CHAPTER 26: Natsume's weakness, Reo's plans and helpful friends

Natsume headed to his room have some peace and quiet and to have some time to think of a way on how to save his Mikan but little did he know that he was being followed by his best friend. He entered his room and then suddenly punched the wall. "Damn it! How could I be so stupid!" he thought.

"Hurting yourself will not do anything good, you know."

He turned his back only to see his best friend entering his room while staring at him with eyes full of concern.

"Hey, I know that you are in a difficult situation right now. But sulking here in your room and hurting yourself is not going to help." Stated Ruka

"I know. It's just that how could I be so stupid?" he replied while slumping himself into his couch. "I went to her room last night and I didn't even notice that what I saw was just a freaking dummy!"

"Hey, it was a trap. Everyone fell for it so do not blame yourself, it's not your fault. It just looks like they really want to have Mikan-chan so they really planned for it. All you have to do is calm yourself down, get a grip, and then start thinking of ways on how to bring back Mikan here in the academy safe and sound." Ruka suggested.

"Hn. But how? My mind is currently not functioning very well as you can see."

"I don't know. Do what your heart tells you, I guess. If I was in your position right now, I wouldn't know what to do either." He said calmly. "Well, I better get going. they told me I need to go to the barn this afternoon." He continued as he headed towards the door.

"Hn. Arigato, Ruka." Natsume said with a little smile on his face.

"Don't mention it. Just don't do anything stupid again, all right?"

Natsume just nodded while he totally left the room.

"Tch. Damn that Reo. Just hang in there, Polka. I'll definitely come and save you. That's a promise."

Meanwhile, on a warehouse near the docks…

"Hey boss, what do we do with this little brat? As far as I could remember, we should be revenging on the Hyuuga kid. What does this little girl do with him?" asked Shidou, one of Reo's agents.

"Well, from what I have noticed, Hyuuga really seems to care and value his friends a lot. This is just a way of a little payback for him. We'll just torture her right in front of him until he's forced to join the AAO. And once he agrees, we'll kill the girl right in front of him!" Reo replied with one of his evil laughs.

"I know that his friends are his weaknesses, but why did you get this girl? As I recall it right, she's the little nullifier who does nothing but blabber around. Why didn't you just get his best friend with the Animal Pheromone Alice?" asked a baffled Shidou.

"Well, that's because this brat is the girlfriend of Natsume and it seems that he cares for her the most. We were supposed to kidnap his sister again but for some reason, the stupid agents can't find her room so they just ended up having Sakura instead." He explained. "It also appears that she has the CSS Alice. She can also be an asset to the organization. If ever Natsume ignores our offer, we have to result in killing Natsume and then brainwashing Sakura to join the AAO and then destroy Alice Academy."

After their little conversation, they just sat there, doing different things while waiting for the time to pass until the famous little Black Cat has to arrive to their little warehouse.

"Just get ready Black Cat. You'll surely like the present that I'll give you when you get here." Reo thought.

Back in the academy…

The whole gang was in the room of Hotaru and they were all doing everything that they can to help Natsume have an easier rescue trip for Mikan. Since it was already 8pm, they are all having some sort of a little meeting to make everything alright.

"Why'd you call me?" asked Natsume who has just arrived to the Ice Queen's room.

BAKA BAKA BAKA!

Hotaru shot him with her Baka Gun but Natsume just dodged every bullet perfectly.

"We called you here because we prepared some things to make your trip there easier since all of us are not able to go there with you." Ruka explained as they started giving Natsume some stuff.

"Here, take these." Anna and Nonoko said while handling them some jelly beans.

"Jelly beans?" he asked while cocking his eyebrows. "How can some pieces of candy help?"

"Anna and I combined our Alices in making those. The yellow beans can help improve your stamina. The green ones can help heal minor wounds like cuts and bruises. And then the red ones can help you use your Alice again if you're already too weak." They explained as Natsume just kept the beans.

After the two girls explained some things, Hotaru then faced Natsume while holding a bunch of inventions.

"Here. You'll be needing all of these when you go and save Mikan." Hotaru said while handing him a ring, some purple balls, ear plugs and a necklace with a flame pendant."

"Okay, now what does these little things do?" he asked while waiting for an explanation from the Blackmailer.

"That one is the invisibility ring. Turn the right to the right and you'll be invisible. Turn it to the left then you'll be back to normal. Press it on the middle then a hologram will appear on the direction where you point the ring. Those purple balls are smoke screen balls. Throw them to the ground and a purple smoke will come out. This would be good for escape purposes. The ear plugs are very useful to block out Reo's Alice. Just wear them at all times since they are barely noticeable because of your long hair. And the last item is a teleportation device. Just press the pendant and then it'll teleport you to any place that you can think of. Do you understand?" Hotaru explained.

"Hn. Thanks. I'll be going. Ja." He said as he waved his hands.

"Whoa. A Natsume Hyuuga saying 'thank you'." chorused Anna and Nonoko.

"Now that's something you don't see every day. Better mark it on your calendars." Koko declared.

"Yup. You said it." Yuu agreed while Hotaru just kept quiet and Ruka just let out a soft chuckle.

"Natsume/Mikan, please be safe." Their friends thought.

"Hyuuga, please bring back my idiotic best friend safe and sound."

"Hang in there, Mikan. I'm coming. I won't you and our friends down." Natsume thought