A/N: Wow. I never thought people would actually like Akira but then again, you guys can be unpredictable.

For my anonymous reviewer, I would like to say your wish was fulfilled. Here's is a chapter in Kuro's POV. Enjoy.

And like always, don't forget to review.

After a longtime, the kid forced his clouded-eyes to look back in the corner of the room I wondered if he could see his hallucination.

"Don't be Sakura." He whispered.

God! It killed me so much. The tenderness, the love, the warmth that was pouring out of his barely audible voice was all directed at nothing but a figment of his imagination. I really wanted to break him out of whatever spell he was under. "Saku-ra… Please don't cry." His voice grew a bit louder. "Sa-ku-ra…" he kept trying to speak after that but I think his throat decided to give the kid a break. He was staring longingly in the direction of the empty corner, but I could see his eyes droop. Finally he just sort of slumped and I knew the kid had passed out.

"Sleep kid. You'll need the rest." I mumbled with a sad sigh, trying in vain to ruffle his hair one last time.

After about half an hour when the kid jolted awake, only one word escaped his cracked lips. "Sakura…" He started struggling, his movements growing stronger with each pull. "Stay away from her!"

"Kid, she's not here." I tried once again. Who knows, maybe one of these times, he might actually hear me again.

"Leave her alone!"

No.

No such luck so far.

"Syaoran, you're hallucinating." I tried wording it a bit differently.

"NO!" he yelled, his thrashing growing more violent. I saw the cuts on his wrist reopen, trickling crimson liquid down his bare arms. "Leave her alone you f**king bitch! Leave her alone!"

"Stop it before you hurt yourself more." I growled, bringing my face right next to his ear in hopes of making myself heard.

My only answer, however, was "Let her go!"

"Kid! It's not f**king real!" I roared angrily, the desperation of making my voice heard by him more than clear.

Obviously, the kid did not hear me, since he kept struggling until he passed out from exhaustion.

I slumped against the wall, a sigh of resignation escaping my lips. The sound of Syaoran's ragged breaths was the only thing I could hear in this place. Blood was still seeping from his wounds and I was worried that more than anything else he would die from blood loss.

It was kind of surprising he was still alive even now. Maybe it was due to his magic sustaining his body that was the reason he was still drawing breaths.

It was almost six hours later that Syaoran woke up again. There wasn't any proper way to keep track of time in this place but something inside me told me it was that long at the very least. It could have been longer.

The door slid open and the witch walked back inside.

"So, let's see what you've heard so far boy." She giggled insanely as she took his face in her hands. Syaoran groaned weakly as a black glow enveloped Akira's hands and stretched outwards to cover his eyes and ears.

A smile lit up her face as her eyes grew distant. She moved her head closer to his ear. "Awww… isn't that cute." She breathed but I could hear her voice loud and clear.

"Your girlfriend thinks it's her fault the mage died. Why don't you tell her whose fault it truly is?" I saw one of her hands sneak to his jaw, running a pale finger along his bone.

"The mage is still alive you bitch." I had felt his magic in the air for a split second just before the kid had passed out.

But a lot of time had passed between then and now. Maybe…

No!

He was still alive. He was still alive.

The witch was just playing with Syaoran's head. Just like she was making him think that Sakura was there.

Yeah. That's right. The idiot was still alive. He couldn't be dead. He had to be alive damn it! Who was going to look after those two if he went and got himself killed?

"Tell her who is responsible for their deaths." Her hand snaked along his neck to the very back as the kid's body stiffened. "Tell her whose fault it is that she is here in the first place."

"She is not here!" I yelled, feeling a wide range of emotions roll over me in waves. There was worry, anger, frustration, hatred, pity, but most of all there was dread. What if… What if what the witch was saying now was true? What if she really had killed Fai?

"And who would that be?" Syaoran hissed as he narrowed his grey-coated eyes.

"You." The witch chuckled softly.

"Really?" Syaoran said after he had gulped with quite a lot of effort. It seemed as though he was forcing himself to ignore something by engaging in a conversation with his deranged captor.

"Of course." Akira nodded. "You are the one who was too weak to fight me off back there."

"He was not weak you bitch!" I roared. "You f**kin broke his ribs!"

"You're the one who blacked out," she pointed out, as though she had just heard me, "just because you were too weak to withstand the pain of a couple of broken ribs."

"Shut up," the kid growled through gritted teeth.

"Oh my," she said with mock innocence as her fingers ran through his hair, tugging mercilessly at the tangled mop. "Did I touch a sore spot?" I saw her pull out a small knife with a wooden hilt. The one she had already used on the kid. She slid its sharp edge on his flesh, leaving a streak of crimson in its wake. "Do you want to know how I killed the mage?"

My heart clenched. Part of me still believed that he was alive but a part of me was beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, the witch was telling the truth. She had killed me after all.

"I used your sword to slash his chest open." Her own knife moved over Syaoran's heart as she reoriented it so that the tip was pointing towards him. "He was still alive," she giggled as she dug it in, "when I cut his heart out."

I could see his blood begin to seep out, staining his already dirty, torn shirt which had initially been a pale green but now was almost completely maroonish brown.

Her words rang in my ears.

Cut his heart out…

No…

But how could she have overcome him? He was strong. And he had my skill along with his own magic. Then how…?

"Do you know that the blue in his eyes faded away to leave behind nothing but pure white when he died?" She said conversationally as the knife buried deeper.

The look on Syaoran's face grew pensive. He grimaced when the witch twisted the blade, her smile widening at his reaction.

"Magic." She whispered as she withdrew the knife. "I can read your mind boy." An amused chuckle. "And I'll save you from the unnecessary pain of thinking and answer your question. I used a spell on you that replenishes your blood so you won't die. After all, a dead pet wouldn't be much fun, would it now?"

So it was magic after all. But not his own magic. The witch was prolonging his agony on purpose.

"Speaking of pets," she said cheerfully, "your girlfriend has such a nice scream, don't you think so?"

Her words rekindled the fire burning in Syaoran's unseeing eyes as he began struggling anew. "Leave her the hell alone, you bitch!"

She hummed thoughtfully before speaking. "This won't do boy. I've told you so many times not to talk to me in that tone and you still haven't learnt. Maybe if I punish your girlfriend, the point might get across."

"No!" Syaoran yelled, a look of horror on his pale face, sunken eyes wide with fear. "No!" He thrashed as blood kept flowing down his body. The witch turned her back to him, walking towards one of the walls where the light from the dying bulb was not enough to penetrate the darkness. I heard her slide a panel open and then something metallic glinted slightly in her hands when she was back in the light. A low buzzing sound came from the familiar looking clamps.

"What the f**k are you doing you bitch?!" I snarled as the kid screamed. "NO!!!"

He was shaking his head, his mouth hanging open as a myriad of emotions played in his dull amber eyes.

The witch, however, did not move towards him like I had expected her to. Instead, she just stood there, making a motion of clipping one of the clamps to thin air before grinning back in the kid's direction. The kid held his breath, mouthing 'no' again and again. Then she clipped the second clamp to nothing at all.

"NO!!" Syaoran yelled.

Suddenly I felt a familiar tug pulling on my entire being. But this time the tugging sensation was laced with Fai's magic. I felt strange tingles crawl up my skin, spreading through my whole body. My vision began to double.

"Let her go!" I heard Syaoran scream but at the same time I could see the living room of the apartment the mage and the princess were staying at.

"Let her f**kin go!!" I could still hear the kid shouting but the room holding him faded away while Fai and Sakura came into focus. Both of them were seated on the sofa, the princess staring at the spot I was appearing in with wide hopeful eyes while the mage had a sad smile on his face.

"You're both alive." I let out a sigh of relief as I looked at the two, whereas at the same moment Sakura's hands flew to her mouth, tears welled up in her eyes. "K-Kurogane-san?" She whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief.

I blinked a couple of times before gaping at the girl, who now had twin streaks of salt water trailing down her face.

"Of course we're alive, Kuro-tan." The idiot said cheerfully as he waved his hand in a happy greeting.

"The hell?" This was the best response that I could come up with.

"Articulate as always I see." He grinned widely.

My mind reeled. What the hell was going on? For six months no one could sense me and now all of a sudden those two were talking to me like I had never been invisible?

"You seem confused." The mage cocked his head to one side as he observed me through smiling eyes, but I could see the sorrow lurking in their depths.

"Damn right, I'm confused," I grunted as I crossed my arms across my chest. "What the hell did you do mage?"

"Hmm… What makes you think I did something?" He smiled innocently.

"Stop it you idiot." I growled in irritation. Damn, I had completely forgotten how annoying he could be when he wanted. "We don't have time for this."

"You're right Kuro-tan," he nodded, his expression immediately becoming serious. "We won't be able to converse for very long."

"What do you mean?"

"When Akira killed you, she not only drained your physical magic," he explained somberly, "but you spiritual magic as well."

"Huh?"

"Spiritual magic or spiritual energy is the thing that allows spirits to communicate with the living." Sakura answered with a small sniffle as she wiped her eyes. "It is also the thing that allows them to move on."

"So you mean to say, the reason why I am stuck like this is because of that bitch?!"

"I am afraid so." Fai nodded. "I lent you some of my own magic and energy so that we could talk but it's not going to last forever."

"You pulled me here?" I asked quietly.

"Yes." He answered.

"…"

"Kurogane," he began hesitantly, looking at me with guilty eyes. "I'm really sorry." He lowered his head to hide his face behind a curtain of blond hair.

I understood what he was apologizing for. I knew he did not pity me, since he knew I would kill him if he did that. No. He was apologizing because he felt like it was his fault the kid was taken by the witch.

"It's not your fault," I grunted as I walked over to him and sat down. I knew I should have said more since my words didn't do much to change his mind. I had spent more than enough time with all three of them to know what each of them was thinking. And my understanding of them had only grown after I had died. That was ironic, but true.

"…" He remained silent. I would have hit him but I wasn't sure if I was solid enough to do so. It wasn't until much later that the thought occurred to me that I had been able to sit on the sofa next to him so obviously I could have, but by the time this thought had crossed my mind, my chance was gone.

"Kurogane-san," the princess started hesitantly, looking at me with hopeful jade eyes. "Fai-san said you were with Syaoran… How… How is he? Is he… okay?" she asked fearfully and for the first time in ages, I caught a glimpse of the girl I had traveled with.

"You have to get to him fast," I addressed the mage, looking away from her. "The witch is using some sort drugs to mess with his mind. He thinks you're dead and the princess is there with Akira."

"Kurogane-san, how bad is his condition?" Sakura repeated her question, forcing me to meet her gaze once more.

"You can't waste any more time" was all I said in reply as the tingling sensation of the mage's magic in my body began to fade.

"You might be stuck with us for a while longer Kuro-tan," the idiot told me in a soft voice, his cerulean eyes staring at me with nothing but sadness lurking in them. "Lending my energy to you is quite tiring and I think I might have to wait until we have Syaoran back with us before I do it again."

"Why?" I asked in perplexion.

"You'll have to move on, sooner or later," he answered as the magic faded away from my body completely.

"I think I'll settle for later." I nodded my head but I don't think he heard or saw me. I sighed. I was back to being invisible.

"Sakura, I think it's time for us to go," he said, climbing to his feet. The princess followed his example.

"Summon your sword. I can't transport us directly into Syaoran's holding cell since Akira has wards around it and breaking through requires more energy than I have to spare at the moment." He said the last part with a guilty look in his blue orbs. "We'll have to fight our way in."

"Hai." The jade-eyed girl brought her hands together and I watched in quiet amazement as the hilt of a sword began materializing out of her palms in a bright blue light at the same time as Fai's transportation spell swirled around us in tight circles. I looked towards the idiot and saw that he, too, was holding my sword in his hands by now. Sakura had a look of fierce determination on her face.

"We're coming Syaoran."

-0-

A/N: How was it? Good or Bad? Don't hesitate to let me know.

The next update might take a while since something called real life is finally catching up... But not to worry, a few surprises await you. ;)

Till then. Ciao!

~Nims.