Well, look who decided to come crawling back with an update, holding onto the useless hope that people would still want to read this :P Seriously though, I'm really, really sorry! I'll get to the excuses later, after you've read the chapter and I've answered all my awesome anon readers:
Xyrhyn: You're very welcome :) And thank you for the review. But you shouldn't apologize for not seeing my message. I understand, and I'm completely fine with replying this way from now on if you would like me to. And in case you still haven't seen my reply to your first review, it said: "Oh, me too! I actually learned of it all the way back in sixth grade, when we did our Greek unit. We all went around dressed like the "gods" for a day and put on plays for the school about Greek heroes :P (I played Athena and Perseus' wife, in case you were wondering ^^). And I've always been fascinated since then. Anyway, I'll try my best to update regularly! But I'm happy to hear you like it so far :D"
Suigintou: Yup, things are finally getting a little fluffy! And I'm glad you feel the same way about Mikan; for me, it always ruins the story if the main character does nothing but stand there and cry, or wait for someone to save them :/ But you don't have to thank me for replying! In return, I thank you for reviewing in the first place :D
kim: I'm sorry, but I don't quite understand your question. If you're wondering why Mikan is engaged to Natsume even while she's a demigoddess, then my reply is: why not? I mean, the gods and goddesses had marriages, and even a demi- could live a normal life and have a spouse. But if you're wondering why Mikan doesn't refuse the engagement, then it's because she knows it's not something she can turn down so easily. It's not that she and Natsume are legally binded already, but that she knows he refuses to let her go from the Underworld at all. She's trapped down there because of his feelings for her – though she doesn't know that – and it seems the only way out really would be to marry him. Though she won't agree without a fight! So I hope that answers your question. If not, I'd be happy to clear up anything that I didn't get to :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.
Mikan wasn't quite sure what woke her up in the morning. The fireplace was still the only source of light, and it was burning significantly less than when she'd fallen asleep, possibly from lack of fuel. Perhaps her body had reached its required time of sleep, because her eyes simply snapped open, and she came to a very uncomfortable conclusion.
It was hot. Someone could have boiled an egg in there, that's how hot it was. She felt sweat clinging to her skin, making her rather irritable. Her dress hung off of her in an extremely uncomfortable way, and she wished for nothing more than to take it off and burn the atrocity. Natsume had not been joking the previous night.
At the thought of him, she immediately whipped her gaze to the god she had slumbered with. The two were still in the same position they had drifted off in, and she was curious to see how he had fared throughout the night. But she found him already awake and staring down at her, his crimson eyes wide with curiosity because he had raised both his eyebrows.
The first thing he did was tentatively sniff the air, smirk with mirthful humor, and tell her flatly, "You stink."
Heat flew to her cheeks in response. "Sh-shut up!" she cried, her voice shrill. Pouting from his complete lack of tact – as well as her own self-conscious thoughts – she wrenched herself away from his hold. "It's hot in here, and you didn't give me a chance to change last night. Why doesn't this place have windows, anyway?"
He grinned at her display of anger, especially how she folded her arms and looked away determinedly. She really wasn't as menacing as she would have liked to think she was. It was part of what drew him to her; that innocence of hers was not something found so easily in his dreary life, especially when he had passed judgment on heinous criminals for centuries. It was something to be preserved and nurtured, and though he knew he was far from the person who could do so, his own selfish reasons wouldn't allow him to let her go so easily.
"I told you it gets hot," he replied with a shrug, trying to play off the entire argument. Propping himself on his elbows, he sent her a smirk. "That's why I take off my shirt."
"Well, it's not like I can just take off my clothes whenever I feel like it," she quipped back heatedly, watching as he pulled himself up and stretched his arms above his head. He paused, however, to flash her a devilish grin.
"Of course you can. I have no problem with that."
Mikan's jaw dropped at his answer. Crossing her arms over her chest, she kicked away from him on the mattress and screeched, "P-pervert!"
He shrugged shamelessly, finally slipping out of bed to uncoil his muscles. Ignoring her for the moment, mostly just to aggravate her nerves, he stalked over to his wardrobe and began to rustle through the contents. It consisted of mostly black or other dark garments, this being the Underworld and all, but he took his time picking something just to rile his betrothed up even more.
"I suppose you would like to bathe?" he asked, sighing as if the request was one of the most troublesome tasks anyone could ask of him. She glared at his back for his tone, though he missed it, and sniffed haughtily.
"Yes," she answered with mock politeness. The tension in the room was thick, despite his blasé attitude about the whole matter. "I would appreciate it."
"Fine," he agreed, finally procuring a new robe to wear and slinging it over his arm. "I'll be going in first because I have things to attend to, but the maids will come in to help you after –"
"No!" she suddenly yelled, all pretense for her anger gone as she looked completely horrified at the proposal. She must have realized how uncivilized it all seemed when he peered at her, startled at the outburst, because she blushed deeply and turned quite meek all of a sudden. "Not the maids."
His face was the picture of amusement. Thinking back to the humiliating public announcement about her undergarments at dinner and the wedding dress fiasco, he supposed it made sense that she had not taken a liking to his workers. That wouldn't do. No matter how much he itched to fire anyone who made her so uncomfortable – taking himself out of that equation, of course – workers were not so easy to find these days, especially for a place so gloomy as this. He would simply have to introduce her to maids that were less invasive, and perhaps then she would start to accept this new lifestyle.
"All right, then," he agreed with a shrug, finally pulling out a robe to wear for the day. "I'll warn the women to keep their distance for the time being."
"And don't think that means you can find a loophole and send in male servants instead," she shot back in warning. She wouldn't put it past him to do just that, mainly to enjoy watching her flounder and make a fool of herself.
Natsume scowled dangerously, jealousy clawing at him at just the thought of other men seeing her during her intimate moments, and scoffed, "Silly woman. What kind of husband would deliberately keep his wife surrounded by men all day?"
"The kind that's not really my husband," she sniffed, still touchy on the subject. He thought over that for a moment, but rather than get angry, he simply huffed a small chuckle. She was so endearingly stubborn that he couldn't bring himself to snap at the normally touchy subject. Besides, he could never have fallen for someone too horribly timid to stand up to him, or even speak her mind. A woman so weak would never survive in his land, anyway.
There was no doubt in his mind that Mikan would be perfect as his Queen.
.. ღ ..
He emerged from his bath much later, dressed in his royal attire and looking too handsome for Mikan's tastes. It was unfair that someone so infuriating would be so good-looking!
Natsume caught her admiring him – but trying to hide it by shooting him an evil eye – and he smirked cockily. "If you would just accept your fate you could see what's underneath, too," he hinted smugly, and she blanched.
"I prefer higher ground myself," she retorted bitterly, glancing around at the underground room with distaste.
Natsume just shook his head at her display. "If you're going to be so difficult, then I suppose I've got no choice but to wait for now." She opened her mouth furiously to bark out scathing words, but he carried on before she could. "Breakfast takes place an hour after I wake up so I have enough time for my morning routine. Wash up and make sure you're dressed properly by that time." The door slammed shut behind him at those words.
"Yeah, well, it's not like I'm going to eat anything, anyway!" she yelled back, but there was no response from her captor.
Arguing aside, however, she really did feel sticky all over. And no matter how much she had glared at Natsume for his blunt words, she did smell awful. Taking advantage of the empty room and privacy, she scurried into the bathroom to see what sort of accommodations a ruler of the dead would have. To her delight, it was extremely gorgeous and sparkling clean.
"I guess there's one benefit to my kidnapper being royalty," she mused before shaking the words away, horrified with herself for even thinking them.
The tub had already been filled to the brim with hot water, and by the time she removed her clothes and threw them aside, it had reached the perfect temperature. As she sat down, Mikan realized that Natsume must have taken care to fill it for her before leaving, probably even paying mind to how hot she might have wanted it. Well, that was unexpectedly sweet of him...
Stop thinking nice things about him, Mikan! she furiously scolded herself, scrubbing at her arm harder than necessary to distract from the traitorous thoughts. It wouldn't do to start becoming used to the pompous man, or even all this gentle treatment. He was her kidnapper first and foremost.
She heaved a sigh as she settled into the warm tub, watching the bubbles ebb away for the moment. Placing her head back against the porcelain, she let her thoughts wander further to the deadly god that had captured her just the day before. Despite the kindness he had showed her in the face of her fears, she could not fully trust him; the man she had met had been sadistic and arrogant, unable to sympathize with others' feelings. The previous night had been a moment of weakness, but now that she was awake and alert, she realized she could not allow it to happen again.
Her brother would have a fit if he was to learn that she had spent the night in his arms, and she could never bear his disappointment. He had always watched out for her best interests, so she felt that she owed him by listening to his advice and never letting another worm his way into her heart so easily. Such a person could not be trusted, he had taught her. Of course, she had never heeded his words and welcomed anyone who was willing to join her circle of friends, but this one time, she felt that his words were the wisest she had ever heard.
She was not sure what it was about Natsume that drew the maids towards him. They all seemed to jump at the chance to serve him properly, and even seemed to panic outright at the thought of displeasing him. It was not a bad feeling of anxiety; instead, they genuinely seemed to want to serve him to the best of their ability, so as not to disappoint him. Perhaps there was a part of him that she had never seen before that the maids found to be desirable, which was the reason for their allegiance. She had never met workers so diligent in their tasks than these.
"Why can't he take one of them to be his wife?" she griped to herself, puckering her lips in a pout before dunking her head under the water and washing out her hair. She was sure that half of them would promptly switch their right arms to be in her position, while she wanted nothing more than to get away from him. Oh, the irony.
And Ruka was another matter entirely. Such a kind and gentle-looking man could not possibly have followed his so-called best friend if not for some hidden trait that brought them together. How else could a man as nice as him stand a god as pompous as Natsume? Maybe there was something she was missing.
"Mikan-sama," someone suddenly called for her, and she froze. That couldn't possibly be...a maid, could it? He had promised her they would stay away!
Wrapping her arms around her knees, she cautiously said, "Yes?"
"We have a warm towel for you," another voice cried out. There were two of them! "Why don't you come on out, and we can help you prepare for breakfast?"
"Um...Thank you, but I don't need any help," she replied weakly, curling into herself and laying her head on her knees. Perhaps if she stayed long enough, they would simply leave. It was a childish notion, but she was in no mood to deal with more workers after all the encounters she had faced with them so far, even if these two sounded more friendly.
"That's alright, then," they answered, and she snapped her head up in surprise. "We'll just leave it in the closet. When you're finished dressing, we'll be waiting in the bedroom to dry your hair."
Mikan heard the closet door shut, though she could hardly believe her ears. There were maids that were willing to heed her words and leave her to her own devices? Where had they been yesterday, the most traumatizing day of her life, when she had needed kind souls to be her friends? Then again, this could have simply been a single pass, and they could very well still overwhelm her with their presence afterwards.
She stepped out hesitantly, and when she had reached the bathroom door, she peeked into the closet. It was empty, as they had said it would be. She even spied the towel they had offered hanging from the doorknob, and after looking left and right tentatively – as if they would suddenly jump out at her – she grabbed it and quickly wrapped it around her figure.
There certainly were two maids waiting for her when she finally stepped out, though she was surprised there were only that many. Yesterday, she'd been bombarded with a group of them, and she had been fearing the same for today. At least Natsume had listened to half of her request.
"Did you enjoy your bath, Mikan-sama?" one of them asked once catching sight of her, and the two bounced over happily. She nodded shyly, though once she took a closer look, she realized that she had definitely seen these two before.
"I'm Nonoko," the one with blue hair introduced herself, dipping into a quick curtsy. If her appearance hadn't been enough, Mikan definitely remembered her from the sound of her voice. She had been part of the gaggle of maids from yesterday, and she'd been the one to guilt her into abandoning her hiding spot in the closet.
"And I'm Anna." The second maid also curtsied, but hers was significantly lower, almost as if she was asking for forgiveness. When she snapped back up, Mikan took note of the ashamed look on her face. It confused her for a moment, and then she remembered: This was the girl who had altered her wedding dress.
"I'm so sorry about yesterday, my lady," she carried on, her voice dropping to an embarrassed murmur. "I didn't mean to be so inconsiderate to your feelings, and I felt so ashamed when I learned that my words had spoiled your dinner."
"O-oh, it was no trouble," Mikan quickly intervened, shaking her hands and chuckling nervously. The girl's pretty face almost made her blush, and she couldn't bring herself to scold her for her mistake. It's not as if she had done it purposely, after all.
The maid still bashfully scuffed her toe against the ground. "We should dress you for breakfast," she muttered, obviously trying to distract her. Seeing this, Mikan nodded and smiled at the girl, oddly determined to befriend the two now that she knew how friendly they were.
Natsume had apparently sent for undergarments for her, and the maids blushed furiously as they handed her a pair. Mikan took one look at the black and white polka-dotted pattern and grit her teeth in anger. He was so obviously making fun of her, especially as she had no choice but to accept, but it infuriated her to admit that she actually liked them. They were cute.
They had also brought her yet another dress to wear, this time a pretty white color. It was sleeveless and didn't quite make it to her knees, but a gold strap around her waist made the loose garment hang off of her in an attractive way. She admired herself from all angles in a mirror while the two maids giggled at her delight and went to work on her hair.
"I assumed you'd prefer a brighter color," Anna told her while running a comb through her damp locks. "Lord Natsume was not very pleased, but I convinced him that something colored more lightly might suit your tastes better."
"Well, you were right!" Mikan agreed cheerfully, flashing her a brilliant smile. But as she picked at the dress, her lips thinned into a straight line. "Why does Natsume get to decide what I wear, anyway?" she grumbled to herself. "He doesn't own me. I shouldn't need his permission to wear something white."
The maids, who had each taken a side of her head to brush, paused to send each other worried glances. Mikan was too lost in her musings to notice, and they slowly returned to their work. Even so, Anna couldn't resist asking what had been on her mind.
"Mikan-sama," she began uneasily, "do you not like Lord Natsume?"
"Of course not!" she cried in return, kicking her legs off the side of the bed. "For gods' sake, he took me against my will and won't let me leave! Why does everyone think that's okay?"
"Well, it's not that we think it's okay," she answered softly. "We just think that you should give him a chance. We know he doesn't leave much of a first impression–"
"That's an understatement," she cut across. "There's no way that I'm giving Lord Jerk a chance after the way he treated me. He kidnapped me in the middle of the day, with no thought to my family or my life at all, and he was such a jerk about it all. Ever since I arrived, it's just been one humiliation after the next. And I don't mean any offense to you two, but I asked him to please keep the maids away from me, and he couldn't even grant me this one request!"
She breathed deeply after her outburst, her cheeks flushed from getting so worked up. It had been a long time since she had rambled a long list of complaints this way, and though it made her feel like a pouting child, she also couldn't help but feel slightly better about her burdens.
Once again, the two maids exchanged a look behind her, silently communicating with one another over how to answer. Anna glanced at Nonoko pointedly, who sighed as she returned to her task and leaned towards their charge.
"You know, Mikan-sama," she began soothingly, "we weren't sent here just to make you uncomfortable for Natsume-sama's amusement. In fact, he told us he didn't plan on sending anyone, per your request. But the halls of this castle are long, identical and extremely confusing. Many heroes who've sneaked in have gotten lost and perished just for that reason. So he ordered us to stick close and be your guides."
"And he wasn't keen on sending me, either," Anna added. "He claimed he only needed one person, but I could tell he was actually worried over how you would react after the trouble I caused at dinner. But I insisted, because I hadn't apologized properly yet, so he gave me permission as long as we didn't overwhelm you."
"I think he really does care about you," Nonoko insisted. "He's just not very used to showing it."
Mikan shook her head firmly. "If he cared about me, he would do as I say and just let me go! Shouldn't he want me to be happy?" She refused to budge on this matter.
"Of course he does! But the thing is, he wants to be the one to make you happy." And both maids smiled at her warmly on behalf of their master.
Mikan almost blushed at their answer. Natsume, trying to make anyone besides himself happy? It was impossible, she convinced herself. That jerk only thought about himself. She refused to let herself think otherwise, no matter how sincere the two maids seemed.
It was time for breakfast much too soon after that, and though Anna and Nonoko hurried her along cheerfully, she still found herself dreading the awaiting ordeal with each step she took. She wasn't sure she was ready to face the pompous jerk waiting for her on the other side of the double doors.
.. ღ ..
Life had practically ended for Tsubasa.
Only yesterday, he'd received word that his beloved sister – so innocent that she could never even hurt a fly – had been taken hostage by the same pompous god his uncle had refused to detain. Needless to say, things had spiraled downhill since that fateful moment.
The task of informing his parents had landed on his shoulders, and that had been such an unbearable conversation. How did one go about telling a mother and father that their own daughter may never see the light of day again? That she'd been captured by one of the most deadliest gods of them all, who controlled the one domain no one else could even hope to conquer?
Yuka had been devastated, and upon hearing the news, she collapsed on her trembling knees, unable to even hold herself up any longer. Izumi had to jerk forward and catch her before she crashed to the ground, but his usually sunny expression had changed to a somber one, and it did not suit his young face. His mother clapped a hand over her mouth and wept, and Tsubasa could only clench his fists and stare at the ground, feeling horribly useless for the first time in his life.
"I'll find her," he promised, gulping heavily to brace himself. When he caught their eyes with his own, his face burned with fueled determination. "I'll bring her back. I promise."
Such a task was easier said than done. Despite how many of the other almighty beings had already acknowledged the dilemma caused by Mikan's capture, most still refused to side with him and help his efforts to bring her back. Some simply cowered at the thought of Natsume's rage, while others could not be bothered with his emotional outbursts. And after the display they had made, Tsubasa was reluctant to even turn to them ever again.
He would just have to do this himself, he decided. After all, the promise he had made to his distraught mother had been his own, and he intended to complete it with his own strength. And that was how he ended up facing the dreary cave opening in the mortal realm that would lead him into the land of the dead – alone.
It was a common entrance into the deadly Underworld, despite being surrounded by nothing but a vast forest of trees, and the gods themselves had watched many legendary heroes enter it as they planned to outsmart the powerful Lord of the Dead. It had always been a laughable notion that the mortals would think themselves superior to a powerful being, but as he stood before the gaping, dark entrance, Tsubasa couldn't help but feel insignificantly human.
He pulled back the hood of his cloak, setting a determined expression on his otherwise awed face. This might not be so difficult, he attempted to convince himself. After all, his own realm of shadows was a domain so similar, so he had much less to fear than any other fool who ventured into this heavily guarded territory. And he was immortal. Those were undoubtedly reassuring thoughts, and Tsubasa marched into the cave with much more confidence than before. The one thought he let himself focus on was saving his precious sister.
The sun was shining brightly overhead in the mortal sky, but the minute he took one step into the chamber, he found himself surrounded by a treacherous darkness that threatened to engulf him. This was, without a doubt, a supernatural place. With each step he took, it seemed that the light grew farther and farther away, until all he saw was black and the only way he marked his path was with his own footsteps.
Mikan is afraid of the dark, he remembered. His baby sister could never have been happy here. And the thought that she might be trapped somewhere in here, terrified out of her mind, made him quicken his steps into a slow jog. After what felt like an endless amount of time, Tsubasa finally noticed a small ray of light up ahead, and he quickened his steps until he had burst into an eerie clearing he had heard much about.
The river Styx was a terrifying body of water. Shrouded by caves and surrounded by nothing but darkness, it glowed a heinous yellow that seemed to emphasize the appearance of death in the area. Dark figures surrounded the water, seeming even more dark and foreboding when only the river's yellow light marked their outlines.
Mikan is on the other side of this, he reminded himself, taking a deep, reassuring breath. He held it in for a moment as he wondered whether his little sister had crossed this terrifying water, and then let it out.
If he squinted his eyes, he could make out a definite path on the ground. Really, it was just a patch of land that was leveled and steadier than the surroundings, but instincts told him to walk on it, and it would somehow take him where he needed to go. He had never been to the Underworld before, nor had he listened to the messengers as they spoke of their trips here, thinking it unnecessary, but he did know very well the value of instincts.
All the tales he had heard spoke of a small ferry that could take you across to the other side, so he had to find it if he could ever hope to reach his estranged family member. And he so hoped he would.
Cautiously, while keeping an eye out for any sign of movement, he carried on down the makeshift path.
.. ღ ..
"I'm not eating," Mikan announced the second she was inside the dining room, huffing angrily at her kidnapper.
Natsume scowled at her as she took a seat on his right once again, and his eyes trailed disapprovingly over her white dress. It was too unlike his own dark robes, and he didn't like how she was so attached to the world above.
"Starving yourself isn't going to solve any problems," he growled at her. It wasn't particularly her fault he was in such a bad mood; he was simply irritated by a few of the errands he'd had to run that morning, and the gloom had followed him to the dining table.
"Trapping myself down here definitely isn't going to solve anything," Mikan countered, folding her arms and looking away pointedly.
"Maybe not for you," he mumbled under his breath, but it was just his luck that she heard and stuck her tongue out at him. He just rolled his eyes.
At least they were alone, he mused, taking a look around the nearly deserted table. Ruka hardly ever joined him for breakfast, since his work started so early in the morning. Most souls happened to need a crossing by dawn, since evil loomed the streets of Earth at night more than any other time of the day. His friend's breakfast meant hastily stuffing his face while dressing himself for the day, and then making a beeline for the river. And there was simply no one else Natsume wanted to invite to his dining table.
Mikan seemed bothered, however, since it meant there was no distraction to keep her from focusing on him. She simply tried her best to avoid eye contact and pretend everything else in the room interested her much more, but he smugly took her restlessness to mean she just couldn't keep him out of her thoughts.
"If you keep fidgeting like that, you're going to make a hole through the floor," he commented.
Before she could do much more than glare, the doors to the room swung open, and a handful of maids marched in, pulling a cart of food in front of them. Mikan recognized quite a few of them from last night and figured they were the kitchen staff, but there was also a young woman she had never seen before, with curly green hair and a rather mean tilt to her eyes.
The first thing she did was make a dash at Natsume.
"My lord!" she exclaimed, her eyes sparkling as she looked him up and down. Red spread across her cheeks in a blush.
"Sumire," the death god sighed, eyeing the woman with irritation that was obvious also in his voice. "What are you doing here? You're not a maid."
"Oh, but I live to serve you, my lord," she cooed, watching him rather hungrily. Her eyes trailed to his hair, and she lunged forward. "You have some hair out of place!"
Natsume knew from experience that it was no use trying to stop her, so he let her set his hair as she liked and bared with it for the time being.
Mikan, however, watched them with wide eyes, scandalized despite herself. She couldn't believe this woman. Who threw themselves at others so blatantly, or played with other people's hair so early in the morning? And Natsume made absolutely no move to stop her, much to her fury. He wouldn't have let a second go by without making some snappy remark if it was her instead.
He should just marry her, then, she whined in her head. At least his hair would always be perfectly styled that way.
"Um, Mikan-sama?" Anna called to her gently, wondering just what had caused the girl to make such a pouty face.
Mikan jerked out of her thoughts to find the maid watching her carefully, probably wondering why she had her head in the clouds. It made her flush under her gaze, and she quickly replied, "Yes?"
"Oh, it was nothing. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. And, um, I've finished serving you your breakfast."
Mikan looked down at her plate to find that it had been piled on with scrumptious smelling food, and it made her mouth water just looking at it. This was the longest she had ever gone without eating something, and during her bath, her stomach had started churning something fierce.
No! She shook her head, refusing to let her will bend just because of one good-looking meal. I can resist this!
She flashed Anna an apologetic smile, who had no doubt worked hard to cook this for her. "I'm sorry, Anna, but I can't eat this. I can't eat food from the Underworld."
The maid seemed confused, and her eyes flashed towards Natsume for a second. "But this isn't Underworld food?"
Mikan blinked, peering down at her plate more closely. It definitely looked like food she'd eaten above, and was slightly different from what had been served to Natsume in both scent and appearance. "It's not?"
"Didn't Lord Natsume tell you? He sent us to fetch you food from the human world last night."
"When?"
"Right after dinner. After you left." Anna's face puckered in thought. "Did he really not tell you?"
Mikan dared to gaze towards Natsume, who was attempting to eat his own food while ignoring the woman who kept jabbering away. Was that what had taken him so long to return to his own room last night? Not finishing his dinner, but securing her nourishment first?
Her cheeks heated up as she jabbed at her plate with a fork. "It looks delicious."
"Thank you," Anna chirped with a cheerful smile, and then she proceeded to exit with the other maids to leave them to their meal. Meanwhile, the green-haired intruder had taken a seat on Natsume's left and seemed to be refusing to leave.
The three were left alone in the dining room with an awkward air about them, and it didn't help that the only sounds were dishes clinking and the two of them swallowing. Mikan had trusted Anna, who didn't look as if she had told a single lie in her life, and had eaten her breakfast to find that it had all the nostalgic tastes of home. But even the most comforting food couldn't help her bear the uncomfortable quiet, and she finally broke and turned to their guest.
"Are you not eating?" she asked in worry. The girl seemed content just to watch Natsume get through his meal with stars in her eyes. In fact, she had not glanced Mikan's way even once.
She did now, though, and sniffed haughtily at the question. "I already ate," was her clipped reply, as if she couldn't be bothered to answer and was only doing it to be polite.
Mikan didn't let it get to her. "What's your name? I'm Mikan."
"I know." The girl shot her a withering look, appraising her up and down and being unable to stop the distasteful curl of her upper lip. Her nose was so high in the air, she could have drowned had it been raining in the room. It deflated Mikan somewhat, and she retreated back into her food.
"Shouda Sumire," Natsume suddenly cut in, and both girls glanced at him in surprise to find that he was watching Mikan from the corner of his eyes. "That's her name. She's Goddess of Witchcraft, and she has a home here, outside of the palace."
"O-Oh," Mikan replied, nodding hesitantly. She hadn't expected Natsume to help her out.
Sumire apparently hadn't either, and she looked extremely annoyed. "Well, who cares about that?" she quipped with a toss of her curls.
"How's your food?" Natsume asked Mikan, ignoring Sumire's attempts to grab his attention. It made the goddess glare at her that much more heatedly.
"It's fine," Mikan replied truthfully.
"Of course it would be!" Sumire interrupted in one last attempt to grab his attention. "The cooks Lord Natsume hired can only be the best!"
She was ignored by the object of her affections, who had eyes only for his bride. "Not going to slap me again, are you?"
Mikan narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. "Only if you deserve it!"
"And do I deserve it?" he asked, his voice cool with amusement and his lips twisted into a smirk.
"Not right now, no," she admitted quietly, pushing her plate around her food. She wanted to say he did, but not when he'd granted her wish. He could have very well refused her human food, letting her starve until she couldn't resist and trapped herself down here like he wished, but he hadn't. He'd done it in a roundabout way that had flared her temper and had embarrassed her at dinner, and in front of Ruka, but he'd been thinking about her.
"Thanks," she mumbled quietly, keeping her eyes firmly on the table.
"Hmm? What was that?"
"Nothing."
.. ღ ..
Breakfast, Mikan realized, would have been much more enjoyable had Sumire not been there.
It was a horrible thing to think, but by the end of their meal, she didn't even regret it. The girl was beyond rude! She was fixated on the death god, giggling and flirting like nobody's business, and absolutely refused to acknowledge Mikan's existence. She was twice as irritated since their little exchange, when her lord had ignored her, and she sent the demigoddess condescending smirks every now and then to make it clear she didn't particularly enjoy her company.
Well, I don't enjoy her company, either! Mikan fumed inwardly, watching her dutifully hand Natsume his napkin so he could wipe his mouth.
"What are your plans for today?" she asked him sweetly, leaning forward in her seat and batting her eyelashes.
He took his time wiping his mouth first. "I don't think that's your business, Shouda."
Her grim faltered for only a second before she started wringing her hands and tried again. "Well, yes, but -"
The doors to the dining room swung open just then, and to all of their surprise, Tobita Yuu came barreling in, panting for breath with his glasses askew. "Lord Natsume!" he squeaked, immediately kneeling before the god as beads of sweat pooled on his forehead. "There's an unstable soul that just passed the river, and he's causing a disturbance in the throne room! We need you immediately!"
Natsume's eyes narrowed in a flash, and he was out of his chair and out the doors in the same instance. Mikan barely had time to register it as Yuu hurried after him.
Sumire stood up too, her chair scraping against the floor. She followed their same direction, but before she could run out the doors, Mikan called out to her.
"Wait! What's going on? Where are you going?"
"I don't have time to explain!" she snapped while gritting her teeth. "If you want to see what's going on, then come with me!"
She jogged back just to grab her by the wrist and drag her out. Though Mikan protested at being jerked so harshly, she heedlessly followed the goddess, who seemed to know where she was going. They turned corners and ran down hallways that the demigoddess forgot the moment they had passed them, navigating through the confusing maze inside the palace.
They stopped outside another set of double doors, and Sumire pushed them open, pushing her inside and following after herself.
"This is the throne room," she hissed as the doors shut behind them. "We're on the balcony. Look down below."
And there was Natsume, watching the scene unfold before him with his eyebrows scrunched and his teeth bared back.
"What is that?" Mikan gasped when she saw just what was giving him trouble, but she didn't really need an answer. It was, obviously, an unstable soul.
A man in his early thirties stood in the middle of the room, his hands clutching his temples as if in pain. Mikan stepped back from the edge of the balcony, feeling a deep chill run down her spine as he hollered the same thing over and over at the top of his lungs.
"I'm dead, aren't I! Where is this? Is this Hell? I want my family. Bring them to me! I'm dead! Which one of you sons of bitches killed me!" He fell to the ground on his knees, sobbing along with his screams.
Natsume didn't hesitate for much longer. A cool blankness passed over his face, as if he had steeled his resolve, and he marched straight up to the soul and knelt before him. The man looked up at him in shock, tears streaming down his face, and Mikan's fist flew to her face as she gasped when Natsume grabbed him roughly by the chin.
"Listen to me," he ordered calmly, his eyes boring into the man's terrified gaze. "Yes, you are dead. No, this is not Hell. You can't have your family. No one here killed you."
"How can he say it so bluntly?" Mikan whispered, afraid of the scene. What if the man lashed out at him?
Sumire shot her an irritated glance, her hands on her hips. "What's lying going to do? That soul was asking questions he wanted answers to, and Lord Natsume answered them for him. Was he supposed to wait until someone got hurt before explaining things?"
"He could have said it in a nicer way!" Mikan argued half-heartedly.
"Just because you would want to hear it nicely doesn't mean everyone needs to hear it nicely. That soul's not going to calm down until someone's tough on him. Lord Natsume was just reading the atmosphere." She huffed. "How do you expect to be Queen if you can't even react to the situation?"
Down in the room, Natsume snapped his fingers to Yuu, beckoning him forward without averting his gaze. The soul seemed to be staring into his eyes as if in a trance.
"Go into his mind," he ordered. "Find out what his family looks like, and show him an illusion of them until I can read his past."
Yuu immediately clapped his hands together, shut his eyes, and began muttering under his breath. Mikan noticed when the soul's eyes glazed over and he went slack, and it sent yet another shiver down her back. Was this the way Natsume had taken her to that meadow yesterday?
As the man dreamed of a reality that didn't exist, Mikan noticed when Natsume's eyes slowly darkened, until they were no longer crimson but almost a jet black. He looked soulless, empty, and she bit the back of her fist to keep from cringing at the terrifying sight.
"He's peering into his soul," Sumire whispered, watching with interest. She didn't seem phased even slightly by what was happening, and the demigoddess wondered just how many times this had happened before.
"Is that one of his powers?" she whispered back. "Like how he controls fire?"
Sumire shot her a sharp look. "He told you about that?" She nodded, though he had shown her rather than tell her, so the goddess huffed. "Well, then, yes. He has to pass judgement on everyone that passes through here, you know. So he can see into your soul, learn about all your memories, about every thought you've ever had, every decision you've ever made. Only a God of Death is given this power when they take the throne, so only Lord Natsume has this ability."
"How do you know he doesn't just use it against you anytime he doesn't trust you?" Mikan asked, wondering if he'd read her life without permission these past twenty-four hours.
Sumire shot her a nasty glare. "Excuse you. That is not what he uses his powers for; they're only for his duties. And besides, our lord would never betray our trust, so we don't betray his."
Mikan bit her bottom lip in slight shame. She hadn't meant to accuse him of anything. It had been an honest question. And that loyal reply had her thinking: Just why did the workers here trust their master so faithfully? Was there some side to him that she hadn't yet seen, or, she pondered, had she just been misinterpreting his actions all along?
Down below, Natsume snapped out of his trance, and his eyes reverted back to their normal shade in an instant.
"Stop," he ordered Yuu, his voice raspy. When the soul finally fell out of his daze, he steadied the man by his shoulders. "You're going to the Meadows," he told him calmly. "I've seen your past, and you did nothing to warrant sending you to Tartarus."
"B-But, my family..." he stuttered.
Natsume's features softened, perhaps out of pity or perhaps out of sympathy. He wasn't smiling, but he was also no longer frowning as heavily as before. It seemed to soothe the soul somewhat to see he obviously meant no harm.
"Your family can't come with you," he explained. "It's not their time just yet. Maybe they can join you some day, but let's hope it's peacefully in their sleep."
"A-And, how did I...?" He faltered.
Natsume's eyes hardened, and he shook his head just once. "I won't tell you. It's better not to know."
The soul slumped.
.. ღ ..
Yuu lead the dampened spirit away, assuring him feverishly that he would be happy in the Meadows. There were a lot of nice people gathered there, and the flowers were some of the prettiest.
Natsume waited until they were gone before swinging towards the balcony, his eyes locking onto the two women.
"You can come down now," he told them dryly, and they sheepishly headed down the staircase.
"Did you know we were there the entire time?" Mikan asked, folding her arms in embarrassment. She wondered just how much he had heard. Somehow, it didn't sit right with her to know he might have heard her accusing him.
"You weren't exactly being quiet about it," he scoffed. "I had bigger things to deal with than you, though."
"Of course, you did!" Sumire cooed, clapping her hands together as her eyes sparkled. "You handled that so spectacularly, my lord! As expected of you."
He rubbed his forehead hard, though it did nothing to ease the wrinkles around his eyebrows. "Don't you have duties to attend to, Sumire?" he growled.
The goddess pouted at the treatment, looking between one and the other, before bowing low. "Yes, my lord. Humph!" And with a huff she was gone, leaving the two of them alone in the throne room.
There was a moment of silence before Mikan spoke up, "Natsume?"
"Hn?"
"Why didn't you tell that soul how he died?"
He stared at her hard before rolling his eyes. "No need to give him nightmares."
"Was it really bad?" she wanted to know.
"Hn."
"Oh." She bit her lip, but smiled his way. "Then, that was really nice of you!"
He rolled his eyes again, harder than before and with much more disdain, but she didn't feel so much animosity in it. In fact, it made her giggle. For someone she'd always thought to be a pompous, arrogant jerk, he was surprisingly shy when it came to accepting genuine compliments. How unexpectedly cute.
"So," she chirped, dragging out the sound as she leaned forward, "what now?"
He raised an eyebrow. "You're going to willingly spend the day with me? Couldn't help falling for me a little, could you?"
She shoved his arm, annoyed by that smug little quirk of the lips he seldom went without. "As if. Don't let that fat head of yours get any bigger," she quipped, sticking out her tongue. "Anna and Nonoko just told me you were planning something, so I thought I'd ask so I can refuse you properly." She stuck out her tongue a second time for added measure.
"You won't," he remarked with a smirk, grabbing a strand of her hair between his fingers. "Lucky I cleared your schedule for you, because I'm taking you on a tour of your new home."
And there you have it, the chapter that was such a pain for me to write.
The reason, aside from me starting university and getting busy with my classes, is because this got really, really long. Honestly, I cut out a lot and replanned a lot, until finally this was the result. And now, since I rearranged so much, I'm pretty sure there's going to be an extra chapter of this that I didn't originally plan for :/ But I'm really going to try and get back on track with the next chapter so I can end the rest of this the way I planned to!
Also, some of you might have noticed that this story's summary is a bit different. That's because one of my reviewers suggested I should tweak it, and I took her words to heart. If any of you still think it needs changes and can suggest a better one, I'm completely open to your ideas – or for the rest of the story, for that matter :) There's always room for improvement!
Next chapter: The actual tour of the Underworld, and we see where Tsubasa's journey takes him.
Thank you for being so patient with me, everyone~