Part Five – Chapter Twelve – Welcome Party

5-12-1

Kyoko looked over at all of the balloons that had been filled with helium and all the food prepared on the table and the large sign that said 'Welcome Hizuri Family'. She looked at the guest list. There weren't that many people on there that were either her age or Kuon's age but he had told her that he had grown up around the adults his family were friends with and her father was very familiar with that family.

She had even bought a special bone that she wanted to give to Cain if Kuon brought him or if he didn't then he could take it home with him. She had wanted to host the party on the day of the Hizuri family arrival but her father had persuaded her to do it on the next weekend.

Kyoko was excited to see Kuon's reaction to this. She was happy to have him so close and to be able to visit him more often but she knew he hadn't been that happy recently. She wanted to see him smile more like when he was with Cain.

Kyoko heard a ringing of the gate bell and she wondered who it could be. Who was going to be the first guest? She looked at the cake and wondered if it should be covered so that Kuon could have it fresh.

"Kyoko-chan!" she heard one of the staff say and so jumped up and went to the front entry where Kuon was standing there by himself in casual clothing. She gasped before running over to him, he hugged her and then took a few step backs.

"You look cute," he told her and Kyoko blushed.

"I was preparing for the - but it's a surprise and you shouldn't be here yet," she said and Kuon laughed weakly as she said that and cocked his head to the side. "Well, you're…you're one of the guests of honor so you can't be here."

"I know it's a surprise party," Kuon laughed before he looked around the house. "Knowing Boss, he's probably preparing something pretty large but I can't wait to see your contributions, Kyoko." He looked down and sighed. "I just wanted to see you. I needed to get out of my house."

"Were you walking Cain?" Kyoko asked as she looked around him for the dog but couldn't see him. She wondered whether he had left Cain by the gate but that might be risky, he could run away and then Kuon would get depressed again since he wouldn't have the cute little puppy to take care of anymore. "He can come in."

"He's not here," Kuon laughed again and then looked down. "My parents…I feel that I shouldn't say this to you."

"Is it a secret?" Kyoko asked and Kuon smiled at her and shook his head. "Then you can tell me anything."

"They're smothering me," Kuon sighed and Kyoko bit her top lip. She understood why his parents were doing that to him. Kuon had depression and it most likely would last his entire life. He had also attempted to take his own life and they had said that a move might be stressful. His parents obviously cared about him and that might limit his freedom until they were able to trust him again.

"They love you," Kyoko tried to persuade him and he laughed.

"Yeah, I know that they love me but it's hard not feeling as if I have space to breathe and I didn't know where else to come so I wanted to talk to you. I'm sorry if I'm intruding."

"Never," Kyoko shook her head as she hugged him again. "Can you bring Cain to the party later? I have a gift for him."

"You have a gift for my dog?" Kuon asked and Kyoko nodded eagerly. "Okay. I'll make sure to bring him but he might just go and hide since he's still a puppy."

"That's okay," Kyoko grinned, "there are a lot of places where he can hide if he wants to."

5-12-2

"This is your son," a famous photographer grinned to Kuu as Kuu had his hand on Kuon's shoulder. He had barely let Kuon out of his sight thinking that the party might be too stressful for him and he wanted to leave as soon as Kuon started to feel uncomfortable. "Has he thought about modelling."

"I think that if he wants to do that then he would be pretty successful, right?" Kuu grinned before looking at the teenager. "Interested?" he asked.

"Maybe," Kuon said nervously. He looked at the photographer trying to study whether he was doing this only because he was the son of Kuu or whether he actually was seen as someone who could sell merchandise or an experience for them. If it was the latter then it was definitely much more interesting to him.

"Well, call me up if he is interested," the photographer said before handing Kuu his card and Kuu passed it to Kuon who smiled and did a grateful bow to the photographer.

"Thank you," he said and the photographer nodded before putting a hand on Kuu's shoulder.

"Thank you, Shuuhei. This has been a great party and I'm absolutely thrilled that you and Juli will be living in Japan. We'll have to catch up. Get some dinner," he said and Kuu nodded.

As the photographer was called away, Kuu sighed and looked at Kuon. "Are you doing okay? I wish that people would speak to you if you're right in front of them," he stated and Kuon looked at him.

"Why should they? I'm a weirdo freak," he said and Kuu shook his head.

"Do you need to leave?" he asked and Kuon frowned.

"No. I don't need to leave. Nothing that bad has happened that I feel as if I need to leave," he argued again. He sighed as he saw how concerned his father was still and looked away. "I'm fine," he argued and Kuu nodded slowly. "I'm going to get something to eat."

Kuu nodded and then whispered in a way that only Kuon could hear, "Are you sure that you're okay?" he asked and Kuon rolled his eyes.

"I'm fine," he nodded. "I just need some time by myself without people seeing me as your son." He walked away and Kuu watched him leave. In his mind he could hear Lory telling him that maybe it would be better if he gave Kuon independence and sent him away until he got better but he couldn't do that. How could he just send his own son away?

Kuon looked at the food on the table. He knew that it was good because Lory knew good food and Kyoko loved to learn how to make new dishes. He saw some hamburger steak and laughed at the eggs next to it. He could eat some of that as it was loaded with an ingredient that was very important, nostalgia.

As he put some onto his plate, he saw a fourteen-year-old Japanese boy approach him. "You're the Hizuri kid, right?" he asked and Kuon nodded.

He put his hands to his side and bowed respectfully, "Hizuri Kuon, nice to meet you," he said and the boy rolled his eyes at him.

"Nobura Seito," he said and Kuon was about to say more but Seito glared at him making it so Kuon took a step back. "Your father is a former colleague of mine. My father still acts in this country whilst yours is just a failure who had to run away to America."

"My father went to America to act," Kuon said before Seito rolled his eyes already appearing bored by this situation.

"Then why did he return to Japan? Were you too freaky to stay in America, you're a loser and I'm going to make sure that the whole school knows it. Americans just rest on their family names and have their life handed to them. It sucks. They suck."

Kuon stared at him. What the hell was wrong with this asshole? He gave a half smile before hearing footsteps towards him and turned to see Kyoko there. "The food looks really good," he told her.

"I love how you're enjoying the hamburger and eggs," Kyoko commented before smiling at Seito who seemed to be looking away from her. Kuon frowned. There was too big of an age difference for him to be seriously attracted to him.

"Let's go find Cain," Kuon said and Kyoko nodded before saying goodbye to Seito and followed Kuon. She could see his back sag a little as if he had a heavy weight put on it. Kyoko saw how he had started to get depressed and she hated this. This was supposed to be a fun event for him.

Kyoko stopped him as she saw Cain chewing on the bone she had given him. "Cain's over here," she stated and Kuon nodded as he went over to him. "He's really friendly. I've seen other people coming up to him and he let them pet him," she announced and Kuon went over without responding and picked Cain up in his arms.

"Kyoko," he told her sadly. "I'm sorry. You don't have to be nice to me."

"I don't have to but I want to. We're friends," she said and Kuon nodded before looking at Cain and rubbed his belly. "I mean, I'm your friend, right?"

"Yeah, you're definitely my friend," Kuon said as he watched her. The last thing he wanted was for Kyoko to feel sad during this party but he wondered whether he should leave or not. No. This party was thrown for them and to celebrate the move it would be wrong to just leave.

"And you're my friend too," Kyoko stated and Kuon shook his head.

"I'm a freak," he told her, "a freak who only relies on my dad and my dad's success. Dad knows it too. He just doesn't want to admit that that's the only reason anyone is nice to me." Kuon looked at her and picked up Cain. "Can you hold him for a moment? I want to go ask my dad something."

"Umm, sure," Kyoko nodded before seeing Kuon walk off. She looked at Cain and rubbed him behind the ear, ruffling his fur. "You're so cute. You're going to help me, right? You're going to help me keep Kuon happy and smiling. Dogs are really good at that, especially puppies," she laughed.

Kuon looked at her sadly before going to grab his coat and shoes and looked around to make sure he wasn't being followed. His mother was talking to a group of women of her age and his father was having a drink with a man Kuon had met half a dozen times who was a director or something.

He took a deep breath before walking out of the house. When he was at that party he didn't feel as if he could breathe and what the heck was that Seito's problem? Did he have a vendetta against him or something?

End of Part Five Chapter Twelve

Thank you for reading

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