AN: Waah! That was a really really slow update and I know I had a lot of stuff going on since November but thank you so much for your patience. I am sorry that it took me so long to update this fic but I really hope that you enjoy this chapter. Thank you so much for your understanding.

Chapter Twenty One – Unconditionally

Kyoko looked up at the woman in shock before looking back at Kuon who looked like he had shoveled himself a grave and was now sitting in it and waiting for death. It looked like he was waiting for the ground to swallow him up from below and Kyoko reached across for his hand. It was cold. He would always get this cold when haunted by the memories of his past.

"Excuse me," Kyoko said before Kuon could get a word out, "Who are you?"

"Japanese people are so rude," the woman said, "you act as if you're so high and mighty, so good and graceful but you're just hiding behind masks. If you really wanted to date this man, you should have gone through his profile or did he catfish you. I bet the Kuon Hizuri isn't against catfishing women," she said as Kyoko could see Kuon draw into himself even more.

Kyoko stood, not liking where this was going and turned to face the woman, "Would you try not making a scene?" she asked her as she lifted her chin. "It's quite embarrassing already but –-"

"You should be embarrassed to be seen with this man," she continued and Kyoko couldn't help but glare at the woman opposite her.

"Leave," she said coldly, "I am on a date with my boyfriend," she said as the pride she felt from saying that word could be heard by anyone listening. "I don't care what you think about him. I know what I feel for him, I've been with him for a long time with him as my mentor, my guide, my role model. I met him when I was a child and he's been through hell and back but I care about who he is and not who he was. I'm sure you've made mistakes as well."

Kyoko felt a fire burning in her eyes as she looked at the woman in front of her. She had wanted to have a nice and sensible date with Kuon where nobody had to get escorted away by the police. She wanted to laugh with him over stupid things, order dessert and force him to take a few bites, end the night off with a kiss. This woman was standing in her way of accomplishing that.

"He's demented inside. You're actually having a date with a psychopath," the woman continued and Kuon looked ahead of him as if he was disappearing. This was the state that Kyoko hated seeing him in the most because even if she had the best fishing rod in the world she didn't know how long it would take to pull him out of the water.

"So what?" Kyoko asked as she looked at her, "I don't even know your -"

"Melissa," Kuon said in a manner that didn't hold any emotion in it. He looked at Kyoko with that self-hating expression where she could feel the shame that he was experiencing from just looking at him. "Her name is Melissa. She was Rick's girlfriend before Tina."

"So you do remember the people you betrayed?" Melissa asked as she looked at him. "And yet, you're living such a carefree life where the people that you hurt, the person that you killed doesn't mean anything to you. You just use people and discard them, just like you're going to do with this girl who is unfortunate enough to date you."

Kuon tensed at that and he looked down. Kyoko wanted to say something or do something but her mind was flashing between Kuon and Melissa. Should she slap this horrible woman or should she try to comfort her boyfriend who had already endured enough in his life.

"What are you hoping to do?" Kyoko asked as she gritted her teeth and formed fists at her side. "Do you hope to soil his reputation? Make me break up with him? What is the end result that you're looking for?"

Melissa sneered at Kuon who, despite his high profile in Japan, looked like a teenage boy who was having a problem dealing with a need to self-mutilate. She looked at Kyoko and smiled, "Isn't it obvious?" she asked as Kyoko rolled her eyes.

"Why would I ask if it was obvious?" she asked with a sigh before Melissa laughed coldly.

"I want to lock him up in a cage and push him into the darkness forever," she said and Kyoko felt her body shake. "I always get what I want."

Kyoko's glare darkened as she looked at the terrible woman in front of her, she took deep breaths so that she wouldn't release any grudges onto her or hurt her in any way that could reflect badly on either her or Kuon. "That's impossible," she said as she finally smiled a determined smile. She looked back at the woman and put a hand to her own heart, "You may not understand this since you might not have ever experienced it but Kuon isn't going to be left alone in the darkness. I will make certain of that. I love him and I don't say that easily. I'm not one of those stupid girls who starts to dislike their boyfriend because of their past history, I'm a girl who adores who her boyfriend is and I will stand by him faithfully with unconditional love."

Melissa sneered at that, "Unconditional, huh? Get yourself a dictionary, you don't know what unconditional means."

Kyoko's eyes brought a fire in her that showed all of her passions when it came to her boyfriend, "Trust me, I'm probably better educated than you are. I know what the word unconditional means and even if this doesn't work out which I doubt that will happen, I will always be his friend because I know that he won't hurt me unlike other guys would. He doesn't use me. He treats me like an independent woman and he helps me with my dreams. I love him."

Kuon stood at that and without even acknowledging Melissa, he wrapped Kyoko up in his arms, relief and happiness showing in his emotion. "Thank you," he whispered to her as he held her close. "Thank you, Kyoko."

"You're welcome," Kyoko smiled before pulling his hand to the desk where the waiter was. Before Kuon knew what was going on, she had looked at the waiter who had been watching. "I'm so sorry about this but could we pay for our meal now?"

The waiter looked at them, "You didn't order any food," he said and Kyoko looked at Kuon.

"Then the table fee and whatever fee for disrupting the peace," she said before bowing deeply. "I really do apologize for making such a scene," she said and saw Kuon bow too in apology. After the restaurant had said a number, they paid the money and then walked out. Kyoko turned a deep red as she looked up at Kuon.

"I hope Kuu-sama isn't too disappointed about us giving the media something to report," she said and Kuon looked at her. He took her hand and walked down the street with her. When they were a safe distance away from the restaurant, he stopped.

"Kyoko, what you said back there? The unconditional, are you sure?" he asked and Kyoko rolled her eyes. She put a finger to his lips so that she could explain himself.

"I am sure. I mean, maybe there are some things that you could do that would make it so that I don't love you. If you acted like Shotaro or did the same thing to me that he did or you hurt me on purpose then no, I don't think that I could love you unconditionally but I trust that you would never do that."

Kyoko's smile managed to be the glue that restored Kuon's heart and he pulled her into his arms again. He gazed down at her and kissed her passionately as he raised her chin with his finger.

"How could I hurt someone so beautiful inside and out?" he asked her and Kyoko laughed and threw her arms around his waist again. She really did love him.

…

…

"Are you sure that I can't help?" Kuon called out as he and Kyoko were in his apartment later that night. The two of them had gone to the supermarket that was attached to the apartment building again but this time Kyoko was making all of the decisions whilst Kuon made jokes about her having to teach him her shopping tricks and techniques.

Kyoko had bought some fish and other ingredients and she was also making a side of rice and some soup. She turned to her boyfriend with a smile as he watched her cook. She hummed before gesturing to the soup, "You could stir that," she said and Kuon approached her.

"You're really allowing me to help with something on the stovetop?" he teased her and Kyoko laughed.

"Look, I know the combination of ingredients here and there's not much that you can mess up. I trust you," she laughed. She watched him as he followed her instructions and she blushed again. She could imagine the two of them as a married couple preparing meals together. She thought about all the things that Kuu had told her about he and Juliella loved cooking together. Kyoko had to admit that those were the same feelings she was having now.

"I have a question to ask you," Kuon said as Kyoko put a tester spoon in the soup and then added a little more salt. "I'm sorry if it sounds over the line in any way and don't feel pressured to do it because I asked," he hesitated.

Kyoko hummed as she looked up at him wondering what it was that he wanted to say.

"Would you like to move in here?" he asked and Kyoko lowered the temperature on the burner of what she was cooking and turned to him looking stunned, she opened her mouth but he was faster than her. "I'm thinking that to start you could have the guest room if you wanted. I know that most couples share a room but if you don't feel comfortable about that then we can have different rooms," he told her, "I just always want to be with you."

"I want to be with you too," Kyoko smiled before she nodded, "Yes, if I can have the guest bedroom then I'd love to live with you," she said before looking down. She didn't want to mention the question that was flashing through her mind of how she wasn't sure if they should live together because she wouldn't be able to afford the rent. This apartment was much nicer than the one she had supported Shotaro in and she had her other debts to pay off.

"Is something wrong? If you really don't want to then please say no, I know it's a big step," he said and Kyoko shook her head.

"I really do want to," she said before fidgeting, "It's just that I…" she looked down nervously and Kuon tried to figure out what she was saying.

"Is it that you don't want to leave the couple that you're staying with right now?" he asked. He knew that the couple cared about Kyoko as if she were a part of their family. He knew that she always appreciated living with them and that she respected the Taisho and felt a warmth and comfort with the Okami that her mother had never given her.

"No, I'm sure that they will be happy," Kyoko said as she took a deep breath in, "I can't afford the rent," she said and Kuon blinked back at her stunned.

"I wasn't going to charge you re—" he said as Kyoko shifted nervously. She didn't want to rely on him for everything and if he was going to pay for her living conditions then she wanted to do somethi-

"I'll take care of the food and cook for us," she said and Kuon laughed. He wrapped an arm around her and held her to him.

"Deal, that sounds perfect," he told her as he saw Kyoko's smile. "Also, please remember that I love you unconditionally as well," he said as Kyoko grinned. This was a step that she never thought that she'd make again but this time it was so much different from when she was going to live with Shotaro. At least she could expect for Kuon to come back to be with her no matter how late in the day it was.

End of Chapter Twenty One

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