Sakura wiped her thick-rimmed glasses that became foggy because of all the crying she did.

Today was her beloved mother's funeral and she felt like she could go on crying until her eyes burst or until she ran out of tears, whichever came first.

Her mother's death was so sudden. It left her devastated. She had been crying for three days straight since her mother died. The only rest her eyes could get was when she slept which would just last for an hour or two.

She never knew that her mother had a heart condition. To her, she had always been lively and radiant like the sun. That was until her mother died of cardiac arrest. Since then, she had cried ceaselessly.

She was now completely orphaned. There were no relatives to go to. No person to comfort her in times like this. She had no friends to call. There was no shoulder to lean on. No relatives, no friends...yes, she was completely alone.

And to make matters worse her Mom didn't seem to be that friendly either. Sakura took after her mother after all. They were both reclusive and just like to keep within themselves. Like her, her mother had no friends...real friends. The people attending the funeral were either employees or associates of her mother. They were here for formalities sake and Sakura found no comfort in them.

She sniffed and cried harder when the casket was lowered. Her mother didn't want to be cremated. She often voiced it out when she was alive. And so Sakura let her remains rest as how she intended.

Before the surface was completely covered by dirt, Sakura uttered a promise.

She murmured "I'll live as how you wanted."

It was two weeks after that her mother's will was divulged. And she was horrified at what she learned. As expected everything that her mother had was left to her—their clothing company which by far was one of the largest in the market and also their chain of supermalls. And needless to say, loads of money. However, it was subjected to one ridiculous condition.

She had to marry someone or else she'd have nothing.

By the time the will was read, she had just stopped crying her eyes out but after what she heard she wanted to start weeping again.

Oh mother, even in death you still had to secure that I marry someone, she told herself.

When her mother was still alive, she would often worry that Sakura might end up an old maid and would probably just have an artificial insemination just like her.

She had reasons to worry about that. Mainly because, Sakura was just like her in many ways. They both love solitude and dislike large crowd. They were both quiet but not timid. They were just not the type to initiate the conversation.

However, they differ in one thing. Now, while Sakura's mother wasn't really that sociable, there was no denying the fact that she was indeed a very beautiful and fashionable woman. That was one of the reasons why their clothing line was a success. Her mother was a fashion icon with her reclusive nature giving her an enigmatic aura which as we all knew was mostly good for business. In one word, Haruno Yuriko was "bewitching". And she knew it and used it to her advantage. On the other hand, Sakura had these thick-rimmed glasses almost occupying half her face. Aside from that, she liked to stick on loose clothes regardless if it was in or not. She preferred comfort over style and didn't follow the trends. Nonetheless, she can't be called ugly. It was safer to say that she was just not into fashion like her mother when it came to dressing herself.

Yuriko found that a problem when she was alive because they were after all involved in fashion industry but more than that Yuriko's worries were more concerned whether Sakura would ever marry someone. After all, Sakura was the best designer in their company; she just didn't like to try her designs on herself.

So in her death, Yuriko only had one thing to worry and she made sure that she could prevent her daughter from living as a monk while resting in peace.

It must be mentioned that her worries were very much appreciated by her daughter. However, it didn't sound appealing to her. She didn't like the idea of spending her life with someone. For her, she could survive on her own without a man. Just like how her mother did.

However, her mother didn't like her to be following her footsteps. And it left her feeling dejected. There was no way that she could marry someone.

She thought about their house and all the memories they shared within these walls. Surely, it would be taken away, as well as everything else, and be given to selected charitable institutions.

On the event that she failed nothing would be left for her. Really, it wasn't that much unsettling for her if it were just for all the wealth she was going to lose but then she had to think of her mother's memories. Then there was that promise she said before her mother's grave.

She had to fulfill that even if it meant that she had to marry someone.

However, the real question was if there was a man she'd ever want to marry?

And the real challenge was that the marriage had to be for real because in the event that they divorced within the first five years of their marriage the properties would be revoked. It would really be impossible for her to put up an act for that long. It was either her acting would give in or her conscience. She wasn't comfortable with lying. It was just not her thing.

She was trying hard to process the things she just heard. It was really unlike her mother to be so complicated like this but she had no doubt that it was really her will.

"One more thing," the lawyer added and she braced herself for another punch. "You have to present a fiancé at the end of this month."

"What?" She blurted out. The lawyer just smiled, surprised at the outburst coming from a usually calm woman like her.

"Your mother wanted to keep you busy so that you wouldn't think of her always."

Absent-mindedly, she just nodded in agreement but deep down she knew her mother could think of several ways to keep her busy. Her mother just really wanted to marry her off.

When the lawyer left, she couldn't help but to slump down on her bed tired from everything that happened. She fell asleep with one thing on her mind.

Where on Earth would she ever find a fiancé at the end of this month?

Two weeks had passed and Sakura grew more helpless. Well, she had no time to search for a man. Her mother's sudden demise left her a truck load of paperwork.

What was her mother thinking? But then she thought that maybe her mother wasn't expecting her death to be that soon either. Maybe that will was supposed to be read after a decade. Nonetheless, it was a losing battle.

She had decided to take a break and spend the remaining week left on their vacation house. Well, since it wouldn't be hers in just a week, she liked to spend some time near the sea and recall their happy moments in that private island.

After a three-hour flight, she arrived at the island. It had been a year since she had visited the place and she was with her mother. She blinked back the tears threatening to fall.

A maid greeted her as she went down her private chopper. She was the one cleaning the house once in week when there were no occupants but she always stayed when Sakura and her mother were in the house.

"How's it going, Ms. Furuchi?" Like her mother Ms. Furuchi lived alone. Sakura smiled at the thought that she was surrounded by women who just did fine all by themselves.

"I really missed you and your mother Ms. Sakura. I am sorry for your loss."

She just smiled at the middle aged woman wanting to change the subject. Ms. Furuchi seemed to get that she didn't want to talk about her mother's demise because she just lead her inside.

After making sure that she had the supplies she needed for a week-long vacation, she told Ms. Furuchi that she could go home. The old woman knew very well that she liked to be alone and left without a fuss. She said that she would just call her in case she needed something.

Finally, when she was alone, she cried realizing how much everything mattered to her and that she was on brink of losing them. In just a week, she'd only have memories of what she had.

"Oh, Mother…why are you putting me in so much pain?"

That night while she was crying herself to sleep the rain poured down heavily as if sympathizing with her. It was depressing…her cold dark room, the rain…everything.

"God couldn't you just send someone to marry me?" She uttered not expecting that it would be answered.

Her eyes hurt terribly probably because she was crying all night long and she was awakened early this morning. She checked the time and was shocked to find out that it was just five o'clock. Great, just half an hour passed since she knocked herself out. No wonder she felt 'great' with her head feeling like it was about to explode.

Bam!

She was startled when something slammed against her door. She immediately got up from her bed and went out of her room but not before grabbing the gun she kept for times like this.

Slowly, she went down and quietly walked towards her front door. It was still raining so it was hard to figure out if someone was still outside her house.

Then she almost jumped when the banging resumed.

"Let me in!"

It was a man and by the way he sounded whatever mess he might had put himself in was probably life threatening.

"Come on, let me in!"

She didn't know what to do. What if he was a murderer?

"Just let me in, I know someone's in there. There are people following me—"

She didn't let him finish and just opened the door when she heard that he was outnumbered. She hated it when people team up to beat someone and when she heard stories like that she acted on impulse, just like now. Unfortunately, it didn't occur to her that she was in the middle of an island and she was supposed to be alone. Probably, because she was sleep-deprived. So, she opened the door.

After grabbing him in, she shut the door and secured the locks. "You have a gun," she assured herself just in case she made a bad decision of letting him in.

She surveyed the man. He was drenched with his hair falling and sticking on his face but she couldn't clearly see how he looked she hadn't turned on the lights after all. She reached for the switch but he held her hand on which she flinched instinctively.

"They'll know that I'm here if you turned that on. I need to hide. They're gonna kill me." He didn't sound a bit afraid when he said it which made her grew nervous.

"Why?" She silently prayed that he wasn't a wanted man. She had enough trouble already she couldn't afford to have another one.

"You wouldn't understand." He stopped and leaned his head on the door's direction as if he was trying to hear something. "They're coming." He said afterwards and ran upstairs without bumping on anything when it was dark and he was obviously unfamiliar with her house.

She was dumbfounded by the feat he just did but moreover she was shocked that she had just let him went upstairs when he could possibly be a dangerous man.

Then she saw the puddles of water he made on her floor. Well, she better cover his trails if she didn't want to reveal to his chasers that he was in her house.

She had just finished cleaning his trails in the dark when a knock sounded. It was just ten minutes after he went upstairs. Did he really know that whoever was following him was coming?

Sakura waited three minutes before turning the lights on and opening the door as wide as the swing door guard could afford.

"Yes?" She tried hard to sound like she was just up from bed. A gasped almost escaped her lips when she saw that there were at least ten soldiers outside her house. They were wearing a head gear that was like it came out from the time machine itself.

Did she just let in a criminal?

"Sorry to disturb your sleep, Ma'am. We are looking for a man—a prisoner who jumped off from the helicopter when he was being transported. He has black hair, black eyes, just about the same height as I am. And if this is useful, he is also very good-looking. Do you happen to see a guy fitting that description?"

Before answering him, she removed the door guard and faced them completely so that she would look less suspicious and more believable.

"I'm sorry, Officer. I've been sleeping the whole night. I hardly heard anything save the rain. I'm really sorry. I wish I could help but I didn't see anyone." She really hoped they wouldn't notice that she was lying.

They looked at her for a while and her heart raced like crazy before apologizing once again for the inconvenience. They rode on to their helicopter which just landed freely on her helipad. She looked at them as they took their flight in the rainy dawn.

"Kyaah!"

She shrieked when she found the guy standing behind her when she closed the door. Mentally, she slapped her forehead because she put the gun away when the soldiers knocked. She left it in the broom closet when she put away the mop.

She was about to move away but he boxed her with his both arms leaning against the closed door. It was true he was really a criminal! Her mind searched for something to do but all her ability to think left her when she saw that his eyes turned red. God, she didn't really like men.

He looked at her eyes and she couldn't seem to bring herself to look away. Then he did something shocking, he cupped her face or rather he held her face steady so that he could stare into her eyes more directly.

They stayed like that for a couple of minutes with Sakura's head screaming 'Crazy!'

She couldn't move not because of some force preventing her but because she was shocked on what the man was doing. Of all the perfect timing, her brain chose that moment to realize that he was in fact a very handsome man and deadly her brain added later.

"Are you trying to hypnotize me?" She asked out of nowhere and his answer was the most appropriate answer that she got in her entire life.

He kissed her and she felt something she never felt before. A part of her brain told her 'So, this is what kiss feel like?' and the better part told her that she should kick him on his nuts. Of course, she listened to the better part; however, he pulled away before she could do it.

"I can't alter your memories…" He murmured while looking at her like she was the weird one. "…even when you should be distracted."

"What on Earth is he talking about?" She told herself. Maybe he wasn't really a criminal. Yet, she was sure of one thing—he was a complete mental.

"Can you let me go?"

He did and that was a wrong move on his part because as soon as he let her free, she dashed like a madwoman and retrieved her gun. It was either she was really fast or he didn't really give her a chase. The latter was the case.

The scene was like from a drama—a girl with the gun and a man unafraid of the obvious threat.

"Why are they after you?" She asked at gunpoint.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try me."

The way he looked at her made her feel that he was sizing her, probably thinking, if she could really understand. He remained that way for a few seconds.

"Shoot me." He said afterwards, looking at her calmly like he was expecting her to obey.

"What?"

"I couldn't really control you." He said more to himself than to her.

She swore he could've sighed when he said that.

"Are you crazy? Of course you could not! I have my own mind."

He smirked.

"Normal humans don't have that much control when I am around…"

He looked at the gun and slowly his eyes looked up on hers.

"…because, you see, I can do this."

It was like she was in a movie theatre watching a movie with heavy CGI effects; the only difference was this was happening in front of her very eyes.

He just removed the clip off the gun and removed the bullet one by one without even touching it! The gun fell off her hand because she didn't have the strength to hold it anymore.

"What are you?" She asked her with her wide puffy eyes.

He stepped forward.

"Hey, don't come forward!"

"By now, you must be very afraid. You couldn't guard your mind well. A little few distractions and I can completely alter your memories."

She got the feeling that he was just trying to scare her off or she was also just a mental like him. She was more bewildered than afraid because she was waiting for what he was going to do instead of running and calling for help.

They both stared at each other. No one was trying to look away. She was just waiting for him to reach her. When he was a foot away from her, he spoke.

"You're not the least afraid."

"I couldn't bring myself to be scared."

He did something that was almost chuckling.

"Unique. You must be a genius."

She didn't know what he meant by that but she was sure that he was harmless for now. And even if he was dangerous, it was too late because she already said yes when he asked if he could stay. Maybe, he did control her mind after all. Suddenly, she felt the need for sleep that she had been depriving herself of.

A few hours later, she almost jumped out of her bed when her mind reminded her that she'd let a stranger inside her house. Without bothering to wash her face and other morning rituals, she marched towards the room she let him to use.

It was empty and there was no sign that someone used it. For a moment she thought that maybe she just had a vivid dream but then again reason told her that was a complete bullshit. So, she went down and looked for him.

But it was Ms. Furuchi whom she found. The woman was washing plates in the kitchen.

"Ms. Furuchi?"

"Oh, good afternoon, Ms. Sakura. Oh, dear what happened to your eyes?"

She dismissed the last statement because it was just the result of her crying and sleep deprivation.

"Afternoon?" Her eyes searched for the wall clock and she was amazed that it was already two o'clock.

"I didn't wake you up. The Master told me that you slept really late last night." Sakura was shocked when the old woman giggled, but more importantly what the heck was she talking about?

"Even though the two of you had been married for a year, you and Master still act like you're on honeymoon. You're very lucky to find a husband like him—handsome, rich, and a real gentleman. Not all rich man turn blind eye on social status. But my Master is different, he follows his heart." Ms. Furuchi said with dreamy eyes which made Sakura even more confused than anyone on Earth but the woman wasn't done yet.

"Honestly, at first I thought you were just after his money…" the old woman gave her an apologetic look "but now I know that you are a good woman and that my Master was really blessed that he has you for a wife."

That made her mouth fell open.

What on Earth was happening on here?

"Hey, Honey!" She turned her eyes on the source of the voice and she wasn't surprised when she saw that it was the man from last night.

"What on Earth did you do to Ms. Furuchi?"

He had a lot of explaining to do.

A/N: So, I'm back on writing and don't worry I will update my stories. For real, I already have my inspirations back. :) Currently, I'm writing the next chapters of my stories. I apologize for the loooooooong delay.