AN: New twist in this chapter. Thank you for your patience on the update 😊

Chapter Six – What Defines a Sickness?

Kuon sighed as he rolled over in the bed that he had used as a teenager. It was a little too short for him these days but he had certainly slept in worse. Besides, it had been good for his parents to allow him to stay here until things started to go back to some type of normal. Kuon pushed himself to the side of the bed and let his legs drop. He felt strange. It was as if he had stayed in bed too long and had slept on his muscle deadening them.

He sighed, pulling himself up, and immediately dropped onto the ground. Damn It. What was going on with him this morning? It had only been two days since Kyoko had left and he was finding it hard to get out of bed. He tried to get up but it was as if his legs were unwilling to move.

He finally managed to grab onto a bookcase for support and then felt his chest, breathing was painful right now. Maybe he should just spend some more time in bed. He sighed as he managed to pull himself towards the bed and sat down. He hung his head and then put a hand to his chest. He felt hungry. Why did he feel so hungry?

Kuon was staring into space as he tried to calm his breaths. That was one thing about being sick and not feeling very well, you really got disoriented and the world around you became more of a blur than anything real. He sighed and let his fingers go through his hair. It was longer than it had been before he went to sleep.

Was hair supposed to grow this fast?

He heard a knock on the door and nervously looked up. "Yeah, I'm up," he called out, his voice sounding a little raspy. He heard the door being opened and saw his mother there. Her eyes widened and she rushed to him. This was strange. She immediately crouched in front of him and placed her hand on his forehead.

"Darling, are you feeling okay?" she asked though she definitely didn't look as if she were okay. She sat on the bed with him, his eyes narrowing. Kuon looked at her confused. "I thought that the aging pro-oh, that doesn't matter now," she whispered and Kuon looked at her nervously.

"The aging process?" he repeated and she took his hand squeezing it.

"Darling," she whispered as she kissed his forehead and rubbed his bag gently. "Have you looked in a mirror today?" she inquired and Kuon looked at her confused. "Darling, it's only a slight change, probably not more than a couple of years."

"A couple of years?" Kuon asked her confused, he coughed feeling as if he were about to pass out and shakily tried to stand up. What was she talking about? He was supposed to be aging one year for every month, not just suddenly get older overnight. This felt like a curse rather than an illness.

He felt himself about to crash onto the ground again but Julie caught him, using her determination to hold him up and help him back to the bed. He looked at her nervously.

"You get some sleep, darling," she whispered. "I'm going to get a damp cloth and then once you've had some rest and your fever has been brought down, we can sort to everything else," she put a hand on his chest as he struggled to close his eyes. Everything felt painful. "I love you, Kuon," she whispered before kissing his forehead and leaving the room.

Kuon sighed and picked up his phone. He turned it on and looked at the camera. It wasn't much but he did look two or three years older and he had a thick beard that he hadn't had the previous night. Was he really sick or was this more of a curse? He didn't want to get to sleep. Going to sleep meant that he might get even older without knowing it.

He felt like he was living in a horror movie.

…

…

Kyoko sat with her hands on her knees as she faced the president. One of the things that they were going to talk about was Kuon's illness but most importantly it was the fact that Kuon had lost his mind and had left without a word to any of the directors that he was working with. It was unacceptable for an actor to do that and Lory would have been furious about it had he not empathized with Kuon.

"This is a huge mess," Lory whispered, "I don't even know where to start with this one. Kuon has always been known for his outstanding work ethic, he's loved for that and besides everyone else knows him as Ren Tsuruga."

"I think that he didn't mean to cause problems," Kyoko said quietly and Lory nodded.

"I doubt he went into this thinking that he was going to cause these problems but he did, they have happened and so we need to focus on how we can smooth things over. There might be a few fines to pay unless you have…" Lory stopped as he saw Kyoko hand him a folder of papers. "What are these?"

"A copy of his test results, plus a written note and a photocopy of his Japanese ID card and his American passport," Kyoko told him and Lory stared at her before nodding slowly. "He won't be able to act anyway, not with his condition. Soon it will take its effect on him."

"It's really that bad," Lory said with a painful look in his eyes.

Kyoko nodded. She gazed down. There were so many people who had love in their hearts for Kuon and to see how his illness would affect each of them really caused her to have a pain in her chest but he had to have those acting jobs filled by other people. He needed to concentrate on his health because who knew how long her fiancé really did have on this earth.

After the conversation, they had drawn up a plan of action, a plan that meant that Kyoko had to stay away from Kuon for a month more than she had intended just so everything could get straightened up. Kyoko did understand why Kuon didn't want to be in Japan but she wanted him with her. Who cared how old he looked, she loved him in a way that she had never experienced before being with him.

She took a deep breath in before reaching for her phone, she turned it on. Her eyes widened, Julie had phoned her. She had taken time to call her which might mean something had happened to her future-husband. Was it too late for her to return the call? She pushed her fingers through her hair and dialed, she'd apologize if it was.

She paused as she heard Julie answer, "Hi, you've reached Julie Hizuri," she said and Kyoko paused. International calls cost a lot. She was making a lot through acting and she knew that Kuon would be willing to pay it for her but she should have considered - No. Kuon's health came first. Kuon's health had to come first.

"Julie-san," Kyoko squeaked, "You called me, is something?"

"He's already had a change," Julie said and Kyoko blinked, it had only been a couple of days, illnesses didn't work like this. "Kyoko, I'm really worried for him. I thought that this was supposed to be gradual but I don't know what's happened to my baby."

Kyoko froze before trying to control her breathing, "He's had a change?" she asked and heard Julie's sob. Was it that bad? No. Even if Kuon looked like he was an eighty-year-old, she still loved him and wanted to marry him and to hell with anyone who might think differently about this.

"Only two or three years but he does look older," the Russian-American said sounding terrified for her little boy. "He's having difficulty getting out of bed, he's not…stable on his feet."

"He's doing okay though?" Kyoko said, her voice going a little faster now that she was scared and worried about the man she loves. "You'd say that he looks like he's in his early thirties, very late twenties, but other than that, he's okay?"

"Yes," Julie said softly, "I would definitely estimate about twenty-nine or thirty from the models that I've worked with but my son shouldn't be thirty yet, he's just a twenty-six year old."

"I know, Julie-san," Kyoko whispered, "May I speak with him?"

Julie was silent and Kyoko's eyes widened a little. Was her future mother-in-law going to tell her that that was an impossible request. Was she going to tell her that she was being stubborn or selfish and she should consider his health and the risks on his health. Kyoko was thinking about him but she knew that for his emotional and psychological health, the two of them needed to talk.

"He's sleeping right now, I want him to get his rest," Julie said sadly and Kyoko nodded.

"I agree," she replied softly, "Please tell him that I'd like him to video call with me whenever he's able to. Remind him that I don't care about his age. Tell him not to care about the time difference, I want to see him. I need to see him, Julie-san."

"I'll make sure that he calls you," Julie told her and Kyoko let out her own sob of relief.

"Thank you," she whispered as she ended the call and let her body slump. He was changing already? Thirty? Thirty didn't matter, that was eight years older than her, lots of relationships had that type of an age gap. He would even be able to hold many of the same jobs…if his age change would stop there. Would he be at forty or fifty by the time she was able to be held in his arms? Would he be older than his dad?

As she walked to the window, Kyoko sighed and she closed her eyes. She spread her fingers over the glass wanting things to be better. She had just wanted the two of them to have a happy life but trouble always seemed to find them. She shivered before her ear pricked up at one word.

"Kuon Hizuri will be mine, you can't have him Takarada-chan," a girl said and Kyoko looked slowly in that direction. Maria was here?

"The doctors know the difference between an illness and a curse," Maria told her. "I'm not interested in him anyway. You have a sickness if you just like old guys," she argued and Kyoko tried to put the pieces together in her head. The difference between an illness and a curse? Did that mean that Kuon wasn't ill, that someone had caused this to happen to him? She quickly walked over to see a woman only a few years younger than her with Maria.

She had sadly stopped being as friendly as Maria when she had told her that she and Ren were engaged. Maria had told her that she was too flaky in relationships and that she had betrayed her by even to start dating Ren. Kyoko hadn't respected how much Maria loved Ren and how hard this relationship was on her. She should have been more gentle.

"Well, it's good that you don't care because my uncle is the one who's going to make sure my plan works," the twenty-year-old said and Maria rolled her eyes with a groan.

"I don't care about some stupid Hizuri Kuon guy, you take him. I'm only interested in Ren," she said and Kyoko looked at them. She took a step forward not realizing the bags under her tear-filled eyes.

"I'm sorry, you said something about Kuon?" she asked with a shaky voice, her eyes wide. "If you know something then please…please, if it's about Kuon," she dropped down into a bow. "Please tell me how I can help him."

Maria stared at her wide-eyed, "So….Ren isn't enough for you?" she asked and Kyoko shivered. She didn't know whether to betray her fiancé and explain that he was Kuon Hizuri. That had been her secret she had promised to protect but would Maria help her save him if she knew the truth?

End of Chapter Six

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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five

Melchormonica8, Paulagato