Authors Notes: As always, thank you so much for the reviews! Reviews are a writers kryptonite! Also, just to clarify...Suou doesn't know what contractors are...yet :P

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..::Song of Inspiration - The Heart Wants What it Wants - Selena Gomez::..

I knew I had to thank him. But I didn't see him after school the next day, nor was he home when I knocked on his door later that evening.

I tried again on the following day, a Saturday morning and no one answered. I had made plans with my friends for the day and didn't want to make it seem like I was ungrateful. It had already been two days and I couldn't thank him yet. I decided to write a letter back to him. What to say in the letter...I greatly debated with myself.

That night we were on the roof seemed as if Li was trying to tell me goodbye. I don't know why it felt like that, but I had an overwhelming feeling that it might have been the last time I saw him. Plus, the gift he gave me...could it have really been a parting gift?

I thought Li was here for school, so why would he move on so suddenly? It felt odd, I couldn't place this empty feeling in my heart. So, I wrote my letter as if we were never going to see one another again.

'Li, thank you for the beautiful picture It made me very happy. I didn't get the chance to thank you for the other night either, for talking to me on the rooftop. I don't know if I'll be able to say this in person; but I think you're an amazing person and I just wanted to say that I'm happy to have met you. Suou.'

I hide the note on the desk in my room, with intentions on delivering it today. However, Tanya decided she wanted to come over before we met up with our friends. She waited patiently in my room as I changed and got ready.

I decided to wear a simple white t-shirt with jean shorts and black mid-thigh socks. As for my hair, I rarely did it, so I just smoothed down the frizziness in my braid with hairspray. After adding the tiniest bit of mascara, blush and lip gloss I felt good to go.

As I walked into my room, Tanya was grinning widely at me.

"What?" I accused as I looked in the mirror. My hair wasn't sticking up, my braid was actually pretty nice looking today, if I did say so myself. Plus, my makeup was subtle so there was no way she could have told me I messed it up.

Tanya pulled something out from behind her back, her smile turning feline. "What's this?"

I took a closer look...that handwriting...

"Tanya, give that back!" I reached for my love letter to Li, but she easily had an extra foot of height on me and held it up higher.

"Who is Li?" Tanya turned away from me, but I was faster than her. Quickly, I dropped down and snatched the letter out of her hand. There was a tearing sound but I ignored it as I hid the letter behind my back. My entire body was hot, and I didn't need a mirror to know that my face was the shade of a tomato.

"He's just a guy from another school that I met." It wasn't really a lie. But, she didn't need to know details.

Tanya squealed, "Is he cute?"

I rolled me eyes, "well if he wasn't then I wouldn't be sending him this letter."

"Oh my gosh! Can you imagine if you start dating him, then me and you can go on double dates." Tanya's eyes lit up excitedly. "Me and Nika with you and Li. It would be perfect! Can you imagine that, Suou?"

I tried to laugh it off, to brush off the subject. But, somewhere deep down, I could imagine it.

^.^

Tanya watched excitedly as I slipped the letter under Li's door. Luckily, I hadn't ripped the actual writing on the letter and decided to just leave it the way it was. After some more teasing, we left to meet our friends.

I felt like a good distraction being with my friends. Though, Every time Tanya and Nika would do something cute, she would instantly give me a cat-with-a-canary-smile. I would blush almost immediately and I hoped she wouldn't tell anyone about the letter. Or Li.

We shopped around the town, stopping to buy treats and clothes. Or to look inside stores. It was a great day to be outside too. The weather was warm, the sun was out.

As we got closer to a green space within the Boulevard, I felt my heart speed up.

As fate would have it, I saw Li. I couldn't tear my eyes off him as our group passed him in the main park, he was sitting on a bench. Excitedly, I wanted to approach him, but quickly noticed that he wasn't alone. He was with a short, delicate woman.

She was my height, her long, silver hair was tied back into a ponytail. She had pale skin that was smooth and her face - it was pretty, but bordered on plain - was bored. I noticed something about her instantly… the delicate woman's eyes…

Her silver eyes were unlike anything I had ever seen. Like swirls of smoke under glass.

I stopped in my tracks. Li was holding her hand when he got up and they started walking. Maybe they would go back to his apartment...to where my letter was under his door. I felt my face drain of color, my ears hallowed out. If they went back to his apartment, and she saw that note, she might think that Li was being untrue to her.

Then Li would know I had feelings for him. He would probably think I was just a stupid kid. I felt tears prick at my eyes, my cheeks began to sting. This sudden cold feeling was new to me, a mixture of guilt and shame and rejection.

"Everything okay, Suou?" Nika asked as I completely zoned out of what the group was talking about. My eyes stayed on Li as he and his girlfriend turned the corner, hand in hand.

What to do...what to do...

"I have to go home," I said, turning suddenly. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

I had to get back before Li did. I couldn't let his girlfriend see that letter. It was a mistake to write it to begin with. Li was just a nice guy, he wouldn't be interested in me like that. I was so stupid, I felt so foolish…

I knew a shortcut home, turning off the Main Street and running through the ally's. I only hoped that I could make it back before they did.

But, by the time I made it to the apartments, Li and his girlfriend were already walking up the stairs. I was panting, sweat was beading on my forehead as I pushed my legs to continue.

They reached his apartment and Li opened the door, leaning down to pick up the letter - opening it and…

"Hi!" I stumbled towards them, breathless. I felt my chest filling with so much air I thought I would burst. "I think you got my mail by mistake, Li. I've been waiting for a letter from my friend."

I was gasping for air, staring at the letter Li had opened and no doubt read. I felt the embarrassment already in the pit of my stomach. It would have been better just to let him read it and to never show my face again.

"Oh," he glanced back at the note. "This had my name on it so I assumed it was for me. Is this from you, Suou?"

Frantically I looked at his girlfriend. She was even more beautiful up close, her features were exotic. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make it seem like anything was happening between us. Please, don't be mad."

I stepped towards them and the girl hardly moved, she didn't even blink. "There's absolutely nothing happening between us, I promise!"

The beautiful, silver-haired girl didn't make a noise. I assumed it was because she must be so mad - furious, in fact. Guilt and dread built up in the pit of my stomach, like knots of cords. I thought I would cry.

"I just wanted to thank Li for giving me a picture of the stars. It really meant a lot to me and -"

"Hei, they're here. They have a doll watching us right now." The girl finally spoke, her voice was sweet but there was no emotion behind it. The name she was saying, Hei... who was that? Was she talking about Li?

Li's head whipped towards another set of buildings across from us. I jumped back, looking towards them too, at whatever unmarked danger lay there. Quickly, I glanced back at Li. There was no kindness in his eyes, nothing but unending, icy rage.

"How far, Yin?" That voice… It was deep and dark. So at odds with the happy and charming male I've come to know.

"Three-hundred feet," Yin's voice was soft, but I couldn't get over the fact that there were just no emotions behind it. There was nothing beyond her blank stare of her stormy eyes.

"W-what?" I breathed, confused. I looked between the two - what was happening? I felt scared and confused.

"Don't move," Li - or Hei - commanded. It was a pure, relentless power that kept me utterly frozen to my spot. I barely breathed.

"When I say run - you run, Suou. Nod if you understand."

I nodded.

Li gripped Yin's hand eyeing the building across from us. I didn't even dare to breath, I felt my heart hammering though my body but I felt so cold.

"RUN!"

The moment Li grabbed me and pulled me out of the way - a bullet that whizzed past us. I screamed, yelping as he yanked on my wrist.

The three of us bolted down the stairs.

The world flew by as Li lead the three of us through ally's and houses. It was so odd, since he had claimed he wasn't familiar with the neighbourhood. But he navigated it as if he'd lived here for years. I grew tired, my lungs screaming for air and it felt like my legs could not go much further. Abruptly, he finally stopped, pressing Yin against a wall of someone's yard.

"Where are they?" He asked her.

The place he had stopped had a fountain of water near Yin. She immediately stuck her hands in it. Her vacant, silver eyes stared ahead, "Four blocks away, there is a contractor with them."

Li reached behind her, pulling out a pile of black clothing.

"Mao," he said, "watch her for a second."

A black cat jumped out of the bushes. "Now, listen here, Hei. You had one job - get the meteor core, and this would be have been over." The cat shouted back at Hei, who disappeared around the corner. I stared in shock at the black cat that I've seen twice now... A talking cat.

"What's happening?" I whimpered, my knees buckled so much I thought I they would give out. There was someone - a contractor - trying to kill us. Was his contracting company some kind of assassination place? I shuddered to think of what kind of world this truly was.

Wait. Was Hei trying to warn me that night about contractors? Is that why he brought it up? My spine shivered, and it wasn't from the touch of Hei's hands. But, from fear that maybe I had very badly misunderstood what he'd meant. Whatever a contractor was, they were deadly.

Hei rounded the corner, and I jumped as he come to stand at my side. He had ditched his green jacket, white shirt and jeans. Instead, he now wore a black tunic and pants. The dark pants were tight to his sculpted legs that I hadn't noticed were quite that muscular. His close fitting, long jacket flowed behind him. There was a bandolier strapped around his chest, the hilt of two swords peeked just below each of his arms. The additional knives strapped to his legs were indication enough of what we were up against.

"Hei, are you even listening to me?" The cat, Mao, snapped at the man in black - he had completely ignored me.

"She doesn't have the meteor core," Hei announced. His voice… I realized this was the voice I had heard in those moments his facade slipped. The empty, dark voice belonged to a complete stranger. I felt my entire body begin to shake. My breathing was shallow, ragged.

"It's around her neck, in plain view," Mao hissed. "The Syndicate is going to find her."

My heart was hammering in my chest, tears threatening to form and spill. I had no idea what was happening, had no idea what these people were talking about. The meteor core… could they be talking about my necklace?

The two of them conversed, and I had to focus on my breathing. My nails dug into my palm as I shook violently. I was so scared of what was going to happen, yet so mad that Li..or Hei, had lied to me. He was no longer the man I had been longing after. The man in black, who stood in front of me, was a complete stranger.

Hei reached for me, but I shook him off. "Don't touch me!" I hissed, "can someone just explain to me what is going on here?" I shouted, breathless.

Tears threatened to flow. I didn't know if I was scared, or mad or upset. Perhaps it was all of them.

Hei dropped his arm and Mao stepped closer to us, "well I guess the cat is out of the bag." Feline eyes looked up at me. "Hei and I are called contractors; we are humans with special abilities. Yin over there, she is a doll - a special type of medium."

I glanced at Yin, whom indeed looked as if she could be as fragile as a doll. I swear, she hadn't moved the entire time we were here.

"The three of us work for an organization called the Syndicate. We were hired to take that necklace of yours - called the meteor core - back to our higher ups. It is a very special object that existed beyond Hell's Gate."

I knew of Hell's Gate… but people with special powers? Is that why Hei asked me about contractors? To see if I knew what they were, or to warn me about this?

I gripped the necklace, "why do they want it?"

"As a contractor I couldn't care less why they want it. All I know is that we had orders to take it to our organization, but Hei over here likes to defy direct orders." Mao glared at his partner, accusingly. "Contractors are cold-blooded killers, kid. They don't care who gets involved. But, if you get in their way then you're as good as dead."

Contractors… they had special powers. And killers? I dared a look at Hei. He still looked the same; dark and handsome. But his face… it was stone cold and emotionless. I wondered how many people he had killed. As I stared into his expressionless face it made me remember that I had captured a glimpse of this side of him once before. It was the day we walked back from the restaurant. This was his true face - no smiling mask. No kind stranger.

"They're heading our way, the doll has found me." Yin said.

Hei reached for me and I jerked back once again. "Wait." I said breathless, "Why did you say this wasn't the fragment, or whatever. What did you mean by that?"

His icy-dark eyes bore into mine. "I've handled the meteor core before. It emitted a different kind of energy than what you're wearing. That one is a fake."

A fake. But that means… did Shion still have the core? Did he have the core this entire time?

And if so, why did he gave me a fake?

"They are two blocks away from us. The contractor is with them."

My ears hallowed out, this time I didn't fight Hei as he grabbed me. He pulled me into him, lifting me up into his chest by holding under my legs. He also he grabbed Yin's waist, squeezing us close together. Mao had already taken off.

Hei threw a wire towards the ledge of a house, and suddenly we were in the air.

^.^