AU: I wonder if you guys are sick of me writing new stories with so many unfinished ones. Well, for better or worse, next week I will be rescheduling when I write fics and hopefully will be able to start updating 90% of my Skip Beat fics again and 100% of my non-hiatus fics including The Hizuri's Black Sheep which only I seem to enjoy, lol. Anyway, thank you very much for checking out another story of mine and with such a weird plot as well. I definitely appreciate it.

Those Good Old Days

Chapter One: Test Results

"I'm a little nervous about this," Kyoko said as she looked through the bridal magazines that the president had given her once he had learned of her engagement to Kuon. The couple had yet to inform the public of Ren's true identity but Kuon had promised to do so before the wedding. Kyoko smiled at the twenty-six-year-old. They had been a couple for four years now and Kyoko had requested that they go slowly. Kuon had been respectful of that.

"Well, that's why the president said just to cut things out and put everything in a scrapbook and I'll help you," Kuon grinned to her as he came over and leaned opposite her with a grin. "It'll be good to look through them together."

"Maybe after your doctor appointment," Kyoko said as she reached out to take Kuon's hand. She squeezed it gently. "I'm worried about you," she admitted to him as he stared at her, "You look a little older than you used to and when you stop feeling so exhausted I think we should go on a spa day, try to revitalize your youth."

"I am older than I used to be," Kuon told her with a playful grin, "I mean, not sure if you know this, but I'm actually six full years older than the first that you saw me as an actor and I'm four years older than when I became your boyfriend."

"Okay, sweetheart," Kyoko laughed before putting the magazines that Lory had given them to the side. She smiled, 'I can't believe that I get to marry you. Now, we'll set a date after your doctor appointment." She stood up and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "I love you and I'm sure it's nothing."

"Maybe a cold,' Kuon winked, "You know how rare those are for me."

"A lot less rare than you claimed," Kyoko teased him before stretching. "Well, I'll get ready for work. You'll tell me what happens after your appointment, right?" she asked and Kuon shifted. Kyoko wrapped her arms around him, "Kuon, I love you. I know you're not used to asking me for my support and I'm more than happy to give it to you because I love you. If the doctor says that there are any problems just call me. If I'm in the middle of a scene then I won't answer but I'll return the call as quickly as I can."

She held onto him lovingly. She had never expected to be this happy but then she had never really planned on finding Corn as a human either.

…..

…..

Kuon was waiting for the lab results since the doctor had told him that he wanted to make a quick test of the blood work. Apparently, the doctor had suggested that something was wrong. That didn't sound good. Well, you couldn't find many people who would argue against the fact that a doctor saying something seemed wrong wasn't such a good thing. Kuon sighed as he noticed people in the waiting room stealing glances at him.

"Tsuruga-san," the man said as Kuon changed his behavior to match Ren's again. Japan, well most of Japan, knew him as Ren now so he still had to tweak his behavior. "Please follow me to my office," he said and Ren did, picking up his bag as he stood up.

Ren sat down opposite the doctor to see some files and pamphlets in front of him.

"Have you ever heard of Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome?" the doctor asked him and Ren looked back with a confused face, "Don't worry most people haven't. What your blood work is telling us though is that you have a disease that matches the condition but an adult strain of it. It hasn't been diagnosed in many people, I believe only ten in the world including you.

"Great to know that I'm rounding it up to double digits," Ren tried to joke uncomfortably. He saw the way that the doctor was looking at him though. There was such pity in his eyes and Ren looked down. "I know, having only ten people in the entire world isn't good," he admitted. "Is it terminal?" he asked as he shifted in the chair and looked down at his hands. What was he going to tell Kyoko about this?"

"In most cases, yes," the doctor replied and Ren awkwardly laughed.

"Terminal in nine other people, how much is that?" Ren asked and the doctor bit his lip as he took some deep breaths.

"Only two people in the world have actually overcome this disease and both of those people have a significantly shorter lifespan than when they were discovered to have it," the doctor said as Kuon took a nervous breath. He really didn't want to hear that. "Tsuruga-san, the illness means that your cells are rapidly aging much more than a regular person's. Doctors are still working on a way to reverse the effects but the patient typically has less than ten years to live and in half of the cases less than three."

Ren stared at him in shock, "You're giving me a life expectancy of twenty-nine years?" he asked as he tried to control the way that he felt.

The rest of the meeting was a blur where Kuon struggled to keep the facts straight. He could feel Ren slipping away as he struggled to understand what this meant. He'd definitely have to finish his contracts and not accept any new ones and he might even look in his fifties by the time the wedding took place. He shivered as he imagined the twenty-three-year-old bride standing next to this middle aged man. He couldn't do that to her. What if he appeared as a seventy-year-old during their honeymoon? No. He couldn't do that to her.

"We'll schedule an appointment for two weeks," the doctor said and Kuon nodded extremely freaked out by this.

"Sure, I've just – I've got to go," he told the doctor before going out of the door and putting the paperwork into his bag. He needed to see her. He needed for her to understand why it was important that she was happy even if it was in the arms of another man.

…..

…..

As Ren pulled up to the TBM studio where Kyoko was filming, he started to feel sharp stabbing pains all over his body. He felt that he wasn't really present as he moved through the hallways despite people saying his stage name. He knew where Kyoko was filming, he had used the same area many times as his stage but this felt different. Not knowing what was happening to him exactly made everything different.

He hadn't realized how pale he was or how he looked as if he were going to faint. He didn't realize any of this, he just needed to tell her to find her own happiness since he felt he could no longer provide that for her. He managed to see her filming whilst a few people turned to her in shock. Yashiro, who had transitioned over to being Kyoko's manager a few years ago was the first person to approach him.

"Ren," he said as Ren shook his head looking at the ground. Yashiro lowered his voice to a whisper, "Kuon?" he asked looking around to make sure that nobody heard him. "Are you okay? You really don't seem to be okay. Kyoko told me that you had a doctor appointment this morning. Do you want to talk about it?" he asked as the director told the actors to take a short break and upon spotting him, Kyoko immediately ran over to Ren with a very concerned expression on her face.

"Sweetheart?" she asked as she looked at him, "What happened?" she asked as she looked him over. He definitely didn't carry his usual composure. "Why are you – what happened?"

"I think we should break up," Kuon said as Yashiro looked at him with the same horror that Kyoko did but Kyoko's faded faster and a stubborn look came over her face.

"I refuse to be broken up with," she told him before raising her hand to his cheek, "Ren, please don't do this. I refused to be broken up with. Is it cancer? If it is then we can get through it together. I don't want to leave you alone to deal with this. Is it?"

"It's not cancer," Ren said in a shaky voice, "I don't want to be with you anymore," he told her and Kyoko looked at him and noticed the depressed look in his eyes that betrayed the words that he was saying.

"Well tough," Kyoko protested, "because I want to be with you. Is it something similar to cancer? Is it terminal, baby, if it's terminal then please let me take care of you. However long you can give me is okay but I don't want to be separated from you. I don't want to be separated from the man that I love. Please, please trust me that I love you," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I have to go home," Ren said as he pushed a hand through his brown hair, "I have to leave. I have to go home."

"I'll meet you back at home, sweetheart, but I'm not going to let you break up with me unless there really is a reason and you being ill isn't a reason that I accept. Sweetheart, please tell me what's going on with you?" Kyoko said as the tears sparkled in her own eyes.

"Not there, I have to go home," Ren repeated as Kyoko could see Kuon breaking through. She saw how scared he was but she also knew that he wasn't thinking rationally. She needed to make him see sense. She knew that he loved her, breaking up would never be his top idea unless he thought it was to help her.

"Is it terminal?" Yashiro asked and Kyoko sighed as she tried to take deep breaths into Kuon's chest.

Kuon pushed her away, guiding her into Yashiro's arms before turning and walking away robotically as Kyoko's heart started to shake. She immediately ran after him.

"I love you, we can fight this together," she told him, "I love you."

He pulled away from her, a certain look of terror on his face, before walking off with Kyoko shaking as she watched him leave. She knew something was wrong. She knew that the doctor had given him some bad news, she just wished he would tell her what it was.

…..

…..

Kyoko finished her scenes as quickly as she could before rushing back to the apartment that she and Kuon shared. She was scared of him leaving her for "her own good". Maybe she could catch him in time. Maybe she could yell at him that he was being an idiot and she didn't want him to leave even if something really bad had been told to him. She knew that she had the strength to fight through this with him but she didn't have the strength if he left her behind.

"Kuon?" she called out once she had closed the door, "Kuon? Corn?" she asked desperately before spotting a note on the counter and her heart jumped into her throat. With shaky hands she picked it up and looked at it.

Kyoko, I'm so sorry about this but I have to do what is right for you. I hope you are able to find a better man. One who makes you happy and is able to offer you a long and loving life together. Thank you for everything. Hopefully soon you'll forget about me but for these past years, thank you. – Kuon

Kyoko ran her fingers through her hair as she broke down crying. This was just like her mother. Even Shotaro had left her in an empty and very expensive apartment. Kyoko wrapped an arm around her stomach. Why would he just leave her like this? She walked over to the bathroom where she could smell something that made her feel sick inside and noticed that there was a box of blond hair dye there as well as the contact lenses that turned him into Ren.

She shivered before looking around for her passport.

She had always followed his level of professionalism so why not this time as well. She would follow him because she felt she knew exactly where he was heading. She called Yashiro telling him that due to a cold she wouldn't be able to do her jobs the next two days and to apologize profusely to everyone.

She needed to go to the address that Kuu had given her because if he really was dying then he wouldn't be able to do it without telling his parents.

…

…

What was he doing? He should have at least told her what was happening and where he was going before he booked a flight. Fortunately, the flight that he was taking would take off before she could stop him from going but he still felt his heart break. Kuon looked at the ground as people stared at him and started to whisper to one another about who he was. He really shouldn't have ended things like that with the woman he loves.

He sighed as he looked at the delayed sign on the board. If the flight was any more delayed then -

"Was that note your best way of you saying goodbye?" Kyoko asked from behind him and when Kuon turned around, Kyoko slapped him. She looked him over. "You're such a jerk," she sobbed as she felt her walls shake. She ran over to him and wrapped her arms around him before he could stop her causing more people to gossip about whether he was actually Ren Tsuruga or whether there were just similarities between them.

"Face the facts, you're a huge asshole," Kyoko sobbed into his chest as he tried to push her away from him.

Kyoko took quiet sobs trying to calm herself down so as to avoid a scene. "I love you," she told him as she saw him stare at her guiltily. "I love you," she repeated.

"Kyoko, this illness that I have, you shouldn't be around me," he said and Kyoko took his hand and held it tightly with both of hers.

"We'll figure it out together, we'll even figure it out when we're in Los Angeles," she told him and Kuon sighed.

"There's no way that we will be sitting together on the flight," he told her and Kyoko looked away with a smile. "What are you -"

"The president was able to find your seat number in business class and the seat next to it wasn't taken," she said with a playful smile showing how she had made it so he couldn't get rid of her. "So, tell me now, tell me on the flight, or tell me in America, your choice."

Kuon looked at her before leading her away from the crowds waiting to board the flight from Narita to LAX. He took a shaky breath before looking down, "It's private and…and if you want to turn around and walk away then that might be best for you," he said as Kyoko scoffed at that. "The doctor said that my cells are…something's wrong with my body and I'm going to start aging at four to eight times the rate a normal person might. In three years, I might look twenty four years older than I am."

Kyoko looked at him shocked before her face went back to neutral, "So?" she asked him and Kuon looked at her confused. "That will just mean that you look in your sixties. I mean, it's hard to take in but do you think that I could stop loving you because of that. Even if in six years you look like a seventy year old, you're still Kuon. Underneath all of those layers, you're still Kuon."

"Kyoko, the wedding pictures -" Kuon tried to argue with her but Kyoko slapped him again.

"Do you think I care about that? As long as our wedding pictures have me and you together, that's all I care about. I wouldn't even care if you turned into a duck," she said as Kuon blinked at her. "I love you. That's all that I care about."

Kuon bowed his head, "Even if I act like a seventy year old in six years?" he asked her and Kyoko nodded stubbornly.

"Even if you have dementia," she told him. "If you can't give me six years then you're not the man I thought you were. Do you love me?"

"Ye-yes, of course I -" Kuon started but Kyoko cut him off.

"Then nothing else matters," she said before seeing him smile weakly and she squeezed his hand. "In six years, if that happens, I'll take care of you," she promised. "I will always do whatever I can to help you because that's how much I love you…" she looked away, "even if you can be a complete idiot."

End of Chapter One

Thank you for reading