thank god for the mariott! they let me use the internet so i can upload my chappy 8!! whoohoo!! anywayz...i gtg coz i have to go to sleep...wait for chappy nine ok???? and the whole...oh nvm...

Chapter 8: Shot Down

Ruka's P.O.V.

Two weeks were left till the long awaited Cherry Blossom Gala. Basically, everyone of the Alice population was satiated, the cheerful hum that reverberated about the school grounds. All but three.

Mikan Sakura (Pretty shocking eh? Not really…)

Natsume Hyuuga (Nothing new there…)

And for some time, for god-knows-what reasons, Hisoka Asato (OMG!)

But it didn't last long for him when I confronted him. Our laughs filled the air about the grassy clearing we sat in. Indeed, I found a companion in Hisoka Asato. His cheery attitude was infectious as Mikan's used to be. He seemed terribly concerned about Mikan.

"So, Mikan goes up to Madam Bella, fifteen minutes after tardy bell, and asks in the cutest way possible, 'What am I being punished for?'" he told me. We both hollered at the memory. She would always be a dependable object of entertainment. "Sometimes, the girl's dense mind annoys me." I laughed at the memories of how we learned about that. "That was before she changed to Mikan now."

I sobered up as the question I was longing to ask came up. "What's the question, Nogi?" he suddenly asked me. "Your curiosity and anxiety are bursting my head apart."

I breathed in heavily. "What happened to Mikan in France? How did she become the girl we see now?"

"Hard to say," he began. "I don't really understand the extent of her change. When the spring had changed to summer in her fourth year there, there was this one night where…I met her out side the school grounds. It was by chance. She was just standing there. No tears, no sound, nothing. But…the Mikan I met when she came to France, lost, just disappeared in a day. No smiles, no laughter in the midst of anyone but me. The girl was…cold. Like you see her now. Have you ever seen something like that?"

"All my life," I said.

"You see, Ruka, she was being extorted. The French Academy was globally famous for their missions. If your Japan missions are difficult, then the French missions are ten fold of what they are. Mikan was the number one agent in their plans. She's done hundreds of things. Killed people even."

"Natsume's seen the same things."

"But possibly not as…hideous as what Mikan has seen. She told me once, she decapitated a man's head. She's never looked so…depressed. I swear, when I saw the memories and the emotions that swirled in her head, I felt like…I would never be the same again."

I breathed in deeply as we fell into silence. Then he spoke again, but this time jovially. "So, what's the drift between Hyuuga and Mikan?"

"Ah, those two," I said smiling. "The talk of the town. Tell me Asato. Was Mikan a genius?"

"Well…you couldn't say that when she first started out. But on the day she changed, she seemed to gain the brain of a super computer. Smart as anything."

"Well, Natsume happens to be a genius. So listen, these two supposed geniuses, are smart to the bone. But when it comes to each other and their feelings, they're the biggest idiots you will ever meet. Natsume seems to think that Mikan prefers insults to compliments. The idiot. But…she never took heed to those remarks…until five years ago."

"When she left for France, 16th May?"

"Yeah, how's you know?"

"Every year she looks a the calendar on that particular day and all her emotions go beserko on me. Kinda hurts. What happened?"

I sighed and relieved their painful days of theirs for Asato. He listened intently. "I think those two should be together."

"I've been saying the same thing for the past five years but he won't listen to me."

"I think we have a plan."

Asato looked at me pleadingly. "I think w better just talk to Mikan. I know these things."

I huffed and folded my arms in a pout. "Fine, if you want to do it the boring way.

--,--,--,--,--,--,

Hisoka's P.O.V.

I walked into the cafeteria the next day to find Mikan sitting at the usual table, eating silently. I walked up and sat down. "So, Mikan," I said conversationally, my tone catching her by surprise, "the prom's next week. You going?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I might have…something on that day. Why?"

"I don't know. Um, uh," I stuttered. I racked my brain for a way to answer. "Do you have a date?"

"Nope. Don't know if I'm going. Didn't I just say that?"

I shook my head violently. "So, uh, why don't you go with…say, um…Hyuuga?"

I looked at the ceiling as though fan had suddenly become interesting. I could almost feel her glare burning me. "Would rather walk down a hill with boots filled with snails." She looked up at me expectantly, smiling. "So, Hisoka, wanna be my date for the gala?"

I searched for an answer. Oh God, what was I going to do?

"S-s-sure?"

As if it was Murphy's Law or some sickening, friggin written destiny, Natsume Hyuuga walked right in when she asked me and I consented. Four words rang in my head, undeniably true.

I.

Am.

So.

Dead.

A/N: to tell you people who are so anxious bout these two, dun worry...oh yea...some people have been asking me why Mikan has this alice when she has another one...well...mikan has a stealing Alice so she can copy some other alices and still keep her original one...cool eh? kinda like multitaskiing...but i really have to go...bb!!