Just a warning I am Dyslexic so my stories will not be perfect but I now have one Beta reader to help me along the way :D

Thank you so much to Roshelle Diall for offering to work with me :D

Hello my sweeties,

This is yet another of the one shot idea's given to me By Daredevil fangirl,

sorry its taken so long sweetie :) xxx

This One Shot is OOC! so be warned :D

Enjoy.

Neh xxx

I do not own Skip Beat.

The Demon Switch!

It was like an on/off switch. There were times when she was wonderful and everything I could have ever wanted in a loving mother, but then it was almost like someone had flicked a switch somewhere, then her entire character would change in a heartbeat.

She would have made a wonderful actress, was really my only conclusion I had been able to actually form by the end of that first week. It wasn't really like I could just walk up to Kuon and ask if his mother was psychotic or if she had Dissociative Identity Disorder now could I?

Kuon and I had been together now for just under 6 months. And finally a week ago 5 days before my 20th birthday, Kuon came clean to the world, revealing his true name and his true history. I could not have been more proud of the man I loved. Then on my 20th birthday at the annual 'Happy Grateful Party' in front of all our family and friends, Kuon proposed to me.

He confided in me that this had been the real reason he had finally felt ready to truly let go of his past hates and hurts ...

I was the reason he was now able to love not only himself, but his name once more. I could not have been more happy than I was at that moment as the clock struck 12 and he knelt before me offering to share not only his name but his entire life with me.

Of course Kuu and his beautiful wife Juliena had been present. Both said how overjoyed they were for finally getting me as their real daughter! And Kuu had then gone into long tirades about how if Kuon had let this go on for any longer, he would have adopted me anyway. But it was after that party that the changes seem to hit Julie and she changed... And now I'm trying to understand, what is really going on?

"Well aren't you at least going to open the door for me!" my future mother-in-law scoffed indignantly as I tried to re-arrange the multiple bags she was carrying in order to open the door

It only took a few moments, but as soon as the door was open she humphed in disgust before walking through unhindered by anything. I was carrying all of our shopping after all.

Well frankly all of 'our shopping' would have been incorrect. Yet again this mother daughter bonding trip Julie-san insisted we take once a week had been just another emotional and self confidence bashing disaster. She had disagreed with everything I had picked out or liked, even down to a small keychain I thought about buying Moko-san.

I tried and tried over and over again but being alone with Julie-san meant not doing anything right. If I hadn't loved Kuon so deeply, I seriously wondered if I'd be able to cope with these trips at all? There was of course one other thing that kept floating around in the back of my mind. It was the daunting thought that Hizuri Juliena hated me.

What else was I supposed to think with this monster mother-in-law? When we were with Kuon or with other company, Julie-san was the wonderful woman Kuon had always told me she was. But when we were alone she became something akin to my own scared me deeply.

"Have a nice day shopping, princess?" Kuon looked up from the cookbook he had open on the along with the egg he had in his hand.

I couldn't help but smile at him. Cooking was something Kuon was learning for me. Something he was going out of his way to learn just so I would not have to cook every night. Yes, there were occasions when he still got it very wrong. The fact that Kuon loved me enough to take time out from his packed schedule, a direct result of more offers after revealing his true identity, made me love him so much more everyday.

"Yeah it was great! Thanks!" I gave him a fake cheerful smile as I walked over and hugged him from behind, laying my head on his firm back and breathing in his familiar scent. It was so desperately needed to so that I would not fall apart at the seams. Kuon could never know of course. He was too important to me and I loved him so much...I would never make him choose between his mother and me. There was no question who he would choose... And I could never live without him.

"Didn't you buy anything?" Kuon asked putting the egg down and turning to hold me in his arms. I simply sank my head deeper into his chest and shook it slightly.

"No, didn't really see anything interesting." I lied as my thoughts went back to the beautiful red dress. I wanted to buy it so badly for Kuon's birthday next week, but Julie's comments had been so cruel I'd had to fight back tears at that moment.

"Oh well there's always next week!" Kuon said in a very happy voice. I know he loved to see me spending time with his parents. He truly had missed them for the last 9 years and now he had the best of both worlds: Me and his parents.

No I would never tell Kuon.

"Mind if I go take a shower?" I looked at what Ren was doing. It seemed he was trying to make ramen with boiled egg. Even with the partially prepared foods he sometimes bought, there was still had at least half an hour before Kuon would be close to finished.

"Sure you go ahead and take a shower then relax, I know how hard it is to go shopping with my mother." his happy smile made it so I was just about able to keep up my own fake cheer as I turned and walked towards our bedroom and en suite,

You have no idea. My tears started as soon as the bathroom door shut behind me. I would always hide them with the running water.

"Do you even know what fashion means?" Julie asked with obvious mocking distaste. Today was all that was left for me to find the perfect dress for Kuon's birthday party tomorrow. This was already the 38th store and 94th dress I had tried on today which had been dismissed by Julie in an instant.

I'd simply given up at this point. Had retreated inside and locked away not only my heart but also myself as I tried to refrain from breaking down in front of this woman.

For 2 months 21 days and counting I had been putting up with this demon mother-in-law from hell. For 2 months and 21 days my self-confidence and self-respect had basically disappeared. If Kuon hadn't been home waiting for me every night after these dreadful mother daughter bonding days, I knew I would have already gone mental.

My showers on these days were getting longer and longer, as I struggled to quell the tears that my time with the demon Julie would bring. I was now simply a living, breathing shell. I'd simply say I liked something, try it on and then hand it back to the sorrowful looking shop assistant who would try and console me with a sympathetic smile. Even that never worked anymore... It had stopped working about 3 weeks ago.

"Well we can't be dawdling around here all day." Julie admonished as she strode out of the shop leaving me to trail behind with 'our' multiple purchases as usual. It was only when I noticed the jewelers that I remembered. Looking towards the retreating back of Julie I scrounged up my remaining bit of courage and told her I just needed to pick something up. It shocked me when Julie didn't complain and only huffed a little as we entered the fine jewellry establishment.

The man behind the counter smiled at me happily.

"Miss Mogami-san! I'm so glad you're here! We have just finished the final touches to your piece." I smiled for just the second time that day. The first had been waking up in Kuon's arms before realising it was mother daughter bonding day.

The man smiled as he fetched a black velvet case from the back of the store. Smiling happily he opened the box with full ceremony showing her the beautiful golden watch inside. It wasn't as if the watch was anything amazing, it was a gold watch much like a Rolex.

What made it special was the face. It was hand crafted and painted to show a beautiful scene of a clearing beside a small stream. The scene on the watch face was a perfect copy of the place Kuon and I had first met all of those years ago right down to the hamburger shaped rocks.

"May I?" The man nodded happily. I picked up the watch and turned it over, reading the personal engraving I had asked for to be placed on the back.

"It's perfect!" I gushed and tried to stop the overwhelming tears with seeing the beautiful piece from overflowing. It was in that moment it happened.

"I hope that's not for my Kuon," Julie said looking over her shoulder in what appeared to be disgust, "My Kuon would never wear anything so cheap looking as that."

It was those words in that moment that the trigger was pulled. The Mogami Kyoko who had been berated and beaten down by this woman once a week for 2 months 21 days and counting finally snapped.

"You know what Juliena-san?" the suffix of respect itself was almost like a swear word, "I honestly do not care anymore what you think! You can berate me and my choices as much as you like. You can insinuate I have no fashion sense and that nothing that could be counted as 'fashion' would ever suit a boring and plain girl like myself! But I draw the line Juliena-san at you insulting Kuon in that manner! Yes Kuon may be your son and you may have known Kuon very well when he was younger, before he had to change his name and his identity to regain his life. To be honest I can't seem to figure out why you waste your time bringing me on these silly shopping trips just to belittle me."

Julie stood there as I continued, "You do not know your son now! Kuon is a kind wonderful and loving man. He looks after me and loves me nearly as much as I love him, and he would never... Never not appreciate a gift just because it did not cost so much!" I was fuming, my rage at this woman kept me from falling into my old self, the Kyoko that would have bowed and scraped before the older woman before me. Whom I should respect... the older woman who was the mother of the man I love.

The man behind the counter and Julie herself stood there completely stunned each with a similar thought

This is not the Mogamu-san I know.

Who is this beautiful goddess of vengeance that stands before me, full of indignant rage for the man she loves and pure anger for me because I would disparage him?

It was only a few moments later when I realised I now had a sobbing Julie hanging around my neck that I realised just what I had done. My heart was hammering, trying to figure out just what it was Julie was saying in her sobbing monologue.

"Oh my dear...wonderful girl...Oh Kyoko!" Julie said in sobbing almost incoherent sentence, "You don't know how much I've hated myself. How often I've cried myself to sleep in Kuu's arms hating myself for how I treated you!" At this point I was simply confused...

Julie crying over me? What was she talking about? Wasn't it me that went home and cried in the shower at the end of these grueling torture days?

"But you see I just had to know! I had to make sure you were the right one... The one that would always love him... Always stand by him and never break his heart... I hate myself!" Julie wailed finally collapsing to the floor in a heap of clothing and what Kyoko thought was goo.

It took only moments for me to register just what Julie was saying, and it was almost as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders.

Let me go change the sign. The shop owner walked to the door and flipped it to say closed so that they could have their private moment.

Sinking down to the floor in front of Julie-san, l looked fully at the beautiful woman before me with tears shining in her eyes.

"You mean you don't hate me?" I asked her, my voice choked with fear at finally voicing my worst thoughts aloud.

The look on Julie-san's face said everything in that single moment. but still she adamantly shook her head tears pouring down her beautiful face as she denied it vehemently.

"Never. Ever. Ever have I hated you Kyoko! Do not even consider it. You are the beautiful amazing young woman who brought my son back to me. I would never and could never hate you! I just had to be sure..." Her words tapered off as she burst into tears again.

It took almost an hour to finally calm her down enough to get her seated on a chair the kind owner had brought for her. Drinking the heavily sugared tea he had made her Julie-san also apologised profusely to the owner telling him just how beautiful the watch was and she didn't really think it looked cheap at all.

If anything she had been wondering if he was in the market for advancement as she was always looking for unique jewelry to go with her designs. It was yet another hour later when Father turned up. The shop owner was smiling and Julie-san...I mean Mom, was happy although I was still slightly dazed as we got into the back of the car.

"Soooo...?" Father asked elongating the word as a question

The smile Mom gave him was radiant "Everything is perfect dear."

Father sighed happily. "So you have finally got over your testing of my little girl. I told you she was perfect. And now that we don't have to go through the daily crying fests we will all be happier."

Mom smiled at me. "You really are perfect Kyoko and I'm going to spend everyday of the rest of my life helping my son make sure you know that."

That was it for the demon switch. As if by magic the curse seemed to have been lifted. She no longer seemed to be two women living in one body, but one perfect mother-in-law whom I loved without question. And as for Kuon's birthday you ask?

Well the beautiful red dress I loved so much was delivered to Julie and Kuu's hotel suite not an hour after I had tried the item on, along with shoes, jewelry and so many other items Kuon joked about needing to add a new closet on to our bedroom.

Kuon loved his present, and he swore he would never take it off and to this day, unless he has removed it for work he sticks to that promise and you know what?

Julie even brought Moko-san's keychain... It seemed I finally got my happily ever after. Even if I had to break a few evil curses along the way.

FLUFFYDOODLE ATTACK!

*GLOMP*

Well there you have it!

I Hate. Hate. Hate writing Julie as an evil mother-in-law

and I doubt I will ever be doing it ever again, but saying that

I'm rather happy with how it turned out.

Don't forget to go and add you vote to the poll on my profile for the oneshot you would like to read more from!

Thank you for reading :)

Neh xxx

Comments and reviews please, I will happily reply to PM's and questions.