Nice Guys Don't Always Finish Last

Disclaimer: I do not own SkipBeat or much of anything else, so please send money. I also don't own Tokyo Disneyland, and can't afford to go there (see previous statement)

Summary: Ishibashi Hikaru seeks to find a way to snap Kyoko out of her depression. In the process he finally gets the date with Kyoko that he always wanted… and then some.

Chapter 5 – Punishment and Reward

How long Kyoko hung, suspended off of the floors in Tsurugar Ren's arms, she would never afterward know for sure. All that she did know was that something that had been terribly broken inside her began to mend, even as the man who meant the most to her in the world cried like his heart was ripping apart. She marveled in his strength with one part of her mind, even while she stroked his hair and tried to comfort him with another.

Eventually the tears, and Ren's guilty tension, released enough that he once again became aware of their situation. Gently, as if handling the most delicate glass sculpture, Ren carried Kyoko over to the couch and set her down. Kyoko watched in shocked amazement as the six-foot five man knelt in front of her, executing a dogeeza. "Tsuruga-san… please, get up… what are you…?"

The pain in his eyes arrested her words as he sat back on his feet and said, "Please, Mogami Kyoko… please just listen to my confession… afterwards… if you're still speaking to me… we can talk of other things."

Kyoko bit her lip and nodded. Ren took a deep, almost painful breath and began, "On the night that you came to my apartment to help me… after my near accident… after you stayed over because it was so late… you came to me…" Ren gulped again, as if terrified for what he was going to say next, "You came to me in the middle of the night. I thought that you were awake. I thought that you were finally responding to my feelings for you… and…and…"

Kyoko's face turned ashen, and then almost crimson as she read between the lines and saw the truth on his face. Almost in a whisper, she asked, "Did I… did we…. Ummm…?"

"NO! I didn't go that far, I realized that you were sleepwalking before it was too late." Ren hung his head in shame, "I'm so sorry, Kyoko. I was sleepy, and when you came in… but there's no excuse, and you trusted me enough to stay in my apartment alone with me… More than anything in the world, to lose your trust…"

With an outer calm that completely put a lie to her inner feelings, Kyoko said, "So what you're saying is that I came to you, in your bedroom, in the middle of the night? I only have one question… Ren… did you force me to do anything, or was I…?" She blushed, unable to continue.

Ren answered earnestly, "You were… responsive…" He blushed as well. He had been with many women, but none who he loved, and none who elicited such powerful emotional and physical feelings from him. One part of him wanted to relive that evening, while another part feared that his actions would drive Kyoko away forever. "That's why I assumed that you were awake."

Kyoko studied the man, leaving him on his knees, as she painted the scene in her head. Her face, and other parts of her body flushed with the all-too-vivid imagery. Am I remembering? Have I just buried this in my subconscious?

Finally, she said, "And the black eye… and the bruises on Hikaru's neck?"

Ren actually grinned ruefully, "That was my punishment, or at least, a part of it."

That information was enough to push Kyoko past her embarrassment. "Perhaps you better explain?"

Ren, at this point, finally realized that Kyoko wasn't reacting in her normal way. He had expected her to either wilt away and hide in the corner, or turn into the goddess of vengeance, intent on destroying him for his transgressions. This calm, poised Kyoko was a mystery to him.

He recalled that she was waiting, "Ishibashi Hikaru came and visited me last night, demanding to know what I was thinking, putting you through such torture. He was extremely mad at me… and he let me know what I was putting you through… I'm sorry… I was so worried about what I had done…"

He looked deeply into her golden eyes, a little more in-control, as he continued; "He said… he said that you were in love with me…" he waited for a response. When there was none, he went on, "He demanded an explanation for what happened… I don't know why, but I told him. When I was finished, I looked down… and that's when he hit me hard enough to almost knock me off of the couch."

He rubbed his bruised face with chagrin, "I grabbed him by the throat… I think that I might have choked the life out of him… but he just looked at me with this determined look… and I let him go."

After a long silence, Kyoko prompted, "And then?"

"And then he told me that the punch was my punishment. He told me that I was cowardly and wrong to punish myself by punishing you. He told me that, if I didn't get my act together and stop making you cry, then he was going to move heaven and earth to steal you away forever…"

He offered to hit me as many times that I needed, if that would help." Ren chuckled and ran a hand through his hair, "So I asked him to hit me again…" again he chuckled. "That was when he admitted that he thought he might have broken his hand the first time… so he told me that I had to admit everything to you. You would decide any additional punishment."

Kyoko looked at the tall, extremely handsome man who was still sitting on his knees, his eyes pleading. Before last week, she might have reacted to his admission in just the way he had expected. During the last week, for the first time, she had opened her heart and mind to the idea of a relationship again. She knew now that she had already been in love for months.

It had taken Ishibashi Hikaru to make her reconsider her feelings about love. It had been him who had made her understand her true feeling for this beautiful man. It had been him who had been there for her and who had worked so hard to pull her out of her deep depression. She should love him, she knew. Perhaps, had it not been for the year spent working closely with her sempai, she might have love Ishibashi Hikaru; but that was all moot now. Her heart had already decided.

Oddly enough, Kyoko was no longer overwhelmed by the idea of what happened on that night. In fact, as she looked at the strikingly handsome man in front of her, her imagination persisted in dwelling on the imagery… and the sensations… she shook her head to clear her mind. If I walked into his bedroom, then I am as much to blame as him. He could have done anything he wanted, but he didn't. She remembered his words again, "… I thought that you were finally responding to my feelings…"

Kyoko's heart surged then as she digested those words. She chewed on them and tasted them… responding to his feelings… She remembered that night as she had eaten his gruesome Maui Rice concoction. She remembered her thoughts at the time: Maybe he isn't so different from me after all. But then she remembered three weeks of terrible loneliness and the deep burn of rejection…

She knew then that she didn't want to punish Tsuruga Ren for touching her… but she did want to make him pay for treating her so coldly. As she thought of this, she remembered that Ishibashi Hikaru, that kind and wonderful friend, was probably still sitting out in his car. "Ren-san, what happened that night, it doesn't count, does it?" She blushed as she looked at his handsome face and imagined… "What I mean is, that doesn't count as our first kiss… or… the other… right?"

Ren allowed himself to hope. Though he couldn't understand Kyoko's uncharacteristic reactions, at least she hadn't run away swearing to hate him forever. Maybe, just maybe, he still had a chance to win her. He gulped, afraid to answer incorrectly, "I agree. It doesn't count. If you ever respond to my love, I want it to be while you are completely and totally aware of the situation. I want you to want it too, Kyoko… or it won't be real."

He thought he had answered wrong when she jumped up, but she had such a triumphant expression on her face that he wanted to reach out and hug her too him. He was taken aback, therefore, when she walked purposefully toward the apartment door. "Ky… Mogami-san? What…"

He stopped when she wheeled around and held out a hand like a traffic cop, "You stay right there, and I mean right there. I have to take care of something downstairs, and then I'll be back. If you leave… if you even move… then I'll never forgive you… Sempai."

Hikaru had lost himself in the music until his eyes had closed and he had fallen asleep in the warmth of spring. He had half-hoped that Kyoko would be back down quickly, disgusted with her tall "sempai" and ready to form a permanent relationship with him. As the time had stretched on he knew that his hope had been forlorn at best; Kyoko loved Tsuruga Ren, which left no place in her heart for him. He had considered driving away, but each time he reached for the ignition key he stayed his hand… and decided to wait. He slept, of and on, waking often to check his surroundings and questioning his own stubbornness; and then he would lay his head back again and drift off to sleep again.

Kyoko had to tap on his window three times before he finally lifted his head and looked around blearily. His throat ached and his hand was throbbing, but one glimpse of Kyoko was enough to instantly clear the cobwebs. She motioned for him, and he rolled down his window. Kyoko frowned prettily and said, "No, Hikaru-kun, please step out." Unable to understand what she wanted, Hikaru chose to comply. He stood, feeling slightly fuzzy from sleeping in the sun, but extremely aware of the beautiful girl in front of him.

One close look in her honey-golden eyes told him of his loss. There was decision there, but the decision wasn't in his favor. He started to bow his head, but Kyoko reached out and took his good hand. "You are a prince among men, Ishibashi Hikaru. You have done so much for me without expecting anything in return. In the end, you even helped me to reconcile with another man, even though that meant that I could no longer be with you. I should love you… and I think that I would, if my heart wasn't already given away… you deserve better than that… and I'm terribly sorry."

Hikaru nodded sadly, his heart sinking. He started to say something else, but she moved her other hand to his lips. An electric surge pulsed from that contact through his entire body. Then she spoke again, earnestly, "I can't give you my heart, Hikaru-kun, but I do want to give you something…" She blushed, "… if you will accept it?"

At the moment, looking at her beautiful blush and those golden-eyes, Hikaru would have given or accepted anything. Loath to force her fingers away from his mouth, he still managed to say, "What?"

"My first kiss."

Hikaru's eyes grew wide in astonishment. He had supposed that someone as devastatingly cute and pretty as Mogami Kyoko would have been kissed many times, but then, considering how innocent and sweet she was… Kyoko interrupted his thoughts and brought him back to the present with three simple words, "Do you accept?"

Unable to trust his voice, Hikaru nodded jerkily. Then they both stood there, like two adolescents; shy and unsure. Finally, Hikaru stepped forward and Kyoko met him halfway. Their lips met, softly at first, and then deeper. Kyoko was rewarding Hikaru for everything that he had done for her. Hikaru was reveling in the sensation that he had often dreamed of, and that he knew would never be his again. His heart, body, and soul longed to take this further, to claim this delightful creature and make her his own forever… but he knew that it wasn't to be. Of one accord they stepped away from each other. They stood there, nervously feeling what couldn't be spoken.

Then Kyoko squeezed his hand, "I hope that you find someone very special to love you, Ishibashi Hikaru-kun. You deserve the absolute best." She had tears in the corners of her eyes as she said, "And the girl who chooses you will be the luckiest girl in the world. Take care, my dear friend."

She turned and hurried away, back toward the towering apartment building. The feel of her lips still lingered on his. He reached up and touched them, and then climbed back into his car and drove away.

Tsuruga Ren sat exactly in the same position, ignoring the protesting of his ankles and knees. Not for the world would he allow Kyoko to find him in any other position when she returned… and she would return… he was sure of it… Time stretched and his legs burned in agony, but he didn't move… and after what seemed like an eternity, he heard the door opening.

A flushed Kyoko walked in front of him and stood facing him. He was so tall, and she was so short, that their height almost matched. With a firm set to her mouth, she placed her hands on her hips and spoke, "I forgive you for what happened that night. I went to you, not the other way around. Perhaps that should have told you something. What I'm having difficulty forgiving is what you've done to me for the past three weeks. Even if you didn't love me, I thought that we were close enough that you wouldn't treat me like that. You have no idea how much you hurt me, Ren."

Ren's eyes echoed the agony that he saw in Kyoko's, and he tried to make his mouth work, to form some manner of apology, but Kyoko went on, "So I think that you were punished enough for that night by Hikaru-kun, but I took it upon myself to punish you for the last three weeks. In the last three weeks, the only thing that has kept me sane is the kindness of Hikaru-kun… and so I have just given him my first kiss."

Ren's eyes blazed for a moment as jealousy exploded in his soul, but Kyoko forestalled him with an imperious hand in his face, "Don't you dare get mad. It would have been yours if you hadn't done that to me… and it was mine to give away as I chose…"

Then Kyoko stepped forward and laid her arms on either side of his face as she looked deeply into his eyes, "But the rest of my kisses belong to you." She leaned her head forward, tilted, and brushed her lips against his. She pulled back a little to look into his eyes, and then Ren wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. Their kisses grew in passion until they were trying to devour each other. Then Ren groaned in pain and Kyoko stepped back in alarm, "Oh no! Did I hurt you?"

Ren grimaced as he tried to pry his lifeless legs out from under his body. "No," he groaned, "It's my legs. I'm not used to this."

Kyoko looked at him bemusedly, and then her face became mischievous. With wide, innocent eyes she stepped forward until she was close enough to reach out and push the big man over. It backfired on her, however, because one of Ren's flailing arms grabbed her arm and pulled her over on top of him. Growling, Ren wrapped her tightly and held her lithe body against his. The tension released, they started laughing, and they continued to laugh until tears ran down their eyes.

Kyoko's lungs ached, but her pain was purged and now there was only this big, handsome man who she loved. Sighing, she laid her head against his powerful chest. She listened to his heartbeat and breathed in his scent, marveling in how right this felt to her. Ren put one arm under his head so that he could look down on her, while his other arm stroked Kyoko's slender back. They stayed there a long time, basking in their togetherness, until Kyoko felt her body responding to the closeness of this ultimately desirable man. Her face reddened, but her hands took on a mind of their own, moving lightly along his muscular torso.

Finally, when she could take no more, she lifted her head to ask, "Ren… about that night…?"

Ren tensed up, afraid that Kyoko was about to pull away from him and become angry. "Yes?"

"Well," she mumbled into his shirt more than towards his ears, "It's not fair."

Despite her mumbling, Ren heard her. Confused, he asked, "What's not fair?"

Blushing scarlet, Kyoko said, "You know everything that happened… and I can't remember anything… it's not fair."

Kyoko buried her flushed face in his chest again, but there was an odd rumbling from there that caused her to finally lift her head to meet his eyes… which, at that moment, were the eyes of the Emperor of the Night. She felt his powerful arms holding her tight as those eyes devoured her and he said, "You're right. That's not fair at all. I guess that we'll just have to recreate the scene so that you can share in the memory…" And with that he pulled her up along his body for a deep, sensual kiss…

The rest of what took place that evening is a private matter, between two people in love, behind closed doors.

Kyoko continued to work as Bo, even as her career continued to skyrocket. She was also very responsive whenever Tomori called to say that he was short on princesses. She even managed to drag Moko-san and Chiori along more than once. Ren had learned his lesson. He tried hard to never allow Kyoko to feel lonely or abandoned again. Still, it wasn't until Hikaru started dating Snow White (Nosaki Arisa), that Ren finally relaxed. Ren had great respect for anyone who would take on someone twice his size for the sake of a woman, and Ren acknowledged Hikaru as a formidable opponent.

Oh, and there was that one other matter: In case you were wondering, the story of Fuwa Sho picking a fight with two older men, and subsequently being arrested, was big news for a month or two. When other bystanders reported that he was only defending the honor of a woman, he was let off with a fine. But the story blossomed and once again Sho's popularity increased. It seems that some people always land on their feet… well, most of the time. One night, while he was basking in his own glory in his spacious penthouse apartment, Sho saw Kyoko and Ren sitting together, hand-in-hand on the set of Bridge Rock… he hadn't turned the volume up, but the huge rock on a golden band on Kyoko's left ring finger told him all that he needed to know.

So, as you see, nice guys may not always win… but they don't necessarily finish last either.

Notes: Thank you for reading my short story, and thank you to Fangurl Ayane and Jhiz for issuing the challenge. I greatly appreciate everyone's reviews.

Now, back to The Shadow's Heart.