Chapter 30

The only thing that signaled to Kuu that something was wrong, was the slamming of the front door. Moments later he would hear a tearful Juli calling for her son. It took a couple of hours to calm her down and to get her to stop blaming everyone but herself. At that point, he had first called Eltra, and then tried to call Kuon. He had absolutely no luck in getting in contact with Kuon, and he really didn't expect to after what Juli had told him. He figured that she'd glossed it over quite a bit to make herself look a lot more innocent in the situation than he thought she was. He knew for a fact that Kyoko-chan would never do anything to disrespect an elder as Juli had described. He had a hunch that Kuon was the executioner in this story and rightly so. Kuu knew that he'd been through a lot.

He finally calmed Juli enough to leave her sulking quietly on the sofa, dialing Kuon's number constantly every 30 seconds. Which he had probably at this point already blocked her number, and Kuu could understand why. Kuu tried one more time and it went directly to voicemail. He then decided to enlist Lory's aid in this matter, only to be told he was on his own in this mess. It was their responsibility as parents to fix their relationship with as little collateral damage as possible. Meaning: Fix it and don't damage Japan's little fairy in the process.

This was bad. He needed to do something before Ushio left to meet his daughter in a few days. Kuon sincerely dated her with the full intention to marry her in the future and Lory was well aware of the fact. He did not want any hard feelings between families before that even had the chance to be thought about. So he would go that extra mile and just this once, break his principles and call Kuon to hopefully encourage him to patch things up with his parents.

Just in case it was needed, he pulled out a phone number and dialed, making arrangements for his two number ones. The person on the other end agreed and made a promise to gather what was needed, then take everything to the designated location. The second call went to another location, making further arrangements. The third and final call went to the godson that he saw as his own.

He sighed into the phone before taking a long drag of his cigar after the call was picked up.

"Don't try and talk me into taking Kyoko back there, Uncle Lory." His voice made Lory's heart hurt. It told him that Juli had said or done far more than either of the elder Hizuris were willing to admit.

"Is she okay?" Lory asked, breathing out smoke rings and playing with his cigar.

"She is now. She's taking a bubble bath and washing the sand off. We went to the beach for a little while." Kuon grumbled.

"Where are you?" Lory asked, not to make them go back, but out of genuine concern.

"Why?" Kuon growled.

Lory sighed. "I'm sending Ruto with a limo to pick you up and take you somewhere a little more relaxing and private than a hotel. No… you won't be staying with Juli and Kuu. I have a vacation home just outside of LA." He told him quickly before he could refuse. "She'll probably be more comfortable there anyway. You know her better than I do and you'll probably agree."

Kuon was silent for a long moment. "Are you sure?… What about our stuff and Yukihito?" Kuon asked.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Kuu will understand and help pack everything up." Lory assured him. "Don't worry boy. I kind of expected a few bumps along the way… Kuu will understand. Rome wasn't built in a day." He chuckled.

"Nnh..." Kuon grunted. "Don't expect anything. I won't be going back unless Kyoko's treated with the respect that she deserves. She done more for me than they have." He spit out acidly.

"Easy… I'm not going to make you two stay in that kind of environment. Both of you have filming and don't need the extra stress. Let them work it out, but I will ask you to at least make a fair effort. You need to give them opportunities as well." Lory scolded.

Kuon heard the shower of their small hotel room turn off and the rustling of a towel. Apparently he'd added too much bubble bath for her. "Alright, whatever…" He agreed just to speed things up. He ended the call by giving the information that Lory had called for. Ruto would be by to pick them up in the morning. Lory was going to make arrangements for Yuki and Ruto to stay somewhere else, while his two stars used his vacation home. It would seem that Juli needed to be eased into this and hopefully Kuu would help her along the way.

Juli watched as Ruto carried Kyoko's luggage down the stairs and smiled. She turned to Kuu, who had a grim look on his face and pouted. She sat back on the sofa petulantly then smirked. "Well, she doesn't need to be staying here anyway. She would just take away the time I have with my son." She commented cheerily.

Kuu grimaced and shook his head, then sighed before sitting next to her. "Juliena…" They heard the door shut. "This was Kuon's choice. He won't be staying here either." To her, it was the first time she'd ever heard him angry. "He's made his choice."

"NO! She can't do this to me! I've waited long enough and now she takes my son away from me?!" She bellowed.

"STOP IT!" He yelled. "Kyoko had nothing to do with this! This is your doing! This is our doing! Do you have any idea of what he is going through?… What he's been through because of us?!" He grabbed her arm to keep her from running out of the house like a wild animal to try and stop the limo. "Calm down… You're father will be here in twenty minutes… We… you and I need to have a long talk. There is so much that you need to know. Things that you… we refused to see when he was here. Things that, that strong young woman has pulled him out of and kept him alive! What you did today..." He sighed at his shocked wife. "What you did was too cruel to both of them. He brought her here for your acceptance and you showed him that his choices were unacceptable to you. That what he held in his heart wasn't good enough. I don't know exactly what you said to them, but whatever it was, it was enough to send our son away again!"

"I… I just… It's not fair! He's ours! He's my baby and she was going to take him away!" She sobbed piteously.

"No Juli, he's a grown man and we can not give him what he wants or needs right now. He's not a baby anymore Juli." He told her softly. "Now, your father will be here shortly and we are going to sit down in a conference call with Lory." He held up his hand to keep her from protesting. "And they are going to tell us everything. They are going to tell us what we should have demanded to know before he left the first time, and you and I are going to listen… we are going to take their advice… and we are not going to screw this up again, because Juli…" He sighed tiredly. "I swear to god, I can't do this anymore. I love you both, but if I have to choose between his happiness and you… I will choose him every single time." He finished with a hard lump in his chest that felt like a stone. This was something that he never thought he would have to put into words, but he meant every little bit of it.