AN: Hope you enjoy this chapter 😊

Chapter Five: Opportunities

Kuon stared in utter amazement at the email that he had just received. After recording his voice reading Kyoko's script, he had done a search on voice acting. He had just wanted to find out what it involved and whether there would be any chance of him pursuing it in the future. Maybe he had just been curious about the different focuses of acting that existed outside of what his dad did, maybe something more but he would never have found it were it not for Kyoko.

He had been searching for things on how to get into the voice over industry and had been reading things about different anime that were in Japan and how Japanese students sometimes went to voice academy schools. There weren't such things that he could find in America, at least not for his age, and then he had come upon something interesting.

There was a blind audition process for a new Disney show. The show focused on a princess in Hawaii who had a kid brother who was always getting into trouble. It was just the type of show that Kyoko might like. There were audition pieces and Kuon didn't think that he would get anywhere but he could still see Kyoko's excited face if he told her that he had auditioned.

So, he had. He had spent a long time practicing and then he had recorded his voice onto the computer and sent an email with them to the casting director and then a week later they had sent him the email that he was staring at now.

Kuon,

Congratulations, we'd love to extend an invitation for an in-person audition to play the role of Kahiau in our project Hawaiian Melodies. Please print out the following document and we can arrange a date and time for you to come and audition. We do require a parent or guardian's signature as well as for a parent or guardian to accompany you to the audition.

We hope to hear from you soon.

Kuon froze, he didn't really know how to express his excitement. Finally somebody was giving him a chance and they were allowing him to be happy but he was scared of falling into a trap. He was scared that the only reason they had wanted him was because the name Hizuri would stand out in the marketing process. He frowned. Maybe he should give up on it now, no way he could perform to the standards that people knew his father of having.

He sighed before hearing his dad in the kitchen and pinched himself. It was best to ask him about it anyway, to ask him what he thought of the opportunity at least. His dad would most likely feel hurt if he just gave up on it because of him.

After printing the document, Kuon made his way to the kitchen to see that his dad was snacking again. Of course his father was snacking again.

"Dad," Kuon said hesitantly and Kuu immediately turned to face him, "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure," Kuu said as he approached his son and pulled out a chair from the little dining spot in the kitchen. He sat opposite Kuon, his eyes showing all of his love for his son. He looked at the paper in his hands and paused. He had no idea what Kuon would ask him but he wanted to do his duty as his father and if there was something Kuon needed, he would try to give it to him.

"What's going on? What's up?" he asked and Kuon looked at the paper.

He didn't know how to tell his father that he had been selected for an audition process for a Disney show. He didn't know how to tell his dad that he hoped to show Kyoko what her gift had brought him and that he hoped she would be a fan of the show. No, he shouldn't try to think about what happened after landing the role. Instead he should feel happy that he was even given the opportunity to auditon for the role.

"I…" Kuon said awkwardly, "There was this thing…I know that I've failed before…I really don't want to let you down…and," Kuon nervously shifted as he handed his dad the printed out document along with the email that he had printed out and saw Kuu look over it. He saw his dad's curious expression turn into one full of pride and excitement.

"A voice audition," he said as he looked at the paper and then smiled to Kuon, "Did you want me to come with you or would you prefer your mother?" he asked and Kuon looked down.

"I'd want you to come, Dad, but…what if they only like me because I'm your son. I know that in the past other directors have only wanted to use me because I'm your kid and…and I don't have the skills that you do, not yet. What if they…"

"Would you feel better using another name?" Kuu asked and laughed softly at the shock that Kuon expressed by just being asked that question. "No, it's really okay with me if you'd like to use a name other than Hizuri. I'm not going to take it as an insult," he laughed before ruffling up Kuon's hair. He glanced down at the forms again, "Kuon, you're amazing. You went out and got this on your own. You really are showing your independence. I'm really proud of you and I feel that you are going to get this role."

"Dad," Kuon hesitated, "You shouldn't say things like that. I might not get the role. They might be completely let down by my skills," he said and Kuu shook his head.

"You need to start believing in yourself more and I promise not to get myself involved but I believe that you can do it. I believe that one day you'll be a great actor with more talent then I ever had," he said and Kuon froze before smiling weakly.

"Don't you need to say that?" he asked and Kuu blinked. "You're my dad, you're supposed to say those things to me."

"I consider it a great privilege," Kuu said with a hand pressed over his heart, "To be able to say those things to my son. It's one of my two greatest achievements, being your father," he said and Kuon smiled.

"Is the other -" he began but Kuu cut him off.

"Being your mother's husband," Kuu grinned as he beamed back at Kuon, glowing with the joy of a loving and supportive father.

…..

…..

"I have no interest in designing clothes," Kanae said as she looked at the book that Kyoko was holding to her. It was a catalogue of classes that could be taken in the higher class area of Tokyo and Kyoko wanted to go to the class on how to make and design clothes and accessories. It was a twelve week long course and then if you passed that class you might get an invitation to the second part of it.

The third class in the series offered people a chance to go on a trip to America and she would be nearly nine by that time. It was what she had wanted to do, designing clothes and thinking about how people would be wearing her creations but she was a little nervous to do it alone. She had thought that she could convince Kanae to go with her but she definitely wasn't interested in it.

"Well, you'd have interest in being a model, right?" Kyoko asked as she looked through the book again.

Kanae sighed, "When I'm older and a well-known actress then yes. Why don't you just go to the class by yourself and see if there's anyone there for you to talk to or you could come to the acting class with me."

Kyoko paused before sighing, "I think acting is fun but I'm not interested in it as a serious profession like you and Corn are," she nervously twisted her foot in the soil underneath her, "You really think that it will be okay for me to go to the class by myself?" she asked and Kanae sighed.

"Yes, it will be okay for you to go by yourself, Mo…" she said as she walked off.

"It'd be more fun if we did it together," Kyoko commented giving the idea just one more try. She was scared that she would be alone again and with her adoptive father's love for costumes, he'd get excited about it but he wasn't really the average person and she couldn't imagine her biological mother ever liking such a thing, Kyoko could only remember her wearing very professional clothing even on her day off.

Kanae rolled her eyes, "We can talk about it each week. Maybe you can help me figure out pieces to wear during my acting," she said and Kyoko grinned again.

"Okay, Kanae-chan," Kyoko said with a huge grin on her face, "I'll just have to use you as my muse. All the famous artists had their muse."

"Sounds creepy," Kanae smiled, "but sure, I thought that Corn was your muse."

"I can have two muses," Kyoko argued and Kanae rolled her eyes.

"You want to go to the playground?" she asked and Kyoko nodded eagerly. Kanae smiled. She didn't really enjoy getting dirty very much, she always had the idea that as a preteen celebrity, if she got a speck of dirt on any of her clothes that it would be reported by the media that she was a complete slob. There would say she was dirty and had no right to think of herself as either an actress or a celebrity but Kyoko loved the playground. Kyoko was really a big kid in her heart but she was really so sweet.

As long as she was happy, Kanae didn't mind getting a little bit dirty.

At least while they were still considered kids.

…..

…..

Kuu still felt pride because of Kuon's actions when he went to film that day. He was happy that Kuon still had belief in himself despite the people around him telling him that he couldn't do it. He wasn't going to brag about it though and he understood how people would think that he had gotten Kuon the part. He was still excited though and he wouldn't listen to the insults. He knew his son was going to prove them wrong.

"Hizuri-san," he heard one of the crew members say as he ate his lunch and he looked at them. "Hi, I'm Derek, I wanted to ask you for a favor. I know that you don't normally talk to most of the crew and -"

"I really have no problem talking to the crew," Kuu said. "I know that you all work hard and have passion in what you're doing. I hope that I don't give off the vibe that I am uncaring. So, how can I help you?" he asked as he set the food aside.

Sometimes people would ask him for advice on becoming an actor and landing auditions, other times people would ask him to speak to the director in their place. Although he often didn't agree to the other person's request, he wasn't the type of guy to turn others away. He'd even had questions about citizenship and work visas before especially if the person in question was a Japanese citizen.

"My nephew was recently offered an audition," Derek said and Kuu stared at him. "We're not a very wealthy family so we can't provide the opportunities that your family can. I managed to get some of the names of the other children auditioning and we learned that your so-"

"My son's not pulling out of the audition," Kuu said.

"You haven't really heard the reasons that I think he should," Derek said and Kuu arrowed his eyes.

"My son is not pulling out of the audition," Kuu repeated before standing up and going somewhere else to eat his lunch.

"Asshole," he heard Derek say under his breath but he didn't care. There was no way that he was telling Kuon to stop acting, he wasn't going to be one of those people who rejected him. How dare they think that!? Acting wasn't about who had more money it was about who had more talent. He just wanted Kuon to get the role based on his abilities. How dare anyone think otherwise!?

End of Chapter Five

Thank you for reading

Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Four

Brennakai, KrisXD, misherukuro, MissElyon