Title: For You

Summary: With their memories erased, Kokoro and Mitsuru's only visible connection to each other are the rings on their fingers. Things begin to change when one of them starts seeing glimpses of their true past. KokoroXMitsuru spoilers up to episode 19

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters.

Walking towards the end

Look deep into my eyes and

Remember I'm your friend

Please don't cry

For You

The areas in which the parasites could explore were more than what Kokoro had expected, or rather they were on a larger scale than what she had been used to at Mistilteinn. Granted, all of the parasites had converged at this location, so it only made sense that the different areas were larger.

She had yet to find an area that could possibly have flowers, or even an area where she could be securely alone in her thoughts. Her usual spot gazing at the metal trees allowed for anyone to pass by her to observe, and these days she was slowly making her way around the Bird's Nest to try and find a secret location.

For the time being, the large library seemed to be a temporary location where she could be lost between the bookshelves. Should another person come close to where she was standing, there would be another area close by that was vacant.

Kokoro's blue eyes skimmed over the various books that lined the shelves of the bookcases around her. Various books of cooking, cleaning, and some meditation techniques lined them. Their covers seemed to be mostly in white, brown, or even black. There didn't appear to be any sort of bright or colorful books around, making it difficult for Kokoro to differentiate between titles. Her focus seemed to blur as her eyes kept moving from book to book, not being able to focus on any in particular.

There were a few parasites scattered around the library, but Kokoro silently made her way through the rows, trying not to disturb those who were around her. Soon she found she had reached the last set of bookshelves, and with a light sigh of defeat, she made her way to leave the library.

Making it through the doorway, she turned right to continue her search down the hallway. The end of the hallway seemed so far, and it was almost eerily quiet as Kokoro continued. Briefly she wondered what time it was just as she came to a door that had no window to see through. There was no sign as to what was located behind the said door, and Kokoro couldn't stop her hand from reaching for the doorknob.

It was unlocked and slowly she pushed the door to reveal what lay beyond. To her disappointment, it was just a small empty space. Nothing lay inside, and there was no other door to possibly bring her to an outside area. Kokoro felt a frown grace her lips as she closed the door.

"What do we have here?" came a voice that she had not heard in a long time, sending shivers down her spine.

Turning, blue eyes met green, but not the deep green she had almost wished had greeted her back.

She watched as the blond haired Nine Alpha sauntered his way towards her, all the while her mind silently screeching in warning. Kokoro felt as though she had been caught doing something forbidden and wondered how he would reprimand her.

Kokoro tried to delve into her mind as to what he had done to make her have such a reaction, but the only memory she could recall of this elite member was on the battlefield at the Gran Crevasse. There was nothing that stood out to justify all the warning signals going off within her.

"Find anything interesting in there?" he questioned with a smug smirk on his face. There was no kindness in his eyes, and Kokoro had to fight the urge to physically step away from him. Instinctively, she brought her hands up to her chest, as though she was trying to create a barrier between them. He was a mere few inches from her now.

She opened her mouth to answer, but it seemed the air had been pushed from her lungs.

The blond's gaze shifted as his head tilted, awaiting her response. "Hmm?" It was almost a taunt.

"Kokoro!"

As if the spell Nine Alpha had cast upon her broke, Kokoro felt her body shift away from the intimidating figure before her. She felt a hand tightly grasp her elbow before her eyes looked at Goro.

He, however, appeared to be almost glaring at Nine Alpha who had straightened his form and crossed his arms over his chest.

"What are you doing with Kokoro?" he snapped. It wasn't like Goro to express such emotions in his voice, having always been the cool and collected one even in the direst of situations.

What exactly had, Nine Alpha done?

"I'm just checking up on a valuable member of Squad 13," droned Alpha Nine. "Is there something wrong with that?"

It felt as if he was baiting Goro into an argument, the tension between the two seeming to worsen as their glares intensified.

"Goro?" her soft voice brought Goro's attention down to her almost immediately. The hardness in his eyes seeming to dissipate.

"Come on, Kokoro. It's time to eat." Without so much as acknowledging the intruder, Goro turned both of them in the opposite direction down the hall and towards the cafeteria.

With each step she took, Kokoro felt her body relax and a weight lift off of her shoulders. "Thank you, Goro."

Giving her a sheepish smile, Goro shook his head. "There is no need, but try to stay away from that guy, okay?"

Kokoro nodded her head, still not understanding why her body had reacted the way it had, or the fact that Goro had seemed to be desperate to rescue her from the situation she had found herself in.

Looking ahead, she could see Mitsuru at the end of the hallway. He was looking past them, at Nine Alpha she guessed. When they were close enough, his gaze fell to Goro's hand around her elbow and his brows seemed to furrow.

Quickly, Goro's hand left her elbow to scratch the back of his head. "Sorry to cut your off before Mitsuru, but I also think it is best if you stay away from that guy as well."

"Is that so?"

Before Mitsuru could say anything else, Goro placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on now, let's go eat," he said before moving past him, leaving Mitsuru to stand alone in front of Kokoro.

Deep green eyes scanned her face, but gave nothing away as he turned to follow their tallest squad member. It wasn't until he took a few more steps that he stopped, hands in his pockets, before turning his head slightly to consider her.

"You're hungry, aren't you?"

"Ah, yes!" she agreed before moving to catch up to her new partner. "Let's go!"

The cafeteria was crowded and bustling with noise as Squad 13 sat together at a long table to eat their dinner. It had taken them a few meals to get used to such a large and rather loud place. All of them silently mourned the loss of their peaceful eating quarters in their plantation.

Dinner consisted of a soup, bread, fish, and some type of salad. The food they were served proved just to be as good as they had remembered when their plantation was still intact.

Before they had been left to their own devices.

Her teammates ate silently around her, Zero Two feeding Hiro like usual, Goro, Ichigo and Miku discussing what had transpired with Nine Alpha earlier. Zorome sat silently, taking small bites of his food, but mostly moving it around his tray. Ikuno sat beside Kokoro, making small chat with Futoshi who sat opposite of her.

Mitsuru sat on the other side of the table from Kokoro, cleanly eating his food without making a mess. He chewed his food silently, making no noise to disturb or disgust the people around him. It was almost as if he could drown out all of the chatter around him somehow.

Kokoro picked up her spoon and began eating her soup. The taste was rather soothing as it went down her throat.

"If the nines are here, then it seems as though we are getting closer to our final mission," she heard Hiro state.

Ichigo turned to look at Kokoro, having been told of her encounter with the nines only moments before. "Are you okay Kokoro? Did he do anything to you?" Her voice was filled with worry and concern.

Feeling all of their eyes on her, Kokoro nervously looked down at her tray, beginning to poke at her piece of fish that she had eaten a few bites of. Even Mitsuru had stopped eating to observe her.

"No, I'm alright," she tried to reassure them, hoping her answer was enough to get the attention off of her. She picked up her fork to shove a piece of fish into her mouth before pressing the piece of metal it into her salad.

Her answer appeared to be suitable enough as the eyes that were once fixated on her shifted away.

"We really need to be careful of them," Miku's small voice uttered and as a team they agreed.

"Why should we avoid the nines?" probed Mitsuru, having also been curious as to why everyone deemed the elite squad needing to be steered clear of.

Zero Two didn't hide the menace in her voice, "Because they are evil and don't give a damn about anyone but themselves and the rules."

Hiro shifted to put his hand over his pink-haired partners', knowing that she was remembering her failed attempted at trying to prevent the nines from taking Mitsuru and Kokoro.

"They are the reason you and Kokoro cannot remember each other," it was Ikuno who voiced the explanation that he and Kokoro had been searching for.

The pair looked at Ikuno.

"Really?" asked Kokoro, feeling her throat go dry.

"Why would he do that?" questioned Mitsuru further. He had also been told of this sort of 'wedding' and apparent closeness to Kokoro, however even now he still didn't completely understand or even believe his teammates words.

Before Ikuno could continue, Ichigo interrupted them. "What matters is that we all should avoid them from here on out. If you can, try not to walk around alone. It might be safer if we start staying closer together."

Resigning himself that he would not get the answer he was looking for, Mitsuru returned to finishing his meal. His face returned to its rather stone like appearance as he continued his meal meticulously.

Kokoro, on the other hand, felt as though she didn't want to learn anything more for the time being. She pushed the pieces of lettuce she had stabbed with her fork into her mouth and found that the taste was rather familiar. Chewing quickly, she took another bite and continued to stare down at the bundle of leafy greens, perplexity marring her face.

Suddenly, there was a quick flash, almost as if she were looking down into a bowl filled with similar plants and green leaves she had apparently been picking. The bowl was on a wooden table, and she almost missed the hidden figure sitting nearby. She didn't register the clanging of her fork hitting her tray.

This memory…it wasn't one she had remembered before.

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the memory to return but to no avail. The familiar feeling of frustration began to creep up on her.

A hand was on her shoulder, "Kokoro?"

When she looked at Ikuno, she saw the expression behind her glasses shift to trepidation. "Why are you crying?" she asked quiety.

But the movement of Kokoro's hand to brush away the tears she had not noticed falling down her face did not go unnoticed by either of their partners.

Futoshi seemed to be biting his tongue as he glanced between she and Mitsuru, almost as if to will the deep green-eyed boy to say something-anything to comfort Kokoro. Even when Futoshi elbowed him, he did not seem to get the hint.

"Please excuse me," she said quickly before standing to leave for the nearest bathroom in the hall.

Sure enough, the image that greeted Kokoro in the bathroom mirror was a rather depressing sight. Her cheeks were stained with the trails of her tears, eyes watery with those that had not fallen yet.

Yanking the sink handle up, Kokoro plunged her hands under the cold water and began splashing her face. Her body felt numb as she stood hunched over the sink, desperate to clean herself. Her head still had a faint throb since having the flash of memory, but with each passing moment it started to dissipate.

Releasing a deep breath, Kokoro let her hands grasp the sides of the sink. How could eating a salad give her such a strong and almost ridiculous reaction? A salad…

Eyes almost instinctively landed on the silver metal band that graced her left hand. She could feel her eyes narrow, but not in irritation. Rather, she was trying to will herself again to remember anything that had to do with this band. After all, she had such a reaction from eating some leafy greens, why hadn't she experienced any sort of reaction from observing or touching her ring?

Tense moments passed as her eyes bore down at the silver band.

Nothing. There was absolutely nothing.

Standing, Kokoro dried her face and fixed her hair just as a few pairs of parasites entered. She didn't bother looking at them as she made her way out to the hallway, turning towards the direction of their sleeping area. She had no appetite to finish her meal and it was getting late anyway.

"Are you alright?"

Again, this question, and again it wasn't filled with as much worry as she felt like she wanted to hear.

Mitsuru was leaning against the wall, arms crossed before pushing himself towards her. His eyes seemed to travel her appearance and glance at the damp hairs framing her face before coming to a stop beside her.

Kokoro shook her head, plastering a forced smile on her face. "It's nothing."

For a moment it seemed as though he was going to continue to pry, before shifting his body. "The others have returned to our sleeping quarters."

Without waiting for her to respond, Mitsuru began making his way down the hall. Realizing he would not wait for her to accept his invitation, Kokoro was swift to join him, staying a short distance behind.

There was an impulse to walk closely beside him, but instead Kokoro forced herself to remain where she was. Her eyes were locked on his back, wondering if this was ever going to be as close as they would get. He, leading the way, and she following.

How had they grown so close to each other in the past? They had apparently worked well as partners and trusted each other unconditionally while on the battlefield and…

Her blue eyes traveled to the back of his head, finding his hairstyle to be rather cute before turning her gaze away with a blush.

Had they really developed deep feelings for one another?

Maybe she could have in some way, already realizing her spark of attraction towards him even though he gave her no reason to be viewed in such a way. She wasn't one to express herself so easily, or reveal her true thoughts in front of others, but she wondered why he didn't seem to care in the slightest about their history together.

"And even if they are telling the truth, I don't believe I'll ever develop those feelings for you."

She remembered it.

All of it.

The last time she rested, she didn't know. Her dead stare was unfocused on the wall of the small gray cell she had been secluded to. When was the last time she had moved?

"Why is it so wrong to feel emotions?"

Images of her past ran through her mind over and over again. Her life as a parasite, learning of her placement on a team, meeting her partner, forming bonds with her teammates, and falling in love…

She didn't flinch at the image of her beloved hunched over, dying. It had played too many times over in her mind by now.

How long had she been here? Days? Months? Years?

It didn't matter.

This was her punishment. Her punishment for not being able to stop it. Her punishment for letting herself forget.

She was helpless to rescue and keep him alive even though they had promised to protect one another.

Promised to be together forever.

She had let him die in battle, while he protected her. She was a coward.

How could she have forgotten something so tragic? How could she have forgotten the one person she had found true happiness with?

What was his name?

No matter how hard she tried to remember, that important information seemed to still be locked away in the deepest recesses of her brain.

She had heard the door to her locked room open, but didn't turn to see who it was. She had no interested and was equally less interested in what they had to say.

The voice was familiar though, and she faintly heard him pick up her uneaten tray of food to lay another down beside her. Hachi, was it?

The will to look at him no longer existed. It would take too much energy to turn and face her former teammate. She had forgotten that fact as well.

Why had he rescued her that day? Why didn't he just let her die with her beloved?

She should have died that day, silently wished she had perished in the same attack that took her partner.

"You should eat something; you need your strength."

Mouth slightly agape, lost in her own world, she didn't bother to address the short-haired adult that remained in her doorway for a few minutes longer.

He seemed hesitant before stepping back and allowing her door to automatically close, leaving her in total darkness.

Papa.

It was forbidden for adults to feel any sort of emotion. Their duty was to remain emotionless and clear minded at all times in order to ensure successful missions for the squads they looked after. It was also a way to make sure that everyone fell in line to follow the rules that Papa had instructed each and every citizen to follow.

She remembered now who had given the order to clear her precious memories.

In the dark, where no one could see, resentment started to burn within.

Rage.