Blood Shed Sakura

Shout Out: Hershee Tantiado, who has continuously messaged me and asked me about this story, hoping for an update.

To everyone: Firstly, thank you for your messages and reviews.

I know that everyone has been waiting, and yes, I feel terrible – I feel terrible that I have left you all hanging, promising to update and finish this story only to not do it, and I know that most of you will be pretty annoyed with me, done with my excuses and what-not, but I do need you all to know that I have a life, and that I am not as good at juggling things as I used to be; I have a job now, I go to college and I have things outside of work and college that I do voluntarily. But, I can not excuse myself when I have free time, and I will be honest here: I procrastinate, and I procrastinate badly. I have thought about writing the story during those times, and I didn't. Basically, yes, I have been lazy. I'm sorry.

But I can't apologise enough, and whilst I will try to finish this story off, I want you all to know this: I have lost my interest in writing for Gakuen Alice. I don't know why and I don't know when it came about, but I have simply lost interest. Maybe it's because I have been writing for the genre for so long, but still, I have lost interest. As the series itself ends, my love for writing for this series is slowing down as well. I still love Gakuen Alice with all my heart and I love the fanfiction, but I think that my time as a writer has well and truly come to an end with this manga and its characters.

That said and done, I hereby give you all the 20th chapter of Blood Shed Sakura. This is the first chapter that I will be writing since turning 20 years old. Hopefully I won't do the same when I hit 21.

Disclaimer: All rights to the characters belong to Tachibana Higuchi. I own nothing related to Gakuen Alice, period, nor do I own the Yakuza. I simply own my ideas and writing style. Thank you.

Chapter Twenty: The Ultimatum

Wednesday, 12:45pm, Shouda Residence

"NATSUME!"

The cold, blood-curdling scream pierced through Sumire's ears, causing her to sit upright as her eyes shot wide open that night. She was sweating, her hands slippery and shaking from the dream she had encountered. No, not a dream... it was a nightmare.

A nightmare of reality, one that she had never hoped to live through ever again.

Breathing heavily, Sumire clamped a hand to her forehead. She felt cold, frightened and, worst of all, alone. She hated that feeling... it was the one thing she never wished to experience ever again.

Staring around the bedroom, Sumire began to calm down as she let the thoughts of the nightmare pass, letting herself think of someone else instead; Natsume Hyuuga, the one person who would always save her, no matter how much he disliked her, no matter how much she annoyed him. Sumire knew deep down that really, Natsume cared for her and that he would always be there for her, and only she and Natsume knew that.

But would he continue to save her now? He had Mikan Azumi... no, Sakura, after all. A girl with a legendary name was going to marry Natsume, someone who Natsume respected, no matter how much he fought with her, a girl that he was growing to love... He no longer needed Sumire, neither as someone to support him or for him to look after. If anything, Sumire was just a spy now, a pawn in Natsume's game to getting information out of Mikan now that she was fraternizing with Koko. A person who Natsume only saw as an enemy.

Koko...

Heart wrenching, Sumire turned to the mirror on her vanity. Even though it was dark, she knew what she was looking at. It had been there for years, and she could remember it clearly. Every colour, every detail; it was a picture that she knew well, and one that she treasured dearly. It was an old picture, one from her days as a Middle school student. A time when she was in turmoil, the time when she was alone.

But because he had been there for her before, she had also been happy, knowing that one day he would return no matter what.

Getting out of bed, Sumire walked towards the mirror and stared directly at the picture. She could see through the darkness the smile on his face, the light in his eyes and the genuine happiness that he had, a happiness that was no longer exclusive to Sumire, because now he was with someone else. Someone who would truly appreciate him, but would she love him enough?

Sumire hoped so, but the real question was this; would she be able to handle seeing Koko fall in love with Mikan, when Sumire herself loved Koko so much...?

Wednesday, 7:35am, Sakura Residence

"... up Mikan..." Rolling over, Mikan sighed in her half-sleeping state. The night had not been an easy one, and she was restless with worry over what had happened the day before at school. Whoever had been calling her to wake up was persistent, though Mikan had no desire to follow their orders and wake up when she was so tired.

"Mikan Sakura, wake up now before I call your grandfather!" The tone was threatening, and whilst Mikan wished that she could ignore this warning, she knew that further sleep was futile now that her grandfather was involved. Groaning, she turned to find her mother standing there, looming over the bed with unkempt hair and stern eyes. Glaring, Mikan sat up and yawned, hoping that she didn't have any bags under her eyes. She didn't want to go to school looking horrendous, especially if Koko was there...

"Good." Sighed Yuka, folding her arms as she stared down at Mikan, noticing how tired her daughter looked. "Now get dressed quickly, your grandfather wants to have a word with you..." She began, but was cut off by Mikan throwing the covers off of her body and a sharp scowl following suit.

"I have school." The teen replied curtly, her eyes dark and sharp. "I have no time to talk to him."

"Mikan..." Yuka began, but Mikan simply walked towards her en-suite and slammed the door shut, ignoring anything that her mother had to say. Turning on the tap and grabbing her tooth brush, Mikan was ready to brush her teeth clean before a knock was heard on the door.

"Mikan, honey... you have to talk to him, it's important." Yuka's voice was gentle and small, trying to coax Mikan into it, but the young woman didn't want to, and she was adamant to do what she wanted instead of what her grandfather wanted.

"And I said no, mom! I don't want to talk to him about my place in the Yakuza or how I'm a shame to the family!" She cried out, glaring at the door darkly. "I have enough of that every other day, but not right now!" She was half-screaming, either due to the lack of sleep or the fury she was feeling for her grandfather, maybe even both. Mikan was angry, and Yuka knew it, but she also knew that what her father-in-law wanted to talk about was important.

"Mikan..."

"I said no and that's final!"

"It's about Kokoro Yomi, Mikan." Yuka announced suddenly, and then there was quiet. In the bathroom, Mikan was dumbfounded, staring at her reflection in shock at what her mother had said. How did he know? Had Natsume told him, or was he sending people to watch her in the Academy? Oh of course he was, he was her grandfather and he was adamant on making sure that Mikan was under lock and key, but still...

"Mikan?" Yuka's voice forced Mikan to break out of her thoughts, realisation hitting her; she had to speak to her grandfather about this, there was no other option. If he knew, then wouldn't he want to hurt Koko...? She needed to stop him from doing anything too drastic. She could not let him hurt Koko!

Unlocking her bathroom door, Mikan stormed out, pushing past Yuka and running out of her room frantically, unaware that she was still in her pyjama's. All Mikan could think about was Koko and how she could help him, how she could keep him from getting hurt. She was unaware of anything else. The people in the house, the objects – nothing could stop her, and nothing could break her away from her thoughts as she made her way to the dinging hall where, as expected, her grandfather was sitting, right at the head of the table.

But this time, instead of being flanked by the rest of the Sakura assassins, he was alone.

No, they were alone, and for Mikan, that was one of the most frightening things to experience, because her grandfather could be a truly terrifying man.

"So you have finally awakened and graced me with your presence, I see." Her grandfather said in a calm, sarcastic manner, only for Mikan to narrow her eyes at him as she stared from across the other side of the room. Taking a step forward, she began to make her way to the head of the table.

"You wanted to talk to me, so I came." She muttered darkly, knowing well that her grandfather could here.

"Only because it concerns a certain boy." His voice was calm, holding no indication of threat at all. Mikan became wary.

Finally at the head of the table, Mikan stared at her grandfather as he returned the gaze. Placing her palms on the table, she leaned forward, eyes hard and stern as she opened her mouth to say what she needed to say.

"Do not hurt him." She began, her voice shaken and quiet, "Do not hurt him, kill him or make him suffer, because if you do, then I'll..." her voice caught in her throat, and for a second there was a glimmer of a smirk on her grandfather's face, no doubt about it. He was amused by the sudden surge of awareness, passion and threat surrounding Mikan at that moment.

It was a side of her that he had not seen in a long time, and through her eyes, he could see the Sakura girl he had raised, the one who had betrayed him to live a life of normality.

"You will do what, my dear?" He asked, his voice steady as he sat back, watching as his granddaughter stiffened, her breathing heavy as her heart raced violently against her chest. All she could think about was Koko and how she needed to save him, how she needed to preserve his life. She could not let anyone, especially her grandfather, hurt him.

He would not destroy her life further!

"If you so much as harm him, then I will resign myself from this god-forsaken family and gladly kill you myself." At that moment, Mikan's voice became dangerous, her tone filled with confidence and promise as her eyes flared darkly, finger nails scraping against the wood of the table as her hands curled into fists. And yet her grandfather did not even wince.

He was, however, pleased to see that Mikan's Sakura spirit was still there, and he knew well that she meant every word she had said to him. But, what he was surprised by was the fact that it was a boy, the enemy even, who had sparked the demon within to come out.

Love was certainly a demon to be reckoned with, it seemed.

"Interesting..." He began, tapping his fingers together gently as Mikan stared him down. He smiled gently, wondering if he could ever use this to his advantage. "However, I do not want to kill him. Far from it, in fact." He exclaimed, his voice continuously calm and steady as Mikan, taken aback, blinked and unfurled her fists.

"... What?" Her voice was meek, returning to that softer tone as she stared at her grandfather, confusion now clouding over her eyes. If he didn't want to hurt Koko, who was the enemy, the rival to the perfect son-in-law, Natsume Hyuuga, then what did he want with Mikan to talk about? There couldn't be anything else, could there...?

"As I have said, Mikan, I do not want to kill him. It would be useless, if anything, to rid the boy of his life. There is really no reward for killing him, especially when he has done so little wrong. He is still young, he has much to learn, much to experience in his life." The old man began, now standing from his chair and stepping away from the table. He began to pace the end of the room.

"Then what do you want to talk about?" Hissed Mikan, her hands once again curling into fists as she stood there, still as a statue and feeling just as cold as one. "I haven't got all day, so just get on with it!" Her grandfather, his back turned from her, smiled with confidence.

"Whilst I may know little about this boy, I am fully aware of the relationship you have with him." The elderly man turned around, facing Mikan once again as he paced towards her, hands behind his back. "And, despite being with that Hyuuga boy, a person whom you willingly chose to marry in order to forfeit your own succession, you have chosen to continue living out a frivolous life of normality by beginning to court this young man... Kokoro Yomi, was it?"

"My life outside of this house or my relationship with Natsume has nothing to do with you, grandfather!" She cried, only to have what she said fall on deaf ears.

"But it has also come to my knowledge that, whilst this young Yomi is not worth killing, he is, quite surprisingly, worth keeping." Once said, Mikan's eyes began to widen. She knew then that her grandfather knew just who Koko was, and that he was also a part of a Yakuza. It was then that she knew that, instead of killing him, her grandfather would do something that was, in her eyes, an equally terrible thing...

"Much like yourself, he is an heir. An heir who has great strength, but also great ignorance. With time and patience, he will become a great assassin, and he would be a great asset to the team." Her grandfather seemed to be mulling over his thoughts as he said this, hand on his chin as spoke. "Nothing like Hyuuga at all, of course, but still quite promising from what I can tell... Don't you think?" He asked, his smile stretching as he turned to Mikan.

"What do you want from him?" She asked through gritted teeth, her stomach churning as her grandfather stepped closer to her, making sure that Mikan could see his face and how his eyes pierced her at that very moment.

"It is not what I want from him, Mikan, but you." His voice was lower, darker, more chilling than before, threatening Mikan's very being. "You have two weeks, Mikan. Two weeks to decide one who will become your husband. Natsume Hyuuga, or Kokoro Yomi. Either one will be a fine choice, but I want you to remember this, Mikan, and remember it well;" His eyes flared as Mikan stepped back, gulping as her whole body shook. She knew what he was going to say, but she didn't want to hear it, because when she did, she knew that her nightmare would be coming true...

"If you choose to be with Yomi for whatever reason, then no matter what you will take over as successor for the Sakura Yakuza. Mark my words, Mikan, you will take what is rightfully yours, because I will not have a Black Yakuza bastard tarnishing our name until he is trustworthy enough to hold such an honour." He hissed, and with that, turned on his heel and left the room, the door slamming behind him as Mikan slowly fell to the ground, pale and col as the words swirled through her mind.

She had two weeks... Two weeks in which she had to choose either Natsume or Koko as her future husband. What was she going to do...

So yes, it took a long time, and if it's bad then I am sorry. To those who wanted Natsume and Mikan to fall in love sooner, I am sorry but I never planned for them to fall in love quickly; the process is slower here, especially when Mikan likes Koko. Also, this is a chapter that I have wanted to write for a while, where Mikan's grandfather basically gives her the ultimatum. This wasn't me writing a chapter with a new idea, I have actually planned this since the beginning, creating the scene I wanted - it just didn't flesh out until now, when Mikan began to date Koko and when Natsume found out about their relationship. Now is the right time for it to come in, and for Mikan to have to decide.

Of course I know who she will choose, but that's for me to know and you to find out. Until next time, though.

Once again, I apologise to you all. I know that a chapter is not enough, but please enjoy it, and I do love you all.

Blue~ xxxx