'I looked into his deep red eyes, that, if I'm mistaken, seemed to soften as he met mine... all fear had vanished as we stared, it was like talking to each other without words, and I felt secure.'

I could feel Natsume's pounding heart on mine and we felt each other's warmth.

Hope you enjoy the new chapter! first-person-point-of-view: Mikan

Chapter 5

Farewell Embraces

"Nat...Natsume?" I whispered, as we stared. I couldn't believe my eyes. I looked into his deep red eyes, that, if I'm mistaken,

seemed to soften as he met mine... all fear had vanished as we stared, it was like talking to each other without words, and I

felt secure. I couldn't move, for the first time, I had never been more nervous around him. My heart and head throbbed

heavily. Ruka then whispered:

"Sakura... we...I..." I knew he couldn't talk very well at the situation but I broke eye contact with Natsume the moment he

spoke. I looked at Ruka's dazed face. A rush of happiness poured into me as I looked into Ruka's dazzling eyes.

"Ruka-pyon!" I shrieked and my eyes began to water. I ran into Ruka's arms and I embraced him, I was too nervous to do so towards Natsume as he looked away. Ruka embraced me back and I wept onto his shoulder. Finally, as I began to sober up, I

turned my head to look at Natsume. I couldn't see his eyes properly for it was too dark; he had shut the door behind me as I hugged Ruka. I was so happy to see them both, but I couldn't express this feeling towards Natsume. Ruka still held my back

and we both put our heads on the other's shoulder.

"If I'm interrupting...," Natsume said very quietly. "We have to go Ruka..."

Ruka and I broke apart from each other's grip as Natsume stared at both of us.

"I'm...I'm sorry...," Ruka told me, as I only began to realize what I had just done. My cheeks burned as I blushed; I might

have looked like a tomato in the darkness. But then something caught my eye, I just remembered Koizumi Luna lay on the

floor. I directed my pointed finger at her and I cried:

"LU-LUNA!" Natsume and Ruka both shove their hands on my mouth, keeping me from shouting. But I was confused, why

were they being so secretive.

"Shut up, baka!" Natsume snapped through gritted teeth.

"What in the world happened to her!?" I asked, shocked: Luna's face was lying against the wall, it was a very scary sight.

"She...she tried to stop us from running away!" Ruka explained.

I looked at him as if he had gone mad.

"What the- what do you mean runaway?" I asked, I sobbed. "Both of you are going to leave us in this mess? I spent three

hours looking for you just to see you guys leave?" I faltered, as I looked from Ruka to Natsume. I felt dizzy, my head throbbed. All the hope that poured into me had vanished and the thoughts of Natsume burning the Academy had entered my

mind, I looked into Natsume face with as much contempt as I could. "Natsume... why?" I asked him.

Natsume did not look into my tearful eyes. There was a pause and a stunning silence, but it was soon broken as Natsume

spoke:

"Don't cry, idiot, it makes you look uglier!"

I suddenly remembered that Hotaru had said the very same thing to me, but this did not help; I rubbed my eyes with my

sleeve as I burst into tears. Ruka grabbed my arm and hugged me from the back I restrained myself from crying. I didn't want

to lose Ruka-pyon and Natsume-kun.

Natsume gripped onto Ruka's shoulder, Ruka looked up into his eyes, and very slowly, he let me loose from his squeeze.

Then, looking into my eyes, Ruka said, "good bye...Mikan..."

I looked at him with shock, it was the first time he had ever uttered my first name: I felt my cheeks burn.

"WAIT!" I shouted. Natsume looked back.

"What is it?" natsume replied.

"What about Luna-san?" I asked, exasperated.

"She'll be fine, lying down there!" Natsume replied.

He and Ruka began to walk out into the window, Ruka went first, and it was as if he couldn't look me into the eye anymore as he walked out without giving me a glance. Natsume said nothing but climbed into the open window and made his

way out. I felt useless, I know if I tried to stop them, my attempt would be futile, so I stood there, watching them leave, without a good bye from Natsume. I saw them vanish from my sight as they proceeded towards the entrance gates.

"WHAT AM I DOING?" I said to myself. "I should go stop them!"

I knew that chasing them would be useless but nevertheless, I did. I climbed into the window and I found myself at a small

veranda; which was tiled with marble and looked very elegant. My face began to drain from its entire colour as I saw how high up I really was, "I could even see the northern forest from here!" I thought to myself, as I turned into a blue colour.

Natsume and Ruka were climbing down from the walls, stepping down onto each terrace one by one and proceeding downwards.

"ARE THEY CRAZY!?" I thought as they did this process in a great speed. Natsume had a great deal of experience in running away as I looked below from the edge veranda's pillars: I felt sick by the height we were in. But I thought that if I didn't take

the risk, that would be the risk in itself. So I began to climb down from the solid rafters of the Hospitals building (this was the way Natsume and Ruka started off), one by one I stepped onto each terrace, trying my best not to look down: I was never

good at heights.

Ruka and Natsume spotted me, as I was several terraces higher than them. A look of utter astonishment etched on their faces; they almost fell because of this.

"Damn you polka-dot!" bellowed Natsume. I ignored him and I continued to race them. Natsume and Ruka did not stop climbing, though Ruka had persisted that they stop but Natsume wouldn't have given in, therefore, we raced to the very

bottom. Finally, after climbing terrace after terrace, after balconies and rafters, we sloped down onto the grass on the ground floor of back of the hospital: we faced the entrance to the forest. We panted; we were all dehydrated and sleepy. Ruka and

Natsume looked at me, stunned. Natsume brought himself to his fullest height and began to scold me:

"WHY THE HECK DID YOU DO THAT FOR!?" Natsume bellowed, hammering the top of my head with his clenched fists.

"I- I...I didn't want both of you to leave us without a goodbye to everybody!" I stammered.

"Oh, so I suppose we should tell everyone we're gonna runaway? 'Oh, everyone! We're going to runaway now, bye-bye!" Natsume scoffed: Ruka was trying to stop us from arguing but we ignored him. "How stupid can you get!?"

"I'M NOT STUPID!" I retorted. "Why are you guys running away anyway?" I asked, looking furious. Then, my eyes widened as

the question popped into my mind. I then asked, very scared, "Did...did you cause the fire?"

Natsume looked at me, his eyes widened with anger. He gripped both of my shoulders and with an expression of total

disbelief and rage, he said:

"Why would I cause danger to the person whom I care about more than anything else in the world?" he told, I could feel his

clasped hands tighten on my shoulders. I didn't fully understand if it was it me he was talking about, or Ruka?

A rustling noise came from the back of the place we stood and I could hear Jinno-sensei's voice and a few others that I couldn't distinct. Natsume pulled away his grip from my shoulder.

"Ruka!" Natsume whispered, run into the middle part of the woods, wait for me there!"

And with a glance at Natsume and I, Ruka darted off towards the black thicket one would call the forest. Natsume grabbed my arm and we darted off into the forest too, only through a different direction. We hid under some leaves and trees as the

search team made their way to the spot where we stood earlier: Natsume shut my mouth with his hand and I dared not struggle.

We had a clear view of the teacher that was in the search party. Mr. Narumi was one of them, Makihara-sensei, Misaki-sensei, Noda-sensei, and as mentioned before, Jinno-sensei. They buzzed with conversation as they continued to search for, as I

would guess, Ruka-pyon and the idiot whom is covering my mouth: Natsume.

"Darn those kids!" grunted Jinno-sensei. "They only know nothing but trouble! I swear when I get my hands on Miss Shoda and Miss Sakura, I'll shock them till they bleed!"

Natsume's hands tightened on my mouth as sensei said these words. We hid there, in the dark; I could feel Natsume's breath on my cheek: He looked sickly and exhausted.



"Now now...Narumi-sensei said. "They're just kids, and they're helping out in the search anyway..."

"Well I promise you!" Jinno-sensei snapped. "I am going ask a favour from persona to beat Hyuuga's butt when we find him!"

"We don't even know whether he's alive...," Narumi-sensei said very quietly.

They advanced to the next area and they disappeared from our sight. Natsume grabbed my hand as we stood up and he looked like he was contemplating.

"Natsume...," I said in a hushed, trembling voice. "Why do you want to runaway...?" I asked. He turned to look at me and abruptly, he seized my hand and we started running deeper into the woods: we were battered by twigs, branches and leaves along the

way. I didn't want to pull away from Natsume's grip, I somehow, liked it. It was so similar, almost exactly the same, to the time he took my hand in the sports festival: he doesn't know that I recognized his touch. Natsume always held my hand by

the wrist whenever we were in trouble but tonight, he held my palm, gently but firmly.

We stopped dead on our tracks. I got so use to the running that I noticed this too slow. Before I could ask what Natsume stopped for he turned to face me and he pulled me towards him, he embraced me, it was a tighter hug than Ruka's. I was

taken aback by his sudden act, but I too, held out my arms and I held his back and we stood there. Our bodies held close to each other. Natsume was silent and so was I: I could feel Natsume's pounding heart on mine and we felt each other's warmth.

There will be more, but right now I'm too busy to write.