A/N: The plot thickens.
I don't own Skip Beat! or any of its characters.
Kyoko sat across Kuon while he looked intently outside after having his drink of water.
To be completely honest with herself Kuon brought out a side of her that she knew existed.
She was coming undone slowly but surely. She wouldn't last a week let alone two with the way things were going. One of them was going to win and at this point, it might be him.
He was a walking talking contradiction. She had seen him interact with others in such a gentlemanly way that people could easily mistake him as a knight. But when it comes to her he acts like a temperamental savage.
But he also treated her kindly on some occasions and while it wasn't what she ever expected, whenever he imposed himself over her, she couldn't help but feel a certain attraction towards him.
She also has a secret admiration for his deep knowledge and skills.
Was there anything he wasn't good at? He was so successful at such a young age.
You can't let his charm fool you. He bares his teeth at the slightest provocation.
What was she trying to get out of this arrangement? What started of as her getting revenge wasn't even valid. Shotaro was being genuine for the first time in his life. He was sincere, she could tell that something or in his case someone impacted him thoroughly.
If she went to Hizuri-san, he would definitely take her side and reperimend Kuon.
However, Kuon's words about his father were a bit concerning. That Hizuri Kuu deliberately put her in Kuons path so that he could marry her was absurd if not completely ludicrous.
But for some reason, she also got that vibe from him. He kind of treated her like his child.
May be he is just affectionate as a father.
But there was an undercurrent of favouritism towards her. So as soon as she even uttered a word about Kuon's behaviour, and that she even shared his bed, sick or not... Kuu might just do what Kuon warned her about.
It also sounds unbelievable but after meeting the eccentric duo, Lory and Kuu, she wasn't going to put anything past them.
Was she overthinking? It just felt like Kuon's parents and his sister kind of wanted her to assume a role of Kuon's caretaker, but in a more personal level.
And some tiny crazy part of her wasn't really worried about that. Which was even more concerning.
This is very unprofessional Kyoko.
Her white angle popped up and said.
Who cares! The demon lord is so delicious. We can have all the negative emotions that we want. Think about how gorgeous he is. His aura is both sinister and captivating.
Her little demon said.
She glanced at him and realized that he was staring at her with such intense eyes that made her feel weird....
The room suddenly felt small and unbearably warm within seconds.
She averted her eyes as if it burned her.
"I am sorry for dragging your sister into this", Kuon's soft voice brought her back to reality.
She nodded as an acknowledgement.
But decided to bring up why exactly he had that outburst.
"I wasn't flirting with anyone", Kyoko replied.
Kuon didn't respond. Even he knew this woman in front of him was incapable of flirting to save her life.
But she was a natural. Men surrounded her like a moth to a flame. She has this innate charm that is unexplainable.
He knew that he grew fond of her and as time progresses he will be smitten with this woman. It was as if he had no control over his emotions.
Damn that old man and his meddling.
If he had to point exactly to what event screwed him for good, it would be the first time he saw her when she fell onto his hands.
What's stopping him?
Kyoko didn't seem to reciprocate his affection. She was as dense as a rock. Especially when she could be so blind to her beauty and charm.
"I will start dinner and leave. You don't have to drive me. I can handle it."
Kuon nodded.
He was contamplating on what he should do in the meantime when his sister texted.
She wanted to see him and asked him to go to the office.
He somehow had a foreboding feeling.
He asked Kyoko to forgo the meal and headed out to change.
Kyoko, with the sudden change of plans and still concerned that his fever could come back, made some arrangements of medicine and light snacks so that he could help himself.
They went their separate ways.
Kuon reached the headquarters and was ushered into Lory's office by Sebastian.
Lory was an avenger today it seemed as he popped the front part of his Ironman helmet talking to Yukihito.
How his Godfather managed to get married and raise two sons was beyond him.
He saw his sister sitting in the lounge and went to greet her.
Something in her body language was different, he could instantly tell.
Before he could ask, Jude said something he wasn't expecting from his sister's mouth.
"Mogami Seijiro is on the move. Or at least he has instructed the Ghouls to move on his behalf", she said while looking at him dead in the eyes.
The name itself rose his hackles. But Jude's involvement was even more buzire for him.
"Why do you know this?", he asked.
"Because she runs the intelligence department for HTC Kuon."
His eyes snapped towards Yuki who had replied while sitting down.
Lory had already taken a seat at his Iron Throne, a replica of the original he commissioned from the HBO studio of GMT.
"What do you mean she runs the intelligence department?!" Kuon asked.
"It means Kuon, that Jude has been in charge of that division even before you joined HTC as Tsuruga Ren.", Lory replied.
"What does Hidehito do then?"
"Apparently, answers to our sister.", Yuki replied.
"You knew about this?", Kuon asked Yuki.
"Hey, I also got to know like 15mins earlier, that my cousin runs a department that I didn't know existed in the first place"
Jude was calmly listening to her brothers and decided to intervene.
"We can freak about me later. I am afraid there are more concerns that we need to address at the moment."
Kuon opened his mouth to say something, but Jude silenced him with her eye and started talking.
"We have been monitoring Mogami Seijiro passively but we raised the surveillance significantly since the estate auction. Today morning around 10am he made a call to a number that was most probably a burner cell. He talked to someone called Reino.
We had information that the largest Yakuza family in Kyoto had initiated a new leader. They changed their name to Vie Ghoul and is addressed as such in the underworld. We didn't have a name or ID of the the man but he has four more very close subordinates. We have pictures of these four but not Reino. He barely goes out in public. His four henchmen do his biddings.
Vie Ghoul is quite dangerous because of their influence. They come from a very old samurai family in Kyoto that has power over the aristocracy. Most of Mogami's influence and power is thanks to them.
He saves them from prosecution and in turn he gets them at his disposal.
Mogami has been very silent even after Uncle Yuta lost the company and Yuki did a hostile takeover. Moreover, he was either unaware of the shady things Kuon was doing to bring down a generational empire or chose to ignore it."
"You knew about it?!", Kuon asked in horror and disbelief. He was mortified that his sister knew of his more unsavoury dealings.
"Who do you think was cleaning up after you little brother? But coming back to our main point of concern. Yesterday's phone call to Reino was what alarmed me.
Mogami was giving instructions to Reino about bringing back his granddaughter from Tokyo."
Yuki was petrified after hearing it and whispered, "That's not possible, Saena Mogami is dead"
"That has been confirmed after she vanished without a trace. Legally she has been pronounced dead. But this is where it gets tricky. After your parents death we were able to retrieve the documents that caused the tragedy. Or I should say Lory did"
Lory who was silently listening to Jude finally spoke.
"I guess its time to tell you my recollection of the day. I was with your father that morning when it all happened. We both heard the gunshot from your parents bedroom and rushed. When we got there Megumi had already passed. I rushed out to call for help when I heard the second gunshot. Fearing the absolute worst I rushed back in to see you father taking his last breath. clutching your mother in his hands.
But before I could say anything, Yuzuki pointed to the papers on the floor and in his last breath said, Mogami is a liar."
Jude extended the papers towards Yukihito and Kuon
There was a letter and several photos of Yuzuki and what Kuon assumed was Saena Mogami.
The pictures spoke for itself. Yuzuki and Saena looked like a couple. Saena Mogami looked quite familiar, but Kuon couldn't put his finger on it.
"She was only six when I was born, did you guys know?", Yuki said. "This child had bullied my mother since the day she first laid her eyes on my dad. I always saw her coming to the estate, on the pretense that she was there to spend time with me. But she hung off my father like a leach."
He had a haunted look in his eyes when he added, " Dad didn't really recognise the behaviour or even correct it when Saena used to call herself his bride, or ask me to call her mom. Seijiro laughed it off or encouraged it. I didn't really get it when I was small but I had heard the maids talk about how Saena would subtly torment Mom.
Mom was not from a affluent background and was already insecured and overwhelmed by the grandeur of the estate. Even I remember being influenced by Saena and compare my own mother to a 15 year old because she didn't have proper education on etiquette.
But Saena would ruin Mom's dresses for parties or just butt into conversation, slowly poisoning her and my dad was always so distracted with work and Seijiro... all the time. Lory paid more attention to me than he did but I didn't even mind that. I was so blind!", Yuki hid his face in his hands, his trauma getting the best of him.
"You can't blame yourself son. You were just a kid. Its the adults that failed to see what was happening to Megumi and your dad. But I knew Yuzuki, he would have never cheated on your mother." Lory said soothingly.
"How do you explain this then?! This child? Saena was barely 17 when my dad and mom died!" Yuki exclaimed.
"We assume that your father was drugged and Saena took advantage of him.", Jude stated.
Kuon's head snapped towards his sister in disbelief. How could one teenager go that far. How could a father encourage that?!
His haterad for Seijiro was nothing compared to what he felt for Saena after hearing all this.
"You can't know that for sure. Why then did he not give up that kid?!" Yuki said.
"Why didn't he marry Saena then if he was having an affair? There are too many things we don't know."
"Seijiro was deeply involved with the Business and your Grandfather. He was the one who represented the Family in legal matters and even drafted all the legal documents. Yuzuki tried to get rid of him as much as possible after he realised how messed up the situation got.
But he was in charge of drafting the inheritance and will while your grandfather was alive."
As if on cue Hidehito entered the lounge and handed some more items to Jude.
"I think I found out the answer to your question." He said while Jude was looking over the papers and suddenly got paler.
"What do you mean?" Kuon was becoming impatient.
"Yuki, have you gotten any chance to look at the estate papers that were handed over to you after the takeover?", Jude asked.
"No, I just received them a few weeks ago."
"Well, apparently according to the last will of your grandfather, which extends a by-law from all the previous generation, there is only one way a Yashiro inheritance is handed over."
Jude gave him the document to read.
"It says only the true heir would receive the inheritance on their 21st birthday and your father certainly was the true heir. No wonder Yuta Oji-sama had so much resentment towards your father. It sounds truly unfair." she added.
"If you could explain please", Lory said.
"It means I am not the true Heir Dad.", Yuki replied. "It means even though I spent decades grueling after the fortune, even dragged Kuon into this, endangered all of you, I have to give it all up."
"That's absurd", Kuon exclaimed.
"No he is right. Yashiro inheritance only follows one rule Kuon. It has been for generations. Yuki didn't inherit his father's eyes, nor did uncle Yuta or his sons."
"The child who bears the God's golden eyes would receive the inheritance and this clause is absolute as per the imperial decree.
The only amendment that could be made to this is if a female heir is born. Only she has the right and privilege to amend the rules.", Yuki read out loud.
"There were never any female heir.", Lory said.
"This is highly secretive. Only the immediate children are informed. But I guess Seijiro Mogami weaseled his way into the information.", Hidehito said.
"He started blackmailing about the parental rights the moment it was confirmed to be a girl. The dates on the letters are proof of that." he added.
"So assuming my sister, has inherited Dad's eyes I give everything up that was supposed to be mine?", Yuki said.
"The hell you will!", Kuon had an outburst.
"No, he is right Kuon. The only way we amend this is by imperial decree, that too has to be appealed by the female heir.", Jude said.
"That's not even the most interesting part, Hidehito interjected.
"You've got to be joking", Kuon said.
"There was another document I had found if you turn the page of the report you would find it. There has been reports of two female heirs born into the Yashiro fortune, however they were never brought into the society. Because by imperial law, the imperial family has a claim on the female descendants of the bloodline to be married into the imperial family. To refrain from that and preserve some independence in choosing their spouses, the Yashiro Matriarchs hid themselves away, thus no amendments were ever made. Because the imperial family were never reported about the female heir." Hidehito explained.
"This is becoming even more ridiculous.", Kuon said.
"There's more. The only way to avoid an union was for the heir to be married. But that was impossible to do because that would mean the Yashiro family hid information from the imperial family, resulting in treason. However, that would not be the case now. The girl, whoever she is has bypassed all the legislation. She can just get married and then claim her right as an heir. The Government can't really help you on this because there are some areas where the imperial family holds power."
"It also helps that the heir to the throne is a child and this girl has to be 18 at least." Jude said.
"You mean to say Mogami was trying to get into the imperial court all along?" Kuon laughed at the absurdity.
"He might be crazy Kuon. You don't know that", Lory said.
"Keeping this unbelievable fact aside, what we actually should talk about is finding her." Jude said.
"You want to find the girl who can potentially take everything away from our brother", Kuon asked in disbelief.
"Nee-san is right Kuon. We need to find her before Seijiro gets to her and uses her to do even worse. She wasn't raised by him or doesn't have any idea about all of this. If we get to her first then we might be able to avoid damage.", Yuki said, his rational side taking over his emotions.
" Lets just hope she isn't married", Hidehito said.
"What do you mean?", Kuon asked.
"Her Husband would automatically become her legal guardian. At this point Yukihito has a legal claim as her biological half brother and because her guardianship hasn't been handed over. She can only assume her role at 21years of age, so even if Seijiro finds her he can't control her because Yuki is her legal guardian."
"So if you were Seijiro, what would you be planning?" Jude asked to no one in particular.
"He would most probably try to get her married to someone he has absolute power over. Even if he has to kidnap and force her into it. If the girl is found and captured she can't really do anything without outside help. Her husband can stall the divorce proceedings if she did get help but with Mogami's track record she would just be proven mentally disabled. Who do you think would be Mogami's first choice?", Lory asked
"Reino", Kuon replied, putting the pieces together.
"We need to find her. It doesn't matter if she gets everything but if the estate falls under the Ghouls, what type of catastrophe would that bring." Yuki added.
"That is the more difficult part. We don't know who she is but Seijiro seems to know. He didn't give the information on the phone call that we traced. The information must have been passed on some other way. We can try an track Ghoul movement in Tokyo but thats near impossible even with the best money can buy.", Jude said.
"Although I am curious about something entirely different. Someone gave Seijiro the information. Who went out of their way to offer Mogami basically his pot of gold?", Lory asked.
"Sebastian has been looking into it. We will know soon" Hidehito replied.
Silence decended on the group untill Yukihito spoke up.
"On a different note, the Tsubasa family has been invited to dinner to talk about the engagement between Kanae and me. Both of your parents are also coming and I personally invited Satoshi-san as well. So I think its about time we leave.", he said.
"Satoshi has been out of Tokyo for a while. I guess he wanted to surprise me by showing up unannounced." Jude smiled, falling back to her usual self.
"Hide-kun, I leave the responsibility to you and Sebastian. Hopefully we will get news soon.", Lory said before leaving the lounge with the costume on. Kuon helped his sister by offering his arm while Yuki stored the documents before catching upto them. He tried to clear his head. This day could not get worse.
The Tsubasas were in for a surprise when they saw Satoshi Yamada introduce himself as Jude's husband.
Kyoko who immediately realized what this man truly tried to do, didn't know how to process it. Especially when he pretended that nothing ever happened, as if he didn't flirt with her, as if he didn't hide that he was married! As if he didn't try to take her on a date!
She was furious but realized that its his words against hers and she didn't want to cause a scene. Already one wedding was called off because of her.
She didn't want anything to go wrong with this one. She really liked Yukihito.
Something about him just made her want to be patted in the head.
The demon lord is so lucky to have Yuki as his brother.
Speaking of the devil, he was staring at her from across the room. He was still wearing his casual clothes that he left his home wearing today.
She berated herself for noticing so much about Kuon. Who cares what he was wearing.
Kuon on the other hand noticed something entirely different about Kyoko. May be because of what happened today.
How many people would you say has golden eyes.
Because he knew that the only person he ever encountered with Golden eyes were under this roof at the moment.
He looked around to see his sister looking intently at Kyoko as well. Jude turned to look at Kuon as if to say, You see what I see?
Julie on the other hand gushed over Kanae and Kyoko. This was the first time Julie came across Kyoko after she saw her in the papers several months ago.
"You have such beautiful bone structure. Doesn't she Kuon?", Julie nudged him to respond.
He nodded stiffly and to his surprise he saw Kyoko blush at the compliment.
He rather liked that. She gets all flushed when she is angry oe embarrassed, it looks almost inviting.
From the corner of his eye he saw Satoshi staring at Kyoko. Suddenly Kuon felt uneasy with the way Satoshi was looking at her.
He never assumed that his brother in law could have that look of unadulterated attraction. That too, not for his sister who was literally sitting next to him, talking away happily with Kanae.
Nor was he ready for the anger that bubbled up inside him towards Kyoko. Why was she wearing that dress that was modest yet flattering. As soon as the thought crossed his head his rational side squashed it.
The hell was that? She wasn't even showing any skin
This made him glare at Satoshi who could not seem to stop looking at his Kyoko.
His. It was about time he acted on it. He never hesitated before so what was the issue now?
His mind was made up. He was going confess.
Dinner was wonderful. Yukihito and Kyoko made a game out of who could identify the most ingredient. Everyone participated after Lory decided to reward the winner. He too was looking intently at Kyoko, like everyone he also noticed her eyes. But it would be an absurdity that the girl could be right under their nose. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling.
After quite an intense battle, Kyoko won. Lory said, whatever the reward was Kyoko had to accept it and she is going to receive it later.
Kyoko graciously accepted after her initial polite rejection.
After dinner the elders were immersed in thier discussion. Kanae was talking to Yuki and Jude, so Kyoko decided to go to the third floor balcony that overlooked a breathtaking garden.
What she didn't expect was Satoshi following him and Kuon doing the same after he saw his brother in law following Kyoko.
Kyoko felt someone grab her from behind to realise that it was Satoshi. Immediately repulsed by the touch she started to scream but was silenced by his hand clamping her mouth shut.
"Shhh... Kyoko-san. I would be troubled if you screamed and alerted anyone. I would not have taken the risk of coming upto you if that pesky butler was around. But looks like I was exceptionally fortunate.
Run away with me. You would be so much happier with me."
Kuon stopped right outside the balcony entrance and couldn't believe what he was seeing. He couldn't hear what was being said but seeing Kyoko in Satoshi's arms confirmed it for him.
Kyoko was breaking his sister's family.
All feelings of affection for Kyoko evaporated immediately, replaced with a deep disgust.
He just wanted to stop her from seducing Satoshi. From seducing anyone for that matter.
"What do you think you are doing", Kuon asked in a deathly cold voice.
Satoshi instantly let Kyoko go in a panic. He was terrified of Kuon and tried to come up with the best way to save himself in this situation.
"Thank god you are here Kuon. Tsubasa san called me to the terrace and suddenly came onto me. When I said no and tried to leave she threatened to scream and say that I tried to molest her. This is outrageous. I never even thought about anyone except Jude, ever in my life.", Satoshi's acting could get him an Oscar.
"You lying cockroach!" Kyoko was livid. "You did try to molest me and held me against my will!"
"I don't need to stay here and hear all this nonsense. I am leaving and taking my wife with me.", Satoshi said and hurriedly left the vicinity.
Kyoko could not believe what just happened. Tears streamed out of her eyes in frustration and anger.
But her heart broke at the look of pure loathing in Kuon's eyes.
He stalked towards her till she had no more room to move to.
In a deathly voice, he said, "I can overlook everything, but you tried to wreck my sister. I can never let this go Kyoko-san. You can't get Satoshi. He belongs to Jude. If I have to make you unable to pursue him I will do that. I will do that now."
He raised a hand to wipe her tears.
"I don't want him. You have been mistaken. He tried to take advantage of me and yet you believe his words." Kyoko said, suddenly feeling distraught. She hated this look in his eyes, blaming her for the crime she didn't commit.
"Perhaps, but we can't let you run wild, breaking peoples marriages now, can we? Last time we allowed that to happen, ruined us all." He whispered cupping her face with his right hand while grabbing her by the waist with his left.
"What do you think you are doing?" Kyoko whispered back. She knew exactly what he was doing. Yet she didn't try to even fight it, she subconsciously leaned into him.
"Something I should have done the first time you walked into my apartment, soaked in rain.
Teaching you a lesson."
With that, he descended upon her. Capturing her lips.
Any protest Kyoko had died within seconds at his touch. It was not forceful yet demanding.
Her First Kiss!
Kuon moulded her to him and relished at the perfect fit. Kyoko felt like everything he imagined and tasted unlike anything else.
What started as a punishment turned into something entirely different within seconds.
He realised he didn't care anymore.
He hated her but he couldn't help loving her at the same time.
Her heart belonged to someone else, his sister's husband of all people.
He couldn't have her heart.
He who could have absolutely anyone he wanted, was helpless infront of the girl in his arms.
She could hate him for all he cared.
Haterad engulfed a human even more intensly than love. He wanted to monopolize every thought she ever had.
Guess his family has to get ready for another wedding.