Kuon stared up at the ceiling from his bed, hands clasped behind his head. If Rick saw him now, wallowing over his own thoughts, he would probably call him a chicken. Kuon snorted to himself – perhaps that was why this had happened.

Well, he thought, it's official: I've gotten dumped again. He wondered where he had gone wrong this time; he had always done his best to make Miranda happy. He respected her, cared for her, and after what they had done last week … Kuon shook his head quickly, blushing slightly – he should definitely not be thinking about that now. Maybe … maybe it was because he was too young. Rick had introduced him to Miranda, one of Tina's younger high school friends, but Kuon was still a couple years younger … perhaps Miranda felt uncomfortable? But that couldn't be it either, Kuon thought as he remembered …

"Kuon!" Miranda called, running up to him. Since they attended different high schools, Kuon would often walk the couple blocks to his girlfriend's school so that they could walk home together.

"Hey," Kuon smiled at her, "You look cute today." It was something Kuon rather liked about Miranda; despite her beautiful body and graceful features, she preferred to dress with cuter clothes that made her seem younger than her 17 years.

Miranda blushed slightly at the compliment as they started walking to the nearest transit. "How was your day?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Ah, um …" Kuon floundered for a moment as he remembered the taunting and leering he had been subject to earlier that day. "Better now that I'm with you," he finally said, sending her another smile.

Miranda blushed again, and they continued on in comfortable silence. With time to spare, they reached the bus stop that would take them near Kuon's neighborhood. As they waited, Miranda watched Kuon silently. Kuon turned, eyebrows furrowed slightly. "You okay?" he questioned.

Miranda turned away, biting her lip. "What if … " she began so softly that Kuon wasn't sure she had spoken at all.

"What if … ?" he asked.

Steeling herself, she turned to look him in the eye, "What if … I was in love with someone else?"

Kuon froze. His mind felt cloudy – had she really just said that, those words he had heard time and time again? "I . . ." he began, looking at her helplessly. He felt like a failure: the guy who could never keep a girlfriend. But, if this was what Miranda wanted, then there was nothing to be done. "I want you to be happy," he said, smiling at her gently.

"Oh, I see," Miranda said, staring at her feet. Suddenly, she looked up at Kuon, "Umm –"

Kuon smiled reassuringly, "It's really all right. If you love another guy . . . I wish you the best."

Miranda's lip quivered slightly as she watched him. In a trembling voice, she whispered, "Take care, Kuon," before she turned to walk away, shoulders hunched up slightly.

Kuon sighed at the memory. It did him no good to think on such things. But he was sure now that he hadn't been anything but kind to her. It had to be as Rick had said – he was too nice – a wimp.

Kuon was startled out of his thoughts by a knock on his door. "Kuon?" called a soft voice, "Dad's finished making dinner."

Kuon didn't answer, instead curling up on his side. He heard the door open and the soft steps of his mother as she entered the room. "I'm not hungry," Kuon said with as much irritation as he could muster.

Julie sat down on the bed beside him and stroked his hair gently until he turned to look at her. She pouted playfully, "I'll die in five minutes if you don't come to eat."

Kuon groaned at her running joke, his irritation no longer forced. "Miranda broke up with me today," he snapped, filled with an irrational urge to make Julie angry. After all, someone needed to be angry. He was obviously doing something wrong if all his girlfriends left him. Yet, his parents never even did anything . . . no, they probably didn't even notice, being the stars they were.

If Julie was surprised at his remark, she didn't show it. She kissed his forehead and stood. Before leaving, she called, "I only have four minutes left!"

It was another ten minutes before Kuon finally got up. He sighed to himself again. He really wasn't hungry, but against his own will, he felt guilty for snapping at his mother.

When he reached the dining room, he wasn't surprised to see that his father had already nearly finished his large mountain of food. Kuon silently entered and took his seat. There was a silence at the table. Kuon looked up to see his father's concerned gaze. He quickly turned away; he didn't want any pity.

"So," Kuu's voice broke the silence, "I'm going to Tokyo for a bit next week, and I thought I'd make a stop at Kyoto." There was a long pause as no one spoke. "To Kyoto," he repeated.

Kuon looked up to see his father's eager, hopeful face. "So?" Kuon asked.

"Well," said Kuu, "You have Winter Break coming up, so . . . maybe you'd like to come along? I know you enjoyed Kyoto last time."

Of course Kuon had enjoyed Kyoto – the carefree time he had spent with a whimsical little girl had helped him forget his woes for a while. But he was different now. So was she, he thought to himself. She was probably in middle school now, and probably spent more time with 'Sho-chan'. If she even remembered him, she would definitely be disappointed by what he was now – worthless. He still wasn't even near escaping his father's large hands. If anything, he was even more confined now than before. His wings would never grow.

Kuon averted his eyes from his father's. "No thanks," he said.

A/N: This is my first Skip Beat! fanfic. Please let me know if you think I portrayed the characters correctly! Thanks!

Also, I don't have any vision of where I'm going with this, just that it fills in some gaps from the manga. I plan to write one chapter for Rick's death and another for the President 'kidnapping' Kuon. If you have any chapter requests, please let me know and I'll do my best!