KUON'S PROMISE.
As soon as the shoot ended, Kyoko eagerly went back to the hotel with a large cake she had baked for Hizuri. She knew she only had four more days before he left for America, and so she intended to use this time and learn as much from him as possible. The cake was a sort of a thank-you gift for all his help.
Just as she had expected, Hizuri loved the gesture, specially because she brought him something sweet. They sat on the dining where she cut herself a small slice and left the rest untouched for Hizuri. It was then he broke the news to her about his flight being preponed.
"What?" Kyoko was shocked. "You're leaving tomorrow? But why?"
"Because the business I had to attend to in Japan, it's already taken care of. So there's no point in staying." He had expected it would take much longer to persuade Kuon, but since he was getting the video tonight he didn't want to keep Julie waiting.
"That's... too bad." Disappointment clouded her face.
"Don't be sad." Hizuri smiled. "It's not like I'm never coming back. Besides, if you ever come to America, you're always welcome to stay with us. I'm sure my wife, Julie would love you." He held out his hand to her.
Gluping the lump in her throat, Kyoko shook it. "I'm so grateful to you for everything you've taught me."
"I meant the cake." He let go of her hand. "Hand me the cake. Quickly."
As she obliged and handed him the cake, Kyoko couldn't help but smile. Despite everything, she was glad he had warned up to her enough to be so casual around her.
"So, I was wondering, why did Lory put you in the Love Me Division?" He asked out of plain curiosity.
Kyoko's face darkened. This was a touchy subject for her. After some serious contemplation on how to answer, she decided to go with the truth. Specially because she didn't wanna lie to him. "I was told that in order to become a true actress, I need to love my audience. But I'm not capable of loving anyone."
"Why would you say that?" Hizuri frowned and leaned back in his chair. "Don't you ever wanna get married?"
"No. Even if I do somehow learn to love my audience, I'll never be able to love a single person to that extent. I just don't have it in me." She almost added "anymore" before she bit her tongue.
"You might wanna reconsider that. My wife Julie was the best thing that happened to me, after my son, of course." At the mention of her name, a warm smile spread across his face.
"That would be Kuon's mother, right? Tell me about her."
And Hizuri was happy to. For a while, they chatted about Juliena Hizuri, the famous model and actress. Hizuri described her as beautiful as a goddess. This time Kyoko did not doubt him, because when he told her that she had blonde hair and green eyes, Kyoko's eyes turned into wonderstruck saucers. "I would love to see her someday!" She exclaimed.
"I'm sure she would too."
As they talked, they somehow found themselves talking about Kuon again, and Hizuri's face saddened.
"I still remember the time when he was young, he used to be so cheerful. But his smile gradually faded away. I can't help but think that it's my fault," he confessed. "I was so busy building my career and trying to become a better actor that I never noticed how unhappy he was." He looked down and his fist clenched. "Both me and my wife, we loved him a lot, but if only we had paid more attention..." He let his sentence trial off. His eyes melancholic.
Kyoko couldn't bear to see him blaming himself for whatever happened to his son. After a mighty long moment of silence, she declared, "he was happy."
Hizuri looked up.
"I was only your son for a few hours but those were some of the happiest moments of my life," she said truthfully. "I'm confident that my feelings were perfectly synchronised with the real Kuon, specially because Ren told me he thought so-"
"What did you just say?" Hizuri jerked up straight at this new discovery, his eyes wide. "Ren Tsuruga told you that?"
"Yeah. He said that I've truly captured Kuon's feelings. And I say that he was happy."
"Are you serious? Are you sure he wasn't just joking on messing with you when he said that?"
"How mean! Even you said that my Kuon was perfect. And Ren does mess with me a lot, but he was serious this time."
"And this was after you told him that your Kuon loved his father? He thought you were right?"
"Yeah, why?"
Warmth spread through out Hizuri and he let out a delightful chuckle which soothed his heart, leaving Kyoko to wonder what was up.
The day passed in a flash while they chatted. Around the evening, Kyoko started making him supper.
"I almost forgot," Hizuri inquired, "yesterday, when we were in the car, you kinda spaced out in the middle of your performance. What was that about?" His curiosity got the best of him again.
Kyoko hesitated. It was when she suddenly remembered about her mother. Usually, she avoided talking about her by dodging the subject, but for some reason she didn't want to lie to Hizuri, so instead, she opened up to him. "My mother and I, we didn't really get along well. No matter what I did to win her over, she was always sick of me. One day she just left me. When you pretended to be depressed, I was suddenly reminded of her."
"I'm sorry." He apologized. "What about your father?"
Kyoko saw no reason to hide this either, since he already knew about her mother, so once again she went with honesty. "I've never seen him or heard from him. I don't even know what his name is or if he's even alive. But I don't mind. I've never cared about not having a father until now, because I never thought about it much." She quietly added, "but I would've wanted one if he were like you." Only after the words slipped out from her mouth, she realised that she had spoken aloud. Her face burned crimson. What the hell am I saying!
"Why are you saying this now? Just because your role is over doesn't mean you're any less like Kuon." Hizuri smiled. "I don't remember telling you not to call me Dad anymore."
Kyoko couldn't help it, she teared up. And when she spoke, her voice came out choked. "You mean it?"
"Why not?" His smile faded and his tone turned angry all of a sudden. "And what was all that ridiculousness about never getting married and not falling in love, huh? Do have anyone idea how stupid you sounded? You're still just a kid, and you're talking all big with such a cold look on your face..." Hizuri kept lecturing her for a long time, but Kyoko didn't even listen to half of it because she was too busy trying to come up with some excuse to call out to him so she could call him Dad again.
It was nearly dawn when Kyoko arrived at the airport in her hot pink Love Me overalls. Unlike last time, she was here on her own accord to see Hizuri off, even though he told her it was not necessary. How could she not come after everything he had done for her? To her surprise, as she stepped into his private waiting room using a special entry pass provided to her by the President, she found a large gathering of some of the most rich and elite people of the entertainment world. And in the middle of all that stood Hizuri surrounded by a bunch of friends and acquaintances who were calling out to him from all directions.
Kyoko, knowing perfectly well that she could never cross this crowd and reach him before the time of his flight, chose a quiet corner to stand.
"Hey." Following the sound, for the first time, Kyoko noticed the familiar face of the person standing beside her.
"Ren?" She asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh... President's orders," he lied. "He thought it would be good publicity for Dark Moon if I came to see him off."
"Right," Kyoko flashed a wide smile. "And also, you two got acquainted at the studio yesterday."
"Yeah, that too."
"Yesterday," she looked down, her smile slowly ebbing away. "When he told me that he was returning to America, I was silly enough to believe that I would be the only one here to see him off. I was going to surprise him but it seems that I might not even get a chance to talk to him with this many people around. What is it, a festival?" She snorted.
"Well, gaining popularity and establishing personal connections is what they are here for. This big crowd is pretty normal for someone as popular as him."
"Damn it!" Kyoko couldn't hide her frustration any longer. "This way I won't get a chance to speak to him at all!" Her face turned sour.
"Why don't you try calling out to me the way you did the other day? I'm sure he'll notice if you do," Ren suggested.
Kyoko's face flushed. She had called him Dad then. She took a step closer to the mob of people surrounding Hizuri and embraced herself to call out to him. "Da-" her voice died down in her throat. This is so embarrassing, she thought. I can do it!
In the middle of the same room, Hizuri smiled and nodded, and shook as many hands as possible. He tried to listen to and respond to everyone in a polite manner. Through all the chaos and the din, a single shout in a familiar voice cut through like a sword, silencing everyone else. "Dad!"
Hizuri froze. The other people around him parted on their on to make way for her.
There stood Kyoko, with a confident smile on her face. Without realising, she had slipped into Kuon's character once again while calling out to him, but this didn't go unnoticed by Hizuri. He gaped at her first with surprise and then with amusement.
As Kyoko slowly made her way to him, she could hear the people around looking at her repulsive uniform with contempt.
"What is she? A janitor? How did you get in here?"
"Who in her right mind would choose to wear that?"
"She called out to her father. Just whose daughter is she?"
Kyoko paid no heed to them, she just didn't care. With her head held high and a confident smile stretching across her face, she walked ahead to stand in front of Hizuri.
"So you've come to see me off," he smiled. "Kuon."
The name Kuon immediately started a buzz among the crowd. They all asked each other who this Kuon was? Some of them who've already heard about Kuon were wondering why Hizuri was referring to some teenage girl by his son's name. They were pretty sure he never had a daughter, so they tried finding out among themselves what on earth was going on.
Hizuri knew he would later receive probably tons of calls regarding this other Kuon, and then he would have to give them a proper explanation, but as he looked at Kyoko smiling confidently in her scorching pink uniform in front of the most elite people of the japanese film industry, he couldn't help but chuckle. This girl was surely something else.
"Dad, I've decided to do that Natsu role, and to try to work on my weakness by giving it my all."
"That's my girl," he smiled. "I'm proud of you." He gave her a thumbs up, which Kyoko returned with a smirk.
"And one more thing," Hizuri said. "You don't have to get in character every time just to call me dad."
Kyoko couldn't help a slight blush creeping up to her cheeks.
After a beep from the intercom, they were informed that the plane was about to board.
Hizuri smiled and waved at everyone one last time. Just as he was about to turn, his eyes met Ren's, who was still standing on the far end of the room. Ren passed him the most real and grateful smile he could muster, a smile from deep within his heart.
Hizuri recognized that smile. It was the same pure smile Kuon used to have when he was little. A true, genuine smile. For the first time in five years, he was convinced that everything was going to be okay, because his son was fine.
"My dearest Julie..." There was a hesitant pause before he went on. "I've heard how worried you've been for me. If I could, I'd like to see you, embrace you, and apologize instead of sending a video like this. I want to apologize from the bottom of my heart. Not only for being completely out of touch for five years, but also for not understanding you and Kuu. I've just realized that for the first time now."
He averted his eyes from the camera to hide the guilt in them. "You patiently waited for me. You suppressed your urges to see me no matter how much your heart longed for it. Everything you did, you did for me, but I misunderstood all your efforts, and the fact why you never tried to reach me."
He rubbed his eyes and looked up again. "I thought you were so disappointed in me that you gave up on me, and you didn't care about me anymore. Because I was the son who selfishly left home to protect myself. I became a stranger, but you two still loved... someone like me." His voice choked.
"I can never thank you two enough for all your love and all that you've done for me. If I addressed you as my parents like I used to when I was little, my strained nerves might snap. Because after everything, I don't think I deserve it. But I promise you that I will return to you two on my own, and then if you let me, I'll call you Mom and Dad again."
Just as the video ended, Hizuri entered the living room with a cup in his hands. Juliena Hizuri was seated there on a sofa, her eyes filled with longing as she gazed at her son's face on the huge screen on the wall, and a drizzle of tears flowed out from her eyes and shimmered down her cheeks as she quietly wept.
"Honey, you're crying again?" Hizuri softly tugged the strands of her silky, golden hair behind her ear, and wiped her face.
"I just cant help it," she wailed, and new tears flooded her sparkling emerald eyes. "He said he'll call me Mom again."
"He will," Hizuri promised. "Hot chocolate?" He passed her the cup.
"Thanks," she took a sip and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"See? Kuon's doing so well on his own," he said while stroking her hair. "And he also looks healthy, so you don't have to worry about his eating habits anymore."
"I know," she sniffed. "but no matter how many times I see it, I get so moved that I can't stop crying." She burried her face into his chest, and sobbed silently.
He wrapped her arms around her and pulled her against him. "Hush now," he lulled. "Our son is okay."
"He promised he'll come back to us, but when?"
"Soon," he planted a feather-light kiss on her forehead. "We've waited so long, we can wait a bit more. And then I'll introduce you to the other Kuon too."
Julie raised her head to face him, frowning questioningly. It was then Hizuri told her all about Kyoko.
"She seems amazing," Julie smiled, once he was done. "Even though she's a girl, she does sound a lot like Kuon. I would really like to see her."
"Yeah, you will."
"So you've decided?" Takarada frowned uncertainty. Leaning back in his office chair, he squinted his eyes and scrutinized Ren, thinking it was highly unusual for him to be so encouraging about anything related to his past.
"It's time." Ren gave a slight nod.
"Whatever happens, I won't be there to help you," the President warned. There was an ominous look on his face when he said it, as if he was thinking about the worst case scenario.
"I know," Ren was not surprised. "In fact I prefer it this way. If I knew you had my back, I might grow careless. I wanna do this on my own."
"Are you certain?" Takarada warned again.
"Yes. I've already signed the contract, so that I don't talk myself out of it. I'm playing BJ in the movie Tragic Marker. It's the role of a cold-blooded murderer. The shoot will start in the beginning of the next year."
"It'll be different than anything you've played so far, and also, you'll be in character full time."
"True. This is my first time playing a villain, but I'm ready." After a pause he added, "to hurt someone again, even if its for acting, weather I'll be able to do it or not is a gamble, but I've to at least try. I can't keep running away forever."
Hearing those words, a smile slowly found its way on Takarada's face. "I see you've gotten a lot stronger than before. Well since you're that much confident, who am I to stop you?" He leaned back in his chair. "Go for it."
"Thanks, I'll give it my all."
At the same time, about five thousand miles away, as Kuon's video message was being played for the umpteenth time, Hizuri smiled at the screen and showed it a thumbs up sign, almost as if Kuon himself could see it, knowing that his father is watching over him.