AN: Thanks for your patience in the update of this fic. I was originally planning on updating forty fics all at once but it was taking too long. I think I'm just going to try to do a bulk update every 10 days instead. Hope you enjoy this fic 😊

Chapter Twenty Seven – Video Release

"Hizuri, can you lean your head back for the next one?" the photographer called out and Kuon smiled before doing so and then made sure that the expression from before was on his face. He was kneeling up in a park whilst wearing some of the R Mandy clothes. His hair was styled in a very attractive and modern way and he had light makeup on, the type that male models wore.

It felt good to get away from the studio for just a little bit. It felt nice that he had revealed his true identity and things had been the same for him with the directors and producers. Years ago this might not have happened but he had proven to everyone how talented he was. They had forgive his past and were concentrating on his work whilst as Ren rather than his name.

It was a relief.

If he kept his mind off of the stupid video then he started to feel free, everything around him seemed a little bit brighter and more comfortable. He was allowed to drop the charade of Ren and just be himself, date Kyoko, work on his career. It really was a good thing.

"That's a wrap on Hizuri," the shoot director called and Kuon stood up. He bowed appreciatively to both the director and the photographer, thanking each of them for their work and went to grab a towel to clean his face.

"So," Yashiro said as he approached him, "How are you feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Kuon asked, trying to show confusion on his face and surprise that Yashiro was asking that question. "I'm fine," he grinned, "Why would I be anything else?"

"Well, on camera you definitely don't seem to have problems but I've come to know you, Kuon, and there's something that's happening when you doing have a camera pointed at you. I know it's something that you might not want to discuss but I want you to know that if you do want to talk about it, I'm willing to listen to you," Yashiro said.

The silence between them made Yashiro believe that no matter what, he was not going to get anything out of Kuon. Kuon wasn't the type of person who would confess to things like this. He was the silent type who tried to deal with large problems by himself. Offering help was really the best that he could do but how different was it from just not doing anything. Yashiro turned to walk away before hearing Kuon speak.

"There's a video of me when I was a child. There's a chance that someone has it, that someone is showing it to others," Kuon finally admitted and Yashiro turned. He raised an eyebrow.

"Something embarrassing?" he guessed and saw Kuon fall quiet. "Even if it was embarrassing, maybe people will laugh and maybe there will be jokes on talk shows about it but in the end people will forget and you were a kid, if they don't forgive you and move on then they have something truly wrong with their mi-"

"I was abused by a director when I was a child. I was abused but I was so desperate to act that I just lived with the abuse," he saw Yashiro's expression soften as he looked at Ren sympathetically. "Is that the type of thing that the public will just forget and move on from?"

"It's a lot harder to move on from sadness then it is from humor," the manager admitted honestly, "but I'm sorry that happened to you. I don't think anyone would hold that against you. You were a child and I think public consensus is that it is wrong to hurt a child."

Kuon nodded and Yashiro sighed.

"Come on, we only have the interview for the talk show left to do today, how about after I buy you a beer?" he asked and Kuon smiled.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," he told him with a smile. It did feel good to let the Kuon side of him show. Now that he had admitted the truth he was allowing himself fun and friends and a life with Kyoko. He just wasn't sure how much of his life he wanted the public to know.

…..

…..

Kuon looked at the man and woman doing the talk show with him. It had been easy enough so far, discussing recent events in his life, his dreams of acting and any upcoming plans that he could share with them. They had also invited him to talk about how he worked on his acting techniques and offer advice for the audience.

"So," the man, Akira, said as he sat forwards in the seat, "We've been able to get our hands on some exclusive footage from 'The Lake In the Park'" he said as the live audience talked and showed that they were getting excited to see his work. There had already been a few teasers floating about but they hadn't shown the scenes like they were about to do. Most of the movie had to go through a final edit and they were still debating on adding a few more scenes in but a few clips had been released.

"Is it okay if we take a look?" Yuna asked and Kuon nodded.

"Yes, if these clips were sent to you then I don't see any reason why we can't watch them," he said and Akira grinned as the first clip played.

This one was of the meeting between Pandora and Nobira for the first time. Kuon smiled as he watched the way in which he and Kyoko interacted with one another on set. He could see the way that Kyoko approached him and grabbed him by the collar gently before letting her hand drop. He was playing a police officer after all.

She had come so far and her talent had grown so much. She might even be passing him with the amount she had grown. If she did then he would applaud her, however, it would still motivate him to step up and set a higher goal for himself. He saw the clip end and then turned to the hosts of the show.

"Well, I can definitely feel the levels of emotion in your character there," Yuna said before looking at the audience. "As you guys know, Pandora is being played by Kyoko from Box R, Dark Moon, and other work. Now, Kyoko is the first relationship of yours that our viewers know about. How was it like working across from your girlfriend? Harder? Easier?

"As an actor, I want to be able to work with anyone," Kuon replied but then smiled, "I do have to admit though that the extra practice we had together was quite beneficial. I really want to tell you that you should be watching this. Kyoko is spectacular and it's always healthy to be working across from someone who challenges you."

"I'm sure that our viewers can imagine that extra practice," Yuna smiled as the audience laughed and Akira turned his attention to Kuon.

"So, for all of those aspiring to be an actor, what advice can you give for getting into character. You have shown us multiple characters over the years after all," Akira asked and Kuon looked out thoughtfully to the audience.

"You have to embrace the character," he told them and there were some slow nods. "What I mean by that is that you have to consider the character that you're portraying. What is their life like? Why do they believe certain things and not others? What struggles have they been through? Everyone is defined by what they've done in the past even if it's the want to change from being that person that defines you. Different people have different strengths and weaknesses and you really want to embrace those things.

"I think we can agree with that," Yuna said before looking at Kuon and leaning forwards.

"So, when you think about their voice, do you do anything to prepare for that?" she asked and Kuon grinned.

"I usually take some time by myself to consider the motive of the character and also what background they have. The motive of the character allows you to move forwards especially in following the script. A character is more than the words written on the page, an actor has to create the, usually, extremely well-written character and embrace them, try to be them. Our writing staff and the crew in general were composed of some amazing and very professional and talented people for this project," Kuon rpelied.

"Well, we do have another clip," Akira said before pressing the play button to show it on the large screen monitor. However, the set wasn't what he saw. It was a small cramped building, looking a bit like an abandoned office but things were in disrepair in there. Kuon tensed as he realized what had just been shown. "Oh, I haven't seen this," he said as Kuon's entire body went white.

Kuon watched with his eyes widening as he saw himself as a preteen being abused, being kicked and hit and the blood that came with it. He could see the pain and fear in his own eyes. Why had he done that to himself? Why hadn't he told anybody or come to anyone, tried to stop it? He had just stayed in that situation and had been blaming himself for years.

He tensed as he could hear the reaction from the studio audience and then he felt as if he had fallen into a deep, dark hole and was struggling to get out. He was trying to climb out of the pit but as he did so, he would pull away at the dirt and continue to fall. Everything seemed to be getting colder and he realized that he was going into shock but he couldn't pull out of it.

He looked up at the screen and saw that the video had stopped playing and that there was a widespread silence. He hadn't wanted his childhood to be shown like that, for people to know the secrets of his youth.

"I am so sorry, Kuon-san," Yuna said quickly as Akira was at the side of the stage talking to the crew to make sure that that didn't happen again. "Are you okay? Can I get you something, maybe some water or something to drink?"

"I'm…I'm fine," Kuon said as he looked back at her not knowing how pale he was or how people were scared that he was going to collapse.

Yuna looked at him in a way that showed she didn't believe him but she didn't want to argue with her very high-profile guest. She nodded slowly. "We're going to take a break and we'll be back after our sponsors," she said with a weak smile and wave before she sat opposite Kuon. "Do you want to step back to your dressing room?" she asked him and Kuon shook his head.

"It's just a past, it's something that I should be able to get over," he said and Yuna looked at him again, continuing to make eye contact with him. She sighed as she nodded and sat back.

"If you're sure," she replied and then looked to Akira as he came out, "Nothing is going to happen this time, right?" she asked and Akira shook his head.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you," he told Kuon who shook his head.

"It's fine, let's just move on from this," he suggested and Akira stared at him.

"Hurting children is never okay."

End of Chapter Twenty Seven

Thank you for reading

Thank you to the Reviewers of Chapter Twenty Six

Brennakai, ErzaTsuruga, Kris XD, ktoll9, Paulagato,

Response to Reviews

Kuon really wanted to take the high road but Alyssa won't let him go that easily. We'll have to see the results of this because when a video like that is released it's not only the victim that gets hurt and the fact it was on live TV as well makes it worse.