The breeze ruffled the sheets in Natsume's special star room. Not an unusual thing, usually, but today was no usual day.
Natsume knew something was wrong the instant she stepped out of the dorm. The bond was useful, but that didn't make the situation any better. He dealt a fatal blow to the man he was battling and ran toward Mikan's presence.
Mikan was alone and unprotected, her star level was all too clearly shown on her uniform, which she had changed into before the attack started. Natsume wished that she hadn't. It meant that the enemy new she was a valuable hostage, the golden stars shone brightly in contrast to the silver moonlight. A man raised is gun.
As gracefully as any swan, Natsume threw himself in front of Mikan, creating a small fire to burn the bullet, he had miscalculated the flame. Or rather he had not taken the type of bullet into account in his calculation. The bullet had been filled with acid so naturally the fire only made it worse. It continued on its course and the deadly liquid found its way straight to his eyes. He reflexively closed his eyes. Perhaps he wouldn't lose his eyesight permanently, but he was certainly blinded now. He moved toward the presence that he knew was Mikan. He shielded her with his body and gathered his power to release a cold flame a true inferno from hell itself. It travelled like a hurricane with Natsume and Mikan as the eye. The flame burned everything it touched to a cinder. But it like its creator knew the difference between enemies and allies.
The flame washed over the other DA members like water, refreshing and energising them, leaving the school buildings untouched.
The DA members collapsed to the ground gratefully. All the enemies were dead.
Natsume sank deeper into Mikan's embrace, he was exhausted after using so much power, he was glad he wasn't coughing up blood.
He felt Mikan move him away from her slightly and he felt her eyes on him. Shockingly he heard her scream in despair, and then she was crying into his shirt. Dazed, he belatedly remembered that he probably looked like death itself now, and it wasn't the best idea to let Mikan see him in the state he was in, but it was too late for that now. He gathered her into an embrace whispering to her.
The ground started to shake.
Natsume cursed. They had completely forgotten...
Mikan held on to Natsume for dear life. He looked awful and he would probably lose his eyesight, and even if he didn't he wouldn't see like he had been able to before. And it was all her fault. If only she hadn't been so foolish and reckless. If only she had just listened to him. If only she could have been more patient.
The ground was shaking now. It was scary, but she didn't care. She held Natsume refusing to let go, wallowing in self pity and guilt. She hated this war. She wished this attack hadn't happened. She wished that there was no threat to the academy. She wished with all her heart that the enemy and the people helping them attack would just drop dead; she wished that Natsume and the others weren't hurt; she wished they didn't have to fight. She wished that it could be as if the war had never taken place; that the members of the DA didn't have to deal with the guilt of taking a life alone. It just wasn't fair; above all she wished that others' would at least appreciate the academy's heroes. She was still crying into Natsume's shirt. She hated it when he got hurt, hated the fact that his alice ate through his life force, and she hated it above all that she could do nothing about it. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now she did she knew that she loved him, completely and unconditionally. And she wanted to help him, she wanted to at least ease his pain, or even transfer it to herself if need be. She would do anything to be with him.
And so she wished with all her heart.
Her embrace was like a vice, trapping Natsume, giving him no escape. He could breathe, but just barely so but he could, and so he didn't mind, in fact he liked it. He loved the feel of her embrace, the feel of her in his arms, and the fact that she had worried made his heart—as well as his pride— swell.
Natsume felt a lot better. On instinct he opened his eyes, both of them, to find them perfectly fine; looking over his body he found that all his wounds had been healed, and that he felt at peace, even after having killed so many. Around him, the others were coming to the same realization too.
A final tremor ran through the ground before that too was completely still.
Natsume drew Mikan closer to him; he had felt a great stir of emotion in her, it had been so great that it could have had the power to move a mountain- and it had, hypothetically- as well as something else just as strong, if not stronger.
Around them they saw the grounds return to their usual state though the alices embedded into it were completely drained of power as they had drawn on the strength reserved in them during the fight to keep themselves going.
They had no idea what power had caused this, but they just lay on the grass where they were. There was a great unknown power in their midst, one that they could never take on, even if they hadn't been so badly injured, but they didn't really care. It had helped them so much. Surely it was a friendly power. The only emotions they felt were relief and gratitude. Above all, they felt safe, and they knew that everyone else was safe too, that was the greatest blessing.
Only the Principal was worried.
He was worried nearly out of his wits for the welfare of his niece.
He knew she was safe but... how long would that safety last...