A/N: OK, maybe I'll need some time management between writing my chapters and attempting to draw a cover page for 'Shion'. Well, I completed the drawing, but now I'm stuck in coloring it in Photoshop CS6. Geez, I spent a few days coloring just 3 out of I-don't-know-how-many characters! Sorry to keep you waiting, here's the next chapter!

Disclaimers: I don't own any of Skip Beat! characters, but I do own my OCs. Warning: Contains OOC elements and language (maybe not in this chapter)

Please enjoy!

Chapter 24: Reprogramming

Two figures jumped from the cliff where waterfall rushed violently, landing perfectly on the ground a long way down from above.

"Inui, can't you move faster?" The golden haired young man with lion ears and tail urged as he bolted through the forest.

The other young man lagging behind him huffed and his tongue lolled from his lips, "I'm a house dog! If you want the wolf, we're going to pick him up now!"

"Geez, you need to be confident in yourself." Leo started slowing down to match his pace, "Dogs can run fast too."

"Only during daytime and in spacious place, not somewhere like a forest at night!" Inui swallowed another gulp of his saliva as he continued running.

Both of them skidded to a stop when they saw the cabin. Leo closed his eyes and activated his heat scanner program. The next moment he opened his gold eyes, they were glowing brightly. He scanned two heat sources in the cabin, one with an abnormally high heat and the other with a rising heat.

"Inui, they are in there." He said, deactivating the program as his eyes turned back to the normal golden.

"Bingo." His folded dog ears twitched as he kicked open the door, causing it to fall crumbling to the floor into the cabin.

Ruka glared at the rude intruder, "Can't you be gentler?"

Inui wagged his tail, "Ooh! Leo's always right on the money!"

Leo stepped in from behind Inui and gave a cool smile to the wolf boy, "Yo, wolf boy."

Shion smiled back weakly, "Hey king."

"Father is waiting for you." Leo looks down coldly at his weak friend, "Let's go."

Ren glared down at the dialogue in his hands.

There was his lines: "What are you thinking? Why did you leave without saying anything? By doing so, you hurt her."

How timely. Just the words I want to say to that guy.

And then there was the opposite teen actor's lines: "There was nothing I could do! I—I'm disappearing! I don't want her to see me in this state!"

Hm? A sudden realization hit him. This isn't impossible for Shion's case. Maybe…

The movie is about this angel who was banished from Heaven. A woman picked him up after mistaking him for a homeless boy, but every day he felt himself vanishing. What's worse is that he fell in love with the woman.

Ren's role is the woman's childhood friend, and he knows about the angel's identity. The woman has mutual feelings for the angel, but the angel didn't dare to reveal his real identity, so he intend to disappear at somewhere she couldn't see.

"You wormed your way into her life, her heart, and now you're telling me you don't want her to know that you'll be gone for good?"Ren can't help but casting his current feelings with his role's.

Who wouldn't be angry?

Ren had been so in love with Kyoko, yet this stranger came by and became her important person within a few days. Kyoko opened up to Shion without much hesitation, but she didn't do the same for him!

Who wouldn't be frustrated?

"I—"

"She was crying."The angel bit his lower lip as a pained expression crossed his slightly cherubic face.

"When you left, she had the same pained expression. When you left, she was so sad."

Outside the set, Director Shingai whispered to Yashiro, "Tsuruga-kun looks somber. Did something happen?"

Yashiro sighed with an apologetic smile, "Well…a little something did."

"Ren." The manager shook his head as the actor walked to him from the set, "That wasn't nice."

"Yes?" Ren raised an eyebrow as if he didn't know what he's referring to.

"Don't act dumb, Ren. I'm talking about the scene just now." Yashiro frowned disapprovingly, "You thought of Shion-kun didn't you?"

Ren sighed irritably as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Yashiro smiled, "Well, it isn't something impossible. You know, about Shion-kun leaving because he would be vanishing into nothingness."

The actor scoffed, "You must be joking."

Yashiro shook his head again, "President called me earlier. He said he found Shion-kun… and Professor Hinamori."

Ren stopped drinking his water and glanced at him with wide eyes.

"We're going back to LME straight after this, Ren."

The four Serbeasts arrived at a small house deeper into the forest though nearer to the edge of the west of the town. Leo opened the door and waited until the other three entered.

"Shion, Ruka, Father is waiting in the underground lab. Walk straight and you'll know." Leo informed as he turned around, "We'll be on a lookout."

"Thanks, king." Shion thanked while Ruka bowed her head. Leo is always stoic and proud as a lion, that's why Shion calls him a king and always treats him as an elder brother even though Leo is younger than him in terms of production date and year.

"No need for your gratitude. I'm just doing what's natural." He waved dismissively.

Ruka and Shion ventured into the house until they saw a camouflaged door on the wall at the end of the corridor.

The door opened when they stepped into the identity scan range. Descending the stairs, they arrived at an underground laboratory with white metallic walls, a wall-screened computer and a surgical bed connected to the computer.

"Oh, you're finally here." The boy's eyes widened in surprise at the familiar voice.

Sitting in front of the computer is Azuma, smiling fatherly at them, "Welcome home, both of you."

Tears sprang from his eyes as he ran towards the scientist, "Azuma!"

Ren and Yashiro followed Sebastian into the President's office. It wasn't surprising that Kyoko was already sitting on the sofa, waiting for them with Lory and Kanae.

"Oh, you're here." Lory gestured for the both of them to take a seat. Ren sat beside Kyoko while Yashiro sat beside Kanae.

"Now that everyone's here," Lory exhaled a mouthful of cigar smoke, "Shion and Azuma are both in Spain. I'm planning to go to Spain tomorrow. We will come back to Japan in three days' time."

Ren looked at Kyoko, who in return breathed deeply, planting a firm and determined expression on her face, "I understand."

Kanae huffed with crossed arms, "Mo! Don't tell me you still trust that wolf boy?"

Kyoko looks at her best friend with a confused frown, "What do you mean, Moko-san?"

"How many lies has he told you?" Kanae continued, "He said he was the only Serbeast left in this world, but then it turned out that there were still more. And then he hid the fact that he knew your mother, and that his maker is your father."

"I'm sure he has his reasons, Moko-san." Kyoko replied with a small smile, "We can ask him personally when we see him."

Azuma gestured for Shion to lie on the surgical bed, "I'm sorry you had to suffer for so long, Shion. I'll get rid of the bugs for you now."

Shion smiled happily, "I don't mind, because I can see you again."

Ruka felt jealous that Shion only showed that kind of smile to Azuma, but she's also partly happy for him. He have been seeking that thing for so long, all while enduring with the bugs in his incomplete data.

"I'm putting you to sleep mode for a while, okay?" Azuma places his finger to his left eye. Shion's eye glowed digitally as it scanned his fingerprint.

"Initiating sleep mode." After a few beeping sounds, his eyes closed together with a steam-releasing sound.

Azuma turned on the electrical data scanner. The hood of the surgical bed emitted a red light as it started moving from his toes to his head repeatedly. As it ran, all the data and bugs appeared on the computer screen, highlighting the different errors with different colors.

Some of them were labelled red—meaning fatally damaged—and most were labelled orange—meaning moderately damaged.

"Hmm… I see you helped him to build some security." Azuma glanced at Ruka as he made his way to the computer.

Ruka scowled as she looked away from him, "I just did what is right."

Azuma chuckled awkwardly as he sat before the screen, tapping hastily on the virtual keyboard. Ruka wasn't paying attention to what he was doing until there were strange warning beeping sounds.

"What are you doing?" She questioned with a suspicious frown.

Azuma's gaze turned cold and empty, "I'm reprogramming Shion."

The girl looked incredulously at him, "What?"

"I plan to create a world for all of you to live in, without being ostracized and abused." Azuma said, "You're all good kids—good, innocent kids. You don't deserve to suffer like this." As he talked, his expression was full of anger, hatred and sadness.

"Shion didn't deserve to suffer like that."

It wasn't like she didn't understand what he meant. "…What are you planning to do with Shion?"

"I fully regret programming him to love humans regardless of what happens to him." Azuma looked like he was going to cry at that moment, "In order to make this world accept all of you, I will have to do things the current Shion hates the most. I will have to hurt humans."

Ruka sighed. This man broke, like a toy box, like a music box. Humans broke him. His overwhelming waves of guilt, anger, hatred and sadness broke him.

"I don't want to hurt Shion, but I can't just delete all the love he has for humans… especially for the ones he treasure the most." Azuma resumed tapping on the keyboard, "So I decided to reprogram him, locking his current data in a backup file that requires administrator permission. For that, I will need your help, Ruka."

Ruka considered his plans for a few moments. She really wondered if what Azuma is doing now is right, but it's true that Shion will try to stop Azuma from doing something like creating a place for Serbeasts to live in by hurting the humans he adores so much. So if it's for Shion's sake...

She looked uncertainly at him, "I understand."

Actually, I'm a little doubtful if this is the correct path to continue my writing...

Hmmmmm...

Please review and let me know what you think.