Interviewer: 'There was not a dry eye in the theatre, Kyoko-san. Anyone and everyone who watches 'Wisteria House' comes out teary and red-eyed at best and outright weeping at worst. How did you weave this magic?'
Kyoko: (laughs) I was not the only one. Kojima-san, the director and producer, and the whole team contributed.
Interviewer: Come now. Credit where it is due, I am sure they all had a role to play but you- you are the movie. Critics are saying they could not distinguish Kyoko-san from Kimiko-san. I have heard fans have started calling you Kimiko these days.
Kyoko: An actor I admire once said, "I would be proud to have people know me only by my role." I am grateful to my fans for responding to my role.
Interviewer: I do want to ask how you prepared for the role. You have never been a mother, so how?
Kyoko: I have been a mother many times.
Interviewer: (pauses) Really?
Kyoko: Yes. The roles I have played. Also, I was and am still in some senses Akio's mother.
Interviewer: You see folks, this is what we call a true actress. Never really leaves the role.
(audience applause)
Kyoko: And in preparation for the role, I was working with a boy.
Interviewer: You mean the boy from that photo?
Kyoko: Yes. He is from an orphanage and he helped me prepare for the role. This is a message I would like to send to those who like the movie. If you feel at all influenced by anything in the movie, please consider adopting a child from an orphanage. There are love-thirsty souls there who ache for a parent's touch. Please, if you can. consider it.
Interviewer: A noble message for a noble cause.
(Audience applause)
So this boy helped you with acting? Is he an acting coach of some sort?
Kyoko: Not really. Since he is not an actor nor has anything to do with the entertainment world, I'd rather you not ask too many questions about him.
Interviewer: Understood. Now coming to the concept of 'Family Hug'. Such a powerful concept. Many reports say families are adopting it as a way to improve the happiness level within the family. Our prime minister also recently proposed a 'Family Hug' with the head of a neighboring country. Everyone wants to know, whose idea, whose concept was it?
Kyoko: Haha. You will have to ask the producer. I am just an actor.
Interviewer: Ladies and gentlemen, a sure-shot win for the upcoming Film Industry award, but she says 'just an actor'. So humble.
(Audience applause)
Kyoko-san, we in Japan are blessed to have a national treasure - a true actress like you in our midst. May I show my respect to you by requesting a 'Family hug' with you?
Kyoko: I have done other interviews and by now have come to expect this. By all means - we are all part of the same family.
(Kyoko and the interviewer hug. The audience on cue says "Family Hug" and applauds - screen cuts to advertisements)
Rain switches off the laptop and sits in the now dark one-room of his house considering. His face takes on a puzzled look for just a moment and then becomes impassive again.
He has by now watched every interview, every appearance of her from the last two weeks on his second-hand laptop. If he has learned anything from Kuu's visit, it is that he was not ready for the inevitable meeting with Kyoko. Kuu and Ren had not been that close but Kuu had run circles around him even leading to him blurting out the real reason he had run away from Kyoko. Rain had decided that if he had any hope of standing up to Kyoko's incredible skill and not break up down under pressure, he would have to up his game.
By not thinking about his past up till now, Rain had prevented it from overcoming his composure. But Kuu's visit had been an omen. When suddenly confronted with the past, Ren had surfaced and with him all the emotions and feelings that he had wanted to lock away in a deep dark corner of his mind. So he had decided to prepare by inoculating himself to Kyoko. He had watched the movie -'Wisteria House' again and all her old dramas and every appearance he could get his hands on. In the beginning, he had struggled, his body betraying his instincts. But, bit by bit, he had clawed his way back to Rain Komori- a half-Japanese, half-America man who had no connection to this incredible woman or the entertainment world thousands of miles away except the language and the occasional dramas, mangas, or animes he had read. Finally, he was ready.
On the night of November the thirtieth, Rain Komori stands up and says, "I think that is practice enough," and goes to bed.
At almost the same time, at the Danville bus station, two heavily bundled people, both of almost of the same height, get off the GreyExpress bus with a single bulky suitcase between them. They are so covered up in jackets, scarves, and hats that it is impossible to tell their genders. No other passengers get off the bus and it leaves in a puff of snowy smoke. The passengers slowly trudge across the snow from the bus station towards the town.
"Couldn't we have taken a car or something?" Shin asks trying to lug the suitcase out of the snow that it had gotten stuck in. " I am freezing in this snow."
"You didn't have to come," Kyoko replies briskly walking on.
"Couldn't help it. You would have bungled the whole reunion with Ren if you had come alone."
"And so I had to wait till your school let off for the holidays."
"You waited three years and now you are complaining about a few days?"
"You used to live on the streets. And now you want a limo and a chauffeur to drive you around? Young people, these days don't understand the value of money."
"Yes, grandma," Shin replies.
Kyoko does not reply and they walk on in silence till they reach what looks to be a motel. A garish yellow light proclaims, "Going Places Inn".
"A brave attempt at irony," says Shin. "Charming."
They walk in and take a couple of minutes rubbing their hands together and stamping their feet. Kyoko rings the bell.
An older man comes out and says, "What can I do for you?"
Kyoko walks forward and says, "We need a room."
"Single or double?" asks the man.
"Just one room.," replies Kyoko.
"Yes. One room -single or double?"
Kyoko looks perplexed so the man tries to explain, "For you and the gentleman." pointing to Shin.
"Yes, one room for the two of us."
"And you will be sleeping?" the man pauses delicately.
"Yes. We will be sleeping." replies Kyoko wondering 'Do people not sleep here in the hotel? Maybe he wants to know if we need a quiet room.'
"Where will you be sleeping?" tries the man again.
"In the room," replies Kyoko confidently. 'Yep. Maybe there are non-sleeping rooms here.'
"Where in the room will you be sleeping?"
"On the bed?" replies Kyoko, once again puzzled.
"I mean, do you want one king or two queens?"
Shin chimes in at this point, "Cards?" he asks.
The man gives an exasperated sigh and says, "Do you want a single room- which is one King bed or a double room which is two queen beds?"
"Ohhh, beds," says Kyoko, finally understanding. "Two beds."
"Great!" says the man and checks them in, heaving a sigh of relief.
"This is going to be such a great trip!" says Shin.