The room was silent for a very long time. So long, everyone worried as to whether anyone would speak again. Finally, a voice rose from the stunned audience.

"Really, Suman, you'd think that we would believe that?" Kanda chortled, his arms crossed in his usual annoyed fashion. "Mitsuko is one of our leading Exorcists. There's no way she would meander with the enemy." Soon the room was full of murmurs and nodded heads in agreement. It really was hard to believe.

"No, really! I saw here! She was talking to one! They even k…kissed!" Suman scrambled for words, choking on his pure disgust for the Noah.

"Are you sure you weren't just daydreaming again, Suman?" Lavi teased with a chuckle. The crowd began to disperse, leaving the sputtering Suman to stew in his own sweat.

"Why won't anyone believe me? Mitsuko's wellbeing is at stake!" Suman cried, but everyone had decided that he was merely crying for attention. His cheeks grew hot with frustration, the anger nestled in his heart intensifying with every beat. Mitsuko was supposed to be with him, not some purple, evil freak. Suman would treat her right, feed her the most lavish meals and make sure she felt special every day. Purple was probably only using her as a toy to pass the time with.

With one last huff of pure, seething rage, Suman stormed up the Dark Order stairs towards his bedroom to sleep his troubles away.

*#*#*

"I had fun today…" Mitsuko murmured on the way back to the Dark Order. Her and Tykki Mykk had been alighted upon an enormous butterfly, fabricated of both Tykki's and Mitsuko's butterflies.

"As did I, my sweet. May we do it again sometime," Tykki responded with a wink. He helped her off of her perch and into her window in the light of the moon, stepping in after her. It had only taken 20 minutes to make it back to her room, so they hadn't much time to chatter.

"Might you stay a while?" Mitsuko whispered, sitting on her bed expectantly.

"My dear, it is in my best interest to spend every moment of my days with you, but those Akuma earlier meant no good news. My lord Earl would never have sent such idiotic messengers for me. He must be plotting something…" Tykki contemplated, his eyes trapped in a faraway place. "It's hard to tell these days."

"Well, you best not keep your Lord waiting," Mitsuko sighed, shrugging off her coat.

"I shall visit you sometime soon, my dear. But for now, I must part…" Tykki murmured wistfully. He took a step towards her, dancing a light and passionate kiss across her lips. She blushed slightly as he left through the window, leaving her to dream away the day's events.

#*#*

Mitsuko awoke sleepily the next morning, full of love and meaningful memories she had never had before. Before she had met Tykki, a boy had never said she was pretty, or wanted to spend an evening with her. Well, except for Suman, but he had always seemed nervous around her, and always seemed to rush off whenever they finally started talking. She had always pardoned his escapes of meaningful conversation, but none of it mattered anymore. She wanted to spend all her time with the handsome, charismatic Tykki Mykk.

After dressing in a crisp, white blouse and of course, her white trench coat, she made her way downstairs to the cafeteria for breakfast. Her butterflies were already poking themselves out of her hands, scuttling along her sleeves and perched upon her silvery hair. Tykki's black, ominous butterfly slipped out, too, fighting for the space right at the top of her head. It would always push the others off so it could have the best spot.

Stroking the wings of a nearby innocence fragment, she made her way to the table she usually sat at, a big bowl of cinnamon buns waiting for her.

"Ohio gysimas!" everyone called to her as she sat down.

"Good morning…" she responded. Plucking several buns from the bowl, she settled in for breakfast. Her butterflies excitedly attacked the bun, murderously stripping the poor pastry of its sugar and tearing the sticky bread from it.

"Hey, Mitsuko! Wanna hear something cool?" Lavi beamed from his mouthful of Fruit Loops.

"Alright, what is it?" Mitsuko asked, oblivious of what he was about to tell her.

"Yeah, Suman, right? He's been spreading rumors about you!" Lavi screamed, spitting milk everywhere. Kanda cursed his messiness, guarding his breakfast from the next onslaught.

"Rumors? What kind?" Mitsuko asked, slightly shocked. Suman seemed like her friend, so why would he spread rumors…?

"Yeah, so he, like, came in her all crazy and sweaty and stuff, and he totally made an ass of himself!" Lavi laughed, almost chocking to death on his cereal.

"LAVI JUST GET TO THE POINT!" Lenalee screamed, eager to see the expression on Mitsuko's face when she was told. Lenalee had put all the pieces together. Mitsuko had a secret boyfriend, who she didn't want anybody else to know about. Suman, being the hopeless romantic he is, saw her with him, and made up a silly story about him being a Noah. Lenalee was practically seething with excitement as to how Mitsuko would react to this blatant lie.

"Suman said you were dating a Noah! Isn't that just stupid? You? Dating a Noah? Bahaha!" Lavi chortled, almost tipping over his cereal bowl. Meanwhile, Mitsuko was trying her best not to throw up all over the table. Her butterflies had gone still, but it felt like a million butterflies were slapping the insides of her stomach. How would Suman know something so well hidden?

"Ha...haha…that sure is a dumb lie…how not true…" Mitsuko sputtered, trying her best to keep her facial expressions in check. She drew her mask up just a liiittle higher, just to be safe. Everyone (except Kanda) was chuckling to themselves over the rumor, but Mitsuko was nowhere near chuckling.

"S-So…Who did he, um, spread this LIE to?" Mitsuko asked, smashing her inner panic button into the dust.

"He told the whooooole Dark Order! Gosh, what a jerk, I mean…spreading rumors? Really? Are we still in grade school or something?" Lavi sighed, shaking his head in disgust. At least Mitsuko's friends hadn't believed such a thing was happening. Still, Mitsuko had to get out of there. Right now.

"O-Oh, right…Komui just gave me a mission, and I, um, just came down to get some…breakfast. I'd best be going, so…bye!" Mitsuko called, quickly popping out of her seat and rushing out of the cafeteria. Hustling through the hallways, she tried to keep as out of sight as possible. How could Suman do this to her? It was understandable that at the sight of a Noah, one would most likely panic and alert the hoard, but Suman was her friend! At least, she though he was…

Making her way towards Suman's bedroom, she prepared herself for exploding with rage. She'd never done it before, not even gotten a little angry, but right now, she felt like exploding all over Suman's bedroom. Knocking on his door, she heard a sleepy response allowing her to come in. Opening the door, she saw a surprised, bedraggled Suman sitting up under his sheets.

"Oh, Mitsuko! What, um, brings you here?" Suman sputtered, trying to cover himself even though he was fully clothed. Shutting the door behind her so no one could hear her rage, she turned her attention to the guilty-looking, sheepish Suman.

"How did you know?" Mitsuko started, a cold determination blaring in her eyes.

"….know what?" he asked.

"You know perfectly well 'what'. Try and remember what you told everyone yesterday." Mitsuko growled, crossing her arms.

"Alright, I know you're mad, but no one believed me. And besides, what the hell are you doing spending time with a worthless Noah?" Suman yelled.

"That was none of your business. I can't believe you would tell everyone something like that! And he's NOT worthless! He is the only thing in my life right now that makes me feel special!" Mitsuko growled, her butterflies angrily flapping their wings as they perched on her shoulders.

"Mitsuko, I told everyone because I care about you, and I don't want you kicked to the curb by a thing who doesn't care for Exorcists at all! Can't you see? It's all a sham! He's dazzling you with tricks and illusions!" Suman screamed, pointing fingers and waving his arms.

"And how would you know that? I know that he really does care about me! Stay out of my business, or I'll force you out!" Mitsuko hissed, exiting and slamming the door behind her.