*10 Years Ago*

Kyoko cracked open her door ever so quietly, flinching at the light squeak of the door. Quickly she checked up and down the hall for any sign of her mother. On tiptoe she slowly made her way toward the main room. She checked the door, her shoes were gone. Breathing a sigh of relief she ran back down the hall and into the room at the end of the long hallway. She carefully lowered the ladder that lead to the attic, and crawled into the dusty old room. From behind an old painting she removed a battered guitar case. She set it down on the ground and pulled out the relic; taking a rag out of her pocket the young girl began to clean the instrument. It was an old acoustic, it certainly had seen better years, the strings were slightly frayed and the frets well worn. Smiling when she finished cleaning the instrument, she retrieved a notebook and pencil case from underneath the floorboard and began to play. The song spoke of sadness and longing, the Kyoko bent over the guitar even more, losing herself in the music.

A loud band broke her out of the trance. Kyoko scrambled around to put everything away and get back to her room without getting caught. It was odd for her mother to be home this early, and from the sounds of cabinets bagging in the kitchen she was in a foul mood. She had just turned the handle of her door when her mother spotted her.

"Just where do you think you're going?", the woman growled.

"I was just coming to greet you.", SMACK! The sound echoed throughout the house. The young girl stumbled backwards crashing into the door, hands cradled her left cheek, and tears brimmed in her eyes. Saena towered over her daughter's small form, eyes blazing, fists clenched, and body trembling in pure rage.

"I told you never to come out of that room unless you are going to school! What if I brought someone home? Do you know what would happen to my reputation if anyone ever found out I had a daughter; you miserable excuse for a human being! You will stay in your room and you will do as you are told! Now get in your room; I don't even want to look at you and no dinner for you tonight!" The woman stepped back into the kitchen feeling some of the stress leave her body. Taking a deep breath, she opened up a cabinet high up and grabbed a bottle of Brandy to help her unwind.

The next morning, Kyoko peeked out of her bedroom door, relieved that her mother had already left for the day she wandered into the kitchen and started to make breakfast. Half an hour later she was out the door and down the dirt path that lead to the Fuwa Ryoken to greet her prince charming before school. Every morning she would help his mom get him out of bed and hand him his bento before running off to school.

Every day, Kyoko would be shunned by everyone in class. The girls hated her because she was the only one Sho would pay any attention to, and the boys were too chicken to get close to what Sho laid claim on. The only break that she got from her boring days was the weekly music lessons that she sat in on. She would watch the teacher help Sho with new techniques and songs, her fingers itching to try them herself when she got home.

This pattern continued until summer, when she met her fairy prince. Her mother was mad at her again and crying in front of Sho would just make him uncomfortable. That day she slipped out to small hole in the fence in the backyard. The hole was quite large but it was hidden behind a plant so she could leave unseen. Kyoko ran through the forest, ignoring the branches and brambles that tore at her clothes. She made her way to a clearing that she had found earlier that summer, and there standing in the middle of it was a boy that was too beautiful to be human.

"Are you a fairy?", she quickly put her hands over her mouth; she didn't want to scare him. He turned around; his surprise evident.

"Yes, I'm a fairy. My name's Kuon. What's yours?", he smiled; this little girl is so cute. Those eyes are enchanting; he felt himself being pulled in by the amber orbs.

"Corn," she whispered the name in awe, and then returned back to Earth, "my name is Mogami Kyoko."
Kuon looked into the girl's eyes and saw the tears that she was trying so hard to fight back; he couldn't even bring himself to correct her. He had only known her for a few minutes and already he felt this overpowering urge to comfort her, to take away the cries that pierced his heart, so he did just that. He held her in his arms letting her cry her heart out and rubbed circles on her back. After she calmed down he got her to open up to him about everything. They spent the rest of the afternoon curled up together under a tree just talking.

The sun was setting when Kyoko finally got up to leave but not before promising to come back the next day. As he walked back toward the hotel his father was staying at, he wondered if he could convince his father to come back to Kyoto in the near future.

Koun sat on the hotel bed staring out the window. The sun had dipped below the horizon, but the light had not yet faded. He could hear his father outside on the balcony talking loudly on his phone. From what he heard, it sounded like his dad was trying to skip out of the country a few days ahead of schedule and he wasn't getting way his way. Kuu emerged from the balcony a few minutes latter; displeasure evident on his face.

"Kuon," he sighed, "it seems that we will be staying in Japan longer than planned." Kuu flopped down on the bed next to him and groaned, "At this rate we won't get to see your mom before she leaves on her trip to France."

Kuon reached over and flicked his dad's forehead, "You're it."

Kuu grinned and lunged at his son as he tried to scramble off the bed. He missed, and Kuon dashed out of the master bedroom towards his room on the other side of the suite. He just had to make it through the kitchen to his room, where under the bed lay his secret weapon. The corner was nearing, and Kuon sped up in his home stretch. Then his father appeared in front of him with his mother's homemade German Chocolate cake. Kuon's stomach constricted from just looking at it. Kuu crept closer and Kuon felt himself hit the wall. He shut his eyes and braced himself, then the phone in Kuu's pocket rang. Using the distraction of the cell phone to his advantage, Kuon dove between his father's legs and raced toward his room. Once behind a locked door, he hunkered down underneath the bed; secret weapon in hand. The lock clicked and then the door swung open.

" Dangit, dad found where I hid the key," Kuon backed up further under the bed. When Kuu's back turned to search the closet, Kuon rolled from underneath the bed and sprayed his father with the water gun. The look on his father's face, as he stood there soaking wet, was too much and Kuon burst out laughing. Kuu took advantage of his son letting his guard down and pinned him to the bed.

"Dad get off me! Stop I'm getting wet!"

"Surrender first, then I'll let you up."

"Never! I won fair and square."

"Alright you win.", Kuu got off his son and looked at his watch. It was almost ten and he had an early morning tomorrow. He sighed, "Kuon, I have to hit the hay, got to be up at o'dark thirty tomorrow. Good night son.", he ruffled his son's hair and left the room.

"Night Dad."