Title: Die Another Day
Summary:I guess I'll die another day, thought Natsume looking at the olive eyes staring at him. Mikan and Natsume are on a secret mission that could kill them. Their one goal: SURVIVE NATSUMI ONESHOT SPOILERS FOR RECENT CHAPTERS SLIGHTLY AU
Author: sunsun128
Beta Reader: sunsun128
Anime: Gakuen Alice
Songs: Die Another Day by Madonna
A/N: May be OOC (dunno, i don't think it is)
They were on a mission in the winter. Both of them were wrapped in stifling fur coats. Natsume had been furious with Persona for pairing him with Mikan, but it did no good to argue with the man. Natsume had bowed his head in acceptance, and the next day Persona found his dead rose garden mysteriously burned.
The mission...the mission was probably a mission that could kill both of them, most likely Mikan. Natsume found himself sweating more than usual, partially due to the fur coat, but also due to the fact that Mikan was unbelievable dense. She could step into one of the enemy's traps and be killed in a second, her neck snapped.
Then he would never see those eyes sparkle with life, and he would hate himself for it. That was why he had already used his Alice twice, to burn out enemy traps that could easily kill the careless girl.
Natsume could see the building they were meant to infiltrate. The enemy was keeping several children of Gakuen Alice hostage there, demanding a ransom for 90000. Natsume knew, by logic, that the enemy was not Japanese. They had no accent and demanded American dollars. He also knew that the enemy were amateurs. Ever since the children had disappeared, the academy had put cameras on all the payphones in Japan. The enemies had demanded a ransom by payphone.
With a snap, the academy had the enemies' picture and information. Of course, Mikan hadn't figured this out. She was too busy steeling herself for the ordeal. Natsume knew this mission would kill the innocence in Mikan. That was why he was far ahead of her, checking for traps and annihilating any enemy guards who were patrolling this far out.
It was in sight...the building where the children were being held captive. Natsume's pulse stuttered as he saw the heavy security surrounding the building. There was no way he could kill all of them without Mikan's help, but on the other hand, if she helped, her eyes would lose that innocent sparkle.
There was a blinding flash of light, and Natsume acted by instinct, creating a barrier of fire between him and the bullets fired. They melted in their path. His eyes, before holding the tiniest bit of caring for Mikan, now were cold and unreadable. Mikan came up beside him, falling into position.
"We'll storm the room where the kids are. Then we'll get out as fast as we can. Don't take any injured children. They have to be left," Natsume instructed.
He watched as Mikan took a long breath of hot air and nodded. They charged.
Natsume was always one step ahead of Mikan, killing the guards before they could touch her and stopping bullets before they even came close to hitting her. He glanced back at her.
Her eyes shone with a determination that he didn't want to see. She knew what he was doing. It was in her blood. She was made to understand Natsume, and that scared him. Nobody had even known that his control was so carefully fabricated and could be shattered at the most fragile hit. It had shattered once...when Tsubasa had disappeared on a mission.
That was the first time Natsume had seen her really cry. She had sobbed out tears, and he had watched from the window. Each tear had hit his carefully constructed shield until it had completely cracked, and he had hugged her. After that, he had disappeared, cursing himself for letting somebody past. He promised himself it wouldn't happen again, but it did, and he cursed himself more.
Jerked to the present by a bullet sinking into the soft flesh of his arm, he groaned as blood began gushing out. His mind registered that Mikan had frozen in place, a bullet heading toward her. He jumped toward her.
They toppled to the ground, the bullet grazing Natsume's shoulder. "Move, BAKA!" Natsume screamed, pushing Mikan away. He flew at the guard, swiftly breaking the man's neck. He looked around. Mikan was gone. He sighed, relieved.
Then he heard her scream.
His eyes lost their coldness and an unknown emotion filled him...fear. He charged forward with fire, following the sound of the scream. She was in the room whre the hostages were being kept. What had happened? There weren't supposed to be any guards there. That was the reason why Persona had assigned Mikan. He knew that Natsume would protect her with his life and wanted to experiment with it.
Natsume realized what he hadn't thought of. Persona had lied about no guards, knowing that Natsume would send Mikan to a safe place. He also guessed that Natsume would protect Mikan, losing his life in the process. With a dangerous ability member gone, they would need a new one to fill in. Mikan would be the fill in.
Cursing, Natsume sped up. He should have known. Persona was sick. He wanted the nullification and steal Alice girl on his team. He wanted power.
Natsume jumped into the room, seeing Mikan cowering in a corner and children filing out the door and running for their life. So they had completed the mission, but what about Mikan? Natsume could see no one in sight that Mikan was screaming at. He stepped forward.
Mikan mouthed something frantically. Natsume, who could lipread, cocked his head slightly still stepping forward. With Mikan's habit to exaggerate words, it took him longer to figure out what she was mouthing. By then, it was too late.
BANG!
Pain! Searing pain! Natsume crumpled to the ground in front of Mikan. He could hear her screaming but couldn't do anything. God! The pain was crippling. Then something happened that never happened before.
Natsume began to cry. Tears streamed down his cheek, partly from the pain but also because he knew that he had failed to protect Mikan. His eyes started clouding up, and Mikan was still screaming. He knew that she was holding him, but he couldn't feel her warm touch. His eyes began to close.
Blackness.
A white feather?
Wet...
Natsume opened his eyes, feeling wetness upon his cheek. The light was blinding, but he couldn't see a source. Where was he? What had happened? Then it all came rushing back to him. He had been shot...but where? And what was this light?
He suddenly twisted around frantically. Where was Mikan? Where was Mikan?! Pain came searing back, its flames licking at his back.
"Shhh. Shhh."
He was being rocked, but he couldn't see anything. He couldn't see! Then it came flooding back to him. He looked up and realized he hadn't died.
I guess I'll die another day, thought Natsume looking at the olive eyes staring at him.
Mikan sobbed, stroking his head. "Don't you dare die on me, Natsume Hyuuga! Don't you dare die on me!"
Natsume blinked and then croaked, "Shut up, Polka Dots. I can hear you know."
Mikan sobbed in relief and hugged him.
Natsume let himself smile the tiniest bit and then...
Darkness.
A white feather?
A lullaby...
Natsume opened his eyes to nothingness.
A/N: There are several ways to interpret the ending. I thought the ending seemed like he lost his eyesight and was blind. You can take it other ways, though. It can be interpreted as dying or losing the ability to see innocence. Whatever you want. I just interpreted it that he was blind (literally) he lost his eyesight.