Author Note: I realized recently that there are only two chapters, after this one, of this left when I thought there might be more. I hope you stay with me until the end and that you enjoy it 😊 Thank you for all of your support.

Chapter Nine – Finally Talking

As Katarina slept on the sofa where Kuon had gently put her and then tucked her in with a blanket, Kuon went on a search for Kyoko. He still felt slightly weird and very uncomfortable but he knew that if he could onto Kyoko for support, he could get through that night. As he nervously made his way to the kitchen, Kuon watched as his dad cooked.

He leaned against the wall and grinned at his father who had several things going on at once. "Another elaborate meal?" he asked with a grin as Kuu looked to him.

"Can't have my son come over for dinner without spoiling him a little," Kuu replied as he flipped something in a sauce pan. "Besides, I get to use my skills with cooking. You should remember how I loved cooking when you were a kid."

"Trust me," Kuon smiled softly, "It's not something I'll forget easily." Kuon looked down awkwardly, "Dad, I'm really sorry that I left for such a long time. I think that I was concentrating so much on improving my acting skills that I never really considered how long I'd been gone or the impact that my absence had on anyone else. I'm really sorry," he apologized as Kuu looked at him.

"Kuon, I love you," he said. "The fact that we didn't tell you about Katarina wasn't fair on you. I know that you want everything to be okay, but if you can't forgive us then don't force yourself to try. Believe it or not all we want for you is for you to be happy whether it's as Kuon Hizuri or Ren Tsuruga."

Kuon looked down nervously, "I'd love to be considered part of the Hizuri family again."

"Well it seems that at least Katarina and myself want that too," he said before sighing, "Kuon, I realize how hard this is and I know that it might not mean very much to hear me say it, but your mother has never stopped loving you or caring about you. She might have a strange way of showing it and it might come off as if she doesn't, but trust me…she does…she's just it's hard when your child has to be sent away for his own good."

Kuon looked down, "I'm really trying to escape from the shadows of my past, Dad," he said before sighing. "So, do you know where Kyoko might have gone?" he asked wanting to change subject. Family life wasn't something he was ready to discuss just yet.

"I think she went upstairs," Kuu said before turning down the heat, "She's with your mo-" he tried to explain but when he looked up to where Kuon had been standing, he wasn't there any longer.

Kuu really hoped that everything would be alright.

….

….

Kuon froze as he saw that the door to his old bedroom was slightly ajar. He rolled his eyes, what was it now? His mother's office? A guest room? A room to put everything that one didn't want and that there wasn't a place for. Whatever it was, it probably wasn't something to do with him anymore. When it came to this house, it felt like his existence had been swept away.

He paused as he heard his mother and Kyoko talking and pushed his back against the wall so that neither of them would be able to hear that he was listening in on this private conversation. He wasn't sure what to say to them, but as he heard his mother speak he could understand the way that she was protecting herself. After all, there wasn't any guarantee that he wouldn't flip out and that the dark Kuon wouldn't emerge.

He could understand why she was scared that it would be a bad influence on Katarina to look up to somebody like that. Thinking of how he had attacked people on the streets in an animalistic way made him feel that if he had a daughter of his own, he would try to separate her from that kind of person. Yet, he wasn't that person anymore. He had left this house and worked hard on improving himself.

It seemed that his mother couldn't see that and that she had wanted to erase that part of him.

If she had included him in the holiday family letter then she might have had to explain the monster that he had become during his teenage years. She hadn't reached out to him because he had put a boundary up around himself and he hadn't told his relatives about his new identity. Therefore, he had been able to keep it a secret. He just didn't know his parents were keeping him a secret, it looked like they were ashamed of him.

"You know," he said as he finally turned the corner and saw his mother staring at him, a little afraid of him. "The biggest challenge that I've faced is attempting to forgive myself. It means I have to face myself and face my past. It takes a lot of energy to do that."

"Hi, Corn" Kyoko said weakly. She hadn't meant to talk about him behind his back and she definitely hadn't wanted him to know that she was getting involved with all of this. She couldn't help it though, she loved him and she didn't want him to face pain. She knew that if she had known she had a little sister who received the love and adoration that she had strived for but never received, she would be sinking into her own black hole.

"Hey," Kuon smiled to her. "Mom," he said as he looked at her, "We need to talk. I need to tell you that I'm not your little boy anymore, not the way that you once thought I was. Still, I'm also not the monster that I became when I was a teenager. I've shaped myself so that I won't become someone that I'm not proud of and I fight every single day to be someone I can proudly be, someone who Kyoko is proud to be with, someone who makes you proud to have as a son."

Julie nodded silently, "Are you sure you can do that?" she asked and Kyoko shifted nervously because of the blunt question. Kuon however stood with determination in his eyes.

"It's a daunting challenge and it has had its hard times, but I found Kyoko and because I found Kyoko it's become easier to understand who I am. I have faults, but more importantly I've come to identify and understand my faults. I am proud of the work that I'm doing and the maturity I've gained. I'm proud that I can be called Kuon by Kyoko and yet not want to cause damage to anyone. I am happy with who I am and it's taken about a decade for me to think that of myself."

"I'm worried though," Julie told him and Kuon sighed, "How do you think that you're going to raise a child or even take care of somebody else's child going through what you've gone through. Nobody gets through a life like that without scars, Kuon."

Kuon sighed and looked up before coming to sit down on a chair in the room. He looked around, amused by how they actually hadn't changed it since he had left. "Did you know that the president lost his daughter-in-law in a plane accident and his son didn't feel capable of raising his daughter so the president took in his granddaughter and took care of her?" he asked as Julie nodded.

"Have you ever met Maria?" he asked her and Julie sighed.

"Only once but she was very young," Julie replied, "Never after the accident."

"Well, she's like a younger sister to Kyoko and to myself," Kuon tried to explain to his mother. "Forgetting about the fact that she had a huge crush on me at one point and that she used to scare away every woman who tried to flirt with me before she understood how Kyoko and I made each other happy, she has never been afraid of me. In fact, before she met Kyoko, Maria used to tell me everything because I was the one who comforted her the most."

"It wasn't that our pain was the same. I didn't have to live with my parents being deceased, I had to live with myself isolating myself because everyone was terrified that I would lose it and have to be locked up whether in a prison or in a mental health facility. Our stories were different, but it was that same feeling of pain, of loneliness, and especially of guilt that made it so I was able to make sure she was alright," Kuon tried to tell his mother.

"I still had moments when I got very angry, but when she realized it she understood that I would never want to release my anger outwardly. Maria was still very young, but now she's grown up and she's accepted me. She still doesn't know that I'm Kuon Hizuri, but she does know I'm someone who gets angry, gets sad, but wants people to be safe. What I'm saying is that Maria has had to experience a lot of pain, but I was able to help her and the way that she likes spending time with me gives me pride."

Kuon sighed and looked down, taking deep breaths in, "I'd like to get to know Katarina in the same way I got to know Maria. I know that you think that I'm irresponsible or that I'm out of control, but I've found my happiness. I've found a way to remain calm and positive. I've found a way or rather a person who helps me be at my best and who can accept me at my worst."

Julie looked down, not knowing what to say.

"Mother," Kuon said sadly, trying to keep his strength and trying not to show any of his anger or pain at feeling rejected by her. "Can we try this again? Can I become part of your family?" he asked and Julie nodded shakily.

"I'm so sorry, Kuon," she said with a weak look up to him. "I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to tell you. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to -"

"Can we just start over?" Kuon asked. "It's hard for me to forgive if I think too much on this, but I'd like to try to forgive you. I'd like to become a part of this family."

Kyoko looked at the two of them and noticed Julie nod weakly and Kuon sighed. Maybe things could get back to normal now. "Okay, how about we go and check on Katarina," she said as she took his hand and helped him stand up.

Julie nervously looked at them, "Kyoko, could you stay behind for a moment?" she asked. Kyoko looked over to her fiancé and kissed his cheek.

"Are you okay with this?" she asked as he nodded and went downstairs. Kyoko turned to look back at her future-mother in law.

"What can I help with?" Kyoko tried to act positive though she was scared that it would be something that would cause Kuon to experience more pain.

"I just wanted to thank you," Julie said as Kyoko blinked in surprise. "If it wasn't for you then Kuon wouldn't have been this happy or this safe. I've greatly underestimated him and I know that it will take time to make it up to him, if I even can, but for you I have to thank you. Thank you for keeping him alive and making it so that he's happy, you're…thank you for loving my son."

Kyoko smiled, "You don't need to thank me," she said quickly, "Loving Kuon is the easiest thing I have ever done, he really makes me feel like a princess."

End Chapter Nine

AN2: Thank you to everyone who has been supporting me through this, special shout out to reviewers of the previous chapter: brennakai and DreamIdol