Skip Beat: The Truth Comes Out

Chapter 6: Speaking and Surprises

Ch 6 Speaking and Surprises

"There you are, Kyoko! You're lucky I know my around Tokyo pretty well, you're pretty far from either my place or yours, and your description of the location was pretty shabby!"

"Ren!" she says with a big smile. "You found me!"

"Of course I did," Ren replies, now back in the dark eyes and hair of Tsugura. "Well you better get in, it's getting cold."

As they head towards Kyoko's place, she summons her courage and speaks up. "Ren," she says weakly, her head downturned. "I-I'm sorry I ran."

"Don't give it another thought, Kyoko. You did nothing wrong. I understand."

"Yes, I did do something wrong. I ran away from you. I should have...tried to explain. I don't want you to think I don't trust you."

"It's ok, really. I know you trust me. You just got a little scared, that's all. It was quite the shock for you, I'm sure. It was for me, too, ya know. The whole experience. Kinda scares me too, to be honest."

"No way! I know for a fact you've been with a lot of other women, don't even try to deny that!" Now she's looking at him, or his profile as he drives, her arms crossed waiting for his attempt to gloss over it and move on.

"Yeah? So what." Mogami is surprised he didn't so much as try to minimalize the numbers! At a red light at the moment, he turns to her face and says with honest eyes and velvet voice, "Kyoko, you're the only woman I've ever loved. This is different. Very different."

Kyoko's surprise shows on her face at both of his bold declarations. But he continues, even then, as the light turns green and all she sees is his profile again—but his voice is still sincere. "To tell you the truth...this is kind of embarrassing, but you've borne embarrassment for the sake of honesty with me, so I can too—but truth be told, I've never wanted a woman so much in my life. It was all I could do to stop myself. So if I get too handsy in the future, don't be afraid to put me back in my place, ok?" He turns his head to her with a red face, but still holding it high, with a small smile.

Kyoko knows Ren is trying to put her at ease, but somehow, it makes Kyoko feel ashamed for making him feel like it was his fault. "Y-you didn't do anything wrong, though! I did, by running. I-I really am sorry. I think...I think I'm just having trouble believing this is all really true. I mean Sho always said I was a plain, stupid girl with no sex appeal. After hearing it so many times, I guess I just sorta accepted it as the truth. Hard for me to believe you could feel that way about me."

"We're here, Kyoko" he says, facing her. "But I do feel that way about you. But don't worry, I'm not going to push you or rush you, ok? I just want to be by your side. If anything I say or do bothers you in the future, just tell me, ok?" His eyes are so genuinely concerned for her. She wonders to herself how she managed to capture the heart of a man like this.

"Ok. I promise," she says with a smile as she gets out in front of her home. "But before you go...Ren...there's one more thing I have to say." She leans in close to his face from outside her open door, turns to his ear, and whispers, "I love you, RenKuon." Ren grins at finally getting a decisive confession directly from her—but he wanted to seal it with a proper kiss. As she moves her head away from his, he pulls it back it in for one last good-night kiss on the lips. She smiles at him afterward, and shuts her door to allow him to leave...not really wanting him to go.