivion, when he grabbed her butt and pushed her up his thighs. Until her head dangled backward. He held her up by the waist.

"What– "

His tongue filled her navel.

"Ahh … w-wait…"

His lips reached the border of her jeans, and he started peppering kisses along the rim of it, driving uncontrollable shudders at the sensitive zone of assault.

"Wait … wait."

She tried to push against his shoulders.

He bit softly at the area. Teasingly. Several times.

"Ahh. Gosh…"

She shook her head.

Think, think, think.

She needed to think.

He tightened his hold around her waist, his tongue dragging in slow skilful rubs one spot. She tensed her abs at the incredible sensation.

What did she need to think about?

"Kyoko…"He whispered.

He inhaled her flesh then, sucking the corner of her hip and aspiring the skin as he was hoping a part would detach if he drew enough.

He sucked, and sucked … and sucked. Persistent and steady, strong then soft little swallows and pulls, then rough again.

Her eyes blurred at something collapsed on itself inside, and she saw stars, a strangled sound coming out when she finally managed air to sip in.

"You … you, you– "

Had he just– ? Did he just– ?

It can't be, right?

But the feel of it … was … similar.

"Haff … you!"

She was huffing puffs of air like she had run the hardest sprint of her life, she hit her head against his knees. This was insane. How had he even done that?!

"You are driving me nuts."She sighed out, considering biting into his left thigh in revenge, as she tried to gather her mind once more.

He eventually let her glide down the length of both his thighs and his torso, and Kyoko didn't oppose any fight, defeated … her will siphoned away by his determination to touch her.

A little voice tried to remind her his inhibitions were gone because of his condition … that it was just male frustration and drunken state.

That none of this was normal. That it was wrong.

But she was so out of it, she didn't even remember why.

Am I strong enough to push him away? She wondered eerily.

Firm hands on her thighs, rubbing them repeatedly, made her pause, but she let it pass.

This time, he let his teeth browse against her skin as he rose up the length of her bust, short-circuiting her returning thoughts.

Until she felt him skim her skin near her jeans again, and heard the pop of another button.

Her eyes broke open. Realization hitting her in a full blast of shame and guilt and anger.

What the hell am I doing?!

His fingers raised, ready to unveil one side of her shirt, as his arms wrapped around her back, sandwiching her between his front and his legs once more.

But she pushed back with all her might.

She drove him away, and upward, managing a sitting stand again.

That's it. She thought, looking down at her half-opened jeans. She had to bring a stop to this now. She couldn't let this continue even one second. Her heart squeezed painfully, but she ignored it.

She sent him down on his back, and he dropped backward easily. She leaned over his chest, and grabbed both his wrists, pulling them over his head and most importantly … away from her. She locked them in both her palms.

"You can't."She said firmly, this time.

His reprehensible unrepentant gaze glided down her shape in a lush wild wonder, before their stares inter-shocked again. And she blushed to her toes, knowing her shirt was probably not covering anymore in the movements she had done.

The intense depth of his stare rooted in hers a crystal clear declaration of what he'd like to do. She breathed heavily as she resisted with all that was sacred for her, chanting in her mind the reasons why she could absolutely not, until she was sure she would not be led astray again.

His stare turned pleading when she didn't bulge, and she closed her eyes.

"Drunk. You are drunk."She repeated.

Sadness filled his gaze, and she let go of one of his wrists to touch his face.

"Don't look like that. Don't look like that."She whispered feebly.

"You're very drunk, probably very frustrated"–at least she could imagine his body might be if he never indulged with some ladies–, "and void of any inhibitions, your body–… clearly, want this."

She let out a rush of shuddering breaths, feeling her own pain inflate inside as needing to refuse his arms when her heart and body sang for it.

"But … your brain–and probably your heart too–won't be very happy in the morning if I don't stop this."She mumbled with clenched eyes.

He was frowning at her when she lifted her lids, but she could see a drowsiness that had seemed to vacate him earlier, taking bud again as his eyes drifted close a couple of times.

Finally! She cheered.

Making him lie down had been the right call, after all.

But he was not out yet, she knew.

Proof she got when he raised the arm she had freed, and caressed her cheek, catching a tear she had not been aware was falling.

"… Kyoko…"He murmured, eyes closing again, "Stay … in my arms."

She leaned down, until she was nearly pressed hard against his chest–knowing she would pay the price for that sensation later too–and set a hand down on the mattress by his head.

The sheets ruffled their feathery echo once again in the quieting room, and she touched his cheek of a kiss.

"… Only in my dreams."

More tears fell on the side of his slumbering head. Before she retreated.

She led the covers to wrap around his body under the indiscreet shine of the fireflies, and once done settling water and aspirin on the nightstand, she let go. She grabbed the opened flaps of her shirt, and hastily retreated out of the room.

Her nude feet traced back her way in silence, not leaving a hint of her presence behind in the room.

The door closed.

She slid down the wall coated into darkness, the smooth roughness rasping against her back as she held her shirt with a fist. Her backside hit the floor in a quiet thud. Her locks, a spread mess around as she broke down on a knee.

It was only much later, when she passed the threshold of the guest room once more this night, when the light shut of her door, mirrored the one of his own–no more than a paper-sheet layer of her self in front of the foreign bed–that her mind caught up … to what happened. But more … to what needed to be done. She wouldn't sleep that night.

It was over.

It is over.

She wouldn't … couldn't do it anymore.

The ghosts of his hands … his lips, his body … haunted her like a mark made by hot iron… It burned her like the embedded imprint of a sizzling diamond after being forcefully torn apart from its hearth, its sheath.

It dismantled her soul and heart to a shipwreck, an umbra of a whole.

She couldn't play pretend anymore. She couldn't do like … like she felt nothing in front of him. She couldn't pretend to be only friends anymore.

She couldn't. And she didn't know if she would ever be able to again.

The mask had fallen.

There was only one solution.

In the morning…

She walked down the hall like a condemned woman, and cracked ajar the door to the kitchen. Phone in the pocket, at the ready.

§§§

Sunlight glittered through the tenebrosity of a bedroom, like white-golden rays scaring evil out of dark unknowns, blowing fresh morning gold on a slumbering figure, bringing warmth to tightly shut lids, caressing in its approach but exploding in its brilliance.

A frown cast its river on a wrinkless noble profile. Sheets formerly swallowing the span of shoulders dribbled down the length of waving back muscles.

A groan escaped.

An endless arm attempted to shy away a face from the joyous sun. Unsuccessfully.

And a drill begun inside a waking brain.

Worsening to the beat of the awakening.

Spiders fingers grabbed at the side of a head.

Mind refusing to work, the sprawled figure remained there, sank in the dip of his bed, as bearings were gathered. Treacherously slow and reluctant.

The shape eventually succeeded in a motion, and legs slipped down from a bed, even as eyes avoided the world still.

Feet and thighs pushed as the tall body stood. Lids unlocked, and the dreadful pulse doubled in strength in his head.

Curtains were snapped shut with a hand as he stared at the thrown shirt resting atop his lamp on his bedside table.

Nausea leapt inside his belly as he took two steps, rising all the way of his oesophagus up.

This is bad…

His worst hangover yet.

He padded his way to his bathroom, but had to pause before being able to freshen up, feeling he might not escape throwing up if he didn't slow down.

Gosh…

How much did I drink yesterday?

Undressing, he stepped into the shower.

He painfully remembered the argument with Kyoko from the afternoon, but to his utter shame, the full drinking bout with his father was nearly a blank. A couple blurred images of him throwing down shots, and dimmed lights was the clearest he managed.

Some foggy shredded webs appeared to be also clogging his brain with disconnected shattered bits of some phantom sensations. But the harder he pressed, the further his skull tried to kill him, so he gave up fast.

Once washed, his head was pounding even more, and was thankful for any deity of his house that thought about setting water and aspirin near his bed, when he discovered it. Sitting, he gave his nausea the time to settle a tad before swallowing the whole of it.

It took him a couple more minutes before he attempted standing again, but when he eventually did, it was fairly well enough, and he made his way to the door standing without an issue.

He was never drinking that much … ever again.

But just as he was about to open the door, hand on the handle, his eye caught the shimmer of something on the ground near the wall, the material scintillating precisely under the tantalisingly thin layer of light he had let the curtains escape–just to be able to situate himself.

He picked it up, the texture registering what it was before he could consciously name it, and the tiny button glinted as he observed it.

Did I lost it during my shameful misadventures yesterday night?

But checking his shirt, all of them were there. It was only upon further examination, his struggling mind finally picked why it felt familiar. He had seen the same kind of buttons just yesterday, on Kyoko's shirt. It belonged to her.

Maybe she had lost it when she had visited his childhood room a few days ago. Though, he didn't think she had been wearing the shirt this button belonged to at the time.

He pocketed it. He would give it back to her when he'd see her.

He left the room.

The moment he reached the kitchen, his parents drowned him in hangover mixtures and he was very happy he had already swallowed down an aspirin, as they underlined his last consumption of alcohol and the pitiful state in which he had been last night. Embarrassment swelled even further as he learned Kyoko had been the one that tucked him to bed, making him wonder why, oh why, when he desperately tried to appeal to her, she kept seeing his worst states, again and again.

Not that it really mattered, anymore, his mind supplied painfully, as his new realization hit back the front of his brain, and the very reason he had drowned himself silly into alcohol last evening.

He was less preoccupied by his lack of any remembrance of the evening, now that his father had supplied the amount of alcohol involved during his consumption of last night.

But that was … until he turned around and saw Kyoko.

She stood stiffly by the corridor frame, just shy of properly entering the living room. She appeared a little pale and tired for someone just waking up, and guilt ate at him he might be responsible for the slightly shorter night.

He nearly rose to go hug her morning, but was reminded once more why it was not a good idea.

She never will, ringing in his brain ever still. He smiled at her.

"'Morning."He said.

Her eyes bored into him, lingering for a few seconds too long, and an odd feeling began to stir his guts.

"Good morning."She said, before making a few steps in the room–though still so far away from the breakfast table–, and she softly asked. "How do you feel?"

"I had better mornings."He said, chuckling self-indulgently. Why does she look so tense? He began to worry to what he might have put her through. He was usually a rather drowsy drunk, the rare times he had people to account for how he behaved when he indulged, but it had already been established this one was beating records. Normally, knowing her strength, worst-case scenarios should have been avoided.

But just because those were checked didn't mean it had been a joy adventure. He sighed at himself. He would have to take the pill, and accept with humility how unsightly he must have been in front of her.

Still, she was behaving oddly, she was barely moving. His instincts kept screaming at him something was off. Their gazes locked again, and he thought he saw a fright more powerful he had ever known her to be able of, deep, deep behind a seemingly normal stare.

Something was very wrong.

He stood. He couldn't take it anymore.

He walked to her, and hugged her.

He could have been hugging a board with how stiff she remained. Hesitant limbs very briefly returned the embrace before she let go.

"You okay? Hungry?"He asked when he detached himself from her.

She nodded, managing a grimacing smile.

Why are you so pale?

"Are you sure you okay?"He insisted, but she didn't reply, gaze turned away from him into something unknown.

"Kyoko-chan?"Julie asked, and his dad concurred with calling her too afterwards.

"Kyoko?"He whispered, wondering if she needed to talk to him about something she couldn't say in front of his parents.

Worry gnawed at him, and Ren took her hand, to his dismay, making her jump high at the touch.

"Sorry."She said tersely, avoiding looking his way. He was starting to wonder if he had done something to upset her, now.

"You know, Dad told me you took care of me when we came back last night," he started, and he saw her glance his way quickly, "so, if I was a pain to deal with, I apologize, and– "

She frowned slightly, even though she looked even more on edge, and he felt like he was missing something crucial here.

"Your dad told you?"

He smiled sheepishly.

"Well, I don't remember much … nothing really…"

An odd expiration left her but he ignored if it was out of anger or something else.

"Oh."She just said.

"It's not really surprising, if the recall your father told us about is correct," his mother chirped, still teasing the hell out of him, evidently. He sighed. He would never live it down. A full blank. But he shook himself together, it was his own damn fault, anyway. And refocused on Kyoko.

"So, If I gave you trouble while I was out of it, I'm sor–."He rushed, feeling anxious at her weird reaction.

"You didn't."She cut him.

"But– "

"You didn't."She said again, shaking her head, and she finally shifted to give him her first real smile since she stepped into the room.

"Are you sure?"He pressed, unconvinced she was not upset by anything at all.

But she reassured him all was fine, and when she told him it would serve him right for drinking so much, she genuinely didn't seem mad at him, and he finally started to relax. Maybe he hadn't been too much of a pain last night.

He thought he might still be missing something, because her behaviour still a bit off, but he was also prompted to overthinking when it concerned her, and his head throbbed each time he tried to make his brain work too much right now, so he would postpone the worry until his head would cooperate again.

She pushed a smoothie in his direction, back to guard his consumption closely. Okay, he had been definitively overreacting. That was normal.

"Drink."She commanded.

"Yes, ma'am."

He freed a seat, intending to let her sit, but the bag pocket of her jeans rang, and she freed her phone from it.

Picking it up, she frowned as she looked at the caller, but answered.

"Hello? Yes, it's me."She said, slight puzzlement making day on her face, and again, Ren couldn't help but find she looked especially tired. Like she hadn't slept at all. Though, he was pretty sure she must have, at least remotely.

"Ah, yes, I did. I remember."She said, tilting her head to her screen, after she had listened for a few seconds.

"Oh."She added after another second, her face colouring with surprise. "When?"

"Ah." Another second.

"No, I understand you don't have a choice." Another moment passed, and he guessed the person was explaining the details to her, and he couldn't help but admire the grace in which she carried herself. The way she walked filled with ease when she made a couple steps to the side, as she replied patiently to the person on the phone.

"No, no. I'm grateful for the opportunity, on the contrary."She said kindly, and he smiled, wondering what new job she had just landed.

"I understand. I will be there. I'm taking the first flight I can."

This time he frowned.

"Goodbye. See you soon. Of course."

She cut the line, and turned to them with a sad but also stressed look.

"What is it?" His father asked before he could. Hadn't she just got a job?

"I have to go," she said, and she waved her phone. "It is a callback for an audition I took."

He grinned at her, moving a tad too fast which made his head rankled again.

"That's great!"He said, nonetheless.

She nodded with a light smile.

"That's awesome. His dad said.

"Congratulations, Kyoko-chan!"His mother said.

"Thank you, but– "She looked conflicted.

"What is it?"He asked.

"It is in England."She said. "I have to leave."

"Oh."He said, finally understanding why she looked ambivalent, and his parents concurred in a similar fashion.

"Well, it is important."He said, wondering how sooner she would have to depart.

"When do you have to leave?"

She grimaced, glancing at him, and for one second he thought he saw pain and regret. There was a glow that wasn't there. Was it because she was tired? Their gazes locked, and a sudden blow of gripping fever in her eyes took his breath away. The fire filled with grief?

But then it was gone, and his guts twisted as she smiled … something was amiss.

"As soon as I can."She admitted. "I must be there this evening at most."

The realization took him by surprise, not used anymore–even with how little days they had spent together compared to how often they had been away–to envision his time without her, but he nodded.

She came closer to him.

"I'm sorry. I have to leave early."

He shook his head.

"You already followed me in every fancy these last days, and came with me," he said, putting up a smiling front, "it's too bad you have to go early, but I know I was already pushing it when I asked if you could stay longer."

She apologized to his parents and thanked them for welcoming her and hosting her those last couple of days, going through a lot of trouble to show how grateful she was. Like they had been doing her a favour by accepting she would stay here.

Then, she turned back to him.

"I will go get ready."

He nodded.

"Go."

She smiled at him, and twirled, rushing to get ready.

She came back 35 minutes later, barely, her bag on her shoulder. His parents proposed her to at least take a breakfast but she said she didn't have the time.

"Do you want me to drive you to the airport?"Ren asked then, but she gave him a smile, saying she had called a taxi.

"I didn't want to trouble you all while you were eating."

It would never have been any trouble, and he would have even had some more time with her, but he knew why she had done, even if it made him sad. He smiled.

"Okay, then."

His father gave her a hug he could see she hadn't expected, but she welcomed it. But then, she bowed to his mum, so low it made him wonder if she felt bad about something towards his mother. But Julie only expressed a sad smile, and said it had been a pleasure to meet her.

Then, she pivoted to him.

And to his surprise, she ran to his side to hug him tightly, holding him close against her. He returned the embrace, trying to hold back but still crushed her into his chest near the end, unable to help himself. She stepped back.

Smiling, she looked at him sternly.

"You'd better take care of yourself."

He smiled, nodding despite the pain swelling already.

"I will."

But then, he couldn't, after all. He grabbed her again for one last hug, pressing her against him until her feet left the ground.

"You better too."

"I will."She replied in kind.

She left.

END OF REQUIEM CHAPTER.

PS: Run. Leave the site and move out to an island until she escaped the pitchforks about to rise from everywhere.

Enjoy sweethearts, the storm is here.

For you, Parker.