DISCLAIMER! I do not own KHR and The Hunger Games.

Chapter Three: Books

All I need now is to snuggle onto my bed and read. After all those scary and weird encounters today, a good night's time alone with a book seems like heaven. That's the keyword for the night – or evening for that matter.

READ.

I smile happily as I climb onto the bed, my hand reach out to my bedside table. But nothing is there. The book is…

GONE.

Waves of panic wash over me. Quickly, I scramble out of the soft mattress and start searching frantically for the book with black covers.

Where is it? It is not on the bedside table. Not on the study table, not on the bed, not… not ANYWHERE! I roughly scratch my head, thinking deeply. Where can it possibly be? Okay. Calm down. I borrowed the book from the library. Then it is still with me when I encounter Nat. I still have it after the incident with the insane people. It is with me in the dining hall…

THE DINING HALL!

Just great. Now I have to face those psychopaths again. Argh! I don't want to, b-but my book is being held as hostage…

I pace back and forth in my room. How can I possibly retrieve my book without any trouble? Could I just ninja into their dorms and steal the book? No. That will just cause suspicion and chaos. Then maybe I can just ask them politely. But how? What if the book is not with them? What if I had dropped it somewhere else?

Nat!

Surely she will notice where I had misplaced my book, right? Right. However, where can I possibly find Lynn now? For all I know, she can be anywhere on the school grounds. She can be watching the sunset on the rooftop or in the fields, or she can be following –or stalking – the Varia. God knows where she is.

"… here? Did… see me?"

My ears immediately twitch towards the door. I smile.

Oh, God bless that wonderful friend of mine, coming to me in times of need. But who is she talking to? Is it Kyoko and Haru?

Kyoko and Haru?

This just gets better. Maybe they might have seen the book somewhere I have not thought about. Hooray for me.

I fly to the door, opening it with a huge smile on my face. As expected, Nat is there, in front of me. She looks at me in surprise, and then opens her mouth to speak. But I cut into her speech, not wanting to get off the topic.

"Nat! Oh, you are really my best friend!" I cry out, joyfully. "Not to mention Kyoko and Haru-" I spin my head to look at them, but I am taken aback. They are not Kyoko and Haru.

Instead, they are that Mohawk guy, Fran, and the windowless soul.

Belphegor.

"Ara~ We were just looking for you, cutie, and here you are~! You left your-" Sunglasses starts to speak, but Windowless Soul interrupts him.

"Ushishishi. Getting ready to sleep already?"

It takes a while for me to comprehend his speech. Quickly, I glance down at my attire – a pink silk night gown that cuts off at my knees. My face turns red, noticing that this is the first time I showed so much bare skin to people of the other gender. I become wary about my exposed skin all of a sudden.

"W-Well, that's none of your business, right? And what are you doing here, anyway? Don't you know that you are not allowed on the top floor?" I retort, secretly feeling proud for pushing the blame onto them.

"Ushishishi. Yeah, but who is going to report us to the authorities?"

I stop for a moment to think. Well, he is right about that. Their popularity among the girls is really high, even higher than the Vongola's I suppose. For these hormones-filled males to come to the female dorm is like God coming down to earth – something to be considered as a once in a lifetime kind of thing. I highly doubt anyone else will want to report them to the authorities.

Except me.

But if I tell the authorities about this, the other girls will know it somehow. Then, all my efforts on being part of the background will disappear.

I can't do it.

"F-fine. What are you three here for?" I question them.

"This." Fran holds up a black-covered book.

My eyes grow wide. How did they get their hands on the book? Did they do anything to it? They must have. If not, why will they even bother to return it to me? Not to mention they came here personally. Something is amiss.

They are up to something.

I mutter a word of thanks and make a quick swipe at the book Fran is holding. But Fran is faster. He makes a quick pass to Sunglasses, but Sunglasses looks a little confuse.

"Why did you do that? I thought we are here to return this book to this sweetie here, who gave up her seat for us?" He pauses for a second. He must have realizes something, because his tone changes to a much stricter one. "Now, boys, you shouldn't bully this lovely girl here, okay?"

I stare at Sunglasses in surprise. Is he serious? Just what is wrong with his choice of words…?

Nonetheless, I still smile sweetly at him when he holds out the book for me.

"Thanks." I say, before reaching out for the book in his hands. But someone, again, snatch it before me.

"Ushishishi. You're very welcome."

My mouth gape open. How is this possible? I try to grab the book back, but he held it up high, above his head where someone like me cannot reach it. Being short certainly doesn't have any advantages.

"Hey!" I yell, angry at myself for misplacing the book in the first place. Then I remember there is someone else taller than me, maybe taller than Windowless Soul himself.

"Nat!" I shriek and she snaps out of her daze. "Don't just stand there, do something!"

However, she just stares blankly at me, as if she does not know what is going on here. I feel a stab of betrayal. How can she do this to me, when I called her my 'best friend' just minutes ago? Of course, I can't just jump and try to reach it. Because, if I do such a thing…

My dress will lift up and expose my… you know what.

I have to save and protect whatever dignity is left. Just standing here in my night gown is embarrassing enough. But to risk exposing my panties? That will make me want to kill myself. But what should I do? Or rather, what can I do?

If I get the book, I might want to kill myself.

But if I leave the book in their hands, Gokudera will skin me alive for sure. Oh, right. Did I mention that Gokudera is the old librarian's Grandson? Well, at least now you know.

And at least I know that I will die either way.

Now, the question is which way is the least painful? I don't know.

And I don't want to know.

Maybe I should just apologise for whatever they want me to be sorry for. And then, BAM! My perfect evening might not be totally wrecked, after all. Okay. I will do it this way. And besides, why haven't I thought about this method? It will save me from all this interactions with these people.

These fighters.

These Psychopaths.

"Ushishishi, what's wrong now? Ready to give up?" He smiles sinisterly at me. I make a mental note to myself that one day, if I have the chance and the guts to do it, I will definitely wipe that sick grin of his off his face for a day.

Anyway, I muster all of my acting skills and make a guilty-looking face. I bow my head and fiddle with my fingers. "I am sorry for all of the inconvenience I have caused."

No one says anything, not even Windowless Soul.

I take this silence as a cue to continue with my speech. "I apologized, so can I have my book back, please?" I give him one of my puppy eyes look.

Only Sunglasses falls for it.

This is NOT what I had predicted. Why isn't he giving my book back? Why is his grin getting wider? I seriously want to hide in a corner now. Do I really have to jump and try grabbing the book from his hands? Do I?

"Ushishishi. Is this all you can think of?" He mocks. "Sorry, game over."

My eyes widen as a knife just appears from nowhere. Sure, he wouldn't do such a thing, right!? Gokudera will DEFINITELY skin me alive for this damage on the book…

My mind blank out and my hand acts on its own, across Belphegor's face it goes.

SLAP.

Everything in that moment seems to be moving in slow-motion. I see everyone's shocked reactions, but his grin stays the same as before. Does he really find this whole episode amusing? I certainly do not. Before anyone can recover from my astonishing action, I quickly grab the book from Belphegor's hand and I grab Nat's wrist, pulling them into the safety of our room.

… … … … … … … … … … …

Even after several seconds, my hands are still shaking. I did not really slap him, right? Right. But why are my hands shaking if I did not do it? No. It must be my imagination.

Right.

As soon as Nat comes to her senses, she shriek, "W-what did you just do!? You know they are the Varia, right? Oh. My. God! W-what if they tell their leader, Xanxus? Who knows what they will do to you, Lynn… What if Xanxus knows that I'm staying in the same dorm as you? Then… Then…"

I remain silent. The scene from just now is still fresh in my mind and it is as if someone had set it on replay. Tears sting my eyes, threatening to roll down my cheeks. I don't understand why, but something about this event keeps reminding me about an encounter I had when I was a princess.

Nat must have seen my tears, because she stops yelling. "I-I'm sorry. I shouldn't have reacted and shouted at you like that…"

I shake my head and roughly wipe the tears away, but more liquid just quickly refill the empty spots. "I…" my throat is dry, but I still continue, "I have done something terrible like this to someone else before. And I told myself that that would be the first and the last time, but apparently, it happened again."

They roll down my cheeks and drip onto my laps. Nat waits for me to continue.

And I did, "I didn't mean for it to occur… It just happens! I-I am really sorry if this spoils your chance to be with Xanxus. I am sorry to drag you into this, Nat…"

"I-It's okay, Lynn, don't feel bad. As if I had a shot at him to begin with…" Even though Nat says this, I am pretty sure she is still upset.

I feel terrible and I can't stop the tears. The incident with Prince Belphegor from the past just keeps haunting me now. Why do I keep recalling things about Prince Belphegor whenever I encounter Windowless Soul? They are two different people.

One dead, and the other alive.

"Do you want to talk about it? It will make you feel better…" She asks, genuinely comforting me.

But I shake my head. I just can't tell her anything about my past, because it will result in telling her about my life as a Princess, which I bet you that she won't believe it. As I have mentioned before, Princes and Princesses are just part of a fairytale here.

Besides, I don't want to talk about the already dead. I find it a little disrespectful to them. If a person just keeps talking about it, how can the dead Rest in Peace? Right?

But still, I should just apologize to Belphegor and hope for the best.

After all, those people are unpredictable.

… … … … … … …

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