I love this chapter really badly. I hope you do, too. (But, considering the turn of events inside this, I highly doubt so.)

Reviews:

Al-Orange Ninja: I will, in the epilogue. (YES, there will be an epilogue.)

xtheBLEACHEDalchemistx: LOL, I love that part, too.

Fafy x3: Aw, thanks. I'm sure that you'll learn it fast. Keep on working hard!

Sarah9797: *wink* *wink* I'm resisting the urge of giving you a spoiler. But no, I shouldn't.

crying angel: No, it's okay. I didn't get to update daily often, too, in this story, thanks to all the work that has been given to me.

WanderingDreamer4Ever: *drumrolls*

blackopalz21: Wow, that's a LOT of sorries you've got there. LOL. No, it's okay. You have a life outside if FF.

UsagiKuro: I knew that a lot of people don't really take the time to think about it, so I decided to actually tell you guys how it's like :p

Ripplerose: I'm really honored! ;/; But, no, I'm still an amateur.

99vampires: I'm glad to hear that :) Goodluck.

I gaped at him for about what seemed like three hours, before asking, "What are you talking about?"

He paced around the area, crunching dried leaves beneath his feet. He jammed his bloody hands inside to the pockets of his shirt and I noticed that he was still wearing his uniform, too.

"I'm giving you a choice," he said as if things were that simple.

But of course it wasn't. Because things were never so simple with me.

"What's the catch?" I asked, my voice as flat as the ground.

Ankoku pointed to me and nodded. "I love the way you think. So cautious and wary. Not easily trusting words," said the man in uniform.

"Just answer me," I said seriously. I hated the fact that Ankoku was acting as if this was a joke.

"Okay, gee," he made that tsk tsk noise from the side of his cheek. "I'm giving you three choices. First, to let him stay in this condition." He motioned towards the blonde.

Usui tensed up as I was standing up. A voice escaped his mouth again, but I didn't sit back down. I needed to know what Ankoku was getting at before it was too late.

"Second, to just… kill him and send him off for good," Ankoku continued.

The atmosphere got heavier and heavier as he spoke; each word seemed to add a hundred pounds to the weight. And the tension got so heavy that I was using all of my willpower to restrain myself from running away from that place and never think about it ever again, which was quite impossible, if you think about it.

"And third," he paused, as if to give a dramatic effect to what he was about to say, "is to give him back his life."

My heartbeat increased in speed as I waited for Ankoku to say what the consequences for each option was going to be.

"But, of course, even you know nothing this good comes for free," Ankoku looked pretty smug for a guy who had a swollen black eye and just got declined by a girl of his dreams, if what he had said about the 'L' word was true, "so here's the catch. For the first option, he, your pathetic boyfriend, is going to suffer and watch his loved ones die around him while he stays the same. And, of course, who knows how long he is going to stay here? After all, he couldn't kill himself, even with the dagger. Only a human can do that for him."

This was a fact that Usui didn't know. If he had, then he probably wouldn't have came back down to the Universal plane.

"For the second choice I'd given, you, Misaki, would have your life back. But, of course, without Usui. Which is not that bad, considering how many guys are out there who are better than him."

God, what a self-praising pig…

"And for the last one…" Ankoku stared at his fingernails as if they were more important than what he was saying.

"The last one what?" I tried to fish out the answer out of him.

"Well, he would lose any memory of you and the stuff you guys have been through together whatsoever. Only you, though, since you're the only one who can see him in his ghost state," Ankoku finished off.

I was speechless for the next century or so, my eyes not leaving the ground of mud, as my mind swiveled around and around, thoughts crashing into each other.

I couldn't simply imagine life with Usui not knowing me. I mean, I guess I could make him fall for me again – however witchy that may sound – but that wouldn't be the same. We met by an accident. Forcing him to know me would just be plain wrong.

"So, Misaki, which are you going to choose?" Ankoku's voice pierced through my wall of thoughts and right through my central nervous system. "First, second or third?"

I felt that hot, prickly feeling in the back of my eyes that meant that tears were forming.

This was bad. I had been crying so hard that my eyes could barely see through the cloud of tears. But to make matters worse, I was given three impossible choices that would cost a lot. Not just for me, but for Usui, too. And I would only want the best for him.

So I did what any good girlfriend would do in situations like this.

I kissed Usui.

The kiss wasn't all that passionate and long, due to the fact that his lips were split open and bleeding and I was afraid that a long kiss would only hurt him.

"Third," I said, standing up.

I lifted my chin high and placed my shoulders set. I can do this, I told myself. I can do this.

I blinked and a stream of warm tears flowed down my cheeks. But despite the tears, I looked pretty confident in what I was about to do.

"Sorry?" Ankoku asked.

"Third. I choose the third," I said, louder and with less shaking this time.

Yes, this is the best choice; I kept that in my mind. For Usui and for yourself. You will have more time to study and work. And you won't need to care about the per – pervert – perverted – perverted pig…

No! You are not going to change your mind, Misaki. Your mind is set and third you chose!

"Very well, then," Ankoku said without a hint of disagreement in his voice. He took out a shiny thing from his pocket – the dagger – and handed it to me. "Go ahead. Picture him in real life, without all the glow and shimmer, in your head. And when you have completed your image – only when you have completed your image – stab him with this."

I took the dagger with shaking hands and stared down at it. The last time I had seen it that close was when Usui was describing its use to me. And this would be the last time I would see it again, ever.

I swallowed the cotton ball in my throat and kneeled down beside Usui, who was still not that aware of what was happening around him. I braced myself for what I was going to do. For what was going to happen from this point onwards. For whatever was waiting for me and Usui in the future, whether if we were going to be a couple again, or if we were going to be enemies.

My heart was thrashing around my chest, going down to my stomach and up to my throat. My hands were shaking so hard that I wouldn't recommend anyone giving me glassware then.

I looked at Ankoku, wondering what was going to happen between us when Usui completely forgets about me. He gave me a reassuring nod, and I entwined my fingers around the marble handle of the dagger.

I placed the dagger just right above Usui's heart. And thought about him.

I pictured him, wearing his school uniform, staring down at me with those emerald eyes. But no glow.

I pictured his blond hair, swaying with the wind, reflecting the moonlight at night. But no glow.

I pictured his strong arms, embracing me, holding me from falling down to whatever danger that lies ahead. But no glow.

And because it would be our last time together with him still remembering me as his girlfriend, I sang.

"Hang on, my dear, to our everlasting memory

Remember what you can

This is our last day."

I swallowed a bunch of mucus – I know, gross, but deal with it – and closed my eye shut even tighter.

"Stay strong, my dear, to all the challenges that get by

Keep your faith in me

Our paths separate."

I became aware of Ankoku's sniffles and my own voice cracking. But I proceeded, anyway, for there was only one stanza left to sing.

"Goodbye, my dear, is never the permanent end

Pain always follows

Never will they last."

I took a deep breath to minimize the trembling of my body. Closing my eyes so tight that tears fell like a stream of running water on a tap, I realized that my tears had dropped off my chin. Together with my tears was my blood, trickling out from my palm because I had been clenching the dagger so hard that one of the carvings had pierced right through my flesh.

"Misaki," I heard a soft murmur of my name being spoken out, but I ignored it.

I'm sorry, Usui, I thought. But this is for your own good.

And I slammed the dagger down.

Yeah, I just made that song up randomly. It's not a real song that I copied off or anything.

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