Chapter 27

The complete beauty and calm of the exotic (to her) location was more than enough to catch her attention and send her into a fairy tale induced high. The deep, blue-green beauty of the ocean to the right of her, and the wondrous, leafy-green, snow-capped mountains to the right. It was just the right time of the year to visit Southern California. Early spring had a little bit of everything and the temperature was just starting to rise enough to wear a light sweater or a blouse that she would normally wear in early summer in Japan. Someone had mentioned that it was a Mediterranean climate, and she wondered if it would be like this in Greece or Italy during early spring.

The salty breeze wafting off the Pacific made her lean a little further out of the window of the taxi, and take a deep breath. She wondered why Kanae had never mentioned something so wonderful or Kuon for that matter. She sighed. Kuon was probably used to it, and Kanae probably just didn't care. Kanae really wasn't one to stop and smell the roses along the way, she was far more career oriented than Kyoko seemed at the moment. She honestly wasn't given to flights of fantasy as Kyoko was.

Kyoko glanced to the left and noticed the busy buildings as they turned to enter the district known in its glory days as "Hollywoodland". Studios, sound stages, business offices, star-quality dressing rooms, tour groups, and so much more. It was similar to what she was used to in Tokyo, but on a much grander scale. The bloated star factory of the entertainment world left her speechless. Kuon was right when he said it was another world, when she was just a small child. This was truly where dreams were either made or dashed against the rocks. It only depended upon one's own determination and talent whether one succeeded.

Her nerves were buzzing beneath her skin as though she had little currents of electricity flowing in her veins instead of blood when they made their final turn and the driver waited for the gates to the studio to admit them. Yashiro's voice muffled in her ears as she fought off the nervousness and cleared her mind. She closed her eyes and took a deep calming breath.

"Are you going to be okay, Kyoko?" He asked in English. They had both agreed that when in any foreign country, they would be sure to speak the corresponding language to make it easier on them when it was required.

She nodded. "Just a little nervous, Yukihito."

He smiled and handed her a bottle of water he had brought along for her. "The audition is essentially a screen test to make sure that you and the male lead have chemistry. I've been with Kuon for a few of these. You really have nothing to be nervous about. There will be several others there, but you've proven to be very adaptable in the past and they wouldn't have personally asked for you had they not already been familiarized with your works." He encouraged.

Kuon was pacing back and forth as his father sat calmly, snacking on a family-sized bag of barbecue flavored, ruffled potato chips. He sat back down and shifted uncomfortably, then groaned.

"What is wrong with you, boy?" Kuu furrowed his brow.

He leaned back in his seat and groaned. "She goes for her chemistry test today." He groused.

"Aaaand?" Kuu drew out after swallowing his mouthful of snack food.

Kuon let out a long drawn out sigh. "I heard through the grapevine who her male lead might be… and I really don't want her exposed to the very ugly side of the entertainment industry." He finally confessed.

Kuu froze at that admission then relaxed. "Lory would never allow it, Kuon and I think she can handle herself quite well. If you're worried, just remember that she has Yukihito with her. He will never allow something like that to happen, and he sure as hell wouldn't allow her to be alone with any of those wolves." He consoled. "Do you know which one she's going in for? Lory wouldn't tell me." He asked as he resumed snacking.

Kuon relaxed a bit after his father's reassurances. "I think it's a remake of an older romantic comedy. Kyoko said it involves ghosts, a castle, and a tour group." He chuckled. "From what I can tell, it sounds pretty fun. She told me a little about it over the phone before she caught her flight here." He explained.

"Cutting it pretty close, aren't they? I'm not sure I'd be refreshed enough to go from the airport to the studio." Kuu commented.

"She didn't have much of a choice. Her flight was less than an hour after her last filming and Yuki told me that they only had about 45 minutes after the plane landed in order to make it to the auditions." He sighed out again. "I suppose it's a good thing that the flight wasn't delayed."

Kuu felt a little giddy. "How long will she be able to stay?"

Kuon smirked. "She's free. The only thing she has is a few photo-shoots that Yuki arranged for her, but those are for here. I really don't know what Boss has planned for her." He confessed. He paused a little, wondering if his own father had heard about her familial windfall, and decided to drop the bomb. "I know her dad will be joining her in a few days." He commented blithely, and watched as the look of surprise covered his own father's face.

"Her dad?…Her real dad?… When did this happen?" He asked a little excitedly.

Kuon nodded. "Yeah, the director Ushio Kurosaki."

"Seriously?! Wow, now I know where she gets her talent. I remember when he first started out." He froze a little. His time in Japan when Kuon was still a toddler was a super sensitive subject with Kuon. He honestly didn't know about Kuon until he was almost a year old, and he and Juli hadn't married until Kuon was almost two. It was something that they thought they had kept from him, but her sister just couldn't resist making a big production over how Cedric was a true member of the family and Kuon was a bastard. Kuu didn't find out about any of the despicable behavior towards his son until about a year after he became Ren Tsuruga. It was the main reason he didn't have a problem letting him stay, even with Juli's regular tantrums.

Kuon chuckled. "She is indeed talented, but I hope she can survive the cut-throat atmosphere." He sighed out, not realizing everything Kyoko had been through thus far: Sho's fangirls, petty insults growing up from said childhood friend, the full scope of Ruriko Matsunai's behavior, the snarky girls on the set of Dark Moon, Mimori's behavior both professionally and personally, her tribulations on and off the set of BoxR, and let's not forget the wide array of delicacies that were served to her by Kimiko Morizumi. Had he know even a fraction of it, he wouldn't have had a concerned care in the world for her. She was very capable of taking care of herself and others; although, having Yashiro at her back for it all now, did give her and Kuon an extra boost of confidence in her ability to do so.