AN: Thank you for your patience with this update, I hope you enjoy it
Chapter Ten – A Strange Picture
Julie had been watching Kuu for a while whilst also trying to fall back to sleep. However that one word was enough to get her sitting up in the bed immediately. She looked at Kuu and then the phone. Was he really speaking to her little boy? "Did you say Kuon?" she whispered desperately and Kuu nodded. Julie looked at him wanting to grab the phone from him. "I want to speak with him. I'll never forgive you if keep me from talking to him," she whispered and Kuu nodded.
"Kuon," he said into the phone as Julie's body shook, her eyes filling with tears. "Is it okay to put this call on speaker phone?" he asked and heard Kuon sigh weakly.
"Mom's there too, isn't she?" he asked before laughing weakly, "Yeah, go ahead."
Kuu put the call on speaker and Julie looked at it. She opened her mouth as if to say something but she closed it again soon after, tears fell down her cheeks. Her little boy was on the phone. She would be able to hear more from him that a video could ever give her.
"Hi, Mom" Kuon said weakly and Julie sniffed as she tried to hold back her tears.
"Hi, Baby" she whispered sitting up and grabbing a pillow to pull to her chest. "What is it?" she asked as she tried to maintain her composure. "Is something wrong? Did something happen?" she asked not knowing why he was calling them now after all this time. "Darling, whatever it i-"
"Do you believe in time travel?" Kuon asked and Kuu smiled, glad for his son's honesty in this. It was a very tricky subject to understand and maybe everyone had been brainwashed and this is why they were saying these things. Still, if it led to their child seeing them then it was enough. Kuu would try and stop this maniacal plot before it got too complicated.
"I think it's a possibility," Kuu said and Julie grabbed her husband's hand.
"Did something happen? Are you stuck in time? Where are you?" Julie asked as she tried to scramble for her computer. She would try and find out everything she could about where Kuon was because she wanted to help him. She could try to figure out where was safe for him.
"I'm in the same time," Kuon said slowly, "but I've met my son," he told them and Kuu smiled having heard that from Lory but Julie looked confused. She smiled excitedly. Even if this was a hypothetical, the idea of Kuon talking about his own children made her see that he wasn't giving up on life. He was choosing to move forwards and not get caught up in the past. "I'm not sure if Boss told you that I wanted to see the two of you," he said and Kuu laughed.
"To be honest with you, I just got off the phone with him," he said and Kuon gave a knowing exhale. "We'll be thrilled to see you. When is the earliest you can arrange this?" he asked.
"Next week works for me," he said and Julie nodded happily. She would be able to see Kuon and touch Kuon in at max seven days.
"It works for us too," Julie squealed happily, "I love you, darling."
"I love both of you too," Kuon said before they said their goodbyes and Julie wrapped her arms around Kuu tight. Her baby would be there and she would be able to sit across from her little boy, she would be able to hold him and make sure that he knew how loved he had always been. She wanted to see him as soon as possible.
…..
…..
"So," Kyoko grinned to Rikuu as they both worked on cleaning and waxing the floor which reminded Kyoko of one of her first Love Me Section jobs. She was interested in why the president had given her this job but she was even more interested in learning more about Ren even if she wanted to do so by acting like a spy. "It's a shame that we had to cancel the dinner but Tsuruga-san is an extremely busy person," she sighed.
She had been excited about the dinner but when Ren had said that he would have to reschedule she was trying not to take it to heart.
Rikuu turned to her. The one thing that he was scared about was that something that he did would disturb the natural flow of things and that his parents wouldn't get together. The fairies had told him that he would be born and he had seen his father in that new life, that alternate universe but he wasn't done here and he could still change his future without even knowing. "It's my fault. I asked him to reschedule, it's been a long time since we've seen each other and Ren is such a great guy."
"He really is, Tsuruga-san is kind and generous so I'd imagine that he didn't feel it possible to say no," Kyoko commented before looking down. "Do you think that I should remind him of the dinner?" she asked and Rikuu nodded again.
"Yeah, that'd be good," he said before tapping his pocket. He had a picture and article of the guy who had tormented and hurt his parents in there. He wanted to try to find some way of stopping this before anything happened. If he worked to incarcerate this man right now then he wouldn't be able to hurt his mother and his father wouldn't come to her aid.
"Can I ask you something?" Kyoko said with a grin on her face that Rikuu didn't exactly trust. He nodded, trying to move away from her. "What is Tsuruga-san's real name?" she asked and Rikuu laughed.
"I can't tell you that, it's something that should come from him," nervously Rikuu reached into his pocket and as he pulled it out the clipping fell out too. Kyoko went over to pick it up the floor for him and stared at the picture of the man. She didn't want to pry but why would Rikuu have this? As she saw the younger male start to wax again she quickly scanned the clipping before holding it out to him.
"Here," she told him, "You dropped this."
"Uh, thanks," Rikuu told her weakly as he took the paper from her and made sure it was safe in his pocket once again. "It's important," he said, "so uh, thanks," he nodded and Kyoko tried to smile though his behavior seemed a bit off. Who was that man in the picture?
…..
…..
After Kyoko had changed into some regular clothes, she came out from the room reserved for the LME members and walked forwards not really thinking about where she was going. She continued to look down and then crashed into somebody else who wasn't looking where they were going either, their mind focused on a photograph that they were holding in their hands taken from a social media site.
Kyoko took a step back, "I'm really sorry," she said as she dropped into a bow and heard a familiar chuckle.
"It's my fault, Mogami-san," Ren smiled as he bowed apologetically as well. "I should have been more careful," he rose and tilted his head in a way that Kyoko considered adorable. "Forgive me?"
Kyoko nodded and Ren smiled to her. He hadn't realized that he had dropped the picture until Kyoko reached to pick it up. He tried to take it before her but she had taken it before he had had an opportunity to pick it up. She looked at it, her eyes widening. "Who is this?" she asked as she held the picture up and pointed to it. This was the same man that Rikuu had had the article of. "Was this somebody who had a vendetta against whatever family Ren was a part of?"
"Just a man," Ren said as he took the picture back and tucked it into his jacket pocket. "Nobody of any real significance," he lied and Kyoko watched him. It definitely seemed that he was hiding something but because it seemed like a family situation, it didn't feel that she had any place to comment.
"Tsuruga-san, have you checked your schedule?" she asked boldly, "or are you trying to get out of eating?"
Ren paused before looking down, "The dinner," he said before smiling sadly. "Mogami-san…" he tried to tell her but Kyoko felt her heart drop. The expression didn't really call out joy and happiness. He had changed his mind on her. He had probably offered her the invite without thinking and he had changed his mind and decided not to take a chance on her. It wasn't as if she were a supermodel, she was just a plain and boring woman.
"It's okay," Kyoko said as she fought against her tears. "It's really okay, Tsuruga-san," she whispered and Ren reached out for her.
"I want the dinner," he told her and Kyoko stopped and looked back at him in surprise. "I do want to take you out for dinner or arrange for us to prepare dinner together. It's just there have been other things on my mind right now with Rikuu being here. I'm truly apologetic about that. Please accept my apology," he said and Kyoko nodded.
"It's okay. I know that you were just tryi-" she began and Ren shook his head.
"I really think I love you," he told her and Kyoko's eyes opened wide. She turned to face him, not expecting those words from someone that she admired so much. "I know that you're scared of love and I can't disclose everything about myself just yet but I really do care for you on that deeper level," he told her and Kyoko smiled. "I know that you don't really want to he-"
"I love you too," Kyoko smiled at how flustered he appeared. He laughed a little and Kyoko's back straightened. "I would love to have dinner with you but…" she rose a finger and Ren smiled at seeing the similarities between her and the younger her, "if we're going to do this properly then I'd like to know what your real name is."
Ren paled as she said this, he dropped his head, "I can trust you not to repeat this to anybody?" he asked and Kyoko nodded, "not even Yashiro knows. In this country only the president knows my real name. Maybe people who have seen my passport or something but really only the president."
Kyoko looked at him, this seemed a very important topic so he must have something like a long or old fashioned or embarrassing name. He had also said 'this country'. She had had suspicions of him being a Westerner before but they had never been conclusive.
Ren gently pulled her to a very isolated space and took a deep breath in before pushing his hand through his hair. His name might sound stupid if he was this concerned about saying it. "I'm related to a very famous person," he told her and Kyoko blinked.
"Like a member of the royal family?" she asked and Ren shook his head.
"Not the royal family although people within showbiz tend to think of my parents as royalty. My father is a Hollywood actor and then my mother does act but is more known for her work on the runway," he looked away before turning to Kyoko and without losing eye contact spoke slowly. "My real name is Hizuri Kuon."
Kyoko twitched as she stared at him. Had she heard that correctly?
End of Chapter Ten
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Nine
Black neko hime, Guest, H-Nala, kawaii-chan, paulagato, ren n rikuu fan, Shadow Phoenix
Author Response
I think that RIkuu will tell them what happened with Kuon not wanting to cause drama. Not everyone will know about Rikuu in the end but there will be a very significant end to Rikuu's arc.