Somewhere I'll Find You Chapter 14: Sacrifices, a gakuen alice fanfic

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Mikagikameko – Hope you like this chapter.

Warning: S.L.R.A

Super Long Read Ahead

This chapter is Rated T for my use of foul language. Sorry.

Somewhere I'll Find You

"To gain thatwhich is worth having, it may be necessary to lose everything else."

Lady Yukiko

"Lady Yukiko, will you be alright?"

I turned my gaze to meet my driver's who was looking at me expectantly. "Of course, Toshiro," I said, smiling. "I just miss how it feels like to ride a swing in the park."

After meeting with the daughter of Hajimi Asami, I had asked Toshiro if we could stop by the nearest playground or park. I had a strange urge to ride the swings.

The playground was slightly wet due to the rain but the moon was shining brightly and no traces of clouds could be seen. "I understand, Lady Yukiko," Toshiro said with a bow before leaving me. "I'll be near the car if you need my services."

I continued to swing myself, humming softly. It's been a long time since I've sat on a swing. So many things have changed and I've witnessed all of them with my own two eyes but for the very first time in my whole life while looking up at the dark sky, I felt tired… exhausted and just... old.

I've lived my whole life to see this very day arrive, to take my revenge, to see to it that what my lover wanted when he was alive, became a reality and to finally touch the only person I've ever loved once again. I have lived this long to avenge the only man I have ever loved, and now that it was here...I felt absolutely nothing.

"Kiyoshi…" I whispered into the air.

Coming from the Hyuugas, I inherited two Alices, the Alice of Fire and Healing. My Fire Alice wasn't as strong as my father's or brother's but it was enough to protect me. It was my Healing Alice that made me different from the rest of the clan. Back then, it was only the female Hyuugas that inherited the Healing Alice. The Hyuugas were known to be strong but peaceful Alice users. That was why they needed to keep the clan strong and our reputation clean.

My father tolerated my friendship with Kiyoshi, Isato, Arihiro, Eisuke, Takashi and Naozumi, when we were still young. He allowed me to have a good childhood although he reminded me that when I became of age, I would have bigger responsibilities as the village healing priestess. My mother was the current priestess but died after giving birth to me. The Hyuuga clan was happy when they learned I inherited the healing ability. Father told me only to use my alice to those who deserved to be healed.

As I grew with Kiyoshi and the rest, I woke up one day falling deeply in love with Kiyoshi. He was different compared to the other men my father made me meet. Kiyoshi had so many dreams, ideas and wishes that he wanted to make come true. More importantly, he wanted to prove to my father that he was strong and deserved the love I gave to him. Kiyoshi was a mischievous but caring person. I had hoped that my father would one day accept Kiyoshi but it never happened. But on the day my father found out about our relationship, was the day when everything changed.

I was ordered to never see Kiyoshi but I refused to obey. I secretly met up with him and enjoyed every rendezvous we had. I thanked Naozumi for helping us have our secret meetings. I had a feeling that Naozumi had feelings for me but I decided it was best not to let him know.

I secretly hoped that I would be pregnant with Kiyoshi's child so I had every reason to marry him and to be forever by his side. But while I hoped and prayed to be pregnant, I continued to support him in all his goals… including calling out the spirit of Shax.

I remembered Takashi's grandfather explaining to me that Shax was one of the seven deadly spirits and the strongest of them all and the hardest spirit to control, which is why it must never be summoned. When I mentioned this to Kiyoshi, he just smiled and said not to worry about anything. Kiyoshi was sure that he could handle Shax. At the beginning, nothing changed. He was still the same Kiyoshi I knew except much stronger. He had a battalion of undead people that was able to over throw the Royal Emperor. But then after a few months, Kiyoshi began to change. I noticed there were few people who began to get angry at Kiyoshi.

He had a short temper and began to give horrific punishments to anyone that opposed him. He would not listen to any advice or any small suggestions, nor would he listen to his friends. He wanted both Alice and non-Alice users to be afraid of him, to fear the name Kiyoshi Hijiri. Whenever I got the chance to speak to him alone, he would suddenly become the Kiyoshi I knew and would assure me that he would change… on one condition…. that I must never leave him.

"But you left me first," I said quietly, swinging the swing higher. The empty space that I tried to fill deep inside of me was caused by you, Kiyoshi.

I always forgave Kiyoshi and stood by his side… even when I learned my father had died and was accused by Naozumi that I was blindly overlooking the mistakes and murders Kiyoshi was committing. I secretly was glad that I was able to convince Kiyoshi to abide to my request on the night they called Shax.

I refused to believe in Naozumi. Kiyoshi wasn't a murderer. But his friends believed otherwise.

I closed my eyes while trying to remember that horrible day.

I had finally decided to talk to Kiyoshi about the people around him, about how they were starting to mistrust him and find out the truth, whether or not he did kill my father as my brothers have said. I found his room empty. I was told by one of Kiyoshi's most trusted new generals that Kiyoshi had mentioned he went out to secretly meet with someone. I knew immediately that it was Isato, Arihiro, Eisuke, Takashi and Naozumi. And there was only one place they would meet.

Rushing to the place, I was horrified to find Kiyoshi being sealed up and screaming for release. Kiyoshi's so-called friends were ignoring his plea and apology. I had asked all of them to release him but the next thing I knew, I was knocked out by Naozumi's Alice. When I woke up, Kiyoshi was forever sealed away. I couldn't accept that his friends betrayed him. Nor could I ever forget the way Kiyoshi looked straight into my eyes, asking me to help him and I didn't do anything.

The more I stayed in the village, the more dangerous I became to the innocent children. I knew that if I attempted to kill Takashi and Naozumi, Kiyoshi's two most trusted friends, I would fail. I decided that it was best to leave the village and my family since they did not understand the sorrow I was feeling. I could not be the village's healing priestess when I was filled with anger and hate. But before I left, I swore to Takashi and Naozumi that I'd avenge Kiyoshi's death… no matter how long it would take, I will have my vengeance.

I abruptly stopped swinging and sighed. Now, it's the 20th century…

Shaking my head, I couldn't help but smirk. The vow I made… happened thousands of years ago.

The very first two people I remember killing was Takashi's grandfather, the man who started it all. When we were still young, we would always listen to the old man's tales about the evil spirits their ancestors sealed. Kiyoshi loved his tales. And if it wasn't for Takashi's grandfather, Kiyoshi would still be alive and no one would have tried to wake up any dark spirits.

I didn't care back then who I killed, as long as I got the information needed to revive Kiyoshi.

I had made sure that Takashi wasn't there when I attacked his grandfather. It was a very low tactic but I had to do it. With a few men I had gathered to work under me, we attacked. The old man did his best not to give me any information but failed when I turned my attention to one of his nieces and threatened to kill her first. It was then that he reluctantly said that I needed a ghost conjurer, a person who can read from the forbidden book and a vessel. But just as I was about to leave them, the old man decided to mock me.

"You're forgetting one thing, Lady Yukiko, only a Hijiri can call upon the spirits… unfortunately, there are no more Hijiris alive anymore nor do I think my grandson will help you…ever."

Next thing I knew, I blew up the whole house with my Fire Alice.

It was somewhere in July, I learned that Takashi made sure his family was well protected and left me a message, that I would never find the book and if we ever crossed paths once again, he would not hesitate to kill me.

I continued to hate them more when I heard they decided to put up a school. How could they continue one of Kiyoshi's dreams when they were the reason he died? How could they hide the truth about what really happened, that it wasn't really Kiyoshi's fault but a plan that went wrong? What was worse, they built the school around the place Takashi sealed Kiyoshi. Thus, it made it much harder for me to commence my plan. I knew that getting in would be hard when Naozumi was headmaster and Takashi was in charge of security and safety.

As the years passed, I found out that Kiyoshi had some relatives but neither of them carried the same Alice that Kiyoshi had. I decided to patiently wait for someone to be born with the same gift and meanwhile, find a way to come up with a rare contract that would lead a family and its clan to forever obey me until I choose to end it.

The lucky clan?

The Shins.

As I traveled to different places and countries, I began to learn how to use my Healing Alice to stop me from aging. I learned many things from different people and trained under tribe doctors on how to increase my healing abilities. Back then sickness was very common and I used that to my advantage.

One day, I had found a very wealthy man, desperately in need for someone to help save his family. He pleaded for me to save his son because as much as he loved his wife, he knew his wife would rather have their son live. Knowing he was emotionally drained and not thinking clearly, I made a bargain with the father I knew he would not dare decline.

"Not only will I save your son's life but also your wife's too." I held my hand out to him, stopping him from interrupting me. "I will also come to your aid if someone falls ill… in exchange, when I am to ask or any Hyuuga from my bloodline, assistance, we are not to be denied. If they do, misfortune will befall before the whole clan, especially the head of the clan," I said. "The only time the contract will end is when both of us die."

The husband agreed to the contract not knowing that I wasn't going to die without completing my revenge. This was the main reason the Shins were under my command. I never patched up things with my family and a lot of the Hyuugas went their own separate ways after my father died. Relative of mine would take me in.

As time passed, I watched how the founders of the Academy met their death and how generation after generation came and went. I was shocked and angry at the Academy for teaching their students false history. But one thing remained true; I never gave up my dream to revive Kiyoshi… even if I needed to kill certain people along the way.

That included Keisuke's parents…

One night while I was drinking coffee in a café, I was approached by Hajimi Azumi. He said he wasn't an enemy or a friend. He was here because he was told by his spies that I was interested in reviving Kiyoshi. I have heard about his organization, the AAO. It was rumored that he was the leader of the said organization.

"What is it to you?" I asked, calmly sipping my coffee.

"I want the Asamis and its school that they've protected for thousands of years to fall to the ground, every one of them. They took away my life as they did with you…" Hajime said and smirked at me when he saw my look of surprise. "Yes… I know who you really are, Lady Yukiko," he said with a twisted smile. "You want to avenge your lover by bringing him back… I want to see the Academy crumble to the ground. Now tell me, Lady Yukiko, what is it that you truly need to revive Kiyoshi?"

Hajimi offered inside information which I desperately needed. We were to only correspond in letters and meet once a year. He told me that he had a daughter inside the Academy that did not know that she was passing valuable information. Later on, I found out that Hajime's daughter, Lady Yuka, had fallen in love with the son whose father had killed her very mother. Unfortunately for Lady Yuka, she was too involved with Keisuke Asami and took it very hard when her father told her the truth about her mother's killer. Later, however, she agreed to pledge her loyalties to her father.

After nine months, Yuka Azumi had given birth to a baby girl, much to Hajimi's displeasure. His mortal enemy's blood, the Asamis, was in Lady Yuka's daughter. Much to my surprise when I met with Hajimi again, he grudgingly told me that his daughter gave away her child because she didn't want her daughter to live an Alice life. I never knew who Yuka's daughter was and Hajimi forbade me to know. He said it was probably better off that way, even if he never would see his granddaughter grow up.

It was that same day that Hajimi told me to kill Keisuke's parents because I was the only one that could infiltrate a secret passageway that the Asamis would definitely use if the Academy was to be attacked. He explained that he would attack the school while I secretly make the kill. I had to take out Keisuke's parents at all costs. By killing them, it would prompt their son, who had left the Academy, to seek revenge for his family because he knew that his Uncle Jinno would admit to Keisuke that Hajimi was to be blamed for the death of his parents.

Sure enough, Keisuke came charging at Hajimi one day but failed because Keisuke attacked without thinking at all. Almost killing Keisuke, Hajimi taunted him that the true reason his daughter left him was because he wasn't strong enough. She didn't believe that Keisuke was capable of protecting her.

Perhaps that was the reason that drove Keisuke Asami to fulfill what I have been trying to accomplish for so long. I had agreed to Hajimi's plan to pretend to be after the same thing Keisuke was after. By doing this, it would make Keisuke hurry up and find where the forbidden book was and to keep an eye on a Hijiri that possessed the same Alice Kiyoshi had. I was overjoyed when I got a report from Hajimi that Keisuke held two important keys, he had someone who could read the gypsy code, named Mikan Sakura and a Hijiri who could summon spirits.

But our biggest mistake was when Hajimi agreed to a temporary truce and pretending to kill the flame caster. I did not understand why Lady Yuka felt sorry for that girl, Mikan. Without us knowing, Lady Yuka cast one spell that we did not know of. That specific spell became the reason why the mission came to a halt once more.

Getting off the swing, I dusted off my clothes and walked towards Toshiro. Tonight, a war was arising and for the first time, I did not like who I was siding with. And the reason for me feeling like this… feeling remorseful of my actions, the choice that I have chosen was all because of Ryoichi Hyuuga.

I was on my way to head to Hong Kong when I caught a glimpse of the young boy just staring at the sea and absently writing something on the sand. It had been three days since Nathan captured the young boy. I was told by Haruka that everyday, Nathan allowed the boy to have a few hours out on the beach which shouldn't worry them, since the boy wasn't capable of escaping by himself.

The reason why I was leaving was because I was told that the elders had been assassinated and I was needed immediately. The Elders or what Hajimi calls, the old prunes, were a group of old men who knew about my mission and supported it. Hajimi told them that if I was to revive Kiyoshi they would gain immortality.

Dressed in black and white stripped slacks and a white long sleeved blouse, I took off my stiletto shoes and silently motioned to Nathan that I wanted a few moments alone with the boy. "Is it alright if I sit here?" I asked gently, pointing to a dried up log near him.

The little black haired boy with hazel eyes looked at me for a moment as if taking it all into consideration, but then he nodded and continued to spell out his name.

R-Y-O-I-C-H-I

"You have a cute name," I said.

"Thank you," he answered with a slight shrug as if he was used to people saying it.

I turned to look at Nathan who was not far away from us. He was sitting down on a folded chair and looked at me with an amused look. 'Good luck' was what Nathan was silently telling me.

I dug into my pocket and took out a few candies I always brought with me. "Do you want some?" I asked innocently. Ryoichi looked at me and gave me a curious look as if people like me shouldn't be near any sweet stuff. "You sure you don't?" I asked again, chewing on an apple flavored gummy, "They're delicious."

I saw Ryoichi lift his hand but hesitated, turning around. "Mommy says I'm not allowed to take things from strangers," Ryoichi muttered with a sting of regret in his voice.

Hiding my smile, I put the candy back into my pocket and cleared my throat. "And your mom is correct. Is that why you only ate when Nathan… I mean Mr. Shin served you dinner?"

"Yes, even if my mom says she hates Mr. Shin, I know that Mr. Shin is not a stranger," Ryoichi explained while throwing a star fish back to the sea.

Kids could be so darn honest and innocent. Not knowing what to say, I stared out at the big blue ocean and listened to the music the ocean gave.

"Are you Lady Yukiko?" he asked after awhile.

"I believe I am," I replied, smiling. "How did you guess?"

"Nina said she knew someone prettier than my mother."

"And do you agree with her?"

"No."

"No?" I said trying to sound appalled. "Really, why is that?"

"Because she's my mom, she's supposed to be the most beautiful girl… if my father was alive… I'm guessing he'd also say the same thing…" Ryoichi said with a shrug and sat down a few inches away from me. He was wearing a plain blue shirt which seemed to have a hood, a small black jacket and plain dark blue shorts. Ryoichi's hair was all messed up due to the cold breeze but no one could deny unless they were blind, that Ryoichi looked like a mini-Nathan.

Pulling my long black hair to one side, I pretended to look insulted. "This is the first time someone has ever said I was ugly… or beaten by another girl."

Ryoichi rolled his eyes at me but chuckled. He grabbed some small shells and threw it one by one out into the sea. "Nina said that if I ever came across a girl who had long black hair that almost reached her feet and had eyes like fire; she has to be Lady Yukiko."

"That's nice to hear," I said softly. I had very high hopes that Nina would be a great Alice user but unfortunately her life was taken. Nina's death was very tragic and Nathan took it very hard.

Nina's parents had never accepted that their only daughter wasn't normal which is why they allowed her to be under our care. They did their best to emotionally withdraw from Nina. They were ashamed of their very own daughter and that angered Nathan. But despite Nina's hunger for her parents' affection, she found it instead in Nathan and Ryoichi's mother. I had hoped that someday, Nina's parents would open their eyes and see how wonderful their daughter was… but when I told them about her death, they seemed glad that she was gone

"What else did Nina tell you?" I asked gently.

"That you smile but you're actually trying to smile," he said slowly. "Just like my mom before."

Taken aback with what I had just heard, I just sat there silently. Did Nina see something I tried years to cover? "What do you mean?" I gently asked.

"Well… " He said, pausing for a minute. "You have the same expression as my mom when she tries to hide from us that she's sad. She smiles but it isn't really a smile."

"A smile but not a smile?"

"Yeah, you know," Ryoichi said, looking at me as if what he said was such a basic answer. "A smile is suppose to come from the heart, from inside," he said pointing to his heart. "If you're not really happy, then people can see it, no matter how wide the smile is."

"I am not allowed to be happy," I said quietly, motioning for him to sit down beside me.

"Why not?" Ryoichi asked, rolling his eyes as if I said a bad joke.

"How can I be happy when the one who makes me happy is gone?" I said sighing.

"Oh… " Ryoichi said, his eyes growing big with understanding. "You mean…"

"Yeah," I said, throwing some shells into the sea. "And the guys who took him away from me are also dead." I could not believe I was confessing things so easily to a little boy.

Crossing his arms, Ryoichi fell silent. "You want revenge, don't you?" he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Amused at how the boy was trying to think and talk like a grown up, I decided to give him a truthful answer. "Yes."

"That sucks," Ryoichi announced.

"What sucks?" I asked, puzzled about what made him come up with that statement.

"The people you want to take revenge on."

"Why would that suck?" I drawled.

"Well…" Ryoichi said in a tone as if I was dumb not to know what he meant. "You're mad at someone who's already dead. That sucks. How can you take revenge on them now?"

Shaking my head, I inhaled and reminded myself that I was talking to a kid. "I don't think you understand, Ryoichi. You see… other people-" But to my surprise, Ryoichi interrupted me. A seven year old boy actually interrupted me.

"But the other people didn't do anything to you," Ryoichi said with persistence. "It's like my Uncle Yuu. It was his first time to play the Playstation last year and when it was time to save his game on the memory card, he saved it on my slot… on a game which took me three months to reach the final boss. It was wiped away in five seconds," he said in a pained voice. Then he smiled, "I felt like dying when Uncle Yuu said he erased my game. I was mad at everyone that day. So when my mom came home from work, excited to show me her surprise for me, I treated her in a mean way. I wanted to hurt them but when I hurt my mom that day, I felt really bad. When I finally apologized to everyone for my attitude, my mom told me that she understood why I was angry, except it was wrong for me to be angry at those who aren't the ones who caused it," Ryoichi stated. "If you're going to take revenge, Lady Yukiko, don't get angry with those who are not to be blamed."

I was amazed at how genuine Ryoichi's story was. I felt as if he was lecturing me but for some reason I started to feel guilty. Here was a boy who was innocently preaching that it was wrong to hold a grudge against people who did not deserve my anger. "Is that what your mom taught you?" I asked, looking away from him. The sun was starting to set which made the sky look as if it was on fire.

"Nah," Ryoichi responded, shaking his head. "Aunt Hotaru told me about revenge and how I'm supposed to use it properly."

"Properly…?" I echoed. I didn't know there was a proper time to use it. Both Imai siblings are scary people...or perhaps Hotaru Imai was just a cold person.

"My mom told me about forgiveness," Ryoichi said, stretching his arms out. "She said that it was good to forgive because I might end up asking forgiveness to the person I did not want to forgive in the first place."

For awhile, neither of us spoke. Both of us just quietly watched the sun slowly disappear into the sea.

"I guess I never thought about revenge in your perspective," I admitted sheepishly. I've lived for years just to revive Kiyoshi but could it be after living this long, I've forgotten about my hate for Takashi and Naozumi? The real reason I wanted to revive Kiyoshi was to spite them, but now that the two men I despised the most had been long gone… who was I going to show my glory to? Now that I am about to fulfill my only goal in life, everyone who knew Kiyoshi was dead.

"Girls think too much about these things," Ryoichi said, disrupting my thoughts. "—no wonder girls become hags very early."

"What!?"

"That's what Uncle Youichi said," Ryoichi explained, turning his back away from me. "Girls are just troublesome creatures."

"Well, for your information," I said huffing. "—you might find yourself falling in love with a hag one day."

"It's never going to happen to me," Ryoichi said, with a faint shudder. His face was a little red when he turned to face me, "They're either crying or being bossy. My mom and Aunt Hotaru are too much for me to handle."

"What about Nina?" I retorted with a snort. I knew that Nina had a secret crush on Ryoichi. But as soon as I said Nina's name, Ryoichi's face fell. I forgot that Nina once told me that out of all of her classmate, she felt close to Ryoichi.

"Nina… Nina's different," he said quietly while kicking the sand lightly. "Lady Yukiko… I know Mr. Shin got me without my mom's permission."

Caught off guard, I tried to act stupid. "I don't know what you're talking about. Mr. Shin would not forcefully take you away from-"

"I may be a kid but I'm not stupid," he announced. "My mom would have contacted me by now and I would have some kind of gadget from Aunt Hotaru with me if they knew I was here. Mr. Shin is mad at my mom for….for… Nina's death. But it wasn't her fault… my mom was just trying to protect me," Ryoichi said, brushing away the tears. He stood up and bowed in front of me. "It's my fault that Nina died. Please forgive me. My mother is not to be blamed."

"Of course not," I said. I took both of his hands and lifted his chin up. "You shouldn't blame yourself, Ryoichi," I said squeezing both of his hands.

Ryoichi's shoulders started to shake and after giving up a brave fight, Ryoichi wrapped his arms around me and cried.

"Shhh… it's alright," I whispered, patting him gently on the back.

After Ryoichi was able to calm himself down, I decided to change the subject since I got a few more minutes with him. I had a feeling that this was the last time I was going to talk to Ryoichi like this.

"So do you want to conquer the world someday?" I grinned, messing Ryoichi's hair up.

"What is it with conquering the world?" he answered, sniffling. "Yeah, you become the leader but then you have to worry about-" He put one finger up, making a countdown- "—your people, the slaves, the rebels, and those who want you dead," Ryoichi said in disgust. "—so they can rule the world. Conquering the world must be the most boring job."

I chuckled at his answer. "Do you miss your father?"

Ryoichi didn't answer.

"Lady Yukiko…"

I turned around to see Nathan walking towards me. "I'm sorry, Lady Yukiko, for interrupting you. Toshiro came to tell me that it's time for you to leave," Nathan reported and then stepped a few meters away from us again, giving us a little privacy.

Regretting that I had to leave, I turned to say goodbye to Ryoichi. "It was nice meeting you," I said, smiling.

"How can I miss someone I have never met?" Ryoichi muttered.

I was about to walk away from him when I heard him talk. I didn't say anything and waited for him to continue.

"When people ask me if I miss my father, I don't know exactly what to say. Is it possible not to miss someone who I never knew from the beginning?" he asked me with a sad smile. "I don't blame the people who took him away from me. Everyone dies for a reason, that's what my mom said. I guess... maybe the real reason I don't miss my dad is because I know he's with me-" he pointed to his heart with tears forming in his eyes again. "—here. My mom said that my dad loved me, even if I didn't feel it… its enough."

Taking Ryoichi into my arms again, I hugged him tightly.

Because what he said… the longing in his voice for his dad… that brought me to tears.

After that emotional hug, I left for Hong Kong but when I reached the headquarters, I was almost assassinated by Hajimi's men. We were outnumbered since they knew I wouldn't be bringing that much back up with me. We were being slaughtered but luckily for me, Haruka's husband was there, who reluctantly saved me.

"Why did you save me?" I said tersely while healing the wounds he acquired because of me. Yusuke was one person who hated to use his Earth Alice. "I could have easily died and your clan will finally get rid of me."

"After you destroyed my family, trust me, you don't know how much I wanted to leave you to die," Yusuke drawled. He was a man in his mid-forties and had dark golden hair. "Unfortunately for me, I still have some principles left in me that requires saving your ass even if you don't deserve it."

Biting down a chuckle that was about to escape me, I continued to heal his wounds.

"How is Nathan?"

"He's doing fine."

"Haruka?"

"Still determined to kick your ass for being an asshole," I replied with a small smile. After making sure he had no more wounds, I helped him stand up. "Why are you here?"

"I heard Nathan didn't take Nina's death well and I was also informed he kidnapped a little boy." He then dug into his coat and threw me an envelope. "When I heard you were coming here, I reluctantly decided to give you these documents that my men gathered for me."

"What has this got to do with Nathan?" I asked, opening the envelope.

"We both know who Nathan is and that it was because of you, he is with us."

I scanned over the reports but then froze when I got to the most important detail. "It can't be… Lord Hajimi never told me who his daughter was." I said horrified at what I had just learned.

"Mikan Sakura is the daughter of Keisuke Asami and Yuka Azumi, who was the current girlfriend of Natsume Hyuuga before his assumed death."

"That means…" I trailed off, putting my hands to my mouth.

He nodded curtly. "The boy who Nathan captured… is his son."

When Toshiro saw me coming, the door of the car opened and the last man I thought I would ever think of sharing a ride with, stepped out of the car.

"Finished reminiscing about your childhood, Lady Yukiko?" Yusuke mocked.

I was surprised that at the last minute, he decided to come back with me to Japan. His reason? He had nothing better to do and was on a vacation leave at work. When we arrived, I was told that Hajimi was on his way to the Academy which was a perfect time because I would be able to speak with his daughter alone. When we were almost at his place, I received word from Haruka that Nathan remembered who he was and that Mikan Sakura was able to get her son back.

The reason why I wanted to come to the park was to think of what I was about to do. If turning my back away from everything… was going to be worth it.

"Shut up, Shin," I said, accepting the hand gloves Toshiro handed to me.

"Such a feisty grandmother," Yusuke said in a sardonic tone before giving me a mocking salute.

"Lady Yukiko, if I may interrupt," Toshiro said, bowing. "I have just received word that our men came to contact mission leader, Narumi. There was a brief battle between our squads but they informed Mr. Narumi about the assault that is bound to happen at the Academy. "

"Are they heading back to the school?"

"As we speak right now, they'll reach the place in 30 minutes."

"That's too long."

"And Lady Haruka?" I inquired.

"She's on the way with all of our men from the summer house. They'll reach the school in approximately 10minutes."

Nodding, I looked at the clear sky once more.

"What are we going to do?" Yusuke asked.

"You're mad at someone who's already dead. That sucks. How can you take revenge on them now?"

"I don't blame the people who took him away from me. Everyone dies for a reason, that's what my mom said. I guess...maybe the real reason I don't miss my dad is because I know he's with me."

I chuckled when I remembered our conversation but then stopped. It was my fault Ryoichi was in this position. It was my fault he did not know his father. It was my fault for messing with so many lives. Because of my hate and hunger to fulfill my promise, I have been blinded with what I have been doing. In the end, Naozumi was right.

I turned to face Yusuke, stepped forward and bowed down to his feet.

"What the-" Yusuke said, jumping away from me.

"Please forgive me… for everything I have done to your family," I said remorsefully. "I am sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." I heard a sigh and then felt a pat on my back.

"That's enough, Lady Yukiko. You had your reasons why you did that… and I hate to admit it… but I respect you for living this long to accomplish what you want."

"But I…I..." I trailed off, looking at him, not minding the tears rolling down my face. "It's because of me… because I refused to heal your son-"

Yusuke held his hand to stop me from talking. With another long sigh, he helped me stand up. "Lady Yukiko, we can't change what has happened before but it is time for us to move forward. We can't keep on living in the past. We've got to let go of our hate or we'll never find true happiness."

Brushing away my tears, I nodded vigorously, "Thank you." Yusuke gave a rare smile and headed back inside the car. Closing my eyes, I gave one long exhale. I snapped my eyes open, "To the Academy," I ordered Toshiro. The old man smiled and opened the door for me and when it closed there was only one thing in my mind.

It was time to leave the past behind.

Chapter 14:

Sacrifices

"Sacrificing your happiness for the happiness of the one you love is by far, the truest type of love."

"So what will it be, Ms. Sakura," my father asked. "Who will you choose: the life of your only son or the life of the only man you have ever loved?"

Mikan

"What kind of fucking choices are those?!" Shino roared.

Before I got the chance to prevent Shino from doing something stupid, he was already in mid-air with all the intentions of killing my father. He had summoned his water dragons again and was quickly descending from the sky.

"Shino, no!!!" I shouted. "Don't do it!"

In a quick second, I watched Keisuke Asami lazily grin at his attacker and simply snap his fingers. As expected, before the water dragons even reached my father, Shino had been hit by lightning that came out of nowhere in every direction which sent a very electrocuted Shino tumbling towards the ground. Immediately, I ran towards Shino. Shino had been very lucky my father didn't use half of his Alice on him but it was enough for Shino to feel pain that was worst than a toothache.

"That was stupid of you, Shino!" I barked at him while trying to help him off his feet.

"Sorry princess," Shino replied, gritting his teeth. "Do you mind saving the lecture for a moment? I just had an electrifying revelation on how strong our principal is. An "Are you alright, Shino?" would be nice to hear."

"Are you alright?" I asked sarcastically.

"Are you freaking mad? How dare you ask me that kind of question?" Shino said, huffing. "That hurt!"

I wanted to wring Shino's neck. He was still being an arrogant ass at the wrong time. "Shut up, Shino." I turned to face my father who seemed to be amused at our little banter.

"Finished with your commercial break?" I heard Persona ask.

Trying not to give the bastard the satisfaction of my anger that wanted, more than anything, to blast him into tiny little pieces and feed half of his body to the piranhas, I sent him a bland stare and thought of ways to get out of the situation with everyone I cared about, being safe.

"Why didn't you use your Alice?" Shino asked quietly with a hint of disappointment. "You could have used it while I was distracting them."

"Because she knows she can't," Persona answered in a chilling voice. "She knows that if her father was involved in this current situation it would be hard for her to come up with a plan and-"

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I screamed, clutching my fist very tightly.

"Mikan…" Shino whispered beside me and held onto my right arm, making sure I wouldn't attack Persona.

Not even bothering to look at Shino, I shrugged off Shino's arm and concentrated on what options I had left… which, at the moment, was zero. My father and Persona knew what I was capable of doing. Back then, they used me more on defense, it was Natsume who went for the offense. The only time I was on the offense team was when I really needed to be in it, which was very rare. The only thing that Persona needed to guess was what Alice stones I had with me.

Those stones were not just any ordinary Alice stones. I would place the small amount of Alice which I borrowed from, into the stone, so whenever I needed to use a specific Alice, all I had to do was to absorb the stone in my hand again. After using the Alice, I made sure to return it to the stone. The Alice I borrowed from wasn't enough to damage the original Alice user. The only problem was, the stones I had with me weren't the ones I needed at this very moment. I had not anticipated this to happen, so this was a big blow for me.

"I can't use my Nullification Alice because of the seal," I replied while refusing to think I had no options to save my son and friends. "Before I even get the chance to use my Alice, a great amount of electricity will surge right through me. The more I try to use it, the more electrocuted I get."

"What are you talking about?" Shino asked, clearly confused with what I was saying. "I never saw you get tattooed!"

I wanted to laugh at how Shino was taking this information. "Remember you always wondered how was I able to convince the Academy that they could trust me that I would not join forces with the AAO or any other sadistic organization?"

"Yeah… but what has that got to do with-"

"The principal and the members of the school board-"

"My grandfather?" Shino asked a little surprised.

"Including your grandfather," I confirmed. With my left hand, I pulled down my jacket and showed him half of my bare shoulder. The symbol wasn't that big. It was just a plain big circle with three more circles inside locked together. "The circles seem to be plain circles but actually if you look at it with a huge magnifying glass, it's an inscription. They made me do it so if they find out that I have betrayed my word, the principal would activate it."

"When did you know it was activated?"

"The moment you attacked him," I didn't have to mention who him was because I was glaring at my father. When Shino tried to attack, I felt something hot on my back and I knew immediately that my father activated the seal. There was no way I could use my nullification powers.

All of a sudden Shino started to laugh. I wasn't sure if the electric shock was too much for him or he was just completely insane. I looked at Hotaru who was sending Shino death glares. Only really, really insane people would laugh.

"What's so funny?" my father asked, intrigued. I noticed some of my father's henchmen start to appear nearby, waiting for the signal to attack us. I couldn't help but think that we were outnumbered and without me using my Alice, the advantage of the situation was 90 percent in my father's favor.

"Oh man," Shino said, wiping away the tears from his face. "Well the fact that you have, A. Mikan's son hostage and B. tattooed Mikan…I'm pretty sure none of you will see daylight today."

"And may I ask why you have come to that strange assumption, Mr. Suzuki?" my father amusingly asked.

"Shino…" I warned.

"Why?" Shino said with a smirk. He stepped in front of me, completely ignoring my warning. "Because Principal Asami, Natsume Hyuuga will kill you for hurting them."

And then three things happened at once.

First, Shino disappeared and aimed for my father once again. "Again, Mr. Suzuki?" I heard my father ask. But then Shino suddenly appeared by Ryoichi's side and quickly grabbed him. "Get out of my way!" Shino shouted as he carried my son and attacked those who got in his way.

Second, I decided to attack my father, giving Shino some time to get away as far as he could with Ryoichi. I didn't have to worry about Persona attacking me because as Shino spoke about Natsume Hyuuga will blah blah blah stuff…

I knew Natsume was here.

Who wouldn't?

Only one person would stupidly rain fireballs in every direction.

Turning my attention back to my father, I had to concentrate because the moment he snapped his fingers, all of us could get hit by his lightning. Not wanting to go with this option, I swiftly dug through the far pockets of my coat and took out two guns that Hotaru made sure I'd carry and shot it at my father. I was capable of twenty-four shots before I needed to reload. Without any hesitation, I fired six times, one aiming for the head, twice at the heart, both hands and the leg… hoping that I'd hit even one part of the body, preferably the hands so he wouldn't be able to use his Alice.

And to my amazement, all six shots hit every target.

Approaching my dead father, I stopped and realized I easily killed my father. "The mimicker," I murmured when I saw my father turn back to his real identity, Masura Kazaku, a classmate of ours in the Dangerous Ability group when Natsume and I were still in high school.

I turned around and saw Persona briefly smiling at me before turning away to attack Aoi and Natsume. How did Aoi escape? Wait… if the mimicker was here… then his twin was here too. I searched for Shino. "STOOOOOP!!!!" I cried out to Shino who wasn't that far away. "IT ISN'T RYOICHI!!!" Just as I warned him, the boy who Shino was holding, opened his eyes. "SHINO!!!" I screamed.

It was too late for me to reach him or for Shino to react. The curved dagger the boy was holding was already about to be stabbed into Shino's back. But all of a sudden the boy let go of the dagger, fell down to the ground and howled in pain. Right in the center of the boy's right hand, were two flaming arrows that struck his middle.

I looked to see if it was Natsume but turned to find Aoi a few meters away from me with her bow and arrows of flame, ready to target the Ryoichi lookalike. At the same time, Natsume had just been whipped from behind by Persona.

"MIKAN BEHIND YOU!!!" Shino screamed.

Just as I turned around, the boy was running towards me with a roar like cry, lifting the dagger with his bloody right hand. But suddenly, he stopped and fell to the ground.

Aoi had just shot him in the head.

I wanted to feel bad for the boy but as soon as the boy died, it transformed into its real form, an adult who had dark wavy hair, green eyes and a scared face. Instantly, I recognized him as the elder twin brother of Masura. Senji Kazaku, a shape shifter and Persona's loyal follower. I knew it was him because of the scar Natsume gave him next to his left eye. He was one of those Dangerous Ability creeps in class that I truly despised. He wasn't strong nor was he weak but the only time I felt safe around Senji was when Natsume was with me.

"May I suggest that this mini-reuniting celebration come to an end?"

I snapped my head up and he was slowly coming out from the entrance of the forest. No one could see who he was because he was still in the shadows but I didn't need to know, I knew that voice. As he slowly came out, guns were pointed at us in every direction.

"Don't you agree… daughter?" asked the real Keisuke Asami who was holding a gun to Ryoichi's back.

Natsume

As soon as I left Lady Haruka, I expected returning to the Academy would be difficult. True enough, Mikan's father must have known I was returning since I was greeted in a very welcoming way. The team Keisuke must have sent were probably novices at dealing with extreme people like me because it took me less than three minutes for them to decide they weren't going to win against me. Jumping on top of their heads enabled me to get over the gates. Getting inside the Academy gates was always easy; it was getting out of the Academy that was difficult.

My chest suddenly pounded when I noticed there were no lights on, which was a bad sign. If it wasn't for the lightning bolt that came from the enchanted forest, I wouldn't have found the idiot right away. Hiding in the shadows of the trees, my heart skipped a beat when I got a clear view of what was happening. Ryoichi and Youichi were by the principal's side and the bastard, Persona. The idiot and Shino were surrounded by Keisuke's men who were also guarding Hotaru, Aoi, Yuu, Ruka, and Koko. Instead of being scared, I noticed that Hotaru had an irritated look and was muttering something into my sister's ears whose eyes were closed. No one noticed Hotaru because they were clearly more interested watching the main event.

Fury swept right through me when I heard the idiot explain why she wasn't using her Alice. The stupid idiot allowed herself to be sealed by the Academy. I found the right time to attack when Shino vanished by the idiot's side. Leaping out from the shadows, I started throwing fire balls in every direction the enemy was coming out from and throwing one big one in Persona's direction. I went to attack Persona so he wouldn't go after Mikan but the bastard just smiled and made his men be his offense and defense. Furious that Persona wasn't fighting me directly, I had to come up with a quick way to kill the bastard.

"Welcome back, Natsume. I missed you," Persona greeted me with a hysterical laugh. "You don't know how happy you've made me, now that my favorite black cat is back." He whistled, signaling that he was going to fight me. He took out his whip and hurled it towards me as I tried to aim at him once again. Jumping away from the whip, I suddenly saw Aoi, who somehow escaped, and was up in the air aiming at Persona with her flaming arrow. "NOW!!!" I shouted at Aoi. At once, five flaming arrows came towards Persona while I shot five more fireballs at the same time. But it still wasn't enough to hit Persona because he disappeared. He then appeared on top of me, grazing me with his whip when I jumped away from me.

"STOOOOP! IT ISN'T RYOICHI!"

I looked at Mikan to see what she was talking about but because I got distracted, Persona was able to use his whip on me. He hit me on the wrist and pulled me towards him. Aoi, who was supposed to send more arrows at Persona, was now focusing on saving Shino. When I was almost near him, I stood up, pulled hard on the whip and punched Persona across the face. I wasn't able to jump away that far when Persona was above me and whipped me from behind. The pain surged through my whole body but I bit it down. Jumping once again, I threw a fire ball at Persona but he disappeared and appeared right next to Ruka and Hotaru. "I don't think so," Persona said coolly. "I can use my Alice on them right at this very moment."

Damn it!

"May I suggest that this mini-reuniting celebration should come to an end?"

Looking at the person who had just spoken, I noticed the idiot freeze in her spot when I saw who came out of the shadows. It was Principal Keisuke who was pointing a gun at Ryoichi. We were surrounded by the principals' men who were all pointing a gun towards us.

"Shit," I muttered.

"Mom… I think I'm sick," Ryoichi said, pretending not to be frightened. "I… I… I don't feel well."

"Its okay, Ryoichi," Mikan's father said coldly. "You'll get your medicine once your mommy helps me first."

I stood beside Mikan, forgetting everything, forgetting Persona and my friends… all that mattered at this very moment was Ryoichi, who was in grave danger.

"It's going to be-" Mikan's voice broke. "—al… al…alright. Mommy's here." She was clutching my hand very tightly and that made me want to do everything in my power to ease her pain.

"First of all, leave the guest alone, Persona. We need them. Have your men take them to the site and make sure you guard them well." Mikan's father said sharply to Persona who bowed and ordered four men to carry out the principal's order. They roughly carried a still unconscious Ruka, Yuu and Koko into the forest.

"Get your dirty hands off me and Aoi!" Shino shouted as they both were brought inside the forest.

"If I see one wound on my sister, one mark…" I said, snarling at the one who was handling my sister. "I'll burn you to death!" The man must have believed me because he suddenly pushed Aoi inside the forest much faster.

When it came to Imai, Mikan's father stopped the person who carried her. "I must admit I am surprised to find Ms. Hyuuga free. How was she able to escape an Imai invention?

Hotaru laughed sarcastically. "I am the inventor, obviously I know my inventions' weaknesses."

"You said your inventions were flawless."

"I'm not stupid to tell you its flaws, Principal Keisuke. Only idiots like you, think there aren't any flaws in an invention." Hotaru said icily.

"Take her," Keisuke commanded and then looked at us. "Oh, you're wondering about Mr. Youichi Hijiri?" he asked. He must have caught me looking at Youichi. "Ms. Sakura is correct. Indeed, that isn't Youichi. It's another shape shifter pretending to be him." The man that looked like Youichi stood up, smiled evilly at us and vanished. "You know the Academy is filled with Shape shifters. Mr. Hijiri is inside and currently waiting for your gracious appearance."

Clenching my right fist into a hard ball, my hand ached to punch Mikan's father.

I felt Mikan tremble beside me. She was staring hopelessly at Ryoichi. "Remember lesson number one, stay calm. Drastic decisions lead to drastic consequences," I whispered. After a few seconds, Mikan brushed her tears away and exhaled.

When the idiot calmed down, I turned my attention to the principal. "Since when did the Academy start relying on guns?" I mocked. "I remember something about a strict no guns policy. Weren't you the one that said guns are used by cowards?"

"I do agree with that policy, Mr. Hyuuga," Mikan's father said with a smile while he kept the gun steady behind Ryoichi's head. "But times have changed. Guns seem to be more persuasive in situations like this."

"What do you want from us?" I barked at the principal.

"I need my daughter to call out the forbidden book," he said simply. "Give it to her now or I'll blow your son's head."

"Mommy… what's the old man talking about?" Ryoichi asked, his voice shaking.

"Don't you know?" Principal Keisuke asked with feign shock and then laughed. "I think your man enough to know the truth."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I shouted.

"Nathan Shin is-"

"STOP IT!" Mikan's voice boomed loudly. "Ryoichi doesn't deserve to learn the truth this way! Stop… please..." Both of them looked at each other intensely before Principal Keisuke looked away from her.

"What book?" Mikan said curtly after a few seconds.

"The book that sealed Kiyoshi," Keisuke replied with a twisted smile, "—only those who speak the ancient language can summon it." He looked at me. "Except to get the book you need the summoning spell. Am I right, Mr. Hyuuga?"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" I retorted, my temper rising every second.

"The secret code," he drawled, "Your father must have given you something for you to protect."

"I don't know what you're saying!"

"You don't?" he asked once more. "Perhaps this will help you remember."

He fired the gun at one of his men, who fell limply into his own pool of blood and then pointed it back at Ryoichi. "You know I can shoot your son, Mikan."

"Don't touch him!" Mikan cried out. I caught her in the nick of time or else Keisuke's men could have fired at us. I wouldn't be surprised if they received a shoot to kill memo from Persona without the principal's knowledge. When I felt Mikan calm down, I let go of her slowly.

"Mr. Hyuuga, I'm impatiently waiting."

Damn! Damn everything to hell! The only thing my father ever mentioned to me was to keep a certain pendant safe at all times. And that pendant was the same one that I gave the idiot before my presumed death. "Do you have the necklace I gave you?" I muttered to the idiot.

Mikan looked at me with a confused expression. "Of course, I always wear it with me." She said, as she took it off her neck and gave it to me.

"This is what my father gave me before he died," I shouted, showing the principal the clear heart shaped diamond. "I swear this is it. So I don't know what words you-" I stopped speaking when I heard Mikan gasp.

"Give it to me," she said urgently, grabbing the necklace from me. She then took the pendant and placed it under the moonlight. "It can only be seen in the moonlight." I heard her mutter to herself. Mikan examined it closely and closed her eyes but I could see that see her mouth was moving as if she was memorizing something. After a minute, she snapped her eyes wide and placed the pendant on top of her palms.

"I say unto thee,

Hear my call, hear my plea

Return to thee which I have hidden

For what I have thy have banish must now return to thee

Return Forbidden Book"

After she spoke those strange words, the pendant disappeared and the ground began to shake. Suddenly, the ground where the idiot was standing opened slightly and out appeared a black ancient covered book that was floating beside her. The front cover had funny symbols written on it but it seemed that only the idiot could read what the cover said.

"This is what you wanted," Mikan yelled at her father as she grabbed the book. "Now give me back my son!"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk," Principal Keisuke said, still aiming his gun at Ryoichi. Gone was the Ryoichi's frightened face. Instead, he was looking at his mother with wonder as if he couldn't believe that his mother was capable of doing that. "You don't know how long I have waited for this moment to come. Ever since I found out where some of the missing pages to my grandfather's diary were, I couldn't wait for this day to come."

"Then take the book!" I stated furiously, calculating the possible steps I could take to retrieve Ryoichi.

"It's not that simple," Mikan's father said. "Only Ms. Sakura can read from the book. I was so surprised when I accidently found out Ms. Sakura knew how to read the gypsy symbols. I never dared to learn about her strange grandfather before. But after I knew she could read those symbols, I made sure to learn everything about Ms. Sakura's past." He said, smiling. "And out of all the strangers in this small world, Mikan's mother had to leave it with someone who was related to Takashi."

"That's why you had that sign in front of your desk," the idiot accused. "You wanted to see if anyone could recognize it."

"Yes, I was surprised when I had you read it and you did. I was so happy but then your mother had to use that spell. Because I found out too late about the spell Yuka casted, you couldn't read it and nor would I be able to get from the flame caster the key to summon the book. I was even happier when I learned that the flame caster was still alive. I thought all my efforts would go down the drain when the Mr. Hyuuga was assumed dead but then here we are, you have the book in your hand," Principal Keisuke said happily. "Now, the real celebration begins."

Keisuke

"Damn you!" My daughter cried out. If it wasn't for the Hyuuga who was pulling Mikan back tightly, I knew she'd have tried to jump forward and scratch my eyes out. Her eyes were blazing with fury. "My son is not some kind of guinea pig to be tested on!" Mikan spat. "I got you your fucking book, so give me back my son!"

"I can't allow that," I said with a sly grin, holding her son's collar tightly. I could feel the shudder from the boy who was trying his best not show he was scared. "I still need your son. You still remember the rules of engagement, don't you Ms. Sakura and Mr. Hyuuga? This is to make certain that neither of you do something foolish."

"Foolish?" Mikan shrieked after successfully taking off the flame caster's hands from her body. "You need me to read from the book right?" She slowly turned around, chuckling. "Am I not the only one in this ENTIRE planet who can read it?" Mikan asked with a laugh. She placed her gun to her temple and threatened, "WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELF RIGHT NOW? IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT BY FOOLISH?"

Startled at the turns of events, I looked at Persona and signaled the others not to make any sudden moves. I was impressed by how Mikan found a flaw in this situation. I should have taken away the weapons Imai must have given her. From the expression on Mikan's face, she was ready to do some serious damage. I lowered my gun from the boy's head but still pointed it to his back and looked at the Hyuuga. The Hyuuga had a look of surprise on his face and was muttering something fast under his breath. He must not have known that Mikan was going to do this.

"Don't you even dare think I'm not serious Principal Keisuke," she warned crisply, cocking the gun. "Give me back my son! NOW!"

The Hyuuga was darting his eyes back and forth at me and Mikan. I was able to read from his lips a 'you're one crazy, stupid mother, you know that?'

"MY SON!" Mikan demanded, completely ignoring the Hyuuga. She was holding the gun firmly.

"The exchange?" I asked in a sardonic tone.

"Give Ryoichi to Natsume and I'll come with you willingly," she replied grimly.

I couldn't afford to have Mikan shoot herself because of her ability to read from the book. "Damn," I muttered. I moved back slowly. "If I give him back, you'll still come with me?" I mocked.

"I've never broken my word," Mikan answered coldly.

"Alright," I said, not bothering to wait any longer. The sooner Mikan read from the book, the sooner everything would be completed. I have no use for the boy anyway. "At the count of three, we'll both lower our guns at the same time. Ryoichi, run back to your mother as fast as your tiny feet can," I said sarcastically. "Understand?" The boy nodded his head, preparing to run to his mother.

"Mikan," the Hyuuga spoke.

"Just take Ryoichi away from here, Natsume," Mikan ordered. "There isn't time to argue. Our son's life is at stake here."

"Damn it," cursed the Hyuuga, nodding with a jerk of his head.

"Mom…"

Ignoring her son, Mikan started the count off, "One."

"Two," I sneered.

"Three," we said together. We both lowered our guns but then I felt a familiar presence that was coming my way. I quickly looked at Persona. "SHE'S HERE!"

"NULLIFY!"

Ryoichi was going to make his first step when the Hyuuga sensed what I was going to do. He leapt forward to get his son but wasn't quick enough because I grabbed the boy's collar just in time and tossed him to Persona who caught him. I delivered a powerful kick to the flame caster's stomach and ducked the firing shots that my daughter must have sent at me. I surprised her by appearing behind her, accurately shooting the guns off her hands and placing my gun against her back at the exact moment I felt a gun on my forehead. I looked up with a sly grin.

It was Yuka.

And she did not look happy.

"Good evening, Yuka," I said cheerfully. "What brings you to the Academy so late at nigh-"

"Shut the fuck up!" Yuka hissed. "Don't mess with me, Keisuke. Let my daughter and her son go!"

"No," I said firmly, pushing the gun into Mikan's back. I knew very well that she wouldn't hesitate to fire hers. Her only problem was that our precious daughter was in the middle. Yuka knew that if she shot me, I would still be able to shoot our daughter. So it was a lose/lose situation.

"If I were you Hyuuga, I wouldn't go near Persona," I said out loud. The Hyuuga would definitely try to do something outrageous just to get his son back. "The more you do, the more you put your son at risk of making Persona use his Death Alice on him…Oh yeah…he can't," I smirked at Yuka. "Yuka has nullified our Alices, making it impossible for anyone of us to use our powers. But then Persona still has his whip to choke your son."

Mikan gasped while Yuka dug the gun into my forehead. "YOU BASTARD!" Yuka hissed.

"Bastard?" I asked, chuckling. "I assure you, Yuka, that I am a full blooded Asami."

"Did you hear that?" I heard Persona taunt the Hyuuga. "I can still kill your son…slowly."

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" The Hyuuga yelled but I knew it worked. The Hyuuga wouldn't move a muscle. "Before this night is over, I swear to every god there is that you're going to die!"

"Mom… mommy… I'm alright, don't worry about me," Ryoichi called out, struggling to get out of Persona's grasp. "Mr. Shin… please help my mom."

"Don't worry Ryoichi. Your mom is much stronger than you think she is," Hyuuga said in an assuring tone. "She's a tough idiot."

"That's right, daughter," I said sarcastically. "You don't have to worry about a thing in the next few hours. Actually, no one will remember this whole incident."

"What are you talking about?" Yuka asked.

"After I wake Kiyoshi's soul, I'll be able to turn back time," I announced proudly.

"What?!" Hyuuga asked, shocked and then laughed. "Why didn't anyone tell me that the idiot's father was a complete lunatic?"

"You see, Kiyoshi wasn't that strong," I explained, disregarding the Hyuuga's comment. "He couldn't control Shax's spirit. But I can. And when I do, I'll make sure we'll all be a family."

"A family?" Mikan echoed.

"Yes, dear daughter, a family," I gritted out. "I thought my dream of reviving Kiyoshi's soul would never come true. No Hijiri line was able to produce an heir that had neither the Ghost Alice nor someone who could ready the ancient gypsy language. But then Youichi was born and to my delight, he had the Alice we were looking for. I made sure to watch over the welfare of Mr. Youichi and to make sure no harm would come to him. And then you stepped in," I said softly, patting her hair like a pet. "The reason why I made you, dear Mikan, to train under the Dangerous Ability was to spite your mother."

"And you succeeded," Yuka said with ferocity. "How I hated you for tainting Mikan's hands and soul! Mikan was innocent!"

I gave a sarcastic laugh. "Then you should've known the consequences when you made that choice! When you chose to hurt me!"

"Why now?" Mikan asked quietly, "Why did you have to wait this long? Why didn't you do it when you learned I could read from the book? You had me and Youichi in your hands, completely tucked away."

"Because young Youichi wasn't old enough to call upon the likes of Kiyoshi, his Alice was not that strong. Mr. Hijiri could call on simple spirits but not those from the forbidden book. And of course Lady Yukiko's annoying interference, my irritating rival," I said with a sigh. "I knew she wanted to revive her dead lover so I had to be careful since I wasn't sure who was my foe or ally inside the Academy. Did you know how angry I was when I learned that only the eldest of the Hyuugas would know the way to summon the book? The great Takashi made sure that it would not be easy to find the forbidden book. Indeed, no one would ever think that a Hyuuga would be part of the key to finding the book because back then the Hyuuga clan hated our five founders for destroying their family." I narrowed my eyes at Yuka, "And of course, you had to do something we did not agree on."

"I'm so fucking glad I did it," Yuka lashed out.

"Pardon me for my early so-called death," Hyuuga mocked, interrupting Yuka's fury. "You knew Lady Yukiko had some asset inside the school and you were afraid that they'd go after the idiot and Youichi. That's why you allowed them to leave the Academy. You were sure of yourself that Lady Yukiko wouldn't find them because you knew you would be able to convince the idiot's mother to use a spell."

"We agreed on a spell that would enable Mikan and her gang to be forever hidden by the people who knew her. Only those who knew about the plan weren't affected. But then Yuka had made a very odd request to kidnap you and her daughter. It was only later on I finally understood when I was given reports that Mikan had taken an interest in you when you were still Nathan. I've always silently watched Mikan from a distance, so I knew when she smiled at you – you had to be Natsume Hyuuga."

"You based it on a smile?" Hyuuga asked sarcastically. "What keen senses you have."

"You don't get it, Mr. Hyuuga. When you guys were still in the Academy, there was one smile she reserved only for you. And when she thought you were gone, it was forever robbed from her. I've seen her date other men but she never shared that smile. And then you came. Isn't that right Yuka?" I asked with a sly smile. Yuka knew how it felt to watch our child, who would never recognize us as her parents. There had never been a time when I talked to my daughter and saw resentment and coldness in her eyes. "But if it wasn't for Mikan being attracted to you when you were still Nathan Shin, I would have given up," I continued. "When Yuka informed me that you were indeed Natsume Hyuuga, I encouraged her to undo her mistake. But when she told me the consequence of you choosing the dream world, I anxiously waited, held my breathe as she struggled to regain her memories about you. It was a huge gamble for me because if she did not succeed then everything I tried to achieve would go to waste." I smiled, "But you did not fail me. Yes, you did not fail me at all."

"Why are you doing this?" I heard Mikan whisper, "Make me understand."

"Ask your mother," I said with contempt. "It's her fault all of you are in this situation."

"My fault? Why would this be my fault? I never asked you to do this," Yuka said coldly. "And you think your daughter will forgive you with what you're doing?"

"My DAUGHTER," I gritted out. "—never acknowledged me as her father, thanks to you!"

"DON'T POINT FINGERS AT ME!" Yuka yelled.

"AND WHO AM I SUPPOSED TO BLAME!" I roared back. "WHO WAS THE REASON WHY I NEVER KNEW I HAD A DAUGHTER IN THE FIRST PLACE BEFORE SHE CAME TO THIS SCHOOL?!"

"Is this why you're doing this?" Hyuuga asked. I could sense a hint of disgust and surprise in his voice.

"Her mother never gave me the chance to be a father to Mikan," I explained furiously. "I loved her! I loved her with all my heart and soul but what did she do? She betrayed me when she walked away from me and killed my parents!"

"I never killed them! My father did what he had to do… your father killed mine!" Yuka burst out. "My mother was innocent!"

"And so was my mother but our fathers do not seem to agree," I said crisply. "So now we're even."

Yuka's furious expression suddenly changed with a mixture of shock and understanding. She surprised me by slowly lowering her gun to her side. She did not put it away but held onto it tightly. "I have my reasons why I hid her from you," Yuka said quietly and looked at Mikan. "I didn't leave you for just any reason."

"But you did. You left us!" I said with loathing. "You knew that I would have done everything, ANYTHING to keep you safe. Yet, you denied me the chance to have a family! I begged you to come back to me! I BEGGED YOU!"

"I had to do it, Keisuke!" Yuka replied forcefully. "Believe me. I wanted to be with you. Even if my father said your father killed my mother-"

"It wasn't my fault Yuka!" I lashed out. "I didn't kill your mother."

"I know!" she said softly.

"Then why, damn you! Why did you leave me? Why did you forsake my love?" I shouted. My eyes stung with tears. I felt my chest rising and falling rapidly. It was the question I've always wanted her to answer.

"Because I love you Keisuke, that's why I could not be by your side," Yuka answered, tears sparkling in her eyes. "I refused to be with you because of the future that was in store for our daughter. Before Mikan was born, I was planning to go back to you. I was willing to leave my life behind for you…but…" She looked at Mikan. "I gave birth to you."

"What did the idiot do?" I heard the Hyuuga question.

"What did I do?" Mikan asked, confused.

Yuka wiped away her tears before answering her. "My mother's Alice is predicting the future. Once she touches someone with her bare hands, she can see what the future holds for that person. I must have inherited some of her Alice, so when I gave birth to you… I saw you killing your father."

"What…" Mikan said in an appalled tone.

"Maybe because I was going to turn my back on my father, my future changed. So I thought the best way for neither of you to get killed is for you…" Yuka trailed off, her eyes blinking rapidly.

"To live a normal life…" The Hyuuga boy said lazily. "Thank god, the idiot isn't normal."

"My mind was all set to come back to you Keisuke, even if my father disinherited me. But then I saw our daughter…her future," Yuka explained in a soft tone, her head down. "I saw her being asked who to save, her future son or you. So I came to a painful decision to protect both of you. To let our daughter live a normal life without any worries or fears about being an Alice user. Because I knew…if she killed you Keisuke," she looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "I wasn't sure if my heart could accept it. I would rather have our daughter hate me…than for me to despise her for killing you."

Watching Yuka bare her soul to me, telling me the true reasons she left me made my heart ache. "You're lying! You left me because you thought I was weak! That I wasn't good enough for you! That I couldn't protect you!" I shouted, trying to numb the pain I was feeling in my chest.

"No! It's not true!" Yuka sobbed, her shoulders shaking. "I just wanted to protect you. I wanted to protect our family."

I saw truth in Yuka's eyes, she was telling the truth. I didn't realize that I had let go of Mikan because she was now facing me, tears in her eyes. I slowly backed away but kept the gun pointed at her. I quickly brushed away the tears that escaped my eyes with my other hand; I could not let the walls I'd built around my heart to collapse so easily. I refused to allow all the years of careful planning to be forgotten easily because of the truth I saw in Yuka's eyes and understanding in my daughter's.

"Dad…" I heard Mikan whisper. My heart pounded rapidly as she whispered the one word I had longed to hear from her. "I don't need you to change the past because then I wouldn't have met Hotaru. If it wasn't for Hotaru, I would have never met the world's greatest jerk that mankind has ever produced," she said with a teary smile. "And if I never met Hotaru and the jerk, I would never have met our son, Ryoichi. I want to keep these memories, Dad. No matter how much pain and suffering I went through…I would never trade it for anything," she walked slowly towards me and lowered my gun. "When I left the Academy, I was filled with anger and hate but after I gave birth to my son…all of it disappeared. I don't want to live a life filled with anger, disappointment and hate. I have my family back now and I wouldn't mind knowing my parents."

My hands began to shake as I finally realized what I'd done. I had pointed a gun and threatened to kill my own daughter. I had almost wrecked my daughter's life.

Mikan must have read my mind because she put both of her hands on my shaking hands and shook her head. "It's okay. I forgive you."

Stunned that my daughter would forgive me so easily, I backed away from her. "How can you forgive me so easy after what I put you through…what I almost put your son through?" I asked. As every second passed by, I was disgusted with myself. "I don't…I don't deserve your forgiveness," I croaked, gulping down the bitter taste in my mouth. "But…I'm truly sorry for whatever hurt I cost you."

Uncle Jinno was right. I had brought the Academy and our family name that my father had protected and love…to shame. "Yuka…" I said hoarsely, looking at Yuka who was crying. "I'm sorry for what my father did," I turned around. "Persona, let the kid and the others go. Have my men be informed that Mikan and the rest are not to be harmed," I ordered before heading back to the school.

"Keisuke!" Yuka called out.

I stopped but didn't look back, patiently waiting for Yuka to continue.

"I would still love to drink coffee early morning at the old place…at our old place."

I felt as if my chest would burst out with all of the emotion I was feeling. Choking down a sob, I waited for three seconds before I replied, "I would love that too." And continued to walk back to the school and readied myself for Uncle Jinno's lightening wrath. It would take more than a few years to rebuild the foundation of trust with my family. But Yuka's simple invitation and my daughter's spoken forgiveness was enough for me to make the first step to remorse. I looked up to the dark sky and smiled a small smile. One day, we'll be a family.

I suddenly stopped when I heard a shriek. It was Mikan. I turned around but was surprised to find myself being struck hard on the head. I tried to stay awake to see who my attacker was and when I blinked, I saw the last man I expected to find. It was Yuka's father.

Hajime Azumi.

That was my last thought before blacking out.

Yuka Azumi

Lady Yukiko was right as I watched Keisuke disappear into the shadows. She told me that Keisuke's hatred was based on me leaving him and the only way to persuade him to stop was to make him understand why I had to leave him and why I didn't want him to know he had a daughter. Now that Keisuke knows the truth, I hope one day what we both wished, will come true.

But there was one thing that was bugging me. Lady Yukiko said that Keisuke had been taunted by my father who had told him that he wasn't strong enough to protect me.

At the beginning of our discussion, I could not believe my father would do that but remembering the hatred my father had for the Asami family for killing my mother, I reluctantly accepted it. My father had loved my mother very deeply which is why he held a strong grudge against Keisuke's father and had vowed to bring down everything the Asamis have ever come to love. I knew about my father's goal and unwillingly accepted it for the sake of my mother but I did not expect my father to goad Keisuke to revive Kiyoshi.

I turned around to talk to Mikan and explain the truth further when I stopped abruptly.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Mikan screamed. Mikan and Natsume were next to each other and both of them had genuine fear in their eyes.

Persona, who was smiling manically, placed the tip of his dagger to Ryoichi's throat and was gripping him hard by the hair. "Don't cry, little boy. Crying won't save you."

"What the hell are you doing, Persona?" I bellowed. "Keisuke ordered you to retrieve her friends and to give back her son!" I was completely bewildered. Why was Persona disobeying Keisuke's orders? Never once had he defied Keisuke, no matter how odd the request. Why now?

For once in my life I was glad that I had used my Nullification Alice ahead of time because I could feel that Natsume wanted to literally burn Persona alive. He had the expression of a murderer…which I completely understood. What he was doing best was to keep Mikan at bay before she made things worse. If I didn't do it, things would be much more difficult because Persona would be able to use his Death Alice on Ryoichi.

"Principal Keisuke stopped being my master the day he informed me why he wanted to raise the great Kiyoshi," Persona replied happily. "I do not wish to serve a master who has no desires to use the dark powers to conquer nations. I find it pathetic that our dear Principal would use it for him to get back the family he was supposed to have."

"Traitor!" I hissed. "You've been betraying Keisuke since the beginning!"

"You are correct," Persona answered as he returned his gaze to me defiantly and looked at Natsume. "I've been passing information to Lady Yukiko without your knowledge. You think that Lady Yukiko is just a prim and proper lady? You have no idea how cunning your Lady Yukiko is."

"Lady…Lady Yukiko is not a bad person," Ryoichi cried out. "Don't believe him, mommy!"

"Shut up!" Persona snapped. He pushed the tip deeper into his throat and a small trickle of blood started to run down Ryoichi's throat. "One step, Ms. Sakura and I'll slice your son's throat first before you even get a chance to kill me," he warned.

Mikan was about to say something when she was cut off by a familiar voice who I've known my whole life.

"Persona, enough! We need the boy!" The voice growled.

Out of the shadows came a grey haired man, who was as tall as a basketball player with scars all over his face. He was wearing an expensive business suit as if he was attending a very important meeting. His facial expression was dead serious and was carrying a walking stick to help his limping gait.

"Father…" I whispered.

Mikan and Natsume suddenly looked at me with shock.

My father studied me for a moment, surprised to see me here. "What are you doing here, Yuka?" he asked coldly. When Persona saw my father approach him, he hesitated for a second before hiding his dagger and making Ryoichi stand up properly. I could tell the cut on Ryoichi's neck wasn't that deep, in fact I noticed that it was starting to disappear.

"What are you doing here, father?" I replied angrily. "Since when did Persona start working for you?"

Ignoring me, he turned his back to me and scrutinized Ryoichi as if he was an interesting creature. "So, you're my grandson," I heard my father mutter before turning to Mikan and Natsume. I quickly stepped in front of them, knowing very well what my father was about to do. "She is my daughter!" I said, completely livid. "DON'T YOU DARE THINK OF USING HER!"

Expectantly, I felt a mind-blowing slap across my face. "How dare you speak to me like that?" My father said, outraged. "I'm doing this for your mother! For my wife!"

"Don't do this father. Don't make me your enemy," I pleaded, as the pain of the slap began to numb. I refused to look at him. "I don't want to fight you."

"You disgust me Yuka for choosing them instead of avenging your mother," my father stated. "I did not expect you to betray me for them."

"Mother is dead father," I said, looking at him stubbornly. "Mother wouldn't want you to do this!"

He slapped me once again. "You do not speak for your mother!" he answered me with a stony glare. "If you have chosen this filthy family of yours over me, then I have no daughter."

I stared at my father and saw in his eyes that he wasn't lying. I swallowed the fierce ache in my throat and returned my father's fierce gaze. "So be it." Just as I was about to make a move, my father lifted his hand.

"I wouldn't do that," he warned. He made a slight nod and suddenly a body descended onto the ground.

It was Keisuke and he was unconscious.

"Don't move!" I barked at Mikan who attempted to check out the wound on top of her father's head. "Your son is still in danger." I noticed Ryoichi was starting to lose consciousness because his eyelids were beginning to fall. From the looks of it, he was having the Alice fever all kids go through which meant Ryoichi was in a very vulnerable state.

"I am quite aware that you have the forbidden book in your hands, Ms. Sakura," my father said in a grim tone as he stood next to Persona. "As much as I want the show to be rolling because of our unexpected guest, I must ask you Ms. Sakura to give me the last secret word to revive Kiyoshi so that I may cause great havoc into this world."

"Unexpected guest?" Natsume murmured.

"Indeed Mr. Hyuuga," my father said, turning to him. "Outside the gates of the Academy, a little war has already begun. Apparently, Lady Yukiko and Lady Haruka have ordered an attack or act as a back up to help you in your mission Mr. Hyuuga or is it Mr. Shin?" he asked icily. I saw that Ryoichi's eyes opened with shock, as he understood who Nathan Shin really was.

"Dad?"

With that simple word from Ryoichi, it seemed to break Natsume because he roughly pushed past me.

"LET GO OF MY SON YOU BASTARD! LET HIM GO!" Natsume bellowed furiously. He would have been dead by his next step if it wasn't for Mikan who held him back. "IS THIS THE FUCKING REACTION YOU WANT FROM ME PERSONA?! IS THIS IT?!"

"You've finally proved to me that you are weak!" Persona gave a triumphant laugh as he finally got what he wanted from the flame caster. "You can never save anyone with that emotion."

If I hadn't asked Keisuke what Persona wanted from the Hyuuga, I wouldn't understand the bastard's glee. According to Keisuke, Persona wanted a flicker of emotion from the Hyuuga so that he'd succumb to the greatest weakness of mankind, love.

"If I were you, Mr. Hyuuga. I'd stop your babbling," my father said harshly. "Emotions will just make you weak and when you show it to your enemy they know exactly where to strike you hard," he snapped his fingers and a masked person appeared. "Have you obliterated Keisuke's followers?"

"Yes, master," the man said in a muffled voice. "The ritual is ready."

My father nodded. "Have Principal Keisuke tied up on the sacrifice table-"

"What?!" I asked, enraged.

"-and immediately bring Mr. Hijiri, Ms. Imai and Mr. Nogi here." The masked man nodded to my father's command and vanished. At the exact moment, Ryoichi collapsed.

"Ryoichi!" Mikan cried out but she stood her ground.

"His fever must be up again," I heard Natsume murmur. His whole body was rigid as they watched Persona carry him.

I could not afford to attack. There were many openings to make an assault but zero percentage of saving everyone. If I made one single move, Persona would stab Ryoichi. I knew my father had some sniper men ready to strike. I just needed to know how many of them were hiding. After what seemed like an eternity, three men showed up with what my father asked them to bring to him.

"Natsume!" Ruka said, "You're here!"

Ruka and Youichi had some bruises on their faces but they were alive and had alarmed expressions on their faces. Hotaru's was stony.

"Youichi, are you alright?" Natsume called out.

"I'm sorry I failed you," Youichi replied quietly, his head down.

"Don't be ashamed, Youichi!" Natsume barked. "You've watched the idiot and my son well! I'm proud of you."

The noise from outside was getting louder and my father noticed it because he whispered something into Persona's ears to which Persona smiled brightly. Persona snapped his hand and mayhem began. A large amount of men came attacking us. Because I had used my nullification and it would only wear off after an hour, Natsume could not use his Alice to defend him. My father could not use his Alice so he had to resort to his old back up plan. Grave violence.

As I shot my father's men and those who came after my daughter and Natsume, I had come to the point where I had no more bullets left. As much as we tried to fend them off, it wasn't enough. My father had been well-prepared. We were outnumbered from the very beginning, I knew we'd be defeated. I tried to struggle out of the grasp of those who brought me down because one of them had hit me hard on the head. My anger flared as I saw Mikan with a bleeding lip and her hair, disheveled. The Hyuuga had some cuts and must have taken a few punches in the face because of his swollen eye and red cheeks but he didn't seem to mind because he was also glaring at the one who had hit Mikan.

"Let me tell you a story," my father said calmly as Mikan was brought to him. They made Mikan kneel down onto her knees and pushed her chin up by pulling her hair down roughly. "You see, all this began when your father's father had to go off and kill my innocent wife when HE fucking asked MY wife to predict your FATHER'S future!" My father said crisply. "And when my wife told him what his son would do, your grandpa killed my wife! So from then on, I have done everything in my power to bring down the Academy, the Asamis and everything they loved." He gripped Mikan's face. "Before your FATHER-" he gritted out, "-learned about the Hyuuga boy having the key to summoning the book, I knew who could read from the book."

"Grandpa…" Mikan eyes grow big. "No…"

"Yes, lil poor grandpa," my father nodded as he wiped Mikan's tears. "You see Mikan, the real reason why you can read the gypsy language is not because your grandfather taught you. It's because it's in your blood. Takashi's family name is Sakura. My wife's maiden name was Sakura and her elder brother, Makoto was a Sakura- the man you call grandpa."

"What?" I whispered.

I saw my father look at me. "That's right daughter. The day you gave your daughter, luck was on your side because that stranger happened to be your mother's brother."

"But mom said she didn't have any brothers." I called out. I could not believe this new revelation. That's why I felt at ease when I gave Mikan to him. He must have known I was Yuna's daughter.

"Correct… from her mother's side," my father said quietly. "Yuna's mother was the second wife of the late Miwa Sakura, your grandfather. According to Yuna before she was born, her half brother Makoto did not like the marriage between Yuna's mother and his father, so he left. Eventually, Yuna was able to meet Makoto, who I guessed taught her how to read the gypsy symbols. But we must not waste our time on the past." He said, caressing Mikan's cheek.

My father held out his hand and one of his men carefully placed a scroll in his hand. "I've spent time and fortune to find this. It appears that there is another way of summoning Kiyoshi. I asked your grandpa very politely if he could read the passage for me and to tell me what I needed. At the beginning, he vigilantly kept on refusing me. He said he didn't know what I was talking about but I threatened to kill you and he cooperated." He stood up straight. "Except the old man had to have a fucking heart attack just before he finished writing down the words that Mr. Hijiri would be reading for us."

"You caused grandpa to die," Mikan said in a hoarse tone. "You killed him."

"And so will your friends, if you don't do what you are told," he said, grimly. "Now, Mikan Sakura will you read the passage?"

Mikan put her head down and I shuddered when I heard Mikan crying.

"Please?" My father asked sarcastically.

Silence from her.

"READ IT!" My father yelled. "READ IT!"

After a minute, Mikan slowly lifted her head, looked at him and spat on his face. "Over my dead body!" Mikan shouted. My father smiled at her, wiping his face and then slapped her hard.

"MIKAN!" Her friends cried out.

"Stop it father!" I screamed.

"TELL ME!" My father roared as he slapped her twice.

"TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF HER!" Natsume yelled, trying frantically to get away from his captors. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"

"STOP IT FATHER!" I screamed again.

"NEVER!" Mikan answered recklessly. "I WOULD RATHER LET YOU TORTURE ME THEN GIVE YOU WHAT YOU WANT!"

He gripped Mikan's cheeks again which must be hard because she was wincing. "You don't want to tell me-"

"Mikan!" Her friend Hotaru cried out. "Please let her go!"

"-then I shall force you!" My father yelled. Nodding to his men, they put Ruka, Youichi and Hotaru in one line. He then took out a gun placed it forward.

"Father, stop!"

"Eeny," he pointed to Ruka, "Meeny" pointing at Youichi, "Miny" pointing at Hotaru, "Moe" He pointed the gun towards Hotaru's stomach. My stomach lurched because I knew why my father pointed the gun to Hotaru's stomach. My father must have known that Ms. Hotaru Imai was pregnant.

"You don't think I knew about it?" My father asked the shocked Hotaru who had covered her flat stomach. "My sources have reported your odd behavior Ms. Imai. The way you'd protectively place your hands on your stomach when you think no one was looking. You want the baby, don't you Ms. Imai?" He then narrowed his eyes at her. "The real reason why you didn't escape was because you didn't want to harm your baby or the father."

"Hotaru…" Mikan whispered.

He walked towards Ruka, who by his furious expression wanted to punch my father. "Tell me Mr. Nogi, do you want to be a father and have this baby that the young Imai is now carrying or are you willingly to risk the poor baby's life because of Ms. Sakura's stubbornness?"

"Stop it! Don't listen to him Ruka!" Hotaru cried and was silenced when her captor covered her mouth.

"Mr. Nogi?" My father taunted and gripped his head to make him look at Hotaru, who was biting the hand of the man who was covering her mouth. "DO you want this CHILD?"

Ruka looked at Natsume and then at Mikan.

"Don't blame her Ruka!" Natsume shouted.

"No." My father said simply, "Alright then." He turned to one of his men and gave him his walking stick. "Strike Ms. Imai, directly in the stomach!"

"No father!" I called out, disgusted at his true nature. "STOP IT!"

"STOP! DAMN YOU! YES, I WANT THE CHILD!" Ruka shouted, stopping my father from giving his walking stick. "Don't hurt our baby!" Ruka begged, looking at Mikan, "Mikan…please."

"Do you hear that granddaughter? Your friend is pleading for you not to hurt his innocent child," my father taunted and turned to Mikan. "I thought you'd do everything for your friends, Mikan."

Mikan was crying on her spot, shaking her head. "No! No! No! NO!!!"

I felt like a pathetic mother. I couldn't do anything to help save my daughter, her son and friends. She was going through so much pain because of us. Because of our foolish pride, hatred and mistakes. Our children were the ones paying for everything. "Mikan," I whispered.

"No?" My father said laughing. "You know I can't kill the conjurer," he signaled his men to put Hotaru in front of Mikan and got back the gun he gave Persona to hold. "One last time!" He warned. "Eeny!" Pointing to the head of Hotaru.

"Mikan!" Ruka shouted.

"Meeny!" My father pointed to Hotaru's stomach.

"FATHER!" I shouted with all my might.

Both girls were crying.

"MIKAN!!! DON'T LET HIM KILL HOTARU!" Ruka begged, crying.

"Miny!" to Hotaru's head.

"FATHER!"

"MIKAN!"

My father cocked his gun, ready to pull the trigger. "M-"

"ALRIGHT!" Mikan screamed. "I'll read it. Don't hurt Hotaru."

My father nodded and withdrew his weapon. "You're a very good friend," he said, patting Mikan's hair, "Such a good friend."

"TAKE YOUR FILTY HANDS OFF HER, YOU OLD MAN!" Natsume exclaimed. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF MY FAMILY!" Suddenly, Natsume was able to shoot out a flaming ball directly at my father who would have gotten hit if not for one of his loyal men who pushed him aside and took the hit for him.

My father looked at me and he knew what I was thinking, the nullification period was about to conclude.

"GET ALL OF THEM TO THE FOREST!" Hajime Azumi commanded.

Mikan

Please tell me I'm dreaming. That everything I've seen is just a dream.

I slowly opened my eyes but my wish did not come true. Instead, I felt once again a curl of nausea in the pit of my stomach. My knees began to shake and I was afraid anytime it would buckle.

In the middle of the forest, the place where all Alice students were forbidden to go, a sadistic ceremony was about to begin. There were no trees, no plants, not even grass. It was an empty wasteland. Except for five large rocks that Hotaru, Koko, Yuu, Ruka and Natsume were standing on. All of them had tape on their mouths and each of them had a gun pointing at their backs. Everyone was far from each other, just one wrong move from them, they could be shot at. I saw from the corner of my eye that Hotaru was desperately trying to tell me something but I decided not to find out what it was to keep her safe.

If my friends were standing on those stones, Youichi and Ryoichi were each inside this huge circle. My father was still unconscious and was tightly tied around this huge stone table. Youichi looked very haggard but he was weakly smiling at me, telling me that he was okay and not to worry about him. I felt tired from crying but I had to be optimistic.

Youichi was on my upper left and Ryoichi was on my upper right side, each of them were a few good meters away from me. I wanted so much to hug my son, to tell him that everything would be fine, that nothing was going to hurt him now that I was here. But I couldn't. Ryoichi had passed out when we were brought here. He was so hot when I was able to briefly touch him. Seeing him beside me made me worry. My mother's father, Hajimi Azumi hasn't mention why my son was next to me.

"Have you written everything for Mr. Hijiri?" Persona asked in a cheerful voice.

"Where are Aoi, Shino and my…mother?" I asked quietly, as I gave him the paper.

"About to be killed," he answered and walked back to Hajimi's side.

The scroll that Hajimi gave me wasn't an easy read. My grandpa taught me how to read it but it's been a long time since I've read ancient gypsy language and this particular summoning was very complex for me. Fortunately, what Hajimi wanted from me, I was able to make out. I just didn't know what would happen once the summoning began.

When we heard a loud booming sound near, Hajimi approached Youichi and gave him the paper. Youichi was about to rip the paper apart when Hajimi whispered something into his ear and pointed to Natsume. I saw a tiny nod from Youichi while he clutched the paper tightly. With a satisfying smile, Hajimi headed my way. "Let us start the ceremony. I feel the unwanted visitors are close and have additional reinforcements," he said, pushing something sharp from behind me.

Jerking forward from the sharp pain, I nodded. The first step according to the scroll was to read from the forbidden book, a protection spell. I waited for Hajimi's signal before I opened the book. "Make sure that no one disturbs this ritual!" Hajimi Azumi barked. "Go on, Ms. Decoder," he whispered behind me.

Shuddering from his touch, I took a look at my sleeping son and took one deep breath before I opened the book and looked for the right page.

"Hurry up, Ms. Sakura," Hajimi hissed. "We have very little time. Don't make me lose my patience."

Finally seeing the page, I took a close look at it and read the symbols before reading it out loud.

"Oh great and eternal virtue of the highest, which through thy disposition,

these being called to judgment , I worship thee, I invocate thee, I implore thee with all the strength of my mind,

that by thee, my present Prayers, consecrations, and conjurations be hallowed and wheresoever's

wicked spirits are called, in the virtue of thy names, they may come together from every shore,

and diligently fulfill the will of the conjurer and sacrificer.

Obey thy command! Heed thy call!

Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew; hundreds of whitish lines came out from the floor and rose towards the sky, making a barrier. The barrier only covered around Youichi, Ryoichi and my father. The circle lines that Youichi and Ryoichi were in and the table that my father was tied against, began to glow with strange writings on the ground.

"It's your turn, Mr. Hijiri!" I heard Hajimi roar.

I watched as Youichi brushed away his tears and with his shaking hands read the piece of paper.

"I conjure thee Shax and the body that thou used before thy was sealed

by thy holy names, grant me thy virtue and power, that I may be able to cite before me,

thy spirits which were cast down that they may speak with me

Hear my call, take thy gift- "

My heart began to pound as I saw Ryoichi's body slowly lift from the ground. "Ryoichi!" I screamed, my heart pounding.

"Don't move," Hajimi hissed and then showed me that he was pointing a dagger at the side of my stomach. "You see, Keisuke only used your son as bait, as something to threaten you into doing what he wants but I'm sure your father never had any intentions of hurting your son no matter how many times he threatened you," he explained sweetly. "The reason why your father is on that table is when Kiyoshi awakens, he'll immediately remember his hatred for the Asamis."

"-and dispatch by and by without delay,

with good will, and without the harm of my body, soul or goods."

"Then why do you need my son?" I asked hoarsely.

"Why?" he laughed. "The truth is, when the founders of this school summoned Shax that night, Lady Yukiko was there. It was Lady Yukiko that gave Kiyoshi temporary immortality. She had volunteered her Alice as Kiyoshi's protection. That's why no matter how many times they stabbed Kiyoshi, he would not die," he answered. "Young Ryoichi has the Healing Alice, something I thought Aoi would inherit but didn't. I had planned to use Aoi Hyuuga if she had the Healing Alice but lucky for her, she didn't. Unfortunately for your son, he did."

"Oh my god! You're going to use my son as Kiyoshi's shield!" I shouted, struggling for him to release me.

"That's correct. His Alice will be used to regenerate Kiyoshi's powers. Once Kiyoshi gets your son's Alice, he and his dead army will be unstoppable once more!" Hajime laughed. "The Academy will finally be destroyed and every nation in this world will remember what fear really means!"

"DON'T READ FROM THE PAPER!" I screamed at Youichi. "STOP YOUICHI!"

"Gather thee now spirits of the Seven Winds

and the Four Corners that all may pay heed to thy worker.

Come before me! I commanded thee!

Appear!"

The ground began to shake once again, the earth opened and out came a huge stone with writings all over. Suddenly, a burst of lightening hit my father who screamed in pain. A silver looking thread weaved around the stone. When the ground stopped shaking the stone shattered and out came a blackish smoke-like figure which seemed to have two reddish eyes. It loomed around Youichi before entering his body.

"YOUICHI!" I screamed, as I watched Youichi howl in pain.

Hajimi pushed me to one of his men. "HOLD HER AND TIE HER UP!" He commanded, as he walked towards the spirit.

"Who dares awaken me from my slumber?" A deep booming voice asked from Youichi. Youichi's eyes had turned a dark red color. His facial expression was like a serial killer, ready to murder.

"It is I," Hajimi called out before he bowed down. "Youichi Hijiri has awakened you but I am the reason why you are free great Kiyoshi."

"Do not call me by that name! His soul may be combined with mine but I am much stronger than that fool!" The voice boomed. "I am the great spirit, Shax!"

"Forgive me, great and powerful Shax," Hajimi called out. "I used the conjurer to call you since I am not capable of summoning you myself. I'd be willing to use my body for eternity if you do one thing for me."

"What is that thy dark heart wants?"

"Destroy this Academy with your Army and anything that stands in your way! Bring it down! Let it crumble to the ground!" Hajimi pleaded. "Here is my offering for you to accomplish your feat!" He then pointed to Ryoichi and my father. "A direct bloodline from those who've betrayed you. Keisuke Asami and Ryoichi Hijiri! Take their Alice! Use the Asami lightening Alice for additional strength and the Hyuuga for shield so no one may dare harm you, great Shax!"

"NOOOOO!!!!" I shouted.

"A Hyuuga and Asami?" Youichii asked with a mischievous smile.

"Yes, my lord. I implore you to take the Hyuuga's Alice at once before it is too late," Hajime said.

"So be it," Youichi answered. He raised his right hands towards Ryoichi and the other one to my father.

"Snap out of it Youichi!" I cried out.

But Youichi continued and lifted my son's body higher.

"With thy power, I command thee,

Give me thy strength, share me thy power.

So that I may smite thy enemies and be free from harm!"

At once, my father and son shrieked in pain as another flash of lightening appeared inside their circle. My son's scream pierced my heart and I could not do anything to help him. I watched as a thread came out of their bodies and flowed towards Youichi. As it entered Youichi, his body began to emit a yellowish glow. And on his left hand, I could see sparks of lightning.

"YES! GIVE ME THY POWER!" Youichi roared. He then lifted his hands up into the air. "COME FORTH MY LEGIONS! OBEY MY COMMAND! I CALL THEE TO FIGHT FOR YOUR MASTER!" The sky began to fill with continuous lightening and loud thunder with strong cold winds. Then, three huge black swirling portals began to appear.

"Youichi, stop it!" I screamed. It was the only thing I could do.

I saw the happiness in Hajimi's face as he kept on laughing. "THIS IS FOR YOU YUNA!" He shouted. "THE ACADEMY WILL FINALLY CRUMBLE!"

"HAJIMI STOP!"

I turned around to find a beautiful woman, with black hair flowing in the air, and a grim expression on her face. Beside her, there was the blue haired woman I had fought against in the forest with Natsume and on her left side was a man who clearly had a repugnant expression and then quickly changed to amusement when he noticed Natsume was tied up.

"You're too late Yukiko!" Hajimi announced with a chuckle. "I've already asked Kiyoshi my greatest wish and he is already granting it!"

"And then you shall die!" Yukiko said furiously. "ATTACK!"

Suddenly a massive army came rushing down and started fighting with Hajimi's army. From the distance I could see it was Tsubasa and Misaki. My heart began to fill with hope as I saw some of those loyal to the Academy fight, even my old teacher Mr. Narumi and Mr. Jinno were blasting everyone in their way. For the first time, Mr. Jinno seemed to be happy to participate in this situation. I was able to catch Aoi throwing flaming arrows into the air making it look like it was raining fireflies while Shino was trying to make his way towards me.

"You dare wish to fight the great Shax! Then be prepared for your death!" Youichi shouted. The black portals stopped swirling and that's when I knew the gates of hell were open once again. A thunderous war cry came out of the portal and out came hundreds of dead looking humans with swords and shields. "ATTACK THEM ALL! LEAVE NO HUMANS ALIVE!" Kiyoshi ordered. No matter how far Youichi would move, the lines connected to Ryoichi and my father continued to flow to Youichi.

The one who was holding me was pushing me out of the forest, probably to save himself. "NO! SOMEONE HELP ME!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as he lifted me up and continued to run back to the Academy. It seemed there were no people coming this way.

"SHUT UP BITCH!" The man yelled back as he hurriedly ran away from the chaotic scene.

"Leave me if you want to flee!" I screamed, hitting him on his back like a child. "I NEED TO SAVE MY SON!"

The man finally dropped me. "With you on my back and screaming in my ear like that, I won't be able to save myself. And now that my master has what he wants he won't mind me killing yo-"

The insane man wasn't able to finish his sentence because he got hit by a flaming whip which sent him flying very far. The man didn't bother to defend himself but ran the other way.

"Are you alright?" A gruff voice asked, burning the ropes off my hands and feet.

It was Natsume. I shook my head and leaned into his chest. "Natsume, our son," I murmured, trying to stop myself from crying.

Natsume brusquely wrapped his arms around me. "We'll figure out a way but right now I need you to be strong, I can't have my idiot give up because if you do, then I will."

I needed Natsume's hug, even for a second; it gave me a boost of confidence and assurance that we could save our son. "Where are the others?" I asked, pushing myself off him. "How did you escape?"

"Hajimi's men were mesmerized by the ritual and let down their attention. They must have forgotten about your mother's time limit. When Hotaru noticed it, she started whistling a bizarre tune. Suddenly the handcuffs came off at the exact moment Lady Yukiko came. All I know is Ruka followed Hotaru to get the inventions she left here at school. I didn't bother with the others because I saw someone dragging a screaming idiot here," he said dryly.

"So this is Ryoichi's mother?"

Startled, I hid around Natsume's back. It was the beautiful woman I saw awhile ago. Yukiko was what Hajimi called her.

"Natsume," the woman said, slightly amused.

"Lady Yukiko," Natsume acknowledged with a grim look. "What do you want? We have no time for chit chat."

"There is a way to defeat Kiyoshi," Lady Yukiko said seriously, her amused expression gone. "But it'll be difficult on your part," she said looking at me.

"How hard?" I answered.

"I've gave half of my Alice to Kiyoshi because I was scared that people would try to harm him," she said with a sad smile. "Before Kiyoshi called Shax, he had repeatedly refused my help but soon enough, I was able to convince him. No matter how many times Kiyoshi got stabbed, he wouldn't die because his wounds would automatically heal by themselves."

"So how do we make Kiyoshi mortal again without hurting Youichi and Ryoichi?" Natsume asked, his eyes narrowing at her.

"For Kiyoshi to lose his immortality, the one protecting him must be sealed."

"WHAT!" Natsume and I exclaimed.

"Are you crazy, old woman?" Natsume barked, while ruffling his hair in irritation. "I am not going to allow Mikan to use her Alice to seal our son up like some kind of package!"

Ten percent of my shock was hearing Natsume saying my name out loud and the other ninety percent was Lady Yukiko telling me to seal my son's Alice. "You're taking about sealing…" I trailed off, shocked at what this woman was telling me.

"You have the Nullification Alice, Sakura," she said sternly. "With your Alice you would be able to stop it and-"

"But sealing him would be dangerous," another person interrupted.

It was my mother.

"If Mikan seals her son's Alice it would weaken her son deeply," my mother continued. "Ryoichi is in the stage where his body relies on his Alice. If a huge amount is taken away from him, he is going to die."

I put my hands over my mouth. Everything was beginning to become bad to worse.

"No one is going to die here," I heard Natsume say in a low, dangerous tone. "We'll find a way," he said to our audience. Natsume took my free hand and squeezed it. "No one is going to die. I promise," he said, silently swearing to me that he'll keep his promise no matter what.

"Indeed, none of our family is going to die not when the great Imai is around."

I saw Hotaru walking towards me, I was about to run to her when I saw about a hundred devices strapped around her. "Err…Hotaru, what's that?"

"I'm not stupid to go out with nothing prepared," she said smiling at me. "Besides, they dare to use my invention against me! Then they better be prepared for the worst!" The tone in Hotaru's voice was quite scary because it was too calm but her eyes seemed to glow with evil. Turning to Natsume, Hotaru suddenly produced a blackboard out of nowhere and started explaining her plan.

As we listened to her plan, I realized that Natsume was still holding my hand tightly and squeezed it every time Hotaru mentioned Ryoichi's name. "The plan is simple. Ruka and the rest are already helping the others. Natsume and others must make sure that Kiyoshi is far from us so that Koko and I and my inventions will accompany Mikan into creating a way to get Ryoichi out of that sadistic area."

Not letting go of Natsume's hand, I turned to my mom. "What about…"

"Just go and try to figure a way to save your son. I'll save Keisuke," she said softly. There were wounds around her and seemed to be beaten up but I could sense there was still spirit inside her. "Mikan, the forbidden book is useless now because the sealing page to conceal Kiyoshi's spirit is not there-"

"I have it," Lady Yukiko announced and handed me a scroll just like what Hajimi gave to me. "Takashi gave this to my elder brother for him to keep safe. When my brother died, I had gone to his grave to pay my respects and found his wife waiting for me. She told me that as much as my brother hated me for loving Kiyoshi, I deserved to have the sealing scroll in my hands so that when the time came, it would be up to me to decide-" Lady Yukiko's voice broke a little. "-whether to seal Kiyoshi once again."

From Lady Yukiko's tears, it gave me the impression that she was in love with Kiyoshi. I went to her and held her hands. "Thank you," I said softly. "My son said that you weren't a bad person." Lady Yukiko blinked at me several times before quickly turning away from me.

"Then it's set. I will be able to use all of my nullification Alice in 30 minutes," my mom spoke, walking back to the battle. "I'll make sure to leave you a clear path to get back to your-" My mother stopped talking because I was hugging her from behind.

"Thank you for protecting me," I said, hugging her tight. "—mom."

I felt her warm hands wrap around mine. "You don't know how long I wanted to hear that from you…without resentment," she whispered. "Be careful Mikan." And then, she vanished.

This huge weight I carried since I came to study at the Academy and learned about my true past, lifted from me. I felt Natsume's hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be okay," I said softly. "We're going to save Ryoichi and Youichi."

"Yes," Natsume spoke and held onto my hands as we neared the battle again, a scene which I didn't want to see.

"Wait!" Lady Yukiko exclaimed. "Give me both of your hands."

I gave my hand to her while she grabbed Natsume's reluctant hand. I suddenly felt a comforting feeling from the small blue light from Lady Yukiko's hand. Every bruise and cut was gone from my body and so was Natsume's wound. Lady Yukiko healed it. "This is all I can do for…now," she muttered quickly before turning away from us, returning to the battle scene with one of her men.

Finally, I let go of Natsume as I prepared myself for the worst. "Be careful, Natsume," I whispered as he too was about to leave me once again. "I…I…can't lose you again nor Ryoichi…it would kill me."

Natsume came up to me and wiped away the tears from my eyes. "Be strong, idiot. No one is going to take Ryoichi away from us." And then kissed me on the cheeks, "Take care of the idiot, Hotaru or you'll be in trouble," he said before leaving us.

"We need to move. The sooner we get to Ryoichi, the sooner we find a solution in getting Ryoichi out of there," Hotaru announced, prepared to go to war. "We'll kill all of those freakin' creatures who dared to mess with us."

I couldn't help but smile. Taking a deep breath, I nodded, "Let's go."

Getting to Ryoichi wasn't easy because of all those war freaks who were trying to kill everyone. Luckily, Hotaru's plan was working because both of my father's men who must be under my mother's command and Lady Yukiko's were doing their best to protect me. Hotaru's invention would spring out of nowhere to block any Alice that was being thrown at us. As I ran to Ryoichi, I could see Aoi fighting with Persona. I quickly searched for Natsume to see if he knew his sister was fighting with Persona and based on his murderous expression, he did. There were animals joining in the fight which was Ruka's doing.

When we finally got to Ryoichi, I saw my mother fighting with her father. Youichi was busy fighting with Lady Yukiko and Lady Haruka.

"Don't worry Mikan-chan. They won't kill Youichi," Koko said fiercely. "With all the thoughts I can hear, I can hear that girl who is fighting with Youichi telling me to tell you not to worry and just concentrate before Youichi gets all of Ryoichi's Alice."

"Okay, everything is set," Hotaru said. "Our protection shield is up for only 10 minutes, Mikan. Do what you must."

Setting everything aside, I tried to touch the barrier and right away, I felt electricity shoot through me. Blocking out the pain, I began to try and use my Alice. But as soon as I thought of it, I felt the seal activate.

"Mikan, are you alright?" Hotaru shouted.

I got up and put my left hand over the back of my right shoulder. As fast as the pain came to me, the ache faded. "It'll be hard for me to use my Nullification Alice," I took out the scroll and blocked out the cries of my son. Opening it, I quickly tried to decode the symbols, searching for a way for my son to be saved. But my eyes began to grow wide as I deciphered the strange writings. I looked at my father then to my son. "No…"

"What's wrong Mikan?" Hotaru asked.

Was this how Takashi sealed Kiyoshi when he didn't want to kill Lady Yukiko?

"Mikan!" Koko shouted, shaking me by the shoulders. "Hurry up! The shield is going to go down!"

"I CAN'T" I screamed, shaking my head furiously. "If I try to seal Youichi without stopping Ryoichi, Youichi's soul will be sealed away too!" I sank to the ground and pounded the dirt with my fist. "It says if I do not take away the spirits immortality, the Undead will continue to rise. The reason the dead keep on living is because Ryoichi's Alice flows inside them," I groaned, hitting the ground with my fist.

"If the portal does not close, sooner or later everyone in this city will not survive," Koko muttered.

"The portal will close when the one who regenerates them back alive, disappears. Then those left here on earth, will finally be able to be killed because their master is once again mortal," I said tears began to form.

Hotaru looked at me, horrified. "No!" She said standing up. "We will find away to save Ryoichi! I am not going to allow Ryoichi to die like this!"

Shino

"Follow her Shino!" Natsume shouted madly as he attacked. No matter how many times they stabbed or used their Alice on them, they just fell to the ground, vanished and reappeared once more from the portal. "Get Aoi back before she does something stupid!"

Why the stupid little jerk!

Before this death zone began, Aoi and I were able to escape thanks to Hotaru who had made a strange whistling sound. I was next to Hotaru so she told me that she could not risk every one of us to escape and that it was better if Aoi and I escaped and helped Mikan and the rest. When we were able to escape, Aoi and I rushed to help Mikan and Natsume but it was the same moment we stepped on the ground and Yuka Azumi used her Alice. Because we had no Alice, it'd be dangerous to just drop in. Aoi was able to convince me to go and save Mr. Jinno instead, who was locked away in the basement of the school.

And now Aoi was getting herself into trouble when he had specifically told her not to do something stupid.

"Sure, captain!" I said with a snort, after barely missing a hit in the stomach by an ugly looking sword. I let out a water tornado at fifty assailants. "After, of course, I'm done killing these hundreds of creepy dudes who just don't want to die and want to kill me!" I shot back. Natsume sent flames towards my butt, which would have gotten burnt if I didn't react immediately and jump away. "Are you planning to burn me too?" I yelled, blocking another blow from behind him and punched the creature in the face.

"SHINO!!" Natsume roared, sending a huge ball of flames above him. "She went after Persona!"

"WHAT!" I exploded, grabbing a fallen sword on the ground and slicing the enemy in half. "DOESN'T SHE KNOW THAT PERSONA IS DANGEROUS?"

"Obviously not!"

"Your sister is a stupid, annoying little-"

"Careful, Suzuki," Natsume warned dangerously. We were back to back. "Aoi is my sister. Just go, I'll cover your back."

"Damn it! Fine!" I said, trying to get out of this mess. "That annoying girl is going to pay for every scratch I get for saving her butt."

Aoi

"Come back here, you coward!" I shouted, following Persona. I sent flaming arrows in his direction. Persona suddenly back flipped and shocked me by appearing right in front of me. I quickly jumped away when he was about to use his Death Alice. Awhile ago, I was after Persona but now I was the one dodging his attacks.

"What happened to being such a vigilant and brave girl who wanted to fight me?" Persona asked in a maniac tone. "Who's the coward now?"

I made a brave attempt by twirling around him and giving him a round house kick to his body and a quick upper cut to the face before running away from him again. The best way to attack Persona was a hit and run technique. I turned to look and see how far Persona was but was then kicked in the face and slammed into a tree. I quickly stood up, preparing myself for another attack when I was hit in the face with the back of Persona's hand.

As he caught my shoulder, I got the dagger Natsume gave to me and stabbed underneath his grasping arms. The blade slashed along his ribs, ripping through his clothes. I felt some blood splash on me as I wrenched free of his grip and retreated.

Persona touched his wound and then looked at the dark stain on his fingers with disbelief. "Why you little bitch!"

"Self defense is not a crime," I said breathlessly. I couldn't keep running away from him. It was either face him or die running.

I swiftly threw a flaming arrow at Persona but he dodged it quickly. Persona counter attacked by getting out his whip and slashing my wrist. Flinching with pain, I went tumbling towards Persona who grabbed me and slapped me across the face before kicking me in the stomach. "You have great potential," Persona said evilly. "But your brother is far better than you." He took out a small metallic stick and smiled. "Courtesy of Ms. Imai. She doesn't know that I stole this from her." I could not help but scream by the intensity of the pain. I was being electrocuted. "You should have stayed in your own little shelter, princess. You should have let your brother fight me," Persona taunted. "Now, I have to kill you because of your foolishness." He grabbed me off the floor and made me stand up. "Any last words princess, before I kill you?"

"Go to hell!" I said weakly, before spitting on him.

Wiping the spit off his face, Persona grinned at me before slapping me across the face again. But this time, instead of falling to the ground, I mustered all my strength and ignored the pain. Backing away, I let out all the flaming arrows I could and ran the opposite direction. I did not look back and kept on going to where I needed to be. When I found the spot, I abruptly stopped and watched Persona slowly approach me. If I was going to die, I was going to make sure I killed him first. "Onii-chan," I whispered.

"It's a dead end," Persona said laughing. "You have nowhere to go. Time to give up, princess. And to think, I treated you like a daughter." Just as he was about to use his Alice on me, I took another dagger from my bootstrap and stabbed him right through the heart. It was the same dagger Persona had given to me when I was young.

I screamed as I plunged the knife deeper into his body with my two hands, letting my Alice and hatred combine into this single stab. "I had a father," I whispered into Persona's shocked face. "Onii-chan was right. Not everything I see is true…now go to hell!" I shouted. Using all of my weight to turn around, it wasn't enough. Persona was still able to sufficiently yank my arm hard enough to follow him to the abyss.

"At least you're coming with me," Persona murmured, blood coming out from his mouth. "I'm not going to die alone."

And then time seemed to slow for me as I started to fall. Have I done enough to be able to be forgiven by my brother? I began to fall down. I closed my eyes and smiled. I hope you forgive me brother. Mom…dad…I'm coming to see you now.

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, YOU STUPID BRAT!?"

I snapped my eyes open and found a furious Shino gripping my right hand tightly. He caught me just in time and was holding my hand tightly. "I'M NOT GOING TO LET YOU TO DIE ON MY WATCH!" He barked, which startled me. "NOW, YOU BETTER GIVE ME YOUR OTHER HAND BEFORE I TELL YOUR STUPID BROTHER THAT HIS STUPID SISTER DECIDED TO SACRIFICE HERSELF FOR A DEMENTED PERSON LIKE PERSONA!"

Afraid of Shino's wrath, I immediately gave him my other hand. I looked down to the black abyss to see if Persona survived.

"It's impossible to survive that fall," Shino said coldly, pulling me back to the ground.

I sat on the ground and became conscious of my near death. Vaguely, I heard Shino preaching but I was staring at my shaking hands. I had almost died. I saw Shino next to me, sighing noisily and wrapped his arms around me. I blinked several times and without me realizing, I began to cry. The way Shino held me on the edge of the cliff and how he was hugging me, made me realize…

I didn't want to die…yet.

I hugged Shino back and cried. 'I'm sorry mama…papa…but I want to stay.'

Mikan

"RYOICHI! RYOICHI! RYOICHI!" I screamed, pounding on the barrier. Whenever Ryoichi screamed in pain, I felt as if thousands of daggers were being stabbed into my heart. I placed my hand on the barrier planning to nullify it but every time I tried to use my Alice, the seal on my back would activate and electrocute me.

"Stop it, Mikan. The seal is going to kill you!" Hotaru said.

"I need to save my son, Hotaru!" I said sobbing, brushing away her hand. "I'm his mother! He's not supposed to be like this! HE'S NOT SUPPOSED TO FEEL THAT KIND OF PAIN!" I put my hand on the barrier again and tried to block the pain from my body. There had to be another way to get Ryoichi out of that torture chamber. Youichi was deeply unconscious from the attack that even Koko couldn't get into his mind and without Youichi's help, the barrier would not break.

I looked back and saw the whole place being attacked by Kiyoshi's Army. No matter how many times Lady Yukiko's men and her friends killed the enemy, they'd still come back to life. I helplessly watched Hotaru forcing all her inventions to the barrier, trying to crack it open.

"Damn it!" I roared.

I closed my ears. I could not take my son's screams anymore. Opening my eyes, I dug through my coat and searched for the pouch I brought with me. Based on my seal, I could not use my nullification or any dangerous offense Alices. I took out the stones and searched for the Alice I needed at the moment. When I found the blue stone, I quickly held it in my hand and absorbed the Alice. I felt a slight pain on my shoulder but I could handle it.

"What's that?' Hotaru asked.

"It's a unique Alice from Hotoni in the Special Ability class. He gave me his Alice to keep."

"What is it?"

"Mind-chat."

"Yes. I have to focus on specific person to be able to talk to him," I answered. "I need to reassure Ryoichi that everything is going to be alright. That we're going to save him."

"Okay, tell him that Aunt Hotaru is doing all she can and using all her inventions to get him out of there," Hotaru said, with tears in her eyes. "Everyone is here for him."

Nodding, I began to place my hands on the barrier but Koko stopped me. "May I listen? I just need to hear from him that…he's going to be okay."

"Of course," I replied. Taking Koko's hand with my left hand, I placed my right hand on the barrier and thought of Ryoichi.

"Ryoichi…can you hear me?"

"Mommy?" I heard my son call out with uncertainty. "Is that you?"

"Yes baby, it's me. Don't be frightened. Mommy and everyone, we're doing everything we can to get you out of there."

"Mom...it hurts…it hurts so much."

I wanted to trade my soul to the devil or anything the gods would want from me in exchange for his pain. I bit down a sob from my throat and tried to calm myself. I needed to be calm so that my son would not panic and lose faith. "Mommy is going to take away that pain very soon now. Just wait a little bit more. Can you do that for me Ryoichi?"

"It hurts everywhere."

"I know baby. Mommy is doing everything. After this, you, Aunt Hotaru, Uncle Ruka, Uncle Yuu, Uncle Koko, Uncle Youichi and me…all of us… we're all going to take a long vacation and see the beach," I said, trying to sound happy.

"The beach… the one in Hawaii Aunt Hotaru talked about?"

"Yes…yes. That one, so just try to ignore the pain for awhile."

"Is dad coming?"

"Dad?" I asked, caught off guard.

"It's okay, mom. I'm not mad at you for not telling me. I don't think you even knew that Mr. Shin was my dad."

I chuckled softly. "Mommy must be stupid huh?"

"You're not stupid mom. You're the best mom in the whole world."

"Liar."

"Will he come?"

"Yes…daddy will be coming."

"That's nice to hear," his voice sounded so weak.

"That's why you can't give up Ryoichi. Stay awake."

Silence.

"Ryoichi…baby…answer mommy."

"I can't mom."

"Don't say that!"

"The pain…I can't…"

"No! Don't let go of my hand. Don't you dare leave mommy and your family! Ryoichi!"

"Mom…it's time to let go."

"No! No! No! You are not allowed to tell me that! I am your mother and you cannot say those words to me!"

"Innocent people are going to die."

"I don't care! I don't care if millions or billions of humans die! Why do I have to care for those people who aren't my family? Why do I have to save them and not you? I'm your mother and I have every right to be selfish! I would rather risk their lives than lose my only son."

"But you're not like that mommy. You're not a selfish person even if you want to be one."

"How do you know? How do you know I can't be selfish? I can be if it's my family were talking about!"

"I love you mommy."

"Ryoichi…why are you saying this?"

"Because I love you mom. You taught me everything a seven year old should know. You taught me to look after others first before me and it's wrong to be selfish. It's because of you mom, I'm like this. You, Aunt Hotaru, Uncle Ruka, Uncle Koko, Uncle Yuu and Uncle Youichi, all of you taught me the difference between right and wrong. Being selfish is wrong mommy."

"But you're my son…I'm suppose to protect you. You deserve to live longer."

"And how about the other children like me? Don't they deserve to live too? Mommy…we all have to grow up and I grew up to be like you."

"When did you ever become smart? Seven year olds don't think like that. It's wrong."

"Blame it on my family. They taught me to be smart."

"I'm going to kick their butts."

"Mom…please…stop the pain. I can't take it anymore. Please..."

"Okay. I'll do it."

Letting go of the barrier, I slowly opened my eyes. Tears were pouring down my eyes as if a dam had just been broken. I couldn't stop the tears because the more I tried not to cry, the more it burst out. The pain in my chest kept on building up and I had to squeeze myself from the pain. I put my hands over my mouth.

"Mikan," Hotaru shouted, shaking me vigorously. "Did you tell Ryoichi to hold on and we're doing everything to get him out of there? Mikan!" She was shaking me again. "Did you?"

Biting my lips, I brushed Hotaru aside and looked at Koko who was crying and shaking his head. "Koko…please tell me to stop…tell me not to do it," I begged, shaking his shoulder strongly. "Tell me."

"What are you guys talking about?' Hotaru asked frantically.

Koko and I just looked at each other, ignoring Hotaru. I waited for Koko to condemn me for even thinking of it. Instead, he came next to me and hugged me. "Do it, Mikan-chan. Do it for Ryoichi."

"Okay," I whispered back.

"What's going on?!" Hotaru hysterically demanded, grabbing my shoulder and forcing me to look at her. "Mikan! What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to set Ryoichi free," I stated, wiping the tears of my face.

It took five seconds for Hotaru to understand what I meant before slapping me across the face. She covered her mouth with her hands, clearly surprised with my decision. "You want to kill Ryoichi? Is that what you want Mikan? You want your son to die?" Hotaru shouted, after she got over from her shock. "Do I need to slap you several times for you not to give up on your son?"

I looked at Hotaru and did my best to stop myself from crying. "I love my son, Hotaru. I love him with all my heart and soul. You know that I'd do anything, everything to keep my son alive. But you and I both know…the more we keep him like this, the more we are torturing him. Even if I do seal Youichi away, Ryoichi is still going to die. So much of his Alice was drained from him," I said, looking at my son who was screaming in pain. "Every scream that comes out from his mouth…is like daggers…hitting me right in the heart." I brushed away the few tears that escaped, took both of Hotaru's hands and held it tight so she could understand what I myself did not want to accept. "I want him to live Hotaru," I said with a tearful smile. "I want to see him grow, graduate, make some young girls cry, see him fall in love for the first time and to proudly watch him marry the girl of his dreams. But I don't want my son to die a painful death," I chokingly explained. "I want to still keep on believing that there is still a way-"

"There is! Don't give up!" Hotaru desperately pleaded, tears in her eyes.

I hugged Hotaru tightly. I know how much she loved my son…I knew how much everyone of them loved my son. "Ryoichi wants me to do it, Hotaru," I said sobbing. "A seven year old is willing to sacrifice himself to save innocent people. To save strangers."

After a few seconds, Hotaru hugged me back. "Go, stop the torture," she whispered.

Wiping my face, I knew it was filthy and my eyes were puffy. I felt someone put their hands on my shoulder, I was surprised to find it was Ruka. "What about you? If you use your Nullification Alice…" He trailed off.

"I'll endure the pain for the sake of my son," I pretended to smile, even if it was hurting me. "Ruka, do me a favor."

"What?"

"I need you to stop Natsume…when he sees what I'm going to do…he'll do everything to stop me, so it will be your job to prevent the flame caster from reaching me…because I don't think I can refuse Ryoichi's father if he reaches me and asks me not to continue with my outrageous plan."

Reluctantly, Ruka nodded. "I promise." He signaled Koko and Yuu to be on guard for a soon-to-be rampaging bull. "You miss," Ruka pointed to Hotaru. "You stand aside or I will personally strangle you if you harm our child," Ruka commanded.

I saw Hotaru's eyes widen with shock. I knew Hotaru was going to retaliate at him for ordering her around but Ruka beat her to the punch.

"WOMAN! I'm not going to warn you again!" Ruka barked. Hotaru muttered something under her breath before leaving my side. I think I heard her say something like, 'you're in trouble animal lover' before standing a few good meters away from us with another shield.

Noting that everyone was a safe distance away from me, I put both of my hands on the barrier. "Nullify!" I shouted. Once again, I felt a jolt of electricity through me. Ignoring the pain, I closed my eyes and concentrated on what I needed to do first. I needed to break through the barrier. Another type of pain shot through me. I could feel a burning sensation on my back and I wanted to howl in pain. Choking down all the pain I was feeling, I tried once more because the barrier was only slightly breaking. "Nullify!" I shouted again. But I knew it still wasn't enough. If only my father didn't activate the seal, I would have probably used all of my Alice. As much as I wanted to use my Nullification Alice, the pain that was searing through me was enough to get me distracted. The pain was getting unbearable.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" I could hear Natsume screaming. "STOP IT! DON'T DO IT!"

Don't look back, Mikan. Don't look back. If you do, you won't be able to finish this.' I told myself. My knees started to wobble with the intensity of the pain I was feeling. 'Ignore the pain, Mikan. Don't think about it. Just ignore the pain.'

"Let me help you."

I opened my eyes and was shocked to find my mother beside me. Somehow, my mother's smile gave me a boost of strength. With tears in my eyes, I simply nodded. My mother went next to me and did what I did. We didn't have to say anything else. We knew when it was time to use our Alice.

"Nullify!" We both shouted together. The intensity of my mother's Alice and mine roughly blew us a few meters away after hearing a cracking sound. I felt a loud grunt as someone broke the fall for me. I quickly looked up to see just in time the barrier dissolving and my son lying on the ground.

"Are you alright?" Natsume muttered as he helped me to my feet. I nodded and ran towards Ryoichi.

Brushing away the debris from his face, I gently shook his shoulder. "Ryoichi, mommy's here," I said hoarsely, carefully cradling him in my arms.

Ryoichi opened his eyes and smiled weakly at me. "Mommy," he said, barely a whisper.

"Everything's going to be alright now," I said, tears forming in my eyes again. "Mommy's got you. You're safe."

"Don't forget daddy," Ryoichi whispered.

"Of course, baby. We can now be a family."

Ryoichi weakly turned to look at Natsume. "I knew it was you!" He accused weakly with a smile.

I felt Natsume stiffen beside me but relaxed when he sat down next to me and held Ryoichi's hand. I looked at Natsume and saw he had tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry… son…I shouldn't have brought you there…"

"No…I had fun. I got to know my father," Ryoichi said, squeezing his hand back. He turned to me. "Mommy, can you hug me? I feel so cold."

I was already hugging Ryoichi tightly when he asked me to hug him. It was a sign he was going to fade away soon. Swallowing a sob, I squeezed him tightly. "Of course, baby. Sshhh…nothings going to harm you anymore," I whispered, rocking him back and forth.

"I feel sleepy," Ryoichi murmured. I wanted to tell him not to go to sleep. Not to succumb to slumber because he would never wake up again. "Mom… sing our song."

"Mommy, our song," I heard Ryoichi whisper.

"Our song?" I said, my voice quivering.

Ryoichi slowly opened his beautiful hazel eyes and was surprised to see me crying. "Go stop your crying it will be alright," Ryoichi whispered, weakly brushing away my tears. I held his weak hands and squeezed it tight. "Just hold my hand and hold it tight-" I chuckled lightly and nodded. "I will protect you from all around you, I will be here don't you cry."

"You taught him the song," Natsume said softly, next to me. He wrapped us both in his arms and I felt Natsume's own tremble. "Sing it to him, Mikan. Sing him to sleep."

Even if my mind was screaming for me to say no because I didn't want my son to sleep forever, my heart said otherwise. That this would be the best…parting gift. To be sung to sleep with his parents nearby.

"For one so small, you seem so strong," I sang softly, as we watched our son close his eyes again. "My arms will hold you keep you safe and warm. This bond between us can't be broken. I will be here don't you cry."

"And you'll be in my heart
Yes, you'll be in my heart
From this day on
Now and forever more."

I suddenly stopped singing when I felt my son leave his lifeless body with me to hold.

The cold wind.

The anguish war cries nearby, seemed so far away. I didn't care who was killing who.

All I could think was…

Ryoichi was gone.

Letting go of Natsume's hand, I wrapped my whole arms around Ryoichi's lifeless body and continued to finish the song that my son requested me to sing for him.

"You'll be in my heart
No matter what they say
You'll be here in my heart
From this day on, now and forever more…

Always."

The limp body in my arms… of my son, who would never burst into my room to tell me to make his favorite pancakes or ask me to take him to the mall… my son, he was forever gone. All the emotion that I tried to suppress exploded. And that feeling hurt so much. The pain was unbearable I felt like I was suffocating. Natsume hugged me tightly from behind, "You can let it go," he said throatily. "Let it out."

My body began to shake tremendously and that's when I released an anguished cry.

"RYOICHI!!"

To be continued

The Finale Chapter:

New Beginnings

AN:

I'll just be quiet now because I can see all those violent reaction coming my way with the way I ended this chapter.

Due to the length of this chapter, don't I deserve even one tiny review? Come on silent readers! Introduce yourself! lol.

I want to hear your reactions dudes! Be it nice or…bad. I'd love to hear from you. So I know who to thank on the last chapter.

Anyways, hope I satisfied you with this chapter Little-Miss-Giggle. Hehe.