Katsuki Tachibana rang the doorbell of Hongo Manor. He was there to pick up Misao for yet another wedding planning excursion. This time, they were going to taste test some food at a couple of different high end restaurants. He sighed on the front step as he waited for the door to open. If he hadn't been hoping to murder her to spite her family himself, he would have hoped that she would choke on the food as they ate.

Spending time with Misao had been like pulling his teeth. She was bratty, demanding, and spoiled. The words, "Yes, Misao" and, "Yes, dearest" had passed his lips far more than he would have liked them to. What he really wanted to say was, "No, you stupid, spoiled cow."

The door of the house opened, and Katsuki schooled his face into a pleasant smile. When Mizuki's face appeared in the doorway, a shiver passed through his body.

"Oh, Tachibana-sensei! Are you here for Misao?"

He nodded. "Yes, Mizuki-san. We're supposed to go try food today to decide on a caterer."

Mizuki frowned. "Oh no! Misao and Auntie went out earlier on errands. I'm not sure when they'll be back."

Katsuki kept his pleasant facade, but he was sighing inwardly. Of course the spoiled brat forgot.

Mizuki opened the door for him. "If you'd like, you can wait for them to get back in the drawing room."

Katsuki nodded. "Thank you, Mizuki-san, that is very kind of you."

He stepped in, and she shut the door behind him. She led him into the drawing room, where he sat down on the sofa. "Would you like some tea, Tachibana-sensei?"

"Yes, please."

He watched her go, admiring the way her long dark hair waved down her back like silk. He took a deep breath. She's cute, but you have plans to follow through on. Stop thinking about her.

When she reentered the room, she held a small tea pot. She went to a china cabinet in the corner and retrieved two teacups and matching saucers. She brought them over to the coffee table and set them down. As she was pouring the tea, Katsuki looked over her clothes. The sweater she wore was just slightly too large, and had a couple of moth holes in it, and the skirt she wore had a stain on the hem. Katsuki's jaw tightened despite himself. Precious Misao would never be caught dead wearing clothing with holes and stains, he thought, his outrage fighting to get to the surface.

Mizuki finished pouring the tea and Katsuki reached for his cup. He took a sip. "Thank you, Mizuki-san. This is very good."

Mizuki took her seat a reasonable distance from him on the sofa. She smiled as she reached for her cup. "You're welcome, Tachibana-sensei. I'm glad you– oh!" She accidentally dropped her cup as she brought it to her lips. The tea spilled all over her skirt, and the cup shattered on the floor.

"Oh no!" She reached to pick up the shards of the cup. "I'm so sorry, Tachibana-sensei. I'm so clumsy." She picked up a shard and immediately dropped it. "Ow!"

Before he realized what he was doing, Katsuki reached for her hand. He turned it over to reveal a small spot of blood blossoming on one of her fingers. He ran his fingertips gently over her hand, causing Mizuki's heart to jump in her chest. "Thank goodness, it's not bad." His voice was barely a whisper.

Mizuki's eyes met his, and he caressed her hand with his thumb. "Are you okay?"

Mizuki's cheeks turned pink. "I…"

The front door opened, and they jumped apart. Mizuki jumped off of the couch, just in time for her aunt and cousin to enter the room.

"Oh, Katsuki-san! I'm so sorry, I forgot about our plans today!," said Misao.

Katsuki smiled. "It's perfectly alright, Misao-chan. Mizuki-san made me tea and waited with me."

Misao smiled coldly at her cousin, who was carefully picking pieces of the shattered teacup off of the floor. "Did she now? I'll have to thank her later."

Misao's mother looked down at Mizuki, her face full of disdain. "What on earth are you doing down there, girl?"

Mizuki swallowed. "I'm sorry, Auntie. I accidentally dropped one of your tea cups–"

"Ugh! You clumsy girl! Not my nice antique ones with the pink flowers!?"

Mizuki got to her feet, all of the pieces collected in her hand. "I'm very sorry, Auntie. I'll clean everything up."

"Of course you will. You're the one who broke it, after all."

Misao turned to Katsuki. "Are you ready to leave? If we leave now, we can make it to our second reservation at least."

Katsuki got to his feet, wanting nothing more than to stay and help Mizuki clean up the broken tea cup. "Of course, Misao-chan." He walked out of the room with Misao clinging to his arm, not sparing Mizuki a second glance. He was filled with self-loathing.

"Cut!"

Kuu breathed a sigh of relief as Maki Ishii released his arm and bowed to him. "That was so amazing, Hozu-san! I could see the depth of Katsuki's feelings for Mizuki just from the way he touched her hand!"

Kuu smiled and bowed. "Thank you, Ishii-san."

He was excited to take his costume off and leave. They had been at it all day, and he was going to a party that night to meet Julie's mother and sister. He hadn't seen Julie in a few days, so that was even more reason to get changed and get out fast. When he got to his dressing room, he opened the door to find Aine Yamada sitting in the chair by his vanity table.

Kuu flung his door wide open and stayed in the doorway. "Yamada-san, this is very inappropriate, and you need to leave."

She got to her feet, pouting. Mizuki's stained skirt had been pulled up so the hem was mid-thigh. "But Hozu-san, I only wanted to congratulate you on your performance. The way you stroked my hand–"

"That was Katsuki stroking Mizuki's hand. Yamada-san, I have a girlfriend, and I am not interested."

Aine crossed the room to him and got close to him. "For now. You'll come around." She swept out of the room, and he ran his hand through his hair. He vowed that next time he signed a contract, he would make sure to include a sexual harassment clause. He entered his dressing room, locked the door behind him, and got into his street clothes.

He drove home to his apartment and got a quick shower, freshened up, and dressed in a navy blue suit with a maroon tie. He checked himself in the mirror. He was glad that he had applied plenty of deodorant; he was nervous as hell. He dabbed on some cologne and headed for the door.

He drove across town to the hotel and knocked on Julie's door. When she opened it, he smiled. Her hair was done up in a messy bun with loose pieces framing her face, and she was dressed in a light green cap sleeve dress with a sweetheart neckline. "Good evening, gorgeous."

She kissed him. "Hello, handsome. Are you ready?"

He chuckled, full of nerves. "If by 'ready' you mean 'nervous as hell', then yes."

She giggled and guided him away from her door and down the hall. "You've already met Daddy. Mama is very nice, too."

"And your sister?"

Julie paused. "Lana is… Lana. She brought her husband, Cecil, with her."

Oh, that's fucking promising, thought Kuu.

She led him to her father's room and knocked on the door. Eltra opened the door wide.

"Ah, Julie and Kuu. Come in, come in, they just brought our dinner up." He shook Kuu's hand. "So, you're dating my daughter, huh?"

Kuu nodded. "Yes, sir."

Eltra tightened his grip just slightly. "I like you, Kuu. Please don't make me regret liking you."

Julie gasped. "Daddy!"

Kuu met his eyes and nodded. "You don't need to worry about that."

Eltra clapped him on the back. "Let's go eat, shall we?"

Julie's room, while a very nice, fancy, non-standard room, was nothing in comparison to Eltra's. Eltra Duris's room had a master suite, an attached regular suite with two queen beds, a kitchen, a dining room with space for 10 people to eat at the table, and a separate living room. As they approached the table, a middle-aged blonde woman stood up at the table. "This must be Kuu.," she purred in thick Russian-accented English.

Julie smiled. "Kuu, this is my mama, Tatiana. Mama, this is Kuu."

Kuu took the hand that she offered. "It's nice to meet you, Ma'am."

Tatiana's eyes, the same shade as her daughter's, sparkled. "Oh, you're very handsome. And such a nice suit."

Kuu let out a nervous laugh, his nose and cheeks turning pink. "Thank you. I see where Julie got all of her beauty from."

Tatiana giggled and smacked his hand playfully. "Oh, and a charmer, too. I'll have to watch myself around you."

Julie gestured to the couple sitting at the table. Neither of them had gotten up to greet Kuu. "This is my sister, Svetlana, and her husband, Cecil Bennet."

Svetlana was older than Julie by two years. Though she was beautiful, instead of modeling like Julie, she had chosen to go to college and become a lawyer. She had met Cecil there. Cecil was tall, and blonde, and had a smug smile.

Kuu put his hand out to Svetlana, who looked at it. "I thought you were supposed to be Japanese. Don't the Japanese bow in greeting?"

Kuu smiled. "I would if I were greeting another Japanese person. Do they not shake hands in the US, Miss Svetlana?"

"We do, but I don't want to transfer any avoidable germs to my baby." She patted her belly protectively. She was only four months pregnant, and so there wasn't much there to pat.

Kuu kept his smile plastered on, but a nasty feeling was creeping into the pit of his stomach. He was reminded of his childhood in Kyoto, how many of the other children weren't allowed to play with him because he was a half-American bastard. Svetlana was making it clear up front; he did not belong. Nor, he imagined, would she allow him to.

Cecil reached across the table to shake Kuu's hand. His grip was overly aggressive. He gestured at Kuu's hair. "That's not natural, is it?"

Kuu laughed. "A natural blonde Japanese man would be rare indeed." Wow, I don't like them.

Julie sat beside Kuu at the table. She took his hand and squeezed it. He understood her silent apology and squeezed her hand back. It's okay, it seemed to say. And it was. He had certainly heard worse.

They set about putting food on their plates. Eltra had ordered Kobe beef steaks with sauteed green beans and mushrooms. It looked delicious, and very expensive. He poured everyone, save for Svetlana, a glass of white wine. As they ate, the wine and the questions flowed.

"So, how long have you two been together?," asked Svetlana.

"About two weeks now," said Julie with a smile.

"Two weeks! And you came to meet the family? Brave man." Cecil saluted Kuu with his wine glass.

Kuu chuckled. "I know how this looks, believe me. But I am quite serious about Julie."

He and Julie smiled at each other, and Svetlana smirked. "So, what is it that you do, Mr. Hizuri?"

Kuu took a sip of his wine. "I'm an actor. I operate under the name Shuuhei Hozu."

"Do you make much money doing that?"

Julie stared daggers at Svetlana. "Lana, that is impolite to ask."

Kuu patted Julie's hand. "It's okay, Julie. I am actually one of the highest paid actors in Japan at the moment." And my Jag is currently valet parked, and my closet is full of R'Mandy, Wersace, Gushi, and Furberry, and my bank account is perfectly fat and happy, thank you very much.

Eltra felt the tension building and did his best to dissipate it. "So, Kuu, how are things going for Tsukigomori?"

"It's going very well. We've filmed about four episodes now and everything has gone smoothly." Aside from the constant sexual harassment, he thought to himself. But that was not polite dinner conversation.

"Is that a television show that you're on?," Cecil asked.

"It is."

"What is it about?"

Kuu explained that it was a revenge story that included a love triangle. He said that he was playing one of the lead characters on the show, and expressed his excitement about where the show was going and how it would be received by the public.

Cecil nodded his head and took a sip of his wine. "Interesting. Not as interesting as my work, but interesting."

Kuu noted the redness that stained Julie's cheeks. He could tell she was furious. He took her hand once more beneath the table. "And what do you do, Mr. Bennet?"

Cecil gave him a cocky grin that Kuu would very much have liked to punch off of his face. "I'm a financier."

Kuu called upon his acting skills to keep from laughing. Finances are more interesting than being on TV? Sure thing, buddy.

Cecil took his moment of silence to mean that Kuu didn't understand. "That means that I manage money for large firms."

"And he's so good at it, too," purred Svetlana. She patted his cheek lovingly.

"My girls have both gotten into good relationships, it would seem. Such smart girls. I am so proud of both of them," said Tatiana, shooting an exasperated look at Svetlana. She was no stranger to Svetlana engaging in pissing contests with Julie. The girls had been at war from the time that Julie had been born. Lana had been so jealous that they had caught her hitting baby Julie and pinching her. This had only gotten worse as Julie grew to favor their mother in the looks department, and Lana grew to favor their father. Not that Lana was by any means unattractive, but Julie was especially radiant. She had begun modeling as a baby and kept getting jobs as she grew. The jobs for Lana had slowly faded as she hit puberty.

They had never gotten along very well, and it had caused many headaches for their parents. Both Tatiana and Eltra hoped that the girls might become friendlier toward each other in their adult lives, but that hope was slowly dying. That hope was dashed even further when Lana had begun dating Cecil. Eltra would never say it aloud, but he didn't like Cecil. He found Cecil to be cocky, racist, and a bigot. As Eltra worked in show business, he came into contact with all manner of people, of every color, belief, and sexual orientation. This had caused him to be very welcoming toward everyone he encountered. He had wished that his girls would be the same, and though Julie had been, Lana had been less so, and Cecil had only made her worse.

The rest of dinner was full of snide remarks toward Kuu. He took them all on the chin. Eltra and his wife looked visibly uncomfortable, but followed Kuu's lead in order to keep the peace. When dinner was over, Kuu excused himself from the table.

"I apologize for leaving so early, but I have to be at the studio early tomorrow. It was good to meet you all."

They said their goodbyes, and Julie walked him to the door. She stepped out into the hall with him, her eyes brimming with tears.

"Kuu, I'm so sorry. I can't believe they were so rude to you. Lana's always been jealous of me, but I didn't think she'd take it out on you." She was scared that he wouldn't want to continue their relationship after what had happened, and she wouldn't have blamed him if he felt that way. Her sister and brother-in-law had been absolutely awful, and her parents had said nothing in his defense.

Kuu cupped her face with his hand and smiled at her. "It's okay. They're going to look very stupid in 20 years when we're still together and they're divorced."

Julie giggled, and Kuu kissed her cheek and whispered in her ear. "And Cecil will be bald. So fucking bald."

He held her as she shook with silent laughter. She looked up at him. "Can I see you for lunch tomorrow?"

He nodded. "Of course." He kissed her. "Goodnight, Julie."

"Goodnight, Kuu."

She watched him walk down the hall and then took a deep breath and went back into her father's hotel room. She approached the living room, where they had moved and were setting up to play cards.

"What the FUCK is wrong with you two!?"

Svetlana jumped and placed her hand protectively over her barely-there baby bump. "Would you be careful! The baby–"

"The baby will be ashamed to have a mother like you!"

Svetlana got to her feet, her blue eyes blazing. "You have been with that Jap for all of two weeks, and you bring him home to meet us!? Are you out of your mind!?"

"Lana!" Tatiana gasped. "We don't use that word here!"

"And whyever not!? Once again, dear little Julie tries to upstage me and my baby by bringing home a movie star that she's known all of a month! It's a joke! She needs to grow up and find a real man!"

Eltra got to his feet, his normally smiling face tempered with anger."That is more than enough. Kuu has shown himself to be a stand-up guy. And Svetlana Maria, I did not ever teach you to use that slur in my house." He spoke to Lana, but his eyes were on Cecil, who was sitting back, smirking.

Julie took a deep breath. "Kuu is a thousand times more decent than you two. I just needed you to know that." She turned on her heel and left the room, slamming the door behind her. Svetlana took her seat beside Cecil on the couch and placed her hand over her belly.

"The nerve of her to speak to me that way in my condition!"

Tatiana shook her head at her daughter. "As though you didn't goad them over the entire dinner." She got to her feet and went to the kitchen to pour herself another glass of wine. She took her glass and headed to the master bedroom. She disappeared inside and closed the door behind her with an authoritative snap.

Cecil smirked and gathered the cards off of the coffee table to shuffle them.

"Well, that was certainly interesting."

Eltra took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "I don't much feel like playing cards anymore. I'll see you two tomorrow for breakfast." He followed his wife into the bedroom, leaving his daughter and her husband to roll their eyes.

"Was I wrong? Bringing a stranger to a family dinner is entirely improper, isn't it!?"

Cecil shook his head. "Not at all, darling. It was tacky."

Lana hmphed and patted her belly. "I only hope that we raise our child to have better sense."