Before anything else I would like to extend my gratitude to Sylvia-of-wings and Dragon Spirit 10 who were both kind enough to beta-read this chapter. Thank you so much you two. You both helped to make this chapter the best it could be.

I would also like to thank everyone that has read, favorited, and reviewed this fan fiction. I am truly grateful and glad that you are enjoying this fan fiction. Here is chapter eight. I hope that it lives up to your expectations. Please read and enjoy! Chapter nine will be post in one week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat or any of the characters from it. Skip Beat is the property of Yoshiki Nakamura.

Parents' Excitement

Kuu and his wife, Julie, were in the family room watching a movie. They both had the day off so they were just spending a day at home together. The phone rang and Kuu went to the other room to answer it.

'This is an overseas number. I wonder who it is.' Kuu picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Dad," was the quiet response.

"Kuon?" Kuu was shocked. He couldn't believe it.

"Yeah. It's me." Kuon's voice was still and sounded slightly scared.

Kuu almost dropped the phone. 'It's really Kuon. He's not acting as Ren. He's being himself. What happened? What caused this?' "Is everything okay?! You aren't hurt are you?! Do I-"

"Dad!" Kuon interrupted Kuu's questioning. "I'm fine. You don't need to worry so much."

"Sorry," Kuu said apologetically. "But this is the first time you've called since you went to Japan. I guess I panicked. So to what do I owe the pleasure of hearing your voice?"

Before Kuon could answer he heard his mother's voice. "Who is it, Honey?"

"It's..."

"It's okay, Dad. Please tell Mom that it's me. I want to talk to her too." Kuon had a small smile but Kyoko could feel him slightly shaking. She hugged him tighter, trying to give him silent encouragement. He stopped shaking and squeezed her back.

"Julie, get another phone. They want to talk to both of us." Kuu smiled.

"But who is it?" Julie asked as she got a phone.

"You'll see."

"Hello?" Julie's voice came over the phone.

"Hey, Mom. How are you?"

"Kuon!" Julie shrieked. Then she started sobbing. "You called. You finally called after six years. I'm so happy to hear your voice again."

"I'm happy to hear your voice too, Mom. I'm sorry that it took me so long to call."

"Oh, my baby boy, I'm just happy to talk to you now." Julie smiled with tears still streaming down her face.

"Uh, Mom, I'm twenty-one years old. I'm not a baby anymore."

"Your age doesn't matter, Kuon. You will always be my baby boy."

Kuon had a slightly disgruntled look on his face at this. Kyoko noticed and started shaking with silent giggles. This made Kuon pout, which made Kyoko have to work even harder to not laugh out loud.

"So, Kuon," Kuu said. "You haven't answered my question. To what do we owe the pleasure of hearing your voice?"

"Well," Kuon started. "Someone persuaded me that it was time to call my parents."

"Who finally managed to do that?" Julie asked curiously. "I doubt it was that good-for-nothing kidnapper."

"Kidnapper?" Kyoko mouthed.

"Boss." Kuon mouthed back. "No, it wasn't Boss." He said into the phone. "You don't know them yet, Mom, but Dad does."

"That doesn't really narrow things down, Kuon." Kuu pointed out.

But Julie said, "What do you mean by 'yet?'"

"I mean that I want you two to meet eventually. I think you'll really like each other."

Kyoko suddenly stopped shaking from laughter and started shaking from fear. Kuon, sensing the change, tightened his arm around her, and silently kissed her temple, trying to alleviate her fears. It did make her stop shaking, but she still looked scared. Kuon's heart broke knowing the experiences from Kyoko's past that caused this fear in her.

"Quit stalling, Kuon, and tell us who it was."

"Okay, Dad. It was Kyoko." Kuon suddenly smirked. "Or as you call her, Kuon."

"What?!" Kuu's shocked yet excited voice rang through the room. "She's the one who got you to call home? Oh, I want to give her a big hug now! How's she doing? I haven't spoken to her since I left. I miss her. She's so amazing. Just like you, Kuon..."

Kuon smirked even more at his girlfriend who was completely pink and trying to look invisible. Their father was still talking loudly, so Kuon leaned over and kissed Kyoko hard on the mouth, making her squeak slightly. He then turned his head so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Babe, I think you need to say hi to Dad. It would make his day." Kuon whispered just loud enough that Kyoko could hear but their parents couldn't.

Kyoko looked scared again.

"It's okay, Kyoko. You heard him, he wants to talk to you. He misses you and I know that you miss him."

"Okay," Kyoko whispered back. "But only if you can get him quiet."

Kuon nodded.

Kuu and Julie were now talking about Kuon and Kyoko. They weren't paying attention to the phone at all.

"Dad." Kuu didn't hear. "Dad," Kuon tried again a little louder. Still nothing. Kuon finally yelled. "Dad!" That got his parents' attention.

"What?"

"There is someone else here who wants to talk to you."

"Really? Who?"

Kuon nodded to Kyoko and gave her an encouraging smile.

Kyoko swallowed. "H-h-hi Otou-san." Her voice was no higher than a whisper, but Kuu heard her.

He was shocked yet again. "Is that my beautiful daughter?! How are you? Wait a second! What are you and Kuon doing together at about three in the morning? Kuon, are you doing anything you shouldn't?" Kuu's voice darkened during the last question.

"Of course not! Seriously, what's wrong with you, Dad?"

Kyoko quickly rose to Kuon's defense. "He isn't doing anything bad. I made him dinner tonight and we talked for a few hours. We didn't notice the time."

Kuu laughed. "I know, sweetheart. I'm just being a protective father."

Kyoko's eyes filled with tears at this point and Kuon pulled her into a tight hug.

"Kyoko? Are you okay?"

"She's fine, Dad. She's just not used to people saying things like that to her."

Julie, who had been quiet during the exchange, spoke. "Why not?"

Kuon looked at Kyoko, silently asking if it was okay to tell their parents about her childhood. Kyoko gave a small nod and buried her face in Kuon's chest.

"That's kind of a long story, Mom. So I'll give you a summary."

"Okay."

"Kyoko doesn't know who her father is or if he is even alive. Her mother abandoned her when she was little." Kyoko started shaking and Kuon held her tighter. He kissed her hair quickly and continued. "She was raised at the Fuwa Ryokan in Kyoto."

Kyoko leaned up to Kuon's ear at this point.

"Hmm? What is it Kyoko?"

Kyoko whispered something in Kuon's ear and it completely floored him. "What?! They wanted you to...?" He left his question hanging and Kyoko nodded looking completely miserable. "Oh Kyoko." Kuon pulled her onto his lap again and held her close.

"What's wrong, Kuon?" Kuu said worried. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. It's just... Kyoko just told me something that I didn't expect. She told me that the Fuwas were raising her to marry their son and take over the Ryokan once they were old enough. It seems the only reason they took her in was so that she would marry their son.

"When Kyoko and their son were 15 they ran away from Kyoto and came to Tokyo. The Fuwas' son wanted to become a singer, and as he worked to become one, he treated Kyoko like a maid. Once he had his big break he too abandoned her." Kuon paused again and silently kissed Kyoko on the lips. "Kyoko has never had a real family. That's why she isn't used to hearing the things dad said."

Julie was speechless.

Kuu's face was a mask a rage, similar to Kuon's demon lord. "What is that good-for-nothing brat's name, Kuon?"

"Um..." Kuon looked at Kyoko. She didn't look the way he expected. He thought she would be furious like she always was when Fuwa was mentioned. However she simply looked like she was tired of remembering and want to forget.

"It's okay to tell them."

"His name is Fuwa Sho. He doesn't use a stage name." Kuon's voice was low and dark. He sighed and his voice changed. "Mom, Dad, can we please not talk about this right now? It's kind of a hard subject for both of us."

"Of course, baby." Julie instantly replied. "Actually, as much as I love talking to you two, I think that both of you should go and get some sleep. It's past three over there."

"Your mother is right. You two need your sleep."

"Okay, goodnight Dad, night Mom."

"Goodnight Kuon," Kuu and Julie said in unison.

"Goodnight Kyoko," Julie said. "It was lovely to finally meet you. I've wanted to ever since Kuu came back from Japan."

"It was nice meeting you too, Hi-"

"Kyoko," Ren said warningly.

At the same time Julie said, "Oh no, Kyoko. You call Kuu 'Otou-san' so you should call me 'Okaa-san.' Kuu has made you his daughter so you are also my daughter."

"O-Okay, O-okaa-san."

"Oh, I love hearing you say that!" Julie squealed excitedly.

"I do too," said Kuu. "But it really is time for you two to get some sleep."

"Alright. Night Mom, night Dad."

"Goodnight Okaa-san, Otou-san."

"Sleep well, you two. Call us again when you have time."

"We will," Kuon said before he ended the call.

Kuu and Julie hung up their phones beaming at each other. "Can we go see them, please?" Julie asked her husband.

Kuu shook his head a little sadly. "I don't think Kuon is ready for that yet. I think he wants to take this slow. But maybe we can video chat with him soon. That would be better than just a phone call."

Julie sadly agreed but then she perked up. "I've got to meet the other Kuon. We didn't talk much, but I already love her. Although it breaks my heart thinking about everything she's gone through."

"I know. When I was there she mentioned her mother and she looked absolutely heart broken. I wonder if there is anything we could do to help her with that part of her life."

"We could formally adopt her." Julie quickly suggested.

"No I don't think we should do that." Kuu said slowly. "I have a strong suspicion that Kuon is in love with her. He would be furious if we made them actual siblings."

"Ooh I want to see them even more now." Julie pouted.

Kuu smiled. "I'm sure it won't be too much longer. We just need to be a bit more patient."

Julie sighed and then nodded. "Well, since we can't see him in real life, shall we finish watching our son's movie?"

Kuu laughed, "good idea." However, as they were settling down to turn the movie back on he pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to his son.