AN: Thanks for your patience in the update of the fic. I've been pretty busy with school and work which has led to a slight depression :/ Well, I really hope that you enjoy it.

Chapter 10 - Families

Kyoko stood extremely still as she looked at the man in front of her. He wanted to adopt her? He had gained permission from her mother to take her in as his own child? Maybe that would be okay if the Hizuri family had to go back to America. Unless they adopted her, there would have been trouble getting all the paperwork done.

"Would you like that, Little Miss Kyoko?" Lory asked and Kyoko paused before nodding.

"Yes," she bowed quickly, "I'll try not to be an inconvenience, but…" she nervously moved her foot. If she went with this man then she knew she would still have a connection to Kuon, but she didn't want to leave yet. Kuon still had to keep fighting and he might not be as strong if she wasn't there. She paused, was she being silly in thinking that? He'd probably still improve.

"If there's something that you feel you need to tell me then I'll lis—" Lory told her before Kyoko cut him off.

"I'd like to stay with HIzuri family a little bit longer, please?" she asked them. She looked at Lory first and then she turned to look back at Julie and Kuu who were smiling with such warm expressions on their face. "I can go to Tokyo afterwards, but I'd like to stay here for as long as I'm able."

Lory hummed, "That seems fair, I think that Kuon over here needs his cheerleader," he grinned to the ten-year-old. He saw Kyoko's smile widen. "I do have to tell you that I have a son myself. He's very quiet and studious, he does have friends but I'd say he prefers to surround himself with books."

"Will he like me?" Kyoko asked nervously. She didn't want to have to prove herself to her new…was he going to be her brother? She didn't know how she was going to get a complete stranger to love her when her own mother hadn't wanted to touch her.

"He's quiet but he's a kind-hearted young man. I'm sure that you'll make a favorable impression on him and next year he'll be off to university," Lory said. Kyoko nodded as she tried to think of how she would try to impress someone who was in high school.

"That is right," Julie smiled, "How is Kouki? I feel that we haven't seen him in some time."

"He spends most of the time with his mother, right?" Kuu asked before realizing that he had stepped on a landmine. It wasn't that the woman that his friend and former boss had fallen in love with was a bad person, but the two had had some arguments and she had left him. It was after the divorce that Lory had taken more of an interest in romantic video games and dressing up (not that he hadn't before).

"That is true, that might mean that apart from the house staff that I employ, it might be a little lonely for you," Lory said and Kyoko grinned.

"That's alright," she nodded, "I've spent a lot of time by myself. I won't get lonely, I promise."

There was only a very brief silence before Kuon started to speak, moving his chair slightly closer to them. "Boss," he said as everyone turned to him. "Your computers and phone, they still work, right?"

Lory watched Kuon as he attempted to find the young boy's reasoning in asking this question. However, he realized very quickly that the actual question was hidden inside the simple one. Lory nodded as he understood how close the two children were already. "Of course, and you'll be able to have access to them, Kyoko."

"Then we can email each other or at least call one another," Kuon suggested as Kyoko's face lit up with her excitement. She turned to him and went up to him, putting her hands on his knees as a gigantic smile lit up her whole face. "Would you like that?"

"I'd love it, then I wouldn't have to say goodbye to you," she told him. "You'll send me pictures, right, of all the fun things that you do and you'll be able to show me how much your improving if you leave before you're all better."

"How about we both send each other photographs," Kuon said. "We could even add in letters and postcards as well if you like. I'll tell you all about America and you tell me how you're enjoying Tokyo. There is a lot you can do in Tokyo, I find it much more exciting and interesting than Kyoto."

Kyoko's eyes widened as she saw Mr. Hizuri put a hand to his face as a slight amount of gloom was filtered into the air. Julie laughed and rubbed her husband's arm understanding that the slight depression came from Kuon commenting negatively on the area where Kuu was born and raised.

"Yeah," Kyoko said, "I like that. Thank you, Kuon."

Kuon smiled as he saw her so happy, his eyes couldn't be drawn away from her. She was six, very young and yet she was so precious to him already. He somehow felt that the way that she was feeling about keeping in touch with him was the same way that he felt about being in touch with her. He smiled to her, she deserved a good life and he knew that Boss could give it to her. He just somehow wished that he could give it to her, but those were the feelings that came from friendship, right? Kyoko was just a good friend to him.

"No, Kyoko," he said as he moved his arm a little and grinned to himself, proud of his progress, "You should be the one that I should be thanking," he said as the girl turned around and looked at him. Confusion was in her eyes for a moment before that smile came. Kuon returned it. Even if they fell out of touch, he hoped that he would always be able to remember that smile.

…..

…..

Kyoko was entering the prep school with her books under her arms. She had asked Kuu and Julie if they would be alright with her continuing to go even though she was young. Her mother might have just sent her there so that she would have been out of the way or she might have actually sent her there for an education, Kyoko wasn't sure. She knew that someone unintelligent hadn't been worthy of carrying the name Mogami. As she reflected on that, Kyoko's eyes widened and she shivered. Would there be a chance that she was too dumb or too untalented to deserve the name Takarada. She had only just met with Lory, her new father-to-be, she didn't want to be a disappointment on him as well.

Still, she wanted to come here, not for her mother but because she was inspired by all of the hard work and the energy that Kuon was putting in to getting stronger and healthier. She had been scared that he wouldn't have pulled through but he was thriving and his arms were getting stronger and stronger each day. It was amazing progress and Kyoko felt happy that she could support him and cheer him on.

That's what a friend should do.

As she looked through her books, she saw a blond looking at her awkwardly. She shifted nervously as she took him in. It had been a little while since she had seen Shou and she hated that they had ended things with an argument. She approached him and smiled, "Hello, Shou-kun" she said as her eyes drifted towards the pavement rather than making eye contact with him.

"Are you still living with the paralyzed freak?" he asked her, his voice sounding bitter.

"I'm still living with my friend Kuon for a few more weeks, or at least a few more weeks," Kyoko said as she smiled thinking about how much fun and support she had been given from the older boy. She knew that he wasn't a fairy, but he was still magical and spending time with him gave her such a strong and fulfilled feeling. She couldn't hold it tighter in her heart if she tried.

"So, you're going home?" he asked her and Kyoko finally looked at him.

"I'm leaving Kyoto," she said before smiling peacefully, "Mr. Hizuri, Kuon's father, has found me a family to live with and my mother told them that they should take me in. They're located in Tokyo so once Kuon is healthy enough to leave Japan, I'll be going to live with him."

Shou choked on that, "You're leaving," he frowned before crossing his arms, "Whatever. It's not like you do any good here anyway, you usually got in the way of everything. I can't believe that you've -"

Kyoko paused before trying to think why she had once put all her egg-shaped rocks in one basket and declared to the world that she would marry Shou Fuwa and that he was her future husband. Maybe it was from being around someone as mature and caring as Kuon that she had started to see the world for what it truly was. She blushed as she secretly thought about how it would be to be older and walking down the aisle of a chapel to an older Kuon. She shook her head. No, Corn deserved better than her.

"Maybe I'll learn how to change that when I'm in Tokyo," she said before looking down. "I'm going to be getting an email address as well. I know that we're not really friends anymore, but I can give you the address if you'd like. We could try to become friends again," she suggested as Shou kicked a rock.

"Don't bother, I don't need someone like you to give me your email address," he sulked. "I bet you're doing it so that you can keep in contact with him."

Kyoko couldn't deny that. She knew that being six and having an email address was still quite uncommon, but the idea of falling out of touch with Corn was too scary. She still had the stone that he had bought for her but she needed to find his strength too. She didn't know how to break the news to Shou that he was right.

"Is he your prince now?" Shou asked before Kyoko could answer.

"He's…" Kyoko paled, "Kuon is going to marry the world's best woman one day because that's who he deserves. She's going to be the perfect support for him and she's going to do all the things that good wives are going to do. Compared to Kuon's future wife, I don't match up to her. However, I really hope that I'll be able to cheer him on at his wedding when he's older."

Shou scoffed at this, "You're spending all this time with him and you're not even fantasizing about him. He must be a real perv if you've already been duped by a ten-year-old."

Kyoko shook her head and stood with confidence. "Nope, Kuon isn't the type of person to betray people. Sure, he makes jokes and he sometimes plays tricks but he's not like you. My biggest hope for you, Shou-kun, is that one day you can mature into the type of person that Kuon is. Maybe you'll get a girlfriend if you do that."

"Hey!" Shou argued with her as Kyoko turned to go into the school structure, "I – I can get any girl to go out with me that I want, but girls are gross and that includes you."

Kyoko looked at him before sighing and rolled her eyes. She walked off without saying goodbye despite knowing how rude that was. Before she had reached the building however, she had turned around to see Shou looking upset. She really hoped that this wasn't the last conversation that the two of them would ever have. She really hoped that one day they could be mutual friends, but until he changed his attitude, she was scared that that wouldn't be possible.

End Chapter Ten

AN2: So, I recently updated two fics and didn't get a single review on either of them, so I really hope that it's just that those fics are the case and not me, though if I ever did hurt you in a review, I'm sorry. I also realized that in July, I've been on this site (over two accounts) for fifteen years, wow.

Anyway, as for this fic, again I want to thank everyone for reading and supporting. Special shout out to the Chapter Nine reviewers:

Addicted-to-the-fic, Angel-Hime-Chan, Angeline134, AppleSlives813, Ashenvale, brennakai, DreamIdol, Erza, JazminSS, Kris, ktoll9, KuroiRyoko, LXS, Mainaru974, Michiyo, paulagato, Tabbykatroses, The Real Jackie-O