A/N: I apologize for being late. Too much to do. But thanks to BlackRope2 for beta. This chapter is the first of Kuon and Kyoko's more advanced reaction towards each other, so as you can probably assume, the story is going to pick up its pace. Thank you for having patience and if they seem OOC then I apologize, let me know so I can fix the mistakes.

This Chapter is heavily changed from the previous version.

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

Enjoy :)

Chapter 18

Kyoko was downright scared and confused, she didn't feel her anger rising. When the rich-obnoxious-idiot started eating, she finally understood what actually happened in his study. However, she wasn't sure how to react. She took long breaths to calm her nerves and started eating.

Kuon was baffled by her behavior. He expected her to lash out any moment but the lashing never came. He kept on looking at her bruised wrist and his scowl kept increasing. However, she ignored him and continued to eat in silence.

It was awkward.

The thunder cracked outside, causing Kyoko to flinch and Kuon to smirk.

He stared at her, her silence wasn't something he enjoyed despite what he initially believed. The girl wasn't talkative but she had a warm presence and he missed that. Why did he miss that?! He doesn't even like her and she pisses him off. She was way too proper and uptight and stupid for his liking.

"Is the food not according to your palate?" Kyoko said softly, seeing Kuon not even halfway done while she was almost finished.

Kuon snapped out of his trance when she spoke. "It's edible," he commented.

Kyoko's heart dropped, so he was forcing himself to eat? Nothing was wrong with her dish as far as she knew. She couldn't help but look sad and disappointed. She had one job and even that proved to be harder than she anticipated.

'Kuu-sama was right, feeding his son was indeed an obstacle, and impressing him was near impossible', Kyoko thought.

Kuon who was seeing the girl's expression change in a blink of an eye was very amused. She was like an open book. He smirked and suddenly the thought of teasing her seemed to be an ideal way to pass his time.

He tried to finish his food, it was indeed very good and wasn't at all difficult to eat. He just didn't want to praise Kyoko.

"You do not have to force yourself to eat, I will make you something else if you want." Kyoko said with a sad tone.

"It's not wise to waste food." Kuon said and continued eating.

A vein popped on Kyoko's head. "Hypocrite," she muttered.

Kuon heard clearly and it only added to his amusement.

"Why did you accept my father's job offer?" Kuon suddenly asked.

Kyoko wasn't sure how to answer the question, but decided to be honest.

"For revenge," she whispered.

Kuon wasn't expecting her answer to be like this. He was stunned at first and curiosity got the better of him.

"Elaborate," he said in a gruff voice.

"I was neglected and demeaned for being simple, responsible and kind. I do not have any special attributes and I'm the average Japanese girl. So, HE broke my heart and everything along the way, HE made me distrustful and afraid, made me vulnerable and changed me. The Kyoko I am now is so different that even I cannot recognize myself. So, I want to prove him wrong and see him fall. I want to be the best at what I do and in order to do that, I need to be able to take on any challenge." She said with hurt and determination clouding her voice.

"You are the challenge," she finished.

Kuon was silently listening and couldn't really comprehend why her reasoning was pissing him off.

"Who is HE? Your boyfriend?" He asked without even noticing her rising anger.

"FUWA SHOTARO IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND! HE WAS A MISTAKE I MADE AND I WANT TO RECTIFY IT!" Kyoko snapped and her demons were coming outside to bask in the anger emitting from their owner and Kuon.

"Ohh? So why do you want to prove him wrong and prove your worth? Is it not for the fact that if he realizes what he has lost, he might take you back?"

"I DO NOT do things in order to get back together with someone as evil as him! I have lost myself along the way to please him, I molded myself to fit his needs, I just want myself back. I do not want to put that horrible one-sided relationship back together, Hizuri-san! I want to put myself back together."

Kuon felt a sense of relief wash over him. He had no idea why her explanation had caused so many emotions to rise in him but they did nonetheless.

"Where do I come in your little revenge plan against Fuwa-san?" He asked, leaning forward.

"With due respect, you are the most aggravating man I have ever met in my life, and I have my fair share of experiences in handling obnoxious people due to my profession. However, you are in a different league altogether. Shotaro is not going to be any issue if I can survive with you. So I decided to listen to your father."

After her explanation Kuon's expression turned colder and colder. He kept staring at her and for some reason she was scared. It was similar to the eerie calm before the storm.

"Please take care of the kitchen on your way out. You will stay in the guest room while you live here." Kuon said.

Kyoko only looked at him with a gaping mouth. He didn't react to her speech earlier, not even when she said that she was 'sort of' using him.

Kuon got up and turned around. With his back towards her, he said, "Sorry for earlier. Put ice on your wrist if it hurts too much."

Kyoko couldn't help but let her jaw drop.

Kuon went to his room and closed the door firmly. The storm outside was picking up very rapidly. He decided to screw it and opened the sliding door to his balcony. The rain hit his face like needles but he needed to calm down. Never in his life had he found someone who could rile him up like that. So what if the girl was aiming something so absurd? It's none of his business. Besides, why was he so upset hearing that the girl wanted revenge against someone, even he sees his grudges to the end. She is just someone very insignificant. Who will definitely be leaving his house and his life after this ridiculous ordeal is over.

These thoughts repeated in his head over and over again. He could still feel his desire to hunt down Fuwa Shotaro, for reasons he couldn't explain. He felt so provoked around her that he was starting to worry. The way he was acting was confusing him and he hated being unsure about anything.

She doesn't deserve any emotion from me, none at all. So she won't receive any.

His resolve was made.

He will be indifferent.

'Are you sure you can be? Admit it…. The girl intrigues you….', his dark thoughts manifested again.

Kyoko was in her room thinking why she wanted to dig her own grave. She told him things that even her parents were unaware of! So why him? She disliked him so much that she came to the conclusions that women were stupid to fall from him. He was rich and arrogant and cruel and downright annoying.

But, he was a gentleman and he said sorry. He helped her and he was her employer. She just didn't want to lie and then things got out of hand. She plopped onto her bed and went straight up like a bullet when she heard it.

Thunder!

She involuntarily whimpered. She searched for her phone and decided to call her nee-chan.

Then she decided against it. What if she was sleeping or busy or…..

Another thunder roared and she immediately dialed Kanae's number, but there was no reception. The network was down.

Her mind went chaotic. She hid herself in the pillows and then to make matters worse the lights went off.

She whimpered again, louder than before and tears fell from her eyes. She was ashamed of herself for being scared for such a small thing; she was 18 for kami's sake! But she couldn't stop her shivers and whimpering with each boom and crack.

She had no one to comfort her, she was alone in a dark room, in an empty, lonely, creepy house with the demon lord of the ice kingdom in the middle of a typhoon. She was doomed.

She wrapped herself in the blanket and rocked back and forth but it wasn't helping much. When she was a kid she had to endure it all by herself until Kanae was with her.

She got up from the bed and tried to look for a candle or something. But then remembered that the kitchen had an electric stove. Even if she found a candle, how would she light it?

She decided to ask Kuon. Even if he decides to make fun of her because of this at least there will be some light.

She came out of her room to knock on Kuon's door but there was no response. She then announced herself and went in to look for him.

What she saw scared her shitless. Kuon was standing on the balcony in heavy rainfall looking like a ghost. She went to the balcony to call him inside. But he wasn't even looking at her. He seemed like a totally different person. She went inside the balcony and grabbed his hand to bring him in. He didn't seem to understand what was happening and refused to move.

Kyoko tried again to bring him inside, telling him again and again that he would fall sick.

He just stood there and then a loud thunder cracked and made Kyoko jump. She let Kuon go and dropped to her knees covering her ears. Petrified and soaked to her bone.

Only then Kuon seemed to realize what was happening. He called out Kyoko but she was not moving. Kuon then proceeded to gather her in his arms and went inside his room. He slided of the door with his feet and sat her down on his bed.

He went to the bathroom for dry towels and came back to the room. Kyoko was still sitting in a fetal position covering her ears.

Kuon didn't know what was going on in his head and he would never be able to explain it, but he gathered her in his arms again, wrapped the towel around her and proceeded to dry her off.

Kyoko wasn't really aware of what was happening but she felt calmer and warm. When she finally realized her position she wasn't sure how to get out of it.

She was in Kuon's bed, sitting between his legs. Her back was against his very warm chest. She could feel his heartbeat through her clothes. He was silently drying her hair without a word.

She decided to make a run for it.

Kuon grabbed her the moment she moved from his lap. He pressed her back onto his chest with very less effort and took a hold onto both her hands.

"So, Kyoko-san. You had a boyfriend right?", He grumbled in a low voice in her ear.

"Hizuri-san, this is very inappropriate, please let me go", Kyoko said in a frantic vocie.

"Kuon"

"Eh? What?"

"Kuon… my name is Kuon. Hizuri-san is my father"

"Kuon…. san?"

"Better. So let's get some things straight. You are the one who came into my room first, You were the one who grabbed me first. So I get to decide when to let go of a woman who voluntarily walked into my embrace.", He said into her ears while tightening his grasp on her.

Kyoko was both scared and confused. Surprisingly among all this chaos she didn't notice the thunderstorm outside anymore.

"I will ask again, You had a boyfriend before, Shotaro was it?"

Kyoko nodded.

"So you know how a kiss feels like right? Teenagers are quite fast"

Kyoko turned beet red and squirmed while saying,"I have no idea what you're implying, I never let him kiss me or do indecent things!"

"Is that so", Kuon said, smiling slightly. The smile looked sinister almost.

"Yeah, that's why he cheated on me with Nanokura. Because I never let him. It wasn't like he was interested in me in the first place"

"So should we redeem that situation?"

"W-What?"

"I will kiss you"

"WHAT?! WHY?! You might have misunderstood something! Let go of me!" she said, while trying to get him to let her go.

"Because I want to, because I can"

"Let go!"

"If you want me to let you go than quit"

"Huh?"

"Quit working for my father, quit it. As soon as the rain stops I will drive you to the Takarada Mansion. You will never show your face again in front of me"

"You are threatening me to quit?"

"No. It's an offer", Kuon said while rubbing his nose in her hair. "It will get much worse if you continue to be stubborn Kyoko-san. Take this as a lesson as to why you should never walk into a single man's bedroom like today"

"Let go"

"Say you will quit", Kuon whispered against her ears "or I will not be responsible for the things I might do"

"Let go! Stop this! Do you think I will not say anything to Kuu-sama?!"

"Do you have any idea what my father will do if he hears about this?", Kuon chuckled darkly.

"What do you mean!"

"He will simply tell me to take care of you, to take responsibility. Then you will end up really being stuck to my side forever. Or is this what you were aiming for all along?"

"He would never…"

"Do you want to take the chance? Okay", Kuon said before kissing Kyoko below her ears.

"Stop! No! Okay you win! Let me Go! I will Quit!" Kyoko screamed.

Immediately Kuon let go of her and Kyoko ran to her room crying.

In the darkness of his room a triumphant Hizuri Kuon was smirking. This was way too easy. She will not dare to stay here anymore. Or anywhere near him for that matter.

This was what he was aiming for. Then why was he a little disappointed?