Hi everyone, hope you all had a nice summer. That is the reason why I haven't posted anything in all this time, I was away. Anyway, here is finally the next chapter, hopefully long enough and to your enjoyment. Thanks for all of you reviews so far!!

I had a hard time choosing a name for this character, but I took the name of one of my other favourite series, Death Note. You will find out the name as you read on.

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Previously:

"You…you mean…It's all my fault?"

"What do I care if it's your fault or not?! The doctors say that there might still be a slight chance for it to come back, but I already gave up. My friend saw what happened when you looked at that teacher when you were running. You have my alice now."

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Chapter Twelve – Chores And Tasks To Accomplish

"But…that's not possible!" Mikan said with emotion in her voice; yet, it was only a whisper.

The boy snorted.

"Yeah right, what should you care? I'm worthless to the academy, and at the current situation, they are going to give me a few months to recover, maybe even less."

"What will happen then?"

"Use your imagination, little girl. I guess I'm lucky if they set me free. You see, I did some confidential work for a certain someone…Wait, why am I telling you that? All I can tell you is that I would never wish this kind of fate to anyone." He looked thoughtful and pained.

Mikan thought that he implied that he wished no one a fate of having no alice anymore, but it seemed that he meant something else as well.

"If it's my fault…" she started, but he simply interrupted her.

"I already told you, I don't care if it is. You should go now!"

"No! I'm not done with this yet, and I wouldn't be able to live with the fact that I took something irreplaceable from you. Now listen: I swear that I will do everything I can to get you back your powers. I will look for a way, and I know that if I look hard enough, I can find it."

That was what Ji-chan had always told her, and this time, it wasn't her alone who was involved. She had done harm; now, she had to do anything she could to help him.

"What is someone like you going to do to help me? Thanks, but no thanks."

"I'm serious about this. Please, let me help you." Her voice was soft, almost pleading, but not too much. Something colder inside of her didn't want to help, it was struggling to get its will. But Mikan wouldn't let it. In that moment, she was purely Mikan, the cheery and helpful girl everyone knew.

He turned around to tell her to leave, immediately. But then he looked into the girl's eyes, and the words seemed to be stuck in his throat.

"Please" her pleading voice said again. "At least, tell me your name."

"Ryuzaki." The moment he told her, he knew he had lost and that he would accept her help. She seemed like someone who everyone would want as a friend.

She smiled, as if she knew what he had just decided inside of him.

"I'm Mikan."

Slowly, he reached out with his hand, and without hesitation, she took it, holding it for a long moment.

She looked up and studied his face. The black curls were playing around his face, the small hint of red in them unmistakable in the faint light. His emerald green eyes seemed less tired than before, and more determined.

Even though he was quite handsome, that thought never crossed Mikan's mind. For her, he was a new friend that she would help, no matter what.

She should have known that friends were actually something difficult to have when you were in her position. Just like Natsume. But she would have to learn that, possibly even the hard way.

"You should go now, I need to rest" he said, smiling this time.

"Don't worry, I'll come back" she said, her face brightening up as she saw the young man's expression.

"Good night", he said, turning back to the window.

She left him, taking a last look at his figure standing against the moon shining in.

When she reached her room, she realised how tired she actually was and slumped on her bed. Cleaning sure was no fun.

For the whole week, Mikan established some kind of routine. She got up in the morning, usually late, had classes till midday and a quick lunch. After that, she did some gardening wherever Jinno-sensei would send her to and then quickly go to the afternoon classes.

As she had finished cleaning the dorms, very much to Jinno's dismay, she was free to eat dinner again. Still, she lost a bit of weight, but nobody really seemed to notice as she was trying to act cheerful as ever.

After dinner, she usually finished her homework and then came to the most important part of her day: her training. She was practicing everything learnt so far alone, next to the crystal lake she had found the other day. It had become something like a hide-out, where she could go when she wanted to be undisturbed.

That way, she didn't have to see a certain someone with his manga under the Sakura tree which was closer to the school buildings.

While there, she was thinking a lot about the new problem she had: give Ryuzaki back his alice.

Then, one evening, a note came again. Same place, same time.

They weren't fighting directly this time, but he showed her some new techniques and methods. She told him about the alice she had and that wasn't hers.

"This is quite strange, you see. And I don't even want it!"

Persona looked at her, seemingly cool, but on the inside, he was something close to excited. He had found his new weapon. Natsume still was a number one, but now, he had found something better. Something stronger.

"That is quite interesting." (Can't that guy ever say anything else:-))

"Show me."

"But…I can't! I don't know how to use it, even though I already tried. I think that it worked once, but that was because I was really shocked and angry."

'What an emotive girl' the masked man thought to himself.

Without warning, he stretched out his hand towards her forehead and let his alice flow to her. Her eyes went wide, then she closed them for a split second before opening them again. She was scared, he harmed her, she had only one choice: harm him back.

He felt agonizing pain streaming through his whole body, and it took his whole willpower not to collapse in front of this little girl.

"Enough!!" he roared, taking her by the shoulders.

Still, he was satisfied with the results. Her reaction had been provoked by the aura of his alice. Every living thing dreaded it, and instinctively shied away from his touch once he concentrated on it.

She stared at him for a second, then regained her cool stance. She couldn't show any weakness in front of him.

Persona looked down at her. She actually had gained her opponent's alice. She was better than just good. She was extraordinary.

The effects of the pill seemed to have lessened, and since he was planning something, he had to give her another one.

"Now listen here. I think you're ready."

"Ready for what?"

"Ready for your first mission, Mikan."

"Fir…first mission?? When?"

"Next week." He thought for a moment. "Evening of that Valentines Party. Believe me, it's the best moment to plan it. I hope you didn't arrange anything, did you?" he asked, the mocking tone evident in his voice.

"No" she said in a low voice. She didn't have anyone special to her, now did she?

"Good then" he said. "You should go now, I still need to inform someone of a decision I just made. Here, take this pill, it will help you sleep and concentrate so that you won't be too nervous for your first mission".

She took it without hesitation, but it wasn't the same careless innocence which made her do it, neither was it trust. She simply didn't question his actions, and what he told her to do, she would do it.

She left without making a sound, and he went, just the same, to find the black cat. He had to tell him the date of the mission he had set for him.

'We don't want him in the way, now do we?' Persona said to himself before chuckling silently.

This was going to be fun.