Hi guys, how are you doing? :) Here's chapter 11 of Betrayed, and we are still moving very slowly! Slow fiction and all that! :)
Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
This chapter has been edited!
At The Cafeteria
Nanoha babbled all the way about God-knows-what and Mikan did not even bother to listen, let alone to reply her.
"This baka is even worse than how I used to be!" Mikan groaned mentally, feeling overly exhausted.
By now, Mikan was getting used to ignoring her, but a sentence caught her attention.
"From now on, We, the gang shall be together in classes, breaks, after classes, and missions. For you and I, let's just say that since I'm in special ability class too, I'm going to be like super glue!"
Mikan cursed. She went ahead to look for Tsubasa, asking him to eat with her at the school's garden, totally ignoring Nanoha.
"… School's garden? Okay. Wait for me a minute, I'll go call Retsu and Seiya!" Nanoha squealed as she ran off.
"NO!" Mikan yelled, but was too late.
"That idiot!" She seethed. "I'm really going to kill her!"
"That's what Imai felt last time," Tsubasa joked and immediately regretted his words.
"Let's go," She mumbled after a moment of silence and proceeded to the rooftop, not bothering to see if Tsubasa was following.
School Gardens
All of them, including Retsu and Seiya, settled at a shady place near the bushes. Mikan took out her Obento -don't ask me where she got it but it looked so yummy- and sat down under the shade of a tree.
"Uwaaaa!" Nanoha squealed as soon as Mikan opened her Obento.
"It looks sooooo delicious! Sugoi! Mikan Chan, did you make all of this?" She asked, drooling all over the food, but luckily Mikan saved it by creating a barrier around it.
"It's none of your business and stop drooling onto my food!" Mikan scowled.
Nanoha, suddenly, started to bawl hysterically.
"WAAAA! MIKAN CHAN! FORGIVE ME! REALLY, I HAD NO INTENTION OF EATING YOUR OBENTO! PLEASE BELIEVE ME!"
"She cannot be trusted," both Tsubasa and Seiya said at once, sweat dropping. On the other hand, Mikan and Retsu just, well, didn't care. They just ate their lunch in peace and ignored whatever the hell was going around them.
While they were eating, Retsu snuck quick glances at Mikan. Mikan didn't notice as she was stuffing herself with food.
"I'm so hungry! Since that trip from Japan to America I didn't eat anything! I'm glad I prepared this beforehand!" She thought, smiling to herself quietly.
"Hmmm…..That girl…Why does she keep that cold façade on all day long when all I see is just loneliness in her eyes? Well, I behave like her to make sure that the AAO believes that hurting my friends will not affect me. But, this girl…What is exactly her reason?" Retsu thought in wonder, looking at Mikan from the corner of his eyes.
"Stop staring at me already, dumbass", was the six word long sentence that snapped Retsu out from his train of thoughts.
Retsu cursed and thought in his mind, "She's too freaking alert, even when we're having lunch!"
"Sorry, but don't flatter yourself. I was staring at the dog behind you," He retorted smartly and smirked.
And true enough, there was a chihuahua barking happily from a meter behind Mikan..
"Mikan, don't mind Retsu! Once you get to know him better, you'll find out that he's just shy!" Seiya winked.
"…"
The silence dragged on for the next half and hour as the gang ate peacefully. They burned the trash away into ashes (courtesy of Retsu and Mikan) as soon as they were finished with their food.
"It's almost time for class, let's go!" Tsubasa stood up and dusted imaginary dust off his trousers.
Nanoha and Seiya then shouted to Retsu and Mikan, "Hurry! We'll be late for Billy's class!"
"I'm ditching," The duo replied instantly.
"I'm never going to attend his lessons. Next time, just count me out," replied Mikan casually.
"No way, I've always ditched his lessons, what makes you think today was any different?" answered Retsu.
"Besides, he's so gay!" they said in unison.
"Oh, he's like Narumi I guess?" Tsubasa asked.
"Say that again and I'll chop off your head, Tsubasa Sempai. Otou san is more cheerful but Billy's just..." Mikan shrugged as she trailed off.
"That's not right, Mikan Chan, Retsu Kun! Retsu kun, you should set a better example for Mikan so-" Nanoha was cut off.
"-Shut up" Retsu interrupted with an irritated twitch.
Nanoha sweat dropped and turned to Mikan.
"Mikan Chan, you should make a good impression of—"
"Get lost" Mikan interrupted.
"Bu—"Nanoha was cut off again. She wasn't able to say any further because Tsubasa and Seiya was dragging her away.
"WHY AM I ALWAYS GETTNG INTERRUPTED? IT'S SO—"
"SHUT UP!" Everyone yelled at her.
"YOU'RE IRRITATING!"
"Bu—"
"Say another word and I'll tape your mouth shut!" Seiya muttered darkly.
"That was unexpected." Tsubasa said in surprise, whistling.
With that, Nanoha zipped her lips and let herself get dragged by Seiya roughly.
"Oops, I forgot that Seiya is really scary when you piss him off…Hehe…My bad…"
Tsubasa sighed before giving Retsu and Mikan a last wave before chasing after them.
"Finally….' Retsu muttered.
"They're gone…" Mikan continued.
They looked at each other for a split second and then looked away.
An uncomfortable silence washed over them them but too bad for it, for they both didn't care.
"Say…" Retsu broke the silence. "Why don't you smile?" He looked at her in the eye.
"…"
"Answer me, you idiot."
"Fine, if I can trust you guys enough, I'll tell."
"Hn…" He replied, although he knew Mikan's answer didn't really counted as one, but he knew there was a reason for her to act like that. Something...
"Retsu, Why don't you smile?"
"Because I don't want the AAO to hurt my friends, thinking that it will cause me to surrender."
"I see…"
After a moment of silence, Mikan spoke up. "I think I'll trust you guys a little, as allies, just allies, since we're going to work together in missions. Not friends, but allies. I don't think I can be your friend though…I'm afraid," Mikan spoke softly, vowing her head low.
"Afraid of what?" Retsu asked, and immediately regretted it when he saw Mikan's facial expression.
"I'll tell you when I trust you enough," Mikan repeated, but there was something different in her tone.
"But your eyes are screaming out that you want somebody to be by your side." And immediately, he cursed under his breath again when he saw Mikan shrink into a slight depression.
"…"
Mikan then stood up and dusted her skirt.
"I'm leaving," Was the only word she muttered. She turned around and started walking.
"Mikan,"
She whipped her head around, eyes widening at the name 'Mikan'.
"Find me anytime if there is something bothering you."
Her gaze softened and nodded her head. With that, she walked away.
As she was walking around the corridors, her heart was thumping wildly. Her face was scarlet red, and she thought hysterically. "What is wrong with me? Why is my heart beating so fast? 1…2…3… Okay, I'm calm. But why? It is the same feeling with…..Natsume." Her eyes softened in pain.
"Huh?"
She stopped short in her tracks. Her head started to spin and everything faded to black. This could only mean one thing, she was loosing her consciousness.
"Nani..?" Then, there was complete darkness as the last glimmer of light in her vision dimmed.
Retsu was walking back to class 10 minutes after Mikan left. He was walking when he saw someone lying on the ground.
Retsu Pov
I was walking back to class when I saw someone. I couldn't really see who it was as I was quite a distance away from him/her.
I stopped walking and peered at the person. Did that person tripped and fell? No, the position that person is lying in was quite impossible for that. After a few seconds or so, I realized that the person wasn't moving. At all. I swiftly took a few steps closer to 1. Find out who that person was, 2. To see if he/she was playing dead or something.
I was a feet apart from the person on the ground. I looked at the person's features carefully. Then, something clicked in my mind. Sakura. Sakura Mikan. That person was Sakura. No, she wasn't playing dead, she was unconscious!
Okay, I, Li Retsu, isn't that cold by heart. Not at all. I act cold so that blah-blah-blah-blah-blah you know what is my reason already. BUT, I'm not that cold to leave someone who is unconscious lying on the ground right?
…
Righhht?
…
Whatever, I just know that I'm not that cruel.
I carried her bridal style and pondered on where I should head to. 1. Nurse Office No, that won't do, she'll be too distracted with me there. 2. Her room. No way, impossible, it's not right for me to enter her room, so nuh-uh. So, choice 3 is my room. No choices left. I sighed mentally. How the hell did she end up unconscious? I see no injuries that might be the cause of it.
I strode to my room carrying her. She was really light. Everybody's gazes were on us. There were a lot of people as class just ended and they are going back to their room. Oh yeah, my fangirls were there too. They were malicious, I tell you. Malicious. I dealt with them by freezing them.
I stepped into my humongous room and settled her onto the king-sized bed. I sat on a stool near the bed and watched her. I was pondering how she got unconscious but my brain did not co-operate. My eyes flickered to her face. I stared, after a while, I blushed.
"God, no. I shouldn't be here admiring how p-pretty she is. I should be looking for Nanoha and Seiya." He murmured, slapping his forehead. I was obviously loosing it. I'm going crazy. Wait, both are the same meaning. No, that's not the point!
WHY am I going nuts for a newcomer like her? This hasn't happened before. What's going on with me? Gah, forget it….
I left Sakura alone in the room as I proceeded to find Nanoha and Seiya, not forgetting Tsubasa. Mainly, the gang.
My mind was still on her even when I'm walking. I was so deep in my thoughts that I did not notice that someone was calling out to me.
"RETSU KUN! MOU! How many times do I need to repeat before you can hear me?" Nanoha yelled. I turned around to see them, and boy, Nanoha clearly wasn't so happy.
"Hey" I said, not really wanting to provoke Nanoha further. Seiya was looking at me, amused, and Tsubasa was just tagging along, hands behind his head, as anyone could see.
"Mou, you finally responded!" Nanoha puffed her cheeks out.
"Ne, Retsu, what made you to go so deep in thought?" Seiya asked in amusement. "It's really rare."
I blushed and said," Nothing". But the keyword should be 'tried to say' not 'said'. My blush was way too obvious and I stuttered on the word 'nothing'.
"Aha…I see…" Seiya bobbed his head up and down.
I sweat dropped. There's no way to stop what's planning in the brain of a scheming little Seiya in situations like this.
"O-oi, umm, just now, I found Sakura lying on the ground, unconscious."
Seiya stopped chuckling while Nanoha snapped out of her fury and looked into my eyes to trace any signs of a joke.
"Unfortunately, it isn't a joke."
"WHAAT?" All of them, including Tsubasa shouted in my ears.
"OI! DON"T YELL IN MY EAR!" I yelled back at them.
"H-HAI! WE'RE SORRY!" They then apologized, Nanoha and Retsu, profusely to me. I looked at their sorrowful faces and burst out laughing.
Gosh, it was so hard to bottle up my emotions in front of them! I guess I scared them just now. I get really angry when people scream in my ear knowing the fact that mine's super sensitive.
But sometimes, they cheer me up. Like now, for instance.
Nanoha and Seiya stared at me before laughing too. Tsubasa just gave a low chuckle.
We were laughing madly until…..
"HAHAHAHAHA—" Nanoha suddenly stopped laughing. Her eyes widened.
"Now wait a damn minute, why are we LAUGHING WHEN MIKAN CHAN'S UNCONSCIOUS!"
All of us immediately ceased laughing and stared at her.
Mikan's pov
My eyes flickered open. I sat up from the bed grouchily. That was when I realized that this was not my room. How did I know, you asked? Before I stepped into class today, I took a peek at my room. Clever right?
"No wonder I thought that the ceiling looked a little different just now."
I got up from the bed and felt a sharp pain in my head. I winced and fell to my knees.
"Ouch! What the hell? It hurts! My head hurts!" Despite the pain I was feeling, I tried to stood up, using the table desk as a support. It was not too far away from me. I clutched my head with a hand. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a letter on the table.
It Read:
Sakura, I've found you unconscious in the hallway so I brought you here to rest. You might not know but you've slept for approximately two days. Me, Seiya and Nanoha have gone for a mission that starts at 11. Don't go for the mission, you need to rest. We figured out that you would wake up today, so we wrote this letter.
-Retsu
So, it's him that helped me huh…Hmm…Wait…Mission? At 11? Today? I looked at my wrist watch. 10.57p.m. HOLY SHIT! I ONLY HAVE 3 MINUTES LEFT TO PREPARE!
I quickly teleported to my room and put on my mission clothes. I tied up my hair into a messy bun and put on my mask. It covered half of my face and was decorated with orange crystals. I took out a white jewelry box from my desk drawer and opened it. It contained necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. Those were my Alice controllers. I put on a blue (water) earring, Red (fire) earring, light blue (ice) earring, and a transparent (wind) earring. Then, I placed on my necklace that had a rainbow colored crystal (S.E.C). I will definitely need to use it. Next, I put on a bracelet that had an orange crystal (Nullification). This was a must. It would be ultra dangerous if my nullification gets out of control.
During this time, I didn't notice that my headache had ceased.
Then, I used my tracking Alice to find out where the gang was and teleported there.
The first thing I saw was Sakura Sensei. I turned around, too see Retsu, Seiya, Nanoha, Tsubasa. They stared at me, eyes wide, jaws agape.
"Yo," I greeted casually which seemed to irk them even further.
Then, I thought I saw Retsu's vein pop.
"What are you doing here?" He asked, his tone filled with venom.
"Mission."
"But I told you to stay!"
"You did? When?" I asked, pretending to have not read the letter. I smirked at Retsu's irritated scowl.
Retsu fumed. I smirked again.
"That's crazy Mikan Chan…" Nanoha and Seiya said together.
"So what if I am?" I shot back.
"Chibi….." Tsubasa murmured, shaking his head.
"Guys? I have no clue what cha' talking about but go now. You have a mission." Sakura sensei interrupted.
"Okay," We replied.
…
"What are you guys waiting for?" She asked irritably.
"You haven't told us what we're supposed to do yet," We answered.
Sakura Sensei blinked.
"Eh? You're right! I forgot…"
A huge, fat sweatdrop came tumbling down our heads.
"Eto…Your mission is to retrieve Aoi Hyuuga from the AAO's hideout. Alice of fire."
"Okay," I replied.
I used my teleporting ALice again.
"Name: Aoi Hyuuga
Place: AAO's hideout
Alice: Fire
Take us to her exact location in 10 seconds," I murmured.
This was a different kind of teleporting. It was used to teleport many people at once and it'll help you get to the exact location you want.
"Hold onto me. I'm teleporting us. Hurry," I told them. A digital figure was counting before us.
Everyone grabbed onto me and by the count of 0, we all teleported.
Within 2 seconds, we arrived at the place. Everyone's head was spinning. Well, of course, they're not used to it.
I looked around me. A cage? We're in cage? Then I spotted a girl with raven black hair and crimson eyes crouching in a corner. Her clothes were torn and tattered. Her hair was in a mess. There were scars on her face. I guessed that it was Aoi Hyuuga.
I walked over to her.
"Aoi Hyuuga, are you Aoi Hyuuga?" I asked softly.
She nodded her head and begged, clutching desperately at the hem of my shirt."Please, please don't hurt me! I'll do whatever you want! Don't hurt me! Please!"
"Aoi Hyuuga, We're here to save you," I was quite surprised at what she said. They must have treated her very badly for her to behave like that.
Her eyes widened. "Really? Really? Me?"
"Yes, you." I replied, nodding my head, a smile plastered on my face just to assure her that I wasn't lying.
Suddenly, she crawled closer to me and grabbed my shoulders.
"Please! Take me away from here! Please save me! Please! I don't care where I have to go or what I have to do! Let me out of here!" She pleaded desperately.
Now, I was even more curious on what happened. But I know I shouldn't probe in. I know what she will feel, I felt it before. There's always something you'll never want to say.
"I will," I comforted her.
Then, I heard footsteps coming.
Shit! The guards! A lot of them were coming! I got out of the cage and prepared to fight them.
The gang had seemed to realized it too and they were at they were surrounding Aoi, trying to protect her while forming a plan in their heads. Until then, I must not loose. Not at least until they have formed a plan.
In a second, all the guards surrounded me. There was a huge number of guards. It would take a while to take them down. I couldn't afford Aoi getting hurt. I have to get her out of here! I then teleported her back to Alice Academy in a flash, and made sure that she was with Sakura Sensei.
I was in my fighting position. My gang was still in the cage, forming a plan. They were in a spot that couldn't be seen at the positions of the guards.
I used my ice Alice to knock out some of the guards immediately, not wanting to waste time. Then, I proceeded to use my wind Alice. But before I took another step, my head suddenly started hurting. A lot. The guards then saw a chance and aimed a stream of fire at me. I was crouching down, holding my head in pain. I wanted to block off that fire, but I just couldn't. My head hurts too much! I saw that stream of fire aiming for me. The light blinded my eyes.
My head hurts…Could this be my end? I had no way to survive now… Am I going to die? Like this? Without being able to find her? Not being able to find my mother? My very own mother? This is the end. I'm really going die, Even if I survived and went to the Hospital, I will have no will to continue living. I haven't even found my mother and friends that I could trust. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Nanoha's eyes widened.
"NO!" She screamed.
Nanoha's pov
I saw a stream of fire heading straight for her. She was in pain. She was clutching her head. She was going to get…killed… No….No…
"NO!" I shouted.
I grabbed my pearl like device and screamed out, "Ranging heart! SET UP!" A pink light surrounded me as I underwent my transformation. After completing my transformation, I was wearing my barrier jacket. A pink pair of small wings were at the sides of my white boots. I flew to Mikan as fast as I could. [Round shield] Raging heart, my device, spoke mechanically. My device, after transformation, was no longer a pearl. It was now a staff pink and yellow in colour. I raised my hand and a pink round shield with some weird lettering on it appeared. I blocked away some of the fire but I was quite late. The fire had burned me and now I was blocking it, but not all the fire was blocked. There was still some fire that was burning me. The pain was unbearable but I endured it.
"Raging heart!" I yelled. "Cartridge load!"
Raging heart the loaded it cartridge. When a device load it cartridges, my power becomes stronger and more destructive. But it was very dangerous to the device. My shield expanded and was thicker.
Shit, I needed to do something about these guys! The guard was still not stopping his streams of fire. I had a way to defeat all of them here. There was two ways. But I chose the stronger method as I did not want to take any chances.
"Retsu! Seiya! Tsubasa! Cover for me!"
They nodded and took my place in defending Mikan. Retsu made a water barrier, Seiya tried to extinguish the flames with his Alice while Tsubasa stopped the other guards from moving.
I stood in front of Mikan but behind them. I pointed my staff the guards. A magical circle appeared under my feet.
"Raging heart! Countdown!"
[10…9…8…7…] It started to count.
Thousands of small round balls of pink light merged together with each other. The small balls of pink light were still gathering endlessly. Two small circles that looked like ribbons with magical words carved on it were circling my device. (This is all from the anime Mahou Shoujou lyrical Nanoha)
"Why? Why did you protect me?" I heard Mikan speak.
[4…3...] Raging heart was still counting.
"Because we're friends." I replied simply.
She was silent then.
[2…1…0…]
I took at deep breath.
"STARLIIIGHT…."
The balls of pink light stopped gathering. The huge ball of pink light at the tip of my staff grew larger.
"BREAKER!" I continued. At that moment, Tsubasa, Retsu, Seiya quickly moved out of the way and stood behind me.
A huge pink light blasted out from the huge ball and attacked the guards.
I pressed my feet down with my body weight as hard as I could, or else I would be sent flying due to the force of starlight breaker.
My starlight breaker was my strongest attack that I have. It was able to break through more than 10 walls.
When the light died down, I was out of cartridge. All of the guards were on the floor seriously injured. Apparently, I blasted a hole through the whole AAO. I guess that was about 20+ walls, I think. Either that or more than 20 walls were broken. But I was fine, only that some parts of my clothes were torn and burnt. My ribbon tying up my hair was burnt totally, causing my hair to be let down.
"That was a nice workout," I said, smiling a little.
I held Raging heart to my face and asked it," Raging heart, are you okay?"
I was worried about it, of course. I mean, doing cartridge load was super dangerous and it could break Raging heart into pieces!
[Don't worry, master]
It went back into being a pearl and I was out of my transformation.
I turned to face Mikan and found that she was not in pain anymore.
Mikan's pov
I was staring at her. Somehow, when I looked at her starlight breaker, my headache ceased. It was so scary, dangerous yet peaceful, soothing at the same time. I wonder why?
"Why did you guys save me from them? I treated you so badly and yet…" I looked at my hands then to them, my voice barely audible.
"Because we're friends!" Nanoha smiled.
I looked at her in the eye then to Retsu and Seiya, then Tsubasa. I stood up and muttered," I'm sorry, and… Thank you… for saving me…" A drop of tear ran down my cheeks. I've finally found them. They were someone I could trust, for sure. That only left my mother.
I saw them smile and walked towards me. They put their hands on my shoulder.
"It was," Retsu, Seiya and Tsubasa started.
"Our pleasure," Nanoha continued.
I stared at them, before giving a small thank you.
"Arigato…Ne, Can I be your friend? Is it alright to?" I asked timidly.
They blinked.
"Eh? Didn't I say twice that that you were already our friend?" Nanoha teased.
I sniffed and wiped away my tears.
"Arigato…I'll show you who I am, I promise."
I then teleported them back to the academy.
And that's it! The anime Nanoha is from is really very good! You all should watch it!
Please do leave a review!