Lory Takarada was spread out on a chaise lounge in his office, reading smut on his phone, when Ruto led Kuon in. Lory set his phone down on the side table. "Please leave us, Ruto. Ren and I have… private matters to discuss." The mysterious butler disappeared, leaving the President and his prey alone. "So," started Lory, "Would you care to explain what was going on at your apartment the other day, and why Mogami-san was hiding from Ten?"

Kuon felt like he couldn't breathe. Damn you, Ten. "Nothing happened. We slept in the same bed, but that's it." Lory did not need to know about the hot and heavy makeout session that they had that morning. Some things are none of your fucking business, old man.

Lory appraised Kuon over his reading glasses. "Do you need reminding that she's 17? You can't open that particular present until Christmas. You're an American, you of all people must know there's no peeking." Lory's lips curled into a smirk. He was enjoying this too much.

At that, Kuon glared at him. "That was not on our list of activities. If you must know, we had dinner with my parents the night before and Kyoko stayed over after because it was late."

Lory sat up, his eyes widening. "You had dinner? With Kuu and Julie? Mogami-san… knows?"

Kuon nodded. "She knows everything. I can't date a girl who doesn't actually know me." He rolled his eyes. "Just do it. I know you want to."

Lory leapt out of his seat and danced about joyously. "Yes! Finally! Yes!" He pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket of his robe and mopped at his eyes. "Tears of joy, Kuon, I assure you. Tears of joy!"

Kuon sighed in annoyance. "Is that all you wanted today? To remind me not to take the jail bait?"

Lory hmphed and sat down on the chaise again. "Please. If that's all I wanted, I could have simply sent you a text or asked Ruto to hit you with a rolled up newspaper." He settled himself back down. "My true objective today is to make sure you stay on the straight and narrow for The Route Project." He pulled a picture off of his side table and passed it over to Kuon. "My Gorgeous Star is turning into The Morning Star, it seems."

Kuon's stomach dropped. The picture was of Sho Fuwa getting checked over at a hospital. The dark purple bruises down the side of his neck stood out hideously against his fair skin. Lory lit a cigar.

"The President of Akatoki called. He said that Fuwa won't tell him what happened, but he has reason to believe it was one of ours that did this, considering it was a group of ours staying at the ryokan while he was there. It was a joint effort between myself and Akatoki to keep this picture from leaking. You wouldn't believe the money that was spent. They only kept it hidden because Fuwa doesn't want it to get out that he fought someone and lost." The older man fixed the younger with a penetrative stare. "It's no secret that you don't like him, Kuon. Quite frankly, after he kissed Mogami-san against her will, I don't like him either. But you need to control yourself for the sake of Ren's reputation, and for Mogami-san's safety."

Kuon set the picture down on the coffee table in front of him. "Kyoko already told me that if I do anything like this again, she'll leave me. You can rest assured that I'm retiring from fighting anyone."

Lory ashed his cigar into the ashtray on his table. "Now we just have to keep you out of jail for being sexually inappropriate with a minor."

Kuon sighed. "I don't think that will be a problem."

The morning that Jelly Woods had caught them had been the last time he had seen or talked to Kyoko in a week. His love had packed her bag, made several excuses, and disappeared without so much as a peck on the cheek. He had a feeling, from the disapproving looks that his manager had been shooting his way, that she had asked Yashiro to fix her schedule so that she would see less of him, and she hadn't been picking up her phone. He knew that he had gone too far that morning, and he was scared that he had lost her forever.

Lory nodded. "Yes, she's been avoiding you again."

Kuon narrowed his eyes on the president. "And just how do you know that?"

Lory put his cigar out. "What do you think I keep Ruto on my payroll for? To stand around and be handsome? And your phone records. A lot of phone calls under one minute, which means she's not picking up."

Kuon clenched his teeth. "Remind me to get my own phone plan."

Lory chuckled. "If you think that might help, be my guest. Anyway, have you tried going to see her?"

Kuon sighed and looked at the floor. "I'm trying to give her space."

Lory scoffed. "She's had a whole week of space!"

Kuon got to his feet. "Is that all? Can I go now?"

The President waved him out the door. "Yes, fine, go. So testy today." Kuon made it about three steps. "Oh, and Kuon," said Lory, not bothering to hide his grin, "Remember, no fighting and no fucking."

Kuon bristled for a moment but kept walking. He didn't want to simply fuck Kyoko, he wanted to make love to Kyoko, and there was a difference.

Across town, Kyoko was helping out in the kitchen of the Darumaya, getting ready for the lunch hour. She yawned and looked down at the cutting board with tired eyes. There had been another missed call from Kuon that morning. She wanted to talk to him, but she didn't know how to address what they had done the morning she had left.

In the moment, what he had done had felt incredible. Even while she had been hiding in the closet, all Kyoko could think about was getting Jelly to leave quickly so they could continue. And then she thought about why she was hiding in the first place; if anyone were to find out what they had been up to, it would be straight to jail for Kuon, do not pass go, do not collect 2000 yen. So, when he had come to retrieve her, she had run right to the guest room to get dressed and pack.

"Ow! Damn!" Kyoko moved her hand underneath the tap. She sighed, remembering how Kuon had cut himself as they were making dinner for his parents. They were very good at distracting each other.

"Kyoko-chan, are you all right?"

Kyoko started and looked up to find the Okami looking at her with concern. "Y-yes, Okami-san, I'm okay. I just got distracted and cut myself."

The Okami shook her head, shut off the tap, and wrapped Kyoko's thumb with a bandaid. "I don't mean the cut, dear. You look very upset."

Kyoko sighed. "It's nothing that I can't handle, Okami-san. Thank you for your concern, though." The truth was that handling this seemed impossible to her, but how could she even begin to ask the Okami about her blossoming sex life?

The older woman patted her on the back. "If you need someone to talk to, please let me know. I'll be happy to listen." The back door bell rang, and the Okami answered it. "Oh my goodness! How lovely!" She reappeared in the kitchen with a massive vase of pink roses and set them on the counter. "Kyoko-chan, you've got flowers!"

Kyoko blushed. Kuon. She set her knife down, wiped her hands on her apron, and plucked the card from among the blossoms.

Princess,

I miss you. Can we talk? Please?

- K

The Okami took one look at her face and frowned. "That's not normally the look a girl gets when flowers appear on her doorstep."

There was a harsh THWACK, and they both jumped. The Taichou had left his meat cleaver quivering, buried in a fish. The glare on his face was positively murderous. "It's that Tsuruga, isn't it?"

Kyoko laughed nervously. "Tsuruga-san? Why would Tsuruga-san send me flowers?"

Before the Taichou could say much, the Okami intervened. "Kyoko-chan, why don't you take the rest of the day off? We can handle one lunch rush by ourselves, and you've already done plenty of prep work."

Kyoko bowed gratefully to her. "Thank you very much, Okami-san." She grabbed the flowers and went to her room. When she got up to her room, she set the vase by her window and picked up her cell phone. She pressed a couple of buttons and pressed it to her ear.

"What do you want?"

"Moko-san! I need help!"

Kanae, who was on a commercial job that day, pinched the bridge of her nose. "Mo! I'm not a psychologist!" She could literally hear Kyoko's lip quivering on the other end. She sighed heavily. "Spit it out, I have work to do!"

"Moko-san, I don't want to have sex!"

Immediately, the hair of the back of Kanae's neck stood on end. She imagined several scenarios at once, all of them ending in her having to hide a six foot body. "What's going on?"

Kyoko winced. "I-well… I actually do want to… but we can't yet because I'm not old enough." Her voice got quieter as she spoke. She hoped that Kanae wouldn't judge her too harshly.

Kanae blinked, unsure of how to help. As she had turned 18 a few weeks before her encounter with Koga, what they had done, even if they had done so in Tokyo, would have been totally legal. Kanae herself had already had several sexual encounters by that time, anyway, with boys her age. "Does Tsuruga know this?"

"...No. I can't tell him. It'll just make it harder for him."

Kanae smirked at her choice of words. Damn right it would. She looked around and made sure she was by herself. "Have you tried… doing it yourself?" There was silence on the other end. "MO! Wake up! I asked you a question!"

"Y-you can do that?" Kyoko's voice was barely a whisper.

Kanae snorted. "Yes, you can, and you should. It's normal and healthy!"

"How does that work?"

It was Kanae's turn to turn red. "I am NOT going to tell you how to do that! Use Google!" She hung up. Kyoko sat down on her futon, and with shaking hands, typed up her query. She tapped on the first link that came up and immediately dropped her phone. OH MY GOD! She covered her face and tears stung her eyes. How will I ever be able to see Kuon again if I can't control myself? I can't just ignore him for six months! He's already hurting… and I'm hurting, too.

She wiped her eyes and picked her phone back up. After wincing several more times, and dropping the phone at least twice, she figured out the gist of it… and tried. She lay back on her futon, trying to imagine how he had made her feel on that morning. She started by tracing soft circles over her nipples through her shirt. Then she was pinching and pulling them. Her body started heating up, and she moved her hand underneath her waistband. As she touched herself, she tried desperately to get what she needed. She wasn't even totally sure of what it was she did need.

Her phone rang and she almost jumped out of her skin. When she saw "Tsuruga-san" on the caller ID, she paled.

"H-hello?"

"Kyoko-chan." He sounded so relieved. "I'm so glad to hear your voice. Did you get the flowers I sent?"

She wiped her fingers off on her shorts. "Y-yes. They're really pretty. Thank you."

There was a pause. "You sound like you're out of breath. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

She cringed, thinking about how she had been touching herself just before she had picked up. Why the hell did I pick up? "No, I… um…" she didn't know what to say.

Kuon's eyebrows knit together. Why does she sound embarrassed? A sudden thought occurred to him, but he almost couldn't believe it. He barely realized that he had taken a seat on his couch. Do I ask? If I ask and she wasn't, she's going to think I'm a pig… but my god if she was… He risked everything. "Kyoko-chan… were you touching yourself?"

"KuonIdon'twantyoutogotojail!"

He raised an eyebrow and looked at the phone. "Princess, calm down. What's going on?"

The tears were flowing freely. "I don't want you to go to jail, so I touched myself, and I'm sorry!" Silence. "K-Kuon?"

He was so conflicted. She was obviously very upset about this, but the thought of her doing that… He took a deep breath. "Why are you sorry?"

"B-because it's s-shameful." she stammered.

"I touch myself all the time. Is that shameful?"

Kyoko's cheeks were burning. "You do?," she whispered.

At that, he chuckled, his voice starting to deepen. "I've been chasing you for two years and I can't lay a finger on you. I haven't had sex in over six years. If I didn't masturbate, I'd explode."

At that, her mouth popped open. "Six years?"

"Mm-hmm. So, I'm sorry that I lost hold of my restraint last week. It was a very great temptation having the girl that I love in that kind of position."

She sniffled. "I'm sorry that I ran away like I did… I just didn't know how to talk to you about this. I don't want you to get into trouble, but I… you made me feel things."

Fuck. He gripped himself over his pants. "Did you… like touching yourself?"

Her stomach tightened as she realized that Kuon had left the line and had been replaced by The Emperor. "I don't think I'm doing it right. It feels good, but… I feel like there's something more that I'm not doing.," she whispered.

"Do you want me to help you?"

Kyoko looked around her room as though someone might be listening. "I- you'll go to jail!," she hissed into the phone. But her excitement had returned momentarily.

"I don't have to touch you to help. What are you wearing?"

"I-um," she swallowed, "A t-shirt and shorts."

"Are you wearing a bra?"

"N-no!," she squeaked.

Kuon worked at getting his belt off. "Squeeze your breasts."

"I-Kuon!" she whined. He chuckled.

"It's just a suggestion. I bet it would feel good." He waited a moment for her reply, and then started to panic. Shit. I scared her! "...Kyoko?"

"I'm doing… what you said."

He sucked in a breath. Oh my god this is actually happening. "Are your nipples hard?" He remembered the feeling of nibbling her nipple through her nightshirt as he opened his fly and pushed his slacks down a bit. The way she had moved beneath him and the sounds she had made had driven him nearly insane. "You should pinch them."

"Mmn!" She couldn't help the noise that came out of her mouth as she slid her hand underneath her shirt to pinch her nipple. The space between her thighs had begun to ache again.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Yes… what should I do now?" She sounded an awful lot like Setsuka now. He stroked himself.

"Put your hand in your panties."

Kyoko pushed her shorts off and lay back on her futon. She slid her hand into her panties and moved her fingers where it was warm and slick to the touch. "Should I… should I rub inside or outside?"

"What feels good to you?" he growled.

"Outside…," she breathed, "outside feels really good." She was suddenly imagining what it would be like if his larger, longer fingers were touching her, and it gave her an extra thrill.

"What I wouldn't give to taste you on my tongue," he breathed, his internal Don't-Scare-Kyoko censor malfunctioning.

"Nn! Your t-tongue!? There!?" She would have never thought of him putting his tongue there! The idea was so indecent, so forbidden… and so incredibly appealing to her.

He leaned his head against the back of the couch as he thrust into his hand. "I want to worship your whole body, Kyoko. I want to taste you, and kiss you, and touch you, and bask in your beauty. That's all I can think about."

She was panting then. "K-Kuon I-," she whined, "It feels weird… like… mmm… something is happening!"

He was reveling in the noises she was making, and the way she said his name. "Is it a good weird?" Her answering moan made him stroke faster. "Let go, Princess. Come for me, I'm begging you."

Kyoko's back arched and her hips bucked with abandon as her orgasm seized her body. "Kuon!"

He threw his head back and gasped as his own climax took hold of him. When he regained control of himself, he checked on her. "Kyoko-chan, are you okay?," he rasped.

"I feel… really sleepy."

His deep chuckle made her feel warm. "Me too. Did that feel good?"

"Yes… listening to the noises you were making helped."

At that, he actually blushed. "Was I making noises?" He had gotten so lost in her pleasure that he hadn't noticed.

She giggled. "Mm-hmm. You were breathing really hard." She yawned.

His own eyes were feeling heavy. "You sound like you need a nap, Princess."

"Yes. I wish you were here. I want to cuddle."

He smiled. "I have a proposition for you. You get dressed, and I'll come get you really quick, and we'll have a nap together at my place? We can have a movie night or something. I just want to see you."

Kyoko, who felt that she would be able to keep her desires in check now, agreed.

Less than an hour later, after Kyoko kicked off her shoes at his front door, Kuon had picked her up off of the floor in a princess carry and brought her to his bed. He set her down on the bed and snuggled up behind her. "Is this okay?"

She cuddled up against him, relishing in his warmth. She could barely keep her eyes open. "Mm-hmm." When the two of them finally woke up, it was almost an hour later. He kissed the top of her head.

"Do you feel better?"

She nodded, but she buried her face in his chest. "Ican'tbelievewedidthat!" His chest shook under her with silent laughter. She looked up at him, her face bright red. "What's so funny!?"

He kissed her forehead. "I'm not laughing at you, Princess. I'm just relieved that you're willing to talk about it." And I'm glad you're not running away from me, screaming.

She averted her eyes from him. "Well, I can't keep running. I hate not being able to see you."

He picked her hand up and kissed her palm. "We don't have to do that again if you don't want to. I don't want you to ever be uncomfortable."

"I'm just scared that you're going to see me differently."

He shook his head. "Kyoko-chan, I don't see you differently. You're just showing me a side of yourself that you haven't shown to anyone else, and that's beautiful." He turned her face up towards his and looked her in the eye. "I'm grateful that you trust me this much." He kissed her nose. "I love you."

She nuzzled her head up under his chin. "I love you, too."

"By the way, the President knows about us," he said, ripping the bandaid off.

She froze. "He WHAT?"

"Yeah, Jelly's a blabbermouth."

She swallowed hard. "So… when's the parade?"

He laughed. "I don't think he's planning one until we're public. But you should definitely get ready for the teasing. He put me through the ringer this morning."

"What was he teasing you about?"

Kuon smirked and wiggled his eyebrows. "About a certain present that I can't open until Christmas."

Kyoko hid under the covers and shrieked into his pillow as he laughed.

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR READING. Now I'm going to hide in the bushes until next week so I'm not so embarrassed about the smutting that has taken place here. :D - BO