AN: Sorry for the slowness in the update and thank you for your patience. I just finished a fic that I was updating daily and I loved concentrating on that. In case you're interested, I have a poll on my profile to see what fics you'd like more updates of and then I'll check from the top three. Anyway, really hope you enjoy this chapter 😊
Chapter Twenty Seven - Rick
This was too much for him to handle, way too much and it felt as if he were being drugged. Kuon felt dizzy and he hadn't ever experienced anything like this without the effect of alcohol through his system. Too many questions were in his mind and he didn't know how to feel. Should he feel relief that his friend was here and that he was alive and apparently with some woman who cared about him? Should he feel nervous that there was a possibility that Rick was breaking the law by coming out of hiding? Was it okay to be angry over the deception?
Kuon stared at his old friend, "So, if you were under victim protection?" he asked, his voice shaking a little as he tried to come to terms with what was going on. He was always told that he was a smart man but this, he couldn't make any sense of this situation. "Why are you here?"
"The threats were dealt with," the woman said in a straight forward, factually-driven voice, her eyes showing her honesty. "The case has ended."
"The case never ends, not around these parts," Kuon said as he looked around nervously. Seriously!? Was it okay for Rick to be out in the open like this. Sure, Kuon had been walking around for days and filming here but he didn't know what went on and he didn't trust this.
Right now, this part of America definitely didn't feel like home and he just wanted to hold Kyoko in his arms whilst she tried to help him make sense of this.
Kuon was starting to learn more and more why people said that home was never a physical location because even with the passing of seasons, the physical location changed. Home was being with loved ones, being with her was somewhere he regarded as feeling at home and at peace but Rick…knowing that Rick was alive was too much for him to give up.
Rick opened his mouth about to explain more of the situation but Kuon cut him off, his emerald eyes reflecting the fear that he had inside.
"Can I invite someone to meet you?" he asked and Rick paused before looking down.
"This person…are they able to keep a secret?" he asked and Kuon frowned. He wanted to argue about how much it mattered if they could keep a secret or not, this whole thing was messed up and if he was going to stay here and wait around for further explanation, he wanted to at least have someone on his side. A pillar of strength.
"My girlfriend," Kuon said as he put an arm around his chest, struggling with the pain. "She can keep a secr-"
"Another one of your flings?" Rick asked with a joking expression and Kuon felt as if he was having air punctured out of his lungs with a sharp stick.
"No. This is…she's my very precious girlfriend, someone who matters to me as much as you di-do, hopefully do," Kuon said and Rick saw the unmistakable pain that was tearing through Kuon's defenses. He nodded and Kuon took out his cellphone. He knew that Kyoko was probably worried about what was going on and he knew that she wouldn't spread this news about Rick around. He needed her support.
…..
…..
Kyoko was sitting on the edge of the bed in the guestroom, facing the window and cupping her hands tightly as she looked down at Corn who she was holding to her. She ran her finger over the stone and closed her eyes, she couldn't stop the panic or concern in her own heart. He was out there and she didn't know what was happening. He was always good at hiding, dealing with problems on his own but she wanted to help him and it wouldn't be fair on her that every time that she did want to help him, she had to dress up as Bo.
Kyoko felt the tears run down her cheeks and she shook her head. This wasn't like when Sho wouldn't tell her a problem because he didn't value her opinion. He was trying to keep her safe, he was trying to protect her but she just wanted him to think of her as a valuable part of his world.
When she heard the phone ring, she grabbed it and grinned in relief, a few tears mixed in with her laugh as she tried to steady her voice and answer it, "Kuon?" she said as she placed Corn on her lap so she could hold the phone with both of her hands.
"Kyoko, I need you to keep this upmost secret, do you understand that princess?" Kuon asked, his voice sounding panicked and that made Kyoko's stomach drop. Was what he was going through so strange? She nodded.
"I promise," she said gently and Kuon took a half breath.
"Rick's alive," he told her and Kyoko blinked. It took her mind a moment to register what he had just said and she wanted it in her heart to be true. Helping Kuon realize that his friend was back from the dead was going to be easier to deal with than if Kuon had lost her mind. Kyoko paused. There was a chance that Kuon had broken down psychologically and had gained schizophrenia. If that was the case, did she care? Honestly, she didn't. Now she was understanding even more in what President Takarada called the power of love.
"Where are you, sweetheart?" Kyoko asked, just wanting to be beside him.
Whatever was going on they could deal with it as a couple? Even if her boyfriend had lost his mind and would lead to the media analyzing whether or not he should be wearing a straight jacket, the things that Kuon was going through right now were real to him and she needed to hold him. She wanted to make sure he was okay and that he knew she loved him. He was her Corn, she was always going to love him. Even if he broke her heart, she would sadly still love him.
As he told her the address, Kyoko wrote it down and pressed the phone against her even more, "I'll be right there. I love you so much, my prince Corn."
"I love you too, princess Kyoko," Kuon said and Kyoko knew that she wanted to be with him as soon as she could. He needed her and she was not going to let him down, she would always do her best and use all her guts to show him how much she loved him, a love that she couldn't imagine sharing with anyone but him.
…..
…
As Kyoko got to the park, she saw Kuon standing by the outside of it and she ran up to him, throwing her arms around him and letting him pull her into his chest. At least if she found out that he was losing his mind, she had hugged him first. She wasn't sure how to prove her love for him so hopefully she could do enough. She looked from side to side to see that he was alone and she then turned her inquisitive up to his.
"Kuon," she asked softly and Kuon held her hand.
"Come, I'd like to introduce you two," he said but even his acting skills weren't disguising how shaken up he was. His deceased friend had come back and barring the idea of a zombie apocalypse, there usually wasn't any explanation for such a thing. Kyoko didn't know whether that was the case here or not.
She smiled softly as she saw a woman and looked down. So it wasn't Rick but it was a living, breathing human and then she saw the man in the wheelchair and her eyes lit up in recognition. She didn't understand how this was possible but he was a match for the teenager she had seen in those photographs. She looked up at Kuon and then back at Rick before bowing deeply.
"Hi, I'm Mogami Kyoko, it's really nice to meet you," she said before lifting herself up. Was that still weird to do to Americans? He could tell that she was Japanese, right? Didn't that make it slightly less weird that she had bowed to him formally.
He extended his hand, "I'm Rick," he said, "Pleasure to meet yo-" Rick looked up at Kuon, "Didn't you say that there was a six year old named Kyoko that you held in your heart?" he asked and Kyoko blushed turning a deep red.
It wasn't as if she hadn't carried Corn around in her heart for so many years and invested so much trust in his magic stone. She smiled as she grabbed hold of Kuon's hand and looked at him. As thrilled for him as she was to see this man in front of them, she couldn't imagine it being easy for her boyfriend to see him.
"I've just come off of victim protection," Rick explained to her and then gestured to Kuon, "but it seems as if he's been on his own victim protection. New life, money, new background story that you need to memorize. Interesting," Rick commented and Kuon bowed his head.
"Ren Tsuruga was someone who I had to create in order to have an existence," he said nervously before watching Kyoko who was unsure about the whole situation. "Did you want to grab some coffee or is this -"
"I have to go," Rick told him and Kuon felt his body tense as his spine straightened. He didn't know what to say in response to that and Kyoko could notice that in his eyes. He was wondering whether this was just a one night occurrence, whether he had just imagined it, or whether he should try and plead and beg for there to be more time together.
"Will I –" Kuon began but Rick cut him off.
"I do want to see you, I'll contact you when we can next meet," he said and Kuon nodded. He was about to say his goodbyes but Rick took off before giving him a chance to and he looked at the ground as if he was a small boy who was scared of being scolded. Kyoko squeezed his hand again. What kind of advice could she even try and give him? His friend coming back from the afterlife wasn't something she could have learned in Girlfriends 101.
"Do you want to go back now?" Kyoko asked and Kuon nodded, going towards the car.
The silence still scared her but she was so relieved that it hadn't been something worse. She was glad that her boyfriend was here and he was alive and they could spend some more time together.
"Kuon," Kyoko asked softly as she continued to hold onto his hand, "Can you tell me how you're feeling?" she asked and Kuon looked down, closing his eyes and not saying anything. It hurt a little that he was closing himself off to her, she wanted to help and she thought she had gotten through to him that she could handle his feelings, his anger, his pain, his little habits that people might not understand.
"I'm angry," he finally said and Kyoko looked at him with a supportive smile though the concern was in her eyes. "I'm so angry at him but I…I don't want to be. I want to be happy that he's alive, that I haven't actually been responsible for his death but I'm so angry at him, at what happened, at myself."
Kyoko looked at him and pressed a kiss to the side of his arm, "I can understand that. Be angry right now but when you've let that anger out, you might want to talk things through and I'll be there when you're ready," she said and Kuon sighed before nodding.
Kyoko was really relieved that he was okay.
End of Chapter Twenty Seven
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