Obedience

Author'sNote: Been a long since I last updated. I was really busy and kinda frustrated so yeah. Anyways, I hope you'll like this chapter too. I might make some revisions if I have time. And thanks for the reviews!

Chapter 7: Thief

Tidying the bed, she inadvertently saw a small marking on the side of the bed. It has an initial "H" in there, designed with a dragon. This sign was the symbol of the Hyuuga Kingdom. How can it be? Members of the royal family only have this mark in all of their furniture. Is he…?, the brunette lady thought.

"Oh my, Natsu is a thief? I thought he owns this house," she gasped. Instead of assessing that Natsu might be a member of the Hyuuga family, she thought that he might be a thief who robs furniture from the palace. Maybe that's why he left so early, he will find another victim. I should go now, she thought.

She packed her things quickly and ran away, leaving behind a torn piece of her dress tacked on a loose nail on the cabinet. A few moments later, a young raven haired lad came into view. He carries with him a basket covered with blue cloth. A curious look was on his face as he entered the house. The house he left with a sleeping beauty was now deserted. A hidden panic covered his face as he saw a torn piece of cloth tacked on the cabinet. He immediately stood and looked at the door. Maybe, they haven't got too far away yet.

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Mikan ran as fast as she could, silently hoping that the man who saved her won't catch her. If he did, she doesn't know what she would do. Once again, she found herself walking beneath the dark shades of the huge trees in the forest. The chirping of birds, the rustle of the leaves and the swooshing sound of the wind were all she can hear. In a little while, she heard heavy footsteps behind her. Her heart beat fast. When she turned around, she saw five muscular men staring right at her. One with a scar on the face, a very tall man, a very fat one, an old man wearing a sleeveless shirt, and the most muscular of them wearing ragged clothes.

"Well, look what we have here," said the tallest one.

"What does a pretty lady doing around here?" the one with the scar on the face said. The brunette was overcome with fear that she didn't manage to answer.

"Looks like we'll have an early lunch today," declared the fat man who looks like an ugly teddy bear stuffed with balloons. He looked at Mikan like a freak rapist who thirst for flesh. The said man walked towards her but was stopped by the man with a scar on his face. Mikan assumed he was the leader.

"No, we won't touch her. We'll bring her to camp and show her to boss," ordered the man with the scarred face. "Toku bring her."

"NO! DON'T! Don't touch me! Let me go!" Mikan yelled as the man known as Toku carried her rascally.

Mikan screamed as loud as she can as the men take her to their hideout. She's frightened of what they might do to her. I should have stayed in his house, she thought regretfully. She heard voices coming from a distant which she assume is their hideout, the so-called camp. Her heart thump hard and she's unconsciously praying that Natsu would come and save her.

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Meanwhile…

"Who are you?" asked a serene voice. It was from a certain blonde man named Ruka Nogi. He was asking a black-haired girl who were sitting in the sofa. The girl sipped her tea first before answering, "Hotaru Imai."

"Imai - You're Natume's cousin?" asked Ruka once again. He was surprised to see her best friend's cousin in his house. He didn't know how this girl knew him because this was the first time that he saw her. He only hears stories about her from Natsume. He said she was a cold and serious person who is ready to punish you if you don't follow her orders. Remembering that, he felt chills down his spine.

Hotaru just looked at him coldly, then stared back at the tea. "You're coming with me. Now." She said then stood up. She walked passed him and whispered "hurry up" in a deadly voice. Having heard this, he immediately followed her out of the house to her car.

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Mikan sat in the middle of the camp surrounded by hostile looking men. Standing in front of her was the leader of the pack. He looks different from the other guys around her. Unlike them, he looks nice and kind. He has a star mark below his left eye and has untidy black hair. "Hello!" he greeted Mikan. The brunette only stared at him sternly. This guy might look nice but that doesn't mean he really is a good person, he might be the most evil person here. He's the leader anyways, Mikan thought.

"I'm Tsubasa Andou. Don't worry I don't bite," he said sunnily. "What's your name?"

"hmm.. M—Sakura Tsukino…." She answered. Pheew, I almost told him my real name.

"You look familiar. Wonder where I saw you. So tell me, what were you doing in the forest?" he asked again more seriously.

"That girl's with me," a stern voice said out of the blue.

Everyone looked behind them and saw a young lad with crimson orbs. They felt the air heated up so sudden. Mikan was so surprised seeing him. But she's confused. She felt relief and fright at the same time. "Natsu…" was all she could utter.

"She's mine, Tsubasa," Natsume said, looking intently at him.

Tsubasa and Natsume known each other for a long time now. Tsubasa came from a faraway land who was suspected as a well-known fugitive by the palace guards because of his scruffy appearance when he came to Hyuuga Kingdom. An accident happened before which killed three civilians and five soldiers and he became the prime suspect of the crime for he uses the shadow-manipulation alice. He was put behind bars by the palace guards and Natsume helped him get out. The prince helped him because he knew that Tsubasa didn't do anything. From then on, Tsubasa, even though he hate the prince, promised to help him at all times.

The black-haired guy stared at him then smiled, "Long time no see, Nat-"

"Where did you find her?" he cut short to prevent him saying his name.

The scar-faced man answered, "We found her deep in the forest. She said she was lost so we took her here."

"We're having a fight so she ran away. Don't believe whatever she told you. Can I have her now?" Natsume asked.

"Fine. Take care of her then. She might ran away again and you might not be able retrieve her. We're not the only ones staying in here…nowadays." Tsubasa warned him.

Natsume walked towards the brunette, help her up, held her hand tightly and walked away.

"Don't ever do that again."

-End of Chapter 7-

:akima-yuki-chan