I have excuses! I went on a trip, and my computer is broken so I have to switch to a new one, and school... GAH!

Thanks to lumenite88 for the review, Alanna3799 for the follow and favorite, Super amazing ninja penguin for the favorites and the follow. You guys keep this story alive!

Before I start, I'd like to thank two people. The first is my best friend, the model for Leiko Rin, and my personal PlotMaster3000, FEEEEEEEESH! without whom I would not, could not, and surely should not be writing anything. The second is Dadikus, who's always there for me and who always reads my crap even though he's not even into anime that much. These two are just as responsible for this story as I am.

So, let's skip the fluff and get to the newest chapter!

That's admittedly a really good idea. Damned girl. Leiko Rin, the Queen of Souls, Ruler of Hearts, Mistress of the Mind. She thinks she's oh-so-wonderful, does she? We'll see; the Indigo Illusionist is back with a bang.

X-***-X

"You actually know how to do this?" I ask, leaning over Leiko Rin's shoulder.

"Of course," she sighs. "I'd have thought that worthless brother of yours taught you something before he bit it." I raise a fist with all the intention of cracking her thick skull open, but actually manage to contain myself when I see the computer screen.

"That's insane," I breathe, my eyes breezing over the windows, numbers, and scrolls of binary code. "You can read that?"

"Yeah, it says you're annoying and need to shut up."

"Psh," I grunt, pushing away from the computer lab chair and crossing my arms, stalking across the empty room, out of the computer's warm glow and into the darkness. It's nine at night and this school is disturbingly easy to break in to. All you need are a set of bolt cutters and a paperclip or two. We didn't even run into any night guards yet.

"If you're so bored, go find something to do," Leiko suggests arrogantly.

"Yeah, like what?"

"Well, Ootori is smart, right?" Before I can answer, she cuts me off. "Rhetorical. Don't answer. Anyway, he's smart, so he probably has a tangible copy of his most recent monetary transactions on his person. Go find those and bring them here."

"Huh?" I question, flabbergasted, before it dawns on me. Leiko pauses in her intense typing to look at me over her shoulder. I raise my hands in a conciliatory gesture. "Right, sorry. Find the things. I'll have them to you by the end of school tomorrow."

"No sooner?" She sighs, disappointed. "I thought you were good, Illusionist."

"What if I bring you the documents and his glasses?" I challenge cockily, resting my hands on my hips and raising a single silver eyebrow.

I can see in the computer screen's reflection the corners of her mouth twitch in what's almost a smile. With her thumb, she pushes her glasses higher on her nose and says, "Fine. You do that."

X-***-X

"Kyoya-senpai?" I mutter under my breath approaching the young man. My hands worry the hem of my dress and my shoes scuff on the floor. Kyoya refuses to look up from his computer as he responds.

"I..." I look around, notice a few eyes on me, and drop my voice to whisper into his ear, "Can I speak to you?"

"Sure," he says shortly, finally breaking eye contact with his screen and turning his indifferent slate gaze to me. I flutter my eyelashes, unsatisfied, and lace my fingers with his, tugging incessantly on his arm. His mouth hardens into a cold line, his eyes narrowing at me.

"What is it, Aihana?" He asks lowly.

"I need to talk to you," I enunciate, pulling with more desperation on him. "Outside."

With hesitation, he stands, grabs his oh so precious bag in his free hand, and allows me to pull him desperately across the room. At this point, I have a fairly decent audience, ladies casting their corner-of-the-eye jealous suspicion glance at me, the hosts downright staring in confusion. Nevertheless, we exit the room, and proceed quickly down the hall, my eyes set sternly on the end of the corridor.

Without breaking stride, I lean into a closed door, pressing down on a golden handle. The lock clicks open, and I stumble inside, dragging Kyoya with me. I release his hand, duck under his falling form, and lock the door behind us. There's a clatter as he catches himself on a desk and drops his bag, the various papers and books spreading over the tile.

"Yes?" He says angrily, giving me an irritate 'Seriously?' look. I smile cheekily back at him.

"You know, you have nice glasses," I say idly, leaning back on the door, the only exit to the deserted classroom. "And you're so cold all the time. Tell me, Kyoya, are you scared of death?"

"Of course," he says after a beat, coolly adjusting his glasses. "Who isn't?"

"Only the devil himself," I agree with a smirk, stalking steadily closer to Kyoya. "I think sometimes about what would have happened if you had just kept quiet that day at the fountain, Shadow King. If you had, I'd have been easily famous by now, probably more popular than you. Kagami would never have left Karuizawa, and as a result, she and Takumi would both still be alive. So," I'm very close to his face now, standing on my toes to stare him in his unwavering eyes, "how does it feel to have blood on your hands, hm?"

I expect some sign of guilt or grief, a brief flash of indecision or some kind of nervousness. But I get only a smirk.

"You have our places reversed, Aihana." The words have me so stunned I fall back on my heels. Ever the performer, I quickly, cross my arms a paint a haughty, prideful expression over my features. Kyoya continues talking, and my scowl grows. "Perhaps if you weren't so greedy or quite so complacent, this whole situation could have been avoided."

He has no guilt, not to mention he has no idea how wrong he is.

My snarl practically ripping my face in two, I land a punch square on his nose. All brain and no muscle, the taller gags. My knuckles sing in sudden pain; I closed my fist. Sticky crimson liquid splatters over my hand. I shake it out and take a look at my prey. Kyoya is looking at me with a mixture of surprise and disdain, blood staining the fingers pressed to his upper lip. With his free hand, he is leaning against a desk. If it weren't fr his glasses, I'd have probably knocked his nose crooked.

"Why aren't you screaming?" I ask, flexing my hand into the correct position and punctuating my sentence with a blow under his ear that knocks his glasses off and sends him collapsing over the desk. I refuse to give him a chance to answer, and slam my bruised knuckles into a spot below his ribs. He gags in his inhalation and coughs. I lean over him, pinning him down with my left arm, and lift his head up by his necktie with my other.

I consider saying something witty, but cant think of anything on the spur of the moment. So I smirk, and say calmly, "You look better with your glasses on."

With a solid, one knuckle punch, I knock him in the temple. His onyx eyes roll back in his head and he goes limp under me. I climb off him, gather his papers up in his bag and locate his glasses, which had slid into a corner and cracked, and put them on my head, tucking the bag under my arm. With that, I make to leave, casting a single glance over my shoulder. Sighing, I double back and press two fingers to the vein on his neck, searching for a shattering moment for his pulse. A knot of tension I didn't know had woven unwinds in my stomach when I find it.

I lock the door on my way out.

X-***-X

I meet Leiko Rin on the rooftop, the bag under my arm and the glasses perched confidently on my head. She faces away from me, standing as still as I've ever seen a person stand.

"I expected you to kill him," Leiko Rin says when I hand her the bag and told her what happened. She almost looks disappointed, her gaze wavering from mine for a moment, before meeting it with double the mirth and mischief. "You surprise me, Illusionist. You're unpredictable. When I said I hated you in the cafeteria, I change my mind. I like you, Illusionist."

"Is that a complement?" I ask hesitantly. The way the redhead said it made it sound like-

"No, Mizuki. It's a threat."

Yeah. A threat.

"A threat?" I question, my psychological walls slamming up. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean," she brushes a frustrated hand through her fiery waves of hair. She looks at me blankly, as if asking herself, 'How do I explain?'. "I mean... Death always wins, Mizuki. She always gets her price. You'll understand what that means soon enough."

Okay, I'll try to update more, promises. Until next time, try to avoid crocodiles!