OMG! I am so very sorry for not updating in such a long time! How long has it been? Well, I'm sorry, and to show you how sorry I am, I will update as much as I can. The first week of school just ended for me, and it was hectic. I'm officially a freshman now!

Here is chapter 4. Yay! Thank you for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own the world, nor do I own Gakuen Alice.

Happy Reading!

Rush

By Tsuki's Angel

~Chapter 4~

-The Necklace-

"Like hell I'm using those!" a very agitated brunette screamed.

Mikan took the ugly gray crutches and threw them into the corner of the room. She was not going to use those. She would much rather feel the pain than walk around with stilts under her arms. She limped to the door. Mikan didn't really care if her leg hurt when she walked. She wasn't going to use those crutches! It was humiliating!

"M-Mikan… you have to use them!" Isabella said, trying to stop Mikan from hurting herself further.

"No I don't! Mind you, I can very well do on my own!" Mikan said opening the door and leaving the hospital.

"Mikan! At least wear your jacket! You'll catch a cold in just that shirt!" Isabella yelled after the maimed girl. Mikan simply ignored her. "Fine! Screw the jacket! Just button up your shirt!" Again, Mikan ignored her.

Mikan knew that it was cold out, but she didn't really want to put on a jacket. It hurt her to lift her arm and it would hurt her pride if she told Isabella that. Who cared about her buttoning the shirt up? Nobody could see anything. Her entire torso was wrapped in gauze, so it didn't matter. All that showed was a small strip of skin towards her lower stomach. And that was hardly anything at all. Plus, she wasn't really cold at the moment, so there was no need for a jacket, either.

Mikan walked out into the winter sunshine. She was going to class and she was going without help. Mikan continued to limp, until she got sick of it. She stopped by a tree and let it support her weight. She took slow, even breaths before she tried to walk normally. It hurt, but it'll have to do. Mikan walked to class like she usually would. She finally got to the classroom door, and wrenched it open.

When she walked in, she realized that everyone was probably wondering what she was doing yesterday. The way she looked right now probably caused suspicion. She saw the rumors already—Oh my gosh! That Mikan girl totally beat up a bunch of students because she got mad. Mikan tried not to breathe loudly. She was most definitely getting sick of that. She breathed like she just got her first dose of oxygen in weeks.

"What are you all looking at?" Mikan said in a cold voice, glaring at the class. She was beyond surprised when Yuu spoke up.

"What happened to you?" he asked. "Are you okay, Mikan?"

"What's it to you?" she retorted. "Keep to your business, and I'll keep to mine, okay Prez?"

Mikan walked to her seat in the back with Natsume and sat down. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her. She continued to ignore him along with the rest of the class. Shortly afterwards, Ivan and Isabella came into the classroom quietly, but noticeably. They took their designated seats in front of Mikan. They weren't smiling. They were still mad at Victoria for sending them on a separate mission than Mikan, thus forcing her to do her previous mission herself, thus enforcing her injuries. And Mikan's refusing to use crutches didn't help that mood. Then, out of nowhere, Mikan sneezed. Then again. And again, three times in a row. She cursed, and sniffled.

"Are you alright, Mikan?" Isabella asked, staring at said person with worry in her eyes; although she did not show it in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine," Mikan replied.

Isabella nodded and turned around. She wasn't allowed to overreact to anyone's wellbeing in front of others that are not in their specific Dangerous Ability Class, and so she must keep her composure. The last time she did that, she got punished with an Alice Compression Charm. It was a small ring worn around the pinky that causes your Alice to be compacted, causing an uneasy and small painful feeling throughout the body. Of course it wasn't as bad as some other punishments. Isabella just got lucky. The same thing goes for Ivan. Mikan knew he would completely tackle her with questions about the mission later on.

Class began pretty soon. Mr. Narumi came into the classroom, said a few words, and then left as he always does. Mikan sighed. This class was really beginning to bore her. She yawned tiredly before she winced. It hurt her to yawn…and breathe. Mikan's eyes began to droop. Who could blame her? She was injured and she only got three hours of sleep last night, since she fell asleep at around half past midnight, but woke up again because of her difficulty in breathing because of her injury. Sneezing makes it hurt even more, which is exactly what happened. The class was uncomfortably quiet today. Mikan didn't really mind. It was a help to her headache. She settled her head onto her desk and covered it up with her arms. A few minutes of sleep couldn't her hurt, right?

The thing that bothered Mikan, though, was that she couldn't sleep. She didn't know why, either. It was probably the effect of some of the painkillers she took. Mikan really wanted to take the rest of the day off. Victoria always allowed her at least one day to heal herself from missions. The problem was that she didn't want to get up and walk to her dorm room. It was much too far away. Of course, Mikan could always use her Transportation Alice, but that would just drain a lot of energy from her, and Victoria said she was not to use it in front of people other than herself, Ivan, and Isabella.

Mikan felt a very sudden and uncomfortable tickle in her throat. She tried to fight it back, but it kept coming up. She knew she was going to start coughing. She didn't want that to happen because that would just cause her more pain. Mikan groaned. She should have listened to Isabella and worn her stupid jacket. Her immune system was already down enough as it is. Getting sick wasn't going to help her. Mikan quickly realized what she had just thought. No! She couldn't be sick. It was just a cough.

As if to contradict her statement, out of nowhere, Mikan's head shot up from the desk, and she started coughing. She instinctively grabbed her side, trying to numb the pain. Mikan stopped coughing for a second and whimpered at the pain brought to her by that fit. That's it. Mikan go bye-bye. She was going to take the day off. There was no way around it. Mikan stumbled out of her seat and started walking towards the door. She was halfway there when she heard footsteps behind her.

"Mikan, you dummy! I told you to wear a jacket this morning!" Isabella scolded.

Mikan definitely was not in the mood right now. "I know I should have listened to you, okay? Right now I feel like crap, so let me be," she replied.

"Why should I?" Isabella asked. "Why do you always worry me like this?"

Mikan sighed, "I'm sorry, okay?"

"…Fine," she said.

Mikan breathed a sigh of relief. She walked out of the classroom and stared at the hallway floor as she was walking, using the wall as support. After a while, she was almost there, with only a few more steps to go. Mikan reached her door and opened it. She looked at the familiar surroundings. She sighed and limped over to her bed and gingerly lied down, using a pillow for her head. Mikan shut her eyes and waited for sleep to arrive, and surely, it did.

. . .

Mikan grumbled as her phone's constant ringing woke her up. She was not a happy girl when she opened her eyes. She picked up the phone, not wanting to, and pressed 'Talk'.

"What?" she spat.

"Now is that any way to greet your teacher?" Victoria teased.

"What. Do. You. Want?" Mikan said, through her teeth.

Victoria scoffed on the other end. "I heard that you received a visit from a certain fire caster last night. Am I wrong, Mikan?" she asked, obviously enjoying herself. The blood drained from Mikan's face. How could she have known about her and Natsume? This was awful!

"Where did you hear that load of garbage?" Mikan asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"I'm not telling. As much as I'd enjoy seeing your expression when you find out, I'd like and be surprised if you found out by yourself. But that's beside the point. Mikan, I hope you realize that all of your efforts are going to waste if you have any contact with him whatsoever," she said.

Mikan was quiet for a while. "Yes, I am well aware of that," she finally said. Mikan could hear the sadness in her own voice. And she knew Victoria could too.

"Good. Now, you may take today off, as you have planned, I presume. You will not have any missions for about a week, anyways. The AAO has decided to stay low, I believe," she said, lazily.

"I don't care, but if you hurt him, I swear I will damn well put an end to your existence myself. Is that clear?" Mikan said, with threat in her voice. She could hear Victoria's smirking on the phone.

"Whatever you say," she said, before Mikan heard the line click.

Mikan turned off her phone and fell back onto her pillows, giving off a sigh. This was impossible. She can't keep getting hurt like this. She was lucky enough that the hospital had a healing alice stone. She was going to heal faster now, but even the alice stone couldn't stop the pain.

As Mikan lied there, questions were running through her mind. What would happen if Natsume found out? What will he do if he ever knew that she gave up everything for him? Would he be happy? Or would he just get mad at her? She would think the second option. He's always mad, for some reason. Which just brought another question to her mind—is he ever happy? And what can she do to make him smile?

At that very second, every nerve in Mikan's body was giving off pure hatred towards Victoria and Persona. They were the ones keeping her from Natsume. And of course they don't know how much she loved him because they have too cold of a heart to even know love! What was she going to have to do if she wanted to be with Natsume? Of course she always had the option of running away with him, but that meant never seeing Hotaru or anyone ever again…

"What am I going to do?" Mikan whimpered to herself, letting a few tears slip down her cheek. Mikan grabbed a pillow and clutched it tightly and closely to herself. She curled up into a little ball, and buried her face into the plush pillow, ignoring the jabbing pain she was receiving from going into this position. "Damn it." The curse came out strangled. Her throat was blocked with a sob. "What the hell can I do?"

Mikan wanted Natsume to be there with her. She wanted him with all her heart. How must it feel to want something so badly, that you cannot live without it? Shakespeare knew the feeling. He knew the feeling and portrayed it through Romeo. Romeo wanted Juliet and when he thought she was dead, he knew there was no way that she could be his. He simply couldn't live without her. And neither could Juliet. It was quite the opposite for Mikan, however. She knew for a fact that she couldn't live without Natsume but did he feel the same way? She wanted him to say what she wished for him to say. What she wanted to hear.

But Mikan knew very well herself that that was never going to happen. No matter how much she wished for it.

. . .

After Mikan left, Natsume instantly grew bored. So naturally he decided to ditch. He got up out of his seat, out of the classroom and to outside. It was pretty cold, but he used his Alice to keep himself warm. Natsume took a walk and stopped at a bench, which was far enough away from that cursed classroom. He sat down and leaned his head back, sighing. He wondered where Mikan went off to. His mind was being filled with his memories of being with her, when suddenly, he heard voices.

Both were familiar, one more than the other, though. Natsume glanced around. The voices were coming from the forest behind him, and were growing closer. He moved quickly and furtively then climbed the nearest tree and stayed there, out of sight. The two people stopped near the tree he was on, and came into view. He sent them a glare that would freeze hell over. He hated the man. Persona. What a stupid name. Persona in Spanish means person and a person is human. This guy? Not even close. The woman with him didn't look far behind.

"—yes, well, she threatened to kill me if I did anything to harm the boy. I assume you will take care of her if she does anything rash," said Victoria, laughing.

"Ha. It'll be my pleasure." He fixed one of his many rings. "I honestly don't know what she was thinking. She could've gotten herself out of the ridiculous situation she's in right now," Persona said.

To say that Natsume was confused was an understatement. He was past confusion. He was in an extreme case of perplexity. He had questions running through his head—who was 'she?' what situation, and who's the boy?

"Yes, poor girl. She's pretty stubborn, too. She won't even budge. I've told her countless times that she should just give it up, but that girl fell hard." Victoria let out another malicious chuckle. It was frightening. "She fell in love with him. Isn't it odd? She could've chosen anyone, but she had to choose the most troublesome. I wonder if she can even manage to keep up," Victoria said.

"I agree. Can you believe it, though? I seriously wonder if she knows what her fate is, now that she has gone that far for him. She gave up everything. She can't expect to actually live happily ever after with him, can she?" Persona retorted. "She is, after all, a Dangerous Ability Student."

"I'm surprised too. I thought that she would give up, but look where she is now," Victoria said. "She's miserable."

"Mikan Sakura is indeed one of the most surprising students I have acknowledged. I never know what to expect with her," Persona said.

Natsume's face paled. He couldn't hear anything anymore. The only thought that went through his mind was that Mikan was associated with Persona. Mikan. He couldn't imagine Mikan going through the same things he had to go through when he was eleven. Mikan was fragile, delicate, and innocent. She couldn't possible dirty her hands by taking lives. She was Mikan. Natsume's mind was chaos at the moment. He picked up tidbits of information they said, but none of it was making sense.

"Yes, well, let's go back, shall we?" Victoria proposed. Persona nodded, and they were both sucked down into the earth, and disappeared.

Natsume felt as if he had been socked in the stomach and all the air was whipped out of him. He seriously felt like he couldn't breathe. He felt cold rage fill him. This contradicted with the fire that burned inside of him. A person wouldn't want to be around Natsume when he was in this mood. There is only one woman who could do this to him. And Mikan was in love. He didn't even know who she was in love with. The only thing he knew is that he could never be with her. That it was impossible for him to win over her heart, now. She went that far for this guy.

Natsume jumped down from the tree, feeling like utter crap. He got dumped even before they started going out. No wonder Mikan always fought with him. She was in love with someone else the whole time, and apparently she was in a problematic situation because of this person. Goddamnit, when he found this guy, he is dead. He didn't feel the reasons selfish at all—one, for stealing Mikan from him, two, for putting her in random danger, and three, because he had to.

All he knew now was that Mikan's in love with someone, that she gave up everything for this person, and that this person is the reason she left five years ago.

The only thing that he didn't know was…who is this person, exactly?

. . .

Mikan felt so lonely. She actually considered telling Natsume the truth, but then she thought of the consequences and among them were him getting killed, so she didn't think further in the subject. She sighed heavily. What was she going to do? She got up out of bed and decided that maybe a walk would clear her mind.

Mikan walked out of the dorm and outside, only to feel the brisk winter wind. She was stupid. She forgot her jacket again. She turned around angrily and kicked a snow-covered stone. It accelerated through the air and landed with a couple of taps meters away.

"Dang it!" Mikan ran a hand through her slightly curled hair. "Why does it have to be so cold?" Mikan yelled furiously to herself. Now she had to walk all the way back up those stairs, those pain-inflicting stairs. She began towards the dorm.

"You should seriously wear a jacket, Polka."

There was only one person in the entire damn world that would pin such a ridiculous nickname on her. And the owner of the pissed, masculine voice was none other than Natsume Hyuuga. His angry tone proved Mikan's 'he's never happy' theory. She turned sharply to see his handsome face carrying a displeased expression. Mikan clenched her teeth.

"I don't wear freaking polka-dotted underwear anymore!"She decided to say. "You don't need to call me that! We're not ten anymore!"

"I never said that you do," he grinned. Mikan crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head away so that her left profile was shown to him. She would be lying if she said she didn't find his smile sexy. Mikan heard his raspy voice, "Are you cold?"

"Why do you care?" she retorted. She wanted to slap herself. She didn't mean it to be so harsh. He didn't reply and she decided to walk straight past him, but he grabbed her arm firmly and wouldn't let go. Mikan tried to tug away and when he didn't budge, she grew frustrated. "Ugh! Don't you know never to harm an injured person?" Mikan snapped at him.

"I'm not harming you," he said, simply.

"Then why are you holding on to me? Let go!" she yelled.

Tears were again threatening to form because part of her wanted to just run into his arms and kiss his face and the other part wanted to run away because that part was smart. It knew that if she got close to Natsume, he could very well die.

"Why?" he asked after a while.

"Why what?" Mikan asked, through gritted teeth.

"Why are you being so impossible?" he said, his voice raising a few octaves.

"I'm not being impossible, Natsume! Okay? I'm only doing this because—" Mikan bit her lip to stop herself from going any further.

"Because…?" he urged.

"That's none of your business," Mikan said firmly.

"Then answer this—who did you leave this academy for?" he asked.

Mikan stopped breathing, "W-what kind of question is that?"

"Answer the question," he ordered.

"Who said I left the academy for someone? I could've left for myself. I could've left because it benefitted me. Who knows? You have no idea if that's true or not," Mikan said, glaring at him straight in the eye.

"I know it is," he said confidently.

"How are you so sure?"

"I have my reasons." Natsume's thumb began drawing little circles in her arm. "Quit stalling and just answer the damn question," he said. He almost sounded pleading. Mikan was quiet for a while. She was not going to get him killed by telling him why she left this academy. She was not an idiot.

"No," she replied. His jaw clenched. He was obviously mad.

"Then at least tell me who you fell in love with," he whispered. Mikan kept her expression blank. The hair that was kept behind her ear shadowed her eyes. Her eyes stung. She was going to lose her composure. If she didn't get herself together, Victoria will give it to her later.

"I can't and I won't," Mikan whispered angrily, yanking her arm from his grip. "You have no idea…" Mikan took a step back and with another run of her hand through her hair, she pushed it back to reveal her blotchy face. "You've always said I was naïve." Mikan pressed the palm of her hands against her eyes before her hands clenched into fists and were thrust to her sides harshly. "But you're the one who really doesn't know anything! You were just a kid, Natsume, a kid!"

Natsume didn't know what to say. Yeah, he was a kid. And so was she. Back then, she was a complete imbecile. She knew nothing and did things on impulse, nearly killing herself. Sure, she's smarter now, but what could she know that he didn't? He was always smarter than her. There were some things that didn't change. He had it set it his mind now that he was going to find who this man was. And he could do it without Mikan's help.

"So what if I was a kid?" Natsume retorted. "I did what I had to do. You can't change the past."

"That's right," Mikan said. "You can't."

And Mikan ran. She ran as fast as she could, ignoring the pain in her side for sobbing so loud. She had to get away. She could go anywhere, just not where he was. She didn't know where she was running to, until she found herself at the Gakuen Alice gates.

She could easily slip through the barrier and escape. She could run away and never look back. She could, but she won't. If she does, Natsume will have to resume his position, and all of her work will have gone to waste, just like that. Mikan slumped into the snow covered ground and crossed her arms over her chest, grasping them tightly. She leaned her head down and stared at the snow beneath her knees.

She heard the crunching of snow behind her and immediately assumed Natsume was there. Boy was she wrong.

"Hello, kitten. Aren't you cold?"

"What do you want?" Mikan asked coldly.

"Hm? Well, I noticed you had an encounter with a certain somebody. You didn't think you could get away with that, did you?" he said, obviously enjoying this. Mikan stared up at his face with wide eyes, astounded. What was he going to do to her? She didn't speak.

"Well? Aren't you going to answer?" he asked.

"Just shut the hell up and give it to me," Mikan snapped.

"Mind your language, Sakura," he scolded. She growled in return. He held up a necklace that looked like a choker. It had a white band with a single black rose in the middle. He bent down towards her. "Here."

Mikan snatched it from him. "What's the catch? A necklace? Seriously?" she asked. He smirked.

"Ah, the catch. I was just getting to that. You see, this necklace is cursed." Mikan flinched at the adjective he used. She would have preferred abnormal. "Every time you get too close to one of your so-called friends, you receive an electric shock, which may or may not knock you out. You can't take it off yourself once it's put on. This is to ensure that you don't get to close to anyone. After all, you were meant to be alone, correct?" he said.

Mikan's heart thudded. No, he was just trying to get to her. There was no way she was meant to be alone. Nobody could live like that without becoming insane. She shook off the horrifying thought. She didn't want to be alone. Nobody does.

"I'm not wearing it," she said, coldly.

"I thought you might say that," he said.

"I won't give in." she spoke firmly.

"Well, then. I assume you don't want your loved ones in danger, correct? To put it simply, if you don't wear it, they are the ones to pay. And I'll make sure that he is the one to suffer the most," he said, lazily.

Mikan glared at him. "You complete arse," she grumbled. She held up the necklace, and then put it on. It fit perfectly, encircling and hugging her neck. Persona smirked then got up. He started to walk away, but not before saying something.

"You know, a black rose is the symbol of death. Perfect for you, isn't it?" he said before continuing his stride away from her.

Mikan stared into the snow, ignoring the hurtful comment he said. She knew she was dangerous. He doesn't need to rub it into her face anymore. She could see now why Natsume hated him so. She gingerly touched the necklace. It was hurting her a bit. She didn't like the feeling. Mikan decided to get up and go back to her dorm before she got a fever because if she got sick, Ivan and Isabella would have to take her place in her missions and she wouldn't forgive herself if they got hurt.

Mikan arrived at her dorm faster than she had anticipated. The events of the night were exhausting. So exhausting that in fact, that she didn't have enough energy to make it to her bed. She slept on the couch, drifting off into aching slumber.

Done! There you all go. Chapter 4. I hope you all enjoyed. I'm sorry again for not updating.

Edited 10-22-10: Questions? PM or review. I also have my email posted in my profile if you are anonymous. Mistakes? I'm not perfect. Tell me if you wish so I can change it.

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