Chapter 2

He had never been so scared in his life. The two days that he had delved into the unknown, as Hana-chan had warned him that she had missed her period and that she could be pregnant, terrified him. There was no way he wanted to be tied down like that. He was only 17 and she had told him she was on the pill on Valentine's Day. However, it wasn't enough to make him want to stop. He would just be a tad more careful next time.

"Yayoi Dear... He makes her happy and she is of legal age. I don't really see a problem with them marrying." He comforted his wife.

"I suppose you're right. He does take good care of her." She commented in defeat.

Sho saw his parents take pens in hand and sign a document then put it in an envelope. He smirked to himself. He felt relief. The prospect of him ever marrying Kyoko was finally off the table. She was someone else's burden now. He wondered just who would be desperate enough to marry such a plain, boring girl with no sex-appeal. He snorted. Probably someone equally plain and boring. He laughed. Probably some accountant or, something. He pictured some homely man with nerd glasses and pants that were too short.

Two weeks later, there was not a dry eye in school. Sho scoffed. Who cares if that no talent actor got married? But why would his friends be so put out?

"She got married! What a lucky guy..." His first friend lamented.

The other sighed. "I guess it's kind of a good thing though... It means the girls will stop going on and on about him all the time and start paying attention to us." The other tried to see the bright side.

"Yeah, but he took our Kyoko-chan." The first one groaned.

The second sighed. "Who else did you think was going to get her? She is number one on the list. Way, way out of our reach if you think about it."

"I suppose you're right. How could any guy resist her Natsu-sama." The first one shivered.

Sho shook his head at the idiocy. How could any man cling to just one woman when there was such a nice variety out there? Yet the thought just felt so completely hollow.

All the girls at the ryokan would just not shut up about the beautiful girl and her gaijin husband that rented the Honeymoon Suite. All he heard, everywhere he turned were the tittering and the giggles about all of the ruckus that they made at night. He really needed to see them for himself. He thought as he meandered his way to the garden where he had been told the woman was reading a book.

As he came to the doorway, he spied a stunning strawberry-blonde with delicious long legs, sitting elegantly on a bench near the fountain, reading a book of fairy tales. He watched as a tall green-eyed, blond male, handed her a bottle of water and wrapped his arms around her protectively. He couldn't help but feel a little envious of the guy. She was pretty easy on the eyes.

"Shotaro... Could you let Hizuri-san and Kyoko-chan know their table is ready?" His mother asked as she breezed past him on her way to the storage room.

He looked at his mother in confusion as she pointed to the couple in the garden and he nodded without thinking much on it. He felt his legs carry him to the garden and wondered how he had actually arrived in front of the lovey-dovey couple.

The beautiful strawberry-blonde looked up from her book as her husband nuzzled her neck. She looked surprised. She smiled brightly and his mind went blank. "Sho?! So nice to see you again. Did you need something?"

He snapped out of it. "Oh... Um... Okasan says your table is ready." He croaked out.

She giggled. "Kuon... Stop that... We have company."

"I can't help that my wife tastes and smells so good." He murmured.

She sighed. "Well... You need something other than me to eat, Kuon... Our table is ready."

Kuon laughed. He knew she didn't mean for it to come out the way it had sounded and judging from the way the boy in front of them paled and then turned five different shades of red, it had definitely been misinterpreted.

"You really should think about it before you say things, Love." He chuckled and kissed her forehead.

She blushed and stammered. "Kuon! You know what I meant!"

Kuon looked at the dumbstruck young man. "Yeah, but I don't think he did." He smiled brightly.

She groaned. "Fine, let's get something to eat... Food, I mean." She clarified as Kuon stood and took her hand.

For some reason, Sho felt like the world had crumbled around him.

After spending two weeks, mostly in their room, the Hizuri couple had moved on to spend time in America. Sho had approached his mother finally, to ask just what the heck had happened. Where Kyoko had gone, who exactly did she get married to and if she was ever coming back.

Yayoi sighed. "Shotaro... Kyoko-chan heard you the night she had left. You hurt her deeply. She was offered a career in entertainment and she made her decision that night. That man that was here with her was her husband Kuon Hizuri-san, Hozu Shuuhei's son. Apparently they have known each other since she was six. She met him that summer and they became friends. Of course if you would have been paying attention to her, you would have known all of this. They decided to come visit this past two weeks before leaving for Los Angeles. They've been offered leading parts in two movies out of Hollywood." His mother sighed and shook her head, then glanced up at him. "I suppose she's not so plain anymore, Shotaro?"

He heard his father chuckle. "It's much better this way. Keeping her here would have been like keeping a songbird caged. She needed to spread her wings Yayoi."

Yayoi agreed. "I just hope that one day, she will come back to visit us." She sniffled.

He kissed her temple. "Don't worry Dear... She will." He smiled softly and gave her a comforting hug.

Many regrets and a few short years later as Sho was preparing the meats for dinner he heard a familiar voice lilt from the front desk as his wife bustled about the ryokan.

"Edward Kuu Hizuri, Isabel Juliena! Stop where you are! You are not to go running off ahead like you own the place." She scolded.

"Yes Oka-san..." The little voices chimed dejectedly.

"Come on guys. You know your mother's in no condition to go running after you right now. Stop giving her a hard time." A deep rich male voice chuckled.

The moment he heard his mother call from the hall of the family living quarters, his heart sank and everything came into a crystal clear focus. He looked at his mother as she passed the doorway and followed her out. He saw his wife, that had been picked for him bow gracefully and his mother wrap her arms tightly around a very pregnant, now 24 year-old Kyoko as her husband occupied their two little 5 year-old doppelgangers by allowing them to use his body as a jungle gym.

"Tamiko-chan, this is Shotaro's adoptive sister, Kyoko and her husband Kuon." Yayoi introduced them and Sho winced. Perhaps that would be him, had he not been so completely selfish and insensitive all those years ago. Maybe things would have been different if he had never said those things to his mother and just picked up and taken her to Tokyo with him. However, now he was the Taisho of the Fuwa ryokan, something that he never really wanted to be and she was a big Hollywood movie star with a beautiful family.

~fin~