The aftermath
Fans all across the world screamed in excitement and shock, apparently hidden identities were a family trait. Being the son of such influential people definitely would have made for a difficult childhood. If growing up in the spotlight wasn't enough, being constantly compared to Hizuri Kuu and expected to perform at his level was enough to tire people just thinking about it. More people were sympathizing with the actor previously known as Tsuruga Ren having heard the full story and imagining themselves in his shoes. Kotonami Kanae was not one of those people, she didn't care who his parents were. She felt cheated and made fun of having been in the same room as all of the people on the stage multiple times and not having figured it out. She was seething with rage at her own stupidity.
Chiori understood better than any of their friends how Ren, no, Kuon must have felt. She too had buried her identity trying to escape from a painful past. Listening to her friends' tale of love and acceptance she wondered if perhaps one day she would be brave enough to do the same and bring Akari back from the shadows. The actor had set out to start a new life and bury his past to make his life his own and had become the greatest actor of their generation. Perhaps it was luck he had found Kyoko, or fate considering they had met all those years ago. She had accepted him with his past and faults and they had both grown because of it. Being a Love Me girl herself, she wondered if perhaps the president had always been right and love was the answer to all of the world's problems. She was even more motivated now to regain her love of acting and grow along with her friends.
Kijima had stopped looking at his friends on the stage, sure he was amazed by all of the revelations they had made today but was he really surprised? They had known he was a foreigner, that he was using a stage name, and having acted alongside him he had to have had very strong ambitions to continue to grow as much as he had, particularly in recent years. He had thought it was all because of Kyoko who continued to grow as an actress at a rate nobody had seen before, but trying to surpass Hizuri Kuu really made sense in Kijima's head. He was now more concerned about the beauty at his side, the young woman was looking enraged and ready to hit someone. He lightly touched the back of her hand with his own, trying to distract her from her dark thoughts, whatever they might be.
Having felt the actor's touch sent a shock through Kanae and effectively snapped her out of it. After letting out a sigh that would disturb Takarada Maria she looked back at the stage and looked at her best friend who was smiling and thriving in the love and affection of her boyfriend's family. Having calmed down Kanae could do nothing but admire the family on the stage, they had the world fooled, every single one of them. They truly were amazing actors, this family was about to dominate the entertainment industry with their grandeur. Kanae could see it happening, Kyoko fit right in with the couple who had unofficially adopted her and had been treating her as their daughter since before she started dating their actual son. She knew that even if they stole her away and took her to America her bond with Kyoko forged by the pink curse was absolutely unbreakable.
The tall blue eyed actress sighed once more and looked at Kijima, who was looking right back at her, and saw the possibilities in her future. He had brought her down from her rage with a single touch and in the past few months had truly demonstrated to want to be with her. Maybe she'd accept the next time he asked her out and see how things went from there. She had fun when they were together and he had an amazing talent for getting under Kuon's skin which is something she appreciated. She wasn't looking for anything serious as her main focus was her career, but she had gotten used to having friends, and if Kyoko was leaving perhaps she could open herself to new possibilities too, having Kuon by her said definitely had pushed her best friend to new heights, and Hidehito was definitely very handsome on top of being a great actor.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him down a little, even though she was tall he was still taller than her and kissed him on the cheek "Thank you" she whispered into his ear. He had no idea what she was thanking him for but he considered it a great step in the right direction. He admired the actress at his side and was looking forward to getting to know her even further. Kijima looked at the stage and saw how happy his friends looked and wished to have that with the actress at his side. Not the secrets and identity reveals, he could live without that much drama, but having someone to support him in the good and bad times like he had seen Kyoko and Kuon do for each other for years, along with pushing each other to become the best actors of their generation, with Kanae at his side he knew they'd stand a chance against the pair on the stage.
Hiromune Koga was absolutely thrilled with the revelations. The young actor had overcome his hatred of Tsuruga Ren after being forced to spend time together by Kyoko and ended up liking the guy, the spunky actress often called them soulmates because of their passion for their work and innate ability to tease her. He was happy for his friend, he'd had his own suspicions about his identity for a while and together with Chiori they had a whole notebook worth of conspiracy theories about the man. He now understood his rival a little further, why he was so unrelenting when it came to acting and where the passion stemmed from.
He felt a little sorry for the guy's struggles but he had come out of the other side with the biggest winnings, he had surpassed his father's career in more ways than one, his Katsuki was irrevocably better than Shuuhei Hozu's, and his latest debut in America had gotten him an incredible reputation world wide. Nobody could attribute his standing to his parents or their connections, it had all been his own hard work. And more importantly, he had his chameleon girlfriend at his side. Koga knew that even though Kuon deserved a lot of credit for his growth and acting abilities, he would not have gotten there, or at least not so soon, without the little actress. She really was a force to be reckoned with. Anyone who came into her life was pushed for the better just by knowing her, and those fortunate enough, as he was, to work with her would grow immensely by acting against her.
The Lotus in the mire actor could only imagine the amazing things that were coming for his friends, and he had to admit he was incredibly jealous. Tsuruga Ren had always been his biggest rival and continued to top him for anything he wanted even after coming out with his relationship with Kyoko, and now with the revelation that he was not only an american, but a Hizuri, there was no way he could compete with that. His blood boiled with excitement thinking of how much hard work was coming his way to continue fighting for the top spot against his now blond friend.
Reporters shouted questions and took photos as the Hizuri family continued to grace the stage, Kuon took charge and assured the press that all of their questions would be answered in time, once everyone had a little time to settle down and think things through. His parents nodded in agreement and approval as tensions and feelings were running wild right now and they didn't want Kuon to get overwhelmed with difficult questions on his first day back. Lory already had planned out their attack plan, scheduling interviews and talk shows with strategically selected people to maximize the momentum while ensuring nobody asked too difficult questions. He truly was happy for his friends, their son was finally accepting his identity and they could all be a happy family again, perhaps Julie would even start calling him by his name again. He was tired of receiving Christmas presents addressed to kidnaper-san.
Shinjitsu Aiko had tears running down her face. Lory had told her before the funeral about inviting Akatoki himself, she was familiar with the game the two presidents played and the little toy cow that was sure to now be away from it's enormous dollhouse that was home to it while at LME. Her old friend had invited her a little earlier than the rest of the press to tell her about the invitation and checking her schedule for an opening the next few days. He'd told her she'd need to block out an entire afternoon for the piece she'd be writing. She had assumed it would be a piece on Tusuruga Ren covering his debut to his death, but she now could see it, the debut piece on Hizuri Kuon. She would be able to retire with this piece alone, but she truly enjoyed her work and wanted to do an entire special edition issue of her magazine on the whole family, she could only hope Lory would support her idea.
Akatoki Gin was laughing uncontrollably, worrying the people sitting around him. His friend had done it, he had no idea how he could possibly top this. He could see the faces of all actors and actresses sitting in the room, every single one of them now had a determined look in their eyes. Tusuruga Ren had been the #1 actor in the country for a few years now, and to find out he had been acting the whole time was becoming a make it or break it moment for the whole industry. Actors would either see this as a slap in the face about their own talent and crumble under the pressure, or see it as a challenge and grow from it. He now perfectly understood why Lory referred to it as the birth of the new generation of acting. Tonight would certainly change the entertainment industry for the better.
While the audience was in such a state of commotion, Yashiro Yukihito finally let out the breath he had been holding since the announcement this morning. He was incredibly proud of his friend and charge and had a few tears escape from his eyes during both Kyoko's and his speech. He remembered the day he found out about the secret and was glad to have had time to compose himself, if he had found out the way the rest of the world was he surely would have fainted. Yuki knew Kuon hadn't felt completely ready for this step, but his love for his girlfriend was deeper than his fear of his past. His fangirl heart couldn't take such a romantic gesture! The vulnerability he was putting himself through just to be closer to her! He knew this was one of the last steps before he could permit himself to finally be with her and the manager was already thinking of color schemes for the wedding.
In the back of the room Fuwa Sho was seething with hatred so profound Kyoko's grudges had come out of retirement. They twirled and basked in the dark aura emanating from the singer in their little hawaian shirts and sunglasses. How dare she! How dare she be with a manipulative liar who had lied about who he was to everyone! She was his and he refused for her to be with someone with such a dark past. What if he hurt her? He was clearly capable of violence, he had gotten his own best friend killed! The visual Kei artist refused to even contemplate the danger his childhood friend could be put in just by associating with him. He stomped all the way to the side exit intending to go find his best friend and pull her from the stage, only to find her already walking towards him in the hallway. She had followed her grudges in surprise after not having seen them in so long and left Kuon with his parents to continue on with the evening.
"What the hell Kyoko!" yelled the singer, his distaste was obvious in his face but concern shone in his eyes. "Hush now Sho, if you're going to yell i'll ask security to escort you out" she glared at him. They had somewhat made amends and were relatively amicable with each other having worked together on a few occasions, but no matter how prominent they each became in their careers they still switched back to their childish arguments whenever they saw each other after a while. "I was worried about you! I was in the middle of a MV when the crew started shouting and crying saying Tsuruga was dead! It completely disrupted my amazing work by the way, I went looking for you everywhere and couldn't find you! Each of your projects told me you had taken the day off and you wouldn't answer your phone!".
She saw how worked over he was, he must truly have been worried for her "I was here the whole day, you know i did have a funeral to arrange" she said slightly annoyed at his attitude. "And what the hell is up with that! Who fakes his own funeral? Is he insane? That's such an attention grab!" he was starting to raise his voice again in frustration, he was also slightly jealous and wished he had thought of it for himself, his next album after his supposed death would have had a whole rebirth or reincarnation theme that would bring his fans to their knees.
"If you don't lower your voice Shoutarou I will ask any of the 23 security agencies to escort you out, I'll even let you pick which one" she said smugly. The musician rushed to cover her mouth with his hands at the use of his birth name while she stepped to the side in her elegant dress making him almost hit the wall behind her. "I appreciate your concern though" she said with a soft smile at her once best friend. Sho glared at her and in a now appropriate leveled voice continued with his rant "What do you think you're doing? how can you be dating a dangerous criminal? He should be in jail right now!" At that statement Kyoko turned on her fiercest glare that even Mio would shy from and in a deadpan voice told her once nemesis while looking him straight in the eye "He is not a criminal. He never was. Everyone has done things in their past they regret, you personally have plenty you should be ashamed of" she seethed at him.
The blond musician was hurt by her statement but knew her to be right, he had done his fair share of horrible things. He might not have been physically violent, although he did hit her once, but he had hurt her in many other ways. "I will tell you this once, and once only. I love him Sho, he is everything I didn't know I wanted and needed. All I ever dreamed was to be your wife and you threw me out like the piece of trash you thought I was back then, and I don't blame you for it anymore. I have grown and have become a person I am proud to be, no longer blindly controlled by my feelings. I have a career that I love and aspirations for my own life instead of just following yours around".
She was saying such big statements that Sho was speechless for the second time tonight. The words she was saying had such finality to them, like she had already planned out her future without him. "You swore to me you wouldn't fall in love with Tsuruga Ren! You bet your life on it! I guess you better start packing your bags to move to Kyoto!" he said in a panic, he was not ready to lose her. When she and Ren had come out as a couple he had a difficult time but his music filled the void in his heart his childhood friend had left. He'd had a lot of time to think during his world tour and came to somewhat terms with it, since they had never said the L word in public he assumed it was only temporary as she was only using him to further her career and she would come back to him, but the finality with which she was looking at him right now was breaking the remaining pieces of his heart.
"I have not lost that bet Sho" she said with calm and unwavering certainty "I am in love with Hizuri Kuon, not Tsuruga Ren" she said with a wicked smile. "We did just hold a funeral for him you know". She could see the way her words were affecting her childhood friend. She had already forgiven him for everything he had put her through, she was even grateful for it, without his selfishness she wouldn't have become an actress and found her place in the world, without him ditching her she wouldn't have found Kuon again. "I love him Sho, and he loves me just as much. He is my equal in every way and I am his" she said in a softer tone trying to get her friend to see how happy she truly was.
He knew she was telling the truth, he had been in denial seeing how happy she was with the man anytime she saw them together, and even if it infuriated him he had to admit that they did bring out the best in each other professionally. The comment of her being his equal hurt him more than anything, it was true that the 'relationship' they'd had was completely unbalanced and he had taken advantage of her in every possible way, but he had loved her in his own messed up possesive way. She was the only person to see him wholly, to know every aspect of himself both Fuwa Sho the artist and Shoutarou the pudding loving childish competitive man, and she ] had loved him still.
Sho was afraid for the first time, without her in his life he was completely alone. Any step he had taken, running away from home, auditioning for multiple agencies and writing a thousand songs, debuting and becoming an idol, she had been there with him every step of the way, and even when they had their falling out she still supported him, she'd helped with the whole Vie Ghoul incident, appeared in a few of his videos as both herself and Setsuka Heel, she even kept in touch with Shoko to make sure he wasn't causing too much trouble. He wasn't ready to lose the only constant he'd ever had in his life.
His distress was growing by the second and she could see it in his face. She had a sad smile as she grabbed his hand in hers and softly touched his cheek with her other "I win Sho. I've had my revenge. I've grown past it and want more in life than our childish rivalry. I'm going to continue growing to be an even better actress, and I will do it because it's my dream and I want to see how far I can go. I will continue to challenge myself and continue to create my own goals, and I will do all of that with Kuon by my side." He could feel the tears running down his face, he just didn't know if they were frustration or despair. He knew she deserved all of the things she was listing, but his heart was now completely broken because it seemed there was no room for him in this new life of hers.
Next chapter: New beginnings
AN: Hello lovelies! So far I've been updating a chapter a day because I have the first 10 already written but i don't think I can keep it up particularly because they seem to be getting longer each time! I have no idea how many more chapters there will be, honestly I wanted to start this fic after chapter 275 but I reeeeeeally wanted to write the funeral bit and couldn't get it out of my head. So I did and now we're here. Since i wanted to start theoretically 2 years before the current time in this fic I didn't have the ending completely planned out so everything that's currently happening is a surprise to both you and me. So back to the point, i don't know how many more chapters there will be but i'll start adding the next title chapter at the end so you know there's more coming. Thank you for your lovely reviews and i'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! Hope you all have a lovely weekend 3