-Oxford - Wednesday: Part 23-
Shoutaro felt the eyes on him before he saw them. He was to busy fuming at the fact that his date, whose name he had forgotten long ago was annoyed by her attitude and he already found it bothersome to try and comfort her but he didn't want Kyoko to be seen as right in this matter so he nuzzled into her neck, "Don't listen to her she's just jealous." he said in French, running a hand down her arm he looked at her hazel eyes smiling his boyish charm that reached so many other women but she was not really having it. She pulled away from him before stabbing a fork into her pasta dish.
"Oh and she is not an ex-girlfriend?" she said simply.
"No, I told you already she's just a childhood friend if you can even call her that." he would have said more but there was no point it was clear she wasn't going to listen to anything he said. This was all Kyoko's fault in Shoutaro's mind. She just had to open her damn mouth and point out that he was only attracted to this woman for her body. 'This is why I don't like to bother with those closer to my age' he thought darkly.
"I see. Then I should inform you that your worry for the girl is unfounded," she said turning her cell phone though it was clearly in French the screen showed the arrival of Lory Takarada of LME being greeted by the royal family, "Seems you made a big mistake." she smiled, "That girl is very rich and very powerful. I highly doubt she cooks or cleans and if she does, it's because she likes it." she said shaking her head.
Shoutaro looked down at the phone, "That's fake!" he tried to hold his tone under his breath but it was clear that he was having a hard time controlling the rage that was boiling up. 'There was no way that was true.'
"Oh really?" she said backing up as she stabbed her salad again her phone in her hand as she flipped through a few things. "Here's a bunch of family photos," she said sliding it back towards him.
It was hard to deny something when given proof of the other, he knew for a fact that the young girl in the photos was Kyoko but she was always far in the background, almost as if she was to shy. 'No she always was a bit shy around people' he thought 'unless trying to please my parents.' The increasing darkness that seemed to direct at him caused him to lift his head, his eyes widen in shock followed by fear. The man Ren Tsuruga was looking at him like he was planning his murder, that if it wasn't for the fact that Kyoko was there he would have leaped across the room like a demon. He looked back down at the phone trying to focus on what he was seeing 'Could she really have been?' she did go on trips sometimes. He always just thought it was to the other Inns the family owned in Japan but maybe he was mistaken. He handed his date back her phone and mentally sighed.
"No words?" she said simply as she turned off her phone to finish eating.
"Doesn't change the fact she's plain and boring." he said looking at his date with his boyish charm on his face, "Or that she has no sex-appeal. She could never match up to you." he said taking a strain of her hair in his fingers before leaning over and giving it the smallest kiss.
"That is very sweet." she said softly, "she rather plain looking I will not deny that." her eyes trailed towards the couple "But I think you are mistaken on the no sex appeal part." her eyes turned back towards Shoutaro, "seems that she is not lacking in that at all. That man is clearly under her control."
Shoutaro knew better than to say it was because he was weak, which was what he was thinking when she said that. Any man controlled by a woman is of course weak. Yet when he looked at them again he felt another shudder run through his body, the first one came from watching how Kyoko was straddling Ren, followed by how she was clearly pressing herself against him, saying something he couldn't make out. The way Ren's hand trailed her body and he felt himself growing a bit jealous at the thought that she was allowing someone else to touch her, after all, she belonged to him. Something dangerous caused him to panic as his eyes met with Ren's once more and he felt the anger coming from the man. So much anger, so much hate and it was all directed at him with the desire to end his life. 'I gotta get her out of there' he thought before looking away. 'Yet how the hell do I get her away from that guy without getting killed in the process?'
Kyoko eyes trailed towards the direction that Ren was staring at since he had been silent the whole time and she wasn't sure if she had said something but the way he was pulling off such coldness scared her, she could only say she was thankful it wasn't directed at her because she was sure she would never be able to fight back against it. She would be saying she was sorry even if she hadn't done anything just to make it stop. That was how much the energy she felt at the moment threw her. It was nothing like she had felt prior, 'No maybe I have felt this...' she closed her eyes trying to think of when she had felt it before a sudden shudder went through her body 'I am likely wrong... but no...' she didn't know but she had to risk it didn't she? If it was, in all rights she belonged to this man, 'No Blue Rose does' she mentally told herself. 'It also means he likely knows the truth' no that wouldn't matter. She recalled Tomi telling her that sometimes they created new lives for people who were of higher profile that they couldn't risk the truth getting out. Normally they had killed those people off but it still threw up questions that likely couldn't be answered right away. No, it was something she would need to discuss with her Father, Ruto, Aunt Mary, Uncle Robert and of course without a doubt Grandma Leiko
Mentally sighing she figured she should at least attempt to do something to help Shoutaro because no matter what she now understood that she cared for him even if she wasn't in love with him or didn't trust him. Truthfully she rather keeps her distance but in this case, she was the cause of the rage that Ren Tsuruga was throwing off. It wasn't likely any other way that he would know exactly what it meant by her saying a Blue Rose unless he was the man who brought her to her father. Besides as she stared at his features she could see the two overlapping, she had been stupid she supposed for doing this in public but she hadn't thought that through. She was only basing this whole thing on a guess because it was the first time she ever had the ability to test in real life if what Tomi had taught her would work. She needed it to work, she needed to be right about this.
Kyoko pulled her legs away and the moment she was no longer physically touching him she noticed he started to rise up from his seat, 'Not good' she mentally cried as she quickly found herself pushing him back against the booth and straddling his lap as she faced him. He didn't seem to notice her but she felt how badly her face was burning and she really wanted to hide it but he had settled down once again and she could sigh in relief at this one fact. 'Contact, I must stay in physical contact with him right now' that was a scary thought. She really didn't want to spend the rest of the night like this, and then there was the hotel and the rest of it all she mentally sighed already feeling drained. Her eyes shot up to Ren's face as she felt a hand trailing up and down her spine as if in an attempt to comfort her and that was amusing all on its own. "You really do have a kind heart don't you?" she said touching the side of his face but he didn't respond to her, didn't look at her and that made her sad for some reason.
'Well maybe if he realizes I know who he is?' then again she wasn't exactly sure she was correct either. Silently praying to the gods who would listen she began to speak quietly, not that she really had to worry about anyone overhearing her at the moment but still she wanted to make sure which meant she had to chose her words carefully as well, "There was this man that my friend got to help me." she felt him stiffen under her and that was an odd sensation, still she went on, "I don't think he realized he brought me home either, but he did." she said softly "See if it got out what happened, the truth it wouldn't look good." In her mind, it was clearly the new life that was created by her, the false documents, the false images, everything. It would look really bad if it really ever got out. "That part had to die, completely, no one was to ever know the truth." she leaned into him, "But you already know that, don't you Master Damon?"
Kuon felt anger like anything he had ever had felt before in his life. No not quiet he had felt this anger before this darkness that wrapped around him but it had been so long and it didn't matter what he promised himself. Everything in his mind, in his heart, in his soul was telling him to kill the bastard. 'Little Kyoko-chan's had wanted to marry him. She had never hidden her dreams, not even to a younger him. Her Shoutaro-chan and her would get married and that boy had known all this time and he used it against her?' Whatever was holding him in place seemed to disappear and at that moment he was moving but he felt the chains wrapping around him, not a chain he minded either. It was gentle and warm and comforting and he found himself once again settling into the pressure that was holding him in place.
A part of him realized what was going on and knew that the chain holding him in place, was really Kyoko. He felt her body against his and he wanted to react to it, to truly take in the fact that even if she said she didn't care she was proving otherwise to him. Yet that small part wasn't loud enough for him to care enough. All he knew was he could not, no would not hurt her. That meant that as long as she was in contact with him, he wouldn't act. Only because he worried about her getting hurt.
When she began to speak to him he found it harder to not look at her, but he didn't want to take his eyes off Shoutaro, he stiffened as she told him about the man who had come and brought her home, 'So she really is Lory's child...' that was the only thing, he could understand that they wouldn't want it to be known and it's easier to kill someone off than creating such a grand life for someone. He had looked into her after all, he hadn't believed it even when everyone around him said otherwise and he saw the way that family and her interacted together, it was without a doubt to him that they were family. A close-knit family at that who wouldn't just let someone walk in on the whim even if it was Lory. It wasn't until she called him Damon. Albert had called him Master Damon when speaking. It would make sense that would be what she would use as well.
"How?" whatever he had been feeling at that moment disappeared, he was sure she was frightened of him at the time, terrified and putting on an act yet now she didn't look at him at all fearful like then. 'No...' there had been a moment where he had felt something that wasn't fear from her but quietly acceptance of what was happening to her. His mind recalled that Tomi had given her a note, that he had taken and later given back to her before tearing off her clothes. Yet for the life of him, he couldn't recall what she looked like now, all he could see was the darkness that seemed to wrap around her. 'Was I really that disinterested at the time?' he couldn't believe it. The way he felt about her right now was it all part of Tomi's plan? 'No I cared about her as a child, that's why I care now' he held onto that piece of truth.
"My friend, he taught me..." she said made a motion to slide off his lap but he held her to him instead and she didn't fight it, just quietly accepted it from him, "I'm not very good... otherwise I would have noticed sooner."
The idea that Tomi would teach anyone anything struck him as odd. Just how did she sway Tomi so much? That troubled him as he nuzzled into her neck holding her to him, his eyes moving back towards Shoutaro, but he and his date were now gone. He knew that he should let her move from him but he didn't want to do that either. Now that he knew the truth of the matter, he felt a desire to protect her even more than prior. 'Trust...' he thought quietly to himself. 'That's why trust means more to her than caring about someone. She still cares for that asshole, he can still tug her heart towards him.' He found himself holding her even tighter and she winced he quickly released her.
He looked at her as she leaned back from him. "Shoutaro is mine," she said looking at him carefully, there was no warmth when she said those words but it still pained his heart to hear her say such words. "I will make him regret what he's done, so you must not do anything to him do you understand me?"
Kuon felt his mask of Ren fall into place, he smiled one of his best gentlemanly smiles at her, "Of course." she flinched at the smile.
"I mean it," the annoyance carried in her voice but he could only smile more, this time, of course, it was more genuine as he did so.
"You can trust me always." he said simply before pulling her closer to him, "After all you have hired me and you know the cost," he smirked as he noticed the flush that was covering her face, down her neck and shoulders. She rolled her eyes slightly at him as she slides out of his lap.
"I'm going to the restroom" he grabbed her hand turning it slightly he kissed her palm noting the extra layer of red that seemed to take place as she quickly pulled her hand away from his own and walking quickly away.
Ren knew he had to allow her this, even if his true self disagreed, however, didn't want to leave her alone, but Shoutaro was gone so all should be alright. Lory had picked this place for a reason and she clearly needed a moment to gather herself again. All he could do right now is trust that Lory was right in his choices when it came to his daughter. He mentally sighed wondering where all her strength came from. To be able to handle everything so well where he hadn't been able to do so. 'Keiji is right Kuno ran away' his eyes trailed back towards the path she had taken 'and he is still running, we cannot destroy what we worked so hard for. So what do we do now? She was Kuon's childhood friend, not Ren's. It was really Kuon who had been called to help her get back home, Kuon who had been lost and ran to his godfather.' He rested his head on the back of the booth, he came off as relaxing but really he was feeling a black hole was opening up around him. 'It would only hurt her to know that we didn't do it for her, but because Kuon owed Tomi... Kuon hadn't cared. I hadn't cared. Yet she would be happy to know that Tomi did it all for her... which I still don't know how she managed to get that man on her side, how she is not scared of him.' he felt a sudden chill run down his spine 'Does she love him? What if he loves her?' It wouldn't matter who got close to her then, they would be a target if Tomi had feelings for her in a romantic way. Which meant Keiji was endangered. Worse of all it just made himself a target for the man because he was playing someone who was interested in her.
A/N: Thank you for the comments. I'm glad to see people enjoying this story with all its twists and turns!