I don't own Gakuen Alice.


I woke up that morning with a very, very heavy weight of helplessness pushing down on my chest as I lay, staring blankly at the white ceiling, illuminated by the sunlight that filtered through the opening between the brown curtains of Hotaru's apartment. I didn't have the urge to cry, and I knew I wouldn't, not until I heard those words, words that I would forever dream he would say to me, but words that I would have to hear him say to someone else.

It was the morning of the wedding. Not on a cruise ship like I remembered Luna saying, but at a church, a twenty minute walk from the apartment I was in at this moment. This was the morning that Natsume would be gone from my life. I mean, he would still be my coach, but any hopes for me and him were gone. Just gone.

Luna's face flashed through my head, and I wondered briefly how I ever thought, for even a second, that I could compete with that. Natsume and Luna were two perfect people. Perfect people belong together, don't they?

At that moment, while I blinked up at the ceiling in attempt to rid my eyes of the blur of sleep, I made my decision.

I wouldn't attend the wedding. I would stick the invite that Ruka had passed on to me through the shredder, and I would go on with my life.

I don't love Luna.

And maybe, with time, that would change, and we could both move on.

Sighing, I kicked the blankets back and sat up, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I had some money from Natsume, that he'd given to my mom, and that she'd given to me, despite my protests. Today, I would shop, alone, and take my mind off of everything that I didn't want to think about.

Hotaru was up already when I walked into the living room. She was sitting on her white leather couch, staring at the TV – which wasn't on – with absolutely no expression on her pale face. She held a delicate teacup in one hand, just inches from her lips, and a matching plate in the other.

"Good morning," I said, more out of politeness than desire. I knew the look on her face, and I knew, even when there was no expression to read, that she was angry.

"You didn't tell me." Her voice was bland, but there was an edge to it, and it made me wince. Hotaru Imai didn't get angry, not unless it was big.

"Tell you what?"

"Don't play stupid with me, Mikan." She turned her frigid violet gaze on me, and it took everything in my power not to turn and run out of the room.

"I'm not. I don't know what you're talking about." I made sure that she knew that her eyes didn't intimidate me by tilting my chin up and folding my arms gingerly across my chest.

She placed her tea plate down on the antique coffee table, and, very gently, placed her cup on top of it. And then, with the grace of a cat, she stood and turned to face me. While her face remained controlled, she couldn't mask the anger that danced in those cold, cold eyes. "You've been living in that dump for two years."

I wondered briefly, how she hadn't figured it out sooner. But I stayed silent, unsure of what to say, of how to apologize, or unsure if I should even apologize at all.

"I left you here because I was sure you'd be fine. I was sure you'd both be fine." She took a step closer. That was a bad sign; Hotaru Imai did not often engage in closeness. "You didn't call me for help."

"You wouldn't help me," I said, and was so sure of myself that I had little doubt that Hotaru wouldn't believe me, too. "You love your money. I wasn't about to call you up and ask for it."

"I do love my money," she admitted in a monotone, "and I think that it was best that you didn't ask for help, but you need to think about your mother, too."

I frowned. "But that doesn't make any sense. If you think it's best that I didn't ask for help, then why are you mad at me?"

The corners of her lips pulled up in a faint, barely visible smirk. "One domino can't fall unless the one before it falls first." Then she picked up her tea, placed it in the kitchen sink, and disappeared into her room.

Okay, that was just strange, and it made no sense. I knew Hotaru was cold hearted and greedy. I knew that, most of the time, she seemed like she didn't care whether I lived or died. But she'd been genuinely concerned about mine and my mother's wellbeing just now. I'd been able to see it in her honest eyes. And yet, her closing remark made little sense.

I rolled my eyes at her use of riddles and spun on my heel, marching my way to the bathroom, where I locked myself in, turned on the shower, and proceeded to think while I stripped off my clothes.

Hotaru knew better than I did. She knew that, if I needed it, she would offer her help, no matter how cold and heartless she seemed about the matter, but she also knew that I could handle myself. And that life would happen as it would.

I had the potential to make more money than she did, courtesy of Natsume. I had the power to give myself and my mother a better life.

Now, the idea of ever backing out of my deal with my coaches seemed totally ridiculous and poorly thought out.

I washed my hair and spent half an hour blow drying it, and found that Hotaru had left a box for me on the bed in her spare bedroom. She, however, was nowhere to be found.

Still wrapped in a towel, I picked up the box and sat down on the edge of the bed with it on my lap, staring at it cautiously. Gifts from Hotaru weren't often good news. Deciding I didn't have much left to lose, I removed the lid, placed it on the bed beside me, and unfolded the tissue paper that concealed the object beneath.

I suppose I should have been expecting it, because the last thing Hotaru wanted me to do was skip out on the wedding, and if she was to be seen with me, she wanted me to look decent. But the dress I pulled out of the box staggered me.

It was white, sparkling like fresh snow on a cold night under the street lights or on a sunny day. The back dipped down dangerously low, and I assumed it would fall just above the tail bone. The bodice was tight, and the rest, from the waist to the knees, was loose.

In short, it was breathtaking.

Underneath the dress, were a pair of white heels, three inches high and just asking for a broken ankle.

The note that had been tucked under it was in Hotaru's neat handwriting.

I'll be back to pick you up around noon.

Be ready, or I'll publish embarrassing photos of you and hand them out to members of the press at the wedding.

Don't worry, I have tons.

Hotaru

Scowling, I folded the dress back up and placed it back in the box. She wouldn't blackmail me this time. There was nothing she could do to get me to attend that wedding, and sit there while the man I was pretty sure I was in love with promised himself to another woman.

If you could even classify Luna as a woman. More like monster. She took Bridezilla to a whole new level.

I dressed myself in the only pair of casual shorts and tank top that I ever seemed to wear, and grabbed my ratty purse from where I'd left it in the kitchen. Leaving the box with the beautiful dress on the bed, I left Hotaru's fancy apartment.

I knew I could do it. I was sure that I could let him go. It might take some time, but it would happen.

He was nineteen, for God's sake. I didn't understand why he couldn't just tell his dad that he would not, under any circumstances, marry Luna. Who the hell would go through with a marriage to a woman he didn't love, anyway?

As I stepped out of the building and into the rapidly building heat of the day, I thought of how Hotaru planned on getting me to go to the wedding, and considered that, maybe, Natsume was being blackmailed too.

Not a chance. I would never live to see the day that Natsume Hyuuga would allow himself to be blackmailed.

I wished, desperately, that life – for once – could be easy.

A muffled vibration against my ribs snapped me out of my thoughts and brought my attention to my phone, buried within my purse. I fished it out and flipped it open without glancing at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"You should be getting ready," Hotaru deadpanned.

I frowned, looking around and seeing nothing but tall buildings on either side of me. No cars were currently driving by. "I am," I lied.

"No, you aren't."

"How do you know?"

"Because the GPS on your phone says that you're walking in the opposite direction."

"There's a GPS on my phone? Why?"

"You're going to the wedding. Whether I have to kill you and drag your body there or not is up to you." The line went dead.

"Stupid Hotaru," I muttered, shoving my phone back into my purse. "You can't scare me."

But even as I said it, I felt the first tugs of doubt in my stomach. Maybe I should go, to show Luna that she couldn't get rid of me that fast, and to show Natsume that I wasn't weak.

Sighing, I forced my legs to continue forward, and managed to convince myself that I didn't have anything to prove.

There was an ice cream stand in the same park I remembered walking in when Hotaru had come down. Despite the early hour, a fat man stood behind the counter, looking bored.

Oh, what the hell?

"Two scoops of cookies and cream, please, on a waffle cone." I slammed down some money on the counter, startling the fat man.

"Hey, I know you. You're that runner, Hyuuga's girl." As he spoke, he reached under the counter and pulled out the waffle cone I'd asked for.

"Yes, sir." I refused to be moved by the 'Hyuuga's girl' part. "And he'll be furious if he finds out I'm violating my diet. Our little secret."

He chuckled. "Isn't he getting married today?"

"Yes."

"Weren't you invited?"

"Yes."

He scanned my attire, and then raised an eyebrow at me. "It's eleven o'clock."

I took the cone he offered. "Yes, it's eleven o'clock."

"Shouldn't you be getting ready?"

I held up my finger. "I said I was invited, not that I was going. I'm not a fan of weddings, and I don't really like dressing up. On top of that, Natsume is kind of a jerk, and his fiancée is a bitch, so I don't really have much reason to go."

The fat man studied me closely, and then smirked. "Ah, so you've fallen for Hyuuga's charms."

I'd been in the middle of slurping up a big mouthful of ice cream, but choked on it when he spoke. After a mild coughing fit, I looked up at him, astonished. "What?"

"I can see it all over your face. You're jealous."

I opened my mouth to argue, but then figured there was really no point. If someone who had met me only moments ago could tell that this whole ordeal was tearing me apart, then there was a problem.

"Okay, you're right. I'm jealous. Insanely. At first, I was absolutely determined to screw up that wedding, but then I remembered how perfect those two are. So I'm not going to that wedding. No chance in hell. And-"

The same vibrating I'd felt against my ribs before cut me off, and I gritted my teeth and dug through my purse for the second time. This time, I glanced at the caller ID, and saw that it was a restricted number. "Just a minute," I said to the ice cream man, and then flipped open the phone. "Hello?"

"Sakura, I swear to God, if you don't get that psycho bitch to stop blackmailing me to back out of the wedding, I will make your life living hell." Luna's voice was impossible not to recognize. Like nails on a chalkboard, it sent chills all the way down my back.

"You already have," I said dryly. "And if you want Hotaru to stop, you tell her and suffer the consequences."

Her hiss of frustration reminded me of a cat, ready to attack. "You better not show up here. This is it for you."

I sighed and closed the phone. "That was Luna," I said to the ice cream man. "She told me not to show up. You think I should?"

He snorted. "Well, yeah! She may be one hot chick, but Hyuuga will be missing out if he chooses her over you."

"Thanks." I shot him a smile over my shoulder as I walked off, ice cream cone in hand. "This is where I'll be coming to violate my diet from now on."

So Luna wanted to play? Oh, we'd play.


Hotaru was waiting for me at the apartment, sitting on the couch, staring at a white wall, her legs femininely crossed. She barely looked up upon my loud entrance.

"Where'd you run off to earlier?" I asked, kicking my shoes into the closet.

"I had things to do. I see you've changed your mind." She stood, and a ghost of a smile graced her lips.

"You knew I would." I started towards the spare bedroom. "I talked to the ice cream man for a bit, and Luna called. She wanted me to tell you to stop blackmailing her. And then the ice cream man told me to go for it. So here I am."

"I don't care what you did all damn day," she replied flatly, following me into my room. "We're going to be late."

"Better late than never. Is my mom going?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Thanks for the dress, by the way. It's gorgeous." I tossed the lid off the box and pulled out the sparkling dress, sighing in awe.

"And it's white." She stepped back out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her, muffling her, "I'll send a limo for you. I'm leaving."

"White," I mumbled, and understood. How nice. If Luna didn't like just seeing me, then I was going to have to be prepared to be taken down when she saw me in a white dress.

Rolling my eyes, I stripped out of my casual clothes and slid the silky material over my body. It clung in all the right places, flowed in all the others, falling to my knees and stopping there. As I stared at my reflection in the mirror, at my knobby knees and too-visible collarbone, my confidence just plummeted further.

How could he want me, when he had her?

Shaking my head, I pulled on the heels, grabbed my purse, and hobbled to the bathroom, where I freshened up before going to the front door.

"Oh, God," I muttered, grasping the doorframe for support. "These shoes are going to kill me."

I made it to the stairs, and miraculously, I made it down the stairs. Without tripping. Without snapping my ankles.

There was no limo waiting outside. Hotaru had left only five minutes before me, so I guessed it hadn't had a chance to arrive yet. Afraid I'd talk myself out of it if I waited, I turned down the sidewalk, heading in the direction I knew the church was in.

One domino can't fall unless the one before it falls first.

When the answer finally hit me, terribly overdue, all I could do was stare at the pavement as I walked, dumbfounded.

If I had not been poor and living in that 'dump', as Hotaru referred to it as, then there was every chance in the world that I would not have been in the market that day, and that my bag of fruit would not have been swiped. There was every chance that I would not have taken off at a dead sprint after him, would not have narrowly avoided that kid on the bike by executing a more or less perfect high-jump style jump over that bar. There was every chance that that night, Natsume would not have come to my door.

Hotaru still believed that there was a chance for me to turn this thing around.

But the spurt of determination was roughly interrupted when a black SUV screeched to a halt not two feet in front of me, on the street I had been about to blindly cross.

The first alarm was set off when I realized that the black SUVs with tinted windows in the movies were always bad news. The second alarm went off when I remembered the speed of which it had approached me, and the preciseness when it had stopped. These people knew what they were doing.

And finally, the third alarm was set off when the back door flew open, and I found myself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Get in the car," a man's voice rumbled.

Another kidnapping? Another attempt at Natsume's fortune?

But that theory was shot down, replaced by a much more frightening one, when I reluctantly climbed in the car and heard the shaded driver speaking on the phone.

"Yeah, we got her. She won't be getting away any time soon."

Luna. She really didn't want me at her wedding.

"Listen, guys, I can just-"

Being rational went out the window the moment the man in the back seat lashed out. The butt of the gun made contact with my temple, and a sharp pain in my shoulder was the last thing I remembered feeling before the lights went out.


A groan. Whose? Mine, maybe. I couldn't tell. I felt so far away, like my body didn't belong to me.

"Tie her up."

My hands were pulled behind my back. Ropes wound around my wrists where I knew they would forever be scarred from my earlier ordeal. Somehow, that kidnapping seemed so much less frightening than this one felt now.

"Her legs, too."

My ankles were bound. I couldn't make my body move. My eyes wouldn't open, my mouth wouldn't form words. All I could think about was Luna, and how much of a bitch she was to go this far.

"Give her another shot. Just to be sure."

"Don't," I think I said, but I couldn't be sure my voice was heard.

"She doesn't need another one."

"Damn rights, I don't." My voice seemed so far away. There was no way they could hear me.

"Did she say something?"

"No, she's just moaning. Luna would want us to give her another shot."

Hesitation, and then, "Alright, fine."

Don't, don't, don't. Please don't.

Something poked my neck, a pin prick that, once again, felt far away. I waited for it to pierce my skin, but it didn't. I felt like I waited forever, but it never happened. And then, just when I thought they were going to let me go, a pinching pain may or may not have caused me to gasp, and I went spiralling back into the dark.


My head spun. Or ached. Or both. The feeling was too vague to know for sure.

"Oh, God." My throat was raw, my voice raspy. It hurt my chest to speak and made my head throb harder.

At first I thought that I was blind, but as the situation adjusted around me, I began to see just enough to make me realize that I was somewhere so dark I could barely, just barely see my hand in front of my face.

I almost asked the infamous, "Where am I?" question that people always asked in movies. But, unlike those people in movies seemed to, I was quite aware that no one would answer, and my throat hurt too bad to try.

Blindly, I felt along the ground. Dirty, earthy. I got very, very slowly to my feet. My legs felt like jelly beneath me, like they wouldn't support me for long. I stumbled in my heels until I hit the wall. Rough, dirty. I got a mouthful of grit.

Although it hurt my neck immensely, and my head even more, I looked up. I could see lights through cracks, like cracks in wood.

I was in a hole. In a deep, dark hole. The top, the light, was so far out of my reach that almost everything inside of me told me to sit down, close my eyes, and give up.

Except that one voice. That one voice that sounded like my mother, my father, and Hotaru all at the same time. That once voice in the back of my mind that told me I'd be stupid to give up when I'd gotten this far.

And then that voice transformed into Natsume's. Scolding. Mostly rude. Mocking.

I cleared my throat. "Hello?"

Silence.

"Hey!" I managed with a little more volume; my voice was hoarse. "Are you serious? Did you seriously-" I coughed until my stomach hurt, "-drug me and dump me in a hole you dug just to keep me away from that wedding? How crazy does Luna think I am?"

No answer, which really didn't surprise me.

I reached for the dirty wall and leaned against it, breathing heavily in attempt to keep my panic at bay a little longer. The last thing I needed was to start hyperventilating and ending up passing out when my head already felt like someone was going at it with a jackhammer.

"Not impressed," I muttered, slumping against the wall.

I'm pretty sure it was all in my head, but I thought that I heard the sound of little tiny insect legs scuttling along, which seemed impossible, all things considered. Still, I shot off the wall and stood in the dead center of the hole, rubbing my arms and trying not to imagine centipedes and spiders crawling around in the darkness surrounding me.

"When I get out of here, the police are going to know! And I'll make sure they get Luna in trouble for it!"

Since I was still not expecting any sort of response, I was rather surprised to hear heavy, human footsteps clunking around on the ground above me.

"Hey!" I shouted.

It was quiet, but I swore I heard someone grumble, "Shut up," in exasperation.

But it was something.

"Do you want me to start listing the things I can charge you with? Not to mention, you're going to have to deal with my mom. And Hotaru Imai. Ever heard of her? She won't be impressed when she finds out that you dumped me in a hole. And I think I sprained my ankle, which means Natsume might not be overly pleased, either. So forget the police, you've got serious trouble on your hands."

The footsteps clunked across the boards, sending shadows down to me. The movements of the person were restless.

"I might make you a deal if you let me out now, and not tell the police. I'll still tell the others though. I mean, at least you won't go to-" Another coughing fit interrupted me, "-jail."

When still no reply came, I groaned in frustration, flopped onto the ground, and pulled off my shoes. Then, overcome by terror, pain, and sadness, I pounded the heels into the walls of the hole, screaming unintelligible words at someone who wouldn't answer.


Outside the church, Hotaru swept gracefully and calmly over to the limo that had just pulled up. She was in Ruka's face before he was even out of the vehicle.

"Have you heard from Mikan?"

His smile dropped from his face and was replaced by a frown. "What's wrong?"

She tilted her chin up and folded her arms across her chest. "Nothing's wrong."

"You look worried. I've never seen you worried before."

She defiantly stared him down for ten long seconds. When his gaze didn't waver, she said, "I can't find Mikan," tightly.

"What do you mean, you can't find her?"

"Exactly what I said, Nogi. I had a vehicle scheduled to pick her up half an hour ago. The driver waited, and when she didn't come, he went up to the room. She's not there."


Dirt crumbled onto my lap. Spitting out particles and blinking tears out of my eyes, I dropped the shoes and resorted to my fists.

"I hate Natsume, I hate Luna, I hate running," I chanted. "I hate Natsume, I hate Luna, I hate…"

My voice trailed off when I heard murmurs above me. More than one voice.

"Is she awake?" the first asked.

"Yes," the other replied with a sigh that I barely heard. "She hasn't shut up. You sure no one's going to find us?"

"No one comes out here. And if she gets out she's not going to be able to find her way. We're in the middle of nowhere."

Sweet.

"Anyway, what's she saying?"

"She's threatening me, mostly. She knows we're with Luna."

I used the handholds I'd created in the dirt to pull myself back to my noodly legs. "I can hear you! I know you're up there! Let me out, for God's sake. You can follow me home, if you want."

One of the boards above me was suddenly removed, letting in enough light to make my eyes struggled to adjust. I blinked rapidly until they did, and then looked up at the gruff face staring down at me.

"You held me at gunpoint," I accused, pointing my finger. "And you drugged me. I'm not very happy with you."

He gave me a wry smile that dismissed my concerns. It was more of a twisted scowl that made my skin crawl and my palms itch to hit something…namely him.

"Just doin' our job, sweetheart."

"I've got to admit, this is impressive, especially for Luna. She must have really found me threatening if she had to go through this to keep me away from the wedding. Tell me, is it her ego she protecting? Or is it…something else?"

The man looked over his shoulder, probably at the other man. When he turned back to me, he looked so pleased that if I could throttle him, I just might have.

"Money, of course."

"I figured. But what about it?"

"Luna's family and Natsume's family have known each other for a long time. When their children were born, they had an unofficial agreement that they would wed, to join the fortunes of both families. In doing this, and combining their investments, they have the potential to double, even triple, their dough. Now, who wouldn't take a little risk for that? Luna's totally okay with it. Natsume's always been the one with the problem."

"You can't just take away someone's freedom because you're a greedy bastard."

"Natsume's loyalties lie with his parents. He does what they ask. He credits his success to them, and he believes that the least he can do in return, is abide to their wishes."

So why did Natsume tell me that I had to do something about it? What leverage did I have against his parents? Nothing.

"So sit tight, sweetheart. You'll be here for awhile." With one last ugly smile, he slapped the piece of wood back over the gap.

"Ugh, Natsume," I grumbled. "How hard is it to be straight with me for once?"

I kicked the wall. My toes caught in the crevices I'd made, and an idea popped into my head.

Energized by a possibility that seemed almost impossible, I picked my shoe up from the ground and struck the heel against the wall.


"Hotaru!" Mikan's mom waved from her heat inside the church. She looked exquisite in a plain pink sundress.

Hotaru went to her, her face carefully composed. Ruka hung behind her, his eyes scanning the crowds for the Mikan he wouldn't find.

Aiko clasped her hands together in front of her heart. "Have you seen Mikan?" Her eyebrows were pointed towards her nose, her forehead creased with worry.

"She's been kidnapped," Hotaru decided.

Aiko clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening to the size of saucers. "Again? By who? We need to call the police. Oh, oh. Does Natsume know?"

Hotaru glanced over her shoulder at Ruka, who tucked his hands into the pockets of his tux pants and let his eyes wander to the front row of the church, where Luna's family sat, laughing amongst each other.

"We know who took her. We just don't know where."


Sweat trickled down my forehead. I was suspended about six feet off the ground, my legs on either side of the hole, my toes in the crevices I'd dug with my shoes. The strain I was putting on my muscles to keep me there as I continued to pound at the walls for another handhold was taking its toll on me, but I wasn't even halfway up.

This had to work. I didn't know how, or what I was going to do once I was out, but somehow it was going to work.

Natsume couldn't get himself into a loveless marriage. It wasn't fair for anyone.

"She'll get here," Hotaru said confidently.

"She's kidnapped," Ruka said helplessly. "We should tell Natsume. He'll know what to do."

"He's not going to do anything when his and Luna's parents are here. Besides, he knows she'll get here."

"She could be at gunpoint! She could be in a deep dark hole in the middle of nowhere! She could be using her shoes to climb her way out! Hotaru, we have to help her!"

Hotaru shook her head. "She'll get here."

Almost within reaching distance. A couple more slow feet up and I could reach the boards.

Two people. I could take them. It was just two people. Two grown men who were probably three times my weight…each.

"Oh, God." My arms shook as I pulled myself up one more notch. Reaching up, my shoe just touched the boards.

I chipped away one more notch, then slipped the strap of the shoe around my wrist and hoisted myself up that last notch. With a grunt of effort, I punched the boards loose and scrambled madly to the surface.


Hotaru took her seat next to Ruka and Aiko. Aiko wrung her hands restlessly in her lap, while Ruka looked around and around and Hotaru sat still and cool.

"The service is starting," Aiko stated.

"Yes," Hotaru agreed.

"She's not here, Hotaru. My baby could be hurt. We need to call the cops."

Hotaru pressed her hand to Aiko's leg to keep her seated. "She'll be here soon. Trust me."

"How do you know?" she practically wailed.

"I know Mikan's persistent."


There was only one man for me to fight off, and that didn't prove to be very challenging when all I ended up doing was lashing out with my shoe and clipping him on the temple with the dirt-encrusted heel.

This was a surprise. I wasn't a very violent person. Hitting someone with the intent to knock them out went against all my rules.

But hey, so did letting a guy cheat on his fiancée with me, and I let that happen.

The man fell to the ground before he could utter a sound.

All around me, trees stood tall and strong and…the same. I had no idea which direction to go in, and I had no sense of direction whatsoever.

The service had started. Organ music played as Luna walked down the aisle, looking stunning in her Giorgio Armani dress and smug underneath her veil. As she passed by, Hotaru made sure Luna saw the small smile on her own lips.

Luna's eyes narrowed, but she turned away and looked back to the front of the church where Natsume stood with a blank expression on his face. Ruka had gone up to join him, along with two other men that Hotaru knew by their background checks.

She caught Natsume's gaze, and gave him a barely noticeable nod of reassurance.

I stumbled through the trees and tripped over roots. My feet hurt and my head pounded and I was pretty sure I was still fighting off some of whatever drug I'd been given. My single shoe dangled from my dirty hand, the other left somewhere at the bottom of that hole. Like my dress, you could barely tell it had ever been white.

Don't say it, Natsume, I silently begged. Don't put me through this for no reason.

"Not so fast sweetheart."

I spun around, tripped, and landed on my back in the dead underbrush. The man with the sly smile advanced towards me, his gun drawn and an unspoken threat in his tone.


A/N: I AM SO SORRY. I'm not going to give you lame excuses as to why it took me a year and a half to update this, and why, once I did update, the chapter is not even good. I have simply not been motivated to write this fanfiction. Half of this chapter has been sitting on my computer for the better part of a year, and just today I decided I needed to finish it because I can't let you all down. I decided to write this instead of doing my psychology homework. That's a step, right? : )

But I don't expect any of you to WANT to continue reading this. I'm sorry : (

Please forgive me. The final chapter of this is going to be short, so I hope to have it done by the end of the week.

xoxo

Ducky-san