CW: Physical abuse.

Shō rested his arms upon the cold balcony, looking out at the spread of lights beneath the dark night sky, for miles and miles around him. The breeze was brisk and restless this evening, reminding him of the impulsivity that itched beneath this skin. Grinding his teeth behind pressed lips, he closed his eyes and pictured Kyoko's crimson-kissed cheeks. The sensuous sent of sandalwood that permeated his senses with her nearness. The warmth and the feel of her body against his. The more he thought of her, the harder his teeth pressed into each other.

"Where the fuck are you, Kyoko?" he whispered into the wind, finally releasing the ache of rage and frustration that rippled through every nerve in his body. For last few days, no matter how much effort he put forth, music utterly eluded him. The notes turned into a jumble of senseless shapes and blobs. The words escaping his mind like a vanishing ghost. The only thing sticking to his bones and his brain was the intense longing he felt for his childhood friend and object of obsession.

Hearing the glass door to his balcony sliding open behind him, Shō sighed with escalating agitation. Lifting his hand, he raked back long flaxen strands and moved his eyes to the clouded night sky. "Whatever fucking lecture you're here to give me, I don't want to hear it right now, Shōko."

When she said nothing in response, he dropped his head to his chest, cursed silently, and then turned around to face his bitch of a manager. "I already fucking told you—"

"I'm not Shōko." She said softly.

Grey eyes widened with absolute disbelief. He opened his mouth to reply, but found himself utterly dumbstruck by the sight of her. Gradually, Shō took a step forward and allowed his sight to take in the vision of his muse.

All makeup had been wiped away. Her normally curled colourful hair, was tied back in a single, straightened ponytail with the end draped messily over her shoulder. Pale cheeks glowed in the moonlight with a caress of raptured red. Shō wasn't sure what surprised him more. The simplicity of her appearance or that fact that she was wearing a t-shirt he'd never known her to own. The oversized fit sent steams of heat straight to his temples as he pondered where she may have acquired it.

"Shō—" Kyoko began, but was instantly silenced as the musician closed the gap and backhanded her across the face.

Kyoko crumbled to the ground, clutching her right cheek. The searing agony of his anger penetrated her flesh, insidiously slipping into her bones, reminding her of her betrayal. Of his temper. Of his possession.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He yelled to the heap of a young woman on the ground. "Do you have any fucking idea how much I searched for you?" When she didn't reply, didn't move a single inch, he reached down and grasped her upper arms violently, yanking her to his eye level. Kyoko adjusted her face to meet his gaze, where Shō took note of the deep shade of cerise filling the right side of her face.

"I had to get away from you, Shō." Kyoko said matter-of-factly. Watching his eyes bloom with incredulity, Kyoko swallowed down the terror and pushed onward. "What you did to me—"

"What I did to you?!" Shō screamed. "Are you fucking kidding me, Kyoko?" His hands tightened around her vice-like as he pulled her even closer, their mouths separated by a breadth of Tokyo's evening wind. "I loved you." He pressed his forehead to hers and closed his eyes with remembrance of their unity. "I needed you and you abandoned me. After all I did for you."

"You…" Kyoko whispered, trying to shove the words free from their desperate cavern of shame. "Shō, you—"

"I loved you, Kyoko." Shō kissed her nose, then brushed his mouth down to her reddened cheek and kissed her again. "I've missed you so much. I've missed you, my love."

Hot tears streamed down her icy cold face as Kyoko closed her own eyes and allowed herself to be swept away by his yearning of her. Relaxing her body, she realised she couldn't resist, she simply wasn't strong enough. She wasn't sure that she'd ever be. Some monsters are better off in their caverns after all.

Shō led his girlfriend back into their bedroom and slid the glass door shut. Removing his shirt, he tossed it onto the floor and then pushed Kyoko back onto the large mattress. "I'll forgive you, my muse." When she began to crawl back, he grabbed her leg and pulled her closer as he climbed above her. He pinned her wrist down, and then he gently fingered the long loose strands of hair from her face. Her wide, alert breath-taking eyes taunted his longing even more.

"Shō, please…"

"Shhh," he replied, pressing his forehead to hers. "You're back now, Kyoko. That's all that matters." Leaning down, he kissed her deeply before continuing, speaking into her mouth with a desire he's never felt before. "Be my muse. Let me love you and be the best there ever was. And I'll forget it all."

The tall, lean muscled rockstar stepped into the private workout room. Silently closing the door behind him, he smiled at the song that reverberated through the room. "Dream Lover" by The Vaccines was always his bandmate's greatest giveaway. Pulling a pack of fags from his back pocket, he slipped a skinny, black-paper-rolled cig in between his lips and lit up before replacing the pack. Stalking over to the punching bag in the back corner of the gym slowly, the stranger grinned sinfully.

Kuon punched the bag over and over again, each blow fuelled with more strength and fury than the last. Sweat-drenched bangs veiled his enraged contact-less green eyes. The more he thought about Kyoko and her return to him, the harder he punched and the further from reality he grew. So wholly lost in reverie, Kuon didn't notice that when he pulled back for another hook, another person had grabbed his arm fiercely and then flipped him on to his back.

The stranger pressed a recently sharpened switchblade to the blonde's throat, towering above him with violet eyes dripping in wicked intentions. "Well, well, well… aren't we frustrated this morning," he said softly with a seductive droll.

"Fuck you," Kuon quipped. Pressing his palm against the blade, Kuon shoved the blade away from his neck and then raised his knee, hitting the ball of it into the stranger's back, causing him to loosen his stance. Kuon flipped him on to his back. Quickly getting into a stance, he looked down at the silver-haired brat and then kicked him in the shin with moderate strength.

"Ow, for fuck's sake… Are you fucking mad?" the stranger howled irately.

"You clearly are," Kuon muttered as he offered the man a hand. Once they were both standing and finished with their hellos, Kuon pulled off his gloves and tossed them to the floor beneath the punching bag. "What do you want, Reino?"

"Seriously though," Reino said, ignoring his chum's inquiry, "what the hell has you so worked up this dreary, sunny day, don't tell me you of all people are having lady troubles?" When Kuon offered a deathly glare in response, the intruder practically gushed. "Oh! So it is about a girl?"

Kuon sighed, knowing he'd never escape his best friend's interrogation if he didn't just suck it up and become the sacrifice of the day. Exhaling loudly, he raked back his moisture-ridden locks and then walked over to the padded bench against the wall, beside the weight sets, Reino in tow. They each took a seat on opposite ends.

"I tried to help someone. But they didn't want it and now I'm not sure what the hell I'm supposed to do." Kuon began.

"A woman." Reino stated.

"Why would you think that?" Kuon answered.

Reino raised a solitary brow, causing the blonde to sigh in irritation.

"Fine."

"Tell me."

"What is there to tell, really? I fucking failed."

"That's the start of a story. Not the end of one." Reino inhaled deeply from his fag. Then he crossed his legs and urged his mate to tell his tale. When he was finished, Reino stood up and smiled handsomely.

"I know who she is."

"Yeah, because I told you. Her name is Kyoko."

It was thinner man's turn to sigh from impatience. "Of course, but she's not just any Kyoko. She's a very special young lady. C'mon. It's time for you get showered and freshened up. You still have time to make a difference yet."

"Why do I feel like I'm going to regret this?" Kuon muttered under his breath.

"Have I led you astray yet?" Reino asked seriously.

"I refuse to answer that. No need to incriminate anyone."

"Just trust me, Kuon. When she realises who you are, especially this rapist musician of hers, she'll be drawn to you. When that happens, you can be her saviour and all of that nonsensical rubbish, while raper boy takes a nose dive from musical notoriety into the dumpster fire of crime."

"What's in this for you?" Kuon asked, cautiously. "You never do anything out of the goodness of your heart. You'd have to have some goodness for that to work. Or a heart."

"I'll take an I O U." Reino said simply.

"Yeah, I'm going to fucking regret this, alright." Kuon dropped his head and sighed heavily. "Let's do it."

Author's Note: Yes, Reino and Kuon are best friends in this story. ;)