Alrightt. New chapter guysss! Lol, I read your reviews from chapter 6 and you all reaaallyyyy seemed pissed off by how Sumire, Hotaru, and Natsume treated her! It's okay, that's what I was aiming for.(; Things will get better for Mikan, I promise! It's just that she'd have to work a little harder than most princesses to get her happy ending.

Enjoy!

A while after the stares they all gave me that lingered on my body for five whole minutes—Sumire's particularly a death stare—they talked about what they were doing here unannounced. Ruka was the one to explain everything since I figured both Sumire and Hotaru were still too busy breaking my skin down with the heat from their eyes; I was glad Hotaru hid her animosity behind her expressionless facade. I tried to pay attention to Ruka, because anything the Young Lord knew, I did as well—er, at least, I tried—but the most I made out was that they were visiting to make the Young Lord go shopping with them.

Shopping.

"Since Hotaru's birthday is coming up," said Ruka, "I thought I could have Natsume show me around some great places to buy gifts. But Hotaru found out, and I guess she doesn't trust my taste because she's coming along to make sure I get her something 'worth while'."

So, staying true to their word, Ruka, Sumire, Hotaru, the Young Lord and I all made a short travel down to one of the nearby villages, where its trading district was one of the best I knew. And thankfully, Koko was able to come. He said that he finally found a place that was substantial enough to withheld twenty agitated peasants. I asked him who was watching them, just in case they got any funny ideas in those uneducated brains of theirs. He told me it was Naru.

I prayed so, so hard - despite that I had nothing to do with the whole situation - that Naru wouldn't become his good-natured self and leave them for a minute to go fetch them some dinner.

Making my way downtown
Walking fast
Faces pass
And I'm home bound
Staring blankly ahead
Just making my way
Making a way
Through the crowd

-A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton

Chapter VII: Getting to Know Them Better

We were walking down the Great palace steps, the sun just hitting us at the perfect angle so its blazing heat wouldn't be so much of a burden.

It was in the middle of being close to nightfall, and the problem with that was that the town we were heading to wasn't the safest place for the Young Lord and his royal friends to roam about at darkness's whim. Baltrolan, as it was commonly called, was known for its unique collection of gadgets, clothing, footwear, and many other goods. But it was also filled with people who desired such things with no pocket money to spend. Thieves, kidnappers, burglars, swindlers, and very few sentinels to keep good over bad made Baltrolan the very city that it was - dangerous, yet you couldn't help but be attracted to it.

We'd have to get this "shopping" business done fast.

"So, delight me again, why does she have to come?" called Sumire over her shoulder to refer to me. She was trudging at the very front, and walking behind her in order was Ruka and Hotaru, the Young Lord, and Koko and I enclosing the group from the back. Sumire's lazy pace was slowing us—the way she swiveled her pelvis like it was the most amazing body part of all time didn't help—but maybe the only one who got irritated by it was me.

"The same reason why you came along," Ruka answered.

She scoffed with a nasty tongue to edge her bitterness, which only made me emphasize my eye roll even more. "Wow, that's crazy! I didn't know the oh-so almighty protector of the Hyuuga heir goes bra shopping. Hey, wanna come with? I'm dying to get my hands on new pairs, you know?" She abruptly stopped, almost making Hotaru bump into her. Sumire turned to me and scowled. "Whoops. I forgot, I would rather die than do anything with you."

"Stop it, Sumire," said Koko. He nudged me in the elbow. "Sorry. She's not usually this mean."

I wondered then what made her so stingy, but no matter how much I attempted to cloud my mind of the truth, I knew that it was me that caused her attitude. I didn't know why exactly, I just couldn't deny my feminine intuition.

With anything else, I could've: I didn't bat an eyelash when I cut my hair short (I needed to cut it again soon. It was too distracting to have it always hit the lower of my back every time I moved). I didn't sculpt my body to be the spitting image of Aphrodite's (More likely, it's like Aires's - a body born from the hellish flames of war). But if it was about hatred from another of the same sex, I couldn't have been any more sharper. Mother had always said that girls were exceptional at hiding their true feelings, so I had to be extra wary of their hidden, inner beasts.

Women. I swore we're like devils exposed in broad daylight yet no one seemed to notice. "It's fine," I answered.

Behind the spiteful, green-haired hip-swinger, I spotted Ruka trying to wrap a loving arm around his girlfriend again for about the tenth time, and she smacked it away for the eleventh (Ruka's first attempt didn't even near her body). And despite the negative gesture, he still looked down at her with the same passion as if he had loved her all his life. They were an odd couple. "I think you're cold," Ruka conveyed.

She shivered against his shoulder. "I am cold. I'm tired. I'm sore. I'm done."

He sighed, his love for her evident and my confusion even more. It didn't take a fool to realize that this was her normal temper and it didn't take another to conceive it was her only one. Maybe that was a good thing. I was positive it was bad. "Then you shouldn't have come. I told you that we weren't taking carriages there."

"Stupid. If I didn't come God forbid you go and buy me something as useless as a summer hat."

"I was going to buy you those blueprints you wanted; the ones you needed to build that contraption of yours? I know you've been searching for it and one of my servants finally got a hold of it."

She cocked a sideway glance at Ruka, and he in return, smiled like it was the most romantic thing she had ever done. "Well," she continued, "I'm here to make sure you buy me just that."

He secretly laughed. It made my heart ache. "Whatever you say."

"Get. A. Fucking. Room." Sumire interrupted, throwing her head in the air. "I hope you know you're in puuuublic."

"They weren't even doing anything, Sumire."

She quickly directed her hot gaze behind her, past the couple and past the Young Lord, over to me and Koko. Briefly, her eyes met mine but they then traveled over to the person beside me. "I wasn't talking to you, Yume."

"You're so innocent," toyed Koko. A mischievous smirk appeared on his face when he saw her glare at him intensify even more. After giving me a slap on the back for a farewell, he quickened his steps to catch up to her, leaving me in the dust. He looped around the three bodies that stood in his way and matched his steps with Sumire's own when he came to her. The minute she ruffled her perfectly twisted hair and begrudgingly tried to push him at least twenty feet away a frown crept above my smile.

"Koko, get away from me," she said, shoving him off. "You're too close."

"See?" Koko teased as her pushes measly moved him a centimeter. "Just being this close to me gets you blushing. Ah! Is it because I'm a sex-god?"

"I said you're too close!"

Koko told me a lot about Sumire - as he did with Hotaru and Ruka a few minutes ago, but he spent a considerable amount of time on her. He explained how she became Hotaru's retainer, how she passed Hotaru's "test of worthiness" that was rumored to be impossible, and how she did all of it when she was only twelve. She's seventeen now. He also said to be cautious of her. That her fangs would kill me if mine didn't kill her first. What confused me, though, was that he forbid me to hurt her. "Mikan, I like you, but if you ever try what you did to me when we first met to Sumire, I...Just please, don't."

In his eyes came this bright shimmer that consisted of determination. But something about it was so obviously tender and caring that it almost seemed like he was begging me to control myself around Sumire. I knew I wasn't going to hurt her, nor would I ever, and he knew that just as well as I did, but he didn't look away before he heard my answer. "O...Okay. Okay, Koko, I won't lay a finger on her."

"Thank you."

He liked her. He really did. I just hadn't exactly figured out what he saw in her though.

"Kokoro Yume, I swear you are the most insufferable, most annoying boy I have ever met! How many times do I have to say you are FAR too close!"

Poor Koko. Keep going, you're almost there.

I think.

And despite the distractions that were the other four, I managed to make sure I walked directly behind the Young Lord. If not directly and a little space between us was a must, then I made sure that only oxygen occupied the gap. Nothing else. No human, no leaves, no trees, no shadows. Once in a while, though, my consciousness got the better of me and I was in too deep thinking about my master the next second—so quiet, so guarded, so mysterious, so beautiful, so beastly. To try to avoid that because I knew I was getting on shaky ground if I stayed on the subject, I made it my endeavor to look at other things.

I was, after all, trolling down one of the most gorgeous sights in the Three Lands.

But it proved to be useless, for neither the glorious sun, the moon that seemed to be transparent, nor the stretches of land could drive me away from him. He just drew my mind towards him with a force of gravity so strong that I couldn't fight it. He had this presence - he couldn't be ignored, and it was as if his body made it a goal to make sure everyone knew that.

I spotted the base of his neck rotating to his side to angle his chin as his head was the last to move. He repeated the action towards his left. Then back to his right. Intrigued, I continued to watch him circle to and fro until the idea finally clicked in my mind.

And it was only then, that despite he was here right in front of me and despite that his back was turned, he was everywhere else. Anywhere else.

Somehow, I was able to conceive that he looked farther out than any of us. He was probably seeing the South Sea now. Or the church bell. Or the neighboring kingdom of the Sho family.

"Natsume?" called Ruka.

The Young Lord's strides were paced, continuous; hands in pockets as if the next ruler of the Three lands going out for a shopping stroll with his protector and friends was a normal thing. As ever, the wind favored those dark, broody yet so captivation hair strings of his. It swirled around the nape of his neck, and rode up to tickle his ears. He was unaware of everything. How could he have been so oblivious?

And, still as ever, the rhythm of our steps didn't synchronize. As ever.

Tap, goes my foot.

Tap, goes his.

"Natsume."

Here I was, partly desperate to befriend him and to come to a mutual understanding that the both of us would have to join hands in order for this protector-master thing to work. But then there he was, far away from my whatever I was prepared to offer. He distanced himself, and whenever he would look at me, he'd do so with a murderous glow.

Sometimes, though, he'd also look at me with the same stare that everyone had given me ever since I came to the Great Palace. It was like they were seeing someone else.

It was like he was seeing someone else.

And whenever he did that, his expression softened—no too much—and just barely, I could make out a faint bittersweet frown. It'd always disappear as quick as it came so I could never have been sure.

"Natsume."

"What, Ruka?" the Young Lord sighed.

"How far away is the village?"

"It won't make it any closer if I told you."

Ruka looked at him from over his shoulder. "Won't kill you if you answer a question honestly for once."

I shifted my gaze from the Young Lord to him. Then I blurted out, "About a fifteen minute's walk." I didn't know why I did. Ruka just looked very uncomfortable when his girlfriend kept frowning every three steps. "I also know a path that takes us through a forest, so it'll be more cooler if we took it."

Ruka smiled. "Thank you. Would you like to lead us then?"

All of a sudden I felt Sumire's hot glare whip me across the head, for I was too familiar to not know what it was by now. I turned to her, and "oddly" enough, she had on the most nastiest, most invidious scowl while she met my eyes. I gulped. "Sorry, but I think Sumire over there has been leading us to that very path from the beginning."

"Was she really?"

"Yes."

No. Actually, Sumire was guiding us straight down the worst possible way to the village. I could tell from the direction she kept going at she intended of going down the midway pass. It was a crevasse between hills, and because sunlight bounced off the faces of the iron rocks, heat was immediately catapulted to the valley. It was rocky, steep; dangerous because bandits were likely to come and rob us...that was if the coyotes couldn't find us first.

But I was sure after I mentioned the forest path, Sumire had enough sense to take my route instead. She wasn't prideful, I'd hoped, to the point where she'd push her Mistress's needs aside just to satisfy her self-esteem.

I found the the Young Lord eying me the next instant, though lacking the emotion that had always came with it. "Yes?" I asked him.

He didn't respond, and all I could do was to look back at him and try not to quiver under his speculation. When he finally broke it off, I let out a breathe I didn't even know I was holding in.

This—this whole I'm going to look at you and I won't say anything business was not working.

"So," Ruka decided to start in the breadth of a ten-second's silence, "tell me about yourself, Mikan. I just noticed that I know nothing of the woman who's protecting my dearest friend."

I cleared my throat. "I'm rather a bore to listen to."

"Nonsense. Even if you are, I'll force myself to ask questions to kept the rhythm going." He grinned at me from over his shoulder.

I inwardly smiled. He was trying - trying harder than any of us here - to lift the heavy atmosphere. He must've noticed that it was most abundant around the Young Lord and I. Slowly and then gaining speed each second, the details about my life began fluttering in, and I did my best to organize them in my head fast. "Well, as you may know, I am the heir of the Sakura clan."

"Yes, I do, as so does everyone else."

"And it's pretty obvious, but do you know why so many people know?"

"...Yes, I do, as so does everyone else. It's because yo - "

" -Are the first girl born into the male-dominant Sakura clan. Yes."

His feet shuffled as I felt the ground beneath the soles of my shoes minutely shake from his action. "You act like it's a horrible thing."

I almost laughed. "Sir, it is."

"Hey," Sumire butted in. She jabbed a hateful thumb in my direction, and I didn't have to look at her face to know that she was frowning. She was always frowning at me. "Be grateful you're a girl, Sakura Heiress. We cannot be anymore luckier being born as the fragile property of mankind."

"You? Fragile?" proclaimed Koko with utter disbelief. "Then I guess a boulder the size of Mount Fuji is fragile as well, hm?"

Her thumb tore away from me and cut the air sharply as her fist traveled to impact Koko's arm in a second's passing. She had done it so quickly and agile it made me wince as if I was at the receiving end.

"OW!" Koko shouted at the top of his lungs. "Ow, ow, ow! What the hell, Sumire? Can't you take a joke? Ow, get your hand off me!" He tried prying Sumire's hard fist away from the area she hit him on, but she wouldn't budge. Koko jumped and hollered in his place, causing the people behind him—Ruka, Hotaru (much to her annoyance), the Young Lord, and I; basically everyone—to stop. "Sumire!"

She glared at him with eyes like stone before she drew her hand back. "Shut up, Yume." She blew on her knuckles and shook it as if trying to rid of the dirt on its surface.

Ruka clicked his tongue at them, signaling them that they were being rude. Sumire merely shrugged her shoulder at him as Koko was too busy rubbing his hand up and down his arm to notice Ruka's indication. "I apologize," he said to me. "They have these kinds of quarrels often. "Over his voice, Sumire snapped, "What do you mean 'these kinds of quarrels' Ruka?" but he drowned her beneath him.

"I do not mind," I replied

"But she does have a point. Why do you think being a girl is so horrible?"

I sighed. Telling him the weaknesses women had was exactly telling him the weaknesses I had. During the sixteen years that I had lived upon the face of the earth, I had lots of time to accumulate my fears. Personal ones, general ones. Physical ones, Emotional ones. Self-confidence. Self-infliction. Self-benevolence. Strength. Speed. might. Intelligence. Although my family members viewed me as one of the most legitimate successors to the clan, how I viewed myself was a whole other story.

Though it would have had pained me too much for the Young Lord and his friends to look at me with pity oozing out of their gazes if I had told them of my insecurities, I realized that Ruka was trying. He attempted to lighten the march to Baltrolan as much as he could because he hated the silence as much as the jitter bug of the Sakura clan did.

So I answered as much as a limited answer I could give him. My thoughts began paraphrasing themselves into words. "The capabilities of a woman is much more limited than those of a man's. We are weaker, slower, more under-privileged, and our monthly bleedings don't exactly he—"

"—Okay! Don't need to hear that," SUmire interjected loudly, appalled.

I turned to her only to find her glare already catching my gaze. She squinted harder, more menacingly, and briefly I thought it was because the departing sun casted its harmful rays right in her face, but after she mouth the words to me, I had finally caught on.

He's a guy, Sakura Heiress. A guy.

I knew that. "...Right. As I was saying because I was the first girl, I had to make up for that. Thus I trained harder than any of the boys, any, and I learned to live like I carried the instincts of a man. My caretaker, Toshiro, raised me like that. He made me who I am today and I don't think I would be the same if he didn't go as hard on me."

"What about your parents? Didn't they spoil you and such?"

"Oh, heavens no. My father, and my mother at one point, both hated me. They thought at the beginning that since they gave birth to a female child the prosperity of the Sakura clan would collapse. And I guess because of that I felt that I needed to better myself."

Ruka smiled at me, though a bittersweet smile. He was trying to feel my pain. No one could burden the insecurity I burdened back then, but I appreciated his effort. "You're so brave," he softly said.

"Not brave. Just driven."

"So, now tell me, if you weren't forced to protect Natsume's life - not that he has one - what would you be doing?" He quickly flashed a teasing grin at the aforementioned name, but the Young Lord was too busy not caring about what he said to notice. Ruka turned away, laughing as if he was used to it.

A tiny grin sprouted on my face, and despite that only Ruka was talking to me, I felt as if all the others were suddenly listening in as well. "Since my family is specifically those of ninjas I would've been trained to assassinate either way. So speaking in relative terms, I would probably be working under the guise of a clan spy."

"Oh, s—"

"Yes. I wouldn't want to do anything else, either."

He nodded his head. "Mhm. Great. Loyal girls like you are very hard to find these days."

My heart immediately clenched as a deep chuckle erupted from within the pits of my stomach. God, his words couldn't have had been anymore truer. "It's not just girls, good sir."

"Oh, my God, I want this!" Sumire exclaimed, holing a satin-edged comb up to her eyes to magnify its beauty. "No, scratch that, I need this."

Five heads turned to her, including mine, and four pairs of shoulders shrugged in exasperation. "We're leaving," called Ruka from over his shoulder. This was about the infinite time she had stopped to examine goods that were either shiny, bejeweled, or crazy expensive. Last time, she drew us back because of a bundle of hair ornaments that were apparently up for a good bargain. And before that, it was because of lacy, frilly, "size-enhancing" lingerie, all mostly bras.

At least she wasn't a lier.

"No, wait! I still haven't bought it ye—...Fuck, I have no money!"

"Sumire," Ruka drawled, already leading the group away from the merchant's stand. And because I was still at the tail-end, I kept an eye on her to make sure she eventually got back with us.

She clicked her tongue against her teeth as she bounced on the front points of her shoes. "Hold it for me, will you?" she murmured to the merchant who, afterwards, rolled his eyes as if he already knew she wouldn't come back. "I'll kill you if you sell it to someone else!" She scurried away and eventually caught up to us, though wearing a grimace that evidently showed her disappointment. She took the lead once more at the head of our group, but unlike fifteen minutes ago, she hurried her pace with curious eyes glancing back and forth at the stands we passed by on both of our sides.

"We're not here for you," sighed Koko. He was back to being by my side - during Sumire's sudden outbursts of squeaks after spotting certain trinkets worthy enough to catch her undivided attention, Koko's ears were about ready to burst. He was still rubbing the inside of them, attempting to rid of the high-pitched ringing in his ears.

"Shut up, Yume. It's not like we're here for you, either."

He raised an eyebrow. "I know? I didn't do anyth—"

"OH!" she interjected. She clapped her hands like a wet seal as a bright, excited smile butter-spread itself across the lower half of her glowing face. "Oh, oh oh! Hotaru, you have to buy that for me! Like, I realize we're here to get your birthday present and all, but oh, those sandals are absolutely to die for!"

I nudged Koko in the elbow. "Is she always like this whenever she shops?" I whispered as we watched her stray away again.

"Yeah. Thankfully, she's keeping it on the down-low since she knows you're here and she doesn't want to make a fool of herself."

I bulged my eyes. "This is on the down-low?"

He smiled. "Pretend like it is. If she figures out that you saw through her, then she'd see no point in hiding anymore. And trust me, a Sumire on the prowl is worse than any kind of predator you'd wanna butt heads with."

I drew my brows together and quirked the corner of my lips, but I said nothing more as to why she cared what I thought of her. She loathed me, so therefore, my opinions shouldn't have had put restraints on her actions.

"Oh my, God. Sir, sir, excuse me, but is there any chance that you could hold onto this for me? I promise I'll be back with money later! Yeah, yeah?"

Obviously, I was but a mere speck of dust in her sapphire-emerald eyes that burned when she saw only my face.

I dragged my attention left to right, and casually behind my shoulder whenever I got the chance. It's been an hour since we'd arrived in Baltrolan, and the crowd hadn't lessened at all. There were too many people around us; the alleyway was too small and crowded with shops filling every spot on the sides. The group was barely together, with the Young Lord drifting off by himself too far off to the right, and Ruka and Hotaru walking too far ahead. Sumire didn't help, either. At every unfamiliar face I passed, I saw lines of betrayal and frowns that spoke of being in abysmal debt etched on their skin. People walked with no courtesy, talked like a barbarian; once in a while, I saw ruffians acting as brutal as they can be as they ransacked all sorts of stands whose merchants were too old and helpless to do anything.

I wanted to aid this one merchant that we passed by minutes ago. He was old and frail and he looked like he was about to cross the other side anytime soon. Unfortunately, though, his stand was being raided by a young, drunk guy who probably didn't have a mother to tell him to be polite to his elders. Koko saw it, too. We wanted to help very, very badly, but before we could even lift a finger, the Young Lord, who was closest than any of us to the in-progress-of-being-in-ruins stand, raised an arm and grabbed a handful of the ruffian's back collar and dragged him away. The ruffian, shouting colorful words of surprise and anguish, couldn't break away from the Young Lord's strong grasp. And to my utter bewilderment, the Young Lord then shoved the ruffian to both Koko and I, sending us a hard gaze that burned he's yours.

As we walked away punching and scolding the ruffian that apologized over and over, the merchant kept screaming "Thank you! Thank you so very much!" at the top of his hoarse voice. His arms waved like ocean waters in the air as a smile that was missing too many teeth appeared on his face. Koko and I waved back and acknowledged him. The Young Lord, on the other hand, merely continued to stride away.

Hands in pocket.

Head leaned back.

Spine curved and leisurely relaxed.

Nice.

The sun was almost setting, leaving behind a trail of bloody red and subtle touches of peachy apricot. Lining the iotas of the sun's rays were thin borders of strident lavender that clashed like thunder with the soft edges of the passing-by clouds. If I wasn't so worried about getting all of our asses back in the palace by night's dawn, I would've stopped to admire such a beautiful afternoon's closing.

"Hotaru," Ruka started, "don't you want anything else? Look, the pattern of that fabric would look lovely on you." He lead his girlfriend to a stand, ignoring her grunts of unsatisfactory. Koko and I had no choice but to follow them, but I stayed behind the Young Lord to be certain he wouldn't go off by himself. He saw me following him, rolled his eyes with his lids half-closed, and walked to position himself by Koko. Koko gave me a smile after he realized what I had done, and that he should've done the same as well.

"No, Ruka, I want to get this done fast."

"How much is this, madam?" Ruka kindly asked the merchant in charged.

The merchant, lost in eying the beauty of the blonde-haired angel and the dark, captivating devil that stood in the back of him, attempted to speak. "S-seventy-five dwells, sir."

"We'll take it."

The girl stood there, staring in those deep globes of his for a second or two, then regaining the senses back in her brain, she nodded her apple-hued head excitedly. "T-thank you, sir! Right away, sir!" She ran around her tiny little stand, gathering the necessities to wrap the fabric.

"Thank you."

Hotaru looked up to Ruka. "I said I didn't want it."

"But it looks wonderful on you! And since we're here, it might as well be added to your closet. Those kinds of patterns are hard to find, you know." He kissed the crown of her head. "You're welcome."

Hotaru sighed and crossed her arms on top of her chest. "Just get the blueprints you said you're getting for my birthday and let's go."

Yes, yes, I agree.

He frowned at her, even when happiness was still evident in his eyes. "I said you're welcome."

"And I said let's go."

He shrugged his shoulders, already giving up what I wasn't even sure could be called a lover's quarrel when one side was so vulnerable against the other. "Fine." He took the fabric that was all nicely wrapped now from the merchant and began to saunter away, a hand on Hotaru's shoulder. "Let's go—"

"Hotaru, Ruka! Look, look what I got!"

Everyone's attention turned swiftly to the source of the voice. Sumire's forest green curls could be spotted from a distance as she run up to us, all giddy while holding a set of pink-gold bras and two pairs of underwear that were obviously too revealing. And small. She waved them high in the air, not even turning a shade of embarrassment as she made her items visible to the beastly eyes of the men that she passed.

"Look!" She came to a sloppy halt in front of her master, Hotaru. "Isn't this just adorable?"

"Sumire! Put those goddamn things away! You're not in the freaking stripper club!" yelled Koko. He went up to her and tried to coax her to hide them somewhere—inside her shirt, her pants, even her voluminous hair—anything would do just as long as they were hidden away.

I started to feel uncomfortable. Her shouts of delight plus the view of her lingerie that the men around definitely found a delight in attracted too much attention to our group. Even Hotaru, who was usually a satin doll, began scowling at her retainer.

"Koko, piss off." She glared at him. "You're not my mom."

"No, but I am a man like all these other men here." He rotated an extended arm to the crowd of males that were idly beginning to grow larger by each second Sumire had her stuff out in the open. "And I know goddamn well what's running through their minds. I don't think you even wanna know."

"Sumire," said Hotaru as Ruka severely attempted not to look. He shifted his stare on the ground, towards the sky and anywhere else but in front of him. "I am ordering you. Put those away."

She immediately pouted and crossed her arms in dismay, but she knew she couldn't disobey her master's orders. She began to tuck them away inside her shirt. Didn't the merchant give her a bag?

"Where did you get them anyways? I thought you had no money," Koko asked, relaxing as soon as Sumire's precious gifts were out of sight.

"I don't."

"Then how'd you get them?"

A mischievous smirk etched itself on her mouth. She dramatically flipped her curls over her shoulder with a breezy hand. "Men are such simpletons. Show them a little cleavage and they'll give you absolutely anything."

I hadn't meant to, but as soon as she said the word cleavage my eyes directed themselves to her chest.

Pft, she was lying. She had none.

No offense, of course.

On her hip, her sword was just a bit off of its sheath. The silver glow of her blade peaked out of its cover as a tiny piece of golden cloth hung onto the edge, and after I made the connections I couldn't suppress my laugh.

Sumire turned to me. "What?"

"Nothing."

I bet all my family's fortune she threatened the merchant. I swear, I'm willing to bet on that fact.

Ruka coughed. "Alright, now that Sumire's...belongings are put away, let's move on. Hotaru's present is just a little bit farther away." I quickly did a head-check, making sure no one was missing from our group of six. And when I finished, I nodded to him. "Good. Let's go." He escorted Hotaru while the rest of us followed closely behind. Sumire withdrew herself in the back of them as she couldn't walk fast enough because her focus was mainly on her newly-bought bra. She admired the frills, the stitching, and I bet another family's fortune what she liked best was how it was so transparent. Beside her, Koko gave harsh, harsh glares to any men that stared sultrily after Sumire. And I wasn't surprised to see that the Young Lord distanced himself again. If I wasn't waking after him, I knew that he would've already been ten miles behind.

"We're invading tomorrow."

I instantly stopped walking.

"Tomorrow?"

"Yeah. Leader said the Hyuuga's will be out from morning till nightfall. We've got plenty of time."

My blood stooped flowing. My muscles tensed as the words traveled to my brain and processed its meanings. Immediately, I whipped my head back and forth, side to side, at anyone and everyone to find the source of the two scheming voices. Behind a lantern post, two men were leaning in close together, murmuring and checking once in a while for eaves droppers. They made signs with their hands as they talked, and when they pointed in the direction of the Great Palace, I knew I had found my targets.

I stayed behind, letting the Young Lord and the others walk away. Swiftly, I glided my body behind another group and nonchalantly walked at their leisure pace. They were going slow enough for me to keep eavesdropping in the two men. "Sorry, let me hide behind you guys for a minute," I said to the group of people I was using for a shield.

"B-Be our guest."

I tuned my ears towards the scheming rebels once more. The shorter one of the two, a blonde, bright-eyed kid who couldn't have had been any older than Lady Aoi hooked his thumbs inside his pants pockets. "Alright, sounds good."

"Meet me at the you-know-where by dawn's breaking," said the other.

"Got it, Tsubasa."

The one whom I figured was named Tsubasa slapped his partner's back, smiling. He had a small, black star tattooed on his left cheek. His expression as he grinned was kind and soft, so it was hard to believe that such a criminal who's daring enough to try to attack the Great Palace could out on such a facade.

Maybe I was just being overly cautious. Maybe this was just a mere prank. Maybe I misunderstood something.

But then, all of a sudden, Tsubasa's eyes, locked dead-on on mine when he was scanning the crowd. We stared at each other for a while, and time seemed to slow down and nothing else was as prominent as those abysmal, dark-blue irises of his. They were almost too beautiful.

Then, realizing that what I just heard could turn me into a possible threat to whatever they were planning, he grabbed his friend by the collar and made an immediate run for it. "Rayne, let's go!" They ran, ran, ran away as I was just about to chase after them when I blurry figure darted past me.

"Natsume!" called Ruka so far in the distance.

Natsume?

Natsume. That sounded so familiar. Natsume...

...Oh, shit.

I didn't have the leisure to process things. He ran too fast, and I knew that if I didn't act right now, I would've lost him. My feet were in marathon mode double-time, and as I began to run as well, my surroundings became fuzzy and obscured. I immediately couldn't make out a single thing in sight.

Great. Somehow, someway, he managed to listen in too without me noticing. Now he's stopping at nothing until he catches them. He will stop at nothing.

So, Mikan, make sure you stop at nothing until you catch all three of them.

"Mikan? Natsume! Where are you guys going?"

I don't know. I just can't lose him, Koko. I can't.

My breathe hitched in my throat, and my feet began moving themselves faster and faster when they disappeared around a corner.

God, how I wished I was a better runner.

Chapter VIII Sneak Peek:

He came down below my ear, his broody strands tickling the surface of my forehead and nose. "Sh," he snapped. His voice came out as a low growl, an edge of supremacy could be heard. I felt a shudder creep back down along my spine when his breathe reached the tip of my oh-so sensitive ears. All the while, he still hadn't let go of me yet and I didn't think it was possible to be more conscious of his hand holding mine.

SO, ready for chapter 8? I must tell you guys...it's making me squeal whenever I read it. And I wrote the damn thing! I'll try to upload faasstt~

And yes, Tsubasa is a bad guy in this. SO FAR. He'll come to Mikan's side eventually.(:

Keep the reviews coming! Almost there to review #75, and remember, whoever gets that, I will use their name for one of the important characters in my story! :D

And, by the way, I love you guys, I REALLY REALLY DO, but your questions are craap! x) I just cannot answer them, so sorry if I don't /: LOL no hard feelings *insert facebook heart here* Just please try to ask good questions that don't give the plot away, because I just love it when I feel like I'm actually talking to my beloved reviewers(:

Kay, so that's it from me today, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review!

Stay smexy my ladies and gents!