AU: So, this is yet another new Skip Beat story for me which takes place in the future with information stopping just before the Momiji arc. I feel terrible but I barely read scanslations anymore so I'm actually stuck behind on the official English translation but since it's future set hopefully you'll forgive me 😊 (please let me know if the chapters come out biweekly ever again and I'll start looking at raws.)

Well, I hope you enjoy.

The Voice

Chapter One – One, Two, Testing

The twenty-five-year-old was bored.

It was surprisingly true and the actor didn't think it was the confines of the Japanese acting community that made it so. The top male actor in Japan also didn't believe that this boredom was directed towards his marriage and his new wife, the top actor in Japan overall. His marriage was something that kept him motivated, kept him interested.

It also wasn't from any kind of health problem or life event, he wasn't even in a slow peak of his acting career. He was currently the main star of a hit Japanese drama which focused on life in a crime noir style.

Yet, Kuon Hizuri, was apathetic to life without a clear reason as to why this was so.

In terms of his acting career, his romantic life, his friends and social life he was doing well. Apparently, outing himself as Kuon Hizuri had led to a rapid growth on his social life and getting close to other actors. Maybe it was also his marriage to Kyoko that had garnered him more friends. Although he had to admit that his manager was his closest friend – other than Kyoko - .

I truth, Kuon knew that he was bored but he only had a suspicion as to why this was the case and it all revolved around him. The lack of Ren Tsuruga in his life was the key contributor to this excruciatingly painful boredom in his personal life.

So many years of his life had been behind creating that character, perfecting that character, and understanding that a large part of him hadn't been playing a character at all and that he had actually become the man he was by acting as Ren so much that he was a mix of both Ren and Kuon.

What more, Japan didn't hate him for who he was.

There had been gossiping in the beginning. A good number of rumors that Lory had to silence and people had come to learn truths about his life that Kuon hadn't been willing to share with them by that point. Still, after two years of having people call him Kuon or Hizuri-san, he had gotten used to being the fully rounded individual that he had accepted himself to be.

More than just accepting himself, it had seemed that the Western world was starting to accept him. He had taken part in several oversea dramas and films, but he was trying to figure out the best time of moving with Kyoko. Maybe that was the origin to his boredom, anxiety about the want to move and the want to leave Japan. It didn't feel like that though.

He had tried to fill the gap that Ren had left within him.

He had tried to find something that he would enjoy enough to invest hours out of his week to, but somehow all of the hobbies that he had tried, he had either lost passion for or had given up on. That was until he had discovered the guitar and improved greatly on the piano.

When Kuon had first started trying to find a hobby, he had thought about photography. There was a beauty in trying to capture the innocent and awe inspiring events of an everyday reality. These actions would be saved within the image. That had led him to the excitement that he had has as Corn in seeing the birds and fish and all the animals that he could just observe.

He would try to plan his day around going to different areas in Tokyo that were known for the animals that lived in those habitats, but whereas some of the birds would be hard to find, a very tall, blond, American actor, wasn't hard to find at all. Kuon would find that he would be attempting to take a shot at something inspiring and then someone else would scare the creature off by trying to take a picture of him.

Bad idea really, trying to be a nature photographer in the middle of Tokyo.

At twenty-three, Kuon had turned his attention towards writing. He was actually very good at the craft and spent hours plotting character backgrounds and interactions, making edits to his work, expanding on the scenery and settings for the worlds that he made up. He hadn't told anyone about it, but when Lory had found out about it he had tried to see if it could get published.

It could, but only under the name Kuon Hizuri.

That wasn't going to provide the same excitement that acting under the name of Ren Tsuruga would. He didn't even have to appear in person for a book to work, but the publishers wanted to use his name to sell them despite them saying that if he was a typical author they would have let him use a penname.

So, he had rejected their offer and posted it online with a fun pseudonym and it had been hailed as one of the best unpublished works at that time. It was as if he could do anything that he set his mind to, just like those celebrities who enjoyed planning their own subscription box programs. It was when he had been praised for his dabbling at poetry, that Kuon knew exactly what he wanted to do.

So, over the past year and a half, Kuon had married the love of his life and gained expertise in two musical instruments. Maybe it was true when Yashiro tried to call him a demon for gaining so much skill and knowledge.

Those were the events that led to where the twenty-five-year-old was right then, sitting in a recording studio holding an electric guitar and with a microphone up to his chin.

This was going to be his first single and there were only three other people who knew about this. Surprisingly, this group did not include his wife.

Kuon smiled as he played the main instrumental element of his song which showed the mastery that Kuon had over the instrument. He closed his eyes but he knew that Lory and Yashiro probably were staring at him with some kind of judging mind. Hopefully he hadn't disappointed them by campaigning so hard for a chance to sing.

Kuon would not have liked to admit that alongside his pedigree in acting which was seen as second to his wife. He had a voice that was about to release a chart topping single. For him, this was something he could do to gain some excitement in his life. He took confidence in his acting but singing was a completely new frontier for him.

Kuon took a silent inhale before he sang with such passion and heart and heat the lyrics that he had spent time writing himself.

"Change the anger inside you into light. Let it shine within you, shine out, shine bright. I'll watch you set the world alight. Then, trust me girl, I'll treasure you tonight."

Kuon perfected the final instrumental chords of the song before allowing himself to sit there until he was notified by Nakazawa that they were done.

"I can tell why so many people are jealous of you, Kuon," he said as Kuon gave a weak smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "That is one powerful voice."

"Really?" the blond actor said with a nervous smile, "Are you sure the lyrics were alright?"

Even with all of his experience in the entertainment industry and the traumatic past incidents he had been through, by becoming Kuon, Kyoko had helped heal the son that Julie and Kuu had raised and thought of fondly. He was so lucky to have Kyoko in his life.

"They were great, Kuon" Lory said as he laughed seeing how much the man could get done if he applied himself and put full concentration onto his aims. Lory had felt that Kuon had just been treading water for a while, this new addition to his career would hopefully open up a new path for growth.

"You don't leave any talent for anyone else, that's for sure," Yashiro commented with a grin. He raised an eyebrow though as Kuon came towards the door, "Are all of your songs going to be about Kyoko, though?" he asked as Kuon laughed.

"I thought that it was said to be best when you write about what is important to you," he laughed with a grin before looking back into the booth. "Should I do it again?" he asked though that was the fourth time he had tried to perfect it. "It doesn't sound terrible, right?"

"Definitely not," Yashiro said before looking at the president and trying to decide how to address the topic that was hanging over all of them. "I still think that you should tell Kyoko about this. If she finds out on her own it might be as if you don't trust her. She just married you six months ago, I doubt you want anything to add rocks to your relationship."

Kuon shook his head before sighing as he put a damp towel to his face, "I will eventually. I'm more enjoying how fun it is to be able to do something new and people not to know that it's me. I want to see her reaction to this new persona. I think she'd understand."

"Knowing her, it was with that understanding that she agreed to marry you," Lory commented, "but don't make her wait too long. That girl does not like to be left out and being treated like an outsider by her own husband, hopefully that won't cause too much damage."

"So," Yashiro said as he took the recording that Nakazawa handed to him. "What have you planned out for the name of this persona?"

"I want to go by the stage name Maze," Kuon said as the three men stared at him confused but Lory looked up.

"I like it," he admitted, "It gives it an air of mystery and it's easy to remember. It also fits the rock vibe of the debut song."

Kuon nodded, "Then Maze it is," he said not wanting to talk about the meaning of the real word, maize.

…..

…..

Kuon smiled up at his wife as they sat in the new restaurant that Kyoko had asked to try out. It was a more modern restaurant which was almost like a diner but much more elegant. The music they played consisted of some classic rock but a lot of it was glam rock, new rock, or pop rock. The music wasn't the reason why Kyoko had picked the restaurant.

It was the beautiful drinks, the hamburgers on the menu, the idea that she could be intimate with her husband despite people wanting to capture all of their dates and publish them in their magazines. It was elegant and had had a rich young woman on the advertisement. Kyoko had been excited to learn what a rich young lady's version of hamburger eggs would be.

"Kuon," Kyoko smiled as she took in how gorgeous her husband looked in his designer, long-sleeved tee and jeans that gripped his butt just so. "I have to tell you that I was offered a short-term project in the UK," she said to him as Kuon smiled, his eyes showing his surprise.

"Wow," he laughed before taking a sip of his drink, "That sounds like an amazing opportunity if you go for it," he said as she nodded. "You know I'm supportive of whatever you want to do," he told her as he reached forward to take her hand and bring it up to his lips.

"I love you for that, Kuon" Kyoko replied, "You know that I'd support you."

"I do know that you support me," Kuon smiled as he nodded. "We'll work things out. If you want to do it then go for it," he said as he held her hand again and squeezed it to show his support for her. It was then that he heard the very familiar intro to a new song. He tried to keep a passive face as he heard himself sing and he made a note in his mind each time he felt that he could have done better on a part.

He hadn't noticed the restaurant around him that had gone silent over how impressed people were with his song. He looked up at Kyoko and saw that she was grinning excitedly over the music. It looked like she really enjoyed it.

"Who do you think sings this?" she asked him as Kuon shrugged.

"I'm not sure, you know that I'm not the best person to ask when it comes to new artists," he lied flawlessly, so well in fact that Kyoko couldn't even detect it.

Kyoko looked up at the waiter as he passed the table and the song had ended, "Can you tell me who sang that?" she asked getting out her phone. Kuon felt his stomach sink out of panic on what she might find. Fortunately all that was known about 'MAZE' was that he was part of LME.

"It's a new singer, MAZE, isn't it great?" the waiter grinned to her.

Kyoko laughed, "So much better than Shou," she joked with Kuon having no idea that this new powerful singer was her husband who was sitting right in front of her.

AN 2:

First of all thank you for reading, if people seem interested in me continuing this then please leave a review and also please forgive me for slower uploads on all of my fics this upcoming week or two. I'm going to be taking a look at all of them and evaluating where I'd like to take them next.