Chapter 2
Next Morning Natsume's POV
I had my alarm clock set to 5:45 so that I would already be ready when she arrived. Right when I got out of the shower, I heard the knock on my door. I walked up and opened the door.
"Oh, you're already ready to go?" she said, making it sound as if I got all fancied up. I was just wearing sweats and a black shirt. I nodded.
"Two things. One, you should talk more. And two, hand me a towel." she said. I grabbed the towel that was around my neck. She gestured me to sit down on the seat of my counter.
"What are you gonna…?" I started to ask until I felt her rubbing the towel on my head.
"You could get sick if you have water on your head. It gets cold and then you get sick as if it were rain." she explained.
"And suddenly you're my mother?" I asked.
"No, but I'm your friend. If you get sick, it will be troublesome. My brother is ruthless with people other than my family so, he will still make you watch over me if you got sick. I take missions almost every night. I refuse to make you do a mission with me while you are sick." she explained.
"Whatever." I said, getting up and tossing the towel on the couch.
"Let's go." I said. She raised an eyebrow and then led the way. We did the two hour jog without delay, though I was still tired at the end while she was perfectly fine.
"Hyuuga, can you let me practice my aim? You place yourself against that tree and I'll aim this knife right above your head." she said. I nodded and placed myself against the tree. I had a wide open wound there so I couldn't help but wince a little. I don't know if she heard me, but whatever it was, she dropped her knife.
"Did I just hear you wince?" she asked.
"No." I answered.
"No, you winced." she said.
"You're hearing things." I said.
"I don't hear things. I have the best hearing around, and you winced." she said holding up a finger at me as if warning me.
"I didn'…" I started but she interrupted me.
"Don't lie to me, Hyuuga." she yelled. I could tell she was mad. She was not only yelling at me, but called my by my last name.
"I'm not lying." I said.
"Then take off your shirt." she said, looking down with a blush.
"I didn't know you thought of me that way." I teased.
"Hyuuga, I'm not playing with you. If nothing is wrong then you wouldn't have any problem doing it." she said in a serious voice, but still blushing and looking down.
"It's not necessary. It will just be a waste of time." I said. This girl really doesn't give up. She didn't say another word. Instead she stared straight at me.
"Then how do you explain those wounds on your chest?" she said.
"What wounds?" I asked, turning myself in a circle to look as if there was nothing there.
"I have an X-Ray alice." she said.
"You're seeing wrong." I said.
"Cant you see, Natsume. You can't fool me! Those wounds! Those wounds!" she said as my shirt burnt away.
"I just had to become friends with the one who could see through clothes." I mumbled.
"Yeah you did. Sit your ass down on the damn ground, right fucking now." she said, marching up to me and pointing to the ground. Knowing I really had no option, I crossed my legs and sat down.
"Out of all the fucking alices for me not to have, it just had to be a healing alice." she said.
"Don't use your alice, you'll hurt yourself." I said.
"No I wont. About half of my alice control devices have been removed. If you were injured, I would have never let you jog with me for two hours." she said. She actually sounded really upset. Before I could say anything, I was in the academy hospital on one of their beds. A nurse walked in and almost jumped back.
"I want him checked, now." Mikan said threateningly. The nurse shook out of control and immediately came over to check me.
"I'll call over Dr. Imai right now." the nurse told Mikan, rushing out.
"I'm going down to the counter. And now, there is a barrier around this hospital specifically for you. You will not be able to leave this hospital at all until the doctor is done. And don't even think that the barrier doesn't cover the window." she threatened me. She stormed out and her face pained me even more than before. She looked more upset than anything before. Upset and angry. How the fuck am I gonna deal with this? I have to guard this girl, but she's probably too upset to talk to me. Dr. Imai walked in. He went through the entire check up process and the nurse put ointment on my wounds but nothing else.
"You are recommended to stop by everyday so that we make sure those wounds are healing. And don't do any strenuous activity." he said.
"Finally, I can leave this place." I said, jumping out of the bed and putting on a spare shirt they had stored for me in case I got injured from a mission. I walked downstairs quickly to see if Mikan was still there. Instead, the minute I stepped out of the elevator, I was lifted off of my feet and glared at by her brother.
"Why the fuck was Mikan crying?" he asked, his voice with every intent on killing me.
"Ah crap, she was crying?" I asked. Just add salt to the wounds I already have, damn sensei.
"Yeah, she was. Would you like to tell me why?" he said, and I knew it wasn't a question.
"I'll tell you later. I have to find her before she goes anywhere. She got alice devices removed and I need to find her before she leaves the academy and if she leaves the academy. Then it will start another charade and she'll just get hurt even more." I said.
"When I see her again, she better be smiling damn it, or your head will not be attached to your neck and shoulders anymore." he threatened, letting go of my collar. I began walking quickly out of the hospital. But then there was Rui-sensei again.
"Oh no, you are not escaping my explanation." he said.
"Okay, so yesterday cuz I took Mikan out of the academy and we didn't get back until late. So they punished me and today during our jogging, she asked to practice aim with me. I had to lean up against a tree, but I winced because of a wound on my back. She asked me why I winced, I told her I didn't. She got mad, saw through my shirt, burnt my shirt, and teleported us to the hospital. And I mentioned that she got mad. I didn't expect her to cry or I wouldn't have lied. I just didn't want her worrying and I've gotta find her." I said quickly.
"I'll help you find her with one clue. She's not in the academy." he said.
"What do you mean she's not in the academy? How do you know?" I asked.
"Alice control devices keep track of people as long as they're in the academy. I would know if she were here. And plus, I saw her running towards the gates. But at that moment I was more worried about the fact that she was crying." he said.
"What?! If you saw her leaving and crying, you should have stopped and asked her what was wrong!" I yelled. I began running towards the gates. Instead of going directly through, though, I jumped over the wall. I knew exactly where to go to, and ran to the park. It took me half an hour to get there but at least she was there. She was on the swing crying. I slowly and quietly walked up to her.
"Mikan…" I started. Before giving me a chance to talk she began to yell.
"WHAT?! DID YOU COME HERE TO LIE TO ME AGAIN?! OR DO YOU JUST WANT TO SEE ME CRY?!" she yelled. Instead of answering I hugged her gently, not really knowing what to do since I've never worked with a girl.
"Mikan, I just didn't want you worrying. I'm your guard. You're not mine." I said.
"That doesn't mean shit! You're the only friend I damn have. I would at least think you could rely on me a little!" she said.
"Why does it affect you so much? I'm sure you've gone through lies before. It's one of the things that make people strong." I asked.
"Natsume, my whole life has been a lie. I never had a childhood. I've never had a friend. I can't spend time with my family whenever I want. And when the academy caught me, I thought, I might actually have a chance. I could pick one friend that I could rely on and could rely on me. I chose you to be my friend and the first thing you do is lie to me." she sobbed.
"Part of a friendship is forgiveness. I wont lie to you again, if I know it hurts you so much, but you have tell me about yourself. I don't know much about you and you don't know much about me." I said.
"Then, I guess you have to meet my family." she said, wiping away her tears.
"I'll meet your family, if that makes you happy and it will get you to forgive me." I said. She then jumped into my arms.
"Now as punishment, you have to carry me to my house." she said.
"God you're such a kid." I said.
"You always say that. Stop calling me a kid." she said, with a pout.
"Any guy in this world would think you were on your period." I said.
"Natsume! That is a girl thing!" she said, slapping my chest. I winced and she immediately apologized. I forgave her obviously and she told me the directions to her house. It took another 30 minutes of walking.
"Is this the place?" I asked looking at the place. It looked to be only one floor and pretty small. But at least there was a backyard I guess. I rang the doorbell. The door slammed open and then closed and I noticed Mikan wasn't in my arms anymore.