Chapter Two: That Sounds Odd
There was a sense of eeriness at the shrine as Kuon stood there, on the verge of the breakdown he had promised his innocent daughter that he wouldn't have. The darkness dawned in and Kuon felt a raindrop hit him on the cheek, that was close enough to a tear. He had had the body moved to Kyoto in his and Kyoko's secret place because that's where he believed they should say goodbye. They had never discussed each other's death just as many happy families never discussed such issues so he hoped that this was good enough for his princess, he hoped this was what she wanted.
As he saw the girl so pale and blue in the casket, her frailness evident he bit his lip to conceal his emotions as Naomi blinked up at him still unsure what was going on. "Daddy?" she asked, her voice shaking scared of how everyone around her was acting. Kuon had made sure to buy her a formal black shirt that had long sleeves made of velvet and a black, pleated formal skirt. She wore a black ribbon in his hair that he had messily tried to do for her since it was usually Kyoko who got her ready, black tights and very formal shoes for her age. Kuon wore a black suit with a grey shirt and black trousers. His tie was black and he looked as if he could crumble at any moment. He shook his head not replying to Naomi.
Naomi grew slightly angry about this, "Daddy!" she said even louder trying to understand what was going on around her.
Kuon finally glanced at her, crouching down next to her and tried to fake a smile, "Yes Naomi?" he asked, his voice barely audible. "What is it angel?"
"What's mummy doing?" Naomi pointed still unsure what death meant.
Kuon sighed and placed a hand on her cheek, "She's dead sweetheart," he told her sadly. "Dead is when you go away forever..."
"So mummy's not going to wake up?" Naomi inquired, starting to shiver. Kuon attempted to pull her into a hug, but Naomi pulled away shaking her head. She crossed her arms. "Mummy's being mean," she stated, "She should wake up. She always tells me to wake up when I don't want to. She's being sel-fish. Make her come back daddy!" she seemed to plead.
Kuon choked as he smiled forward to his daughter, "I ca-n't. I wish I could." He kissed her on the forehead, "Daddy can't do anything right now, he wants mummy to come back too but sometimes it's impossible. She's not going to wake up ever again," he paled as he tried to help her understand her mother's death, something that he didn't even want to understand.
Naomi shivered as she pressed her head against Kuon's chest, he stroked her blond hair back and she whispered to him. "Daddy, are you sure?" she questioned, the look of disbelief still lingering in her eyes. She gripped onto his big hand as if she could be the one to convince him of the truth instead of the other way around.
Kuon bowed his head, "Yes Naomi, I'm sure. I wish I wasn't but mummy's gone, all that's left is me and you but we're going to be as happy as we can for mummy aren't we?" he asked her. "Daddy loves you Naomi."
"Naomi loves daddy too," the small girl whispered starting to cry as she looked back at her mother and ran forward to clutch her hand as Kuon watched her. He stood up and shook nervously not sure what to do anymore. He looked around at the room which was filled with friends and family but he couldn't feel their presence. All he could understand was himself, Naomi and a sense of isolation.
As he stood there alone just staring at his wife's corpse he felt someone put their hand on his shoulder. It was a firm grip but not hurtful and at first he wasn't sure who it was. Looking back he noticed Lory there with his own sense of sadness and Kuon choked trying to maintain his composure since his daughter had asked him not to cry. "Thank you for helping me put this together for her Lory, and for the arrangements afterwards."
Lory nodded before continuing to stare at Kuon concerned most for his sake. Lory was wearing the same suit he wore for his daughter in law's funeral, now here was a girl who felt like a daughter in law due to his bond with Kuon over the years. Kuon, although at first his godson, after Kuu had seemed to beg him to do it, felt like a second son to him. However, unlike Kouki he was glad to see that Kuon seemed more concerned and absorbed with taking care of Naomi than Kouki had with Maria.
"You should sit down," Lory tried to persuade one of his favorite actor's, "I'll watch Naomi for you." He put his hands on Kuon's shoulders, "It's going to be alright Kuon and if you ever need someone then you can call me." Lory turned to look at the side of the room where Kuu was watching his son awkwardly not knowing what to say to him as he held hands with a tearful Julie. "You should also talk to your parents, they're worried about you especially your father."
Kuon sighed, "I will, but I need to tell Naomi where I'll be."
As he turned to move over to his daughter, he heard Lory speak once more, "I'm sorry for this Kuon, If I could have done anything to save her, I didn't know when I saw her with that man that..."
Kuon froze, he turned back to Lory with a sense of confusion in his eyes. "Wh-at?" he choked since he had never learned how Kyoko had died. He turned to Lory not knowing what he was talking about before remembering Kyoko's words as she had lay there dying. "Bastard B" "Who?" he asked, the volume of his voice rising, "Who did you see her with?"
Lory narrowed his eyes as if some plot was going on, "What did the hospital tell you about Kyoko's death?" he asked in a very serious manner as Kuon stared at him. He paled as he remembered that scene, he didn't want to remember the death of his wife, he wanted to act like everything was fine.
"She died from blood loss," he shivered before making a fist as Lory looked at him in total shock.
"That's all they told you?" he asked as Kuon stared at Lory getting angrier and angrier at the situation. He turned back to look at Kyoko and nodded. "Don't you think that's a bit odd Kuon," he stood forward as the man listened to the man who had taken him into his world so many years ago.
"Odd?" the blonde repeated the word as if thinking it over, that's what the hospital had told him, didn't hospitals usually disclose the full information to family members rather than people's bosses and close friends. He blinked, his heart beating in his head as he felt a rush of cold air whip his hair across his face. He reached a hand out to Lory as the older man took a step forward. "Lory..." he asked his eyes wide.He could hear his heart at this point and felt an odd sinking feeling in his chest, "What happened?"
"Don't you think it's a bit odd that she died from blood loss Kuon? Usually places like that have a blood bank, what more if they wanted her to have blood from someone she knew I had already offered." This caused Ren to stare at him as he looked at Naomi again as she stood beside Kyoko. His eyes were wider than they ever had been and he felt his heart pounding faster his temper rising.
"WHAT!?" he stared down, putting his hand to his head trying to figure this out. "What happened Lory? Who did you see her with!!?" At this point the whole room was looking at him, watching him and waiting to see what would happen next. "Lory what happened!? What happened at the hospital!?"
"I don't know yet," Lory replied softly understanding Kuon's anger, he had had his own when learning that everything had fallen through. "I've been sending some people in to research the event, someone did say that it was something to do with her heart, another said something about her lungs. The person she was with though, his name was Reino, a singer from Vie Ghol. I've been trying to gather information on him as well but he's hard to track down." He turned to Kuon, "If I would have known I would have done all that I could to stop it. No one wanted her to die Kuon."
"Like that makes anything better!!" Kuon continued to yell before looking up at his daughter. Naomi was staring at him and shaking, tears already in her eyes as she hated hearing her father yell. That let her know that something had gone wrong and she was terrified of him when he got incredibly angry. "I don't care how many people it takes Lory! This is my wife you're talking about!! Get the whole Japanese police force in on this if you have to!! If something has happened to my wife that they're keeping covered from everyone then..." he sunk to his knees at that point, taking deep breaths and soon heard footsteps as someone ran up to him.
"Daddy!! Daddy!!" Naomi yelled looking at her father, her heart beat weakening in her own chest. "It's alright," she patted her father on the shoulder before putting her arms around his neck and hugged him. "I'm here Kuon," she said to him imitating her mother already causing him to laugh through tears. He pulled her tighter to him. "Daddy! You can cry if you need to," she told him putting her little hand up to his face and trying to brush away his tears. "Don't worry, be happy!"
"Yeah don't worry," an annoying voice resonated behind him as he lifted his head up knowing exactly who it was. He looked up, a mix of anger and hate in his eyes as he saw his rival standing there with the fourth huge bouquet of flowers he had bought Kyoko over the years. "So..." Shou grinned, his hair was shorter now since he had shaved it and started growing it again a few months ago. He wore dark shades, a long, black, leather trench coat, a formal black shirt and black belted pants with boots coming up to halfway up his leg. He stared at the girl in the casket and plopped the flowers down next to her.
"Hey Kyoko," he said acting extremely casually, "I'm sorry things had to end this way, I'm sorry that in the end you had to be landed with a guy who couldn't even protect you."
At that point, an air of anger swept over the area and everyone knew what was coming. Offering her a Tsuruga Ren style smile, Kuon looked at his daughter. "Naomi, can you please see grandma?" he softly instructed, "I have to clean up some trash."
Naomi nodded in understanding, she placed a hand on her father's cheek, "Don't hurt him too much daddy," she told him repeating something she had heard Kyoko say before. Kuon gave a very weak laugh at her, kissed her on the forehead and then started to approach the second blonde.
"Fuwa, what do you think you're doing here? Did you really think you were welcome?" he asked, a smile on his face but his eyes portraying all the hate that he could muster. Soon his smile turned cold and the demon king was at full reign. He placed a hand on Shou's wrist and made sure that the singer couldn't pull away. He heard a twig break as Shou stumbled back, but he wouldn't listen to this. "Do you want to do this the hard way or the easy way? If I were you I'd pick the easy way although the hard way is a LOT more fun for me."
"And," Shou countered looking just as arrogant as always though a slight bit of sadness lingered in his eyes, "Did you really think that it was your duty to keep people away." He shook his head, "You already failed as a knight Hizuri, why not let someone who'll do a better job try to protect her."
Kuon stared away, his heart pounding in his chest and without really knowing what he was doing he reached out and took Shou by his collar, he pulled him in glaring. "Get lost Fuwa or would you prefer that I made sure that job was taken care of once I have taken away your ability of doing so?" he growled in a very frightening manner as Naomi clutched tighter to her grandmother's leg.
Shou laughed arrogantly, "Did you really think your fairytale would end happily?" he asked only increasing Ren's anger, "What are you going to do now?" he asked before seeing Ren's eyes widen and his hand loose from his collar as he noticed who had just come in.
Bastard B formally known as Bastard #2 and commonly known as
Reino
Sorry for the shortness of this chapter, given I get some feedback on what you'd like to see in the next scene I'll update when I can, but please review if you have time.
Thank you to the people who have reviewed the last chapter especially "doesn't matter" who inspired me to come up with a huge twist
Next chapter will be twice as long with the appearance of Reino, Miroku and a mysterious woman
~Myst
Thanks to:
Doesn't matter, mangaaddict300, mysweetkat, nemadragon31 and TohkuxKetsueki,
