AN: Thanks for your patience on the upload. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter Eight – An Unknown Blond

"Oh my god, who is that?" a young actress asked as she gestured to where Yashiro and 'Ren' were talking to each other. Her female manager smiled before taking a sip of coffee as she looked at the young – now blond – Ren Tsuruga. The male actor she was speaking with had raised an eyebrow.

"Come on, it's obvious," he pointed to the two men and the actress blinked hard. "It's a new actor from LME. Those guys can pull international talent now," he said as the actress nodded.

"Then that's why Ren-san's manager is with him, he's new for LME and they haven't given him a proper manager yet," the girl said before looking at her manager. "Matsuyama," she said as the manager had to compose herself to keep herself from staring at…Ren.

Meanwhile, Kuon was really trying to keep himself composed within the Ren character. It was very confusing to see himself in the mirror. He had seen himself time and time again with the emerald eyes, but it used to be a rare occurrence for his hair to be this shade. He looked into the reflection in the window and pulled at a few strands, he turned to Yashiro with a weak smile, "Is it that different?" he asked uncertainly.

"It's a change," Yashiro smiled as Ren took a deep breath in, "Are you going to…"

"I'm still Ren right now," he said as he looked away. "I'm a bit nervous if there are people who don't like this look. Maybe I should pretend to be Cain," he sighed.

"You expect me to roll over because you're Cain?" Yashiro laughed about this, "I'm not Kyoko, you know. I'm not going to have some kind of love attraction to you just because you ask me to. I'm also not going to let you physically hurt me."

"Love attractions and physical injuries, that's all you can think about Yashiro?" Ren asked as he rolled his eyes. "Maybe I should head back to America, if that's the worst you're expecting it's going to be an awful bore for me to remain here." He sighed dramatically before looking across to see Julie staring at him. "Then of course there are some complications," he said as Yashiro gave a bow and nudged Ren to do the same.

"Hizuri-san," Yashiro said before Ren bowed too, "It's very good to meet you, I'm Ren's manager."

"Oh, I've heard about you," Julie smiled before bowing, "Hizuri Julie, very nice to meet you," she said before standing up and looking at her son, tears in her eyes at how he looked like his younger self. "Oh my god," she whispered.

"Well, it's not like I didn't make a video recording last year, Hizuri-san," Ren said with an awkward smile. He looked to Yashiro and tilted his head to the side, "You said you had some thoughts about the wardrobe and appearance of my character?" he asked as Julie blinked.

"I…" she saw Kuon's look of 'play along with this' as he nervously looked to the side to see if anyone would be following them. Julie perked up as she saw this, "Well, as a fashion model myself, I do have some rather firm opinions on how I'd like the character portrayed. My husband is allowing me to express my opinion as well."

"Well, it's good to keep it within family," Yashiro said as Julie blinked and looked at Kuon who nodded.

"Very well," Julie smiled, "It was a pleasure meeting you Mr. Yukihito," she said before almost dragging Kuon to the hand off to where they could talk privately. Kuon wasn't expecting her to take him to see the other Hizuri member. "I managed to be the kidnapper this time," she joked.

Kuon laughed and rubbed the back of his neck as Kuu went to make sure the door was secure.

"I'm not sure if I would call it kidnapping as such," he commented, "I came willingly both times."

Julie pouted as Kuu just shook his head with a smile, his eyes going over the transformation that had happened in this man since they had last seen one another. "Let her have this one, so…the most important question other than where the caterer is," he joked, "Who are we dealing with here?" he asked as he gestured to Kuon's whole body.

"As in right now, during this movie, eventually?" Kuon asked as Kuu looked at him.

"So, there are different people?" he asked before nodding, "Are there always different people?"

"I…for the time being, I want to be called Ren by the public. I'm thinking that perhaps, even after my identity is revealed, I might stay with the Ren Tsuruga stage name a little longer. However, right now I am Kuon in public. I mean, you did that, da-so you know how it feels to keep two names," Kuon said as he felt a little guilty standing there. He was ready for some special blend of rejection from Japan for lying to them. He also didn't want them to discover the dirt on him.

"Why did you stop?" Kuu asked with a playful frown.

"Why did I…" Kuon said awkwardly as he saw his father's firm look. He laughed weakly, "Well, somebody might hear me. I don't want it to get out."

"That you're embarrassed about being part of your family," Kuu said acting as if he was hurt as Kuon looked at him, his eyes widening.

"Are you being serious?" he asked as Kuu shook his head. "Do not remind me of my childhood," he laughed, "One time I really did believe that you hated me for getting dirt on the sofa."

"First of all, that sofa was a gift for us and an expensive one at that and second, you didn't just get mud on the sofa, you brought a bike in and rested it against it. That dry cleaning bill cost a fortune and you just looked at your mother with that 'I'm so innocent' pout and it was all forgiven," Kuu said as he placed a hand on Kuon's back to try to physically say that he wasn't really angry about this.

"Excuse me," Julie commented, "It was you, Kuu, who took one look at your son and just forgot all about everything. You said that as long as he learned his lesson that you had done your job as a -"

"Can we say that both of you were much better parents than I deserved?" Kuon asked as he looked at them sheepishly. He saw them both turn to him and felt how much they wanted to argue against that statement. "I've kept you both so far away for six years," he told them. "After this drama has aired in entirety, I know we can figure out a way of being a family again. I apologize for all the hardships that I've made you endure."

Before either of them could get another word out, Kuon looked away. "I know that because of me, a lot was messed up and I always wondered whether you would have decided to have a new child who didn't screw up, but I promise you I really do want to…"

"Are you saying that we should have replaced you?" Julie asked as Kuon looked away.

"You were young when you had me, it would have made sense. You didn't ask for me as your son," he looked away. "Sorry, I have to get going. I really do have to get concerned about wardrobe in only a short time," he said before quickly exiting the room and took deep breaths. He wasn't even noticing when he bumped into a reporter who was walking away from the room as well.

It didn't even register in his head that this man may have heard everything that had gone on behind those closed doors. It was just far too much to take on.

In fact, Ren didn't relax until he saw his girlfriend watching him concerned.

Ren nodded.

"I'm fine, Mogami-san, how are you feeling today?" he asked as Kyoko paused and sighed. Something about Ren was wrong. Something must have gone on when he stepped away with Julie, but she wasn't sure if she could help him. There were things in his past that she wasn't sure she was allowed to know about.

"I'm doing alright," Kyoko said before looking at him with a deep sigh, "Tsuruga-san, if you ever need someone who you can listen to?" she asked as she saw that by his body language, right now he wasn't at the top of his game. "Do you have free time after the shoot?" she asked as Ren looked at her and nodded.

"Yes, I do," he said as the fake gentleman's smile cleared off his face for a real smile, "but I didn't think you wanted anyone to know that we're a couple."

Kyoko looked him over and then stared away, she didn't know what to say. She honestly didn't want to be hated or for people to believe that she was just given this role because she was dating Ren, but then she didn't want to have to leave Kuon filling in the blanks on what she might mean because she was afraid to say the actual words.

Taking a deep breath she looked up at her boyfriend and said in a very steady manner, "Tsuruga-san, if there is anything that you need to talk to me about, I will listen without judgment. You have a past and so do I. We have things that we have to get through and some of those are scary to talk about. If you ever need to…"

"Did I screw everything up by existing?" Ren said as Kyoko almost choked at how he had asked her that.

She had expected it to be something about feeling unfamiliar with his parents and the realization that years away from them was both a positive and a negative thing. She guessed he was uncomfortable with people related to him since for such a long time he didn't have them close by. Maybe he was even struggling to live up to the expectation that he thought his parents had. She wasn't expecting that question.

Seeing her reaction, Ren quickly looked away. "I'm sorry, Mogami-san, that was completely out of character for me to ask you. Should we return to the set?" he asked but Kyoko shook her head.

"If you weren't alive then I would never be alright dealing with love again or even thinking about it. As my senpai, you have given me strength and hope and you've given me a path to which I can chase my dreams. Without you, my world would be much scarier and lonelier. You are important to me," she looked at him. "Even if you feel the distance with your past is too great, please just think of how much I like when we're together. I've told you before, lean on me if you need your strength."

"How did I fall in love with someone so caring and kind and generous?" Kuon laughed as he came towards her, "Thank you, Mogami-san."

"Any time, Ren" she said as she leaned up and kissed him.

The two were surprised when their kiss was interrupted by footsteps and the sound of someone coughing. "Uh…practicing," Ren said quickly, "We were just practici-"

"I don't even like Tsuruga-san," Kyoko lied as they both looked up to see Yashiro choking on that as Kyoko froze, "I mean, I don't know if that…" Kyoko's cheeks turned a bright red.

"I'm sure you were just trying to cover it up," Ren said. "Although if you really didn't like me…"

"You know how I feel about you, you jerk," Kyoko said before turning and looking at Yashiro.

"Be careful," the manager said smugly. "Anyway, I think its best we clear the air about who you really are, Ren," he said as Ren nodded. He walked out to face the crowd with Yashiro and Kyoko behind him and then the words slipped out of his mouth.

"I'm Hizuri Kuon,"

Yashiro and Kyoko shared a look as Ren froze. He hadn't just said that….had he?