A/N: Oh my god, I'm so sorry for going on a sudden hiatus after the previous chapter! I have so much problems and troubles in my life that I cannot seem to find the time to enjoy my hobby. Anyway, I have two horrible news to break out to my beloved readers... which I'll announce at the end of this chapter.

Disclaimers: I do not own any of the Skip Beat! characters, but I do own my characters. Contains OOC elements and mild language (if have any)

Chapter 18: Helpful, helpless

When Shion returned to the hotel with Yashiro, he was reprimanded by Lory for going missing and Kanae for making Kyoko worry.

Ren, well, he merely stared at him expressionlessly.

Despite the wanted help evident in the bachelor's behavior, Shion merely flashed a smile at him that said: You're not prioritized.

Thus he made his way to Kyoko's room, in which Kanae said she would give them the privacy, much to her own jealousy. Damn, she wanted to know what's gotten Kyoko so anxious too!

…Well, she'll tell her sooner or later anyways. Even not, Kanae has ways to make her spit it out.

Shion knocked on the door and waited. After a minute or so, the door opened and Kyoko peeked out from the gap timidly.

"Hey, Kyoko-chan." Shion greeted with a smile.

And he was tackled to the ground.

"Shion-kun, what should I do?!" Kyoko buried her face into his chest, in which he merely raised an eyebrow at her behavior. She was shaking too.

"Kyoko-chan…" The wolf boy sighed, that man's so useless. "What did that actor do this time?"

"Eh?" Kyoko looks up at him with tearful eyes.

Shion used his uninjured hand and picked her up from the ground, over his shoulder and entered the room despite the confused gasp the orange haired girl managed.

"Now that we're alone…" He sighed, placing her on her bed whilst he sat beside her. "What's wrong?"

Kyoko gulped. Where should she start? "Uh..."

Shion uncurled his tail from his body and pulled away his hood, it's more comfortable this way. He'd almost forgotten that Kyoko has the inability to speak when she became confused.

"Right, what got you to tackle me to the ground?"

"Oh… I'm so sorry! It's just… I was so troubled…" Kyoko had the urge to prostrate, but resisted by clasping her hands together.

"What made you so troubled?" Shion stares at her with a gentle gaze, hoping that she would relax a little.

At the kindness-maximum blue eyes, her tension flew out of the window all of sudden. "That is… Ren-san… he…"

Shion had to guess now. Whatever could make Kyoko so flustered must be shocking for her.

"Oh. He confessed this morning right? Is that what you're troubled about?" Shion tilts his head to a side when her cheeks became rosy and her eyes watered.

"What, am I wrong?"

"No! I-I mean, y-you're not wrong… b-but i-it's actually what happened earlier…" Kyoko bit down her lower lip.

"Let me guess, did he confess to you again? Because you thought it was all an act?" Shion smirked when she turned her head to look at him with sparkling eyes.

"How did you know?! You're really a fairy!" She beamed.

"No I'm not." The disappointed expression on her face was so incredible that he couldn't help but chuckle, "I'm not a fairy. I'm far from something so pure…"

"Huh?"

"…So, he really did that? Well, I can understand his urgency to clear that up." He then placed a curled finger against his chin in thoughtfulness.

"Shion-kun?"

…There are several ways to make a girl realize how she feels, but for Kyoko-chan, she needs something more forceful. Though I never wanted to use such underhanded method…

Shion narrowed his eyes and stood up, moving to stand before Kyoko. The girl looks up at him, confused. And then she froze efficiently.

T-That look! W-Why is Shion-kun looking like Emperor of the Night?!

"Kyoko-chan, have you ever considered me as a proper man?" He asked with a seductive smirk that made her shudder in both fear and anticipation.

"Eh? Ehh?!"

"I see."

She didn't know how, but in a split second she was on her back, pinned against the bed with Shion towering over her, his hands pressing down both her forearms.

"Do you know that there are quite a lot of guys wanting to do this to you?" Shion continued with his blue topaz eyes glinting evilly and darkly, the smirk never leaving his face.

Kyoko swallowed dryly. Her grudges edged away from the surface of her conscience, making her even more insecure. The Shion talking to her isn't the Shion she knows and likes. He is more frightening, more powerful, forceful, dark and evil.

Her mouth opened to speak, but only a pitiful squeak escaped. She blushed.

Ah… I wonder if I've gone too far. Shion sighed and released his grips from her forearms, withdrawing from her trembling body.

"Sorry. It seems I've gone too far." He apologized sincerely, "Do you think that Tsuruga-san is someone who would do that to you?"

She sat up holding the front of her shirt, shaking her head weakly. Even before she was embarrassed by her over exaggerated behavior towards Ren's confession, even before she was guilty for behaving that way and hurting Ren, she was afraid. For the first time in actuality, she was scared of Shion.

He turned his head to her and smiled apologetically, "I know that wasn't the best way to show you… I hope you would forgive me."

She looked down, being unable to trust her voice yet.

Accepting the rejection, he merely sighed, "I'll leave now, okay? I'll go get Kanae-chan."

After he left the room, Kyoko heaved a heavy sigh of relief. That's when she realized that the places where he had gripped were tingling. She inspected the left side; there was no bruise. Likewise, she checked the right side… only that there was blood, in the shape of a hand.

She nearly screamed, but bit down her tongue to stop. It isn't her blood, she was sure. So… Was Shion-kun injured?

Her golden eyes wandered to the carpeted floor, only to see droplets of crimson continuing towards the door.

Oh no, Shion-kun's really injured and I caused his wound to reopen!

She was about to run out of the room when Kanae entered and glared at her, "Go to sleep. It's already midnight."

At the commanding tone, Kyoko obeyed and went to sleep after changing, all while thinking about how she feels about Ren, where Shion got that injury and why she thought that the usually kind Shion was scary.

"What's with those?" Yashiro asked the boy as he entered their room.

"What's with what?" Shion raised an eyebrow.

The manager pointed to his cheek, where a bright red hand mark was imprinted. "That… and that." He then pointed to his bleeding hand.

"This," he pointed to his cheek, "is my 'mark of honor'."

Mark of what?

"This," he pointed to his hand, "is that my wound reopened."

"What?! How did that happen?" Yashiro immediately went to the bathroom to get a first aid kit.

"Well…" Shion pondered if he came out with it clean, would he receive another 'mark of honor' like he did from Kanae?

It was approximately 3am when Shion went down to the beach to take a breather. He hadn't gotten the chance to take a dip in the sea too.

Venturing deeper into the pitch black sea, he dived headfirst into the icy water, letting himself resurface into a floating position. He stared up at the cloudy sky, wondering if he did the right thing.

He never understood how exactly a human can stand these emotions thing. There were countless times he wished he didn't inherit any of that, so that he could live without having to worry if he offended anyone.

Closing his eyes, he let the cool water wash over his face, calming him down.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay there."

Shion moved to look at whoever said that, only to find Ren standing at the shore merely a few meters away, his hands tucked into his pockets.

"Androids don't catch colds." The boy said merely.

"Still, it's unhealthy for whoever sees this." Ren tried.

"It's none of your business. Nobody told you to look."

Sighing, Japan's number one bachelor sat down on the white sand and lets his gaze wander from the sky to the boy, who's still playing in the water as if he's invisible.

"Can I ask you something?" Ren started, watching as the boy resurfaced for the fourth time.

"What is it?" Shion looks at him with a small smile.

"You… do you know me from the past?"

The question left a heavy silence in the air as the two stared at each other.

"…So what if I do? Is there something you don't want anyone to know?" Shion finally stopped playing in the sea and approached the man, drenched from top to bottom.

"How long have you known me?" Ren asked, slightly uncomfortable with the tides of the events.

"I didn't think you'd realize this so soon. I guess I can tell you." Shion sat beside him, "I've known you since you were 'Corn'."

Ren stiffened. Does that mean he knows about my teenage years too?

"Actually, I would never notice that you're that Kuon if not for Lory-sama's odd sense of obsession over you." Shion then sighed, "Also, with your slipup this morning, I was only convinced that I wasn't wrong."

"So, you also know what I did in my teenage years?" Ren looked away with a deep scowl.

"What're you so concerned about anyway?" Shion asked, smacking his back.

Ren lurched forward at the force, and frowns at the boy, "Wouldn't you be concerned too? If…"

"If I'm in your shoes?" Shion completed his sentence and sighed, "Look, I've only observed Kyoko-chan the whole time before I went and live with the Hizuri, but I heard what happened to you before you followed Lory-sama to Japan."

"Then—"

"It's just an accident."

"Rick's death is my fault! If only I hadn't gone—"

"Are you stupid?" Shion kicked him in the side.

Ren fell over with a grunt.

"Did you tell the driver to ram him over? Or did you plan it out for that to happen?"

"There's no way I would do that!"

"Then what makes you think that you had the power to control what would happen if you go or not?" Shion stood up and glared down at him, "That was an accident. Maybe it was partly your fault, but ultimately it's still the driver's crime."

"You… don't think I'm a murderer?"

"Hah? Do you want me to think that you're one?" The wolf boy harrumphed, "A real murderer is someone who would take away lives with his own hands."

At that moment, Ren felt as if the boy wasn't talking about the definition in general. It felt like he was talking about someone close to him, or worse, himself.

"Did you…"

"That's why I said you'll never understand why I want to disappear as soon as possible." Shion turned on his heels to walk away, "I've always regretted, but in the end, there's nothing I can do but to atone for my sins."

"And that is to die? You're the one who told me that I'm not a murderer. Why are you thinking that way then?" Ren knew it was out of his character to be so emotional. He thought he would only become like this when it comes to Kyoko.

Shion glances back at him, "I only felt that your self-blaming is meaningless."

That look froze Kuon. It was full of self-hate, regret, sadness and loneliness.

He could only watch as the boy slowly return to the hotel.

Ren wanted to start afresh because he wanted to forget about what happened back at US, but Shion…

He never thought of starting afresh like him. He never thought of running away like Ren did. He had always thought of facing his sins face-to-face, perishing along with it.

If Kuon was miserable at that time, then Shion would be helpless against his commitment.

As I had said earlier, I will now announce the news.

1) ...Well, I will drop into a deep depression soon, though I don't know when, but it'll be very soon. And because of that depression, I'll be not able to write any stories until I recover from it, which is like what, as difficult as trying to run around the town in birthday suit without being insane. (Was that over exaggeration?)

2) This story, 'Shion' will be diving into a complete hiatus after I post the nineteenth chapter. I know I'm the worst for presenting a story without conclusions, and I won't request for any forgiveness, seeing as I don't deserve any.

With this, I humbly end my speech with a final apology. I'm so sorry.