Chapter Three

Kuon looked at her suspiciously as he stared at the clay arm that he had, he turned to the mirror to see that his face was no longer that of a person's and yet she was here beside him. He looked at her before looking away. "You shouldn't have come," he told her feeling the pain of not being worthy of her anymore. He wasn't human. In this form he could only pretend to be human.

"I needed to come," Kyoko told him as she attempted to hide back a sob, "You needed me to come. You're still you, Kuon. Beneath all of this," she gestured to his body, "you're still you."

"And what if I'm not?" Kuon challenged her and Kyoko's eyes widened as she focused on him, "What if I really am just a hunk of clay?"

The chestnut haired girl bowed her head and try to stifle any sobs that were still left in her. Hearing his voice cemented this even more in her mind. She remembered her wedding day, how she had felt so incredibly lucky that the Kuon Hizuri wanted her over all of those other girls. She loved her husband and she truly believed that he had the same heart, the same mind…or as much of a brain and a heart as he had in this form.

"I know that you're my husband," she whispered and moved forwards. She gently placed her hands on the sides of where she imagined his face being and heard him moan. She knelt in front of him. "I love you. I don't have the words to explain it but this," she said as she spread her fingers over where she felt his cheeks were, "I can accept this. I don't like it, I wish you looked like yourself, but it's not a deal breaker."

Kuon closed his eyes and tried to think about his face. He kept thinking through acting classes that he had taken and roles he had performed where he really had to pay attention to his face and how to give certain emotions. He pushed with a strength that he didn't know he had until he heard Kyoko gasp. He opened his eyes to look at her and saw her wide eyes sparkling even more with tears.

He felt her lean forwards and kiss him, her lips seeming to fit over his. It felt like their normal kisses but how was that possible?

"You kissed me," he said and she nodded, she placed a hand on his cheek and then moved it up so that she could push a hand through his hair. Hair? He felt the presence of hair? Kuon quickly turned to the mirror and saw that from the shoulders up, he looked just like himself. He wanted to stay this way for her but the more he studied himself, the weaker his body seemed to become and he panted uneasily. He was finding it nearly impossible to catch his breath.

"Kuon?" Kyoko asked in alarm as she could sense his pain. "Corn? What is it?" she asked as she sat next to him on the bed and, as much as she could, wrapped her arms around the clay body.

Kuon flinched as his head experienced a pain as if it were set on fire or as if he had been hit by a bag of rocks. Kyoko saw this and she quickly kissed his cheek.

"Let go, don't strain yourself," she whispered to him and he shook his head. He didn't want to show her what they had done to him. "For me," she asked gently and Kuon finally allowed himself to relax, the goopy gingerbread man-like face appearing again.

"Please don't strain yourself," she whispered as she pushed her forehead into his body. Kyoko didn't understand this form but she did understand that when Kuon had turned to look like himself again, he had put himself in incredible pain to do so. It wasn't worth it. Having Kuon in pain wasn't worth it. She could handle it.

"I don't even know what I am anymore," Kuon said, his voice showing his desperation and his desire to clutch onto something normal. Kyoko rubbed his back.

"You are Kuon," she told him. "I'm certain that if you train your body, you'll be able to look like your old self for a longer period of time."

"Are you saying that this atrocity is my new self?" Kuon said angrily and Kyoko placed a comforting hand on the back of his head. She stretched her fingers out again. She didn't know what to say to him. Most people would think that he was some minor horror movie villain, that he was the creation of a Frankenstein type of character. As much as she loved him, it broke his heart. He couldn't go out in public in this form. He wouldn't survive going out in public like this.

"I'm not saying anything apart from that I still love you with my whole heart," she whispered and Kuon knew exactly what she was thinking.

…

…

"How's my baby doing?" Julie asked Kyoko as she finally came out of the room to get herself something to drink. She didn't know if Kuon ate or if he could even digest food any longer – not that he really ate as it was – she would hopefully be able to find someone to examine him.

"He's struggling," Kyoko said honestly, "but I think that he's okay."

Julie put a hand to her daughter's cheek before wrapping her arms around her, her sobs bringing out Kyoko's painful sobs. They both knew that this was only the start of his suffering. Unless a cure was found for him then he would have to go through his entire life experiencing pain in order to look normal. "Let's hope for the best," she said and Kyoko nodded.

As she stood there, she heard a groan from the hallway and her eyes widened as she saw Kuon coming down the hallway like the character he appeared to be. Kyoko turned, trying to walk across to him but Julie beat her to it. She came over to her son and gently pressed her hand into the clay.

"Hi, darling," she said as she looked up, only the slightest amount of fear in her eyes, "It's good to see you out of bed,"

"Is it?" Kuon asked seemingly giving up on life. Kyoko turned to face him hating the way that he was reacting to this but she couldn't blame him. Escaping from the situation was what most people would want to do. She saw him reach for a slice of bread but his hand wouldn't hold onto it properly. He left some of his clay body onto the piece and threw it onto the floor.

"Honey," Julie said as she came to get the piece of moistened bread. "It's okay. It's okay, please don't get angry."

"I'm tired and exhausted and of course I'm angry," Kuon snapped at them and Julie nodded. Kyoko reached out for his arm but he pulled away, as he did he accidentally knocked water onto his arm. He felt pain, a cold shooting pain in his body as he saw some of the 'arm' he had start to dissolve. Kyoko could see his pain and took hold of his arm, looking at how the water was hurting him. There was no bone underneath. He really was just…clay.

"Please don't do that," Kyoko begged. Kyoko reached out and grabbed a roll of bandages and put it over his arm. She smiled as it stayed in place. "Do you have any more?" she asked and Julie nodded. She pulled out a couple of rolls before grabbing her purse.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," she told them. Kyoko took the end of Kuon's arm and started to form fingers and a hand out of the clay. Kuon watched her, letting her play with his body and as she crafted him a hand she quickly bandaged it. It slopped together a little until it was just a paw looking piece with three fingers. She continued with the rest of his arm, keeping her focus on the bandages.

Kyoko tried her hardest to bandage him up as much as possible but she had to admit that he was starting to look more like a mummy. She kissed his cheek as she finished with his head. "It looks good," she said as she took his hand again. "Like a Halloween costume."

Kuon scoffed at that, "I guess that's all I am," he said before putting his bandaged hand to his face. Kyoko saw the awkward way in which he was touching his face and she grabbed his hand, her eyes showing how concerned she was but there was a reason it wasn't affecting him.

"Corn?" she asked slowly, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"My eyes are in this area," he said as he patted the bandage and Kyoko leaned up, she rolled back the bandages until she could see the area where the deep holes were that were his eyes. She kissed the bandage on his cheek.

"I'm sorry," she apologized before hearing Rikuu crying and Kuon turned towards the noise.

"I'll be right back," Kyoko told him as she gently let her hand slide down the bandages. She stood up and saw Kuon lean forwards, watching her. She nodded and then went to get Rikuu. She looked at the two year old and kissed his forehead. "Are you okay, my little prince?" she asked and RIkuu rubbed his eyes.

"Daddy, want Daddy," he sniffed and Kyoko wondered how Kuon's new form would truly affect their son. If he was scared and didn't want anything to do with Kuon in the way he was, both boys would be heartbroken. Despite Kyoko working on disguising Kuon, he didn't look human. It was going to be a long time until Kuon looked like himself, if at all.

"Daddy has to wear a costume," Kyoko told Rikuu before taking his hand, "Come on, let's go see Daddy," she said to him and Rikuu sniffed. He followed his mother to the kitchen and saw the figure. He hid behind Kyoko, taking hold of her leg whilst he shivered in fear. "Rikuu," she tried to say to the scared boy, "That's Daddy. I promise you, he looks very different than he used to but I promise you with my whole heart that that's Daddy."

Rikuu shook his head and began to cry. As Kuon reached out for him, Rikuu started hyperventilating until he fainted. Kuon looked at the boy who was his treasured son. He couldn't scare him again. He had to get away from them.

"Get away from me," Kuon told her and Kyoko opened her mouth to protest. "Get him away from me," Kuon said and Kyoko pushed back Rikuu's hair. "I'll have my mother help me with the rest." Kyoko opened her mouth to protest but she saw the pain in his body language. She nodded before picking Rikuu up wanting for them to stay together as a family.

She was terrified to leave him when he was so vulnerable.

End of Chapter Three

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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Two

Erza, H-Nala