AN: Just a warning, this chapter is pretty short as I'm going to do a time skip with the next chapter and start the next part. Thank you to everyone who continues to read this story.

Chapter Thirteen – Always With You

Rick looked at Kuon and laughed. The young boy was staring out of the window at a bird. The love of nature was something that both he and Kyoko shared and although she had only left the day before, he still really did miss talking with her and her being here. He was glad that he had seen her happy the entire time they were together but he was starting to feel this lonely inadequacy within himself. It felt nice to have someone to help him through these emotions.

Rick seemed to be noticing how he was feeling a little more though and he was starting to despair of his friend. "You really should toughen up," he advised him and Kuon looked back at Rick.

"Yeah," he laughed, "Pretty hard to do from a wheelchair."

"You can learn fight moves in a wheelchair or are you an ableist?" Rick asked before frowning. "Listen, you're feeling sad because a young girl, someone too young for you to be attracted to without it being sickening left. She went home, Kuon. She was on vacation. You've got to learn how to be tough, how to strangle a chicken."

"Why would I want to do that?" Kuon asked with a frown. "I don't have anything against chickens."

"Apart from you are one, that's what people say at school that you're a chicken and that you're weak," he said and Kuon shrugged hearing that. "You think that's what they should be thinking."

"I don't think people respond to people who just try to be tough for no reason," Kuon told him. "I want to be able to land better roles in the future. I want to be known as kind and comforting and someone who you can talk to and have a conversation with."

"People think that you're gay," Rick said in despair and Kuon shrugged. "It makes me look gay."

"I don't think anyone thinks you're gay," Kuon told him, "and why should I worry about being known as a homosexual. I just tell them that I'm not. Being gay isn't an insult, some people are just attracted to other people."

"How about when people say you're a disappointment to your parents," Rick said and Kuon paled and bowed his head, that was something that he never wanted to hear. "They say that you're a disappointment to your parents and especially to your father." Kuon blinked as he looked ahead.

"People say that?" he asked and Rick nodded, feeling that he was getting control of this situation. "They say that about Dad."

"People might be afraid to hire him if he only has to take care of his son, if his son is a complete embarrassment to him," Rick said. "So you've got to learn to fight for your dad's sake, okay?" he asked and Kuon nodded. He really didn't want to let his father down, his dad would always be his hero.

…..

…..

Kyoko sat on her bed with the flute on her lap. She thought fondly about the time she had spent with Kuon. This time nothing bad had happened and she felt more confident that Kuon would be okay. She bowed her head and smiled. She had had a really good time with him and they had promised to keep in contact.

She wanted to wait until she was a teenager and could really express the way that Kuon made her feel. Hopefully nothing would happen that would prevent them from being friends. Kyoko stood, excited to contact Kuon again but as she opened her email she found an email from Shotaro where he was bragging about his plans to come to Tokyo and be famous.

Hopefully it wouldn't happen too soon. Kyoko could imagine Kuon's hand in her hand and his arm around her body as they passed Shotaro by. That was the dream that she had had. The little boy who had been a quadriplegic proving that he was better than Shotaro. It wasn't too rude to think of things that way, was it?

End of Chapter Thirteen

End of Part Four – Next is Part Five

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Twelve

Brennakai, Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, KrisXD, melchormonica8, misherukuro, paulagato