I'm in college! Yay! Or not. -insert excuse about schoolwork and life here- ENJOY!

Small Steps in Leaps

He's staring.

Breakfast was peaceful; it seemed like any ordinary day where I would wake at dawn and have breakfast by myself. But for some reasons, the tomatoes in the salad are sweeter today and I can actually taste the flavours of my cooking. Today was the perfect start for the day.

Nothing is perfect.

My hand flinched due to the thickening of tension and one of my chopsticks slipped out of my grasp and landed on the tatami mat with a soft thud—I was nervous. His crimson eyes were heavy and calculative, I could feel the pressure in every move I make. No matter how I look at him he did not belong in a domestic household, his sensual gaze sends spine tingling sensations down my back and his aristocratic features make him look like royalty. There was no part of his body that I haven't uncovered.

And yet I am blind.

He acts like I have some sort of ulterior motive for serving him breakfast, as if I'm holding a gun against his side and poisoned his food. There was no warmth leftover from last night, only empty crimson stares.

Trust me.

I reached for the chopsticks only to realize that he's already picked it up for me. Looking up, I snuck a glance at him beneath my lashes to find him smirking at me. The heat was quick to gather in my cheeks and I averted my gaze. I grabbed the chopsticks and stood abruptly to get a new pair of chopsticks but after a moment's contemplation, I picked up my half eaten dishes as well— I've already lost my appetite.

What was I thinking when I brought him to my house? Because of him, I was taken hostage by a psycho who thinks he's a wizard and then rescued by the very person who dragged me into this mess. Just what exactly is he? Can his words be trusted? Was he not simply a suspicious individual who stole your virginity in the dead of night?

Please return my heart.

Cold hands wrapped around my wrist and tugged me back into reality. I yelped from the foreign chill on my skin and pulled my hand back. I looked down at the offending hand and then trailed it up to Natsume's face. He had a slight look of anguish on his face and I instantly felt guilty. There was no trust between us, and I thought everything had been settled yesterday when I took his hand and ran.

Love is not as easy.

Just what was I thinking when I decided to take his hand? Did I love him? I stepped forward close enough to feel the weight of his presence on my chest. I stared at his collarbone and resisted the urge to trace it, he was tense and I felt my heart sink. I wrapped my arms around him and pushed my cheek up against his chest. I sighed.

"What are we?" I wondered out loud.

How much longer are we going to hold onto this pretence?

I could feel his hesitant arms slowly wrapping around me and I smiled slightly at our affectionate position. After a long pause, I realize that he wasn't going to answer. He doesn't know either.

So just stay like this—with me.

"It's alright" I said, but the statement was more for reassuring myself. "We'll figure it out" I added before pulling away from him, feeling his hands follow me as much as they could without him having to move, my spine tingled at the feather light touch on my skin.

After clearing out the rest of the dishes, he helped me do them silently. Everything paced by so naturally, our way of interacting, the comfort of each other's presence; the simplicity of our relationship at that moment was comforting.

Lies.

The mere idea of this unworldly man living in a normal household was simply wrong and somewhat comical. I snuck glances at him, smiling every now and then at how concentrated he was at what he's doing. I guess that was just how he worked, whether it was working for the Alice or simply drying a plate- he was always focused.

I slipped my apron over my head before wiping my hands dry on them. "I'm going to take a shower" I said, tugging my ponytail free and letting my hair cascade down my back and down my shoulders. I looked up to see him smirking at me, as if he's expecting something.

My cheeks flushed at the thought of us washing each other in the showers, running my hands down the contours of his body. The feel of water and his calloused hands tracing my skin. I swallowed deeply. When I thought of the following chain of events, I promptly exploded. "No!" I blurted out a little too loudly.

His smirk merely widened. "I didn't say anything"

"Y-You are not coming in with me."

"What makes you think I want to" he took a step towards me and I pouted, secretly disappointed at his reply.

"I...I'm just-" my foot slipped on a zabuton and I stumbled backwards before he grabbed my arm and reeled me into him. Our personal space was once again shared. I stared up into his eyes with uneven breaths and wobbly legs. His confidence was dancing mischievously in his eyes and that fuelled my determination not to let him have his way with me, especially not in the showers.

I placed one hand on his chest and applied pressure, making him step back as I stood firmly on my own two feet. "No" I told him, looking straight into the crimson pools of his eyes.

...

I am a fool.

I buried my face in my knees as I hugged my legs to my chest at the corner of the futon; wearing nothing but his shirt and immersing myself in depression. I had finally come down from my sex-driven high and realized what I've done. I am currently in the process of repenting and pleading forgiveness from God for being such a pushover.

But hold on a minute-

It's not entirely my fault.

It was his.

It was his fault for seducing me into this. It was his fault for being such an arrogant prick and it was his fault for being so incredibly sexy. I sank deeper into depression; I don't think I can get anymore gloomier. I felt myself being poked gently in the side but I refused to give him any recognition that would serve to fuel his gargantuan ego.

He poked me again; I twitched but did not react otherwise.

"How much longer are you going to be like this?"

"Forever" I said, my voice muffled.

"C'mon it wasn't that bad"

"That's the problem"

It was amazing.

I felt my arms being tugged from my legs and I looked up to meet his eyes. The corners of his lips tugged upwards and into a gentle smile, one which I had yet to see. He was adorable.

My heart sped at the mere sight of him and I suddenly felt so frustrated.

"I hate you" I frowned.

A frowned adorned his features the moment my words registered, a mixture of hurt and confusion wrinkled his expression but his eyes gave nothing away. It was as if his eyes were glazed over with a layer of glass, filtering out his emotions.

With his hands on the glass,

He stares out to the world.

But no one sees him.

He suddenly looked annoyed as he pulled away from me and sat upright, regarding me with cold eyes. "You have that look again" he said and I blinked twice. What?

"What look?" I asked him, confused.

"That look" he emphasized his words as if it would help me understand it better, I rolled my eyes at him and opened my mouth to speak but all that came out was a squeak of surprise as he tackled me back onto the futon, holding my wrists down.

"You look at me as if I'm some sort of beaten animal on the streets. The look of-" his voice trailed off as he suddenly looked vulnerable. I stared back at him, not quite sure how to respond to his sudden outburst. "Pity" he bit out as if the word on his tongue stained it with toxic.

My heart melted and I could feel the coil in my muscles release themselves. I regarded him with a small smile and a look of surprise crossed his face. His grip on my wrist slackened and I took the chance to wriggle free and sit up, he retreated back cautiously on his knees.

"It's not pity" my voice came out no more than a hoarse whisper as I leaned my weight against my arms, pushing myself towards him, he watched me from underneath his lashes. My heart squeezed tightly as I tried to imagine what he had gone through, every time I touched him I could feel his pain, and the fact that he reacted violently to help proved to me that he has never felt the sense of security.

The sting pooled at the back of my eyes and I could feel the rims of my eyes watering, his figure was nothing more than a blur of black and red but I felt his confusion and surprise. Before the tears could fall I lunged at him, wrapping my arms around his stiff body. Hooking my arms up his shoulders and pressing my chest against him.

"It's sympathy" I choked out, feeling a searing trail of tears stream down my cheeks and touch his skin. I felt the shudder up his spine and a tightening of his muscles before he relaxed and finally allowed himself to wrap his arms around me.

I don't know how long we stayed in that position but I broke the contact when I shifted uncomfortably on my knees, the joints felt sore from being folded for so long. Sliding my arms from the mess of our bodies and the sudden shift in the air sent shivers down my skin, reminding me that I should probably button up his shirt before I decide to move again. Fighting back a blush as to not further fuel his ego, I tugged at the shirt that had slipped open. However, before I could button them, my hands were seized by larger ones and he pulled them up to brush his lips against my knuckles.

Oh.

He regarded me innocently from the veil of his thick black lashes and the shape of his eyes vaguely reminded me of a feline's. I tried to take back my hands but all he did was growl as if I threatened him. Pursing my lips, I challenged him. A mischievous glint in his eyes was all the warning I got before a yelped escaped my lips when he tackled me back into the futon.

…

"Kuonji-sama, it seems Hyuuga Natsume has failed his mission" A man with his eyes hidden beneath a white mask reported.

Kuonji was not a patient man when it came to listening to bad news. Annoyed at being told of the failure of one of his best assassins, he expressed his displeasure by refusing to show acknowledgment to his henchman's presence, deliberately facing him with the back of his chair. From over the desk, the man stood patiently, waiting for a reply.

"Hmm..." the coldness of his tone sent shivers down the subordinate's spine and thundering feelings of dread gathered in the pits of his stomach as he watched the back of the big black chair turn from behind the desk.

Kuonji was but a child.

However anyone who dared take his small stature for granted would surely regret it. Beneath his deceiving looks was the mastermind of Alice, this was the individual that shouldered the fate of those who died. He, who decides your method of death without so much as batting an eyelid. Some say he controls the organization with a heart of ice, others say he ruled without one.

Kuonji was no child—but he was no man either.

"Bring him here, I wish to speak to him." Kuonji coolly demanded, however the intimidated subordinate had no time to pity the fate of Natsume. He visibly flinched at the underlying threat in Kuonji's tone if given any more bad news but it just so happened that today was not his lucky day.

"W-We've lost contact with him, s-sir!" he struggled to maintain the firmness in his voice.

The man began trembling as if the temperature of the room dropped below sub-zero.

"Then reinstate the contact" he snapped. "Trace his chemical tracker, anything. I don't care even if you have to hunt him down and drag him back here by the hair. Hyuuga Natsume is not an asset that can be lost to us" He stood abruptly, although his height was in no way superior. The power he insinuated in his words were absolute.

Find Hyuuga Natsume or surrender your life.

"A-At once!" the henchman nodded vigorously and then bowed low to excuse himself.

From the shadows stepped Kuonji's most trusted agent. Koizumi Luna was a woman feared throughout the organization and not because she stands as Kuonji's right hand person. Because she is feared, that's why she can stand by Kuonji's iron rule. You never know what will happen to you in her presence, no one is sure how her alice works but some say you lose a piece of yourself every time she activates it. She is a beautiful woman, unworldly so.

But beauty comes with many faces.

"Luna" Kuonjii said.

"Sir"

"What went wrong?" he asked, although his voice sounded off as calm and composed. His darkened eyes that focused in on her promised a painful punishment if she were to give him an answer he didn't like.

Luna didn't falter, she never did.

"Nothing, sir, Hyuuga Natsume's performance was flawless as ever" she answered evenly.

"Then you better have a damn good reason why this mission failed. The AAO won't let us walk away from this unscathed, so tell me." Kuonji stood slowly from his oversized chair and turned his face to fully glare at his second-in-command standing at his side, his small hand clutching the laminated mahogany wood of his desk. "What the fuck went wrong?"

Luna blinked back evenly, watching the fuming mastermind of Alice through heavy lashes. "A breach by an external party, Hyuuga Natsume's judgement had been compromised by the influence of a civilian."

Kuonji looked stunned for a moment before a dark smile cut across his expression and the room suddenly echoed with a full-on laugh—then it came to an abrupt stop. "Just who is this civilian" he spoke the word as if it tainted his mouth doing so.

"I suspect it was the woman he used as his alibi for Urube Toshiyuki's elimination stated in his latest mission report, he didn't state a name and she didn't seem to hold any special significance then. When his post has been compromised by the AAO, the hotel car park camera feeds showed the AAO holding a girl hostage, however he hadn't called for backup and instead chose to go in alone. 11 of AAO's men had been instantly incinerated however Mouri Reo escaped unharmed." Luna finished professionally and snuck at glance at Kuonji's perplexed face.

"I see… what of the evidence?" Kuonji asked, eyes staring ahead in thought.

"All security footage of Hyuuga Natsume has been wiped clean, sir"

"Do you have a name for the girl?"

"Sakura Mikan was the staff member called into the room with Hyuuga Natsume for interrogation, she is also currently missing"

"Is your source reliable?"

"Yes, sir. He's the agent we dispatched earlier this year, he just so happens to work as Sakura Mikan's supervisor"

"Can you track them?" Kuonji glanced up expectantly at Luna.

"We marked the latest location of his microchip before he killed it"

"Where did it lead?"

"Sakura Mikan's address"

A sinister smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "He's making mistakes"

Luna's hand subconsciously curled at the thought "What are your orders?" Luna silently demanded, Sakura Mikan was a virus in their system that needs to be disinfected as soon as possible.

"Is there any way to make contact?"

"The microchip's GPS function and wave transmitting function has been destroyed, however the emergency hologram projector remains functional to certain extents" Luna recited robotically as if she were quoting off someone else.

"Have Imai make contact, make him believe we're coming for him. I want this Sakura Mikan removed from existence." Kuonji settled in his chair, lacing his fingers underneath his nose to hide the sinister smile plastered on his pale face. His scheming eyes twinkled mischievously in the dark lighting of the room.

"Eliminate her"

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-50 years later-