AN: Hope you enjoy 😊

Chapter Twenty Two – Open Home, Open Mind

Kyoko waited on a bench outside the studio at which Kuon was filming just thinking about the news that Kuu had offered her. He had come to her and told her that one of the background actresses had found a better offer and they needed someone to fill her role and work as a hostess in a fancy restaurant. She didn't have any lines and it was barely a part, but it was something that she could put on her resume.

The scene would be shot the next day and though Kuu had told her not to worry about it since this wasn't anything to the difficulty of her work in Japan, she had wanted to share this with Kuon. She was excited that this might be shown one day to be part of her journey in becoming an American actress.

As she was sitting there, a man walked up to her.

"You understand English?" he pointed to her as Kyoko looked the guy over. He looked like a stereotypical high schooler and she wasn't impressed by his baggy clothes or the fact that he had his phone attached to his hip.

Kyoko flipped her hair back, "A little, why don't you test me?" she asked and the guy laughed to himself.

"Would you like to have a conversation with me over dinner? We could practice," he said and Kyoko rolled her eyes. The amount of self-confidence that this guy had in himself was at a level with Shotaro's. She could speak English but was this boy even worth her time? However, as she looked him over she realized how much of a boy he was and how much better it was being with an older man who actually knew how to treat women right.

"I don't think my boyfriend would like that very much," she said as she turned to see Kuon coming out. She waved at him and he smiled before pointing to the boy with a questioning look. Kyoko shrugged at him and stood as Kuon came over to her.

"I'll meet you back at the house," Yashiro called out and Kuon nodded to him before coming over to Kyoko.

"Hi," he said as he looked at her. Even though they had only been apart for a number of hours, he had really missed her. It was so good to have her here with him in America. He looked over to the teenager. "Can we help you?"

"Uh, no.." the teen said as he took a few steps back and Kyoko looked up at Kuon wondering what he was going to do. "I thought that your girlfriend was younger but I don't play with older women," he said and Kuon smiled in his Ren Tsuruga manner.

"Is that so, maybe that will teach you not to try and pick up random women without even getting to know them first," he said as he wrapped an arm around Kyoko's waist. "I hope that you aren't going around and acting this way to the girls at your school. Have a good day," with that he turned Kyoko around and shook his head with a laugh when it came to the kid.

"So, this story about me being old?" Kyoko asked and Kuon sighed and then shook his head.

"Kyoko, people here are very concerned about people with significant age differences, it's best not to argue about it. We're fine but I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about the two of us," Kuon tried to explain and Kyoko looked at him with a weak smile.

"Are you sure that you're fine, Kuon?" she asked and he wrapped his arms around her.

"As long as you're comfortable with our relationship then I am comfortable with it too. I love you. I think I've always loved you since you were six and I was ten and now that sounds even more uncomfortable with those ages but it's true," Kuon grinned at her and Kyoko smiled. She placed a hand on his chest and smiled.

"You smell good," she said before blushing and heard Kuon chuckle over that. "Oh," she pushed back and looked at him very excitedly before he could say anything. He looked at her surprised but then nodded showing that he was ready to listen to her. "You know that Kuu-sama is acting in that drama," she told him and Kuon laughed.

"One of many," he told her, "I'm listening."

"I got a role of an extra," Kyoko grinned before blushing and looking down, "It's not that big a role and it doesn't have any lines but -"

"It's wonderful news," Kuon told her as she looked at him with her grin getting bigger. "I'm really proud of you. See, they already can see a talent when they have it. I'm thinking better and better of these Hollywood people all the time," he winked and Kyoko hugged him again.

Shotaro never would have been this supportive if she had received a bit role. He most likely would have told her that she should have done better and that it was a loss for her to admit that she was only playing the role of an extra. He would have said that having the role of an extra only proved that nobody wanted her center stage but Kuon was supportive and kind and those were just two of the many reasons why she was in love with him.

…..

…..

Kyoko and Kuon had decided to take a short stroll whilst walking hand in hand rather than go directly back to the house. Even though there were no stores where they were walking, it was a nice neighborhood and Kyoko was struck at both how similar the houses were and how different. It would be a nice place to live and as she saw a mother with her new baby, Kyoko felt that she could picture herself and Kuon in that situation and she wasn't shying away from it.

She looked at Kuon before kissing his arm and saw him grin to her as he continued to hold her hand. As they walked to an even nicer area, Kuon looked across at where there was a sign for an open house. "Did you want to go in there?" he asked and Kyoko looked at him.

"We're not -" Kyoko said as Kuon laughed at her and shook his head.

"It's alright. When I was growing up, I learned that people go to open houses all the time even if they have no intention of actually buying the property. We won't take up the agent's time and we'll just have a quick look unless you don't want to," he said and Kyoko bowed her head before blushing again.

Kyoko nodded and said quietly to him. "I'd like to take a look inside."

Kuon took her hand and led her inside the building. Kyoko smiled as she looked at the front yard where there were some vegetable patches growing. That would be something that she could find an interest in. She would love to grow flowers in a garden of her own. There were even some flower packs that you could buy that said the plants would encourage fairies to come to the garden.

As they got in, Kyoko looked at the fantastic entry way. The house had seemed quite modest from the outside but the inside was spectacular. She looked at Kuon's face as he smiled and looked around. They walked up to the real estate agent.

"Hi," Kuon said as he held Kyoko close to him, "[Is it alright for my girlfriend and I to take a look around?]"

Kyoko smiled as she listened to Kuon's Californian accent, she would have to tell him to use it more often when they returned to Japan. She wanted to hear his natural voice. Of course, his Japanese natural voice was still his voice but it was something about hearing him speak in the way he had grown up that made him seem more himself. It was something that she would always think of as special about him.

"Shall we take a look around?" he asked Kyoko as he returned to Japanese and she nodded.

As they walked through the house, going to each room and looking at the way it was decorated, the two of them had many thoughts about a house of their own. It would be good one day to have a house that the two of them could decorate together? Somehow it didn't fee threatening or frightening to either of them because they knew that their tastes would go together well.

Kuon loved his car. He loved the outside world. He loved nature.

On the other hand he was smart, he was quick-witted, very athletic, and a hardworking person. Kyoko shared his work ethic and would definitely not be called unintelligent. They could both imagine having books everywhere as well as discussing where they would put certain items such as a coffee maker and a TV and stereo system.

Kyoko went upstairs with Kuon and the two stopped at the first room which was the nursery. Kuon took a step into the middle of the room and looked around. This room had been painted with so much love and there was so much passion in everything within it. It looked as if the person who had been selling this house had put all of their hope and joy into having a child. This was what you did when you knew that you were becoming a parent. Hesitantly, Kuon saw Kyoko with tears in her eyes.

"What is it, princess?" Kuon asked as he walked over to her, mindful of his footsteps.

"I really do want a child," Kyoko admitted. She paused. She hadn't thought that she would want one because of her own childhood. She had always said that if she wasn't sure if she could love the child properly then she didn't want kids because she didn't want them to feel the same way that she had. However, with Kuon it made things so different and so much less scary.

"I'd like to have kids too," he nodded before coming over to hold her close.

"I'd like to have a house with you one day," Kyoko told him and Kuon smiled. He let his fingers run over Kyoko's hair.

"We should look into that when we get back from Japan," he told her before kissing the top of her head. He knew that he wouldn't treat her the same way that Fuwa had. He knew that if they lived together, he wouldn't make her wait for hours or days without knowing if he'd be home. He wouldn't demand food or expect for her to maintain the apartment by herself. He wanted a home not just a house.

He wanted a home where they could be together, their own little sanctuary.

This was the life he had never dared to dream about but she could make it happen with him. What Kuon didn't know was that Kyoko was looking at him with exactly the same thoughts in mind.

End of Chapter Twenty Two

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