247Ah, yes! So many wonderful responses to my last chapter! It made me so happy and relieved that people are still with me as I enter my uncertainty period when it comes on to writing fanfiction. I'm feeling much better about this fanfic because of that, and also because I recently reread every single Skip Beat chapter. :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat
Chapter 12
"You really shouldn't go in there, President Takarada wouldn't be pleased," Ren said, gently grasping her wrists and pulling them away from the doors. He noticed that the doors didn't swing back at the retreat of her hands, they instead stood partly open, as a bit of a tease to one's curiosity. She didn't fight back.
He eyed her long hair that he could only describe as auburn and he thought of those nights he had spent tangled in it. He remembered the intensity of her kisses at their first meetings and the taste of them. Strawberry. Minted. He remembered her body, almost exposed to him under her flimsy seductress wear. He thought of the voices she had used on him: tempting and suggestive. He thought of how hard it had been to suppress himself.
"You're right," she said, stepping back from the door, backing up into Ren's chest. The heat from her body quickly burned through his clothes, managing to touch his skin. It was enough to make him sweat. And with her back gently pressed against his chest and his arms around her in a partial hug, they stood. A whirlwind of decidedly dirty thoughts spun in Ren's head. He wanted to pull her into a full blown hug and gently nibble at her neck. He could almost hear the soft, pleading groans she would give out. He could almost feel her body melting and becoming nothing but womanly softness. Oh how he wanted to bury himself in that. So badly.
"It's time to leave," he said, stepping back and removing his hands from her wrists. He could never stop at amazing himself. His self-restraint deserved a trophy. The longer he knew her, the harder it became to keep his hands off her. However, that was exactly what he had been doing. He hadn't missed the intense shift of her personality a few days earlier, neither had he felt the aura that had bloomed around her recently. It was almost as terrifying as Kuon's.
He could not read her in the slightest.
From the very beginning she had hidden her true self from him. He had gotten a peek when she had first taken over his kitchen, but ever since then…she had immersed herself into another persona. Just like him. What other similarities did they share?
What differences did they share?
What did he know about her?
As he walked back to the car, the person of interest walking behind him quietly taking in the scene at the LME office, he began to consider what about her had managed to capture him.
She was mysterious. That was the number one reason. She held a dark secret that she refused to tell him, and it had shaped her in a most interesting way. That silent determination it had fostered, was not as silent as she probably thought it was. The way it had made her retreat and put up a fake mask was worth investigation. Finding out about the man who had done it all, made him want to find said man, and beat him to a centimetre of his life.
Tsuruga Ren could face insults to himself and his acting with a smile.
Tsuruga Ren could deal with being lied to and used as a stepping stone to future popularity for other celebrities.
Tsuruga Ren however, could not keep Kuon locked up any time a man hurt a woman, especially if it was anything physical. That type of man made Ren's blood boil, and made the actor see a shade of red so bloody that it was hard to tell if it belonged to the person who had earned it or if it was just from imagination. That type of man brought up memories of the past that Ren was desperately trying to run from.
His mind brought up that first night he had stumbled upon the seductress behind him. Dressed as Cain Heel, he had found it even harder to suppress Kuon. One minute he saw a man shove a woman with a ripped blouse against the wall, pushing his hand up her skirt. The woman screamed. After that, Ren could only remember glaring down at a motionless body, the face battered beyond recognition. The girl was nowhere to be seen, but her terrified screams lingered in the air. Also in the air were police sirens. If it weren't for them invading his thoughts, he wouldn't have moved from his spot for a long time. He would have been lost to the world.
Just like that first time.
Ren lifted a hand to run it through his hair as he sat in the backseat of the car. Damn it! He could not think of that right now! He could not! Damn that Kuu!
He propped his head up on his right hand, his eyes falling on Kyoko's. She had been staring at him. She quickly averted her eyes, but the look in them had been obvious. They were questioning in a dark way, but behind that questioning darkness had been something else. Something he also wanted. He reached across the space between them, his fingers climbing over hers first before turning her hand over so that he could hold it. For a second he looked at their hands intertwined and thought of all that it represented.
The simple gesture spoke to him about his failure as Katsuki. An action like this was one couples did every day. It was so common and normal, that a bystander wouldn't think much of it. However, it meant so much more. It showed just how comfortable the lovers were, and just how much they wanted to be in contact with the other one, their other half. It was a gesture of love. And love was what he of all things, could not conjure up.
He glanced at Kyoko's face which was turned away from his and thought about her. She was attractive, mysterious and tempting, he could barely keep his hands off her, but…what about her did he like?
The ride to his actual apartment was shorter than usual. Or maybe it seemed that way because no matter how hard he thought, he could not think of one thing he liked more than her body and her cloudy past. Once again, he had made a relationship based on purely shallow observations. He had been through many pretty girls, but they had all left him. Would she be the same? He squeezed her hand, making her look at him right as the car pulled up in front of his apartment.
He hoped not.
"We're home."
XXX XXX
Kyoko walked around the apartment, instantly noticing the difference. It was much bigger and fancier. When she walked into his bedroom and spotted his bed, she almost had a heart attack. It was totally bigger than the one at the previous apartment! She blushed at this thought, but couldn't help admiring the bed.
"Do you like it?" he asked behind her. She jumped slightly and turned to face him. He had obviously made himself at home. He wore his pyjamas. It was a completely different look on him. It almost made Kyoko want to…
"Yes. I do. This bed's possibilities," she started, turning away from Ren to hide her smile, "is endless." She took that moment to compose her face. When she turned back to him, her eyes danced with mischief and her smile was evocative. She bit her bottom lip and lowered herself onto the bed in a sitting position.
The atmosphere around him as Ren was noticeably more relaxing than the atmosphere around him as Cain.
Even from across the room, she could see his eyes smoulder. The strides he took to come right up to her weren't many. He crouched in front of her, not looking her in her eyes. He took her hand into his and held them. She could only watch as they disappeared into his fists.
"You need to decide which face to wear. I would prefer if you wore your real one. Your fake mask is rather ugly," he said, choosing this moment to look into her eyes. Kyoko's eyebrows rose in shock. Had it been that obvious?
"Is that so?" she questioned in reply, forcing an amused look on her face as her fingers reached out and caressed his face.
'How dare he call you out like this?' One of her demons exclaimed.
'And to call it ugly of all things!' Another one yelled.
"Seems you really do need some guidance in this thing called life…child," Ren teased.
"I am no child. I am fully capable of handling anything thrown at me!" She yelled.
"Can you handle me?" He asked, leaning his head closer to hers.
"Better than you can handle yourself," she replied, leaning in to confront him.
"I can see you're teasing me. You have no idea how being this close to me is dangerous to you. Don't you want to preserve what little purity you have?'" He asked.
"Oh, I am a tease, Ren. And also keep in mind that you also have no idea just how deadly I can be," she whispered, leaned in and kissed him chastely on the lips.
Then her brain clicked, and she cursed herself, but he was already kissing her back, and her skin was feeling disturbingly sensitive. She felt his hand on her face, holding her chin gently in place.
He had made her face slip, and she had dropped into the seductress role she was so used to. She hadn't meant to kiss him, she had meant for him to kiss her. It would've made a big difference. It would have shown that she was in charge…and not him.
He pulled away unexpectedly, giving her time to catch her breath.
"You bastard," she growled.
"You seductress," he responded, his voice light with amusement. Was he laughing at her reaction?
"Glad you remember my role," she said, narrowing her eyes, refusing to accept defeat.
"Hmm…Kyoko, remember when you said that I would deserve a prize for bringing you home with me?" He asked. Kyoko blushed.
'Damn it! I have to stall!' She thought.
"I don't think you're ready for it yet," she said, trying to delay him.
"Well, I think I am," he said, eyeing her intently.
"Then I refuse to give it to you. And I'm sure someone of your standing won't try to force me," she said. He wouldn't have her body. She wouldn't allow him.
"I'm not afraid of forcing you, Kyoko. Now, answer me this," he said. Kyoko gulped. She wouldn't go down without a fight. He didn't deserve her body! No man did! As she looked at him in the silence that followed, she realized something. The main reason she didn't want to give her body to this man, was because she was too afraid of liking the result of it. And who knew what would come after that. She would be vulnerable again. She just couldn't deal with that again.
"Never," she said.
"I want to know what's wrong. I want to know who hurt you. This is the prize I want from you Kyoko."
Ok, so this wasn't what she had expected. He wanted information, not sex? It seemed highly unlikely for a man.
"I…I can't tell you that," she replied in her shock.
"Please…I need to know," he said.
"I don't trust you."
"Why don't you trust me?"
"Because if I do. You'll do what Sho did to me."
"Sho? Sho who?"
Kyoko's eyes went wide with terror. She hadn't meant it to come out, it just came out! She wasn't guarding herself! He had managed to break her! She couldn't reveal anything else to him. She shook her head. No. She wouldn't tell him.
"You've got to tell me what he did to you. What did Sho do to you?" Ren asked. His voice was carefully controlled. Kyoko backed away from him, hoping the other end of the bed would be her refuge. Her hand came down on something with a lot of buttons and the TV sprang to life.
"And Fuwa Sho's new song has once again risen to the number one slot! As expected from Japan's number one pop star!" An entertainment journalist said excitedly from the TV. The next shot on the TV was of the one and only Fuwa Sho, waving to his fans. Kyoko felt her body stiffen and for a second she felt fear and pain, and in the next second her demons had risen. The air around her darkened with the evil that was slowly pouring out of her.
"Damn you Shotaro!" She yelled and the TV exploded. Courtesy of her demons.
As she sat on the bed in the aftermath of her careless emotions, she knew that she had given herself away. And she knew without looking, that Tsuruga Ren's eyes were trained on her intensely.
Ah yes, an unexpected turn, but one I am enjoying none the less. Yay! I hope to upload the other chapter really, really soon!
Thanks to those who reviewed for the last chapter:
SHINO CHAN! ^_^, GakuenLME, mrs. zala, Perfect Beauty, xXHalfPrinceXx, , luckyschoolgirl, TMNinjaGinga, Lynn Beltran and those 5 anonymous reviwers!