CHAPTER 39

I do not own skip beat! Yoshiki Nakamura does.

You and me ~act 1~

They headed for the cafeteria of LA heart and had almost reached it when their path crossed Kjima who came from the opposite direction. Kijima came towards Ren with a big smile and greeted him warmly. Kyoko knew instantly that they had gotten closer in recent years.

But soon Kjima took note of Kyoko and whistled loudly scooping a glare from Ren.

"You're in lovely company, dude" Kijima uttered.

"Who are you beauty?" He said as he turned to Kyoko and she could feel the irritation emitted from Ren beside them. Then he saw Ren's look.

"Wow, buddy, calm down. Who force you to eat this morning? And what? " " So that I know to never propose you that" He added with a grimacing smile. "The last time I saw you with that sort of face it concerned K-

"You really didn't change" Kyoko cut him, hoping to distract Ren of whatever was his reason to be upset. That was another thing that was the same.

Still as moody…

"Wait…

His eyes bulged out their sockets and he gaped literally open mouthed.

"Kyoko-chan? Is that really you?" he demanded, soon getting excited.

"No way! No way no way…It's magical at this level…"and he exploded in laughs. Between tears he gave a pitiful look to Ren and begun to back away.

"I-I need to go…I can't…It was nice seeing you again, Kyoko-chan…I really can't…He was so bent over in shakings he looked like he needed to pee and mostly run afar in laughs as soon as he was out of sight.

Kyoko arched a brow at Ren but he just shook his head with some grumbles.

"You look closer than before" Kyoko transmitted simply.

Ren nodded with a slightly troubled face.

"I couldn't get rid of him and though he can be quite annoying, he has his good points too" Ren explained as they finally sat on one of the corners booths.

Amused, Kyoko couldn't help but chuckled. He could say whatever he wanted, she was not blind. There was affection in his eyes when he talked about him. And Kyoko could also see that he seemed more relaxed than in the past. His eyes also seemed less haunted than before.

"And you?" asked Ren, "I heard your friend over the phone three months ago, Kayla if I remember well, how is she?"

A frown crossed Kyoko's face and she shook her head with a short grin.

"Overwhelming, not caring in any boundaries, kind, nosy…A mind on everything" Kyoko cited and Ren snorted.

"She seemed interesting"

"She is" said Kyoko with warm in the voice.

"Well, most of the time" and this time, she crooked a smile.

Pinching his lips, Ren held back another smile.

"You changed a lot" he said and Kyoko looked back at him.

I know I'm taller than before and have long hair but other than that I- she started.

He shook his head.

"That's not what I meant" he corrected, "You are much more posed than before. More comfortable and confident, it's mesmerizing to see and it looks good on you" Ren pointed out and Kyoko blushed. Moved by his words that didn't touch on her appearance but on her acts for once.

"Thank you" she muttered.

"You look good too beside your health "she said purposely insisting on the end of the sentence.

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you" Ren protested.

"Your face is thinner than in the past and you have dark circles under your eyes. Did you even eat this morning?" She demanded with an impassive face.

She saw him open his mouth then close it several times before putting his hand on it without uttering anything in the end.

Kyoko was tempted to scold him good time but knew that in the end it wouldn't change anything.

She got up from her seat, informing him that she was coming back quickly and went to the counter. She didn't know what to ask but the man needed to eat and a lot with that. She was going to have a little chat with Yashiro-san.

She had missed him so much, she was glad to know that he hadn't spent all of his time alone. She came back fast and sat again in front of him.

He paled a little when he saw the food tray but said nothing. They started eating and Kyoko told her that she had learned that he had just finished filming in Scotland and asked her if it had gone well.

He answered his questions and they naturally fell on topics of work but Kyoko was feeling a strange impression. It seemed to her that he was agitated. He kept shaking his leg and seemed to spend his time avoiding her gaze then looking at her and then again.

He asked her how things were going to be about her work abroad and she explained that she would probably spend half her time here and the other half abroad.

He seemed to ponder at that but didn't comment further.

He was making her nervous.

Well, to be fair, the all process had been awkward. She didn't know how to talk to him anymore. What were the matters she could still broach? What were the ones she couldn't. She didn't even know if he was okay. How were things for him nowadays? Was he happier? In a more peaceful mind-set and place? Was he with someone?

She broke apart her lips to speak, to ask. About something and anything when she saw him struggling to finish his plate.

She grasped the back of one hand lightly, taking pity on him.

"It's good. Don't force yourself, you ate more than enough. I'm not going to torture you more than that" she told him with a repressed smile.

She saw the tension in his shoulders as she touched him and his eyes slowly rose to meet hers.

He shifted his hand slightly and his thumb brushed the back of her own hand for a second before he brought it back to him. The moment passed so quickly that Kyoko thought she had dreamed it or that he hadn't realized what he was doing.

With a relieved face, he thanked her for her mercy, completely indolent in appearance but his eyes remained stormy inside his pupils.

She decided to put it aside.

She was imagining things because her subconscious dreamed of a more intimate contact. She brushed her hair away from her face with an inside huff and she saw his eyes turning even more tempestuous. She groaned internally. The withdrawal during which she had had no contact with him was too long and she was taking the intensity that was her damn fairy in full force. She was getting delusional with her internal fantasies. She was diving again. Drowning in his eyes.

The atmosphere became heady and she felt chills running her back.

Where the hell it's coming from? It's like it's a furnace …

They looked into each other for a while, unconscious of the time passing until Kyoko not able to handle it more talked.

"I passed through the lobby the other day and I saw you with Kijima and a bunch of people. You all looked rather friendly and I've been wondering if they were acquaintances of you?" She blurted out, exposing her curiosity and nerves despite what she swore to herself.

After all those years…

She had tried to bury those feelings. All this time away. She had tried. So that when she would come back she could keep it.

The promise. The one to herself. To be a true friend to him. To cherish and watch over him as a friend. To care for him as much as she could. To protect him from those ravaging impure emotions she harboured for him. To preserve those but without giving him the burden of them. So to never show, to never tell, to never act on those emotions.

And if she couldn't?

If I can't?

To stay away from him.

But right now, on this moment where she was looking at him with as much as much of a blank stare as she could placated on the face. While she was actually facing him for the first time in all these years, only one thing was gnawing at her, devouring her from the inside.

The fingers of one of her hands rose in a failed attempt to reach out to him. She closed her fist under the table, her nails scraping the skin so much so she pressed them in her palm.

He was different that before.

Desire took her by the throat. The one to reveal each plot that had changed in him. To know how he had evolved, who he was today. To see him move in the world that was his and rediscover the actor he was now.

She abruptly sucked in a gulp of air when the extend of her greed revealed itself to her. She was consumed by such a longing to be close to him and by a hell of a curiosity she felt dizzy.

The last thing in her mind right now was backing off and keeping her distances.

But she couldn't. She was not strong enough.

She just wanted to spend some time with him.

Give me some time…

…and after…

She accepted to get burned.

"They are my friends" replied Ren pulling her out of her thoughts.

She forgot everything else with the happiness she felt.

"Seriously? Really?" questioned Kyoko excitedly.

He frowned.

"Is that so surprising that I would have friends, kyoko?" he grumbled, seeming hurt.

She shook her head with a low chuckle.

"Of course not, she refuted hastily, "But you have to admit you tended to not let approach people usually Kyoko explained.

His eyes widened for a second but he nodded right after with a grim smile wondering how she has pierced through him systematically.

Kyoko lifted her brightened eyes to him and with a joyful smile she added:

"So I'm, I'm happy for you she got out, happy than you don't get your distance with others as much as you used to do it"

Affected by her words, he didn't answer right away and Kyoko thought she had said something she shouldn't have.

"I'm sorry, I know it's not my place to be concerned by that but-

"No, I-thank you Ren finally said, "for worrying and caring. I"-he sighed. "I know we didn't see each other for a long while but you have no idea how touched I'am" Ren finished as he rubbed his neck, embarrassed but feeling like he needed to be honest on that.

"But you know, it was all thanks to you Ren added, his adoration leaking through.

Kyoko blinked.

"What do you mean, I didn't do a-

"You did. It was because of you I was able to see myself differently and not-...stay closed off …like before He explained.

Kyoko shook her head. The idea he was attributing his progress to her was just too disturbing.

"But no, I-

Softly, he took her left hand in his giant one enveloping all her fingers in it and interrupting her protest, not letting go even when she finally looked at him again.

"That time, at the beach, years ago he murmured with shining eyes as he absent-mindly rubbed his thumb on her hand unconscious of the effect he had on Kyoko while he was remembering this precious memory. "When I confided into you. It was because of your words I was able to begin to really see me as something else than a monster" He told her.

She opened the mouth to argue but he cut her attempt.

"I would not have been able to change, to accept things without you Ren admitted." So yes, it's thanks to you I'm able to interact a little more with others today"

He wouldn't listen whatever she was saying and he proved her by adding that she would better accept his thanks because he wouldn't drop neither her hand nor the matter until she agreed to this version.

Kyoko sighed and nodded. He was so hell-bent on this.

"What a stubborn man" she grumbled after a while.

"It's the pot calling to the kettle" he countered back sternly.

Kyoko looked at him and he looked back and she burst into laughing making Ren's expression melt a little more.

"You're right" she granted as she brushed her tears away.

"I know" Ren answered.

They both stared at each other and were soon lowly chuckling again.

"It's good to see you" Ren uttered after calming down.

A light hue appeared on Kyoko's cheeks despite her best efforts before she answered.

"It's good to see you too". Her expression so soft for a second he coughed to the restlessness she was putting him in.

They soon has to go but Ren was content, feeling that though he would need a lot of time to be able to say he knew her again she was not against the idea to return to their blooming friendship of the past if her agreement to spend time with each other once a while when he proposed it was any tell.

PS: I hope will satisfy any fan or reader that needed fluff. I wouldn't let you down. Though, as you can see, it's mixed with something else ^^

Come on, I needed to raise the tension. They couldn't be too calm, they are so much more fun when they are grilled and jumping up and down because of everything.

Hahaha…

Anyway, enjoy.

Little reviews are my treasure. Feed me if you want a chapter. Puahaha…It's like those machines that say Feed me with a coin if want the surprise inside…

Kisses.

AUTHOR OUT.