hey!! i'm back!! i'm really sorry for the delay, school's a bitch! . but things will be back to normal soon, if my editor doesn't have too much homework that is...-.-' oh well, but here's chapter 28! enjoy and review!

Chapter 28 -- New and Old Emotions.

-Still Tenma's PoV-

Kaname stood, his expression calm, but his eyes smoldering. "Tenma, do you remember?"

I sat up, though my head hung low, "I do. And you were right, these things, my memories, some are truly frightening." I said quietly, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"I'll leave for now, would you like for me to send Ichijo or matar in?" kaname said calmly, walking to the door.

"yeah," I said absentmindedly, my mind pointed all on one bit of my memory, my mother.

The door opened, but I paid it no mind. "My mother...what was she really?" I said quietly, trying to piece together the maze that was my past.

"What about her?"

I jumped and turned around. Ichijo stood there giving me a warm smile. "Hi."

I looked back down at my hands. "Hey,"

He sat down on the edge of my bed. "What's wrong? And this time, please tell me."

"Alright, it's just me learning too much stuff at once, and me not being able to make sense of it yet." i said, looking back up at him. "But it'll be fine, I'll figure it out eventually. I hope." I gave a weak smile.

"Tenma, I smell blood, what happened?" Ichijo asked, his face solemn.

"I don't know...but it had something to do with the lady in white." I said, glancing out at the dawn. "She chose the worst type of curse, to curse Tenma's very blood."

"Pardon?"

"That's it!" I said, facing him again, "that's why my powers couldn't be controlled. Or why I couldn't remember stuff." I said, a triumphant smile on my face.

"How'd you figure that out?" Ichijo asked, looking at me incredously.

"Remember, I had so much trouble controlling my powers, and people would say 'because you're half pureblood.' That's what her curse did. She put a seal on my blood!...Wow, isn't hat the most screwed up explanation you ever heard?" I finished, cracking up laughing.

Ichijo gave me an 'are you serious?' look, before laughing himself. "How'd you figure all of that out from just one sentence?"

I gave him a thoughtful look. "I don't know. I guess just something in that sentence bound everything together..." I scratched my head.

"That sounds stupid..." I said sighing.

"No it doesn't, stop putting yourself down..." Ichijo said quietly. "...It makes all of us...really sad..."

My fists tightened. "Don't...say that..." I whispered, my nails digging into my palms.

"Tenma stop it!" Ichijo shouted, grabbing my hands. "Calm down..." he said quietly, trying to unclench my bleeding hands. Wait...bleeding hands?

He wrapped a cloth around my hands. "I shouldn't have said that...I'm sorry.." he said quietly.

"Don't apologize, one shouldn't be sorry for the truth." I said, staring down at my bandaged hands. "It's the truth after all."

"Why?"

"Why what?" I asked, confused.

"Why do you keep all of us away? What do you think's going to happen?"

I was surprised by the question, but I hoped he didn't notice. "It's for your own safety..." I said.

"What if I don't want to be safe?"

"then you're a fool." I replied, avoiding his gaze. But for some reason, I kept looking back at him. "To want to be dragged into the darkness with me, that's absurd, unheard of."

"You're right. I don't want to be dragged into the dark, I want to take you out of it." Ichijo said, taking my left hand in his right. "But you have to let me."

I swallowed. "Ichijo, there's nothing that can be done." 'Why am I doing this to him? He doesn't understand, he can't, to know that I-'

"Nothing i can do? That's bull, and you know it." he said, cutting off my thoughts, forcing me to look up at him. "Why are you saying this, after everything you've fought against for nearly 10 years?"

"Because they're true."

Before I could react, Ichijo's hand came up, and struck the side of my face. "That's. Not. True."

I lightly touched my red cheek with my fingers. It hurt. I looked up at Ichijo, expecting to see furious eyes staring at me, but I saw the opposite.

Ichijo looked horror-struck.

"what's wrong?" I asked, my hand still on my cheek.

Ichijo's hand came up and moved mine, revealing the bruising flesh. "What's wrong?" he repeated, looking at the mark. "I just..." he trailed off.

"It's fine...but damn, you have a good left hook." I said jokingly.

"It is not!" he shouted, pulling back and standing. "Excuse me," he said, running to the door, and leaving.

-Ichijo's PoV-

As soon as i got out, I bolted away. My mind running circles around what I'd done.

I hit her. I bruised her face, I'd just done the one thing i'd sworn to never do. I hurt her.

I rounded another corner, and fell back, a cry coming from what I'd run into.

Kilo looked around at the scattered books.

I stayed silent.

She stood up, and looked at me, her expression confused. "Ichi?"

I took off again, ignoring Kilo's shouts.

When I stopped again, I was outside, I was in the forest again. Only i was much further in than before.

"Where ame I?" I said quietly, walking deeper into the thickening woods.

But as I walked deeper, I noticed something. I was surrounded by pine trees. "What happened to the trees?" It looked like someone had tried to cut them.

"This was where I last saw her."

I turned around, but no one was there.

"This way," someone called.

I saw a figure cloaked in the trees' shadow, walking deeper into the forest. I followed him.

"Who are you?" i called, running to keep up.

He ignored me, and continued on, before I knew it, we were outside an old mansion, the man no longer cloaked in shadow walked inside.

"Come with me," he called, his hand waving over his shoulder.

"Tell me who you are first," I said, holding my ground.

"It's not safe here, come inside, hurry." the man said, moonlight reflecting off his silver-black hair. Wait...

"Kotoru?" I asked, running after him, 'No, this man's older, his voice is different. But-'

"I'm not Kotoru. But your guess wasn't too far off."

I blinked, and recognized where I was. This was Tenma's home, before...

"so you've noticed?"

I looked up, and standing before me, his back to the wall, was Yoruko Seijun. "But how? You died..."

"I know, but I had my son call my spirit, in hopes of seeing my daughter, but she's not here..." Yoruko-sama said, looking around the entrance hall.

I blinked, and the events from earlier passed through my mind, and I felt my head lower.

"You know, if you hadn't run away from her, you'd never know what might have, or would have happened." he said quietly, walking over to an old fireplace.

"What?"

"Do you know her story, the 'half blood princess' as she's called?" he asked, looking over to me.

I nodded.

"and how much of it do you think is true?"

"I don't know," I said, looking up at the large family portrait.

He followed my gaze. "None of it..."

"Pardon me?" I asked.

"None of it is true, it's all a lie." Yoruko said, his pale silver eyes glowing in the pale lighting of the room.