CHAPTER 2: Six Years Later
15the December, I was 16
"Natsume, where are you going?" I asked him. It was way past midnight and he was holding his cat mask. Where on earth could he be possibly headed for? I was having bad feelings about it since then.
"I'm off somewhere. Don't follow me," he said. He was quiet as a prowling cat, yet his voice reverberated through the cold, dark, and damp winter's night. My eyes were slowly starting to fill with hot tears, and I cried. I talked some sense into Natsume, or well, at least I tried.
"You know, Natsume, I could be of assistance to you. I mean--I could come with you..help you..and...and..heal--"
"No Mikan!"screamed Natsume, a faint trace of fear in his voice, "You know what your alice does! You know you have a different variety of that! You know it's dangerous! Practically FATAL!"
"Don't you think I know that risk myself?!" I retorted. 'You are being a complete idiot and I hope you know that!'. "But what do I care that pare of the string that keeps me alive is being cut off with every second that I use my alice if I was using it on YOU? healing you? Saving YOU?"
A strained silence, then...
"I can't allow that. And Polka, Stop crying," he said quietly. He put on his mask and left.
I stood there. Under our Sakura tree. Thinking hard. I was spaced out, and I didn't notice Ruka walking towards me. Although he was still the same young boy I met six years ago, he was still quite handsome, perhaps even more.
'Darn you, Mikan! NATSUME??DUH!'
"Mikan? Are you alright?" asked the young charmer, still holding his white "wabbit."
"Oh...I'm so sorry, Ruka...I'm just...preoccupied..."I said, allowing my voice to trail off.
"Relax. He's gonna be fine. You've seen him do this at least a THOUSAND times before," he said with his calming voice.
"But...but.."I said feebly.
"No Buts. You know--"
"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I cut in, "This time! Tonight! What I feel about him leaving! It's all different!"
A long span of crickets humming and owls cooing and wolves howling greeted the end of my sentence. Then Ruka spoke...
"Mikan, remember the time you and Natsume got trapped inside the horror house six years ago? Didn't you say something bad was gonna happen? And the worst that happened was you got stuck with your mortal enemy! At least, who you THOUGHT was your mortal enemy."
"Ruka, that was six years ago and I was feeling helpless moving there with only a FIRE CASTER who consistently burns my underwear and if not MY PONY TAIL!" I said heatedly.
"Hey! No need to get all huffy!" said Ruka. "Still remember the time when you found him in his room, swimming in his own blood?"
"Uh, Ruka-pyon, I don't think this is the right time to remind me of Natsume's misfits," I said. Ruka blushed. I think it was, what? 2 years since I stopped calling him that nickie...nickname I mean.
"No, no,no! you've got the wrong end of the string, Mikan!" said Ruka, obviously trying to correct his mistake, "What I'm saying is that he's relieved when he sees you, most especially when he's sick or injured."
"Oh, Ruka," I said exasperatedly, obviously I was ticked off. Duh! Who wouldn't be? "That's because I have the healing Alice, REMEMBER?"
"Mikan, if you lived by the number of times you healed Natsume," said Ruka, "or rather by the number of times Natsume has had his misfits and you healed him, you'd probably be dead by now.
I turned my head to Ruka so fast that I cricked my neck.
"What--I don't--eh?"
But Ruka was looking at me in a most unusual way...How he looked at me...Was it love? pity? concern?
"Your presence takes Natsume out of his present darkness," said Ruka. "It's your mere presence that heals him, and not your Alice."
But then, my idiotic side took over.
"You--you mean...LOVE is another one of my alices?" I asked, pointing to my 'innocent' face.
"Oh, Mikan," said Ruka, giving up on the explanation, "Let's just get you to your room."
And as he stood up and offered his hand to me, I looked back, and whether it was a mere figment of my imagination or it was a reality, I saw the outline of my favorite black cat, and a sliver of a smile dawned upon my face.
"You'll be safe," I mouthed.
The outline nodded. Geez! What an eyesight!
And the strange outline left.
okay! that was one nasty chapter! geez!
thanks for the first two reviewers.
i think i've personally thanked them.
keep on! keep up!
