On Thursday afternoon, Kyoko showed up at Kuon's apartment and they went down to the grocery store attached to the apartment to get the supplies for dinner. Kyoko had to smack his hands away from the more expensive options several times, chiding him that though they were more expensive, they weren't as high quality. Once they had an entire cart full of food, she took stock of what they had and stared at it worriedly.

"Do you think it's enough?"

He chuckled. "If it's not, they can go back to their hotel and order takeout, the gluttons."

She frowned at the floor. "This is the first time I'm meeting them as your girlfriend. I want this to be perfect."

He lifted her chin with his fingertips. "Kyoko. Mom and Dad aren't your mother. This doesn't have to be perfect." He turned back to the shelf and threw several packs of cookies into the cart. "Besides, you fed Dad sloppy leftovers last time he was here, right? If he ate that, he'll eat anything you cook. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm just so nervous."

At that, he laughed. "I haven't seen Mom in six years. Didn't even say goodbye to her when I left. You want to talk about being nervous, let's start there."

She put her hand over his on the cart handle. "I'm sorry, K-Ren." She had to be careful since they were in public. "I'm so wrapped up in my own head, I forgot about your feelings."

He shook his head and smiled down at her. "It's okay. You can be nervous, too. We can throw ourselves a nervous pity party while we cook, okay?"

They went to the checkout counter to pay for everything and then carried it all up to his apartment. They set the bags on the counter, and Kuon left the kitchen. "I'll be right back. Can you start without me? I'll only be a minute."

Kyoko started unpacking everything and putting ingredients in the refrigerator for later. She set the oven to preheat and started hunting down all the utensils, pots, and pans that she would need. She threw on an apron and set the cutting board out on the counter next to the pile of vegetables and started washing them in the sink.

"How do I look?"

She turned to look at Kuon and dropped an onion on the floor. His hair was bright blonde, and his contacts were nowhere to be seen. Her hand went to her mouth, and she felt tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"Oh, Kuon…"

He ran a hand through his hair nervously. "Should I put the wig back on?"

She was across the kitchen in half a second to hug him. "No! It's perfect! Your mother is going to be so happy!"

"And you? Are you happy?"

In answer, she grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down to kiss him. When she broke the kiss, she was blushing fiercely. "Very. You finally look like you."

He backed her up against the counter and leaned over her with a hand on either side of her on the counter top. "If you're going to kiss me like that, then I'm going to have to do this more often," he growled. He leaned down and kissed her neck. He trailed kisses from just under her ear down to the top of her dress before she pulled his face up to hers. Her eyes were a fierce molten gold. She kissed him deeply, and then pushed gently on his chest.

"We need to start cooking if we're going to get this done by seven."

He put his forehead down on her shoulder. "Are you sure? I can just go downstairs really quick and buy a bunch of cake or something and feed that to them."

She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Move, Kuon." He moved, reluctantly. She handed him a knife and several vegetables. "Start chopping these. I'm going to start cleaning the chicken." He did as he was told, sneaking peeks at her as he worked. He was mesmerized by how quickly and methodically she worked to clean and trim the fat from the chicken. Her eyes were so focused. He took the opportunity to look over her body as he worked, admiring the sweetheart neckline of her dress…

"Ah! Shit!" The knife clattered to the counter.

Kyoko snatched him by the arm and pushed his bloody finger under the tap. "Are you okay!?"

He nodded, blushing. That's what I get for being a pervert… "The knife slipped. I was being too careless."

When she shut the water off, she looked at his finger and shook her head. "It's a very small cut, thank goodness. I'll go get a bandaid." She left to go to his bathroom medicine cabinet, and he watched her go with his heart in his eyes. I stared at her chest and she's still going to get me a bandaid. I don't deserve her. When she returned, she wrapped the bandage around his finger. "All set. How does that feel?"

"It's missing something."

She raised her eyebrow at him, and then it dawned on her. She shook her head, laughing, and bent to kiss it. "All better?"

He beamed at her. "Feels great. Thank you, Kyoko-chan."

She shoved him playfully. "Back to chopping, you. And don't get distracted this time."

"I'll do my best." He meant that. Having her beside him had him so distracted he could barely function. He managed to get the vegetables all cut up without further incident and put them in a bowl for her. She arranged the seasoned chicken and vegetables in two baking pans and put them into the oven. She then pulled a package of strawberries out of the refrigerator and started mixing up the ingredients to make strawberry mochi for dessert. Kuon started washing the dishes and utensils as she finished with them. By the time she was done, the kitchen was mostly clean. She wiped down the counters and turned to Kuon and giggled.

"You should have put an apron on."

He looked down at himself. His shirt was covered in water splotches and pieces of food from washing dishes. "Shit." He pulled his shirt off over his head, exposing the hard planes of his chest and abs. Kyoko stared at him, suddenly wishing they weren't going to have dinner with his parents in just a few minutes. He caught her staring and smirked. "Close your mouth, Kyoko-chan."

Her cheeks turned pink instantly. "Bully."

He kissed her forehead. "It's okay. If I saw you without a shirt, I'd probably do the same thing. I managed to cut my finger open just looking at your decolletage."

She shoved him toward the hallway, steam threatening to pour from her ears. "Go put another shirt on!"

He laughed all the way to his bedroom. He traded in his stained t-shirt for a white button down. He rolled up the sleeves to his elbows and left it untucked. He looked in the mirror and took a deep breath. All right, Hizuri. Dinner with the parents and girlfriend. You got this.

The doorbell rang, and Kyoko snapped to attention. She straightened out her dress and took a breath before opening the door. "Welcome! Please come in." She ushered them inside. "It's good to see you, Father." She smiled brightly at Kuu, and then turned her attention to Julie, who had chosen to wear overly large sunglasses and an equally large sun hat in an attempt to not be recognized as Sarah. Kyoko had to keep from breaking into laughter at the sight of Kuon's mother trying to be incognito. "Hizuri-san."

Julie's face fell. "Not Mother? Kuu gets to be Father, but I don't get to be Mother?"

"Hi, Mom."

Julie froze. She pulled her sunglasses off and looked down the hall in wide-eyed disbelief at Kuon, who was wearing a sheepish half-smile. She burst into tears and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. "MY BABY!"

Kuu looked from Kuon to Kyoko and back to Kuon. "What? You…" he looked back at Kyoko in surprise. "You ambushed us."

Kyoko wiped the tears from her eyes with her hand and ushered Kuu toward his son. He wrapped his arms around his wife and his son and they stood there for a moment, until Julie broke apart from them. She went to Kyoko and bear hugged her. "You gave me my son back. Thank you." Her voice was thick with tears. Kyoko blushed bright pink.

"I-I didn't really do anything…"

"Shh. Yes you did."

Kyoko hugged her back. This must be what it's like to have parents that love you, she thought. She held in her feelings, though. This moment was Kuon's.

Julie looked up at Kuon with the warmest smile. "You've gotten so tall. And so handsome. Just like your father."

Kuon blushed and looked away. "Jeeze, Mom."

Kuu turned to Kyoko. "So. I asked you if Tsuruga-san was going to be here, and you lied to me."

Kyoko shook her head. "No I didn't. I don't see Ren Tsuruga anywhere, do you?"

Kuu shook his head with a smile. "Fair enough. So how long have you two been together, and how in the hell does Lory not know?"

Kuon chuckled and gestured to the dining room. "It's a long story. Do you want to hear it over dinner?"

They sat down at the table and Kyoko brought out the two pans of chicken and vegetables. She served them, and Kuon relayed the story of how he and Kyoko had met in Kyoto when they were kids. Kuu slapped his hand over his eyes.

"Of course you were able to act out a perfect Kuon. You knew him personally."

Kyoko blushed. "I didn't know that at the time, though. I just… used him as a template for my character without knowing they were the same person."

"But they were both named Kuon."

Kyoko blushed even deeper and winced in embarrassment. "I thought his name was Corn. I was mispronouncing it."

Julie covered her full mouth with a napkin, laughing. She managed to swallow her food. "That is the most adorable thing I've ever heard." She pinched Kuon's cheek. "Corn~!"

He pulled away from her, blushing. "Stoppit, Mom."

She turned to Kyoko. "While we're on the subject of not knowing secret identities, I am so sorry for Dayjowey Land. For what it's worth, though, I had tons of fun with you and Kanae."

Kyoko giggled. "Please don't apologize. We should do it again sometime."

Julie nodded. "Absolutely."

Kuon explained about how their stay in Kyoto had gone sideways and he had admitted to Kyoko who he actually was, and how they had been hiding their new relationship from Lory.

Kuu nodded sagely. "As much as I'd like to throw a parade and have a fireworks display over this news, Kyoko-chan must be protected. Your fangirls are absolutely rabid." He said that last line with a that's-my-boy style wink in Kuon's direction.

Kyoko laughed nervously. Julie caught on and smiled a super lady-like smile at her son and her husband. It made Kyoko's blood turn to ice in her veins. "It would be a shame to lose such a good girl who cooks for you and takes such good care of you even when you're being a pain." Kyoko watched in amazement as Kuu and Kuon withered under the smile. Ren Tsuruga was simply the disciple; Julienna Hizuri was the Master. He collected himself quickly.

"I would never dream of throwing Kyoko away over a fan, or anyone else." His eyes met Kyoko's. "When I was younger, I might have. I was stupid and impulsive. But now…" He smiled gently at her, "I appreciate what I have."

They moved to the living room after dinner and chatted late into the night. When it got to be midnight, Kuu sighed. "Julie, we have to go soon, love. We have things to do tomorrow." He checked his watch, "Or rather, today."

She pouted. "We're supposed to be on vacation, Kuu! Who knows when I'm going to get to see my baby again! The next time I see him, he'll have that icky brown hair again and look all prim and proper in an R'Mandy suit."

Kuon laughed. "If it helps, I won't wear the suit."

She made a motion as though she would be sick. "Anything but R'Mandy. Couldn't you let your mother dress you, just once? You'd look fantastic in something from my line."

He smiled sadly. "Ren has a deal with R'Mandy. Unfortunately, that's here to stay. But… you could always dress Kyoko."

Julie turned a positively feral smile on Kyoko, who shrank back in her spot on the couch. "I could, couldn't I? That's the next best thing to dressing my son is dressing my daughter," in-law she added mentally.

Kyoko chuckled nervously. "I-I couldn't! Such beautiful clothes, I couldn't wear something like that!"

Julie shook her head. "No, I won't hear of it. Such a cute figure deserves to be dressed in fine things."

"But I can't afford things like that."

Julie's eyes widened. "You think your Mother would make you pay for something she designed for you?" Her eyes began to water. Kyoko stammered.

"I-I didn't mean it like t–"

Julie wailed. "What kind of mother have I been that my daughter thinks I would make her pay me to wear something nice!?" she blubbered. Kyoko got up and hugged her.

"Okay, okay! You can dress me! Please don't be upset, Mother!," she blurted.

Julie dabbed at her eyes, sniffling. "You mean it?"

"Yes, of course!"

At that, Julie smiled, the tears vanishing as though they had never existed. "It's settled then. I'll get your measurements from the wardrobe department at LME and send you some things."

Kyoko stared at her in shock. She could see how Kuon had come into his acting ability, and it wasn't all from Kuu. Kuu stood up.

"We really do need to go, Julie. I'm sure Kuon and Kyoko have things to do tomorrow as well."

She stood up reluctantly and hugged Kuon. "I'll leave when my son promises he'll call me."

He hugged her back. "I'll call you, Mom. I promise."

She wiped her tears away on her sleeve. "I'm going to hold you to that." She hugged Kyoko. "And you need to call me, too. Okay?"

Kyoko hugged her tight. "Of course, Mother."

Kuu and Julie made their way to the door. After hugging Kuon and Kyoko again and thanking Kyoko again for dinner, they left. When the door shut, Kuon hugged Kyoko from behind and buried his face in her hair.

"Thank you."

She folded her arms over his, and they stood there for a moment in silence. Finally, Kyoko turned around in his arms and looked up. "We should get ready for bed. It's late."

He nodded, though he was reluctant to let her go. They said their goodnights and each went to a separate bedroom. Kyoko changed into a simple soft nightshirt with a Dayjowey Princess on the front. It came all the way down to her knees. She crawled into the bed and pulled the covers up. After tossing and turning for what felt like forever, she grabbed her Sesshomaru plush and tip-toed down the hall.

Kuon was staring dejectedly up at his ceiling when he heard a soft knock at his door. He sat upright. "Kyoko? Is everything okay?"

She opened the door a fraction. "...Can I sleep with you?"

He blinked. Does a bear shit in the woods? "Of course. Are you all right?"

She crawled into bed next to him and cuddled up against him. "Yes, I was just lonely. I missed you, Corn."

He enveloped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "I missed you, too."

They were asleep in moments.

The following morning, Kuon woke up first. He took a deep breath, breathing in the perfume of her hair, and then he stilled. His hand was touching bare flesh. Her nightgown had ridden up as they slept, and his hand was resting on her bare hip, his fingertips brushing the top of her soft cotton panties. Fuck.

He wasn't sure what to do. If I move, I might wake her up. What if she thinks I don't want to touch her? But what if she thinks I'm touching too much? I don't want to scare her. What should I do? As he panicked, Kyoko shifted in her sleep, pressing her almost bare bottom firmly against his crotch. She let out a breathless little sigh, and Kuon was sure his soul left his body. He had already been slightly aroused, as he was most mornings, but now…

Kyoko's eyes fluttered open a fraction. When she felt Kuon's warmth pressed up against her back, she cuddled even closer to him… and then stopped. She felt something hard resting against her butt, and she realized that his hand was resting on her hip. Her first instinct was shock and alarm, but it was quickly replaced by something she had only felt flickers of until now: lust. Unfortunately, because she was Kyoko Mogami, that feeling was also replaced quickly by shame and guilt. Is he asleep? He's not moving. I must have moved accidentally… he's so warm… NO. Kyoko, focus. What if he thinks I'm a slut now?

As they sat there, battling with themselves internally, Kuon noticed the tip of Kyoko's ear becoming more red as the seconds passed.

"Kyoko-chan… are you awake?"

He watched as her whole ear turned scarlet. Before he knew what was happening, she jumped out of the bed away from him and had locked herself in his master bathroom. As she ran, she had neglected to pull her nightshirt down, and Kuon got a full view of her panties, which had cute pink roses on them.

I think roses just became my favorite flower, he thought as he dragged himself out of the bed and went to the door.

"Kyoko-chan, will you please come out?"

She was sitting on the floor of the bathroom with her back to the door and her arms wrapped around her knees. Tears were streaming down her face. He's going to be nice, but I bet he thinks I'm disgusting.

"Princess, please? Can we at least talk about this?"

No answer.

He sighed, pressing his forehead to the door. "I'm really sorry. I didn't do this on purpose."

"Why are you apologizing? I'm the one who acted like a slut."

He stared. Now we get to the heart of the issue. "Why on earth would you think you're a slut?"

"I-I forced myself on you. I asked if I could come to bed with you without thinking about what I was wearing, and then I…" she couldn't bring herself to say that she had put her butt on his crotch.

"Kyoko-chan, you're not forcing anything on anyone. You moved in your sleep. I moved in my sleep. I, for one, regret nothing."

"Y-you don't?" her voice was so small.

"Never. I woke up with my arms around the most beautiful girl in the world, and she smelled fantastic, and her body was pressed up right next to mine. I could have died and gone right to heaven." Or more probably hell, with the dirty thoughts of everything I'd like to do to you, he added mentally.

The door opened a fraction of an inch, and a watery golden eye peeked out at him. "Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

He smiled down at her, heartbroken to see that she was crying. "No, Princess. Will you come out? Please?" She came out, and he gathered her in his arms. He kissed the tear tracks on her cheeks. "I could never be angry with you over something like this."

She hiccupped. "I-I'm just scared that I'm going to disappoint you."

He tilted her chin up and kissed her mouth. "You should have seen your butt in those panties when you ran in there. Disappointed is not the word I would use to describe how I'm feeling."

She turned bright pink. "Y-you saw my panties!?"

He nipped at her ear. "And enjoyed it thoroughly," he whispered huskily. The Emperor looked down into her eyes. "I could show you just how much I enjoyed it, if you want." He ran his fingertips down her spine, sending a delicious vibration through her body, and turning her brain to mush.

Their lips met, and his tongue swept into her mouth, and the feeling of it burned all of her insecurities to ash. She pressed herself against him and snaked her arms around his neck, wanting more of whatever this was. He picked her up with one of her legs over each of his hips and walked her over to the bed without breaking their kiss. When he set her down on the mattress, he sat up for a moment to look down at her. Her skin was flushed, and her bottom lip was swollen from their kisses. He saw the two tiny beads where her nipples were pushing against her nightshirt, and how the material had bunched up over her hips allowing for another peek at her panties, and his restraint got away from him. He ripped his t-shirt off over his head and tossed it to the floor.

He kissed her again, and was surprised when her tongue slid over his and she wrapped her legs around the small of his back. Her hands were in his hair then, pressing his face closer to hers. He broke free of her lips and trailed kisses down the side of her neck. When his mouth descended on her nipple through her shirt, Kyoko's back arched, and the most delectable moan that Kuon had ever heard met his ears. He worked at the other one over the material with his thumb and forefinger, pinching and pulling, making her wriggle under him like a sexy little snake.

Then the doorbell rang, and they froze.

She looked down at him with wide, fear-filled eyes as he released her nipples. "Who is that?"

He put his forehead down on her chest, hating himself for forgetting to tell her, and for getting so lost in her that he had forgotten about it himself. "Jelly. She's here to turn me back into Ren."

Her eyes widened even further. "What do we do? She'll tell the president for sure."

He looked frantically around the room, and his eyes settled on his walk-in closet. "You could hide in the closet?" He hated the idea; Kyoko was not some dirty little secret to be kept in a closet. But the last thing either of them wanted was to admit to the Lovemon that they had been seeing each other.

She wriggled out from under him, snatched Sesshomaru from the bed, said, "Hide my stuff." And then disappeared into a forest of R'Mandy suits.

The doorbell rang again as he was throwing his shirt back on. He went to the guest room and hid Kyoko's things in the guest room closet, and then went to the front door, where Jelly was impatiently tapping her foot.

"What on earth took you so long, boy?" She dragged her wheeled makeup case across the threshold. "Did your video recording run so late?" He had told her that he had to record another video with the blonde hair so it wouldn't rouse suspicion.

He nodded. "I needed several takes. I wasn't satisfied with it. I apologize for oversleeping."

Jelly raised an eyebrow in suspicion and took stock of him as she sat him down in a chair that she had moved over by the kitchen sink. His hair was unkempt, his shirt was inside out, and his lips were swollen. She narrowed her eyes on him and sniffed him. There was his normal cologne, but there was also something else decidedly vanilla and flowery.

"So," she began, "Before I start dyeing your hair, is Kyoko-chan comfortable wherever she's hiding? This might take me a while."

He froze. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She pulled on the tag of his shirt. "Right." She smirked. "If you're worried that I'll tell Darling, you can rest assured that this witch knows how to keep secrets." She tugged on the tag a little more aggressively. "Unless it's not Kyoko-chan you've got stashed away, but some nasty floozy, in which case I'm going to shave you bald."

He looked up at her with big, panic-filled eyes. Now it was either admit to Jelly that Kyoko was there and risk the Lovemon getting wind of it, or debuting a new, bald look for Ren Tsuruga. "You promise you won't tell him?"

She giggled. "Ren, go get that pretty girl out of your closet."

:D THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS! :D As many of you may be aware, FFNet is acting uber fucky, so I can't actually see any of my viewing stats, which is KILLING ME. So, reviews during this time are much appreciated, as it lets me know that people are still reading and still enjoying this! (No joke, I haven't seen anything in 8 days, so no idea how many views I got last chapter, which feels like I got legit knifed in my soul.) ANYWAY, I LOVE ALL YOUR FACES, AND I HOPE YOU GUYS ARE OKAY WITH JUST A LITTLE SMUT. :I Not a lot, this isn't turning into 50 Shades of Bo or nothing, but things are going to heat up a little bit. (I'm feeling very insecure about it, because I've never written anything like that and shared it with people, soooo... yeah I hope you guys don't grab your torches and pitchforks.) ALL OF MY LURVE - BO