After hours

The advantage of having a porsche is that it ran very smoothly, it also meant it had an almost silent engine. Kuon kept glancing towards Kyoko, sure that she could hear his heartbeat over the silent purr of the car. They had been sitting in companionable silence the whole ride neither of them turning on the radio on and just focused on their thoughts. Kuon was thinking that this is the first time he was taking her home as his true self out in the world, Kyoko was thinking about her conversation with Kuu.

She was not as naive as everyone seemed to think, she was a very smart young woman with incredible curiosity, very strong character development skills, and a very keen eye for detailed research. Having played a wide variety of roles throughout her 3 years as an actress she now had a better sense of the world than when she first started acting. She was still relatively modest but after being with Kuon and various modeling shots she knew how to maximize her womanly allure and was not afraid to look improper by showing a little skin or wearing more form fitting outfits.

Spending time with Julie also didn't give her much of an option, the veteran model hadn't even given her a chance to feel shy when they first met and started sending clothes to be delivered to the Daruyama with no return receipts. She had all of her current up to date measurements thanks to Lory and had rejected Kyoko's request to stop, stating that all of her new clothes had been made specifically for her so they couldn't be returned anyway and it would be such a shame to waste them.

It had been particularly embarrassing when cases of lingerie had started arriving. She was used to wearing such things after her times as Setsuka Heel and some of her more mature roles but to have her boyfriend's mother choose them for her was a little awkward. Kuon had tried to intervene on her behalf, but after seeing the pieces his mother chose he really couldn't bring himself to complain too much. Julie's designer eye really knew how to accentuate Kyoko's body the best while still maintaining her standard of propriety.

The conversation with Kuu had been… enlightening and even more embarrassing than talking lingerie with Julie. The very doting father had thanked her profusely for bringing his son back but had also warned her that while Ren was truly a gentleman, Kuon was much more impulsive. He had gone on a very long speech about setting firm boundaries and not letting him take advantage of her and making good choices which then had turned into a whole different speech about using protection, fertility cycles, and family planning which truly was a conversation she didn't really want to have with her adoptive father, much less her boyfriend's dad.

"Otou-san please stop! Kuon and I are not doing any of that so no protection needed, no cycle to fertilize and no family to plan!" she said blushing the color of the ripest tomato. Kuu had sighed an enormous sigh of relief, as much as he wanted his son to be himself, Kuon had been very hormonal as a teenager and he knew, thanks to Julie, that Kyoko was inexperienced.

At this point in their car ride both actors were thinking along the same lines, about the late nights they had spent in each other's company in different states of undress getting to know their bodies but never getting past each other's underwear. They had discussed it previously, what they were both comfortable with. Kyoko wanted to wait until she was ready, Kuon wanted to make sure she didn't feel pressured, so they were taking things slow.

Almost 2 years of slow progress had still been a lot of progress. At the beginning it was just a kiss here and there, maybe holding hands and taking naps together. Then it was some more passionate kisses with escaped gasps, slight moans and grunts. Some nights before the premier of Tragic Marker had led to more shirtless Cain and skimpy nightwear Setsu which, even though they were in character, had allowed them to feel more comfortable in various states of undress while in each other's company.

Mixing their newly gained comfort with their previously acquired make out skills had been intense, more for Kuon, who still under the Tsuruga Ren persona, had used all of his restraint to stop every single time, even when Kyoko had wanted to continue. After coming out to her as Kuon, he had allowed himself some more exploring rights as he had called them, he now freely explored her skin sending shivers every time, but still held firm about stopping when he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself further.

Kyoko had had a lot of mischievous fun with that, pushing his limits and seeing how far she could take him. It brought her absolute joy to be able to see a whole new range of expressions for her dolls, and hearing him curse in english in frustration was always entertaining. Part of the reason she enjoyed bringing him to the edge was because since she was now familiar with the emperor of the night, she had developed a rivaling look in the mirror trying to copy his look. She had not tested her out yet but perhaps tonight would be an opportunity to.

After hearing her giggle at that though Kuon asked "What are you thinking about?" he was curious why she was giggling and was also looking for a distraction from his increasing pg13 thoughts. "I was thinking about Otou-san." That did the trick really fast. It was like a bucket of ice water, he couldn't believe he was here having lewd thoughts and his sweet innocent girlfriend was thinking about his parents. "What about dad?" he asked, trying to conceal his embarrassment. "He gave me what Americans call 'The Talk'" she giggled again seeing Kuon's face of horror.

He didn't know if he should be grateful, or embarrassed or horrified, or exactly what but that was certainly not what he was expecting her to say. It also brought back all of the thoughts he had just a minute before and was now fighting with the discomfort in his pants. "Whyyyy" he asked hitting his head against the steering wheel at the stoplight. "As you know Kuon is a man, and as most men we tend to act first and think later. He is very young and strong and he might be vulnerable to his carnal instincts and I need to ensure that my darling daughter will be safe" she said in an incredibly accurate imitation of Kuu. She couldn't help but laugh as his face went through a whole spectrum of emotions settling in mortified.

Who would have thought that he would be having a conversation about engagement rings with his mother while she had a conversation about sex with his dad, shouldn't it have been the other way around? "If it makes you feel any better he was very reassuring about your virility" she laughed once more. It truly was fun to tease him, she had never seen him so was also great payback for the many times he'd taken advantage of her innocence to tease her in the past.

"I am ready to die now" he said as they entered his building's parking bay. "I was embarrassed but it was nice. It's something that parents do for their kids when they love them, right?" she asked him. Even though she had made amends with her mother, Saena really wasn't one for the birds and the bees talk, or any type of talk really. They met whenever they were both in Tokyo which was about every 3-4 months as of late and talked pleasantries. Kyoko told her about her latest projects, Saena talked about her job. It was comfortable but she was never going to have a mother-daughter relationship like she had with Julie, or even the one with the Okami at the Darumaya.

Kuon felt a little less bad after that, she was right and it was another parenting moment that she had missed with her absent mother. He was not a fan of the lawyer, Saena had always looked at him a little too intently for his taste. Perhaps she could feel the fake persona that Ren had been or she simply didn't like him, but he still accompanied Kyoko to their lunches whenever he was available. He would have to check their calendar and make sure he was available next time, he was sure Saena was going to have a lot of questions.

Turning off the silent engine he turned to look at her in the dim lights of the underground parking bay. She was incredible, even years later he still wondered how she had turned out to be so amazing with everything life had thrown at her. She had grown so much in the last few years both as a woman and an actress that he was often left speechless. He closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. "Thank you" he told her. Kyoko tilted her head in confusion "what for?" she asked innocently. "Today." After a pause he continued "I know it was all about me and my issues but it couldn't have been easy on you either." he said looking at her again and grabbing her hand.

"I'll always be here for you, I love you" she smiled at him, "we'll face anything that comes together". His heart melted a little at the term of endearment. It had taken her a very long time to say she loved him with words. She showed it with her actions constantly, but admitting the words out loud had been a very long time after. "Come on, it's late and we should probably get home" she told him urging him to get out of the car.

He walked around to help her out and closed the door after she got out. He held her hand as they walked into the elevator and stared intently at the glowing number on top of the door as it went up past the 3rd floor "You told Fuwa you love me" he said avoiding looking at her. "I do love you" she replied easily without a single doubt. "I know that" he smiled but still would not look at her. "What i meant was that you told him. You've always avoided saying it in public but you told him" he mentioned as the number blinked past the 11th floor.

"I'm sorry" she said stepping on her toes and kissing his cheek "I didn't think it would upset you" she said softly. "It doesn't" he amended, leaning into her kiss. "Then what is it? You do know the numbers are going to keep increasing until we reach the 17th floor" she said looking at the number change from 14 to 15. "I am aware how elevators work" he chuckled looking at her. "I just want to know why" he said as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out. "Would you have preferred a press conference?" she teased as he opened the door to his apartment.

Kuon hadn't wanted to admit it but he'd thought about it once he heard her. Why him? She'd only ever told him directly and never in the presence of anybody else. He hadn't ever doubted her feelings after she'd told him the first time almost a year ago but he had noticed that there were never any witnesses. He was starting to get concerned. Was she avoiding answering the question? He stepped in turning on lights as he went straight for his liquor cabinet. It had been a really long day and he could use a drink, particularly right now.

Noticing his nervousness she stopped him before he could get too far "I'm sorry. I love you Kuon, even if you have a tendency for self sabotage" she said pulling on his shirt sleeve to get him to look at her. "Today was a very big day and you're feeling vulnerable and I understand. I told Sho because I needed him to understand how serious I am about you because he also deserves to move on as I have." she sighed and continued "I didn't say it before because after finding out about your past I wanted you and everyone to know that I love you Kuon, not Ren, but you." she said, grabbing his face into her hands.

He looked down into her golden eyes switching from one to the other desperately searching for something, he just didn't know what. She smiled at him softly as she continued "I'll shout it from the roof of LME tomorrow if it'll make you happy. I'm sure the president wouldn't mind" he grabbed her tightly in his arms and kissed the top of her head "Boss would certainly love that but thank you, you don't have to. I just… I don't know. It's been a long day" he sighed into her hair. "Come on, let's go to bed" he said forgetting about the drink he had wanted.

"How about you take a bath and I make you something to eat? Don't think I didn't notice you barely ate anything at the restaurant. I can make you something light" he nodded his head in defeat, it still surprised him the innate ability she had to keep track of the amount of food he ate. Today he had been lucky that she had not mentioned it during dinner, she usually would pause the conversation to mention it or simply tap her utensils to his plate. "Could I persuade you to join me?" he asked seductively, he never got tired of her blushing cheeks, no matter how much progress they had made, she still blushed intensely any time he made any type of suggestive comment.

"Bath, food, bed" she said looking slightly flustered. "Bed it is then" the emperor purred back at her. A glint in her eye appeared that he was not familiar with but she quickly shot it down "You need to eat Kuon, and then a good night sleep, don't think i didn't notice you pacing around all of last night. You barely slept 4 hours." With a defeated sigh he made a stop at the minibar before going to start his bath.

Once she heard the water running Kyoko smiled mischievously, she had big plans for tonight but she needed a little time to prepare and she also had to make sure he ate. She knew he could handle not sleeping because of their line of work so she didn't mind that bit too much. After shredding some cabbage and lightly frying some pork and throwing it in the oven, she went into the guest room that had become hers and started getting ready.

While the water filled the tub Kuon stared at the bubbles. After their time as the Heel siblings Kyoko had made sure to always keep bath bombs and bubble bars in his bathroom. He decided to check his phone as the water filled past the halfway mark and went to pick it up from the console table by the entrance. He noticed Kyoko wasn't in the kitchen and he guessed she must be getting changed, cooking in her gown probably was uncomfortable. He just wished she had allowed him to be the one to take it off.

Kuon grabbed his phone and went back into the bathroom. The day before they had decided to turn off his phone and spend his last day as Tsuruga Ren planning the events of the day, it had been an impromptu decision but Lory had backed him completely and even managed to get his parents in a flight out of California last night. What they didn't know is that Lory had seen it coming, he wasn't sure when but he had been noticing Kuon being out more often than not in recent times and had started making arrangements.

As expected, the moment he turned his phone on it started beeping and lighting up with missed calls and messages that had gone unanswered while the little machine was off. He had over 5 thousand emails that he wasn't looking forward to go through. He knew Yashiro would help him go through them and reply to the important ones, but he had the night and tomorrow off. He had pulled a miracle to get him out of all of his commitments for the rest of the week to accommodate the 'funeral' and the upcoming interviews and talk shows.

He read over the most recent emails and brief descriptions seeing a lot from directors and producers excited to work with him in future projects, he also saw quite a lot from previous costars some in excitement at his skill, some condemning him for lying, and approaching the ones from earlier in the day a lot of them lamenting his passing with anecdotes about how great Ren had been.

Kuon immediately grouped all of those and put them in a folder. He didn't want to read about that, particularly knowing people might change their opinion after his reveal, and wanting to move forward from that. He sighed once more and got in the almost scalding hot water. He immediately sent a thankful prayer to his girlfriend for the idea, the hot water with whatever was in the bubble bars was definitely helping him relax.

He picked up the small velvet box that had been in his jacket which now was in the laundry bag to be sent for dry cleaning. He had placed it close by when he removed the garment and opened it to see the ring. It had been a nice conversation with his mother, she had laughed at him while walking to find Kyoko and Kuu when he told her he kept the ring on him at all times. Kyoko was an incredibly organized person and whenever she was at his place she liked tidying up and 'contributing' as she called it. He was afraid she'd stumble upon it and he didn't want anyone to hold onto the ring like Yashiro had kindly offered.

The ring box had been his manager's suggestion, Kuon had told him the concept of the diamonds reflecting off the main stone and Yukihito had immediately looked for the online store of the box with the spot light as he had seen it in a magazine before. It really made the ring look magical with the thousand little rainbows that shone everywhere. He closed it once more and hid it between some folded towels. He had an idea of when he wanted to ask her, he was waiting for her to turn 20 so she wouldn't be criticized for being a minor dating an older man, but he still didn't know how to do it.

He spent the next hour just laying in the bath with his eyes closed thinking of different scenarios and which would be the best choice. He was sure he wanted to make the experience magical for his fairy loving girlfriend. He wanted to do everything himself but he knew now that asking for help wasn't so terrible, he was sure though, that he wasn't asking his mother or Lory, they would both completely take over and he wasn't having it.

Kyoko knocked and walked into the bathroom to let him know dinner was ready. He was slightly surprised to see she was still wearing her dress but excited about the possibilities after. She offered to get him a towel reaching into the stack by the tub which made Kuon jump knowing what was stored in there.

Time seemed to have slowed down as Kuon stood there dripping wet and completely naked while Kyoko stood there hand mid air. They held each other's gaze not moving or saying anything. He expected to be able to see her blush peeking over the neckline of her dress into her face and gazed slightly down but found it it's regular color. He took the opportunity to truly appreciate how her dress hugged her curves perfectly. She took a step forward and remembering his state of undress Kuon snapped his eyes back to hers expecting to see her frightened since she wasn't blushing, but instead, he found what could only be described as the most sultry and seductive look he had ever seen in his life.

Next chapter: The Empress

AN: So I wasn't happy with how ch 10 was looking and one thing led to another and now I had to change the rating of this fic to M. So I sincerely apologize if that's not what you were here for and I absolutely understand if this is where we part ways but I still love you all and I hope you continue to enjoy the story!