AN: So, I promised you guys that I was going to try to take a break and writer other things but I kept thinking about this fic all of last night so I guess I wanted to write it. Also, it got some reviews on the last chapter which made it kind of impossible for me not to read this one.

Chapter Thirty Seven - Avoidance

"Julie?" Kyoko asked as she followed the woman to the hotel room that the front desk had given to her, "I'm not sure that I understand," she admitted having seen the picture of Kuon covered in blood. She didn't know how Kuon would have survived that.

"I don't think that I understand either," Julie admitted as they reached the room. She took a deep breath before knocking and heard a dog bark but that noise was slowly muffled. There was a dog here? Was this some kind of a trap? They didn't have a dog. Kyoko looked confused at the sound as well but as they stood there, the two of them could hear the door be unbolted.

As Kuu opened the door, he looked at Kyoko in shock.

"I thought I said not to tell Kyoko," he said as they could hear movement from behind Kuu. Kyoko looked a little surprised to hear that, her anxiety rising.

"Nonsense," Julie said as she waved the thought away. "As if Kyoko shouldn't know, as if she'd pose any type of a threat to the situation. Now, where is my baby?" she asked and Kuu let them in. Julie rushed to the bedroom and froze as she saw her son, with the hood of his jacket down with his hand upon a German Shepherd puppy only a few months old. She felt the tears slip down her cheeks. He looked so injured but he was alive. She took a few steps towards him but was knocked back as Kyoko ran over to him, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Corn," she whispered as she wrapped her arms around him, starting to dampen his shirt with her tears.

The dog growled at her but she saw Kuon reach out for him or her, whispering that it was okay and to stand down. Kyoko didn't care though, she had her arms around her boyfriend…ex-boyfriend? She just needed to hold onto him like he was the only way she could survive.

"Easy Cain, stand down boy," Kuon commanded the dog before the dog lay down on the floor and Kuon wrapped his arms around Kyoko. He still loved her so much. "You're here. It might not be safe for you to be he-"

Kyoko kissed him before he could say anything else, "I wished for this to happen. I wanted this to happen so much," she said as she took him in. She could see the scars, the pain, the broken nose but this was Kuon, he was here in front of her. "Thank you," she whispered as if to no one.

"Darling," Julie sobbed as she looked at her son, she had thought him dead for six months and now he was in front of her. She wanted to call for medical treatment but felt that it would disturb the situation. She was trying to recall the little amount of medical knowledge she had off hand. "We thought we'd lost you."

"I'm sorry," Kuon apologized sadly, "I've had to travel from New York undetected. I was scared that the phone lines were bugged, that people had gotten hurt. It took forever to get back here," he said with his head dropped and Kyoko let her fingers brush through his messy hair. It must have taken him weeks to travel across the country. He could have called them but she understood why he felt he needed to do it in person.

"I love you," Kyoko said again as she held onto him, her messy tears sparkling in her eyes. "I was so scared when you didn't come back. I'm so sorry that I'm so weak but I…I love you. I love you so so much," she told him as she closed her eyes and let her tears flow more. "I wished to the fairy kingdom that you'd come back to me. I don't want to leave you. Please don't force me to leave you again."

"Kyoko," Kuon said sadly, "I have to go into hiding until this gang is brought down, they think I'm dead but if I'm spotted then there's some serious trouble," he told her and Kyoko nodded sadly. "I'm not going to ask you to -"

"I'll quit acting, we can go together," she told him and Kuon stared at her confused.

"You're willing to go into hiding with me?" he asked her, "We're not going to be able to be Kuon Hizuri and Kyoko Mogami. I'd have to change dramatically if I do this and I'm not going to abandon Cain. I've known him since he was a puppy."

"I'm fine with that," Kyoko told him as she looked down, "as long as I don't lose you again. I'm fine with that. I love you so much, Kuon."

"I might look completely different," he attempted to explain to her and Kyoko shook her head. She didn't care because inside she would know who he was. It didn't matter what he looked like. He was her boyfriend, her precious sempai, her fairy prince.

"You won't be my son anymore?" Julie asked painfully and Kuon looked at her.

"Not whilst I'm in character but I'm always going to be your son. I'm always going to be proud to be your son. Rick just put a price on my head or he gave them a better deal, the information on me rather than on him. He's able to live a normal life whilst I'm in hiding because if I'm not in hiding, I'm at risk of being assassinated."

Kyoko stared at him in horror, her jaw dropping and she threw her arms around him, clutching him even more. She didn't know what to say, all that she knew was that she wanted to be with him. Even if she had to sleep on the street with him, she would be at his side and she wouldn't lose him again. He was the most important part of her life and it took losing him for her to see that.

"Cain," Kuon said as he turned his attention to the dog, "Safe, Kyoko's safe, my parents are safe. Cain, heel boy," he told the puppy and Cain whined as he continued to lay on the floor. Kuon had trained him for defense and was a little worried he'd attack Kyoko because she was tightly holding him.

"Cain Heel?" she asked him and Kuon nodded. "I like that."

Julie looked at Kuu, "Aside from the scars on your face," she said as she turned back to Kuon, "Let's hear what the kidnapper has to say. There might be something better that we can do rather than something so drastic and permanent. I mean, you'd one day like to go back to acting in Japan, right?" she asked and Kuon nodded. "I'm sure that the kidnapper will think of something."

…

…

Kyoko was a little confused how the president had stressed that she come into the office late in the evening. He had apologized if he had done anything to keep her from her work but he had to show her a photograph. She had been hesitant but she didn't feel she had any place to say no.

So, here she was, sitting across from him and she hadn't seen him so pale or upset before. He was wearing a suit which was also strange, usually he would be wearing one of his costumes. Kyoko leaned in towards him, not knowing what to expect.

"Kyoko," the president said with a mournful sigh, "Have you been in contact with the Hizuris in the past…let's say six hours?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head. She had tried calling Kuon but it had been the early morning and maybe he had taken Julie's suggestion and turned his phone off so that he could get some rest. "Kuon was murdered," he told her and Kyoko paused.

Did she hear those words right? This didn't happen. She wasn't in that kind of life where her boyfriend would be killed. No, she hadn't heard that, she refused to believe it.

"What?" she asked as she saw tears in his eyes. "What are you?"

"Kuu called me," he explained to her and Kyoko blinked confused, "I'm sorry but when I asked for proof, well the evidence is chilling but it's conclusive," he said and Kyoko looked even more confused. The evidence? She felt her body tighten. Kuon wasn't dead, she'd have felt that loss of connection if he were dead. She stared at him and the president took out a printed document. Kyoko blinked.

"The picture is quite graphic," he told her, "I only want you to look at it if you feel that you can handl-"

Kyoko stretched her hand out to take it and as she turned it over it was as if all life had left her. She was seeing her boyfriend after he had died. She stared at it for a moment longer before handing it back. She felt terrified inside. She should have known that something was wrong. She closed her eyes before she felt everything inside her vanish and she lost consciousness. It would take months of crying for her to start to move on. He was her precious Corn after all.

…..

…..

"I've grabbed some pajamas," Julie said as she stood at the front desk trying hard not to be seen. She had heard that the president would arrive soon and wanted to go with him so as not to cause anyone to think that Kuon was being hidden at the hotel. She could say that she was on a date with Kuu but they would have booked a room in a more exclusive hotel. She was glad then when she saw the president disguised as a tourist.

"Julie," he said as he gestured to the man beside him that Julie had come to know well. "Come," he gestured and Julie smiled to Ruto. He knew that this was an extra safety precaution Lory had with him and she managed to sneak between the men.

"Julie?" Kuu answered back on the phone.

"I'm with Lory," Julie whispered as she hung up the phone and Kuu gave a sigh of relief. Julie had just wanted to get Kuon into some warm and new clothes but the risks were getting bigger. She felt that she should be disguising herself. "I'll see you in a moment," she said as she hung up the phone and looked at the LME president. "You came fast," she said and he nodded.

"Private plane," he told her without expressing any emotion on his face. Julie fell silent as she showed them the way to the hotel room. She froze as she saw that the other man in the elevator was staring at her and that there was a bulge in his pocket where his hand was. Her breath shallowed and she took a step closer to Lory who nodded to Ruto.

Without saying a word, Ruto managed to punch the guy without even looking at him and then, using the shock from the strike, removed the gun and then threw a few more moves as he disabled the man. He passed the gun to Lory as Julie started shaking. Their location had been compromised. She tried hard to calm herself before she had a panic attack. Did they know he was alive?

"I believe these are false documents," Ruto commented as he handed a wallet to Lory who looked through it.

"I've asked for some security to meet us at a secret location," Lory told Julie before seeing a man on the floor they stopped at with another gun. He blinked as Ruto managed to immobilize them. "We should move quickly, cover any hint of a trail but first I'd like to see him," he said and Julie nodded as she stared at the man.

Yes, they had put him in danger by keeping him in one location for so long. Was he really that much of a threat to them? Wasn't this just a grudge? Who would employ this much man power over a grudge?

End of Chapter Thirty Seven

Thank you for reading

Thank you so much to the reviewers of Chapter Thirty Six

Grayladywoolf, Guineapigs1, H-Nala, Kaname671, ktoll9, paulagato