I thought this story not gonna get more fave than my "His Obsession".

But, thank you for the support. I hope this chapter make you like my story more..

Chapter 2

Two Weeks Later

Kyoko was baking and she was studiously ignoring Kuon who was mowing the lawn in his backyard, without a shirt.

She was most definitely not stealing covert glances at him. Nope, most definitely not.

Kyoko scowled even more as she pulled out the tray with the bread and put in the next tray, which was filled with cinnamon rolls. She looked around for something to do while they were baked but came up zero. She had already baked everything else, and made the glaze for the rolls. She looked up again and he was gone. She blew out a breath in relief, and then jumped when she heard the knock on the back door.

She slowly turned and yup, there he was, standing just outside the door she had deliberately left open to let in the fresh river breeze.

"Yes?" she asked him testily. His whole demeanour told her that he wanted something. At least he had pulled on a t-shirt.

"I came to apologize." He said calmly and she raised an eyebrow. He definitely wanted something and her forgiveness was not it.

"For what?" she asked him innocently. Two could play that game.

"For teasing you like that the day I moved here. I should have told you right from the start that I had recognized you." He said and Kyoko could not make herself doubt the sincerity in her voice. He had limited himself to waves since he had moved in, and this was the first time since then that they were actually talking.

"Forgiven." She answered and then waited.

"What would I have to do for some of your time?" he asked with a sigh and she fought back her smile.

She just raised an eyebrow and he gave her a crestfallen look, reading her answer in her demeanor.

"Come on in." She said finally as she turned away to hide the smile she could no longer hold back.

To her surprise, he somehow managed to put her completely at ease, and she had a good time chatting with him as if they were just regular neighbours. She had put away all the baking while talking to him and was cleaning the pans when he walked to the sink with his coffee mug.

Kyoko was surprised when he rinsed it and leaned around her to place it on the draining board. But something about the action triggered a panic attack. She felt her heart rate triple, and her knees started shaking. She tried to move away from him but he had noticed that something was wrong and already had a grip on her elbow, which was also the only thing keeping her on her feet.

"Kyoko what's wrong?" Kuon asked, his expression concerned, but he was too close. The panic was only escalating. She pushed him away and he let go, realizing that he was not helping. She sank to the floor, her head between her knees as she waited for it to pass.

He knelt in front of her, but he had no idea what to do. He wanted to pull her close but he knew that that would make it worse.

It took a while but Kyoko's breathing finally started slowing down, and the panicked gasps turned to shallow breaths. She opened her eyes and looked into his crimson eyes which were shadowed with worry.

"I..." she cleared her throat, "I'm fine." She murmured.

He nodded and then handed her a glass of water. She said nothing as she gulped it down and then handed it back to him.

"I triggered something by being too close." He said matter of factly.

She nodded. "I don't get them often now. It's been months since the last one."

"I'm sorry Kyoko" he said in that gentle tone that he used around her when he seemed to think that she was close to breaking.

Kyoko shook her head. "Not your fault. Could you... just let me be? I'll bring you some of my baking, and I will give you some of my time later."

Kuon opened his mouth to argue but then snapped it shut and after giving her a terse nod he left the house.

Kyoko dropped her head on her knees, tears finally slipping down her cheeks. She had thought that she had recovered. Maybe all that she had done was make sure that she stayed away from anything that might trigger her panic. She had just hidden from it all rather than deal with it and now she was realizing that you can only hide from your own feelings for so long.

Kyoko scowled at the man standing on her front porch. She hated salesmen and this one was seriously creeping her out. She did not allow strangers into her house and he seemed to be trying his damndest to come in. After the panic attack this morning, she was already off her balance and this guy was definitely not helping.

"Okay that's it!" she finally snapped. "I am not interested in buying anything. Please leave." Then she slammed the door in his face. She kinda felt bad about it, but she was not into trusting strangers, and most definitely not into letting them enter her house.

She strode to her office hoping that work would distract her from the day that was progressing from bad to worse.

She started working on the new plot for her new book, it was progressing but even that could not really make her stop thinking. She had stuffed her feelings away every time they had surfaced in the past five years but it seemed that they were coming out permanently now.

She leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. It was all his fault. He was the one who had to make her remember because his mere presence made her feel secure enough that she somehow thought she could deal with the memories. She had read enough psychology to know what was going on, but not enough to know how to stop it or if it could be stopped. She had worked so hard to forget everything that had happened five years ago, but it was all coming back to her now. Ugh. What was she supposed to do now? Go see a shrink?

She would have done that years ago if it was something she could have done. She could not stand the thought of talking about what had happened and especially not to a stranger. But Kuon was bringing it all out again.

Someone rang the doorbell. Kyoko scowled and got up. Was she not even entitled to any peace? It had gotten dark while she had been working and now she peeked from the peep hole before opening the door. Kuon stood there, dressed in jeans and a white button down shirt. His hair was slicked back and he was holding a small basket.

She just raised her eyebrows instead of inviting him in.

Kuon grinned and she felt a smile tug at her own lips. It was so unfair. A guy should not be that good looking and have all that charm, and have such a grin. Totally unfair.

"You forgot to bring some of your baking around" He said innocently and she scowled at him, before moving aside to let him in.

He handed her the basket and then silently followed her to the kitchen where she proceeded to fill it with homemade bread, cinnamon rolls and chocolate chip cookies. She liked baking and she usually baked too much for one person anyways.

"Would it be okay if I treated you to dinner for your time that you promised to me?" he asked easily as she handed him the basket.

Kyoko just stared at him.

"Don't look so worried, I'm not going to feed you my cooking." He told her blandly and she chuckled in spite of herself.

"Maybe sometime." She answered vaguely.

"But then the Italian I ordered for tonight will be wasted. There's only so much I can eat." He blinked innocently and Kyoko gaped at him. He was playing her.

"Kuon!" Kyoko exclaimed in part incredulity and part exasperation.

"So... would you like to come over now and I should wait for you to get ready? Or would you like to come over in like half an hour? Your choice." He said in a bland voice.

Kyoko shook her head. "I forgot that."

"Forgot what?" Kuon asked.

"Forgot how good you are at making me feel like I have a choice even when I don't." She said quietly and his lips thinned. She could see the old anger in his face, and she knew it was for her sake. That decided it for her.

"Gimme five minutes." She said as she walked into her bedroom.

"Pizza does not count as Italian." Kyoko told Kuon haughtily after they had had dinner and he was cleaning up. She was sitting on the chair with it tipped back on two legs.

"Of course it does." Kuon retorted.

"And you ordered it after I was already at your place." She continued.

"It was still delivered by the time I had the table set up." He answered.

"I cannot believe that I sat at the dining table, had good china and silverware, and then went ahead and ate pizza. I didn't even get to use the silverware." Kyoko chuckled and he shrugged.

"Do you even know how to cook?" Kyoko asked.

"I don't starve." He said with another shrug.

"I see that." Kyoko murmured and something in her tone made Kuon turn to look at her. He felt a lazy grin spread on his face as he saw that she was blatantly ogling him. He finished putting the dishes in the dishwasher and then slowly walked towards her.

Kyoko allowed the chair to fall back on all four legs with a loud clang. She had hoped that the sound would break the spell only to realize that she was too captivated for such mundane things to help.

He reached her and then gently stroked the side of her neck with his fingertips as if she were something very precious.

"Pretty Kyoko." He murmured and she leaned into his touch. As if that was a hidden signal, his other hand came up and cupped her cheek and he laid a chaste kiss on her lips.

"My Kyoko." He said mere inches from her.

Kyoko felt tears gather in her eyes but she held them back by sheer will power.

"Kuon..." she started but choked. She had no idea what to say.

He moved slightly until his cheek was pressed to hers, and she could feel the 5'o clock shadow rasping against her skin.

"I was there. I found you. I took you home. I took care of you. I know, love. I know. I'll never ask you for something that you can't give." He said, his breath caressing her throat.

Kyoko allowed her head to drop forward until her forehead rested on his shoulder.

"I am sorry." She whispered.

"You have never done me any wrong." He answered his voice absolute.

Kyoko turned her head and pressed her face to the side of his neck. He could feel her lips moving when she spoke. "I ran away from you."

"You were 16 and had just gone through hell. So you did not trust the stranger who had helped you. That is smart, not wrong." He told her.

"You found me." She said softly.

"Took me a while." He said his voice gravelly.

"Five years." She said and pressed closer to him. One of his arms went around her waist. Holding her gently. Careful, always so careful.

Neither of them spoke for a long while as they held each other. Finally Kyoko raised her head and looked at him. There was nothing but gentleness on his face. She moved closer and then laid a small kiss on the corner of his mouth. Then she gave him a smile filled with regret.

"I still can't..." she started to explain but he shook his head.

"Its okay, love. I can wait." He said softly before nipping her lightly on the nose.

Kyoko laughed at that, just as he had intended.

"Would you like to watch a movie or go home for the night?" he asked and she glanced outside the windows at the dark moonless night.

"Home, I think."

"Come on then." He said taking her hand. He walked her to her front door and held her hand for the 5 minute walk. Kyoko entered her house feeling surreal. She had touched a man tonight more than she had in the past five years combined.

She walked straight into her room and then flopped down on the bed. She did not know much about him except that he was usually armed, protective, and that he had saved her life. A small laugh escaped her as she realized that she did not even know what his profession was.

Oh well, she could always ask him later.

She was smiling even in her sleep that night.

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See you again in the next chapter...