Astraea Velzquez: Thank you, we're doing our best. My dad thinks it's all a big conspiracy, but the rest of us are being careful. I hope you and your family are as well.

I changed a bit more in this chapter than I did the past few. Nothing serious, but little non-consequential things and I really like the little changes. Makes it seem a tad easier to read, in any case. I will explain my lengthy absence after promising weekly updates for my fics with four words: My brother tested positive. It looks like he'll be okay. He's young, fit, and very healthy. His chances of surviving are much higher than the opposite. Did this rationalization keep me from freaking out? No. Am I still freaking out? Less so, but yes. So again, sorry, but I needed to calm down first.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own anything you recognize.

[o]

Chapter 7

Hyuuga's training became more intense after that while we both worked on picking up any slack and preparing him for his ever-nearing first mission. As ever he progressed rapidly, and that was good, too, because before we knew it he'd been training for six months and the long-dreaded moment had reached us. It was finally time for his first mission.

We met outside the equipment room in the dead of the night where I roughly debriefed him on the mission, leaving out a couple vital points to keep from freaking him out too early. For the sake of his almighty eleven-year-old pride I pretended not to see the nerves written clearly all over him. Not his face so much, but the shuffling of his feet and anxious finger rubbing. Nothing obvious, but tells just the same.

"After passing the gate we're going to be under strict surveillance, which means we'll be punished severely if we don't make it from point A to point B within the time limit. That means no stopping for rest." And like that his poker face changed just subtly enough to know something had just occurred to him. Three guesses what.

For the first time in months Hyuuga would be let out of the walls of the Academy, and that fact had his eyes darting as he planned an escape attempt. I regarded him before giving an almighty eye roll as we entered the room and geared up. Some poker face he had. Best set him straight now and nip that at the bud before he did something fantastically stupid.

"You can't escape." He shot me a glare but didn't say anything as he grabbed a couple daggers. "I'm serious," I continued as I followed his lead. "They'll come looking for you, and once they find you they'll make you question the meaning of pain." He averted his eyes slightly at the implications of that, and I figured the vague warning would at least keep him from trying to slip off tonight. If not to save himself then to protect his friend and sister. Just the same, I'd have to let Persona know he'd be slippery, so any inevitable attempts weren't somehow linked back to me.

"Not to mention anyone you're with will also be in danger." I grabbed a plain black mask with narrowed eye slips and he watched me as I put it on. It hadn't yet been decided if he'd need a mask, but watching his still-racing eyes I knew he'd have a mask of his own in no time.

"You know too many secrets for them to let you go."

…

It was a simple protection mission. We just had to watch our bit of the long strip of the road leading through a wooded area to the Academy's western entrance, and make sure the car passing through made it safely within the gates. After that we would be home free, the car wouldn't be under any more possible danger, and Hyuuga will have successfully completed his first accompanied mission.

I knew the road, though, and I knew who we were protecting. There was no way this would go as easily as hoped. Many a rookie mission was spent guarding cars either going to or leaving the Academy on this road, and it was notorious for how many raids happened on it. After all, the very trees valued for hiding the Academy and said cars from unwanted eyes could just as easily be employed by some of our many enemies for concealment.

"The car we're guarding is holding Watanabe Li. He's in charge of a large underground weapons dealership. The Academy caught him in the act some years ago and in return for letting him continue running his business he provides us with a large portion of our weapons, as well as refraining from dealing weapons out to the Academy's enemies."

We scaled the gate and our Alice restraints allowed us to pass since Persona had given his permission. A small warning shock issued from my mask and the restraints I was wearing to alert me I was entering a forbidden area. By now the feeling was familiar, though I did wince when Hyuuga flinched at the feeling of his own warning shock. Oops, forgot to mention that. From there we jumped to the ground and began to sprint. For any observing the Academy for less than friendly purposes, a car would be obvious leaving from the gates so we weren't driven to our assigned area. In preparation for this I'd already been running laps around the Academy with Hyuuga. This was definitely more than he'd ever run at a time before, but he'd have to manage. Because he really didn't have a choice in the matter.

"We're not the only Alices on this assignment," I continued to explain while we ran. "A few others have been assigned to keep watch on different portions of the road. All we have to do is watch that the car gets through our strip safely and give backup if anyone calls for it." I refrained from telling him that it was more than likely that we'd either be called for backup or be calling for backup.

I internally scoffed at the impassive boy. Yeah, no need to give him that information and make him any more nervous than he already was. But really, he was almost as hard to read as I was, and that's not an easy feat.

As we ran his breathing grew noticeably more strained but he didn't complain at all, and I didn't comment on it. Before he knew it physical strain like this would be more normal and expected in life than turning in homework on time, but the first time is always the hardest. Deciding there wasn't any need to make him suffer in silence I cast around for a topic to bring up. I figured against discuss the mission further for the moment, since he knew everything needed and I'd mention anything more as needed when we arrived. Anything concerning the Academy or the Dangerous Class was depressing and infuriating, mixed in with a nice dose of hopelessness, which really wasn't a good mood to start this with. So inane chatter it is.

"You know, it wouldn't hurt to crack a smile every now and again. Who knows, it may even be healthy." He shot me an exasperated look which I easily brushed off. Sure, overall his poker face needed some work, but that's only when it's needed. Showing inner feelings is an art itself, good for not only emotional but, uh, physical health as well. And it makes you happy, probably…Yeah, I wasn't convincing myself either.

"You decided to talk about this now?" Well, we still had a good half hour before we got there, and it's this or our hopeless futures as slaves of the Academy until capture or death, or the ever un-attainable graduation. Wonderful as the second options is, somehow it was easy to choose the first. "And besides, who are you to talk?"

"I smile all the time!"

"Smirks don't count." I opened my mouth to retort, but shut my mouth.

"How does Nogi deal with you all the time?" He shot me a smirk.

"He's asked me that about you, too."

Talking was sparse after that, but it had the intended effect of taking his mind off of the strain of running for so long, so mission accomplished. As we neared our assigned area we took to the trees, keeping an eye around and below us in case there was anyone around that would pose a threat as we leapt quietly from limb to limb. Hyuuga's breathing had become a bit ragged at this point, but still no complaints so I kept up our fast pace. If we didn't report that we were in our spot soon there could be trouble.

I finally began to slow and he followed my lead as we stopped, panting lightly. I scoped the area around us quickly as he took a moment to rest, slumping against the trunk of the tree we'd stopped in.

"Eyes up, soldier," I said quietly. Taking just a moment longer he straightened with a long exhale and approached to stand at my side. We looked out past the leaves of the tree we were in at the seemingly innocent strip of road. Or at least, where the road appeared to be. It's hard to see a black strip of tar past midnight. The half-moon illuminated it somewhat, but that did near-nothing in the shadows cast by the trees.

I grabbed the walkie from my hip and pressed the button.

"Akumu and Newbie in position." He shot me a peeved look at the name and I shrugged as I put the walkie back in its spot. "We don't have a name for you yet." He didn't comment, but the unimpressed look said it all.

"The car should reach its first checkpoint in fifteen, then in another fifteen it'll be in our area until the next checkpoint. In about an hour the car should reach the Academy and we'll be free to head back." It sounds so simple and tidy when summarized like that, and rarely followed those ideals when it comes down to it. Fifteen minutes in I was wondering if it wouldn't actually be better for someone to ambush us, or the car, or someone, because I was bored.

Ugh, I'd forgotten how dull rookie missions were. It's all wait and little action. The more advanced missions are all action little wait, which is my preferred ratio.

There wasn't any talking from then on, and we kept our eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. But so far none of the shadows had shadows and I ventured a thought that things might actually go smoothly for once. It was only a passing thought. Just the same, that meant it had been long enough for our guards to start lowering.

"Hyuuga, I whispered. "I didn't tell you earlier, but the chances of this being a smooth mission are little to none. This road is known for botched up plans." He narrowed his eyes.

"And you chose to tell me now because…?"

"Didn't want you letting your guard down." Because that's always the moment everything goes bad.

Fifteen minutes later the car entered our area. Fifteen minutes of us following it unseen in the trees and watching for anything threatening went peacefully and we passed the car off to the next Alices. But that's the only peace we got.

"We need backup," came the static-y voice of the walkie talky. "Third checkpoint, Bogeyman and…uh, Nee-chan." Ick, I didn't know the two creeps were here. Without a word I took off knowing Hyuuga would be behind me. I answered in the walkie that we were on our way, and a moment later the other groups answered the same.

"Yakumo Hajime, 'Bogeyman'," I informed Hyuuga as we went. "He as the Insect Pheromone Alice. Amane Rui, 'Nee-chan'. He has the Curse Alice." As much as I dislike the two, if they were in trouble then this wasn't a laughing matter. "They're both strong, so if they're calling for backup the threat shouldn't be underestimated." He didn't answer in any way, but he didn't need to. Still, at first glance he looked cool as a cucumber. But I had been training with him for half a year now, and I could see the hesitation as he landed on each limb. I could see the way his eyes darted around slightly, as if afraid we would be attacked at any moment (which was a valid worry, really). Unfortunately, his first mission wasn't going to be a smooth one.

We could hear the fighting a few minutes before we reached it, and it didn't sound good. I perked my ears, trying to get a layout before reaching them. My eyes narrowed as there were rapid pops in quick succession. A gun. More than one. Few of the Dangerous Ability kids carried such conspicuous weapons, which meant we were under heavy fire.

Knowing that, I pulled out of our breakneck speed and went for a stealth approach. By now Hyuuga had identified the popping as guns, too, and followed my lead immediately. Not a moment too soon, either, since just then some of the men fleeing the scene ran past the tree beneath us. Without thinking I dropped on one and hit him firmly on the head with my elbow, knocking him out before he'd even hit the ground. Just as quickly I leapt from him to another one, silencing him before he could alert anyone to our situation. Behind me Hyuuga dropped as well, taking care of the others. Our mini-battle was over in a minute, and I was very proud to see Hyuuga take two down in complete and utter silence. Our position wasn't compromised.

"Akumu and Newbie are at the fight. What's your position?" I asked through the walkie, creeping up to the shrubbery blocking view of the road to see how things were faring so far. And things weren't faring well.

"The car's down," Yakumo answered. "We're guarding the passengers. Requesting backup immediately." He confirmed everything I saw, from the burning remains of the car to the black clad people attacking four of our own and the few people who had been occupying the car further up the road. He then clarified something I hadn't known.

"The enemies are Alice users. I repeat, the enemies are Alice users." I held back some colorful language and turned to Hyuuga.

"Well Newbie, the fun begins." We took off towards the people and I quickly gaged the situation before engaging. Swarms of bugs were clustered around some of our black clad attackers courtesy to Yakumo, and I reasoned that out here at night there was no shortage of bugs in his range. A number of them were marked with little black symbols, screaming and writhing in pain. I refrained from rolling my eyes at noticing the majority of said symbols were little hearts, which was very much a characteristic move for Amane.

I reached the fight and ducked under an armed hand aiming at one of my classmates. I pushed up so the fired bullet went off course and in the same movement disarmed him and used the gun's hilt to knock him out. A quick glance behind me showed Natsume engaging against a user with his daggers so I turned back around and used the momentum to swing my heel at another person trying to catch my back. A horrible crack and the following scream informed me his kneecap had been shattered.

Other than the handiwork of the two oldest students here I could make out the work of the two who would've been at the next checkpoint. Some of the masked attackers were sporting terrible burns on their bare skin, or even through their clothes, and I recognized the work of Takahashi's Heat Alice. However, there weren't any birds in sight, which would've been the work of Takahashi's mentee Ito. A quick glance around showed that Ito was in fact here, and once again he was being useless. Plus he was injured by the looks of his limp, and the enemy saw this, too. They were trying to get rid of the weak link in the defenses and his defense against them was clearly half-hearted even from here. The hell is he thinking?

Another look showed Takahashi was preoccupied with fighting off a half-dozen of his own problems, leaving him unable to come to his mentee's aid. I briefly contemplated letting Ito be offed, if only just so we didn't have to continue cleaning up after him. Takahashi might even thank me, if he wasn't such a softie.

"Newbie," I called to Hyuuga, ignoring his glare and gesturing to where Takahashi was being overwhelmed. "Backup Thermo then stick with him. Don't get killed. I'm going to give some aid to Rookie." Yes, another original beginner's name. He nodded quickly in understanding as we navigated our ways quickly through the black clad men to take our spots in the chaos.

I was at Rookie's side at just the right time, as I took out a man about to knock him into next week, and he sent me a grateful look since he hadn't been given a mask either, like Hyuuga. He of course couldn't see the face I pulled from behind my mask, but that's alright. I was just thankful that if I had to be someone's mentor it was at least someone who could pull their own weight. This kid was pulling us down, and he'd been going on ops for a month now.

Once again pride surged through me at seeing Hyuuga burn someone with his fire and left screams in his wake. Ah, they grow up so fast. My distraction costed me, though, and I felt something sear the skin on my arm even through my shirt's sleeve. I pulled away and quickly touched the man's head, letting my Alice flow into him.

As he fell back screaming I cradled my arm to myself, assessing the damage quickly as I dodged another guy's fist. It looked like my arm had frostbite. The guy had frozen my arm with his Alice in a perfect handprint. I suddenly wanted to go back and give the writhing man a good kick in the face.

The rest of our backup arrived and we were able to take the rest of them down quickly. In the end we were left with more than a dozen and a half unconscious guys, Watanabe as well as his wife and the driver, and the rest of us. It's almost embarrassing how banged up we were, but in our defense the enemy more than doubled us. Not only in number but in age as well. Wonder how they felt fighting a handful of kids. And losing. Suckers.

Watanabe held his impassive wife impassively while the driver called in for another car with a stone cold face. Welcome bunch they were. Hyuuga joined my side as we bound the black clad men. Takahashi was bandaging Ito's leg, which had taken an impressive hit with a slicing Alice, and the rest of them were unmasking the men and trying to get an ID on them; find out who had dared attack us this time. Perhaps it was one of those anti-Alice Academy groups I'd probably end up joining one day.

I turned to Hyuuga, about to congratulate him on his performance earlier, but instead saw his eyes widen as he spotted something past me. I turned to look as well but by then Hyuuga had already darted off. What I was faced with was my mentee standing in front Watanabe, as if protecting him. From what, I didn't see until I'd already heard the shot.

My head snapped over to where the sound came from to find a heavily bleeding man on the ground, a gun raised weakly to aim at Watanabe and his wife. Only Hyuuga had taken the bullet instead.

I turned back to him just in time to see him collapse.

"Hyuuga!" I cried, before rushing over to him. Once I reached his side I fell to my knees, quickly assessing the damage as the three quickly fled to a different area, not even sparing a glance at the boy on the ground. He gripped his side with a pained expression, by which I realized he was still conscious though his eyes were closed.

"Stay with me Hyuuga," I said, lightly patting his cheeks to get him to open his eyes. He grunted then obliged, narrowing his eyes at me in pain.

"Atta boy." I then turned to the others who were now finishing tying up and knocking out all the men. I watched with satisfaction as Yakumo kicked the man with the gun in the face, audibly breaking his nose and sending him to the land of the unconscious with the rest.

I turned back to Hyuuga, swiftly unzipping my sweater and pulling it off with the intent of using it to staunch the wound. Only it was covered in dust and grime from our run here and the fight. I clenched my jaw, casting around for anything else I could use to cover it without bringing up the chance of infection.

"I don't have anything to cover it with," I confessed, turning back to Hyuuga. In response he narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth, then used one hand to sit up slowly with the other pressed against his side.

"I'm fine," he ground out, but I could see his body trembling in pain and how pale his face had gone. As Alice users we naturally had better tolerance than the average person, but even I knew that it wouldn't be long before he went into shock or passed out.

"Whatever you say," I said sarcastically, attempting to hide my worry that otherwise would've shown, then turned serious again. "Keep pressure on it. As soon as the car arrives we'll leave the others to guard it the rest of the way." We'd have to wait, in case these guys had backup on the way and we were needed again to protect the three impassive snobs. He made an irritated sound but slowly complied, pressing both hands firmly in his side. I pretended not to see the blood seeping through them and around his clothes.

"I told you, I'm fine." I rolled my eyes as he slumped forward to relieve some pressure on his stomach, and my fingers itched to pull up his shirt to check the severity of the wound for myself.

"Whoever said it was for your sake? Nogi will murder me if anything happens to you." That shut him up, like I knew mentioning his best friend would.

What felt like an eternity later the car finally arrived, which was good since I was beginning to debate on whether I should just abandon the mission to take the quickly fading boy for medical help, Persona be damned.

"Finally," I breathed, before hurrying to Yakumo where he had taken up guard over the Watanabes and driver, ignoring the many, many, bugs I crunched on my way to him.

"I'm taking Newbie back for medical." He nodded, and I went back over to where Hyuuga was slouched. Only he wasn't sitting up anymore.

I raced over to his collapsed form. "Hyuuga, don't you dare do this to me." I started patting his pale cheeks again but he didn't come around this time. "Natsume, dang it. We still have to get back to the Academy." I grumbled something about uncooperative boys, then lifted his shirt slightly to see the wound. A hiss escaped me at the deep hole decorating his side and I quickly leaned him over slightly to look at his back, hoping for a clean exit wound but there wasn't anything. I cursed, then I grudgingly folded my sweater so the worst of the muck was tucked away and tied it securely over his wound. Right now him bleeding out was my biggest concern. I'd have to worry about the chance of infection later. With that I carefully pulled his limp form onto my back. Thankfully he hadn't reached his growth spurts yet so we were roughly the same height, otherwise it would've been much harder to manage this.

"You're never going to hear the end of this." With that I took off as fast as I could with his form weighing me down.

It wasn't long before my legs began aching, but it was about then that I felt his blood soak through my shirt, so I didn't let my pace slow. A stitch formed in my side as I panted, but I forced myself to block out the discomfort and continue.

It felt like entirely too long before I wearily jumped into a tree in order to clear the gate – my legs nearly buckling when I landed – and raced to the infirmary, as usual going right past the annoying receptionist and straight to my favorite room. Once I finally lowered him down onto the bed and situated him somewhat so he was ready for the doctor I collapsed in the chair next to it. My legs were jelly, and the stitch had multiplied in intensity as I pushed at it without effect, leaning forward as I gasped for breath.

"Kokutan?" Asked my favorite nurse as she walked in. When she saw the state we were in she rushed to the bed quickly.

"He was shot," I panted before she could ask.

"Did the bullet go through?" I shook my head, too out of breath to bother answering past that.

"I'll get the doctor immediately." If not at any other time, I was now especially glad my doctor had the metal manipulation Alice. The doctor in question entered the room not long after with the nurse beside him and rushed to Natsume's side.

"I'm going to have to ask you to leave the room, Saito-san." I was going to refuse, but his attention had already turned from me.

I stood on wobbly legs and left the room. It's best his attention was only on Hyuuga, anyway. So for the first time ever I sat in the waiting room.

It only took an hour for the doctor to finish, at which time the nurse came out to tell me my mentee would be alright, and I could go back to the room in about a half hour.

When he wakes up I'm going to kill him.