AN: Yet again another new fic, this actually takes a route of what would happen had Kuon lived in Japan with his family and not gone into acting and Sho hadn't taken Kyoko to Tokyo but she had managed to get into the prestigious Tokyo U on her own academic skill.

Study of Life

Chapter One: High Shelves

If you do want to pursue a career in law then you are to do it away from Kyoto. I don't want to be associated with you by being in the same area let alone firm. However, I will give you the money to do this so you don't disgrace the Mogami name.

Kyoko sighed as those words rolled around in her head. She wanted the echo of her mother's rejection of her to soon fade into the background but they seemed to be all she could think about after moving here. She had ranked within the top five of entrants for Tokyo University and she was excited to get to study the law. Being within the top five was such an honor for her, all of these other students must have done amazingly in their high profile schools, their cram schools, and yet just by slowing it down, she had done so well.

Talk about high profile, there was something that she needed right now and that would take a high profile person. She had decided that she was going to pick up her school books for the upcoming classes but the book that she needed for her composition class was right at top and she hated being so short. Maybe there was a ladder that she could use.

She looked from side to side, no ladder. She needed to find some way of…she steadied herself and kicked off her shoes before putting her left foot on the second bookshelf. She was about to pull herself up when she saw a blond student approaching her. She froze as she stared at him, seeing those emerald eyes, that warm smile.

"Hold on," he laughed as Kyoko froze, "Get your feet on the ground, here," he said as he put a hand on Kyoko's back to steady her. "Which one is it?" he asked as he looked at the titles and Kyoko still stared at him, her eyes widening. "I'm not that handsome," he told her with a grin and Kyoko paused.

"You don't remember me?" she asked and the older student turned to her.

"I'm so sorry, I don't remember a lot of people. I don't have the advantage that you do," he said gesturing to the hair and the eyes. "You want to explain to -"

"You're Corn, aren't you?" she asked and the blond looked excited, his eyes widening a little.

"Kyoko-chan," he said before looking back at the books, "Great to see you again. It's a bit far from Kyoto. So which is the book that you're having trouble getting?" he asked and Kyoko paused staring at him.

"You're not from fairyland are you?" Kyoko said staring at him in disbelief and Kuon bowed his head, he looked remorseful of what he had just said. He took a weak breath in before looking at the books on the lowest shelf.

"No, I'm not. I thought that my life was going to turn out differently, I thought that…." Kuon tried to explain to her, his voice starting to get quieter as he made that explanation. "I wasn't trying to be rude to you. I thought that telling you those things when you were a child would help you, you loved fairytales and -"

"And it's okay," Kyoko replied as she felt guilt seeing him looking so sad. "I'm just really pleased that you remember me. It was such a short summer together that the fact you remember those times means that I made a difference to you. It's great to see you here….uh….whatever your name is."

"It's Ku-on," Kuon said slowly as he looked at her, "So which book were you attempting to get again?"

Kyoko looked at the top shelf and pointed out the one that she had started to climb for, she watched as Kuon easily took it from the row and handed it to her. She held it to her chest, taking a breath in as she thought about her old friend. He seemed to be doing well but it was as if something had darkened his shadow and stolen his light.

"Thank you," she said before pausing, "Can I ask you a question?" she said and Kuon laughed.

"Sure, you want me to show you where to go?" he asked and Kyoko shook her head, "Then whatever question you may have, my lady," he winked, "please go ahead and ask."

"Did you ever escape your father's influence upon you?" Kyoko asked and Kuon froze, his entire body grew tense and the look of depression was settled in his eyes. He took a deep breath in before looking away from her trying to avoid eye contact.

"We all have different paths in our lives, sometimes you don't go down the one that you want but if you work hard you might get something better," Kuon told her and Kyoko blinked at him. "Would you like to have dinner tonight?" he asked and Kyoko watched him.

"As a date?" she asked and Kuon shook his head.

"Sorry to disappoint you but no, not a date, just some way of catching up, finding out what you've been doing for the past twelve years," he grinned and Kyoko felt herself captivated by that smile. She nodded before writing down her phone number for him.

"Here," Kuon said as he handed her a business card for a modelling agency, "I do some work at times for the agency, just to help my mother out," he said and Kyoko looked down at the card.

"Your last name is Hizuri?" she asked and Kuon gave a sad nod, "Like the famous actor Kuu Hizuri?"

"Yeah, his hands are enormous," Kuon said before looking away. He didn't want to admit that for so many years of his life he had wanted to be an actor but it wasn't for him, he wasn't someone to be celebrated as an actor despite how much he wanted it. He just had to accept that sometimes you didn't meet your dreams in life, hopefully what he did have would turn out to be something even better.