Skip Beat! 1. To live is the rarest thing

**Hey guys, I am sybelcomvelik this is my first published Skip Beat Story so please go easy on me. I've been lurking in this part of since 2007 and now feel semi-comfortable writing a story for Skip beat. I really do hope you guys enjoy this. The story is AU. And set in drabbles so some chapters may be really long and some chapters may only be 100-200 words. I will try to update regularly as I have 20 chapters already outline but I can't make any promises because I have a very busy schedule. But, without further ado...**

**Disclaimer: Iown'znothing  
**

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Fledgling:

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."  
―Oscar Wilde

* * *

Fiddling with her chopsticks Kyouko sighed. Warm fingers padded through her hair affectionately. The infectious smile of the Okami coaxing her to speak.

Nails grazing against her scalp the elderly woman hummed, "What's got you so thoughtful little one?"

"...A vagrant" Replied the girl twisting her chopsticks between her noodles before settling them down once again. "He was such a strange man."

* * *

He sputtered the dank coldness freezing his bone. The dark blonde tendrils weighing against his eyelids. Behind him the flickering sight of a bubblegum pink blouse approaching.

"Excuse me, Stranger-san!"

She was a daunting little thing, more stubborn than precarious. With each step he took to flee from her another step she took to chase him down. He fled through back alleys, stairwells and unsavory hotspots. His overly long legs stretching further and further to create more space with his tracker.

Resilient she kept his mark not caring how silly she looked chasing down the drenched vagrant.

"Stranger-san! P-please slow down!"

Twisting swiftly around the corner the unusually lean figure grunted. Unable to stop her momentum the teenager collided into his sternum. Uncomfortably he felt her tiny fingers pressing against his wet skin. She unknowingly twisting the thin fabric of his shirt further up.

He wasn't much for keeping up "airs" but found it a little ridiculous to lose his cool as the very small woman tapered down again upon his elbow.

For a moment a sudden rush of tug-of-war commenced with his captured limb. Both pulling blindly against each other before huffing to a standstill. She too commandeering to let go and he too merciful to be cruel.

Following the long willowy shadow splayed against the sidewalk her honey suckle eyes lifted. First fluttering in a gobsmacked state before closing under large sable lashes as she hushed a slur of apologies. "Gomen! Stranger-san. Please forgive my unruly friend!" Un-fisting her warm fingers from his cold body she lowered herself into an elegant bow. "His behavior was unwarranted." The little bird like creature's eyes stayed wavered to the floor unknowing of the coldness settled in his frosty gaze.

Glowering his stare weathered and worn settled on the tiny woman. He spurned in the damp coldness consuming his clothing. Feeling close to a mockery as the young woman created a spectacle before the tiny gathering crowd.

Tenderly her fingers reached forward the sight of a white handkerchief settled against her palm. He did not know weather to relish in the oncoming warmth of her touch or fear the seed of radiance it was planting in his chest.

"Che, Kyouko!"

He felt neither.

"Awh... Sho-chan!" And with the fire of her smile he disappeared, forgotten by the easily happy woman.


	2. LIfe is like a bicycle

Fledgling:

"Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving."  
― Albert Einstein

* * *

"Is everything alright with the Taisho!" Kyouko skittered to stop before the wrangled wife. Her large corn eyes watering in fear.

Motherly the Okami petted the trembling girl,"Hush now, he will be fine dear. Just a little stumble has him out of the kitchen for a while." Despite the soft assuring words Kyouko could hear the fear in the elderly woman's pitch.

Only moments before Kyouko received message from the Okami if she would be willing to show up a few hours earlier for her shift. Although not unusual the tempering of the usually steady woman's voice made Kyouko strain her ears.

Not even a minute had passed before Kyouko rushed to her bike, hopping on, and pedaling with the force of a monsoon as the Okami explained how the Taisho had fallen in a grease spill.

Catching her breathe the teen began to do what she always did in moments of crisis. Clean and cook. A stabilizing trend she had developed from her years under the tutelage of Sho-chan's mother. Taking towards the kitchen she began her daily chore of prepping the kitchen.

It wasn't very long before Kyouko and the Okami had everything settled by the time the lunch rush presented itself. Although still slightly shaken to hear news of the unflappable Taisho, Kyouko diligently worked through her shift cooking and preparing meals and helping the Okami wait on tables.

Half past eleven the last patrons had left the traditional style restaurant. Kyouko scrubbing the burners as the Okami hoisted and fluffed chairs onto the small square tables. Soon Kyouko joined her lifting the remainder of the chairs and mopping the old panel flooring.

"Kyouko dear.." The Okami called from the corridor of the kitchen. "You are done for the night."

Said woman stopped mid step fingers captured against a numerous number of smelly garbage bags finding the gingerly woman standing in front of her. The elderly woman's hands coaxed hers open but, she gently resisted.

"Oh no Okami. I can take care of this!" Kyouko cried out.

"That's enough for tonight. Your ride has been waiting for you outside for some time now. You shouldn't keep him waiting."

Looking out towards the large commercial windows she spotted a rather inconspicuous black vehicle,"Awh...Sho-chan shouldn't mind. It will only take a minu-" The sound of an impatient horn said otherwise. "Nevermind."

Smiling the Okami fetched the bags swinging the drawstring across her fingers to optimally carry all five. "No worries dear. You have helped me so much tonight. Mustn't keep that boy waiting for too long."

It was that smile that withered Kyouko's worry. Bowing low, the teen rose and flew through the front door.

Like a puppy being called to its owner she scampered from the restaurant into the sleek vehicle.

While her heart buzzed with worry for the Taisho, her mind was unaware of the turbulence developing in the shadowy back alley behind the Daruyama.


	3. Much Madness is the Divinest Sense

Fledging:

* * *

Much madness is the divinest sense

-Emily Dickenson

* * *

It was a well known secret between the many renters around the Daruyama area that the Okami was notorious for nursing lost cats on the street. Every few months Kyouko could expect to see some withered, manged and dirtied little animal intimately embraced to the woman's arm, but never had she seen her bring in such a creature. While withered, worn and dirtied he was definitely human.

Placing her keys on the bar counter she made every step as tiptoe quite as possible. Surprised to find a whole body laying prone against the bar top. Approaching the long figure his posture slumped and broken, she laid her head against the cold counter top ear squishing between the pressure blotting out the sounds of the ticking clock.

Unknowingly her shoulders dropped, un-stiffening from the settled position of surprise, seeing the rudimentary stumble of his breathe filtering from his nose and out into to tiny whispers she knew he was at least breathing. A finger came into her lopsided view. It took quite a few milliseconds of orientation to realize it was her own short, dainty finger. Without thought her fingers approached the folded man, seemingly cutting through an impermeable bubble gathered around his figure.

She realized as her eyes quivered, the long full corners of the mans cheek bones only slightly dusted with the glazed soot, the warm sunrise colored lashes crinkling and unfurling to the summit of corn-green eyes, that this was the same man as before.

He unfurled himself. Much like a cat, and although he was only sitting he seemed so much taller than the day she had been chasing him. For just a small moment the soot covered man looked regal, as if he were a prince disguised a pauper. His formal attributes natural to his bones and hard to hide, but like a light switch flickering on his torso morphed and twisted down, his shoulders circled in an uncomfortable manner settling high as his neck shrunk into the abscess of his hunched back.

Chewing on his lips the man's eyes glowered forward in that familiar way as before, predatory and distrustful. When those eyes found hers, like harvest moons baying through the greenest of fields, she flinched. In turn a sigh wilted through his form long and sallow, as if it were materializing from the very depths of his soul.

Crinkles around his eyes, lines cut into his young features made the tall giant look so incredibly old. Broken, weary and ragged the transient reminded her of a rose left all summer in the sun. While the intention was for the flower were to bloom, the over exposure, of heat and the arid windless season caused the rose only new to life to die prematurely.

Looking down she processed the sound trying to find the culprit. Her keys had clattered. The giant brown? Blonde? Possibly, fawn... She couldn't tell with so much filth coloring his hair, knocking them over the surface as he stretched out his arms to push himself out of the tiny stool.

Like a puzzle piece snapping into place, all the little curled, and convexed corners of his body popped, the large, lanky man looking even taller than before as he gathered himself to his feet. She "eeped" a sound between a squeak and a hiccup as her ear hit the bar table.

"Ow! Ow...owie." Sitting upright, she grabbed her sore appendage, pawing at it to soothe the irritability. "Wait...Wait!" Her fingers curled once again into the lapels of his shirt. Just realizing for the first time it was the same shirt he had worn just two days prior.

His tug wasn't as comical as the time before, maybe because he had some dignity left, or simply because his form was just too tired and malnourished to put up a fight. His lashes flickered down to her only catching the sight of her long, jet black hair. Vibrations stormed up his ribcage, her fingers holding his shirt captive trembled against his cold skin, as the rest of her form shook. "Please...wait."

"Yes child, it's best to wait here." Kyouko startled, peering up at the undistinguished staircase far behind the most unassuming corner of the restaurant. As if she were made from sunbeams the chubby, elderly, Okami spoke. Short gait, steps languid the Okami gave the young man ample time to leave the room if he truly wished to. It wasn't the first time she had plucked up a creature who did not wish to be caught. And, while her expertise was stray cats, she felt she could approach the same skills to this feline-like man.

Running her left hand around her bandaged right she squared up to the visitor.

She didn't touch him as she fell into his shadow. Unperturbed by his height,"Your wounds need to be dressed, and your stomach needs feeding." Instead she shushed him back to sit, misdirecting every mumble and moan of dissent. "Kyouko dear." She called. The young worker who had stood frozen in the center of the diner finally thawed turning to the owner's wife.

"Yes M'am?" she acknowledged. Pivoting herself from the view of the door to the view of a squirming six foot plus giant.

Pacing through the kitchen the Okami pulled her free flowing hair into an elegant bun, hands quick from years of practice as she tied on her smock with ease. "Please prepare something for our young gentleman here." She replied, stooping down below the many counters in search of the restaurants regulated safety kit. Slipping through the swinging back doors she looked at the stranger inconspicuously, now noting the signs of welts and bruises coloring his neck and hands.

"Darn it... were is that blasted thing." The elderly muttered, "last time I let the man rearrange anything in this kitchen." Dipping her head from beneath the last counter she rose her rosemary smock unfurling from her knelt position. "Kyouko dear." Her voice sounded only slightly more flustered than usual most probably from all the moving around in such a short amount of time. "Have you seen the First aid Kit, my dear husband has gone and rearranged the whole kitchen...again."

Holding her knife in place Kyouko pasued, "No, Ma'm. I haven't been able to find anything since the Taisho cleaned the kitchen last week, but I think I do have an emergency first aid kit in my bag." Cleaning her knife off first, she placed it on the cutting board. Moseying her way into the dining space she grabbed her bag.

For her it may have been a comical sight to watch the man's eyes widen with each item she pulled out of the bag. For the life of him he couldn't at all figure out how a purse measuring only a foot in length, six inches in height and eight inches in diameter could possibly hold, twelve reference books, five unfinished baubles of half made scarves, three water bottles, two Tupperware bowls of microwave safe miso soup, a shoe box of origami crafts, a notebook and another smaller purse.

Finally after all of the items were carefully stacked up to take up the space of the whole entire bar did she find the first aid kit. He didn't know if he should have even been surprised anymore for, she didn't pull out the customary red or white matchbox sized first aid kit. Instead sitting on top of the counter was an industrial safety kit the same span of a defibrillator he mistook it for, bedazzled in fake sapphires and emeralds with stickers of princesses covering its entire surface.

"Will this one be okay Okami-san? It's the smallest one I have, so I don't know if it has everything you will need?"

Her eyebrows didn't raise for this wasn't a surprise to the Okami. She cracked a smile petting the girl in affectionate manner unperturbed by Kyouko's silly nuances.

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**Read and review guys. I would truly appreciate to hear some your feedback.** **But I hope you guys liked what you are reading! **


	4. The Butterfly Obtains

Fledgling:

* * *

THE BUTTERFLY obtains

But little sympathy,

Though favorably mentioned

In Entomology.

Because he travels freely

And wears a proper coat,

The circumspect are certain

That he is dissolute.

Had he the homely scutcheon of modest Industry,

'T were fitter certifying for Immortality.

-Emily Dickenson

* * *

The soft humming from the kitchen as the young teenager worked and the warm pressure as the elderly woman dressed his wounds had Kuon drifting in and out of a shallow blissful sleep. His body stung all over, unaccustomed to feeling so mangled. Usually the adrenaline of a scuffle kept the pain at bay, and the feeling of a high with the drowning of substances numbed him to every sensation soon after.

For the haggard man, it was the first time in a long time he had to hide and lick his wounds.

In hindsight, leaving the elderly to care for herself would have been a much better approach, but as if nipped by his conscious the warm tender touch of her fingers cleaning his knuckles reasoned the pain to be bearable.

Trying to bandage the man's injuries took quite some coaxing for Chouko the Okami. He was an unwilling participant in every single way but, after the many animals she had nurtured back to health in the twenty plus years her, ability to goad and compromise a stubborn nature was second to nature. Within ten minutes she had the stiff, hunched over man falling asleep on her.

With the toss and turns of night She imagined the man didn't get very much sleep. He had been heavily injured. So much so that when he took a rest at the bar table he couldn't even fathom the strength to continue to the guest room upstairs.

Last night she thought he was some sort of corrupted angel. Beautiful and non-human like, serpentine and distorted. Appearing out of the corner of the alley-way like the Crooked Man. except instead of finding a crooked sixpence he found her barred and cornered by a group of thugs.

Her fingers clinched at the thought the bruising of her hand inflicting spasms up her arm, the frights from the night coldly slithering into her veins. Outside in the darkness of the shadows so late at night had been a frightening experience. The moment Kyouko had left the Okami had tossed the bags, but the sound of a tiny little scratching nose made her believe a young little stray had gotten caught behind the bins again. Unfortunately it wasn't so.

* * *

The sky was darker than usual the over cloudiness of the night's sky, combined with the heavy pollution of Tokyo blotted out the only sight of natural light in the city. Gingerly, she held the little dish in her hands after years of experience she began to use glass plates rather than paper as they didn't fly away before the kittens could get their hands on them. She stooped down her body rolling into a ball as she placed her weight down on her bended knees. "Here...here little one. Come out." She cooed placing the plate of salmon slightly behind the bins.

The scratching grew louder and louder still, before hushing completely. "It's alright no need to be frightened."

"Lady there is always a reason to be frightened."

Something prickly and wet inched close to her outer ear. His lips so close the wetness of his breathe chilled her skin. She startled, the trashcan before her twisting as his foot imprinted into the bottom. Chouko gasped, clinging to the sides of her Yukata as her shoulders hunched protectively around her head. Fear slathered her heart, her pulse raged as if her heart was going to suddenly fall straight out of her chest. For a moment she thought she could run, her fight of flight instincts instructing her to take off in a mad dash as far as she can into some hospitable, brightly lit area.

Her fingers crushed into the ground, so dainty from her lifestyle blistered and opened against the sting of the jagged pavement. Her legs followed soon after collapsing with a sputter, the pressure of a foot unrelenting, stomping into her spine. With the same foot, knock-off R-Mandy shoes rolled her over to her side. The poor woman scrambled for a seizable breathe shaking as the air racked her trembling form. Blood trumpeted in her ears, the clinching of her eyelids turning her vision white. Finally her eyes opened view distorted and doubling slowly corrected itself.

He glowered at her the spear of a flint of a cigarette sprinkling on to her arm. She tried to stand but her arms cried in pain, tried to show some defiance but, like deer shot and wounded she couldn't rise. "That's a pretty ring isn't it?" At first she thought how smug to mock her while she was already dropped to her knees.

But the striking sound of affirmation from all around made her realize that she was now surrounded by a group of apathetic hoodlums. "You and your husband own that restaurant right down there?" He pointed his boot still grinding into her shoulder. "Heard you guys have quite the business operation on your hand. I bet you make a good chunk of money." He laughed. His squiggly inky brown hair gluing to his sharp hallow features. "It's good thing that stiff hasn't been here for the last few days. Your husband had some of my friends here scared titless for sometime. Kept swinging around those knives of his promising to cut of their peckers... or something or other."

From behind one of the men laughed, a sizable guy carrying a broad iron wrought pole. "And the little girl you have working in the restaurant she's quite the looker. A little mousy but just my type. Does she live there too?" The owner of the foot ruffled his goatee running his fingers from his pointed ears down past his pale blue thin lips.

"Your right, she is a pretty little thing. But, lets get to the main issue at hand." His gaze offset hers once again. Her fingers clinched his hawk-like eyes instinctively falling to the movement. That wide thin grin grew ever more so. "So there's the key? I like to do my business professionally. I don't like my boys having to put so much damage into a respectable little place like yours. You know were..." His foot pressed to her fisted hand pressing down as the cartilage beneath him, "...classy people." Her other hand covered up her fist as regrouped to step on her again.

"Stop it!" screaming, she pulled herself into a ball clenching her fist to her chest, protecting her livelihood between her body and the concrete. He pulled her up by the lapels of her yukata with the help of four of the other hoodlums.

The sight sickened her. A bunch of ruff neck children, most barely older than Kyouko taking orders from some sickened Yakuza-wanna-be. It infuriated her, were children so squandering, so vile that this was all they could level up to be, thugs!

As if possessed, she screamed, writhed and kicked like a bat of hell. "Look here you stupid woman! Give me the key now!" She heard the wick before she felt the cold steel against her wrist. The sound so familiar to her ears, "...Or I'll just cut of your hand."

She wanted to keep screaming but fear wouldn't let her and it was then as the men held her up, her feet dangling in the air that she caught sight of him. Sitting above the rooftop feet hanging in front of the dumpster so high up. His eyes curious but unengaged at the sight unfurling before him. Their vision made contact and as if a telepathic message had been sent the creature rose.

Supine he uncurled pulling his feet onto the railing of rooftop, squatting down and gauging his landing. "Hey lady," He pulled the collar of her garment, "What the hell are you staring at?"

Just seconds later the sound of a breathe dropping a shattering of bones splintering as an arm hooked onto the permed haired hoodlum's neck and sent him flying into the ground.

The Okami couldn't decipher what the man was doing. For a moment the man was on his back holding the hoodlum in some sort of choke, she didn't squeeze just heard the gasping and clawing for breathe as the air left the thugs lungs.

At the sight of their boss incapacitated some of the boys took off. Others as if wishing to assert the bravado rose to the challenger. Bangs were exchanged, as most of the boys had gathered weapons of some kind along the way. Fear didn't bloom in her heart, watching how the man moved with the ease of a tide, sliding in and out of positions as if he were the very essence of water. At times he didn't get injured, it was outright impossible to receive no wounds when one man was fighting an army.

In minutes the bedlam had slowed. Their boss scuffling out into the darkened corners to leave his subordinates to fend for themselves.

"You bitch!" She recognized the voice though she didn't recognize the figure. At the sight of his rusted pole beside him she knew him to be the one who so adamantly wished for Kyouko to be a resident of their establishment. He swung fast and all she could do was brace herself for impact. Metal hit skin, but it wasn't hers.

Opening her eyes she found dark vermillion staring down at her, his gaze impassive as if he hadn't been hit at all with the full force of a bar of metal. He clinched his teeth as the barrage came down again, his arms barricading her from harm. After the third thwack he pushed her to the side she stumbling out of harms way as he pivoted his body foot sliding against the brick motor behind. With one long arch his foot hooked to the mans head and sent him spiraling into the wet pavement.

His back touched the icy walls, his teeth clinching as the cold seeped into his open wounds. Pushing himself off the wall he approached her. Hunching down to her level so similar to the gangster but without the sneer of intimidation. His eyes lacked sincerity they actually held nothing at all. Slowly as to not aggravate her injuries he pulled her to feet, cuffed his hands around her elbow and all but dragged her back to her restaurant.

Had it been any other day, or any other man beside her husband she would have scolded him for his forwardness, but as he nestled her into his bended hip, his arm draping across her back and form curling over hers she realized he was protecting her.

Getting into the restaurant was another problem all together. At ten feet away from her home he had let her go stopping as if he were just some stranger who had no impact in her life. From the back porch she turned to him his gaze cold and uncaring. Her fingers were shaking the soreness from being trampled upon made them useless. She kept trying to press the key into the hole but her shaking hands, and the rate of the oncoming tears derailed her. The keys dropped from her hands, frustration, shame, fear all these emotions plagued her heart all at the same time. She wished for just a moment she was an infant again, so someone could coddle, protect her and hush her worries.

A whoosh surprised her. The cold air of the restaurant so different from the balmy humidity of the alleyway. Chouko looked up following the arm extended with the key, the seeping warmth of the his fingers melting into the tightness of her back.

"Thank you." She whispered. For the first time catching humanity in his corn-green gaze.

* * *

He shouldn't have fallen asleep here. The overly kindness of the elderly woman and the sweet skittish behavior of her employee had him feeling completely out of his element. Spooning his soup, he tried to not let the warmth blossom in his soul. These people were nothing to him, he reasoned.

* * *

**For some information: **

**Chouko the name I have given the Okami means butterfly child. I really want the Daruyama couple to be a large essence of this story line. I feel like they helped Kyouko quite a lot in the Manga and feel that they haven't seen a lot of fanfiction written with them as some of the main characters. **

**Secondly the story of the crooked man mentioned is an old nursery rhythm. I felt like it fit the story line. **


	5. Little Catapiliar

Just like a stray he vanished soon enough the Okami couldn't get a word out of him. Not even his name or address.

* * *

"Sho-chan!" She was watering the flowers. Her imbecilic nature and happy demeanor only made the man want to gag. Twining his fingers through the guitar cords he ignored her call for the nth time. Idiot was interrupting his creative process. Thrumming his guitar frantically he tried to zone out her annoying calls.

But as persistant and blind as Kyouko was she wouldn't be so easily quelled. She kept calling, her voice the same timbre, her voice still entrapped with the same gentle, coaxing tone. He wasn't a child he wasn't so easily entertained with her dumb juvenile antics.

"Sho-Chan I think it's going sprout any day now!" Cried out the girl thumbing the sleeping insect gently. Stupid girl, he thought; so brazenly attached to some cocoon growing on one of the frivolous plants she had the audacity to buy. He couldn't understand, eying the four large bay windows in his high rise apartment all or which were covered in a number of different flowers, herbs and cacti; how she could waste hard earned money on some dying bushes rather than spend it on him.

At least his wants were profitable and practical. Why buy something that has the potential to die, when you can buy a laptop, or a guitar or a really nice Rmandy shirt.

It's not as if he didn't have his own pocket change, after all anything Kyouko didn't pay for his company acquired for him. He was living a lavish dream. He didn't really need Kyouko anymore. She had been merely a denizen to care for his whims until his dream of being a visual-Kei artist took off.

The girl he was destined to marry, he was just dawdling her around, pulling her strings till she broke. She was useless to him beyond being a buffer for his arrogance, and a house maid.

He should feel bad, he always told himself. He should feel ashamed for treating her lower than scum, but the strangest thing, no matter how cruel he treated her she always came running back and for him that was fascinating. Every time the world would hurt her, her face would twist up like a lemon, but she would never cry. She stopped crying a long time ago, no she would only usher that stupid dog like smile and believe everything would be okay.

Maybe the day he could make her spill tears, would be the day he stopped playing this game.

Abruptly his fingers stop. Putting the instrument away with a tenderness only reserved for his guitar, he placed his very first acoustic in its case. Swinging the plushy case strapping over his shoulder he hauled himself to his feet. "Che. Kyouko." She had stopped whining sometime ago.

He approached her limp form.

Brushed by the twinkling light of the stars her shoulder twitched but she didn't move. Up and down her diaphragm rose, body sorted uncomfortably upon the windowsill. With loud unhurried steps he walked towards her, shimmying his guitar closer to his shoulder as his dusk blue button up shirt crinkled across his chest.

Even in her sleep she hummed pleasantly as if there was no sadness in the entire world. Almost as if she could feel his fingers dissent upon her, her eyes fluttered. Warm marble brown eyes flickered towards him and for a mere second he thought it was daylight again. "Mhmm...Sho-chan..." She smiled, "lets go to hamburger river..." Her lips pinched grin growing ever bigger as her eyes overcome with fatigue batted close again.

Turning his face away, he held the hitch in his breathe, his hands returned to the safety of his side. Looking towards the luminous starlight invading his dark domicile. Softly almost a cooing in his voice he responded, "Go back to sleep...idiot."


	6. Forever and Always

"_..I promise forever and always..." _

* * *

Rubbing her sore back Kyouko awoken. The feeling persisting down her spine was not pleasant. Falling asleep on the windowsill was a bad habit of hers but she kept doing it time and time again. After all it was her favorite spot in the house. Being surrounded by starlight and basking in the light of the moon. Stretching outwards Kyouko began to prepare for the day. First she brewed a cup of tea, she didn't particularly like the hard taste of coffee, a little to pungent on her tongue. Sho's disdain of the unsweetened drink was a relief for she didn't have to buy one of those outrageously expensive espresso makers. Sitting down with her now steaming cup, Kyouko began to scribble in her accounting journal. She still had quite a few more bills to pay for the month not including the rent for the single room condo, she and Sho shared.

"Hmm... I need to deposit nine hundred for the rent. I guess, putting a hundred and fifty for food is decent." Scratching out her calculations, "Well... no I need an extra twenty for Sho's pudding snacks. He's running low again. Hmm...mmm. Electricity is a little higher than usual this month, so is water. Guess I'll have to cut down on shower times." Tapping her foot she ran her fingers across her checkbook, folding the edges in and out as she bit her lip, "And I can go back to candle light on the days Sho-chan isn't here." Tucking her legs under her bottom she continued balancing her finances for the month, after thirty or so minutes she found her work plausible.

Washing her cup she began to tour the apartment, waste basket in hand as she gathered up all of Sho's discarded shirts.

Within their spacious apartment there was only one bedroom. This condo the only thing close to semi-affordable for the duo (primarily Kyouko she paid all the bills).

The black hair lass placed the laundry basket by the outside of the door, taking her spare key to unlock the disastrous monstrosity. Inside a number of gaudy useless things. In the center A large antiquated bed she had purchased for him two days after they had moved in. Even though they had agreed they would sleep on mats when they got to Tokyo, Sho had complained about sleeping on the futons the first night. The next night Sho had spent a large portion of their savings renting a luxurious hotel room. By the third night she had coaxed him back with an early house warming present, the expensive king sized bed, using what little of her own savings she had stacked up from her years working at the inn.

The large canopy bed was comfy from what she could remember. Every once in a while she would take a test seat on the soft material imagining how wonderful it would be to sleep in something so grand. Sighing she pressed down on the mattress, the plushy comforter squishing between her fingers. The pillows she had purchased a few weeks later with her second check were a lovely deep purple. She remembered it to be Sho-chan's favorite color although he had complained of how girly the cases looked covered in midnight lace frill. After the first night he slept on them he didn't complain, at least not as much, as the large plump pillows were made of the finest goose feathers.

Around the floor were a number of unidentifiable objects. Music scores, dvds of inappropriate choice and half eaten gourmet pudding packs littered the soft white carpet. Opening the black curtains she let the dewy gray of the morning paddle its way inside. Having wiped off the frame of the window the tiny woman pushed the framing apart, adjusting to the chill, the cold plops of water falling onto her shoulder and the fresh scent of light rain.

Sho-chan didn't like when she opened up the windows, she let all the good air out or something or other, but he had always been like that ever since they were children. Giggling to herself she remembered how little Sho-chan would always guard his window when Satomi-San, the Okami his mother, would try to air out his room every weekend. Running at the offending panels, and placing his body like a large X in front. Every Saturday morning was just the same watching the lithe woman tug her son with as much ordinance and grace she could muster off the window. He would practically glue himself like a fly against a trap to keep her at bay. Kyouko was always a constant participant in his removal, glued to the Okami's side as she was tutored about her new domain.

It was one of those first Saturday's she had officially moved into the Fuwa-inn that she had made a certain promise to the Okami that she could not easily forget.

* * *

_Trembling with the large tray in her hand Kyouko gathered her courage and approached the sliding door. She hoped it didn't bobble and creek like the one in her new room. The door was slightly ajar. A waif woman in her late twenties sat demurely on a floor cushion. Her body seemingly relaxed with her sock covered feet crossed over each other. Sunbeams glittering in from the windows colored her clothed shoulders, which were curved back gracefully._

_Stepping inside the pigtailed child's feet skittered, the straps of her sandals bruising into her soft feet. At that moment the Okami looked up her doe brown eyes, sharp with an age unknown of her. Obviously Sho had obtained his eye color from his mother but his lacked her icy other worldliness. For any other child those eyes may have been frightening but for young Kyouko it only made her wonder if it was just a trait for mothers to have such bane, weary and calculating gazes. _

_Waving her in,"Don't be frightened Kyouko. Approach." Spoke the Okami. Her fingers falling so stiffly in her lap. Keen eyes studied the child's demure shuffling into the room. Splooshes and splashes erupted from Kyouko's tray, the shaking of her hands gradually making the plate and tea items tremble with her. "I'm sorry!" She cried. Pressing her head down into a low bow, the tea spilling all over the large tray._

"_Don't be sorry just be correct. If you always do it perfectly, you never have to apologize for mistakes." The little girl shook her head in compliance, having the sense to put the tea tray down on the table before she went into a series of bowing. _

_Only doing as she had been recently taught Kyouko prepared the tea ceremony. It was nothing grand, as the young girl made many mistakes, even spilling the tea some more as she poured at some point._

_Satomi wasn't expecting her to get it right, in the least bit, she was just measuring the girls worth. The child was imperfect and overly nervous, but she wasn't worthless._

_Placing her hand on the shaking girls wrist she stopped her, "Your done. Come." She motioned eying the spot adjacent to her. "Sit." Swiftly the blonde woman's hands cleaned the messy table, and she poured tea for her young guest. Placing her hands back in her lap the extravagant folds of her Kimono laced together. Kyouko wondered if the material would be as elegant on her when she was of age. Interrupting her thoughts Satomi spoke,"One day Kyouko I will give my son to you. So, you must learn well how to quell his impudent behavior. You must promise to always take care of Sho as he has not the merit nor strength to care for himself." _

_Pigtails falling over her shoulder the young child bowed, not completely aware of what she was agreeing to but happy the prophecy involved her and Sho-chan together. "Yes M'am, I promise, forever and always to watch over Sho-chan!" _

"_My son isn't the most kind." _

"_I Know Fuwa-san! But I'll take care of Sho!" Cried the child, her lovely gold eyes glittering._

_The Okami almost smiled, "You must give him worth. Everything he is and does will be reflected by your upbringing. You must not be an embarrassment." Picking herself up the tall woman ghosted across the child, walking behind before kneeling in front of Kyouko. _

_Warmth entered copper orbs. As fingers ghostly white and demure ran across her forehead. Silk fingers lifted Kyouko's uneven fringe a soft pleasant smile on the older woman's face. "Kyouko, I'm going to teach you how to be an Okami." _

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**Hey guy's just wanted to say thank you to all of you guys who have been reading. It makes me very happy. I hope you all continue to view this story! :) I have some wonderful ideas for future chapters, to the point that I am very exited just thinking about the direction this story is going. At the moment I don't know how long this story is going to be since every chapter is fairly sporadic, but I've sketched out arc 1 and so far its about 25-30 chapters. Some chapters are going to be incredibly short and some very, very long.  
**

**I am also curious about feedback for this portrayal of Kyouko and Sho. I'm not a big fan of Sho (he is my least favorite character) but I want to do him such justice, I don't want him to just be some two dimensional character. As for Kyouko, I really cringe every time I write Kyouko yelling out "Sho-chan!" and her over committing personality towards him, but it's necessary for this section of the story. I just wanted to let you guys know that quirk of hers is not going to be prevalent through the whole story, an event will happen and will see a growing Kyouko. **

**Also about Kuon, He will be returning soon to the story. He is very dark in this fanfiction. So keep that mind, but he isn't OOC hopefully. I just want to explore on what Kuon would have turned out like if he had never became Ren. It's the main reason I decided to write this story. **

**Lastly just a big thank you to all of you who have, read, reviewed and followed and Favorited. It means so much to me! You guys are truly awesome.  
**


	7. Little White Lie

**Sorry for the delay, recently started working as a rehire at an old job full-time, and just trying to get back into the swing of things. Sorry it took so long to update, hopefully the next chapter will be uploaded in a few days it is just being reviewed and revised as of right now. Well on to the story, hope you guys enjoy! **

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Three bustling weeks had passed. The transient had not appeared since then. Although she often looked for his long languid form on her nightly trips home she never spotted him. Each day it was getting much harder to doddle and take her time for the unscrupulous Taisho and sweet Okami pressured her to either leave before sundown or have Sho-chan's company vehicle pick her up.

Pushing her bike off the little platform sitting in front of the grand entrance Kyouko sighed. Quickly she took a glance backwards finding the hard stare of the Taisho following her every prolonged movement. Snail-like her thin fingers untangled the large bicycle chord and rolled it carefully on to the side her arm. Turning back once more she fought off a smile and waved at the dowering old restaurant owner.

His fingers flicked slightly towards her acknowledging her leave. Facing forward she missed the pull of his lips drawing even more down as she flew down the hill, the touch of dusk lighting up her light flowing dress.

Returning to the kitchen the Taisho grumbled.

Pulling her husbands fingers into her warm chubby hands Chouko smiled tenderly, "I know dear. I'm very worried about her as well."

"...Sigh," Sitting down the feel of his age bared weight onto his every joint. Rubbing the kinks from his burly shoulders he released a heavy breathe. Eight days, barely over a week he had been released from his hospital stay. A few surgeries had him hobbling a little more than usual but something else put a heavy flutter on his heart. While moved his wife and young protegee had kept the shop afloat during his absence the thought they were endangered still loomed over his mind.

Gently as if care taking one of his precious knives he ran his calloused hands across hers. Her cheeks turned rosy reminding him of how red she was during their whole wedding ceremony.

Sitting beside him she placed her rag into her lap, laying her head against the crust of his shoulder.

Smoothly his fingers tip-toed against her wrist, caressing the light green bruise that still marred her milky skin.

Patting his hand she rose, "I have to put out plates for the cat tonight." Brushing her nose against his warm crinkling skin her eyes warmed, "I won't be long." Tapping his fingers against the wooden bench his black eyes followed her round form. Watching her vanish beyond the small back door.

"Ommph." Pushing himself off the bench the dark haired restaurant owner limped towards the backdoor exit. Following the sound of a sweet docile melody.

Humming under her breathe she delicately placed the wrapped warm meal besides the doorway. Next she patted down a large woolen jumper, the seasons where getting a bit colder, she imagined that _the stray_ could use a little warmth.

Some nights the clothes went missing replaced by a slightly dirtier set of garmets, usually folded tightly at the corners and laid neatly against the stoop. The food on the other hand usually remained untouched, except for the very rarest of occasions where the hint of a few nibbles here and there were present.

* * *

Hoisting her purse up onto her dainty shoulder she grappled her bike to her side. The sturdy spiked petals bobbing against her shin. Wincing she kicked the petal backwards for the umpteenth sending it twirling right into the back of her calf. Head hanging low on her shoulders she glowered at her broken heap of a bicycle. Lips nibbled between her teeth Kyouko tried to keep the feeling of unease from weighing on her shoulders. _"I'm such a bad girl, a despicable excuse for a human. I'm lower than human, I'm scum..__."_ Further she dragged herself and the bike, her tiny little frame slowly melting into the pavement.

Everyday for the last week she had prayed to the gods to have mercy on her lying soul. She hadn't been biking home nor was Sho-chan sacrificing any part of his day to pick her up.

A ways away from the restaurant she fell to her knees letting the large pit of miasma steam from every orifice of her body. She didn't have to worry much for strangers no one with an ounce of common sense wanted to approach a woman who had transformed into an exact replica of the little gollum from the grudge.

Literally wallowing in her betrayal, she became oblivious to her spector like form. "_Kyouko your such a bad...rotten girl. Lying to the esteemed Taisho and Okami! Have you no shame!_" Gurgles seeped from her sallow and self-loathing, "_Shame...dishonor...betraye-_" She perked up. The scuffling of paws alerting her to other individuals presence.

Strange, something cold and warm brushed her nose leaving her with a tingling sensation. It wasn't santa season, yet? Was it ? Looking towards the sky she couldn't find a single tingling snowdrop fluttering down.

A chubby paw rested on her nose causing her to go cross-eyed as she tried to focus on the cherubic little individual. Large amber eyes flickered towards the pavement. _How cute! _She squealed joyfully, instantly disarming the pool of miasma around her body.

The tiny kitten jumped for her face again, pawing affectionately at the crouching woman. "Dear Friend!" bubbled Kyouko placing her fingers near the skinny little cat. "Have you come to cheer me up from my horrible discretions!" Standing up she saw the gray creature tilt its head sideways staring up at her with large liquid blue eyes. Rubbing its tail against her leg it let out a long languid purr. Feline eyes blinked turning its body once again against the warm bare leg, rubbing its scratchy grey fur against her skin.

" I have so much to tell you!" She began.

Reflecting, Kyouko began to walk. Feeling slightly less guilty with a companion in tow. She began to chatter, kicking her feet out in front of her, scuffing her old shredded tennis shoes.

Her dear little friend, tilted his head when appropriate, lounging when she became immobilized in her euphoria, and unusually loud in vocal meows when she began to wallow. Nodding his head at her breathless speaking her pushed into her leg guiding her down the busy streets.

The little kitten had been walking part-of-the-ways home with her for the last week always appearing out of the shadows right when she was in the middle of a bout of self loathing.

Pushing her bike forward she talked, whimsy in her voice, a sparkly bubble of joy encasing her form.

In three days Kyouko had explained to her companion, she would have enough money to buy a new part for her bicycle, glad she saved a little this month instead of splurging by buying Sho-chan's new Visual-kei poster. Stopping her tracks she pouted, hand on her lips, next month she would make sure to save enough for emergencies like these and still have enough to avidly support Sho-chan from the sidelines.

Very soon her bike will be in working in condition again.

For now she was using the extension of the hill on which the Darayuma presided to pretend her bike worked in order to get home with out bothering the kindly older couple. They did much for her, feed and clothe her when she didn't have a single penny to her name, give her a job and give her a roof over her head until she could find Sho-chan. Reminiscing she thought how silly she was as a young teenager, trying to so brazenly live off a dream. The young woman didn't want to bother them with something so silly and inconsequential when they had already sacrificed so much for her.

Faster she walked, sticking close to the blooming street lights. Hopefully at this rate she would get to her apartment block before the last beams of sunlight wilted to night. Her house was almost five miles a way, a good hours walk from the Restaurant. Red dusting her cheeks from the cold she Tugged her jacket closer to her form as she tried push out the chill settling up her arms.

Sadness blossomed, a phantom in her chest. Just barely noticeable but present. Kyouko felt bad lying to the older couple, maybe her condolences of apple fritters, the couples favorite, she had been leaving every night at the restaurant were an acceptable apology gift. But, maybe, she shouldn't have let them out. Why apologize for something they didn't know about, it would only make them grow more suspicious. After all the two restaurant owners were very observent.

These last couple weeks the Okami had been very particular about seeing her to her vehicle, and the last two days the Taisho had been bursting with contempt for her bicycle, as if telling her from his body language that it wasn't the correct form of traffic for this part of the city.

Twenty minutes later into her walk she passed a familiar area. The spot where her dear friend would vanish to. While he appeared infrequently on her daily trip home, he always melted into the shadows here at his specific back alley entrance.

He purred as if to get her full attention, before vanishing all together into the dank brick pathway. She never had the courage to follow. One time into the decrepit hotspot was enough of an adventure for her.

Looking at the creaking awnings, the rotten stairwells and grotesque alleyway reminded the amber eyed girl of that fateful meeting with Stranger-san. Wringing her tiny wrist she remembered, this had been the same place where she had wasted soup all over _him, _leaving him a hot soaking mess of soba noodles and pickled peppers. The same place Sho-can had callously floundered and laughed at the soaked man.

Her hair tousled in the strong wind causing her to pull her jacket hood tightly closed, mummifying herself inside of her clothes. It was going to rain soon she predicted tasting the salt in the air. She wondered if he would be okay there. If he was still even there, in that same hobble, blankly noting the weather too.

"I never apologized. Not fully." She mumbled.

Standing together her heels clicked feeling tiny droplets sprinkle onto her nose. Swinging her purse to her front she pulled out the water-stained crumpled note card, this had been the blossoming of that incident.

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**Heads up, I'm babbling about something that has nothing to do with story below...**

**It's actually funny that I write this scene about Kyouko lying and walking home from work. I wrote this about two weeks ago, I just got rehired from a seasonal job a week ago. My bike as it does annually whenever I start working at this place breaks. My shifts don't end until 10-11pm at night somedays- so I walk 5 miles to get home. My boss doesn't like my walking, he really doesn't even like my biking especially since where I work is so high in traffic, so I ride my broken bike down the hill from my job and then walk the rest of the way. I always feel really bad about it. :(  
**

**I just found it funny and really ironic so I felt the need to mention it. **


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