The days following Rick's death passed in a blur for Kuon. He had holed himself inside his room, refusing to speak even when his concerned father came to see him.

Kuu had told Kuon that there would be no charges pressed against him. The gang Kuon had beaten hadn't wanted the police involved as they were already mixed up in other illicit activities. Rick's family felt that the blame rested fully upon the driver of the car, despite Kuon's protests. Tina … Kuon hadn't seen Tina since that night, but he knew what she believed. Nevertheless, it seemed she had not said anything. So Kuon, in the isolation of his room, remained unpunished.

Kuu had told him there would be a funeral. Kuon didn't remember when it had been, but he'd decided not to go. What right had he to be there? After all, Rick had died because of him.

Though not familiar with Rick's family, Kuu had gone to the funeral in Kuon's stead. He returned with Rick's worn black watch, which he placed upon Kuon's bedside table. Kuon ignored it, for it was a reminder of what he had done.

In his solitude, Kuon tried to feel something. He was empty inside. He remembered how the darkness had risen around him after Rick's death. He couldn't escape the confines of the utter blackness that was consuming his soul. Something, anything, had to make him feel, or surely Kuon would wither away to nothing.

One night, he raided his father's liquor cabinet, downing the first bottle he laid his hands on. Kuu and Julie had woken to a loud crash in the kitchen. They came running to find Kuon passed out on the floor next to a smashed bottle of whiskey. When Kuon next awoke, he was in bed, a cool cloth on his forehead, and his mother asleep in a chair beside him.

Julie left for a modeling shoot in France the next week. Kuu went to work as usual. Kuon stayed in his room. Neither Kuu nor Julie brought up school.

Kuon eventually came to realize that he had to stop fighting whom he was, for it was the only way he could feel again. He, Kuon Hizuri, was a monster, so it was time he accepted the fact and behaved in a befitting manner. While Kuu was at work, Kuon began to prowl the shady parts of L.A., searching for fights. The older teens that used to fight him now kept their distance, so Kuon was forced to look for fights elsewhere.

It was easy enough, once Kuon found the local gangs. The large men were much harder to intimidate, and with their equally large prides, Kuon could anger them easily. He ought to have been scared, as he would have been just a year before. But now, Kuon enjoyed it; the exhilarating feel from the fight – especially when he was up against a good opponent. It was the only way the monster could feel anything.

Though he left the house after Kuu departed for work, Kuon always returned late. In the small hours of the morning he would come home with torn clothes and bruised knuckles, only to find his father sitting at the couch, head in his hands, and a cold plate of food waiting on the table.

Kuon knew his father was worried, if the tired lines below his eyes and recent decline in appetite were any indicator. Yet Kuu never asked questions, not wanting to push his already suffering son.

Kuon wasn't sure when he was contacted, but one day the Boss came to visit. Dressed in a large fur coat, he asked to speak with Kuon alone.

So Kuon found himself in the living room, waiting for the Boss's probing questions with his head bowed. Though Kuon had only met the man during his visit to Japan five years ago, he knew enough about his father's old friend to expect an uncomfortable conversation at the least.

He heard as the Boss approached him. "Do you want to break out of there? I will set the stage." Kuon looked up curiously at the Boss's fierce stare. "Just cover up your whole background and try to become a different person, a better actor than your father, in the country where he was born and raised. Whether your anonymous self can open up the way and climb to the top and whether you, as an actor, can once again step upon the land of your home country depends on your own ability. I won't help you in any way with anything work related. How about it?"

Kuon stared at the Boss in silence. He didn't know what to make of the offer. It seemed ideal: an escape route. He could leave behind the monster that was Kuon Hizuri and become someone else, achieve his dreams, and in his own right!

Kuon pursed his lips in determination and gave the Boss a terse nod.

"Right," said the Boss, "I'll speak with your father."

Kuon had completely forgotten about Kuu. Now that the Boss had mentioned him, Kuon filled with apprehension. Would his father stop him? He couldn't let that happen.

"Boss!" Kuu was protesting, "You can't! This is his home. I – we - can take care of him. Don't - "

Both men suddenly looked up to the sound of the study door opening. Kuon was standing at the door, from which he took in his father's panic and the Boss's grim expression. He opened his mouth to call, 'Dad,' but stopped, looking down at his feet. Turning to the Boss, he instead said, "I'm ready."

Placing a hand on Kuu's shoulder, the Boss said softly, "It's the best thing you can do for him." Then turning to Kuon, he said, "Let's go."

"Kuon …"

Kuon met his father's eyes at the last whispered call, before turning and walking out the door after the Boss. He was no longer Kuon. Not now, and not until he could stand on his own feet as an actor. Until then, he was an anonymous actor waiting to rise to stardom. He clasped a hand around his right wrist, where the shackle restraining Kuon Hizuri lay, and followed the President to his future as Tsuruga Ren.

A/N: So I had to think about this one for a while. I always assumed that after Rick's death, Kuon would try to avoid fighting at all costs. But then in the manga, we see so much darkness hidden inside - not just self-loathing. And keep in mind, Kuon was only 15 at the time! For someone so young to feel such intense feelings (because they surely didn't stem from his years as Ren), Kuon must have succumbed to 'the darkness' before the President 'rescued' him. But the darkness, and his perverse pleasure when fighting Murasame couldn't have just come from blaming himself for Rick's death or getting angry at bullies. His 'landmine' as Murasame calls it, is being called a 'murderer', so ... yeah ... that's why I wrote it this way. I'd like to hear any of your interpretations!