Author's Note:
Sorry for the late update. Here's a long chapter for you to read as an apology. After this chapter, I'm afraid that the updates might be even slower than before because…tomorrow school starts! No~! But I'll try and get the next chapter up on my birthday or so but I can't promise you anything. Oh and there's a poll in my profile asking you what type of ending you prefer to have in this story. Please take the poll 'cause I need to plan out the ending of this story (though this story is far from over). Anyways, enjoy the next chapter!

-X-

Chapter Nine
-Broken Façade-

-X-

'…to assassinate Hyuuga Natsume.'

Those four words rang through her head like a broken record. Mikan couldn't even try to contain all her emotions that were bursting to escape. Reo looked kind of amused when the auburn haired girl's expression showed shock, then flicker to fear, then to hate, then finally back to her emotionless façade.

'W-why do you need to assassinate him?' Mikan hoped that her voice wouldn't fail her. The last thing she needed was to reveal any emotions in front of an Anti-Alice agent. Luck was not on her side; her voice wavered a bit and almost got caught in her throat before she was able to finish her sentence.

Why should I care if he dies?

Reo's voice brought her out of her thoughts. 'Hyuuga Natsume is becoming quite a nuisance for us. Two nights ago, he managed to steal some of our sacred document and even killed twenty of our agents.'

Mikan looked slightly shocked and impressed.

'He's one the academy's top agents and therefore needs to be disposed of,' Reo added.

'Why do have to kill him, though?' she asked. 'Isn't there something else we can do instead of assassinating him…?' Mikan paused for a second, noticing how desperate her voice had sound.

Reo seemed to have noticed as well, seeing as how his eyes darkened slightly.

'I mean, won't the academy just get suspicious?' she quickly added after seeing his expression.

The singer's eyes narrowed. 'Suspicious of what? The academy finding out your identity? Just to remind you, I'm the one doing this mission and not you,' he stated.

Mikan shifted her eyes away from his.

Reo sighed and stood up from his bed. 'Well, that was originally supposed to be the plan but it seems that Naru-senpai was a bit suspicious of me.'

The auburn haired girl looked at him in confusion. 'What do you mean?' she inquired.

Reo answered her question by holding out his wrist for her to see. Mikan immediately understood what he was talking about. On his wrist was a large bracelet. Although, it looked just like a bracelet, in reality it was actually a control device.

'Thanks to this I won't be able to put Hyuuga to sleep with my Alice.'

Mikan nodded understandingly. Reo's Alice is Voice Pheromone; the ability to control anyone with his voice; that is, anyone expect for her since she's got the Nullification Alice.

'This is why I called you here,' Reo said. 'Since this thing here…' points to the control device on his wrist. '…is Preventing me from using my Alice, you will have to finish my mission for me.'

Mikan winced; she had feared that this was going to happen.

'Assassinate Hyuuga Natsume; that is your mission now.'

-X-

Sunlight filtered through the curtains of the bedroom and onto the sleeping figure.

Mikan let out a huge sigh as the sunlight hit her face. She then sat up in thought. She has until tomorrow night to complete her mission. Sometimes she wished that she was never chosen to become a spy for the organization she was working for.

Not that I have a choice of making my own decisions, she thought bitterly.

As far as she could remember, all her life she has been doing nothing but following orders from others, namely Kurai and Reo. Mikan sometimes wonders whether she was like this before she had entered the organization. Did she even have any friends?

'Friends are nothing but a nuisance.'

Kurai's harsh words rang through her head. He's right, she told herself as her fists clenched. They're nothing but a nuisance; I don't need them.

Flashes of her new friends went through her head and she clutched her head in pain. Go away! I don't need any friends! GO AWAY! The images would not leave her. The faces of her smiling friends would just not disappear, much to Mikan's dismay.

Then, the image of Natsume sprung into her head. Her eyes snapped opened in alarm. That's right; the sooner I kill him, the sooner will I be able to leave this damn place! Then I'll be free, she thought.

A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts. She got up from her bed and check to see who it was, only to find Anna and Nonoko standing there with grins on both their faces.

'What is it?' she asked in a slightly strained voice.

Luckily for her, the 'twins' remained oblivious to her tone.

'I've finished my potions,' Nonoko said. 'And we're going to head toward Central Town for some lunch.'

Lunch? She looked at her clock and realized that it was already noon. Did I really sleep for that long?

'We were wondering if you would like to come with us,' Anna added.

Mikan seemed thoughtful for a minute before nodding her head slowly. She figured maybe some fresh air would be able to clear her head.

The two girls smiled. 'Let's go!' they both chorused. After getting changed, Mikan allowed herself to be dragged by them towards the bus.

To their surprise when they got on they discovered Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume on the bus as well. But what surprised Mikan the most was that on Natsume's lap sat a boy about the age of seven with grey hair and stormy-green eyes.

Mikan had to contain her shock from showing when she saw him smiling at the boy. The words Natsume and smiling just do not mix.

'Ah, Hotaru-chan!' Anna said as she spotted the raven haired inventor sitting alone, reading a book.

Anna and Nonoko pulled her towards Hotaru and sat in the empty seats in front of the Ice Queen, leaving Mikan to sit beside the raven haired girl.

'What makes you think you can sit next to me, you idiot,' Hotaru stated, not looking up from her book.

Mikan frowned, disliking her attitude towards her. 'Where else am I supposed to sit, then?' she asked slightly annoyed. The bus was packed, leaving this the only seat available.

'Nogi,' Hotaru said, ignoring her question. Ruka's head snapped up after hearing his name being addressed.

'What?'

'Switch places with her,' the inventor said, gesturing towards the auburn haired girl.

Ruka blinked in confusion. 'Why?' he asked, but flinched when Hotaru slammed her book shut.

'Don't question me,' she said coldly, reaching inside her pocket to pull out a photo. 'Or else…' Ruka instantly paled and did what he was told and sat down obediently.

Mikan raised an eyebrow at this but shrugged and sat next to Natsume, who was now currently asleep. As the bus moved towards its destination, Mikan couldn't help but feel eyes staring at her the whole time. She shifted her gaze towards her right, only to find the little boy on Natsume's lap staring at her curiously.

'What?' she asked flatly, feeling slightly disturbed. Didn't this kid know that staring is rude?

It was a while before he made a reply but when he did it had made Mikan fall over in shock.

'You're ugly.'

'WHAT?!'

Right now, Mikan could careless that her emotionless façade was slipping or if she was creating a scene on the bus. Even Natsume seemed to have woken up because of her outburst. But that didn't matter to her at all. All that matters was putting this rude kid in his place.

'What did you just say?!' she growled at him. Never once in her life has anyone ever called her ugly and had gotten away with it. Child or not, this boy was going to pay and I'm not talking in money.

'Ugly,' the grey haired boy repeated, pointing at her.

Mikan's eye twitched in annoyance. 'Who the hell are you anyway?' she asked annoyed. 'Hyuuga's son?'

'I'll burn you…' came the response from the Black Cat.

'His name's Hijiri Youichi,' Ruka stated, watching the scene unfold. 'He's in the Dangerous Ability Class like Natsume.'

At that statement, her eyes widened slightly. She moved her face in front of Youichi's and studied him closely. This kid's in the Dangerous Ability Class? That explains why he acts so much like Hyuuga.

'Get out of my face, hag,' Youichi stated.

That's it! Her mind finally snapped. 'I'm gonna-!' Anna and Nonoko covered her mouth before she could spew out some nasty words at the boy. Youichi was already contaminated enough thanks to Natsume.

Youichi then released his Alice, sending bad spirits towards the three girls. Anna and Nonoko backed away scared while Mikan looked slightly shocked before activating her Nullification Alice to cancel the spirits.

So his Alice is Bad Spirits…

Youichi's eyes widened slightly, wondering why his spirits disappeared. No one has ever been able to do that before.

The bus pulled to a stop and the student got off immediately.

'Let's have lunch at that restaurant,' Anna said pointing towards a medium sized building. Everyone agreed and went in to have their lunch. Most of them just ordered the cheapest dishes except for Hotaru who ordered the most expensive seafood on the menu.

'You're paying for me,' she said to a certain blonde.

Ruka narrowed his eyes. 'Why should I?' he asked, but understood immediately when she pulled out the photo from before.

His shoulders slumped in defeat. 'Fine…'

After having their lunch, they all decided to split up to do their jobs.

'Anna-chan and I are going to go shopping,' Nonoko said, walking off with her pink haired friend.

'I need to stock up on some supplies for my inventions,' Hotaru stated. Then without warning she grabbed onto Ruka's arm. 'You're coming with me.'

'B-but-!' he started but immediately went quiet when she reached into her pocket. 'Okay, I'll go with you!' he nearly shouted. 'Just don't show anyone that picture, got it?'

Hotaru nodded in satisfaction and dragged the blonde away with her, leaving behind Mikan, Youichi and Natsume.

Does she always do that? Mikan wondered, watching the retreating backs of Hotaru and Ruka.

'Hey, ugly,' Youichi said.

Mikan's eye twitched in annoyance. 'What?'

The grey haired boy pointed at a stand. 'Go buy me a box of Howalon,' he ordered.

The auburn haired girl frowned and reminded herself, He's just a kid so don't strangle him.

'Hn,' she walked up to the Howalon stand and gave the man ten rabbits in exchange for a small box of Howalon.

'Here,' she said, handing him the nicely wrapped up box.

Youichi took the box and walked back towards Natsume who was sitting on a bench.

'Aren't you going to thank me?' she asked annoyed.

Youichi looked at her with his impassive stormy-green eyes. 'Thank you…ugly,' he said and returned back to eating his Howalon.

Mikan growled in her mind and turned to Natsume, who had been quiet throughout their trip to Central Town.

'What exactly did you teach him?'

Natsume shrugged in response. Mikan sighed, realizing that she would not get an answer from him any time soon. So they sat there in silence waiting for Youichi to finish his box of Howalon.

Once the box was empty, the seven year old stood up and threw the box away.

'Onii-chan,' he said in cute voice.

'Hn?' Natsume looked at him.

'I want a balloon,' Youichi said, pointing at a man handing out balloons to kids of his age or younger.

Natsume smiled slightly and grabbed a hold of his and walked up to the man with Mikan following behind silently.

'Here you go,' the man said, handing Youichi a red balloon.

'Thank you,' he said, holding onto the string tightly; his eyes never leaving the floating red balloon.

The man chuckled. 'What a cute kid,' he stated and turned to Mikan and Natsume. 'Is he your son?' he joked.

They both chocked and gave the man a death glare.

He laughed nervously. 'It was just a joke!' he said defensively.

Mikan's glare never faltered. Why would this brat be my kid anyway? I'm only fourteen and Hyuuga is fifteen. This kid's seven so you assumed that I had him when I was seven years old?!

'Ah!' Youichi's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

Mikan looked at Youichi only to see a sad expression on his face. She looked up and saw that the red balloon that was clutched tightly in his small hands, floating towards the sky.

She turned her attention back toward Youichi, who was frowning. For some reason, Mikan didn't feel happy when she saw the expression on his face. Without giving it much thought, she rushed after the balloon, determined to get it back. It was difficult seeing as how there were a lot of people on the streets. She had to be careful not to bump into anyone. Mikan smiled slightly when she caught sight of the balloon. With all her strength, she jumped up and grabbed a hold of the string attached to the balloon.

Got it! She thought happily. But once she landed, Mikan felt her foot slip. She realized that she had landed on the edge of the fountain that was situated in the middle of Central Town. She closed her eyes, readied to get wet as she felt her body tumbling forward. But just as soon as her eyes closed, she felt arms wrapping around her waist and pulled her backwards. The auburn haired girl fell backwards but instead of landing on the cold hard ground like she thought she would, she had found herself landing on someone's warm chest.

The person grunted and Mikan immediately opened her eyes to find herself face to face with a certain someone.

'Na-Natsume?' she said shocked. Looking up at her were the crimson coloured eyes of Hyuuga Natsume. He looked slightly annoyed.

'Are you two alright?' she heard the voice of Ruka ask, when he approached with Hotaru. Hotaru didn't waste anytime and started snapping pictures with her camera.

Realizing that their position was causing a scene, Mikan quickly pushed herself off of Natsume and backed away with a slight blush on her face.

'Natsume, you okay?' Ruka asked, lending the raven haired boy a hand.

'Aa,' he replied.

-X-

Youichi was shocked even though he didn't show it. He had honestly expected Mikan to just ignore him when he had lost his balloon but it had surprised him when she went chasing after the lost item floating in the air. His lips pressed together in a straight line in thought. He had never thought of her as someone who was ugly. Youichi had only said that to get a reaction from her. At first he wondered if she was just an emotionless girl but he was proven wrong when she let out a huge outburst when he had called her ugly. Youichi had to admit, her reaction was quite funny.

Turning to his right, Youichi wanted to ask Natsume more about this girl when he realized that he was gone.

Where did he go? He wondered looking around the crowd.

Youichi's eyes widened once he found him and Mikan. Their legs were entangled together and the tips of their noses were touching.

The grey haired boy shook his head, thinking that it was just an illusion but realized that it was real.

The two finally separated and even at this distance, Youichi could see a slight blush on Mikan's face. He quickly ran towards them, noticing that Ruka and Hotaru were there as well.

'Onii-chan, are you aright?' he asked Natsume.

Natsume nodded. Youichi focused his eyes onto his face and noticed that Natsume's cheeks were slightly red as well.

Does nii-chan like ugly? He questioned in his mind but noticed how it all made sense. Natsume would never help any out except for Ruka and himself. So why did he suddenly save this girl from falling.

Youichi was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't notice Mikan walking up to him with his balloon in hand.

'Here,' she said, handing it to him.

Youichi took the balloon out of her hands slowly; his eyes never leaving her once.

What he said next had not only surprised Mikan, but Natsume as well.

'Thank you, onee-chan.' Youichi figured that he needed a sister anyway and decided that Mikan was the best candidate for this position.

Mikan's eyes widened slightly before they returned to their normal size.

I guess he's not that bad, she thought and smiled slightly.

'Your welcome, You-chan,' she said.

The bus arrived and it was time to head back towards the academy and once again, Mikan had to sit next to Natsume and Youichi, but this time she didn't really mind. Youichi fell asleep on Mikan's lap and she couldn't resist smiling at his cute face.

'You're different,' a voice from beside her said.

Mikan jolted slightly and looked at Natsume who was staring at her. A sudden flashback of their earlier position caused her to blush and look away from his eyes.

'What do mean?' she inquired.

'Youichi has never warmed up to anyone, except me and Ruka before,' he stated, looking at the sleeping boy.

Mikan didn't know what to say so she decided to remain silent throughout the ride.

-X-

Her head quickly hit the pillow as she lied down on her bed. Today had been really exhausting for her. Mikan then smiled. But it was also fun.

You-chan sure is something, she thought. And Natsume…I guess he isn't that bad.

It was actually pretty nice of Natsume to catch her like that, but Mikan wondered what had possessed him to do so. After all, they weren't really friends. So why did he do it?

But Mikan knew that she was actually quite grateful towards Natsume.

I think he's hiding behind a façade like me. Even thought he acts like it, he's actually not cold-hearted at all, she thought with a smile but then it began to slide off at the next thought. Too bad I have to kill him.

Her eyes widened suddenly in realization. Today's entire event had caused her to forget the most important thing on her mind. She has to assassinate Natsume.

What should I do? Even though she was trained to be a cold-hearted killer, Mikan just couldn't bring herself to fulfill this mission.

She turned to her right and her eyes landed on a familiar bottle of black liquid. Mikan immediately sprung up from her bed and reached for the bottle. She watched as the liquid react to the moonlight that filtered through her curtain. The black slowly turned to a different colour.

Perhaps this is the answer…

-X-

Author's Note:
Phew, I'm finally finished with this chapter. Don't forget to go to my profile to vote on the poll. Twenty more reviews please and again, flames are not accepted. Fell free to take guesses on what that potion does. It will be reveal in the next two or three chapters. It should be pretty obvious in the next chapter about what that potion is for. Thanks for reading~!

-X-

The Pretty List;

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Wow, that's more than thirty reviews. Thanks a lot for reviewing on the last chapter! Sorry if I spelt some of your names wrong.

-X-

-Setsuna