Once again, I would like to thank you all for liking my story! I really feel like I can start writing again after a writer's block that lasted for 3 years. Crazy, I know. I would also like to let you all know that after this chapter, I will not be able to update for about a week or two, as I will be away visiting family for the holidays. Now that that's out of the way, on with the chapter!

It was almost dawn when Justine made her way back home. She decided that trying to go back to bed would be pointless, seeing as her little excursion to the park did anything but calm her nerves. Opening the front door as quietly as possible, she walked into her still dark house, trying her best not to make as little noise as possible. Once inside, she closed the door behind her and walked into the living room and sat on the couch. She did not bother to turn the light back on, since her eyes had long since adjusted to the darkness, allowing her to see quite well in the dark. Justine liked to think that she had "mole eyes," despite knowing that she is definitely human and not a mole. But now was not the time for stupid jokes. It had been a very strange, very stressful night, and Justine needed to figure out what to do about her "Laito Problem."

Not only had he somehow found out where she was, he had also known that Akira had called the school and told them she was sick. While she knew that the Sakamaki brothers were given special treatment because of their powerful and influential father, she honestly doubted that they would give Laito information about where she lived, where she hung out, and why she was not at school. Anyway, the school did not even know about the park.

The only conclusion Justine came up with that made any sense was that Laito had to be stalking her somehow, possibly having hired someone to follow her and collect information. She still could not believe that he seemed so dedicated to messing with her, she would have thought that someone like him had to have better things to do with his time. Apparently the rich are just as bored as the rest of us.

Justine was definitely disturbed about the fact that he seemed to already know quite a bit about her life, while she knew next to nothing about him. Knowledge is power, after all, and she thought that this game of his was stacked in his favour. That was probably how he wanted it.

"As if playing fair would even matter to that creepy bastard..." She muttered to herself, resolving to remedy this situation as quickly and quietly as possible. After all, it was bad enough that he seemed determined to annoy her, he also knew about her… abilities, what he had called her "special talent." After all of the effort she had put into hiding it from the world, he had to go and ruin everything! Sure, she had lost control both times, but he had provoked her. There was a very good reason why Justine preferred to blend into the background. If you stood out, then people would want to get to know you, and begin to ask questions. Seeing as that was something Justine wanted to avoid at all costs, she made sure to keep contact with other people as limited as possible. She truly hoped that when she went back to Ryoutei Academy, everyone will have forgotten about the incident and Laito's little displays of affection. The creep.

However, it was beginning to dawn on Justine that, given what she had seen of him, Laito Sakamaki was not exactly normal himself. He was insanely strong, and when he grabbed onto her it was near impossible to get loose. When he had been thrown against a tree with a force strong enough to possibly break a person's spine, he got back up as though nothing had happened. There was no way that someone could be hit with so much force and not at least be left with a concussion. Laito had expressed interest in learning more about her. Well, Justine now had a vested interest in learning more about him, if anything to find a way to get him out of her life for good.

Her musings were interrupted when the hall light was turned on and Akira trudged in, still half asleep. When he saw Justine sitting by herself on the couch, he was shaken out of his sleepy daze.

"Good morning, cherie. You couldn't sleep?" He asked her, waking into the living room.

"Not really, no." She said plainly, not really being in the mood or having the energy to elaborate. If anything, she would like to not have to let Akira know about her situation at all. He was worried enough with her as is; she did not want to add to his stress.

Getting up from the couch, she walked over to Akira and gave him a quick hug before heading upstairs to her bedroom. Her father did not say anything to her, knowing that he would most likely not get any answers. Besides, she looked dead tired.

Unsurprisingly, 4 days of doing nothing at all went by very slowly for Justine. She avoided going outside at night so that she could limit her chances of seeing Laito again, and she also tried to get as much sleep as possible until she had to go back to school. She would not be able to handle the fedora-wearing rich boy if she was barely conscious. She knew that she had to be prepared to go back to school and face the mess she had created.

As she finished tying the ribbon on her uniform, she stood in her room and took a deep breath. She had resolved to not lose her composure like she had last time, and that she could handle whatever ended up happening. With those words she felt as though she had just jinxed herself, but now was not the time for silly superstitions.

"Justine! Are you ready to go?" she heard Akira call from downstairs.

"Yeah, just give me a minute!" she responded. After putting on her knee-length black socks, she grabbed her school bag from her nightstand and headed down to where Akira was waiting for her. Despite her situation, Justine found herself feeling surprisingly optimistic. She was going to make sure that everything went smoothly at school, and for once she was feeling somewhat confident in herself. She would not let some perverted trust fund brat ruin all of her hard work.

Noticing her high spirits, Akira smiled at her warmly. After the terrible week she'd had, it was wonderful to see her happy and smiling.

"You look like you're in a good mood." He said to his smiling daughter. She gave him an affirmative nod.

"Yeah, I've decided that I won't let what happened get me down, and that even if people remember it, I don't care. I'm going to try to have a positive attitude and make the best out of my day." She said with zeal, meaning every single word of her statement. This made Akira walk to his daughter and pull her into a tight, affectionate hug. She returned it, feeling wonderful that she had made her father proud of her after such a dark week. This strengthened her determination to not let whatever Laito had in store for her break her down. Besides, if he did have her cornered like he had the times before, she had an idea of how to get out of there.

"I love you, Justine. You make me so proud every day." Akira said, making her eyes almost well up with tears of joy. She hugged him tighter, as a silent way of telling him that she loved him too. Letting go, they made their way out of their house and got into Akira's car.

The drive to Ryoutei Academy was quiet, but not awkward. The car was filled with a jovial and relaxed vibe, as if they did not need to speak to know that it was going to be a good night. Arriving at school, Justine exited her father's car, said goodbye, and made her way to the academy's main building. She quickly scanned the area, just checking to make sure that Laito or his weird brothers were not around waiting to jump her. Seeing that the coast was clear, he exhaled a breath that she did not even know she was holding. She was equally glad to see that nobody was giving her strange looks as they simply walked by, ignoring her as usual. This made Justine optimistic, knowing that her peaceful existence could possibly still be salvaged. However, she knew that she should not let her guard down just yet.

Justine made her way to her classroom and took her usual seat. She was glad that nobody was looking at her strangely; it was as if the whole incident with Laito had never even happened. It would have continued on like that if Justine did not almost go into cardiac arrest when she felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her shoulders. He's decided to cut right to the chase tonight, she thought.

"Darling~! You look so much better today; I was so worried!" A certain fedora-wearing basket case spoke from behind her. Justine could feel a chill run up her spine as he said that, memories of their previous meeting flashing in her mind. However, this would not work out like it had last time. She would do everything she could to not let him get to her.

"Hello, Sakamaki-san." She said, knowing that would have to interact with him on some level. However, she would make sure what every she said to him was basic and minimalistic, leaving no room for him to torment her. At least, that was what she was going to try to do.

"I'm glad that you're not sick anymore, I've missed playing with you. But don't worry, we'll just have to make up for lost time!" He said, his voice cheery and energetic. Justine did not have to look around to know that she and Laito were being stared at again. Of course he had to speak with her in the most dramatic, attention seeking way possible. He was just a bastard like that. A bastard who was still hanging off of her shoulders. Making physical contact with her, the son of a bitch!

'No! No, I won't make a scene. I can handle this!' she thought to herself, not wanting a repeat of the last two times Laito violated her personal space. Taking a deep breath, relaxed her body before turning her head towards Laito and saying in a calm, even tone,

"Sakamaki-san, class is going to start soon, so sit down," she pointed to his usual desk further on the other side of the class room, "Over there. Away from me."

Much to her dismay, Laito began to chuckle at her demand to leave her alone.

'That can't be a good sign.' she thought.

"But Darling, I missed you so much that I requested that the seating arrangement to be changed. I'm going to be sitting next to you from now on, isn't that great~?" he said in his smug, insipid voice, flashing a knowing grin her way. He then got up from behind her and took his new seat right beside her. She was completely speechless, at a total loss for words and feeling her anger pool inside of her. Well, it was official. Justine Lenoir hated Laito Sakamaki with every fibre of her being. While he was not yet the absolute bane of her existence, he was certainly getting there.

As Mrs. Namikawa walked into her classroom and sent a quick glare to Justine and Laito, began the lesson. The class was very similar to the way it was before, with Laito pestering her and Justine having no choice but to sit there and pray for time to magically go by faster. While Mrs. Namikawa was in the middle of breaking down Hamlet's famous "To Be or Not to Be" soliloquy, Laito began busying himself by playing with her hair. He intertwined his finger through her black locks, seeming to find no end of enjoyment in trying to make sure that she could not pay attention. However, Justine jumped in her skin when she felt his strangely cold hand run down her neck and along her collarbone. She knew what he was trying to do, and she would not play into his mind games this time.

She closed her eyes and began to tune him out. She did not care if she looked silly; desperate times called for desperate measures, as they say.

She began tapping her foot in a specific rhythm, silently so she would not be a distraction to the other students. Laito noticed the change immediately, though he did not stop playing with her unruly tresses. It was about a minute later that he heard soft humming coming from Justine, an odd tune that he had never heard before. His eyes widened slightly in confusion as she continued to quietly sing, whisper really, which seemed to drown out everything around her. His smirk dropped, leaving behind a look of mild annoyance. What a bizarre way of trying to ignore him, and the worst part, he loathed to admit, was that it seemed to be working. No matter how or where he touched her, she gave no reactions. She actually looked like she was in a world of her own. After a minute, he could begin to make out the song's lyrics, which left him even more confused.

"Look out, look out. Pink elephants on parade, here they come. Hippity Hoppity! They're here, and there, pink elephants everywhere…"

Justine thought back to when she was very, very young, and had seen the classic Disney film Dumbo. While she no longer remembered the majority of the movie, something that always stood out to her when the scene when the titular baby elephant got drunk (high as a kite, there was no way Justine could believe that there was only alcohol in that bucket) and began to hallucinate that pink elephants were dancing and singing all over the place. While the entire spectacle was strange and slightly terrifying, she liked the song that they sang, giving her an odd sense of comfort and warmth. It was honestly one of the very few happy memories of her early childhood, of her life before Akira.

When she was younger, she would sing it to herself when she became anxious, though in recent years she had been trying to stop under the belief that it was a childish way of handling her emotions. Current events, however, convinced her to put away her pride.

The rest of class went on, with Justine singing softly to herself and Laito watching her in both annoyance and curiosity. After Mrs. Namikawa dismissed the class, Justine confidently stood up from her seat and walked out of the room, giving Laito a smirk of her own. He looked at her with a blank expression, which seemed to be his way of letting her know that he was not done yet. At this moment however, Justine did not care, because she knew that she had won this battle.

When lunchtime came around, Justine went back to her little hideaway to eat, now openly singing about parades and pink elephants, while some passing students heard her and began to think that she was insane. She sat down on her flat rock and ate the lunch that Akira had made for her, being in an even better mood that before she had left for school earlier that night. It was a small victory, sure, but it still felt like Justine had just climbed a mountain. She had been able to block Laito out completely, and she felt pretty good about herself.

"I can stand the sight of worms, and look at microscopic germs. But technicolour pachyderms are really too much for me…" She sang cheerily as she took a bite out of her omelet. When she heard footsteps coming from her right, she already knew who it was. It appeared he was not going to go to the trouble of surprising her right now, thankfully. When he had made his way right beside her, she continued to ignore him.

"You know, Darling, I didn't care for your little song in class. It's not pretty at all." He said, his voice laced with a cold chill that nearly sent a shiver up Justine's spine. She then turned to look at him with equally cold eyes, daring him to continue speaking.

"I don't like to be ignored, either. It was very rude of you to tune me out like that. Your cruelty really knows no bounds~." He continued with a hint of playfulness in his tone. She stared at him unflinchingly, taking another bite of her eggs.

"I don't care about what you don't like; it's not like it affects me. Now go away." She replied tersely, making her voice as biting as she could. His goddamn smirk returned, with a coldness to it that made Justine slightly nervous.

"Now why would I want to do that? I don't want to leave you to eat your lunch all by yourself, Darling. After all, I love you." He said as though it was the most natural thing to say to someone you barely knew. Justine slightly choked on her eggs at his words, causing him to laugh in amusement. After she could breathe again and was sure that "death by omelet" would not be written on her tombstone, she looked at him in astonishment and indignation.

"W-What? Why the hell would you say that? You can't love someone you don't even know!" She protested, shocked that their conversation took such a drastic turn for the bizarre.

"What are you talking about? I know you very well. In fact, I know almost everything about you~." He told her, confirming her earlier suspicions of him following her. She gave him an unamused frown.

"Oh, so now you're just admitting to stalking me? Wonderful, just wonderful." Her hostile demeanour did nothing to wide that damn smile off his face, if anything it only made him grin wider. For some sick reason, he seemed to thrive off of getting angry and shocked reactions from her. If this is something he did for fun, she wondered just how boring it actually was being extremely wealthy. Feeling her appetite leave her, she packed up her half-finished lunch and began to walk away from him and the clusterfuck that their conversation had turned into. However, she felt Laito swiftly grab her wrist and pull her over to him, causing her to drop her bento box and spill its contents all over the grass. Once again Justine tried her best to get out of his hold, but his unusual strength kicked in and made struggling against him useless. He looked down at with his piercing green eyes.

"I've really never met a girl quite like you, Darling. The way you defy me, thinking that you can actually fight back. It's all just so adorable~!" He leaned his head down next to hers, so close that she could feel his breath on the nape of her neck. The close proximity made her want to vomit up what she had eaten of her lunch.

"You know what else, Darling? It'll make it even more fun for me, when I break you and make you submit to me…" He whispered into her ear, a manic excitement evident in his voice. He had honestly expected her to snap again and use her powers to push him away, just like she had that night in the park.

What he did not expect, however, was for her to start chuckling, which soon progressed onto full blown laughter. His shock at this loosened his grip on her wrist, Justine taking the opportunity pull herself away from him. She continued laugh for almost a good thirty seconds before her it began to trail off, fading away as she looked at him with an ice-cold glare. Before leaving him standing there, she spoke to him in a biting tone of voice.

"You want to break me? Break me, seriously? In that case, you should know that others beat you to it years ago. And let me tell you something, Sakamaki-san." She got up right in his surprised face, her stone cold blue-gray eyes staring directly into his emerald green.

"I'm not ever going to be broken again, got that? So do your worst, you smug, egotistical, perverted freak. I can take whatever the hell you have to throw at me." With that, she turned her back to him and marched right into the school building, not bothering to look back to see Laito's reaction.

He had just made it very clear that he wanted to break her down. And by all the damned souls in Hell, Justine was not going to let that happen.

Challenge accepted.

I hope you liked the chapter. I'm sorry if it feels rushed, I needed to get it out before I left to visit my family. To all of you, Happy Holidays!