Author's Space: Hello there, everyone! I'm sorry if I kept everyone waiting for too long but here I am now after all the exams and school work! The school year had ended so I'm now already having my holidays, which means more time for me to write and update my fanfics! Also, I'm really so happy to read reviews from my dear readers, it really encourages me a lot! Thank you so much for reading, following, reviewing and even adding this fanfic to your list of favorite fanfics! Thank you!

Chapter 9: Determination and a Little Luck

"So what's your plan, Natsume?" Mikan asked as she gulped out of nervousness. She realized how bad their situation was and if Natsume's plan didn't work, they will definitely be eliminated from the competition and that was something she didn't want to happen.

"Listen carefully now. It may sound risky but I'm sure it'll turn out just fine. First, I want you to distract that penguin. A-"

Mikan suddenly cut Natsume's words out of fear and panic, "Wait, what?! Distract the penguin?! You want me to be like some sort of bait?!"

"I don't care what you call yourself. Just do it. Or you want to lose and go home crying like a big stupid baby?" Natsume said out of frustration.

Mikan knew she didn't have any other choices and she definitely didn't have any other 'brilliant' plans. "Fine. What do we do next?"

"See those wooden crates over there?" Natsume gestured to the wooden crates at the right side of the alley. "While you distract that penguin, I'll try to create a trap using those crates and then when I'm ready, you'll lead the robot to the trap and I'll burn the crates. Hopefully, that would keep the penguin trap and unable to get out."

"Hopefully? What if it won't work?!" Mikan was far too nervous but at the same time, again, she knew she didn't have any other choices.

Natsume pushed her and said," Quite complaining. That thing is going to shoot us any time soon. Go now!"

Mikan sighed before running towards the robot that seemed like it will start shooting any time soon. She gulped before shouting, "W-Wait! Don't shoot!"

The robot moved its head downwards to meet the eyes of the terrified little girl in front. He seemed to have postponed shooting them, wanting to see what the girl wanted to do next.

"Y-You see, hurting someone else is bad and it is also against the law! If you shoot us now, I will go call the police and have you arrested!" Mikan then saw Natsume preparing the trap and suddenly became more confident. "So you better not hurt the both of us or else you'll suffer in jail! In case you don't know, life in jail is difficult and you will surely suffer! So for your own good, I suggest you keep away all your weapons and leave us in peace!"

The robot didn't move and just stared at Mikan for a while but suddenly, it reloaded its guns again and started chasing Mikan.

While shouting, Mikan ran around to try to get away from the robot.

"Natsume! Hurry!"

"I'm done. Run here and lead that penguin over here." Natsume said as he prepared to burn the crates.

Mikan quickly ran towards the trap Natsume made while hoping things will go as planned.

After the robot was inside the circle of wooden crates Natsume made, Mikan quickly got out of the way as Natsume cover the last few gaps of the circle with the rest of the wooden crates. Before the robot can do anything to escape or hurt the two of them, Natsume quickly used his Alice to burn the wooden crates and pulled Mikan away from the fire.

The both of them quickly ran and looked back once a while to see if the robot managed to get away. But after running for about 3 minutes, they realized the robot wasn't chasing them and assumed they managed to get away from it.

Both of them caught their breathes and sat down on the ground to rest for a while.

"Thank goodness we got away from that. Where should we go now?" Mikan asked as the both of them began standing up again.

Natsume looked around but was honestly clueless about their next step. There were a few paths around them and he had no idea which path leads to the finish line.

Suddenly, Natsume heard voices nearby and pulled Mikan to hide behind some crates to avoid being seen by them.

It turned out to be some middle school students they never saw before. There were six of them, four guys and two girls. They seemed relaxed and confident in winning and Natsume and Mikan stayed quiet to listen to their conversation.

The six of them suddenly stopped walking then one of the guys said, "This round will be easy. Luckily, I managed to find the chance to read the mind of one of the committees earlier on. I found out that one of the ways to reach the finish line is through a hidden window somewhere around this area."

"This round isn't that easy, you know?!" One of the girls said out of frustration. "Those rabbits back there almost killed us! Who would've known those cute little animals could be so violent. They even left some bite marks on my arms!"

"Stop shouting and complaining! Better start searching for that damn window!" Another guy said.

As the six of them began looking around, Natsume whispered to Mikan, "You heard them. That so called hidden window is somewhere around here. We better start searching for it too. But we better keep quiet or else we might attract their attention. I doubt we stand a chance against all six of them. Especially when I'm with someone as useless and weak as you."

"What did you say?!" Mikan tried to keep her voice low. "I'll make myself useful by finding that hidden window. Just you wait! We better start searching now."

Mikan quickly tiptoed to a nearby building and began to touch the walls, in hope to find the hidden window. But the building she went to had nothing on it.

She wanted to move to another building and again, tiptoed towards it. But along the way, she accidentally stepped on a tiny branch, making a noticeable sound, especially because the area they were in was really quiet.

"I think I heard something." One of the guys from the six said.

One of the other guys then shouted, "Who's there?!"

"Don't tell me it's another bunch of annoying rabbits?!" The girl who complained earlier on said.

"I'll go check it out." The other girl said. She began running around the place and went through walls. Mikan panicked but didn't know what to do. Natsume then quickly ran towards her and whispered to her, "That girl is coming this way soon. I'll heat up the wall behind us so she can't get through. As I do so, run to that in front of us. I have a feeling the hidden window is somewhere over there."

"How do you know?"

"That building is the only building around here that has only two windows. Other buildings here has three windows."

"I see. You're pretty smart, aren't you?"

"Whatever. She's coming soon." Natsume pushed Mikan a little as he heat up the wall behind him. "Go now!"

The girl shouted after touching the burning hot walls of the building, catching the attention of her other friends.

"Someone here besides us and they must have heard our conversation earlier." The guy with blonde hair said.

The guy with dark hair then said, "Oh no. I used my long distance hearing Alice and found out that 17 pairs had already reached the finish line. If the pair who heard our conversation earlier on found the hidden window, then one out of the three pairs among us will have to be eliminated!"

"And we won't let that happen. Catch whoever eavesdropped on us!"

Mikan hurriedly ran to the building Natsume pointed out just now and began searching for the hidden window. But the six other middle school students saw her and began charging towards her.

"Stop right there, little girl!"

"Oh, it looks like she found the hidden window for us. It must be at that building."

"We better hurry up and eliminate them before it's too late!"

Mikan began to panic and hurriedly search for the hidden window. Natsume saw the others charging towards Mikan and created some sort of firewall to block the way of the others to her.

Mikan might not know it or might not even notice anything, but Natsume had been practicing his Alice a lot ever since he knew he had this power. He wanted to be able to do great things and protect those he love using the power he had and he knew very well that by practicing, he will be able to use his powers well and become powerful. Once he is powerful enough, he wouldn't have to face defeat and lose those whom he truly cherished.

The six middle school students were shocked to see a sudden fire appearing in front of them. Natsume tried to make the fire big enough to block them but made sure he wouldn't directly hurt anybody.

"Hurry up, Mikan. I might not hold them any much longer."

Mikan's hand suddenly went through the walls of the building and she shouted back to Natsume, "Natsume! I found it! Hurry up and run here!"

Natsume tried to let the fire stay long enough for him to run to where the hidden window was without any troubles from the six of them.

Natsume and Mikan both jumped into the hidden window, leaving the six middle school students angry and annoyed.

After getting through the hidden window, they reached another part of Central Town. Right in front of them was the finish line, which was already crowded. Judging from the situation, it seemed like if they wasted any more time, they might not get to the second round.

Natsume and Mikan ran so fast that they felt that they had never run so fast before. They ran to the finish line just in time to be the last pair to be able to go to the next round.

Mikan was so happy that she started jumping around while hugging Natsume, which was more than enough to annoy him.

"Stop jumping around like an idiot. People are starting to stare."

"I don't care! I'm too happy right now! We managed to get to the next round!"

After much jumping and shouting, Mikan then realized that Tsubasa and Misaki managed to pass the first round too. She ran to them and hugged them out of excitement and happiness.

Natsume just stared and thought, "Wouldn't she be tired from all that jumping?"

Just then, Hotaru went to Natsume and said, "How was my robot penguin? Was it fun?"

"Very." Natsume said sarcastically. "It was such a fun robot that I just have to burn it."

"Thank you so much for burning my invention for me. I truly appreciate it. But I'm sorry to disappoint you. I managed to save my invention just in time before it is completely burnt down. Too bad it was already broken when I save it or else I'll make sure it will chase you down and destroy you."

"That is too bad. I look forward to burning more of your inventions."

"Just you wait."

Hotaru said calmly but with an evil glare and walked away.

Narumi then suddenly clapped his hands loudly to catch everyone's attention.

"Attention, everyone! I would like to congratulate everyone who managed to go through the first round! Three days from now, we'll hold the second round at the Northern Woods. This round is called 'Hide and Seek'. Inside the Northern Woods, we'll be hiding different colors of ribbons for you to find. There will be red ribbons, blue ribbons and yellow ribbons. Each pair must collect three yellow ribbons, two blue ribbons and one red ribbon. But of course, this round wouldn't be so simple. Every time you remove a ribbon from its hiding place, it will disappear and a certain challenge will appear before you. You must complete that certain challenge in order to have the ribbon. The yellow ribbon consists of the easy challenges. Blue ribbon consists of the moderate challenges and the red ribbon consists of the difficult challenges. The first 10 pairs to obtain all the required ribbons will go to the third round!"

"That actually sounds pretty fun!" Mikan said to Natsume.

"Yeah right. You won't be saying it's fun anymore once you see those challenges. I have a feeling it'll be outrageous." Natsume said.

"But still, we should try to have fun! It'll make the competition less pressurizing and it might help us stay calm too." Mikan said as she breathed in and out to remain calm and relaxed.

Natsume simply ignored her and looked around him and was suddenly in deep thoughts.

"I have a strong feeling that things will just get even harder now."

Author's Space: That's the end of chapter 9! I hope everybody likes this chapter! I sincerely apologize for any mistakes I made. Thank you for reading and I will truly appreciate it if you would review too. Tell me what you think about this fanfic, give me some advices or opinions and you are also welcomed to correct me for any mistakes I made. Kindly wait for the next chapter and have a nice day everyone!