AN: This is a shorter chapter but I wanted to play with the idea of coming home so there's not a lot of action in it. Anyway, I really hope that you enjoy it. Also, thank you to those who pointed out my error with Kuu last chapter, I have since changed it but thanks for catching it for me 😊
Chapter Fifteen - Home
Nearly everyone speaks the same way about returning to their childhood homes. It's as if one never left, it feels smaller, it doesn't feel as it used to and yet it feels the same. Those were the feelings that Kuon had as he stood in the garage of the Hizuri estate.
This had been where he had gone when he needed complete solitude. This was where his father had last seen him and this was where Lory Takarada had invited him to live a completely new life. It had been years since then, years since the existence of Kuon Hizuri as a living being but now it seemed as if he had never left and if his life had never changed.
Although, when he stood now, the ground seemed to be firmer beneath his feet. He didn't feel as if he were to shrivel up and die or fade away, he felt strong and ready to attack his problems with skill and determination and most of all strategy.
Kuon Hizuri had made it back to the living again.
"So, you did go here," Kuon heard a voice behind him and turned around to see his dad there. He grinned at him and then turned to face him. It was only now that he was realizing how much things had aged. Nobody would call his father old, but he was older than when Kuon saw him every day. He had grown up, but not as much as Kuon had himself.
"Was it hard to enter here after I left?" he asked and Kuu sighed and looked up.
"A bit, harder on your mother than me. There would be these mornings in the beginning, when I would wake up and I wouldn't be able to tell myself that you weren't here anymore. I'd come down here looking for you and then it would hit me that you weren't Kuon anymore," Kuu smiled weakly. He smiled to his son and watched him. "You look so much…"
"I know, I look older but you know if my hair and eyes weren't these colors I would be Ren Tsuruga and that might look a bit more natural?" he asked and Kuu laughed.
"Wow, seeing Ren Tsuruga standing in this place, now that would be strange," Kuu commented. "No, you look like you have until the age of fifteen," he told him, "It's amazing how much your hair and eye color can make you look like somebody else or it would make you look like somebody else had you not been my child and I had the privilege of raising you for such a long time."
Kuon smiled, "You raised me in the right way. I don't think that if you had raised me differently that I would be the man I am today. It's just when you go through trauma, sometimes you don't see. I'm proud to have the name Hizuri. I'm proud to be your son," he told his father as Kuu smiled.
"Remember to tell your mother that as well," he said as he stood next to Kuon and put a hand on his shoulder. "Remember that even after your work is done, you are always welcome back. We're always ecstatic to have you home."
Kuon smiled peacefully, "Thanks, Dad" he said as he took another look around and then followed his father back to the main house.
…..
…..
Kyoko smiled as she saw the different pictures of a young Kuon that Kuu and Julie had around the house. They really were the loving parents who cared about their son more than was to be expected. She smiled as she saw multiple trophies and certificates proudly displayed. She saw photographs that Lory had sent them of Ren that they had framed and put on the wall to share their pride in their child's accomplishments.
"He did so much," Kyoko said as she looked at the different photographs, "You've displayed it and…" she froze as she saw a high school diploma for the high school she attended. She looked at it and ran her finger under the name: Ren Tsuruga. She looked at Julie not sure how to ask the question that was obviously on her mind.
"How did he manage to go to high school?" she asked and Julie grinned.
"That kidnapper did a lot of things I disagree with, but he promised me that he wouldn't let Kuon not graduate high school so he had a friend who was on the board or was the headmaster or principal or something and he managed to get Kuon enrolled as Ren so that he could graduate from high school. I do wish that he'd go to college but since he wants to be an actor."
"That's great," Kyoko grinned. "He must have been a good student when he -"
"He was top of his class until sophomore year of high school," Julie said proudly. "He was the sophomore class president and he was even on the freshman student council. He was one of the school's star athletes, always got the lead in the school plays, and he was very popular with the girls, you should see his yearbook from the first two years."
Kyoko was about to speak but Julie had already skipped away from her. Kyoko smiled as she looked at the pictures of Kuon as a teenager, picking up his class photo from the sophomore year. He definitely did look like a heartbreaker and she blushed over how adorable he was. She probably shouldn't use the terms adorable or beautiful to him in person.
She paused as Julie slipped a book into her hands and saw that it was a yearbook from Kuon's second year of high school. Kyoko paused, should she be looking at this? Was this a breach of his privacy? As she opened it, Kyoko saw that there were a lot of people who had written or signed it. She flipped through some pages and saw that everyone wanted to pay him attention at school. This was different from the stories she had heard.
She looked through the pages of the book where Kuon was photographed quite a lot and then got to the back pages. She froze as she saw that there was an entire page that Rick had signed. Nobody else had been given that much space.
She paused as she looked at the top of the page where the words were: "Rick's top ten list of not being a pussy this summer – a gift to Kuon Hizuri, you're very welcome by the way."
Kyoko looked at the page and her eyes started to fill with tears. This is what a guy would write to a close friend, full of jokes and comments about the world. Yet, it was almost as if this was a brother writing to him. Kyoko was just starting to sense the impact that Rick's death must have had on Kuon. If Moko had died, then Kyoko wouldn't know how to handle it.
Julie looked over the page and smiled weakly, she closed her eyes as she thought about her son's friend. "I suppose that Kuon has told you about Rick," she said and Kyoko paused.
"Only that he died," she told Julie and then took a deep breath in before looking at another photograph. She laughed softly as she looked at a picture of Kuon and a chicken that looked like he had kept as a pet. Kyoko turned to Julie, "Did Kuon keep chickens?" she asked.
"He kept that chicken," Julie said. "You know, when Kuon was growing up he loved being in nature. He especially liked watching the birds. This chicken followed him around everywhere but he didn't seem to mind. Kuon's always enjoyed birds," Julie said and she heard a chuckle as Kuon entered the room.
"I especially like rooster mascots," he winked at Kyoko, "So, you're not showing her -" he froze as he stared at the wall. "You made me a shrine?" he asked. He stood there stunned, that had not been there when he was growing up. His parents had proudly displayed some things of his, that was true, but this looked like an obsession. He saw his mother place her hands on her hips.
"I needed something to make sure I thought of my baby boy each morning," she said as Kuu smiled.
"It's my favorite part of the house," he told them, "Well, one of the two."
"One of the two?" Kuon asked as he looked at the wall, "Do you have another shrine somewhere?" he asked nervously before Kuu looked up.
"I'd call it the bedroom that my son slept in when he was growing up, his old room," Kuu turned to Kuon who smiled in a shy way. "We may have organized it a little but we wanted to leave it so that when you returned to us, you could sort it out and decide what parts of your past you wanted to keep and which you wanted to give away."
"Thank you," Kuon smiled, "I'll make sure to do that soon." He looked at them guiltily, "I'm sorry that I didn't make it back sooner, I'll try to visit more frequently."
"Well since Japan knows, we'll be coming back there a lot too," Kuu smiled.
"You bet. Now I can actually get on a plane when I miss you too much and everyone will know why," Julie said as tears came to her eyes, "No more secrets."
Kuon nodded, "No more secrets," he took a look around and then smiled. "I'm going to make sure Yashiro has everything set up and discuss my job assignments for the day after tomorrow. Maybe tomorrow I could take you for a walk along the beach," he told Kyoko who looked excited.
"Just don't try and go underwater with your clothes on again," she joked and Kuon nodded.
"I'll make sure to take them off right in front of you," he winked before walking off and Kyoko smiled to herself as she took in the house that her boyfriend had grown up in, the one he had left so suddenly. So, this was what it felt like to have loving parents. She wished she had known that feeling.
"You must really like having him home," Kyoko commented as she bowed her head and Julie laughed.
"You have no idea."
End Chapter Fifteen
AN2: Thank you everyone who supports this fic 😊 Special shout outs to: brennakai, DreamIdol, ladygraywolf, Metalia-legwll, and Sara. You guys are amazing, thank you 😊