Chapter 31

The things they found out about their son and the things that they actually knew, were as different as night and day. Honestly, they only knew a mere fraction of what Kuon had gone through. At fifteen he had suffered so much. Needing medication to help with sleep, medication to help with depression, bouts of anorexia, episodes of bulimia, nightmares, the crushing guilt of a nonexistent crime, the loneliness, the need to create a completely new personality to deal with everyday life, the torment his own family had put him through from a very young age, and the constant feel of abandonment. It was all pieced together for her by her husband, her own father, and their now dearest friend.

Not once in her life did she ever think that her own sister could do that to a child, but here were the results and on this day, she had contributed willingly. She felt like a complete failure as a mother. When Lory then began to tell the three of Kyoko's circumstances, Juli could feel the soul-crushing guilt of how she'd treated the girl that was responsible for encouraging their son to come back to them, and most likely saving his life.

"Why did you keep this from me?" She whimpered to her husband and her father.

Eltra stared at his coffee cup in shame and Kuu sighed. "Juli… We tried to tell you what we knew. At one point even Kuon tried to tell us both more, but we didn't listen. We thought he was just overly sensitive." He reminded her.

"I'm so sorry, Milaya. I never knew it was that bad for him. I'd only seen them do it once and I'd stopped it then. I didn't realize it had been going on for so long." He confessed.

"What do we do, Papa?" Juli sobbed as Kuu held her in his arms and gently caressed her back.

Lory sighed. "Kyoko-chan is a strong young woman, but… she is very unpredictable. She's been damaged by mother figures before. I'm really not sure how she's going to handle this or how Kuon will for that matter." He sat back in his seat and took a sip of his cocktail. That was it, wasn't it? If Kyoko shied away from them, then Kuon may very well avoid his family in the future too. Lory felt it was truly a pity that this much had happened for so long to the boy. Had he known everything from the beginning, it may not have taken so long for him to heal, but he wasn't sure this would have been repaired without Kyoko's help.

~xoxo~

"Are you sure you're okay with staying there?" Kyoko whispered as they snuggled in the dark.

"I'm okay with it if you are." He told her, gently caressing her arm and enjoying the fresh scent of her hair.

"They really missed you, Kuon." She softly encouraged.

He sighed. "They only missed me because I wasn't there. If I had lived with them, I would have been alone anyway." He groused a little.

She shifted to look at him and caressed his cheek. "Kuon… You know that isn't true." She snuggled back into him. "They love you very much. I think they just don't know how to properly go about showing it." She sighed. "I don't know… I've never had this problem, but I do know someone that has had to deal with overbearing parents."

He suspected whom she was referring to, and he wasn't sure he actually appreciated the comparison. Although, he really couldn't say whether or not she was wrong from what he'd witnessed during that meeting with Sho's uncle. He knew, no matter what he did, his parents wouldn't have tried to kill his dreams to get what they wanted. He sighed deeply. "How about we sleep now and talk in the morning?"

"Okay..." She yawned. It had truly been a very long day for her.

Juli may have felt guilt over the way things had gone, but that didn't mean she was going to completely change overnight. She was the type of person that would see her mistakes only if someone forced her to, and doing something like that was very difficult. She was spoiled by her husband, and she was a demonically possessive fangirl of her son. She didn't wish to share either of them with anyone else. She shared them with the world through the entertainment industry and she would be hard pressed to share them with anyone else. It really didn't matter to her how they or anyone else felt about it, she would have her way, even if she had to convince the world she was dying.

Juli Hizuri is a very insecure person, regardless of what anyone thinks. The world needs to revolve around her or she believes that she isn't truly loved. Kuu has known this for years. He doesn't care that her cooking is terrible, that she throws temper tantrums like a child when she's angry, or that she pretends that she's dying when she can't have things the way she wants them. He knew she was like that when he married her. Despite all of her antics and her flaws, he still loves her. He doesn't love her because she's beautiful on the outside; he loves her because when all the negative things are washed away, she's beautiful on the inside. She's sweet, kind, caring, loving, fiercely loyal, and most of the time very understanding. One just has to be able to make it to her inner-circle to be able to meet the real Juli.

"So what should we do?" Eltra asked Lory. This was a rather sticky situation for him too. He honestly wanted to be able to hug his grandson and talk to him as family once again.

Lory smiled into the computer monitor. "You do nothing. I firmly believe you have a hidden ally." He gave Juli a poignant look. "Regardless of you mistreating her or offending her. There are few things that will turn her against you." He told them, knowing the full story behind Kyoko and Sho, and how she'd even forgiven him after everything he'd done. How she'd felt compassion for the situation he was now forced to endure until he was able to leave on his own.

Kuu was skeptical. He'd seen her reaction to the boy and it had only been his image on television; although, those were very different circumstances. According to Lory, the boy had led her on and tossed her aside, then he kept harassing her to the point of ridiculousness. As far as her mother was concerned, one really couldn't call the woman a mother. Well, they could in the biological sense, but that was as far as it would go. He really wasn't sure about her situation with Director Kurosaki, but he suspected that it was a hell of a lot more healthy than with her mother, or Lory would have never allowed the man near her, so perhaps all wasn't lost when it came to the thoughts of her guiding Kuon back to them once again.

Juli sat in silent contemplation. "He really loves her, doesn't he?" She murmured quietly. Almost too quiet for the others to hear. She sighed, stood up, and turned to her companions. "Sorry boys, I need my beauty sleep." She then left, leaving them to wonder if her leaving the discussion was a bad or good thing.

Her father just shook his head, thinking that she was going to be completely stubborn on the matter; however, Kuu just smiled softly. He'd seen this pattern of behavior from her before. It was her acceptance of the situation. It was the same when she'd finally accepted that Kuon would be in Japan for a very long time. His heart practically leapt at the fact that they wouldn't need to wait six months, and endure an almost endless string of tantrums and threats of divorce. Well, she couldn't very well divorce her own son, now could she? She didn't have any other choice but to accept the situation, Kyoko and his love for her. She would need to grin and bear it. Kuon made that infinitely clear by walking out. Kuu was right, he was a man now, had a man's heart, accompanied with a man's needs. Needs that a mother cannot fulfill.