Not Without You
Author's Note: I wrote this fanfic before reading Chapter 129, so all of these ideas are my own and from previous research. I can't help if it seems that, after rereading chapters 34, 35, 77, 124, 126, 127, and 128; Tachibana Higuchi has become predictable to me. I guess you can say that this is my own version of what's to come. This story was written on April 13th, 2010. The translation to chapter 129 was posted on the morning of April 14th, 2010. I did not read Ch. 129 until the evening of April 14th, 2010.
This is for the GakuenAlice-club's Secret Trade in DeviantArt.
It will be revealed, on Monday I think, who this fanfic was written for... though I think that, if you read it, it's rather obvious, to the prompt giver, who this is written for.
WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!!! (If that wasn't already obvious) IF You are not caught up on the latest chapters of the Manga, you will most likely not understand this fic.
DISCLAIMER: I Do NOT own Gakuen Alice. Natsume and Mikan, along with the other characters in this fic, belong to Tachibana Higuchi.
"Here, take her and get out of here!" Natsume snarled and pushed me towards Luca pyon, who caught me awkwardly before I could fall to the ground. I regained my footing and looked back and forth at them both, trying to discern their silent communication. Luca's expression was one of confusion and unanswered questions. Natsume's expression was cold, hard, and determined.
We were on the run from the Elementary School Principal's posse, who were hot on our trail. Within the last hour, they had become even more desperate to catch me. We were currently surrounded by the Fuukitai. Tsubasa senpai, Hotaru, and Natsume were putting up a good fight and had already knocked out most of the pursuers; but then Persona appeared.
My eyes went wide when I suddenly understood that Natsume meant to fight him alone. "GO!" Natsume told Luca again with the slightest hint of a threat in his voice. "I'll hold him off."
I wanted to protest, to argue against his plan, but I wasn't given the opportunity. Before I could say a word, Natsume was running towards the opponent, and I was being forcefully pulled away. "Please, don't struggle so much, Sakura. I don't like this anymore then you do, but he has a point. We have to get you to the warp hole no matter what." Luca said calmly.
The warp hole, we were on our way to the high school division and to the warp hole, where my mother, Azumi Yuka, would be waiting for us to escape; but, there was a sharp pain in my chest, making it hard to breath. I looked around at my friends. Luca had brought us to where everyone had been fighting with the Fuukitai. I stared at their faces with panic stricken eyes.
"Where is Natsume kun?" Tsubasa senpai verbalized everyone's unspoken question.
"He said to take Sakura san and go," Luca answered.
Everyone's eyes were on me. I knew that they were waiting for me to teleport us out of here. The thought of leaving Natsume behind gave me a sickening feeling in my stomach. Against that man, he could possibly die. I couldn't stand the thought of anyone getting hurt protecting me. Even if he had said that he would protect me, whatever happens. Even if everyone else thought that it was best if I escaped with my mother. Even if I had a new found love and sympathy for my mother; I also had new found feeling towards Natsume and a desire to protect all of my friends. I took a step back, away from everyone's questioning gazes. "I can't," I managed to say.
"Mikan, come on, we have to get out of here," Tsubasa senpai said in a soothing voice and reached a hand out towards me as if trying to convince a wild animal to trust him.
I took another step back and shook my head... I had made up my mind. "Not without Natsume!" I stated and used the teleportation Alice to return to where Luca, Natsume, and I had been before separating. In the distance, I could hear everyone calling my name as they ran towards me. I leapt into motion to follow after Natsume's trail.
It wasn't long until I could see the fight in the distance. The remaining Fuukitai had been ordered to follow after us, but I had managed to evade them when I teleported. Behind me, I heard Hotaru's bakan cannon go off and the fight with the Fuukitai continued. Ahead of me, I saw a flash of Natsume's fire tornado, and continued to run towards it. I got close enough in time to see Persona use a device that controlled Alices in order to weaken Natsume's attack. Though, due to the wish Alice that I had inserted into Natsume's body, Persona still sustained serious injury when he reached through the fire storm to counterattack. Activating my nullification Alice, I dove into the fight without thinking, and landed on top of Natsume after knocking him out of harm's way!
Pushing myself up on my arms, I stared down at Natsume's stunned face, which quickly flashed with anger. My nullification Alice not only nullified the effect of Persona's Alice; it also nullified Natsume's. One minute I was laying on top of Natsume and the next, he was lying on top of me, growling in pain. He had flipped me over in time to shield me from Persona's next attack. It was too sudden, and I was unable to nullify it.
"Natsume!" I screamed when, for a split second, I felt his body go limp on top of me. Before I could understand what was happening, we were suddenly rolling away from Persona by Natsume's efforts. With experienced fighting tactics, Natsume released me at a point when I rolled back on top of him, and pushed me to continue rolling away. I stopped rolling in time to see Natsume leap to his feet and throw an enormous fireball at our attacker.
I felt someone drop to their knees behind me and throw their arms around my shoulders. The sound of Hotaru's bakan canon made my ears ring for a moment and I looked over my shoulder to find that Luca had just protected me from one of the Fuukitai with the barrier Alice that I had previously inserted into his body.
"Teleport, NOW!" I heard Natsume yell back at us; but I refused to go without him. Struggling against Luca's grip, I managed to pull myself forward enough, on my hands and knees, to grip Natsume's ankle. At the same moment, I felt someone grab my waist as if meaning to pick me up. I assumed that it was Tsubasa senpai, prayed that Hotaru was holding on to one of us, and I tried to envision the second floor of the high school division's western dorms to teleport us all away from the battle field.
"Are you stupid!?" I heard Natsume yell before I could get my bearings straight. "Returning like you did! You could have gotten killed!"
I blinked my eyes into focus to find that I had finally gotten the hang of using the teleportation Alice. It appeared like we were in the high school division. I vaguely recognized the surroundings from the last time that we had been here. I became aware that I was still holding tightly onto Natsume's ankle. My gaze drifted up to his face and the flood gates that had been holding back my tears suddenly released. "I didn't want to leave without you! You might have died back there! How can you protect me if you're dead? " I wailed.
The heavy weight holding me down, that was Tsubasa senpai and Luca, released me, and I scrambled away from them to practically tackle Natsume. After several long moments, I felt him sigh heavily and wrap his arms around me. "I'm not going to die," he said; but at the same moment that the words escaped his lips, I felt his body shake violently with a nasty coughing fit. I literally fell away from him when he moved to cover his mouth and struggle to get control over himself. My heart felt like an anvil in my chest and my stomach twisted into a knot. I stared, with wide, frightened eyes, at the blood that he coughed up into his hands. I also became aware of the nasty black scars on his arm that were the marks of Persona's Alice. I was all too familiar with those marks, having dealt with them before; not just on myself, but also on Narumi sensei.
I scrambled back into a sitting position and immediately set to the task of stealing the deadly Alice away from Natsume's body. My vision blurred with my tears, but I was aware of everyone around me. Luca was kneeling on the other side of his best friend, looking desperate to somehow help him. Tsubasa senpai stood not too far away, watching, and I felt Hotaru's presence beside me, with an arm wrapped around my shoulders, as if to offer her strength.
"It must be the effect of the wish stone. It seems to be exhausting his fire Alice," Tsubasa spoke out loud, only to catch a dangerous glare by Natsume.
"I'll take it out as soon as I get rid of the death marks," I said, trying hard to concentrate on the task at hand.
"No!" Natsume spoke forcefully. "I'm going to need all of the strength that I can get in order to get you out of here safely." He wasn't coughing anymore, and his crimson eyes glowed with determination. "I'm the only one who is strong enough to protect you from him," he continued to argue, referring to Persona.
"Not if you get yourself killed!" I whimpered, my voice barely coming out in a whisper.
'If it means that you will be safe, then so be it," Natsume stated matter of factly. I stared at him in shock, momentarily forgetting what I was doing.
"We're not far from the warp hole,' Tsubasa announced, drawing my attention back. I finished removing the effects of Persona's Alice and Natsume stood immediately, not giving me time to protest. He pulled me onward, down the hall. As we came closer to a crossing hallway, a small group of the Elementary School Principal's posse rounded the corner coming towards us. They were as surprised to see us as we were at seeing them.
Hotaru knocked out one of the hostile students with her bakan canon while Tsubasa senpai trapped the others in their own shadows, but not before one managed to fire a tranquilizer dart in my direction. It bounced off of Luca's barrier. "Go!" Luca yelled to Natsume.
Natsume didn't have to be instructed, he was already pulling me along as he ran further down the hall. We rounded a corner and continued down the hall towards music room one, where the warp hole was located. We were only a couple of yards away when Natsume went into another coughing fit. I stared in horror at the amount of blood that he coughed onto the floor. It scared me beyond the thought of being caught by the Elementary School Principal.
"Go, it's almost time," Natsume wheezed between coughs. The moonlight would soon hit the keyhole on the music room door.
I continued to stare at him, frozen in place. I couldn't leave him like this. I shook my head defiantly and grabbed for his hand. "Come with me," I pleaded and tried to pull him forward.
Natsume regained his composure. "I can't, Mikan. I have to finish things here. I can't if I'm constantly worried about you getting hurt or caught."
"But you're over working your Alice, you'll die!" I cried in protest, pulling harder on his arm, but he didn't budge.
"Then so be it, if it means that I can finish this," he argued. "What do you think will happen to the academy, Mikan, to everyone?" He took a step towards me and pulled me into a hug. He felt so warm and my heart fluttered. "I promise that I will find you when this is finished, but please, I need you to be safe. You need to escape from here with your mother," he was now pleading. I barely recognized his voice. Who knew that he could have emotions like these?
"Not without you," I managed to say, and clung to him. "I don't want to go without you!" I spoke louder, pleading.
The sound of running drew our attention away from one another. Tsubasa, Hotaru, and Luca were running towards us.
"Mikan, hurry, it's time!" Tsubasa yelled, noting the light of the moon.
Just then, Natsume went into another coughing fit. I clung around his shoulders as he hunched over and his body shook violently. "No!" I cried, fearing that I wouldn't ever see Natsume again, if I left him in this condition.
"He'll be ok, Sakura, I'll make sure of that," Luca's soothing voice came to my ears and I looked up to see him on Natsume's other side. He put his arms around Natsume's shoulders to support his friend. "I'll take care of him," he promised.
Hotaru was then by my side, gently removing my arms from around Natsume. He had stopped coughing, but remained hunched over with his hands on his knees, looking drained. There was a small pool of blood on the floor before him. It felt like my heart forgot to beat and I stared at Natsume, fearfully. Hotaru's attempt to pull me away from him came to no avail. I dropped to my knees to see Natsume's face, and reached a hand to caress his cheek. His crimson eyes focused on mine for a moment; they looked gentle and I thought that he was about to say something kind, for once, but I was suddenly whisked away.
"There's no time for this, if you don't go now, it'll be too late!" Tsubasa muttered and picked me up by force. I struggled against him in protest, but before I could break free I was tossed towards the warp hole.
"NO!" I yelled, when the world began to spin as I was sucked through the keyhole. "Natsume, Daisuki!" I cried, suddenly understanding the heaviness inside of my heart and fearing that I wouldn't ever see him again to convey my feelings.
~*~*~*~
Natsume watched as Mikan disappeared through the warp hole. His heart was relieved that she was now safe. Yet, there was a sharp pain in his heart when her confession reached his ears. Would he ever see her again to acknowledge it?
After a moment, another coughing fit snapped him out of his daze. It wasn't as bad as the other's, though, and didn't last long. He turned towards Luca, then, who had remained at his side. "You're a good liar," Natsume told him, regarding what Luca had told Mikan.
"Who says that I was lying," Luca replied.
~End