A/N: I had stuff I wanted to say, but I forgot it now. So please enjoy!
Kyoko came to consciousness unwillingly the next morning. She was having a beautiful dream about attending a fairy ball and Corn was there, not the childhood version of Corn she remembered, but the grown version she met again the other day. His golden hair was shining in the full moonlight, and he was dancing and twirling in the sky with a beautiful raven-haired fairy princess. She kept trying to see the princess face but every time she got close Corn would spin her away from Kyoko's curious gaze. As she came awake a smile spread across her face she was actually going to get to see him again today. With a happy smile she lept out of bed. Hurriedly she dressed for her chores and rolled up her futon. The soft glow coming through the rice paper blinds let her know that the sun was just rising and the Taisho would be waiting for her to help prepare breakfast.
In the large kitchen the Taishio greeted his ward with a smile, which she returned brightly. They worked in companionable silence, moving around each other with the familiarity of two people who have worked together. When she was done with the morning breakfast she prepared two bento's and placed them out of the way in the refrigerator.
"Good Morning, Kyoko," the Okami greeted her just after she finished placing lunch in the refrigerator. "Can you help with some of the serving for the Dine in requests, the other girls have the dining room covered." The Okami requested after the girl had returned her morning greeting. Agreeing easily Kyoko took the tray nearest from her caregiver, "This one goes toe Hizuri-sama in room 5 please." Kyoko nodded and set out to deliver the meal.
Kuon was jarred awake suddenly by a soft knock and a familiar voice. He groaned and rolled on his side to see the silhouette of a girl kneeling outside the sliding door. The knock came again with the voice, "Excuse me Hizuri-sama, your breakfast is here." Kyoko! He shot up from his futon and stared bug eyed at the door. Not like this. She can't find out like this. Pitching his voice lower he instructed her to leave the food outside the door, that he wasn't decent. The girl's response was hesitant, but she did as he asked. He watched her silhouette slowly stand and move off down the hall. Kuon flopped back down on his futon with a sigh and covered his eyes with his arm. What am I doing? He asked himself then with a grunt he rolled over off his futon to grab his breakfast.
Kyoko practically skipped through her morning chores. Rolling futons, changing bedding, washing dishes. She did each with a smile and growing excitement. It was was around 12:30 when Kyoko was finally done with her work and able to head out to meet her fairy friend. Reaching in the refrigerator she grabbed the large bento she prepared earlier and turned to head out the door. She was moving quickly, her head off in la la land when she walked into a solid, yet squishy object. "Oi, Kyoko, Watch where you're going." Show huffed and pushed the girl back from him. "Sorry Sho-chan!" she beamed at him and hugged her bento close to her chest. "What's with that stupid expression? And What's that for?" Sho pointed at the bento.
"Oh," she gestured to the bento ignoring the first question, "I made you one too Sho-chan, it's in the refrigerator." Sho just grunted then asked, "Where are you going?" She shrugged, "I feel like having a little picnic, maybe go exploring the forest."
"Well, when you get back can you stop by my room? I have something I want you to hear." Sho asked with a shy smile.
Kyoko cocked her head to the side, "I can listen now if you want."
Sho shook his blond head, "No it's not ready yet, but it should be later." Kyoko beamed at the boy she adored. "Of course Sho-chan! Anything you want." With that she skipped off.
Kuon's stomach growled ravenously. Perhaps I should have at more at breakfast this morning, he mused then he jumped to grab a low hanging branch of a tree and started to climb. He had been at their spot by the river since just after sunrise. He had ate a few bites of his breakfast but his nerves kept him from consuming as much as he should have. When he was done he dressed quickly, hiding his blond hair underneath a cap and then snuck out of the ryokan and into the awaiting trees. He tried to amuse himself by practicing acrobatics or looking for local wildlife, but most of the time he sat staring blankly at the rushing water and wondering what he was going to say when Kyoko finally made her way to him. It was just after eleven when his stomach began protesting and when Kuon started to sink into depression. Maybe she wasn't coming, maybe he waited here all day for nothing, maybe he didn't matter much to her. His thoughts rambled on growing darker as time passed. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice when his friend cast him in shadow or even heard her great him. His body was frozen lost in its own darkness. Warmth slowly filled him from his forehead and he was gradually brought out of his trance to see the golden eyes of his friend filled with concern mumbling something about how he doesn't have a fever.
"Corn?" she asked the concern evident in her soft voice. "Are you ok?" She asked when his green eyes finally focused on hers. "Uh, yeah…" he shook himself, "My mind kinda wondered off there for a bit."
In all the time since Rick's death when he had gone into that state no one had been able to bring him out of it, except himself. The days immediately following Rick's death he actually had to be hospitalized and on a feeding tube because he refused to move. The doctor's called it shock but he called it possession. Rick was trying to possess his body, to take back the life that Kuon had stolen from him. He was willing to pay that price, he would willingly give Rick back his body, what good was it anyway? But the possession never seemed to stick and the bouts of freezing became shorter. Still, Kuon wished fervently that he could give his friend his body, even if just for a short time, then maybe some of the crushing guilt would go away. But all that changed with the warmth of a small hand on his head. This scrap of a girl was able to wipe away his darkness with just a touch. Kuon snorted internally, Maybe she's actually the fairy here. His musings were cut off when his stomach complained violently at its lack of food, and Kyoko laughed.
"Guess its good that I brought this," she changed the topic and held up the bento. Kuon could tell that she wanted to know what was happening in his head, but was too polite or didn't think it was her place to ask.
He chuckled, "Yeah, I guess I didn't eat enough this morning." Kyoko snorted as she opened the box and produced a set of chopsticks for both of them. "You remind me of a customer at the ryokan. I delivered a whole breakfast to him, but it looks like he didn't eat any of it. Such a waste of food," she tisked. She's probably talking about me. He thought and he struggled not to look guilty. She handed him a set of chopsticks and then began to dig into the bento. He looked at the chopsticks then at the girl and pouted, "You didn't bring me one?" Kyoko laughed at his pout. "I made this one large enough for us to share, just like we use to." Her smile was dazzling as she held the bento out toward him and he couldn't help but smile brightly in return.
The conversation flowed easily between the two friends as they shared the bento. Kuon kept the questions focused on Kyoko, what has she been doing, what she liked to do, and what kind of work she did at the ryokan. As their meal progressed he felt his resolve to come clean about the fairy prince act weakening. She was just so innocent and filled with joy over her fairy friend that he was losing heart to shatter the illusion. One of us should be allowed to live with pure innocence, he was convincing himself.
Kyoko was filled with panic when she saw her immobile fairy friend. She called out to him, and he didn't answer, she came and sat next to him and he didn't move. It wasn't till she panicked and started checking for a fever did he finally seem to come back to himself. His eyes were so haunted and so full of pain she felt her heart go out to him. She wanted to pressure him into telling her what was going on, to try to help him and comfort him, but she restrained herself. He's a fairy prince, he wouldn't want to share his troubles with me, she frowned. So instead of asking, she answered all the questions he asked her, trying to keep the conversation light and happy. As they neared the end of their meal she could see the trepidation in his eyes. I don't want him to feel like he has to tell me.
"Kyoko-chan…" he began.
"Corn!" she interrupted, "I have an idea, lets go exploring."
Corn blinked and his eyes changed from dark to confused, "Exploring?"
Kyoko nodded vigorously; "Yes!" she jumps to her feet and holds out a hand to him. "It will be an adventure."
The burn of his muscles and from physical activity helped clear away the last of the darkness that he clouded his mind since before lunch. The ground was uneven and rocky and the underbrush on occasionally hampered their progress. Regardless of how hard the going got as they explored the area, Kyoko kept up a stream of happy chatter. They had been walking for about an hour when they came upon it. The dense brush opened up to a small clearing that was dominated with a massive tree, ancient tree. Its branches dipped and curved throughout the space. Wrapped around the trunk of the tree was a thin, crumbling set of stone steps. Strewn about the open space were large boulders and everything was covered in a blanket of green moss. Shafts of golden light filtered through the thick canopy overhead from the low lying sun. The whole effect was utterly magical. The pair stood in awe, her small hand wrapped in Kuons larger one form where he helped to pull her through a particularly thick set of brush. Kyoko's golden eyes became as round as saucers and they began to sparkle as she turned to look at him.
"Are we in the fairy realm?" Her awe filled voice was barely a whisper. Kuon just shook his head in the negative and stepped into the clearing, pulling her after him.
"This place is amazing," he whispered back as he released her to step over one of the large boulders. Kyoko couldn't help but agree. Then she giggled and whispered to her friend, "Why are we whispering?" Kuon gave her a small smile then whispered back, "We wouldn't want to wake the tree's dryad now, would we?" Kyoko gaped at her friend. "There's a dryad here?!" Kuon shrugged at her, not wanting to lead her on. "I don't know, but would you really be surprised if there was?" He gestured at the clearing. She beamed at him. They spent the next few hours exploring every part of the clearing. They climbed the boulders and the very strange set of stairs. At the top of the stairs was a small rotted wooden platform that they decided to forgo sitting on. On the far side of the tree, nestled among the roots was a small hot spring.
"It must be the same one that feeds the onsen back at the ryokan." Kyoko told her him as he reached out and put his hand in the water. At the mention of the ryokan Kyoko sighed sadly and looked around what she was calling the Dryad's Palace. "I guess we should start heading back now. I have to work tonight." Kuon nodded and stood, holding his hand out to help her up. "You work a lot for someone your age, Kyoko-chan. Do you work every day?" Kyoko just nodded. "They let me stay with them since… and well I want to be as helpful to them as I can be. The Okami even taught me the tea ceremony."
"Still," Kuon frowned down at her, "You really shouldn't work so much. You are eleven, you should be having fun." Kyoko smiled up at him, and squeezed the hand she was still holding.
"You look like you are about to pass out, are you sure you are up for this?" Sho greeted her as he slid the door open to let her into his room. "I went hiking after lunch, and was really busy at dinner, but I am fine, I can still hear whatever you want me to listen to." Sho smiled and gestured for her to take a seat then moved to pick up his guitar. She wrapped her arms around her legs and rested her head on her knees to get ready to listen to her friend. On occasion Sho would ask her to listen to some songs he was working on for his guitar lessons. However, unlike the previous times he didn't pull out his lesson book but some sheets of paper. Taking a good look at the blond boy she noticed his apprehension. She smiled reassuringly and he grinned back then settled into position. Kyoko sat in stunned silence as her friend began to play, not just play but he sang along with the melody. His voice was rich, smooth and clear as it rang throughout his room. When he was done he looked back at her and all she could do was gape. Finally frustrated at waiting to hear what she thought he threw a sock at her, "Oi, Kyoko, did you fall asleep on me?"
"Sho-chan," she breathed, "that was absolutely amazing! You should really become a music idol. You would be great. I am sure before long you would be the top man in Japan's entertainment industry."
Sho's face broke into a huge smile, "You really think so?" His previous apprehension coming though in his voice. All Kyoko could do was nod. His smile slowly transformed into a self-satisfied smirk as her words sank in. They were discussing how he was thinking about performing the song during the talent competition of the school festival, which Kyoko enthusiastically encouraged, when Sho's mother stopped in.
"Kyoko, can I ask you a favor before you head to bed.?"
Kyoko was making her wall back down the hall from dropping off some fresh linens in one of the rooms. Her mine was lost in the magic of spending time at the Dryad's Palace and Sho's incredible song that she ran straight into a squishy wall. "So sorry, she said automatically and bowed." When the wall didn't respond, she glanced up to see a familiar face, wearing one of the ryokan's yutaka's, golden hair still wet from his bath.
Confused, she furrowed her brow and tried to process what she was seeing, finally she asked, "Corn?"