A/N: Sorry for the reupload! I changed the rating for now and will wait until I've written more parts of the story to decide if I'm going to change it back to M. At the moment, there might be some language and themes but nothing written is overly explicit so I think a T rating is sufficient.

Her debriefing on the mission yesterday had gone horribly in her standards. The gash on her eyebrow and her slightly burnt left shoulder were evidence of her carelessness and the result of nearly lethal levels of sleep-deprivation. Her work piled on as she was required to pass an additional physical examination test in order to go on her next mission. She also needed to go through tons of files for her normal banking job, but her mind was far too distracted for any of the numbers to be processed.

She grabbed her third cup of coffee for the day as she sifted through the stack of papers on her desk. She wanted to head out and start looking for him now but it wasn't late enough in the night. If her calculations were correct, he would only be working during the latest hours of the night till just before the sun rises.

Her hand instinctively reached into the bottom drawer of her wooden mahogany desk, pulling it open as she reached for the black cat mask she had kept from all those years ago. The edges of the mask were charred and there was a thick crack right through the middle but she couldn't ignore the slightly burnt writing on the bottom right corner. Sakura. Whether it was a sign for her or a sign that he was overly attached to the Sakura tree he was always found under, she never knew nor did she dare to make any assumptions. The thought that she could finally get some answers made her heart race.

She missed him. She missed him so fucking much it hurt her heart to even think about him. When she received the news that he was dead, she had fallen into a pit of depression. Her best friends had managed to coax her out of her room after several weeks and even then she didn't crack a smile. After she had accepted his death and was broken out of her state of denial, she devoted all her time to getting stronger. She wanted to be able to protect her friends the same way he had always protected her.

If he was alive, why didn't he come back and find her? The thought of him avoiding her sent a pang straight through her heart. If he was still alive and he wanted to find her, the tall black building was a simple place to start. Not to mention, why did the Academy declare him dead if he wasn't? Her thoughts clouded her mind as she absent-mindedly scrolled her excel document up and down. The sun had started to set as she grabbed her large oversized bomber jacket, dialing the floor below her as she headed out, 'Hotaru! I'm going out for the night. Not on a mission, don't worry. Just some personal business.'

She cruised the streets of the night in her Ducati, careful to not take her helmet off unless necessary. She did have a reputation to uphold and if anyone knew she was looking for hookers, or one specific hooker, her influential status would fly out the window. She thought about telling her friends, especially her old classmates, about potentially finding Natsume but she needed to see him for herself before dragging everyone into it.

As the night progressed, the moonlight glistened – as if mocking her of her failure. She had been looking for him for around two hours but to no avail. More guys than she could count had asked to escort her, all in which she turned down. Hell, she was about to scream if another guy tried to lay his hands on her.

She heard the revving of a black Ferrari as said car drifted to a stop. A guy clad in a pair of ripped jeans and an old pair of sneakers stepped out.

Him.

She saw his back muscles tense as he grabbed a wad of rabbits from a lady in the front seat before the car sped off.

Piercing crimson eyes.

'Natsume…' She called out softly, removing her helmet and letting her hair fall to her sides. She recognized his tuft of black hair and his red eyes instantly. He had grown a lot since she had last seen him. Shirtless, he turned around to reveal a defined pack of abs.

His crimson orbs clashed with the familiar hazel ones and she swore she saw a brief glance of uncertainty in his eyes for a split second before a completely different persona took over. One that was overly familiar to her – he oozed confidence as he eyed her from head to toe.

'Hey pretty girl… Have you been looking for me? Would you like me to entertain you for the night?' His voice dripped with what she could only define as sex before he walked closer to her. This was the same cocky, perveted Natsume she had met as a kid – the one with all his walls up before she had slowly but surely broken them down.

'Natsume! Stop it. What are you doing? It's me, Mikan!' She raised her voice desperately, trying to get him to recognise her. She didn't know what had happened to him but she needed answers. She hoped he would play it off as some joke, waiting for the familiar smirk to grace his face as he laughed over her reaction. She waited for one of the many perverted comments she had received from him – honestly the thought of him calling her 'polka' right now sounded perfect. She needed something to prove to her that he remembered her.

'Tch. I have no idea who you are. Stop raising your voice. If you're not here for business, leave. You're getting in the way. My customers won't want to get close to me if you're here making a racket,' Natsume coldly responded, not acknowledging who she was in any way.

'It's me Natsume. Sakura Mikan. From the Academy? I don't know if you really don't remember me or you're just pretending but please… hear me out. Even if you don't remember me, it's getting late so please, come with me and we can talk more tomorrow.' She knew she sounded like a whiny, needy bitch but she couldn't stop herself.

'I know…' He murmured to no one. He cleared his throat before continuing with his voice raised for her to hear, 'Miss Sakura, if you're really not looking for someone to fuck you, I would suggest you leave. It's getting late for you but my hours are just beginning. This is the prime time for me to receive customers so please fuck off.' His tone was sharp and his eyes narrowed as he looked at her. She cringed at his crude language but she held her ground.

She tugged his arm, trying to get him to follow her but he pulled away swiftly. Her touch sent a jolt of electricity through his skin. No, he couldn't let her touch him. He wasn't the same boy he was all those years ago. He wasn't the same strong, powerful genius who was sent by the Academy to do mission after mission. After he had lost his alice from his last mission, he was just… nothing. He was left with gaps in his memory and a frail, weak boy who could barely support himself. He did what he needed to survive through his circumstances.

He recognized her from the second their eyes met. How could he forget her hazel eyes? The ones he fell in love with? He had worked so hard to remain in the shadows and in the darkness after he had lost his alice and now, here she was. His sun. No, he couldn't let his darkness consume her the way it did him. He didn't want her memories of him tainted by who he was now.

He vowed to protect her for as long as he lived, even if it meant protecting her from someone as broken and disgusting as himself.

Wow! Second update the next day! I just wanted to see how this story would go and would love to thank you all for reading! I might try to do weekly updates (or maybe once every few days) but we'll see!

Once again, please read and review! I love to hear your opinion on it and would love to find ways to improve my writing.

~ K