AN: Thank you for your patience in the update of this fic, I hope you enjoy 😊

Chapter Six – Alone in the Dark

I know that I sound insane for even thinking this but I am disappointed that there is no set menu for people who have lost their sight. If this was another illness then a doctor would tell you chicken noodle soup or that they should avoid red meat. All I know is that I want to make Kuon breakfast and it should be something easy to handle. Maybe toast and black coffee but I shouldn't fill the cup all the way up, it would scold him. Maybe soup with a large spoon, that might be easy on his stomach. I want to make a large breakfast but he might have difficulty with silverware and definitely chopsticks.

Soup. Soup would probably be easiest.

I check the fridge, thankfully Kyoko got groceries earlier because there's little in here. I see some convenience store rice balls and smile. Onigiri. It's a triangle that you hold in your hand and eat. I know how to make that as well so my son should be able to enjoy it.

I'll make him lunch as well and store it in the fridge so that he can grab it. I should probably make some things for myself but I usually need more than this to satisfy my appetite. I hum as I stand opposite the fridge and hear a voice behind me, weaker than I would have hoped for.

"Dad?" Kuon asks, second guessing himself as he knows that there's somebody there but he can't see me. I turn to him, seeing the pain that he's going through and feel guilty that I don't want him standing. He should sit down. If he hurts himself or trips then it would pain me as his father.

"Yes, did you sleep okay?" I ask him and Kuon scoffs at that.

"Did I sleep okay?" he asks me and it's a valid question. He might have been kept awake all night by his thoughts wandering and twisting up in each other. It's happened to me on many occasions especially when Kuon was fifteen and Julie wasn't speaking to me and I nearly had panic attacks worrying about my loved ones. "I don't know. With how dark it is, I feel as if I'm asleep now." He walks slowly over to a chair, making sure to touch the back of it and then patting down the seat of the chair before sitting down.

I hate this life for him. He's a hero, he saved the woman he loved and yet he seems so innocent right now. "I'm making breakfast," I tell him and he nods.

"You know, this morning when I first woke up, I thought that I was still in a dream and that for some reason my eyelids weren't working and then I realized that my sight was gone," Kuon tells me and I try to control my breathing. "It was haunting in a way and devastating in another."

"I think mornings are going to be like that for a while," I tell him. I just wish that I could help him with more than cooking meals and watching his movements. Kuon has always been independent and I don't want to imagine him doing some of the things that he has done in the past especially with his acting. "You got a call on your phone earlier," I tell him and he turns his head before realizing he wouldn't know where his phone was. "I didn't answer it but it was from Yukihito-san. That's your manager, right?"

"That's my manager," he tells me before turning on the phone and then realizing that he has no idea what he's doing or what he's pressing. His hand starts shaking and he drops the phone before bowing his head, his whole body trembling. I turn down the heat on the soup because I don't want to see him like this. I need to be the one to help him, to protect him.

…

…

I want to take care of myself but I can't seem to do everything that I once did. I'm a burden to my parents and I'm a failure to Kyoko. I know that Boss has tasked her to take care of me when she's not working or focusing on something like school, training, or something else important. I feel that I wanted to save her but I didn't want to force her to be with a burnt cripple who can't even see how badly he was hurt.

I take my phone, holding it in my hand and hoping that Yashiro calls back.

I should have been able to answer my cell phone but because it's a touch screen, I don't even know if I'm pushing the right buttons. I could delete all the data on my phone and I wouldn't know it because I wouldn't be able to see it being done.

I feel a couple of tears down my cheeks. This is another punishment. I can cry but I can't see? This is a pretty cruel world. I lean forwards and let my head rest on my arms as they are on the top of the table. I haven't cried like this in a very long time, even with Rick it was more of a prolonged numbness than crying.

I hear footsteps and feel that Dad is coming over. He probably feels awkward and burdened by this rush of emotion, this uncharacteristic emotion. I never meant to burden him with my problems.

"I'm touching your shoulder," Dad tells me. I hate to say but I'm glad that Mom, Dad, and even Kyoko have learned to tell me what they are doing before they do it. I feel Dad kneel down next to me, massaging my back a little bit. "Kuon, it's okay. It's okay," he tries to tell me as he rubs my back. I guess he either doesn't care about my disability or he's awkward about how to act and is relying on acting. "May I hug you?" he asks and I nod nervously. I haven't been hugged by my dad for a long time before this accident. Dad wraps me up in a bear hug.

"It's okay. It's okay," he tries to soothe me as he pushes my face to his shoulder and rocks me as if I were a little boy again. In Dad's arms, I have memories of when I would fall and scrape my knee as a child and Dad would put all his effort into making sure I was okay. I'm in my twenties and it feels like the same thing.

"I'm weak," I tell him and he pushes his hand through my hair. "I shouldn't be like this, this burden to you or to Mom."

"You're never a burden, Kuon," he tries to reassure me. I know that he's probably feeling strange here, I never cried much even as a kid, well I never cried in front of my parents. Dad is probably trying to make up for the time lost between the two of us. None of that was his fault. I was the screwup.

"Did you want me to call Yashiro for you?" he asks and I sigh, making sure to calm myself down before nodding. I feel that it would have horrified Kyoko to see me so weak. "What's your passcode?" Dad asks as he takes the phone from me, I tell him and he puts it in. Thank god that my parents are here, these are people I trust with my life.

Dad sets up the call and hands the phone to me, I hear it ring and then hear Yashiro on the other end of the line.

"Ren," he says in a panic, "Are you okay? I tried to get a hold of you earlier. What's going on?"

"I won't be able to work for a while after that accident," I try to tell him, my voice in a professional manner and I hear him sigh.

"I know, Kyoko-chan told me what the doctors said. They also said that they could make an attempt to get your sight back. Do you know anything about the surgery? Are you with anyone right now who can help you?" he asks and I feel that I might as well rip the Band-Aid off and tell him the truth.

"My parents are staying with me," I tell him and Yashiro exhales in relief.

"Your parents?" he asks, "I've never met your parents, Ren. Do you think -"

"You've actually met my father," I tell him and Yashiro gives a sound showing his confusion. "I've been working under a stage name this whole time," I continue but Yashiro already knows this. He just uses Ren because he's too respectful to demand my identity from me. "My name is Hizuri Kuon," I tell him and hear his shock even though I'm unable to see him. "I'm the son of Kuu and Julienna HIzuri."

There is silence on the other end of the line.

…

…

I watched a show last night, a drama that I found by accident but it had one important plot that I actually managed to grab a pen and paper and write notes on. The main character was a skilled tennis player who lost her sight. Obviously she couldn't play tennis again but the instructor she had had when starting out reappeared in her life and learned how to take care of her before they fell in love and in the end got engaged.

I'm not thinking of going so far as getting engaged to Kuon but I do want to do my best in taking care of Corn. Afterall, I really want to be known as his girlfriend especially after he got into this situation by trying to protect me. I could have easily been the one who had lost her sight.

As I walk down LME, I see Yashiro on the phone in complete bewilderment. It seems like a very important phone call but he knows about Ren's blindness, I told him that myself. What other earth shattering news could he be getting.

I try to pass him but my curiosity snags me and I find myself coming over to him despite knowing the phone call is private. As he ends the call he looks at me, his jaw still hanging open.

"Did you know?" he asks me and I blink. "Do you know the reason why Kuu-sama is in Japan?"

Did Kuon tell him the truth about his identity? I know that before he knew that there was a slight hope of him regaining his sight, he was about to tell the world his identity because he had given up on his dreams of becoming a Hollywood actor but is he still going through with that. I nod and Yashiro looks at me, I know he's hesitant.

"You know that he's visiting his son, right?" Yashiro asks and I nod again.

"Kuon told me at the hospital himself," I tell him and Yashiro stares at me in shock again. Yashiro-san got excited when he met Father whilst I was posing as his son. I know that he's a huge Kuu fan but I know that he also cares about Ren as a friend and maybe even as a brother. I don't know how close the two of them are after all. "He's really suffering."

"Do you think that it would be okay to visit him knowing that Kuu will be there?" Yashiro asks me and I stare at him. Now I'm confused. He's Ren's manager, someone even closer to Kuon than I am. This shouldn't be a question.

"I think Kuon would appreciate that," I tell him and then sigh. "I'm going over there tonight. Let's go together," I offer and Yashiro nods. I hope that he'll calm down from the shock soon, Kuon really needs support and friendship right now.

End of Chapter Six

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five

H-Nala, Kaname671, paulagato

Author Response

The Hizuri parents are definitely going to be thinking about what boundaries to stick with when it comes to Kuon. Also with Yashiro he's going to get more support than he originally thought especially with friendship. I'm wondering if I should include Yashiro's POV next chapter. I'm planning to do Kuon's and Kyoko's but I think Yashiro might be a good one as well.