Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters. Just my OCs and my soap opera.
"Oh, Kuronue," Ralph greeted. "It's so good to see you again. How have you been?"
"I've been fine," Kuronue replied stoically.
"Just fine?" Ralph pressed.
"You know how crazy it gets close to the end of the semester," Kara mentioned. "I can't believe we have finals in a few weeks."
"And I'm sure you'll both do a good job," Carol said. "Anyway, Kuronue, what are you planning on doing after the semester?"
Kuronue tensed a little. If his father was still alive, then he'd be working the business every day until school started back up again. He knew it was horrible to be waiting for the death of his father. Part of him felt guilty while another part of him screamed "justice."
He was glad for this break. It was beginning to be too much. If he had to deal with anymore knowledge about anymore killings, he was going to go crazy. He would start zoning out during every meeting while the enforcers explained to their father what "befell" certain clients. Kuronue would think of what it would be like to be free, to live his life with the woman he loved, and be his own person. He would think about running away with Kara, but there were two things wrong with that: Kara would never be able to see her mother again and Kuronue's father would eventually find them. He didn't want to think of the consequences. It was then Kuronue realized he still hadn't answered Carol's question and before he could, the conversation changed.
"Kara, I need to go to the grocery store," Carol told Kara. "Would you mind going with me?"
"Can Kuronue come?" Kara asked.
"Actually, I was hoping to talk to the boy for a moment," Ralph responded. Kara tried her best not to look panicked and Carol gave her fiancé a look warning him not to press the issue. She had long felt that there were things she didn't understand so it was best to stay out of it.
"It's fine," Kuronue replied. He walked over to Kara and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you later."
Kara was still a little unsure, but she left with her mother. Kuronue and Ralph stared at each other before Ralph spoke up.
"They're something, aren't they?" he asked Kuronue smiling. "I love Carol with all my heart and I can't imagine a life without her. Do you know what I mean?"
Kuronue nodded. He couldn't imagine a life without Kara. He had had plenty of nightmares of losing her to his father, like he had lost his mother, or to some rival in a business he didn't even want to be a part of. Kuronue learned never to take her for granted and even a text message from her held weight. She had become the only constant in his life and he knew he loved her.
"Look, I'm going to get straight to the point," Ralph said interrupting Kuronue's thoughts. "I also care about Kara. She will be my step-daughter soon and I want her to be safe, but I'm not sure that's possible. I know, Kuronue, about the business. Not details mind you, but enough. I would like to hear it from you what is going on. You can trust me."
"Can I?" Kuronue asked. "Or is anything I say going to be used against me in a court of law?"
"If you hadn't noticed, I'm off duty," he explained. "Anything you tell me now can never be used in court."
"Why?" Kuronue asked. He was confused on why this cop would want to muddy his badge this way.
"Because you're not a bad kid, just in a bad situation," Ralph replied. "And believe me when I say that I know how the law tends to overlook things. Do you know how many times I've watched mobsters walk? I wouldn't want to do anything to put you or Kara in danger. You can trust that I won't say a word, but I will try to the best of my abilities to help you."
Kuronue took a deep breath. His father was dying and he had Ralph's word that he wouldn't interfere. He figured he should let someone else know his plans for when his father would pass.
"My father is dying, stage four cancer," Kuronue explained. "He's been having me help him run the business. In all honesty, I'd rather be doing anything but that. When my father dies though, you can have all the information you want. I'm planning on turning everything over to the feds. Any of the money made illegally, I plan to donate because I don't want it. I've been doing a lot of legit business dealings selling off property to other businesses so I have their information as well. I'm planning on saving that money for the rest of my schooling and for the future."
"Well, sounds like you have everything figured out," Ralph stated. "I don't like the fact that you're involved in the business, though."
"Like I said, I hate it too," Kuronue retorted. "I'm so glad I'm here now than back there. Do you know how tiring it is flying every Friday night to return every Sunday morning and still have to study for exams? I'll be so happy when this is over. So does this mean you'll let me deal?"
"Yeah, you seem to be a smart kid, and like I said, I've seen so many mobsters get cleared for crimes where the evidence was apparent. If that happened in this case…he threatened Kara, didn't he?"
Kuronue looked down. "Yeah, he did. Honestly, that's the only reason I'm doing this."
"Then I leave it to you, Kuronue. Just be careful."
"Hn, don't have to tell me twice."
"We're back," Carol called out.
Kara brought in some bags of groceries and went over to Kuronue. She looked worried, but Kuronue just smiled.
"It's fine, Kara. We just talked. Everything is fine."
She rubbed her hands up his torso to his shoulder and smiled. "I'm glad," she said as the two of them moved to kiss.
"Keep it PG," Ralph said walking by the couple causing the two to blush and laugh at his joke.
"Really?" Kara asked. "You mean like you do?"
"We're adults," Carol said.
Kuronue and Kara looked at each other. "So what are we?" Kuronue joked.
"Compared to us," Ralph responded, "you're still kids."
"Ah, damn," Kuronue muttered. Kara laughed and kissed his cheek before the two went to help her mother put away the groceries.
Later that night, after Thanksgiving dinner, Kuronue and Kara were sitting with each other on the couch watching some movie on T.V. It was some weird and cheesy chick flick that even had Kara laughing.
"That would so never happen," Kara teased.
"Eh, who knows? I might just go cheesy chick flick on you one day. What would you do then?"
Kara grinned at him. "I would take my ichthyology book and slap you on the arm and tell you never to do that again."
"Ow, that book would hurt," Kuronue joked. He held Kara tighter to him. They had finally reached the end of them movie and it hit him hard. The situation of the two lovers in the movie ended up being a lot like his and Kara's situation and he didn't want to let her go.
"Kuro?" Kara called gently looking into his eyes. He closed his as she ran her fingers through his hair. He loved when she did that because it felt so good and he would be able to relax. Kuronue then took control and moved Kara so that his body rested over hers.
Kuronue kissed his blushing girlfriend and rubbed her sides causing her to giggle. He stopped kissing her to find out why she was laughing.
Kara pulled him back down to her. "Did you forget I was ticklish?" Kara whispered into his ear.
He had forgotten and chuckled. He hadn't meant to do that, but now that he knew, he would keep that piece of knowledge in mind.
They resumed kissing and Kara felt Kuronue's tongue pressing on her lips. She smiled and let him in. One of his hands rested on her hip while the other snaked its way up her body before reaching her hair. They were getting too wrapped up in the moment and didn't really care if they got caught at this point. Without breaking their kiss, Kuronue lifted Kara up bridal style and headed to her room and shut the door.
He set Kara down on the bed and removed his shirt before he found her lips again. She was about to remove her own shirt when Kuronue's cellphone rang from across the room.
"Shit," he whisper-yelled. He reluctantly left Kara's side to answer it while she looked on with worry. "What?" Kara grew more nervous as Kuronue's eyes widened. "Are you serious?" he asked in a whisper. "Alright, I'll be there next weekend to deal with everything." With that Kuronue hung up the phone.
Kara came up from behind him and snaked her arms around his waist. "Are you alright, Kuronue? What was that about?"
Kuronue turned to face her. He had tears in his eyes, but a smile on his face. "I'm free, Kara. I'm finally free."
A/N: Hahahaha! You probably all hate me now because they keep getting interrupted. Just for everyone's knowledge, I won't be writing any lemons (comfort level thing...sorry), so there's only so far I can go. Anyway, I promised his father would die soon, but I'll say how it happened in the next chapter. Also, this is getting close to the end of "season" 1 (come on, we all know how long soap operas actually run for). And for those who have been reading, I have a poll going on for what my next story should be. Yeah, I know I'm working on a bunch right now, but working on different stories helps me with my writer's block. Anyway, there's four choices: 2 YYH, 2 DBZ and the descriptions of what the stories will be like. Please vote and thanks for reading ^_^