Chapter 10 – Starry evening, stormy winds
It was getting dark. The sun was setting on Gakuen Alice. All the teenagers were preparing their meals and their tents were built, well all except for one.
"If you would at least let me…" started the brunette, sitting on a rock near the camp equipment, only to be interrupted by the red-eyed boy, struggling to start a fire on the pile of logs on the floor.
"Urusai! I can do this! I've survived outside on my own a lot, now leqave me alone"
Mikan stood up and cleaned her skirt.
"Look I believe we both know that you are very manly and all, but could you let me handle the fire? I'm getting hungry and you've been at it for two hours!"
"I can do this" he said holding to rocks in his hands beating them against each other. "Go set up the tents! Or prepare the food or something, just leave me alone."
"I've told you at least a hundred times that I can't put up the tents by myself and the foods already ready to cook. Could you at least stop for a second and help me put up the tents, it's getting dark a then we won't be able to see anything."
He stood up and threw the rocks on the floor
"Whatever!"
Mikan smiled as they put up the tents
"What are you smiling about? I thought you didn't want to be with me. You were so depressed"
"I'm smiling because like this I can make the best of this! And besides, it wasn't because I didn't want to come with you, it's just I was…erm…kind of embarrassed because of the other night."
He snorted and started pulling on a cable
"It's not like it's anything special" he grinned
"Hmpf, it's probably the best you'll ever see with your attitude" she said pouting, looking the other way
On the inside he smiled, he didn't know why, but teasing that girl was fun, seeing her pout and struggling to answer back.
"There! One's done!"
They started on the other one, but stayed silent. It was dark, and only the light of the moon gave a little guidance. There was a cold breeze, even though it was summer.
"Mou! If you had let me light the fire we would be nice and warm and it wouldn't be so dark."
"Don't tell me that you're still afraid of the dark, like that time in the haunted house."
Mikan blushed remembering the incident.
"N-No! I'm not! But still, it's cold"
"I'll use my Alice!"
"NO! You can't, I want to win the prize. All the Howalon I can eat is the best thing that could ever happen to me!"
"For what? So you can get fatter?"
"I'm not fat!"
"Yes, you are"
"I guess I've put on some weight…" she mumbled looking at her belly
"See, told you!"
"But still! I'm NOT FAT!"
"You will though if you eat too much Howalon"
"There's the light version now and it tastes just as good!"
"Whatever." He said getting in his tent
"Wait, aren't you going to eat?"
"How? No fire to cook the food"
Mikan went to the stock of wood and piled it up, putting two wood pieces parallel to each other, horizontally, and on top, two parallel pieces vertically, three times.
Natsume watched her, shrugged and went to his tent.
In the middle of her pile she put some dried leafs and grass. She grabbed the two stones, given by the teachers, and hit them together.
There was a small sparkle but nothing happened, then again and the sparkle flew on to the dried grass causing a bit of smoke. She hit it again and again until there was a small light in the middle of the pile. She blew softly and the grass started to burn, making the wood burn as well. She took the rice container and placed it over the fire, hanging between two metallic sticks, then grabbed the vegetable kebab and hung it on the same place.
After a few minutes there was a sweet smell of grilled vegetables in the air and Natsume that was in his tent reading his manga, couldn't help but to peek out.
Mikan was near the small stream crouched putting water in a container for them her to boil afterwards for them to drink.
He slowly came near her and as soon as he was close enough she felt his presence and looked back.
"Hungry?"
He just snorted and looked forward on to the lake where he saw the blurry vison of the half moon. He then sat beside her.
"I-" she started
"If your going to tell me "I told you so" you can keep it to yourself" he said in and obviously pissed off tone. Mikan looked at him and then giggled a bit
"What are you laughing at?"
"You" she laughed even harder now
"And what's so funny about me?" he turned to face her
"You just assumed that I was going to rub it in your face that you weren't able to handle that situation back there" she had tears in her eyes from laughing so hard
"Well if you had let me use my Alice then I could have burnt the whole forest if I needed to."
Mikan's smiling face turned in to a serious glare.
"Idiot" she whispered just loud enough for him to hear
"What did you say?"
"You're an idiot" she said now also facing him
"Why would you need to burn the forest, besides you're missing the point of this whole thing, because of the Alice losses events regarding my mother they probably want to make sure students who loose their Alices at early age or get the stolen can survive out their even if they don't have them"
"That's just stupid, who would need to light a fire in the modern world with those stupid stones and have to live on the outdoors"
"They also did this for us to have fun and get a long better. Why do you have to say stupid things all the time and ruin everything" she stood up but Natsume pulled her hand and took her down making her land right in front of him.
"Look" he said looking away "I'm…" he took a few seconds to be able to say it "sorry"
"I didn't mean to make you feel bad about it, you don't need to leave" she smiled gently and stood up again making Natsume feel rejected inside
"Actually I do…" she started "I think our food is ready" she smiled and offered a hand for Natsume to stand up, but he rejected it and stood up on his own. Mikan shrugged and went to the fire to get the food, while he stood there watching the moon's reflection that was now still and not blurry any more.
As they sat on the rocks Mikan was staring at her kebab and then at Natsume, she was afraid to eat it because she didn't know if it was good enough. She gulped and took a bite and widened her eyes.
"Is it that bad polka?" he said looking suspiciously at his own
"No, actually it's quite good" she nibbled on the kebab
Natsume took a big bite out of his
"Be careful it's hot" she warned but it was too late he had already taken the bite and was savouring it. He too widened his eyes but for a different reason. It was really hot and burned his tongue. Mikan stood up and got a bottle of water she had brought a long and poured it on to a plastic cup.
"Here, drink this" she said rushing towards him, but she fell and let the water fall on top of Natsume. His head was all wet and so was part of his shirt.
"I'm so sorry!" Mikan apologized getting a handkerchief she had in her pocked cleaning his face
"It's okay." Natsume said as he took of his shirt. They were really close. Mikan held her handkerchief on his face as he held his shirt in his hands.
"Shouldn't this be considered as a dangerously intimate situation Narumi-sensei?" said the long haired teacher as she looked at her crystal ball
"Don't worry Serena-sensei, let's just check on other students, how are Imai Hotaru and Nogi Ruka doing?"
Serena sighed and moved her hand around he crystal ball to change images.
Ruka was petting some animals that had brought them fruit, dried wood and grass.
Hotaru had a wooden remote control in her hands and was controlling some sort of wooden robot. It consisted of a cylinder with branches for arms and another wooden cylinder for a head. I had leafs al over it as if it was hair. The legs where made of four thick branches attached to each other and two oval rocks for feet and balance.
She pushed some buttons and the machine wheezed a bit then grabbed some logs and in an instant built a table and two chairs. It then grabbed a piece of cloth and put it over the table, as well as the plastic plates, cups and cutlery. He then pulled one of the chairs and Hotaru sat in it. Hotaru signalled Ruka to sit down as well while the robot brought dinner and some candles to light the table.
There were sweat drops on Narumi's head as he looked at them through the crystal ball.
"Maybe I should have put them on the B team". He then laughed nervously as he watched Serena look at him.
In the meantime, in South-East woods, just as Narumi asked Serena to "switch channels" on her crystal ball Natsume and Mikan were still staring at each other. It was then that Mikan finally reacted
"You burnt you tongue, right? I'll go get some more water. I'll be more careful this time" but he pulled her down
"There's another way to make the pain go away"
"Really wha-" she was cut off as Natsume locked lips with her. This time he didn't have to do anything for her to let him in her mouth. She immediately responded to the kiss. Her hands where placed on his chest and he was pulling her waist to get her closer.
"Why do you always do this? Every time! You grab me and kiss me and the worst part is that I can't let go. I can't reject your kiss because I want you badly. Natsume what have you done with me? Why must I feel like this every time, like I don't want to let go. I don't feel like this when I'm kissing…" it then hit her "Ruka!" she was about to let go of him but he let go first.
"Mikan, we're not alone"
Then suddenly there was a huge explosion coming from the school wall. They weren't very far away from it so there were a lot of smoke and little rocks flying everywhere. A few seconds later Mikan noticed Natsume was protecting her. He was bleeding because of the small rocks, it wouldn't be so serious if he had his shirt on.
"Oh my god! This is all my fault! If I hadn't spilled the water he wouldn't have gotten cut."
"Natsume? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine they're just scratches. Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay! You protected me! What was that?"
"Someone just broke in to the school. I have to get over there right away!"
"Then I'm going with you!"
"Are you crazy? You could get yourself killed!"
"I won't abandon my partner, besides I got pretty good with my Alice with all the training I received these last years."
"You are NOT coming! I don't want you in any danger!" he was now yelling at her
"I'm coming and that's final!" she yelled back
"My, my! Aren't we forgetting something" a teasing feminine voice came from behind the trees. She was wearing a black jacket that went down to her feet and on the collar and sleeves there where black feathers. The jacket was open revealing the tight outfit beneath and her feminine curves. She wore a black tank top with a white circle and tight white denim pants that were tucked in the black leather high heal boots. She had a mask on it's right side was black and revealed a white frown and tear and the left side was white and had a black grin. She also had a white belt with a lot of black pockets.
"Who are you?" Natsume roared out as he grabbed Mikan holding her in a protective way
"Hmpf shut up, I'm the one asking questions" she said in a upset way
Mikan got loose from Natsume.
"That's rude! You should at least introduce yourself! Coming in to our school and blowing up walls like that! Who do you think you are?" Mikan said in a furious tone
"Hmpf, you little-" she said putting her self in to stance, only to be interrupted by the white figure that jumped out of the trees and landing on the ground gracefully.
"Now, now Onee-chan, watch your temper" he said while putting one knee on the floor and grabbing Mikan's hand
"She's right you know." He kissed her hand which caused Mikan to blush and Natsume too grit his teeth.
"My name is… well I cannot tell you my name, but when on missions like now they call me Yang and that person over there is Yin. We are twins" he was wearing the exact opposite colours of her outfit. His white jacket went down to his feet and on the collar and sleeves there where white feathers. Instead of the tank top he wore a tight white t-shirt with a black circle that revealed his muscled figure black denim pants that revealed his white leather shoes. His mask was white on the right side with a black frown and tear. The left side was black with a white grin. In stead of a black backpack with white pockets.
(Chgeck out my fotolog to see the masks I drew and a complete description of my two new characters)
In the teachers lounge
"Narumi-sensei, we have a problem!" Serena stood up and hit her hands on the table
"What is it Serena-sensei, is it one of those possibly dangerous situations? Let the kids have some fun" said the sleepy looking teacher with a cup of coffee in his hand.
"It's a bit more serious than that" she said in a very serious tone "They came"
Narumi let go of his cup and it fell on the ground shattering in to pieces
In the woods Ruka was petting a bunny when suddenly the animals started panicking
"What's wrong?" There was a huge explosion and he saw a lot of smoke coming from the south.
"Ruka! Something's wrong. Someone broke in to the academy!"
Ruka widened his eyes "That came from where Mikan's group is!"
"We have to get there fast!"
"I'm already one step ahead of you!" said Hotaru while pushing a red button on the remote control. The robot shifted a bit and turned in to some sort of airplane. She sat on it.
"Get on! He haven't got all day!" Ruka nodded and grabbed Hotaru. The machine lifted up and started heading towards the south-east woods
Back to the explosion site
"Would you mind leaving your flirting for after the mission, besides it looks like she's already taken" she said pointing at Natsume.
"You can't go through!" Mikan said opening her arms
"Heh? Even if I ask nicely?" said the young man sweetly
"We DON'T have the time for this" she took a pocket radio from her belt and put it close to her mask
"Unit one and two come in the school pronto we have resistance in area Alpha" she then put the radio back ad jumped of the tree with a summersault and landed on the floor with a thump. Her hand was on the floor, one of her legs and was bent and the other one stretched to the side. She then stood up, grabbed her brother by the upper arm and jumped away.
"Get back here" Mikan screamed she turned to face Natsume "You could have helped me, Natsume!"
"What for? This is a school problem they can handle it better than us, I felt a killer energy from both of the, besides we have other things to worry about" he pointed out as two groups of three people came raging at them. Natsume immediately put himself in stance.
"Get back, I'll handle them"
"Don't just push me away you can't handle all of them on your own!"
"Sure I can. Just watch!" he grinned, an opportunity to show Mikan he could take care of himself so she wouldn't worry anymore for him, he thought.
As the people landed one of them took out some num chucks and swung them around at an amazing speed as he ran towards Natsume
"Heh! I can handle these brats on my own" he snickered.
Mikan stood back as she watched Natsume avoid the hits.
"You're pretty good for a brat. I guess I can't hold back anymore, you'll see what my martial arts Alice is really made of!" he then jumped back and concentrated. His num chucks glowed a tone of green. He then opened his eyes and grinned.
"Ready ki-" he stopped to look around "Where'd he go?"
"Too slow" he looked up and there was Natsume, hitting him on the head with his leg sending his face to the floor and knocking him unconscious.
"You shouldn't turn your attention from your enemies he said while landing"
"Natsume LOOK OUT!" Mikan screamed
"You should follow your own advice" said another man behind him preparing to hit Natsume, but thanks to Mikan's cry he was able to doge the attack and only suffer a indirect hit on the shoulder. He kicked the man in the stomach, grabbed his arm and threw him on the floor. But just as he was about to hit him he disappeared.
"I knew it was strange he could get behind me so fast. He has the teletransportation Alice"
"You took too long to find out kid" he said running from another side with a dagger in his hands. Natsume swiftly stepped to the side and stuck his leg out making him trip and hitting face first in to a tree, only after he hit the tree he disappeared and hit the ground on another place.
"I guess you haven't mastered your Alice yet, it's still too slow on reactions. Well that was a nice warm up, who's next" he said turning around, but there was no one there.
"Hmpf, cowards! Even though they outnumbered me they ran away, that's weak"
"I see we have ourselves a trouble maker,…" said a man while jumping out of one of the trees.
"…but he won't be any trouble…" continued another one looking exactly the same coming from another direction
"…once we're finished with him" said another one just like the first two
Natsume only had time to widen his eyes and think "Doppelgangers" before at least 10 of him were on top of him.
"I call this attack the Japanese bee attack. When a wasp tries to attack a Japanese beehive the bees all unite and press him on the floor. The high temperature due to the friction cooks the wasp until it's nice and crispy and can't call the other wasps for reinforcements!" said one of them on top of the pile
"Natsume!"
Suddenly there was a rumble and the pile started to tremble making the top one fall on the ground. In a matter of seconds the ten doppelgangers were on fire making them disappear.
"There's only one problem with that! It seems you can't take the heat!" Natsume said while struggling to get up.
Mikan ran to his side and helped him
"Polka, get away, you're going to end up hurt!"
"Let me help you, you can't face them all alone"
"Three are already down"
"Not really!" said a voice coming from the doppelganger dude
He looked around and saw that all of them were okay
"How did-"
"How did they get cured? Oh well I guess that's because of my healing Alice" said the woman as she started to appear
"And I guess you couldn't see it because of my Alice" said a another woman as she and blue haired woman appeared.
"There's a reason why we travel in such a big group!" the blue haired woaman spoke "These three men do the fighting while my two friends here do the healing and vanishing tricks. I simply observe and wait for the person to use their Alice to think of the best way of defeat is"
"Mikan stay away, I smell blood on her, she's killed a lot of people!"
"Oh! I guess the Black Cat has a good sense of smell!" she clapped "Too bad you're running on your last life and are totally out of luck!"
The three men stood up and started to vanish, as well as the healing Alice woman and the invisibility Alice woman.
"You can't really fight what you can't see, right" said the blue haired woman before vanishing as well
Natsume looked both sides and was on stance. Suddenly something kicked him hard on the stomach making him cough. They were attacking him from everywhere. They gave him a kick on the chin, a punch in the face, kicked him on the legs and then on his back making him fall on the floor.
"Oh my god, Natsume! I have to do something or else they'll kill him" Mikan thought as she started to walk forward
"Polka…I though I told you to stay back…I can handle them!" Natsume said between coughs while trying to stand up
"Natsume please stop, let me help! Don't use your Alice anymore you'll die"
"Listen too your girlfriend and be good" said the blue haired as she came near him and grabbed his face.
"I really don't want to destroy that pretty face of yours, it would be a waste"
He grinned as he gave her a death glare making her jump back very far away
"Get back you guys he's going to-" but it was too late Natsume used his Alice and made a huge explosion sending the five people flying away with serious burns.
"Another explosion?" Ruka said
"That was no normal explosion, that was probably Natsume!" said Hotaru starting to
panic "Hold on tight Ruka I'm setting this thing to turbo"
The tents and some of the trees were burnt Mikan who put her hands in front of her because of the light widened her eyes at shock to see them all wounded and unconscious against the trees and on the ground. She ran towards Natsume.
"Natsume! What have you done! You-You killed them?"
"Their just unconscious I held back!"
"BAKA! How many times must I tell you not to use your Alice! Especially this much!"
"I'm fine" he said while struggling to get up "I told you I was holding back"
"HOW DARE YOU!" the blue haired woman was now only a few feet away from them and was looking down making her blue fringes cover her face. A tear dropped from her face but didn't fall on the floor. I was floating in front of her and suddenly shone a bright blue light. "I'll teach you to hurt my friends" she screamed. As she looked up the water from the small river beside her turned in to a giant wave. She moved her hands around and the water shot against them.
"Mikan!" Natsume pushed her away making the water hit only him. He flew against a tree and then fell unconscious.
"NATSUME!" Mikan screamed as she looked at him with horror in her eyes.
Mm: Uhhh! What's going to happen next, will the teachers, Hotaru and Ruka get there in time to prevent the worst or will Mikan fight the Water Alice User. Tune in next time-Toby: Oh shut up!
Mm: Hmpf!
Suki: Please review