I AM SO SORRY ABOUT THIS. I can't believe I spaced out almost a year! Wow! That was intense. Thank you soooo much for your reviews, it really means a lot to me to know that people are reading. It is now the summer time [YEAH. TAKE THAT SCHOOL!] and I hope I'll be able to write some more.

Bringing to you another chapter of Without a Title, it is I, Miki231! I've been really into school and I haven't done much fanfiction reading lately, but I will try, I promise, to get into this. About my writing style, I apologize after reading a review, because I'm a roleplayer, not a writer, so I tend to write obscene amounts without thinking. I will try to space it out 3

Disclaimer: Yeah, none of it's mine. Wish it was, but it isn't.

Brief Recap: Mikan Sakura has returned to school, and has returned to her job, though that is unknown. Natsume Hyuuga is tormented by a dream of a girl with brown eyes, crying. He had a mission the night before with an idiot. In The Day Before, he and Mikan meet, but Mikan is under the disguise provided by a ring given to her by her father. She heads off to a mission. Natsume and Ruka make their way to class. The end of chapter two is a question about what someone is doing there, but who?

In this chapter, you will find out what happened the Night Before the event in the classroom.

Chapter Four: The Night Before

Persona was going to die.

It wasn't a joke. He was going to fucking die if this little girl in front of him would stop for a moment and realize that she was about to kill her 'Aniki'. No. Choosing to spar against his little sister who was a monster when she wanted to be, and could take out armies without even using her alice seemed like a GOOD IDEA. Yeah. For a suicidal guy like Persona.

The DA teacher flinched under his mask as a branch flew mere centimeters from his ear and sank itself into the core of the tree trunk. In front of him, Mikan was grinning like the angel of death she personified, her form already shifted back into a standing position, like she hadn't just thrown the massive branch at him. "Alright, I yield," Persona forced out with as little emotion as possible.

Mikan raised an eyebrow. "What, already? It's only been a few minutes, Aniki."

"I value my life, even if I don't look it, Brat."

"Careful who you're calling Brat."

Persona pushed off the tree and pressed his wait against the branch. It snapped away from the tree and dropped to the ground. He stared at it for a moment before looking back at Mikan. She was now settled on a tree branch, sitting indian-style, blowing a leaf in he hand. He hadn't noticed her movement at all.

"You've really improved since you left to America," he commented, turning his body towards her. "Well, they train you like a dog," she said in a nonchalant manner. "I think I still have a few whip marks."

Despite his treatment of his subordinates, he hadn't ever subjected them to whippings. That was more of the Middle School Principal's thing. "So who is this partner I'm going to be working with, Aniki?" Persona stiffened for a second. He hadn't told her about her partnersihp with Kuro Neko tonight. He had actually wanted to surprise her, but of course, there was the Mind Reading Gift she had copied from a student at the school.

"Kuro Neko," he responded. His senses were suddenly alert to his kitten's presence making its way towards them from the dormitories. "He's on of our top agents. He hasn't had a partner since he joined and I thought you could get a crack at him before your class tomorrow."

Mikan made an 'o' shape with her mouth. Natsume, the guy she had run into earlier when she was under her disguise. Polka Dots, huh..? She clicked her tongue at the bounding mass of energy making its way towards them. Clumsy. He could run like a cat, but he didn't maintain his energy correctly. He was probably just coming here in fear that he would get the Death Alice put upon him or something.

"If you don't mind, Aniki," Of course he wouldn't. "I'll be acting a little differently tonight." Persona couldn't say anything because as he would begin to, he would notice Mikan standing up and placing a foot into air.

At the same moment Natsume reached the edge of their little circle of trees.

"AHHH!" GOD. Natsume's ear seared with the sudden high pitched noise from HELL. He lit a fire in his palm and glared heavily at the offending pile of whatever lying at the trunk of a tree. He had just arrived for his mission and he already summed up that, since Persona was staring blankly at the form, this was going to be his partner.

He hoped he was wrong.

Discipline and fear made him clamp down his mouth and extinguish the flame. If anything, his flame would be the becone that showed someone was in the forest, not the high scream just now. "That," he said stoically, kicking a stick at the pile, "better not be my partner for tonight. I only work alone."

"So you have said, Kuro Neko," Persona said, amused, while he watched Mikan slowly get up. The girl had purposely taken a fall from her seat on the tree branch to end up in a pile on the ground. He also saw her take precautionary measures by landing on the balls of her feet and then tumbling forward on her face to make things seem more realistic. Why? He had no idea.

"Shiro Neko, get up," he continued in a harsh tone, striding forward to stand in front of Natsume and Mikan. Mikan was a fabulous actress. She wobbled up and clutched the tree for support while she maintained a shakey disposition when viewing Persona. Like an absolute Newbie who was terrified of the oh-so-dangerous DA advisor. Like she was weak. And powerless.

"Kuro Neko, this is your partner Shiro Neko," Persona glared from Natsume to the dark-haired girl in the white mask. "Your mission tonight is to retrieve a file from AAO headquarters regarding new Alice Academy students for next year. You are to work together. If one of you dies, the other will not be returning. I expect you to return before sunrise. That is all." Natsume wasn't sure if his 'partner' listened to the whereabouts of the file, or if she was too busy peeing herself in fright in front of Persona.

He nodded in confirmation and tugged at his mask. "Let's go," he murmured to the nervous wreck beside him. Together, albeit a little delay on her half, they leapt into the trees and away.

Persona snorted while he turned away. This'll be fun. Not only was Mikan acting powerless, she would probably try to get Hyuuga killed in the mission.

He made his way back to his office, chuckling.

"You're new, right?" Natsume's voice broke the tense silence while they jumped from tree to tree towards the AAO headquarters.

"... Y-yeah." Came a nervous, small voice.

"What is your Alice?"

"Nullification."

Nullification was.. a pretty useless Alice, Natsume thought to himself, annoyed. She probably didn't even know how to use it, and if she did, if she nullified his Fire, he'd be killed.

Natsume glanced over at the girl. She looked to be his age. He couldn't see any muscle under the dark clothes she wore. She moved light on her feet despite being rather new. Dark hair, from what he could see, was tied up in a ponytail and her face was covered with a white cat mask opposite his own.

He half wondered what she looked like under that mask.

... She was probably ugly.

"Look, if you want to stay alive, don't hesitate, just do. I'll handle the guards, you just need to get the file. Do you remember where it is?"

"... I think so, yeah."

And that ended the brief conversation between the two 'partners'.

Four hours later, Natsume seriously wished he could burn the girl up right then and there. "RUN!" she screamed, tripping while running past the many guards attacking him. He was exhausted from having to protect her when she decided to fall in random places, and from the ambush of guards, and the many, many odd traps the AAO had laid out for them. His bleary eyes took in the file she had in a death grip in her hand, and without a second thought, he surrounded the guards in a raging flame, taking the chance to run out with the girl.

She was so fucking useless. The only thing she had done was create a nuisance for him and almost get them both killed. He was pretty sure he had a few bullet wounds in his shoulder and abdomen, but blocking out the pain had become a spectacular skill for him when he was on a mission.

"If you ever trip into a guard again, I'll burn you myself," he growled violently at her as they fled their way back to the Academy.

"I-I'm sorry, Kuro Ne-"

"Shut UP."

In this world, no one apologized because mistakes cost lives and cost valuable information. Natsume knew she couldn't get out of it, but if she was so stupid as to do the things she did this night, she'd be killed before her second mission. He concentrated on moving forward, receiving a healing stone from Persona, and then going to class in the morning.

Mikan was enjoying herself on an insane level. She followed behind Natsume, silently laughing at his bloodied clothing and his pained face which was hidden by the black cat mask. The mission had been a success four hours ago-before they had even gotten there.

Playing an idiot-which Mikan would kill if she was ever paired up with-was quite enjoyable. For Natsume to be constantly thinking she was imbecile, it made Mikan even more encouraged to get him to fail in his mission. The file she had in her hands was a copy of the one remaining in AAO. She had left a little love note for her mother with it as well. Just a reminder, and a note to keep Thursday free for dinner. That such thing.

Mikan was hardly worried for their lives. The guards were weak, the system weak, her partner weak. If she was to return to her "job" she'd need to strengthen them all up.

It was nice of Persona to pair her up. Now she knew what things were like. Now she knew what she had to fix.

They reached the circle of trees in silence. Natsume collapsed against the trees, finally, when Persona appeared. Mikan flashed him a quick smile before resuming her nervouse act.

"H-here's the file." She handed it to him obediently and bowed away like a little puppy.

"Good work, Shiro Neko, Kuro Neko," he said gruffly, internally chuckling at the smile. "Kuro Neko, get yourself cleaned up. Wouldn't want anyone knowing about what you do." Mikan shot him a raised eyebrow when he tossed a Healing Alice stone at the injured boy. "Dismissed." Shaa~ The disappearing act again.

"I really am sorry, Kuro!" Mikan forced the highest, most annoying pitch she could get out of her voice. She smirked behind her mask, gave him one last look, before teleporting out of there.

Natsume groaned, and reached for the Healing Alice stone. One more mission, one more step closer to Aoi. He had to keep going. As long as he wasn't partnered with the idiotic girl again, he would be fine. Ability classes were that day. He'd burn her alive in DA.

The sting of the Healing Alice made him grit his teeth. It was slowly healing his wounds, but it wouldn't cure them. He'd bleed for another hour. Damn Persona for his tricks, and damn the girl.. Shiro Neko.

He gripped the tree for leverage, standing up carefully. He groaned with every step he took and made his way back towards the dormitory. Hopefully Ruka wasn't waiting up for him. It was almost four am.

"Thank you for not having our top agent killed," Persona said in a sarcastic tone. He was sitting at his desk in the dimlit office. Mikan lay, bored, ontop of the wooden desk.

"It's not like he couldn't save himself."

"It's not like he was partnered with the strongest Alice user with Nullification and S.E.C."

"... Well, if he's smart, he'll link my name with Nullification. It'll only take them a few days anyway, if Hotaru is with them."

"So you're acting as other people just for fun?" Persona raised his eyebrow and leaned forward on his chair, putting his elbows on the desk and looking at her.

"Yeah, pretty much!" she beamed up at him.

She had nothing to gain from playing different identities. It was a waste of energy, a useless mystery. It enertained her, though. It would be nice to see who people were before they realized who she was. It wasn't like she had never seen them all before anyway.

"Tomorrow will be your first class. Are you looking forward to it?" The dark man placed his hand on his mask and shifted it off his face. Dark eyes opened on a pale face, taking in Mikan's gaze.

"... What is there to look forward to? It'll be your class. Obviously not something to look forward to. I don't know what you've been teaching them.."

Persona chuckled. His ringed hand found Mikan's. "But tomorrow I'll be free. Isn't that something good?"

"Maybe." She turned on her side to look down at Persona. Her now unraveled hair fell over her shoulders and onto the desk in light curls. He trailed his free hand from her cheek to the curve of her shoulder, and the indent of her waist, to her hips and her legs..

He looked up at her rich brown eyes again and found a familiar feeling in them. "I have three hours," she murmured, smirking and leaning forward. Her expression enticed him.

"That's not enough," he breathed, moving closer as well.

THE END

... I mean. Not really. The end of the chapter. +coughs+ ; NO. This is not a Persona/Mikan fic. It is a Natsume/Mikan fic. Things will be explained~ I hoped you liked this chapter! I will try to get more up soon. Things will be explained, they will be.

Next chapter will be entertaining.

I apologize for the vagueness of the mission. I just didn't feel like writing it. ;

To be continued in Chapter Five: The Class..