It had been two weeks since she had last walked through the halls of the academy. It was late in the afternoon and she couldn't help wandering the halls. Her red hair, braided, swished from side to side. Miki's eyes darted from door to door, reading the names of the course and professor labeled on each.

She was day dreaming about Daemon. Sometimes he seemed surreal, that he nothing more than just a dream, an apparition. Sometimes he was everything that she dreamed of. And other times, he was just a mix of his own good looks and Allen's terrible personality. That last one made her shiver.

Instinctively, she KNEW that Daemon wasn't like that. But what she didn't know was Daemon himself. Mysterious, handsome, compelling. He had left her speechless, something that Allen had not done.

Miki was so deep in thought that she almost ran into someone. The would-be victim turned out to be a girl with dark brown hair. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay. I know that it wasn't entirely your fault," Kelly took a closer look at Miki. Her sharp, light brown eyes seemed to pierce through to Miki's thoughts. "Seems to me that you've either got something or someone on your mind. I've seen that look before. A friend of mine."

Kelly's expression then turned thoughtful, "You know, I don't really have anything to do right now. Maybe we could go somewhere and get something to eat and get to know each other. To make up for the mistake you almost made," she shrugged as she took note of Miki's features. Besides, maybe this is the girl that Daemon keeps day dreaming about, she thought, Only one way to find out.

Miki noticed the way the girl's tone of voice sounded too interested. She also noticed a change in her eyes. Something feral, too intelligent for her age and a sharp interest glittered in the girl's eyes. And instinctively, she knew that the interest was in her.

"I'm sorry. As much as I'd like to, I have to go meet my sister at the market. I've also got a full schedule today," Miki said somewhat lamely.

"Okay. Maybe some other time?"

"Yeah. Sure," Miki turned around and started to walk away. "Later."

"Hey, wait!" Kelly called out to her, "I didn't get your name."

Miki slowly turned to face Kelly again, "I'm Miki."

"Kelly," she nodded once.

Miki turned around for the final time and walked away. This time, there was no interruption. Kelly watched Miki leave. Maybe I'm right. Maybe that's the girl Dae's sprung over, she thought. Shrugging as if to dismiss the thought for now, Kelly turned to her left and walked down the empty halls.

"Time to see if Randall," and she smiled, "is available."

Pouring over some old and faded tomes in the fading afternoon sunlight, a young man rubbed his forehead. Stretching out, he tries to relieve the ache in his back from hunching over. His tired gray-green eyes flicked over to the candles he had lit earlier should he need them.

"Have you been pouring over those old, musty books for hours again, Randy?" a quietly amused feminine voice asked, scaring him slightly.

Turning slowly around in the wooden high-backed chair, his eyes focused fuzzily on a pair of light brown eyes half-hidden in the shadows. A tired smile tugged at his lips as he stood up. He bowed formally to her, one shock of his black hair falling in front of his eyes.

"M'lady, to what do I owe the pleasure of your presence?" amusement lit his eyes as she snorted at his teasing.

"Randall, I'm as much a lady as Rick is a gentleman!"

Randy coughed in an attempt to hide his chuckle, "Too true, Kelly, too true."

Slipping passed him to the table, Kelly quickly read the spines of the unopened books he had left piled up in a semi-circle. Frowning thoughtfully, she snagged the uppermost of the closest pile and opened it to the first marker. Kelly scanned the page quickly before turning back to Randall. It was a book on magically hidden natural surroundings.

"Dare I ask what you're up to this time, Randy?"

He shrugged noncommittally. His gray-green eyes were focused on the book Kelly still held. The Natural Life was the title. It was still open. Its pages crumbling with time and its words were starting to fade.

"I'm just studying up on natural surroundings," he shrugged again. "Besides, who knows what kinds of things I might come across and have to deal with?"

Kelly's eyes narrowed slightly, "New contract?"

"No," he shook his head, hair swaying in front of his eyes. "But it's good to be prepared in case one does come up. Right?"

Kelly snapped the book close and tossed it onto the table. It landed where it had previously rested, dust coming up off of the book beneath it. Kelly took a step closer to Randy. He reached out with one hand and caressed her child-like face.

"You'd tell me if you accepted a contract, wouldn't you?" she asked quietly her eyes glinting slightly with checked anger.

Randy nodded, unable to take his eyes away from hers. Unwilling to miss even the slightest flicker of what she was thinking, he smiled slightly in reassurance. During the unspoken exchange, he had reached out and took one of her hands in his own. Raising it to his lips, he kissed it lightly.

"Because if you do accept a contract and keep it a secret from me, dear Randy, you'll regret it in the end," Kelly said with a hollow voice. Her eyes had a haunted look to them.

"You know that I would never accept one and not go over it with you," he said quietly, not knowing how to tell her that he was offered one. "An honorable assassin always keeps his word, wasn't that what we were taught?"

Kelly nodded. She slipped her hand out of Randy's and turned away from him. Walking towards the tall windows, she hugged herself. Leaning against the frame, she looked out at the stormy night sky and shivered. Of all the guys I've met, I don't want to lose this one. But as an assassin, I can't afford to love, she thought sadly. A bit too late for that, now isn't it, Kelly? You already love, don't you? She nodded to herself.

Torn between his secret, concern and love for her, Randy slowly walked over to Kelly. He loved only three things in life: books, being an assassin, and Kelly. He knew that wouldn't be a good assassin if he allowed himself to openly love Kelly. It would interfere with his work and make her a possible target for his enemies.

She turned as she heard him come up from behind her. Turning as soon as she did, Kelly was able to catch the look in his eyes. A soft, warm, and yet sad look was mirrored in them. Her own eyes widened slightly in surprise. Before she could school her expression, he smiled slightly.

"But why? Why did you hide that from me?" she asked in a quiet voice that shook from the effort to keep the tears that were building from falling.

Finally realizing what she saw in his eyes, he shrugged. "I thought you already knew. Then, when you didn't say anything I thought that maybe you were too occupied to even notice or care."

Seeing the hurt in his eyes made Kelly hurt. A single tear, escaping her control, rolled down her cheek. It was soon followed by a few others.

"I'm sorry, Randy. I didn't know, until now. I've always thought that maybe you did, but I wasn't sure. You never said or did anything…" she said sadly. Thunder rolled in the distance as she continued, "I do care and there is something that I need to tell you."

Suddenly her voice was drowned out by the crack of lightning and the roll of thunder. The storm was suddenly upon them. Kelly cast an apprehensive look out the window. Turning back to Randy, she said, "I'm sorry. I guess what I have to say will have to wait. That storm looks like it's going to get pretty ugly and I'm way too far from home for comfort."

She kissed Randy on the cheek and turned towards the window again. Snapping the latch open with a twist of her fingers, she stepped onto the ledge and leapt out the window. Kelly fell down a full story and landed on her feet with the grace of a cat. Looking back once, she saw Randy standing there with the window still open before he closed it. She ran home hoping to avoid getting drenched by the hard down-pour that was sure to happen.