"Are you alright?" Kyoko asked. She berated herself for being so nervous, even if Kuon looked angry enough to kill and she was the only person around, she was sure he wouldn't hurt her. Still the darkness in his aura made her tremble.

"I'm fine." He lied turning the page of his script.

They had returned to their apartment without saying a word to each other. She had expected, maybe even hoped for him to yell at her or bully her in some way. The silence was killing her nerves. She wanted to shake him and demand that he put an end to her torment. Berate me! Chop me up! Flay me! Eat me alive! Wait she actually might like that last one.

He let out a loud sigh and tossed his script on the table before turning to her. "I am fine." He said pressing his forehead to hers. "I'm really not angry."

"But I agreed to… I didn't even consult with you and now I'll have to act like I like him. I know firsthand what it's like watching the person you love date someone else. It must be worse for you though since you already don't like him." She said dropping her eyes from his gaze.

"I hate him." Kuon clarified. "I hate the way he talks to you. I hate the way he treats you. I hate that you won't let me kill him." He paused the cup her face and focus her eyes on his.

"But I can't say that I didn't see something like this coming. That jackass has probably been plotting this for a while and I was dumb enough to give him the perfect weapon to use against us. Yukihito warned me but I was still so careless." He said mourning his lack of self-control. He tugged her forward wanting her to sit in his lap.

"What do you mean you knew something like this was coming? I've known him my whole life and I didn't see him doing this. He cares about his image so much that I never could have imagined him wanting to humiliate me like this. I bet he's planning to dump me in some cruel way that makes me look even more undesirable than I already am." She grouched crawling into his lap and resting her head on his shoulder.

Kuon sighed shaking his head. "What part of you is undesirable? Show me."

She cringed at his words. If he wasn't mad before he was now. She knew he hated it when she talked down on herself but sometimes, she couldn't help it.

"Kyoko your emperor gave you an order." He said darkly.

"I don't want to play that game right now." She said closing her eyes and turning her nose up.

"No?" Kuon asked hugging her to his chest. "In that case Mogami-san, as your senpai I am telling you to have some more confidence in yourself. There is nothing about you that is undesirable."

"There is." She said and swept her hand down her body to indicate that all of her was flawed. "I still can't find anything that is desirable about me. For starters I'm really short."

"Adorably so, yes." Kuon interrupted.

"Yes, adorable to you." she said with a shake of her head. "But you have to admit that my face isn't ideal."

"What's wrong with your face? I love your face. It's cute." He said pinching her nose.

"Cute isn't desirable. I'm not sexy or gorgeous. I don't fit his image and I certainly wouldn't fit yours without Muse-san's help. No one would ever accept me with you." she said and she wondered if they could ever be a couple publicly.

"I happen to think you're very sexy." He said not caring what anyone else thought but needing her to realize that her self-assessment was all wrong. "Kijima-san would agree, and I even think Murasame-san would put you in the category of sexy. Hikaru-san would say you are gorgeous. So would Kotonami-san."

She rolled her eyes wishing she hadn't brought up the subject. He was never going to see her clearly because he was blinded by love.

"But look," she said laying back on the couch and lifting her shirt up. That ought to distract him, "I have really small breasts. Don't you think I should get them enlarged? I could save up the money and then you'd have something to look at instead of my flat boring body."

Annoyed he pinched her nipple until she cried out that it hurt. "If it hurts, why are you getting wet?"

"I'm not." Her lie was ruined by the moan that followed it.

He smirked down at her cupping her breast and rubbing the ache away. Catching the hem of her shirt he pulled it down to cover her and end the distraction.

"I see nothing wrong with the size of your chest." He said smoothing the fabric over her stomach.

"That's because you love me." she said. A disappointed scowl marred her features as she raised her hand to the larger one holding her shirt in place.

"I'm very happy with the level of confidence you have in my love for you, but this self-loathing hurts me." He said and cupped her cheek. "You're beautiful Kyoko."

"I know you think that Kuon but…"

"It hurts my pride, Kyoko." Kuon said glaring down at her. "My pride as a lover. I feel like I'm not doing enough to make you feel beautiful and desired."

"That's not true!" she shouted sitting up suddenly and bumping her head on his chin. "Ow." A blush overtook her face as she rubbed her forehead. He chuckled taking her face in his hands to examine the red mark forming. "I always feel desired when you're looking at me." she admitted her blush deepening.

"Your right though, you don't fit his image at all. The two of you would never work. For starters the only thing you have in common is that you were raised by the same people and that isn't the least bit romantic." Kuon said. There was no need to remind her that Fuwa Sho was not a suitable match for her, but Kuon didn't think it could hurt either.

"See so it makes zero sense for him to back us into a corner like this. Unless he's plotting to humiliate me." she said imagining Sho announcing in an interview that he had lost his senses when he declared his love.

He would say that she was ugly and boring. He'd tell everybody that she had hobbies only a commoner would enjoy and that she was only suited for housework. Her image would take a sizable hit, but it consoled her to know that Ren's image would remain untarnished by her.

"Right, except he thinks he's in love with you." Kuon said causing Kyoko's jaw to fall open and her brow to furrow. "I suppose in his own way he does love you. The problem is he's a selfish bastard and his kind of love is more like ownership. Don't do that with your face you'll cause wrinkles and then I'll have to hear you bash yourself about that too."

"If you don't want me to scowl than don't speak nonsense." She said as she smoothed her brow out using her fingers to massage the wrinkles upward.

"What's nonsense? That guy has convinced himself that he's in love with you." Kuon said wondering why he was trying to make her understand. It wasn't like he wanted her to notice Fuwa's feelings for her. He just wanted her to be more careful around the guy.

"No, I told you before he's obsessed with having everything that you have." She said shaking her head. "I'm not his type remember? He likes," she motioned to her chest. "He isn't a leg man like you."

"I am not a leg man." Kuon denied though he had to admit that her legs looked tantalizing in her short skirt.

"Kana says you are. She said she's caught you staring at my legs more times than she can count and my umm… my bottom." Kyoko said squirming a bit.

"You have a nice ass." Kuon admitted with a shrug.

"Thank you." she said with a small smile. "But you know sometimes I think you're too in love with me that's why you think other people could find me appeali…ah!"

She was thrown suddenly over his shoulder. Kuon marched her into the guest bedroom where there was a floor length mirror in the corner. He set her on her feet facing the mirror and grabbed her face forcing her to look at herself.

"Repeat after me," he started as he stared into her eyes through the mirror. "I am beautiful."

"…"

"Kyoko," he said in warning firmly gripping her chin. "Say I am beautiful."

"You are beautiful." She said with a quirk of her lips.

Kuon leaned down to her ear and in a deep voice said, "we will stand here all day until you acknowledge that you are beautiful and sexy and desirable and…"

"You are underestimating how much I would love to be in your arms all day." She said knowing that if she didn't interrupt him, he would continue to praise her for hours.

She leaned back into his arms and hummed in approval. An involuntary smile spread across his face, and he hugged her.

"You are adorable." He said kissing her shoulder. "Beautiful." Another kiss landed on the side of her neck. "Gorgeous." He nipped her earlobe eliciting a moan from her. "I'll fight anyone who tells me this face isn't sexy."

His words drew her eyes to her reflection.

"But you did that." She said objectively examining herself. Her eyes were dark with heavy lids and her mouth was half open in a pant. Her wasn't even doing anything to her and she was panting. "You always do this to me. It isn't fair."

"What's not fair about it? You do the same to me," he said pressing his hips to her back. "I'm just better at hiding it." He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Say it."

"No."

"Fine." He said with a sigh and released her from his grasp.

She pouted tilting her head up to give him an inquisitive look. With a shake of his head, he stepped away and began to walk towards the closet.

"What are you doing?" she asked wishing he would come back and hold her.

"Finding you a suitable outfit for your first date with that guy." He said opening the doors to reveal a full wardrobe of clothes Kyoko would never wear.

"That's all Setsuka-san's stuff though. Some of it is stuff I bought as Natsu too, and I think maybe Sayuri has a few things in there." She didn't even mention that she had hidden some of the more adult outfits Kana had gotten for her in there.

"I am well aware of that." He said pulling out a gray dress with velvet trim at the square neckline and a lighter gray flower pattern on the cotton fabric.

"I'm not wearing something like that to date that guy." Kyoko protested crossing her arms. Why would Kuon want her to dress up for Fuwa?

As though reading her thoughts he said, "I won't have him or his fans mocking you for the way you're dressed."

He tossed a couple outfits on the bed, and she made a show of picking through them.

"There will be those who do that no matter what I wear." She said holding up a red dress. It had black lace overlaying the bright fabric and the sweetheart neckline paired with the cinched empire waist was designed to emphasize the chest.

"That one would be perfect." He said and she pouted up at him. "No, don't be stubborn. You have to act the part." He lifted her chin and spoke sternly, "I don't like it either but in public you'll have to pretend to like him. We won't give him any more ammunition to hurt you with."

There was a long silent pause and then his face fell. She flinched back and quirked her eyebrow.

"What!" she asked thinking that he had realized he was really mad.

"I can't kiss you outside of this apartment anymore." His shoulders slumped as he spoke.

"Oh." She said frowning as well. "Maybe it's for the best though. Yashiro-san kept warning us about our displays of affection."

They had been warned about this and still kept making out in the most dangerous places. Kuon blamed himself for not checking their surroundings more carefully. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed Fuwa's bodyguard following him. If he had been a better man, he would have kept his hands to himself while they were in public. Kyoko blamed herself for running out and crying when they had been out with Shotaro. If she had thought about it, she could have guessed he would pull something like this. She had grown too accustomed to Fuwa's stalking ways and let her guard down. There had to be some way for her to make it up to Kuon before he became too angry with her. She peeked up at him through her lashes. She couldn't feel any anger coming off him, but he must be at least a little bit annoyed with her.

"Should I try this on?" she asked feigning diffidence. "To get your opinion of course." She said when he eyed her suspiciously.

Kuon rolled his eyes chuckling. "Sure, you can do a fashion show for me." He said walking over to sit on the bed and watch her with a predatory gaze.

"Pervert." She accused crossing her arms over her body.

"You offered." He countered.

"Fine." She said and she unzipped her skirt.

With a deliberate slowness she lowered the skirt to the floor bending all the way down to touch her toes. Summoning all the confidence she could she tilted her head up to catch his gaze then slowly rose up dragging her hands up her legs. She marveled at the way his eyes smoldered as he followed the trail her hands made up her body. No, there was no doubt in her mind that she was desirable when he was looking at her like that. Her hands slipped under her shirt caressing her belly as she bunched the material up.

"Kuon what are you doing?" she asked when his fingers dipped into the band of her underwear.

"Helping." He said tugging the fabric down.

"I don't need to take off my panties to try on a dress." She said but stepped out of them anyway when he slid them down her legs.

"I want you to take them of though." Kuon said.

He pressed his lips to her knee causing her to shudder. Her hands caressed higher pushing the shirt over her breasts. His lips travelled upwards, and his hands encircled her legs.

"Has anyone ever told you that you're a greedy boy?" she asked. Her eyes closed so she could savor the sensation of his mouth pressing to her skin.

"How am I greedy? I just want to lick your skin." Kuon said and to emphasize his words he slid his tongue up her thigh. "I only want to taste you."

"…ah!" her breath hitched as he drew his tongue higher. "Corn!" The remainder of their day off together was spent on the floor of the guest room.