Chapter Six - Career Goals
Lory poured Kuon a drink and then handed Yashiro one as well as they sat in the office. These two had been great friends to Kuon whereas Kyoko had cut the two of them out of her life as well. None of them had known about the twins until Kuon had accidentally run into them and if he hadn't done so there was a probability that they still wouldn't know.
"I suppose we aren't hosting a paternity party," Lory said and Kuon looked out the window. He was happy that he knew that he had kids and he would do whatever was in his power to provide for them but he wished that he could have changed diapers, heard their first words, seen their hand reach out for different objects and see the difference between the two of them.
None of this was their fault. They were accepting him into their lives, the father that they had never met but he would have met had he known about them. As innocent and protected as Kyoko felt that she was, he wasn't a monster. He hadn't done anything monstrous to her and if she wanted to say that he put more priority into his work than his family, then that was true but only because he didn't see his children, he didn't know about them.
"Are you serious about coming back to LME?" he asked and Kuon stared across at him, his face showing his seriousness about the subject.
"I'm more serious about that than anything else," he said before looking at the ground. "I need to do this. I need to be with my kids, in the same country as them at least and I need to provide for them," Kuon looked up at Lory, "You know that I can't just sit around and do nothing and acting is the career that I was born to have. There are no small parts," Kuon stressed, "only actors unable to handle them."
Yashiro smiled at that, there were plenty of people who would be tripping over one another to get to Kuon. He was the rare actor who had started in Japan and gone on to receive an Academy Award for his work. He also didn't act like a diva, he was humble and worked hard. People wanted that type of an actor, Kyoko should have considered herself lucky that he had wanted her.
"So, I'll set you up with the paperwork and find you a place to live," Lory said and Kuon reached forwards.
"I have a request for that," he said and Lory nodded. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it, his eyes not leaving Kuon's face.
"I know, you'd like somewhere with three bedrooms, two baths. I mean, you want for your children and maybe even Kyoko to stay with you. I will find a place to accommodate them. I also want to meet them but I think that there are two people who are heartbroken that they hadn't known of -"
"My parents will be visiting Kyoto," Kuon said before taking a sip of his drink.
Yashiro shook his head, "I know that you've scared her in the past and Kyoko has always been a bit strange in that rather charming way but I never thought that she'd be able to do something like this. I didn't know that something like this was….who does this?"
Kuon closed his eyes. He turned to look out of the window at the city outside. He didn't know what he had done to hurt her or why she hadn't told him. He didn't know why she was so scared of messing with his life but she hadn't respected him enough to make his own decisions. He would have proposed to her and been a family with her if she hadn't run. He hadn't done anything to deserve the lies that hiding two children would bring.
"I don't know," Kuon sighed, "I can't forgive her but what I can do is try to move on and focus on my kids. I need to be the dad that I'm allowed to be now, not the one who doesn't even know his children are alive."
…..
…..
Lory looked at the man in front of him as they sat in the office for one of the final times. There would only be one time after this that Kuon would be back but he would be leaving the next night to go to Los Angeles. Lory had tried to set things up for him in America but the plans had been hijacked and taken over by Kuu. Still, that meant that he could close the chapter on this part of his life.
The only part that he wanted to save was Kyoko but with how she had vanished, she was only a memory to him now. She didn't want to be found. He was kicking himself inside, he should have been honest with her. He should have told her who he was before he even kissed her romantically. He was so scared of being rejected that he had hurt her. He wished she knew that.
"If Kyoko comes back…" he said and Lory sighed.
"Kuon, you're finally using your real name again. Don't pin all of your dreams to one woman even if it is Mogami-san," he said and Kuon looked away feeling very distant. He didn't believe that he would ever find someone who could take Kyoko's place in his heart. He had to keep going forward though. He had already been trapped in the past, he had to keep going and realize that there were people who cared about him and wanted him and there would be people in the future who would want him.
"I love her, she taught me how to love," Kuon replied. "I thought that I gave her everything but I don't really know much about love," he laughed and Lory looked at him sadly.
"Don't think of it in that way," Lory shook his head. "Take those painful memories and become an even bigger star in America than you are here. Shatter records. Let the world see the light that I've always seen within you. I'm going to keep watching you, Kuon, don't let all of your work and all of your sacrifice to be for nothing. Don't let me down," he said and Kuon nodded.
He had so many dreams of having Kyoko there with him, of making her dreams come true and of them spending a life together but he had messed up and lost that one amazing part of his life. Lory was right though. He couldn't stay in Japan forever trying to find her. He had to understand that she wasn't there anymore. He had to fight for himself and focus on his other dreams no matter how much it stung his heart.
…..
…..
Yuuki nervously looked out of the window at the inn. It had started to rain outside meaning that he couldn't go and play in the woods as he liked to do. He wanted to go and hide and run and jump but the mud was dangerous when it was wet. He had wanted to learn more about his daddy but his mother had told him that in order for him to be part of their family, he would have to leave.
Yuuki looked over at Rin who was playing with some large markers and a large sheet of paper. He saw the animals playing there. Rin always loved animals. He wondered whether his daddy would like animals too and what kind of animals he preferred.
"Daddy's a magician, right?" Yuuki asked Rin who looked at him.
"No. I don't think so," she smiled as she colored in a horse. "I think that he acts and performs in front of a huge camera. He won that award, right?"
"So, no magic?" Yuuki asked before sitting down, "That would have been fun."
"Maybe Daddy has magic," Rin shrugged. "You know Mommy said that he's like a fairy prince so there's probably some kind of human magic there. I want to see his magic," Rin grinned and Yuuki sighed, slumping onto the floor again.
It would seen be time for them to have dinner and then get washed up and go to bed and he hadn't really done much of anything today. He had wanted to spend time with his father but his dad had left and Yuuki hoped that it wasn't for forever.
Yuuki sat down against the wall and felt his head getting heavy and his eyelids start to drop. He didn't want to take a nap or go to sleep without seeing his father. He needed to see his father. He didn't want for his dad to go away forever again.
As Yuuki was almost asleep, there was a knock on the door of their room and Kyoko opened it. Yuuki looked up sleepily before hearing Rin exclaim loudly, "Daddy!" she said with a laugh before looking down nervously. She twisted her foot in a self conscious manner. She wasn't sure whether she did anything he didn't like or what he did like but both twins were interested in getting to know more about him.
"Daddy's here!" Yuuki ran forward and into Kuon's arms as he knelt down in front of them. Kuon pulled Yuuki into his embrace and as Rin came forwards, he hugged both twins at the same time, placing kisses on their forehead. "Welcome home," Yuuki smiled innocently and Kyoko could see Kuon flinch at that but he didn't comment on it.
"I missed you two today. I managed to make it so that we can play a lot more and that I won't be so far away from you guys," he said and Yuuki turned to Rin. Both of them were smiling, eager to get to know the man in front of them who was showing only love for them.
"Daddy!" Rin said as she showed the same kind of happiness, "We haven't eaten dinner today. Are you going to join us for dinner tonight?" she said and Kuon looked to them before turning to Kyoko. He hadn't proposed the idea to her and he had the feeling that she would shoot him down but he wanted to try anyway.
"I was hoping that I could take you guys out to eat," he told them and Yuuki and Rin looked to one another excitedly before hearing Kyoko cough.
"Do you think that that's a wise idea?" she asked and Kuon looked ahead of him, not focusing on anyone in particular, just focusing on the empty space that was right in front of him. "I mean, going out for a meal is a big thing."
"I was going to invite you as well," Kuon said through gritted teeth. He didn't want to get into an argument but he intended to spoil his kids as much as possible.
"Well, the children will be having dinner here. They already have meals that are going to be served to them and I don't think that it would do either of them any good going out in public with you," she said and Kuon's back straightened, from when had Kyoko been this god damn brazen? "I mean, don't you know who you are?"
"We're not allowed to eat with Daddy?" Yuuki asked as he held onto one of his plush toys and Rin turned to look at Kuon and then at Kyoko and back again.
"What did Daddy do wrong?" she asked, "Why can't we go and eat out in a restaurant?" she asked and Kyoko bit her top lip. Kuon looked back at her, raising an eyebrow to try to challenge her to give a good answer and Kyoko shifted uneasily.
"Daddy doesn't want you to eat with him, he'll have many photographs taken and he doesn't want you to be in them," she said uneasily and Kuon's eyes widened as he heard that. He looked up at Rin and Yuuki and saw the disappointment in their faces and the tears in their eyes. He took deep breaths so that he wouldn't yell in front of them and scare them even more.
"No, that's not the reason," Kuon said before wiping away some of the tears from Rin's cheeks. "I want for you guys to come with me, otherwise I wouldn't have asked, would I?" he said and both of the twins tried hard to stop crying. Kuon made a fist as he felt the anger run through his veins again. Why did she keep doing this to him?
End of Chapter Six
Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated
Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter Five
Belarose, brennakai, Crazy4Animation, Erza, Guest, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, kotoko-98, valie France
AN: Can anyone tell that Ren/Kuon is my favorite Skip Beat character?
Followed by Kuu, Yashiro, and then honestly Itsumi and Kijima are making an impact on me since I'm rereading the series. Sorry if it insults anyone but I think I much prefer Itsumi to Kyoko these days, not that I'm planning on writing any Itsumi/Ren fanfics.