AN: I've been attempting to update every 10th day of the month but got excited and updated early, hope you enjoy

Chapter Thirty One – A Focus on Family

Hiroaki sighed as he looked at the famous actor. He really did like Ren as a person even though he had concealed so much of his life and nearly been arrested. When you grew up in a family where your parents were famous and you were famous just because you were born to them things were a lot trickier with a lot more pressure. He had gone to the extreme of being scared and of hurting himself when he was younger, he had always faked his smile despite being terrified of not living up to his father's name. It was something that he had had to work on.

Kuon had done the opposite. Instead of drawing that violence inside, it had burst out of him and he had directed it upon others who might not deserve it. Hiroaki wasn't going to dwell on that though. America was a different society than Japan and he wasn't really sure what types of people that anger had been thrown towards.

No, he was accepting of the stress of having a famous father.

Hiroaki took a look at Kuon again and bowed his head feeling the pressure mounting. "May I speak my thoughts?" he asked politely and Kuon sighed before nodding. He had a weak smile on his face and Hiroaki turned to him.

"Your father is dealing with a lot but I don't think that I ever heard him say that he regrets having you as his son. I don't think that he ever would have denied that he is your father, he never will either and the media takes everything and turns it on its head, I wish it didn't but it's been doing that to my family for as long as I can remember," the director commented and Kuon stared at him.

"Do you remember when you first had your photograph taken or anyone telling you about your photograph being taken? I was told that my parents were able to keep me out of the papers until I was two-years-old in which time a photo of my father and me appeared in a magazine where it talked about his latest project." Hiroaki confided and Kuon watched him before breathing uncomfortably.

"Four months and there were apparently some close calls before that," Kuon replied as he looked out of the window. "My mother was thrilled to be one of the lead models in a huge designer's fashion show but she was nervous and kept throwing up without meaning to. Dad wanted to cheer her on and prove his support for her and he brought me because he knew she'd want me to see her even if I was too young to remember it."

Hiroaki nodded as he watched Kuon and the way he lit up when he spoke about his parents. Having famous parents was one thing but pretending not to experience the joy of having these loving parents was quite another. Kuon sighed as he looked at his hands. These hands had been covered in blood so many times but even with his anger, his parents had been there to help him. He could at least try to be honest with his father about his past, the messed up past that he carried around with him.

"I bet regular parents don't have to worry about that. They can take their kids everywhere with them and they don't have to worry about people making comments about the way a child looks or a child acts. I had people telling me that I looked like a woman as I grew up and that wasn't inside of my school, that was people who would comment on pictures of me and my dad," Hiroaki looked at Kuon as he looked at the ticket in his hand, pulling it from his pocket. The Japanese man smiled as he realized that his words were actually getting through to the man who had once before helped him.

"How did it feel working with your dad as a director? I know that whenever I would accompany my father to work, I was thrilled to watch his work. My father was my hero growing up. I mean, as much as I idolize your father, I always thought that there was no better person in the world than my own father."

Kuon smiled and nodded as he saw that the train was nearly at its destination. He stood. "I think that I'm getting off early," he said and Hiroaki stood and grabbed his bag as well which made Kuon feel a little more suspicious of the director. Wasn't he supposed to be going on a trip? Had he actually boarded this train just for the chance for the two of them to have this conversation.

As the train stopped and Kuon got off, Hiroaki followed him and looked around. Kuon turned back to him, "Weren't you going somewhere? Didn't you have a job to do?" he asked and Hiroaki gently smiled at this.

"I did accomplish my job, I think," he told him and Kuon blinked. The director had spent his time and money getting Kuon to realize that he should just speak to his dad with nobody else around so that they could discuss what was happening and come up with a game plan. People like that, the good people in society, they really did exist. He couldn't lose his hope in humanity yet.

…..

…..

When Kuon had requested that Kuu met him at a somewhat isolated area in the middle of an isolated city, Kuu was a little bit suspicious but of course he would come. He would go to the ends of the earth if Kuon needed him there. He had already wasted so many years in which he could come to know and have a good relationship with his son. It would be wrong to take that for granted.

As Kuu arrived at the address, he saw Kuon sitting down on a bench looking rather exhausted. He approached his son, taking a look around him to make sure that there weren't gang members or worse paparazzi. "Hey," he told him and Kuon nodded in his direction. "Are you doing okay? Kyoko said that you suddenly took off and she was worried. I guess that we've both been dealing with a lot these past few days."

"Sorry about that," Kuon shrugged and Kuu shook his head. He didn't mean to blame his son. He certainly had never intended to blame his son. "Dad, do you think you would have been happier were I never to have been born. Were Mom to have had a miscarriage or something or for the two of you to never have conceived."

Kuu looked at him horrified before sitting down, "Why would you say something like that?" he asked and Kuon bowed his head.

"I'm just wondering if you would have been happier were I not your son," he told him and Kuu reached up and ruffled Kuon's hair as if he were a small boy again and he grinned as Kuon turned to him weakly.

"I'm kind of pissed that you think that," Kuu stated honestly, "the answer though is no. Neither I or your mother would be happier were you not here, you make us happy Kuon, as long as you're living your life then we're happy."

"You're not exactly happy now," Kuon argued, "There's no way that you can be happy now."

Kuu closed his eyes and sighed. Yes, with the way that things had been going, when it came to his career, he wasn't doing so well but that had little to do with Kuon and what Kuon was going through. It had to do with how judgmental people outside of their family were being. Kuu sighed as he looked at his feet before turning to his son, "You know, seeing those videos did hurt," he admitted and Kuon looked away nervously.

"It wasn't you who created that hurt though," Kuu continued. "I don't blame you for what happened. I can't blame you. If I were a kid in that situation, I probably would have fallen into the same trap but I wasn't focused on you. I was focused on trying to win as an actor and I did neglect you when I look back on it. I am truly sorry about that. Both your mother and I are truly sorry for that."

"Dad," Kuon shifted with unease, he looked at his father not really knowing what to say but he knew that he didn't agree with what his dad was saying. "You didn't neglect me. I was fine. I took care of -"

Kuu shook his head, "Being neglected doesn't mean that we don't love you or that we physically hurt you. We didn't really understand how to balance our lives and it wasn't that we forgot about your or did it on purpose but we never really became the type of parents that we needed to be. We allowed other things to sway our motives and I've come to realize that. I realized it when you were Ren Tsuruga. I should have been a better father to you."

"Dad," Kuon whispered, "You've always been my hero. I've always had you as my biggest source of inspiration. I wanted to be a better son to you."

The older actor shook his head and put a hand on Kuon's shoulder, "There's nothing that you could have done to become a better son because you've already been such an amazing son and even if you weren't, you're my son and I accept the real you. I have never doubted my love for you. You're my child and seeing those videos made me angry both at the people who hurt you and myself. No job is worth seeing a family member get hurt like that."

"I survived," Kuon commented and Kuu looked away.

"You weren't meant to get hurt in the first place. To think that I wasn't protecting you," he bowed his head and struggled to breathe before looking at Kuon, "What do you think we should do?"

"How about if we continue with what we have been doing," Kuon suggested and Kuu watched him. "I mean, the promo clip just launched. How about we see how people receive The Lake in the Park and if it goes well we can think of something else that we can collaborate on, that is if you want to."

"How about we both act this time," Kuu asked and Kuon laughed.

"The chance to work alongside my hero? I would be a real fool to pass up that offer," he said and Kuu wrapped his arms around him, hugging the son who he had wanted to hold for such a long time. Kuon laughed at how much his father truly did love him.

"Kuon, please promise me that if something that happens causes you pain once again that you'll let me know?" he asked and Kuon nodded as he watched his father.

"I promise," he agreed before Kuu stood up and looked around.

"Let's get something to eat," he suggested and Kuon laughed before standing up again. It felt amazing to know that he and his father were both safe and he hadn't ruined his dad's life and his career. Now they just needed to focus on how to work together in the future.

End of Chapter Thirty One

Thank you for reading, reviews are appreciated

Thank you to reviewers of Chapter Thirty

H-Nala, Kaname671, Kris XD, paulagato

Author Response

Ogata really did want to help Kuon out and he did so. He really needed that talk with Kuu. Thank you for your support.