A/N: Hello, thank you for all the reviews and the favorites and follows. I don't know if I'm writing too much or writing weirdly. Anyways!

I do not own Skip Beat! or any of its characters. :)

Chapter 3

Kyoko ran towards her house. Her world broke apart. She was feeling horrible. Why did this happen to her? What was her fault? Was she really this undeserving? Her parents lied to her, her sister lied to her and whatever her uncle, aunt and cousins were doing all these years are all lies. Shotaro… They knew each other for most of their lives. Even before her Nee-chan she knew that boy. He was the second most important person in her life. Sometimes she couldn't even pick between her sister and him. Today, she lost the will to love again. If it hurts this much, it's better to be loveless. Right?

Kanae was worried sick. She couldn't find Kyoko anywhere in the house. Her parents were still busy answering and returning phone calls. She decided to go look for her and when she opened the door she saw her sister ready to knock the door. Kanae immediately knew something was wrong. Kyoko was never this upset. Never!

"Kyoko!", she exclaimed with worry. "Where were you?! Mo! I was looking everywhere for you! What…" she stopped questioning suddenly when she saw her sister. 'What in the world happened!', she thought.

Kyoko looked at her sister. She loved her more than anything. But did her nee-can love her back? She never said it to her directly. Kanae is very straight forward. So does that mean she never told her that she loved her because she doesn't love her? Today, everything seemed possible. Her whole world seemed upside down.

"Kyoko…", Kanae stepped forward really carefully. Something about Kyoko made her afraid to touch her. Like she was very fragile right now, and would vanish into thin air if she touched her.

"Tadaima", Kyoko whispered. From inside their mother called that dinner was ready. Before Kanae could say anything, Kyoko passed her and went straight to the dining space and sat on her spot. They sat in silence. Then Tatsuya said "Itadakimasu" while picking up his bowl of rice.

Kanae was eyeing her sister very carefully. Why was she acting this way, it was highly unusual for Kyoko.

"What happened today was unfortunate," Umeko said suddenly. She knew that they all needed to talk after what happened. Her husband was not the one to start this kind of family talk and neither was Kanae.

"What happened today was not a good incident for our family. I am not going to keep any ties with anyone who disrespects my family and my wishes. From today, you do not have an uncle or cousins. This is my final word. I do not want any arguments, especially from you Kyoko. If they cannot respect my daughter, I do not have any use for that family", Tatsuya said in a firm voice.

"I meant what I said and did back there. Kyoko, you are my daughter. Mine and mine only and I don't exclude your father when I'm saying this. Even if I wasn't blessed enough to give birth to you, I was blessed enough to raise you and love you. I know you are sad about what happened today. But it was bound to happen one day or another. Your father is a patient man and he dedicated most of his life to take care of this family.", she said in a sad voice.

Looking at her daughters, she could tell that it would take a lot of time to recover from what happened. She dreaded about what she was about to tell them next. She looked at her husband who was in his calm expression like always. Taking a deep breath she started saying, "Kanae and Kyoko, listen carefully of what I'm about to tell you. We didn't tell you before that your father took a loan for the money he gave your uncle. The loan was in your father's name and he mortgaged all of our assets here in Kyoto to make that happen. We are sure that your uncle is not going to pay us back. The bank called today. They have decided to sell out the property. Some businessmen have already made an offer about it. They are coming tomorrow to buy other assets the bank has rights over in an auction. If we are lucky, they will overlook this land and we might have some time to save the house and the restaurant. Otherwise, we have to move to Tokyo." She paused to look at her daughters. Both looked surprisingly calm, even Kyoko!

"I know, Kanae has her University over here and it would be hard for her to move so suddenly. Kyoko decided to take over the restaurant with your father so she can move with us easily. But nothing is decided yet. So let's hope it doesn't come to that." She finished with a sigh.

Kyoko who thought that nothing could surprise her anymore had absolutely no idea how to digest this information. They are going to lose this house? The house they grew up in? The house their father grew up in? Was there anything else left to happen anymore? First the wedding, then the family, then Shotaro and now the house. This could not get worse.

Kanae, who was thinking about how to exchange universities without much trouble, had already made a course of action in her mind. She was a practical girl. There is no way they can save this house even if they have time. Unless…

After dinner they all went to their room. Kyoko was still unable to say anything. They got ready for bed and spread their futon. After some time Kanae whispered to Kyoko,

"Are you asleep?"

Kyoko, who dreaded what her sister was going to ask moved to her side to face her, still trying to fight the tears.

As if she could read her mind, Kanae said, "It's okay to cry you know, okay to be scared. But I think I might have a way out of this mess. But it would take a lot of effort on your part and I hate to ask you to do this."

Kyoko who was hopeful for the first time in the whole day sat up suddenly, forgetting everything else, she said, "What do I have to do? I'll do anything!"

Kanae sat up as well. Taking a deep breath she said, "You can ask the Fuwa's to buy the land temporarily from the bank, that way we have enough time to set things right. Your boyfriend, what's his name? Oh! Yes, Shotaro, he could convince his parents to do it. You've practically decided to marry and they will be willing to help us right? I know that they love you."

Kyoko whose demons went wild when she heard Shotaro's name, wasn't sure how to respond to this. On one hand she had every intention to tell her sister what happened in the ryokan. On the other hand she could bring herself to crush any hope her nee-san showed in her. She had to repay the kindness… she just had to. Even if it means crushing her dignity all over again.

"I'll go there first thing tomorrow morning", was all she could say. With that both sisters tried to sleep. Both unaware that the other was wide awake.

In the Ryouji mansion, Yasu had just ended his phone call with a certain bank president. He successfully convinced him to include the Tsubasa property in the listing of tomorrow's auction. The Auction was mainly for the old estate of the Yashiro family. The company was bankrupted a few months ago. The younger Yashiro brother who had taken over the company after the elder's death led a large successful company to its demise. Rumor has it that the son of the elder brother who was the rightful heir and was only 10 at that time was thrown out of the house and never seen again. Well what did he care? As long as he could buy the Tsubasa property and make Kanae beg his forgiveness for humiliating his family. What did she think of herself? She wouldn't even know what hit her!

The Hizuri and Takarada Corporation in Tokyo had an unusually quiet evening. With their obnoxious presidents, it was not usually this peace and quiet. Both the founders were overseas leaving their sons in charge. Kuu Hizuri along with his wife Juliena Hizuri and best friend/business partner Lory Takarada went to the US visiting Lory's son Kouki. Yashiro Yukihito, one of the CEO's of this corporation was just about to leave for his flight to Kyoto. He was at the office to take care of some important business. As soon as he reached the airport for the jet, someone else was already parked in front of it.

"What are you doing here?", he asked his cousin in a surprised tone.

"Well my mother had a fashion show in Kyoto tomorrow afternoon and she wanted me to go there to conduct it. Because at the last minute she decided that she wanted to go with dad so I am left to tie the loose ends."

Yukihito nodded and signaled their secretaries to drive back to the HTC headquarters while boarding the plane.

After they settled in and the flight took off, Yukihito decided to press Kuon for the real reason for his abrupt change of plans.

But as if he read his mind Kuon started talking,

"Nii-san, I know how emotionally invested you are for tomorrow's auction. This is something you have been preparing for. But you let our emotions cloud your judgement too much. I have a feeling you might end up meeting those bastards and offer up some deal or something."

"Kuon, I'm 28 now and perfectly capable of handling things on my own."

"I don't doubt it. You are exceptionally capable of handling this but I cannot simply stay back and let you go through this alone." Kuon said in a dark voice.

"The estate doesn't hold any fond memories for us Kuon, are you sure you want to go there?" Yukihito sighed.

"Do you plan to take pity on those bastards for what they did? No way! You are not the only one who suffered!"

"Stop making this about revenge! We have gotten plenty of revenge Kuon. We have reduced them to nothing but dirt. And now I'm just going there to take back what's rightfully mine."

Kuon realized he had let his anger take over himself again. He tried to calm himself down and make this trip less uncomfortable. He said to his cousin in a cold voice,

"Don't let anyone or anything get in the way of business. Emotion will only cost you Yuki-nii san. Trust me. I learnt it the hard way. You are too kind, kindness made us vulnerable in the past but not anymore."

He will crush everyone that stands between his goals and his family. They both surpassed their fathers by climbing up painstakingly. He and Yukihito both started as interns under pseudonyms. Tsuruga Ren was his stepping stone and he has left it far behind. He will create a new legacy for the Hizuris, one that will never topple over.