They knocked on the door and stepped in. Mikan was quickly up on her feet and hugged Natsume.

"What happened…? You're shaking…" Mikan asked, but was quickly cut off by Koko.

"Lets just get him to bed. I'll tell you what happened."

"…Of course, you're exhausted. Come on." Mikan said as she pulled him towards the bed. Natsume just laid down with all his clothes on and pulled the comforter up over his nose. He curled up on his side, trying somehow to keep warm, protect and comfort himself. Natsume soon stopped shaking and fell asleep holding Mikan's hand.

"What happened Koko? What did Persona do to him?"

"I… I couldn't do anything Mikan, Natsume ordered me not to…"

"It's okay Koko, I think Natsume is happy that you didn't do anything. That would probably just make matters worse…"

"But… I just stood there watching while he…"

"Koko, tell me what happened."

"He said he needed to have some interrogation-pills tested… That they would wear off after 10 minutes. He forced Natsume to take one and… He was in so much pain Mikan… I could hear his thoughts and they were screaming… Screaming for it to stop… But even then he still remembered why he was there, who he saved by doing it… You were in his mind all the time Mikan; he wanted to be with you so badly… And then when it finally stopped Persona gave him the choice to either break the deal or get another pill. Natsume answered: I refuse. He answered it so many times, and he just kept getting another pill and another and another… In the end Persona didn't have any more pills, so he had to let us go… But he said to Natsume that he would get him to break the deal next time…"

"…I understand. Koko you did the right thing. If you had done anything then Natsume would have protected you from Persona by using his Alice, which would have hurt him even more… And after that the deal, that already is a hairsbreadth from breaking, would have broken completely. Thank you Koko… You should go to your room and sleep, you aren't looking to good yourself. I'll watch over Natsume."

"Okay, see you tomorrow…" Koko said as he walked out of the door. He did feel quite tired now that he thought about it.

Mikan watched the door close and waited for some seconds before she sat down beside her beloved. She started stoking his hair.

What did you do to someone, to make you deserve this fate Natsume? Why do you have to hurt so much? What is wrong with this academy? Isn't there anything I can do to help you? You're drenched in cold sweat …you have a fever. I should get a cold cloth.

Mikan gently pulled her hand out of Natsume's and went into the bathroom to soak a cloth. She put it on his forehead, and then turned around to go get her nightgown on. A hand grabbed her hand.

"…Don't go." Natsume said desperately behind her.

Mikan turned around and gave him a kiss. "I'm only going to change clothes, I'll be back in a minute I promise."

Natsume reluctantly let go of her hand and followed her with his eyes as she went to the drawer, pulled out her nightgown and then went to the bathroom. When she came back, she crawled into the bed beside Natsume.

"Mikan." He didn't need to say anymore, all of his feelings were in that one word. He embraced her as if he would never let go.

"You're still shaking. …Shh, It's okay I'm here. I won't leave you. Never." Mikan kept repeating 'I'm here' until he stopped shaking and gradually relaxed in her arms.

Just as they were about to go to sleep Natsume went into a coughing fit.

"Please no… Not now…" Mikan pleaded and handed Natsume a tissue, which was soon stained with Natsume's precious blood. Mikan hated it. …Finally it stopped and Natsume looked like he was about to faint at any moment, but even so he still opened the drawer, pulled out some pills and swallowed them.

"…I'm gonna sleep." Natsume said as he collapsed on the pillows and fell into a semi-conscious state instantly.

"I love you, Natsume…" Mikan said drowsily, she soon fell asleep.

Natsume woke up around noon he hurt everywhere. Mikan was in school, apparently didn't want to wake him, and he was glad she didn't. He went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. He looked like crap, he was full of bandage, there was blood around with mouth and his face was pale. It can't get any worse than that. He took off his clothes and went into the shower. When he was done he put on his dirty clothes and went to his room to get a new set. Just as he was done changing someone knocked on the door, Natsume went over to open silently hoping it wasn't Persona. Luckily for him it wasn't.

Outside stood Narumi. "Hello Natsume."

"What are you doing here?" Natsume asked impatiently and let him in.

"What are you talking about? I always keep track of all my cute students, and someone hasn't been there for 2 days." Narumi said disgustingly as he sat down on Natsume's bed.

"I was sleeping, and instead of doing it in your class I figured I could just do it at home."

"Ha ha, very funny. As it so happens Mikan's worried about you, so I managed to squeeze information out of her. I almost know everything now, no use in hiding it Natsume."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Natsume said after he coughed into his sleeve.

"You can't keep this up for much longer Natsume."

"I know. But I can try." Natsume coughed as he leaned against the door.

"Are you okay Natsume? I'm worried…" Narumi asked Natsume.

"I'll be fine in a couple of days, if that idiot-teacher leaves me alone." Natsume said with a grin on his face, however it was soon wiped off Natsume's face as he went into a coughing fit.

"Natsume! …Should I call the hospital?"

"…No don't… do that… they can't do anything… it'll pass." Natsume said breathless.

Natsume went into the bathroom and poured himself a glass of water, then went out to Narumi again and leaned against the wall.

"What do you think I should do? Since you're clearly against what I'm doing now." Natsume asked Narumi.

"I… I think you and Mikan should run away from the academy Natsume. Take the warp hole and go to the outside world. If there is anyone that can protect Mikan, it's you Natsume. I'll take care of the other students, make sure they don't end up like you."

"Do you really think that would work?"

"I don't know… But it's not as bad as staying here, is it?"

"I guess not… I need to talk to Mikan about it." Natsume muffled another cough.

"…You're really not doing well are you? I'll see if I can keep Persona busy the next few days. But if you're going to escape then it has to be soon."

"Thanks, …Narumi." Natsume whispered as he dropped his glass and slid down the wall.

"Natsume!"

"I'm fine… just tired…" Natsume said faintly, and lost consciousness.

"…Idiot."

Narumi lifted Natsume up on the bed.

There, rest Natsume. You need it. There's sweat running down the side of his face. Why haven't I seen this before? Are you having a fever? …You're burning up, Natsume. I wish I could do more for you, but I don't see how, …luckily you have Mikan. Good night Natsume. You don't have to come to school tomorrow, I'll come up with an excuse.

Mikan walked along the corridor, making her way to Natsume's room cause she had already checked hers and he wasn't there. Man, he really knows how to make her worried. She didn't even bother knocking before she stormed into Natsume's room. He was sleeping on his king-size bed in the middle of the room.

"Found you." Mikan said smiling and sat down beside Natsume. "Natsume."

"Hmm… Mikan?"

"Morning sleepyhead. How are you doing?"

"I'm better. I've slept most of the day haven't I?" Natsume said drowsily.

"Yes you have. It's good for you. Your fever is almost gone know isn't it? You had a fever this morning."

"…Narumi came today. He wanted to talk to me because 'someone' told him 'something'"

"I… I don't what you're talking about…"

"Oh, yes you do. No running away from this Mikan. Just kidding, it's fine. He would have come anyway, that's just the way he is."

"You're right. What did he say?"

"He said that he wanted you and me to escape from the academy."

"What!"

"He wanted us to use the warp hole to escape to the outside world. He said it couldn't get any worse than it is now."

"Of course it can get worse! You could die!"

"I know. But don't you think we should give it a shot?"

"Of course we should give it a shot Natsume… But do you think that you can handle it?"

"If it's for us, then I can do anything. I love you."

"I know."

Natsume leaned over to kiss Mikan, Their lips playing with each other's. When they finally broke the kiss to get air, Mikan placed her hand on Natsume's forehead.

"You still have a high fever Natsume. You should rest some more."

"It's not that high. My Alice makes my body temperature higher than normal peoples, so I'm fine."

"I still think you should rest until tomorrow."

"Fine then. If it makes you happy."

"Oh, yeah. Before that you need to help me with my math homework, and how long has it been since last time you ate something?"

"The last time I ate? …Um, yesterday at noon I think. What math is it?"

"It's this question here!"

Natsume looked down at the paper Mikan was showing him, the question was: 20/5=. How stupid is she? "…Are you an idiot? Figure it out yourself."

"Meany."

"Lets go down and have dinner first. I'm starving." Natsume got out of the bed and headed towards the door, Mikan followed him to the cafeteria. They went into the line and waited for their food. Then they went over to the table that Ruka and Hotaru sat at.

"Natsume! Where were you? I've been so worried, but Mikan said you were fine." Ruka said.

"I just had a lot of things I needed to do. I am fine." Natsume replied after he put his food on the table and sat down.

"You're lying." Hotaru said and shot at him with her idiot gun. Of course Natsume dodged all of them.

"Not here. Come to my room after dinner." Natsume said and started eating.

"Can I come to?" Koko popped up and asked.

"Sure… But no one else."

Mikan put her hand on Natsume's forehead… He still had a fever. "How much are you going to tell them?"

"I don't know."

"Don't use all night. You need rest, you still have a fever."

"Do you ever stop worrying?"

"Only when you stop worrying me."

The five of them walked to Natsume's room after they were finished eating. Once everyone had found a place to sit, Natsume started telling them about the situation. It was a long story so they were first done around midnight.

"Why haven't you told us anything before?" Hotaru asked Natsume.

"Because, there wasn't a need for it."

"And how come there just suddenly was a need for it?"

"…I can't keep this up much longer. I can try, but chance's that I make it to graduation are slim. Then he'll come after you, probably."

"Can't Mikan steal your Alice?" Ruka asked, more worried about his friend's condition than the deal.

"No, she can't. We tried but because my Alice is the forth type it is directly connected to my life span. That means if she take's my Alice she takes my life. In the end she had to insert it into me again so that I wouldn't die."

"So when are you going to escape?" Koko asked Natsume and Mikan.

"Do you think we should escape?" Mikan asked Koko.

"Of course. If Natsume stays here he'll die and if only Natsume escapes then Persona will come after you, because of your stealing Alice."

"If we are going to escape then we need to do it soon. Persona is planning something." Mikan said to all of them, "will you help us?"

"Of course!" Ruka said.

"You don't even have to ask." Koko said.

"I don't see any other way." Hotaru said as she went over to hug Mikan.

"Natsume!" Persona's voice could be heard from outside.

"Fuck…" Natsume said, "Be quiet all of you."

"I know you're in there Natsume! Come down here at once!"

"…Bastard. Don't let yourselves be seen. I'm going down there." Natsume said and went to get his jacket.

"I won't let you go Natsume." Mikan said teary-eyed.

"Shh… I'll be back, before you know it. See you." Natsume kissed her and then went to open the window. "What do you want?"

"Come down here!"

"…Well since you ask so nicely." Natsume whispered and jumped out of his window. His room was on second floor.

"It's already been half an hour, I'm going out to look for him!" Mikan said for the sixth time.

"No Mikan stay here. He'll come back, he said he would." Ruka said and held Mikan back.

"But!"

"Mikan please stay here. If he doesn't come back in half an hour then we'll all go look for him."

"Fine. But I won't wait one second longer than that!"

"I know. I won't either."

Mikan waited impatiently for another 10 minutes or so.

"Was that a cough?" Koko asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I think I heard someone cough. It could be Natsume. Be quiet everyone."

"Cough!"

"It's closer."

They stared at the door as it opened. In came Natsume, he had a cut on his cheek and on his left hand.

"Are you all still here? I thought you left ages ago." Natsume said as he muffled a cough.

"Natsume!" Mikan flung her arms around him.

"Were you worried? I was only gone for half an hour or so."

"You had me worried sick! What did he want?"

"Nothing much."

"Tell me what happened."

"Just a sec. let me come in first."

"You're right, sorry."

Mikan let go of Natsume. He went inside and started to take his jacket off with just one hand, it didn't go so well so Mikan helped him. After that he went into the bathroom, washed his wound and put bandage around his hand, which was a much more serious wound than the one on his cheek.

"What happened Natsume?" Ruka asked.

"He just wanted to know if I knew why Narumi had been piling up Persona's work, meant to keep him busy. I answered: 'Nope, I have no idea why. Maybe you should ask him.' He got a little pissed and threw a couple of rocks at me. Then he came to the real reason why he called me down there. I have a mission in 3 days." Natsume explained and coughed.

"Then we have to get out of here before that." Mikan said.

"You got hit by rocks?" Hotaru asked, she wondered why she hadn't hit him with her idiot gun yet.

"No I dodged the rocks."

"Then how did you get those cuts?"

"Well that's a whole other story. He asked me, again, if I would break the deal and pulled out a knife. When I said no, he just said that he would use the deal to his advantage and that I should let myself get hit by the knife. So I did. He hit my cheek first, I would have been worse if I hadn't stepped back a little. Then he went for my chest. I would have been hit if I hadn't blocked it with my hand; I figured that it didn't violate the rules because I did get hit, just in the hand instead. After that he just walked away."

"You talk as if you were just drinking tea or something like that."

"That's as close to drinking tea as I gets, when it comes with him." Natsume said coughing.

Mikan went over and placed her hand on Natsume's forehead, again, he still had a fever. "Don't act as if you're not sick."

"Sorry, it's an old habit of mine." Natsume said and went into a coughing fit.

"Okay, the meeting's over. Good night" Mikan said and led the others out, and then turned to Natsume. He hadn't coughed up blood this time (Thank god), but he was pale. "Go to sleep Natsume I'll see you tomorrow." She said and walked out the door.

"Good night, Mikan."

Natsume changed into his black pyjamas and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth. His chest was burning from exhaustion when he tumbled onto his bed. He fell asleep almost immediately.

Natsume woke up in the middle of the night coughing. He rolled over and grabbed a tissue, and the fight for his life began. He was staining tissue after tissue with his own blood. It hurt so much to even breathe, he almost blacked out a couple of times. He couldn't fight it any more; darkness soon wrapped itself around him. The very last thought that entered Natsume's mind before he passed out was Mikan…

"-Sume!"

"Natsume!"

"Natsume, wake up!"

"Natsume!"

He slowly opened his eyes and stared right up into a couple of chocolate-brown crying eyes.

"…Mikan…" He whispered hoarsely and gave her a rare smile.

"Don't scare me like that idiot!" She broke down crying in Natsume's arms.

"Sorry…"

"Don't ever do that again!"

"Sorry…"

Mikan curled up beside Natsume and rested her head on his chest.

"Mikan, I need to take my pills. Can you get off me?" Natsume asked after some time.

"Sure…" Mikan said and sniffled.

"Thanks."

Natsume got out of bed, found his pills and poured them down with some water. He looked up at the clock, it said: 6:30.

"Come on Mikan. We can still make it to school; it's our last day. We should enjoy it."

"You're right. But are you well enough to come to school?"

"I'm as well as possible, given the situation." Natsume said, picked some clothes out of the closet and went to the bathroom. 10 minutes later he came out dressed, he glanced at the bed. It didn't look so good, there was blood on the sheets and some tissue paper had fallen onto the floor. Natsume just put the tissues in the trashcan and covered his bed with his comforter.

"Are you ready?" Mikan gave a nod, "okay, then let's go."

5