AN: I'm really sorry that it took me so long to update this fic. I'm really hoping to update more when the next semester of school starts since I'll have more free time. Hope you enjoy this chapter 😊

AN2: I had originally planned to release this chapter as well as some chapters of other fics at the same time but am busier than I expected myself to be 😊 Hope you enjoy!

Chapter Twenty Three - To My Family and Friends

Lory had no idea what was going on. He had thought that sending Kyoko to Kuu in America would be good for her because it would open her up to opportunities that she might not have had otherwise. However, hearing the American media discussing how his two favorite stars were going to get married was making Japan go over the top with both the women saying they were sad for Kuon to be off the market and those celebrating their upcoming marriage.

As much as Lory adored love celebrations, he knew that the couple hadn't reached that step in the relationship yet.

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to work out how he could deal with this before the two lovebirds came into the country on their return. He was about to pick up his phone to call his darling when he heard somebody knock on the door.

"it's open," Lory said as he sipped his tea and turned to face the annoyed woman opposite her, "Ah, Kotonami-san, always a pleasure to see you."

Kanae did a quick bow before looking up at Lory with a challenging gleam in her eyes. "Are you going to stop it?" she asked him as he grabbed a seat to sit down. He sighed and placed the cup down. "She isn't even here and we both know that even she's not that flighty to get engaged to a guy that she just started dating.

Lory smiled, "Are you jealous?"

"No," Kanae said bluntly, "I'm disgusted," she saw the annoyance pass through Lory's eyes and she looked up. She sighed and continued to look at the man before her. "I'm not ready to admit to any feelings of love like she is but you have to know that this media storm is going to end in two ways she's either going to have to commit to him and save face or she'll be the woman who Kuon Hizuri doesn't want to marry."

Lory smiled at that. He could work with the way in which she had phrased that. "I hope you are aware, Kotonami-san, that Kuon would say that he would love to marry her but that the timing isn't right for either of them."

"And so what, she's the girl who turned down the former Ren Tsuruga and she'll get hated by his fans?" Kanae asked and Lory hummed at that. That was an unfortunate possibility. He twirled some of his hair around his finger before trying to think of a plan.

"I'm going to go and get myself a plane ticket, is there anything else I can do for you, Kotonami-san?" he asked as Kanae's jaw dropped. Did the president think that him going after the couple would benefit them? Was he really that secure about their relationship?

"No," she said before bowing and looked at her phone wondering whether she should warn her best friend or just see where the cards fell. This would be a challenge to Kuon as well and Kanae wanted to see if he was worth the affections of her best friend.

…..

…..

"Kyoko," Kuu said as he looked ahead of him at the LA traffic whilst being very glad that he had left so much time to get to the location where they would be shooting. He looked at the girl whose eyes were glowing with adoration and grinned back at her. "I have a task for you, nothing to do with acting but I need -"

"Do you need me to get gas? I'm not sure if there's a sidewalk nearby but I think if I stepped carefully enough around the cars," Kyoko said thoughtfully and Kuu checked the engine. He was a lot lower than he thought but they had time to go to the gas station that was nearby. He should have refueled the previous day.

"No, but good eyes," Kuu said as he gave her a thumbs up and Kyoko smiled as she spent time with her loving 'father'. "Please don't do anything that dangerous though, the traffic is a beast out here. I was hoping you could help me with this," he said as he held up a huge stack of unsorted paperwork.

Kyoko tilted her head to the side, "Father, what is that?" she asked, "Do you need me to alphabetize it or organize that?"

"These are all of the offers for different events, interviews, photo shoots, and roles that I've received over the past few weeks. My agent is getting on at me that I need to pick what I want to do but I've not had the time to do it and I've been procrastinating," he continued to smile as Kyoko laughed at how the American side of him could say that so easily. "You think you could sort this out by date and tell me which ones overlap?" he asked her and Kyoko paled.

She took the papers from him as the traffic started moving again and bowed deeply. "I won't let you down, Father. I will guard these papers with my life. Even if the devils want to take them and try to drag me into the underworld with them, I will keep these papers safe."

Kuu laughed, "You don't have to guard them that much," he said as he looked ahead of him. "I know that helping me with my work is going to be a bit different than helping Kuon and even though you don't need to coo-"

"It'll be just like in Japan," the actress said excitedly, "We'll have to find places to eat. Kuon always goes by the placement of the sun in the sky when it comes to when he eats. His stomach is definitely broken."

Kuu smiled as he listened to Kyoko talk about his son. It helped him feel better that he could still see the same similarities between the boy he had raised and the man he was now. Hopefully in time that small gap between them wouldn't be noticeable. "Well I go by my stomach and what my body tells me to eat," Kuu laughed, "I think that if Kuon and I shared one stomach and one metabolism, we'd be perfect but at least I used to let him give me the food that he didn't want to eat, the stuff that Julie didn't force feed him."

Kyoko grinned, "It must feel really good to have him back."

"I don't think you can even understand how good it feels," Kuu told her as he thought about his son. Kuon had taken quite a journey throughout his life to get to the person he was. He had become a great man, a great idol. He smiled softly as he imagined a small hand grabbing his and his son idolizing him. Kuu just hoped that he hadn't taken that little boy for granted.

He hoped that Kuon had never seen it that way and that he had never felt that he wasn't special or loved or appreciated. That was the type of world that Kuu had wanted for him, he had just fallen a little short in the delivery of all of it.

"Father," Kyoko said as she saw him pull over for gas. She knew that there was a colder chill in the air and it reminded her of when Kuon was feeling sad or nostalgic. She placed a hand on his arm and made eye contact with him, "Kuon says that it feels good to be back too. I know that he's really missed both you and Julie-san."

"Thank you," Kuu said honestly as he looked at her. He took a deep breath in before letting it go. "So, I hope you don't find what you'll be doing with me today too boring. I'm going to be doing a scene and I want you to watch as closely as possible and report back to me with what you learnt. I want you to write down as many questions as possible and then I'll go over them with you when we head home. I want you to really try to drink in what being an actress can be."

Kyoko smiled as she looked at the notepad and pen. She felt a surge of excitement through her and she nodded. "Of course and I'll also sort to your paperwork."

"Thanks," Kuu said as he squeezed her upper arm and Kyoko looked forwards, a huge grin over her face. She was going to do whatever she could to soak in the opportunities that this mentee position was offering her. She was going to prove her skills to the entire Hizuri family.

…..

…..

Kuon shifted nervously as he heard the director tell him that he was amazing in his scene. Not only was Kuu filming on location, but Kuon was as well. This particular scene took place in a park and Kuon was trying so hard to drown out the outside world that was distracting him. It was because they were in this place. They were so close to the graveyards. So close to where his parents had chosen to bury him.

Kuon's wrist couldn't stop burning.

He had used to wear his watch on that wrist. He had used to look for him for guidance and yet Kuon was too afraid to approach his tombstone and read the words that Rick had had a short life, an unfairly short life. As they broke for lunch, Kuon looked over at Yashiro and smiled. Some of the American workers who weren't familiar with Japanese actors had thought that Yashiro was Kuon's assistant and they had just not corrected them.

"There's somewhere that I need to go," Kuon said softly as he looked around and Yashiro hummed.

"You're distracted," he commented and Kuon pointed to himself. "Maybe the rest of the cast and crew can't see it because you're at the peak of your acting ability but I've known you for years, Kuon. Right now you're distracted. Is there something about this area that's bringing back a traumatic memory of any kind?"

Kuon laughed at that as his body tensed again, "Why do you say that?" he asked and Yashiro eyed him carefully. Kuon looked down knowing he was busted.

"There's somewhere that I need to go since we're breaking for lunch," he told him and Yashiro hummed whilst studying him. "Someone that I need to go say hi to. Somebody that I need to apologize to and then apologize again that it took me such a long time to go and see him."

"Let me guess," Yashiro said, "Your friend who passed away is in that lot," he gestured in the direction to the tombstones. Kuon nodded and took a deep breath in.

"I wish I could take him some chicken," he said before sighing. Yashiro waved him off and Kuon started to walk towards where Rick was buried. It was so strange. Rick had always been someone that he had idolized and somebody who was older than him. He had thought of Rick as being a big brother to him when he was younger and Rick was the only person who had seemed to want to try to understand him. After he had lost his sunlight, Rick had stood by him and tried to pull him out and that had led to his death.

That was the hardest thing when it came to death, it all just ended. Rick had been older than him all those years ago but now Kuon was older than he was, he had had more chances in life than he had and Rick had drawn the short end of the stick. Kuon wanted to do whatever he could to make it up for him even though he was gone.

Kuon stopped as he saw a woman by the tombstone and felt as if something inside of him was clawing his heart to pieces. He hadn't seen this woman in years but he instantly recognized her as Rick's mother.

End of Chapter Twenty Three

Thank you for reading

Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Twenty Two

KrisXD, ktoll9, paulagato, MWEH