Chapter 3

" What!" Natsume shouted unexpectedly, causing the whole class to turn and looked at him- including Mikan. He saw Mikan staring at him with her mouth wide open and thought, " Oh no, she must be wondering why my reaction is so big to pair up with her." Just as he expected, Mikan walked towards him and asked him

" IS IT SO BAD TO TEAM WITH ME? THINK ABOUT MY FEELINGS TOO! I don't want to pair up with a meanie."

His heart sank. So he had hurt her so much by calling her names like " ugly" and " poker dot panties". " She must has hated me badly now, after what has happened in the morning" he thought.

" Since you hate the idea so much, I will tell Narumi to change" he said with a sign. He expected her to nod her head vigorously and agreed to the idea strongly. But, instead, she pulled him back from going to the teacher and replied, " its okay, even though I hate the idea." He felt his face turning red and quickly turned away.

" Alright then, since you say so" he answered and walked away, with his hands in his pockets. At the corner of his eyes, he saw her running towards Hotaru, asking her who her partner was- she looked like so had completely forgotten about what happened just now. Hotaru's partner was Ruka, who was standing miserably beside her.

" Ruka, why are you looking so sad?" Mikan asked.

" Nothing. Just that Imai will probably bribe me with my photos again. Now that she is in the same team as me, all my funny actions will be captured by her"

Mikan laughed and went out of the classroom. She was wondering where could Natsume be. The teachers were going to issue them their mission soon. Finally, she found him under the usual tree where he always sat there to read his comics. Taking a deep breathe, she walked up so him.

" Na - Natsume, the teachers are calling us back to give us our mission. Come on, lets go back" Mikan stammered. Natsume looked up and stared at her. It was as if time had stood for them, they stared at each other without talking. Finally, he decided to break the silence and he stood up and walked towards the classroom. As he passed by Mikan, he patted her head and said, " Come on, lets go in." Mikan blushed and followed meekly behind him.

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Back in the class, Narumi was trying hard to make himself heard from the din the class was making after getting their partners. " silence please.. Silence! SILENCE!"

Finally, the class quiet down and sat down. Gin Gin stood forward and continued, " I want one team to come up when I call your names and I will brief you on your mission. Each team will be playing different roles in this mission so listen carefully for your instructions. Natsume and Mikan, come up now."

" You two are involved in the most dangerous role in this mission as Natsume is much stronger than the rest. Mikan, you are to look after Natsume and protect him from any alices attacks using your Nullification Alice."

Mikan nodded her head and looked nervous. She did not understand what was happening. Why was she involved in the mission? Aren't they just students from the academy who studied and improve their alices?

Natsume understood what Mikan was thinking and feeling. He tried to stop her from thinking too much by pushing her, telling her to listen to Gin Gin.

" Both of you have to sneak into the enemy's head quarter and try to find information about their anti-academy activities. As I heard from the principal, their head quarter consists of numerous maze and you are to break them one by one in order to go in. if you fails, you will be stuck there forever. So, be careful."

Natsume took the map of the headquarter from Gin Gin and walked back to his table with Mikan. As he sat down, he saw Mikan standing in front of him, with her hands clutched together.

" Scared?" he asked.

Mikan nodded her head and replied softly, " Y-Yes. What am I supposed to do? I do not have an attacking Alice! I cant even help you when you need help!"

He saw how frightened she was and he freaked out in his heart. " What am I supposed to do? I do not know how to calm a girl down. She looks so terrified now. Its all my fault, if I changed her with someone else, she will probably be in a team with a less dangerous mission."

Calming himself down too, Natsume took Mikan's hand and pulled her outside the class and sat under the tree. After a long period of time, he finally said, " You calmed down now?"

Mikan looked at Natsume, she blushed and said nothing.

Natsume sensed that she was still afraid and continued, " don' worry, I will protect you. There is no need for you to protect me so don't worry okay?"

It was the first time Mikan saw Natsume talking to him so gently. Her face was red and she muttered a thanks, with her head looking down this time.

Natsume realized that he had been too " mushy" and broke the awkward situation by saying " what's more, a little girl like you with poker dot panties cant do much to protect me."

Mikan immediately stood up and shouted, " HEY, stop it will you! You PERVERT! Its my business that I wear what sort of undergarments!"

Seeing Mikan looking so energetic and cheerful once again, Natsume stood up too and walked away casually. This time, he could hear Mikan cursing him at the back.

( to be continue)

Sorry guys, this chapter is abit boring as i wanted to show that Natsume is actually a caring person. Also, i don't want the climax to come out too soon. The climax will be in the next few chapters when Mikan and Natsume carry out the mission. Thanks for your reviews. It made me motivated and i wrote another chapter after i read the reviews. .