Sorry for the repost... Sorry for the grammatical errors. It's hard to believe I managed to pass my Higher English class in school...

Btw, if you've noticed, I've changed the author's note for the first chapter.

PS. I don't own the Beach Boys, or Mickey Mouse.

Chapter 38

Hole in the Heart

(aka Three's a Crowd)

He had spotted her roughly a good ten feet away from where he actually stood, and Kiriyuu was at his door. Damn it. The door behind her opened to a little extent; M must be trying to get out now – and Mukuro was nearing. Without a second thought, Kiriyuu pulled on the handle behind her, and slammed the door back shut. She had to force herself to cough loudly into her other fist at the same time in an attempt to cover the sound the door made.

Mukuro was making his way up. Oh god, she thought, what perfect timing. She began to suspect that something was wrong. What if M was deliberately doing this to get Kiriyuu in trouble? No, couldn't be, why would M do that to her? She thought Mukuro had long gone somewhere, too. Well, obviously he came back from whatever he was doing. Kiriyuu's eyes darted left and right, wondering how she would get out of this. Even though M would probably get into bundles of dilemmas, Kiriyuu still felt responsible for M, and did not want any more nuisances. Besides, if she decided to let M out, and get M in trouble, the wily girl will also bend her words and get Kiriyuu in trouble, too. It was like karma. What comes around, goes around, and Kiriyuu had no way out. So all she could do now was just to try and get Mukuro to leave...

But what if he wanted to go into his room? ….Well, maybe M could try and exit from a window. But Kiriyuu still had to buy her time.

"Who were you talking to?" He asked, and she felt thoroughly interrogated.

The nervous pangs kicked in and she wiped trickling beads of sweat from her forehead. "Uh – N-No-one… I… was…Um, I was…I was, er… ah… you-you…I mean, uh…." She spluttered helplessly, as he approached her, and she resisted the urge to run off and leave M to deal with this. But she couldn't no matter what, and she let him intrude her personal space by stopping directly in front of her that their noses almost touched. Kiriyuu swallowed at their proximity and flung her gaze to the floor, squeezing her eyes shut.

She remembered what M said to her before.

Mukuro likes you more.

Kiriyuu squinted her eyes at him. The way he was smiling at her…. it wasn't that customary forged, lethargic smile of his, this one felt… different. Yet she honestly didn't know if he always smiled like that to friends, or if this smile only appeared whenever she was there. It was making her more nervous than ever. Kiriyuu sucked in her gut. He waited for her response.

Think! Think of something!

"….I was…. w-waiting… for….for…you?" She eventually squeaked out.

There, she said it.

Mukuro leant off her, and turned to his door, precisely at the same time when a loud 'thump' was heard from inside. He paused. "Did you – " He had put a hand over the door handle.

"NO!" She screamed, then threw her arms out to block him – not over the door – but rather, she threw her arms out – around him, around his waist, digging her head into his side, and he abruptly let go. "I-I mean… uh, not your… um, room. Outside, like… take a… um, walk? I like walks, I really, really do. Walks are good, yeah. Walks make you… um, relaxed… and everything else…burn calories… and Kokuyo Health Land has… great places to walk around and…."

She swore he had a tiny sweatdrop, "Kiriyuu – "

"Let's just get out of here, please?" She tightened her hold on him, and whimpered, as he glanced down at her. So embarrassing… Stupid M. She owes me big time!!

"…. Very well." He replied. But he was giving her an odd look. Kiriyuu refused to look at him, however; she was painstakingly mortified at her own behaviour as it is, and carefully shimmied to his front, as if her strained arms around him and her little face pasted against his chest was any indicator. He was ice cold, and she could tell that Mukuro was a relatively thin person, sinewy and lean, unlike Hibari, who was like… a pillar… of…erm…. support.

Damn it, she thought. I can't even describe Hibari anymore. You're an idiot, Kiriyuu, you heard M. Hibari isn't Plan B.

"You're pale." Mukuro said, and he touched her forehead. She froze slightly under his magic fingers as they weaved past to brush a few strands of her hair away from her face. She blinked at him with her big green eyes, and looked back down.

Surprisingly enough, Kiriyuu liked the way how Mukuro seemed to be concerned about her. It made her feel… special, to him. But what about M? Oh yes, M. She knew Mukuro and M were together. You know what? Screw M. Kiriyuu could be the third person in a relationship for all she cared. Mukuro was worth fighting over.

….WHAT? Did I just imply that - ??!

Kiriyuu frowned at herself at her own thoughts. She couldn't believe she had just thought about that. However, thoughts about M quickly dispersed as he continued to smooth down her hair with the flat of his palm, and she kept still in his embrace, relishing the moment with a dopey smile plastered on her face while her eyes closed in bliss. Suddenly, she stopped – opened her eyes again and looked up. D'oh, what am I doing?! This was no time to be struggling with emotions!! She reprimanded herself angrily. "Uh….I'm pale?" She squeaked out. "I don't feel… pale. You look pale, on the other hand. Are… you alright?"

He chuckled; and she inhaled it all in. "Kufufu, you are so cute, Kirie-chan."

Again, she froze, blinked stupidly at him. Then her face burned red and she was not so pale anymore. He chuckled again at her response, put a hand over her cheek. And then she grinned at him awkwardly.

Mukuro likes you.

…. He thinks you're the most adorable thing he's ever seen.

Maybe M was right.

……………..

… Where could they possibly take a walk?

Kokuyo Health Land didn't have many places that were accessible or of any particular interest. The sleeping quarters were particularly situated in the Sanatorium, a small spin-off building that conjoined to the main head quarters at the back, away from the all-seeing eyes of the public if being the utmost important icon of Kokuyo was still the concern regarding tourists anymore (which it was not). Apparently, the Sanatorium was closed during the time Kokuyo Land was open to the public; which meant the Sanatorium was at least built before Kokuyo Health Land was decided to become an entertainment resort by the council. Why it was closed down, Kiriyuu didn't know. Aside from that, the rest of the Kokuyo were hidden, submerged in ten feet of shrubs and undergrowth due to the years of neglect.

Mukuro said he wanted to show Kiriyuu something. They were already there, too. Kiriyuu blinked blankly at him and turned to where he was facing – the window – and stared. They stood side by side watching outside.

"What do you see?" He asked.

She hesitated briefly, as her eyes scanned the rest of the Kokuyo population down below. A trick question, she thought. Mukuro obviously wanted a smart answer. "Ignorance." She then replied curtly, and she crossed her arms over her chest. "I see a lot of ignorant people living their lives with no clue as to what is really happening, and going on, in this world."

He looked mildly surprised at her response, but said nothing.

She faced him. Now was a good time for a completely random conversation. "…So what's your favourite colour?"

Mukuro turned to her, and then, he let out a roar of laughter. This would be first time she had seen Mukuro laugh like that. It wasn't the usual bemused chuckle and a finger under the chin, it was…. perfect. She knew it was a random question, and it really did emerge from nowhere, but she was curious at the same time. He looked down at himself, then – "Green."

She pursed her lips. Hmm, he just said that because he knows I asked him a dumb question.

"Yours?"

Kiriyuu blinked at him. She actually paused to respond; she hadn't expected this at all, as stupid as it sounded. That was because no-one else had ever asked her what her favourite colour was. "… Purple... the light kind, like lilac. Or blue. baby blue, or seafoam." She uttered out. "What's your favourite food? I'm guessing… pineapple." She tittered at her own joke.

"Hm…." He smirked smugly at her all of a sudden, scrutinising her from head to toe, "I'm sure you would like even more adorable with shorter hair…"

"What? No way." She said, without thinking. She stopped. Oops, I must've hurt his feelings. She turned to him. He was still looking at her head, possibly imagining a pineapple bob like his. She quickly spoke again, "I like pineapples, but I like long hair more because I was born with it." Actually, everyone is born bald, but who cares?

He chuckled at her again and stepped over, now intent on fiddling with a few strands of her hair.

She was secretly pleased with this conversation. She had never had a proper conversation with Hibari, as in, sit-down-and-have-a-coffee kind of conversation, and this 'conversation' with Mukuro would have to do for the moment. It would have to substitute for now. It would have to fill this gap Kiriyuu had. Some kind of black hole. A void.

"We should go back." He suddenly said, stepping backwards and turning back to the window.

Suddenly, a rush of thoughts began to flourish through her mind. What will happen once the new order comes? Who will be the governor? Mukuro? Then…Will there be some form of democracy? How is he going to do it? Who will make up all the rules? Who will he have to step over to get it?

She snapped out of her thoughts when she felt a small squeeze on her hand and she looked at their interlinked fingers; surprisingly enough, it didn't feel intimate or anything – more like those times identical to when someone is holding someone's hand as guidance. Like a parent helping a child cross the road, and she was considerably shorter than him in height. Kiriyuu bit her lip; she wasn't quite sure where she was getting at with this, but she dropped her tense shoulders and whimpered slightly. Mukuro's hands weren't as cold as she thought they've would have been. She didn't understand; what did Mukuro like about her? Kiriyuu really was useless. She felt useless to him. Maybe M was right about that, too. And suddenly, Kiriyuu felt alone.

She clung onto his hand tighter.

……………….

Forty gruelling minutes later, and Kiriyuu was tired, exhausted, worn out like old tyres. Hanging around with M was a seriously tiring thing, too, physically and mentally. On the other hand, M herself had endless ounces of energy to burn. Maybe that was why the girl was stick-thin, with a gap between her thighs too. Kiriyuu wished she had a dynamic body like that; M wasn't fat or thin, nor too tall or too short. She was just perfect – well, in Kiriyuu's eyes, she was.

She dismissed M's little game of Hide and Seek, and held onto her own beliefs. Her own beliefs concerning Mukuro. If M wanted to mutiny and revolt against him, then that would be no business of Kiriyuu's. M could rebel against Mukuro alone for all Kiriyuu cared.

Mukuro would bring the new order. He would bring the new world. And I'll be part of it.

She thought back; the walk didn't last very long – Mukuro had to leave early for 'business' - and Kiriyuu returned by her lonesome back to the corridor, snooping around in hopes that Ken or Chikusa (if he had woken up) wouldn't notice her, and arrived back where Mukuro's room was. She hoped M was there, or somewhere near, and she hoped that M had found whatever she wanted to take from Mukuro.

She wasn't there.

Stunned slightly, yet knowing that hanging around the scene of 'crime' would be awfully unwise, Kiriyuu opted with making her way back to the lounge on the sixth floor, all the way, passing the corridor which held her room, and M's room. She stood outside M's door, as if waiting for something. M wouldn't be inside anyway, she knew, but staring at a door for more than five minutes was something Kiriyuu wanted to do at least one time in her life without being reprimanded by anyone for wasting time.

There was a note on M's door.

Go to the Fifth floor.

I'll meet you at the Waiting Hall.

Stunned slightly, Kiriyuu gawped at the sticky note. That's M's handwriting? Suddenly, she could hear a strange scratching noise coming from inside.

"M? Is that you?"

No response, but the odd scratching noises grew louder.

Kiriyuu moved near the door and hovered her ear about an inch away, careful not to get the fungus and grime on the door into her ear canal. She tried to listen; the scratching stopped, replaced by ethereal whispering and odd muttering, then dull yet strong, guttural wailing sounds. It was like… like…

…Crying.

Somebody's crying.

A…baby?

It grew louder. And louder. And louder. Louder. Louder. She stepped back, and she clutched at her head, her fingers scraping through her hair as her eyes squeezed shut tightly.

Argh. What the hell?!

When she opened her eyes again, the noises had stopped altogether and she was swaying in the middle of the spot with her hands on her head, her eyes wide and shaking. She laughed suddenly; yes, this was like that time, when she was back at the house and she thought she heard something too – Kiriyuu moved away from M's door immediately and decided to make her way to the fifth floor, and then she stopped in the middle of the corridor. She rubbed her eyes; it was Bird's bird. The little yellow blobby thing; must've separated from its owner. It was flying around in a circle, before zooming to its left. Curious, Kiriyuu walked up slowly, and watched the bird disappear down a dark staircase. Kiriyuu stared downwards, and tilted her head to the side.

And now she could hear…. Music. A song.

It sounded like Namimori's school anthem. That stupid, ridiculous song Hibari tried to teach her to sing. Of course, she always ran away from music lessons. This really was just like back in the house. She thought she heard someone upstairs but there really wasn't anything or anyone upstairs. It was her nerves, they were picking on her. Her anxiety, her stress. It made her shaky and tense.

I'm getting paranoid. This is a spooky place. These are exactly the type of buildings used to film scenes of Japanese horror movies, probably. It's okay, Kiriyuu. Just think about a song that makes you happy, like… 'Wouldn't it be Nice' by the Beach Boys? Or… ah, say….The Mickey Mouse Clubhouse March. M-I-C, K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E - You know what? Never mind.

Kiriyuu shook her head vigorously to clear her thoughts. Then looked back up and listened intently. Nothing, and a lonely howl whipped around her – it was just the wind outside. Kiriyuu averted her gaze from the staircase and continued trekking down the corridor.

"Kiriyuu."

Eh? She turned back round; it was M – strange, Kiriyuu didn't see anyone behind her – and she looked up and around, realising that M had probably come from that dark stairwell she didn't have the guts to walk through. "What's wrong with you?" Then, M grinned. "Thinking back to your little rendezvous with Mukuro, eh?"

She blushed furiously. "N-NO!!!"

"Oh come on, I saw the way you practically melted in his arms. It's okay, you know, if you want to have a one-sided love affair with him, go ahead. Just make sure that you're not hurting Hibari's feelings at the same time."

Kiriyuu sweatdropped, and glanced to the side. "E-Eh….? I-I didn't - "

"Urgh. Stop making up excuses. I saw you two through the keyhole, alright? Sheesh, you're like, so totally in love with him that you're all googly-eyed." M made funny gestures with her hands.

"I AM NOT!" Kiriyuu barked ferociously.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I know you're in denial, you bee-yotch. Anyway, did you see my note?" M said, hiding a grin with the help of her hand.

"Yeah, I saw it…"

"Okay, cool. Let's go to the fifth floor then. I need to talk to you in private."

Kiriyuu watched M march towards the stairs, ready to go to the fifth floor. "U-Um….M?" Kiriyuu began wobbly, as the girl turned round and shot her a calculating look, "… D-Do you share a room with someone by the way?"

"Do I share a room? No, of course not. I like my privacy. Why do you ask?"

Kiriyuu was too afraid to press on. I'd go: 'M, I heard funny noises in your room, like some kind of crying… a horrible, wailing noise… ' and then M will say 'You're crazy, Kiriyuu' and go tell Mukuro. Instead, she said: "Did you find it?" Kiriyuu was panting slightly; going up derelict stairs and then having to climb up halfway through was exhausting.

M shook her head, frowning fiercely. "Mukuro must have it with him."

"What are you looking for anyway?" Kiriyuu asked; she wondered if M trusted her enough to tell her. For all M could know, Kiriyuu could report what M was doing to Mukuro if she wanted. But no, she didn't want to.

She wanted to know what M wanted first.

There was slight hesitation from M, and she crossed her arms, "…Remember how I told you that Mukuro was from the Estraneo famiglia?"

Kiriyuu narrowed her eyes. I don't trust M about this at all. However…Looks like M trusts me so far. "Yeah, I remember, what about the Estraneo?"

"Well, Kiriyuu… what was their most notorious invention? It was all over the mafia news at some point, maybe eight or nine years ago…" M replied, and she tapped at her temple with her index, "Think fast."

Kiriyuu pondered, then shook her head. "I don't really know."

"Oh, come on, you MUST know."

"Just tell me."

"Nah, that would ruin the fun. Come on, hurry up while we're still young."

The fifth floor had rarely been explored, Kiriyuu realised, as they entered the floor. It was darker than the other floors; maybe because the windows were boarded up, or slashed with black paint. She swallowed, following M further down the corridor. M opened a random door to the right, Kiriyuu gawked, as she ushered her quickly into the room, leaving the door open.

M promptly sat her in one of the dusty chairs in the room with loose hinges and Kiriyuu watched her sit in the chair opposite, and whip out a small notepad and pen. Then she protruded out a pair of glasses from her breast pocket of her blazer, and put them on. She crossed her legs and faced Kiriyuu directly. "Tell me your aspirations. Your dreams." Her soft voice echoed around the empty room.

"Urm. Why am I doing this?"

"Because. Your behaviour is starting to worry me."

Kiriyuu fumbled for a moment, then, with her hands gripping the rickety bubblegum-stuck-under brass handles, she bit her lip and quivered slightly. "I...I don't have many aspirations, but... I dream of a lot of things."

"Tell me what you dream of when you sleep then." M said, tapping at her notepad vigorously.

She wondered if she should actually tell M what had been happening – like the incident with the diary, and M's room. "I don't know when I dream," She mumbled back, slumping backwards in her chair, blinking sluggishly. "But... I've been hearing a lot of voices. They're always whispering and murmuring...and I hear sounds. I don't know what they are."

There was a slight hesitation from M as she stopped scribbling in her pad, glanced at Kiriyuu, and sighed gently, "Kokuyo heath Land is full of ghosts; ghosts of the past."

"...Ghosts," Kiriyuu murmured under her breath, and she inspected her bleak, dilapidated surroundings. A shell of its former stature and glory, she believed. Kokuyo health land had once been an extravagant entertainment zone and was now reduced to nothing better than a slum. As she continued scanning the landscape scenery of Kokuyo, she spotted Ken; he was standing in the corridor, just a few feet from the room M and Kiriyuu were in. No-one said a word to each other –Ken blinked dumbly at her for a few seconds. Kiriyuu blinked at him from her chair, now matching his bewildered stares with her own.

"....What are you doing?"

"What are you doing here?" Kiriyuu returned the question.

"I saw the note, pyon. 'Come to the fifth floor'." He waggled the flimsy sticky note in his hand.

She cringed, and M laughed. "…It wasn't for you, Ken, it was for me…"

"You? Why?"

"This is… uh, M's therapy session." She shamefully blurted out. "She's, uh…" Kiriyuu glanced to M - who mouthed 'helping you', nodding along the way. "She's, uh…helping… me." Kiriyuu looked away from M, back to Ken.

"Eh - ?" Ken scratched his head. Another brief silence wafted through the uneasy tension between them; he promptly marched forward into the 'therapy' room. He stopped inside the room, at the doorway, and stared.

Kiriyuu turned to M. "This is what happens when you don't label things properly."

M, sitting opposite Kiriyuu in the chair, shrugged helplessly and turned to Ken. "Is there a problem? Or do you have any personal problems you would like to disclose to me?"

Ken was still staring – then he turned back to Kiriyuu with a raised eyebrow, then grunted in response, and waved her off. He shot her another dirty look, and scampered out of the room back towards the landing, muttering under his breath about 'a baseball nut is waiting for me outside' and 'better warm up'.

Kiriyuu watched Ken retreat back down the stairs, and turned back to M. "What was that all about?"

"I'll schedule him in later. Apparently, he still suffers from nightmares about his childhood." M said, coughing into her fist, and Kiriyuu cringed inwardly. Then M glanced back at her notepad. "Okay, so these... voices you hear. What do they say to you?"

She shrugged slowly.

M cocked her head. "You don't know? What about the sounds; where did you hear it?" She then asked. Kiriyuu had looked back up. M didn't like the way she looked at her; with those empty, soulless green eyes and her head hanging down low.

"Your room."

M blinked, put the pen to her lips, "...My room? And what was the kind of sound you heard coming from my room?" This was getting interesting.

Crying, Kiriyuu wanted to say, I hear someone crying inside your room.

"Well?" M said, still waiting for her response.

Kiriyuu hesitated again, then – "Nothing."

"...Nothing? What do you mean by 'nothing'?"

"I... don't know."

M sighed again. "Kiriyuu, I won't allow you to lie to me - if you don't open up to me, how will this therapy session end in success? How do you want me to help you if you won't tell me anything?"

I don't want you to help me, Kiriyuu thought. If I tell you I hear freaky sounds, you'll tell Mukuro. He'll think I'm a freak. She took a deep breath. "There's nothing wrong with me, M." Kiriyuu then got up from her chair and departed from her spot.

Suddenly, she could hear M's voice, and her lips smirking into a tight knot. "Or is there, hmm?"

………..

Therapy was over. Even though Kiriyuu left first. M said she was late in meeting Mukuro, and rushed up the stairwell outside the fifth floor, taking two steps at a time, before Kiriyuu could even set foot on the first step. But then M stopped, and craned her head back round to a puffing Kiriyuu trying to tackle the never-ending stairs. "Hey… you took a walk with Mukuro, right? Did you kiss him by the way?" She grinned.

"NO." Kiriyuu growled out.

"Really?"

"YES, REALLY." Kiriyuu retorted as M began to pick up her pace up the stairs once more.

"I thought you would've. I know you how much you like him."

"For the last time, NO. Wait up, M…" Kiriyuu squeaked out, "Wait for… me… M!"

"Hurry up, slow coach." M called over, with a light giggle, her voice echoing all around the landings, and then she was simply…. Gone.

Stupid M, Kiriyuu thought bitterly to herself. If M was going to be sneaky in her motives, then Kiriyuu would be, too. She didn't want anyone ruining Mukuro's plans for the new world. If M was going to put a stop to it or whatever her intention was, then Kiriyuu would redeem M as an enemy. The girl was also too playful for her own freaking good. What kind of twisted 'hide and seek' game did she want to play with Mukuro anyway? Did he even realise that she wanted to steal from his room at some point? How could he even have an associate like this? Maybe Mukuro and M weren't even on good terms at all as Kiriyuu thought.

As soon as she arrived at the lounge, M was nowhere in sight - it had already been five minutes or more, and she was a sweating wreck. Her face was red and puffy, and Kiriyuu did believe she had too much to eat when she was with Hibari. She was like jelly and cookie dough. She had put on a few pounds, and even her stomach seemed to be spilling over her waistband. It didn't used to. I used to be skinny, she thought, and she whimpered again.

She looked around the lounge and realised it was stark empty even though she was sure she saw M come this way, and she sat down on the dusty couch to wait for someone or something to arrive. She looked up and around, twiddled her thumbs, yawned and picked at her nails. There was no TV, she observed, and wondered how these people passed time at night. Obviously it was probably substituted with the working bowling alley downstairs.

On the wall, she hadn't noticed newspaper clippings attached to the rear wall with blobs of chewed bubblegum. She got up from her seat and inspected them closely.

They're all from mafia newspapers. Here's one from the Giglio Nero…. There's even one about the Vongola…

She heard a noise and quickly returned to her seat. She looked over – no-one was there.

She was reluctant to go back to the newspaper-clipped wall, and merely waited in her seat. A few moments later, and Kiriyuu's eyelids began to droop. She felt tired all of a sudden…. Very…very… Sleepy ….. She closed her eyes, threatened with the idea of falling off the couch and landing on the cold, dirty floor as she swayed while sitting rigidly upright in her seat. She didn't want to lie down completely; the couch was too dirty and she hated filthiness.

A 'click' sounded off to her right, and Kiriyuu instantly jerked upright. The door opened, and Mukuro and M emerged out from the room; M smiled at Kiriyuu again. Kiriyuu merely stared onwards, numb, as if thunder had just struck her. M winked at her; Mukuro went back downstairs without even looking at Kiriyuu.

Mukuro and M in a room.

Why am I not surprised?

Kiriyuu actually felt a pang of disappointment in her gut, and her shoulders slumped. In fact, no words could describe this feeling precisely. She knew she felt hurt all of a sudden. Maybe she was jealous of M. But at some point, she actually thought M was jealous of her. Maybe that theory was wrong. She could understand when M said that Mukuro gave out wrong messages, that he was exaggeratedly friendly and that it shouldn't be confused with affection. She looked down at her feet, sighing helplessly. The void in her chest stirred again. The strange empty feeling. She wasn't hungry, just... unfulfilled. Unsatisfied.

Like... something was missing from her life.

Why am I… feeling like this?

I don't really like Mukuro…

… Do I?

What about M?

I don't care what she says, I know she likes Mukuro.

And what about Hibari?

No, Hibari doesn't like me.

It was some sort of vicious cycle, she realised. She wasn't an attention-seeker, yet she honestly thought that Mukuro liked her in some way, like back at the corridor, outside his room and – Kiriyuu stopped, laughed at herself. Of course, she thought. Don't be stupid. He smiled a lot to cover up his true nature. The smile was fake. It was a part of his uniform. Like everyone else in Kokuyo High School wearing those goddamn green combo skirt or slacks and blazer. It was standardisation; everyone gets the same treatment and nothing more or less. Therefore Mukuro could be a player; he could womanise all he wanted. With his charm, intellect and good looks, he could have anyone or anything he wanted. Her laughter died weakly with the wind. And she dropped her smile.

She sniffled.

The black hole came again. But then she attempted to smile once more.

She would try to smile from now on. She would try and be like Mukuro. He smiled regardless whatever he was feeling. And it worked. It fooled everyone. Maybe he even fooled himself. She knew about his childhood now. It was nothing worth to smile about. But he was. So she should be the same. She lifted up a piece of cracked mirror from the mirror on the wall that had dropped to the floor, and tried to make out her thin, wiry reflection.

It was hard, but she could make out the distinct outline of her lips. Smile. She was smiling. Even though inside, it felt bleak, and she knew the real truth herself. She shouldn't be feeling like this. But she couldn't help it. Kiriyuu felt alone all over again. Chikusa has Ken, M has Mukuro. Who did she have? Nobody, that was what. Everything would always be in pairs. No space for another.

Three's a crowd, after all.

First, Hibari, now Mukuro.

... Didn't she deserve to have anyone in her life?

PLEASE READ:

Sorry to post this chapter up again - I don't think I have time to update anytime soon, and before I go on, I've been meaning to ask...

Does anyone want Kiriyuu to still end up with Hibari? Or Mukuro? Spanner??? For some reason, I am starting to think otherwise.

What do you guys think?