Chapter 7

At six months, Kyoko's work had finally been wrapped up and put on hold until after delivery, thanks to her meddling boss and the talented nosy manager that she shared with her phenomenal, doting husband. Kuon's work would only consist of a few locally done modeling shoots and interviews. The happy, expectant couple could now spend a much needed hiatus from work together.

Julie and Kuu had decided that they would much rather live close to their children and opted to rent in an apartment complex close by and Saena had started to keep a close watch on Kyoko, due to the worry that thinking of her own experience with her difficult pregnancy had caused. Kyoko was now surrounded by more parents than she knew what to do with, especially when the Okami and the Taisho from the Darumaya decided to drop in for little visits with her and Kuon. There would not be a single moment when she would be left alone if any of them had anything to do with it.

Although it was nice to have so much attention lavished upon her, she needed a break from it and her sweet, loving husband had just the remedy. A mass text reading: Be back in a week. 8) was delivered to each friend, family member and meddling co-worker. Then both phones were turned off.

"Do you have a reservation Sir?" The concierge asked the tall, dark, very handsome, shiver inducing male with an equally dangerous looking yet beautiful, pregnant companion.

He turned to his female companion and whispered something into her ear that caused a smile.

"Yes, we do. Mr. and Mrs. Jack Darrel." She smiled sweetly and received a kiss from him on the cheek and the key cards to their hotel suite from the nervous woman at the desk. Yes, BJ and Natsu had gone on vacation.

Try as they might Lory and Yashiro had absolutely no luck in their search for their favorite toys. Every hotel, inn and ryokan in Japan had been searched for the names of Tsuruga, Heel and Hizuri with no hits whatsoever and a stoic bodyguard would take what he knew to his grave, after all he was tasked to keep both safe and sound and what kind of guardian would he be if he didn't see through this little ruse?

That week there would be no little snippets of the lovely couple lacing the tabloids. By the end of their little seven day vacation, Lory and Yashiro were finally hot on their tail; however, it was of no consequence, they were already finished, on their way home in their cab and fully recharged from their week. They could now begin preparing for their new arrival.

As of the moment and the near future, Kuon had no intention of revealing his true name to the public. Ren Tsuruga would be for the public and Kuon Hizuri would enjoy the blissful privacy with his lovely wife. His father did it for many years, he would do the same and that is how he had kept the paparazzi from finding the location of his apartment for so long. It would also be the same way he kept them from finding out any details of his wife and child. Certainly they would get little snapshots of her lovely pregnant visage occasionally, but her being an immortal butterfly made it easy for her to blend in with minimal changes, making it easy for her to come and go as she pleased with her friends and family and made spending time with them that much more easy.

In this world there are hunters and gatherers. Some individuals are both. In one of the most fashionable shopping districts in Tokyo (not saying which, we don't want it flooded with fans) are 4 women that are every bit hunter-gatherer and at the moment, were taking full advantage of those skills in every maternity and baby store in said district. They were accompanied by 2 husbands, 1 boyfriend and 1 manager (soon to be henpecked boyfriend). The women would flit from shop to shop while said men would wait at nearby cafés or, sit on a bench conversing. It was certainly a learning experience for 2 of the males and a crash course in learning how to indulge for at least 1 of the females.

"Ugh... It's so frustrating." Julie huffed. "Still making them like tents." She groused, referring to the dresses. She couldn't find anything for Kyoko that either didn't look like a small tent or, make her look like a four year old. There were too many suspender dresses in the casual section and not enough variety in the formal collection. The undergarments available looked like something Julie's great grandmother would wear and most of the blouses were either too casual or, too baggy. Certainly Kyoko had received quite a few outfits that she had modeled from her maternity modeling jobs but, there were other things that she wanted that were completely sold out in the stores, for the very same reasons that frustrated Julie about said clothing.

Kyoko sighed. "Okasan... Why don't we just shop for Nobuyuki for now?" She picked up a cute little onesie that read: I'm The Boss (till Mom gets home), and giggled.

Julie smiled mischievously. "Okay, okay... We can do your shopping at home. I know a few websites that have everything."

This particular day, the day of Kyoko's newly found love for shopping, thanks to Kuon's loving mother, would henceforth be referred to as the Nobuyuki Event. It was known as such in Kuon's mind due to the fact that if she hadn't gone completely all out in buying every little baby item she saw and liked, she would have never had her spending breakthrough that would later lead to her willing acceptance of gifts from Kuon and many others.

Julie, Kyoko and the girls came out of the store carrying 3 large bags each. Kuon and the other men quickly sprang to their sides and took on the burden willingly.

"Mom..." Kuon whispered. "You know how Kyoko is about buying things..." He was cut off by his mother.

Julie shook her head and smiled. "Kuon, I had nothing to do with this. This is all Kyoko's doing." She whispered in return.

Kuon whipped his gaze to a glowing Kyoko and flashed one of his supernova angelic smiles. "Did you have fun Love?"

She nodded vigorously with a wide, bright smile of her own that rivaled his, and had the look of someone that had just won the lottery.

"Did you find everything you wanted." He kissed her cheek as they walked to the limo.

She gave him a cute pout. "No..." She sighed. "Mom and I are going to do some online shopping this evening."

Kuu chuckled knowingly and guided the group to their next destination, Dinner.

The most curious thing happened during Kyoko's sixth month. It was a little occurrence during the anniversary celebration for LME. Kanae, Kyoko, Chiori, Julie, Yukihito, Kuon, Hikaru and Kuu were socializing and enjoying themselves immensely. Kyoko looked up and something caught her eye; although, she was drinking sparkling grape juice her friends and family were enjoying the champagne. She had noticed the little gold band around the stem of the glasses of Kanae, Yukihito, Chiori and Hikaru. The truth of it all hit her instantly. She quickly swatted the glasses of the girls out of their hands and Kuon, shockingly enough, knew exactly what his wife was up to and did the same for the men.

"MO! What is wrong with you, Psycho?!" Kanae huffed in irritation.

Kyoko picked up the empty stemware from the carpet and pointed out the differences from the rest.

Yukihito paled and sputtered. "That TRAITOR!"

All heads in the small group turned to him and the Demon Lord made an appearance. "Care to elaborate Double-crosser-kun?" At that moment the sneaky manager looked more like a small mouse in a trap than the wily fox he thought himself to be. That night Yukihito was introduced to two active volcanoes as the sacrifice to Mt. Julie, Mt. Kyoko/Mio, two Demon Lords and hurricane Kanae. If it hadn't been for the fact that everything turned out well in the end, Yukihito would have been up the proverbial creek without said paddle. At least now he was roped into helping them mete out Lory's due.