▶Flashback

"Ho~ So you really wanna watch me undress?"

"*Gasp* GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI! GOMEN NASAI!!! I-I-I'LL LEAVE R-RIGHT AWAY!!!"

Sasuke smirked, literally amused by her reactions.

"No, it's fine. I understand. Maybe I can let you stay if you really want to- "

"N-NO THANK YOU!!!"

Blushing and flustering, Sakura left the room as fast as she could.

End of flashback◀

The restless female ghost shook her head frantically, making her pink strands of hair to brush over her rouge-colored cheeks.

'W-W-W-WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT HIS AGAIN!?? EVERYTHING ABOUT HIM IS DRIVING ME CRAZY! . . . But . . .'

Sakura wrestled with her mind before her thoughts slip out of her throat.

"But I don't dislike it . . ."

While drowned in her own thoughts, a tiny speck of green light glowed inside one of the crystal clover leaves of her necklace, followed by a very soft 'ting' sound. The Cherry blinked when she felt a magical feeling on her intangible skin.

She gingerly rubbed the locket with her thumb and fore-finger and brought it to her line of sight. To her disappointment, there was nothing but a transparent piece of clustered crystal. Sakura stared at the fragile jewelry before closing her less sparkling eyes, slumped her shoulders and letting out a long distressful sigh.

"Here I was hoping for something to happen," the latter muttered to the empty, dark guest room - where she was. The Cherry was sitting on the polished window sill located in the far end of the unlit room, hugging her knees as she leaned onto the window itself. Sakura's emerald orbs strayed to the other side of the glass, peering out at the breaking dawn of the unending sky.

Letting out another deep sigh, the lone ghost muttered to herself, "At a time like this . . . , where on earth is that shinigami when I need him!?"

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[Meanwhile . . . At the Reapers' Council]

Nervousness swept across the humongous room - lit only with dim lights- in which the council's Elders judge upon the morals of the person sent to them.

"Mugen . . . An imprudent kid like you never know when to stop," one of the three Elders growled at the young reaper who was kneeling on one foot on the red carpeted floor; his voice coarse and held absolute power. He was a rather well-built man, beholding a fierce expression on his tan-colored face. His small, brown beard was braided neatly under his chiseled chin. A long, off-white robe covered every part of his beastly body.

Another two who wore similar attire sat on his left. One was an old man who was sitting in the middle; his chalk-white hair the length of his height. The last Elder was one of a kind amongst them. Despite being one of the highest ranked council members, her features weren't raddled at all. She possessed a small built like that of a 10-year old, dark bobbed hair and porcelain white skin. The tiny Elder had a small smile carved on her cherry-colored lips, obviously enjoying the commotion happening before her amethyst eyes.
Mugen had his head hung low and eyes on the floor. The latter didn't spill a word until the second Elder urged him to.

"*sigh* Tsk-Tsk-Tsk," the codger started, "Breaking the laws of nature is not a wise decision, young one."
Mugen raised his head to the Elders and sincerely replied, "No, Elder Shuran! I've been serving the Council for more than a thousand years now. You know I'm not reckless enough to do such a thing."

The solemn brown-haired Elder, Amon, narrowed his eyes with a conspicuous frown, whereas the younger looking one secretly beamed with delight.

Mugen lifted his blood-red eyes upon the three Elders sitting on an altar-like place. He continued, "I'm merely trying to protect the laws of nature . . . ," then paused for a while as his eyes darted away from the Council Elders.
". . . when someone trying to break'em . . ," he finished his sentence before a deadening silence took over.

"AHAHAHAHA!"

Suddenly, a loud heartfelt feminine laugh echoed throughout the vast room. Amon gave a frustrated look.
"What do you find so entertaining in any of this foolishness, Kifa," the Elder raised his inhumane voice at the tiny bob-haired child figure. The latter grinned to her before verbalizing her thoughts to the gentlemen.

"To have the courage to speak up to us like this . . . Hah! Let's see what you can do . . ."

The haughty, small Elder, Kifa, shared a gaze of challenge with the lowly reaper below.

"As a reward, I'll grant a pass especially for you, lad . . ."

Confusion and unacceptability flashed across the other Elders' faces especially Amon, who was first to interrupt; his tone laced with exasperation.

"NONSENSE! Being sent to the Council is no different to have been sinned!"

Kifa's eyes glowed for a second as she glared at the latter from the corner of her eyes.

"Who do you think you're retorting at, Amon," the girl questioned. An awkward silence followed. A drop of cold sweat appeared on Shuran's forehead whereas Amon backed down reluctantly. He was clearly unconvinced by her actions.
Mugen scanned the Elders' expressions, all ears to their discussion. But a familiar feeling struck the lad for the first time in a thousand years . . .

Fear . . . . .

A drop of cold sweat traced its way down the side of his side of his face.
'Uwaah~ How'd it turn out like this for god's sake,' he panicked inside, not realizing the eyes of the Elders which were on him then.

"Mugen, was it," the hermit-like Elder asked while stroking his long, white beard. Shuran received a stammering 'Hai' from the young -but experienced- reaper, before proceeding with the conversation.

"As one of the Council Elders, I hereby announce that the judgment for thy misconducts . . . . will be reconsidered and postponed to a further date of three months."

Mugen's dark crimson eyes lit up immediately. With a speck of hope glinted in his eyes, a contented smile cracked upon the reaper's cold lips. He then bowed even lower -his eyes shut- as a sign of gratitude and respect to the powerful trio above.

"Your mercy is incomparable, Elder-sama," Mugen thanked them. The latter crack opened his eyes again on realizing a demonic presence in the room. Evil lurked from every corner but was hiding in the shadows.

Kifa yet again grinned with amusement as she slowly stood at her place and reached out a hand from under her sleeve to a certain direction, with her fingers spread.

"Ku-ku-ku..., before wrapping things up, I think we need to do a little spring cleaning in this room. Seems there are pests clinging on the walls," she insisted, before drawing her fingers into a tight fist by force -as if crushing an apple one-handedly- followed by a loud, agonizing screech of a hell-crow.

As soon as Kifa balled her hand completely, the ear-splitting sound died down. Silence took over once again before Amon's voice resounded through the walls like a dragon's roar.

"Leave, brat," he commanded. Amon's voice was firm and absolute, in which he earned a confused look from the 'brat' he mentioned. Mugen's face eventually beamed with delight to the Elder's words.

"A-Amon -sama . . . T-Thank you very much for understand-," the latter exclaimed but was cut off by the brown-haired Elder midway.

"Don't be mistaken, brat! Just because you are free to do whatever you want, doesn't mean an imbecile like you could get away with your misdeeds! Your pathetic life string is in my hands. Don't EVER forget about that!"

Amon aggressively rose from his seat before whirling around to leave, and then disappeared into thin air.

"*sigh* Guess I might as well," Shuran declared and did the same, leaving Kifa and Mugen behind.

"Mugen . . . ," Kifa started and turned around to face the lad.

"Hai, Kifa-sama?"

The bob-haired Elder stared intently into the fiery, enigmatic eyes of her pupil which held millions of secrets. Mugen tore the gaze between them, looking as grim and dull as a storm filled sky.

"Thank you for helping me out again, Kifa-sama," he told the artless looking Elder, whose eyes were still on him. After some time, a resigned sigh escaped her lips looking displeased. Crossing her arms over her chest, Kifa spoke in a mischievous tone.

"Really, just how much work do you want me to have on my plate until you're satisfied? Always giving me trouble..."

"G-G-Gomen nasai, K-Kifa-sama...," Mugen stuttered a reply with an apologetic face. Kifa giggled softly at his reaction then permitted him to leave. Mugen gave his respects with a genuine bow and walked away.

"Mugen," she called out again. The reaper stopped at his tracks but didn't turn around.

"Look out for pests," she warned. Mugen remained silent for a while before looking over his shoulder, flashing back a half smile at his senior and left.

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
[At Crystal Hotel; Afternoon]

"I'm truly sorry for cancelling our previous appointment, Kishimoto-san," Sasuke apologized to the person who had offered him a rare chance to work with.

"I've heard that Sasuke-kun would never give priority to anything over his work . . . ," Masashi-san started as he leaned forward to grab his cup of tea placed on the low table in front. Then continued, "But to even cancel an important appointment, you must be extremely busy, I see..." The idol let out a soft chuckle as he put down his cup; his manager a living statue on his right.

"I hate to admit but, there were some things I need to tend to a few days ago. I apologize to have disappointed you, Kishimoto-san," Sasuke replied with an apologetic bow. Kabuto did the same but with much more force and enthusiasm.

The producer just let out a husky laugh and spoke, "Nah, I can understand that much, Sasuke-kun. I'm more than happy to meet you today." Then with another sip from his cup, he continued, "So . . . , I've been thinking if you'd like to work with me on my new series, 'The Night Assasins: Blood Brothers'." Sasuke, without a second thought, accepted the fruitful offer right away. Mister Kishimoto was pleased whereas Kabuto was on cloud nine.

Handing the script to the idol, Mr. Kishimoto mentioned there would be two male protagonists in the film, and the chosen actor would be Uzumaki Naruto. A displeased countenance was apparent on his face once that name entered Sasuke's ears. A smirk quickly replaced his frown before anyone noticed.

After several minutes of explanation about the plot and his character, the duo returned to the car -a shiny black Mercedes. His platinum-blonde haired manager went over to the driver's seat but Sasuke stepped in between and looked up at the slightly taller figure.

"What EXACTLY do YOU think you're doing," the idol asked. With a puzzled look, Kabuto replied, "What's wrong, Sasuke? Of course I'm gonna drive like any other day aren't I-"

"And cause another accident? How thrilling," the idol shot back a sarcastic comment before slipping inside and took the driver's seat. With a pout, Kabuto went round the car and took the passenger's seat. Then finally they took off. Their journey back home was quiet until the latter broke the silence.

"Ah! Actually I've forgotten to tell you something, Sasuke," he started, but paused midway as he reached out to the back seat grabbing a white file.

"I've got AnS' information-,"

*SCREECH!!!*

The piercing sound of friction between the rubber wheels and the dark concrete road resounded as Sasuke pulled up his vehicle suddenly. Although wearing a seat-belt, a large lump appeared on Kabuto's forehead, right on the spot where his previous injury was.

"Gyah- Itte! Don't stop the car all of a sudden, Sasuke! You're the one getting us killed!"

Kabuto scolded only to be stared at with the piercing, cold eyes of the idol. Sasuke demanded to hand over the documents; the excitement was bubbling inside his stomach. His manager obliged. Sasuke wasted no time to scan through the papers one after another, not leaving out a single word.

Several minutes passed after reading between the lines. A cold smirk crawled upon Sasuke's lips as he imagined about the awaiting future between him and that mysterious.

'So he's a senior student at our school . . . Hmpf! It's such a small world.'

• ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ • ~ •
Hello everyone! I'm really sorry for the late updates... 😥

Btw, the picture above is from the anime 'Darker Than Black'. Yep, I know y'all realized that. XD
Just wanna relate the pic to my chappy.

So, did you enjoy? 😊