Disclaimer: Trust me I really do wish I own Mirai Nikki but sadly I don't.

YEEEY..! WE FINALLY REACHED TWO DIGITS! THANKS TO ALL OF YOU

No I'm never gonna leave you darling

No I'm never gonna go regardless

Everything inside of me is living in your heartbeat

Even when all the lights are fading

Even then if your hope was shaking

I'm here holding on

-Ever Enough (A Rocket to the Moon)

She felt adrenaline coursing intensely in her veins; her entire being overcame with bloodlust. The knife felt cold against her skin as she tightened her hold on it, ready to strike her prey, her flip phone clutched securely in her other hand.

Her gaze landed on her prey, locking her gaze with familiar cerise colored eyes. Akise Aru was standing a few feet across her, steel clasped on one hand, ready to pounce on her at any given minute…

The next thing she knows she's on her feet, slashing the knife to his direction…

The scene shifted, getting blurry, figures swirling and turning until the next thing she knew she's pinned under Akise, his legs straddling her firmly and holding her in place, a strong hand on her neck, choking and suffocating her thus making her let out some croaky sounds as she struggles to speak. She was holding a knife, gleaming under the light of the early morn, pointed at Akise's face but he was holding her hand effortlessly, preventing her from stabbing that smug face of his and killing him.

Everything turns blurry and the only thing she could make out however was blood. Vivid dark red splattered everywhere, the metallic scent hung heavy on the atmosphere around her. She was standing on a pool of crimson liquid. She could feel the substance on her arms, on her left cheek, her jaws, her neck and hands, definitely her hands. It felt thick and tingly against her porcelain like skin.

"NOOOO!" Yuno shot up from bed, her eyes flew open, and heart pounding erratically. She was gasping, trying to catch her breath, and sweating profusely. Her hands clutching the sheets tightly as if to convince herself that she was awake and it was just a dream.

It was just a dream, she reminded herself, clutching her chest, heart beating a mile a minute.

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

A dream.

A nightmare.

But…

Akise…

A sob escaped her lips and she automatically brought a hand on it, trying to block off the noise. She was trying desperately to stop the dam of emotions, squeezing her eyes shut, willing the memories away (Oh, only if she can).

Akise's eyes. She could never forget them. It was gleaming with bloodlust and his whole being was radiating off a killing intent. His brows were furrowed in determination… determination to kill her. She had never saw Akise like that before. It was as if nothing mattered to him but killing his opponent which was unfortunately her. Somehow it made her scared.

Akise would never kill and he wouldn't even dare think of it, she chided herself.

But it all seemed so real. The anger, the disgust, the determination, the bloodlust, the killing intent (on his face) seemed all so real.

And what about her?

She was feeling bloodlust too, even greater than Akise's. She actually felt like she wanted nothing more in the world but to kill him. She felt hatred and anger towards him as if even the sight of him infuriates her. She wanted to impale the knife deep into him. She wanted to hear his cry of anguish as she digs the knife deep into his delicate pale skin. She wanted to see the defeated look on his face before he takes his dying breath.

No

She could never dare of doing or even feeling those about her Aki.

She stared at her hands, her clean, blood-free hands.

Could she?

She doesn't want to hurt him, never ever ever.

Another sob escaped her lips but this time however she brought her hands to her head. Clutching her head, she shook her head as if it could help get rid of the horrid memories and images.

"Stop it," She breathed.

"I don't want to hurt you," She gasped. And she wondered who she's convincing because if she'd be honest with herself the person she wanted to convince more than anyone else was herself.

"I'm sorry," She said under her ragged breath, repeating it like a mantra while rocking herself back and forth as tears gradually collects in her eyes.

She got a feeling that she could never look at Akise the same way ever again.

"-no, Yuno."

"Huh?" Yuno blinked, breaking away from her daze.

"Are you alright? You spaced out for a moment there," Akise smiled yet there was a concerned glint in his eyes. He reached out to place a comforting hand on her shoulder but she momentarily flinched. It was a quick action and it looked like it wasn't there in the first place but Akise saw it. She looked… afraid?

Yuno tugged out a stubborn strand of carnation pink locks, pushing it behind an ear, averting her eyes from Akise's scrutinizing gaze" I'm okay, Akise. Just thinking."

She mustered a fake smile that didn't even reach her eyes. She knew he saw through it but decided not to prod her anymore.

She feigned a wince and booped herself in the head," Ah! I just remembered I had something to do. How silly of me! Well then bye Akise!"

Without even waiting for his response she dashed away, leaving a confused and somehow troubled Akise behind. She didn't even know she was already running. The only thing on her mind was to get far away, away from that place, away from…

Him

'No! Stop that! This isn't Akise's fault. He didn't choose to be in that horrid dream. He didn't choose to appear like that in said dream.'

She berated herself as she shook her head from all those evil thoughts.

'This is all your fault! You can't even solve your own problem, you just keep running away from it. That's what you're only good at, running away!'

Then all of a sudden she felt herself bump into something- or rather someone, causing her to fall on her butt as she heard the other person let out a surprise yelp.

Her eyes burned and she figured they looked glassy right now (the hell she cares!) as she let out a sniffle like she was about to cry, placing the back of her hand on her lips.

Running away, that's what she'd been doing all this time…

But then her dilemmas keep haunting her and chasing her till she gets caught up in this web of truths and untruths, disrupting the peace and stability she once called her life. Now it's just one big mess and now even her relationship with Akise is being put to test.

"Are you alri- Gasai-san?"

She knew that voice. She couldn't be mistaken- she slowly looked up to see Yukiteru Amano, regarding her with those nostalgic blue eyes that seemed more radiant than ever under the bright rays of the sun.

"What happened? Are you alright?" His eyes scanned her, looking for any signs of injury or scrapes.

She smiled. He cares, she thought. She shook her head slightly and opened her mouth to speak," No, I'm okay, Amano-kun. Thanks for asking."

He offered his hand and she deliberately took it with a smile. Once she was on her feet she thanked him again.

"It's nothing," Yukiteru sheepishly chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck," I'm always ready to help a friend in need."

She smiled at the flustered boy.

"If you don't mind me asking, Gasai-san, is something wrong?" The brunette reluctantly asked. He felt as if there was this strong force that kept him from looking the pink haired girl in the eyes but in reality he knew it was just his shyness and awkwardness around girls.

Yuno blinked once then tilted her head, placing a finger on a pouty lip," What makes you say that, Amano-kun?"

Yukiteru automatically flinched and ended up getting flustered and stumbling in his words. He mentally kicked himself for making a fool out of himself in front of a girl, especially the Yuno Gasai," Y-You looked like you were about to cry."

As soon as the words escaped his lips he instantly regretted saying them. He was mentally wishing that the ground would just swallow him whole right then and there to save him from further embarrassment. He slowly looked up, expecting Yuno to give him a negative reaction or something but it never did come.

Yuno's expression softened, her eyes looked as if it was glazed. Her smile was reduced to a small solemn one.

"Oh is that so?" Her voice was quiet like the calm before the storm. She faked a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and rubbed the back of her head," Hahaha maybe it's just the stress from school finally catching up with me."

Her so called laugh sounded fake and empty that it actually almost scared Yukiteru. He knew the smile was fake and he knew somewhere deep inside she was feeling sad and troubled.

"Gasai-san…"

"I'm okay, really, Amano-kun. No need to worry," She slightly waved her hands in front of her, gesturing him to just dismiss it.

"Is this about Akise-kun?"

"…"

"Gasai-san-"

"Nothing's wrong with him or us. He's fine. We're fine. Everything's just perfect. Doesn't it look like everything's perfect? We're not having fights or any disagreements. Everything's well, alright? Right?" Yuno actually sounded like she was convincing herself more than him. After saying those, she ran a hand through her hair and exhaled rather loudly, sporting the most defeated look anyone could muster. At least the 'fight' part wasn't a lie. Who was she kidding? Everything was not perfect. Everything was going downhill. Everything's a mess, a pile of dilemmas, jumbled one after another.

She felt Yukiteru lay a comforting hand on her shoulder which automatically made her look up.

"Whatever's bothering you don't let it eat you up so much," He smiled, expression softened. Yuno found the smile soothing and felt herself ease up.

She smiled back and placed a hand on his hand that was on her shoulder," Thanks, Amano-kun. I appreciate it."

The atmosphere however was cut short by an abrupt blush coming from a sudden flustered Yukiteru Amano," N-no problem. I'm always glad I could help."

"Umm… Gasai-san?"

"Yes, Amano-kun?" Yuno perked up (in an adorable way) upon hearing her name.

Yukiteru was averting his gaze from hers with a slight pink hue dusting his cheeks," If you ever need someone to talk to… I-I'm always."

Because try as he might he couldn't quite ignore the nagging feeling inside of him that somehow practically screams at him that Yuno Gasai is not just a typical school mate of his, somehow there's that subtle connection.

Yuno instantly lit up and beamed brightly at him, pearly whites glowing in the bright light of the noon," How nice of you, Amano-kun. I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

And from then on the conversation went smoothly with the occasional radiant smiles from Yuno and blushes from Yukiteru. However Yukiteru somehow stuttered and blushed less. They found a nearby bench to sit on. They talked about school. They talked about life. They talked about how Sasaki-sensei had been giving them workloads and homeworks non-stop to which Yukiteru muttered 'slave driver' causing Yuno to laugh. They talked about the latest happenings in school. They talked about the upcoming exams. They talked about everything except the two people that held the object of their affection.

All good things must come to an end, as the saying goes. They bid each other goodbye to return to each of their respective classes.

"Thanks, Amano-kun, I had fun," The pink haired girl smiled, bowing her head slightly in gratitude.

"And thank you too, Gasai-san. Do you want me to walk you to your classroom?"

Yuno waved her hand, indicating him to dismiss it," No, it's okay. I can manage."

"You sure?"

"Yes, thanks for insisting anyways," Yuno said before saying goodbye and waving her hand then skipping along to go back to her own classroom.

Classes resumed no sooner and everything went well, except the fact that there's an empty seat in front of her collecting dusts. She narrowed her eyes when she saw this and she was soon informed that Akise had went out to go do something "important." She knew he was out playing detective again. Won't that guy ever listen? No matter how she go on and on about how she disapproves of him skipping class just to play his games that guy still keeps doing it. He'd been behaving these past few months but lately his bad habit seemed to come back from the grave. Perhaps old habits really do die hard.

However after they were dismissed and she was already exiting the school she saw him, waiting for her across the street. She carefully crossed the street to go and approach him.

"Akise," She called with a smile.

"Yuno," He returned the smile with one of his own.

And as their usual routine goes, Akise walked her home after that. Silence followed and reigned over them after the exchange. The silence was none too comfortable and it was oozing of awkwardness. Yuno who usually started the conversations was silent and was staring at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Everytime she made a move to start a conversation images of her latest dream would flash through her mind and she finds herself shutting up, words stuck in her throat, forgotten in her mind and jumbled into disarray.

After dropping her off her house and bidding goodbye Akise left Yuno with her thoughts to herself and guilt nagging at her whole being, preventing her from ignoring it but there was also that one negative feeling lingering at the back of her mind- fear.

She felt herself tremble slightly. Clutching her head and sagging by the door. Why is she afraid? Just because of one pathetic dream?

Author's note: Sorry for the super duper late update. I had been having problems with school and the archery team which to my bad luck composed only of one person and that would be me. I was supposed to make this one long but then Writer's block got sooo bad and it prevented me from updating and making this.