Chapter Five – A Disappointment

Kuu stared at the bottle of prescription medication in front of him. The doctor had told him that Kuon would normally be a little too young to be put on such strong drugs but that he was presenting a rare case and they needed to help him in any way possible. Kuu was grateful that other people wanted to protect his child but he felt so wrong about this.

As he tapped his phone, waiting on the return call from his agent – he had said that he would need some more personal time off of work – Kuu watched the stove and smelled the aroma of the dinner that he was cooking for them. He looked to the pills. They were supposed to be taken with food and Kuu felt terrible that he was forcing Kuon to take them but it was better than the alternative.

Kuu heard the timer ding and checked on the steak before putting it on the plates and keeping Julie's covered for when she came home. He took his and Kuon's food and put them down at the table. He turned to his son with a weak smile. His breath stopped as Kuon picked up the pills and tuned them in his hands before nodding and swallowing them with the help of a glass of water.

Kuu physically flinched as he watched Kuon do that. No parent happily relied on medication to make their child happy when they themselves couldn't do anything. Kuon wasn't strange to him though and Kuu would never call him psychotic. Ever since Kuon was ten his life had seemed to become more and more complicated.

"Thank you," Kuu whispered as he stared at his food and Kuon turned to him feeling guilty about the way his father appeared.

"Dad…I…I never," Kuon said quickly and Kuu shook his head.

"Let's talk about something else," he attempted to smile. Kuon bowed his head guiltily and Kuu looked over to him. "I love you," he tried to remind him and Kuon nodded not sure what to say to his father who was willing to give up everything for him. "I…I um…school…"

"Yeah," Kuon said as he looked away, "they call me a freak," he told him and Kuu opened his mouth to argue but then didn't know whether to continue. He wanted to prove to Kuon that he was in his corner and that he loved him. "Dad, it's fine, you don't have to…"

"Maybe we should move," Kuu thought aloud and Kuon looked at him in shock.

"Dad, this is your home," he said quickly and Kuu stared at him in shock. "You and Mom, this is your home. I can't take your home away from you. You want to be an actor, Mom wants to be an actress and a model. That's what is important to you!" he said and Kuu stood up. He came over to Kuon and wrapped the boy up in his arms.

"You're what is most important to me," he said wanting to think about private schools that Kuon could attend in the area. Maybe a whole new change would help him. Kuu just didn't want to lose his son. The worst thing that could happen would be for him to come home and find Kuon dead on the ground when he could help him, when he could have saved him.

As painful as giving him this medication was, Kuu just wanted to help his little boy. Recovery was their first goal but survival was what they really should be working towards.

…

…..

Kyoko followed Sho to the prep school that his parents were making him attend. Kyoko had the feeling that Sho definitely didn't go every day. Prep school was optional, it wasn't something that every student needed to do but Kyoko would feel terrible if he was deceiving his parents about something so important. She had the feeling that he was due to his complete lack of interest.

"Why are you following me?" Sho asked Kyoko who shrugged.

"You seemed to want me to pay you attention," she told him before looking around and thinking of all the childhood memories that she had developed here, not all of those had been happy memories. Kyoko saw Sho give a small frown but she knew he was correct.

"You're not going to be a tattle tale are you?" he asked and Kyoko bit her top lip. "Forget it. You're as bad as them, can't support my dreams at all. You're all the same. Boring and stupid, you should have…"

"I get top marks," Kyoko told him and Sho stared at her looking a little dumbfounded, "At my prep school in Tokyo, I'm ranked in the top five," she said and Sho's eyes widened, he had never known Kyoko to gloat in this manner. She was acting as if she were better than he was.

"I bet you don't have friends though," Sho said trying to say that he was better than her and Kyoko smiled, spinning around to walk in front of him and face him, walking backwards.

"I have the most incredible friend in the whole world," she bragged as she thought about Kanae. She loved having a girl that she regularly spent time with, that she could share secrets with, who she felt a bond like siblings to. That had definitely been missing during her years in Kyoto.

"Are they imaginary?" Sho asked with a cold laugh and Kyoko was about to reply but found someone to shove her out of the way and then latch themselves onto Shotaro's arm. Kyoko fell onto the ground but managed to dust herself off, taking a step away from the two of them.

"He's mine! Get lost you tramp!" one girl said and Kyoko looked up to see that it was a girl who went by the nickname of Momo. Kyoko wasn't sure whether she still used that name or not but she had seemed to get her wish by the way that she was clutching hard to Shotaro's arm. Kyoko's eyes glazed over. Of course Shotaro was still Mr. Popularity and he wanted everyone to know it.

"You can have him," Kyoko shrugged. "I don't live here anyway but you should probably be respectful and ask him what he wants. That's only fair."

Momo turned to Kyoko and her eyes widened as she realized who Kyoko was. She pulled Sho away from her, tugging at his arm in a very overprotective manner. Kyoko laughed and rolled her eyes. "You're not better than Shotaro, you might have gone to the big city but you're still a small and petty girl."

Kyoko would, at one point, have run off and cried about being talked to in such a manner but she now knew she had her own light and that was something her adoptive father wanted her to experience and have full confidence in.

"I'm not running after him any longer," Kyoko said as she turned to walk away and Sho's jaw dropped at that. For as long as he could remember, Kyoko had always called him a prince and talked about fairy tales as if they were a road map to real life. She was ready to drop all of that and walk away, let him be pulled away by another woman. This was a new confident Kyoko and it made Sho feel angry that her attention was pulled elsewhere.

Was this what Tokyo did to people? Did Tokyo really have the capability to change people in these kinds of ways. If so, he really wanted to go there. If it was him and a music career then Kyoko wouldn't be able to see anything else apart from him. For some unknown reason, all Sho wanted was to fill Kyoko's minds with thoughts about how lucky she had once been to be so close to him.

…

…

Kuon had gone a little quiet after his second dosage of the medication and Kuu was worried about it. He couldn't cancel all of the jobs that he was doing altogether but he was making sure to take time away from the set. Kuon needed him and Kuu had the feeling that Kuon felt that he had been left alone again. Rick had come over and Kuu was hoping that having a friend might inspire Kuon more.

"So your dad sounds really overprotective," Rick stated and Kuu felt his stomach turn over and twist. Yes. He was but it was for Kuon's own good, right?

"I had a gun pointed at my head, my dad gets to worry about me but I can't believe…I can't believe that I wanted to make up for the blood that I…" Kuon whimpered and Kuu bowed his head. He didn't want for them to know of his presence here but it hurt his heart when he heard about Kuon's own insecurities.

"Those people didn't die, sure they got hurt but that's their own fault. If they weren't them then they wouldn't deserve to get hurt," Rick said as he started to pace the room and Kuon tried to think on that. He wanted to say something that would impress his friend but he wanted to be honest to himself and he didn't want to hurt anyone anymore. He liked learning new skills but not to hurt others. His dad wouldn't hurt others.

"I don't want to -"

"So, you want them to think that you're weak, like you're the monster they say you are all trapped and alone and scared," Rick challenged him and Kuu felt his back straighten as he sat upright. This wasn't the type of thing that any parent wanted their child to believe and Kuon was already vulnerable. "Trust me, pure rage is the only thing that they'll listen to."

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Kuon stressed and Rick sighed loudly, sounding exhausted.

"You're weak. It's a hunt or be hunted world out there and you're just a weak little chicken. If you're not able to take things into your own hand and play the situation out the way that you want it to happen then we can't be friends anymore. If you really wanted to be my friend, you would defend yourse- no, you would go on the offensive. Become the wolf. Bite anyone who challenges that happy future that you desire. Can you do that?" Rick asked him and Kuon flinched.

Kuon shook his head, not wanting the friendship to end but he knew that what his dad had been asking for and what he wanted were the same things and what Rick was trying to corrupt him into wasn't who he wanted to be. He took a weak breath in and then shook his head again, "I can't," he said and Kuu stood up walking down the stairs.

"Then I'm done with you until you can think clearly," Rick told him before walking out of the room. "You're useless, Hizuri," he said before Rick stopped in front of Kuu who was eyeing him with dislike after the way that he had spoken to his son.

"Until you learn the value of friendship, please leave," Kuu said. He hadn't wanted to stop this friendship because he didn't want Kuon to be alone but as much as he wanted to fight against the idea, he had to admit that Kuon was vulnerable. He wasn't able to fight for himself these days and though he tried, many things were making it nearly impossible.

Kuu stood in the doorway, imagining a black cloud looming over his son. He sighed and Kuon turned to him.

"Hey," he said softly and Kuu nodded, "Are you mad at me, Dad?" he asked and Kuu shook his head.

"I'm just disappointed," he said and Kuon looked at him terrified. "I'm disappointed that life has to be so crappy for an amazing, inspirational kid like you. If I could make this world all lollipops and rainbows for you, I'd do it," Kuu tried to tell him and Kuon shook his head.

"Thank god that you can't do that," he said before trying to smile, "That would be all kinds of crazy."

End of Chapter Four

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Four

Brennakai, Erza, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, Phoenix1218, Tam2013,

AN: I can't believe I've been working on this fic for two years. How the time flies.