After the Assassination

Chapter One

Kuu sighed as he watched the scene in front of him. Next he would be filming his scene with the other actor but as for the moment he was being distracted by a series of ads related to his interests and which he probably should delete from his browsing history.

Yes, he was interested in getting more Japanese celebrity news about the prolific actor, Tsuruga Ren.

Yes, he was a fan of Ren's and wanted to purchase his new work from an international vendor.

Yes, he did want to book extremely discounted business class tickets to fly to Japan. No. He just wanted to purchase any tickets to fly to Japan. He sighed and tried to clear the browsing history once again. He was usually strong but he wasn't that strong. He wasn't supposed to be having contact with his son but he still wanted to know about what Kuon was doing and how strong he was becoming. He couldn't survive only on what Boss wanted to tell him.

"Mr. Hizuri," Kuu heard an unfamiliar voice asked and he quickly stuffed his phone in his bag before they asked him questions about who Ren Tsuruga was and his fascination with him.

"Yes, it's time for the ne-" Kuu began but as soon as he saw the two police officers there he froze. He realized that everyone was staring at him and he looked between the director and the police officers. He had no idea why they would be there. He had American citizenship, sure he wasn't born in America but that didn't stop him from having lived in this country for the last two decades.

"Is it possible to talk to you concerning a…family matter?" one of the officers said in a low voice so nobody could hear what she said. Kuu looked around. What did they mean a family matter?

"Is Julienna?" he asked and the male officer shook his head.

"Sir, it would be better to do this in private. It's rather confidential information," he told him and Kuu laughed weakly.

"You have to tell me if my wife is alive at least," he panicked, "You have to inform someone if their spouse is dead. I don't mind giving information but if Ju-"

"We don't know if the…target is alive or dead," the man said as the female officer shot him a glare and Kuu started to panic more. "We do request that you'll come with us now," he said trying to not cause a scene and Kuu looked at him, his fist clenching and unclenching.

"Your wife is alive to our knowledge, sir," she said as she started escorting Kuu off set with everyone watching. "We can confirm this at the station, there is another agent speaking with her right at this moment," Kuu stared at her confused as they went to the squad car and a runner said that he would bring Kuu's items to his home as well as a garment bag for the wardrobe pieces he was in.

Once they got to the car, the woman opened the door and Kuu looked at her nervously wondering what happened, it wasn't making any sense to him. "How much do you know of your son's whereabouts?" she asked and Kuu looked at her. Kuon? American police officers were asking him about Kuon?

"I'm not testifying against my own son, whatever you think you might have learned," he said quickly and the officer closed his door and climbed into the drivers side with her male partner in the passengers.

"This isn't a trial or a court case," she said, "we just have cause to worry about your son's current safety."

Kuu froze. What were they trying to tell him?

…

…..

Lory sat down slowly at the bar at LME. He felt completely drained and as if he needed some liquid courage. He had started getting calls the previous day that Ren had disappeared and wasn't showing up to work and he had confirmed with Yashiro that he hadn't seen him. It was definitely not like him. Ren didn't even really show up late – save that one time in Guam – and not showing up at all was opposite to his character.

This was another day when Ren hadn't been present and nobody could find where he went or find where his car was. Lory kept trying to place phone calls to where he thought people might have answers or information for him about the top actor's whereabouts. Lory took a drink as he tried to figure out any stones that he had left unturned.

As he sat there, Ruto approached him and he looked up at his assistant who was holding a wireless phone.

"Hizuri-san is calling you," he told him and Lory's eyes widened. He was pretty sure that it wasn't Kuon but maybe Kuu had some information that he didn't have. Lory took the phone and went to a private corner. He looked around, nobody could see him here and he was nervous about the type of call it was. Would it be too much to hope that Kuon was with his parents in America?

"Hello, Shuuhei?" Lory asked desperately and Kuu took a sharp inhale.

"Your tone doesn't sound great, Boss" Kuu said as he sounded panicked himself. "I wouldn't usually do this but do you have information?" he asked and Lory took steady breaths.

"About your son's location?" he asked before pausing. How was Kuu able to find out this information so quickly. Lory hadn't even been sure of it until the previous night and he saw Ren on most days, Kuu hadn't seen him since he visited during the Dark Moon airing, it had been months since then. "I don't know. I was blindly hoping that you would know."

"All I am aware of is what the police told me," Kuu said and Lory froze. Kuu had spoken to the police and about Kuon of all subjects? "There was a…a serial killer or a psychopath or somebody who had plans to…to take care of him," Kuu said as he tried to slow his breathing. "Something about a murder, something about arson. They even had the address for the LME agency."

Lory froze. Could something like this have happened to the famous actor?

"Could you send me all the information you have?" Lory asked, "It might help me figure out where to look for him. Send it in a private email, encrypt the document in a way only I can handle it," he said and Kuu agreed to do so. Somehow the worry deepened even more for both of them.

Lory paused as he heard a beeping from his phone telling him that he received a text. He opened his phone and froze, his eyes widening as he saw a picture of Ren's car half burned and destroyed by a bridge near the water. He could also see a corpse but the body was crisp and it was hard to identify. It could be Kuon.

Lory took a slow breath and closed his eyes, he looked at the photo again and copied it to Kuu typing in a message to him: You might not like what you see.

…

…

Lory wanted more information but he couldn't get any. He kept studying the car. Nobody could have survived that, it looked like a car explosion but didn't car explosions usually happen when you turned the ignition. You wouldn't crash off of the side of a bridge if that was the case. He knew from the license plate number that it was Ren's car but the body wasn't able to be identified and was most likely at the morgue right now though he still had to get confirmation about that.

He had asked a couple of the security guards to stay at the agency, promising to pay them overtime pay for their work and also arrange a bonus for them but he couldn't go home just yet. He was the only worker left other than the guards and Ruto who wasn't leaving his side this time.

There was a beep from the front and Lory frowned. There was an intruder? There shouldn't be anyone trying to get in at this hour and the agency was hard to burgle. He pressed his finger on the talk button. "Takarada speaking," he said and one of the security guards contacted him again.

"President, sir, I think there's something that you need to check out in person," one of the guards said and Lory froze. What was he supposed to be looking at or looking for? He agreed to come down and went to the first floor with Ruto following him.

As he saw the guard next to somebody at the front entrance, his eyes widened. He was covered in blood that seemed to not only be his own but someone else's as well, he had scars over his body and first degree burns, he had a couple of bruises on his face but unless it was a very good Ren lookalike, his non-biological son had come back.

"Ren?" he asked as he studied him and the man turned to him.

"Hello," he said with a bow but it was more than obvious that his back was hurting. He was speaking in Japanese but with a weird accent. "Could I ask you a question?" he said and Lory nodded slowly. He wasn't going to explain how he had miraculously survived the attempt on his life. "Could you tell me who I am?"

Lory paused, he took a step back and studied him. "Let's get you to a hospital first," he said knowing that this particular question would have many layers for an answer. He'd get Kuon to a hospital whilst also sending a message to Kuu that Kuon was alive…or as alive as an amnesiac could be.

….

….

Four hours after Kuon had been admitted to the hospital, Lory had made sure that he was okay to appear on a video call. He had also asked Kuon who seemed to have a completely blank memory of who he was or how he came to be in Japan. Lory had also phoned Kuu and told him this and set up the call. He was dialing the number and handed it to Kuon.

Kuon blinked at the screen as the two people's faces appeared and he looked at them blankly, no memories were triggered but he could see the pain and yet the relief as they took him in. "Hello," he said uncomfortably.

"Baby," Julie gasped as she looked at the injuries, "Are you okay? Do you need us to come there? I'll come right away."

"Just try to get better, okay?" Kuu asked as he couldn't hold back a sob of relief. His son was alive. He was hurt and he was looking at them as if they were complete strangers to him but he was alive. "Do you remember anything?" he asked and Kuon shook his head.

"They say that I have two names," he said and Kuu and Julie nodded. "I don't understand. Ren Tsuruga is a stage name but the doctors don't know my real name?" he asked before looking at Lory who nodded. "The president of the acting agency said you were my parents," he said in an uncertain manner.

"Yes," Julie sobbed, "You're our son, our little boy. It'll be okay, my love," she attempted to comfort him. Kuu watched him, his heart sinking a little but Kuon needed to be cared for right now. He needed somebody to trust.

"I'll be there as soon as possible, get some rest" Kuu told him and Kuon stared at him uncertainly.

"You're my father, right?" he asked and Kuu choked a little.

"Yeah," he said sadly, pained that Kuon really couldn't remember what had happened. "I'm your Dad. I'll always be your Dad even when you pretend that I'm not."

End of Chapter One

Thank you for reading