Strings Attached
by
dancingfingers
Disclaimer: I don't, under any circumstances, own Skip Beat! and its characters.
AN: This is a beta version. All (beta) credits goes to Roshelle Diall.
Chapter 3
January 10, 2013
"And that's a wrap! Good job, everyone!"
Yashiro waited quietly in the back with a bottle of water in his hand. He watched as the crew worked swiftly to pack the lamps, the screen, the cameras, and anything elseinto many big boxes. The actors, including his young charge were shaking hands and patting each others' shoulders, saying their thanks for the good work.
Beside him was a little girl that used to tail Kuon or Kyoko whenever they worked, Takarada Maria. She was a beautiful girl, with long and wavy brunette hair that fell to her waist. Her brown eyes flashed at any woman who dared to flirt with Kuon and she had to hold back or else. Her grandfather wouldn't let her follow Kuon to work. Instead, she reluctantly waited by Yashiro's side.
"Kuon-san!" Maria called as she caught Kuon walked towards them. She smiled sweetly at the actor.
Kuon chuckled and wrapped Maria in his arms. "Hello, Maria-chan." He pulled away from her and drank the water from his manager.
While he drank, Maria murmured softly, "You were great there."
Kuon gulped for the last time and smiled. "Why, thank you."
Maria giggled. "So," she said as she held his right hand, "I heard from Grandpa that you accepted the job in a romance movie."
'More like threatened,' he thought grimly as he recalled the events three days ago.
Lory had pretty much forced him to accept it with saying, "You should expand your genres in acting! You are the number one actor in the country, I know." Lory propped his chin to his knuckles, where the perfect imitation of the Phantomhive family ring on his right thumb glinted under the light. "But this is the thing that only you and I know," he said in a low voice.
Kuon flinched but said nothing. He didn't even want to talk about his reluctance to act in romance. Everything about it only reminded him of a certain beautiful model.
Lory sighed and changed his tone into a stern one. "I want you to overcome your trouble with Kyoko..." Kuon's face darkened but Lory ignored it. "And you didn't even know your mistakes, do you?" His deep brown eyes stared at his golden actor carefully. "Kuon, this will help you."
"How?" His voice cracked slightly. "I don't even know where to find her."
Lory gave his signature fatherly smile Kuon knew all too well since he had been using it since he first met the rich businessman. "That's why I'm here to help you. If you accept this, I assure you that you will not regret it. "
"Yes, I did."
Her brown eyes sparkled. She clasped her hands on her chest and sighed. "Wow, really? Oh, Kuon-san! You will not regret it! I assure you! Oh!"
Yashiro leaned to him and whispered, "Is it just me or do I feel something fishy about your new project?"
He had known about the new movie taking place overseas. He honestly agreed as his boss told him it was a big opportunity for Kuon to step out from his comfort zone of action. The story itself was good and Yashiro even thought, why not? But seeing the granddaughter say the same thing as the very same man who offered the job, he quickly suspected that there was more to it
Kuon didn't answer.
January 15, 2013
He watched her figure from the darkness. She had an exotic beauty he'd never seen from any woman he met in his hometown. Her shoulder-length, dark-raven hair bounced up and down whenever she nodded excitedly at the other woman's lecture about the precious ancient stuffs in museums. Her dark eyes sparkled, and he had to refrain himself from embracing her warm and delicate body to his cold one and kiss her.
His blue eyes darkened in sadness. He was so close to her. His love, his true love, the one who he wanted to be by his side forever. The one who he wanted to see first in the morning right after he opened his eyes, the last person he wanted to see before he drifted off to sleep. The one who he wanted to grow old with, to cherish and to bear his children... God, how he loved her so much.
The girl turned her head towards him. He gasped and hid himself quickly and tried to calm his heart as she raised her eyebrows in confusion. She was sure that someone watched her back intently but there was no one there.
"Tara?" Maddy called her gently. Tara turned to see the older woman and saw the odd look on her face. She couldn't pinpoint what it was, but surely her sudden trance concerned the American lady. "Are you okay?"
"Yes... I'm okay," she said with a reassuring smile.
Suddenly, she heard a faint whisper to her ears. It was a foreign language, spoken by a deep, baritone voice she'd never heard.. Oddly, it didn't freak her out. Instead, she felt somewhat drawn to it.
She didn't notice Maddy's paled face.
"Kom maar hier. Kom maar hier, Tara..." (1)
She gasped. Who was that? Why did his voice sound familiar to her?
The loud clapping sound snapped all of them from their act. All the actors and actresses slowly composed themselves. The director had a huge smile on his face. His eyes were gleaming in excitement. Two seats behind him, Kuon blinked, feeling somewhat irritated at the blue contacts he used in his green eyes. He closed his script and smiled at his co-star, Maya. She was a respectable actress in her country and Kuon already liked her for her superb acting just from reading her part! Usually, his presence always brought out the nervousness of his co-stars and they ended up stammering throughout the filming. Yet this exotic beauty held her dignity and showed how much her talent in acting.
Maya smiled back and whispered, "You were really good, Hizuri-san. I've heard about your intimidating-"
"What?" He asked with a playful glare on his face. "Me? Intimidating?"
She giggled softly. "You are intimidating. You are the best actor in Japan, right? I was really nervous back there, but I wanted to show you how good and talented I am, so I braced myself to show you my awesome acting."
"You are indeed awesome," he said with a small, genuine smile. "I am really looking forward to when we start acting together."
Maya smiled gently. "You flatter me, Hizuri-san."
"Oh? But I speak the truth. If it weren't for your awesome acting, I wouldn't have seriously acted with you. I am afraid that I didn't meet your expectations."
Maya blushed. "Oh, shut up, pretty boy."
Kuon chuckled and complied, turning his attention back to the over enthusiastic director who talked in the heavily accented English, explaining their schedule for pre-production. He thought the movie would be a sappy, mushy romance, but after he read through the script, he couldn't put it down and became lost in the story
'Waiting for 100 years...' he thought silently. 'If Kyoko asked me to wait for her, I would wait forever. As long as I got to be with her...'
He sighed inwardly.
'Kyoko, after all of this is done, I will look for you and make you mine again. Just wait for me a little longer...'
Long, slender fingers traced the old picture of a blond young man with warm green orbs, flashing a heavenly smile towards the camera. His long arms wrapped around the waist of a dark-haired young woman with golden orbs, who laughed heartily and leaned her back to his chest. The couple looked at the camera with love in their eyes, and everyone could tell that they were destined for each other.
It was taken almost 7 years ago, when they had the most beautiful relationship. They saw each other as their first love, already planning for a bright future once they graduated from university. The man had a deep devotion towards the woman, and the woman gave her full heart to him. They only looked lovingly at each other, spent every little bit of spare time cuddling and kissing in his apartment, shared their deepest secrets and healed each other's wounds throughout the time they dated. They could also be their silly and stupid selves in front of each other.
Her fingers turned the photo, rubbing her thumb over the faded words written in the bottom right corner. Kyoko and Kuon. December 25, 2006. Happy Birthday, my beautiful goddess! I love you so much! – your Knight in Shining Armor, Kuon Hizuri.
'Silly,' she smiled bitterly. Tears formed in the back of her gold jewels and she bit her lip hard. Kyoko felt her heart burn in agony as she thought about Kuon. She was desperately longing for his touch and how he looked at her with those intense eyes. She didn't care if he didn't love her back as he used to before they had the big fight and broke up. She would beg for forgiveness. She had broken her promise to him.
Her eyes turned to another photo on her desk. She smiled warmly at the picture and sighed as realization dawned on her. 'That's right. I thought I had a good reason to leave him.' She traced her fingers towards Kuon's smiling lips and kissed the picture gently. 'This is all for you, Kuon. I will not betray you, not in this life and not in another life. I love you, and I always will.
Kyoko finally reached a decision. She was going to tell him. It had been long enough and she at least owed him that much. Her fear kept her quiet all this time. Even if he got mad. Even if he rejected her, now she understood if she really wanted to try to work things out then she needed to get everything out in the open. Kyoko knew exactly when to do it.
Hiding their picture quickly inside her journal she put it into her drawer, locking it as she heard the door open slightly. The light from outside seeped through the dimly lit study room and small feet could be seen in the doorway, followed by tiny, chubby arms and small dark locks.
"Hello, dear," Kyoko called out, smiling fondly.
"Hello," the little girl said timidly as she stepped inside Kyoko's study. Her tiny toes tapped softly against the wooden floor and she smiled cutely at the older woman. "Are you busy?"
Kyoko shook her head. "Nope. Come here." She patted her lap. The little girl beamed and jumped to her lap. Her emerald eyes sparkled as she saw the thick book on Kyoko's desk. The golden-eyed woman followed her gaze and smiled. "You want me to read this to you?"
The girl bounced up and down in excitement. "Yes, Okaa-san!"
Kyoko giggled. "Okay. How about we read about the big, bad wolf in the middle of the wild forest?" She giggled again as her daughter nodded vigorously. She cleared her throat and said gently,"Right. Once upon a time, there was a little girl..."