Chapter Twenty-One: Collisions in the Night

Turns out there were complications with Sumire's healing, some wounds kept reopening and refused to heal, so Subaru had to mend one of her arms by hand and by stitch. He even gave her a sling. She was not happy about it and it prolonged her stay in the infirmary to three days. Koko stayed with her every moment of the day and Ruka was at the temple frequently as well. He seemed to be constantly distracted though and worried about Natsume insufferably.

No one had heard from Natsume since that night in the infirmary. Ruka had even gone as far as asking around Persona's pub and if anyone had seen him. Word was no and that Persona was actually furious with him because Natsume wasn't doing as he wanted. Koko made the awful comment that he might have gone back into the tunnels and Ruka almost fainted.

Mikan slowly isolated herself from Koko and Ruka, even though they sought her out constantly, but she was trying to get back on better terms with Hotaru. It was proving to be strenuous and demanding. Natsume hadn't been around again so that was taken care of. Secretly she wished he would come by. She had been thinking about what Tsuabsa and Misaki had told her a lot lately and she could only hope that he was okay.

The day Subaru cleared Sumire from the infirmary was an exciting one. Everyone was gathered around her bed and Subaru gave her some herbs to take for any leftover pain and scarring. He advised her that she was free from the infirmary but that she should actually stay in the temple for a week or so given the circumstance and unpredictable side effects of injuries that stem from shadow attacks. He even kept prodding at Mikan even though she assured him she was fine.

"Hold on," Subaru said, excusing himself. "I have something for both of you in my office."

Sumire loved every minute of the attention everyone gave her. Overall, she was just excited to get out of the infirmary. She was telling Koko he would have to spoon feed her when she suddenly stopped. "Oh!" she said towards the doors.

Everyone turned to look and there leaning against the door frame was Natsume. He started walking towards everyone and stopped just shy of Ruka. On closer inspection, everyone could see that his arm was bandaged and he looked uncomfortable standing there. Mikan wanted him to look at her but his gaze remained fixed on Sumire's bed.

"Here you go," Subaru said. "Someone left these for you days ago but I completely forgot about them. They've kind of died a little I think. Sorry." Mikan's gaze remained fixed on Natsume as Subaru handed whatever was left for them to Sumire.

"These are repulsive," Sumire said.

Mikan's gaze fell to Sumire after her comment and she felt her heart accelerate. A point on her finger throbbed and she felt something tighten in her chest. It hurt to breath. Subaru had handed a bouquet of black roses to her. They were just as disturbing looking as the first time she saw them, only now they were withering and looked even worse.

Hastily, she reached forward and swatted them out of Sumire's hands. "Don't touch those," she cried frantically. They fell to the floor and Nonoko stepped away from them cautiously.

Some of them stared at Mikan like she had grown a second head, but she was still having trouble breathing and her finger throbbed. It throbbed like Hell.

Tsubasa finally put it together. "Those are the same roses that were on your parents' grave," he said explaining to everyone else. "That means they're from…"

"Persona," Mikan said. "Those are from Persona." She looked up and found Natsume staring at her. Of course she just had a mental episode.

Koko carefully found a spare cloth and picked up the bouquet between the fabric. "What should we do with them?"

"Burn them," Sumire sneered.

Koko shrugged and handed them off to Natsume. "You're the pyro," he said.

He stepped back from the group and held them away from his body. A flame engulfed the bouquet and then a familiar smell wafted through the room, rotting flesh.

Those that had had the misfortune of being close enough to a shadow attack knew the smell and got in defensive positions, looking for where the shadow came from. The others simply stood there holding their noses.

"What is that awful smell?" Misaki asked gagging.

"Where is it?" Koko screamed.

Mikan looked around for a shadow too but couldn't find one. Koko and Ruka seemed just as perplexed. She glanced back at Natsume who was glancing down at his still extended hand. Willowy wisps of smoke fell from his hand to the floor. His eyes suddenly grew wide.

"Hyuuga," Hotaru said through gritted teeth. "What was that?"

He dropped his hand and his eyes flashed to Mikan's before he abruptly turned and left.

Mikan turned to Ruka to gauge his reaction to Natsume's own reaction. She found him standing there with a confused look on his face. Natsume knew something, she was sure of it, and by the looks of everyone else, he was the only one to understand what had just happened.

"What just happened?" Tsubasa asked.

Sumire moved from her spot and stood over the burnt remains of the flowers. "Those flowers had the same smell as a shadow creature."

"What?" Anna squealed from her spot.

"You're sure those were from Persona?" Hotaru asked Mikan.

Mikan nodded. "Positive."

Hotaru turned to Ruka and Koko. "Persona," she said. "What's his ability?"

Koko frowned and Ruka responded. "Ability? He doesn't have one."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Ruka said. "He said so himself. He's never used one, right?" He turned to Koko and Sumire for confirmation.

"He doesn't have one," Koko said.

"You don't think he got them from that creep in the tunnels do you?" Sumire asked no one in particular.

Koko's eyes widened. "The guy that hurt you? I really hope not!"

"Hold on," Mikan said. "Shouldn't someone go after him?" She turned to Ruka. "He was gone for days and then he shows up and suddenly leaves."

"Oh. Right," Ruka said heading for the door.

"I'm going with you," Hotaru said, shocking everyone.

Ruka faltered in his step. "Wait. What?"

"I'm going with you," she repeated sternly.

Mikan gawked at her. Hotaru was usually the one who took a back seat to unexpected adventures. She wondered what had prompted her sudden interest in finding Natsume, the person she supposedly still wanted to murder.

Once Ruka and Hotaru left everyone else kind of awkwardly stood around for a while. They really didn't know what to do besides stand there and try to make sense of what just happened. Eventually they all went their own ways.

Mikan found herself seeking out Koko and Sumire after some time. She had to check with them.

"Where do you think he went?" she asked them.

"Who?" Koko asked flashing her a smile.

"You know who," she said glaring at him.

"Lover boy?" His smile grew wider as Mikan panicked. He said that right in front of Sumire.

"Oh relax," Sumire said rolling her eyes at Mikan. "Koko tells me everything."

"He probably went to murder Persona," Koko said casually. "What?" he said after Mikan gave him a terrified look. "He gave you like an infected flower or something. Of course he's mad!"

Koko's answer had just made her even more nervous and she found herself heading to her room to distract herself. The Fairytales book lay in the corner of her room where she had tossed it earlier that week. She bent to pick it up and flipped through the pages lightly. She opened the book to the first story and began to read.

The stories she reads are bizarre and far from ordinary fairytales. They are built on lies, deceptions, and jealousy. The book was not meant for children. She just finished a story about two towns connected by a glass bridge. In the two towns were two lovers, every night one would sneak over to the other's town. One night it was particularly dark out though and one of the lovers failed to see that the glass bridge had shattered halfway through his crossing and he fell to his death. The only way to revive the fallen lover was to smear ogre's blood over his remains so the girl went out to search for the ogres. She found them and got them drunk, then slit one in the night and drained its blood. With the ogre's blood she was able to revive her fallen lover.

Mikan found the story disturbing yet captivating. She could not figure out if it had a hidden lesson in it somewhere or not, and frankly she didn't want to know. The stories were just the right amount of crazy to distract her while Ruka and Hotaru chased Natsume down. They distracted her successfully for two days.

She was reading in her little alcove in the library when Tsubasa poked his head around the corner. She looked up from the story she was reading, The Wonderful Birch, and eyed him.

"Someone's here to see you," he said.

She had been using Natsume's feather as a bookmark and placed it between the pages then moved to get up but he told her not to. They had followed him up the stairs apparently. She leaned back against the window. "Okay," she said.

"Later then," he called, his head disappearing.

She didn't expect who poked their head around the bookcase next. She blinked down at him a couple of times.

"Yoichi?" she said, curiously. She got up to bend down to his level and peered at him. "What're you doing here?"

He reached in his pocket for something and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to her. She unfolded it and frowned. He had drawn her getting bitten by a snake now. How lovely. She stood so she could sit back down in her window seat but came face to face with Natsume or his chest since she was shorter than him.

"Oh!" she said surprised. She hadn't heard him approach, but of course he came with Yoichi. It made sense. Yoichi wouldn't come here alone.

He was so close she could feel the warmth of his body and smell fresh pine. She took a step back and saw that his hands were tucked into his pockets, and he stood there with a casualness she didn't expect. She found herself staring at him, it had been a while since they'd actually talked normally or anything really. Their last couple of encounters had been weird and consisted of them kissing, then the tunnels, her hugging him, and then the incident with the roses.

He wasn't saying anything and she found herself unable to keep his gaze. Eventually she motioned to Yoichi. "Is he here to diffuse the tension?"

"Tension?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said risking a glance at him. "You know, since you've been ignoring me or something." She saw his eyes narrow and had to admit to herself that she was shocked those words had come from her mouth. They were so direct and so unlike her.

She expected him to deny it. He didn't, instead she caught him smirking at her. "Do you want me to leave?"

No. She pursed her lips in frustration. No she didn't want him to leave. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him know that though. "You can do whatever you want," she said taking her spot back up on the window sill. She roughly opened the book to where she had bookmarked it and grew mortified. She had forgotten. Tucked between the pages was his feather, the one she had been using as a bookmark.

She felt embarrassed, so, so, so embarrassed. A blush was creeping up her neck and she chanced a look at him. He was looking at the feather, the damn feather. She snapped the book closed and his eyes flashed to hers. She watched him as he noticed her embarrassment and flushed appearance. The fire in his eyes was so bright she actually wondered if there was a flame behind them.

She stood and took a step towards him. "You know," she started. "Everyone thinks I've made your life worse."

"Really?" he said. Mikan didn't like how he said it either. It was so casual and almost sarcastic. She was being serious, and here he was being sarcastic.

"Yeah, and it turns out they're right."

"Are they?" The fire in his eyes was still going strong, as he answered again like their conversation was some game, and she was losing terribly.

"Hotaru says you don't care for me," she said. "That you're bad for me."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she regretted them. His stance went rigid and his eyes turned guarded. She felt extremely disappointed in herself. The taunting and teasing were so much better than the person he just retreated back to. He tried to play it off with a small smirk, but she had seen the dramatic shift. It was too late.

"She's right you know," he said. "I am bad for you."

For some reason the words had a different effect on her than he probably wanted. They made her heart race, instead of scaring her away. She caught herself biting on her bottom lip and froze. His gaze had fallen to her lips and she desperately wanted to feel his lips again. She tried to bait him by biting it again. It worked, because the next thing she knew he was pointing her chin up with his finger. Her lips parted slightly and she was sure she looked like a wide-eyed idiot.

He dropped her chin then and smirked at her. Inside, her heart sank. He was totally playing with her. She guessed it was only fair, she had tried to bait him herself first. Still she pursed her lips in frustration.

"Yoichi," he said looking only at her. "Let's go."

Mikan crossed her arms and watched as the little boy reached for Natsume's hand and how he held it tightly. She watched their backs but Natsume stopped suddenly and turned to look at her. She furrowed her brows at him.

"Midnight," he said. "The River Bridge. Come alone."

She blinked at him. The River Bridge was probably about a ten minute flight from the temple and he wanted to meet her there. At midnight. Alone. She studied his expression trying to understand his intentions but came up short. Whatever this was, whatever was happening between them, this collision or simply a moment in time was captivating. Slowly, she nodded her head yes.

As she watched them leave she began to wonder just what exactly she had agreed to. Why the bridge of all places and why midnight? Her head swam with scenarios and ideas but ultimately she had no idea. And their encounter itself had been a first. He had come simply to see her, and it wasn't so he could yell at her or call her childish. Just what kind of alternate universe was this?

When Tsubasa found her an hour later she was still in a tizzy. She had made up countless scenarios in her head for why he wanted to meet her at midnight, some bizarre, some heated, and others downright horrifying.

"Sooooo," Tsubasa drawled on, catching her attention. "What's got you in a daze?"

Mikan turned to glare at him. He had on a half-smile that really irritated her. "Nothing," she lied.

"Yeah? So what'd the punk want?"

"He didn't really say." Which was actually the truth. "Yoichi drew me a picture though." She held it out to him and he grimaced at the drawing. He asked her if he could frame it, and she glared at him.

"Well want to join some of us for dinner and some celebratory drinks?"

"Drinks?" she asked. "What are we celebrating?"

"You know," he nudged her. "Just Misaki and I finally getting together."

They had ended up going out to a small little tavern in the market place that prided itself with the best broccoli cheddar soup in all of Cloud Alice. Mikan was surprised to see that Tsubasa and Misaki had invited Ruka, Koko and Sumire. They fit right in though, Sumire especially fit in with Anna and Nonoko's boy obsession. Mikan found herself watching the sun go down and her leg tapping away frantically. She had declined Tsubasa's offers of ale and opted for peppermint tea to keep her awake, even though her nerves probably would have done the job fine.

She decided to isolate herself in the corner since she felt like she couldn't hold a decent conversation. It didn't stop people from coming up to her though. Misaki tried to get her to dance and Koko tried to entertain her by providing the inner dialogue of two angels that looked like they were on their first date. Eventually Ruka stumbled his way over to her.

"Tsubasa keeps shoving drinks on me," he slurred a little bit, placing a hand on her shaking knee causing her to stop.

She raised a brow at him. "You okay?"

He nodded and she noticed his eyes were a little glazed. "Are you?"

She smiled. "Of course, just a little distracted, sorry."

"Is it Natsume?" he asked her.

"No! No." It was a lie of course, but she didn't want to talk about him right now.

He laughed then. "Oh good. I was afraid it was."

She smiled weakly at him.

"You know," he said. "I talked to Hotaru about him." He swayed for a moment in his seat and Mikan reached out to steady him. "About Natsume."

"What about?" She tried to play it off as mild curiosity.

"His methods are unusual, but he means well. Everything just seems harder for him. He's been dealt a shitty hand and plays the only cards he can."

"It's some card game," Mikan said.

Ruka hiccupped suddenly and Mikan thought it was time to cut him off. "She's acknowledged that he was never trying to hurt you." He moved to squeeze her shoulder. "She said she'd give him one more chance."

Mikan's face must have been pure shock because Ruka commented on it. "I couldn't believe it either," he said. Mikan would have to thank her best friend later.

A small glass filled with amber liquid was sloppily placed down on the table they were sharing.

"That's for you Ruka!" Tsubasa called, swinging his arm around his shoulders.

Ruka stared mortified at it.

"Tsubasa," Mikan said critically, "he's about to pass out."

"Nonsense," he said. "I bought this for him, he's gotta drink it."

Ruka clumsily reached for the glass and Mikan swatted his hand away. She shot a glare at Tsubasa before she threw the amber liquid back into her own throat. It burned as it went down and she felt tears sting her eyes.

When she had finished choking it down she was met with stunned faces from both of them. "What was that?" Mikan asked.

"Dunno," Tsubasa shrugged. "I asked for his strongest stuff." He motioned to the bar tender as if they were old friends.

The taste hung in her mouth and she stood, as she stood shivers shook her body. She needed to wash the taste down with something so she ordered another peppermint tea.

"How about another?" Tsubasa asked her.

"One's enough," Mikan said.

A slumping noise came from behind her and she turned to see Ruka fall off his seat. She downed the tea quickly and helped him up. Koko came too but opted for laughing at him instead of helping him up.

"We should get him home," Mikan said, trying to pull him up.

"The night is young!" Koko sang.

"Yeah it's only nearly midnight!" Tsubasa called.

"What?" Mikan dropped Ruka and he fell back to the floor with a groan. "I have to go."

"Go?" Tsubasa asked. "Go where?"

Mikan thought it over for a moment. "Home," she lied. "Sorry, Koko can you take care of him?" She motioned to Ruka.

"I don't want to babysit!" he called after her as she ran for the door.

She popped out her wings and took flight. The wind was excruciatingly icy that night, and it felt like her blood was freezing as she flew. She didn't have time to change or remotely compose herself and she grew frustrated with herself. How had she let the time escape her like that? The flight would be longer coming from the market place too than if she had left from the temple.

She veered left towards the river and could see a faint outline of the bridge in the distance. She was close. She beat her wings faster and zipped towards it. She slowed significantly as she got closer, close enough to make out his frame and see him leaning over the stone railing. She landed just outside of the bridge's entrance. It wasn't a really graceful landing but it also wasn't bad either. She was too cold to care and as she walked toward him she could feel the stiffness of her body. He better have a good reason for wanting to meet out here in the bitter cold.

She found herself crossing her arms as she slowly walked over to him. She stood apart from him and waited. She took in his appearance, he had on a different jacket since the one he had given her had been ripped to shreds. It was still black but looked sharper and crisp and of course he had it unbuttoned like it wasn't cold out at all. His body actually looked relaxed.

He didn't look towards her, he just continued to look out over the bridge. After sometime he finally spoke. His voice was soft and composed. "I used to take Aoi here," he said.

Mikan's eyes widened and she couldn't hide the small gasp that came from her. He never spoke of such things before, especially not his sister.

"She loved coming here," he continued. "The river freezes over clear, she used to be amazed by it, and being able to see everything so clearly."

She mirrored his position on the railing and looked out at the river. It was frozen over and it was clear. So clear that all the rocks were visible in the moonlight. It took her breath away. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"Yes," he said, and when Mikan turned her head to look at him he wasn't looking out over the bridge anymore, but instead at her. His eyes were darker in the moonlight but still a deep red and she found herself lost in them. Until a shiver shook her body and she became aware of how cold she really was.

He casually lit a flame and held it in his palm. Mikan watched as it cracked and as his fingers played with the fire making it dance. It illuminated the features on his face and was reflected in his eyes. She felt herself lean towards the warmth. Then suddenly she found herself pushing his hand down. He had to quickly snuff the flame so it wouldn't burn her. He stared bewildered at her.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her heart beat fast. "Don't waste that on me, especially if it drains your energy."

His brows furrowed. "A little flame won't hurt me."

"Still," she said.

"You're cold," he said.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yeah well some of us don't radiate heat like you." She gestured to his body and then froze. He had raised his eyebrows at her comment.

"Radiate heat?" he repeated.

She found herself flushing at his question, thankful that the cold and night could somewhat hide it. Natsume moved from his position and stood in front of her. She backed up until her back hit the railing and she was forced to lean back against it. She was out of room but he still kept moving towards her. He raised his arms and placed two hands on either side of her against the railing. He had effectively trapped and pinned her in that spot. Their bodies were so close all she had to do was take one step to close the gap. She was right about his unnatural body heat. She could feel it surrounding her.

She stood trapped by his arms, not that she was complaining. She watched as he removed one hand to reach inside his jacket. Her eyes widened as he pulled out the white feather she had given him. It almost sparkled in the moonlight. She looked down at it and then met his eyes. She felt like she was suffocating in his presence, his heat, his eyes, his smell. Her heart pounded so hard.

"When you gave this to me you didn't know what it meant." He twirled the feather between his fingers. "You know now. Do you want it back?"

Mikan had to take a breath to steady herself. She had not expected that, definitely not at all. First she was surprised he had even asked. Second, she wished she could give him a thousand of her feathers. She searched his eyes but she had no idea what they were trying to say. She whispered her response, "No."

His eyes closed and he took a deep breath, she watched his chest rise and fall. Her right hand raised to his cheek and his eyes flashed open. She jerked it back, her hand was probably cold and had shocked him. She muttered an apology to him as he pocketed her feather and his hand fell back into place on the railing, trapping her again.

"You're unusually quiet," he said.

She fidgeted slightly. "I uh… wanted to…" She wanted him to kiss her. She wanted to pin her body against his and run her hands all up over him. "I was going to say…" Her eyes trailed to his lips and she unconsciously bit her bottom lip. Her face fell, when she realized what she had just done. She met his eyes and she knew he had perfectly seen what she had done. He rose his eyebrows and a slight smirk played on his lips. He knew what she wanted yet he didn't act on it.

He moved his hands closer on the railing to her and his arms grazed hers lightly. "What did you want?" he asked her calmly.

She took a deep breath and let it out. "Um…"

He furrowed his brows at her. "You smell like peppermint," he said, and she lost it.

She pushed herself off the bridge and closed the gap. She stood on tiptoes, her lips found his and her hands curled around his sides and to his back. She tried pulling him closer but he wouldn't budge. She yanked twice before he finally pulled her closer. His hands were at her waist and trailed along the skin just beneath the hem of her shirt. His fingers felt like fire on her skin.

She felt his body flush against hers and the heat enveloping her and warming her to her core. Their lips moved against each other's softly and then he suddenly pulled away. Mikan felt slightly dizzy from his fiery touch and the scent of pine and cinnamon.

"You're so short," he said with finality.

She hesitated. "What?"

He didn't answer her. Instead he gripped her around her waist and lifted her so she was sitting on the edge of the bridge. She didn't particularly like it because it felt like she could fall back at any moment. She found herself gripping his jacket with a death grip to keep herself from falling. As she was grasping for a better grip he titled her head towards him and he brushed his lips against hers once more. She tangled her arms around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist for security.

They kissed for some time before Mikan was the one to pull away. She had to, otherwise the kiss would have made her drunk. She felt like her whole body was intoxicated by him whereas he seemed almost completely composed. The only thing that wasn't were his eyes, they were flickering in the night.

She tried to contain her frantic heart beat that he could probably feel from underneath his hand on her neck and she took slow steady breaths.

"Mikan," he said and her pulse quickened even more. It was the first time she had ever really heard him call her by her name. It sounded beautiful coming from his lips. His eyes were dangerously stunning as he spoke. "I will never put you in danger again."