Chapter Two – Given By Family
Kyoko was excited to come back home that day and tell her father what she had learned in the acting class. She was a little nervous because the agency was filled with extremely talented kids and she wondered whether she would be considered as annoying him by wanting to talk about acting as well. She wasn't as good as the other students but she wanted to try her best.
As she entered the house, she froze and saw someone that she hadn't ever expected to see again. She took a step back as she blinked up at her mother. Her mother had seemed far too happy to get rid of her all those years ago and was she actually here to get her back. Kyoko had moved on from that pain. Her mother still had a special place within her heart but Kyoko didn't want to admit that she knew her mother didn't care about her.
"You shouldn't have come here," Lory sighed as Kyoko decided to hide from the two of them. She managed to find somewhere where neither of them had any idea of her presence.
"The girl is mine biologically," Saena argued, "Now that she's actually worth something."
"First of all, I adopted Kyoko and that makes her my daughter and I will argue my case to be her father in any court throughout Japan. As someone who works as a lawyer, you should know that to be the case. Second, she has always been worth something. You can't put a price on human life and I don't want you to hurt her again. She's been doing extremely well."
Kyoko looked at Lory. Her adoptive father looked angrier than he ever had before and it surprised her a little bit. She bowed her head and tried to steady her breathing. Was he fighting this hard for her because he loved her? She looked up and saw her mother sigh before shooting a glare at him.
"I think that certain things can be overturned," she said and Lory frowned at her.
"What is this about? You've always seemed to reject Kyoko in the past," he stated and Kyoko felt her heart squeeze. She understood that her father was coming from a place of love but she didn't want to hear about how much her mother disliked her. This was her biological mother, the only biological family she knew of.
"It's none of your business but it's…she is being given something that she doesn't deserve," Saena commented and Lory raised his chin.
"Careful," he warned her slowly, "this is my daughter that you're talking about and you've already pushed me beyond the point where I would usually call security."
"You think it's okay for her grandparents, people who she has never even met, to give her most of their money as inheritance?" she asked looking as if the idea were shocking. Lory looked at her surprised. "See,"
"Kyoko has no need for those things," Lory said trying to brush her off without even hearing about the amount of money or why this was coming into question at the present time. "Anything that she needs to have provided to her, I'll be more than happy to give to her. She has a good life here and if you need to be paid off so you don't come here again."
"Are you really going to keep her away from Kyoto? Keep her from seeing people who unfortunately are idiotic enough to what to give her money?" Saena asked and Lory sighed, still frowning at her and being uncomfortable with what she was saying but he cared about Kyoko too much to give a definitive answer. "I'll be taking my leave now."
Lory sighed, he let himself get control of his breathing before shaking his head. "It's despicable that you come here, pretending to give a damn about her when we both know the truth. I'll talk to her though. She might want to actually go."
Saena rose her chin showing the feeling of superiority and walked out as Lory growled wanting to know the best way of helping his adopted daughter.
…
…
Kuu froze as he tried to figure things out in his head. He had wanted to be a good parent for Kuon but something was going on with his kid right now that he couldn't understand. He sighed and pushed a hand through his hair, hopefully it wasn't too late to change things. His son was facing puberty, right? He had been changing for a while, ever since he had trouble finding another acting role.
Maybe if he found a way for him to act then he would feel better or at least he might be able to see a smile from time to time and a smile not to do with Rick who Kuu was starting to view as a bad influence on his son.
He knew that Kuon would most likely yell at him or hurl insults at him if he tried to approach this situation wanting to talk with him but wasn't that the best decision that he could make. He steadied himself and then went up to Kuon's room and knocked on the door. He slowly opened it and stuck his head in to find Kuon on his side on his bed looking frustrated.
"Hey," he tried as he came towards his son. "Are you doing okay?"
"I guess," Kuon said bitterly, "What the hell are you doing? You don't want to talk with me?"
"How many sons do you think I have?" Kuu chuckled and then saw Kuon turn to him with an annoyed expression. Kuu sighed and sat down on the side of the bed. "I know I haven't been too great of a father recently but if you're willing to try to give me another chance," he suggested and Kuon turned to him and shook his head.
"Why do you turn everything into your problem, you always make yourself the center of attention," he said and Kuu touched his shoulder but pulled back as Kuon flinched. Something was going on with his son that he wasn't able to realize and without Kuon actually telling him the problem, Kuu was going to have a hard time guessing.
"I'm sorry if I do that," Kuu apologized, "but this isn't about me. This is about you. What do you want to say, Kuon?"
"You've never cared before," Kuon said stubbornly and Kuu sighed. That was obviously wrong but he wasn't going to push Kuon to speak to him if he didn't want to. "Why would you care now?"
"I have always cared," Kuu told him, "You're my son. I have always tried to be there for you," he said and Kuon shook his head. "I will always be fighting along side you so what are we fighting right now?" he asked and Kuon sighed.
"I'm not you," he said and Kuu chuckled but found Kuon to sharply glare at him. "Okay, you're not me and it's good that you're not me, I have my flaws that I don't want you to feel responsible for or that you feel we share. So, why are you wanting to be like me?"
"I'm not," Kuon said as he sat up but then shook his head. "Don't…don't misunderstand, I do want to be your son. I'm proud of being your son, Dad, but it's hard. They all expect me to be like you and I'm not like you. I can't do what you've spent years attempting to achieve and they know I'm not good enough."
"Who does?" Kuu asked confused.
"The directors, producers, talent agents, whoever" Kuon said as he stood and Kuu watched him sadly. Kuon laughed and pushed a hand through his hair. "I didn't think it would be this hard but they all expect me to be a miniature version of you and I can't do it. I'm so angry. Why do you have to be so good?"
Kuu opened his mouth to reply to that but then bowed his head, "I'm sorry," he apologized and Kuon growled again. Maybe an apology wasn't what was needed here. "There's a dark side to the acting world as well. People will often not give you the benefit of the doubt or they'll not want to say that they were wrong in their decisions. Is that the problem, you want to act and you're not able to?" Kuu asked.
"I can't keep an acting role," Kuon told him and Kuu looked at him patiently. "They expect me to be perfect."
"Do you want me to talk to anyone?" Kuu offered and Kuon shook his head, turning away angrily.
"So that I can have even more special treatment because I'm your son?" he asked before sitting down with a deep sigh and his body starting to shake. "Tell me what I'm doing wrong," he said and Kuu looked at him, moving so that he was sitting in front of him and they were facing one another.
"Nothing," he told him. "You're not doing anything wrong. You just need to have patience, it'll happen one day."
Kuon looked at him painfully before looking at his wrist. Rick had tried to tell him to never explain this to his father but Kuon felt that it was for the best. His dad wouldn't hate him right? "I think I need to talk to someone professional about my anger issues," he said and Kuu looked at him in shock. His son had anger issues?
"I've been fighting," he said and Kuu nodded slowly. "I need for it to stop. I don't want to hurt anyone else but it's as if someone else enters my mind. Do you know what I mean?"
Kuu bowed his head and closed his eyes, he hadn't wanted to share this part of his life with his son but maybe it was time for Kuon to know about the early Kuu HIzuri. "Yes," he nodded and Kuon looked to him taken aback, "Yes, I do know what you mean."
…
…
Kyoko snuck into her father's office late in the evening. She wanted to know what had happened with her mother but had been nervous in asking him the truth. Her past wasn't something that they discussed a lot, especially her family background. Her father had tried to give her happy memories and provide for her but there were things that he couldn't give her.
Kyoko smiled as she saw the travel plans and froze. She had expected for her father to make plans at a connections residence or an extravagant hotel but what she actually discovered was a lot more confusing to her. He was trying to book a room in the Fuwa ryokan.
Kyoko hadn't seen Shotaro for a very long time and she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about that. She had left that part of her life behind and she and Shotaro had fallen out of contact. Seeing him again made her feel a little nervous and that didn't feel fair to Shotaro or his family. She would have to impress them with the news things that she had learned.
Kyoko sighed, she wished she could tell Kuon this but he had changed over the past years. She just hoped that he was doing okay and that he could tackle any problems that might come to him. He had had a hard enough life as it was.
End of Chapter Two
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Thank you to the reviewers of Chapter One
Brennakai, Erza, H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, Niiissaann, Tam2013, The Real Jackie-O,