Families are Important
Summary: The president decides to take them to America. Will Ren be able to make up with his parents?
Notes;
Spoilers until volume 30.
This is my first fic, so comments are welcome, positive or negative. I love to improve myself, so reviews would make me happy, or PM me.
Please note; The dolphins in this story are robotic dolphins the president had had made to liven up his granddaughter's bath time (but had to 'check they worked' first) .This is to appease a certain friend of mine (you know who you are) who is happier knowing that they are not captive live dolphins.
I found it quite hard not to let the characters get too OOC, but it is difficult when you want to make them do stuff they don't usually do. I did my best, but would be interested on your views on this. (this includes the dolphins, but since I can get around that by making them robotic, I suppose it doesn't count)
Chapter 1; another love me task.
"Onee-san! Onee-san! Isn't this so exciting! Did you know that New Orleans has a Historic Voodoo Museum? I can't wait to learn some new …"
Kyouko smiled fondly at the young girl sitting opposite her, but she wasn't really paying attention. She was trying to work out how on earth she had got into this situation. …No, she knew how; President Takarada.
She had been called to his office two weeks previously, and he had just watched her in amusement as he deliberately held back the information that would put her mind to rest.
"P-P-President, you wanted to see me?" she stuttered out having just come to the surface of a large pool of dolphins she had somehow ended up falling in when she had entered his office.
Lory himself was gracefully gliding around the pool on a floating sun bed that the dolphins seemed to be taking turns to pull. She wondered where the trainer was and if he would stop soon, as she was starting to get dizzy from the motion.
A mixture of relief and frustration flowed through her. She was thankful for Sho's parents having insisted that they learn to swim if they were going to play in the stream as children. The water around her started to froth as her demons were released at his memory.
When was she going to be free of him? '…Ah no no no, I have bigger things to worry about!' she thought as her concentration returned to the President, fear clear on her face. What had she done wrong now?
The president hadn't moved (the dolphins seemed to be held in place by some invisible force) as he watched the play of emotions over her expressive face in amused confusion.
When her attention returned to him, with that petrified look he had got used to seeing, he couldn't help but chuckle.
He decided to get straight to the point.
"Mogami-kun, I want you to have a break from playing Setsu, and…"
but she had stopped listening again. Horror, confusion and many other emotions the president didn't recognise flowed over her face as she replayed the past few days in her head trying to find faults in her actions.
This time the Lory decided to take pity on her. "Mogami-kun, you are not in trouble… Mogami-kun are you listening?"
"huh?"
"AH! I'm so sorry President Takarada, I wasn't listening! I am so sorry!"
Trying to bow she ended up breathing in a face full of water and choking, she insisted she would listen properly from now on.
Lory, content at the look of determination on her face, however comical it looked - bedraggled as she was - continued.
"Maria and I are going to America to meet her father. I want you to come and babysit her. I will allow you some time to yourself; I assume Kuu would be pleased to meet with his 'daughter'?"
Meet f-f-fa-father again? Of course she said yes before thinking things through. She wouldn't know what to say to him. What about the heel siblings? Could Tsuruga-san really look after himself when he was not himself… wait did that even make sense?
Her thoughts continued in a similar way until "san? … nee-san?... Onee-san, are you listening?"
"Huh?" Oh, she really needed to stop doing that.
Forcefully putting that idea to the back of the mind so that she wouldn't disappear back into her own thoughts she looked up at Maria.
How the president had managed to convince the airline, private jet though this was, to allow the horse onboard, she would never know.
The girl's excitement had gone and she was looking serious.
"Father isn't getting a plane to see me, but still, I…"
She didn't finish the sentence, but Kyouko understood from the way she fiddled with the frills on her dress nervously.
"Maria-chan, you know, it is not being selfish to want to meet your father, because you wanting to see him makes him very happy. This feeling is one you are allowed to feel."
"BUT I…" Realising she had shouted, she lowered her voice before continuing. "Onee-san, I don't know what to say to him, or how to act when I see him."
Kyouko wasn't sure what to say. She didn't have much experience in meeting with parents. The closest she could think of in her own life was visiting Kuu, but since that hadn't happened yet, and since she was just as stumped as Maria, she had no answer.
Maria helped her a bit by asking if she would come with her when she visited her father. Of course she agreed happily; glad that she could give some support to the girl.
On sudden inspiration, she hesitantly asked for the favour to be returned.
"If…. If, Maria-chan will you come with me to visit your uncle Kuu?"
The rest of the long plane journey passed without incident. Maria and Kyouko played eye-spy for a bit, before getting engrossed in deep discussions about the best ways to curse people.
Lory watched them thoughtfully, trying to scheme around Kyouko's unexpected behaviour.
He had been surprised by Kyouko's request for Maria to accompany her to meet Kuu, as he had thought the two would prefer to be alone.
That girl had been strangely perceptive to Maria's needs and the atmosphere around her, so he was wondering if it would be better for them to meet Kuu before Maria met his baka-son.
But that would ruin his plans. The heel siblings, having grown up in England and understanding the culture and language better than the rest of the cast, had been chosen to represent and advertise the film in America.
Or at least Kain had, and Setsu would have to be there to look after him.
If they met with Kuu first, then how was he going to make Kuon meet with his parents? Unless… yes that might work….
And he spent the next few hours putting his plan into action.
During the lunch break at a modelling set, Ren and Yashiro were eating in silence. Lory had arranged that Kain Heel have the time off while Kyouko (Setsu) was away.
Ren had of course been glad that he could have a break from the turmoil that character put him in, and without his lucky charm, he wasn't sure he could pull it off safely anyway.
What he had not been so glad about was the President, Yashiro, and Kyouko's reasoning, that he couldn't look after himself. He had managed for the past 5 years without being looked after, so why did they insist?
But he suspected deep down, they were right. How had he coped without her in his life?
Yashiro had been teasing him all morning about it. It seemed that his pity for Ren having to share a room and resist her seductive existence was short lived.
He wasn't sure how he felt about that. Before, he had thought that the pity was worse than the teasing, but now…?
Perhaps it was just the addition of all the extra worries that had him down.
He did worry about going to America; the president had obviously planned for him to meet Kuu, and there was no way he couldn't meet his mom as well. He wasn't ready to be Kuon, and his mother would not want to meet with Ren.
Aaggghhh why did the president have to be so pushy with this? He wasn't ready at all.
Yashiro looked at Ren, or at least he looked at the man who was usually the calm gentle man, Ren Tsuruga. The man in front of him right now was definitely not calm, or gentle.
He was brooding, angry, and seemed ready to lash out and attack anything that came near.
At first he had thought that maybe he had still got Kain Heel's character in his head, as when 'cut' was called that was who he was used to changing into, but he could see this wasn't the case.
This look was not of a cold blooded murderer, or of the dark but almost emotionless Kain Heel. This was pain. Ren was in mental anguish.
He wondered if he had been too enthusiastic in his teasing that morning, and worried for his friend, was just about to bravely interrupt when Ren's expression changed.
His broodings about Kyouko had made him remember the last time Setsu and Kain had parted.
Ren thought back fondly on Kyouko's parting words about eating well and staying healthy, and seeing him soon. Even though she was in Setsu's form as his sister, he had imagined that Kyouko meant the words herself.
Kyouko and Maria were relieved to find that the president seemingly didn't have as much power over in America. The limo that picked them up seemed quite ordinary in contrast to the bright pink glittery one they were used to, and there had been no fanfares at their arrival.
They were, however a little concerned by the president's apparent contentment with the arrangements, but they soon forgot it.
Kyouko had gone into fairytale mode; the open spaces, forests and streams she could see out the window had flipped her mind out of reality, and Maria was watching her excitement in fascination.
When they turned into a long, fancy driveway leading to a large mansion, Kyouko was too engrossed in her ideas of getting to live like a princess during her stay, that she didn't notice the change in their plans.
They had been intending to stay in a hotel, but the president had spent the second half of his plane journey effectively. Somehow he had managed to acquire this building, and hire the nine maids and butler who were lined up to greet them, in a mere seven hours.
The girls were invited to explore, and Kyouko, realising that Maria was hungry, suggested they find the kitchen first.
The kitchen was huge. The size didn't bother Maria since she was used to Lory's way of life, but what did surprise her were the huge cooking pots that looked like they could feed an army.
Kyouko had frozen in surprise. She knew what that meant.
Lory had followed them silently, watching their reactions closely and failing to keep the smugness from his face.
Although Maria had been constantly confused, Kyouko had gone from realisation, through shock, and was now flipping between excitement and horror.
She still didn't know what to say to Kuu and, still unable to call him father properly, fretted over the thought of actually living with him.
Lory had enlisted Kuu's help for fitting out the house, and since he had suggested they create the back story of it being one of his holiday homes, he was not surprised to find the kitchen laid out this way.
The main problem with this plan, of course, was that it would be hard to keep Julie away. She would want to see Kuon. The only thing he could think of to do while the Heel sibling were about was to ask her to look after Maria, who, he felt, should not meet Kain, as she was too young for such an influence in her life.
Kuu had entered during this time, and Kyouko had darted over to Maria, and crouching down to her level started begging for help.
"Maria Maria what do I do? Father wellno notmyreal father but as closeto one as I havecos I love him but I can't except as Kuonand…" She was cut off abruptly by Maria's hand over her mouth.
The little girl had not recognised all of the words, since Kyouko had been too distressed to punctuate her sentences, but she thought she understood.
Onee-san thought of uncle Kuu as a father, but didn't know what to say to him.
She set about trying to find a way to manipulate the situation the way her grandfather would, to make it easier on Kyouko.
This conversation had taken more than a few seconds, however, and Kuu was close to tears.
He was whimpering at the president that his son was one thing, but now even his daughter didn't want to talk to him.
Maria, having been looking at Kuu to help inspire her, noticed this, and decided to make the plan simple.
"Onee-san, why don't you just go and hug him, and call him father?"
"eh? But, but I can't call him that unless I am Kuon!"
"I think it would make him happy"
Kyouko looked at the determination in the little girls eyes, and realised, that for Maria's sake she had to do this. If she could call out to her 'father', maybe Maria would find it easier to do so, too.
So she turned around with her eyes shut. "father". It was a whisper, but Kuu heard.
"Kyouko "
"FATHER!" She ran into his arms, "I missed you"
Maria looked smug. Her plan had worked.
The four of them returned to the sitting room where Julie was waiting to welcome her guests into their home, and after the initial introductions, the talk was pretty relaxed, and felt natural.
Julie had a cheerful carefree nature, and had decided to treat Kyouko as the daughter she never had, which made Kyouko feel all warm and mushy inside. Flowers were starting to bloom around her head as she drifted in and out of reality.
She was trying hard not to think of her real mother's attitude towards her, and was wondering what to call Julie since her own mother was still "mother" to her.
That problem didn't get solved that evening, but she did talk to Kuu, or maybe it was closer to hanging on his every word and agreeing with him. Did that count as talking, or listening?
It didn't really matter. She was happy.
The next afternoon, Maria would meet with her father, so to take her mind off it; they had allowed her to choose where they went in the morning.
This was how the five of them found themselves at the Voodoo museum. Kyouko had been dragged off by an excited Maria, leaving the adults to discuss their plans.
Julia wasn't the sort of person who would scheme, and the two men were being very careful not to let her know that they were.
By the time they had got to the gift shop, Maria's excitement was gone, and she was openly fretting over which spell was going to work best on her father.
Kyouko, however had already been prepared for this, so carrying a 4 leafed clover, she went up to the unhappy girl.
"Maria-chan, do you know what this is?"
"Of course Onee-san, but luck isn't enough. I need ideas, and love, and…"
"But Maria, you already have both of those. You and your father love each other. You know this. As for ideas; that plan you made for me worked very well, didn't it? Do you think it could work for your father too?"
Maria hadn't thought about that. She had been worrying so much she had missed the obvious.
"But.."
"You want to make your father happy. Do you think it made your Uncle Kuu happy?"
Maria thought back to her uncle's change in emotions from self pity to hope and then as Onee-san had hugged him, they had settled on joy that radiated through the room, and was so strong it was contagious.
"un" she nodded with hope in her eyes.
"Then Maria-chan could give him the clover to keep him safe, yes?"
The adults were surprised. None of them had known how to deal with the child who had so many traumas, without Maria finding out they pitied her.
The president was trying to work out how much of this Kyouko had planned.
In the past she seemed not to notice the way she automatically solved problems, but he knew that some things were planned.
Her getting others to follow her acting, the way Ren did, was a little scary, but useful.
Kuu was more interested in the way his old friend was looking at his daughter. Would Lory's plans hurt her? Would he have to choose sides?
Realising that he would pick whatever his wife chose, he turned to her, only to burst out laughing.
She seemed to be fighting with herself, and he had completely forgotten how long it took to get used to Kyouko.
Even someone who was used to Lory, Kuu and Kuon, it seemed, was unable to not become baffled by her. None of her actions could be predicted, or made sense until long after when they were shown to have barged through, knocking down problems along the way.
Everyone's mood had been lifted, and the afternoon went smoothly. Maria had hugged her dad and told him she had missed him, and once they had started talking, there was no stopping them.
Letting them have some alone time, the others had returned to the mansion, and Kuu and Julia were telling tales of their lives before Kyouko had met them.
They had even put pictures around the house as part of the pretence that they had owned it for more than a day.
There was something disturbing Kyouko about these photos. She thought she recognised the blond haired boy, but couldn't think where from.
Deciding to put it out of her mind, she told them of her adventures with her new jobs, and how much she had learned, both about acting and about herself.