Mikan: Um…illutia?
illutia mist: (Glances at her) What?
Mikan: Is the lump on your head just fine?
illutia mist: (Mutters darkly) I hope I could say that.
Jacklyn: Don't worry. That lump won't make a stupid person like her more stupid.
illutia threw a glare at Jacklyn.
Jacklyn: (Expressionless) Nah. It won't affect me.
illutia mist: (Cries waterfall) Why are you so mean?
Jacklyn: What?
illutia mist: (Gets annoyed then waves her hands on the air) I'm your creator!! Show me some respect!!
Jacklyn: (Rolls her eyes) Whatever, creator.
illutia mist: (Cries waterfall again) How could you be so cold to your creator?
Mikan: (Sweat drops) Uhh, sorry, good readers. We better leave those two and go to the story now.
-x-
Small Pieces of You
-x-
4th Piece: First Friends
"For your assignment, solve the problems from page 50 until 55," Jinno said with his stern face. "It better has been done by next week or there will be a punishment for it," he added with a glint of evil in his eyes.
KRRRIIINNNGGGG!! The bell rang.
After Jinno went out from the class, all students were groaning and protesting. Of course it was because of the assignment that was given by Jinno.
"He's a killer!!" a student shouted.
"He thinks we just have to do his subject! He's evil!" the other student shouted.
"I'm dead!" a brunette stated desperately as she bumped her forehead to the desk.
"So, Polka-dots is dead," a certain raven-haired boy, who was sitting beside her, muttered as he read his manga.
The brunette turned her face to him, still lying on the desk. "How can't I? There are six pages with ten numbers questions on each page which in total was sixty questions!" she wailed, depressed.
"It can be done in a half day," he answered nonchalantly.
"Yeah. If it's you, Natsume, maybe it can be done in a half day," the brunette retorted in a sarcastic tone, "and I bet that you won't help me even if I ask you."
"Good if you know," Natsume said, still reading his manga.
"What a good partner you are," she murmured, sighing.
"Mikan-chan," Nonoko called as she and Anna approached the brunette.
Mikan lifted her head. "What's wrong, Nonoko?"
"We wanted to ask you something before but we forgot," Anna said as she smiled.
"What is it?" Mikan was curious.
"It's when you nominated yourself to be Jacklyn-chan's partner," Nonoko said. "You said that you've met her two days ago. How did you meet her?"
"Oh, that," Mikan smiled, "Hotaru and I were in rush to the last-period class when I met Narumi-sensei in the way. He carried her in his arms. She was unconscious that time, so maybe she didn't know me."
"So, that is," Nonoko said with an understanding expression.
"I was surprised when she made a hole on the blackboard some times ago," Anna said in disbelief. "It looks like she isn't a rebel type. I wonder…"
"Well, I know what she thought back then," a familiar voice said.
"Koko?" Mikan looked at the owner of the voice with a puzzled face.
"Yes," Koko smiled as he approached the girls, "I was about to tell Jinno-sensei when she threatened me in her thought."
Natsume listened as he pretended to read his manga.
"Will you be alright if you tell us about that?" Mikan asked, between curious and worried.
Koko shrugged. "Let's hope that her alice isn't a dangerous type," he said in submission.
"Okay…" Mikan was unsure. "So, what was she thought back then?"
"She was already pissed off even before Jinno called her. Her hand was in pain and it worsened from time to time. She couldn't make any note, whereas in fact, she's weak at Math. She couldn't concentrate during the class because of the pain. When she was concentrated to solve the problem that Jinno gave her, she heard some unpleasing sounds. And when she has gotten enough of all of it, there she was, leaving a mark on the blackboard," Koko finished as he moved his hands, pointing the hole on the blackboard which was in front of the class.
"So she was extremely pissed off," Mikan concluded, sweat dropped.
"Talking about her," Anna butted in, "we have to tell her about this assignment. Moreover, she's weak at Math."
"Yeah. That's right," Nonoko agreed. "But where did she go? She hasn't come back even the class has been over."
"Oh, yeah. She hasn't been acquainted with the others in this class. She suddenly ran out, remember?" Anna added. "Maybe she was lost back then. That's why she's late for Jinno-sensei's class."
Mikan, as a caring person, was worried about Jacklyn. Moreover, she was her partner. "I'll search for her," she said as she stood up.
Natsume glanced at the brunette from behind his manga, watching her figure run and disappear behind the door.
'Act before think. Typical of her. Where will she search for that sketchbook girl anyway?' he thought.
Natsume closed his manga and stood up. He held his manga between his left arm and hip and shoved his hands into the pockets then walked to the door.
"Natsume," a blonde boy with a pair of cerulean eyes called as he followed him.
Natsume turned to him. "I have to go somewhere. Don't follow me, Ruka," he said with an expressionless face.
Ruka looked at him worriedly and nodded. Natsume turned away and disappeared behind the door.
'Natsume…' he thought as he looked at the door where his best friend just disappeared.
-x-
"Right hand, huh? It's worse," the doctor said as he observed her wounded right hand. "Are you left-handed?"
"No," Jacklyn replied simply.
"We must use the healing alice to recover this wound, but the problem is all of the healing alice-users still have their jobs to be done," the doctor said again, sighing.
Just then, a man with black hair and glasses came in. he spotted the doctor and the black- haired girl.
"What's wrong?" he asked as he approached them.
"Good timing, Subaru Imai. This girl got wounded on her right hand," the doctor said as the man observing the wound.
'Imai?' Jacklyn asked in her thought. 'I think I ever heard that name. But if I'm not mistaken, I heard a calm girl's voice back then," she thought as she reminiscing the time when she was a half-conscious. 'Coincidence? Maybe.'
"How did you get the burnt scar?" the man who was called Subaru Imai asked.
"My sketchbook got burnt. I tried to extinguish it by patting the fire with my right hand," she replied calmly.
"Just for a sketchbook?" the doctor asked, not believing what he had just heard.
Jacklyn fell silent for a moment then muttered, "It's my precious thing…" She looked at her sketchbook on her lap.
The black-haired man didn't say a thing and brought his hand on to her hand. A faint glow appeared and the wounded healed little by little then gone. Jacklyn was amazed.
"Is this the healing alice?" she asked as she looked at the man.
"Yes, it is," he said in a stoic face.
Jacklyn smiled as she said, "Thank you for the help."
"You're welcome," he replied.
"Okay, little girl, you may go now," the doctor said with a smile. "Don't hurt yourself again."
"Thank you, doctor. Umm, where is Narumi-sensei?" she asked, searching for the gay teacher.
"He said he'll go to the headmaster's office. What's wrong?" the doctor asked.
"Nothing," Jacklyn shook her head. "Please tell him that I've went back if he come to check on me," she said as she looked at the doctor.
"Yes, I will," the doctor smiled again.
"Thank you, doctor, Imai-san. I excused myself." She stood up and walked out from the door.
She walked along the hospital corridor. When she was about to turn at a corner, she spotted a familiar person. She quickly hid. She just spotted that person's back, but she already knew who that was.
"Check up again, Natsume-kun?" a nurse asked.
"Hn," he replied.
"How was it?" the nurse asked again, concerned.
"Nothing changes much," he replied nonchalantly.
"Have you taken your medicine?" she asked again.
"Hn," Natsume replied again. "But nothing changes."
"It's okay, Natsume-kun. You'll be fine," she convinced him.
Jacklyn, who had listened to the conversation by accidentally, had a lot of questions in her head. 'Is he sick?'
"Well, see you later, Natsume-kun," the nurse said and the footsteps sound was heard moving away from them.
Jacklyn decided to go out from her hideout, walking like usual as if she didn't hear anything.
Natsume heard footsteps, so he turned to his back just to see the sketchbook girl walking to his direction. They just stared at each other.
"Hey," Jacklyn greeted as she raised her right palm to greet him. Natsume didn't greet back, just getting silent as he continued to stare at her. "What?" she asked as she arched an eyebrow, feeling eerie being stared by him.
"So it has recovered," he finally said.
Jacklyn nodded.
"How long did it take you to find this hospital?" Natsume smirked.
"Narumi-sensei took me here," Jacklyn said, expressionless.
"Lucky," Natsume commented.
"Yes," she smiled.
Natsume was almost dumbfounded at her reaction. 'Double faces,' he thought as he remembered her attitude at Jinno's class.
"Are you going back to class?" Jacklyn asked kindly.
"Why?" he asked in a bored tone.
"Narumi-sensei went to the headmaster office. I don't know the way back to class," she explained with a 'what's-wrong-with-that-tone?' look.
"Have fun then," Natsume said as he turned to his back and walked away.
"Hey! Wait!" Jacklyn chased him.
They went out from the hospital. Jacklyn just followed Natsume, not too caring where she went. They were walking in silence. Jacklyn was deep in her thought.
'I wonder what they're thinking about me now. They must be afraid of me. Why not? Making a hole on the blackboard? It's unbelievable! Even I was surprised at what I have done. Now no one wants to befriend me,' she thought sadly.
Suddenly, Natsume stopped. Jacklyn, who was deep in her thought, kept walking until she bumped onto his back.
"Ow!" she wailed as she held her face with her palm.
"Why are you following me?" Natsume asked, irritated.
"I don't know the way back, so I decided to follow you," Jacklyn replied as she pulled away her palm from her face.
"Stop following me," Natsume said as he started to walk again.
"I better follow you than stuck in that place," she stated as she bent her eyebrows and followed him again.
"You better stay in one place than wondering around if you're lost," he said without looking at her.
"I thought so. But I'm just following what my feeling tells me and it told me to follow you," Jacklyn said, trying to catch up with him every second.
"Whatever," Natsume muttered. Jacklyn rolled her eyes. They were walking in silence again.
"Hey," Jacklyn started a conversation. "May I call you Natsume?"
"You've called me that before," Natsume replied, still walking.
"Oh…yeah…" she murmured as she smiled a little.
The silence came again as something suddenly bothered her mind.
"Are they…afraid of me…?" Jacklyn asked hesitantly.
Natsume glanced at her from the corner of his eye. Jacklyn was looking at the ground, still following him. But after she heard nothing from Natsume for a minute, she felt uncomfortable.
"Umm…never mind that," she said as she smiled at him.
Once again, Natsume suddenly stopped. Jacklyn stopped too before she bumped into him again. He jumped to a branch and that made Jacklyn realize that they were at the Sakura tree.
"Hey, how did you do that?" Jacklyn asked as she looked up at him.
"Jump," Natsume replied simply as he lay his back on the trunk and started to read his manga.
"I know. But it's high and you reached there just in a jump," she said as if the action was amazing.
"Whatever. Don't disturb me," Natsume said nonchalantly.
Jacklyn just sighed and sat down under the tree. She stared at nowhere for a while then she took out her pencil-color box from her bag. She opened her sketchbook and started to draw. She drew twelve butterflies with many beautiful colors as she smiled to no one. She liked the feeling when she drew. She felt happy and comfortable.
"NATSUME!!" a familiar cheery voice called as a figure ran to their direction.
Jacklyn looked up and saw a brunette coming to their direction.
"Tch. Polka-dots," she heard Natsume grunt from the branch. 'Polka-dots?' she thought in confusion.
The brunette went nearer then she saw a black-haired girl instead of a raven-haired boy.
"Jacklyn-chan?" she called, unsure.
"Sakura?" Jacklyn recognized her.
The brunette smiled a warm smile and said, "I've been searching for you everywhere."
"You're…searching for me?" Jacklyn asked, her eyes widened a little.
"Yeah, but I couldn't find you anywhere," Mikan said as she stood beside the sketchbook girl. "I just want to ask Natsume to help."
Jacklyn pointed her finger up. Mikan was confused at first, but then she looked up and found the person she had been searching a few seconds ago.
"Natsume! There you are!" Mikan's smile widened.
"You disturb me again, Polka," Natsume said as he kept reading his manga.
"Hey! Don't call me that! I have a name, you know!" she pouted.
"Yeah. It's Polka-dots," Natsume teased.
"NO! IT'S MIKAN!!" she yelled angrily.
"You'll make me deaf, especially the one that's beside you," he said coolly.
Mikan then realized that there was someone beside her. It's Jacklyn. Jacklyn was just silent as she watched their quarrel.
"Are you two lovers?" Jacklyn asked suddenly.
Natsume bent an eyebrow while Mikan blushed furiously. Jacklyn raised an eyebrow at her reaction.
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT IDEA?!" Mikan shouted while blushing. Jacklyn flinched at her shout.
"Polka, your shout will kill her," Natsume reminded her.
Mikan blinked then she said, "Oh no! I'm sorry, Jacklyn-chan!"
Jacklyn smiled. "It's okay, Sakura."
"Just call me Mikan," Mikan said as she sat beside Jacklyn.
"So, are you two lovers?" Jacklyn asked again, making Mikan blush again.
"No," Mikan stated, still blushing.
"I don't like that Polka-dots," Natsume said firmly.
"Oh…" Jacklyn wondered. 'But my feeling tells that they have a very deep connection yet complicated,' she thought as she looked at Mikan. "Why did you search for me?" Jacklyn asked.
"To tell you that Jin-Jin gave us an assignment," Mikan said as she sighed.
"Jin-Jin?" Jacklyn was confused.
"Jinno-sensei," Mikan replied.
"From your face, looks like it's not a fun one," Jacklyn guessed, thinking about Jinno's discipline and evilness.
"Yeah. The assignment is from page 50 until 55. Six pages, ten questions on each page. The total is sixty questions," Mikan explained in depression.
"I told you. It can be done in a half day," Natsume said from the tree branch.
"Yeah. And I've told you that if it's you, it's possible," Mikan retorted.
"You're weak at Math too?" Jacklyn asked.
"Sort of," Mikan grunted.
"Me too. Don't worry." Jacklyn smiled. "We can do this assignment together if you want."
Mikan smiled back at her. "Of course," she said happily.
"We just need a tutor to teach us," Jacklyn suggested. "Any recommendation?"
"Yeah. The person who said that it can be done in a half day," Mikan teased as she glanced at the branch where Natsume was laying.
"Won't," he replied simply.
"Meanie!" she retorted.
"Whatever. Don't involve me," Natsume stated.
Jacklyn stared at them. 'It's really like a lovers' quarrel,' she thought.
"He's always like that?" Jacklyn whispered to Mikan.
"Mostly. But sometimes he could be relied on to," Mikan whispered back.
"You like him?" Jacklyn whispered, hoping for a true answer.
"Not really," Mikan said as she blushed a little.
"…Does that mean…you like him?" Jacklyn teased, still whispering.
Mikan's face reddened more. "No!" she hissed.
Jacklyn just smiled, but her smile was suddenly gone as she remembered something. "You're…not afraid of me?" she asked, unsure.
Mikan blinked twice. "Why?" she asked stupidly.
"You've seen what I've done to the blackboard…" Jacklyn replied as she gazed her eyes to the other direction.
"Oh yeah. I was surprised, but I'm not scared of you," Mikan said as she smiled.
"I never did that before…" Jacklyn muttered. "…I'm sorry…"
"What for?" Mikan asked, confused.
"For scaring all of you," Jacklyn replied sadly.
"Hey! We're just surprised there's someone that dares to do that in Jin-Jin's class. We're not scared," Mikan convinced her. "We're friends, right?"
Jacklyn was touched when she heard that. Before, she was afraid that no one wanted to be her friend, moreover after they had seen her make a hole just with her right hand. "We're…friends…?" she asked, uncertain.
"Yes. Natsume and I will be your first friends because you haven't known the others," Mikan smiled. "Don't worry. They'll be your friends too when you have known them."
"Don't involve me. I've said it before, Polka," Natsume said from the tree branch.
"Natsume, that's rude!" Mikan pouted and scolded him.
"Whatever, Polka-dots," Natsume muttered.
Wind was blowing gently, bringing some Sakura petals along with it. Some of them fell onto the three who was under the tree.
Jacklyn smiled her most gentle smile. She had friends, her first friends. 'Maybe this school isn't as bad as I thought,' she thought happily. She wanted to give her first friends a present.
When Natsume was focusing his attention to his manga and Mikan was enjoying the gentle wind that caressed her face, Jacklyn opened her sketchbook. She opened the page where the twelve butterflies with beautiful colors lay on. She touched all of them and…
PLAAASSSHHH!!
All of them flew away from her sketchbook, flying around them with their beautiful colors.
Mikan was fascinated at the sight. "Wow!! Where were these butterflies come from?" she asked as she admired the beautiful scene. Natsume looked up from his manga when he heard Mikan's question, wondering what was happening. He saw some of the butterflies flying around him too.
"It's a present," Jacklyn said as she leaned her back on the tree trunk, suddenly feeling so tired.
Mikan looked at her and blinked. "Present?" she asked, confused. Natsume looked at the two girls under the tree.
"For you two," Jacklyn continued, "my first friends."
Mikan realized that Jacklyn looked so exhausted. "Jacklyn-chan, are you okay?" she asked, concerned.
Jacklyn nodded. "I'm fine," she said as a smile appeared on her face.
Mikan stared at her and asked, "Is this your alice?" Jacklyn just smiled as she slowly drifted to sleep. "Jacklyn-chan?" Mikan was worried because she was silent all of a sudden.
"She's sleeping," Natsume said nonchalantly as he looked at the sleeping sketchbook girl from the branch.
Mikan sighed in relief then she looked at those butterflies. "Natsume, do you think this is her alice?"
Natsume shrugged. "Don't know," he said as he looked at the brunette who still admired those butterflies.
Those butterflies were flying around her as she twirled around, as if she was dancing with them. Natsume stared at her from the branch, admiring her beautiful figure. He had had a crush on her since they were ten, but she was too dense to realize his feeling for her. And now, here he was, admiring her once again. It's really a beautiful sight for him.
And Jacklyn, she was sleeping peacefully, bringing her happiness and hope that her present was a good one for both of her first friends.
--To be continued--
illutia mist: (Mutters) Jacklyn is so cold to me.
Mikan: I wonder. You're the one who created her, right?
illutia mist: Well, that's her personality. She has many personalities, you know. Sometimes I wonder why I created a character with that many personalities.
Mikan: How do I know?
illutia mist: (Looks around) And now she's nowhere to be found.
Mikan: She said she wants to cool herself from the mouth-fight with you before.
illutia mist: (Mutters) I think I'll create another character again. Maybe one day.
Mikan: Or maybe never.
illutia mist: Still in the plan. (Grins)
Mikan: (Rolls her eyes) Whatever you like.
illutia mist: By the way, it looks like the readers have finished reading this chapter. Please do the closing!
Mikan: (Smiles) Oh yeah. Thank you for reading and please review. She'll update as soon as she can. (Points at illutia)
illutia mist: Oh, and for those who haven't seen Jacklyn, the link is in my profile. See you in the next chapter! XD