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I'm very sorry! My computer's been off line lately, so here it is…Enjoy…

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In times of despair…

"When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks into you."

Nietzsche

It's been months since that fateful moment. And still, she hasn't seen him. He's probably died assassinating someone…too bad for him, Mikan thought blandly as she played a silent melody on the ancient grand piano of her bedroom. It's regretful, though. She never learned his name. 'The Black Cat', is that all she'll ever know?

Mikan closed her eyes, her fingers dusting over the keys. She stopped. 'Speak of the devil,' "I thought you died," she stated wryly. "Just when I thought I would miss you."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, youjo," He stepped soundlessly out of the shadows. His signature mask hanging of the top of his head, leaving his cool face uncovered.

Mikan turned around to look into his piercing ruby eyes. "It's my first time to actually see your face…At least the one to kill me is handsome…Not like that matters though…"

His eyes narrowed, "What makes you so sure that I'm here to kill you, Sakura Mikan?"

"I just thought that you were an assassin who was sent to kill me. Isn't that right, Kuro Neko-san," she said, her tone bordering on condescension and despair.

Something in him snapped and he pinned her against the wall, staring into her eyes – abyss staring into abyss. He didn't like it – he didn't like seeing that expression on this woman's face, the expression he himself has worn since he gave up his life. Little did he know she was thinking the same thing.

She closed her eyes just then, snapping him out of his wary musings. "Now, I'll be the one to ask you, what's your name?"

This manner of speaking was familiar, like he's heard it somewhere. "Why do you need it? Are you going to be the one to kill me this time," he bit out, still not letting go of her arms.

'I might do just that,' "I just need it for future reference. I might as well, if you're not going to kill me."

"Don't talk like that, it makes you sound like me," he released her as he stumbled back to lean on the grand piano. "Natsume, Hyuuga Natsume."

"Hyuuga? The son of Gran Maestro Hyuuga Hakai? Now I really think you're dead," she said, maintaining the tone of her voice despite the sincere astonishment she felt.

"How do you know that?! No one is even supposed to know I exist," He exclaimed, reaching out for her wrist and roughly trying to yank her towards him. She didn't move from her spot. But he really couldn't do anything else; she was getting harder to kill with every passing second.

She chuckled, a short sweet sound that barely reached his ears when she stopped. What he'd give to here it again. "The Black Cat losing his composure, truly a sight to behold. Don't be surprised, I'm the only one that knows. And I don't plan on telling anyone else, it's really quite a useless bit of information." Now, that was as far from the truth as it could get. The news of him being the son of the Gran Maestro would make whoever spread it rich. Natsume didn't understand it, but he trusts her; at the moment he could trust her with anything, even his own life. He couldn't comprehend this, he hasn't trusted any one in years. And this woman…

Mikan stared at him with those eyes, the eyes that seemed to pierce into the abyss of his thought to be non-existent heart. "Are going to be leaving anytime soon, Natsume-sama," she taunted, never breaking her gaze.

"Not unless you have anything to keep me here," he stepped forward and forcefully pulled her into his chest and using the other hand to grasp her chin. He made her stare into his eyes, lowering his head so that their breaths mixed. "So, do you?"

"Too bad," she closed her eyes, much to his dismay. "You've already taken that which would've kept you here."

He stared back at her, confused. She opened her eyes and smiled, closing the distance between them. It was short, chaste and all he needed. He had taken what she had given him, her life, and her heart. She stole what he'd refused to believe him, what he kept locked up in chains, the one which he had thrown away the key to: his heart. She broke down his defenses, all with one look into his abyss.


I hope you liked it…please…Reviews fuel my passion for writing…I think…Until the next update then…