It's so sad cuz Ichigo1010 is not my beta anymore...

She has some other things to do... problems to take care of...

Ichigo1010, if you're reading this, i just wanna say thanks...

Chapter 6

I sat in a corner of my room wondering what could be the reason Natsume was so defensive about Mr. Cat. How did the cat get inside in the first place? I listed some of my theories on the black spiral notebook I always kept hidden under my mattress.

Possibility#1 – Natsume let Mr. Cat in the house

Possibility#2 – The cat just happened to wander inside the house.

Possibility#3 –Natsume was followed home from the market by Mr. Cat (ROTFLMAO... Mr. Cat). The cat, upon seeing me, tried to get my attention because it was hungry and wanted someone to feed him. So it made me follow him to the kitchen and held out the knife for me to use in opening some canned food. And the mark on the table was merely a hallucination made by my troubled little mind, conjured up by my fears.

Well, that's all that I could think of at the moment. So, let's see… Possibility#1 doesn't seem so likely. Natsume most probably doesn't like animals, so the chances of that are very low. Possibility#2 could be, but we always lock the doors. But then... why would Natsume try to defend it? Quite unlikely then. Possibiliy#3. Actually, I just totally made that up. Very farfetched. No cat could be smart enough to even think of asking help from a human being. I only wrote that so I could have 3 possibilities (hehehe). So anyways, they all don't seem quite likely to be true.

*Sigh*. I crawled towards my bed and sprawled across it, making myself occupy the whole space. Then I fell asleep clutching the notebook in one of my hands.

I slowly opened my eyes. I feel so weak I don't think I can stand up. My back hurts too. I tried to sit upright.

Aaak! My notebook! It's shredded to pieces! I held the strips in my hands. It's probably the cat's fault. I threw the notebook at my pile of clothes, which tumbled down. As I threw it I noticed something black on my left arm. It looked like some weird alien writing. The odd markings ran down from the tip of my hand to my shoulder. It could've been black paint or a tattoo.

Suddenly, my arm began to hurt. It felt like the mark was burning my skin. The pain was excruciating. I ran to the bathroom and tried to rinse it off. I held my arm under running water. After scrubbing it with soap and water, the pain passed and my whole arm felt numb. The marks wouldn't come off. I just hope nobody would notice. But just in case, I put on a shirt with long sleeves. Not recommended during this hot weather but it was necessary.

It was almost lunch time, but I stayed in my room. A few minutes later a knock came from the door. I held my ear to the door so I could hear better. "I brought your lunch. Open up the door".

"You finally gonna tell me about the black cat?"

I heard the clanking of silverware on the floor, then footsteps fading into the distance. I knew it: he wouldn't tell me. He probably never will. Don't get your hopes too high up Mikan, you're just gonna get disappointed.

Dinner time: He just left my food just outside my door again.

Next day: Lunch time. Another knock on my door. I opened it this time. Natsume stood there holding a silver tray of food in both hands. I leaned on the door frame.

"No" he said immediately, as if he read my mind. I took the tray from him, turned, then closed the door with my foot without saying a single word to him.

Then I heard his voice through the door. "Why don't we go outside today and visit the new playground?" At that, I quickly put down the tray and opened the door with so much enthusiasm that it slammed on the nearby wall.

"You serious? That bitch won't let me go out of the house for anything! You sure it would be ok?"

"Yeah, she won't even know we were gone"

"Give me 5 minutes!" I changed my clothes as fast as I could and ate some of the food on the tray. Then we were off.

This was so very exciting. It would be the first time I've ever left the house (as long as I could remember).

It was all so magnificent. The red sun shining above my head, the silky blue sky, the green grass, the laughing children playing in the streets, the families having picnics together. And we were just strolling along the path like two young lovers. OMG, that thought scared me. LOVERS? ME AND NATSUME? I laughed at my own silliness. I sat on a swing and Natsume was pushing me. The wind was so refreshing as it hit my face. I couldn't help but to smile and just enjoy the moment while it lasts.

We went to this cute little restaurant just down the street. We sat at a table, just the two of us, eating chocolate cake. I took out my diary and wrote on it [a/n: yes, it is this very part of the story].

"What are you doing?" asked Natsume.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm writing on my diary. You'll never know, maybe when I'm gone, someone would find this notebook and publish my life story. I could be very famous!" My eyes turned to stars. The thought made me so happy, even though my life seems soooo suckish.

He just smiled at me.

We were on our way home. But, Natsume suddenly stopped mid-stride. I looked around and saw the reason why Natsume had suddenly stopped. In the dark alley, there was a man. He was harassing a young girl! I turned to Natsume. He was already walking away as if he didn't see anything at all! I looked back at the alley. My heart instantly became filled with hatred. At the man for taking advantage of a little girl, at Natsume for not doing anything about it, at myself for being so helpless. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to remove the scene from my head. My eyes were still closed as I slowly walked away trying to catch up to Natsume.

[a/n: this happened WHILE Mikan was walking away with Natsume]

A golden fox-like creature appeared in the alleyway. It pounced at the man from the roof of the nearby building. The man's head hit the wall and he collapsed cold on the floor, his skull crushed with blood gushing fast. The fox fed on the blood that flowed from the man's skull. The girl let out an ear-splitting screech, and fled, eyes wide with fear. The fox-like creature suddenly disappeared; at the same time it did, Mikan fainted.

When I woke up, I was already in my room. All I could remember was someone carrying me home. And during the night, I remember someone placing a wet towel on my forehead. My head was spinning now. I felt my face, it was very warm. I looked sideways and saw a tray of food there. It was Monday, so Natsume is probably at work. I didn't feel hungry anyways, so I just left the food there. I closed my eyes to go back to sleep. Oh wait! I opened my eyes and reached out my arm to grab a piece of paper lying on the floor. Oh great, Natume's working overtime...