A short, hopefully cute chapter. Okay so I never thought I'd update one fic FOUR times in one day but because I got 4 reviews on my last chapter I feel the motivation to update.

Chapter Twenty One :: Baby Books

One Week Later

Kuon looked around the house nervously, he walked into Kyoko's room to find that all of the personal things she had brought with her were gone, at least most of them. It had taken him a little time to find but there on the dressing table were two items he hoped he would never have returned, first there was the Princess Rosa necklace and second Corn. She hadn't taken Corn with her. He cringed as he remembered the fight between the three of them with his father coming in at the last minute to separate them.

He picked Corn up before holding it and gave a weak smile to the standing mirror to the side. He could have hurt his mother with his anger but it was enough to just not speak to her ever again. Kyoko was the thing he cared about most and he had lost that...that was what was killing him. With a weak smile he placed Corn in his pocket not thinking that Kyoko wanted it anymore, he'd keep it...his to always remind him of her.

He sighed, over the course of a week his acting mask had had to be put on with more force but his manager could tell he was breaking. Kyoko had already stated on an interview that she and Kuon had broken up over personal differences and Yashiro wanted to know what those were of course.

Kuon looked down feeling himself break before he went into the room that was reserved for the nursery when they had it. There was already a cot inside but everything else was gone. He closed his eyes remembering his past but shook his head. Did he really think of Kyoko as his second chance? No, because he loved her when she wasn't pregnant. Maybe on some level he did think it was a chance at something new, something he wanted but he had loved her for her not for anyone else, it just hurt how she didn't see that.

As he sat in the nursery he heard a key turn in the lock and he stood up, he hadn't seen Kyoko for a week and she didn't know that he was here. What more she didn't know that he now had another enemy of her own, the girl he loves' best friend. He froze not knowing whether to go see if it were her or not before deciding to take a deep breath. He stood up and then went to the doorway to find Kyoko there in Natsu outfit.

"Kyoko..." he whispered as she looked at him

"My, my how fun," Natsu smiled although Kyoko was shaking in her head, "A puppet who can be dragged through the dirt."

"Kyoko..." he said before she shook her head

"I'm surprised to hear you call me that, such a boring name. It's...such a...fall name not like the summer," Natsu said as she walked right past him.

"Natsu," he chuckled only to get her glare directed at him, "May I speak with Kyoko..." he asked

"What if she doesn't..." Natsu looked at him and looked away from him bored, "Want to talk to you."

"I know," Kuon whispered, "I screwed up, but...please..."

"I'll see how long she can stand it," Natsu whispered in his ear, tiptoeing her fingers up his of a sudden it looked like a light had gone off and the spark went from her eye.

"Kuon...please, it really hurts," she whispered as he looked at her.

"What hurts?" he asked, "Kyoko...I..." he looked down at the floor, "You have to understand that I'm a much different person than I was in the past, I love you..." he said as she looked at him.

"I miss you..." she whispered, "I mean I'd like to believe you, but...I just..." she frowned before tears appeared, "I feel as if you're using me."

"You mean to replace someone I didn't even love in the first place," he said as she looked at him, she blinked.

"Even if you didn't love her..." she whispered, "That just makes things worse. How do I know what you lie about? How do I know that..."

Kuon looked at her before looking away, "Kyoko...I want to go back to being Ren," he said, "What if I did it...legally changed my name, always wore my color contacts, dyed my hair, dressed like him, acted like him?"

Kyoko giggled lightly before more tears appeared, "That doesn't matter Kuon..." she said before looking at him, "Are you keeping anything else from me?"

"How much time do you have?" Kuon asked seriously as he looked at the clock. She sighed and was about to turn but he reached out and was about to touch her but stopped himself. "What did you come here for?"

"Umm..." Kyoko replied nervously, "I was looking for the baby books that we bought."

"Oh, those should be in the library," he smiled at her, "Shall we go together, I reorganized it a little. The baby books might be harder to find."

"You organized it? Aren't you really busy?" Kyoko panicked as Kuon looked at her and noticed her sadness.

"Look, I had a baby that I didn't think was mine," he told her approaching the topic dead on, "If I had known that was my child for certain I would have tried to pay her off at that time. I mean, it was just after Rick...I was a mess then,"

"I can understand that," Kyoko replied, "Although I was very small when my mother went away I couldn't handle anything. I know you weren't a child and I know that it's not death, but it feels like someone ripped your heart out and played with it. I mean...I can't relate to..."

Kuon looked at her and nodded, "Imagine if Shou was pregnant," he told her.

Kyoko placed a hand over her mouth and chuckled imagining such a thing, she imagined Shou with a nine month pregnant belly with makeup on and a maternity evening gown. She almost choked with that image. "O—Okay," she said.

"Now would you go back to him if he suddenly came and told you he was having your baby?" Kuon inquired smiling as he saw her laugh, it was so pretty.

"No...I mean he could have slept with someone else, he could have just been targeting someone who would sympathize with him," she said as Kuon nodded.

"Now imagine if Kotoname-san died," he said as Kyoko glared at him before lightening up.

"I guess I understand a little," she said before looking down, "So...the baby books?" she asked

"Of course," he nodded leading her to the library, "Don't want to lose sight of your original goal."

Kyoko nodded, "Right..." she looked at him and then thought about Ren, she wasn't pregnant for most of the time he had looked at her that way, not for most of the time he had given her special treatment...he loved her and maybe it was only the urgency that had given him the courage.

As they entered the library she looked at the baby books that were laying obviously in the middle of the room on one of the tables. "Kuon!" she said before smiling, "You tricked me,"

"If it gives me time to talk to you," he said as she looked at him.

"Thank you," she told him before looking down, "I'm trying to understand but I need time, I still like you Ren," she said

"At least there's that..." he said nervously, "I just have to prove that I love you and loved you before you got pregnant right? That you're not just another pregnant girl to me."

"I know," Kyoko nodded, "Hey Kuon...may I have Corn back, you haven't thrown Corn away have you?" she panicked as he took it out of his pocket and passed it back to her.

"Just recharging it for you," he said nervously as she nodded.

"I still love you Corn..." she told him before kissing him on the cheek and leaving as Kuon blinked after her.

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