AN: Trigger warnings for guns and for suicidal actions

Chapter Three – A Shot in the Dark

Kuu sighed as he turned to Julie, watching as she got into their bed. He knew that he should probably say something about what Kuon had told him but it seemed like a betrayal of the trust that his son had given him. He didn't want to make Kuon rethink the idea of sharing this with him. The fighting should be stopped but Kuu could see it from his son's point, he could understand that they weren't just going to solve this by disciplining him. There had to be another way than sending him to a boot camp. Kuon was a sweet kid, he just seemed a little screwed up right now.

Kuu pushed his hand through his hair and turned to Julie. "I need to get myself a glass of water," he said as he put his hand to her cheek and pushed a couple of strands of her hair behind her ear. He grinned to her. "You look amazing," he grinned in a playful way and Julie kissed him.

"You always look amazing," she laughed, "but thank you. Did you want for me to get it, I can…"

Kuu guided Julie back into the bed as she tried to get out and she watched him. Kuu sometimes could be extremely serious about the type of food that he would eat but there was more in his expression than just whether or not to eat something unhealthy or not. "I can get it, I need to think about some things," he said and Julie put a hand to his chest.

"You don't have to think about things on your own anymore, that's why I'm here. We can share our thoughts and our feelings and work together as a team," she made an attempt to remind him but Kuu shook his head.

"I can't," he apologized and saw the distress in Julie's expression, he kissed her forehead. "I promise that I'm going to be okay."

Kuu stood and went to the door. Suddenly he felt a sharp shock through his body but it cleared up almost immediately. Had he strained a muscle whilst he had been working which he hadn't noticed. Was he getting old. No. No, it wasn't to do with age, yes, he wasn't a spring chicken anymore but he wasn't an elderly aged man who needed a walker to get around. He was a father but Kuon wasn't that old.

Kuu sighed and made his way down the stairs. He blinked confused as he saw that there was a light on. He walked towards it wondering if he had left it on but as he came into the room, there were two things that caught his attention. The first was that Kuon was sitting looking extremely pale on a chair in the kitchen and the second was the gun that he was holding. It wasn't a prop but there was no way that Kuon knew how to load those things.

"Hey," Kuu laughed awkwardly as he went to the kitchen table where Kuon stared at him as if he had been possessed by a ghost. "What's going on? Why'd you take out the gun?" he asked. He looked at his son as Kuon shivered and stared in front of him guiltily, he was struggling between two worlds and Kuu realized that it was more serious than he had given it credit for.

"If I die then it'll mean others can live," he said as he picked up the gun and Kuu watched him with wide eyes. What was he doing?

"Kuon," Kuu said slowly as he saw Kuon holding the handgun. He turned it towards him and Kuu's heart nearly exploded from his chest. He could hear Kuon release the safety and Kuu managed to strike it out of Kuon's hand so that the gun flew off into one area and shot a bullet into the wall whilst Kuu protected Kuon who he had wrapped up in his arms.

Kuu looked at his son in complete horror, "Are you hurt?" he panicked with hundreds of questions running through his mind. What would have happened if he had been too late? What would have happened were he not to understand what Kuon was doing? Kuu could sense the danger dying but his body was still tense and he wasn't going to let his son go.

"Dad…why did you…" Kuon struggled and Kuu gaped as he looked between his son and the gun that was on the ground. What did he even mean why did he stop him? They were family and Kuu wasn't going to lose what was most precious again? Who had twisted Kuon's mind so much that he now had this type of thinking?

…..

…..

Kyoko smiled as she sat in the private car as they travelled to Kyoto. Her father had wanted her to have luxury travel but that didn't matter to her. What mattered to her was trying to impress the people who had taken care of her in the past, those who had believed that she had a future even if it was a different type of future than they had planned. Her father was always trying to put the plans together so that she could have the type of life she dreamed of. Her dream was to stay as his daughter.

"Are you excited?" Lory asked with a playful chuckle and Kyoko nodded as she looked down at her diary that she had brought. Lory winked at her, "Taking a lot of notes, I wish you would let me read that one day. The thoughts of young ladies must be quite entertaining and enriching. It would delight me to -"

"No, you can't read it," Kyoko said as she blushed and looked down, clutching the diary to her chest. "Sorry, it's my dreams and I'd rather tell you all about my dreams."

"I want to hear about them, any time that you choose," Lory replied to her and Kyoko smiled before she looked out the window again. There was so much more greenery than in Tokyo prefecture. This had to be close to the type of setting in which she had seen Corn and his fairy garden.

"I hope that Fuwa-san will be proud of who I'm becoming," Kyoko smiled and Lory nodded.

"They have the son, right? Shotaro, the one that you were friends with as a girl," Lory commented and Kyoko blushed. She felt a little silly that she had had such an infatuation with him at one point. He was a good guy deep down but he hadn't treated her in a princely way but it seemed like her prince didn't have time for her any longer. She wanted to make sure her friends were happy but she didn't know if that was something that she could do alone anymore.

Kyoko sighed and closed her eyes, her cheek resting upon the window and Lory moved her so that she could lean against him whilst she slept. Taking this little girl in as his own daughter hadn't only changed her life but it had changed his as well. He just wanted to protect her happiness and that was something that her mother wouldn't be able to do for her.

…..

…..

Kyoko felt an excitement throughout her whole being as she saw where they had stopped. This was Shotaro's inn and she had hoped that she would be welcomed back on good terms. She saw her father get out and tell his driver what bags to take out. She looked around and saw the guests staring at their luxury car.

"How about we go in?" he asked and Kyoko nodded. She blinked up and smiled as she saw Mrs. Fuwa come to the entrance way. She stopped and stood in front of the okami-san before dropping into a deep bow.

"Hello, it's good to see you again. Thank you for letting me stay here," she said in a sweet manner and Mrs. Fuwa laughed softly before dropping into her own bow and Kyoko looked up with a wide smile and bright, shining eyes.

"It's my pleasure to welcome you back, Kyoko-chan," she said before kneeling down next to her and opening her arms, Kyoko ran into the woman's eyes and Sho's mother looked up at Lory and smiled, thanking him with just his eyes. He nodded and Kyoko ran back to her father.

She was about to say something when she heard a familiar voice.

"Heh, never thought that you'd be able to come back after just leaving without proper goodbyes," Sho said and Kyoko looked at him. She sighed, he looked rebellious and she was a little sad for him that he couldn't even talk to his parents about his own feelings and interests. He still didn't feel the confidence to speak up for his beliefs. She blinked at him. Objectively he looked attractive and fashionable but she no longer felt those strong emotions for him that she had once built a future upon.

"Hello, Sho-san," she said and Sho's eyes widened at the formality.

"You don't have to treat me like a damn stranger, Kyoko, just because you think that that cripple friend of yours is a better person than I was. I've changed. I've become someone new, someone different," he argued and Kyoko sighed before smiling.

"I'd like to see that for myself," she said beaming with her self-confidence against Shotaro. He wouldn't be able to manipulate her any longer, she was a different person now. However, if Shotaro was honestly offering her friendship then she wanted to turn the other cheek and forgive him. It didn't mean he would get to dictate what she did but friends were good to have. She had forgiven Kuon numerous times, she could forgive Shotaro as well.

…..

…..

Kuon looked at the floor of the therapist's office. He took slow breaths as he looked at the therapist again and then turned to see his father there on another chair looking horrified still. He felt terrible that he had put his father in such a position but he had truly thought that the world would be better if he was gone from it.

"So, can we talk about what happened?" the therapist asked and Kuon sighed.

"You mean about the gun?" he asked and the therapist nodded slowly. Kuon looked over to his father who hadn't been able to sleep or eat properly since he had knocked that gun out of his hand. Kuon sighed and Kuu moved forwards, "I just thought that it would be better for everybody if I wasn't here. I haven't been able to concentrate and I think it's causing pain for everyone," Kuon said honestly.

Kuu leaned forward, "I don't…" the therapist shook her head to him but damn it, Kuu was going to say something about this. "You haven't done anything wrong or anything which has caused pain. We love you, Kuon. We want you very much. How could you ever think that we didn't?"

"I don't think that making it so Kuon judges himself is going to help," the therapist told him and then moved backwards before picking up a sample of a medication as well as some documents on it. "I think it's going to be better if we try to put Kuon on an anti depressant."

Kuu looked at her, "What are the side effects?" he asked nervously and Kuon opened his mouth to protest but it seemed that Kuu could only try to think about what was best for his kid even if it did involve drugging him. "I don't want him on anything that will do further harm to him."

"Do you love Kuon or not?" the therapist asked and Kuu froze.

Of course he did, was that not obvious?

End of Chapter Three

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two

Brennakai, Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, misherukuro, PaulaGaTo, Tam2013