Chapter 12: …Piece By Piece

"Kyoko," Ren whispered her name.

Her determined look stayed in place. "I need to talk to you, Corn."

Ren stared at her for a moment, before nodding. "Of course, let's go inside." He stepped past her and unlocked the door. "I can get your bag." He offered, but she picked it up on her own and moved past him into the apartment.

This is going to be interesting. He thought to himself as he stepped into his kitchen to put away the groceries he had bought.

"Did you want some tea?" he called out to where Kyoko was sitting in the living room.

"No thank you." He heard her response.

Ren could feel himself getting nervous as he returned to the living room. He sat down on the couch next to Kyoko and watched her.

Kyoko clenched and unclenched her fists in her lap. She had spent the last couple of hours figuring out exactly what to say to him but now that he was there it was getting more difficult.

She took a deep breath, "The first thing I need to say is that, I'm not decided on if I'm moving back in here or not. There are some things we need to talk about before I can decide that."

Ren nodded, trying to encourage her to keep talking. If it gets you to move back, I'll do anything you ask.

She turned and looked him in the eyes. "Do you know why I moved out?" she asked.

He blinked, surprised by the sudden question. "I figured it was because I lied to you."

"I left because," she closed her eyes to try and maintain her composure. "You still don't trust me. And knowing that Ren Tsuruga and Corn are the same person means that Corn didn't trust me either."

Ren could feel his heart breaking at her words. "It's not that I don't trust you."

"Then why didn't you tell me the truth? Why did you lie to me?"

He hung his head, "I was scared. I was scared that if you found out the truth you'd leave me and everything would end." He glanced back at her. "But I guess that happened by me not telling you too."

"Well, I'm here now. So tell me everything." Kyoko tried to sound confident but her voice had wavered.

He nodded, "Okay, but if I'm going to tell you everything, I think we are going to need some tea."

Kyoko watched as he rose and left the room. I'm finally going to find out about Ren's past. Ugh! Why won't my hands stop shaking? She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. "Calm down, Kyoko. Just calm down."

She was startled by the sound of the tea tray being set on the table before her. Ren looked at her, "Are you okay, Kyoko?"

She straightened out immediately. "Yes! Yes, I'm fine. Just a little cold I guess."

He held out a cup of tea towards her. "Well, this should help warm you up." He gave her a gentle smile that he hoped wouldn't betray his nervousness before sitting next to her again.

He took a sip from his cup to calm himself, then began to talk. "I guess, I should start at the beginning. My real name is Kuon Hizuri."

Kyoko choked on her tea. "Wait, so your name was never Corn?" She set the cup on back on the tray without taking her eyes off of him.

That's what she noticed? Ren shook his head, trying not to laugh. "But that was easier for you to say so I let you call me that."

He watched as Kyoko's face tinged pink, but then her eyes widened. "Did you say Hizuri? As in Kuu Hizuri?" she asked.

Ren nodded, "Yes, Kuu Hizuri is my father."

There was a loud thump as Kyoko slipped off the couch. Ren moved to help her back up.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"But, if you're Kuu Hizuri's son and your name is Kuon…" she paused staring at him wide-eyed. "Oh my- that means I was acting as you." Her face had now gone from pink to red as she tried to process what this all meant.

He watched as the look on her face changed from embarrassment to something he couldn't name. She scooted away from him a bit.

"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kyoko twirled her fingers around each other. "Um, well it's just that… if you are Kuu Hizuri's son… and I'm his adoptive daughter… then aren't we siblings?"

Ren was confused for a moment then shocked. "No, Kyoko." He said, trying not to laugh. "It's not really the same thing."

She nodded. "Does that mean I shouldn't call him 'Father' anymore?"

Ren reached out and touched her head, "I think he'd be pretty upset if you stopped calling him 'Father'. He's really happy that you consider him family. And it makes me happy too."

Kyoko gave him a small smile. Just with the little bit he's told me, I'm starting to feel better. Then she remembered something. "But, Ren, if he's your dad, then why did he warn me about you?"

"What did he warn you about?" Ren asked, silently wondering if he'd have to scold his dad for something later.

"He said that you're a playboy. And that if you ever tried something immoral he'd fly over to lecture you about respecting me." Kyoko laughed at the memory. It was so much sillier now knowing the truth about that.

Ren ran a hand through his hair. What kind of things is my dad saying to my girlfriend? He'd definitely be calling him later.

"Well, aside from that. You wanted to know about my secrets I've kept from you, right? Then I'll tell you everything."

Kyoko listened as Ren told her about growing up in America with his father as a famous Hollywood actor. She was awed when she learned about his mother, who was the beautiful model he had told her about before. It made her wonder what had led to him leaving his family to return to Japan.

"When I was ten years old, my father decided to bring me with him on a business trip and while we were here I met you. The cute little Japanese girl who believed I was a fairy." He reached out and caressed the side of Kyoko's blushing face.

"When I returned home, things got worse. In the beginning it was just people comparing me to my father but as I got older, people began to expect me to be at his level of acting already. I got fired multiple times from acting jobs because I would fight with the directors."

"On top of that, I was bullied for being half Japanese. I didn't tell my parents because they were busy enough without worrying about me. But looking back maybe I should have." He stopped talking for a moment, lost deep in his own thoughts.

Kyoko coughed to get his attention. "So, what brought you to Japan?" she asked. Hearing about his past saddened her because of the things he had been through, but she was also happy that he was allowing her to hear it all.

"When I was fifteen, my best friend died because of my recklessness. I was constantly getting into fights and he tried to stop me. By doing so, he was in a car accident and died. His girlfriend blamed me. Maybe she still does." His voice was quiet, but Kyoko was listening intently, the only other sound was the rain outside of the building.

Kyoko lay a hand on his arm. She wasn't sure there was anything she could say to make him feel better. I don't want to say something without being able to fully understand the situation, but I have a feeling your friend wouldn't want you to blame yourself.

Ren gave her a small smile before continuing. "I had a lot of trouble dealing with Rick's death in the following weeks. Shortly thereafter, the President came and offered to bring me to Japan under a stage name. I could start over completely. It was a choice I had to make without almost any time to consider how it would affect my parents, but I chose to come here."

"When your dad came to Japan, was that the first time you've seen him since then?" Kyoko asked.

Ren nodded. He felt guilty admitting it to her. "I didn't contact my parents at all the first five years after I moved here. It wasn't until my dad came here that I finally got to see him. I still haven't seen my mom since I left."

Kyoko grasped his hand in her own. "Maybe you can go see them soon?" she suggested.

"I think I'd like that," he looked into her eyes. "Will you come with me when I go?"

Her eyes widened, "I- I don't know if I should."

"Why not? I'm sure Mother would love to meet you."

When she saw his smile, she found herself agreeing. "That would be really wonderful." Kyoko glanced down at where their hands were laced together. "At what point did you realize who I was?"

"At what point?" he asked confusedly.

She nodded, "Because you were really mean to me in the beginning so I've assumed it took a while for you to figure it out. Because Corn would've never been mean to me." She turned to meet his eyes but found he had looked away.

"When?" she asked in a threatening tone.

He sighed, I guess this is when I die. "Since that day when I picked up the stone for you. I heard what you called it and realized it was you."

Kyoko smacked him on the head.

"Ow!" he cried. He turned towards her but she had turned away, pouting.

"I thought you were my friend, Corn."

He winced at the tone of her voice. "I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a big idiot. But I was very happy when I got to meet you as me in Guam."

He saw Kyoko's whole body stiffen.

"Guam…?"

Had she not realized about that until now? Ren was suddenly smacked again, this time by a pillow. When he looked up to meet Kyoko's eyes, he saw a fire in them.

"You tricked me… into kissing you." Her face flushed but he was pretty sure it was more from embarrassment than anger.

He pulled her into his arms and put his mouth next to her ear. "I'm sorry for that. I know I shouldn't have tricked you, but what I said back then was true. I love you."

Kyoko relaxed into his arms after a moment. She pushed herself away slightly and looked up at his face. "I love you too. Even if you are an idiotic playboy." Ren could see a teasing glint in her eye and he couldn't resist kissing her.

They pulled apart after several moments. "Can I move back in?" Kyoko asked quietly.

Ren placed a kiss on her temple. "This is your home, so of course you can."

She smiled at him. "Just promise me, no more secrets. We have to be able to tell each other the important things. We have to trust each other."

He nodded. "No more secrets or lies."

She leaned back into his arms, sighing happily at feeling the embrace she had been missing the last few days.

Behind her she felt a vibration and heard the sound of a stomach growling, except this time it wasn't hers. She jumped forward. "Did your stomach growl?" she asked, staring at him strangely.

A light blush colored Ren's face. "Well, I didn't exactly eat dinner." He confessed.

Kyoko remembered he had been carrying grocery bags when he'd arrived home. She smiled at him. "Should I cook dinner for us?"

"Yes!" he answered a bit too enthusiastically.

She laughed, "Did you miss my cooking?"

"I got used to having a good cook around all the time." He admitted. She leaned forward and kissed his cheek before heading into the kitchen to cook dinner.

Ren leaned back against the couch feeling amazed at how quickly things had gone back to feeling normal. She's home. She's really home.

A few hours later, Ren and Kyoko were lying in their bed. They had eaten dinner and takes care of the dishes. Then Kyoko had unpacked her things. After everything they were both exhausted and quickly settled in to go to sleep. But surprisingly, Kyoko found herself unable to fall asleep. She tossed and turned for several minutes.

Why do I feel like I'm forgetting something? She wondered. We figured everything out and made amends. We even promised no more secrets. She closed her eyes but they reopened a second later.

Kyoko sat up and reached over to shake Ren awake. "Ren," she whispered. There was no response so she shook him harder. "Ren!"

He opened his eyes and stared up at her through the darkness. "What's wrong?" he replied groggily. He was finally able to get good sleep again, because she was back but now she was waking him up again.

She took a deep breath. "I'm Bo."

Ren continued to stare at her, his face blank. "Are you sleep-talking?" he asked.

Kyoko sighed, "Ren, I'm the chicken." She braced herself for his reaction.

Ren was confused. A chicken? What? He wondered. Finally, his brain started working. Images flashed through his brain of him telling all his secrets to a large costumed chicken, who apparently was named Bo.

He was wide awake now. He sat up in bed and turned on his bedside lamp. "Wait, so you were in the chicken costume?" he asked her.

Kyoko stared back down at the blanket. "We promised no more secrets, but I forgot I was still keeping that one. I play Bo on Kimagure Rock. I was the one who listened to you talk and said so many terribly rude things to you." She was on the verge of tears, waiting for him to explode at her in anger.

Instead, she heard him snort. She turned her head to look at him and he had his hand covering his mouth. Finally, his laughter won out and he had to hold his stomach because of the fit he was having.

Kyoko watched him indignantly. "I don't get what's so funny about this." She mumbled.

Ren calmed enough to respond. "I just don't see how you never figured out I was in love with you." He said, a chuckle escaping his lips.

Kyoko stared at him open-mouthed as she thought back to their discussion about love back during the filming of Dark Moon. What was it she had told him? She gasped and covered her mouth as her face turned red. Didn't I tell him to seduce the girl he was in love with? Wait, but that means that's what he was doing when we acted together here.

Ren watched as Kyoko pulled the blanket up covering her body. "So you invited me here that night when we acted as Katsuki and Mizuki to try and seduce me?" she exclaimed.

Ren lost himself to another fit of laughter at the horrified look on her face. He could've been angry if he had tried, but what did all of it matter now. They were back together and Kyoko was happy. That was really all he cared about.

A/N: So so sorry it's late! I worked really hard to make this chapter just right so I hhope you enjoyed it! This stories still got more left so don't worry about it being almost over lol I've got a few more tricks up my sleeve. Next chapter will be up asap. Thank you my faithful readers and reviewrs!