I don't own Skip Beat.

In the back of his mind, Kuon knew he had to call his parents.

It wasn't on top of his priorities list, though. Far from it.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked, as the car took them to the Fuwa ryoken. "We can still take the train back to Tokyo."

Kyoko shook her head. She'd grown more quiet and subdued in the restaurant - steeling herself for a confrontation, the way you did when people had disappointed you enough times. And her nervousness was rubbing off on him, too - he kept second guessing his plans, kept wondering if he had done the right thing.

Be realistic. The Fuwas care about appearances. Throwing a fit is bad optics. They wouldn't risk it.

Kyoko's audience loved a redemption narrative. So did his. Part of the appeal of Mio, Natsu, and even Setsu was the possibility of being made human again, of being accepted into the fold. Rejection didn't mesh with that story.

But he didn't know if the Fuwas saw it that way. He was counting on their mendacity, but what if he had misjudged.

And then the car went through the gates of the ryoken, and there was no time to change plans anymore. He followed Kyoko out, to find the whole staff had gathered to greet them.

Well… he had reserved the best rooms in the place for them.

That must have counted for something.

A woman with a beautiful, but pinched face stepped out from the crowd. Setsuie, judging from how Kyoko's back tensed a little. Kuon readied himself for a scene…

"Kyoko-chan, valued guest… welcome."

…then she bowed, murmuring her greeting.

And, breathe, he thought, bowing alongside Kyoko. They were in.

If her initial meeting with the lady of the house was tense, however, Kyoko looked genuinely pleased to see the rest of the staff. No sooner had they been shown to their suite that she changed her clothes and went out again, declaring that she couldn't rest until she said hello to every maid, cook, and cleaner in the place.

"Go ahead without me," Kuon said. "I'll just… freshen up."

She leaned against the door. "You know," she said, "there's no privacy in this place. We have to stay in our separate rooms."

"Good thing we know places where we can hide," he said. "Go. Say hello to people. I can amuse myself."

Kyoko smiled again, a look so warm he melted a little. And she had the gall to call him Emperor of the Night. But before he could turn on the dazzle himself, she was gone again - no doubt riding the rush of having lasted through the day. He waited to see if she would return, and then got to his feet and wandered into the hallway.

The family rooms were toward the back of the building, facing the forest, he remembered Kyoko telling him once. That's how I could slip in and out as a child. I would not have been able to do this as easily if the layout was different.

Kuon paused, studying the signage. He wasn't about to go outside… not just yet, anyway. But he had someone he had to speak to. Two someones, if he could help it.

"Ah, valued guest." Setsuie seemed to emerge from the shadows, although as far as he knew, she'd been following him since he left the suite. "Are you looking for the baths, perhaps?"

"I was actually hoping to have a word with you," Kuon said. "And your husband, if he's willing."

Hundreds of miles way, Fuwa Sho was taken with a sudden bout of sneezing. A significant inconvenience - especially since he was about to go onstage.

"Hizuri-san, this is rather unusual," Setsuie remarked, as both she and her husband sat across from Kuon.

Night had fallen. The maids were lighting lanterns in the guest areas, but the Fuwa's own family porch was shrouded in darkness. They could barely see his face - a disconcerting experience - but neither of them wanted to be the one to bring a torch. As if the very act would signify capitulation.

Capitulation to what? They did not know. But both of Shotarou's parents felt suddenly like they were under siege.

"Forgive me for not waiting until the morning," Kuon said. "If I had my way, I would have come to see you sooner. Indeed… I would have liked to bring my parents as well."

"Why didn't you?" Fuwa Ryotarou asked.

"Health problems. As you yourself might understand."

Silence fell. Setsuie shifted in her seat.

"Hizuri-san," she said, at length. "We appreciate your… eccentricity is what makes you popular. I think what my husband is saying is…"

"Why bother coming here in the first place?" Ryotarou interrupted. "You clearly have no regard for tradition… or common decency, for that matter. Why the pretense?"

Kuon stood still. Then, slowly, he reached across the table and lit the candle standing in the middle. His expression was… not hostile, per se. But guarded. It reminded Setsuie of Katsuki in Dark Moon, if Tsuruga Ren was American… and a hundred times scarier.

"I apologize in advance if I seem rude," he said. "My Japanese still needs work - I come off more blunt than I intend to be, sometimes. I suppose you think I have no regard for tradition because of the news coverage of my relationship with Kyoko."

"What else could we mean?" Ryotarou bristled. "The clothes you made her wear, the things you made her say…"

"Surely you know that Kyoko is an actress. Her success relies on her ability to turn into different characters."

"Does her success also rely on those shameless displays she put on with you? Or was that all for the cameras?"

Kuon smiled. The temperature seemed to drop by several degrees. "Kyoko and I have known each other for a lot longer than you think. She is the person I love the most. The person whose opinion I respect above all else's. The only thing shameful about what you saw was the caption that the media put on it." He paused, then added, "The reason I'm here right now is the same reason I am with her in the first place. Your approval means something to her - if I have to grovel in order to obtain it, I will."

Setsuie bit the inside of her mouth, to stop herself from screaming. She knew from dealing with customers how to handle most situations. This however… this was testing her poker face.

In the end, Ryotarou was the one to ask what Kuon meant by all of this.

"Despite all that's happened," the American said, looking pointedly between the two of them, "Kyoko looks up to you as her guardians. She loved you enough to come to your aid, even if it meant her work schedule was turned on its head. She didn't confront you when she realized you'd lied to her…"

"How dare you!" Setsuie shrieked. "She was but a child when she came here! What do you suggest we could have done? Handed over the money to her directly? Let her buy whatever inanity she wanted?"

"Fuwa-san, please sit down."

"I will not! How dare you come into my home and… and…"

"Setsuie," Ryotarou said. "Sit."

"And you! You old fool, if you had your way, Kyoko wouldn't have left the kitchen! I was the one who taught her about running this place, who gave her any kinds of useful skills! Is this how you repay me? With lies and… and accusations?"

"He's not accusing us of anything," Ryotarou said. "Sit down, or leave the room."

She stared between the two men… then, unable to come up with any reply, she turned and stomped out of the room.

If she was lucky, she would find someone to yell at in the kitchens.

Kuon breathed a little sigh of relief, before turning to the older man. "I'm sorry I upset her."

"No, you're not," Ryotarou replied, shaking his head. "But I can't blame you for testing her."

They stared at each other across the table for a while.

"We didn't always do right by Kyoko, did we?"

Kuon didn't reply.

Sho's father sighed. "We tried our best. Setsuie… whatever you may think, we didn't set out with some sort of malicious plan. We could see she had a regard for our son… and he could never do better than Kyoko, Kami knows. We never imagined he would run away to Tokyo, but we were glad he took her with him. We thought… surely she would keep him in line."

"From what I can tell, she did her best," Kuon said, barely keeping his voice civil. "But did Sho?"

The older Fuwa bowed his head. "We gave him good guidance. We hoped… well… I did, anyway, that he would do the right thing. Instead, he drove Kyoko-chan away. I can see that now."

And straight into my arms, Ren thought.

But that wasn't as bad as the man thought. Not really.

"I don't want to stifle Kyoko," he said. "I will never hold her back. To me, she is precious no matter how well she does." Or how poorly.

"Why are you telling me this?" Ryotarou asked, sounding exhausted.

Kuon paused. Then he gave his best stupid American shrug. "Like I said - Kyoko cares for your approval. She has done nothing wrong, no matter what the papers say about our relationship. If I'm the one who brings her down in her regard, then you must let me be the one to earn it back."

Ryotarou was silent for a long time. Then he said, "Save it. Nothing would bring Kyoko down in my regard. Not even you."

Later that night, Kyoko walked through the ryoken, feeling - for the first time in ages - like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

The news coverage was focused on something else - another celebrity drama, another big scandal. Her relationship had successfully been deemed boring… and she wouldn't have it any other way. Even Setsuie had been civil when she'd seen her in private - and she was expecting vitriol and fury. The worst that had happened all day was walking through that crowd of reporters in the morning. And Kuon had been there for her.

Kuon…

There were so many things she wanted to say to him. If only they could have a moment to themselves - without the fear of being caught, without cameras and microphones tuned into everything they said.

She entered their suite, looked at the empty space, and, just as quickly, she turned around. Through the corridors, and out the door, past the guest rooms and the family area. Out into the open. Out into the forest.

Good thing we know a place where we can hide.

Could she find it? Would she find it? In the dark, after so many years…

…but her feet knew the way. During the night, as well as during the day. She always knew the way.

The moon shone through the trees, illuminating the rock pool with an eerie light. Another time, it would have been scary. Not now, though.

He stood on one of the highest rocks, staring in her direction. His hair looked almost black from where she stood, but his eyes were still that bright, unmistakable blue. Not Ren. Not really Corn. Someone else. Someone grown up.

"There you are," she said, crossing her arms. "Don't you know it's rude to hide?"

He grinned. Then, without so much as a run-up, he jumped off the rocks, getting himself airborne.

Her breath caught. Even if she knew it was an illusion - more skill than magic - she couldn't help but admire him.

This man… almost like a creature from another world… and he'd come to her, when she'd called for him.

He landed in the water, only slightly skidding on his finish. He turned, as she ran across the pool, sending water droplets flying around them both as she jumped in his arms.

Tomorrow, they'd face the world again. Fight a different battle… or the same one. They'd play games and roles, and weave the narrative that their audiences wanted to see.

But this moment was theirs alone.

And with nothing but the moon as their witness, they sank to the ground. And dreamed.

A/N And end.

I haven't got anything to say. What can I say? Don't ask me where I've been y'all, it was rough.

I also managed to lock myself out of my fanfiction account for a while and so I ended up on AO3 trying to finish this story. If you want to join me there, please do, my username is the same. This account will eventually become defunct, but in the meantime, if you want to see what I write these days, you can find me there.