Confabulation. (A Skip Beat! Fanfic)

Not Alone

Lory sighed deeply again as he looked down at the hand-held camcorder in his hand, remembering when Sebastian had turned up with Momose-san in tow.

"Sir we have a problem." Sebastian said entering the office without knocking. Lory looked up from the paperwork on his desk to his aid.

"I thought you were with them today?" Lory asked looking at his aid with puzzlement as Sebastian nodded handing Lory the camcorder he had been charged with.

"Ooooooh! Did you get some good shots?" Lory asked as Sebastian just nodded, Lory was about to turn around as Sebastian laid his hand on Lory's arm.

"Sir the video clearly shows the problem, but I have also brought the involved party along with me today." Lory looked up at Sebastian his face falling.

"Was Kuon recognised?" he asked voice quiet.

Sebastian shook his head and his eyes were grave. "No sir, but Miss Mogami-san was. The participant also saw Kuon and little Rosa. Miss Mogami-san had to tell her that baby Rosa was her daughter, but I stepped in before any more questions could be asked about Kuon and the conditions of the arrangement." Lory nodded slowly as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well done Sebastian. Show Momose-san in please. I will speak with her about this matter and please bring in one of the new confidentiality contracts we have drawn up, will you?"

Sebastian nodded and bowed walking out of the room again as Lory sighed and placed the camcorder in his draw for later perusal.

Lory had the camcorder wired up to his giant flat screen TV, watching the family fun day out between his favourite family. He couldn't help but smile at just how close they all seemed to be now. He was right, his number one Love Me girl had finally learnt to love. Watching right up until the last moment the camera had been switched off Lory sighed. The fear in Kyoko's eyes directed at Momose-san was enough to remind him of the fear and anguish in her eyes when she had come to see him and Doctor Benkia about Kuon's sudden headache and the implications that may entail.

"Did I do the right thing?" Lory asked the dark room around him before he sighed, the shadows to his right shifted as Sebastian stepped into the light area.

"Honestly sir?" Sebastian asked as Lory patted the seat beside himself.

"Yes Seb, I want your honest answer. Do you think I did the right thing?"

Sebastian looked at the man he served. He could not remember a day when his job with Lory had ever been boring. He was not only his boss, but his friend. He looked at the lines now under Lory's eyes realising how tired his old friend looked. Lory was always one of those people he thought never seemed to age, but looking at him now it was as if 20 years had been added onto his face and Sebastian hated seeing it.

"Well then, I don't think there was a right or wrong answer in this situation sir. Only a needed one. We are risking a lot keeping up the charade of Kuon's confabulation, but at the same time we would have risked his life by trying to break it immediately. The Dr told us the facts and he laid it out for us. Kuon could have gone into level 3 shock and died as a worst case scenario, sir. I myself would not have wanted that on my conscience."

Lory nodded at his friends words. He knew he was right, but still he couldn't help speaking his mind and his heart on the matter. "But would you be able to live with the fact you have broken a young woman's heart for the 2nd or perhaps the 3rd time in her young life? A young woman who deserves nothing but love and respect? Could you have that on your conscience?"

Sebastian showed the same pained expression Lory was feeling. There was just something about Kyoko. Somehow she seemed to burrow under the skin, but she didn't stay there. She quickly found her way through and straight to your heart, burying herself there so deeply that not even the strongest person could remove her. She may be an orphan runaway but that girl without trying already had more than one adoptive father figure. She probably had more than she could ever truly need. Her landlord, Kuu, Lory, Sebastian; all of them loved her like a daughter and would have done anything for her. So Lory wasn't alone in his pain, he knew this just looking into the eyes of one of his oldest friends as they sat there quietly together.