I'm only able to post now, because I woke up late.

I'm glad you all liked Sora. Too bad Sakura won't have as much exposure as Sora, but don't worry, you'll also meet her. :D

Chapter 21-goodbye

Natsume watched his best friend pace across the room. Amongst all of them who were there: him, Ruka, Hotaru, Koko, Tsubasa, and Misaki, it was only the blond who was standing.

He couldn't blame his friend. After all, he had just told them his plans.

"Are you sure, Natsume?" Ruka said. He stopped midway his pace, and turned to look at the raven-haired guy. He continued, "It's too dangerous. I mean, can't we just send the police? Why do you need to go first?"

Natsume tried to suppress an eye roll, because he knew that if he showed it, he would get a glare, and possibly more, from the Ice queen. Instead, he just replied, "I know it's dangerous. But we're talking about that bastard Kuonji here, and Mikan. I need to make sure that Mikan's safe before the police enter the scene."

"Well, if that really is your plan…" Tsubasa muttered. The anger in his voice was hardly suppressed, and everybody knows to whom that anger was. He had, after all, tried to punch Natsume the moment he arrived at the Nogi mansion. It was a good thing that Misaki was able to stop him.

"Natsume," Misaki called out, as she held her husband tightly in a hug. She continued, when she saw him look her way, "If anything goes wrong…and I'm desperately knocking on wood that it won't, please bear in mind that it wasn't your fault. Nobody is at fault, except Kuonji. Hear me?"

The raven-haired guy nodded, but in truth, he wasn't listening very closely.

Natsume stepped into the dimly lit room. He had his senses running double time, as he knew that relaxing even for just a second may cost him his life, and probably Mikan's too. And so, when he heard the lightest footsteps coming from his right, he immediately turned. He saw somebody moving towards him, but he couldn't discern who, until the person spoke.

"Hello, Natsume. It's been a long time."

There was a click, and the lights turned on, blinding Natsume temporarily. He immediately got his gun out. The action obviously was amusing for his enemy, as he heard derisive laughter.

"Are you sure about that?" Kuonji asked. He let out a snort of laughter, and continued, "You might hurt your beloved."

Finally, Natsume's eyes had adjusted. He saw Kuonji sitting on a couch, twirling a gun as if it was a baton. He pointed the weapon towards the seated man, and asked, "Where's Mikan?"

A sly smile appeared on Kuonji's lips. He stopped twirling the gun, and pointed it somewhere to Natsume's left, saying, "Over there, Natsume. Over there, pale as death."

Crimson eyes widened as the words sank in. Natsume turned wildly towards the direction he was pointing. There she was, lying on the sofa, with eyes closed. True enough, she was pale as death.

"What did you do to her?" Natsume shouted, as he ran towards Mikan. He dropped to his knees when he reached her, and touched her cold cheek. He realized that her breathing was shallow. He looked for her pulse, and felt her faint heartbeats. He searched her whole body, but he saw no wound that could have made her like that.

"Oh, I just made her a drink of hell," Kuonji replied. Natsume stood up and turned towards him again. He saw the man holding a vial. Kuonji continued, "And this is the antidote. I think it is best to inform you that she doesn't have much time left, so we should really hurry with our deal."

Natsume held his gun tightly, and gritted his teeth. Then he asked angrily, "What is the deal?"

"Well," Kuonji slowly said, obviously savoring the fact that he was the one in control of the situation, "I get to shoot you; just one shot, don't worry. In exchange of that, I'll make your beloved drink this antidote. How about that?"

Before Natsume could answer, he felt a cold hand weakly grip his wrist. He turned around to see Mikan looking at him, pain so evident in her chocolate-brown eyes. She softly said, "No, Natsume. Don't agree with the deal. Save yourself. For our kids, please. He's right; I do not have much time left."

He fought back the tears threatening to fall after he heard her words. He knelt beside her once more, and caressed her cheek, whispering, "I can't, Mikan. I love you so much. I can't let you die. And I'm sure our children won't like that."

A lone tear fell down the side of her face, as she said, "I love you too, so please, save yourself. Please-"

He cut her off with a kiss; one that is so gentle but conveyed so much. Then she stood up once again, faced Kuonji, and said determinedly, "Fine, it's a deal."

Kuonji raised his gun, and pointed it at Natsume's chest. He had that sly smirk of a triumphant villain, which Natsume would have punched, had Mikan's life not been on the line.

Then there was a gunshot that barely drowned her scream of agony.

Natsume felt an excruciating pain. But it didn't matter much to him, because he knew that the guilt of having not saved Mikan would be much painful that that physical pain.

That is, until he saw Kuonji drop the vial.

His world came crashing down.

He vaguely heard the footsteps of the police, or the gunshots that were for Kuonji. He didn't care much when he saw the man fall due to around fifteen shots. He didn't care that his blood was gushing out. All he cared about was Mikan.

He felt someone hoist him onto a stretcher. At that moment, he gasped out, "No! Help Mikan! Please help her! Save her, please!"

He wanted to stay awake, to know what was going on, especially on Mikan. But he couldn't fight the pain he himself was experiencing, physically and emotionally.

Darkness closed in on him.

Voices flitted in and out of his mind, and whether they were just his imagination or not, he could never tell.

"...chances are slim, but we're doing our best..."

"...seems that he bargained himself..."

"We sure do hope that the antidote..."

"Many organs were hit..."

Then he heard a voice that stood out from the rest.

"Daddy, please don't die. I'll be waiting here with Sora until you and mommy wake up."

Please don't kill me for doing this to Mikan and Natsume. =))

To those people who already cried for this story, ummm...I'm sorry? :D

Please review!