Disclaimer: I don't own skip beat or any of its characters. It's an AU story.

A/N: Both flashbacks of Kyoko's encounter with Kuon in the dressing room and Kuon's break up with his GF are the events connecting the same party that Kyoko attended with Kanae so please don't be confused. I hope you enjoy the chapter. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I am thrilled to see 13 reviews for the first chapter. Seriously, I didn't expect that at all. Thank you so much guys for your kind comments.

Soul Mates-Comforting Arms

Chapter-1

8 months ago: First Encounter

"Hey Kyoko, what about this one?" Kanae asked as she held up a dress in front of her.

"That's so cute, you should try it on Moko-san"

"It's not for me silly, it's for you" Kanae made an angry face.

"No, you should try it on Moko-san, it will look so good on you for sure" Kyoko argued.

"Mo! C'mon Kyoko." Kanae hissed.

"I can't afford it. It looks so expensive!" Kyoko reasoned.

"At least, you should try it on for fun. There's no payment for a trial wear." Kanae winked at her friend.

The girls were shopping for Kanae's company party. Kanae invited Kyoko months ago so she had been saving for the night.

They gathered the dressed they picked and ran towards the dressing room excitedly to try on each outfit. They ran in and out of dressing room to admire each other.

"Thank you for inviting me Moko-san" Kyoko chirped purely delighted.

Fuwa Sho, her childhood sweetheart had always been busy in his music concerts and tours so they rarely spent time together. He was out of town so it was a golden opportunity for her to spend some time with her best friend.

Kanae smiled and grabbed her hand. "Mo! You are my best friend so of course I'd invite you"

Kyoko sparkled with a warm smile. "I'm so lucky to have a friend like you Moko-san, I am so glad we ran into each other on the first day of middle school" Kyoko thought happily recalling their first encounter when they knocked heads while looking down at their class schedules.

Kanae worked in Hizuri Corp, the same company for which Kyoko had applied. She felt overjoyed when Kanae suggested her to join the same company as hers and she didn't waste any time and applied right away hoping for the positive response.

"Kyoko I am going to go grab that dress from the wall so that you can try it on. It's totally cute! I'll be right back OK?" Kanae yelled as she walked pass her dressing room.

"OK Moko-san" Kyoko replied and waited inside her dressing room for her friend to return.

After a while, when Kyoko noticed someone walking outside of her door, she reached out from the curtain, stretching her hand open. "Alright Moko-san, give it to me. I'll come out to model it for you once I'm done changing" Kyoko took the dress and frowned.

She didn't remember the dress being pure white nor being it silky. "Was it really this one Moko-san? I thought it was red" she called out but didn't hear any reply so she just shrugged and tried it on.

She looked at herself in the mirror admiring the way the outfit looked on her. It was really beautiful.

"OK here I come" Kyoko said opening the door and twirled out, coming face to face with an amused blonde, green eyed man sitting on the dressing room chair.

Surprised, she screamed out at the top of her lungs and covered herself with her arms.

The man started to laugh.

Kanae and the store assistant came running into the dressing room.

"Kyoko what happened?!" Kanae asked glancing back and forth at the man and her best friend.

Kanae immediately recognized who the man was. Hizuri Kuon, the owner of the company in which she worked.

"I-he-I-you- I thought he-you-" Kyoko stuttered as she pointed back and forth at the man and Kanae with one hand. Her face was deep red with embarrassment.

It caused the man to laugh even more.

"What's the meaning of this young lady?" The store assistant demanded glaring at Kyoko angrily. "How dare you scream at Mr. Hizuri? Do you have any idea who he is? You also took the dress he bought! How dare you! Leave the store this instant!" She then turned to the man bowing and apologizing. "I'm sorry sir for the mistake, please forgive me"

"It's OK, I gave it to her myself. You can go now" he told the assistant who nodded, bowed again and quickly walked away.

"You look great by the way" he turned his attention back to Kyoko and eyed her from head to toe.

Kyoko flushed. "I'm sorry. I thought you were my friend. I'll take it off right away. Please forgive me"

She quickly ran into dressing room and changed. She came out with the dress trying to smooth any wrinkles she may have caused.

"I'm so sorry" she apologized.

"It's alright" he smiled at her.

"Wait, your last name is Hizuri right? If I'm not mistaken then are you Hizuri Kuon, owner of Hizuri Corp?" Kanae asked.

"How do you know?" he inquired.

"I work for you in your company. We are shopping for the company party this weekend." Kanae replied.

"Oh I see, so that's how you know me, well who are you two lovely ladies?" he asked looking at Kyoko.

"I'm Kotonami Kanae and this is my friend Mogami Kyoko" Kanae introduced themselves.

"Oh so you are my manager's girlfriend. I'm glad to finally meet you Kotonami-san, he rants about you 24/7. I am charmed." Kuon grinned as he bowed to them formally. Kanae turned crimson.

"W-We are not a couple, just good friends Hizuri-san" Kanae was deep red.

"Play boy!" Kyoko thought to herself.

Kuon rolled his eyes. "Yeah just friends but give yourself some time to be rejected by everyone in Japan and left by yourself with no choice but to be a couple"

Kuon chuckled along with Kyoko but Kanae waved away his remark as she blushed a deeper shade of red.

Kyoko glanced at her friend's flushed face with an amused look.

Right at that moment, Kuon's phone rang.

"Excuse me ladies" he said walking out of dressing room as he answered his phone.

"OMG so he's going to be my Boss? How come you have never seen him before Moko-san?" Kyoko asked her friend.

"He's been always so busy in business tours so I guess I never got any chance to meet him face to face." Kanae answered.

"He was hitting on you though" Kanae teased.

"Oh please, he was just being nice, trying to ease my embarrassment. I think he was teasing you Moko-san, you know what I mean… Ya-shi-ro-san" Kyoko let out rolling her tongue and elbowed her friend lightly in teasing manner.

Kanae's cheeks heated up again and she huffed at her friend.

"You better be careful Kyoko. Boss is heart throb and famous to make girls fall in love with him at first sight. You are going to join the company soon. Your fiancé will be so jealous once he finds out" Kanae teased back as they walked out of the store to find Kuon gone. Kyoko just shrugged and rolled her eyes.

"We couldn't buy anything. I guess we'll have to check another store" Kyoko sighed as she walked out of the store with her friend.

"Excuse me Miss"

Kyoko and Kanae turned around at the voice.

"You forgot your package." The store assistant said.

Kyoko and Kanae looked at each other in surprise. "We didn't buy anything"

"Oh yes, I know but Mr. Hizuri instructed me personally to give this to you. He's already paid for the dress" she said as she handed Kyoko the box, bowed once again and walked back into the store.

"W-What? Huh? What The- What is it?" Kyoko was stunned.

"I don't know open it" Kanae suggested surprised herself.

Kyoko opened the box and found the dress she had tried on earlier. "Oh my…" she gaped.

"50,000 dollars?" It's too expensive!" Kyoko almost dropped the box when she read the price.

Kanae just looked at her friend shocked. There was a note inside the box.

Kyoko unfolded it and gasped once again as she read it.

A small gift for a lovely lady who called me her friend. I really hope we can become real friends Mogami-san. Hizuri Kuon.

Kyoko smiled. "May be he wasn't a play boy after all" She felt a warm feeling inside of her. "I have made another friend today. I hope I'll be able to pay him back somehow. I can't wait to join the company"

Back to present:

Kuon was turning and tossing in his king sized bed. He tried his best to sleep but his mind was too distracted to let him get a sound slumber.

He took Kyoko in the guest room after she fell asleep in his embrace, gently laid her down on the bed and left to go back in his room reluctantly. He wanted to stay by her side. He knew she was vulnerable and needed his support but he couldn't bring himself to stay. Her face was too sad and it broke his heart when he found himself too helpless.

"I wish I could do something for her. When I was heartbroken, she fought for me with an unknown person and consoled me. She was the first person who cried for me, feeling my emotions and here I am, doing nothing to ease her pain. Why am I so useless?" He thought recalling the day of party when his long time girlfriend Maya Orihara turned him down and left him behind for America in order to pursue her acting career.

~Flashback~

Kyoko wandered out through the side doors as she stalked down the hall way searching for the rest room and found a closed door to her left. "May be this is it" she thought and opened the door quickly.

She'd been dancing almost all night with frequent stops for soft drinks. She was indeed having a blast and was grateful that she could come along with Kanae.

Peeping her head around the door, she saw a small lavish bar. It seemed to be completely empty with one man kneeling before a tall, brown haired and black eyed woman while holding a violet box in his hand.

There was no one else, not even a bar tender. Realizing her mistake that she got into wrong place, Kyoko was about to leave when she heard a chocked voice.

"Please Maya, don't go, I love you. I have loved you since I was 10 and you know that. Please marry me. Make me the happiest man alive. Stay here with me. I don't want to lose you. I can't live without you. Please stay."

His voice sounded painfully begging. Kyoko's heart twisted a bit at the sight and she tried to focus her gaze directly at the couple.

"Oh, Hizuri-san? Is he proposing his girlfriend? Aww how cute!" she thought and decided to give them their privacy but as she was about to leave, woman's remark stopped her dead in her track.

"I'm sorry Kuon but it's not possible. I can't" the woman turned him down coldly.

Tears pooled in Kuon's eyes at her rejection but he held himself back from crying.

"Why?" he breathed out.

His broken voice seemed to have no impact over the woman in front of him.

She shrugged her shoulders and crossed her arms.

"Get up Kuon, that's enough. Don't be childish. You know I don't like being tied up in relationships. I want to pursue my acting career. I have always wanted to try my luck in Hollywood movies and I finally got the chance. There's no way I'll let it pass for anything. I want to live my life like a free bird. I don't like being caged and you know it so please stop it already. Don't make me guilty of rejecting you again and again please and besides I'm 2 years older than you. Please Kuon, forget about me and move on" she said and Kyoko fought against the urge of punching her in the face.

Kuon stood up and stared at her with wide eyes as he slid the ring box back into his pocket.

"13 years of my unconditional love mean nothing to you? Didn't you love me back? Didn't you feel the same way like I did?" he questioned her shocked.

She sighed.

"I did like you Kuon, you are a nice guy but I can't compromise my career. I can't let this golden opportunity slip away from my hands. Relationship, love, marriage, everything can wait but career can't. I can't let anything get in my way not even your feelings for me"

Kuon felt his heart being ripped out of his chest and smashed cruelly under the feet of the woman before him.

He couldn't help but gawk at her as his mind stopped to respond normally.

"Maya…" he whispered sadly.

Kyoko almost chocked on her tongue. "What does she think she is? If she doesn't want him in her life then she should just walk away turning him down nicely. Why the hell is she trying to taunt him for loving her? She has no right to play with his heart, considering him an obstacle in the way of her career. What a self-centered heartless woman!"

"I left my birth place behind. I left my parents behind and came here to be with you in Japan and you are telling me that I am getting in your way? Are you that desperate to get away from me? Can't you go to America after getting married? When did I ask you to stop pursuing your career? Didn't I say I'd support you no matter what happened? Am I really just a stone for you who's trying to get in the way of your success?" Kuon asked as his heart shattered into pieces.

"You left your country and your parents to make your own identity. It was your own decision. I didn't force you to come with me. You did nothing for me. You wanted to run away from your father's shadow. Don't make it sound like you did everything for my sake. Come to think of it, how can you ever love me when you didn't even love your parents and left them behind without even thinking twice about their feelings? How can you give me a family when you destroyed your family with your own hands? How can I believe that you are sincere towards me and won't leave me like you left your parents?"

Koun felt a pang of hurt in his heart. He was frozen into silence. He moved forward impulsively to grasp her hand but she slapped it away roughly.

"I'm sorry Kuon, I don't love you the way you do. I have always considered you a good friend, nothing more nothing less. I guess my kindness gave you the wrong idea and aroused your feelings for me. It's not my fault that you fell for me. You are the one blind not to realize that I never loved you romantically. Please forget about me and move on" she said and turned around to leave but found Kyoko glaring daggers at her.

"How dare you to hurt him like that?" Kyoko roared. Another presence caught Kuon's attention and he looked up to see who it was.

"Mogami-san…" he whispered.

Kyoko was crying. She didn't know for how long she had been crying. It just broke her heart to the core hearing someone rejecting pure love so coldly. She was the one who could never see anyone in pain. She didn't know herself why she was like that but every time she saw someone in pain, she became depressed as if she was feeling their pain herself in her heart. Perhaps she was too much emotional or sensitive and took everything to heart easily.

Maya raised a brow and smiled "Look you have already got an admirer Kuon, she's come to your rescue. May be you should try and fall for her. She'll give yourself to you right away" Even though her face didn't show anything but her tone was derisive.

But before she could say anything else, Kyoko slapped her hard across the face and stunned her into silence. Maya covered her stinging red cheek with her hand and gaped at Kyoko open mouthed.

"You are piece of trash you ugly woman, get out of here before I call security to drag you away from here. I don't give a damn about you being the top actress but if you tried to hurt my friend any further, I'll cut your very being into pieces!" Kyoko's minions were out on her command, ready to attack.

Kuon looked back and forth at the two women in daze.

"And just who are you to him?" Maya shot back, as anger flamed inside of her.

"A fellow human, a friend of him who fortunately has a heart which you lack, now don't try to mess with me and Get out!" Kyoko roared out and walked towards Kuon who was staring at her in shock.

"I'll see you" Maya glared at her before leaving.

Kyoko patted Kuon's shoulder lightly. "I'm sorry for eavesdropping Hizuri-san. I didn't mean to but I'm glad I did. I want to punch that woman to death. How dare she make fun of your feelings like that? Please don't let anything she said get into you OK. She doesn't deserve you at all. Don't waste your tears for someone who doesn't even know their value" She moved her hand gently brushed his tears away.

"y-you, y-you shouldn't…" Kuon chocked out as he struggled to find his voice to speak.

"You can rely on me. I did what a friend should have done. Didn't you befriend me a few days ago? I was just doing my job as a friend, defending you"

Kuon fell on his knees and cried silently over his stupidity.

Kyoko sat down beside him on the floor and made an attempt to comfort him.

"I'm stupid, aren't I?" He asked her with teary eyes.

"No, you aren't but she is. She doesn't know what she's lost. It's OK Hizuri-san, don't be sad" Kyoko consoled him as she wiped away her own tears.

"Take your revenge on her" she smiled looking at his bewildered face.

"Revenge?" he asked confusingly.

Kyoko nodded.

"Live your life 1000 times happier than before, that will be your revenge on her. Life is beautiful Hizuri-san, you should be grateful of getting rid of woman like her. I'm sure you'll find the best woman soon who'll love you with all of her heart and soul. Don't let her words bother you. She was just trying to disheart you. Keep smiling. Bad time doesn't last forever. Laugh your heart out and she'll surely be jealous that you are happy without her. She'll soon realize her mistake of losing you and regret for the rest of her life. You don't need any reason to be happy Hizuri-san. Celebrate your parting of ways with that skunk in time. It's a blessing for you that you realized her true personality. If you really love her then let her go. If she comes back to you then she's yours but if not then she never were. She never was yours Hizuri-san because if she were then she would have never even thought of hurting you. Never let the smile leave your face because of anyone because I know you have a kind heart and kindness never goes unrewarded."

A pure smile decorated his handsome features.

"You are quite something. You didn't even hesitate before slapping her even though you didn't know who she was. You are quite daring. That was quite a scene there enough to easily rival any action movie" Kuon was impressed.

"I wanted to punch her dead for hurting you. Sadly, I could only manage to slap her. I wanted to give her a piece of mind so that she would understand never to play with anyone's feelings again" Kyoko answered.

Kuon laughed. "Oh really? You are dangerous Mogami-san. I'll have to keep myself at arm's length, not to try messing with you." He chuckled, no longer crying.

"Anything for a friend" she patted his shoulder again leaving him amazed.

~End of Flashback~

Kyoko sat on the edge of bed. Her thoughts going to Sho once again. She could feel fresh tears forming in her eyes once again. She sighed shakily not wanting to cry but her vision was already blurry with tears.

"I… don't understand. How could he do that to me? I thought he loved me" she thought trailing off.

She felt another stream of tears flowing down her cheeks. This time she let them flow, not even bothering to wipe them away.

She was alone and it didn't matter to her. As long as she didn't cry in front of Kuon, it was OK with her. She didn't want to upset him, not when he had been so nice to her already. She sat fully on the bed and brought her knees up to her chin, burying her face in her arms. Loud sobs began to escape from the back of her throat. Sadness that she was holding in was coming up to the surface. She pressed her face deeper into her arms, trying to lower the sound of her sobs. She didn't want Kuon to hear her crying. She continued crying, trying her best to be as quiet as possible. At this point, her face was coated with the mask of hot tears with more still coming. She tried to muffle her sobs and took long gasps of air, trying her best to get over her misery but whatever she tried seemed to be ineffective.

Kyoko's face was pressed so tightly to herself that she didn't even notice the door being slightly open nor she noticed quiet footsteps that made their way towards her bed.

She was surprised to feel a hand gently caressing her head and its fingers running through her hair. She flinched at the contact and slowly raised her head to look up only to find Kuon staring down at her worriedly, dressed in his silk pajamas.

"Mogami-san, what's wrong?" he asked gently caressing her cheek, his tone full of concern.

Kyoko quickly wiped her face and sniffed.

"N-Nothing"

"It's not nothing Mogami-san" he asked again while sitting on the edge of the bed.

He moved in closer and asked again.

"Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong" he said.

Kyoko shut her eyes and shook her head.

"Please?" he urged and placed a gentle hand on her good shoulder.

"Is it something that you can't talk about with me?" he asked sadly, kicking himself for being unable to help her. He wanted to do something, anything to erase her pain and make her smile but she was constantly crying.

"N-No, that's not it…" she stammered and Kuon raised a brow.

"Then?" he asked.

"I…I just don't want to bother you with my problems" she told him as she wiped her eyes again.

She looked up at him.

"The last thing I want is to cause any trouble for you Hizuri-san, you have already done more than enough for me" she said still teary eyed.

Kuon's eyes softened. " Mogami-san, thank you. Even when in pain yourself, you are still considerate of others but what do you expect me to do when I see you crying like this? You are my dear friend. I can't just sit idle to watch you cry while doing nothing. What kind of friend would I be then? Please talk to me or am I only your Boss? Don't you at least consider me worthy enough to share your pain with me? Am I that bad as a friend?"

"Hizuri-san, it's not like that. You are a dear friend of mine, just like Moko-san, it's just that I don't want to make you worried.

She looked away.

"It's OK. I'll listen to you, no matter what it is" he gently spoke as his fingers grazed her neck.

She flinched.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I understand" Kuon said quietly and began to get up for leaving.

Without even thinking Kyoko reached out to grab his hand in hers.

"It's OK" she said as Kuon looked down at her and sat back down beside her.

"Tell me, I may be prying you too much but I can't see my friend suffering like this" he said sadly and Kyoko looked down at her feet.

"I am sorry for worrying you Hizuri-san"

Kuon shook his head.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed Mogami-san, you proved it to me. Please don't hold your pain inside and tell me what's wrong? What happened?" he asked gently, squeezing her hand.

She took a deep breath and whispered.

"I… I… had a fight with Sho- I mean Fuwa-san, he lost his temper and tried to r-rape me. When I disobeyed, he broke up with me and threw me out of his house" she finished and felt fresh tears stinging her eyes again. She didn't need to tell him why it happened. It wasn't his fault at all.

He squeezed her hand tighter.

"What?!"

Kyoko could sense he was angry. His face has changed so suddenly that it scared her. He was clearly angry and upset for her.

"How could he do that to you? Wasn't he your future husband? How could he be that heartless to kick you out in the middle of night? Anything could have happened to you! How dare he!"

She looked away suddenly feeling ashamed.

"It's all over now. I don't belong to him anymore. He's dragged me out of his life himself"

"I… just don't understand how he could…" she sniffed as she wiped her tears away but more came down as she did so.

"That Bastard! How dare he-!"" he growled. His voice suddenly turned colder.

"I-It's O-OK" Kyoko said, still crying.

"It isn't" he said as he squeezed her hand tighter than before.

Kyoko felt the pinch of pain cursing over her body again.

"I… I… am sorry for troubling you so late. Please forgive me. Moko-san was out on vacation and I had nowhere to go. I really am sorry for disturbing your sleep and making you worried" Kyoko apologized again feeling guilty for causing so much trouble for him but he brushed it off.

"I'm glad you called me Mogami-san or else I would have been really upset to know you didn't consider me worthy enough for your friendship like Kotonami-san" He said as he wiped her tears away with his thumb.

"Mogami-san…" he called out when he felt her spacing out.

"Huh?" Kyoko asked looking at him with tear-streaked face.

"You don't have to hold it in" he said softly.

"Eh?"

"You can cry if you want Mogami-san. I'll stay with you" Kuon said looking deeply into her amber eyes.

"H-Hizuri-san…"

"Please rely on me. I am here. You are not alone so let your pain out. Don't hold your tears back and cry as much as you want so that you can smile to your fullest the next morning"

He said and embraced Kyoko gently while running his fingers through her hair.

Koun didn't have to say anything anymore. Just few gentle words from him had managed to break all of her defenses. Without even knowing it, she brought her hands to Kuon's back, clinging to his shirt. Loud sobs began coming out of her mouth and she didn't care to hold herself back anymore. She was relieved to know she didn't need to hold back anymore. She could cry freely.

There in his arms, she felt secure like nothing could ever hurt her. For a brief moment, she thought that it was a place warm enough like her home, a place where she could stay forever.

That's it. Please read and review. I hope you like the chapter. Thanks for reading. See you next time.