A/N: I... am not happy with this one. But I don't have time to think of anything better, so I'm moving on. There is another prompt I know I'll have trouble with, but I'm going to write *something* for each one. So here you go.
Kyoko dropped her head and arms over the spread-out papers on the table. She groaned in exhausted and her head hurt.
"I don't know what to do?" She whined to no one. She rocked her head back and forth on a folder. She had several offers on the table and none of them compared to the film in the US. Yukihito said she would have to travel down there to accept the role. That would mean about a week to travel to New York, do the interview and any follow-ups and then come back. Honestly, she had nothing else going on. She was awaiting to hear if she got the role for the lead in an action comedy which might work out if they looked at her stunt history. She could go for another antagonist role in a movie this time and depending on the lead star, it could go big. The rest were small time roles which if she took all of them could be worth it.
Her fingers fanned the pages of the booklets absentmindedly.
"Why… why… why?" she groaned.
Why is this bothering me so much? Why shouldn't I do the interview? It's only a week away from home. Maybe I can go see Mother and Father too. Everyone else is going out of the country. Why shouldn't I?
"Really, what am I so afraid of?" she said to herself and sighed. She pulled herself up and cleaned everything up. She had to make a decision though, and she had yet to tell Kuon about it. There was always a chance that they would say no.
Her chest started to ache and her throat closed up at the thought of that and she rubbed her face with both hands. She took a few deep breaths trying to relieve the tightness in her chest. She got up and rubbed her breastbone.
"It shouldn't be this difficult," she mumbled and went to get dressed to leave. Yukihito told her where Kuon was filming today which was at an old office building they would do a chase scene in. It would take awhile to get there but she needed help. She made sure it was okay to visit and grabbed her keys and the offer.
They were in the middle of filming when she arrived. Yukihito met her outside the line and escorted her in. "How are things going, Kyoko-chan?"
She sighed and smiled softly at him. "Okay I guess. I um… should have an answer for you regarding the offers by the end of the day."
He pressed his lips together and nodded once. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"N…" she started and then looked up at him. Yukihito Yashiro dressed in his fine beige suit and cornflower blue tie, looking professional and patient and experienced. "You know what. Yes. Please. I need you to tell me the pros and cons of these options. I need it black and white and do not sugar coat anything."
He smiled and nodded. "Done. Let's go into Kuon's trailer. They are going to be a while filming and it would give us some privacy.
A few hours later, Kuon came in sweaty, dirty, and gorgeous! And above all else, she saw her rock, her savor, and the love of her life enter her world when she needed him most.
"Yashiro-san, could you excuse us?" Kyoko asked and their long-time manager and friend smiled softly at her and took his leave.
Kuon watched him go and returned to his wife with a confused look. "Is everything okay?"
"I was hoping to talk. How long is your break?" She asked as she stood up anxiously.
He walked up and took a hold of her biceps in concern. "30 or so minutes. They are resetting the stage, reviewing the film that sort of thing. What is it?"
She licked her lips and pulled him over to the little couch in his trailer. She took a breath and let it out slowly. "I got an offer for a movie…" she swallowed, "to film in New York."
He straightened up and his eyes went from concerned to intrigued to excited. She pressed her lips together and hated that look. Why? Why does this bother me so much? "I wanted to talk to Yashiro-san about it. If it would be better to take it or do the roles here or… whatever."
He nodded and carefully asked, "And what did he say?"
"It would pay the most. I would get the most exposure. It would be challenging and put me to a whole new level of career," her voice wavered and she couldn't stop herself from crying, "And I don't know why I don't want to do it?!"
Shocked covered Kuon's face at the sudden outburst of tears. He took her hands and she clung on to them like a lifeline.
"I don't understand why I'm so afraid. What is there to be afraid of? It's not like I haven't been to the States. It's not like I don't know the language. I'd be fine over there. It's only three months of filming, and in New York City! Your mother constantly talks about how great New York is. The food, the stores, the plays, the culture. Everything is sooo…" She sobbed. "Kuon. I'm so afraid. I'm afraid of starting over. Of losing everything that I worked for here and finding that I can't make it over there. I'm afraid of saying yes to moving and then finding that I regret ever saying it. That I'll be nothing over there and I'll grow to resent ever leaving. I'm afraid of keeping you in Japan and stunting your career simply because I wasn't willing to try. I'm afraid that eventually you will come to hate me because I stopped you from going home, and eventually you'll want to divorce me and remarry some beautiful blonde woman with big bre…."
"Kyoko, stop!" He framed her head with his hands.
She sniffed and her lip quivered cutely. Kuon smiled sympathetically and relieved at her outburst. Finally, he understood what was going on in her head, in her heart and he could help her through it.
"First off, I love your breasts. Stop being so mean to them because that will only make me want to treat them better to make up the difference."
She blinked and then snorted. She yanked her face free from his hands and pulled them down. "Kuon, if you are going to be joking around then…"
"I'm not," he interrupted and held her hands. "I'm not joking. Kyoko, I love you. I love you so much that I think it would literally kill me to lose you."
She shook her head. "You aren't being serious. It's not helping…"
"Okay. I'll go the other way. Take the job," he stated firmly.
"But…"
"No, no buts," he countered. "Book a flight to New York. Meet with the director and producer, land the role, do the part and then come back home. I have been away for six months and everything was still here for me. You," he pulled her hands up to his lips and kissed her fingers. "You were still here waiting for me, which was the one thing I feared losing above all else in Japan."
Tears fell from her cheeks and she pressed her lips together. "What if they don't want me there?"
"Then they can go fuck themselves," he said sincerely and she laughed. She sniffed and snorted and laughed and it was beautiful. He smiled and pulled her into his arms.
"Sweetheart, do you think there is some sort of magic here in Japan that allowed you to become the actress you are today?"
She nodded and before she could speak, he sharply snapped, "No! There isn't! You are beautiful in make-up because you are beautiful without it. You are great at acting because you are talented, and smart, and hard-working and TALENTED!" He stressed, "Those things don't go away because you leave Japan. Everything you are today is all because of your hard work and effort and no one can take that away from you."
"You're here," she whispered timidly. "Ever since I met you, everything has gotten better. What if…," her voice drifted off.
He sighed and smiled gently. "I'm not going anywhere. Wherever home is, I'll be there waiting with open arms. Believe it or not, it's more than this ring that ties me to you."
Kyoko looked up at him and nodded softly; however, he could tell the worry did not go away just yet. She licked her lips and took a shaky breath. "It just seems so much harder there. After everything you told me about your past," he groaned and she quickly added, "Even the stories of what father went through when he went to Japan, being type casted as an Asian stereotype. Kuon, I'm not like you. I'm not a chameleon that can change its color to match the background. It won't work that way for me."
"No, it won't," he agreed and her eyes wavered with doubt and fear. He reached up and cupped her face endearingly. "You are so much better than that, because you don't have to hide to be accepted, you shine so brightly all on your very own. What did grandfather call you, an Immortal Butterfly?"
She blushed and her eyes darted down. "I'm nothing of the sort. I've never even worked for him."
"And he hasn't stopped asking to do so. Kyoko, if this job fails for whatever reason, it won't be because of you. And if you do agree that we should move to the States, again for whatever reason, there will be so much support there, more support than you ever had here to relaunch your career that you'll be dizzy. I promise you that if you let someone give you a hand, you'll surpass even me in the spotlight and I'll have to work hard at being your arm candy for all of the shows."
She smiled brightly and laughed, lightly pushing his shoulder and there he saw. The light shined in her gold eyes again and he could see the coiled-up tension in her chest ease for the first time. He took a breath and let it out happy that she could get past this. He wanted her to see how much she could achieve if she simply jumped and took that risk. Yes, he would miss her but by the end, he would still have her in his arms.
"Kyoko, no matter what happens, I've committed to spending every day of my life with you." His fingers twisted the wedding ring on her finger. "I could never resent or hate you, and I sincerely hope that you couldn't either."
She shook her head and bounced up to kiss him. He leaned back at the sudden action but then returned the touch and hugged her. He pulled away and stroked hair back at her brow. "No matter what you do, sweetheart, I support it, but I do think you should go for the role."
"Yashiro-san does too, and considering President Takarada approved it, I believe he does too."
"See. Nothing but support." She gave him a watery smile and he leaned in to kiss her softly. Kyoko hummed happily and parting her lips to softly sip his lower lip between hers. She leaned into him and his combat vest pressed against her instead of the firm planes of his chest. She pulled back and touched the buckles on his vest.
"Can we take this off?" she murmured and he looked down.
Kuon's brow furrowed in thought. "I'm not sure we should."
She cast her eyes down and turned away. "It's okay if you don't want to."
He groaned and pulled her face back up at him, "It's not a question of want, I always want you." He darted in and passionately kissed her. Kyoko moaned and let him provocatively sweep inside of her mouth. She twisted around to straddle his lap and his hands immediately grabbed her hips and moved back to grope her butt. She was wearing jeans though, so there was no easy way of making love. They either committed or not.
Meanwhile, Elliot was downing his second bag of trail mix while waiting for the crew to finish setting up. They should have simply called for lunch even though it was early. He was starving! He looked at his watch and found that 40 minutes had past since break was called and they were only half way done. He wondered where Kuon was this whole time. Ever since they went out, Elliot found he was friendlier towards him. Not that he wasn't polite before, but it seems that was standard in Japan. Everyone here was polite, not necessarily friendly though. They talked more, and Elliot learned a lot about his wife, Kyoko. He liked to sing her praises which he completely understood.
Admittedly, he looked her up when he had some free time. She'd been in the industry since she was 16 and was 21 now. Joined her agency as a talent, whatever that meant, made it big with a historical drama at 17. He found some English subs of her work and watched the movie that made her big: A Lotus in the Mire.
She was brilliant. Cute as can be and fierce as a ninja. He remembered talking to her about the stunts, but he was damn sure that she was doing all her own stunts in that film. The way she fought, it was beautiful, her slim elegant legs, her strong graceful body doing flips and even attacking with such splendor. It had him mesmerized through the whole film.
He found others, older things that people took the time to subtitle and he had trouble finding her on the shows. He had to look up who she played to find her and he was completely stunned by the transformation. He watched some interviews with her with some crappy generated subtitles and found that she was as sweet and kind there as she was when they spoke. Modest too, which was refreshing considering the actresses he dated back home.
"Green-san!"
He looked up and the director waving him over, his translator already over there. He hopped out of his seat and walked over. "Yes, sir?"
The director started talking a mile a minute and Elliot looked at his translator.
"I'd like to go over a few details of the copy room scene. There are some changes I would like to make but I want to know if it is possible given the small space you are fighting in."
"Yes, of course," he agreed with a nod. The director smiled and looked around. He said something and Elliot recognized Hizuri-san.
His translator repeated it, "Do you know where Hizuri-san is?"
"I think he went to his trailer for the break. I can get him," he told them
"Yes, thank you," the director said in thick accented English and Elliot smiled, twisted around, and jogging off.
He rounded a building and into the parking lot where they parked all the required trailers. His was right next to Kuon's so it wasn't difficult to find. There wasn't really anyone around as they were all on site so it was quiet as he approached. He touched the back of it and rounded to the side where the door was, and half way down the trailer, his feet froze and his heart jumped into his throat.
"Ah, ah, mmhmm."
Recognition filled him at the sound of a woman moaning in his trailer. He twisted around and moved to leave but he grimaced as he was needed on set. Why the hell is he having sex in the middle of a work day?
He scratched the back of his head thinking and her voice kept whispering through the trailer wall or window. He wasn't sure if the walls were simply that thin or she was that loud but it sounded like she wasn't anywhere near done.
Elliot moved to walk away. I'll say I couldn't find him. That he wasn't in his trailer and they will try to find him and maybe he'll finish by then. If he isn't, then it's someone else's problem.
Comfortable with his decision, he set to move and then dread filled him. FUCK, he's married. Elliot's moral compass screamed in his head. It's none of my business. It's none of my business what he is doing, and how he treating his wife. There are thousands of cheating assholes in the industry, so Kuon is one of them. It's none of my fucking business.
Yet, his feet turned around and he was storming up to the door. His hand reached out and hesitated before touching the latch.
Don't do it, Elliot. Don't do it, Elliot.
The door latch clicked open under his fingertips.
You are an idiot, Elliot. This is going to be the day your damn white knight syndrome is going to get you in trouble. The moment the door cracked open, his heart slammed into his chest as the woman's voice moaned and panted loud and clear. She wasn't even trying to be quiet, there was no way that they heard him open the door. He climbed up the stairs as softly and quietly as he could each step making him hate Kuon a little bit more. How could he do this to his wife? She was so attractive and talented and nice. He recalled him saying that they were married less then a year and he is already screwing around. That would mean he was doing it before they got married too. He hated the thought of a good woman like her marrying an asshole.
His sense of justice made him look and his breath was stolen from his lungs.
It was her.
The woman was his wife and the vision of her would haunt his dreams.
She was riding him. Her husband lost behind the armrest of the couch they were on. She was leaning back, with her hands bracing herself from behind, her back arched forward with his dark hands sliding up and fondling her breasts. Small, round breasts tipped with dark little nipples bounced with her every motion. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing heavily as her body rode his.
His mouth went dry and he was instantly hard as he watched her. God, she was sexy, gorgeous, especially in the throes of passion. Visions of her that night in the party dress, her soft sweet smile and her bell like laugh mixed with the erotic sounds of her moans, the look of ecstasy on her face, and imprinted image of her naked body riding the invisible man. His hand came up and cupped her face, stroking her lip and she leaned forward to suck in his finger. Elliot could almost feel the wet touch of her mouth as she sucked in his thumb and opened her eyes.
She gasped and their eyes meet. Every hair on Elliot's body rose and alarm sirens wailed in his head. Kyoko crossed her arms over her chest, her face burned bright crimson and she fell down onto her lover and screamed, "Elliot!" Not really the way he preferred a woman to scream out his name.
Kuon rose up, shirtless with his arms around his wife and jerked back around to see him standing there like a fucking idiot statue. Elliot watched Kuon's face of concern and confusion morph into a look of pure rage that made Elliot's whole body shiver as ice filled his veins and fear struck through him forcing him to move.
Elliot was not ashamed to admit that he never had to deal with a fight or flight situation before. He lived a pretty simple life in middle America. He enjoyed the attention he got from acting and found that he had a knack for it. His good looks made it easy to get into some productions and well here he was. But at this moment in time, he felt like he had to run, if he ever wanted to do anything in his life ever again, he had to run as if the Earth was crumbling beneath his feet.
He jumped out of the trailer and he saw Kuon moving out of the corner of his eye. Adrenaline surged through him and his shoulder slammed into the back of the next trailer over. He pushed off the edge and made a single step forward before someone grabbed the back of his combat vest and yanked his 6'2", 210 pound self and slammed it against the trailer. Elliot was stunned for a moment and he blinked. Wide blue eyes met with furious green ones, as Kuon grabbed the front of his vest and pulled his fist back to pound into his face.
"I'M SORRY," he bellowed and raised his arms up to try and block the blow. Kuon didn't hit him but instead grabbed his vest with both hands, lifted him off and slammed him against the trailer again. Kuon came out shirtless and his pants undone but thankfully dressed.
"What the fuck do you think you were doing?" He demanded.
Elliot dropped his hands over Kuon's forearms and was met with solid steal holding him. "I thought you were cheating on your wife. I had no idea it was her!"
"So you heard us and thought it was okay to just come walking in?" He accused and Elliot went white as a sheet. "Don't think I don't fucking know about your little crush on my wife. The way you keep asking questions about her. You think I'd be stupid enough to cheat on her and you'd come in and steal her away?" He seethed.
"No. Yes. Maybe," he stammered and Kuon lifted him up with his vest, nearly choking him with his clothes. "Shit. Look man, what I did was stupid. I should have left you to your own devices. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to watch…"
*BAM* Kuon's fist flew threw the air right along his cheek and it dazed him. Elliot fell to the ground and he felt Kuon lift him back up and his eyes saw his fist coming back down again. He braced for impact but there was nothing.
"Kuon, Stop!"
Her voice rang out and Elliot blinked up to see her holding on to his arm. Elliot looked at her, who was completely dressed and dangling off her husband's arm that was still held up high to hit him again. He actually bet that Kuon could still hit him with her hanging on to him.
"He was fucking watching us. He was watching you," Kuon said in Japanese through gritted teeth. Her face burned a dark red.
"And you already hit him for it. You do any more than that and he might file assault charges. Look at him, Kuon. He's not a fighter. He's petrified. You've already proven your point. He won't talk to you again and he will never look at me," she tried to reason with him.
"He's looking at you now," he growled.
Elliot looked back and forth from Kuon's face, to his fist, and to her face talking rapidly in Japanese. He saw Kuon's fist tighten and he knew she wasn't getting through to him. Fuck, I would be pissed too. Holy shit, I'm going to die.
"Let. Him. Go," Kyoko said with a stern careful voice.
Kuon's fist dropped him and Kyoko jerked her gold eyes to him and ordered in English, "Elliot. Run."
"I'm sorry," he whispered to her, and she shook her head.
"Go now," she commanded, and he twisted around and scrambled off. He twisted around to look back after a good distance away ducking behind a trailer. Kuon was at his full height watching him with deathly intent, and his tiny little wife was looking up at him, talking softly and hugging his waist. She reached up and touched his cheek and he finally dropped his gaze down to her. Even from this distance, he could see his features soften but he radiated anger. Her mouth was moving and she slid her hand down his chest and took his hands in both of hers. She gently turned him towards the open door and climbed up the stairs. Kuon stormed inside and Kyoko looked back at Elliot as she reached to closed the door.
Their eyes met for a split second and he felt an unnatural massive blow to his gut. The wind was knocked out of him and he had no idea why. He twisted around doubling over and cradling his stomach. His back hit the wall behind him and he struggled to suck in air. Gasping he sunk to the ground and he coughed wildly. What the hell was that?
Kyoko smiled to herself as she closed the door. She locked the door with her little protectors high-fiving each other. Then her eyes fell to her husband and felt the aura of his anger radiating all around him. She walked over to him with her hands clasped behind her. To tell the truth, her nerves were totally frayed. She knelt down in front of Kuon and knew she had to be the strong one. His hands were twisted together so tightly, they were shaking and his joints were white with tension. With her face blank, she ducked under his clenched hands and forced her way between his legs and arms and hugged him. Her head pressed against the base of his ribs. She rubbed her face against him and inhaled deeply. He dropped his arms and hugged her but he was shaken.
This is not going to be easy.
It took Elliot a few moments to get his wits together. He felt beaten and shook up. He walked back to set with only a swollen cheek and a sore gut. He walked up to his translator and spoke up, "Excuse me, Watanabe-san, I'm going to need an ice pack." The older man turned around confused and then his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
"What happened, Green-san?!" He explained and rapidly started chattering in Japanese ordering people around and a few of them scrambled away.
Elliot swallowed a lump in his throat and came up with a quick and casual lie, "I was on my way to grab Kuon and I wasn't expecting the door to fly open the second I knocked at the door."
"He hit you in the face?" Watanabe-san asked for clarity.
"Yeah," Elliot nodded. "Got me good."
Kuon's manager was standing there listening in on the conversation and a frown marred his face. Then he quickly took off towards his charge's trailer. God willing Kuon wouldn't say what actually happened back there.
Kuon came back with his manager and no wife. He was actually really thankful that she didn't come too. He wasn't sure how he could ever look at her again and not feel ashamed for what he saw. Manager came over to him immediately and Kuon followed looking dark and menacing next to the smaller man.
"How is your face, Green-san?" Manager said.
Damn, I really wish I remembered his name. "I'll be okay," Elliot said with the ice pack pressed to the side of his face.
"Kuon, don't you have something to say to him," Yukihito snapped at Kuon in English.
"No," Kuon said in a monotone voice. "I've already said everything I need to say to him back at the trailer."
"Excuse me? What…" Yukihito started to yell at his client, but Elliot cut in, "No, he's right. I was the idiot and got smacked for it. It's completely my fault and we are good."
It was obvious that Yukihito didn't believe either of them. Kuon tsked and start to move but his manager grabbed his arm and Elliot thought he was insane. Unfortunately, his manager started talking in Japanese a few steps away.
Yukihito asked in a hushed tone, "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing he didn't deserve," he shot and Yukihito dropped his hand and swallowed.
"Whatever happened between you two, get over it. You two still have at least a month of filming together and your temper cannot jeopardize the film. With the way he is looking at you right now, there is no way he will be able to pull off a successful fight scene," he lectured Kuon.
Suddenly, Kuon's words turned to English and was loud enough for Elliot to hear, "Oh trust me, our fight scenes will be very realistic on camera." He tilted his head to the side and smirked. "We are after all professionals, right Elliot?"
"Right. Professionals," he mumbled and looked away. I'm dead!
Yeah, I killed off my own OC. No more Elliot Green. No, Kuon didn't kill him as much as he would like to. Merely, I could never bring him back into their lives. Luckily, I don't think I really needed him anymore. Anyway... NEXT!