Steal You Away
Disclaimer: I do not own Skip Beat!
A/N: Back on the road in Texas and will be hopping around all over every 2 to 4 weeks. Gonna be hectic and fun.
Any English spoken by the characters will be in BOLD! Flashback with be in Italic.
Previously...
The engines begin to wind up for take off. As Kuon looks at his now updated passport, Kyoko looks at hers amazed. The plane begins speeding down the runway and soon they're high above Japan.
Ch. 13
The plane interior is dark as it continues over the Pacific Ocean for the eleven hour flight. Now four hours in, everyone's doing their best to get some rest after the long day. Lory finally closes his computer after dispersing his workload among the department heads and what he expects of each while he visits his old friends. He instructs his Department Head of Acting Matsushima to redirect all calls regarding Ren to the machine on his desk, when they are ready to make a statement they will but not before. He massages the bridge of his nose trying to relieve some stress from the pressure headache that was rearing it's ugly head from staring at the computer screen for too long.
"Takarada-san..." Lory looks up and is met with Kyoko holding two steaming cups, she offers him one.
"You've been busy, this should help a little." Lory took the cup and blew away the stem taking a cautious sip and the sweet milk tea seems to instantly relief the oncoming headache. He gives her a smile and comments.
"It's delicious, thank you." Kyoko nods as if saying don't worry about it. And asks to sit in the chair across from him. Lory obliges.
"Can I ask you something that's been bugging me since we got on the plane?" Kyoko asks. Lory nods and waits for the inquiry. Kyoko takes the passport out of her purse and lays it gently on the table.
"How were you able to get this? You obviously know my age since you got my birthday right and since I'm a minor you'd need a guardian signature." Here Kyoko's facial expression darkens as if remembering something painful. "I know she didn't give it, regardless of how fast you were able to get them."
Lory wonders at the history behind her expressions but pushes that issue aside and begins to answer the question, a playful grin on his lips. "It's fake." He says simply. "This is a private jet, and we'll be landing on a private airstrip no one will be checking them but in case something comes up these will pass.
Kyoko stares at Lory wide eyed in shock. In passing Kuon stops by the two.
"A private airstrip...they've upgraded the property." Lory smiles and replies. "They did it for you in hopes the privacy would get you to visit."
Kyoko sits up straighter at the mention of this, she knew they were headed to see his parents and she was nervous. They only just started a relationship and she was already crossing the sea to see them, though the circumstances were far from normal.
"What are they like?" Kyoko asks
Kuon visually winches and heaves a heavy sigh. He ruffles his hair and looks at Kyoko who is waiting wide eyed and bushy tailed for his response.
"In a few words, my father's an idiot parent with a huge appetite and my mother is a horrible cook who loves family meals and has fits when she doesn't get her way."
Lory snickers listening to Kuon's description of his parents. He looks over to Kyoko who looks mortified.
"Though I can't argue with his description," He says snickering "they will love you and I promise you, they're not as bad a Kuon makes them sound. You'll understand when we get there, I'm sure." Lory gives her a reassuring smile and she nods though clearly still worried.
Kyoko picks up her empty tea mug and excuses herself back to the bar to wash mug. She makes her way back to her original seat and glances out the window down at the ocean only visible by the reflecting moon off the water. Kuon takes his seat next to her and thinks about the expression she made when she was talking to Lory. That painful look, he remembered it from when they met as children. She always showed up at the secret place with that expression and tears in her eyes. It must have been about her mother… come to think of it he knew very little about her since then.
"Kyoko we haven't talked much since the salon, should we take this time to catch up?" Kyoko gave him a smile that was warm but hesitant.
"Okay, but where should we start?" She asks fiddling with her leather pants that Ren had bought her earlier.
"How about after I left?" Kyoko remembered that day vividly. She had come home ecstatic to show her mother her perfect one hundred percent on her test. When she got home her mother looked pained her head cradled in her hands, her hair flaring about her a mess. She thought the one hundred would cheer up her mother so she rushed up to show her.
"Mom! Look what I got today! You'll be so happy!" Saena snatched the paper from her daughter and saw the grade. Her look darkened and she turned on her daughter in rage. "WHY DON'T YOU DO THIS EVERY TIME!" She continued to blow up at Kyoko till she was fed up. She snatched her keys and a jacket and Kyoko heard her car speed out of the driveway and out onto the road.
The tears wouldn't stop as her mother's cruel words circle around like vicious vultures in her head. She decided to go to the secret place and left the crumpled one hundred test on the floor.
Kyoko snaps back from the past and smiles lightly. She begins.
"Do you remember how I used to cry all the time?" Kuon nods and Kyoko continues. "Back then and still my mother and I have a horrible relationship. Though I doubt she even knows where I am or cares to after I left Kyoto with Shotaro. About a month after you gave me Corn my mother left me with the Fuwa's at their Inn and I haven't seen her since." At this Kuon's jaw clenches but he doesn't interrupt.
"I liked the Fuwa's but I didn't want to bother them with raising me without giving back so when I wasn't at school I devoted myself to helping out in the Inn and they taught me a lot. Thinking about it now Mrs. Fuwa probably wanted me to take over the Inn one day as Sho's wife. Shotaro and his father clashed often about him taking over the Inn which Sho hated. When we got to high school he decided to run away to Tokyo and he asked me to come with him. Of course I said yes, I was in love with him and had been since I was little. Remember I used to say I would marry him when we were little?" Kuon nodded remembering the girl singing a song and twirling in circles about marrying someone named Shotaro. When they were children he didn't mind not being into girls yet but now thinking about Kyoko marrying that guy made him clench his fists and wanna punch the guy. He shoved those feelings down, now she was talking about the past. Nothing for him to get excited about, she was with him. Kyoko continued.
"At first we both worked and lived together in a dingy apartment. Nothing ever happened between us but I blindly believed I meant something to him. Why else would he ask me to come with him. Now I think I was there because he didn't know how to take care of himself. He would write songs and play them for me then go down and play them in parks, finally in nightclubs and eventually he got scouted. He started coming home more infrequently and as he became more popular and sought after, his attitude changed. We moved into that expensive apartment but he rarely came home. I even paid most of the bills and that's why I was working all those jobs. That's when I met you and you know the rest."
Kuon silently absorbed all that Kyoko had been through and readied himself to reveal his past. His watch felt heavy on his wrist but he needed to tell her, to explain.
"When I met you when we were children I was discouraged. It wasn't wings that were holding me from flying, it was reputation. My father's footprints were huge especially since I wanted to follow in them. My father is Hizuri Kuu and all my life I've been plagued by his enormous shadow of fame."
Kyoko pictured the drama Tsukigomori and the man behind Katsuki Tachibana one of Hizuri Kuu's famous and celebrated roles in Japan. Also, she realized as his son how troubling that must have been for Kuon especially to pursue the same career. She settled in as Kuon continued.
"When we first met I had already had some setbacks as an actor, either by my own shortcomings or being compared to much with my father and that made matters worse. But meeting you changed my aspect some and I decided to try again with renewed vigor. However, after a few years with little acting under my belt and constant trouble I began to doubt and waver again. During this time I met a guy who was starkly different from me with a totally different background and lifestyle. One would think we'd be instant enemies but it couldn't have been more different. Rick was like my big brother and at times my moral compass. He led me away from a bad path before I got to deep and helped me improve as a person, but it took his death for me to really change."
At this Kyoko's eyes widened in surprise and she watched as a pained expression covered his face, he gently outlined his watch with his fingers as he seemed lost in that moment in his mind. Almost, a whisper he continued.
"I was bullied for my heritage a lot growing up and during my mid-teens it got really bad and I let things go too far. I got into a fight and Rick stopped me before I almost killed one of them, I went after them though when one knocked over his girlfriend trying to get away. Chasing after them like a man possessed, I didn't hear him following behind me, I was too far gone. But I heard tires squeal and a horn from the road I'd just crossed, bringing me back to some form of myself. When I looked back Rick was lying on the pavement, and the car sped off. I ran over to him but the damage was done, there was too much blood, I felt him die in my arms. His girlfriend screaming hysterically I murdered him and I believed was his watch." Kuon shows Kyoko the broken watch.
"It stopped working when he died and I've always worn it as a memento and a reminder of what I once was." Kuon rubs the face absentmindedly which his thumb, Kyoko gently places her hand over top his watch and they just sit there in silence both supporting each other. They fall asleep Kyoko's head on top of Kuon's shoulder and his head resting within the folds of her black hair.
Lory snaps a picture of the two and gushes silently with Sebastian about Kuon's growth since Kyoko's arrival. The camera is linked to the internet so he sends the picture to a pair of idiot parents waiting for their child's return.
A/N: Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter! We made it to TX fine and have gotten settled in, but we had to leave my Jeep in MS it broke down. What's a road trip without some trouble, right. LOL
Anyway rate and review as always,
Love
Your Writer.