Hello readers! I'm so sorry for the late update! I was very busy with something else. Well, here we go, here's Chapter Six: Encounter!
Thank you so much to kuronekomimi, deynaz, Nephie-chan, sweetCITRUS, sherea, ladalada, Chimeiteki Ai, xblackdragonx, PurpleSkye, Leenstarz, 'orange-ideas', hannahfinella-chan, manimefrances, kamir Alexandra, Ebony Glasse and musicangelanime for reviewing! Thank you very very much!
This chapter is dedicated to good friends of mine, CrystalKitteN-MeW and hannahfinella-chan.
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.
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CHAPTER SIX
ENCOUNTER
Natsume kept himself quiet, afraid that the guard might catch him and bring him inside the palace. He wondered if the guard heard him talking earlier. The guard raised an eyebrow and looked intently at Natsume the cat. He probably thought that if he stared at the cat long enough, it might talk.
Natsume was cursing silently at this because he figured out that the only way he could make the guard go inside the castle was pretend to be a cat. Well, he was a cat now but he needed to act like one. That's what angered him the most.
The black cat walked towards the guard. The guard simply knelt down on the grass and stroked behind Natsume's ears. Then Natsume purred and licked his paw. 'Wizzy's going to pay…' thought Natsume.
"Well, just a cat. An ordinary cat. Bye, kitty. Go on now," said the guard as he went back inside the castle. Natsume heard his voice through an open window, "It's just a cat, Sir!"
"Darn! What a stupid thing to do! I had to purr and lick my paw! Wizzy better have an antidote!" said Natsume in frustration. He ran towards the entrance of the forest again so whether another guard goes out, he will be completely hidden in the shadows.
He had to go back in the forest to find the wizard but it was too risky. He's just a small cat and who knows that there could be bigger and wilder animals inside. But Natsume had to turn back into a human as soon as possible and he was determined to tell Mikan that the engagement cannot be continued any further. So Natsume decided.
He flipped his tail and walked into the forest.
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Not too long, Natsume emerged injured out of the forest. There were really bigger and wilder animals inside and he just got chased by two! From his way out, he accidentally cut his leg when he hit a stray branch from a bush. It wasn't that serious but it did hurt a lot.
Natsume sat down and touched his wound with his paw.
He flinched and immediately withdrew his paw away. "How am I supposed to clean this cut?"
Then suddenly, a thought came into his mind. "No way am I going to lick it!"
He sighed helplessly. He didn't know what to do anymore and it seemed that the wound was getting painful the more he moved around. So he just lay down behind a tree and slept soundly. He's going to find Wizzy first thing in the morning.
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The sun's rays entered and illuminated Kanji's room. The windows were open and birds were chirping a happy tune. It was a beautiful day and Kanji had plans for today. He had something intended for him and also for Princess Mikan.
He took a bath and wore his clothes which he never used unless there was a very special party between the Aliecila Kingdoms. He went out of his room and checked whether his father was spying on him. When he confirmed that the coast was clear, he dashed out of the Fire Castle.
He looked around and saw that no one was around outside in the grounds, even the gardeners who were always in the Kingdom were nowhere to be found.
Kanji put his hood up and ran into the forest. (A/N: The Alice Castle and the Fire Castle are a bit near to each other.)
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Wizzy sat on his stool, facing his work station. He had piles of research papers everywhere and some of the labels of his potions were already worn off. Some of his potions didn't even have labels! He had a problem reading now for he was getting really old. After a few minutes, he decided that he should check out Natsume after what happened last night. Actually, Wizzy didn't know that he gave the wrong potion to Natsume. He had a feeling that there was something wrong so he decided to go to the Alice Castle and ask Princess Mikan about Natsume. He readied the gift he purposely should have given the couple last night and a few potions for safe-keeping.
When he got down from his tree, he conjured up the invisible magic wall again to hide his home. And he walked away from the clearing and into the forests.
But little did Wizzy know that there was someone looking at him as he walked away. It was his grand son, Kanji.
"Bye Gramps," whispered Kanji. He removed his hood and sneakily walked towards where Wizzy's tree house was before the wizard covered it with his magic.
He placed his hand on something solid but invisible. Then he said something in a language that his grandfather spoke when the wizard removed the magic wall.
After he was finished, the wall revealed the large tree and Kanji went up and entered his grandfather's house.
He searched the Clone Potion he drank when he plotted his first ever plan in ruining Natsume's life. It was a clear blue liquid and it emitted silver smoke. After several minutes of rummaging through the wizard's boxes of potions, he finally found it.
He immediately removed the cork and poured the whole contents of the bottle into his mouth. He waited and waited then all of a sudden, he started to feel a tickling sensation in his stomach. Through an open window, birds witnessed the boy slowly turn into someone he was not. After the process, he walked towards a mirror and gazed at himself at his reflection.
Kanji stroked his raven-colored hair and said in a cool voice, "Mikan, your Prince Natsume is back."
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Mikan woke up very early this morning. She wanted to search for Natsume again. She tried to call her other friends but it seemed that they were all busy at the moment. Mikan changed her pajamas into a frilly blue dress matched with silver flats. She tied her hair into pigtails again and went outside.
She breathed in the fresh breeze and decided to walk around the castle first before going to the village.
After searching the castle and the village, Mikan chose to sit down for awhile by the trees. She walked towards an oak tree and sat on the grass, her back against the trunk. She opted to rest for now before she goes searching for her "lost Prince" again.
When she was about to close her eyes, she heard a moan behind the tree. It sounded like a person.
"Wh-Who's there?" said Mikan. She stood up and looked around the oak tree. There on the grass, she saw an injured black cat sleeping soundly.
She quickly knelt down on the grass beside the cat and touched its wound.
"Meow meow! Kitty, wake up. You're hurt!" said Mikan.
Her eyes widened when she heard the cat groan. Since when did cats learned to groan? Natsume the cat slowly opened his crimson eyes and he immediately saw Mikan's smiling face.
"What the hell?!" yelled Natsume, standing up like a human and hastily pacing backwards away from Mikan. Natsume felt the pain again from his wound the moment he stood up.
The girl stood up and gazed at Natsume with her eyes widened from surprise. Did she just hear the cat talk? Or was it her imagination? But she really heard him! And the cat even stood up!
"Did you just talk?" asked Mikan excitedly.
NATSUME'S POV
What now? I have blown up my cover! Wait, this girl…. She's Mikan Sakura! That annoying girl I was supposed to get engaged with! YES!
Wait, should I tell her I'm Natsume? No. I have to see Wizzy first. And what's the use? She wouldn't even believe me.
I placed my two other paws on the grass and purred. 'Once again, Wizzy's going to pay for this!' I thought to myself.
I did my best to act like a stupid cat so I continuously said meow 15 times fast.
I looked back at the little girl and saw that she was staring like me in amazement and of curiosity. Then she spoke with that annoying voice I heard before, "Di-Did you just talk? Can you talk? Oh please, answer me!"
Now I had to run away before she finds out that I'm Natsume. But when I was about to run, I heard footsteps coming. Mikan finally removed her gaze away from me and looked towards the direction my back was facing.
Then the next word she said made my heart skip a beat.
"Natsume?"
I looked behind.
I felt like my world was going upside down.
A boy was leaning against a tree. He was not just any boy… He was… ME.
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Sorry if it's too short! I had to cut it because the next chapter will be really really long! I hoped you all liked this chappie! Please kindly leave a review. Your reviews inspire me to do my best! Thanks in advance! Ja ne!
-surrealreverie