Finally I'm done! I would have posted this last night but...My parents were ranting for me to go to sleep. Anyways, I hope you guys will like this!


Mikan's eyes were already red from crying.

She felt horrible; absolutely horrible.

She sat on her single-star bed, tucking her legs against her chest, her head resting gloomily against her knee. Her eyes stung; they felt swollen from crying all night.

Mikan was dead tired as well. Her voice was hoarse and dry, her lips were cracked, her hair was a mess, and she ached all over.

Her eyes slowly slid closed as she rocked herself softly back and forth, trying to clear her chaotic mind. Everything was so dark; so, so dark.

Finally, finally; she felt sleep tug at her soul, pulling her away from reality. It felt so damn good, being able to escape the world for just a moment, even if she had to wake up soon, even if she had to face everything tomorrow.

Just fall asleep, she told herself. Just fall asleep, and everything will be alright.


Mikan groaned with annoyance, twisting in her sheets. It felt like she only slept for five minutes, but when she squinted at her clock with the help of the moonlight, it was already three hours later.

Moonlight...

Tap...tap...click...

Her blood ran cold.

Mikan was more than sure she had closed the window and the curtains the second she entered her room three hours ago. Even if there was a crack in the curtains, there wouldn't be this much moonlight.

That, alone, was already weird.

Hell weird.

Another thing was the tapping and clicking sounds, coming from her window. Her heart thumped widely, and for a second she wondered if there were ghosts.

Then she heard a curse.

It was human; definitely human.

After all, there weren't ever rumors about ghosts swearing.

The next thing she realized was that there was a cool breeze blowing into her room. Which means her window is open. Which means someone else other than herself has opened her window.

The last thing she realized was that there was a shadow right next to her, standing over the window, on her bed.

Then she screamed. An earsplitting, high-pitched scream that echoed off the walls of her room, and the shadow jumped with unexpected shock.

She screamed for her life, yelling bloody murder and anything she could think of: fire, earthquake, rapist, thief, anything.

"Shhh..." The shadow cooed gently, covering her mouth with his warm, soft hand. Her head went in a turmoil, but her body seemed to recognize the hand way before her head could.

There was a short period of silence, before Mikan blinked and her eyes widened in recognition.

"Koko!" She exclaimed, voice muffled by his hand. Chuckling a little, he removed his hand from her mouth and flashed her a mischievous smile that she recognized oh so well.

"What are you doing here? More importantly, you woke up? Weren't you in the hospital? What happened?" She asked harshly, keeping her voice low so the neighboring rooms won't hear—not that her scream was quiet.

"I—" A few loud knocks were heard at her door, and a few worried voices called urgently from the hallways.

"Mikan? Are you alright in there? We heard a scream." The voice was from Anna, no doubt.

"Mikan?" It was Nono this time, and a muffled voice spoke, too soft to hear the exact words. It was Sumire.

"I-I'm sorry!" Mikan called quickly. "I just...fell out of bed—nothing to worry about!"

"Baka, you never change." This time it was Hotaru, and it seemed like all her friends came to check on her. Footsteps were heard, gradually faded away, and Mikan was able to sigh in relief.

"Nice." Koko praised, whistling softly. She slapped him lightly on the arm, showing her annoyance while Koko just grinned, rubbing the spot she slapped and whining playfully.

"That hurt."

"As if." She snorted and gave him the best glare her innocent eyes could muster.

"So, mind to tell me what you're doing here; in the girls' dormitory?" She asked, crossing her arms and gave him the 'I'm-waiting-for-a-good-explanation' look.

"Um..." He mumbled, laughing a bit as he rubbed his head. "I accidentally broke your window by the way..."

"Don't change the subject." She said, narrowing her eyes on him. He let out an awkward laugh. How should I start...

"How about start with why you're not still in a coma, in the hospital?" She suggested, as if she could read his mind, still giving him a hard look and he sighed reluctantly.

"You remember the old DA class?" Mikan nodded slowly—she would never forget those people. "They came and inserted a healing alice stone into my body." He explained and she gasped.

"What?" She asked in disbelief. "How did they even get in?" He shrugged as an answer, shifting into a more comfortable position.

"Who cares. All it matters is that they saved me." He said with a nonchalant attitude that seemed to piss Mikan off.

"And why are you here?" She continued and he gave her a look she never saw before.

"I came here," He stared at her with the emptiest eyes she's ever seen, second to Natsume's. "To take you away." A smile tugged on his lips, but somehow they seemed eerie; like he wasn't actually the one smiling. Like the smile of someone who was used to doing crimes...

"Koko?" She whispered, scared. What has gotten into him? The change of attitude, the change of aura...Her room seemed to grow colder by the second.

"No," She shook her head and backed away. "You're not Koko."

"Sure I am." He replied with an icy laugh. "But I do have another name; you might recognize it." She stared at him blankly for a few heartbeats, before her eyes grew wide.

"B-But..."

"Yeah," He whispered against her ear. "I'm Tsukaite no Kōri."

Tears welled up in her eyes, and he saw what he saw in all his victims: fear. There was definitely fear in her eyes, but there was more than just that in her eyes; he saw disbelief, he saw disappointment, defeat, and...was that...love?

Fear he could handle. Hate he could handle. He could handle all those feelings, the way they all looked at him; they all looked the same. Yet why? Why didn't she look the same? Why did she have to look at him that way, like she still trusted him?

"You wouldn't," She said, and somehow after the shock she just received, she was able to smile. "You wouldn't hurt me."

"Oh," He said menacingly. "I already have." He leaned in further, trapping her against the headboard of her bed. "I'm going to kill you, Sakura Mikan."

"Fine." She replied, and it seemed genuine (much to his shock); like she was really accepting this as her fate. It was no trick; she was not trying to escape.

"Fine." She repeated. "Just tell me why."

"Why?" He echoed with amusement. "Just because I was ordered to. That's all." Mikan shook her head as he answered, and it irked him to no end.

"You have a reason," She whispered, brushing a strand of stray hair on his forehead to the side gently. "Koko always had a reason for the things he did."

Then he cried.

He didn't even know it until Mikan started brushing his tears away. They wouldn't stop; just flowing down his pale cheeks like drops of rain. His face was blank, his eyes weren't even red. The tears seemed like a prop; like he wasn't actually the one crying.

"Shh..." This time, Mikan was the one to comfort him. "It's alright. You've been through a lot." He didn't move or even flinch when she embraced him. He stared straight ahead, his tears still refusing to stop, but he made no move to wipe them away.

"Koko," She whispered, her voice cracking a little as if she was about to cry herself. "Let it all out. Don't hide it anymore. I know. I already know." Then, with those words, he broke. It took him five years, five long years to master his mask. It took him his whole life to create that mask, and now it was shattered, just in a matter of seconds.

He wrapped his arms tightly around Mikan's waist, burying his face against her neck, and let her warmth and scent seep into his bones. He wondered for a second if he could just melt into her since he embraced her so tightly. That would be nice, then Kokoroyomi wouldn't exist anymore.

"Mikan," He mumbled, his voice soft yet strong, rich like chocolate; sweet and bitter at the same time. "You're going to die, and I'm going to be the one to kill you."


Sooo sorry I haven't updated in forever. How long has it been? Two months? I've been procrastinating too much, but now that I'm on Chinese New Year break, I don't have any more excuses not to update.

There. So there. The ultimate question: will Mikan die? If you're thinking 'oh she's the main character, she won't die,' I've done character deaths before! (How Much I Love Her, A Story That Starts and Ends Here, My Heart that is Gone, Years) But I'll let my readers guess whether she dies or not. :P

To those who celebrate it, Happy Chinese New Year!

R&R Please!