Chapter 155: Now Showing: Ryu

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Skip Beat, for if I did, the Hizuris would finally be able to compliment their son's hard work.

Kuon busied himself by stripping the sheets from the bed while he waited for Kyoko to finish up in the bathroom so they could join his parents together. The autumn colored leaves littering the floor blended in with the theme of her enchanted forest bedroom that he almost considered leaving it. Kyoko would never go for it. It would only leave a mess for DeeDee to clean when she returned from her vacation.

"You're still here?" Kyoko asked, surprised as she emerged from the master closet that connected the bathroom to the bedroom.

"I figured I'd get a head start on cleaning," he responded, shaking out the remaining debris from the sheets. This way none of the leaves would get stuck in the washing machine.

Kyoko gazed at him skeptically, raising a perfectly arched brow and folding her arms over her chest. She's so pushy!

"Okay, I'm stalling," he admitted, bunching the sheets together and tossing them on the floor. "This...this is a lot scarier than seeing them at the fashion show. I'll have to see their reactions in real-time regarding my work. What if…" His voice cracked. He ran his hands through his hair and took a shaky breath. He chanced a glance in her direction when she didn't say anything.

She waited for him to continue. Her expression was patient and full of love.

"What if they think...I suck?" He said dejectedly. "That I spent all those years apart from them and this is all I have to show for it. Nothing but B rate acting and a gorgeous face."

He thought he heard her snort, but her face was the personification of innocence.

"It's always strange for me to see you like this, though I've seen it plenty since falling in love with you. What would millions of your fans think if they knew the charismatic, handsome, and talented Tsuruga Ren that they worshipped thought himself a B rate actor?" Kyoko began as she walked, closing the gap between them.

Kuon groaned helplessly. After all this time, he still lacked the confidence to properly face his parents like this for fear of disappointing them.

"As the sole representative of said fans in this room, I think you're dead wrong. You're hardworking, passionate, and possess incredible skill when it comes to acting among other things. I'm only an amateur so what do I know; however, there are a couple of fanatics in the other room that I believe would agree with me." She finally reached him, wrapping her arms around his waist, and laying her head on his chest. He hugged her back on instinct. "They love you more than anything in the world...even a blind person could see how proud they are of you. I'm speaking from personal experience, but I don't think they would ever say anything hurtful regarding your work, and as professionals in the industry, they would offer you advice to help you improve as your dad did for me."

Kuon relaxed in her embrace letting her words sink in. He lost count of how many times he fought the urge to do just that as a child actor and during his early years in Japan. He always thought his silence as a child was helping them succeed. Now he knew it only managed to achieve the opposite effect. There was no need to hold back anymore. He could ask them to his heart's content and they wouldn't think him weak or dependent. Kuon took a deep breath letting the scent of her wash over him, calming him.

"Better?" she asked, rubbing his back. He held her a few moments longer, using her positive energy to recharge and give him courage.

He pulled back and cupped her face in his palms then kissed her forehead. "Better," he assured her with a smile. "Come on," he urged, tugging her by the hand. "The idea of eating popcorn for breakfast sounds appetizing to me."

Kyoko groaned making Kuon laugh. "Don't fill yourself up on snacks. You're eating a healthy breakfast later." This time Kuon groaned in response to her threat.

They walked hand in hand, following the scent of fresh popcorn and coffee. On the exterior of the door hung a new sign that read, Hizuri Cinema. The couple exchanged glances while Kuon opened the door. They were assaulted by the strong scent of the various food in the room. The young couple stood rooted at the entrance to the media room and gaped at all the changes made in such a short time. They were only in here the other day looking over family albums. How and when did they have time to redecorate. The room was decked out to look like a movie theater lobby.

"Perfect timing," Julie exclaimed and clapped her hands.

"Welcome to the Hizuri cinema," Kuu boasted from behind his glass counter embellished with a sign that read Concessions. On the wall behind him was a more elaborate Hizuri Cinema sign that included the ability to customize the message beneath. It read Today's Feature: Ryu 0500 PST.

"This is wonderful!" Kyoko gushed, taking in the delicious smells and decor. She released Kuon's hand and ran to the wall on their right. A poster for Ryu hung in one of those vintage movie theater marquee frames complete with mini light bulbs surrounding it.

"Where did you get this poster?" Kyoko asked wide-eyed, gazing fanatically at the image with half of Ryu in his hakama pants and the other half in Akira's tactical police uniform.

"I know a guy," Kuu joked with a heavy New Yorker accent.

"I want one," Kyoko jealously mumbled to herself, but Kuon heard her.

"Baby, you're drooling," Kuon teased, whispering into her ear. She startled and swiped at her mouth with the back of her hand, making Kuon laugh at her reaction.

"Meanie!" She glared at him then stalked off toward his parents

"Good Morning," she greeted the older couple as Kuon caught up to her.

"Morning, you look cute," Julie complimented, gazing at Kyoko. "That sweatshirt is adorable." Kyoko blushed shyly and began telling his mom about the cute shop she found in Harajuku that featured the panda face on her sweater.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Kuu asked, engaging Kuon in conversation while the ladies discussed fashion trends.

"Yeah, it's comfortable here." Kuon didn't think anything of his statement but it made his father happy to hear.

"I'm glad," Kuu smiled.

"Kuon, look! This donut is decorated like a mummy!" Kyoko giggled, holding up the round dessert drizzled with lines of white frosting and two candied eyes. "There's a Frankenstein monster and a vampire too." It was only then that Kuon paid attention to the food. There were other pastries aside from donuts and the popcorn machine was filling up as they spoke. The table attached to it had containers of different flavored powders to sprinkle on the popcorn besides butter.

"We picked them up on the way home last night but I can vouch that they're still tasty," Kuu beamed.

The Hizuris watched with bated breath as Kyoko took a bite of the confectionary treat. She covered her mouth as she nodded happily. "It's still good."

"Can I get you anything, Kuon?" Julie inquired, as she handed Kyoko a mug of hot chocolate.

"I'll just take a cup of coffee, black...and one of those mini muffins," he added after Kyoko shot laser beams in his direction.

"Coming right up?" Julie went about filling his mug with coffee and placed his pastry on a dish.

"Thanks, mom." He picked up the mug and took a sip with a satisfied sigh while Kyoko finished her donut and eyed the boxes of candy.

She pointed excitedly to a box of chocolate raisins then moved to the popcorn machine where Kuu scooped up a pile into a box. He loved her for indulging his parents. He decided to make an effort too since there was way too much junk food here for the four of them.

"I'll take some too," he told his dad.

"Great, another order of popcorn. You can choose a topping if you want. We have three different flavors of cheese and then there's pizza, BBQ, and a bunch of others...and this container here is melted butter."

"I think I'll try the BBQ for now," he decided. He took the box of popcorn from his father, drizzled some butter on it, and topped it off with the powder. He took a few and popped them in his mouth.

"Not bad. You want to try?" He held out his box to Kyoko. She took a few while he tasted her nacho cheese flavored popcorn.

"Okay, do you kids need anything else? It's going to start soon," Kuu rubbed his hands in anticipation.

Kuon grimaced internally as his heart rate increased. "I'm good," he managed to reply.

"Me too," Kyoko chirped.

Kuon followed his girlfriend to the couch and waited for her and his mother to sit first. When his dad joined them after adding the ability to display the English subtitles, Kuon almost freaked out when Kyoko scooted away from him to make room for Kuu to sit between them.

"You're fine sweetie, stay by Kuon," Kuu told her. His body sagged with relief when her warmth was back by his side. His dad draped his arm over the back of the couch and gave Kuon's shoulder an encouraging squeeze. Kuon made eye contact with his dad over Kyoko's head and smiled.

…

After the opening credits, the scene began on a field behind a high school with a soccer match underway. Students, faculty, and people filled the stands rooting for their respective teams. The camera zoomed in on one particular player as he dribbled the ball down the field toward the opposite goal. The sound of the scene diminished and the narration began slowly.

"I had a plan. I've always had a plan. It was something that was instilled in me at a young age. You can't chalk it up to parenting. I didn't get that from them. It was something that I learned from my older sister. She practically raised me as our parents' workdays grew longer with every corporate promotion. I learned to ride a bike and how to swim thanks to her. Any extracurricular activity I was interested in, she would sign us both up to participate. Needless to say, she was the most important person in my life.

Anyway, back to my plan. It was a good plan for something I came up with as a child. I was going to attend the same university as my sister for pre-med studies and work hard to become a great doctor. You see, when I was six-years-old, there was an accident. My sister almost died and I was the one that almost killed her. She would tell everyone that it was a gross over-exaggeration on my part just to make me feel better. All I knew was that I never wanted to feel helpless like that again... and yet."

Throughout the narration, it moved through the scene. The boy scored the tie-breaking goal for his team putting the final score at 1 to 0 and declined his friends' invitation to celebrate with a gokon. He took the train home giving them the excuse that he needed to study for entrance exams. They teased him about his abhorrence of blind dates due to the one bad experience he had in middle school. The scene continued with him on the train, kicking the ball while walking down the street, and finally arriving home. Cicadas chirped as he stood in the driveway of his western-style home, stunned, not by the presence of his parents' cars home early, but by the lone police car sitting there so out of place.

The narration ended as the front door opened revealing an older woman waving to him. "Akira," she called, her voice cracking as she dabbed a handkerchief to her eyes. He moved reluctantly and entered his home.

The scene cut to commercial with the ominous shutting of the front door behind him.

Kyoko, like the woman in the show, dabbed at the moisture pooling in the corner of her eyes with a tissue. The Hizuris had come prepared armed with boxes of tissues just in case this episode was a real tear-jerker. Ten minutes into it and Kyoko found herself sniffling along with Kuu and Julie.

"Oh honey, I'm so proud of you," Julie said, giving him a side hug.

Kuon laughed nervously. "I haven't done anything yet."

"You're wrong, that was incredible," Kuu marveled. "The tone in which you delivered your narration was compelling and left me hanging on your every word. The idea to cut to commercial at that very moment was genius. It leaves people wanting to stay tuned in and learn what happens next. I won't ask for spoilers though unless your bursting with excitement to just give the plot away."

Kuon's laughter came easier thanks to his father's antics. "You'll have to watch like everybody else," he teased.

"Kyoko, you know what happens next right? You want to share it with dear old dad."

"I'm sorry. I wanted to be surprised as well." She wasn't going to tell her father-in-law that the only scenes she had been privy to were the hot and steamy ones she shared with Kuon and even then they often went off-script.

"The casting director did a great job. That actor could pass as a younger version of Ren," Kyoko told Kuon, quickly changing the subject. She reached for her mug of hot chocolate which had cooled while she watched but drank it anyway. The popcorn and candy that went untouched during the show were now being devoured during the break. She studied her body internally trying to determine if she needed the restroom and concluded that she could hold out a little longer.

"Sure, with the right hair and makeup," Kuon muttered.

"I might have to look him up on social media. He looks to be around my age," Kyoko replied with an air of seriousness while side-eyeing Kuon. He faced her with the most incredulous expression making Kyoko giggle. The show returned keeping her from teasing him any further.

...

A young girl and an even younger boy kicked a soccer ball back and forth on the side of the river bank. The girl didn't even have time to scream as the boy misjudged his strength, kicking the ball with enough force straight into her face. The boy ran teary-eyed to the girl's side as she laid still in the grass.

"Nee-chan, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it. Are you okay?" The boy wailed, shaking his sister as blood trickled out of her nose. "Wake up! Nee-chan, wake up! Please, wake up! Somebody, help!"

Ryu blinked his eyes open. They were red and moist from a memory long ago.

The flooding of hearts during the watch party had to be a new record as Ren's character Ryu finally appeared. There were hundreds of fans joining and commenting as the episode progressed. Ryu waking up in bed all misty-eyed elicited every woman's maternal instinct to comfort the man through the screen. It was slow going at first but there was plenty of discussions regarding the teenage Ren look-alike that kept fans engaged while they waited for the real deal to show up on the screen. The comments increased once he appeared.

RenFan1: It's okay, don't cry. I'll comfort you!

LotusLover1: Oh my God! He's so F*CKING HAWT!

LotusLover2: God! That irezumi looks so sexy on him. I say we petition for him to get a real one.

RenLover1: While we're at it, can we petition to grow his hair out.

LotusLover3: Ladies! Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

RenLover2: Kyaaa! *nosebleed*

RenLover3: He missed a spot! I volunteer as tribute to wash this dangerous man's back!

LotusLover4: The cameraman is a tease. Couldn't he have let it slip down just a teensy bit so we could get a glimpse of Ren-sama's...umm assets?

RenLover4: That's it! Are you sure you're clean, Ren-sama? That was too short of a shower.

RenFan2: Ladies and gentle gents, we just witnessed a miracle! I guarantee this is how Ren-sama takes a daily shower. I can die happy now.

Yashiro had to laugh at the comments streaming through at the bottom of his screen. This was the type of scene Ren agreed to film in order to remove some of the explicit scenes from the script. It seemed to be working as planned.

While Ryu played on his laptop, the manager monitored the fan site where people were posting negative comments about Kyoko using his phone. It appeared that the watch party was a success and aided in settling things down in there.

A message popped up on his phone from Tadashi. I signed the consent form with one condition (see attached for my redlines). To make a long story short, I added it in the contract that Kyoko is to have the final say in determining what's comfortable for her. Great work on the changes, Yashiro-san. Thank you for looking out for my princess. I appreciate it.

"Yes!" Yashiro cheered after reading the message. That took care of his second biggest head-hurter. He had anticipated Tadashi to be more vocal and troublesome since he was very overprotective where Kyoko was concerned. The biggest thing would be any issues the Americans had with his changes. He tried to make things fair in his response and provide lucrative alternatives that would appeal to their creative direction. It was still too early for normal people to be functioning at this hour. Though he was tempted to call Phil now, he would have to be patient and wait at least a couple of hours before getting some form of response.

He put his phone down and immersed himself in the episode. He had seen most of these scenes during filming. It was always nice to see the final product pulling everything together to tell the story. Kuon had taken to this role like a moth to a flame. He was becoming a well-rounded actor.

"Mr. Eltra," Regina called out to him.

"Yes, my dear," Eltra asked, bustling into his study to find his housekeeper standing with her hands on her hips.

"It seems you have a squatter."

Eltra looked around to see what she was talking about only to find his grandson, snoring soundly on the leather sofa with his jacket draped over his chest like a blanket.

The old promoter padded over to Cedric and picked up the thick document laying on the floor beside him. He browsed the script's synopsis and sighed with exhaustion.

This is going to be a difficult one for you to pull off, my dear boy."

"Grandpa?" Cedric grunted as he struggled to sit up.

"You sound like an old man," Eltra laughed as Cedric stretched his body.

"I feel like one most times," his grandson stated and sat there thoughtfully letting the conversation lull.

Eltra wasn't sure if he should ply him with questions for his unexpected presence in his home, but he didn't want to make the boy feel put out. Cedric always had a key and he was always welcomed here, no matter what sort of trouble he landed in. Eltra would always do what he could to help him.

"Well, I'll go get breakfast started," the housekeeper announced and left the room. He forgot she was still there.

Eltra was relieved that she broke the silence. She managed to easily break into Cedric's thoughts when he was too afraid to do so. It was good to see him again. After revealing the truth to him about that night, he was worried that Cedric wouldn't speak to him again. He had already been preparing his lawyers for the worse.

"Sorry about not calling first. It was late when I made the conscious decision to come here. I didn't want to wake you."

"No apologies necessary. You're always welcomed here, Ceddy."

Cedric nodded appreciatively. "Thanks." His eyes shifted to the script that Eltra still had in his hand. "Did you read it?"

Eltra took a seat in a nearby chair as he answered, "I took a quick peek. It's dark, compared to the roles you usually accept. Are you sure this is something you want to tackle?"

"I think it's something I have to do to challenge myself as an actor."

"That's an excellent way to look at it. I think you'll do well in this role," he said, nodding supportively. He would always be there for his grandson no matter the circumstances. Eltra had thought Cedric would avoid him after their last conversation so it was a nice surprise to find him here. This visit would allow him to let Cedric know what he failed to tell him the other day.

"I didn't come here to discuss that script by the way. I wanted to ask you something else. I met with Kuu Hizuri yesterday..."

"You did?" Eltra exclaimed. He wasn't expecting Cedric to take such swift action on the subject. "How was he?" Since Cedric seemed unharmed, the discussion might have resulted differently than Eltra predicted.

"He was angry and upset at first, but the odd thing about it was that he was more concerned about my well-being than my crimes against his son."

"That sounds like Kuu." Eltra was glad to hear the positive outcome of the meeting. This might be exactly what Cedric needed to move on from his troubled past.

"He invited me to their charity ball this weekend."

"Oh," Eltra responded. He knew the charity well and always provided a generous donation to their cause out of guilt.

"Would you be my plus one, please?" Cedric asked quietly.

He might have been a high donor, but he never once attended the event in person. No amount of money could erase the shame or guilt he felt about his past actions. Those dreadful feelings had eased a bit after seeing the boy thriving under the care of his best friend, but he doubted they would ever disappear completely.

"I'll be honored to be your date, but isn't there a nice young lady you'd rather take than a decrepit old man?" Eltra teased, making Cedric snort sarcastically.

A tiny spark he detected in Cedric's eyes made him think that there just might be someone he'd rather take.

"Should we continue this conversation over breakfast? How about you wash up in your room? There should be a change of clothes in there too. Next time, Instead of sleeping on this cramped couch, you should have used your bed."

The house was too big for Eltra alone so one of the extra bedrooms was decorated for Cedric in case he ever needed a place to stay. The personal items inside just barely made it more than a guest room.

"Well, sleeping here wasn't intentional. I wanted to ask you something while it was fresh on my mind."

Eltra paused at the door and turned back to his grandson. "Something more?"

"Yeah, do you know a woman named Christina Flores?"

Eltra sighed and nodded slowly at the all too familiar name.

"She introduced herself as Tina, but I knew her name sounded familiar to me when I met her last night. I just couldn't place it until I got home. She was his fiancée, wasn't she?" Cedric asked dejectedly.

"How about you get cleaned up and I'll tell you all about it?" Eltra exited the room without waiting for his answer.

AN: Thank you for always sticking with me. I hope you enjoyed it! BTW I am every single one of Ren's fans commenting on his role...I'm so thirsty! XD

Thank you for always reading and for the reviews of the last chapter! I HEART all of you.

Until next time, Ja ne! ^_^