A/N: Here's Chapter 4, hope you like it...

Disclaimer: I don't own anything…
Story's Beta: Georgia (shiznats)

Shadow of a Heart
(Chapter 4)

"Out of my life, Out of my mind
Out of the tears that we can't deny
We need to swallow all our pride
And leave this mess behind
Out of my head, Out of my bed
Out of the dreams we had, they're bad
Tell them it's me who made you sad..."

Anonymous

"Then after multiplying the two products you'll get the value of X, which was your beginning variable. Then you must plug X into the new equation…" Mr. Horo, a mathematics professor at Fuuka University, was in the middle of his class when he noticed that, one of the most beautiful pupils, Shizuru Fujino, was lost in a daze. His mischievous eyes were fixed on her, holding much interest while he spoke.

"Once calculated, you should have found that X 33 and Y -4..." Just as he was finishing, the bell rang, announcing the end of class. Every student grabbed their belongings and nosily shuffled out of the classroom.

"Well then, have a nice day everyone and don't forget to study for your test on friday!" Mr. Horo shouted, trying to cover everyone's noise, though his brown eyes were still intensively watching Shizuru. She failed to notice that everyone else was gone and had yet to move. He took a moment to study her; she was sitting on the far right of the classroom gazing out the window in what he presumed to be her thinking pose. The sun shone thru the window, illuminating her face as though she were an angel. Looking closer, he soon noticed her serious expression and her bottom lip that she was biting in concentration. 'She looks troubled.' Mr. Horo neatly placed the papers he was holding onto his desk and headed over the breathtaking woman in front of him.

"Ms. Fujino… Ms. Fujino, is everything alright?"

Startled, Shizuru's head snapped up in surprise. 'Where was she?' She looked around slowly and then realization hit her, 'Iie…Watashi…'

"Ms. Fujino?" She could feel the professor's eyes still on her, his gaze making her increasingly uncomfortable, though she was determined to not let it show. She quickly switched into an emotionless mask. A mask that had been perfected over the years and calmly replied:

"I apologize, sir, it won't happen again." she elegantly reached for her things and went to leave but was interrupted by the man who was now standing in front of her.

"My dear, is everything alright? You seem very troubled-" His eyes started to inspect the length of her body. "Really, you know that if there's anything I can do to help…" He let his sentence trail off into the air. Disgust grew in Shizuru's stomach as he continued to stare at her. She slowly gulped and then spoke;

"Thank you, Mr. Horo, but I'm quite capable of taking care of myself. I'm sorry for any inconveniences I might have caused-" Shizuru bowed, "- I have to go home now." Before he could even muster up a reply, she turned and walked in the opposite direction towards the back door.

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Shizuru unlocked her front door and pushed it open. Once inside she slugged off her backpack and her shoes and headed straight to the kitchen. She had an awful headache and hoped that a hot cup of tea would be a good remedy. She turned on the sink faucet, pouring water for her tea. The noisy faucet covered up the knocking that was coming from the front door. The knocking had stopped by the time the faucet had been removed. Still unaware of her guest, Shizuru sat down at her table waiting for the water to boil.

Different voices began to echo in her head, "Natsuki, you stole my heart, my WHOLE heart, a long time ago..."

"Better for who?! I-If you truly loved me you would've stayed with me…!"

"You know what? Fine! Go ahead and go, I-I don't care anymore. I-I hope you live a happy life! B-Bye!" Shizuru's heart continued to pound rapidly as the voices became deafening in her head. Tears of pain and sorrow trickled down her face. 'I deserve this… all of this…'

"Shizuru?" Her head snapped up, surprising her for the second time that day, and standing in front of her was none other than Mai Tokiha.

T.B.C.

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A/N

Chapter 5 will be up VERY soon, don't forget to R&R!

Much love,

John

p.s. Looking 4 love quotes!