Chapter six: Let me get this strait

Chapter eleven: Shmuck-ish Angel

The Fat Lady refused to come back to her frame. Instead, they put a wired-o named Sir Catagon(sp?).

"STAND AND FIGHT!"

"Go away, you freak show." Natsume said, grumpily.

"Ready, Natsume?" Ruka asked, "This guy's been yelling at me for the past twenty minutes."

"Why were standing there for twenty minutes?"

"Well... you know... you're standing in for what's-his-name in the Quidage game today."

"Yeah..."

"Do you even know how to play?"

"No."

"Then why...?"

"Using a flying object, I can get a good view of that forest."

"The Forbidden one?"

"Yup."

"But won't the broom, you know, hurt your...?"

"I hope not..."

"KOI!"

Ruka flinched. He had to tell Natsume now. Damn you, Hotaru...!

"Koi?" Natsume asked.

"Hello... Hotaru-chan..."

"-chan...?" Natsume muttered.

"Koi...! He's playing Hufflepuff!" Hotaru said, grabbing him by the arm, "Shouldn't you be supporting the Hufflepuffs?"

"Nah! Hufflepuff are very understanding! Natsume-kun's my best friend. Of course I'll be supporting him!"

"And if I was playing Natsume?"

"Um..."

"Ichuunoona?!" Natsume yelled. (Ichuunoona is girlfriend... don't ask!)

"Well... umm..." Ruka said, pressing his fingers together, Hinata-style.

He glared at Hotaru. "Ugly!"

"Baka."

"Ugly! Ugly! Very ugly girl!"

"Natsume!"

"Baka, baka, mucho stupido..." (Spanish??)

"Ta Gueule!" (Russian??)

"Vous, soyez traquille." (French??)

(Note: these are all insults and rude fazes. Do not try them at home.)

"STOOOOOOOOOOP!!"

They both looked over at Ruka. Ruka panted. He composed himself.

"Natsume, I'm seeing Hotaru."

"I'm his girlfriend."

Ruka looked at her. He blinked. His face turned as red as a cherry, and he looked away from her.

"G-g-g-girl... friend..." Natsume blinked.

"Yes." Hotaru said, glaring at him.

"How LONG!?"

"Since you were hospitalized."

"Ah...!" Natsume twitched.

"Natsume..." Ruka muttered.

"Forget it! I'll see you at the match!"

Natsume walked off. He had pride.

Ruka slumped against the wall.

"Hotaru..."

"Yes?" she said with her arms crossed.

"Are you... what did you... did you only say that to annoy Natsume? I mean... do you really... like me... or are you just using me? ...damn, it's just... so hard to tell, with you!"

Hotaru blinked. "Why would I waste my time doing that?"

"Doing... what?"

"Messing with you. You've been my personal little slave since Mikan made us really meet."

"I... have?" Ruka asked, twitching.

"You're my boyfriend." She said with finality, "And I'm..."

Hotaru seemed to be struggling between two instincts. Ruka blinked.

"I'm... your..." she said through gritted teeth, "Your..."

"I love you!"

Hotaru looked at Ruka, shocked. Ruka had made a bold move. That wasn't normal. She didn't blink. She didn't take her eyes off of Ruka's blue... bold... eyes...

"I love you... and I don't understand it myself. You're selfish and I feel like I'm being used, but I can't help but to love you. I never thought you'd ever say you were my girl. Because I never thought you'd give yourself to anyone. You've always been such a free person... I want you to be happy, and free. It's all your choice... Hotaru..." he said, looking her with deep eyes, "Are you my girl?"

Hotaru stared at him. She crossed her arms without looking away or changing her expression. She seemed to think for a moment.

"Yeah," she said, her expression changing to her usual demonic one, "I'm your girlfriend. You're my boyfriend, and you'll be going steady! There's no one else for me, so I guess I'll go steady too..."

And for Hotaru, that meant 'I love you. I want to marry you someday.' Ruka sighed.

"Yay..." he said dully, kissing her. His girl made him tiered and frustrated but... he loved that about her.

Later

"Harry!" Wood called through the rain. "Find the snitch!"

"Hyuuga!" Wood called, "Stop spacing out! You said you can play! So use your club to protect the other players!"

Natsume looked at the club in his hand and tossed it at Woods head.

"HYUUGA!" Wood yelled, throwing it back. "YOU DON'T HIT TEAM MEMBERS!"

(Fred in the meantime was laughing his ass off)

Harry had caught sight of the snitch. Natsume had caught sight of a black dog. Natsume thought it was wired for a dog to be in the stands. He sped up higher to get a better view without Wood noticing he was watching a dog instead of the game. He was up in the air with Harry. Wood seemed to think this was a good idea.

"Good, Hyuuga! If a bludger comes Harry's way, get rid of it!"

Natsume ignored his request. The dog looked familiar...

Suddenly, everything went cold. Natsume looked around. Strange black hooded creatures were all around. Suddenly, Natsume felt terrible. Images flashed through his mind.

"Fire!"

"GYA!!"

"Aoi! Aoi!" little Natsume was running, looking for his sister in the fire. Natsume was trying to control the fire, but couldn't. He didn't create it.

"AOI!!"

FLASH!

"I hear he's a murderer!"

"Oh no! I'm scared!"

"He's got the fire alice. Burned down his entire village. Injured his own father..."

'It wasn't me...' Natsume thought, 'No... if I tell them that... Aoi will...'

FLASH

VERY little Natsume was crying in his father's arms.

"Why Mama have die? Why? Why? Why Aoi? Why'd she do it?"

"You're baby sister didn't kill your mother; you mother gave everything she had for your sister. Protect Aoi with your life like you did Mama?"

"Y-yes, Papa! I promise!"

FLASH

"I WANT MY SISTER! GIVE HER TO ME! WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO HER?! WHERE IS SHE?! AOI! AOI!!"

FLASH

"Natsume! Why? Why does it have to be Natsume?" Ruka asked a bleeding, just-turned-9-years-old Natsume.

"I want to become stronger... so I can protect you... Ruka..."

FLASH

"GYAAAA!" Mikan screamed as the ground beneath her collapse.

"MIKAAAAAN!" screamed the ten-year-old Natsum, lunging for her hand as she fell.

"Nat-!"

FLASH

"So Ruka's the one you like? Not Natsume?" Koko asked Mikan.

"Yes..."

"WAIT! NO! That's not what I meant!"

FLASH

"Father... has been trying to write me?" Natsume asked.

"Natsume?"

FLASH

"ANIKI!! HELP ME!!"

"AOI!!"

FLASH

"Mi... kan...?" ten-year-old Natsume awoke in an abandoned warehouse to find him, Permy, and Mikan Sakura tied up.

"Oh... Permy, Permy! It's Natsume! He's awake!"

Mikan was in trouble... because why?

"Why... are you here?"

"We saw you being kidnapped and we followed!" she whispered, "But... well..."

She was here... because he was in trouble? What kind of girl was this? Was someone... going to... get hurt because of him?

FLASH

"NASTUME!"

"Out of the way, little girl!"

Natsume opened his eyes to see Mikan getting thrown to the ground.

"You... BASTARDS!"

End flash backs.

Natsume awoke to find himself in the hospital wing. People were staring down at him, and he saw that he and Potter were in bed. Harry was holding twigs. Why? Who cares?

Natsume sat up.

"Hyuuga-kun!"

"Those dementos were WAY out of line!"

"Dumbledor was furious!"

"Wood's trying to drown himself in the shower..."

"We lost..."

"You fell over a hundred feet!"

Natsume looked over and saw Mikan looking very worried. He patted her head. Ruka came to his side, too.

"Natsume..."

"Save it. If you want to have a girlfriend, it's okay..."

"R... Really?"

"Yes. Imai better treat you right."

Ruka smiled as Natsume pulled him into a hug. Mikan smiled. The two boys cuddled like brothers. It was so sweet. Natsume was a great older brother, but sometimes he needed to be someone's twin. Everyone needs that sometimes. Very few can have the real thing, but that's were friends come in.

Natsume looked over and saw Hotaru in the corner of the room looking at them. He pushed Ruka off him (as if he wasn't the one who started the hug) and tried to get out of bed.

"No!" Madam Pomfery yelled, "You need rest!"

"Beat it, Lady." Natsume snapped. He walked over to Hotaru, who stiffened. He pulled her into a non-emotional hug. (Ever had one of those? Those kinds of hugs you give to people you're supposedly related to but never met before because your parents told you to? The awkward "OMG I can't believe I'm hugging/being-hugged-by this person!" kind of hug. That one.) Hotaru blinked and didn't hug back. (Ever had that happen, either? I have... bleh!)

"Treat him right, or I'll burn your ass off." He threatened in her ear. Now Hotaru simply bordly pushed him away, with a "Meh" but inside she knew she better do what he said. No one went against Natsume except Mikan Sakura.

"NATSUME!" Mikan yelled, happily. (Speak of the devil...) "Ne ne! Natsume! I think you've really hurt your head..." Mikan kidded. Natsume hit her head.

"Itai!" she complained, holding her head with her hands. Natsume smiled at her.

Later

Natsume was thinking carefully. Yuka (Z) and Black were at Hogwarts. That was good in a way. He didn't have to try to leave. Like the unfortunate incident of earlier. The Quiddige Match wasn't the first time he'd been caught by a 'dementor'.

Natsume had tried to sneak out of the castle. Unfortunately, he didn't get very far. Suddenly, everything all so much colder. Natsume lit a fire for himself in his palm, but suddenly another thing happened.

A great, big, black, hooded... THING appeared out of nowhere. Natsume was caught off guard, and stumbled backwards. The creature swooped down on him and began... what Natsume could only describe as sucking the happiness away from him by sucking the air. (If that made since) Natsume was having fleeting memories of his past life. Of bed memories. Ones of the fire of his village. Ones of Persona. Ones of his brunette. Ones of Tsubasa's disappearance...

Natsume was able to conjure up enough energy to make a fire ball and threw it at the creature. The creature screamed in pain. But from the lack of energy Natsume had from the attack in the first place, that little fireball took up a lot of energy. But even so, he ran for it. Back into the castle was safest. He could feel blood spittle making its way to his mouth. He covered it with his hand, but the blood accumulating in his mouth was getting greater with every step. Surly, this school had a nurse, right? All school's had a nurse. Unfortunately, Natsume didn't know where the nurses' office was. That was a problem.

Natsume couldn't run anymore. He began to walk, but didn't get very far. Natsume leaned against the wall. He felt the hot blood bubble up to his mouth again. It was almost like a fountain of blood inside him. His mouth was the bowl the water (or in this case, blood) fell into, and the fountain was his throat. Natsume was drained. What was that creature that made such a little fireball do so much damage on Natsume's system? Normally, he didn't start spitting up blood unless he used his alice about five more times in a big-ish way. Natsume cringed as is insides burned in pain.

"Hey, Natsume!" he heard that boy... Ron Weasly, wasn't it? called, "Been kissing girls again?"

That was good, Natsume thought. He thought he was perfectly fine. Natsume didn't bother to look up. If Ron even detected that something was wrong, he would tell someone. This was just another episode. It was nothing. Natsume just had to ride it out...

"Natsume, you don't look too good," said the voice of Harry Potter.

Natsume looked up. Ron wasn't alone. Ron, Harry, Imai...

And Mikan.

Terror filled Natsume's eyes. Mikan looked worried. If she knew something was wrong... If she knew what Natsume had been doing to his body every time he used his alice... If she knew, If she knew...

She couldn't know.

Natsume took a step forward.

"Natsume..." Mikan muttered.

Natsume removed his hand, thinking he could hold back the blood for just a second to tell her 'Don't be an idiot. I'm fine.' but the blood had other plans. It dripped out of his mouth. The blood had a new space to fill and began rushing out of his throat again. Natsume felt the full extent of the damage done to his body in that instant. Everything hurt. Everything bled. His legs gave into the pain and he collapsed.

"NATSUME!"

He wasn't sure exactly when he blacked out. Whenever it was, it wasn't soon enough. He felt a sharp pain in the side of his head and the black out took full affect.

Natsume crossed his arms. Natsume had already contacted Persona about this, and Persona seemed pleased with the fact that Natsume was in the right place already. Natsume wasn't so pleased. Black, he was told, wanted to kill Harry Potter. But what did Yuka want? Mikan? If so, for what reason? Did she want her for AAO? Or did she really give a damn about Mikan? Or maybe she didn't want Mikan at all. Maybe she was smitten for Black and wanted to get on his good side by helping him kill Harry Potter. Or maybe... Or maybe...

Natsume hit his head on the tree next to him. His ideas were getting stupider by the second. He decided to just... stop thinking.

"NAAAATSUUUUMEEEEE-KUUUUUUN!"

Natsume turned around to see Mikan running up to him, waving. Natsume glared at her.

"What, Polka?"

"Just thought I'd say 'Hi'!" she said defensively. She crossed her own arms.

"Oh reeeeeeally? Shouldn't you be thinking about my answer instead of bugging me?"

"Answer? What are you-?" but then Mikan remembered. Natsume had confessed his love for her. She told him she'd give him an answer, but she really didn't know what that was.

"I... I'm still thinking!" she said, blushing, "I mean, we're friends and all, but you're also a jerk!"

"Then why are we friends?" Natsume asked, raising an eyebrow. Mikan blinked. Why were they friends? Natsume was mean, perverted, jerk-ish, and a complete Casanova... but was that actually what she liked about him? Mikan began to wonder. Natsume have a very playboy-ish image. He was famous in the female race.

But Natsume wasn't just that. He was a good person. Even if it didn't always (usually) show. Everything he does... he does for what? Not for the sake of pride or his image. He once gave up that to protect Mikan. It's not for fun. Well, maybe some of it's for fun, but it doesn't seem to make him happy most of the time. In fact, sometimes he seemed down right depressed after doing terrible things. Especially if he did something to Ruka or Mikan. And it wasn't to please Persona. He would disobey Persona to protect other people, like Mikan. And it wasn't...

Mikan stopped thinking. Something clicked in her brain. Everything Natsume did, he did for... Mikan.

"Natsume! I-!" she began, realizing the obvious choice. But Natsume was gone.

He left wile she was thinking.

"Th-th-that little-!" she started. But then, she smiled. "That little shmuck-ish angel!"

(please continue to chapter twelve)

Author Note:

Sorry for taking so long. Eheh... This is a special segment I like to call, Kitten's Dictionary! "Shmuck" – a jerk. This concludes this segment of Kitten's Dictionary! Lemme see... I thank Nadeshiko968, Blizzel, and Music of the heart for reviewing!

a href"s199./albums/aa5/mitsuki312/?actionview¤t219721.jpg" target"blank"img src"i199./albums/aa5/mitsuki312/219721.jpg" border"0" alt"mikan natsume hotaru"/a