Chapter Six :: Arriving at Location

One Week Later

Kuon smiled back at Naomi as she watched him pack her clothes into his suitcase before the trip. He had already discussed it with the director that because of his "special circumstances" he would be allowed to bring his daughter on location with him, that meant that they were heading back to Kyoto for a week. "So," Kuon beamed at his daughter, "Are these all the clothes that you want to bring?"

Naomi nodded as she watched what he was doing in interest, she jumped off the bed before taking a closer look. "I want to pack Ami" she told him stubbornly "and her clothes."

Kuon raised an eyebrow as she talked about her toy cat that she had made at the 'Stuff a Bear' in Tokyo. He wasn't sure how many cat dresses he could pack without Yashiro growing suspicious of this behavior, of course they were Naomi's toys so he couldn't really say no, especially since he had seen his daughter fall apart the last week and this was something that was cheering her up at least a little. "Well go get her," he told Naomi who dashed off and went to get the white cat and her multiple outfits.

"Here," Naomi told him passing it forward as Kuon smiled. "Is she going to be lonely in there alone?" she asked as Kuon turned to her and put a hand on the top of her head.

"Why don't you take her with you in the car? It's going to be a long ride anyway," Kuon told her honestly. He stood up once he had put the dresses, skirts and kimonos into the case. "Make sure to bring her accessories too," he told her as he walked over to her room. He watched as she followed and then caught sight of some pictures that Naomi had been drawing. He walked over to them and noticed that they were of the three-person family or what used to be the three-person family. "You've been drawing mummy?" he asked her as she nodded.

"Yes, I wrote her a letter too...can you send it to her?" Naomi asked picking it up and looking at her father with pleading eyes.

Kuon's smiled dampened slightly as he caught sight of the messy handwriting and the pictures of them together as a family. "I can't send it to her Naomi," he told her, "I don't know the address."

"Can you find out?" Naomi started to beg, "I really want mummy to get my letters"

"Umm," Kuon paused, hesitating to say what he wanted to, "I don't think I can find out," he told her honestly, "Because she's not here anymore. She's in heaven."

"Okay," Naomi nodded before writing the word 'He-ben' on a piece of paper, she showed it to Kuon who felt even more awkward as this was said. "Now can you send it?"

"You can't send letters there," the actor attempted to explain.

"Please?" Naomi begged him, holding the paper close to her chest, "You can always sort out problems daddy. You're great at it," she paused before saying the words she had heard her mother say to her father before, "I trust you with all my heart."

"I trust you with all my heart," Kyoko grinned as she held the spatula she was using close to her chest. She giggled as he leaned down close to her and then kissed her neck. "if you keep distracting me Kuon you're never going to get breakfast. Don't you want some."

"Of course I want some," he told her kissing her again, "But I'm still so happy with your taste in my mouth," he turned her around before kissing her passionately, she sank into the kiss as she felt his arms around her. "There," he told her, "Better than any breakfast."

"Kuon," Kyoko continued to laugh, "Do you have to tease me so much?"

"Of course I do, isn't that a husband's job?" he chuckled as he gazed back at their one year old daughter who was sitting waiting for her own breakfast. "So who gets to feed her today?"

"You do the honors," Kyoko grinned as she passed forwards a spoon.

"Daddy?" Naomi asked tilting her head to the side, "What are you thinking about?"

Kuon blinked at her before shaking his head, trying to wake himself up. He took another deep breath before looking down at his watch and covered it with his hand, he had felt such a loss when he had forgotten to wear it the few times he had and although Kyoko had been there with him to support him even she knew how this watch allowed him to think about things more before acting.

"Nothing," he lied as Naomi shook her head.

"No daddy you were thinking about something," she told him before finding him to hold her closely, she rested her head upon his chest as he knelt down with her so he could hug her. These memories would always be there and the best thing he could do was to not let them affect him that much, he had to be strong and not show his weaknesses especially in front of his daughter. "Daddy can I sleep in your bed tonight?"

"Sure angel," he whispered before kissing her on the top of the head again. "We can share a bed tonight," he told her, "And tomorrow morning we have to get up early so that we can leave and get down to Kyoto quickly because daddy has to work the day after tomorrow." He held her closely to his chest, running his fingers through her blonde hair with a parent's love in his heart.

Naomi grinned back up at him before starting to cry again, "I wish mummy was coming too,"

"Me too," Kuon whispered, "Me too."

The Next Day

Kuon got out the car finally feeling like he had driven for a century because of how long the trip was, he turned back to Yashiro who was making sure that Naomi was alright. "Sorry that I had to bring her, I didn't want to leave her alone and I thought it was best for me to bring her and complete this acting job rather than leave her behind."

"You don't need to explain things to me Kuon," Yashiro replied as he watched as Kuon locked his car and then walked over to where Naomi was asleep before hoisting her into his arms. "You're doing well as a parent Kuon."

Kuon chuckled at this not knowing whether to disagree or not, he was doing his best with Naomi, but he was certainly not a prize winning father. "I've been talking to Maria a lot, trying to get some ideas of what Lory and her father did after he mother's de-death," he still wasn't used to that word because it only reminded him of the fact that he would never, could never see or be with Kyoko again.

He missed everything about her, but all of that were just memories of the past now, no matter what that damn Fuwa said to him he knew that these were just shadows of ghosts he was thinking about, nothing that he could actually touch. She wasn't there anymore and anyone who concentrated on her possibly being alive was only fooling themselves, at least that was the way he had seen it.

Yashiro watched as Kuon walked ahead of him, holding Naomi tightly in his arms. Anyone would notice the change in this man if they watched him, although it wasn't right to say that he was still in denial of Kyoko's death it was as if he still hadn't realized it fully yet, he hadn't realized that his wife was never going to come back. Inside the manager knew how his client was feeling, he hadn't watched him for these eight and a half years for nothing, he knew the inner workings of Kuon's mind probably better than the actor knew himself.

Kuon turned back to the brunette displaying an actor's smile since he was scared of his own emotions at this time, "We should go say hello to the director, let him know that we're here."

"Right," Yashiro agreed picking up the pace so he was walking beside Kuon. "Do you think she's going to wake up soon,"

"We'll have to see," Kuon replied kissing his daughter on the top of her head again, "But even when she's awake, Naomi's not the type of girl who will cause trouble."

"You're right," Yashiro nodded, "She doesn't seem to be that kind of child. In fact I think that girl is one of the sweetest, most well behaved girls I've known. People say that to have a child like that is a sign of good parenting."

"Kyoko's influence," Kuon replied as Naomi yawned before settling herself upon his shoulder again.

"I've heard that one of the makeup artists doubled as a babysitter for a while, are you thinking of asking her for help?" Yashiro inquired trying to think of how Kuon could make sure that Naomi behaved herself and didn't get in the way of filming.

"Yes, although I did think of letting her uncle look after her," Kuon nodded, he bowed his head as he gazed at the girl he was holding. She was so precious to him now, his most treasured person in this world.

Yashiro laughed, "I'd be glad to, how much trouble could she be?"

"None, I'll make sure of it," Kuon replied softly before hearing Naomi wake up.

"Are we there yet?" she asked sleepily as Kuon nodded, kissing her once again

"Yeah angel we are," he held her tighter as he got to the area where the director was waiting for him. He gave Shinkai a professional nod of the head, "It's good to be working with you again, and thank you for understanding that I couldn't leave my daughter alone."

"It's understandable, anything to keep you on the job right Hizuri?" Seishi told him before looking around, "Have you ever been to Kyoto.." he paled thinking back on what he had just said. Kyoko's funeral had been said to have been held here so of course Kuon would have come, "i mean apart from last week."

"A few times when I was younger and a few times with Kyoko," Kuon replied sinking into a light depression before picking himself back up with once again a Tsuruga-san smile. That was a defense mechanism he had learned over the years, to use that sort of smile to sway others against the idea that he wasn't alright. He felt Naomi kicking in his arms and frowned before putting her down.

It was at that point that he saw a familiar woman coming towards him and looked away trying to show his dislike of her, this was someone from his past that he had come to know a little bit of before he had met Kyoko. Seishi leaned forward before gesturing the woman to Kuon.

"Hizuri, I'd like you to meet your new co-star this is,"

"Isuzu Maeda," both Isuzu and Kuon spoke together, their eyes meeting one another's before Isuzu chuckled to herself.

"Still missing your wife?" Isuzu asked him, "I thought you would have been over it by now."

"Never, I'll never be over her," he told her before hearing Naomi's voice as the young girl tugged on his hand.

"Daddy can I go exploring?" she asked sweetly as Kuon turned to Seishi

"Go, your scenes start tomorrow anyway," the director told him before Kuon walked along with Naomi's hand in his. They passed by some tall trees before he stopped at a large lake, it was at an area like this that he had first met Kyoko, but he wouldn't be finding her anymore. As he walked forwards his eyes lit up in interest as he caught sight of a bald headed woman wearing a white t-shirt and black jeans. She was wounded with dark marks all over her. However, there in her hand was an egg shaped rock that she was studying.

Naomi rushed over to her before Kuon could stop her, just watching this poor person in interest. He hadn't seen anyone like this human before, they seemed to look like an alien, but there was something so very familiar in their eyes as if he had seen it a million times before.

"Hi," Naomi grinned, "What's your name, my name is Hizuri Naomi."

"Hi-zu-ri Na-o-mi," the woman spoke in a voice different from her usual one, this had been an impact of the training techniques that Isuzu used. She didn't want for her identity to be found out because that might mean a loss of another helper. "I'm Busakimo..."

Naomi giggled, "That's a funny name," she said innocently before thinking. "I'm nearly five how old are you?"

"I don't know, mistress did not give me an age..." Busakimo told her before Kuon walked forwards out of interest and slight pity for this woman.

"Your mistress?" he asked, "What do you mean your mistress?"

"Mistress is the person I live to serve," Busakimo told him, "Don't you have a master or a mistress."

"I'm sorry but I live for myself," Kuon told her before seeing the stone that was next to her, the blue stone that he had heard about for so long. "K-Kyoko?" he asked in disbelief as Busakimo looked around at him terrified of that name but she didn't know why.

"I..."

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