A Change of Heart:
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice is owned and copywrited by Tachibana Higuchi. I do not own any of the characters in this story, only the idea for this fanfiction.
Author Note: I have reciently become obsessed with this Manga and this couple. Don't worry, I'll be finishing my Cardcaptor Sakura fics. I just got the idea for this and wanted to write it before I forgot. OMG's, Twilightkiss, can you believe it?? I actually wrote a one shot fic! LOL (It's a well know joke that I can't seem to write a story that isn't at least 4 or 5 chapters long.)
In any case, enjoy. Please R&R!
It was late, but Mikan couldn't sleep. Natsume had been absent from class for nearly a week now. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he even still alive? Mikan pondered these things as she stare out her window into the darkness of the night. A cloud passed away from being in front of the moon, allowing the light to illuminate the walkway leading to the dorm. Mikan strained her eyes to make out a shadowed figure that stumbled onto the path from the surrounding trees that lined it.
"Who is that?" She wondered out loud, moving closer to the window as if doing so would bring her close enough to see.
Mikan watched as the shadowed figure stumbled up the path towards the dorm. It wasn't until the figure passed beneath an outside light that she was able to make out who the person was. "Na - Natsume!" Mikan gasp under her breath. Her heart began to pound as she watched him fall forward onto his hands and knees.
Without a second thought, Mikan rushed out of her door and down the halls to the entry of the dorm as quickly and quietly as she could. Mikan dashed out the door into the darkness of the night. Another cloud drifted in front of the moon's rays of light. "Natsume!? Natsume?!" She called out to him while rushing down the path. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the night she stopped on the path to search around her surroundings.
"Natsume!?" She called out, and was about to call out his name again when a hand suddenly clasp over her mouth from behind her.
"Shut up, Stupid!" Natsume's voice hissed against her ear.
Mikan spun around to face him, ready to pounce on him out of her relief to see him, but her eyes instead grew wide and she covered a hand over her mouth as she gasp in terror.
There was a trail of dried blood running down the side of his face with several cuts and abrasions over his cheek and down the arm of the same side. With his opposite arm reaching across his stomach, he held his waist on the side where the damage seemed to be the worse.
"Na – Natsume…" Mikan muffled against her hand as tears began to weld up in her eyes. She stare at him for a moment in disbelief until Natsume winced in pain. Immediately Mikan was at his undamaged side and wrapped an arm around his back, offering support. "I'll take you to the hospital!" She insisted.
"N – NO!" Natsume demanded forcefully, though it wasn't his failed attempt of intimidation that made her pause. It was the hint of desperation in his voice. "Ta – Take me to your room," he instructed, leaning against her for support in spite of himself.
Mikan stare at him in disbelief. "My…room?" She repeated quietly.
"Let me sleep in your room," Natsume instructed and brought his gaze to hers. "Please, Mikan…?" He then asked, seeing her shock at his request.
Mikan nodded in silent response and began to lead him down the path towards the dorm. To their relief, they managed to make it to Mikan's room without alerting the robotic dorm mother.
"I'll go get some water to clean your wounds," Mikan said in a rush after having led Natsume to her bed and helping him to lie down. "I'll be right back," she stated and quietly rushed out of the door before he could protest.
After Mikan managed to gather the needed materials; a bowl of water, washcloth, and first aid kit, she returned to her room and to Natsume's side. He appeared to be asleep. His breathing was shallow. Mikan wrung out the wet washcloth and gently began to wipe the stream of dried blood from his face. She carefully cleaned the clotted head wound and wrapped it before moving to the various cuts and abrasions covering his cheek and arm.
"What happened to you?" She sobbed softly, unaware of the silent tears that fell down her face. After bandaging a nasty cut that ran down his arm, her eyes fell upon the dried bloodstain on his shirt covering his hip and waist. With a shaky hand she reached to pull the shirt up and revealed a deep gash that ran from his hip and up his side. She couldn't tell what had caused the injury because the wound had been cauterized to stop the bleeding. Mikan could feel her stomach churn and suddenly felt nauseous at the sight of the flesh. She clasp a hand over her mouth and closed her eyes to block the image from her mind. Mikan stumbled backwards and nearly tripped over the bowl of water on the floor only to have her hand caught suddenly to prevent her from falling back.
Mikan quickly met Natsume's gaze, surprised to see that he was awake. "Natsume…" She whispered his name quietly under her breath. There was a look in his eyes that she wasn't use to seeing. They looked upon her tenderly, with concern. "Natsume…" She repeated his name quietly before the tears that had already been falling down her face became like a flood as though a dam had just burst. "Natsume!" She cried out suddenly and flung herself onto his body, gripping him tightly as though he might disappear.
Natsume flinched in pain and tried to push her off of his body with his uninjured arm to little avail. "You're hurting me you stupid, ugly girl!" He growled through the pain.
Mikan quickly jumped away, bowing her apologies again and again and attempted to wipe her tears away. "Let me get some clean water to clean that wound," she said, bending to pick up the now empty bowl of water that she had tripped over and quickly rushing out the door. Natsume stared after her in wonder. Something about her tears brought a more painful ache to his heart then the pain in his injuries. With a flinch of pain he removed his shirt and awaited her return.
Mikan returned shortly after with fresh water, a couple of towels, and an ointment for burns. After throwing a towel over the spilled water on the floor, Mikan set to work on cleaning and bandaging the wound on his side. A couple of times Natsume flinched in pain, causing Mikan to go into a fit of apologies and tears. "I wish you would let me take you to the hospital," she whimpered.
"No!" Natsume said forcefully. "He'll expect me to be there. At least he wont think to look for me here," he explained.
Suddenly Mikan understood the situation and why he had wanted to sleep in her room. "Well…you should get some rest then…" Mikan said while she gathered the first aid kit and the bowl of water and headed for the door. "Oyasumi, I'll go sleep in Hotaru's room," she started to say.
"NO!" Natsume demanded suddenly. Mikan froze in surprise.
"You don't honestly expect me to sleep in here with you, do you?" Mikan reasoned with him.
"Yes," he told her, though he shifted his gaze as to not be looking directly at her.
"There isn't any room. My bed is smaller then yours," she said, referring to the time she had been forced to sleep in his bed beside him when he pretended to be stuck to her because of the sticky power at New Years.
"If you leave, I'll burn this," he threatened, picking up the stuffed animal chick that Ruka had given to her for White Day in exchange for the chocolates that she had given to him on Valentines Day.
"You can't, I'll just nullify your alice," Mikan countered.
"Then I'll rip it in half," he threatened again, grabbing the stuffed animal at either end and preparing to pull it apart.
"You wouldn't dare," Mikan called his bluff.
"Would you like to bet on that?" He glared at her and proceeded to pull on either end of the stuffed animal in opposite directions.
"S…Stop, Natsume!" Mikan yelled, rushing to pull the chick out of his hands. "This was a gift from Ruka Pyon," she cried, snatching the chick away and hugging it to her chest.
"You like Ruka that much?" Natsume asked, suddenly sounding somber.
"Of course I like him!" She answered. "He's nice, and always showing concern for others. Unlike someone else I know who is always mean and calling me names!" She glared at him.
Natsume looked past her, his eyes taking on a hint of hurt over her words. "There are a lot of people who are concerned about you," he countered. "Everyone just shows it in different ways."
"That's right!" Mikan began to argue. "Ruka Pyon is kind and gentle. You're mean and hard!" She spat at him.
"And because of that, I suppose you are telling me that I don't care." Natsume answered, meeting her gaze with a cold glare.
Mikan stood staring at him, speechless. His words had felt like ice, chilling her to the bone. Yet, somewhere past that cold glare there was a hint of pain over her words.
They stare at one another for a long moment, each trying to read the other's emotions.
"He…doesn't know how to be kind and gentle…because of the things they make him do for the academy." Mikan thought to herself. "He's….lonely…." She realized. "He doesn't know how to be nice. Everyone expects him to be hard and emotionless." Mikan suddenly understood.
Setting the bowl of water and the first aid kit down, she approached the bed. "Why can't you ever confide in me and let me help you." She asked as she stare down at him.
"What do you think I'm trying to do?" He asked, grabbing her hand to pull her to sit beside him on the bed.
"You've got a funny way of showing it," She replied, suddenly aware of how close he was, of his uninjured hand pulling her to lie beside him, and of just how small her bed was.
"I don't know any other way how," Natsume answered, nuzzling his nose into her hair as she rested her head against the crook of his shoulder.
Mikan lay stiffly against his uninjured side, her heart pounding wildly. Could he feel it? She wondered to herself. What is this feeling? She didn't understand. She was so confused.
Unaware that she was shaking she startled when Natsume kissed her hair. "Relax and go to sleep," He told her in a soft tone.