Chapter 10

A Place For a Night

Sweaty and tired, two young girls staggered along what seemed an endless road. The sun was up and the heat scorched the white fair skin of the two girls, making them a tanned color. They had been walking for almost half a day.

"I'm parched!" wailed one of the two. Mikan's brown hair looked as if it were about to burn.

"Oh shut up, you're dehydrating yourself by speaking!" said the wisest and cleverer looking girl among the two, Hotaru.

"Well, give me some water to drink then!

"Why aren't you making use of the bottle of water you've packed?"

"I'm saving it!"

"For what?"

"Oh whatever, but don't take too much, we'll need some later!" Hotaru snapped as she handed her a bottle of water she drew out of her backpack.

Mikan took a gulp and she handed it back to Hotaru after having her fill.

The road they were taking was to lead them straight to Mikan's grandfather's house (which was the only thing that kept Mikan walking). Hokkaido's climate was warmer in summer, and it wasn't very pleasant. Although a clear blue sky beckoned above their heads, the wind it blew was far less than inviting. As they walked along, Hotaru guided with her compass and sometimes they would walk across a ranch and catch the sight of cows grazing. There was something oddly calming of seeing grazing bovines, this momentarily distracted Hotaru from her compass.

As the sun began to disappear from the horizon, the two girls were nearing their destination, gladly, they accepted the hospitality of an elderly woman who kindly insisted they stay the night at her place, given that she felt alone most of the time, it was a real treat or her to see youngsters. Her house was simple, with two floors and the inside was beautifully decorated.

"There you go little ones, a hot bowl of Gyudon!" the woman joyfully exclaimed, as she placed a bowl of steaming rice with a generous serving of cooked beef enriched by medium thick gravy. "I figured you two would need a huge serving of protein after you're long travel, and by the way, what are two little girls doing all by themselves?" the elderly woman half scolded and questioned. Mikan and Hotaru didn't want to lie to the woman who in their eyes seemed like an angel from heaven, and so they decided to tell the truth: well…maybe half of the truth.

"We didn't really come alone, we had an escort along the way, well we decided we could take half way and he could go his own way…" Hotaru impressively came out with a white lie almost as good as the way she delivered it. She thought Mikan was too much of a coward to tell a lie to this kind woman and so she felt obliged to do it herself. Mikan just gave a half grin and smile which unfortunately was a dead giveaway.

"No disrespect on my account but I wasn't born yesterday you know, I know you girls did not have an escort and probably didn't have lunch either today." The elder lady, Hachi-san said wisely.

"I'm sorry that my friend is an awful liar…" Hotaru whispered under her breath, Mikan briefly scowled at her direction.

"I'm sorry Hachi-san, we didn't mean to lie to you, we just didn't want anyone to know about our travel affair, we would like to keep a low profile…not that we've done something horrible but because-" Hotaru glared at her for a short moment and Mikan hauled her mouth. "No disrespect, Hachi-san…"

"It's OK, I'm not a type who goes off blabbing or gossiping, and I respect your decision not to tell me anything, so please do eat your food, it's getting cold." Hachi-san smiled warmly.

"Thank you for the food!" the two girls said, and they ravenously gulped down their Gyudon.

After having their dinner the two of them took a hot bath and slept cozily in the guest room upstairs that Hachi-san prepared. They were tremendously grateful for her hospitality and could think of no way to repay her for her kindness and after much said of "thanks" fro Mikan and Hotaru, Hachi-san turned off the lights and said goodnight to the two of them and the exhausted, but thankful girls drifted to sleep as they felt the comfort of a clean and soft bed. Sometime later, a little rain drizzled and the sound of it pit-patting the roof, was in an odd way, very relaxing. This woke Mikan up and she felt something wet between her fingers and realized she hadn't removed the small piece of rope tied into a knot that Natsume had given her and placed on her wedding finger. She didn't take it off while she bathed, that would explain why it was wet.

Natsume…he didn't really mean it when he asked her to be his bride, did he? It couldn't be! They were too young, he was seventeen and she was fifteen. But she turned crimson red as she thought about him, something had changed her feelings for him and she didn't know what it was. Somehow, they were so far apart but it felt as if she could feel his presence within her.

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Somewhere in the forests of another part of Japan, two less fortunate boys struggled to find the little cabin they had been searching for all day. Natsume and Ruka were hungry, wet, and tired from all the walking, According to Natsume, they were in more trouble then they could comprehend and it seemed it was unavoidable. Unlike Hokkaido, this forest had very little communities that were able to provide simple comforts. They had to keep an extremely low profile and could not be seen by anyone, lest they should suffer.

Finally, after a long search, they found the anticipated shelter, though it looked forlorn, it was haven to the two and they quickly got inside. It was a shallow and poorly decorated cabin, with only one toilet that smelled appalling and a small kitchen on the left corner. The floor was made of cherry wood, an expensive luxury to the modern day, but of course it was aged and dirty. Two sleeping bags were wrapped in a tiny closet that stored a few handy things like an umbrella, a raincoat, and a box of fire starters for the fireplace (which are to no use to Natsume, but he stored it anyway if in case Ruka required them). The two dried themselves with towels and immediately got to work, sweeping the floor, cleaning the toilet and preparing some food: they made porridge out of a bag of raw rice they stole from the kitchen pantry from Gakuen Alice. They added some salt and though it wasn't a feast, it was enough to satisfy them.

"Ruka, you better start learning to eat meat, cuz I'm gonna' get some hunting done…" Natsume remarked as they settled for sleep.

"No way Natsume, I can get the animals to search food for us; don't you remember I can do that?"

"The heck with it, I'm starving for meat."

The two chuckled and they shifted the positions, facing opposite directions. Not one of them would admit who they had been thinking about. Natsume couldn't help but think about Mikan, but he felt so exhausted, he decided not to, and yet, that made him even more restless. He sighed, and remembered about his string ring he gave her. He felt so stupid but in the same time so relieved, he felt as if a burden had been lifted ff his shoulders. It was wrong for him to think so but he felt like he had won her over Ruka and the guilt had taken over him, and then fear: what if she didn't accept him, perhaps she had already taken the string off and shove it somewhere hidden as to not embarrass herself. You might think it stupid for him to think of such things considering he was planning to spend the majority of his life in hiding. But still…it was better than forgetting about it. Then his thoughts shifted to Luna. What on earth was the thing has cast upon her? Was it his spirit? Never in his whole life had he done something as powerful as that and yet, if didn't seem to drain him of any energy.

For now onwards, he promised himself as he did with Ruka, that he wouldn't use his fire Alice unless he urgently needed to and he intended to keep that promise, but something squirmed inside him. What if the reason why he was able to make that strange aura appear was because of his Alice? Secretly, he would try to do again, tomorrow. After a long reflection of thoughts, the pitter-patter sound of raindrops lifted him to sleep.

Ruka had also been thinking of Mikan, he wanted much to say a decent farewell but the circumstances did not allow him to. He felt homesick and missed her so a great deal. He even fantasized of kissing her good-bye and blushed furiously at the thought. He wondered if Natsume felt the same way, but little did he know that his friend would keep that very thing secret from him forever and would never open it up. He then wondered what he liked most of Mikan, first, she had wide, beautiful eyes and a personality to match and there was her cheerful spirit and broad smile that could turned the whole world upside down. She always made him smile; never ceasing tin cheering people up, Mikan was one in a million. And there was long golden brown hair that he would sometimes twirl whenever she wasn't looking, she couldn't feel it of course but he could even remember the smell and texture of it. These thoughts drifted him into a deep sleep with dreams of having his own ranch and all his loved friends around him.