"The secret to getting away with lying is believing with all your heart, that goes for lying to yourself even moreso than lying to another."

Elizabeth Bear


"Reborn, have you called her already?" Shizuko asks as she eyes the tux clad Mafioso sitting in front of her. Shizuko had personally invited Reborn to a small cafe just ways away from her house and Reborn had gladly accepted-accounting to the fact that Shizuko would pay all food related costs. Shizuko-expecting this-gave no fight and regretfully paid for his bottle of really expensive glass of whisky as they both sat down and talked.

"Hmm..." Reborn takes one long sip as Shizuko eyes him annoyingly, waiting for the damn guy to put the glass down and talk but when he takes too damn long, her eye twitches.

"Reborn," She hisses out impatiently. "I do have a life too you know."

"Funny," Reborn raises an eyebrow and lowers the glass down. "You're really comedic today, Shizuko."

Shizuko resisted every urge to smash the glass into that smirking pretty face of his. Instead, she took a deep breath in and asked once again. "Did you or did you not?"

Reborn eyes her carefully and noted some few minor details that would have escaped the untrained eyes. Her hair was messy, under her eyes were heavy and dark eye bags, and from the looks of it...she had lost some weight. She looked normal yes but when Reborn scrutinized her from head to toe...he knew just how much she was suffering. Reborn's nose wrinkled in pity...how did it get this bad?

"No," He pours another glass of whiskey for himself and takes a small sip, trying to numb the guilt gnawing at him. "I didn't call her...well I did but the call didn't go through so I gave up and left it at that."

"W-What?" Her eyes widen as she grips the edge of the table tightly. "Reborn I told you-"

"Yes, you told me. But I don't want to hear what this is saying." Reborn points to Shizuko's forehead. "I want to hear what this is saying." Reborn moves his hand to Shizuko's heart. Her eyes widen as she looks away from Reborn, tears starting to form from the corner of her eyes. She shakes away the melancholy feeling as she turns back to Reborn, eyes determined.

"Well tough luck buddy because this," She points to her heart. "Gives me nothing but heartaches so as of now, it's under solitary confinement."

Reborn frowns but quickly recovers his poker face before she could notice anything strange. "I'm disappointed Shizuko."

"Yeah," Shizuko laughs warily-brokenly. "You're not the only one Reborn."

"That's not it."

Shizuko looks up as Reborn leans forward, resting his chin on his outstretch palm which was resting on the table. "You never gave up back then and suddenly you're backing out. What happened?"

Shizuko closes her eyes and sighs, trying to reason with what seemed like an unreasonable Reborn. "I did give up, remember? I went to England and-"

"That wasn't giving up," Shizuko stares at Reborn as Reborn narrowed his eyes. "That was running away."

Shizuko's bottom lip quivered as she tries to stop it by biting her lip-she was not going to cry, especially not in front of Reborn. "Is there even a difference between the two?"

"Yes," Reborn pushes himself back up on the chair. "A very huge difference."

Silence loomed over the two as Shizuko pondered on what Reborn had said. She knew perfectly what he was trying to get across, problem was-she didn't want to acknowledge it herself...not when she was so close to cutting the string and throwing it away for good.

"Listen Reborn," She starts as she sighs, eyes downcast. "Don't ask me why, okay? It just is. Not all questions are meant to be answered you know."

Reborn eyed the pitiful sight in front of him. This was the girl that had burned so brightly in the past and now...he finally understand. It's not because her love for Tsuna had died out-he doubted if it ever will-but the fact that she had given all she had to give and seeing it not returned has caused that small flicker of hope...to burn out. It took it's time burning out though, Reborn mused, what a cruel punishment fate had bestowed upon her.

Reborn sighs and closes his eyes. He had miscalculated gravely. He had forgotten the golden rule of love-not everyone walks away happy. He just thought that maybe, just maybe, both of them were strong enough to overcome this rule. But he was wrong. Terribly wrong.

"One reason," Shizuko looks up at Reborn and Reborn in turn looks at her. "Give me one reason and I'll call Kyoko."

Shizuko smiles and it took Reborn one or two blinks to see what that smile really meant. No it was not sadness, not anger, and not even love. It was hopelessness.

Like seeing a dying man on his death bed.

"Because he loves her."

Reborn saw the tears that she was desperately trying to hold back, the words that she was biting back, and the emotions that she was trapping between the broken cracks of her heart. Reborn could no longer see suck pitiful sight go on much longer-if even she had much longer. So Reborn reached into his pocket and pulled his cell phone. Because he too,

Had

Also

Given

Up.

"...Alright."


RING

RING

RING

RI-CLICK

"This is Kyoko Sasagawa, who is this speaking please?"


"Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different, yet, tomorrow is too often a repetition of today."

James T. McKay


A/N:
Hoho~ You can tell that the drama is just sizzling...why? BECAUSE THE CHAPTER HAS ENDED WITH A QUOTE! Haha XD I usually only use quotes at the start of the story but...I don't know this just felt appropriate somehow. Anyway, were (Probably) nearing the end so prepare yourself for a really sad ending...

Or a happy ending...

BWAHAHAHA! I'm so evil~