Sorry that it has been so long. Work has been a bitch. Anyway, thank you all for reading this story! Take care.

Chapter 14: Guilt

"Do you feel that?" He asked, pressing her hands closer to him. Kuon curled his fingers around her and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "Do you feel the way my heart races inside of me?"

Closing her spread pink lips, Kyoko swallowed the awkward lump taking root in her slender throat and slowly dropped her eyes to their hands. Digging her fingers into the softness of his shirt, the young woman could feel the steady yet rapid pulsating of a powerful force underneath the strong, hard chest beneath her palms.

"It beats for you," he added, his deep voice rich with emotion. He watched as she shut her eyes tightly, small streams of moisture seeping out from the velvety covers. Removing one hand from her, he cupped her cheek tenderly and raised her eyes to his. "I live for you, Kyoko. There is nothing that I wouldn't do for you."

"No…" she whispered. Quickly retracting herself from him, Kyoko grabbed his wrist and tried to pull herself free of his grasp, but he refused to let her go. He took her wrists and held her securely. "No… You don't know what you're saying."

"I know exactly what I'm saying." He replied instantly, firmly. She began to shake her head and avoid his face as much as possible given their lack of space. Suddenly the prince's heart began to race for an entirely different reason. Fear. It was engulfing him like black smoke. "Please… Please, look at me."

Sniffling, Kyoko shook her head once again. "I cannot. I am… I don't have the right to—"

Kuon slid his palm around her cheeks, thumbs stroking away the trail of moisture left in the wake of her denial. "Don't you dare!" he practically yelled to the woman. She cringed ever so slightly and guilt flickered momentarily in his consciousness. "Look at me, Kyoko."

"No," she answered stubbornly.

"If you will not look at me, I will…" Kuon gulped at the words that lingered at the edge of his mouth. "If you don't look at me, I swear I'll kiss you."

Long, black lashes lifted up, revealing breathtakingly beautiful eyes the color of a summer sunset, glazed with the rains of spring. She looked upon his face and gasped, an expression pleading to him. "Why, Kuon? Why do you want—"

"Is it really so difficult for you believe that you could be loved?" He questioned her, genuinely baffled by her vehement rejection of him, or even just the reality of his affections for her.

Kyoko regarded him carefully. Behind the messy foreign black bangs that now framed his face, she saw the same green eyes that pierced through her with their sincerity and curiosity. She saw the same concern and warmth glistening in those viridian gems. Clutching at his wrists, she felt the same throbbing life force against her fingertips. Taking a deep breath, Kyoko reached up and brushed the soft strands of hair from his complexion. Her hand froze at the sight of tears that engulfed him. "Kuon…" she whispered in a voice barely audible to them.

"You have changed me." He began, dropping his head in sorrow. "I met a young woman who showed me more in a handful of short days than I have seen or understood in my entire life thus far." Gritting his teeth to keep from bawling like a vulnerable child, Kuon strengthened his resolve and looked intensely into her eyes. "In these few days, in our short hours together, I have fallen so completely in love with you, Kyoko. You're not some prize for a prince to conquer, but a person, a woman who I want to build my life with. I want to spend the rest of my life beside you. Don't you understand? I love you. I love you, Kyoko."

"Kuon…"

"And I feel like such a bastard for letting this happen to you." The emotions broke through his restraints and the prince found himself breaking before her. "I wish I could have protected you, saved you from that—"

His eyes grew at the warmth upon his lips and tiny fingers that grasped his face so lovingly. When she pulled from him, Kyoko rested her head against his chin, breathing heavily. "Please, stop…"

Unable to resist, Kuon tugged her against him and wrapped his arms tightly around her petite form, holding her as if his entire world depended on this one moment.

Kyoko became rigid still with panic, but the beautiful melodies of his heartbeat resonated in her ears, calming her demons. Leaning further into him, she cried. The teen seized frantically at his shirt, filling her fists with the material and sobbed from the very root of her being.

Her screams rang through the prince, reverberating in every nerve and vein in his body. The more she cried, the stronger his arms became. It was if he was finally able to absorb her pain and provide her mind with a great sense of security. Kuon refused to let her free of him. Tenderly he stroked her hair. Pressing his lips to her silken hair, he whispered softly over and over again to her, "It's okay. You're safe now, my love."

Dr. Hoshi reached for the golden knobs of the double doors to the prince's room, but he was roughly stopped by a hand on his shoulder. Being rudely pulled away, he turned to glare at the idiot who had the gall to treat him like some thug. Seeing the lilac eyes looking back at him, the doctor found himself immediately thawing. "Reino-sama?"

"Leave them be," he said, not bothering to raise his voice very much at all.

"I cannot ignore my patient's—" the sensei argued.

"I understand your concern, Hoshi-sensei. But in this particular situation, I believe she will be absolutely fine." The two men regarded each other, silently challenging one another's discretion. Finally, a few long moments later, the doctor sighed and threw his hands up in defeat. "As you wish, your highness." He stepped around Reino and began to walk down the hallway, but his curiosity drew him back. "Do you really have such faith in you brother? My meaning is… She is in a very fragile state of mind right now. Do you really believe it wise to leave them be?"

Snickering at the implications, Reino shoved his hands into his pockets and twisted on his heel, meandering slowly yet smugly down the hallway. "There is no one more perfect for her recovery than my little brother."

Smiling, Hoshi bobbed his head with understanding. Matching the elder prince's pace, he looked to the ground and gathered the next stack of thoughts that fluttered through his wise, old mind. "What will happen when the king discovers her presence?"

Reino's feet halted, almost by their own volition. Startled at the brusque question, he glanced to the shorter father figure beside him. Observing the expression beneath the fine lines of old age, the prince knew that Kuon would not be able to hide her for very long, especially if any of the nurses decided to spill it. After giving it a moment's contemplation, he simply groaned.

Hoshi cocked a brow and looked upon the adopted Hizuri with a combination of fear and awe. "That bad hu?"

Reino laughed. "That's putting it lightly, Sensei."

"Do you truly believe that the King wouldn't be understanding of the young girl's predicament?"

"Oh I have no doubt of the empathy that my father will offer her. It's his acceptance of my brother's love for her that I fear."

Hoshi nodded. "Yes. It is true that your father has a very kind heart, but he is a royal through and through. I still remember when he met your mother. They almost didn't wed. I had hoped that maybe time had changed him."

Scrunching his thin silver brows with confusion, Reino glanced around before inquiring further. He pulled his hands from his pockets and folded them across his lean chest. "What exactly does that mean?"

The doctor sighed heavily. "Let us return to your room, Reino-sama. You will want to be sitting down for this tale."

Reino could feel his heart drop.

Kijima shoved open the door to the roof and stepped out into the cold midafternoon day. The wind whipped his long brown hair about his face, wrinkled thick brows giving him an eerie dangerous aura. Stepping out towards the center of the roof, he caught sight of his objective standing up against the fence clear across the top, hands hanging above him upon the chain link.

Grinding pearly whites together painfully, he stormed off towards him. Quickly cracking his knuckles, the playboy reached out and violently forced the villain around.

"What the fuck?" Fuwa shouted, shoving Kijima back with equal energy. "The hell do you want?"

"Where's Kyoko?" Kijima yelled angrily. It had been three days since he had seen Kyoko at school. Being the good-grade perfectionist she was, the adolescent knew that she would never willingly miss so much school. Not unless something had happened to her.

Scoffing, Sho turned away from his school mate and started walking back towards the door. But the handsome hazel eyed beast would not relent so easily. Following Sho, Kijima spun him around and gave him an unexpected right hook to the jaw. Sho stumbled back, tasting iron on his lips. "I said, where is Kyoko?"

Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Sho cracked his neck and sneered maliciously. "I knew you had a thing for her, you bastard." He took one step, then another towards his attacker. "You guys were always so conveniently close. I can't believe she ever went for a piece of shit waste of space like you."

Clenching and unclenching his fist, the best friend tried his hardest to keep from brutally murdering the over-privileged asshole. Breathing inwardly, he calmed his rage and smiled. "You're just jealous. I can't really blame you though. I mean look at you," he mocked. "You call me a piece of shit waste of space, but at least I never had to beat her to get her to like me."

"Shut your mouth!" Sho screamed into the now howling wind. He hastily closed the gap and punched Hidehito Kijima as hard as he could, sending him backwards and to the ground. His breathing was starting to get labored as images of his biggest sin started to roll through his vision. The ripped red fabric. The blood. The screams. The pain of her nails and teeth.

Scrunching his eyes shut agonizingly, Sho ground his teeth and jogged to Kijima's prone form. "Just shut the fuck up!" He snarled over and over again as he kicked the womanizer in the gut harder and harder.

Seeing an opening, Kijima rolled away from Sho and found his feet deftly. Dodging another approaching fist, he socked Sho in the stomach. As he reeled over with his arm wrapped around himself, he grabbed the blonde by his hair and kneed him in the face. Sho fell to the ground with a hefty thump, grumbling curses. Admiring the blood on his knuckles, Kijima realized he had had enough of playing nice. Straddling the ryokan heir, he grabbed his collar and heaved him off the ground. "Where is she, Fuwa?" When he didn't answer, Kijima punched him. "Answer me you sonofabitch!" Another punch. And another.

Blood spilled from Sho's mouth as he began to laugh hysterically. Turning his face to the side, he coughed up blood and then shoved Kijima's body off himself. The laughter became louder and more frantic, mad even.

Swallowing with distress of the worst, the handsome hazel-eyed best friend stumbled backwards a couple steps. "What… did you do to her…?"

Wobbling terribly, Fuwa found his feet and met his most hated-schoolmate's glare. Tears flowed relentlessly down his dirty and bloodied expression. "She won't be coming back, Hide." His voice was wrecked. Shattered and filled with despair that was utterly unimaginable.

"What… What did you do?" Kijima croaked as his mind became overactive with possibilities.

Sho faltered his way over to teenager. With profound speed, he fell forward and clutched Kijima's collar. "I… I hurt her… I really fucked up, and now I don't know where she is. I don't know where she went, if she's even alive…"

Pushing Sho away from him, Kijima could feel his hands starting to shake with horror for Kyoko. "What the fuck did you do?!" He shrieked.

His knees collapsed, bringing Sho back down to the ground. Looking up from the bottom of his sins, he gulped the blood and saliva in his mouth. Looking down at his dusty palms, all he could envision were the marks they had left on her body. "I… I raped her… She said she didn't want to marry me and I… I lost contr—"

Another hook to the jaw sent him horizontal. Brown-green eyes were overcome with bloodlust and a terrible fury. The skin over his knuckles peeled away with each consecutive punch. They burned and stung, but he refused to stop. All he saw was her innocent face and this monster hurting her in the worst way possible. The more it haunted his mind, the more he punched. Pretty soon, it was undistinguishable just whose blood drenched whom.

I'm sorry this chapter was short. It's kind of like a transition chapter to more plot stuff that will occur in the next one. Please prepare for some serious emotions and fluff, as well as some intense scenes that will reflect what happened to Kyoko. So, this is my warning for potential trigger elements, for any of you that are bothered by that sort of thing. Anyway, take care.