Author's Note:

Sorry I've been swamped and I'm pretty sure my next update could take longer so I've put in overtime and made this chapter EXTRA long! Thank you for the reviews! It's been really motivating and pretty much the only reason I'm updating right now because I'm in the middle of the heavy season at work. I really sincerely hope you guys like it!! And I will do my best to update again within a week!! I would be really grateful for some more reviews too!! Please enjoy!!

Side Note;

Hi @Oh Hello World! You're right! There is a reply link in the email but again doesn't work on mobile. Since I currently do not have access to my laptop, I will simply have to use these chapters as my mode of reply for now. But it's good to know and so very nice of you to respond!! So Thank you!

And thank you to Mikan2007, dhea11 and Guest (Sorry I can only see the label as guest but I'm sure you know who you are!) ;) for reviewing and making my day / days!!

Now to the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

Mikan took a minute to gather her thoughts. "Let me see if I've got this right... You want me to tell Hotaru that I don't want her to spy on you even though I'm the one who asked her to do so in the first place?" She enquired.

Natsume nodded curtly and she stared at him as if he'd lost his mind, "Why on earth would I do that?"

"Because. I. Just. Told. You. To." He enunciated each word slowly, as though he was speaking to a toddler.

Sarcasm dripped like honey as she responded, "Oh yes. Of course the world should simply scrape and bow to your every whim. We live to serve and satisfy you without asking questions."

He smirked at her sarcasm but when she glared ferociously, he sighed in surrender. "Fine. So what do you want from me in return?" He asked, then immediately wished he hadn't.

The gleam in her eyes sent shivers down his spine as she responded, grinning, "You do whatever I tell you to do for a month!"

Stunned, he simply gaped at her. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Mikan's eyes widened innocently, "What's wrong with that? You're asking me to do something very important to you! And this is equally important, to my mind, anyway."

Natsume glared, "How about coming up with something less insane?"

Milan stuck her tongue out, "It's only insane to you!"

He tried to change her mind by offering her an alternative, "How about I let you vent to your heart's content? You can bitch and moan about me till you get tired of it!"

Mikan chuckled, "As tempting as that maybe, I think I'll stick to my original proposition."

Natsume swore and pointed out, "Damn it! You're asking for too much. All I'm asking you to do is withdraw your own request. It won't stop her from proceeding on her own."

Mikan seemed to consider his point. "True... Maybe a month is too much. How about 3 weeks then?" She allowed

"One week." He countered.

Mikan shook her head, "Don't be stingy. I don't have to do this at all. You're the one who made the request. And me withdrawing my request, plays a huge role. We both know Hotaru won't like spending her own money on something like this. Two weeks."

"That's a 50-50 at best. There's no guarantee that you'll have any effect on her. I'm the one taking a risk here. Ten days. That's my limit."

"Ten days and you let me look at your wound, clean it and bandage it again."

"What? I told you I've already done that."

"Doesn't matter. It's probably re-opened by now and I want to look at it with my own eyes. Do we have a deal?" "Fine, whatever." Natsume sighed as he agreed. Mikan grinned, knowing she was getting the better end of the bargain. "This is going to be good!"

Natsume couldn't believe how devious she'd become during her time at the academy. Strangely concerned at what she'd end up asking of him, he wondered if he should rescind his offer. But surveillance on him could be dangerous for both of them. Knowing Imai though, he'd probably have to offer a great deal of incentive to make her back down. Hell. How did his life come down to this?

"Earth to Natsume!" Mikan's voice brought him out of his thoughts to find her looking expectantly at him. "What?" He grunted. She scowled as she said, "Take off your shirt and let me look at the wound."

He shook his head as he unbuttoned his shirt slowly and removed it carefully, ignoring the throbbing piece of flesh. Any other time and Mikan might have actually admired his well defined chest and the rippling muscles but at that moment, the bandage around his waist had all her attention. Mikan gently removed the slightly bloodied bandage and scrutinised the wound. Her heart clenched at the sight of the raw and angry scrape that lined the left side of his skin just below the ribs. It looked like the edges were seared as if-

"Is this a bullet wound?" She asked, shocked that he had been shot at. Surprised that she would know what a bullet wound would even look like, he tried to deflect. "Not exactly. It's just a graze." She simply kept staring at him, waiting for him to continue. He exhaled as he admitted, "Okay, it was a bullet that grazed me." Mikan drew in a deep breath as she took her first aid kit and brought out the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Natsume paled a little when he saw it and hastily said, "I've already cleaned it. There's no need to use the peroxide again." Mikan shot him a look, "We both know I'm not stupid enough to fall for that. Don't worry. I'll be very quick, okay?" Without waiting for him to agree, she quickly sprayed it across his skin, covering the entire wound. His eyes widened and his teeth clenched as he fought to keep quiet. He struggled with the pain for about a minute, inhaling and exhaling heavily, before he was able to speak clearly. "You could have waited for me to reply!" "It wouldn't have been any easier. It's better this way, like ripping off a bandaid." She explained calmly, infuriating him even more. Then she cut off some clean gauze and cotton which she wrapped around his stomach after applying some ointment. When she'd finished, she sat across from him, admiring her handiwork. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?" Natsume asked darkly, trying to ignore the burning sensation around his wound. She winked at him as she stood up and went into her kitchen. He heard her rummaging around until she came back into her bedroom with a plate of noodles that she shoved under his nose. He looked at her as she stared expectantly at him. "Go on then. I know you haven't had lunch yet. Skipping both breakfast and lunch has to have made you hungry. A bet's a bet and you lost."

He stared at the plate of food for almost a full minute before accepting it. Mikan grinned and did a little victory dance in her mind at finally wearing him down. Being Mikan, she tried to press her luck, "So... What happened last night?"

His spoon froze on its way to his mouth. Then he calmly brought it back to his plate. "What do you want to know?" His voice was barely a whisper, but she heard it clearly.

"Who hurt you?"

"That's classified." He answered immediately, spooning some noodles into his mouth.

"Everything about your mission is always classified!" She pointed out, frustration evident in her tone.

"That's true." He agreed.

"Tell me what happened anyway!" She demanded.

He chuckled, after he had finished chewing, "That's more like it." Then he became serious. "I can't tell you the details but here's the gist. I was on a protection detail. The person I was assigned to protect didn't realize what danger she was in and snuck out. I called for backup and set out to track her down but she was already surrounded. So I had to engage them while she used the distraction to get out. But one of them, the leader, saw through it and shot at her. I barely managed to drag her out of the way when backup arrived. And my only focus was getting her to the safehouse. It was only later that I realized that I was bleeding. But I had gotten lucky. The bullet had only grazed me."

"Lucky." Mikan echoed, her voice hollow.

When he looked down at the plate in his hand, it was empty. He'd eaten it all without realizing it. He drank the glass of water she handed him, then walked up to the sink and washed the plate and his hands. Mikan waited till he got back to the bed ad sat across from her, cross legged again, before she spoke. "Do you have any plans for tonight?"

"I'm not sure. No one knows I've been injured except Persona. My injury makes me a liability. Unless the mission is extremely important, I doubt he'll involve me." He answered honestly.

She nodded, "Aren't you going to the hospital to have it treated?"

Natsume hesitated, knowing she wouldn't like his answer and wondering if he should tell her the truth.

Mikan noticed and spoke sharply, "Don't lie to me!"

"I decided not to go to the hospital." He spoke without inflection, as though he was talking about choosing what color to wear.

Her eyes narrowed, "Why not?"

He sighed, resigned. "Because I become a target when I enter a hospital. I'm useful to the academy but I'm resented by its members. I'll never know who I can trust and who'll end up stabbing me in the back. Or what will happen while I'm sedated. Besides I've already cleaned the wound and bandaged it. I can take care of it myself."

To his utter shock, Mikan nodded in understanding. "I can understand that. So you don't have to go to the hospital. But you do need to rest! And no more skipping meals! Got that?"

Natsume looked away, "We'll see. I'm not making any promises." He suddenly felt drowsy and shook his head to clear it.

"I was afraid you'd say that. So I took some precautions." She smiled sweetly, a devilish glint in her eyes.

Natsume's head was spinning and he could barely understand what she was saying. "What did you do?!" He bit out.

"It was just a knock out pill. Stop fighting it."

"What! Who - Imai's behind this!" He growled, as the pieces started fitting together.

"Even tranq'ed, you're thinking clearly!" Mikan murmured in wonder.

She leaned across him as she pressed her hands against his shoulder, pushing him to lie down on the bed, speaking softly. "Just relax. I only wanted you to get some rest. You can't trust the people at the hospital but you can trust me. Just rest. You'll feel better when you wake up."

Natsume stopped struggling as he listened and the soft sound of her voice slowly lulled him to sleep.