Chapter Ten - Observations

As Kuu got out of the cab at the set location, he looked around and noticed that people were staring at him. It wasn't uncommon for a celebrity to be stared at in Hollywood, that was actually one of the most expected things but he felt that he was very conspicuous. His son had died a week ago and he was returning to work, he felt selfish about that. He could barely breathe but he would have to use all of his skills in order to make it through the contracts which he needed to complete.

He had once said that not even a death should make it so that you are unable to complete an acting contract once it's signed. Yes, he had said that but he had never believed that it would be his son who he was mourning. He had a belief that he was still out there though. He was out there and just wasn't able to return home just yet but they'd save him.

As Kuu turned, he saw a newspaper stand and blinked. He couldn't smile unless he got into character but there was a magazine that had pictures of Kuon on it. He stared at it, moving over and saw that someone had written about Kuon's short life. He hadn't known about this. He grabbed about ten copies and slammed them down on the counter.

"I need to buy these," he said desperately and the man stared at him before looking down at the magazines.

"Sad case this one, kid never had a chance," the seller commented and Kuu stared at them. Didn't this man know who he was? No. That wasn't important. People didn't need to know who he was. He was being selfish and self-involved. He looked at the man and nodded, his fingers stretching out over the picture of Kuon and his countenance nearly breaking.

"Yes, very sad," Kuu mumbled as he held tight to some rosary beads that his paternal grandmother had had, they were supposed to bring you luck and lost love. He knew it wasn't enough to bring his son back but he would do anything for that to happen.

"The guy that they suspect did it just got released on bail," the seller commented as he handed Kuu back his change and put the magazines in a paper bag. Kuu stood there, his eyes widening as he stared at the seller in horror. They had put the man who everyone thought had done it in jail and he had been released on bail. He had murdered his son for no reason. No way could Kuon have done something to deserve his fate other than being his son.

"Is there a gun range around here? Baseball cages? Something that I can break?" he asked and the man looked at him. Kuu was distraught. Kuon wasn't coming back and this man was almost running free to do whatever he wanted to do. "I need to break something," Kuu said feeling the anger sink into him and the seller paused.

"You a relative of this kid?" he asked as he handed Kuu the bag which he snatched out of his hand.

"His father, actually," Kuu growled and the other man finally realized who he was talking to. Kuu had to kill someone but he knew that he would never get close to this actor. He wanted to murder him but it wasn't as if he could do that easily. Still, Kuu wanted him to feel the pain and suffering he had put Kuon through. Nobody should be able to do that to his kid and get away with it.

…

…

"You should never have come here," Kyoko said once again, this time changing her mood to angry as she stood in the acting class where she could be seen through the glass. Kuon sat outside on a bench watching her. For some reason the media wasn't flocking to him as his parents had been worried about. They probably didn't know who he was or didn't care who he was. He just wanted to slip into the shadows and observe as he had been doing for so many years.

"You should never have come here," Kyoko said in an excited manner and Kuon smiled. No matter what the assignment, Kyoko was really feeding off of it and performing amazingly. It reminded Kuon of when he had been a child and wanting to act had been his whole world. Those days were gone. Acting felt like he was hiding his true self and he had hidden for long enough.

Kuon sighed as he saw the students each with their own passion and stood up. He would take a quick walk and then surprise her and take her to lunch or something. He had been growing closer to her and the fact that he was out of the house had to mean something. He was daring to go out and into the world that had wronged him so much.

As he stood there, feeling a strange sense of weakness, he heard a familiar voice and looked up to see his mother talking with another woman. An actress. He hadn't told them that he was going to the agency, if he had they probably would have had a different reaction but Julie was staring at him as if he were some exotic animal and she rushed over to him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Honey, sweetheart, what are you doing here?" she asked as she placed a hand on his chest.

She didn't care if he was to have a violent outburst here. She didn't care if he supposedly brought shame upon the Hizuri household. He was here. He was here where she could touch him and he had gotten out of the house. "Do you need anything?"

"I was watching the actors in the class," Kuon said as he gestured in that direction and Julie halted. There were classes for guys too and Kuon wouldn't be the eldest in the class, they could be taken at any age. Cost was never a factor for them either.

"Did you want to join?" Julie asked before pausing as she looked away. They had a strict acting test to get in but she loved her son, she knew that Kuon was talented but she was scared that he might not be talented enough. No, Kuu could coach him if he did want to join one of those classes. Kuu might have lied to her but Julie still loved her husband and believed in him.

"No. I was…I was waiting for Kyoko-chan," he told her and Julie pulled him into a close embrace again. She smiled as he said that. Kyoko had accepted him even with his faults and Kuon needed friends his own age. He needed to have some kind of support other than what she and Kuu were providing for him. She would have to thank Kyoko for helping her son.

"Jules," her friend said as she walked over to them, "Friend of yours?" she asked.

Julie squeezed Kuon's hand before turning back to her. They had been saved by the fact that Kuon's existence wasn't publicized very much but Julie didn't want to lie. "Yumi-san," she said as she turned and placed a comforting hand on Kuon's upper arm. "I'd like for you to meet my son, Kuon," she said and Kuon dropped into a bow, his body seeming to twitch a little. "Darling," Julie said as she saw his unease. "It's okay. Yes, he's my little boy. We thought that he had -"

"You always said that your son was deceased," Yumi said confused and Julie opened her mouth to explain but Kuon lifted his head and turned to his mother guiltily.

"My parents didn't know that I was alive," Kuon tried to explain and Julie rubbed his arm. Kuon was so much more important to her than Yumi and though she didn't want to hurt her friend, she didn't want to deny those things. Kuon was her little boy, her son and he always would be.

As they stood there, they heard the sound of the class getting out and Kuon excused himself from the conversation, promising that he would call Julie were anything to go wrong. Yumi took a step closer to Julie, watching Kuon leave with a neutral expression.

"Are you sure that he's not a cheater," Yumi said and Julie felt her back straighten as she couldn't believe what her friend was suggesting. "Listen, you and Kuu-kun have a lot of assets, you have money and property and other expensive things and you told me that your son has been dead for a very long time," she told her and Julie paused.

"Kuon is not after any of our property and if he wants our money, fine, he can have it but that is my son. We did DNA tests and everything and his body was never recovered, all we had to go on was the feelings of other cases and hearsay evidence and the blood and obviously, his body was able to produce more blood. That is my son and I want him to be treated with respect without you accusing his nature."

Julie felt tears in her eyes that she didn't want to be there. She wanted everything connected with Kuon to be happy and good like they all deserved. She bowed her head, trying to gain her strength. She didn't want people talking about Kuon in that type of manner.

"Has he been to a psychiatrist?" Yumi asked and Julie started to walk away.

"I love you, I treasure our friendship but I will not stand for you passing judgment on him. Of course he's going to a psychiatrist, nobody lives through what he went through without deep emotional scarring and he's got his problems but we're working on them as a family. I want you to give him as much respect as you give to Kuu. He's my son and I don't want him to feel that he can't be in my life, do you understand?" Julie asked as she looked to Yumi, her eyes were sparkling with tears.

Yumi opened her mouth to say something but instead just decided to nod. Julie wrapped a hand around her waist wanting to feel secure in her decisions. Yumi had become an important friend to her but no one carried as much importance as the two most important men in her life.

…..

…..

As Kyoko exited the class, a wide grin appeared on her face as she saw Kuon waiting for her. She blushed as she realized that he probably saw her acting, she still had a lot of room for improvement. She saw a couple of the other students staring at him and whispering, some about who he was and others about how handsome he was.

"Corn," Kyoko said happily and Kuon smiled, glad to see that he brought out a positive reaction on her face. "What are you doing here? Kuu-sama said that you were a little nervous about going out in public?"

"I wanted to ask you if you wanted to come out with me to lunch?" he asked and Kyoko blinked as she grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat off from her face. She turned to him and opened her mouth before nodding.

"We can go anywhere that you want," she said as she thought about how they had interacted when they had been young children. She placed so much trust in this man before her and she wanted to celebrate his return and leaving the restaurant with a meal shared with him.

"Good," Kuon winked and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Because I heard about this place that makes the best hamburger steaks, complete with a fried egg on top."

End of Chapter Ten

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H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, The Real Jackie-O