Disclaimer: I do not own S-Cry-ed and its characters.

Note: It has been about five months since I last updated this story. Right here, I apologize deeply to all the furious readers who have been waiting forever to read the next chapter of this story. I'm truly sorry. It is true that I had tons and tons of work during school, but I have to admit it's partly my own fault too since all of my one-month vacation had already been wasted. I got really lazy during the past three weeks because the first semester of college had finally ended. I don't feel like doing anything, not even typing… Sorry, please forgive me…

But anyway, I finally gathered up some strength to type. So, in order to atone for my sin, I make this chapter long… Not sure if it's longer than other chapters, but at least it's not short… Hope you enjoy this chapter, and thank you so very much for all those wonderful reviews!

The Lonely Hearts

Chapter 8

Is What You Said All True?

After the sun had set, running towards the beach with one hand gripping onto Kanami's wrist and with his eyes fixed in the direction of the Lost Ground, Asuka Tachibana was about to call out his eight green treasure balls, ready to fly back to his dear Cammy's side. Kanami was running behind him, trying very hard to keep up.

She turned her head back and looked at the hotel they came out of. She didn't want to go back, not when she finally found Kazuma after all those years! She couldn't just leave! She can tell that Kazuma had some plans here, and that was why she was afraid to go back. Whatever he's planning, it was nothing good. What if she leaves, and he never go back to see her again? What if something bad happens again to either him or her? Shaking her head, she abruptly pulled her hand back from Asuka.

"What's wrong, Kanami?" Asuka stopped, looking at her worriedly. She looked very confused and worried about something.

"I… I…" Kanami tried to say, but didn't know how to form her sentence so not to worry Asuka. 'I don't want to go back!' She yelled in her mind, yet didn't say it out loud. Pondering on what she should do, she paced on the sand beach back and forth. She wanted to go back to Kazuma and talk to him. If he really insist that she leaves, then at least let her understand what he wanted to do here in the Mainland. "Asuka, can you wait for me? I forgot something back in the hotel. I'll be quick; it's not going to take long, okay?" She lied. Her real purpose was to go speak to Kazuma.

"… Sure… don't take too long though." Asuka answered with a frown. He was desperate to fly back to see how Cammy was doing. After the permission to go back, Kanami stuffed the teddy bear she was holding into Asuka's arms.

"Hold it for me while I go back." With that, she ran off towards the hotel.

"Hey, wait Kanami! I don't want to hold this…" He trailed off as he noticed some people walking by him looked at him strangely, and some even had an amused look on their face. Asuka blushed lightly because he was holding a teddy bear in public, and decided to hurry closer to the ocean where less people were hanging out. "Why do I have to hold this?" He whined on his way…

In the middle of a long hallway stood a man with his head slightly bowed and his hand raised in the middle of the air, hesitating of whether or not to knock on the wooden door. Ryuho had been desperate to meet up with his friends, yet he was afraid also. His search above the ocean had been in vain—Mimori was no where to be seen. He hoped that his friends will give him good news once he knocks and goes inside. However, the higher his hope, the greater his fear of being disappointed.

'Knock, and go in, dammit!' He mentally hastened himself to act. But his hand was shaking uncontrollably. Since last night, he had been constantly in fear. Yes, fear. The horror of finding out bad news such as Mimori is missing or that she is… is possibly dead, was painfully pushing him into the edge of his sanity.

Just when Ryuho finally gathered up his strength to knock, the door was pulled open swiftly. Kazuma stood inside the room looking at Ryuho rather strangely. "Yo. You came back? Why don't you come in?" He asked raising an eyebrow.

Ryuho dropped the hand he raised midway in the air to his side and walked inside the hotel room. "Did any of you find Mimori?" He asked as he walked to the sofa and plopped down, not even noticing that Kazuma was the only one left.

"I guess you didn't find her then." Kazuma replied with a heavy sigh. It was hard to break the bad news to Ryuho. "I'm afraid you will be disappointed. We didn't find her. Not even a single trace. And like I said before, that can be good news and bad news."

Ryuho nodded his head in acknowledgement. His crimson eyes fixed randomly on the floor. The atmosphere in the room was heavy and gloomy. Kazuma just stared at Ryuho for a while, noting how bad he must been feeling at this moment.

'Poor guy.' Kazuma mentally noted with sympathy towards his former rival. 'But like I warned him all those years ago, he should go see Mimori sometimes. This idiot didn't even take my advice… But no use blaming him right now.'

"It's so quiet here." Ryuho randomly said. He closed his eyes and sat back on the sofa.

"Did you finally notice?" Kazuma said with a bit of sarcasm. He still couldn't change his attitude when facing his former rival. It doesn't feel right to be all buddy-buddy with Ryuho. "Tachibana received a call a while ago, saying his girlfriend… Candy? No… Cammy, I think… either way, Tachibana's girlfriend is sick. So he went back to the Lost Ground. I told him to bring Kanami along, so now we are the only two left here."

"Cammy is sick, I see…" Ryuho said unenthusiastically. He doesn't really know that girl, no wonder he wasn't that worry at all. "And why did you push Kanami back home? You didn't want to see her? From her expressions, I can tell she was really happy to see you again."

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm happy to see her! She's like a little sister to me!" Kazuma yelled back angrily. "But it's dangerous here, and I can't always be around to protect her. She's just going to be a burden here if anything were to happen to her. So I told her to go home. That's all."

The room plunged into another round of silence. Kazuma combed his hair with his hand out of annoyance. He couldn't stand being in the same room as Ryuho for too long, especially with the apathetic façade Ryuho always put on in front of others. Besides, he was originally going out when he discovered Ryuho standing outside of the room.

"I'm going out for a while." Kazuma finally broke the silence. He was planning to go back with his plan of destroying the corrupt Mainland government now that Kanami went back, and their search for Mimori seemed to have failed. "What are you going to do now? Continue searching for Mimori or go back to Lost Ground?" He asked before reaching out for the doorknob.

"I'll stay." With a succinct answer, Ryuho stood up and walked to the bed, ready to tend his exhausted body and mind with a nap.

"Whatever." Kazuma grunted and opened the door. He froze the moment his eyes locked with a pair of watery emerald eyes. "Ka-Kana-" He opened his mouth trying to say something, but the words wouldn't come out…

Kanami charged towards the hotel, desperate to see if she can stay here with Kazuma, or at least talk to him a little bit more before she leaves. Her long brown hair tied in ponytail waved in the air as she ran against the cool breeze. She pushed open the hotel front door and ran upstairs. She ran down the hallway, ignoring other people's stares on her. Finally, she stopped in front of their room.

Raising her hand, she was about to knock when she heard the conversation inside. Not that she deliberately wanted to eavesdrop, but she just happened to hear the mentioning of her name…

"… And why did you push Kanami back home? You didn't want to see her? From her expressions, I can tell she was really happy to see you again." That sounded like Ryuho.

Originally, Kanami wanted to just knock and go in. But curiosity kills the cat. She was also very curious as to what Kazuma's answer might be. So, instead of knocking, she decided to listen carefully.

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm happy to see her! She's like a little sister to me! But it's dangerous here, and I can't always be around to protect her. She's just going to be a burden here if anything were to happen to her. So I told her to go home. That's all." Kazuma yelled out. Kanami gasped outside in the hallway, and quickly brought up her hand to cover her mouth.

The answer she heard didn't make her happy, not at all. True, when she was young, Kazuma was like a big brother caring for her. But as she grows up, her feelings had changed. Back then when she worked for those ladies, when they teased her that Kazuma was her husband, she would blushed out of embarrassment, and only embarrassment. It was actually one or two years after Kazuma and Ryuho both disappeared after their last intense fight that she realized how much she liked him, and no longer as a big brother. She really, really, really missed him! Can she say that she loved him? She didn't know… She didn't really know what love means. However, one thing was for sure, she absolutely no longer looked at Kazuma as a big brother.

Kanami started to feel sad. "Did he really only looked at me as a little sister? Am I going to be a little sister in his eyes forever?" She mumbled as her eyes started to get cloudy. As if that didn't crush her heart enough, Kazuma mentioned that she was going to be burden to him! "I'm not a burden. I don't want to be a burden…" She shook her head slightly at his words.

Even though she fully understood that the Mainland might be dangerous for her, but she thought if she were with Kazuma, everything would be fine. But she didn't know that he would use the word "burden" to describe her!

She didn't hear the rest of their conversations as the words "little sister" and "burden" kept on echoing in her dull mind. Then suddenly, the door was thrown open. A bit shock, Kanami took a few steps backward. She looked up at who had opened the door with her watery emerald eyes, and only saw a blurry image of Kazuma.

"Ka-Kana-" Kazuma started to say, but seemed too shock to speak.

Shaking her head slightly, she turned around to leave. She had to go back to the Lost Ground with Asuka now. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone, so she had to go. That was her only choice. And frankly, after hearing what Kazuma said about her, she didn't want to face him anytime soon. However, her wrist was grabbed by a strong hand. No matter how she tried to shake her hand free, she couldn't do it.

"Wait!" Kazuma yelled as he stopped Kanami from running away. "What are you doing here, Kanami?" He was finally out of shock, and can speak normally.

Seeing that struggling to get away was no use, Kanami decided to stop shaking her hand free of the grip. She refused to look at Kazuma also, with her back facing him and just staring into the hallway.

"Something wrong?" Kazuma didn't seem to realize that she had overheard his conversation with Ryuho, and seemed to have no idea how hurtful his words might be, at least to Kanami. "Didn't you leave with Tachibana already? Or did you forget something here?" He asked carefully, since he was sure her eyes had been watery the moment he opened the door.

"… Originally… I wanted to talk to you a bit before I leave… But, there's no need to do that now. I heard what you said about me…" She tried to make her voice sounded normal, but it was hard as her tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Don't lie to me. What's wrong? What do you mean you heard-" Kazuma stopped abruptly as he remembered the last few sentences he said before opening the door—something about Kanami being a burden. "Shit, don't tell me you heard-" He was cut off by Kanami…

"Kazu-kun… Is what you said all true? Am I just a little sister to you? Do you see me that way?" Kanami decided to ask instead of running away since she was caught.

"Of course I see you as a little sister, Kanami. Isn't that how it always is?" Kazuma asked, a bit confused. He thought that Kanami was hurt because he said she was a burden to him in Mainland. But that was still true, since she had no real ability to protect herself here.

Ryuho had been standing in the doorway for a few minutes now since he heard the fuss in the hallway. He sensed trouble from those two, even if he didn't see Kanami's expression. But he himself didn't know what was really going on since he only heard Kazuma admit that he looked at Kanami as a little sister. Nothing before that was heard.

"Can't I be more than a little sister?" Kanami asked shakily, abandoning her effort to sound normal.

"… What are you talking about? You'll always be my little sister, and I'll always protect you." Kazuma answered. He was a bit dense when it comes to understanding others' feelings.

"But I don't want to be your little sister. Kazu-kun… I've grown up. I'm not a little girl anymore." She tried to reason, tried to make Kazuma see her as a young woman.

"Either way, I'll protect you, but right now you have to go back with Tachibana, okay?" Didn't know how to react to the strange Kanami in front of him, Kazuma decided to tell her to go back to the Lost Ground.

"I don't see you as a big brother anymore, Kazu-kun. I… I want to be with you, because… I like you…" Kanami said with her all her courage and turned around to look at Kazuma. She was searching inside his orbs for answers, but all she saw was shock. Not surprise, nor happiness.

Kazuma was totally shocked. This was the second time a girl confessed to him. Ayase Terada was the first, and now Kanami too. There was no time for him to be happy. He didn't know Kanami looked at him that way. He had always thought of her as his beloved sister. Besides, when he left her sides six years ago, she was still just a little girl (a/n). He was just reunited with her last night. Even though he can see Kanami had grown up, no longer the little girl he remembered, but he had no time to think of such things, especially with his plans of destroying the Mainland government. His ripple-less heart had been disturbed by her confession. Now he was confused and couldn't sort out his feelings.

"Don't be silly… You should go. I'm sure Tachibana is desperate to go back. You shouldn't make him wake." Kazuma said, avoiding Kanami's eyes. He didn't want to answer her before he really understands his own feelings, since all he had in his heart all these years were rage, sorrow, and hatred. He couldn't just say either he likes Kanami as a little sister or perhaps more all of a sudden.

"So I am just a burden to you after all. I'm not a burden. I never wanted to be one." Kanami, disappointed, turned her head away from Kazuma and wiped her tears with her other hand.

"Listen, you are NOT a burden. You never were!" Kazuma quickly denied what he had blurted out to Ryuho before in the room. He knew being called a burden hurt a lot, and he didn't mean to hurt her feelings. "Don't think too much. Here, I'll take you back to where Tachibana is and see you off to the Lost Ground, okay?" He suggested, trying to turn Kanami's attention away from the topic "burden."

"It's okay. I'll go back. And I won't be a burden to you anymore from now on. So, would you please let go of me now?" Kanami's voice returned close to normal, but there was a sign of suppression of her trembling voice.

Speechless, Kazuma let go of her wrist. The moment she gained her freedom, Kanami walked hurriedly down the hallway towards the stairs. She didn't hear footsteps following her, and couldn't help but be disappointed that Kazuma didn't even stop her from leaving or just come chasing after her. Heartbroken, the tears just kept coming down her cheeks, like endless streams of water that couldn't be kept in anymore.

As she reached the stairs, she quickly got to the first floor and started running towards the beach. She had to leave right now! She couldn't stay here anymore! Kanami kept striding forward with the remaining energy she had left inside of her. The only thought in her mind was to get away from the hotel, away from Kazuma.

Watching Kanami walking hurriedly away from him and with her head slightly bowed, Kazuma frowned. He had a really bad feeling, as if once he let Kanami walk away, he can never see her again. The distance between them was growing, yet he was powerless to stop that. He wanted to go chase her, but then what? He won't allow her to stay here with him. Not in a million years, since it was for her own good if she leaves Mainland.

"Idiot! Go chase her! If she walks away, she's not coming back to you! Go while you have the chance. Don't regret when you really lose her. What are you waiting for?" Ryuho suddenly yelled at Kazuma. He heard the rest of the conversation between them, and finally realized that Kanami liked Kazuma. "Don't regret like I do now. Don't repeat the same mistake I made. Now I can't even atone to Mimori for leaving her." He reminded Kazuma heart-wrenchingly.

Seeing that Kazuma was still just staring in the direction Kanami left, Ryuho gave him a push. Kazuma almost stumbled forward. "What's that for?" He voiced his anger, but then quickly ran off after Kanami. He should at least tell her that it's not that he wanted to reject her, but please give him time to think it over. He wanted to promise her one more time that after he takes care of everything here, he will return to her with an answer!

Kanami raced across the beach towards the blurry figure with purple hair and a teddy bear in his arms. Asuka was standing near the ocean, a bit impatient, and a bit embarrassed with a girl's teddy bear in his arms. He suddenly caught sight of Kanami racing towards him. But something wasn't right… She was crying!

"What's wrong, Kanami? Did something happen?" He ran slightly towards her. But he only had only taken a few steps forward before Kanami ran into his arms.

"Asuka… let's go… I want to go back to the Lost Ground…" She sobbed, slightly choking on her tears. Her whole body was shaking in Asuka's arms.

"… Okay…" He said as he patted her back to comfort her. He decided to ask her later and get them out of here first. As the rocks around them were consumed, eight green treasure balls were formed into a stepping plate. Asuka stepped on them with Kanami, about to take off.

Kazuma's eyes just widened as he sprinted towards the beach. All he saw was Kanami raced into the arms of Tachibana! The feeling of seeing that scene was awful, although he didn't know why. Then, they stepped onto a green plate in the air, about to take off. Not the time to think more, he yelled out to halt them.

"Wait! Tachibana!" He roared as he sprint forward as fast as he could. "Kanami!"

Kanami tugged on Tachibana's sleeves, still with her head buried in his chest. "Let's go. I don't want to talk to him. Please." She mumbled. She needed to clear her mind for the time being, and didn't want to see Kazuma.

Asuka looked at Kanami, then looked at Kazuma. With an expression of apology, his treasure balls took off, flying them back to the Lost Ground. Kazuma chased after them, seeing how they flew farther and farther away into darkness towards the island. Even though he could also call out his alter and fly after them, but he didn't. There was no guarantee that he could catch up with Tachibana. And besides, he understood Kanami was probably the one who told Tachibana to take off without waiting for him. Therefore, he stopped at the shores.

"Kanami! Give me some time! Let me think it over! I promise you that I'll go back to find you with my answer once I take care of things here!" Kazuma yelled with all his strength. He knew that they heard him. Kanami heard him.

Since he got his message to Kanami, he turned around with his fists tightened. He was very happy to see Kanami leaping into Tachibana's arms, even though Tachibana has a girlfriend. Whatever his feeling was, he quickly brushed it aside. Instead, he focused his attention back on his plans once again. Now, Kanami was out of the way, out of danger to be precise, he can finally do what he had longed to do for months now: Blow up the Mainland government's headquarters, and killing all those corrupted officials and sick scientists who enjoyed refining his friends and other alter-users years ago!

After a nap, Mimori felt a lot better. Her strength was returning to her weakened body bit by bit as time passed. Getting off the bed, she saw the balcony. Feeling quite frightened that she didn't know anyone here in the hospital, and most likely people outside of the hospital too since she couldn't remember anything about her, she decided to try to calm down in the balcony.

She slid the glass door open. A cool breeze blew upon her face and made her silky hair waved. Mimori stepped out into the balcony. After taking a deep breathe of fresher air than the air in the room, she took in the scenery in front of her eyes. It appeared that the hospital room she stayed in was quite high, and from the balcony, she was able to see the whole city. With all the lights arraying the city, it was such a wonderful view. But what caught her attention wasn't the beautiful night scene. Out in the ocean, she noticed an island, and couldn't take her eyes off that island.

"That island… it seems… familiar…" Mimori mumbled as she fixed her eyes on that island. "Have I been there before? Do I live there?" She wondered out aloud.

Another breeze blew upon her, and she shivered a bit. It was kind of cold at night. She pulled her shirt tighter, trying to block out the coldness. She continued staring at the island, trying very hard to remember anything she might be able to. But nothing came to mind as her head started to hurt again, as if deep down inside her mind, she didn't want to remember something painful.

The door opened as a nurse came in. She gasped when she saw Mimori up in the balcony. "Miss Kiryu! What are you doing up in the balcony in this cold weather? Come back in! Your body's still weak!" The young nurse yelped and ran out into the balcony.

Mimori jumped when the nurse yelled at her. She turned and saw the young nurse scurried to her and then brought her back into the room. She was forced to sit back onto the bed. The nurse closed the glass door to the balcony to shut off the cool night air.

"Miss Kiryu, there will be an official from the government here to see you in a moment. Can you see him?" The nurse asked for permission from her. Actually, more like informing her.

"An official? Government?" Mimori asked the nurse. She didn't really want to see anyone just yet, especially not an official from this corrupt government. She still remembered the conversation she heard before she took a nap. Those vile people were going to use her to capture two people in order to dominate the world! "I'm not feeling too well; I don't want to see anyone just yet." She answered.

"But… I'm afraid you will have to see him anyway." The young nurse apologized and quickly left the room, leaving an upset Mimori to call the official in.

"What should I do? What will they do to me? Should I confront the official of my knowledge of their despicable plans? Do they know that I lost my memories? Should I tell them of my condition then?" Mimori mumbled to herself. Deep down in her consciousness, there was a voice warning her not to confront directly for some odd reasons. She must wonder, had she confronted someone before and got into trouble? But she didn't know because of her amnesia, hopefully a temporary amnesia.

The door was opened without a knock. Very disrespectful, Mimori noted. A middle aged man dressed in black suit entered. The man, with grayish hair and a pair of cold gray eyes, walked in augustly with an aura of slight evilness. Mimori was frightened by the sharp gray eyes glaring at her coldly. She didn't know what this man wanted from her.

"Greetings, Miss Mimori." The man said, seemingly respectful, but really weren't. "I'm the director of this governmental hospital and the current special project my men are conducting, Yasuho Ryushou."

"… Yes? Mr. Ryushou?" Mimori asked carefully. She couldn't just blurt out things such as: What do you want from me, you sicko? Or I know what you're planning, you evil jerk! That would probably only get her in trouble.

The man just looked at her observantly, as if deciding what actions to take with her. Mimori averted her eyes from the frightening man in front of her. 'Should I tell him that I lost my memories? If he thinks I remember who I am, will he force me to capture those two people they wanted? If he finds out that I don't remember anything, what will he do? Lie to me so that I'll believe him? Or force me to do what he wants nonetheless?' Mimori pondered to herself. Before the man opens his mouth to speak, Mimori decided to speak first.

"I… um… I don't remember anything… I don't even know who I am…" She decided that might be the best thing to do for the time being. Of course, she wanted to find out more information about herself from this man. Then, when she has the chance, she wanted to run away from this hospital. No matter what this man tells her, she won't know if it's the truths or lies, but at least she might have some information to check out after she escape from here.

There was a hint of surprise in the man's eyes, but just for a second. The surprise in his gray eyes was quickly replaced with cunning trick as an idea struck his mind. Even god was helping him, mwahaha.

"I see." He replied succinctly. "Would you like to know more about yourself then?"

"Of course! Please do… I feel very lost right now not knowing who I am and what I had done in my life before… Who am I? Why am I here in the hospital? Where am I? Where are my families and friends?" Mimori eagerly bombarded the man with tons of questions all of a sudden. She really wanted to at least have some clues about herself first.

"From the information we have, your name is Mimori Kiryu. Your family is very wealthy and powerful here in the Mainland. Excuse me, your family was very powerful before. Mr. and Mrs. Kiryu died in a car accident two days ago." The man said mockingly.

Mimori wasn't too shock at the news, since she had pretty much figured out that her parents probably died in a car accident from the conversation she overheard. However, learning the truth that her parents did die still caused her heart to skip several beats, then swelled with sadness.

"Car… accident? Why? Is that how I…" She asked, voice filled with melancholies.

"Yes, you passed out from the accident, and that's why you are here now." It was a lie, but Mimori didn't know. However, she did have her skepticism kept in mind. "So I'm afraid you have no more family. As for your friends… Haha. Don't make me laugh. You call them friends?" The man mocked once again.

"… What do you mean?" She asked with a pale face. Don't tell her that she has no more family and friends in the world now! That's very unbearable.

"Well, you see. The so called car accident was no accident at all. From our information, you have lived in the Lost Ground for the past few years. You only recently came back for unknown reasons. And two days ago, an alter-user, your former friend, Ryuho, showed up full of anger. Perhaps you will know why he was so furious and why you came back here. There might be connections between the two events." The man hinted to her about their relationship. Of course, he got all the information about what happened in the Lost Ground all these years from spies and detectors the government put into the Lost Ground. "Ryuho, with his mighty power, caused this accident, trying to kill you! But in the process killed your parents instead of you." The man explained, partly telling the truth, but mostly lying.

Mimori gasped. That name, Ryuho! That was the name those people spoke of before! It sounded so familiar! She was sure she knew this Ryuho person, but couldn't recall anything about him. Did this man here imply that Ryuho had some special relationship with her? She caught that hint. Was this man trying to tell her that perhaps they broke up and something else happened, leading to Ryuho trying to kill her, and instead caused the death of her parents? Oh no…

Shaking her head, Mimori didn't want to believe that. However, from what she overheard, those men did say that her parents did not die from a mere car accident, implying that it was purposely caused to kill her parents, and perhaps her.

"Lost Ground? Alter-user?" Mimori whispered barely. Her mind was now all muddled with the multitude information she was hearing. She tried to keep her skepticism about everything this man said to her, but it was hard, especially because of all those outrageous and inconsolable "facts."

"Ah, I forgot you lost your memories. Come here." The man pulled Mimori towards the balcony. The wind was now stronger and cooler, making Mimori shiver. Ignoring Mimori's weakened body, the man just pointed towards the island in the middle of the sea. "See that island there? That is the Lost Ground." He said, gritting his teeth when naming the island.

"That's the Lost Ground…" Mimori repeated after the man. The name of the island was familiar too. And this man said that she had been living there for years until two days ago.

"Yes. Over there, there was an upheaval many years ago. The upheaval led to people with inhuman power being born. These monsters are called alter-users. Alter, the ability to manipulate matters and thus forming weapons such as giant robots or sharp objects, made the alter-users very powerful. Six years ago, they rebelled against our government. Because of their monstrous power, of course they won." The man explained to her. Then, turning around, he walked back into the room.

"Alter… Lost Ground… Ryuho…" Mimori mumbled to herself. There were connections between those three words. There seemed to be images of a man with a half-human-sized purple robot with long antenna next to him flashing through her minds. However, she couldn't see the image clearly before a pang hit her head once again.

Mimori subconsciously raised her hand to grab something near her neck, but found nothing. She realized that she wasn't wearing any necklace on her neck. Was she wearing something important before on her neck? She had the urge to find a necklace immediately. She had to be wearing something before, since with no necklace to grab onto she felt like a part of her was missing.

Slightly shaking her head, she dropped her hand to her side and went back into the room, closing the glass door. The man was sitting in the chair next to the bed again.

"Is what you told me all true?" Mimori asked with a pale face. Not that she entirely believed the man, but she just had to ask.

"Of course. We, the government of the mainland, would like to ask for your help." The man informed her, not really asking for help from her. "This dangerous alter-user, Ryuho, we need to capture him. He had been trying to destroy us along with his friend Kazuma, another alter-user, for a while. Since he is so furious with you, I'm sure he will come kill you when he learns your whereabouts. But don't worry, we will protect you from him. After capturing those two criminals, the people of Mainland can finally sleep without worries at night."

"Hmph. You want me to be the bait?" Mimori said coldly. No matter how much truths and how much lies she had been told, she wouldn't help this man and the government. Even if Ryuho was trying to kill her, she would never help the government dominate the world by helping them capture Ryuho. "May I have some time to think about before agreeing or denying to do such a dangerous mission?" She asked sarcastically, but not to obvious to anger the official.

"Two days. You have two days to think about it. Let me remind you something. You are all alone in the world now. Your beloved Ryuho tried to kill you. He killed your parents. If you help us capture him, you can avenge your innocent parents." The man declared vilely before leaving. Satisfied with Mimori's face turning paler, he left the room.

The last few things the man reminded her stabbed her heart. Her eyes started to get watery. "I'm alone… I'm alone… I'm all alone in the world…" She whispered with trembling voice. She may not be able to tell truths from lies about all the other things she just heard, but this one fact stabbed her heart, and she knew she really was alone in the world.

The feeling of hollowness in her heart seemed to have returned. She had the same feelings before, her heart told her. She had felt this type of hopelessness and loneliness before. She just knew it. She was afraid of being lonely. She didn't want to be lonely. She needed someone to depend on at the very moment. But she was all by herself trapped in a hospital.

"No… I don't want to be alone…" Mimori wiped the tears still in her eyes away. "I have to get out of here. Whatever he just told me has to be a big fat lie… It has to be! I'm not alone in the world! I'm not…" Mimori denied the unbearable news she had just learned. "Lost Ground… I have to go there. I have to find someone, anyone, who really knows me… There has to be other people who care for me somewhere in the world… Ryuho…" She had the urge the find this Ryuho person, yet she was hesitant. What if he really wanted to kill her? And besides that, there was a tiny voice telling her to give up all hopes on this Ryuho. A tiny voice was warning her that she would only get hurt if she sees him.

Mimori stood up from the bed and walked towards the door. She turned the doorknob. "Thank goodness it isn't locked!" She rejoiced slightly. Peeking out into the hallway, she noticed the light had been dimmer and no one was walking around. There were some chairs down the hallway, but there wasn't even a single soul out there. Glancing at the clock, she noticed time flies. It was now after midnight.

Just when she was about to try to sneak out of the hospital, something on the wall caught her attention. Damn. There was a camera there in the hallway. If she just walks out, she would be caught on tape, and will never have the chance to escape again.

Mimori closed the door and went back into the room. She carefully looked around to see anything that might be suspicious, such as a hidden camera. Good thing she didn't find any in the room. That means… she still has the chance to escape.

Pressing the button on the wall, she grabbed the remote control of the television and hid behind the door waiting for a nurse to come in. Hopefully her plan will work, and hopefully the remote control wasn't too small for her purpose… Otherwise, she will be in big trouble, probably will be locked up somewhere instead of this comfortable room…

A/N: Remember, at the beginning of this story, because I wasn't sure how old Kanami is in the anime, I actually decided to make her 12 years old (six years ago in my story), meaning she is now 18 years old. The other people are their normal age from the anime, meaning Mimori, Ryuho, and Kazuma are about 24 years old after six years.

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Note: That's it for this chapter! Good thing Mimori did not entirely trust the evil official Yasuho Ryushou. In case you haven't notice, he's made up by me. Wahaha, Mimori will try to escape from the hospital in the next chapter. Hmm… should I let her escape? Or should I make her get caught? (smirk evilly)…

Again, I'm terribly sorry I am so lazy that I wasted my whole vacation doing nothing… By the time I'm finished typing this chapter, school will be starting on Monday again, NO! (Sit down on the floor, start whining, and start crying)… Therefore, this is a warning, I have no idea when I will be updating. Forgive me.

Anyway, please review now ;)