Chapter 3:
"Sakura Mikan", Persona ran a cold slinky finger along her cheekbone. Trying not to gasp at the coldness of the metal alice restrainers touching her skin and stealing away her heat, she stared with fear and a little bit of anger up into his eyes; this was the man who'd endangered and tortured so many in the academy. She couldn't help feeling a little resentment.
He smirked as if reading her mind.
"We're going to have control what goes up in there." He tapped the side of Mikan's forehead. "And convert those unnecessary emotions into energy." Persona took out something that looked like two chunky metallic wristbands. "You will input this energy into your new ability and when it runs out…" Persona eyed Mikan and strapped the two wrist bands onto each of her slender wrists. Her arms immediately felt like they weighed a tonne. "It will be your life energy that is being sucked out. Understand?"
Mikan's mouth ran dry. She had never been particularly good at keeping up with fast explanations but something about Persona demanded that not taking in every last word would be fatal.
"What are these?" She asked. Persona twisted the wrist bands and something spiky clicked out, putting a sharp pressure on her skin.
"Alice Prisoner Bands." He twisted the other one. "They will tighten over time. I need you to convert your thoughts into energy. Visualize the energy keeping the bands up and away from your skin."
Mikan cleared her mind and imagined a ring of energy pulsing around her wrist, acting like a cushion. Immediately, the pressure exerted on her wrist loosened and she breathed.
Persona's lip curled. "Not time to relax yet. I want you to sit here for one hour and keep the prisoner bands from cutting you. "
An hour? Mikan could already feel herself strain. She heard Persona leave the room and looked around. It was one of the more forgotten rooms of the academy situated in an abandoned and degraded cottage further out on the academy grounds. The window was grainy and the lace curtain ripped, letting in little but a weak ray of grey ashen light. The floorboards she was sitting on felt thin and old, creaking when she shifted and she was leaning against an old stuffed armchair.
Half an hour later, she was already sweating. Her concentration was nearly shot but every time she lost herself to a random thought, she could feel the metal piercing and a small trickle of blood. Her legs were bent at an awkward angle but she didn't want to move them for the fear that she would joggle the prisoner band. When Persona finally came back, a sigh of relief escaped her mouth as he released the lock and the two wristbands fell to the floor with a thud. She had never felt so drained or so tired; the mental exercise had exhausted her. Most of all, her wrists were aching with pain. Looking down at her unwounded wrists, she gasped.
Persona followed her gaze and sighed. "They are for training. Not torture."
Mikan squeezed her eyes shut. If this was considered training, then what did Natsume and so many others have to go through?
She stood shakily on her legs.
"You will meet me at the edge of the woods every morning at 5." Persona announced coldly, turning his back on her and dismissing her almost immediately. "Don't be late."
Mikan left the room quietly, but as she turned back and looked at the solemn black figure standing near the window and seemingly gazing at something outside. She didn't know whether she should hate him or pity him. Someone like him must've gone through a lot to grow up to be how he is now.
I don't want Natsume to become like that either.
About to descend the stairs of the abandoned cottage, at the corner of her eye, she caught blur of a white figure quickly shutting a door.
Strange… Mikan thought to herself. She must've imagined it.
Mikan stumbled out of the dense wood grounds. She was struggling to stay awake, seeing black spots in her vision. Finding the nearest sakura tree, she crawled under its broad leaves and leaned her back against its warm trunk. Closing her eyes, she was about to drift off….
"Natsume SAMA. Where are you?!"
Mikan's eyes jerked wide open at the sound of the shrill voice. She caught sight of a gaggle of girls in high school uniform giggling and looking around. Sumire was also there but she seemed to be angry, stomping her feet and dancing wildly in front of the girls as if to block them from venturing any further. "As the head of the Natsume and Ruka fan club. How DARE you go under my authority and disturb Natsume!" Sumire was shouting.
"Oh shut up, little girl." One of the highschool girls leant down, her long blond hair hitting Sumire in the face.
Mikan barely had time to think the words. Natsume sure is popular… Before she felt something clutching her waist and lifting her upwards.
"What the?!" Mikan began to scream but a hand covered her mouth stifling her cries and she began to calm down at a familiar scent and a pair of crimson eyes willing her to be quiet.
"Shut up Ichigo Pants. Or you'll give us away." Natsume hissed. Mikan nodded and he removed his hand.
Leaning back, he suddenly smirked, as if waiting for something to click in her head.
"Hang on…Ichigo...?" Looking down upon herself, she saw her legs tangled in the most awkward fashion and her skirt had ridden up giving Natsume a view of her underwear. Struggling to right her skirt much to his amusement, she was about to scream.
Natsume quickly grabbed Mikan's arm and whipped her around so that her back was pressed against his chest and his arms were circled around her body. She gasped, feeling heat flush through her cheeks.
"Ichigo Pants. Be quiet. I brought you up here because I thought that if those girls found you, there'd be another loud argument to disturb me." Natsume whispered next to her ear, Mikan shivered when his breath tickled her ear. Turning her head slightly, she saw the high school girls from before still tormenting Sumire.
Natsume held up one finger and all of the high school girls' hair started burning. They screamed, dispersing like wild geese and ran in the direction of the nearest water fountain. Sumire looked smug but a second later, a flame started to lick her curly hair. "Aaaah!" She screamed, following the girls and batting at her head with a cardigan.
"Just when I thought you were being nice." Mikan scoffed. Why would she even think that?
"They were annoying me."
Mikan made a move to get away from Natsume but his arms pinned her down. "Sleep." Natsume ordered. Mikan turned her head around to look at him in surprise, but his eyes were already closed. "You were sleeping earlier, and those brats woke me from my nap." He pushed her back. Shocked, Mikan complied, unable to tell whether Natsume was being nice or still being a jerk. But her eyes were already closing; her mind and body exhausted and soon she slipped into a peaceful sleep.
