Japan's Most Wanted

by quite-a-riot

It's that time again, and Japan's most desirable men have been chosen! But this year, there's a photo shoot involved, and Ren has to suffer through his co-worker's idle gossip...about Kyoko. Until she shows up too...which only fuels the flame... Set in an AU branching from Ch. 273.

9. California's Most Unexpected

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long absence, but I'm fully moved into my new house (though still painting and unpacking) so I can finally focus on writing again! This chapter...just did not want to get written. I started off revisiting them at Christmas, but I spent so much time recapping their summer visit that I had to start over from there. Then, I wanted to do the whole visit in one chapter. When I hit 20k and still had more to say, I resigned myself that the California adventure was destined to span at least two chapters. So, while I finish up Chapter 10 (and hopefully get it published in the next few days), here's 18k (I know, I know, WAY TOO LONG, but I threw some refreshing citrus in to cleanse the palate!) of KyokoxRen goodness. It took me weeks and dozens of rewrites to get back into the habit of not writing crap, but now I'm ROLLIN!

Enjoy!

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July 15th, 20XX

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'Twas the night before their flight, and all through the apartment, a feeling of gloom hung dark and heavy in the air...and for once, it wasn't due to Kyoko.

"This is going to be a disaster," Ren groaned.

"I think you're overreacting. It's not going to be that bad…" Kyoko coaxed as soothingly as possible, finally giving in and running her fingers through her boyfr-senpai's hair. She still couldn't bring herself to actually call him her boyfriend, even in her head...it sounded too juvenile for someone as mature as Ren. Wasn't there a more adult term she could use?

'Significant other'?

'Man-friend'?

'Fianc-NOPE.

She cut that idea off before it could turn her face into jelly. It was bad enough that she'd been having naughty dreams about him ever since they'd decided she would spend the night at his place before their early flight. She did NOT need to start fantasizing about the 'M' word (Marriage, that is) in addition to everything else.

It was already all too easy to imagine how quickly one thing could lead to another now that they were alone in his apartment with the evening off… The very idea simultaneously thrilled and terrified her. What if she accidentally ran into him while she was coming out of the shower? Wearing nothing but a towel?! And when he saw her he would blush and look away, but not be able to resist looking again...

"You don't know that…" Ren whined, interrupting her fantasies. His arms were crossed under his face as he leaned over his coffee table with an empty glass in one hand. His thoughts were so distressing that he barely registered the girl he loved touching his head. Which, given his hyper awareness around her almost since the moment of their second fateful meeting, that was saying a lot. His panicked thoughts drove out everything else.

What if I run into someone who knew me before and they recognize me? What if I somehow meet Tina again?! Would she even recognize me now? What if my parents give it all away? Okay, so Dad probably won't, but there's no way Mom can keep herself under control! What if the paparazzi figure it out? This is a terrible idea. Why did I let Kyoko and Lory talk me into this?! My peaceful life as Ren Tsuruga is almost over!

Kyoko leaned over to try to see the expression on his face and mentally slapped herself. Here he was, preparing for a huge, emotional reunion and she was thinking about some stupid romantic comedy scenario! She should be ashamed of herself! So she refocused on him and opened her mouth to offer more platitudes...but found herself at a loss.

In all the time she'd known him, Ren had never sounded so insecure or looked so hopeless. Even when he'd gone roaming the hotel halls looking for her at one in the morning and clamped onto her like a drowning man to driftwood, he hadn't gone this far off the rails. Ren Tsuruga did not whine. Which meant that he was letting his persona slip and Kuon was, at least in part, starting to take over.

That was never a good sign. She had to calm him down somehow.

But, what did she know? Maybe this was Ren's greatest fear? It had to take a lot of hardship to force someone out of their home and across an ocean. Did returning home really frighten him that much? She knew he had been severely traumatized in his teens. Maybe going to visit his parents really was the worst possible course of action for him! Did he have legitimate reasons to fear being state-side again? Or was he just being whiny and worried? Was this actually normal for 'Kuon', even if 'Ren' kept his cool most of the time?

Ren so rarely offered up any personal information about his past that she couldn't begin to answer her own questions. But, what she did know, despite his misgivings, was that they had already passed the point of no return: their seats were confirmed, the boarding passes were downloaded onto their phones, and their schedules in Japan were cleared for two glorious weeks. No matter how much he resisted, they would get up the next morning before dawn, drive to the airport, and get on that plane. Their fate was set.

Because there was no way in hell she was going to let him waste money backing out after the full-refund cancellation date. The first class seats he and his parents had insisted on cost more than an entire year of her school fees!

Plus, she'd made a promise to his parents, and promises were meant to be kept.

But, despite all that, she also wanted to be of comfort to the person she loved most in the world.

So, instead of callously assuring him for the hundredth time that everything would turn out okay in the end, she pushed his still half-full dinner plate out of the way, scooted around the coffee table next to him, and looked her man-friend (nope, she was definitely never calling him that where anyone could hear her) squarely in the eye.

"What do you need to make this easier, Ren-kun?" She was almost used to referring to him without an honorific. She could do it in the heat of the moment, but the longer she had to think about it, the more intimate and inappropriate it felt…and the more formal she became in reflex.

Except when she called him Corn. Corn was different. But this didn't feel like a Corn kind of moment.

Ren groaned, unaware of her own smaller internal struggle, and rubbed his eyes, mercifully free from his contacts for the night. There were definite perks to her knowing his secret. "Another drink?"

He was only half serious, but Kyoko immediately leaned across the table for the bottle and demurely poured two more fingers of scotch into his crystal lowball, falling into her perfect hostess persona without a second thought. Old habits did, in fact, die hard.

Ren stared at her blankly for a couple of seconds. He'd honestly thought she would tell him he'd had enough to drink and whisk the bottle out of reach. Then he sat up and drained that one like he had the ones before it.

"Okay. What else? Because I doubt that one more glass is going to help where the other two didn't," Kyoko said brightly with exacting politeness. Despite her feeling of helplessness, she forced on a warm smile. "You said you could do it if I was beside you, right? Well, I'm here! I'm your omamori! What do you need me to do? Do we need to make Maui Omurice? I can make it as mazui as you need!"

Ren groaned again, dropping his head back onto his arms. The very thought of eating another bite made him want to throw up. "Ug, please no. Don't remind me. That didn't even work last time."

"Then...Princess Rosa!" Kyoko's hand went to her neck, but grasped in vain for the sparkly pink gemstone. "Shoot, she's packed away resting in her throne for the trip! Do you need me to go get her? Princess Rosa's magic can solve just about anything!"

Ren turned his head so he could look at her with a thoughtful expression. He'd been ready to offer another swift refusal, but a stray thought had been caught just behind his teeth before it could escape his mouth.

He didn't believe in Princess Rosa's magic (considering he himself was the origin of the stone's fabled existence), but Kyoko had a mysterious power all her own. Most of the time, it tended toward the eerie or downright strange, but other times, it enabled her to achieve what seemed like the impossible. After all, having her wish him success had enabled him to complete Katsuki's car chase scene flawlessly...

"...you might have something there. Maybe I just need you to cast your magic on me again."

Kyoko felt a tingle go down her spine.

"My magic?"

He thought she had magic? And it was something she'd 'cast' on him before…? Frantically, her brain sifted through her memories of their time together. If he wasn't referring to Princess Rosa (who she was sure had been solely responsible for helping him redo the car chase scene), then there was only one other time she could recall that counted as her 'casting magic' over him.

Kyoko's heart beat wildly as her conclusion echoed through her suddenly blank mind.

"True love's kiss!" Kuon's Kyoko squeal-whispered into the silent void.

Anticipation and panic flooded in soon after.

Because the last time she had initiated a kiss between the two of them, he had been quite obvious with his disappointment.

"That time was different. You didn't know it was him. And you'd never done it before. Perfection is impossible without practice," Momiji-chibi insisted.

"What is it they say? If at first you don't succeed…? But maybe you're just too chicken," Natsu-chibi added, mocking her cowardice.

Bo-chibi held up a sign that said 'Hey, I resent that!' and turned his head away from the school girl bully with disdain.

"Just go for it!" said the Young Kuon-chibi in her head, leaping onto the table with his fist clenched in determination.

Kyoko leaned forward before she could lose her nerve, took Ren's face gently in one hand to steady herself, and kissed him firmly on the lips, lingering longer than she had in Gwam to break Corn's curse and regain his smile.

She was no longer completely inexperienced like she had been then. Stolen moments in empty hallways, and sweet goodnight kisses (on those rare occasions Ren had time to drive her home himself) had given her a much broader education of what made a good kiss. Plus she'd had a crash course that fateful day of the photoshoot when everything had been revealed.

Plus, her own personal pride refused to let him say it was a disappointment to kiss her ever again.

Well, that and the inevitable mocking from the personas in her head should she fail.

Now, it should probably be mentioned that in the two months these two individuals had been secretly dating, they had taken the progression of their physical relationship very slow.

That is, saying they were taking it slow was like saying Hizuri Kuu had a bit of a snacking habit...

...because in reality, they hadn't progressed a centimeter since the day they'd started dating.

In their defense, their schedules had been crazy busy. Upon hearing of their impending deadlines in America, Yashiro had exercised his super manager abilities to the fullest and somehow managed to shove a year's worth of scheduling into a handful of weeks. Kyoko's schedule became fairly hectic, particularly in regards to school, but Ren's insane new pace had stretched even his superhuman abilities thin. The end result being little time or energy left for romance, or even simple interaction, in either of their lives.

However, even on the rare occasions when Ren's work had been cancelled and the two had been able to partake in more than just a quick meal together, neither had made a move.

Secretly, neither one of them was content with their stagnancy, but Kyoko (knowing very little about what went on in adult relationships) was waiting for Ren to take the lead, and Ren (trying to abide by Kyoko's request to take things slowly and determined to treasure her in a way he'd never done in any of his other failed relationships) exercised iron control over his libido and was careful never to push her past what he already knew was safe.

But, let's take a moment to talk about the origins of that iron control:

You see, deep inside Kuon there was a box placed there by God (or whatever cosmic creator you believe rules the universe. Take your pick). But unlike Kyoko's box, this one did not contain love. This box hadn't been with him since birth, but rather, had popped up out of nowhere one day in his early teens.

Kuon's box contained lust.

And, as with most teenage boys, the first tantalizing moment he'd seen an expanse of bare feminine skin in all its mysterious glory, it had sprung wide open. For years it remained open, unchecked, letting his desire run amok wherever it wished like its equally unsupervised host.

Not long after, that box was joined by a second. This new, closed box swelled, always on the verge of releasing his steadily growing anger, until it could no longer contain his emotions and it too burst violently open.

For many months, both boxes remained ajar until a tragedy occurred and forced them both tightly shut again.

The day Rick died, Kuon locked each box, determined to deny himself the pleasure of desiring the women who constantly flocked to him, and to destroy the irate impulses that led to his friend's untimely death. One box was his penance for the past, wrapped in iron chains and pushed so far back into his mind that even temptation couldn't break through his new, gentlemanly facade. The other, bound only by a simple wristwatch, ensured he would never again be responsible for taking away another's future.

Then he'd met Kyoko again, and everything had started to change.

With her help, Rick's watch had become an unnecessary shackle. Beside her, he was able to unbind his box of anger, realizing that (more often than not) his most violent emotion was content to stay comfortably in the unlocked box. It was no longer an overwhelming force out of his control.

But to his dismay, as Kyoko helped loosen the bindings of one box, so too did the chains around the other begin to slacken.

So he'd frantically applied ropes made of grand ambitions, lofty goals, and isolation...

...which frayed and snapped even quicker than the chains in the face of her unyielding perseverance.

So he'd replaced them with locked metal bands forged of responsibility, chivalry, and morality, enforcing them with all the mental fortitude he could manage...

...which repeatedly sprung open pretty much any time she was around, until he was frantically relocking them every time they met just to keep his hands off her.

Ironically, beneath all the failed safeguards of his (increasingly elastic) willpower, twisted a thick, subconscious layer of paper twine holding the box snugly closed all on its own, despite his other futile mental guards. This 'paper twine' consisted of his insecurities. Every girl who had inexplicably left him had become a strand, and every casual rejection Kyoko had bestowed upon him over the past two years became three. So, quietly unnoticed beneath the iron straps he repeatedly locked down as frequently as they sprang open, his baser urges had never really been in danger of getting loose.

However, that night, all of the box's bindings had met their match: sleep deprivation from a week's worth of worrying, several ounces of well-aged scotch, and Kyoko's prolonged presence after weeks of unavoidable distance between them were more than his frayed resistance could withstand. In fact, the deadly combination had completely burned through even the layers of cowardly paper twine an hour before...leaving only a single strand (his fear of her rejection) to go up in wispy smoke as her lips met his.

Kuon reacted immediately to Kyoko's kiss, his hands finding ready homes at the nape of her neck and the small of her back only seconds before his tongue enthusiastically parted her lips. With forceful strokes, he plundered her mouth, adrenaline pumping through his system to momentarily clear out the hazy alcoholic warmth flooding it.

Her sweetness flooded his frayed senses and her warmth thawed his frozen fingers, but no matter how honeyed her lips, or intoxicating her scent, or soft the skin beneath his fingertips was, it wasn't enough to satisfy the lust that had finally broken free after years of accumulated denial. For the first time since he could remember, Kuon felt a gnawing emptiness in his stomach...and he wanted nothing more than to fill it by ravenously devouring her.

Though the instigator, Kyoko soon found herself swept up in the tide of Ren's zeal. With her senses overwhelmed by his unchecked, rapacious presence, she felt like a crystalline bubble stretched to bursting. One moment, she was sure she would float away like a cloud into a land of eternal sunshine. The next her blood buzzed euphorically in her veins, grounding her to her earthly body and the intoxicating fire trailing over her skin from his strong slender fingers as they explored her arms and back and neck.

She was lost to the intensity of his attack until he nipped her bottom lip, surprising her eyes into fluttering open. They met half-lidded, fairy-green irises and a flush of heat swept through her body, making her modest blouse and skirt feel sweltering against her suddenly flushed skin. Warmth pooled in her belly under his ethereal, veridian gaze and moisture gathered at the apex of her tightly clenched thighs.

She could happily spend a lifetime just staring into those otherworldly eyes.

Kuon peeked at Kyoko as he released her lip and his eyes widened at the wanton, yearning golden pools staring back at him. He pulled away to see them better, equally trapped in her own unwitting enchantment.

Kyoko's body followed Kuon's as he leaned back, subconsciously seeking to quench her sudden uncontrollable thirst for his touch. She realized what she was doing at the last minute and halted before their lips met again, blinking slowly and swallowing instinctively to coat her suddenly lonely tongue.

They stayed that way for a hot lingering moment in concurrent, mutual, silent inquiry:

What now?

Unable to resist temptation any longer, Kuon's fingers moved hesitantly in an attempt to answer, dipping under the hem of her blouse and caressing the flawless silken skin just beneath. His eyes never left hers, enraptured by her growing pupils slowly pushing out the gold of her irises. Seeing such tangible proof of her arousal was like nothing else he'd experienced. Pride and fulfillment careening from the tips of his ears to the ends of his fingertips, giving him confidence and the hungry desire to see just how much more pleasure he could reveal on her perpetually innocent face.

He felt like he'd tempted a long skittish cat into his lap and was now finally free to pet it to his heart's content. Basking in the smooth, unresisting paradise under their touch, his fingertips naturally sought out the previously unattainable heavens, moving upward until they encountered soft lace.

Kyoko gasped almost silently in response and froze under his touch.

Kuon went still in response, staring into her eyes and waiting for her to push him away. Or slap him.

To the benefit of his continually swelling confidence, she did neither.

So, holding his breath, Kuon ghosted his fingertips up over the fabric until he hit skin again, tracing the comparatively rough, scalloped edge as it followed her natural curves and undulated with her increasingly heavy but silent breaths. His hand lingered there, his thumb running lightly over the domed expanse of thin fabric until he hit what he was seeking and a tremor shivered through her body. He swept over her nipple again as it strained against the restricting fabric, pressing harder this time, and she gasped again sharply, unfamiliar with the jolt of pleasure that shot through her.

Kuon broke their eye contact with a small, sly smile and ducked his head to suckle her neck, his free hand moving to her spine as he firmy cupped her breast and squeezed. Kyoko let out a cross between a whimper and a moan and arched her back, pushing herself more thoroughly against his palm.

That little motion was all the incentive his brain needed, growing even foggier as the most recent alcohol he'd consumed hit him like a truckload of hot plushy foam bricks. He slid his hands up her body, taking the silky fabric of her shirt with them. When she didn't move accordingly, he tilted his head up from her neck to whisper in her ear, disturbing the air between them as little as possible.

"Lift your arms."

With a thrill running up her spine, Kyoko hesitated for only a moment before obligingly doing as requested. He whisked the frail piece of clothing over her head, taking only a moment to note how beautiful her pale skin looked against the unexpected black lace of her lingerie (it looked more like something Setsu would wear than his innocent Kyoko) before bowing his head again to taste the perfect little hollow made by her collarbone.

As Kyoko arched her back again, her fingers grasped desperately for purchase on his shoulders to keep her upright, not sure if she was pulling him closer, or trying to push him away. The intensity of the aura around them was almost too much for her. However, as his lips traveled lower and lower, nipping at her cleavage, she decided which it was: she definitely wanted more. She wanted to feel him too...his broad, bare shoulders..and the smooth muscles of his back. And his sculpted chest.

She wanted to feel all of that again.

And more.

Frantically, she sought out the buttons of his shirt with her fingertips, unable to see them past where he paid homage to the valley of her modest cleavage with his mouth. Thankfully, it didn't take her skilled digits long to find them, pop them open, and push the overpriced garment off his shoulders, all before Kuon could even register what she was doing.

When he did notice, he pushed the table out of their way and pulled her over to kneel above his lap, giddy at the feeling of her lean thighs comfortably straddling his and her petite little abdomen pressed flat against his broad chest, her head above his for once. He removed his hands from her only long enough to shake off his shirt sleeves, but compensated for their loss by taking her pert pink bud, tantalizingly visible through its lace bra cup, into his mouth and sucking hard.

Kyoko moaned and her fingers went still, all of her focus on his hot tongue flicking over her. Little shivers raced through her body and her skirt swished against his defined abs as her hips pressed closer to him, trying to ease what felt like an itch she couldn't quite scratch.

Her subtle, yet eager motions pushed him to go further. Kuon flicked the clasp of her bra expertly open (it really was just like riding a bike) and removed the tantalizingly scant garment, dropping it unceremoniously over his shoulder as he returned his attention to her now magnificently bare breasts. He nuzzled the exposed skin on the underswell of her chest, his hands holding her firmly in place as he drew back and marvelled again at its perfection.

How could something be so unbelievably soft? It defied reason. With lust-hazy logic, the only answer he could come up with was...magic. The slender, exquisite creature embracing him had to be made of pure, incandescent magic. He followed the faint red impressions still left in her skin by the garment that had dared to constrict such perfection with his lips and found the otherside tasted just as sweet as the rest of her.

She was pure, untouched sorcery that bewitched him body and soul.

Kyoko's fingers clasped convulsively to his broad shoulders as his rough palm supported one breast, and moved into his hair as he laved her other with his tongue. They twisted into his soft locks and pulled him closer, prompting a groan and the nip of his teeth.

"Ren…" she gasped softly at the sensation.

He chuckled, squeezing her breasts lightly with both hands as he kissed and sucked his way up to her ear.

"Ren left this party a while ago," he murmured playfully.

"Kuon…" she moaned a little louder with a smile, her eyes cracking open to look dizzily at him as he pulled his head back to meet her gaze. Her hands slid down the grooves in his biceps and back up to the corded muscle of his neck. Touching him was everything she remembered it to be and more. Kyoko's hips pressed into his abs and her legs quivered with the effort to keep kneeling tall above him.

Kuon noticed her weakness and gave her one last push. Raising his knees slightly behind her, his hands slid down her sides and one thumb dipped under the waistband of her skirt to lightly caress the indent created by her pelvis just over the edge of what he assumed was matching lace underwear. It was barely a touch at all, but it did the trick.

She gasped in air and her knees collapsed, her body sliding snugly into the bend at his hips like the missing piece of a frustratingly-unfinished puzzle. As she struggled to find her balance again, her legs slipped marginally wider, more firmly pressing the apex of her legs to the arousal that had long been tenting his overpriced slacks.

They both groaned at the feeling. Kuon's hands tightened at her hips to hold her securely against him, instinctively preventing her from bolting away from him.

Inside Kuon's box, the strictly prohibited, locked away thoughts (decorated with a big banner saying 'UNDER AGE') he'd been most adamant not to indulge in under any circumstances wriggled out from under the cement slab of Responsible Maturity he'd placed on them and he groaned again.

"Fuck, Kyoko," he professed in English, totally out of his head imagining what it would be like to finally be inside her. "I want you so badly right now."

He slid his hands around her, releasing her hips to grasp handfuls of her well-rounded rear end. She bucked against him and he encouraged the motion, pulling her against him in a slow, rocking rhythm that had them both humming in satisfaction.

Foggily unaware of Kuon's slowly unraveling grasp on his desires, Kyoko wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her naked torso against his, feeling closer to him than she'd ever felt. She lovingly nuzzled the hollow of his clearly defined collarbone and flicked her tongue out to taste his skin. While she peppered kisses over his chest and neck anywhere she could reach, her hands traced the muscles of his back, delighting in how they contracted under her touch.

When her lips reached the area directly over his heart, she enthusiastically set about to mark him as her own.

Every morning as she got dressed, and every evening when she got out of the bath and slipped his necklace back over her head as promised, she thought about staking her claim on his perfect body so that every girl would know he was all hers. That no one was allowed to touch him but her. He wore the braided wire anklet she'd made him (swearing he had yet to take it off, since he rarely needed to show his bare legs while filming), but it wasn't nearly as satisfying (or completely nerve racking!) as seeing the fading hickey behind his ear had been while it lasted. And it didn't keep the women from coming onto him every chance they got.

However, with two weeks of vacation ahead of them, incognito and in a foreign country, it was finally acceptable to leave a clear and present sign that he was thoroughly taken, even if it only lasted the length of their trip.

So she clamped onto his chest and sucked for everything she was worth.

But her ministrations were having more of an effect on Kuon than she realized (mostly due to inexperience and a complete denial of all thoughts sexual on a daily basis).

Until she suddenly did.

Realize, that is.

Kyoko froze as she felt something unfamiliar twitch against her where her legs were spread wide and pressed against him, bringing attention to just what exactly she was rocking her hips into. Like a glass of cold water emptied over her head, her senses slammed back into perfect clarity and she realized the compromising position they were in. She had never intended to let it get this far!

But for a few layers of thin, straining fabric, she was practically being impregnated!

(Well, not really, but Kyoko was never one to think rationally in a moment of panic.)

The possible implications of her shameless behavior shocked the tight coil of heat, that he had so expertly stoked, right out of her body, leaving her in a cold sweat.

Faster than the human eye could perceive, she ripped herself out of his hands and away from him, hitting her back painfully on the coffee table before falling over sideways onto the floor, desperately covering her bare chest with her arms.

Kuon blinked rapidly, trying to discern through his lust-filled haze where the half-naked goddess in his lap had disappeared to. "Kyoko? Wh-"

"W-we sh-should really be getting to bed…" Kyoko stuttered, turning away with a wince to search for her discarded clothing. "It's getting really late. W-we have to be up early…"

Unfortunately for her, both her shirt and bra lay behind her lover on the couch, so she searched fruitlessly until hesitant fingers caressed the middle of her back, causing her to sit up straight as a board and go stock still.

Ren swiftly pulled his hand away.

"Are you okay? Your back is already turning red where you hit the table…"

The kind voice Kyoko knew so well was full of concern...and worry.

Ren was already berating himself (mentally kicking Kuon as he grinned dopily at the memory of her bare breasts in his hands and her body pressed against his). Looking back, he had let himself go way too far...but she'd responded so positively, so he'd just kept going, despite the myriad of good reasons he had to keep his hands to himself, not the least of which was her expressed wish for them to take it slow! He desperately tried to identify where he had crossed the line, but couldn't pinpoint it, embarrassed that he'd been so lost in his own gratification that he hadn't even noticed when she'd stopped following his lead and started pulling away. Had she been uncomfortable for a while and he somehow didn't even see it? He forced himself to curl the fingers that wanted desperately to soothe her once flawless (now soon-to-be-bruised) skin into a fist and sighed silently through his nose.

Why did he keep doing this to her? He was such a selfish son of a bitch.

"I..I'm fine. Don't worry. My back doesn't hurt at all," she replied stiffly, still frantically looking around the room for something to cover herself up with. She finally caught sight of his discarded shirt and grabbed it, wrapping the soft, high-quality cotton-blend securely around her tiny torso before turning around to face him. "See, it's really…"

She trailed off as she caught sight of Ren's hanging head staring at his clenched fist.

She immediately realized what he had to be thinking and reached out a tentative hand to stroke back his bangs so she could see his face. His sleeves were so long she had to pull them back just to find her fingers.

"Ren...no, Kuon. I'm not upset at what we did…" His head slowly rose at her words. "I'm just embarrassed and a little freaked out about...where it was going."

"I'm sorry," he replied softly. "I told you I'd take it slow and then I did...all of that." His sad, dull eyes drifted pointedly to her now covered chest.

Kyoko cleared her throat, pulling Ren's shirt more securely around her as her face flushed red and his sleeves slid down over her hands again.

"Actually...I...think you were plenty slow getting to...that," she hedged, remembering the weeks of nothing but quick chaste pecks in their few moments alone. "...and it's not like I didn't enjoy it. Even I can admit that."

Kuon's head snapped fully up, making him a little dizzy. "You did?"

Kyoko turned even redder and her eyebrows furrowed as she turned away from him again. The eager look in his eyes made him look just like a happy puppy. It was yet another new face never before seen on Tsuruga Ren. If she didn't restrain herself, she'd be petting him in no time.

She swallowed hard thinking of just what that 'petting' would entail. Which would be one hell of a mixed message.

"Don't make me say it again! This is already so embarrassing!"

Kuon sat in silent contemplation for half a minute before he leaned forward and wrapped his arms quietly around her from behind, planting a kiss on her cheek as he gently drew her back against his chest, keeping a careful inch or two of space between the rest of their bodies.

"I enjoyed it too," he whispered into her ear. "As I'm sure you couldn't help but notice…" She shivered at the feeling of his breath on her skin and leaned back just a tiny bit into his irresistible warmth.

Suddenly a thought occurred to him. "Is that what freaked you out?"

Realizing what he was referring to, but unable to force such an embarrassing admission through her lips, she just nodded silently, glad she didn't have to look him in the face. She couldn't believe they were actually talking about his erection of all things! The minute he let go of her, she was digging a hole to bury herself in. Forever.

Ren covered his laugh with a cough.

"I'm sorry, there's not much I can do about that... When I'm with you like this, that's the effect you have on me. But even if I've had too much to drink and am behaving like an idiot, all you have to say is stop and I will. No questions asked. You know that, right?" His voice was soft, but his tone firm. "Please don't fling yourself into the furniture to the point you hurt yourself in order to get away from me. Remember, you're an actress. Your body is a commodity that must be kept in prime condition." And also the thought of her hurting herself just to get away from him made him want to fling himself into a hoard of crazed fans and let them rip him apart.

Kyoko felt pressure at the back of her eyes where tears threatened to form and closed her eyes to keep them in. Even though she had freaked out over a perfectly normal male bodily function (even she had learned about such things in school), and even though he was always holding himself back for her, he was still so protective of her. Especially from himself. No one had ever cared about her the way he did, and no one probably would again.

How had she ever managed to build up enough good karma in her short pathetic life to have earned the love of a man like him?

A tear escaped her lids and trailed down her cheek.

"Kyoko?" His voice sounded more uncertain and his arms started to loosen and draw away.

Panicking, she grabbed his arms and pulled them back into place across her stomach. "Yes, I know. Thank you."

He breathed a sigh of relief and rested his head on top of hers.

"Of course. I love you. I never want to do anything that hurts you in any way. You're too precious to me." He hummed happily and tightened his grip. "Honestly, just holding you like this is a dream come true…"

Kyoko smiled, blinking her eyes rapidly and barely managing to keep all her tears from spilling over. "So, you're happy right now?"

"Indescribably."

The depth of feeling he managed to portray in a single, normally unemotional word took her breath away. It was like watching Katsuki smile for the first time all over again.

And, without prompting, or internal argument, or the need to consult her council of characters, she started to truly believe that to him, maybe she was just a little bit...magical.

Shortly after that, they retired to their separate rooms...but neither got a wink of sleep.

---

Kuon had always dreaded transatlantic flights. Honestly, it was sort of a miracle Lory had convinced him so easily to come six years before.

Crowded international airports were always a barrage of over-bold, bored women trying to get his attention, security checks were an anxiety ridden nightmare as he prayed no one figured out he was Tsuruga Ren with blonde hair, and even in first class the seats didn't comfortably accommodate people of his size (though Kyoko had been kind enough to insist he take the aisle seat which at least had elbow room). Add to that the slight hangover and his girlfriend's insistence that he eat something for breakfast (mere hours after finishing dinner!) and he was downright miserable. All he wanted was to curl up into a ball and wake up when it was all over, but past experience told him sleeping while in flight was a pipe dream.

Meanwhile, his normal-teenage-girl-sized girlfriend had passed out almost immediately, dwarfed by the oversized first class seat reclined under her. He deeply envied her as he leaned over and tucked the airline provided flannel blanket more securely around her, but he had no one to blame but himself. It wasn't Kyoko's ridiculous insecurities that had kept them both from getting a decent night's sleep (just before they had to cross so many time zones they would actually go back in time), just as it wasn't her parents they were making this journey to appease. He'd made his hell, and now he had to not sleep in it...for eleven torturous hours.

"Sir, are you sure there's nothing that I can get you…?" a soft voice purred right next to his ear in English heavily accented with a lilt of the American southwest.

Kuon suppressed a sigh and lifted a hand to his face to make sure the thick-framed hipster spectacles he wore as a secondary means of disguise were firmly in place before turning with a lukewarm smile to the most recent flight attendant to approach him.

"No, I'm really fine."

Just as he had the last...however many times. He'd honestly lost count. How many fucking flight attendants were on this plane anyway? He swore it was a different perky woman every time his quest for unconsciousness was interrupted. Granted, all women had started to look the same to him after discovering his feelings for Kyoko, but once it had even been a perky man! If he'd known they were all going to be like this, he would have pretended to the first that he couldn't speak English and let Kyoko do all the talking.

That's right, he wasn't above hiding behind his girlfriend when it came to pushy women. He was man enough to admit it.

"But sir, you refused all the snacks and the in-flight meal! Aren't you starving? It's been more than eight hours since you ate. First class has a lot more to offer you than you might realize…if you're not feeling well, there are a number of ways I would be happy to help put you at ease...sugar."

Kuon froze up at the double entendre evident in her words. Was it not obvious that his girlfriend was sleeping right fucking next to him? It's not like they were disguised as siblings. Who else could she be?! Did this woman even care?! He took a deep breath to keep himself from releasing what Kyoko called his 'Demon Lord' persona on the latest nuisance. The last thing they needed was a scene on the plane. These days all it took was one person with a camera phone and even incidents thousands of feet above sea level went viral in an instant.

But as he opened his mouth, yet again, to explain that he was in no way interested, he felt a warm hand slide intimately over his inner thigh from his other side and the words dried up in his mouth.

"As he told the last six of you interfering women who asked him, he's not fucking interested. And if one more of you bitches tries to proposition my man before this hellish flight is over, I'll hunt down wherever you're sitting on this flying deathtrap and show you what happens to twats who think they can take what is mine."

Kuon resisted the urge to slip into Cain's headspace in response to the cold, lightly accented British insults coming out of his girlfriend. He also resisted the urge to drag her out of her seat and into the spacious first class bathroom where he would happily do whatever he could to put her at ease. Instead he turned reluctantly away from her and leveled Ren's coldest Gentleman's Smile at the now disgruntled woman backing away from them. "I think my girlfriend said everything that needs to be said. We have no further need of assistance the remainder of the flight unless you and your friends can abide by her requests. Thank you."

The woman scampered away while Kuon turned back to his seatmate.

"I see you've been studying since the last time Cain saw Setsuka," he muttered as Kyoko adjusted her seat into an upright position and smoothed down her sleep-mussed hair. "Where did you learn such improper English?"

Kyoko ducked her head with a shy smile and glanced sideways at him. "Moko-san and I have been watching British and American TV on Netflix together some nights. I like The Great British Bake-Off the best, but Black Mirror is better for colloquialisms and slang. Moko-san has really gotten into American Horror Stories. She can mimic almost all of their accents. She's really just such an amazing actress!"

Kuon kept his smile small as she lit up while talking about her best friend. "I envy you. I haven't had time to sit down and just watch TV in a long time." In fact, he couldn't even remember the last time he'd specifically sought out a show and watched it from start to finish. Maybe...during freshman year of high school? But maybe not. Around that time, 'watching TV' was really just code for making out with the television sound turned up to hide their noises from his parents. Kuon's mind immediately veered into the gutter, imagining what he would have done with Kyoko if they had been in school at the same time and place...

Kyoko didn't help as she smiled sweetly up at him and said, "I've only had time to watch a few episodes of each myself, but maybe we could watch something together while we're...on vacation."

That's what they had been calling it whenever they were asked. As far as all but their closest friends and colleagues were concerned, they were each taking a couple of weeks to visit separate acquaintances in the US.

And each of their cover stories held some element of the truth:

Kyoko was going because she had been invited by the Hizuris. Rumors of her friendship with Kuu had spread quickly after she'd rather publicly seen him off on his last visit, and she'd confirmed them when asked on a talk show discussing Sacred Lotus just the week before. If she was the type to frequent the fan chat sites, she would have realized there were all sorts of theories surrounding their relationship from secret illegitimate father/daughter rumors to the more outrageous claim of a forbidden affair between Japan's prodigal son and a young rising starlet from his home country. It was probably better that none of the parties involved had any idea what their fans were suggesting.

Ren's cover story was that he was invited by an unnamed Hollywood producer to read for a part and had decided to take his time sightseeing and auditioning in California before coming back. While Netflix had all but confirmed their contracts for Violet Evergarden's live-action adaptation, the producers still had the pair under a strict gag order until their impending screen test proved to be a success.

Ironically, the hush-hush screen test itself was the cover story to their closer colleagues at LME to explain why they were flying overseas together.

As for the whole truth, no one except Lory knew they were going to visit Kuon's parents. As a couple. Even Yashiro thought it was just an excuse to go on vacation together, assuming the two were staying with the Hizuris out of their affection for Kyoko and the opportunity to get closer to the influential Hollywood darlings.

Such a web of intertwining half-truths would have tripped up actors who were any less capable, but for Kyoko and Ren, it was more like a game. They'd made an inside joke of it, speaking in secretly coded language every time they happened to meet around other people, sharing with one another the touristy things they had 'planned' for each of their respective trips and recommending them to the other.

Ren in particular had enjoyed hinting that perhaps they would run into each other while they were there. The first time he did it, she'd frozen up, mouth opening with nothing to say for a moment. He almost lost it and broke down laughing as saw the wheels inside her head turning. Then she made a snap decision and went into self-deprecating mode, declaring herself unworthy of his company when he would surely be surrounded by the Hollywood elite the minute he arrived in California. It was so believable, he would have been worried she really felt that way if she hadn't let her eyes twinkle at him for just a moment.

It was moments like that which made him deeply grateful that fate had deemed to bring her back into his life. He loved her so fucking much, some days he thought he would burst with keeping from showing it. It had been years since anyone had been able to keep up with him when it came to acting and he didn't think he'd ever had as much fun as he did just covering up a secret with her. Thinking about how much better his life was with her in it almost made him forget how much he was dreading getting off the plane.

"You know," he commented drily. "That's the first time you've ever asked me on a date."

Her eyes shot wide and her face turned red, which was just what he was hoping for. "That's not a date! It's just watching TV together! If that's a date, then we would have been dating since before I helped you with Katsuki!"

Kuon gave her a pointed look.

Kyoko stared back. "Those were not dates."

"Not to you maybe," he shot back, refusing to look away.

Kyoko opened her mouth again to retort, but found she couldn't think of a good argument against him.

"...well, that's kind of sad."

"Yes. Pity me," he replied with a deceptively deep show of heartfelt emotion. "The love of my life is completely oblivious to the violence of my affections. I live everyday in an unrequited hell." Corn/Cain's puppy dog eyes blossomed out of nowhere, pulling at Kyoko heartstrings.

The recently overworked organ squeezed in her chest, but she wasn't going to lose to him that easily. She let her eyes go wide with fear and she shrunk back, using her memory of her first meeting with 'Cain' to give her the proper tremor in her limbs. "V-v-violence?"

Tears pricked at her eyes, but hung on the edge of her lids, trembling with her lower lip. Pressed against the window behind her, she drew her legs up onto the seat and hugged them to her chest. She kept it up just long enough for Ren's hand to reach out involuntarily to comfort her, despite the poker face he wore. Then she couldn't do it anymore and put a hand up to hide her mouth as she failed to stifle her laughter. She wiped the joyful tears rolling down her cheeks with her other hand.

"I win."

Kuon let his hand, still suspended between them, find her cheek, effectively halting her laughter as he wiped away a stray tear with his thumb and twisted in his seat to bring his forehead to hers. His green eyes bore a hole into her soul and made her breath catch in her throat.

"I vow, right here, right now, for as long as we both shall live…" he said tenderly, leaning over further until his lips caressed her ear. She shivered, her whole body heating up as visions of white dresses and bouquets clouded her vision. "I will never let you win."

Kyoko went red, embarrassed that she had gotten caught up in her fantasies so easily yet again. "You have GOT to stop saying things like that! People will misunderstand you!"

"People?" Kuon said with a smile. "The only one who could hear me was you. What is it that you'll misunderstand exactly?"

His tone was playfully innocent, but under his cool facade, his stomach was rolling over. He'd been using Ren's gentlemanly side as an excuse to hint at marriage to her for a long time, and she always reacted the same, accusing him of creating misunderstandings. Up until now, he'd let her believe it was unintentional because he couldn't stomach the thought of hearing her openly reject him, even if he wasn't technically proposing.

But after the events of the night before...he felt like trying his luck.

Maybe he just needed a distraction from his impending doom.

Or maybe he just felt like telling her, for once, that he had no intention of ever letting her get away from him again.

"Stop it. You know exactly what I mean," Kyoko muttered as she turned her red face downward.

That wouldn't do. Kuon put a finger under her chin and made her face up at him again.

"No, I really don't," he lied convincingly.

"You keep using words like…" Kyoko couldn't bring herself to say it. She tried again. "You keep implying that...that we're going to…someday..."

"What? ...get married?"

Kyoko swallowed. Hell, he'd actually said it. She hadn't been expecting that. Her heart rate skyrocketed.

"Y-yes."

"If you comprehend that, then I don't think you're misunderstanding anything."

The small world around them melted into nothingness as Kyoko stared into Kuon's completely serious emerald eyes. "Are you...proposing to me right now?"

Kuon weighed his options. His inner Ren told him to backpedal immediately and recover before she had a chance to stomp all over his most precious hopes for the future. His inner Cain insisted he just say what he wanted to, and damned the consequences. He ended up somewhere in between the two:

"Would you say yes if I did propose to you right now?"

Kyoko froze. A fairy popped out of her head and landed on her shoulder. "Are you...acting right now? Is this just to help relieve your boredom?"

"No. It's not."

"You're really not messing with me?" she accused. Three more fairies materialized. She struggled not to smile back at them as they waved excitedly at her.

"Are you messing with me?" he mirrored.

"Of course not! This is a serious topic!" Kyoko's eyebrows furrowed creating a deep river in her forehead.

Another two fairies joined the group and promptly began crafting 'Kyoko & Ren 4EVER' buttons to affix excitedly to their chests.

"Good, I think so too…" Kuon smiled heavenly down at her. "So, would you?"

"Right now?! I'm seventeen years old!" Kyoko ignored the irony of her arguing the exact point she'd argued against as Bo when she had thought he was in love with someone else.

There were so many fairies materializing now that she lost count. She had to give it to them, they were fast workers. The number and quality of the support banners were really rather impressive.

"Almost eighteen," Ren corrected.

"That's still way too young to get married." Even to herself, her voice didn't sound like she was arguing against anything. The fairies looked at her knowingly.

You know, in America, you're a legal adult at eighteen. And I, personally, don't happen to think that's too early to get married if it's to the right person, but I'm not talking about getting married. I'm talking about me asking you. And what you would say. Which would technically be discussing engagement, not marriage. So, hypothetically, if I asked you to become engaged to me, right now, what would you say?" Kuon coached himself to remain aloof. If he didn't play it cool and backpedal just a bit, she would figure out just how serious he was. Which would certainly do nothing but scare her away.

"Hypothetically?" Kyoko's heart beat so loud she could barely hear herself speak. Yet, somehow she heard every word he said clear as a bell. It took everything she had to keep her poker face. Inside, she was melting.

HE WAS PRACTICALLY PROPOSING! WASN'T HE?!

The fairies all nodded enthusiastically, taking each other's hands and dancing circles around the two of them as several pulled out tiny instruments and composed love songs about them on the spot.

Thank God she was the only one who could see them.

"Of course." Kuon's heart nearly stopped in his chest when her tone of voice changed. He was sure of it. She was actually going to answer him. Any moment now, he would know how serious she really was about him.

"...but we've only been dating for a couple of months." Kyoko was running out of excuses, but she wasn't sure she could say it and keep from dancing around the cabin when she did. The fairies were all beckoning her to join them and it did look like a hell of a lot of fun.

"And we've been in love with each other for more than a year." Kuon didn't falter. By now, he had nothing to hide.

"Doesn't that still seem to be too early to be talking about this?" Kyoko squeaked, holding her body firmly in place and her voice relatively even through sheer will power.

"I think a year is a perfectly acceptable time period after which to have this conversation."

Kyoko grabbed her chance from his words and twisted them to her purpose. "Then good. When we've been dating for a year, then we'll talk about it in earnest."

Kuon furrowed his brows but refused to take her bait. Instead, he took several deep, calming breaths and replied as gently as he could.

"Kyoko, can you please just answer the damn question? I would really, sincerely like to know your answer."

More like he needed to know. He needed it like he needed his next breath to keep living.

Kyoko looked down at her hands, painfully clenched in her lap, to hide the completely twitterpated expression on her face.

Kuon's heart dropped into his stomach as her head descended yet again. That couldn't be a good sign.

Unbeknownst to him, five dozen more fairies materialized and started coordinating their moves into a flashmob. But all of a sudden they stopped moving and watched their creator in anticipation of what she was about to say.

"...yes."

"Great. Then answer it, please."

Kyoko kept her eyes trained on her lap. "I did."

Kuon nearly threw up as his heart shot back up into his chest where it belonged at warp speed. Did that mean…?!

"Then...you...you just said yes."

"Yes."

"Yes as in...yes."

"Yes. I did. Hypothetically," she added quickly, ducking her head further to hide her giddiness.

But there was no walking this back. He'd heard her answer loud and clear. Still, Kuon had to be sure.

"Just to make sure I completely understand, you're saying that if I hypothetically asked you to become engaged to me, right now, your answer would, hypothetically, be yes?"

"...yes...that is what I said."

"Then...Mogami Kyoko would you-" Kuon was cut off as Kyoko's blushing, elated face shot up and her hands landed frantically over his mouth.

"Corn, I SWEAR TO GOD, if you ask me that right now, like THIS, I will NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" She did her best to cover her joy with panic and anger, but she was pretty sure he might have seen her unguarded feelings.

"..mrrdrd."

With a warning look, Kyoko cautiously took her hands off his face. "Sorry, what did you say?"

Kuon cleared his throat and fought the joy bubbling up his throat, straining to appear calm and collected. After all, she was managing to stay calm and cool, so he had to at least do as well. He had just promised not to let her win.

"Noted."

Inside, he was doing an extensive touchdown dance and screaming at the top of his lungs: "SHE WANTS TO MARRY ME SOMEDAY!"

"Okay then." Kyoko sat back in a daze and let out the breath she'd been holding. She could barely see the seat in front of her because there were so many fairies popping out of her head and flying around the first class cabin. They'd already finished stringing a flower crown for herself and had started on one for him. She tried to keep from focusing too much on them as they zipped around his head.

"So...you did just agree to marry him one day, riiiiiight?" Setsu-chibi crooned in her head. "Aren't you a selfish bitch, taking Niisan all for yourseeeelf... Oh well, if it couldn't be me, you're the next best choice.

Kyoko kept herself from commenting that she was her...

"OH MY GOD WE'RE MARRYING CORN! BECAUSE HE LOVES US! THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!" Child Kyoko-chibi ran around in circles with Young Kuon-chibi following after her and picking her up to swing her around every once in a while. "HE'S GONNA BE OUR PRINCE CHARMING! AND WE'LL GET TO SPEND EVERY DAY HAVING FUN TOGETHER! AND WE'LL NEVER BE ALONE AGAAAAAAAIN! YAAAAAAAAAY!"

Kuon's Kyoko-chibi tossed her hair over one shoulder and pulled out a wedding planning book that looked like it had already seen a LOT of time and attention. "FINALLY! Now we can start making REAL decisions! Natsu, get over here. You've got great taste. Let's make this a classy wedding that no one will ever forget!"

Natsu-chibi glided over and took an excited seat next to her. "Hell yes!"

Natsu was actually, surprisingly, really into weddings.

Angel-sama-chibi burst into happy tears and clasped Inner Kyoko's hands.

"This is a joyous day! Unless…" The air around her darkened. "He's not a bad influence on you, is he?"

"Yeah, men can't be trusted. If he two-times you, I'll make him wish he had never been born." Mio-sama-chibi came to stand beside Angel-sama. "You just say the word."

"Don't be absurd," Momiji-chibi appeared out of thin air beside them. "He's a talented, disciplined senpai, second only to my master."

"Word." Setsu was already back to reclining in her chair, focused on getting the shape of her nails just right with a file. "And he's hot as fuck. That doesn't hurt."

Child Kyoko-chibi burst into the wedding planning group at that moment.

"We're going to have a FAIRYTALE wedding, with butterflies, and a white horse, and flowers EVERYWHERE, AND-"

"HOLD ON!" Kuon's Kyoko exclaimed and she scrambled for a pen. "I can't write that fast! Start again...that sounded awesome!"

It went on like this in Kyoko's head for some time until Kuon's quiet voice broke the silence between them.

"Just so you know, I wasn't going to ask you right then."

Kyoko looked back up at him, unable to hide the dewy, fairytale-drugged look in her eyes on such short notice.

"Huh?"

Kuon took one look at her glowing face and leaned down to kiss her.

Kyoko didn't even have time to close her eyes before he pulled away. It took her several blinks to focus her dilated gaze on his face. When she finally did, his wide smile nearly blinded her.

"So...I was saying, I wasn't going to ask you just then. You were overreacting."

"Oh?" Kyoko had almost come back down to Earth. She was just distracted by the particularly bright wings of the last fairy remaining after her bliss overload, fluttering past her face to wave goodbye. "It sure as hell sounded like that was what you were doing."

It was only a moment later that her mind crashed back down from lala-land and she realized how casually she'd spoken to him. She started to backpedal, but he was already responding.

"Well, that's not my fault now is it? If you had bothered to listen to what I was going to say, you would know that I was going to ask you something completely different."

"Sure…" Kyoko agreed skeptically, confused as to where he was going with this.

"What I was going to ask was, 'Mogami Kyoko-"

"See, you're using my full name, which is very unusual, so you see where I might have gotten confused…"

"Would you do me the honor of-"

"Seriously?! Now you're just doing that on purpose! I was totally justified to stop you!"

"Becoming my-"

"You've got to be kidding m-"

"Excuse me?" A new voice interjected into their hot little bubble of argumentative flirting in Japanese. Both actors jumped, focusing on the pre-teen girl standing next to Ren's seat. "I'm sorry to interrupt but, d-did he say your name was Mogami Kyoko? THE Kyoko?!"

Ren's eyes went wide. The girl didn't even notice as she only had eyes for Kyoko.

That moment went down in history as the first time someone recognized Kyoko, but didn't even notice Tsuruga Ren/Kuon Hizuri was sitting right beside her. Kuon would delight in telling the story for years to come.

"Yes, that's me!" Kyoko replied with a wide smile. Then she put a finger to her lips and looked cautiously around. "But please don't spread it around, okay? I'm on a top secret mission, so the fewer people who know I'm here the better. Is there anything I can do to buy your silence?"

The girl was immediately pulled into Kyoko's game and grinned. "Top secret, huh? Well, I won't say a word if I can get your autograph…please!"

Kyoko pretended to size her up. "I guess it's worth it to keep such a popular girl as yourself from telling all your friends on the plane that I'm here. What's your name?" Kyoko extended a hand for the spiral bound notebook and feather-topped pen the girl was holding. "I LOVE this pen, by the way."

"It's Yuki. And thanks! My best friend gave it to me for our Friendiversary!" the girl gushed.

Kyoko was immediately diverted. "Friendiversary? Like celebrating the day you became friends? What a cool holiday!"

Several thousand miles away, during a meeting with the head of the acting section about her latest job offer, a chill of Everestic proportions went down Kotonami Kanae's spine and a feeling of dread followed her for the rest of the day.

"It is! We've been friends for almost five years now, but her parents are moving next year, so we won't be together anymore…" Yuki started out gushing, but ended with a sad frown. Kyoko finished writing a message and closed the notebook before returning it to the girl. Then she tilted her head thoughtfully, glancing sidelong at her seatmate.

"You know, Corn here and I met when we were ten and then spent most of our lives on different continents. Then fate brought us back together. Some things are just meant to be." Kyoko carefully avoided looking at Kuon. "If you two are as great of friends as you say, I'm sure you'll stay in touch and be together again someday. It takes a lot of determination and work, but someone with courage can make anything possible if they put their mind to it. It's my favorite kind of magic."

Yuki's eyes lit up again and she smiled widely. "You're so amazing! Mia is going to be so jealous that I got to meet you and she didn't!"

"Well, why don't we prepare her a little surprise then?" Kyoko suggested, holding out her hand for the notebook again. Yuki thrust it back at her eagerly.

Carefully, Kyoko picked a page in the middle of the notebook and flipped it open. Then she made a big show of turning away so Yuki couldn't see what she wrote. She was about to flip the page closed again when Ren whisked the notebook and pen away from her. With wide eyes, she saw him add something to what she had written, then flip to another part of the book and write something else. Finally he closed the notebook and held it out to the girl with a knee-weakeningly gorgeous smile. Yuki blushed from head to toe and grabbed the notebook, but found she couldn't pull it out of his grasp.

"Yuki, there is an extra surprise in there for both you and your friend, but it comes at a price. Are you someone worthy of entrusting with a very important condition?" he asked softly.

Yuki violently nodded, looking frantically between her idol and the gorgeous man brought to her by fate. "Absolutely. What do you need me to do?"

"You can't look at what we've written until you're off the plane, and you can't show the second thing I wrote to anyone but Mia. Can you do that? It's very important."

Yuki nodded again. "Yes. It will be really REALLY hard, but I will do it." She turned to Kyoko with an air of determination in her entire being that reminded Kuon eerily of the intrepid woman sitting beside him. "After all, anyone can do anything with enough determination, right?"

Kyoko leaned forward and squeezed her hand. "Exactly. Thank you for being my fan and for keeping this as our little secret...speaking of which, isn't your guardian going to be missing you soon?"

"Oh no!" Yuki grabbed the notebook that Kuon now willingly released and tucked the pen into her ponytail, the feather sticking straight up like a jaunty little flag. "Mom is going to come looking for me if I don't go back soon. I was only supposed to go to the bathroom!" She took a couple of steps then stopped and turned back. "Thank you both so much! Enjoy your trip!"

"You too, Yuki!" Kyoko called back leaning over Kuon so she could see the girl pass back through the curtain into business class. "Well, that was fun! What did you write anyway?"

"It's a secret," he murmured directly into her ear, making her suddenly aware that her body was stretched completely across his and his face was only inches away. She pulled back slowly, her heart thundering away in her chest.

"It's a secret from me too?" she asked, intrigued.

"It's just for Mia and Yuki. It doesn't seem fair that I share it with you when I told her they couldn't show it to anyone else," he said lightly, trying to cross one of his legs over the other and hitting the seat in front of him instead. "Damn these seats."

"You know," Kyoko mused. "You have a very strange sense of chivalry don't you?"

"I prefer to think of it as timeless. A man's word should be worth something. Even to a ten-year-old girl."

"Ten? I was thinking she was closer to twelve."

"Hmm...maybe."

Their mundane, sleep-deprived conversation was interrupted by the announcement that they were FINALLY beginning their descent, so it tapered off as they gathered their things and put their seats in the full upright position.

About twenty minutes later, they were just exiting the end of the movable walkway when they heard a shrill, adolescent scream of excitement ring out in Japanese.

"KYAAAAAAA! TSURUGA REN SIGNED MY NOTEBOOK!"

Swiftly, they pulled their hats down further on their heads, put on their sunglasses and took off running with matching grins, hand-in-hand towards baggage claim.

---

Kyoko couldn't get used to how bright it was.

It was almost midnight (the night before they had left...because time zones apparently), but the world around them still shone with sparkling lights and shimmering pavement. The weather reminded her of Gwam, mist hanging in the air around palm trees that were artfully spotlit on every corner, but it felt ten times more exciting. Even the dingier areas they had passed through seemed gilded with phosphorescence and far-fetched dreams.

Her gaze was finally pulled away from the window of the towncar the Hizuris had sent to pick them up when she felt a large warm hand cover her own. She turned to see Kuon looking out his own window in silent contemplation, hiding all evidence that he even knew his hand was squeezing hers.

She squeezed back and he turned his head to look down at her.

"It will be fine," she assured him. "Your parents will be nothing but happy to see you."

His mouth twisted up in a grimace. "It would be more than I deserve if they refused to even speak to me," he replied quietly, a little of his weariness slipping out with his words. It had been a very long day, and the impending reunion was going to be nothing if not exhausting. He knew, as a well-loved son always knows deep down, that his parents would be overjoyed to see him no matter what he had done to them, but that didn't assuage the guilt that crept up his insides and turned his stomach more and more the closer they got to his old home.

It was a bizarre feeling to drive down a road he had been down a hundred times and recall all the things that had happened to him there. Japan had been a fresh slate, free of good memories as well as the bad, and he had forgotten what the good reminiscences of his childhood felt like. The car slowed as it turned around a corner next to a deserted yet brightly lit local park and began the steep climb through million dollar mansions that would lead to his inevitable fate. He couldn't help turning his head to keep his eyes on the richly landscaped parking lot next to the shadowed jungle gym; particularly the heavily dented section of guardrail in front of a particular tree.

"See something?" Kyoko asked curiously, craning her next to see what had caught his attention. Kuon swiftly turned his head to her with a small smile and a shake of his head.

"No. Just remembering. I learned to drive in that parking lot there."

"Really?" Kyoko's eyes lit up with this new information, turning fully to look futilely out the back of the car to see it again. Unfortunately it was now totally blocked by a grove of fruit trees decorating the front lawn of the house just next to the park. "How old were you?"

Kuon grinned. "Thirteen. It was technically illegal to let me drive that young, but I wanted to learn and tried to take one of my dad's cars out on my own, so he figured he might as well teach me early if it would keep me out of trouble." Then he sighed. "It wasn't long after that I was drag racing at night in the spillway a few miles from here. I honestly don't know how I survived my teens. I did some seriously stupid shit."

Kyoko felt her chest warm up as she watched Kuon drop the formal, exacting posture he maintained as Ren and slump into his seat. It was like watching him travel back in time. Between the blonde hair, uncovered green eyes, and casual speech, often slipping into English, she found it hard not to see him as Corn.

Well, a moody, teenage version of Corn.

The impression he gave off shed years in a moment.

"You're so lucky. I wish I had stories like that. My childhood was lonely and boring in comparison. Just disappointment and ridiculous dreams that I never should have wanted in the first place."

Kyoko's tone didn't betray even a hint of sadness, but it was the matter-of-fact way she described her young life, completely devoid of emotion that made him want to wrap her up in his arms and assure her that life was only going to get better from there on out. However, the arm he stretched out across the back seat of the car didn't even make it to her shoulders before her whole demeanor changed and she smiled warmly up at him, adding:

"Meeting you was the highlight of my life back then, and I wouldn't trade it for all the father-daughter outings in the world!"

His arm slid off the seat and around her shoulders, drawing her close as he pressed his lips to hers. She squeaked in surprise and pushed him gently away, a blush washing over her cheeks as she snuck a glance at their driver.

Being a well-paid chauffeur in LA, he didn't see anything improper about their behavior, let alone feel he needed to pretend he hadn't seen it. Instead, a small smile flitted across his lips as he remembered his own young days and the sweet moments to be found in young love. He couldn't understand what they were saying in Japanese, but sweet moments like that were universal.

"Kuon! We're in public!"

He laughed outright then, refusing to remove his arm from around her, but moving away after planting a kiss on her forehead instead. "Trust me, no one cares. That's the biggest difference between here and Japan. No one cares what anyone thinks of when expressing emotions in public, and for the most part, no one really cares. Personal displays of affection are practically expected from people our age. And for two weeks, I'm going to take full advantage of it," he finished at a low purr directly into her ear.

"Oh." Kyoko's blush deepened considerably, feeling warmth pulse between her legs all of a sudden as she thought about what they had done not even 24 hours prior. Just how far did Americans go with other people right there? "I don't know if I'll ever be comfortable with that…"

"Well, you'll need to at least get used to casual kisses like that if you're going to work in Hollywood. It's a very touchy-feely crowd." Kuon reminisced on some of the parties he'd attended as a teen for the casts of his more successful acting attempts as well as the society gatherings his parents frequently attended. He could easily see Kyoko plunging head first into the fray with her ready smile and friendly demeanor, immediately making everyone desire the purity and naive joy she emitted. Or making them desire to destroy it... Hollywood was a jaded, jealous place that fed on youthful energy to keep it immortal and thriving, killing innocence along the way. "On second thought, never become comfortable with it. Just stay exactly as you are and away from Hollywood. It would be a full time job just keeping them all off of you."

Kyoko cocked an eyebrow at the suddenly unhappy set to his jaw. "I doubt anyone would even notice me. Surely it can't be that different from Japan's filming community…"

Kuon barked out a humorless laugh. "You have no idea how very different it is. If I wasn't undercover while we're here, I'd take you to a party and show you just how wrong you are." Yeah right. I don't want her near any of those parties.

"That sounds like fun! Maybe Ren will be invited to something and I can go with you!" Kyoko gushed. Their screen test was in a couple of days and Kuon planned to dye his hair back before then, still hoping to keep his true identity under wraps for as long as possible. "It would be good networking for when you come back too, right?"

She wasn't wrong. There was a high probability he would be invited to something.

"Yeah, maybe." NOT. Going with her as Ren was even more problematic. All he needed was the paparazzi catching him marking his territory to keep someone from dragging her off into a closed off bedroom and their relationship would be front page news in Japan. Add the fact she was underage and both of their debuts in the United States would have a very different flavor than they had planned.

Kyoko smiled to herself and relaxed into his side as far as her seatbelt would let her. He was right. If she was going to be successful working in Hollywood, she would have to learn to loosen up a bit. And she desperately wanted to be successful there. Not only did it take her one more step towards her ultimate goal of being a world-recognized actress who could represent Japan, it also meant that when he inevitably followed in his father's footsteps and revealed his identity, she wouldn't be holding him back. She could come live with him and still have her work as an actress.

When they got married.

IF!

If they got married!

Damn, he had already gotten her hopes up so high she would never recover if he changed his mind and got tired of her. She had to start tamping down her fairytale dream expectations immediately! For her own safety!

Her grudges grabbed reams of her thoughts and bailed them from her head like a busted money launderer shredding documents before facing the Feds.

Kyoko was distracted from her thoughts as the car came to a gentle stop and the driver rolled down his window.

It was much darker now outside the car, with only decorative spotlights highlighting certain elements of the landscape and two security lights illuminating the decorative metal gate closed ahead of them. The driver pressed a button, spoke into a speaker box, and the gate swung open. She strained to see the house she knew must be somewhere through the trees and bushes, but couldn't.

When they had driven several more minutes without reaching their destination, she began to doubt her assumption that they were on the Hizuris' driveway. At least until they finally pulled out of the foliage and were awarded with the spectacular view of a sprawling villa surrounded by redwoods and sky.

Kyoko had grown up in a larger than usual house due to being raised at the Fuwa's ryokan, but the sheer size of Kuon's childhood home blew her away. Shougetsu-tei could have fit into this place at least five times over. Comfortably.

The house itself was a marvel of limestone and glass, feeling traditional and modern all at once. It reminded Kyoko of pictures she'd seen of Paris, where centuries old stone buildings had been renovated with modern materials and aesthetics. It should have felt disjointed and wrong, but instead it felt luxurious and intimate all at once. It was a strange feeling that she would later come to realize resulted from something (whether building, clothing, or furniture) created by artists and craftsmen who truly loved and excelled at their work. It was the same feeling she got whenever she got to work with Ren.

In front of the house was a large courtyard, cobbled in matching golden stone. An only slightly smaller, one-story building separate from the house had huge glass doors that let out onto the courtyard, allowing her to see the glint of chrome and headlights for what had to be dozens of cars.

Kyoko gulped as she realized it was the garage. That building alone was bigger than her favorite park near LME. She had severely underestimated just how wealthy a Hollywood actor could become.

And Kuon had grown up like this?! No wonder he didn't recognize how to choose quality meat or shop around for a deal! She doubted he'd ever set foot in a grocery store before he'd moved to Japan!

"Oh, well, that's new," Kuon commented sleepily, his chin resting in his hand as he leaned against the door with his elbow. He was understandably unimpressed with his surroundings, but his posture had shifted again. Suddenly, he went from laidback, cool, approachable Kuon to well-to-do, Hollywood-elite-offspring Kuon and fitted into the scene like a missing puzzle piece.

Self-consciously she tugged on the hem of her nicest sweater. She'd gotten it on clearance in a department store and usually felt pretty ritzy wearing it, but now it made her feel like she'd entered into a Dickens novel, with her role being that of the urchin the wealthy family picked up and took pity on. She tried to hide the newfound realization of her inadequacy, but her voice still wavered a bit as she replied.

"What's new?"

Kuon didn't seem to notice. "The statues in the fountain." He pointed to the center of the courtyard where a large fountain contained several abstract works of mixed-media art, each streaming water in an aesthetically pleasing way. "And the landscaping off to the side there. Mom must be in a decorating phase again...or was sometime in the last five years, I guess."

The apprehension that snuck into his voice with the last sentence helped Kyoko forget her own anxiety. It didn't matter how unfit she was to be invited to such a place. She wasn't here for herself.

Tonight she was just Kuon Hizuri's omamori. Nothing else mattered.

She squeezed his hand and managed a smile. "Are you ready?"

Kuon swallowed and nodded. "Yeah, let's go."

He reached for the door handle next to him, but they were both surprised when it flew open before he got there and arms were already reaching in and dragging him out of the car. Their clasped hands were ripped apart as, only seconds later, Kyoko's door was also flung open and she was likewise pulled out into a big bearhug.

"WELCOME HOME KIDS! WE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" Kuu yelled at the top of his lungs, picking Kyoko up and spinning her around.

All of her nerves vanished as she smiled widely and returned the hug, squealing happily. She didn't understand why Moko-san always avoided her glomping. Because it felt...AWESOME! Like being wrapped in a warm, tight ray of sunshine. Being loved was such an amazing feeling.

"Hey Dad, I missed you too!" she replied in English, too high on fatherly hug time to feel embarrassed calling him that. Over their many phone calls of the last couple of months, they had settled on that for her to call him in English. 'Father' was just too formal for someone like Kuu.

Meanwhile, Kuon was silently sighing and supporting his mother, who had dragged him from the car in excitement, slapped him across his perfect cheek, burst out crying, and then clamped onto him with arms even stronger than he remembered, all in the space of a minute. Kuon just hugged her back for all he was worth. It was the only way he could think of to express just how much he'd missed her (crazy antics and all) without inciting any further dramatics.

Behind the new arrivals' backs, Julie and Kuu locked watery eyes and smiled at one another.

The whole party stayed that way for a couple of minutes until Kyoko heard a voice clearing and lifted her head to see their driver standing behind Kuu, trying to keep a smile off his face as he avoided her eyes.

"Will that be all for the evening sir?" he asked politely.

Shifting Kyoko's weight to one arm, her feet still dangling above the ground, Kuu swung quickly around to face him and took a few bills out of his pocket to tip him, dismissing him with a friendly tone.

Meanwhile, Kyoko found herself face-to-face with the most beautiful woman in the world and the air around her went quiet.

The minute Julie saw Kyoko, she stood up straighter and the tears stopped cold. Kyoko was immediately struck by her height, only an inch or two shorter than Kuon when she stood up, though she had seemed so small and frail clinging to him just a moment before.

The air hung heavy between them and she could swear she felt her life change right then and there.

Her brilliant green eyes seemed to bore right into Kyoko's soul like any fairy queen's would.

They were Kuon's eyes...but different.

For some reason, which Kyoko immediately dismissed as the greatest hubris, she felt like she was looking into a mirror...like she recognized in the woman in front of her something she only saw when she was alone with herself.

Julie seemed to be just as affected, her arms slackening on Kuon as she gazed into the wide golden eyes peeking over her husband's shoulder.

"That's her, right?" Julie asked Kuon in a reverent, ever-so-slightly-Russian-accented whisper. "She's stunning! The pictures don't begin to do her justice. And she's..."

She trailed off, her hands sliding elegantly off her son as Kyoko let go of Kuu and landed back on her feet. Kuu let her go, turning to look at his wife again, surprised by the intense look in her eyes.

It had been years since Julie had looked at anyone like that. He prayed Kyoko could stand up to the pressure of what that meant for her. Her life would never be the same.

He needn't have worried.

Kyoko met Julie in the middle of the two men, feeling neither shy, nor underdressed, despite being in the presence of a goddess. The men exchanged worried looks which were then directed at Kyoko. Kuon cleared his throat in preparation to interrupt the intense moment, but was cut off as Julie held up her finger to stop him.

Like he was interrupting something more important than whatever he had to say. A little bit of anger stirred in him as he watched his sometimes very strange mother stare down his girlfriend without even letting him introduce her. Without even letting him tell them she was his girlfriend.

Kyoko felt one of her grudges pop out of her head in response to his angry vibes, but didn't have a chance to identify what had set him off, because she saw something in front of her that knocked Kuon's issues down in importance to second place.

Sticking up from Julie's head was a tiny, fairy queen shaped grudge of her own, also straining towards Kuon's darkening aura.

Both women saw the other's grudges and screamed, jumping backward. Then they noticed the other person noticed their grudge and screamed again.

Their grudges eyed each other warily.

Kuon's anger was pushed out by bewildered surprise at their completely bizarre, mirrored behavior and the grudges sighed and retreated.

The two women took a brief moment to communicate silently with their eyes. Julie tilted her head toward the beautifully tended garden off to the side of the courtyard and Kyoko nodded.

They turned as one and walked away, Kuon immediately going after them. "Kyoko, Mom, what the hell-"

Both Julie and Kyoko froze, then turned back to him with the fakest smiles he'd ever seen. Julie was the one to respond. "Honey, Kyoko and I have something we need to discuss. Alone. Privately. Why don't you and your Dad head into the house with your luggage and get settled. We'll be in in a minute."

"Or you could explain what the hell you're doing and then we could all go in together." Kuon was too tired to unravel any mysteries. He'd already been up straight for more than 24 hours.

Julie's smile immediately dropped as her eyebrows lowered and her aura darkened. Kyoko's grudges popped out again, impressed by the sheer magnitude of the woman's anger. Kyoko, however, didn't want Kuon and Julie's relationship to get worse before it had a chance to get better.

"Kuon, it's fine. We'll be right in, okay?" she shot him a pleading look, but her tone was firm. Kuon grew even more confused. The only time she used that tone with him was when she insisted on feeding him.

But, that meant she wasn't going to get bullied into anything, right? Kyoko was surprisingly strong when she put her mind to it. He relaxed a little and nodded.

"Okay. I'll take your bags in. Don't stay out here too late, I want to show you around the house before we go to bed."

The phrase 'we go to bed' normally would have made her flustered, but with more important things to think about, Kyoko just smiled gratefully at him and nodded. Then the two women set off as fast as their legs could go, while still calling it walking, and ducked behind a stand of artfully arranged bushes just out of view.

By now used to both Kyoko and his wife's weirdness, Kuu took the opportunity to surprise his son with a manly hug, which Kuon returned, although still quite distracted by the situation with the women in his life.

"Dad, do you have any idea what the hell all of that is about?"

Kuu gave his son one last grizzly-level squeeze and stepped back, shrugging. "You know your mom. I don't know half of what is going on in her head half the time. She's a species unto herself."

Kuon sighed, resigned to chalk it up as a mystery until he could get Kyoko alone to question her. "Yeah. Kyoko too. Sometimes what she's thinking is clear as day, other times it's like she's seeing a different world than I do."

"True. Maybe they're seeing the same world?" Kuu joked, unaware of just how close he came to the truth.

Kuon chuckled.

"Maybe."

The two of them started to pick up the small pile of luggage the driver had unloaded onto the cobblestones. Most of it was Kyoko's. As long as the screen test went well, after their two week 'vacation', she would be staying to start her physical training. She would briefly return to Japan for the Christmas holidays to take her final exams in person, then fly back to start filming Violet Evergarden before the new year, when he would rejoin her. It would be the longest time they'd spent apart since they'd reunited.

Kuon wasn't looking forward to it.

He balanced another piece of Kyoko's luggage over his shoulder with the two he already carried and started walking to the house, but he couldn't help looking back at the garden where they'd disappeared.

What could they possibly be talking about? They just met. That was so fucking weird.

His feet came to a stop and he just stood there like a human luggage rack trying to find her through the trees with his eyes.

"So, I was gonna wait until you got settled in to ask this, but at this rate, you won't even be in the house before you have to leave again. What exactly is going on between you two? Have you told her how you feel yet?"

Kuon started, juggling the bag on his shoulder for a second to keep it from falling to the ground.

"How I feel?" he deflected.

Kuu snorted. "Son, great actor you might be on the screen, but right now you're wearing your heart on your sleeve. Has she figured out that you're hopelessly in love with her, or is she even more oblivious than I remember?"

Kuon glared at his dad, but his lips itched to smile at him instead. "She knows."

Kuu waited for more, but realized he was going to have to pull it out of him. "Aaaaaand? What happened when she found out? Did she tell you she loved you back? Have you asked her out on a date? When am I getting grandchildren?"

Kuon coughed as he choked on his own spit. "Well, that escalated quickly."

"Don't avoid the question, wise guy."

"Fine." Kuon let one of the maids working the front door open it for him with a polite nod and headed up the stairs into his old bedroom (which hadn't changed much since he left) before answering. He knew his parents screened their hired help extensively, but he didn't feel like taking any chances. "We're dating. Obviously in secret to try to keep the media from destroying her, since she's underage, but...Dad…she's...we..."

Kuu looked at Kuon struggling to get out the words and felt an overwhelming sense of joy. Instead of the contented, but politely charming attitude he'd shown with all of his other girlfriends (at least the ones Kuu knew about), his son finally looked like he couldn't control his face. It was funny to watch him try to force the smile that kept taking over his face back down. His boy was finally completely stupid-in-love with someone. Lory must be beside himself with ecstacy

Kuu had to admit, his son's heart knew what it was doing. Kyoko was in a league of her own and everything his son needed in his life. He couldn't have chosen better for him if he tried.

But, maybe she wasn't quite so singular, he pondered, remembering his wife's reaction to her. He'd thought Julie was one-of-a-kind too, with a mind and character that was like no one else's. There were times he knew it made her lonely when even he couldn't quite understand what she was trying to describe to him. Being elite and unique came with its own set of troubles, despite the success she had achieved.

He'd known right away that he would never find another woman like her for the rest of his life. Now, it looked like, maybe, his son had managed the impossible.

"She's the one, isn't she?" he asked quietly, ending Kuon's tongue-tied attempt to explain just what she meant to him.

"Yeah. That and so much more, Dad. I can't begin to describe what it feels like to be with her."

Kuu smiled. "Congratulations Kuon," he said sincerely. Then he went into teasing mode, doing his best to make Japan's greatest actor blush and stumble. "So, when are you gonna propose? Should we start planning the engagement party? I know some excellent custom jewelers if you're in the market for a ring!"

However, Kuu was misreading Kuon's inability to describe the depth of his feelings as indecision. He had not fully grasped just how much Kyoko had made his wild son grow the fuck up.

"Christmas. She turns eighteen on Christmas, and I'm going to propose then...or maybe New Year's."

Kuu couldn't form words for a minute. "...how long have you been dating?"

"A little over two months."

Kuu's eyebrows practically hit his hairline.

"It's not like we'll get married right away…" Kuon defended himself against his father's incredulous look. "But, I can't not be with her for the rest of my life. I just can't. And I want everyone to know we belong to each other. I'm so sick of hiding it. I'd go on all the morning shows and brag about it now if I could, but waiting until she's eighteen and getting engaged will hopefully keep her currently pristine reputation intact. Plus, I can use the time to start softening up the fans to the idea so she doesn't get stalked or something..."

"...well, when a man knows, he knows. And you'll figure out the rest with Lory's help," Kuu finally said. He laid a hand on his son's shoulder. "She's an incredible person and talent, and I'm just as eager to have her join this family as you are. Without her, we might have lost you forever. Your mother and I owe her more than she will probably ever accept. Speaking of which…"

Kuu scratched the back of his head and looked guilty. Kuon immediately went from glowing at his father's approval to on guard.

"What?"

"Don't blame your mother too much, okay? I would lie and say she tried to restrain herself, but you know how long it's been since she had someone to spoil…"

Kuon paled. "Oh God, what did she buy?"

"...it's really more of a question of what she didn't buy at this point."

"...Kyoko said she was joking about a house…"

"..."

"Dad! Tell me Mom didn't buy Kyoko a fucking house!"

"Hey, don't look at me! I didn't even know the neighbors were moving!"

---

Meanwhile, in the garden, Kyoko and Julie were comparing notes.

"I've never met anyone else who can see them!" Julie exclaimed. "Have you?"

Kyoko nodded reluctantly as she wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I had the unfortunate experience of meeting someone who could see mine. I still believe he is a denizen of hell. He took one of them hostage in order to extort Valentine's chocolate from me. But he never had any of his own that I could see. I think he was just sensitive to occult matters in general."

"He KIDNAPPED ONE!? That must have been horrible! Is he still bothering you? Do I need to call someone and have him taken care of?"

Kyoko shivered at her words and their casual delivery. It reminded her very much of Kuon's angry, yet nonchalant way of handling Reino. Like destroying him and his life was as easy as picking up the phone.

Maybe it was. Part of her wanted to hop on the internet and research just what had happened to the creepy lead singer. The other part of her was happy to live in bliss if she never had to see him again as long as she lived.

"No! He's scared of Ren and I haven't heard from him in months, so you really don't need to do anything! But thank you for offering. Kuon has it well under control."

"Okay…" Julie gave her a look, but decided to let it go. "It's good to hear my son knows how to take care of you at least, even if he fails at taking care of himself."

Kyoko smiled. "Aside from his inability to eat a full meal, I think he's actually doing pretty well for himself."

Julie snorted. "That one's on me I'm afraid. Kuu didn't inform me my cooking was inedible until a little more than a year after Kuon left. The things I forced down that poor boy's throat…" She started to tear up. "In so many ways, I was a told failure as a mother."

Kyoko immediately opened her mouth to refute the statement, but Julie cut her off with a raised hand. "You don't need to placate me darling. He wouldn't have gone with that kidnapper if I had protected him like I should've. But, we're not here to talk about Kuon! Let's get back on track! Anger is the biggest emotion to trigger my apparitions, but jealousy sets them off about as often. What about you?"

Kyoko nodded, reluctantly allowing Julie to push her shame aside without being comforted.

"Same here. I've picked up some other emotions sometimes though. Like a different kind of grudge gets born...that's only happened with Kuon though. I didn't understand it at the time, but it could have been disappointment? Or regret, maybe?"

"Ooooo, that's interesting. I don't know if I've ever gotten a regret apparition before! But I did get a weird one when Kuon was born. I don't know what Kuu was feeling exactly, but it popped out every time he was around the baby for the first month or two. My best guess is fear. Not much scares that man, but he was positive he'd accidentally kill the boy when he was a newborn by hugging him too hard or playing with him too roughly."

Kyoko snorted. "That sounds like him. So much love it could kill."

"You've sure got him pegged for having only spent a few days with him in person," Julie observed.

Kyoko ducked her head in embarrassment. "Well, he was in idiot-parent mode and I was acting as his kid. There was a lot to obser-"

She was cut off by Julie's elegant slender fingers tilting her chin back up. "Don't bow your head to anyone you don't have to, sweetheart. It's not about being too good to bow your head, or not humble enough. Humility will always be a valuable trait as long as it doesn't inhibit your own success, so never lose that. But, as I'm positive you already know, the world can be a cruel place full of cruel people, and being with my son will reveal some of the darker sides of humanity." Julie didn't even question that the two of them were dating. She could see it in the way they looked at each other.

"It's the curse of having a face like ours and the fame we sought out. Every fan believes we belong to them in some small part, and some become the ugliest part of themselves to those who mean the most to us. There will be plenty of times in your still young career when bowing, scraping, and dancing to someone else's tune is unavoidable, so take pride in your ability to stand tall in your private life and never bow your head or apologize to someone you haven't wronged. You have no reason to feel guilty for becoming close with my husband. Despite his demeanor, he judges people harshly and it takes a rare person to win over his heart so quickly. He's always wanted a daughter, and, having met you, I understand exactly why he attached to you so quickly. I was merely surprised you possessed the empathy to understand him at such a young age. Few get the chance." Her heavenly smile reminded Kyoko of Kuon's immediately.

Kyoko's eyes shone as she spoke. Another layer in the armor of her Kuon's Kyoko character fell into place as she soaked in her newest lesson. She felt like she was being advised by royalty...but it was also what she imagined talking to a loving mother would be like.

She immediately had the urge to duck her head again, but instead sat up straighter. Julie smiled wider in approval. Kyoko cleared the tightening in her throat before speaking.

"I grew up in an environment where reading the people around me was necessary. I thought that learning what the people around me desired and giving it to them would earn me their love. It took having my heart ground into the dirt by the person most important to me for me to understand that living my life to please the people around me in hopes they would someday finally come to love me was a waste of my life." Kyoko looked into Julie's eyes and was hardly surprised to see a deep understanding and agreement there. She had guessed it right away, but she would bet everything she owned that Juliena Hizuri had once lived her life for someone who threw her away too.

"So, with the help of your son's honest criticism, I found a way to live for myself. Now I have friends, and people who treat me like real family should, and a partner beside me to pick me up when I fall and to support when he needs someone to lean on. I haven't become his equal in most areas of our lives, and maybe I never will, but knowing which direction to go and having many kind people to guide me makes me feel like, someday, I can look him in the eyes and feel like his equal."

Julie shook her head in amazement. "Know that I have never said this to anyone else in my life when I say that you remind me so much of myself! You're truly an extraordinary girl, certainly more amazing than I am, to have come to that conclusion and brought yourself so far as young as you still are. I thought I would have many things I could teach you, but I find myself feeling inadequate."

Kyokok gaped at her. "You're kidding, right?! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! You are the definition of a perfect woman, in beauty, poise, and talent! Kuon calls you the most beautiful woman in the world! And I'm just...me! I've been called plain and boring so many times I can't even begin to count them."

Julie's eyes bugged out. "You're kidding! Don't you dare tell me those words came out of my son's mouth or I'll personally wring his neck!"

"NO! GOD NO! Ren, that is Kuon, would never say something like that. He's a perfect gentleman. But the fact remains; I'm so plain that makeup literally turns me into someone no one recognizes. I don't get mobbed by fans like Ren does because they have no idea it's me! If that's not plain, what is it?"

"Talented! Darling, my husband went out and bought every bit of film he could find with you on it. He and my father have been like teenage girls with a crush the way they've been stalking your work and planning your future. And they call me crazy. Pssh. Men. They judge women all the time, as if they're any better. They think they're soooo cool and collected, but they turn into little boys at the drop of a hat. They call us vain and silly for spending time and money on clothing and makeup that make us feel good and then go to extreme lengths to hide their attempts to improve their own looks like it is something to be ashamed of!" Julie scoffed. Then she leaned closer, with her hand held theatrically at the side of her mouth as though shielding someone from listening in to their conversation.

"Let me let you in on a little secret that all gorgeous, talented women know: makeup isn't a crutch, or a cheat; it's a tool." She leaned back with a fire in her eyes. "You use it to bring out your hidden depths, but those depths were always there. It isn't the makeup that makes you fabulous, it's you who uses the makeup to show everyone how fabulous you've always been. And the reason that people don't recognize you out of makeup is because you're so talented in your character creation that they see you as that character and not the actor playing the character. To your fans, you are Natsu when you're playing Natsu, and Mio when you're playing Mio. They never see you as Kyoko, so they don't recognize you when they pass you on the street. It's the greatest compliment you can get as an actor, so soak it in and use it to fortify your confidence! Over time, as you make appearances to promote your work dressed as yourself instead of your characters, they will come to respect you as yourself and flock to you in droves. So take it from me: enjoy your anonymity as long as you can." Julie finished her little monologue, took a huge breath of air in, and let it out, nodding to herself.

Kyoko thought carefully over everything Julie had said. If Tsuruga Ren was a god of acting, then that made Julie the Mother of God...and therefore even more valuable, as another successful woman in show business.

But that meant...if they did get married someday, then Julie would be her Mother-in-law! She would be the daughter-in-law of a goddess! Her eyes went all dewy and round unable to control her overjoyed face when she didn't have Ren around to hide it from. There was no way she wouldn't achieve her goals with such wonderful people surrounding and teaching her.

Julie looked down at the girl sitting beside her on the garden bench, and indulged herself in thinking about what her grandchildren would look like. With Kuon taking after herself, and Kyoko's cuteness, there would be no stopping them! She'd have to hire bodyguards 24 hours a day to keep them from getting kidnapped and make sure they were spoiled rotten in the best possible way. If they took after their parents, a steady stream of tutors and equipment would be a must. From Kuu's investigations overseas, she knew the two of them were gaining parallel reputations for their ability to pick up skills for a role in almost no time at all. Those genes would need to be fostered, but if handled well, those children would have the potential to rule the world!

Both women took in a deep breath and let out a happy sigh. Smiling, Julie turned to Kyoko.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Marrying Kuon and taking over the acting world," she answered without a thought, lost to her fantasies. "You?"

"Marrying you off to Kuon and helping my grandchildren take over the world. Be sure to have more than one. I'm sure that's where I went wrong," she replied, just as hazy.

"I'll keep that in mind…" Kyoko returned.

Then they registered just what was said, snapped out of their dazes, stared at each other with open mouths, and then broke down laughing. Within moments they were laying on the ground rolling around. Every time they manage to stop laughing, they would meet the eyes of the other and set off rolling again. Honestly, it was starting to get painful for them both.

"Well, what do we have here?" said an amused voice above them. "I seem to recall women walking in this direction, but all I see here are little girls." Kuu raised an eyebrow especially at Julie in critique. Julie just snorted and elbowed Kyoko, leaning over to whisper in her ear.

"See? So superior even though not an hour before you two got here he was playing with a drone he bought on the internet...that looks like the Millenium Falcon."

Both women were beset by giggles anew, and were not assisted in halting their assault by the miffed expression that took over his face.

If Kuon's pouting eyes were like a puppy dog, then his dad's disgruntled face was like a full-grown hound dog's.

"What the-? Kyoko?" Ren exclaimed, coming up beside his father. Like her out of control sense of humor had been doused in ice water, Kyoko was standing ramrod straight and silent in a moment. Her face turned red, but to her credit, she didn't so much as lower her head. Julie watched her swift ascent in surprise and managed to temper her amusement down to a wide smile.

"Kyoko and I have been bonding. It's a girl thing, you wouldn't understand," Julie said haughtily to her boys. Kyoko brushed off her skirt and hastily offered Julie a hand up, which she gladly took, pleasantly surprised that Kyoko was stronger than she looked. She would need it if she was going to raise Kuon's kids. They'd be charming and secret hellions every one, mark her words. Plus, suppose Kuu's eating habits skipped a generation. She brushed her own tissue linen leisure suit off as her smile turned to a grimace. "Poor thing, you're going to have your hands full."

Kuu and Kuon wore adorable matching expressions of cluelessness, but Kyoko, thinking along almost the same lines just nodded. "I know. Mealtimes would definitely be a challenge."

Together, the two women linked arms like they'd been doing it all their lives and headed toward the house, leaving their men to follow at their leisure.

That is, Julie managed to strut away without a backward glance, while Kyoko spared just one to meet Kuon's eye with the most radiant smile.

Kuon was breathless for a moment. It would be years before anyone but him would notice how Kyoko could stand next to the most beautiful woman in the world and not be outshone.

"So, we probably shouldn't bring up the house thing tonight…" Kuu commented smoothly. "Wouldn't want to disrupt all the bonding going on, right?"

Kuon immediately nodded agreement. "Of course. There is no reason to bring it up right before bed. Maybe Mom will mention it herself…" he replied hopefully. "Or not at all."

"Maybe." Kuu didn't even try to make it sound convincing.

They slowly started back toward the house in comfortable silence.

"Well, son, you sure can pick 'em."

"Me? Look at you!" Kuon countered, holding the front door open for his father.

"Damn straight."

Kuu stuck his hands in his pockets and whistled a jaunty tune as the door closed behind them.

---

Okay, so I would first like to say, yes, I know most first class airline seats aren't paired. Especially for international flights they tend to be roomy little cubbies for one person separated by an aisle. However, I didn't want to write all of their interactions leaning across an aisle or over a partition, so in Japan's Most Wanted's universe, there exists an airline with big, fully reclining seats that are in pairs and still are a little small for Ren.

I hope this picked up your day and whetted your appetite for what's to come...hehe. Now, I'm off to keep plugging away on Chapter 10! Drop me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter...sometimes it was a struggle to keep them decently in character, but I'm especially happy with how Julie is developing...