I do not own Skip Beat.

Enjoy

"IM BACK!" He yelled, as he came in through the door and to his surprise he was met with a silent house, he was fully expecting to hear Sheila screaming at the TV because she was watching her weekly dose of extreme realistic violence.

But nothing.

The house was as silent as a mouse and the lights were off, sending off alarm bells in his head, he was half expected to find Sheila dead body or something when he came into the living room.

He switched on the light, to find that the TV wasn't on which was another cause for alarm and he went to the kitchen in hopes to find a weapon to protect himself from the intruder who killed his best friend.

What he didn't expect was to see was a note on the fridge in familiar writing tell him to calm down and that Sheila was still very much alive but had just decided to go to bed early with detailed instructions on how to use the microwave to heat the food she prepared so he didn't accidentally blow anything up.

That night, Sheila did not sneak into his room and crawl into his bed, like expected.

He know that something was wrong.

Ch 7: Sheila breaks her silence

"What's going on?" Yashiro just had to ask, Kuon was sitting on one side of the bench while Sheila was sitting far on the other side.

Haji kept on sending looks to Sheila and trying to move closer only for the small women to move further away from him.

Kyoko had arrived feeling good about herself, back in Kyoto she had managed to make Kuon remember all the time they had spent together as kids.

Now she wasn't just 'that random girl claiming to be my girlfriend' but instead, Kyoko 'my childhood friend'.

It was a huge improvement on her part and she was looking forward to the memories that lead to their relationship becoming more than that.

And then she met this.

To think there could be such a huge gap between two people that had such a close bond and just had to ask like Yashiro.

"What the heck happened?"

"I don't know" Haji said, sighing like when Koun did 'no good' "This morning, she didn't even look at me as she dumped an entire loaf of bread on my plate." reminding Kyoko of what she did to Cain as Setsu when she was annoyed. "And then she throw clothes at me, telling me I'm old enough to dress myself, she than proceed to slam the door shut in my face and play 'this Friend is dead to me' in the background. She clearly hates me, right now."

If that's not a sign that she hates, you. I don't know what is. Both Yashiro and Kyoko thought with a sweat drop.

"And I have no idea what I did wrong" He said, "I tried to apologize but she said she won't accept it until I know myself what I did wrong"

And they could tell this was really bothering him.

He didn't know what he did wrong to make her mad.

So Yashiro decided to change subjects and said. "So how was the Kyoto trip?" he asked, not knowing Sheila's, head had turned to their direction.

"It was alright" He said.

"I showed him, the place where we met" Kyoko said and judging from her smile, he remembered what she wanted him to remember.

Most importantly he remembered why he pretended to be a Fairy Prince, it was to cheer up Kyoko and the gift he gave her.

"That's great" Yashiro said, at least one part of his life was filled in and said. "Kuu and Julie, are wondered if you like to sit with them for lunch today"

"My parents?" He said, he had gone a long way from simply fidgeting uncontrollable by the mere mention of their names. "Sure, I need to ask them more questions" because right now they were his main source of information, plus they could say a word or phrases that could trigger a memory.

He could have sworn, he heard Sheila kiss her teeth in a show of disgust.

# Lunch time#

"Hi, mom, dad" He said, seeing the two and sitting down next to them, this time he didn't look uncomfortable in their presence, since he had spent a lot of time in their presence, he also received a couple of memories of them taking care of him.

"Kuon" Kuu said, happy to see their son, not looking at them like complete strangers and his wife was happy too.

"You didn't mind if I sit here do you" An un-invited female guest said which they all recognised as Sheila.

"Sheila?" Haji said, in shock, what was she doing here and judging by both Kuu and Julie faces, they didn't expect her to be here either.

"Excuse me" Sheila said, grabbing a chair from nearby and moving the chair that he sat on, to make space for her own. "So what are we talking about today?" she said, throwing her sandwich on the table and unwrapping the packaging.

"…um, well" He said, this was just between him and his parents.

"You don't mind my presence do you Mr and Mrs Hizuri?" Sheila said, smiling at both stunned parents.

"Uh, not at all" Julie said, coming to her husband rescue while they all wondered why she was here.

"I just wanted to spend time with my best friend and his parents" Sheila said, "Since we haven't seen much of each other."

What's she talked about? Haji just had to think, they see each other every day.

"Do you know what's crazy?" Sheila said, taking a bite of her sandwich. "This guy here couldn't even sit in the same room as you two just a couple of weeks ago and now he's calling you 'Mom' and 'Dad' as if he's been doing it for years. Isn't that funny?" ripping a piece of bread and dipping it in some sauce.

And all three of them just watch her eat in silence, clearly she didn't care what she was doing.

"Uh, Sheila" Haji said, not wanting to be rude but she needed to go.

"Yes, my little adorable Haji-kun?" Sheila said.

"Your clearly drunk" He deepened, and Sheila wanted to roll her eyes.

She wished that he could hear himself for once, right now.

"Let's go" He said, giving an apologetic look to his parents as he took Sheila and walked her out of the room, Kuu and Julie decided to follow them.

#Outside the room#

Both Sheila and Haji got a certain distance away from the room before Sheila stopped walking taking him with him.

"Stop" Sheila said, "I'm not drunk, have you ever seen me drunk, you, asshole!?"

To say Haji was shocked was an understatement, he know she wasn't speaking to him but this was, ridiculous.

What had he done to deserve such treatment and had to say "Sheila, what's is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Sheila said, looking honestly surprised before saying. "What's wrong with you"

"What?" He said.

"I didn't want to say anything because I wanted you to figure it out" She all but sneered.

"Figure out what?" He said.

"How much your idiot you are" She said, "If you don't understand, how about 'morn'? A ding bat…should I go on?"

Haji and many other's including his parents were stunned.

"Haji, I want to ask you, where were you on Saturday?" She said.

"Kyoto, I don't see how that's got anything to do with anything.?" He began.

"I know you were in Kyoto, with your precious childhood friend Kyoko to recover some of your memories" She said, rolling her eyes before looking him in the eye and saying. "But can you remember what you were supposed to be doing on that Saturday?"

"Huh?" He said, he clearly did not know what she was talking about and so did Kyoko who happened to see there was a large crowd and made her way to the front to see what was going on.

"Allow me to refresh your memory" Sheila said taking a step forward, "On that Saturday, you were supposed to be with me watching an action film, do you remember that promise you made to me, weeks before you even know Kyoko was your childhood friend?"

And Haji, eyes grow wide how could he forget?

"Do you get it now" She said, "On Saturday you were supposed to be with me but instead you were with a girl that you barely even know. You were with her as a child for how long? A couple of days? Instead of me, your own best friend who you've been with for two whole years and yet you decided she was more important than me. That you had to let her drag you all across the country on our special day."

"S-Sheila…I'm so sorry." He just didn't know what to say, how could he have missed such an important day? He know how important it was to her and he blow it.

"Kuon I" Kyoko said, she didn't know that he was busy on that day, if she had known, she would have moved it to another day.

"And that's not even the worst part!" Sheila said, surprising them all. "Haji have you look yourself in the mirror lately?"

Sure he had, he did it every day.

"I mean really look at yourself" Sheila said, "You've changed"

"Well of course, I have" He said, it would be strange if he didn't.

"But within a few weeks?" Sheila said, shutting him up. "You've changed too much; I get that you got a couple of memories back but look at you. Your dressed in the finest of clothes, you even have your hair styled differently and even your speech is different, when was the last time you even smiled?"

"I smile all the time" He said.

"No I mean, really smiled" She said, getting confused looks in return. "Even your smile is different, your trying to be the guy that everyone remembers. Every time I see your smile, it looks like your in pain. You just don't want to admit the truth that everyone in this whole building knows"

Nobody said anything.

What truth?

"Fine that let me say this bluntly, since you all clearly need help" She said.

"Nobody gives a shit about you"

She was met with stunned silence.

"No I mean, nobody cares about the current you" She said, "Nobody gave a damn about the you, who walked through that front door on the first day. Everybody here, only really cares about 'Kuon' and not you but they just don't want to admit. Nobody gives a damn about the current you, why do you think they all try so hard, to make you 'Koun' even though your clearly not. If you don't believe me turn around and see if anyone can look you in the eye."

And Haji looked slowly around him, convinced she was wrong.

Nobody could meet his eyes.

"For the past, few weeks, it was obvious to everything that they wanted you to remember but they exactly wanted you." She said, "They wanted to the guy before the incident. The model, the actor, the star. That's why they tried to change you and you let them. You let them try to fix you when you weren't broken. Why do you think they spent so much time with you? They don't really want to know you, they want 'Kuon' back, none of these people cared about you from the start, they only cared about the guy in your body or the guy who used to be in your body. They refused to see you."

And nobody could say anything.

"If you don't believe me than ask Kyoko if she really loves you" Sheila said, as everyone turned to the girl. "I know she loves Koun but does she love you. Does she love you too Haji? Did she fall in love with the guy that walked through that door on that first day? Did she fall in love with you in the week you've know each other? I highly doubt that."

And Kyoko found herself speechless, she knows she loved Koun but Haji? Did she really love him? ever since she met him, all she's been doing was wishing that he was Koun and wished Haji would just disappear.

Did she really think that?

"Not even your parents were spared" She said, as everyone turned to the surprised couple. "Can they truly look you in the eye and tell you that they don't see Koun in them. That they don't wish that Koun was in place of you, right now instead of you. Can they hug you and tell to your face that they loved you and not just Koun?"

Both Kuu and Julie couldn't say anything because they did.

Ever since they found him, all they saw was Kuon, they wanted Koun back and they didn't want to see the man standing before them, they refuse to accept the man before them.

"Then there is Yashiro, your manager, that man just wants his talent back" She said, "That little girl Maria, she just wants the guy who always hugged her and last but least, your former boss Lory. He just wants to rid himself from guilt by turning you back into Kuon. Do you think I'm blind to what's happening before my very eyes? Everyone else may be in some bullshit denial of how they view you but I'm not. I'm the only one here currently that doesn't want to see Koun. I want to see you"

Sheila stepped closer to him and said. "I want to see you. Tell me, when was the last time, we both just sat down, me, you and did something together? When was the last time, you didn't have to go to your parents' home? Or stay over to taste Kyoko own cooking? When was the last time, we just sat there and did nothing? Do you know that my parents asked about you four times in the past few weeks, do you know what I had to say to them? I lied and said you were sleeping or something. I didn't want to tell them that you were out with a girl you barely even know and won't be coming back until late at night or out with parents that you barely even remember. And when I do try to ask you to speak on the phone to them, you always have one excuse or another, saying that it's probably not even important. To think you did that to the people who took you in and treated you like a son without remorse."

To those that didn't know about where he had been for two years, this was clearly news to them.

Haji eyes started to burn when he recalled all the times, Sheila had told him to take the phone but he ignored her, did he really do that?

"Haji or Koun. I don't really care what your name is" She said, "I just want my best friend back, the same guy who I can have fun with and didn't care what other people thought of him. Have you forgotten that the only reason why you even flow to Japan in the first place is because me? Not because of your friends and family you have here but me. What's the point of being here if your going to suddenly act like the last two years of your life never happened, that those who helped never existed, that I never existed? That's low even for me."

"S-Sheila I" Haji said, he didn't know what to say.

When was the last time, he had goofed around with his best friend?

When was the last time, he had said hi to her in the morning?

When was the last time, he talked on the phone with the people he considered as his second parents?

He looked down, as the expensive shoes and suit he was wearing.

What was he wearing?

This wasn't him.

When did he start letting other people's opinion affect him?

"It's be two years, Haji" She said, "Don't forget that. Do you honestly think; you can go back to the guy that everyone else wants you to be? Can you break the bonds that you've made in those two years? Can you honestly look me in the eyes and tell me, you want nothing to do with me or my family? Tell me to my face, I mean nothing to you. Tell me, I'm just a simple farm girl which you just happened to befriend and I'll leave and never come back, you will never see me again as long as you live. Just tell me."

And he couldn't.

He couldn't look her in the eye and tell her.

Because he still loved her.

Even though, he know that he should love Kyoko, he just couldn't bring his heart to love her.

Because Sheila was the one he remembered the most.

She was the one, that was always there for him.

She was the one, that nursed him back health when he got sick.

She was the one, that always put a smile on his face when he got sad.

She was the one, that was always there to give him the cold hard truth when other could not.

She was the one, who wouldn't leave him alone no matter what.

And he loved her for that.

"See you can't do it" She said, before turning heel and saying.

"Call me, when you decide to be my best friend again because I'm not going to be friends with a guy who let's others tell him, who he is"

And scene!

Damn, this took a long time to write and I had to really dig deep to really get the feels across. Next chapter, the after math of Sheila speech which leaves Haji to revaluates the last few weeks of his life and doesn't like what he comes across. He finds out that Sheila was right, that everyone he was supposed to know, truly was trying to mould him back into the guy before the car crash. Review/ Fav and follow!