Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mogami Kyoko was quiet for a six year old.

Instead of running around and crying for her mother’s attention, she sat quietly and did everything she was told with barely a pout or a semblance of a tantrum. Most people would say that she was raised well and would clearly grow up to be an upstanding and productive adult. 

Mogami Saena did not.

As the woman who gave birth to Kyoko, she knew better than anyone what that child could become. She bore witness to her development from an infant to a toddler with a wide smile and sweet airy voice, who always demanded to be picked up with grasping fingers. The first few years were exhausting, but everything was so normal and within expectations that she didn’t notice anything amiss. And then the child began to talk. 

By the age of three, Kyoko was capable of full and simple comprehensible sentences but she was a very quiet child. Saena hardly noticed it since she usually left the girl with a neighbor, the Fuwas, who had a child of their own but had the room for another. The oddness of the child’s behavior only became noticeable when she started to approach her to show off her grades in class. 

Saena prided herself in being a rational person - even if she had failed to live up to that at the worst time possible - but she could not help the way she reacted to that child. Her stomach would turn when she noticed a small form peeking from behind a corner, singular golden, amber eyes glinting with intention and deliberation. Her brow would furrow severely as she attempted to dispel the memory those eyes sparked, the deceit that they were capable of, but she couldn’t stop herself from smacking away the hands once reached for her seeking nothing more than her love.

Logically, she knew the child wasn’t planning anything beyond earning her praise, but her heart still squeezed when she saw that round face (so like his ) go blank with thought before a smile appeared, hopeful and contrived. Logically, she knew this smile was a product of her inept rearing - her inability to smile at her child, to hold her beyond what was necessary, to praise rather than judge her accomplishments - but the thought that half her genes came from him made her question the child’s nature.

Why is she smiling? Does she want something from me?

Of course she does, she’s a child and you are her main caretaker.

But why does she keep coming back after I’ve pushed her away, again and again? 

She needs you, she wants affection just like anyone else. She doesn't know what else to do.

Even a child must be able to tell that I don’t want her! Why won’t she stop?! Can't she tell that one day I won’t be able to hold back anymore!

Of course not. Because she is simply a child, her child, no matter how much Saena evaded thinking about it, lingered in her workplace under Todoh’s understanding eyes.

She struggled for six years before she realized what the best decision she could ever make for her child - and herself was.

At the age of thirty-four, Mogami Saena abandoned her child to the too-generous care of her neighbors, the Fuwas. She explained little to them, but they understood that she was no longer capable of raising her little girl without leading to dangerous consequences for the both of them. She walked away from her daughter with nary a glance back, knowing she might just make the mistake of turning back and ruining both of their lives. Her child would be better fit raised by people capable of looking at her without the weight of paranoia distorting every word and act that came after.

When Mogami Kyoko was six years old, her mother left her crying on her knees, wondering what she had done wrong all her life to never be loved by her only family.

Twelve years later, a young woman with a beautiful mask-like smile and singular honey-amber eyes takes to the stage and Saena can only watch from where her heart can no longer be twisted and deformed.

Chapter Text

Fuwa Yayoi and her husband, Kenzo, took in the child out of pity and understanding. They had first started looking after the too quiet little girl when her mother had come to them begging for a break before she did something she would regret. As a friend and a parent, aware of part of the situation around the child’s birth, Yayoi could not refuse. She brought the small girl with eyes far brighter than her mother’s and a soft, timid smile and found a child that was far easier to please than her own. She was a delight, toddling around and doing as told while her own hellion rolled on the floor in a fit, and by no means the extra burden that they had been expecting, so babysitting was a task easily taken on.

Kyoko-chan easily slipped into the home routine, only joining them for a day or two at a time at first. Shou rebelled the first few times, an only child unused to sharing attention, but quickly settled when he realized he wouldn’t just have to play by himself anymore in a side room of the inn. He probably just enjoyed having someone who he could tell what to do, but as long as he didn’t cause trouble in the dining area, Yayoi was content with the situation. 

Naturally, as Kyoko grew older and her mother became more entrenched in her work, she stayed with them for longer. As a necessity, they carved a little place in their home for her. She had her own room with a full closet of clothes for her, and she had a place at their table. As the length of time grew, so did the spaces she occupied. By the time she was six, she was over at their house more often than she was at her own home.

They weren’t surprised when Saena left upon receiving a job offer in Tokyo. They had been ready, slowly preparing as they saw the interactions between the mother and daughter. Despite Kyoko’s sweet nature, Saena could not treat her with the kindness she deserved, so she chose to leave her with people who could. She wasn’t a great mother, but Yayoi respected that she did the best she could with her deteriorating mental health. They would keep Kyoko until her mother was ready to take her back or until she was ready to be on her own. She was practically their daughter already.

Despite the tense living situation, Kyoko loved her mother. Yayoi could tell from the way she wailed as Saena turned her back and never looked back. Her mother loved her in her own unique way, but there was little chance the child knew, or even ever would. Yayoi could do nothing at this time but watch the bright child who always eagerly asked to help slowly dim with sadness, no longer presenting them with her smile even Shou who she adored. 

They were considering taking the child to someone to talk to - a professional because she would only listen to them with a flat, hopeless smile - until one day she smiled again. She had vanished into the woods nearby, to a little stream that they found out was her escape and refrained from encroaching on, after ensuring it was safe of course. Her eyes were red from the crying, something she did so few times in front of them she could count it on one hand. Yayoi didn’t know what could have happened in that little cleaing to cheer Kyoko up, but she thanked the gods for taking away the look of devastation she wore, as if the world itself had forsaken her.

After some time passed, she and her husband decided to occupy the girl so that she wouldn’t think about her mother as much, or being left behind. Yayoi introduced her to the restaurant so she could follow her about and mimic her - the girl enjoyed learning so much. Her husband began to teach her to cook after seeing her look of awe watching him prepare a full course. Later, Yayoi would pull out her old erhu from her younger years to play for her children and allow Kyoko to play if she wished to. Shou, just as worried as they were, even began to show her how to play his video games which he hoarded like a dragon’s treasure trove.

Slowly but surely, they got their Kyoko back, who embraced everything she did with an eager smile and stubbornness that would carry her until she performed as well as she could. She still vanished to her stream every once and while, but they were happy she recovered enough for the light to return to her eyes. 

She was already their daughter, and they wanted to give her the best life that she deserved and that Saena wanted for her.

Chapter Text

Kyoko sat with her face buried in her knees, shoulders shaking as she let out her sobs. 

Her mommy was gone. She had been abandoned because she wasn’t good enough. She wasn’t smart enough to get good grades, and she wasn’t good enough to play like all the other kids. She wasn’t a good girl, so she didn’t get smiles and hugs for her good behavior. She wasn’t good, so she never heard her mommy  say she loved her. And now her mommy was gone, and would never return.

Why? What had she done to make her mommy hate her so much? Why was she never good enough?

“Hey, now, don’t cry! It’s alright,” a soft voice suddenly spoke, disrupting the murmur of the stream. “Your eyes will be all red if you keep that up.”

Kyoko didn’t care that her face would be red, her chest hurt so much and it just wasn’t stopping. She sobbed even harder, because no, it wasn’t alright. Nothing was alright and she didn’t think anything ever would be again.

“What am I supposed to do,” the voice murmured. “Okay, go ahead and cry. You must be pretty sad right now. So just let it all out; you’ll feel better after.” The rocks beside her crunched as a body plopped down. 

Kyoko did just that, crying for several more minutes before no more tears would come out. When her cries died down to sniffles, she lifted her head to see who sat with her. She had chosen this spot because no one was ever in the area. Not Yayoi-obasan who was gracefully attending guests in the ryokan, or Kenzo-ojisan who was busy cooking, and certainly not Shou who she last saw focused on playing his video games. 

She looked up and met the eyes of a fairy.

He was only a little older than her and had a head of fluffy golden hair that surrounded his pretty face. His eyes were as green as the leaves dripping with dew in the early morning. He seemed to shine under the sunlight and smiled at her kindly as she stared back with wide eyes. 

“They’re real,” she whispered, heart pounding.

The fairy prince, he was too beautiful to be anything else, tilted his head. “What’s real?”

Kyoko jumped as she realized he was the one who spoke to her before. “You’re a-a fairy, ne?” She said quietly, gaze bright and hopeful.

The boy blinked for a few seconds, before a grin quirked his lips. “And if I am? What does that mean?”

That was as good as agreement for Kyoko. She gasped and whipped her little head around before facing him again. “I heard fairies never show themselves! They have a special magic that keeps the bad people who want to take their power from finding them.” Her face grew serious, brows furrowing. “What are you doing here, Yousei-oujisama? It’s not safe here! What will your parents think if something happened?”

The fairy prince blinked at her, but smiled soon after. “I’m perfectly safe. My father and mother are nearby. Their ‘magic’ keeps me very secure, so please don’t worry.”

Despite his words, he didn’t look safe or happy. His smile actually looked sad...it looked like how she felt. Kyoko frowned a little and got up from her spot, brushing away the dust on her bottom carefully. She then walked, a bit hesitant, to the sitting boy, able to meet eyes with him easily now. “Are you okay?”

Surprise swept across his face for a moment. “I should be the one asking you that,” he said. “Why were you crying all by yourself? A little girl shouldn't be on her own like this.”

Kyoko looked down, lower lip trembling, but she didn’t start to cry again. “My mommy left me. She’s not coming back.”

She didn’t see the boy’s expression as he flinched back in alarm. “I’m so sorry to hear that. I’m sure she’s in a better place now, so please don’t cry!” He shifted onto his knees and held a hand aloft, wondering if it was okay to comfort her. 

“She’s in Tokyo, far, far away from me,” Kyoko said, sniffling as her eyes blurred once more. “Because she h-hates me.” Her fingers curled into the fabric of her skirt. “B-because I’m not a good girl. I-I never do anything right.” 

“Oh…”

Her mouth slammed shut as she realized who she was saying this in front of. She had finally met a fairy and she was telling him how awful a person she was! He was going to hate her just like her mother did!

“I know how you feel,” the boy sighed softly, taking her hands in his in order to get her to look up. “My father and mother are so amazing and powerful, and I’m just barely able to reach the tail ends of their shadows.”

“Eh?” Kyoko blinked up at him. He had felt the same way before? “They’re that great?”

“Yes, so great that sometimes I think I’m just a pebble in the palm of my father’s hand,” he said with a smile, but it was one so sad that Kyoko felt her heart hurt. His hands, large enough to engulf hers, clenched softly, and his eyes looked off to the sky as if his father was as immense as the air above them.

“You’re going to be great too, Yousei-oujisan!” Kyoko blurted out. She clutched the boy’s hands back, hoping to give back the calming warmth he gave her. “You’re really nice and pretty, and I think you’re amazing already! You’re just a kid now, but you’ll be just as great when you’re an adult!”

The boy stared at her silently for a long moment, so long that she thought he was angry, but then his shoulders relaxed and a huff of laughter escaped him. “I’ve heard that before, but I actually believe it coming from you. I don’t think I’m anything great, but thank you,” he told her. And then he smiled, bright and with eyes creasing, the false quality from before nearly vanished. 

Kyoko returned the smile jubilantly, a blush rising to her cheeks. She had managed to cheer up the boy and make him smile! She giggled, a warm feeling bubbling in her chest. He was so nice; he had to become great someday! She was positive he would! 

“My name isn’t ‘Yousei’, though,” he continued, smile toning down to a small grin. “You can call me ‘Corn’.”

Kyoko’s amber eyes went wide. “R-really?” She flexed her fingers a little, causing the boy to withdraw his hands, and she pouted a little. “Ko-un?” She repeated with a tilt of her head. 

“Ah, well, I suppose that’s right,” the boy said, with a small shrug of a shoulder. “I forgot Japanese doesn’t have the same r sound.” He hummed. “And what should I call you? I can’t just keep thinking of you as ‘the cute little girl’ in my head.”

“My name is Kyoko,” she shared shyly, ducking her head at his words.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kyoko.”

“Ah! You can’t do that, Koun-kun! It’s not okay to use first names for people you just met!” She protested, remembering her lessons well. She was only called ‘Kyoko’ by Shou-kun and her moth- and by his parents, and that was only because they took care of her so they were almost family. They had to know each other for a looong time before he could drop it, although she didn't know exactly why. 

The boy’s shoulders sank. “That is a thing here, isn’t it? I’m sorry, I haven’t entirely adjusted to using Japanese yet, Kyoko-chan. Is that okay?”

Kyoko nodded fervently. “You’re used to the fairy language, right? I’ve never heard the name ‘corn’ before? Can you tell me other words, if that’s okay?”

“I’d love to. I have a few days before we return home, so I can teach you a little,” he said kindly. He settled back on the ground and she followed eagerly, dropping down beside him. “This is a rock, and you call it iwa here...”

Chapter Text

When Shou told his parents he wanted to become the best in music, he hadn’t meant he wanted to spend hours a week in piano lessons until his fingers and butt were sore.

The only reason he didn't quit weeks into the painful waste of time (getting his hands smacked constantly - uh, abuse) and missing out on playing with his new Nintendo, was because his mother would giving him endless chores if he didn’t. It had nothing to do with the fact that Kyoko had begun to learn to play at his mother's beckoning a month after him and had nearly caught up already after a few weeks. Nope, he didn’t feel threatened, of all things, when she could answer a question from their teacher about chords or some other nonsense right while he was still thinking about it. He knew the answer too! He just wasn’t as fast at saying it, unlike Kyoko who always answered in class. 

He wasn’t bothered at all by how fast she was learning, not at all. She wasn't as fast at recognizing changing keys as he was! Although she was never wrong more than once...

He really wasn’t. Sometimes they competed to see who could learn a new melody faster - him, naturally, although there were a few, rare times she beat him - but he was never quite as mad as he pretended to be.

Kyoko was finally starting to smile again.

He hadn’t noticed it at first, but she had begun to smile again instead of moping around like an abandoned puppy - bad comparison, bad, Shou. No, for the first time since that cold woman left, she had begun to actually offer a challenge again when playing games. She was even becoming weirdly intense like she usually was when learning something new again. As creepy as it could be sometimes, he was relieved.

The way she practiced so much was a pain, but even if she wasn’t as talented as him, she learned fast. Refusing to be beaten by someone as soft as Kyoko of all people - she had never said a mean or bad word to him in his life, and he just didn't understand how - certainly not in his best area! She wasn’t even interested in music! Now that she was back to normal, he could tell she was just bored again! She learned too fast, and now he was forced to practice more if he didn't want to be usurped. 

He groaned the day his mother showed them her pretty erhu playing, recognizing (and pretending not to) the way she looked at them expectantly once she had finished. Of course, Kyoko leapt to ask if she could learn - she was obsessed with being good at music now, she had to be - and he was dragged along once more against his will.

But that was just the way it was. Even before she moved in, they always followed one after the other, usually him first. But sometimes he found himself unwillingly pulled after, even more unwilling than she to be left in the dust.

She was his best friend and he didn't want to imagine her leaving. Just here sitting there like a shell of her former self for a few weeks had petrified him.

Now, seeing her improve, he felt relieved. He felt bad about it, but deep down, he was glad her mother left. Because now Kyoko wouldn't have to go home smiling after a day with him and return the next hiding her tears. Now, Kyoko could be by his side all the time, for the rest of their lives with his mom and dad.

She wouldn't ever be abandoned again.

Chapter Text

Kyoko liked school. 

She decided this by the time she was in first grade, when she also decided that she would always do her best, even in the subjects that were hard and made her hand cramp from the work. She needed to get perfect scores and be on her best behavior, so she had to do her best regardless. 

The only part she didn’t like about school was the other children. She had Shou-kun so she didn’t think she particularly needed any other friends, but she didn’t understand why other children hardly spoke to her. She stopped noticing in sixth grade, the year of graduation, but she had once wondered why the girls would walk away when she joined their groups and why the boys would glare when she played against them in sports. 

Middle school put a few things into perspective. 

Girls didn’t like her because she was Shou’s friend. Shou was handsome, she knew this, and very good at singing, and even well-known at school because of his band with a few other boys. She didn’t quite understand why that would make them want to ‘lose’ her lunch and scrawl graffiti on her desk, but that’s what they did. 

Boys usually ignored her. She had made a friendly acquaintance of one or two of them due to class responsibility - she was assigned class representative because of her class rank, first - but nothing more than short conversations came of it. 

She supposed she was just inherently dislikable, even though she went out of her way to be as welcoming as possible. She made herself available for tutoring for every subject, and while plenty of students - Shou and his friends the most - visited her, none of them became friends. She always tried to keep the peace in the classroom, helping settle disputes between the boys and girls as was her job, but none of them ever chose to speak to her on their own terms. She even tried her best at the annual sport’s festivals and other events, leading to a win a time or two in relay, and she even participated on the track team for a year and won a medal, but to no effect.

Was it the way she obviously preferred to speak with teachers, who spoke more about her accomplishments than her faults? They were much easier to talk to than girls who gushed over boys and makeup, or boys who gushed over games and girls just as much.

She tried to make friends until the day came that made her realize she didn’t have to.

It was near the end of their second year, and Kyoko had noticed an increase in the passive-aggressive taunts and petty thievery aimed towards her. The girls in the small school were becoming less and less tolerant of her presence, and she could guess why. Shou-kun had apparently started to take interest in things outside of music - in girls. She had been a bit shocked and more than a bit embarrassed the first time she caught him hugging a girl behind the school, faces close enough to kiss. She had walked away a little hurt, but she already knew that Shou wasn’t interested in her in that way. She couldn’t see him in that light either. They grew up together; bathed together and roughed around in the dirt, learned and ate with another. He was her best (and only) friend, and he was like a brother.

She loved Shou, but even with that, she couldn’t stomach his new proclivity for dating girls one after the other. It was disrespectful and careless, but he never was one to care about other people’s feelings when he was focused on something else, in this case, his own enjoyment. As good as he was at sweet-talking girls, he was awful at seeing the results of his playing around with them. Namely, that his behavior was noticeably different when with a single girl.

Shou probably never realized, but when he wasn’t with his bandmates, or sneaking a kiss from a fan, he was with Kyoko. Either persuading her to let him peek at her homework, making her share her lunch with him, or even just complaining to her about their teachers. He was only ever carefree like this around Kyoko.

Kyoko took it in stride, familiar with his annoying antics, but she should have expected girls who liked him to be perturbed by it. They had always been a bit vocal about how much she “clung to Shou-kun,” so she really should have seen it coming when the more popular girls in class cornered her in a deserted hallway during one of their lunch breaks.

“Look, Mogami, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stop hanging off of Shou-kun like some kind of monkey,” the ringleader with pretty, artificial curls warned her, hands on her hips imposingly. 

“Yeah, I’m sure he hates it. He has to be around you all the time at home where you inconvenience him and his family and here,” another remarked, brightly colored lips pouting. “He’s too nice to tell you, but you need to stop bothering him.”

“Such a pest!” The last girl spat shortly with a sneer.

Kyoko could only blink at them. “But he’s the one that comes to bother me?” She said, confused at where the idea came from. Yes, she was an imposition on the Fuwas, but Shou knew how to push her away if she was ever too “mother-henning.”

“Don’t think so highly of yourself, Mogami,” the leader scoffed, an angry blush rising to her cheeks. She was still quite pretty despite the look, Kyoko noted with some mild envy and admiration. “You may be smart and the teachers’ pet, but you’re nothing but a flea that got stuck in the Fuwas’ hair. Too small to dislodge no matter how hard you try but oh so annoying. Shou-kun probably stopped trying to get rid of you and started calling you his friend out of pity. I wouldn’t be surprised looking at you now.”

Kyoko looked down, hands clenching at her sides. The Fuwas’ really had been unwillingly stuck with her since she was five. Rather than an insignificant bug that could be carried around without notice, Kyoko was more of an elephant placed on their backs, a weight forced on them with her trunk choking around them so they couldn’t let go.

“Oi, what’s going on over here?”

Shou appeared with a noticeable lack of his usual charming smile, an impolite scowl in its place as he hovered over them. The girls still leapt at his presence, nervously fidgeting with their skirts as they stammered out some explanation.

“We were just asking when she could tutor us next, Shou-kun,” one of the girls said, voice cloyingly sweet. “We all did horribly on the last English test, and we know Mogami-san is nearly fluent!”

“Yeah, I failed that so badly, my mom grounded me,” the less talkative girl added with a depressed look to the side.

The leader sent her an exasperated look before blinking up at Shou cutely, a blush on her cheeks. “Did you need something, Shou-kun? If you were looking for me, I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner!”

Shou huffed a little and nearly rolled his eyes. “I was looking for Kyoko actually, so if you wouldn’t mind…” He cocked his head to the side. 

“O-oh, of course.” She tried to smile, but it was far from pleasant. “We’ll have to talk again later, Mogami-san. Take care, Shou-kun!”

The girls walked away quickly with a few glances back. A moment later, the two childhood friends were alone. 

“You shouldn’t let them talk to you like that,” he said, his expression bored but uncharacteristically serious. “They’ll just keep doing it, even if I tell them not to.” He covered his mouth for a second, brows furrowing.

“‘They really like me that much, don’t they?’ ” Kyoko said his thoughts aloud, exasperated but unsurprised.

Shou had the presence of mind to blush and cough. “Anyway, you can’t just let them talk down to you like that, Kyoko. You have to show them you won’t back down, or they’ll just keep pounding you with the same unwanted ideas over and over again.” He scowled, no doubt thinking of his parents’ insistence that he inherit the ryokan leadership. “And if words aren’t enough, you just have to do something about it.”

“Do something?” Kyoko looked up at her friend, a faint hope lighting up her eyes. What could she do to fend off the girls in their class and school in general?

“Well,” Shou began, crossing his arms as he mulled it over. “You can call them princess and bedazzle them, but I don't think that'll work for you. Just hit ‘em, and they’ll know better. Don’t give me that look! I know you have a strong uppercut! If you can play tennis with the boys, you have to be stronger than a normal girl!”

“Okay, Shou-kun,” Kyoko said agreeably, nodding with not even an ounce of intent to do as he said.

“Don’t patronize me! I’m just trying to help!” Shou hissed and turned away from her. “You have to defend yourself. If you don’t defend yourself, what does it matter if I or even the teachers try to? It doesn’t even matter what we think. What matters is what you think.” Shou glanced at her. “It’s okay to not care what others say about you. Have some pride for once and just fight back.”

Kyoko stood still as he walked away without even waving. “Have some pride…?” She repeated softly. She wouldn’t say she didn’t have pride in herself. She took pride in her grades that her teachers and the principal constantly praised; she took pride in the serving she learned from the Fuwas; and she took pride in the manners they'd instilled in her. She would never accept anyone insulting or deriding these skills.

But...she never grew angry when insults were toward her own person, did she? About her looks or how she was dull and uninteresting; she just took these as facts and sulked the day away in resignation. She never thought to argue something that seemed so correct in its judgment.

Did she...care too much about what others said about her? 

Should she not just accept the words in order to avoid an argument? That would cause a disturbance, a fight even, and she couldn’t do that as a ward of the Fuwa household.

But how many times had she seen girls fight over perceived slights to their friends, have to intervene when a classmate was rude to another, or even go to an authority figure?

Was it okay for her to defend herself when she was the target of rudeness or insults?

Would it really stop when her being the perfect student, the perfect ward, the perfect mediator did nothing to stop people from judging her?

She would have to try to find out.

When she does, she corrects the girls who think that she has any sort of machinations for her best friend, brother in all but name and blood. She was not to be thought of only as some auxiliary piece to Fuwa Shoutaro, but a separate person with interests and ideas of her own. And she didn’t appreciate being demeaned by girls who only cared about what a boy thought of them when they were perfectly lovely young women. She respected herself, and she thought they should respect themselves as well.

She doesn’t earn any friends from this little talk, but it felt as if a huge weight was lifted from her head and shoulders, as if a collapsed ceiling was finally being lifted and repairing itself from shambles. School became easier without girls trying to obstruct her activities, and classmates became more comfortable speaking with her during tutoring. The mumbles about her closeness to Shou never stopped, but they dwindled a bit when she spoke with the girls left with broken hearts to not take Shou’s selfish behavior too seriously. 

Respect yourself and your abilities; if no one else will, then you should.

Kyoko never knew that in her final year, she earned a nickname to mirror Shou’s ‘Prince’. She was respected and perhaps a bit feared for her apparent ability to excel at anything from literature to sports to instruments. She seemed faultless. She was generous and kind, but so hard to approach because she carried herself as if nothing could shake her.

She became the Untouchable Queen in her final year of junior high school, unknowingly revered and feared by the school at large.

Chapter Text

Praise me. Love me.

She thought when she looked at her mother, and her hand was smack away.

Tell me I did good.

She begged as she looked to the Fuwas, teaching her their beloved skills.

Like me.

She felt when she spent time with Shou, only to be freed when he told her, ‘just play with me.’

Praise me, tell me I am the best.

She demanded as she stared up at her school teachers, who showered her with compliments and full marks.

Tell me to play more. Clap for me more.

She thought, bowing before the audience in the auditorium, a spotlight shining down on her and a beautiful instrument.

Come to me. Smile at me, look up to me.

She sought as she taught her peers to be better and showed them what it meant to be the best.

 I can never get enough attention.  

Disgusting. Such disgusting, selfish, ingenuine desires.

Praise me!

Kyoko loved praise, more than anything, she would say. Even if she never got it from the person who inspired this feeling in her, she couldn’t change this fact. She loved praise...and she would do her best to never be without it.

Chapter Text

“Kyoko, let’s run away.”

Kyoko stopped in the middle of tuning her erhu, a gift from Yayoi-obasan for her thirteenth birthday. From the look on her face, she hadn’t heard what he said, or else her brows would already be furrowing in disbelief. “I’m sorry, Shou-kun?”

He clicked his tongue at her as he worked on tuning his guitar. “My parents are mentioning working at the ryokan more and more everyday. They’re still convinced that I’m going to bend to their will and succeed them like a good little boy. Well, they’re going to be disappointed. Like hell I’m going to let myself be tied down to this hov-” Kyoko’s eyes slanted his way, “this stuffy and traditional establishment. It has its place among certain kinds of people, but I’m not one of them!”

Kyoko didn’t respond immediately, taking a moment to place the beautiful instrument on its stand. Setting its bow alongside it, she turned to her friend, straightening out the wrinkles in her kimono. “What do you plan to do if you run away, Shou-kun? You know as well as I do, if not better, how unlikely it is to be picked up by a company the second you try. Where will you live and how will you eat until you become a star?”

Shou scowled, looking fiercely down at his occupied lap. He had thought of that of course, and that was why he was going to bring Kyoko with him. He had a bit of money saved from his band gigs and allowances, but he wasn’t stupid enough to think he could support himself alone, not early on at least. Kyoko was by far the better of the two at cost efficiency and researching things, but he was the better one at making decisions and judging musical opportunities. Together, they could find a way to support themselves. It wouldn’t be for long; he was gifted. He had little doubt that they would find a company begging for him in as little as a month.

“If you’re with me, it won’t be hard,” he said, looking at her with the same sincerity he did when he told a girl she was the prettiest one he’d ever seen. That always got them swooning and more willing to listen to his requests. “As long as I know that you'e with me and supporting me and my dreams, I’ll withstand anything to reach them. Come with me to Tokyo; I need you.”

Kyoko met his gaze, eyes widening slightly. Shou nearly smiled in triumph, but the urge was crushed as she just stared at him with a stunned expression. “Do you really think you could survive in Tokyo without stable financial support? Oh, Shou-kun…”

Shou’s eye twitched at the pitying look she aimed his way. “If you’re against it, you don’t have to come with me!” He snapped, unable to hold up the image. He shouldn’t have even tried; there was a reason he never used it on her. She knew him too well to be distracted by his handsome face and captivating words. “I’ll figure it out on my own!” He had been thinking of this for a long time after all. Kyoko coming was just a tick toward one of the better case scenarios.

“Mm, I think there’s a way to let you go to Tokyo without having to escape in the depths of the night with nothing but an overnight bag and your guitar,” Kyoko said musingly, cupping her chin with a forefinger and thumb. 

Shou turned suspicious eyes on her, cautious of hope. “Really? With my parent’s permission despite their attempts to chain me down here?” He scoffed. “Doubtful, but tell me what you’ve come up with. You must have some persuasion skills, Miss class president.”

Kyoko gave him a look equivalent to him rolling his eyes. He would never stop teasing her about the role shoved onto her due to her people-pleasing nature. She didn’t even like leading, but she just couldn’t say no. “We just have to convince your parents that it's a good idea to let you go with aid rather than risk your death in the city. You would be dependent on them, but you wouldn’t have to work as hard.”

“And how do we convince them to do that? We can’t just threaten them that I’ll run away! They’ll ground me!” His dad would literally pin him to the ground! And then his mother would call in workers to tie him up so that she could lecture him on what a filial son ought to be like! 

“They already know how much you want to go. We could tell them you’re just getting it out of your system while you’re still young enough,” Kyoko suggested, and Shou sneered at the thought that his dream was something as meaningless as a phase. 

“Think of something else. They wouldn’t let me go that easily, knowing I’d never come back if they sent me out in the first place.”

Kyoko mulled over it and was at a loss. “I’ll keep thinking, so don’t do anything ill-advised, Shou-kun,” she warned, glaring at him like she was his keeper again. “There is a way to keep them happy and let you go to Tokyo to pursue music. Just give me some time to consider.”

“Sure. I’ll keep that in mind,” Shou responded blandly, already turning away to strum at his guitar. 

He hadn’t entirely believed her when she said she’d find a way, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t held a smidge of hope. Kyoko had almost always had the answer. But she wasn’t perfect.

The solution she came up with surprised him with just how Kyoko it was. Something planned out to an absurd degree but based on audacious confidence alone. Insane, but so persuasive.

She made a bet with his parents. In exchange for his freedom after high school, he would have three years to make enough of a name for himself that he couldn’t possibly crawl back home into anonymity.

Somehow, she managed to convince them that not only was it a good idea to let them go alone, but that they should also pay for their housing and schooling, while also giving them an allowance so they could support themselves and be independent, with essentially no monitoring from them. 

His mind was blown that they were willing to provide so much freedom. What happened to their badgering him into training for management? Weren’t they always barking about how he’d be living with them forever if he didn’t learn anything? And were they really willing to let their golden child go? His parents had been holding Kyoko down with a vice grip since she started to work in the ryokan under them and liked it. He was more surprised they were letting her go to a fancy school in the city, where she could easily be whisked away from them, than mad that they thought he couldn’t make it by himself.

Were they really okay with letting them both go at all? 

On the day of their departure, his parents threatened him to not bother Kyoko too much and learn to take care of himself. He scoffed and promised flippantly, watching them with suspicion for any last minute or underhanded demands. 

When the family car pulled out of the driveway and his family’s restaurant faded from view, he relaxed. He was finally getting a chance to make his dreams come true. He never imagined that it would happen this easily; it was almost too good to be true. 

“They want what’s best for you, Shou-kun,” Kyoko told him, staring at the departing countryside they grew up in. She would miss it, he could tell, but she was still going for him. “It would be much easier and secure to keep you at the ryokan. Music business is rather fickle, ne? There’s a chance you won’t become as big as your idol or that you’ll only be popular for so long before you’re replaced by the newest trends. They don’t want you to be crushed if your dreams don’t come true.”

“Then they have no faith in me,” he muttered, clicking his tongue. They never could see the allure that he did in climbing on that stage, dressed up extravagantly to sing and perform for an adoring crowd.

“They worry,” Kyoko corrected calmly, her smile soft and - Shou winced - with the barest hint of envy. “They don’t want to let you go. So they would rather help you on your way out of the door than let you run with no one behind you. I don’t know how much they’ve thought about your career, but I don’t think they would have agreed if they thought you’d fail entirely. You know how much Kenzo-jiisan values efficiency and despises wasting ingredients. He never makes a meal without the best ingredients possible in order to create the greatest meal he can, no matter how simple or grand it is.”

Shou’s face soured. “So I’m just an ingredient they’d rather use in a fancy, traditional platter than let roll down the street and end up in someone’s vulgar curry? Good to know.”

Kyoko laughed. “I think they are giving you a chance to make your own meal. Although your cooking skills are...uncultivated-”

“Oi. Are you insulting my actual cooking skills or my ability to make a living?”

“-they are waiting to see what you can make. This is a test, Shou-kun.” Her eyes became wide and intense and he cringed away. She always became a bit - a lot - maniacal when it was exam time. “You have to prove to them that you are competent now, or everything you’ve done until now will be a failure.” Her hands balled into fists, determination lighting up in her and she wasn’t even the one being tested. 

“A test, great,” Shou grumbled. “Good thing you’re here. I basically have a cheat code.” He barked out a laugh. “You haven’t failed a test since that time you got sick from studying too late and fainted during the exam. I sure hope we don’t encounter math while looking for a company. That could be the end of everything.”

She immediately blushed at the reminder of her shame from two years ago and glared at him. “That was once! I’ve learned how to prepare earlier now, so don’t worry about it. And don’t even mention my new school!” She said before he could point it out. “I won't let my workload interfere with our search. I already have a list of places to visit.”

Seeing her pull out a folder thick with paper, Shou leaned forward curiously. “Is that only agencies, or…” There was no chance they would only be doing work and no play when they were going to Tokyo of all places. Not only were there a bigger number of concert venues for performances there, but more restaurants that served pudding and flan with flavors he had never tried before.

“I’ve marked places I think you’ll like as well,” Kyoko reassured. “We’ll have to wait until after we greet our hosts and meet your uncle.”

The infamous uncle in the comedic field and some people that headed a branch of his family’s inn in Tokyo. Joy. “If this is a test of our independence, why do we need him as a guardian in Tokyo?” He rolled his eyes before reclining in his seat, arms tossed along the back of their seats. 

“For emergencies,” she said, and started to go through her folder, attention already drifting from their conversation. 

He snorted. What could happen that they couldn’t handle? Tokyo would be perfect. He was determined to be successful so he would be. Three years from now, he would be the best in Japan, dominating every category of music and demographic.

Fuwa Shou would accomplish his dream and win this bet, no problem.

Chapter Text

Fuwa Yayoi and Kenzo knew they spoiled their children. More accurately, they spoiled their son from birth and endeavored to do the same with the daughter they were blessed with, though she never quite allowed them to do so. They provided the best they had to offer, naturally making some mistakes along the way - indulging their son too much, pushing their daughter too much - but they wanted them to have the best chance at life they could. 

If the world was as they envisioned ten years prior, Shoutaro would be slowly but surely being taught to succeed his father as Taisho and Kyoko would already be ready to replace Yayoi as Okami.

The world did not progress as they saw it, and their son was itching to run away without a word to a dangerous city and their daughter - now a daughter and not a potential daughter-in-law - was so perfectly theirs they regretted ever plotting out her future. Their daughter would accept the life they paved out for her as easily as their son rejected it. 

They did not want that for her. To accept a life where she made no choice of her own, gave no voice to her own desires or wants - that could be the greatest mistake they ever made in raising her. It would be so simple to take her as their successor, leave the inn in her capable hands, but was that really her choice if they had groomed her for this role? 

So they decided to give her a chance to find another avenue of life, a chance of happiness perhaps. If she wanted, she could choose to stay - they would never turn her away - but first, they would give her a chance to experience the world. There was so much out there she had yet to see; maybe she would find something that would bring her happiness. 

Letting their son go was a decision they made a long time ago. They had been waiting for the day he came out with his intent to leave with or without their permission, and were already mapping out training for a successor in his stead (and in Kyoko’s stead, just in case). That boy of theirs was as stubborn as she was in the opposite direction, bullheaded and blind to others’ wishes, so it was best to send him off before he left with only the clothes on his back and a guitar. He was sixteen, nearly an adult already, so he should start taking care of himself. They really had spoiled him rotten, but alas.

Sending them both off was both a difficult and simple decision. They wanted their children safe, but they also wanted their happiness. The two wouldn’t be children forever, and it would be a great disservice to rob them of their chance to grow up with a leash around their necks.

Whatever their concerns and the future might bring, they knew th eir children would do fine. 

Chapter Text

Japan was a remarkably calm place compared to his former home.

In his four years in the small nation, he had never encountered a problem that couldn’t be solved with a mildly intimidating look or politely gilded words. The people were far less confrontational than what he was used to since his childhood. He hadn’t had to raise his voice a single time outside of lines of a script, let alone a hand. It was almost a different world. 

But show business, no matter the different location and culture, was still very much show business. 

The setting had changed accompanied by a new set of rules, but the game was the same - everyone wanted to succeed, no matter the costs. This new playing field was full of novel obstacles he had to learn to navigate around like a native, but if there was one thing he was good at, it was picking up the rules. Learning them to the extent they were less obstacles and more tools to reach the end he desired, in exactly the way he wanted. 

This meant that even in a land as good as foreign to him, through keen observation he was able to navigate with minimum concern that he wouldn’t be able to emerge from any ordeal unscathed. He wasn’t reckless enough anymore to think himself incapable of missing small details, but he knew the general cards at play, when to use them, and how to hide what didn’t fit in the game. 

He knew the game better than anyone, and that was no brag but a fact. 

He fashioned himself to be the perfect player in this country’s field.

Tsuruga Ren could not lose to anyone ever.

He had managed to craft his mask image to perfection in his four years, after careful observation of the Japanese and their idiosyncrasies. Lory wanted him to “be himself,” he knew, but that would never happen. He as himself wouldn’t be able to be charming in the face of the simple-minded and self-centered individuals he encountered throughout every exhausting day. He would never be able to smile as if all was well at his kind and dutiful manager, without a hint of thoughts no one would ever associate with the famous, gentlemanly actor Japan knew and loved. He couldn’t have looked in the face of directors and seniors looking down on him when he first started over and held back his bite like some soft, pacifistic saint hoping to please and neutralize at the slightest hint of conflict.

Tsuruga Ren would succeed where he clearly couldn’t. Tsuruga already had, though only in insignificant ways so far.

He was the number one actor, but that was merely the first step. He had yet to leave such a mark on the people of Japan that he would be remembered for longer than a day if he suddenly disappeared one day. As it was now, he was merely a subject of buzz, the hottest thing at the given moment, and attention easily stolen by whatever flash in the pan followed him.

Tsuruga Ren needed to be more than that; a legend that could outshine his predecessors and successors long beyond his lifespan.

If he couldn’t do that, then what was the point of abandoning his home-

He was an actor, and like every other actor, he dreamed of being the best, of being hailed for generations to follow as an inspiration and idol. Perhaps it was arrogant to think so, but he knew he possessed the potential to become such an ideal. He had the talent and the learning ability to go far, and a work ethic to go further beyond. And most of all, he had the determination to not let anything get in the way of his goal. 

He had chosen his path, and just like every other man, he was going to follow through to the end.

Nothing would interrupt his single-minded path to being the best. Nothing.

Accept himself.