Chapter 21
"Ugh! Mother would you please stop waiting on me hand and foot! I can do this myself!" Kyoko was frustrated.
"Kyoko... I nearly lost my family. Let me do this! Would it kill you to let me help you around the house and with Kuon-chan?" Saena pleaded.
Kyoko conceded. "Fine, but at least let me help a little. It's only a broken bone... I've had one before and I was fine."
"When?!" Saena demanded to know about this new development she had been informed of.
"Oh about a year and a half now." Kyoko told her nonchalantly.
Saena sighed. "I'm sorry I've missed so much."
Kyoko patted her on the back. "It's okay Okasan. It couldn't be helped and you're here now." She smiled gently.
"Yes I am... now get your pregnant, broken bones back in the living room while I prepare dinner." Saena commanded and Kyoko obeyed begrudgingly.
Now that Kyoko was forbidden by her mother, her manager and her husband to do anything they considered strenuous, she had more time to help Maria with the Happy Grateful Party. There were only five days left. The two had decided the theme would be mythical beings. Kyoko was all prepared to become a fairy but, Lory Takarada had given his three former LoveMe girls an unofficial assignment. Feeling indebted to him they 'acquiesced to his request'. The three of them would don the guises of the goddesses of Love. Kyoko would go as the Egyptian goddess Hathor and Kuon would accompany her as Ra; Kanae would go as the Norse goddess Freyja; and Chiori would go as the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Not surprising in the least... Lory would attend as Eros. (go figure).
At the party one would find a wide variety of gods, goddesses, vampires, werewolves and other varieties of were-folk, ghosts, goblins, fairies and more. For her ninth birthday, Maria Takarada would be a small voodoo priestess. At Lory's insistence, because of her broken leg, Kyoko would enter the room on Lory's very own Egyptian throne carried by four very burly men dressed in shendyt and sandals. That night one would find a crimson blushed Egyptian goddess that was only minutes away from being 18.
This year Kuon and Kanae would collaborate on her gift. Kyoko had been through just too much and they both wanted to give her something extra special and personal. At midnight, Ra knelt before the goddess Hathor with hands extended bearing a gift and head down as if in offering a sacrifice. It was a 12 cm white box wrapped in a dark blue ribbon.
Kyoko giggled and accepted the gift. "Kuon... Please stand up. This is embarrassing." She was blushing even more. (if it was possible)
He chuckled. "Well?"
"..." She was confused.
"Are you going to open it my Goddess?" He smirked.
"Gah! Kuon! Really?!" She was now sufficiently flustered, more than she had been in a long time and he was enjoying every moment. "Fine...Bully." She mumbled.
Kyoko opened the box and curiously stared at the little round leather container within. "Go ahead and open it Kyoko." He smiled.
She unzipped the little container and opened it. What was inside brought tears to her eyes and took her breath away. "It's beautiful Kuon. I love it!"
"I wanted to get you something that was always changing... Just like you." he said softly. Had he not climbed up to her throne she would have leapt to him. He hugged her tightly and helped her put on the little silver bracelet with nine charms already resting on it. Each charm represented a part of her life and her roles that she portrayed: a silver angel wing, a little silver moon, a little queen bee with a crown on her head, a tiny throwing star in a gold circle, a little chicken, a pair of blue baby booties, and a little puffy heart with a tiny gold diamond ring hanging on it. All were separated by tiny, sapphire encrusted circles between each charm. There was two more charms that Kuon had bought but, he would give the ones he kept in his desk at home much later, a tiny graduation cap and another pair of booties but, in pink.
"Well... Kinda makes mine a little anticlimactic." Kanae groused as she handed her gift to her. She knew about the bracelet but, she didn't realize all of the thought Kuon put into it. She was a little jealous that she didn't think of it first.
"Moko-san... You didn't have to get me anything. Just being my best friend is enough." Kyoko smiled as she opened the little box to reveal two little silver rose earrings with blue petals and a gold heart charm that was engraved with the words 'Best Friends Forever'.
"Now I almost feel like a copycat." Chiori chirped as she handed her a similar tiny white box. This one would contain a silver heart engraved with the words 'Best Friend'.
At the end of the evening Kyoko and Kuon collected Kuon-chan from Maria's nanny and said their goodbyes. "Kuon... I forgot to give you this." Lory told him as he handed Kuon a folder.
"Boss?" Kuon was confused.
"Oh... That's the nanny referrals that Satomi-san asked for." Lory explained.
"Got it. Thanks Boss." Kuon waved as he walked over to the small crowd of well-wishers that had surrounded Kyoko.
"We're ready to go babe..." His hot breath on her neck sent shivers down her spine as he caught her attention from the others.
"Ohh!" She teetered on her crutches as she quickly turned to face him.
"Let's go Honey, you and Kuon-chan need rest." She nodded and followed him as he carried Kuon-chan to their new family car and buckled his wife in. When he turned on the car soft music lilted through the radio and penetrated the silence of the car, lulling Kyoko and Kuon-chan to sleep.
Aki Shoko awakened in the early hours of the morning to her cell ringing. She rolled over in her bed and answer.
"Hello?" The line was silent for a moment. "Hello?"
"Shoko-sama... I would like to apologize to you. Thank you for taking care of me." The familiar voice sounded sad and distant. He then hung up from the unlisted number.
She stared at the little device in her hand then fell back onto her pillow and stared at the ceiling until dawn.
Kyoko and Kuon were awakened on the morning of December 25th by a phone call from Lory Takarada at 10 am.
"I need you and Kyoko-chan in my office as soon as possible this morning." He told them in a calm tone then hung up just as quickly not leaving Kuon any room to object.
"Kyoko... Baby... We gotta go in this morning for a bit... Boss wants to see us." Kuon whispered as he gently shook her awake.
"Un.." She groaned. "Do we have to?"
"Yes Sweetie, he sounded a little too calm. Let's go see what he needs." She nodded then rolled out of bed and hopped to the bathroom.
Kuon picked up his phone and dialed a number before putting on his pants.
"Hello?" The female voice greeted.
"Saena-san? Would you mind watching Kuon-chan for a little while this morning? Kyoko and I have an unexpected appointment with Takarada-san this morning." He asked hoping she would.
"Of course Kuon-kun... I don't mind. What time do you need me over there?"
"Can you make it over in about 30 minutes?" He sounded a little worried.
"I'll be over as soon as I can." She told him then grabbed her keys as she shut her front door and pressed her phone off.
"Son... The president of your company has transferred your contract to LME... Do you know what that means?" He informed the young man that stood before him in a dark serious tone.
Sho shook his head. "I... I thought I was finished. That Akitoki canceled my contract."
"Young man... You have a lot of talent and it would be a shame for the world not to experience it. I have an agreement with your former boss to take in young talents that have difficulties and help them overcome them." Lory explained.
"But..."
"I know... You were ready to quit. It was obvious from your dedication last night at your holiday concert...Fuwa-san... Are you willing to become a new man? Are you willing to start fresh?" Lory remembered giving this option to a fifteen year old American boy many years ago.
"What do I need to do?" Sho saw a light of salvation in Lory. His heart clenched. He had to do this.
"Ten!" Jelly Woods entered the elaborate office from a room just behind them.
"Yes Darling?"
"Do your magic..." Lory told her with a sly smile and Jelly Woods led him away.