AN: Thank you for your patience in the update of this fic. I've been busy/distracted so thank you for returning to read this chapter.

Chapter Nine – It All Comes Out

Ren looked nervously at Kyoko as she sat with her notepad and pen. He knew that soon he wouldn't be able to use the name Ren anymore without it being connected to Kuu Hizuri. In fact, his entire presence was soon going to be directly linked to the Japanese superstar but he had to be ready to fight against those connections and prove that he was more than the son of a beloved actor. He had to try to be Kuon because otherwise Ren would swallow him whole.

He looked ahead at Kyoko and nodded his head, "Let's start," he told her and Kyoko nodded. She had taken on the huge responsibility of presenting Kuon to Japan, she had to do her best to show him the respect and love that he deserved.

"First question, your full name," Kyoko said and Ren looked at her, watching her.

"Hizuri Kuon," he told her and she wrote it down.

"How old are you?" she asked and he grinned before laughing.

"I didn't change that much about myself," he said though he did have to admit that one of the reasons he had changed his birth date when he had appeared as Ren was because there were articles that stated Kuu Hizuri's son's birthday and he didn't want to risk someone ever making the connection. He smiled to her, "Twenty one," he said honestly and Kyoko blushed, god that smile was still so powerful to her.

"Okay and the date of birth," she said and Kuon closed his eyes as he remembered her present to him.

"February 19th," he told her honestly and she wrote it down. Kuon let his eyes roam down to the next question, "Los Angeles, California, United States." He said and Kyoko wrote it down. At least most people knew what LA was especially in the acting community, it didn't need much explanation but it would surprise most people to think that the Japanese actor that they had all followed for so long came from such a place.

Well, there were probably so many types of Americans that there was no set type for them.

"How long did it take you to learn Japanese?" Kyoko smiled as she thought about how Kuu had stood on top of the table and sung out Kuon's achievements to the world or at least to her. He had said that Kuon was smart and able to learn things quickly and she had already seen him learn the piano when they were filming Dark Moon together.

"Well, I knew it by the time I was ten and you know that," he smiled to her as she stared at him and nodded. More than anyone else, she did know that. She turned away from him and glanced down at her notebook. "My father taught me. It was important to my father that I knew Japanese even as a child and it was important to my mother that I knew how to speak Russian. That's why I am fluent in three languages."

"Why did you come to Japan from the United States?" Kyoko asked and Kuon smiled weakly. He didn't know what answer to give, there was the real answer that dealt with his life fighting with gangs and Rick's death and there was the more simplified reason that he wanted to act and his father's presence in America seemed to overshadow everything. Maybe it would be best to say the latter.

"I wanted to see if I could act for the company that my dad did without anyone knowing," he told her honestly and Kyoko smiled as she tapped the pen against the paper.

"That's right, Kuu-sama is a LME alumnus," she commented and Kuon nodded. "I wonder if we could track down any paperwork for him. It would be nice to see some of the pictures of him when he was younger," she said and Kuon laughed.

"I look more like my mother," he told her before bowing his head, "Not that my mother looks masculine at all. In fact, she's one of the most beautiful models that has worked in the industry, definitely one of the most beautiful women that I've ever known."

Kyoko opened her mouth to speak and couldn't help the huge grin that she had, "When I was Natsu, doing my Natsu training?" she asked excitedly before taking another breath in to steady herself. "I'm sorry, when I asked you to help me with my Natsu training, was the woman that you were talking about your mother?"

Kuon nodded. "It was," he admitted and she grinned excitedly.

….

…

"Mom," the eight year old said as he looked at the piece of tape down the floor of the kitchen. He had gone into the kitchen to get himself some juice to drink and he had come across his mother wearing an elegant dress and a long strip of tape down the middle of the kitchen. He stared at her confused. She sat on a chair and put some formal shoes with a three inch heel on her feet.

That looked a bit painful.

What was she doing? He had often heard that she needed to train as a model but she always did well when he saw her on the runway and she had been named one of the best looking models in America in magazines. Did she actually have to train anymore? Wasn't it just like…a natural instinct or something?

"Hi, my love," Julie grinned looking almost like she was about to stand up and start dancing in these nearly impossible heels. She giggled as she stood, making sure to get her balance. "I've got great news. An Italian fashion designer asked me to walk for their line so I get to go to Italy and it's a really well-known designer. Some people dream their entire lives about being in the fashion shows, isn't that great?" she asked and Kuon nodded.

He forced a smile onto his face. His mother was so happy and he didn't want to take her dream away from her but the parent-teacher meetings were coming up and it sounded as if she might be away during those. He could always ask his dad but with his father's acting schedule being as packed as it was. Maybe he could just tell his teacher that his parents were busy and she wouldn't have to talk with them.

"Yeah, Mom," he told her as he saw how she was walking down the line in the heels, being as perfect of a model as one could be. Kuon tried hard to not show any awkwardness as he watched her. His parents had dreams that he had to respect, he couldn't let things like school meetings interfere with their work. "You look beautiful," he told her and Julie giggled.

"You're such a handsome little boy, Kuon," she said as she walked over to him and knelt in front of him, pushing his hair back and letting him laugh. "My little Kuon," she said as she held him to her. She wasn't even able to describe how much he meant to her.

…

…

A couple of days later, in agreement with the terms that Lory had provided, the article that Kyoko had written about Kuon was going to come out. There had been no announcements and neither a picture of Kuon or a picture of Ren was on the outside of the magazine despite it having sold more copies of the magazines. It was just one line: 'A Hidden Identity You Didn't Know you Were Missing'.

Some people would have ignored this, called it trashy reporting and moved along. Those were the people who were going to miss out on this information. The people who would try to get copies of the magazine too late and regret not purchasing it. Kuon however, as he sat in Ren Tsuruga's dressing room, was reading the article and feeling very nervous about who would have read it.

As he was sitting in the chair waiting for his hair and makeup, he heard an excited voice behind him and a voice with an excitement he had never heard before. He was staring in a short drama from Director Shinkai and he was the man who seemed to be overly excited about the article.

"How come you never told me this, Ren" he said as he pointed to the article, "I could have sold this. Made more money for my projects," he said and Kuon raised an eyebrow.

"Because I was nervous about the world knowing about my famous father," he shrugged and Shinkai sighed. He could definitely agree with that, Kuu Hizuri was omnipresent in Japan. However, this was going to make people more interested in seeing his work. Ren had always performed well with a certain demographic but this work might make people in their sixties and seventies turn on their TV sets just to watch the son of Kuu Hizuri.

"Well, can we advertise it now?" Shinkai asked as he looked at the article that Kyoko's name was on. How come she got to know the truth before he did? Well, unless something had happened between the two of them since they had dealt with the Ruriko situation. "I mean, the fact that Kuon Hizuri decided to star in one of my projects," he said and Kuon rolled his eyes, taking a sip of water.

"We've worked together many times," he told him with a smile. "I don't think that putting my name one way or another makes a difference. People wanted to know who I really was and I could have done an on-screen flashy reveal but it would have been just the same," he said and Shinkai sighed, dropping his head.

"I want that excitement drawn towards me though," he said and Kuon shrugged. "So which name are you going by? I've known you so far as Ren so it'll be a change to adjust it to Kuon but I can start calling you Kuo-"

"Ren," he replied as he continued to sit in the chair waiting for the stylist. "I'm sticking with Ren. I have built my acting career around Ren Tsuruga and it doesn't matter to me if people know or they don't know but I promised myself that the first acting job that I use my real name for will be in America so right now, Ren…just continue using Ren Tsuruga.

Shinkai stood firm before nodding with a weak laugh, "Fine then, Ren Tsuruga it is."

…

…

Sho growled as he made his way into TBM studios. Everywhere people were gossiping about Ren Tsuruga's proper name and how they hadn't been sure that Ren was a stage name because it suited him so well. Then they were saying how there were rumors that he used to be a blond and how he would look as a blond with different eye colors. Then a lot of people were saying that the name Kuon sounded so much cooler and it suited him and sounded more 'refreshing'. More than that were the constant videos playing about who this guy was.

Sho Fuwa didn't give a fig who he was. He was an annoying rival and he wanted to prove that he was stronger and more successful than. He stomped through the studio before hearing his phone ring and stopped. His eyes widened as he saw the phone number for the family ryokan.

Were his parents actually calling him now?

Sho froze. He didn't want to answer it because he had run away from home but his mother would be pissed if she found out that he was attempting to dodge her calls. He bit his bottom lip and picked it up. "Hello," he said, "Sho speaking."

"Sho," his mother smiled and finally Sho felt that he was the center of somebody's attention. "I feel so bad calling you out of the blue like this," she said and Sho opened his mouth to speak but his mother continued before he could form a reply. "I wanted to ask you for a favor. Your father and I are Hizuri Kuu fans and we were hoping you could get an autograph from his son for us," she said.

Sho was struck silent, battling between his love for his mother and his desire to throw this phone on the ground and break it into a thousand pieces. She wanted what!?

End of Chapter Nine

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Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Eight

Brennakai, EmmaLasagna, evilteddybear, H-Nala, Ju, Kaname671, Kris XD, Megumitasama, paulagato