A/N: Aaaaaah! I know you all want to throw cookies at me right now for updating so late...but it was the exam period! believe me, i'd MUCH rather be writing than taking exams. so i'm really really really REALLY sorry guys! here's the next chapter...i'll put the next one up soon! and don't worry, it won't take as long as this one did!

Disclaimer: i do not own d.gray-man or its characters.

"Toki. Tell the other Akuma to go after the golden golem. It has the Innocence."

"Understood." He paused to glance at the unconscious girl. "What about –"

"Go." His voice was curt. There was some shuffling and she felt the breeze as Toki flew away.

It sounded as if someone was walking. She heard the creak of his knees as he knelt down not more than a few feet away. The sounds faded out again and she could only hear muffled speaking. She strained her ears to hear what was being said.

"I feel I should give courageous people like you time before they die. The blood will flow from your heart and your body will fill with terror. And you'll die, suffering."

She heard a strangled yell and the splash of blood.

"It's okay now," that same voice said, amused. "It's done."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

"Get off me, bastard." She spat in his face and struggled feebly against his iron grip. Undaunted, he remained immobile. Instead, he chuckled at her malicious action. He shook his hair out of his face. "That's what I always liked about you, Rai-hime. No matter what situation you're in, you always find a way to fight back."

"Shut up!" she breathed heavily. "You used me. I don't give a shit what you think." All the while, the wheels in her head were turning, weighing every option available to her.

He clicked his tongue at the back of his teeth. "It doesn't change the fact that you were the one who betrayed them, now is it?"

She glared at him angrily then, averting her eyes, fighting back the tears that threatened to come out. "No. I made the mistake of trusting you. That was my fault alone."

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look back at him. He used his thumb to wipe away some of the blood that dripped from her mouth. His smile was menacing, almost inhuman. "I really like that look in your eyes."

Her fist tightened around her weapon, "Don't f--k with me!" She swung her broken arm upwards as hard as she could, using the momentum to embed the blade of her bō into the back of Tyki's shoulder. He flinched and stood up, getting off of her. She closed her eyes moaned softly at the relief of weight and the throbbing pain in her arm.

Tyki pulled the weapon out of his back and admired its edge covered in his blood. "I'm curious. What are you planning to do now that you have no weapon?" He ran his fingers along the handle, careful not to touch the blade containing Innocence. "You've used up all your energy. There is no way you can defeat me here."

She shakily stood up, gripping her bad arm tightly. She closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. This is it. He's going to kill me now. I might as well die standing. She opened her eyes and readied herself for death.

He smirked and disappeared, reappearing behind her with the blade of her own weapon at her neck. She let out a squeak when he pressed her against his body. How can he still move so fast?

"It's not like you to give up that easily." He nicked her slightly above her collarbone with the blade of her own weapon. She gasped as his blood dripped down and mixed with hers. His Noah blood was flowing in her veins. Her body trembled, but he held her up with his arm wrapped around her waist. "What are you going to do now? You can't escape me." He leaned over her shoulder and kissed her temple, then released her. Her knees buckled and she convulsed, falling to the ground. Then she became still. "You're a part of me now."

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Mizuki's eyes shot open and she gasped, breathing in as much oxygen as she could. The air felt like fire in her lungs. She coughed and sputtered, blinking several times. Her vision was still blurry. Shapes and colors swirled and meshed together as she tried to focus. She shifted her position slightly, and she felt something that felt like lightning shoot up her left side. Crying out, she tried to move her arms to wrap them around herself, but found that they were tied behind her.

She closed her eyes tightly and tried to think. Shit shit shit that hurts! She took a slow breath. Okay, assess the situation. Possibly a broken rib…which might've punctured a lung… (she flexed her fingers) Maybe I can search for a sharp rock or something…

"Awake, are we?" an amused voice came from above.

She slowly looked up and her eyes met with those of the Noah she longed to kill with her bare hands. "You!" she struggled feebly against her restraints. Even such slight movements took a toll on her. She stopped moving not only to prevent further injury to herself, but also to conserve what little energy she had left. Crap. I'm still exhausted from fighting the Akuma all day.

"It's been a while, Mizuki-chan." He smiled pleasantly down at her. "Hope you're well. Did you miss me?"

"What do you want?" She said harshly through clenched teeth.

He smirked and sat down in front of her. His hand went to his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Reaching over, he struck the match on the tree right above Mizuki's shoulder and lit it. "My, my. You're always so anxious to get to the point. Why not relax for a bit?" He shook out his match and inhaled the cig deeply, enjoying its effect. The butt of his cigarette shone brightly and then went dull, blinking at Mizuki, mocking her.

She wanted to tell him how much she hated him for hurting her, for hurting her friends. She wanted to close her eyes and imagine that this was all a dream. She wanted to hear Lavi's voice saying, "We'll make it through this together." With that stupid smile of his. Lavi. Who always seems to know when something's wrong. Who drives her crazy with his teasing and silliness. Who has her Innocence. That's right. He has my Innocence, which I intend to get back. If I die here…she shook her head. No. I can't die here. I won't, she promised herself. She didn't want to imagine what he'd say. But she needed to hear that stupid voice again. To see that stupid lopsided grin. Why? She wasn't so sure.

Tyki cocked an eyebrow at the change in her expression. "Thinking about him?"

Her eyes threw daggers at him. "I don't know what you're talking about."

He removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled, blowing the smoke upwards. He watched as it slowly disappeared. "Don't even try to play dumb. Toki already told me about your little friend." He let out an exasperated sigh and placed both hands on his knees. "What makes this guy so special?" he asked in an annoyed tone. "Do you love this guy or something?"

She responded with a blank stare. This 'love' business again?

"Hey…are you really going to ignore me the whole time?" he frowned and grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at him. His voice was more forceful now. "Tell me. What is it about him that's changed you so much? Don't think I haven't noticed."

She didn't answer and instead averted his gaze, looking over his shoulder. What's that? There was something on the ground. Something large…maybe an animal? Or a person? There was a pool of something under it. Blood? But then her eyes caught the glint of the crest. The silver hair. The dull and lifeless eyes.

"A-Allen?" her eyes widened. "Allen!" she shouted. She wrenched herself out of Tyki's grip and struggled wildly, trying to free herself so she could get to Allen. Her movements drove her rib deeper into her lung, causing her to cry out in pain. She broke out into a fit of coughs and doubled over in pain. Blood splattered out of her mouth, sprinkling down her chin. Her breaths came in deep, loud gasps as she struggled for air.

"You shouldn't move so suddenly." Tyki narrowed his eyes. "You could very well die in the state you're in now."

She took a shaky breath. "I'm not in the mood for your games, Tyki Mikk. What did you do to Allen?" She clenched her fists behind her back, afraid of the answer. He's not moving.

"Oh, cheating boy A?" He tapped his cigarette with his finger and the ashes fell to the ground next to him. "The Tease made a hole in his heart. But don't worry. He's not dead…yet."

"You bastard!" she spat. Her blood boiled in her veins. How could he do this to her? How could she let this happen? Again?! She shifted herself until her hands touched the ground, wincing as she did so. Find something sharp. Anything. She never wanted to kill a guy so much.

"I'm just following orders. The boy was on my list." He let out a frustrated sigh. "Quit fidgeting. Do you want to die?"

She stopped moving and looked him square in the face. "Why do you care? Wasn't the point of bringing me here to kill me?" she asked, confused.

His eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then he broke out into a fit of laughter, covering his face with his hand.

"What's so funny?" she said evenly, trying to look tougher than she sounded.

He quickly composed himself and took another long drag at his cigarette as he stared at her in amusement. He cocked an eyebrow and rubbed his chin. "You thought the reason I brought you here was to kill you?"

"Well you sure as hell didn't bring me here just to catch up," she said acidly.

"Actually," he attempted to put on a serious face, "I really did want to catch up. But you're right. That's not the only reason why you're here."

She sat back patiently, awaiting his response.

He took a deep breath, "How are you feeling?"

She looked up at him with dead eyes. "Why do you always insist on being such a dick?"

He held up his hands innocently. "Hey, you wanted to know why I brought you here and this is it."

"Piss off."

"This is going nowhere fast, isn't it?" He ran his hand through his untamed hair. He propped his head up on his elbow, cupping his chin in his hand and scrutinized her face, making her feel very uncomfortable. "Well, you look fine to me…"

She scowled. "Quit looking at me like that. And if by 'fine' you mean bloody, bruised, exhausted, and angry, then yes, I'm 'fine'."

"Well…the Earl has taken an interest in you. And we want to be sure you're exactly what he thinks you are."

"…there's something he wants from the Exorcists?"

"The Exorcists?" he snickered. "I don't know what you're talking about. Like I said, he's interested in you."

More A/N: umm yeah...don't worry...lavi will be back next chapter! i just need to get this plot twist with tyki out of the way first!

Thanks so much for your reviews guys:

KaraxLavi13 - haha yeah, tyki's my second favorite character...and he's evil! so it just worked out that way. thanks for reviewing!

KinKitsune01 - rofl i LOVE reviewers like you who get into it! haha thanks for the review!

nellchan0013 - d.gray-man has so many cool characters, it's hard to hate any of them. except skin bolic, he's just gross. thanks for the review!

Zeyva - haha thanks for the support! it's very encouraging. and thanks for the review as well!

Kouyan - thanks so much! people like you are why i continue writing! thanks for your review!

hellbutterfly421 - haha well i'm glad you figured it out! i did drop a couple of hints during the series in an effort to encourage you guys to do some guesswork. thanks for reviewing!

To all those who added me onto their alerts/favorites lists, and to anyone else who has read my story, thanks so much!