Well, I really had fun writing this one. It is a nice change of pace with this type of story. Action in a not so actiony story, or fluff in an action story. The possibilities are endless!

Thank you guys for being patient with me, I don't get my muse that often, but when I do, man, I can sure write! It just takes me forever to come to a point where I think the chapter is actually good, aha.

Well, enough with me rambling.

Enjoy the story!

• • • • • •

Hmm...

Tamaki hummed and starred at Shion, something was off. He was... different somehow, but Tamaki just couldn't place it. Tamaki knew that he wasn't generally an observant person, but on occasion, he did notice the small things that others didn't see.

This was one of those times. When Shion walked into the classroom in the morning, he had an air around him that made Tamaki abstain from his usual antics, and while he found Shion a bit intimidating, he knew that Shion wasn't a horrible person—or at least from what he's come to know about Shion.

Thunder cracked and he looked over to Kyoya who had his nose in a book the teacher was lecturing about and glanced back to Shion with a frown.

It was a bit hard for him to focus in class as he kept his eye on Shion. Tamaki had planned to talk to him when lunch came around, but before he could do anything, Shion got up from his seat and walked straight to Satsuki and Aaron.

Tilting his head, Shion gestured for the two of them to follow and made his way out of the classroom. Looks of confusion went across both of their faces, but they listened and trailed behind Shion.

Watching them leave, Tamaki leaned over to Kyoya. "Have you noticed how Shion is... different today?"

Raising his eyebrows with a thoughtful frown, Kyoya hummed, licking his finger and turning the page. I'm surprised he noticed. "Yes. He seems to be less approachable today."

"You think he had a bad day?" Tamaki shivered when he recalled the dark look in Shion's eyes. But he didn't look angry... he looked like he was looking forward to something.

"I don't think that's it, Tamaki." But something is going on...

"He's acting somewhat like the delinquent act he used a while ago and it scares me."

• • • • • •

"What's up Shion?" Satsuki asked as she leaned idly against a wall. They followed him to a more secluded part of the school by a stairwell that was seldom used.

"Is this about how Akui and Sunohara have been giving you dirty looks lately?" Aaron commented.

"Woah, that's been happening?" Satsuki was surprised, she usually caught this type of thing, but this time it went right under her nose. "Those two are dicks—used to go after me before I taught them a lesson."

Shion laughed and wondered what she put those unfortunate souls through. He also wondered how his plan would rank in comparison. "Yeah, take a look," Shion handed them the note that was written for him. "They're itching for a fight." And to be honest, I am too. I'm back at the same fitness level I used to be, I'll be able to give them a run for their money.

"You've been looking more fit lately. I've only noticed after the break during Gym," Aaron commented as he read the note. "So, they're asking you to meet behind the school. You want us to do something I assume?"

Shion smirked, "Look at where they're asking. It's right near the Host Club windows—they want to ruin my rep. Too bad they don't seem to know that there are no club activities today."

"You want us to be witnesses then?"

"If you both are alright with it."

"—Alright with it?! I'm all in!" Satsuki exclaimed. "You knocked out some of our guards before, I want to actually see you fight, man."

This is when Aaron piped in, "How are you going to do this? You don't want to get expelled."

"Simple. I don't throw the first punch. Self-defence and all that."

"I... see..." Aaron was unsure, Shion wasn't telling them the full story.

"As I'm supposed to be the victim they're going to be watching me all day, and so I'd like you two to do some things."

"Fire away."

During the rest of their break, Shion listed the things he would need done and planned out the scenario.

• • • • • •

The members of the host club gathered together in the club room with tea and pastries. It was a rather gloomy day with the overcast clouds and persistent rain and with family matters taking up the twins and Honey's time the club room was much quieter than it usually was.

There were no club activities in favour of a meeting that consisted of Haruhi, Tamaki, Kyoya and Mori.

Tamaki stood up with both hands firmly on the table, "Alright! Now, it is time to brainstorm event ideas!" Tamaki's energy usually got things flowing in the club room, but he only got a response of silence. Tamaki was the only extrovert with the people that were there.

Haruhi rested her chin in her palm and sighed, flinching when thunder rumbled in the distance. "We should do this when everybody is here. There are too many people missing."

"Shion is missing," Mori added in after sipping his tea. "He would be the best contributor here."

Kyoya leaned back and crossed his legs, enjoying a cup of coffee instead. "I agree. I haven't received an excuse so I presume he will be coming at one point or another." He hummed, Shion does think of some creative ideas that aren't as... extravagant or expensive as Tamaki's.

It was at this time that Aaron opened the door, and Tamaki quickly spun around, ready with his scripted response, "Ah, my apologies, but the club isn't open today!"

Aaron shut the door behind him and made his way through the room, disregarding Tamaki as he was in a hurry. "Uh, yeah. I know. I'm on a mission here so please, ignore me and just continue whatever you were doing."

"This must have something to do with how Shion seems to be missing," Kyoya sipped his coffee and eyed Aaron who moved to the window to set up a tripod.

Aaron felt a chill go down his spine, "Very sharp of you Ootori." The look he got from Kyoya was intimidating, but it wasn't nearly as threatening as some of the darker looks Shion directed at him before.

He really knows how to pick 'em. Kyoya has the status but Shion has the power, huh?

Aaron snorted at the sarcastic thought and finished setting up the camera. The lighting wasn't that great due to the weather, so he set the aperture according to the distance of the shot and adjusted the exposure. He needed a short focal length to capture the whole scene. He could already see Akui waiting there for Shion.

Kyoya watched while Aaron muttered to himself as he adjusted the camera settings. He set his coffee down and moved beside him at the window. "Explain."

"Aperture... Fuck I reset it. Just a sec."

Kyoya frowned as Aaron brushed him off—too in focus to care at the moment.

"Alright, so. This is what's goin' on." Aaron started and the rest of the members present also gathered at the window. "This guy waiting here, our classmate, has targeted Shion for one reason or another. Shion, being the hoodlum he is, knew somehow that Akui was itching for a fight. He and another classmate put a dummy love letter in his shoebox to lure him out."

Tamaki was floored by the information, while the others had toned down reactions. "WHAT!?"

"So you're here to collect visual evidence just in case?"

Aaron hummed in agreement, "Mhm, Satsuki's also there since Shion is one-hundred percent sure that there will be more than two people. If he needs help Satsuki will be there."

Haruhi frowned thoughtfully, "Satsuki is a fighter, so it's relieving to know that she will be there to jump in."

"There's a hole in that plan." Kyoya rapped his fingers on the windowsill, looking down to the person waiting. He knew Shion could take care of himself, but that didn't mean he wanted him to get into trouble. "With the recorded evidence, would it not look odd for Satsuki to come in right when things are looking unfavourable?"

"Shion's got that covered too—ah fuck, it begins." Aaron waited a few seconds before starting the recording.

• • • • • •

Rounding the corner of the school building, Shion acted surprised to see Akui standing there waiting for him as he approached.

His eyes widened as he got closer as he feigned shock and brought out the letter, "So this is from you?" Shion asked disbelievingly with a tilt of his head and tucked a stray hair out of his face, "You don't seem to be the type. You're too..." Shion gestured vaguely at Akui, "angry."

Akui hadn't said anything yet, and Shion subtly eyed the shrubbery and trees to his left where he knew people were hidden. Biting the inside of his cheek to hide his eagerness, Shion shifted his weight to his back foot and he smiled warmly.

"Usually the letter in the shoe box trope is used for love confessions—and you don't look like your confessing your undying affections for me."

"That's because I'm not," Akui started calmly and rain slowly started to fall. "I wanted to get you alone. You see, since you got here, you've been giving me bad vibes. You don't have a good attitude and just because of some good luck, despite your horrible personality, you got into the good graces of the school. Though, that isn't the whole reason." Akui's expression morphed into an angry grimace, "You broke my friend's heart. She cried afterwards, and she tried to keep it a secret, but I knew. You've been on my hit list ever since."

Lightning flashed, and with a snap of his fingers, four other people came out from behind the trees. Akui found it strange that Shion was calm as each person came out from hiding.

"You think I'm an idiot?" Shion asked rhetorically as he looked at each person and took details in, "I saw this coming since you were trash-talking me—our last gym class just cemented it." Sunohara, and two third-years, they don't look like anything special, but judging someone based on appearance is asking to get throttled.

Akui nodded his head and Sunohara approached Shion first to test the waters. With a hop in his step, he threw the first punch, circled around with a feint, and followed through with a cross.

Hm, this guy's not too bad. Though he telegraphs his moves too much. He's definitely a boxer, I shouldn't expect a good kick from him then. Shion sidestepped a punch and pulled away from another. Not yet kicking things into full gear, Shion clenched his abdominals to lessen the damage from a punch below the belt and staggered back. Seeing Sunohara approach with an excited grin, Shion stepped in, catching him off guard by getting to the infighting range and halting him in his place mid-kick. Sloppy startup, I was right to expect poorly executed kicks.

Throwing out a jab in retaliation, Sunohara was caught off guard when they exchanged blows. Shion stepped in immediately after the jab for a knee and elbow combo which made him back off.

"Huh," Sunohara rolled his shoulder where he had been struck, "You hit harder than you look, though you don't have a good form—I thought you said he was a fighter Akui?" He looked over his shoulder to the coordinator who stood there with his arms crossed.

So you think that was sloppy? The flippant tone irked Shion.

"Oh, he is. He just hasn't bared his fangs yet."

"Huh," Sunohara frowned thoughtfully and made eye contact with another person surrounding Shion, "I wonder what it'll take to get you going?"

Seeing Sunohara look behind him, Shion adjusted his footing as he heard a twig snap behind him. Reacting just in time to slip away from a punch aimed directly at his face, Shion stepped in and swung his weight into a body blow like a pendulum, knocking the wind out of his assaulter who wheezed and fell to his knees with a wet thump on the muddy ground.

One of the third years was down for the count.

The second third year saw the opening from Shion's reaction and went in for a hook directed to the head, and to make things believable Shion took the hit directly and rolled with the punch.

Akui and the people surrounding Shion were feeling good about the situation after that solid blow but halted in their tracks when Shion started laughing.

A smile adorned Shion's face despite the situation he was in. "That was a pretty strong hit, I think I might actually have a concussion." The laughter died down to chuckles, "All of this because of jealousy? I turned the girl down, shouldn't you be happy?" Shion's smile turned to a vile smirk, "Or did you want me to make her my bitch? Though she's a little too innocent for my tastes."

Knowing that he was called out, scalding hot anger flowed through Akui's veins. "That's. It." Shion's words about his crush just made things worse. "Back off Sunohara, he's mine."

Sunohara frowned and held his hands up as he backed away.

Shion sized Akui up, and while he didn't look that physically fit under the uniform, he knew from watching in class that he could pack a punch.

For the first time since the fight started, Shion put up his guard just as the rain started to pour.

• • • • • •

Tamaki winced in sympathy as Shion received a punch to the stomach and went into panic mode, "Oh no, oh no, he got hit. Is he going to be okay? I should go get a teacher, shouldn't I? I'm goin—"

"No, not yet," Aaron stopped Tamaki from his panicked rambling. "For this to be in Shion's favour, he needs to come out with injuries. If he beat them down and came out with nothing, then that would look suspicious, would it not?"

"Hm. So Shion could dispatch that group with no injuries?" Mori gathered from what Aaron said.

Aaron shrugged, "That's what we were told."

Kyoya crossed his arms, tensely watching the encounter. How far does this go Shion? He wondered just what kind of past Shion had, and while he developed feelings for the mysterious man, he wanted to discover what he was hiding. He had already done an investigation of his background and nothing noteworthy came up—but just since nothing showed up, it could just mean that whatever it was it didn't show up on his record.

Watching with bated breath, Haruhi felt her heart drop to her stomach when one of them approached from behind but was promptly dealt with in one solid blow by Shion. Biting her lip, she heard Kyoya beside her let out a tense sigh and winced when Shion received a punch to the back of his head.

There seemed to be some conversation and the group of people moved away from Shion to have the honey-haired Akui step up in front of Shion. Shion, who had not been defending, got into a stance for the first time as the rain grew in intensity.

"Ah, so he's going to fight back now," Mori nodded. As a martial artist he was curious—how did Shion fight? He had always had a suspicion that Shion was a fighter in some way or another from the way he held himself. Mori had no doubt that Shion could hold his own after seeing how Shion's physique grew more muscular over the past few months.

Kyoya paid no heed to Tamaki's grip on his shoulder as he observed with a watchful eye.

Akui had thrown a punch and Shion dodged, catching the next attempt in his palm. There was a pause and Akui went for a kick, but it served no purpose when Shion twisted the hand in his grip and closed the distance, making it look like a tango hold.

Not visible as from their perspective on the second floor, Shion brought up a knee and bashed it into the teen's chin and Akui dropped to his knees in one fell swoop. Shion looked around and the three other people paused before converging upon him.

It was a sloppy effort from what Mori could tell. "Shion will be fine." The people who called Shion out barely knew how to fight.

Moments passed of Shion bobbing and weaving before he slugged one with a left hook that was followed up with a high kick. Spinning around, Shion crouched and tripped the last third year and ground his foot into his back, pushing him further into the mud.

Shion looked like he was done with the fight as he looked like he was about to leave. He was left unsatisfied with the fight and he felt irritated because he didn't get the same high as he used to. Straightening his clothes, he heard something rustling behind him and saw Akui regaining consciousness.

Stirring from his position on the ground, mind fuzzy and still disoriented from the blow, Akui spat out blood and started talking. The group sure wished that they could hear what was being said because Shion reacted.

Violently.

Turning on his heel, Shion stalked over to Akui and looked down at him for a moment before he raised him up by his collar and roughly slammed him against a tree.

• • • • • •

Akui grit his teeth as his back collided with rough bark. His head throbbed from the pain and blood welled up in his mouth from biting his cheek. Looking up through squinted eyes, he felt fear course through his veins when Shion growled.

"How do you know that name."

Akui choked out a laugh when he heard his mother tongue and winced from the pain, "So I was right, arschloch." A shiver went down his spine when the grip on the collar grew tighter and Akui struggled for breath. Waiting for a moment, Shion let him writhe before letting him breathe again.

"Talk," Shion said forcefully, further driving him into the tree.

Akui coughed, and despite the blood dripping down his chin, a smile spread across his face, "The last of Abhilfe will burn."

Shion didn't need to look to know that the camera didn't have a good view of him from where they were. It was one of Shion's many talents, spatial awareness, and it was what had kept him out of the law forces grasp many times. Shion grinned.

A toothy, sadistic grin.

"That... is not something you should know, Akui." Out of view, Shion brought out a knife and ran the dull edge across his cheek."Please," his tone was sickeningly sweet. "Explain."

Akui glared and spit on Shion's face, but his bravado wavered as Shion brought the tip of the blade to the soft underside of his jaw.

"There's nothing left you know. You're chasing a loose end. Abhilfe is nothing but cinders."

With the point made, Shion let go of Akui's collar and let him collapse to the ground while the knife quickly disappeared somewhere on his body. Scratching the back of his head with a deep sigh, he frowned and gestured a cutting motion across his throat to signal Aaron that he could stop filming.

"Aha," Akui choked out and gestured for another person to come out, "So you had a back up too."

Another figure came out from the trees, and they definitely weren't a combatant judging from how they were shaking like a leaf. Glaring to the new person, Shion held out his hand for the camera and the person gave the device over with trembling hands. After deleting the video file, Shion turned to Akui and Sunohara.

"What happens now?"

Sunohara shrugged, "I have no idea what you two were talking about, so I don't know what's going on."

A voice came from behind, "Me too, brother," and Sunohara went as pale as his hair when Satsuki placed an arm around his shoulder casually. "Huh, so you really didn't need me at all Shion? That was rude of you, I was looking forward to some action too."

Rolling his eyes, Shion relaxed a bit knowing that the fight was over. "I'll let this go under the radar. I'm sure your rep wouldn't do too well after word gets out that I took you out on my own."

"That's it?" Judging from how much Akui disliked Shion, Sunohara thought that Shion would be more... cruel. "Just a light slap on the wrist?"

Shion blinked, "What else am I supposed to do? It's a loss for all of us if the school gets involved over his personal grudge against me. I already gave you a beat down—besides, there's nothing he can do," Shion smirked, "there's no proof after all."

"Fuck you."

"Aha, it's best to tread carefully, I do still have that letter. I am perfectly capable and can start rumours about us," Shion said suavely and chuckled at the disgusted look on Akui's face.

• • • • • •

Yellow raincoat and shoes squeaked as Satsuki silently followed behind Shion. He was soaked through and leaving a trail, not caring about it in the slightest. She didn't speak, knowing that Shion wasn't quite in the mood, and they stopped at a vending machine.

"Coffee?" Shion offered, he needed a hot beverage to warm himself up. He eyed Satsuki, she was suspiciously quiet even after what happened.

"Nah, I'm good."

Shion shrugged and started making his way to the club room, sipping on his beverage. "I'm sure you're curious, but I'd rather not explain things twice."

"Twice?"

Shion scoffed, "You think they will let me off the hook without an explanation?" He wouldn't explain everything though because he knew he could get away with not mentioning his involvement in Abhilfe as they couldn't hear what was going on. He did not want word of that going around and he didn't trust Tamaki to keep his mouth shut.

Satsuki frowned thoughtfully, "Not at all, though, I do actually want to try sparring you, ya know."

Shion chuckled, his tone dark and amused, "Are you sure about that?"

"Oh fuck yeah, you have a dirty fighter vibe about you that get's my blood pumping." Satsuki started hopping around and shadow boxing as they got the clubroom doors.

Casually walking in, Shion moved and pulled up a chair at the table, uncaring if he got the chair wet. Everyone met his expectations regarding their reactions, though something felt off. "Where's Tamaki?" The bumbling blond wasn't there raising a fuss which made the room eerily quiet.

"After you were finished he ran out to try and get you to the nurse's office," Kyoya informed. He was concerned, but also angry and thus was trying to be impartial. He bit the inside of his cheek, He's soaked...

"Which is exactly where you should be right now Shion." Haruhi said sternly, "You're soaking wet, you have injuries, and you got hit at the back of the head."

"—He did mention that he probably had a concussion." Satsuki shut up when Shion shot her a look.

"I know how to treat a concussion—I'm not stupid, Haruhi."

Kyoya adjusted his glasses, "You should still get checked."

"I'm awake and having a legible conversation. My balance is not affected and neither is my vision. I just need to stay away from physical activity."

This time Mori spoke up, eyes closed as he enjoyed his tea, "If that is true, he should be fine." He set down his teacup and looked at Shion who had taken a seat in front of him. "Look at my finger."

Knowing what Mori was up to, Shion sighed and went along with the impromptu test. His eyes followed Mori's digit with no issue. "So? What's your verdict Sensei?"

A small smile graced Mori's face, "I think you are fine."

Haruhi frowned and looked away, glaring out the window. She did not like how he was playing down his injuries.

With the conversation coming to a halt, it became apparent that Kyoya had been drumming his fingers on the table—a tic that Shion knew meant that he was irritated. The rain became more obvious as it pattered harshly against the window.

"You seem to know your way around a fight Shion—a little too well." Pausing, Kyoya sighed when Shion didn't look like he was about to budge. "Very well. I'll settle on the summary of what this was about."

Shion took a few snacks that were set out and got comfortable in his seat. "During that winter trip, a girl confessed to me as you already know. Turns out that Akui likes her and was angry at me for hurting her feelings, and so he wanted revenge."

Kyoya had a feeling that something was... off. It felt like something was missing even though Shion's summary was perfectly possible. That's what he wants us to think.

"He said something cheesy like, "You made her cry, and you've been on my list ever since," pfft!" Satsuki started cackling, "You know how hard it was to stay quiet when he said that!?"

Aaron pitched in, laughing along, "Sounds like a soap opera!"

"Basically! Though I'm curious, Akui said something and it was like a switch flipped with you Shion. What was it... Alb.. heist? Ab... hm, hold on." Satsuki took out her phone and started skimming through it, listening with an earbud in. "Abhilfe."

"That sounds... well, not like English." Haruhi was confused.

Something clicked and Kyoya knew what language it was, "German."

Shion grimaced and clicked his tongue. Whispering under his breath, he vented, "Fucking shit."

"You recorded it too?" Aaron raised his eyebrows, "That was smart of you, let's watch it."

Abruptly, the doors slammed open, threatening to come off the hinges, and Tamaki appeared looking all frazzled and out of breath. "Mama!" Tamaki sobbed, "I couldn't find him anywhere!" But when he took a good look, he saw Shion sitting in his spot. "Shion! You're okay!"

Putting his arm out, Shion stopped Tamaki from throttling him with death's embrace. "I won't be if you jostle me around with those violent hugs of yours."

Tamaki smiled despite the scathing tone from Shion, "Well, he seems fine." Shion was no different than normal. "So what's going on now?" Tamaki asked as he pulled up another seat at the table.

"We were about to watch Satsuki's recording of the incident." Aaron supplied. "It has audio."

"Bad quality audio," Satsuki supplied. "The best kind."

Fuck, I was hoping they would forget about it. "No. You weren't—don't." He cut Satsuki off before she could progress, "Delete it."

"But!"

"Delete. It!"

"Why are you so adamant about this?! It's just a video."

"You heard what I said down there—it was not pleasant and I don't want them to hear it."

"So what? We already know that you're an ass." Despite Shion asking, Satsuki played the video anyways, but Shion was stubborn and despite everything, he chose not to leave. He looked away from Kyoya when he heard himself talk about the girl. It was strange. He never regretted his actions, but now that Kyoya was listening to his cruel words it made him feel terrible. He didn't want Kyoya's opinion of him to change.

"Wow. You sure know how to antagonize someone Shion." Aaron commented idly, totally unfazed by the cruel words.

"Here it is! It was a bit quiet but this is when they started talking in... German was it?"

"What was that about Shion?" Haruhi asked. She knew Shion, and he wasn't the type to go out and of his way to hurt someone for no reason. "What does Abhilfe mean?"

Heaving a shaky breath, Shion sighed, "This is exactly why I wanted it deleted." His jaw clenched, "I told you to delete it Satsuki. Did you respect my request? No. Of course you didn't."

Satsuki tried swallowing the frog that was in her throat to no avail. Now she felt bad that she played the video. Shion's dark look was directed to her, not jokingly like times she's made bad jokes—it was serious, he was actually angry with her and she felt the back of her throat tighten.

"Abhilfe," Shion said in German, "was a gang I was in years ago. Akui had knowledge of my involvement in the group and wanted to blackmail me. However, there is no proof of the group existing anymore as it was disbanded and disappeared—and thus he doesn't have anything over me." Abruptly, Shion stood up from his seat and stalked over to Satsuki, grabbed her phone, and manually deleted the video files.

With no emotion in his eyes, Shion looked to Satsuki. Lightning flashed threateningly, "That spar you were talking about? I'll be ready when you are." With that, Shion grabbed his bag and strode out of the room, leaving the members in his dust without concern.

• • • • • •

Greetings again! So? How was it? I had a blast writing the fight scene (which was pretty much the whole chapter).

I hope you guys enjoyed it, and I'll see you next chapter!