AN: Hope you enjoy this chapter, the ending part is quite…playful. Also, I've now passed 1.1M words, how cool is that.

Chapter Twenty One – Developing Trust

Bruce looked ahead of him at the blond actor as he began to make some notes to include in Kuon's file. "So, how are you today?" he asked the blond who looked up at him with a guilty expression, "I take it that something happened?"

"I tried to jump off a building," Kuon told him honestly and Bruce's eyebrows lifted. "I don't know what I was thinking. All I could hear was noise and I tried to jump off a building. I don't know how to control it when it gets to that point. I can feel what's going to -"

"How much of your medication did you miss?" Bruce asked as he looked Kuon face on.

Kuon raised an eyebrow before looking down, "I guess you would know that," he shrugged. "I'm not sure if it was two days or three but I felt lost. It was a rush of information and…" Kuon sighed, "I was being selfish. I thought that since Kyoko had come back, I didn't have to be alive any longer."

"You've been holding on for so many years and making so much progress because of your goal," Bruce commented, "You don't need to let go of that goal just because you have someone helping you with it. Did you think about how Isabella would feel?"

"I…I thought that Bella would be happier without me," Kuon admitted and the therapist sighed.

"Kuon, can you think back to when you were a child for me?" he asked and Kuon nodded. "I know that you and your parents loved each other, you still love each other, but you seemed to spend more time with your father. What if he had suddenly disappeared but you still had your mother? How would you feel about that?"

"My father isn't worthless, he's not a bad dad, he didn't see what was going on," Kuon protested and Bruce sighed.

"Are you saying that you are a bad father?" he asked and Kuon looked down, grabbing onto the side of the couch without realizing it.

"I'm doing my best. I'm always doing my best to give Bella the life that she deserves. For all these years, Bella's only had me." Kuon's eyes drifted over to the bookcase as he studied the books for all the different psychological disorders. Why did therapists always keep so many books in their rooms?

"Yes, you've learned a lot about being a parent and Bella knows that she can come to you for help. Isabella loves spending time with you. You might think that you're not a qualified parent but for years whenever Bella has needed help, what have you done? For instance, when Isabella wanted to take up soccer," Bruce tried to open Kuon up a little.

"I've always tried to set aside time for her," Kuon admitted, "When she wanted to play soccer, I brushed up on the subject and I practiced with her. I coached her. I made sure that she was safe and -"

"and you managed to take time off of your busy schedule so that you could see all of her games," Bruce said as he looked at Kuon. He sighed, "Do you plan on jumping off any tall buildings in the foreseeable future?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Kuon said as he looked down, "but I am worried about screwing things up."

Bruce frowned and leaned forward, setting aside his notepad for a moment, "Kuon," he said as he made eye contact with the other man, "Can I ask you to think back on who you were when you married Kyoko?" he asked, "what kind of man were you? What kind of things did you enjoy? What were your hopes for the future?" Kuon looked down as he tried to think about those things and then Bruce asked him another question, "With those things in mind, how much of a significant change has there been? Is your personality the same as when you met her with maybe some minor changes here and there? Have you developed the same interests? Apart from the depression, are there parts of you that you want to hide away from your wife?"

Kuon took another breath in and sighed, "I guess I haven't changed that much on the inside."

"Well," Bruce smiled, "trust me on this, one married man to another, if you find the right woman it's only the inside that she cares about." Kuon smiled weakly. "If you had a terminal illness that meant you had to be hospitalized, do you think that your wife could leave you?" he asked and Kuon shook his head, "and if you were out on the street and were attacked, disfigured, what do you think her immediate actions would be?"

"To take care of me," Kuon laughed as he ran his hand through his hair again. "Well, she'd be pretty pissed off that I was in that condition but I think her concern would win against her anger. She would worry, take me to the hospital, she wouldn't be able to settle down until she knew I was safe. Just as I would with her."

"So, you're saying that if your face was completely scarred and unable to be fixed that she'd still be more worried about your health and happiness?" Bruce tested him and Kuon nodded, "just as you would be about her."

"It doesn't matter what she looks like," Kuon said, "I love her. It doesn't matter if she has a mouth like the Joker's, it doesn't matter because I love her."

"So, why can't you trust in the knowledge that she loves you?" he asked and Kuon froze at that. "You've made significant steps over these past years with your self confidence and self-esteem, but this is a test for you. Your wife obviously loves you so you have to trust in her opinion of you. Don't question it, just accept that you have a woman who loves you and so you must have done something to cause and create those emotions for her. I want you to trust in her and notice how she acts towards you." Bruce laughed softly, "You overthink things, Kuon. Don't think about this, just trust her."

Kuon nodded before he reached forwards and noticed that the appointment was almost done. He looked at Bruce before smiling awkwardly. "Did you want to meet her?" he asked and Bruce smiled as he gave a deep exhale and relaxed in his chair.

"I would love to," he said as he followed Kuon out into the waiting room.

Seeing Kuon exit the room, Kyoko stood up and put the magazine she had been reading down. She smiled as she saw the therapist for the first time. She kept herself from bowing but the gratitude for how much this man had helped her love showed itself on her face. She wrapped her arms around her husband and then kissed his cheek.

"How did it go, sweetheart?" she asked and Kuon smiled gently.

"We talked about some important things," he informed her and Kyoko held out her hand to the therapist.

"Thank you so much for helping my husband overcome his depression," she said, "I know there's still a long way to go, but thank you," she blushed as she looked at the man she adored. "I'm sorry, I should have led with an introduction. I'm Kyoko Hizuri," she said before feeling Kuon wrap an arm around her.

Bruce smiled to her, "It's incredible what cryogenics can do these days," he said and Kyoko looked down. "Sorry, I'm Bruce Carpenter," he said and Kyoko smiled to him. "I've been seeing Kuon for about five years now," he tried to explain, "He's always spoken so highly of you."

"I'm his biggest fan," Kyoko said as she kissed Kuon's upper arm, "I am so grateful that he has such a high opinion of me but I think that I have a higher opinion of him. After all, before I met Kuon, I didn't know that princes were actually more than real."

Bruce laughed at that, "See, trust in her," he said to Kuon as he looked at Kyoko who blinked up at Kuon. "I'll see you next week," he told the actor before looking at Kyoko, "It's a real honor to meet you. Kuon has always spoken about you as if you were a goddess and I can see what he means," he said before Kuon walked out with Kyoko smiling and holding his hand.

"See," she said as she squeezed his hand and lifted it to her lips so that she could press a soft and affectionate kiss on the back of it. "I'm proud of you for getting help. I'm so proud to be the wife of someone who is strong enough to face his problems. Thank you," she said and Kuon shook his head but decided not to argue. He would follow the doctors orders and listen to his wife and trust in her words. He might have a hard time letting them sink in but he had to place his trust on her over his own inner fears.

…..

…

Kyoko looked at the workbook that Isabella was learning from. She had already gone into the intermediate Japanese and Kyoko knew how much work she must have put in to do that. Kyoko looked at the page which showed the different levels of Japanese society and when to use honorifics. She was impressed since a lot of the foreign guests at the Fuwa's ryokan hadn't even learned these things.

"[Daddy taught you a lot, didn't he?]" she asked as she looked over at Kuon who appeared to be pulling something out of a closet.

"[Yeah]" Isabella nodded, "[Daddy watched Doraemon and Hello Kitty with me. He watched lots of shows with me.]" Isabella smiled and Kyoko pressed a soft kiss to her daughter's head as she kept looking over to Kuon. Right now he seemed to be setting up an indoor clothing rack.

"Kuon," she called over to him, "Are you sure you don't need any help?"

"[I'm good,]" Kuon winked at her as he spoke in Japanese. "[You get to give the lesson today and I'll take the opportunity to do the laundry,]" he said as Kyoko watched him. She smiled as she looked down thinking about how Sho's father would have turned his nose up at doing the laundry and would have told his wife that that was her job. Maybe the gender norms were less strong in America and the husband and father taking care of the housework was just as likely as the wife and mother.

"[So, when you have someone who is below you in social positions or when you are talking to a pet,]" Kyoko said as she pointed to the words, "[You conjugate or you make it like this,]" she showed Isabella some of the more common Japanese verbs.

She watched Kuon as he left the room only to come back with a laundry hamper that had mostly his and Isabella's clothes and a few clothes of Kyoko's. She looked at him as he had no problem with holding their underwear. She felt a little awkward as she watched him go off to the laundry room. She had always taken charge of the housework before and she felt strange not being the one to do it.

Still, Kuon must have been the one doing it for the majority of the past six years. He had really had to fit the role of both the mother and the father in Isabella's life. She smiled as her daughter practiced some of the words.

"[Can you read over these and write in your workbook, Mommy just has to ask Daddy something quick,]" Kyoko said as she kissed Isabella's head and went off to where Kuon was sorting the clothes. He held up her bra and read the label on it as Kyoko blinked.

"Are you checking my bust size?" she teased him but Kuon seemed to ignore her teasing and hummed.

"I'm just seeing if it needs to get put on the gentle cycle when I wash it," he said seeming not to realize that he was actually fingering the cup of her bra. Most guys in the movies would get overly excited just to hold a bra. Kuon really was just checking the instructions for cleaning it.

"Is that so?" she asked with a cute smile, "Are you sure you wouldn't like me to put it on?"

Kuon rolled his eyes with a smile, "Are you asking me why I'm not getting emotionally carried away because of a piece of clothing?" he asked her before grinning. "Maybe it's because I know that you'll let me see, touch, and even lick the real thing," he joked before Kyoko turned a deep red and saw Kuon wink at her. He came over to her, "You're not doing any modelling shoots in the next few days, right?" he asked and Kyoko paused.

"I don't think so," she said and saw Kuon's king of the night face.

"Good," he said before leaning down and leaving Kyoko with a very obvious mark on her neck. She put her fingers to it and looked at him. She really wanted to give him that very same mark now. She wanted to pretend as if she owned him, after all, he had already given her his heart.

End of Chapter Twenty One

Thank you for reading

Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Twenty

Brennakai: That's definitely how I imagine Julie 😊 and Kuon loves his wife so of course he does.

KrisXD: Well, I thought that this would be a new adventure for Kyoko to try.

Paulagato: I'm glad you liked it so much 😊

Undertheskys: Definitely, Kuon wanted to keep Kyoko a part of Isabella's life.