A/N: Hello everyone.

If you are reading this, then thank you for sticking with the story so far. The fall semester has started and I have less and less time to write. But hopefully this story will have my enough attention. Thank you for all the reviews, follows and favorites, much appreciated.

Oh! One last thing,

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

Chapter 9

Yashiro actually threw Kuon inside a room and barked, "EXPLAIN!".

This surprised Kuon more than anything; his brother was a level headed guy and rarely raised his voice let alone behaves rough with him. The last time Yukihito acted rough towards him like that was when he sent Bradly Dawkins into a coma and refused to apologize to his parents no matter what. He forced him down to a dogeza and made him apologize to Mrs. Dawkins who was close to filing an attempt to murder case against him. Lory and dad did their best to stop that but his attitude didn't change. Till this day he doesn't regret it. What saved him from jail was Dawkins, who came back from the coma but never fully recovered. That was 6 years ago, and ever since then he was kept under close observation. Jude brought him to Japan after she got married and he was with her ever since. Yukihito came back with them and started working for the company and completed his studies. Kuon actually cared a very big deal about him and it angered him more that his brother was mad at him and not that idiotic excuse of a girl!

"Why are you yelling at me?!", Kuon shouted back.

"Kuon, if any of those were true, you manhandled a girl and almost committed sexual harassment. You are lucky she isn't pressing charges! Her sister had every right to be angry. If Kyoko-san would've been my sister and I had found out and a man behaved with her like that I would be out for blood!"

"Why didn't you say something there?! I'm sure she would've liked to see YOU of all people taking HER side!"

"I was shocked and embarrassed. Not to mention in front of a lady I really liked. It concerned her sister nonetheless. And you are my brother, so I did choose your side because the situation seemed out of control" Yukihito sighed. "Why is it so hard for you to control your anger when Kyoto is involved? You weren't happy about the show being held here, weren't happy when I decided to come here and were so agitated since the moment we landed here. What happened to my calm and collected brother?"

"I don't like this city! The people are not good! Did you really forget what this place took from you? From all of us? This place is the last place I would want to be in! The nerve of that girl! She is the one responsible for this!"

"Do you really think that? Be honest", Yukihito settled on the sofa.

Kuon walked towards the window. It was a beautiful day outside. He sighed and tried to calm his nerves. Was he really right? Was this her fault? Well Yoshida-san was very desperate, maybe she forced that girl into the stage, that could happen. She didn't lie about the sister either. Did he overreact?

"No. I don't think she is responsible for what happened. That was unfortunate and the chances of it being a misunderstanding is high. But that doesn't justify her utter lack of responsibility and the way she behaved today"

Yukihito sighed and smiled. "At least you admitted you could be wrong. I would've wanted you to go and apologies to them. If it makes you feel any better, I did make a scene today as well. It's unfortunate that it had to be in front of Kanae-san."

"Oh…. Look who has a crush on someone.", Kuon finally smiled. "Hey Yuki-ni, tell you what, you should ask her out."

"Do you know… Teasing doesn't suit you", Yukihito laughed at his brother's poor excuse of teasing. "Thank you anyway, but I highly doubt that we will meet again. If we ever do then she wouldn't want to associate with me anymore" He said sadly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Kuon admitted. Kanae was very angry when she left. He blew up any chances Yukihito could have with her. He decided to change the topic,

"Hey! After lunch, would you like to go to the shrine with me? My overly religious sister wants me to go and do something I don't yet understand. I just want to leave Kyoto behind" He turned towards his brother"

"Thank the heavens Jude is still back at Tokyo and can't hear you badmouthing her Kami-sama.", Yukihito sighed. He knew Kuon wasn't religious, but it's not about believing in god, it was about believing in things altogether, which Kuon had a hard time dealing with.

"Will you go or not?" Kuon asked, impatient.

"Yes, I need to get out of this hotel and have a change of scenery. The shrine seems a good idea."

"Nee-chan", Kyoko whispered while Kanae drove them from the hotel. They have to give up their car tomorrow, along with their house. The house they wanted to save.

"I don't feel like talking, Kyoko", Kanae spoke with a voice that could freeze a volcano.

"But…. You've been like this since we came out of that room. talk to me!", Kyoko wined with teary eyes.

"You really want to know what I think? I really think that you are not at fault in the whole thing. However you could've held it in and let me handle it. It doesn't justify how you acted. Even I got riled up and raised my voice."

"But that man was being absolutely rude!", Kyoko interjected.

"I know, and I was protecting you. But it also means that we have lost our house. I'm frustrated because of that. If not anything else.", Kanae sighed.

"Gomenne, Nee-chan. It's my fault"

"MO!, Kyoko, it's not entirely your fault. But next time please don't trust strangers. You are too innocent for your own good. Look at what Shotaro did to you! And now someone else has put you in a difficult position."

"Hai! I understand." Kyoko said.

All her life she was like this. She had a lot of kind people in her life. So she tried to show the same kindness to everyone. Now, this attitude made her suffer more than anything in the span of a week and she is still having a hard time wrapping her head around it. She took a deep breath. 'I am going to go to the shrine today to pray for us. Kami-sama will give me the strength I need. I'm sure.', she thought.

"Nee-chan."

"Nani?"

"Would you go with me to the shrine today? The one where we went as a kid?"

Finally Kanae smiled. "Let's go, who knows when we will be able to go there together again. And you know what…. I'll treat you today with Hamburger steak for lunch."

Kyoko smiled brightly and jumped in her seat! Yes… She is not going to feel miserable for that stupid man! She will be ok.., no matter what.

'HAAMBURGERRSS!' Kyoko thought!

On the plane from L.A. to Tokyo, a certain woman went crazy after the morning news updates. Her companions were trying their best to keep her calm and away from shouting to their pilot for not flying faster!

"Sweetheart..", Kuu tried to reason with her for god knows how many times.

"Don't you SWEETHEART me! My baby…. My baby is dating! He is in public with this girl and we don't know…. We don't know! Lory! You are closer to him than any of us! Even you didn't know then what should we think about this?!"

"If you ask me… I'm quite happy about this news. So much public exposure! Kuu, both of your sons have had a very low profile. Even though Kuon has won over Japanese media with his charms, he still isn't a hot topic. This certainly is a good sign for your not so juicy son.", Lory said while looking at the picture and the outrageous article beneath it.

"You are telling me that you are not shocked?", Kuu asked.

"I am. I'm not going to lie. Kuon has been busy with the fashion show in Kyoto and the Yashiro estate. If you ask me, he doesn't even have time to be in a relationship right now.", Lory replied.

"Yes honey, even Yuki said that he was rarely in touch with him", Kuu said while he lightly tucked his wife's blond locks away from her face.

"So I'm not a bad parent right?", Juliena asked Kuu with tears in her eyes. "It's just that he rarely tells us anything, and ever since that incident he only talks to Jude, Yuki and Lory. It's like he doesn't want to talk to us anymore. One day he will get married and have kids and we wouldn't even know anything about it from him. The tabloids know more about my son than I do!"

"Juli, don't beat yourself up. We all agreed to give him space after that right? In return he didn't run off to anywhere and still is living unharmed. That's more than we ever asked for.", Kuu said gently.

Juliena looked at the picture again. The girl was beautiful. Whoever she was, if Kuon liked her enough to treat her like a Princess, she would make it her business to get to know her better. Even if her son isn't close to her anymore…. There is no way she is going to let Kuon keep her away from her future daughter-in-law.

She looked out the window and saw white clouds. The last thought in her mind was, "She looks so pretty in my purple dress"

Kuon and Yashiro reached the shrine after lunch. They had their flight tonight. So this was their last stop. Kuon went up the long staircase with his brother in tow. Both dressed casually and attracted attention from many visitors. They stood in front of the shrine and clapped three times and started praying. Not noticing the Tsubasa sisters standing behind them, praying.

'I'm here for my sister, cause for some weird reasons, she believes you exist. I love her enough to do this for her. Grant her every wish. Let her be happy. If you can't do that, don't worry, I'll make her happy no matter ! Nothing for me, it's not like I would want something and you will grant that. Never happened before, so I don't expect anything.'

Kuon turned after he was done with praying only to look at Kyoko with her eyes closed, conversing with her Kami-sama in a low voice.

"… and Otou-san will be happy to see that I intended to work hard. But that's not why I'm here. Please grant happiness to my family, make sure they are healthy and make sure Nee-san finds the love of her life. I want a Price for her and she deserves nothing less. I want nothing for myself, please give my share of good luck to them." Kyoko whispered and opened her eyes to find a smirking Kuon looking at her with amused eyes.

"You do know that this shrine is famous for couples? Yet you are praying for other people", Kuon said.

"Oh? I don't see you with anyone like your girlfriend or wife.", Kyoko retorted back. She turned to look for her sister. What are the odds of this man being here of all places. She needed to get away from him.

She saw Kanae talking to Yukihito on the other side. Yukihito had a very goofy smile on his face and her sister also didn't look angry.

She decided to go there but a hand stopped her in her tracks.

"Don't you know it's rude to ignore people when they are trying to have a conversation?", Kuon said while grabbing her wrist and jerking her back towards him. He saw his brother and Kanae having a conversation and he didn't not want anything to get in Yukihito's way. Even if it was this girl who could fit in his arms effortlessly. Suddenly he wanted to try it out, and wanted to feel her in his arms again. She looked so pretty in the afternoon sun that he almost gave in to his weird cravings.

"Let go of me!", Kyoko said while trying to get out of his grasp.

"Oh! I will, I don't have any intention of hanging onto you. But we need to talk", Kuon said and dragged her away from the others.

Kyoko was astonished at how little her forces worked against the man. He didn't even budge when she tried to move away and dragged her under a large tree.

"What do you think you are doing?!", Kyoko shouted when he finally let her go.

"Apologizing.", Kuon deadpanned.

To say that Kyoko was shocked was an understatement.

"What!", she said.

"I was way out of line yesterday and today. You were at fault too, but that doesn't justify my actions. I hate people like you most. Irresponsible, idiotic and troublemaker. But my brother wants me to say sorry so I am saying sorry. I hope we never meet again."

Kyoko was gaping at the man! She wasn't sure how to react. Was he insulting her or apologizing? How is she supposed to respond to that?

"Well you can go tell your brother that apology is not accepted.", she said and turned around to leave.

Kuon grabbed her again.

"Wait… What?!"

"You heard me. You don't even know how to say sorry…! You are just like any other rich obnoxious idiot who thinks your half-assed efforts are going to help you get anything you want! Well too bad. At least we have one thing in common! I don't want to see you ever again either!" Kyoko said, gritting her teeth.

Kuon looked her in the eye only to intimidate her. But that backfired. He started noticing things in her face and that he liked them. More than he should. He suddenly pushed her away and took a step back.

They both looked at each other with angry eyes. One more angry than the other. They both walked away without saying anything. Kyoko went to find her sister, and Koun went to their car. He desperately wanted to get away from here. This city was doing crazy things to his nerves. His cool and clam façade didn't seem to work here. He needs to get away from here, away from that girl.