Good morning, Kurogane.

You look quite shocked. Is something wrong? I've finally called you by your full name, and this is how you show your appreciation? Ordering for me to stay put and throwing my cloak at me?

What is it? Are you letting me know that you actually liked those nicknames?

That isn't good, Kurogane. You're supposed to hate them. And I thought you did.

But I guess I should expect it. You've always been like this. Even after someone has just gone through the worst pain in their life, all you do is walk away and call them an idiot.

Even though you're right.

I am an idiot. But so are you, Kurogane.

I hate you. I've always hated you. And now I hate you more than ever.

Do you want to know why I hate you, Kurogane? Do you want to know all the things I hate about you? They're going through my head, right now.

I hate how indifferent you can be about everything—like now, like how you're comforting "Syaoran" even though you know absolutely nothing about him and what he's been through.

I hate how you're telling me that believing in someone isn't a crime—as though Sakura isn't going to get killed without our help.

I hate how you've just saved my life, even though you know I didn't want you to, even though you knew it would put the children in danger—it shows how selfish you really are.

I hate how you're eyes are always dissecting me, peeling my mask off again and again—you're making this harder than it needs to be, Kurogane. I can deal with things myself, and I've done fine before I was harassed by your so-called "intuition".

I hate how you expect sex to mean more than just release—how you stop me from leaving after we're done, grabbing my arm harshly and pulling me back into the bed.

I hate how you took control of my life after saving it—drinking your blood is nothing but repulsive and disgusting.

But most of all, more than any of these,

I hate how you make me love you.

How? How could you, a child, have possibly done it? How could nothing more than an ill-tempered, violent child have done what countless men and women—more desirable than the last—couldn't?

How could a child do something even Ashura couldn't?

How is it possible that a child could cause my eyes to see him as a man? You're taller than me, Kurogane, but even you've acknowledged that compared to me, you're as much of a child as Sakura and Syaoran are.

Why are you doing that, Kurogane? Why is your sword piercing the arm its been wielded by for so long? Why are you grabbing my collar? Where are we? Why am I crying?

Why can't you hate me?

But I guess that's just it. For the first time in more than a century, I'm smiling. I'm smiling because I feel like smiling. I'm laughing quietly because I can't resist. I know laughing and smiling are the last things I should be doing while I wait for Tomoyo to finish talking to you, but I can't help it.

I've listed everything I hate about you. And all that I listed really is what it is—everything.

But if I listed what I liked about you?

I'd be thinking for a very long time.

Although, narrowing things down isn't hard.

Your eyes. I like how they can pierce through the firewalls I've set up around my heart—how they not only pull off the mask, but burn it and assure that I never need use of it again.

I like how you can believe in someone with total and utter faith—just like you did with Sakura and Syaoran…and maybe even me.

I like how you saved my worthless life even though you knew I'd hate you; along with causing me to consider how perhaps it has some worth after all.

The only thing repulsive and disgusting about your blood is that I'm the one taking it. I like how it feels on my tongue, how your skin feels on my lips.

You'll never have no idea how much I like the fact that you expect sex to mean more than just release—how much I like it when you gently convince me to stay even after the deed is done.

I like how you don't judge people by their pasts—how you judge them by who they are and what they do. Just like you judge me.

And, as my fist collides with your jaw, and you stumble back with the largest grin on your face, I know that what I like the most is how you make me love you.

This is payback, Kuro-sama.