Chapter 10

"Better now?" She asked as they gathered their things and bundled up warmly to brave the sub-zero temperature they were about to experience. There's nothing like eating iced cream then exposing yourself to the practically Arctic temperatures of early winter. What she could really use right now was hot coffee or a big mug of hot cocoa, perhaps even a nice London Fog tea. Yes, that would be nice. Her mouth watered at the thought.

Kyoko nodded. She did feel better after venting to Kanae. The only thing she really hated about it was the fact that she didn't wish to drag Kanae into her problems, but now that she thought about it, it really wasn't as bad as she had initially thought. Perhaps she should discuss the matter of the Halloween incident and the subsequent events thereafter.

"What time do you get off work?" Kanae asked. No better way to feel out their predicament than invite Kyoko over for the evening and observe whether or not she had the same problem as she did. The thought that Kyoko's costume had been an extremely large cat never crossed her mind, and the fact that she could be putting herself in a very precariously dangerous position hadn't dawned on her either. Not once did it cross her mind that large cats were known to hunt and eat small prey. You know… like the occasional fox or rabbit lurking beneath them on the food chain.

She was completely exhausted. So much so, that she was out like a light the moment her head hit the pillow. A small, male hand gently caressed curly blonde locks and carefully arranged the comforter around her. A small smile crossed an angelic face and lit up ebon irises. There was mischief in those eyes as the little snow-haired male brushed his waist-length tresses behind him and leaned forward to place a gentle little kiss on her forehead.

Maria breathed in deeply and let out a little sleep-filled sigh and snuggled deeper into her bedding. The young male, similar in age, quickly leaned away from her, smiled once again, then returned to his proper place. Seconds later, eight tiny black eyes would take one last look for the evening and a small arachnid body would nestle contentedly into the little nest that had been placed on the headboard of her bed for the evening. This was a secret that he would keep for now, at least until he was old enough and big enough to guard her properly. He would tell her then. Hopefully she wouldn't be too angry with him at that time.

Two friends sat stunned as all was revealed. Nearly half a bottle of bourbon later and many truths had been spilled out before them. Yukihito could safely say that it wasn't the costume curse that surprised him, it was the fact that his friend and charge for the almost past five years was 'The Kuon Hizuri' in the flesh, and he felt like such a big idiot for not noticing it before.

"Wow… I honestly don't know what to say." He breathed out before taking another long swig of the astringent beverage. "Are you going to tell Kyoko-chan? You know, about your identity?"

Kuon was a little shocked that Yukihito had nothing to say about his raucous teen years and went straight for the identity issue. He sighed. "I don't know anymore. I want to, but…"

Yukihito's brows furrowed. "But, what? Don't you trust her? I really don't think she would actually tell anyone." He encouraged.

Kuon grimaced. "I do trust her… It's just that I don't want her to hate me for it, and vanish."

"Why would she disappear? I mean, sure… she might get a little miffed at you for lying to her, but I'm sure she would forgive you in the end." Yuki asked, confused at Kuon's reasoning.

Kuon sighed out. "I heard her talking to Kanae-san in the LoveME room this afternoon. She's thinking about taking overseas work. She wants to leave Japan." He confessed.

"I don't think she would actually do that. She has too much here at the moment, and you know how responsible she is." Yuki reminded him.

"She sounded pretty serious. I really don't know if it's too late to tell her or not." He admitted in defeat.

Yukihito rolled his eyes. He was pretty sure that Kanae was probably just as irritated as he was at the moment. These two were complete morons when it came to their actual feelings. Why couldn't they just admit it and get it over with? It wasn't like they had to completely hide it from each other. They both had friends and acquaintances that were more that willing to cover for them, and a boss that would practically go into a coma for moe overload if he discovered the absolute truth. Well, the part about them confessing to each other and the secret rendezvous. Maybe not so much about being animals in their spare time though. That was quite possibly a secret they would all need to take to their graves, simply because they would probably be locked-up and experimented on or just plain locked-up.

~xoxo~

"Mo…" She sighed out. "Alright, let's just forget the fact that we're actually cursed and work on the fact that you and he are both idiots." Kanae groused.

"Mōko-san~…" Kyoko whined.

"No… Seriously! I understand that you wanted to put your relationship on the back burner, but for Kami's sake! One has to wonder if you're both masochists. You're both obviously meeting on the sly, so why bother fighting it?" Kanae questioned irritably. "And don't give me that crap about him not liking you anymore. That… Is obviously a very big misconception on your part. There is no way he doesn't like you anymore. The man practically turns into a puddle of goo every time he's near you. Mo… It's revolting!" Kanae shivered at the thought.

Kyoko sighed. "I just don't see it… at least not in the way you see it." She confessed.

Kanae practically growled. "Come on… You'd have to be blind not to see it. He's always looked at you like that. You know, ooey-gooey, lovey-dovey look he's been giving you since day one. And don't tell me that he looks at everyone like that, because I know for a fact that you are the only one he gives that look. You just don't notice it because you're used to it."

Kyoko was silent for a long while. She had to admit that her best-friend had a point. She had thought that it was strange in the beginning. She did notice that look, but just blew it off thinking that it wasn't solely directed at her for that reason. Now that Kanae pointed it out so clearly, she really couldn't deny it. As much as she liked to in the past. "What do I do?"

Kanae groaned a little. She really wanted to punch Fuwa in the face for leaving such a deep scar on her friend when it comes to romance. "Well… you sure as hell better not just run off and leave him behind like you were planning. You two need to talk to each other and get things straightened out. You won't know what he's thinking without talking to him about it, and I'm pretty sure he isn't a mind-reader… so you really need to tell him how you feel too, because you two are driving me insane." Kanae gave her ultimatum.

Kyoko sighed defeatedly. "Shouldn't we figure out this animal thing first?" She questioned in a last ditch effort to put off the inevitable conversation she needed to have with Ren.

"Kyoko~…" Kanae growled in frustration. "Do you really think we'll be able to fix this? Stop putting this off!" She commanded.

"Okay! Okay! Fine… I'll talk to him. Okay?" Kyoko relented.