illutia mist: (Flails her arms brutally) NOOO!!
Natsume: (Annoyed) Can you shut up for a while? You're noisy.
illutia mist: (Glares at Natsume) You're evil…
Natsume: (Smirks) Say what you like, freaky author. You're already doomed.
Jacklyn: (Irritated) Can't you two be quiet?
illutia mist: CAN'T!!
Natsume: She's the one that can't be quiet.
Jacklyn: Then make her quiet.
Natsume: Who do you think you are? Command me like that?
Jacklyn: You're the one who's dragging her now.
Natsume: (Bends his eyebrows in annoyance) Then drag her by yourself.
Jacklyn: (Rolls her eyes) Think of it, cocky boy. You're a boy and I'm a girl.
Natsume: (Glares at Jacklyn) I think I need to burn you right now.
Mikan: That's enough! Can't all of you quiet?!
Jacklyn & Natsume & illutia: CAN'T!!
Mikan: Uh…fine…
Hotaru: Idiots…
-x-
Small Pieces of You
-x-
14th Piece: Getting Worse
RIING! KLAK!
Jacklyn sat up on her bed while her hand was on top of the alarm clock on the bedside table. She just turned it off at the first ring. She glanced at the alarm clock, checking what time it was.
It was 5 am.
She heaved a sigh then quickly got off from the bed and went to her bathroom to do her morning routine.
She approached the sink and spun the faucet, feeling the cold water on her hands before she splashed it onto her face. Lifting her head to face the mirror, she saw a girl with a shoulder-length black hair staring back at her with a stoic face.
'Pathetic,' she thought.
She still remembered what she did yesterday. She told the fire caster and the nullifier to stay out from her, for she was afraid that the fan girls would involve them, especially the brunette. She also woke up at 5 am by intentionally to avoid the brunette, who recently always came to her room in the morning.
Jacklyn stared at her reflection for a few seconds, before she finally shrugged the topic off from her mind and continued doing her morning routine, brushing her teeth then taking a bath.
It took her thirty minutes to finish cleaning herself. It was because she often spaced out in the process, taking more time than it should be.
The clock stroke right at 5.30 am.
Jacklyn decided to take a walk outside the dormitory. She wore her uniform and then took her bag and sketchbook. She locked her room and went out from the dormitory.
Outside the dormitory, she stopped to think. 'Now, where should I go first?' she thought as she looked around. 'If I go to the Sakura tree…it will be too risky…' she thought hard. 'Maybe I'll just take a walk to the Northern Woods.'
And with that decision, Jacklyn skipped her feet to the Northern Woods.
Thirty minutes later, she finally arrived at the forbidden woods. Well, she was almost lost on the way, but she had memorized the route little by little. 'I think I remember the way a little now. If I'm from the dormitory, I use this path. If I'm from the hospital, I use the other way,' she thought as she looked at the woods.
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
The black-haired girl whipped her head to the direction of the sound in surprise. 'What was that?' she thought curiously. 'Is it just my imagination?'
RUSTLE! RUSTLE!
Jacklyn observed the trees and bushes, trying to find the source of the sound. Curiosity had engulfed her mind at that time.
After two minutes searching, she caught a glimpse of a figure leaning on the trunk of a tree. She approached the figure, who was wearing boy's uniform and a cat mask. But what made her more surprised was the blood that stained the person's white undershirt.
"Oh my God! Are you alright?!" she asked as she quickly approached the figure. The figure looked at her in surprise and tried to stand up, but failed. Jacklyn knelt beside the stranger and looked at the wound that was covered by the tainted-red shirt. Seeing the wound, she could guess where the injured part was. "You got injured badly near the flank part! We must go to the hospital quickly!" she said while staring at the red color that started to spread wider.
Instead of agreeing with her, the person didn't move or even look at her. "What are you doing here? Just go away!" the person said in a muffled voice.
Jacklyn lifted her head to face the person. She couldn't see the person's face, for a cat-shaped mask covered it. But the boyish voice and its arrogant tone were so familiar on her ears, even though it was heard a bit muffled because of the mask.
As she looked at him a little longer, she spotted his raven-colored hair. It didn't take a long time when something, or rather, someone suddenly showed up in her mind. "…Natsume?" she guessed.
The person grunted in irritation. "I told you to go away," he said.
Jacklyn arched an eyebrow at his annoyed reaction. "Are you kidding?! How can I leave an injured person here? I'll help you to go to the hospital!" she said as she extended her hand.
But you know Natsume. He won't accept it.
"This is nothing. Mind your own business," he said nonchalantly, his breath turned heavier. The blood kept flowing out, staining more of his white undershirt with its red color.
Jacklyn stared at the bleeding-badly wound and twitched her eyebrows at the terrible sight. "Oh! Darn it! At least it should be treated! The bleeding hasn't stopped!" she scolded him in impatience.
"I said this is nothing!" the raven-haired boy insisted, angry tone could be heard in his sentence.
And his rock-headed made the black-haired girl twisted her brain, thinking of how she could give him the first aid. After a few seconds thinking, something came up in her mind. "Hey, can you bandage your own wound? Because I can't bandage this type of wound," she asked worriedly while keeping her gaze at the bleeding part.
Natsume let out a deep growl because of the wound before he replied, "I can. But there's no first aid kit here." He got irritated because the black-haired girl still didn't go away.
"Then wait here for a while," Jacklyn said as she ran to a big tree and hid behind it.
Behind the tree, she took her pen from her pocket and opened her sketchbook. She drew a box of first aid kit with the content inside the box. She put back her pen in her pocket and touched the newest drawing. And in the next second, a box of first aid kit appeared in her hand.
Jacklyn quickly ran back to the place where Natsume was. She knelt down beside him once again and handed the first aid box to him. "You can use this," she said firmly.
Natsume looked at the first aid box then at her. "Where did you get this that fast?" he asked, curious. It was impossible for her to run back to the dormitory and go to his place again just within the short time. He needed an explanation for this.
"No time for that question! You better treat your wound now! And after that, we'll go to the hospital!" Jacklyn told him impatiently, getting worrier in every second that passed by without any care. She was aware that he could die because of blood loss if he didn't treat the wound quickly.
The fire caster stayed still for a few seconds, unsure. Then he finally took the first aid box from her and opened it. Surprisingly to him, the content of the box was complete.
Without waiting for another minute again, he lifted his upper uniform until her chest, showing a very bad and deep wound near the flank part. It was bleeding badly. Fresh blood still came out from the wound. Jacklyn winced at this sight. It was just too much for her. She decided to look at the other direction; anything but him.
After more less twenty minutes passed by, Jacklyn was certain that it had been safe enough to look back. She shifted her gaze back to the injured boy and found out that he had finished bandaging his wound. She let out a glad sigh, knowing that the situation had been better for temporary. But then she spotted a bandage on his right leg too, making her realize that he also got injured at the part. "Great. We better go to the hospital now. Can you stand up?" she asked, showing that she was concerned. Well, a little.
"It has been bandaged now. There's no need to go to the hospital again," he said as he tried to stand up by supporting his hand on the tree trunk.
"No! We have to go to the hospital! The bandages will just last for twenty four hours! We have to treat your wounds properly!" she insisted. Yeah, she couldn't let him get shocked on the next day, wondering why the wounds were opened and where the bandages had gone to.
Natsume stared at her in bewilderment and suspicion. "What does it mean by 'just last for twenty four hours'?" he asked.
"The bandages will disappear after twenty four hours! And your wounds will be opened again! Now we go to the hospital! And quick!" she explained irritatingly. She was getting impatient at his luring-time question.
Without waiting for his permission again, Jacklyn took his right arm and put it around her shoulder while her left hand was around his waist, trying to support him. "Ugh! You're so heavy! Why are the boys heavier than the girls?!" she wailed as she took a few steps forward.
"Told you. You better mind your own business," the raven-haired boy muttered irritatingly.
Jacklyn could feel a thin thread of patience that she had at that time was broken after he said that. She couldn't believe that the arrogant fire caster still tried to send her away while she knew he was wounded badly. "I don't have any business now! Satisfied?" she retorted in annoyance while dragging him out of the Northern Woods.
As they were out of the woods, she looked around as she thought, 'Let me remember…The way to the hospital…' She looked at her right then left. And after thinking for some time, she decided to take the left path. 'I think this is the way,' she thought as she dragged Natsume to the left direction.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?" the raven-haired boy suddenly asked before they went too far from the place.
"Hospital," Jacklyn replied simply, concentrating on holding Natsume's weight on her shoulders.
"This isn't the way to hospital, sketchbook girl. It's on that way," he said as he pointed to the opposite direction. Jacklyn froze as she looked at the pointed direction. "How can you still lost in this critical moment?" he asked, annoyed.
Hearing his complain, the black-haired girl made a frown on her face. "Sor-ry! I just finally could remember the way when you suddenly showed up in that bloody costume! Of course I forgot again! I'm panicked, you know!" she excused while turning to the pointed direction. This time, it's a right one.
'She's almost like Polka, except for the 'lost' part,' Natsume thought as he rolled his eyes behind the mask. 'Oh, yeah, plus, Polka is good at bandaging wound.'
"What did you do anyway? And what's with that funny mask? Don't tell me that you just engaged in a gang fight with the other students' gang!" Jacklyn said while panting because she dragged Natsume, who technically was heavy because he was a boy.
"I have no interest in that kind of fight," he answered shortly.
"So?" she asked again while concentrating on dragging him.
"Why must I tell you?" He started to feel annoyed again.
And his retort got the attention from the girl. Jackly turned to look at him. "What? Is it a secret?" she asked as curiosity engulfed her.
"Not really," was his response.
"Then tell me!"
"Won't."
"Why?"
"You better shut up or I burn your sketchbook again," Natsume said in annoyance as a fire appeared on his left hand.
Jacklyn raised an eyebrow as she looked at the fire then at him. "You can't. My sketchbook is on the hand that is holding your waist by now. You'll burn your own body," she retorted calmly.
"Tch." He looked away, absolutely annoyed. The fire on his left hand extinguished.
Jacklyn narrowed her eyes, feeling irritated because Natsume didn't tell her what had happened that caused him to get those wounds. But somehow, Mikan's face flashed in her mind.
'Like Natsume…He is told to do some missions. I don't know what the missions are. But sometimes, he comes back in bad condition.'
After the recall, she fell silent for a few seconds while staring at the bandaged wound. "So…this is because of the mission?" she suddenly asked, surprising the fire caster.
"What?" he asked back, curious because the girl knew about those missions thing. "Who told you?"
Jacklyn glanced at the curious boy. "I won't tell you," she said as she stuck out her tongue at him.
Behind the mask, he raised an eyebrow at her attitude. "Should I burn your hair?" he threatened as a small fire appeared on his left palm once again. Seeing the fire, the brunette's face appeared in her mind again.
'Moreover, his alice is eating his lifespan every time he uses it.'
'Eating his lifespan…' she thought, focusing her eyes on the fire in his left palm. "Can you not use your alice now? You're wounded," she reminded him.
"I'm wounded doesn't mean I can't use my alice," he retorted.
'What an arrogant jerk.' Jacklyn rolled her eyes. "You're lucky that I don't have nullification alice," she muttered.
After thirty minutes walking while debating, they finally arrived at the hospital. Jacklyn let the nurses and doctor handle Natsume's wounds while she waited at the lobby. Of course, she was a little worried about him.
No.
Not only him.
Who wouldn't get worried if they saw an injured person in front of them?
That was what she kept in her mind while waiting for someone telling her about his condition.
After waiting for approximately fifteen minutes, no one came to inform her about the lad's condition, so she decided to ask a nurse. Her eyes caught a nurse walking to her direction at that time.
This was her chance.
She stood up and approached the nurse. "Um, sorry, I want to ask about a patient, namely Natsume," she said politely.
The nurse smiled kindly at her as she said, "Oh, you're Natsume's friend, right? He's in the room 152."
"Thank you," Jacklyn thanked her with a smile. She planned on getting out from the place quickly after visiting him. She didn't want to be seen by any fan girl in that place, especially if they found out that she was with him.
But fate always tells the opposite.
When she was about to go to the fire caster's room, a familiar coquettish voice called her from behind. "My, my. If it isn't the non-alice girl."
Jacklyn turned to her back and saw Marika with a few of fan girls trailing behind her. 'Geez. Why did I always meet her this whole week?' she thought as she rolled her eyes. "What are you doing here?" she managed to ask, an unpleased tone could be heard in her sentence.
"What am I doing here?" Marika repeated as she flipped her wavy-black hair back. "A friend of mine said that she saw Natsume being dragged to the hospital by a girl a few minutes ago. That's why I came here," she said while eyeing the girl in front of her from toe to top. "Don't tell me it was you," she added as she shot a glare at Jacklyn.
Jacklyn formed her lips into a smirk. "What if it was ME?" she emphasized the 'me' word. Hearing that, Marika had a frowning expression on her face. She looked like she wanted to eat someone right at that time. Jacklyn knew it meant danger and she already thought of a way to escape from their wrath.
She made a big smile on her face, which made all of the fan girls, including Marika, confused. "AH! HELLO, RUKA!!" she shouted happily as she pointed a finger to the hospital's entrance that was behind the fan girls.
Instinctively, Marika and the fan girls turned their head around to the entrance with their happy faces, ready to greet the blonde-haired boy.
But he's not there, not even his white rabbit.
They turned their head back again, ready to 'eat' the girl that had tricked them.
But she was also nowhere to be seen.
Marika's face turned red. Anger had engulfed her mind completely. She couldn't believe the girls that she despised so much had tricked her at that time. "We must get that non-alice girl! She must be still in this hospital!" she told her members and they started to search for the what-they-called non-alice girl.
Meanwhile, the target was running through the hospital corridor, looking at the rooms' number plats.
'145…146…147…148…149…' she thought as she kept running. '152! Got it!' she let out a sigh when she finally found her destination. She quickly went into the room and closed it.
"You barged in again. When will you learn your manner?" a familiar conceited voice growled from the bed's direction.
And as all of you know, it's Natsume.
His mask had been taken off, revealing a pair of his crimson orbs that was staring at the girl in annoyance.
Jacklyn put her index finger in front of her lips while standing behind the door. Natsume arched an eyebrow, wondering at the girl's silent message. Ignoring his confused expression, she put her right ear on the door, trying to listen to the sounds outside the room. She could hear a few of footsteps passing the room quickly.
And no other possibility crossed in her mind, it must be Marika and her gang.
After a few seconds passed by, the footsteps were gone. Jacklyn sighed in relief. At least, she was safe there. She wasn't sure until when though.
She turned away from the door and approached the raven-haired boy that was sitting on the bed in silence. "How are you feeling?" she asked as she stopped just beside the bed.
At first, the fire caster just remained silent. Jacklyn raised an eyebrow at his silence action. "As usual," he finally replied, nonchalantly. "What are you doing? Barging into people's room like that," he asked, feeling annoyed, "again."
The last word made the black-haired girl bend her eyebrows. "I don't want to. The fan girls chased me, cocky boy," she retorted in irritation.
"Great. They're here too," he got more annoyed. She knew it from his wrinkled eyebrows.
"Not that I want to meet them either," Jacklyn muttered. Then later, she asked, "By the way, have they changed the bandages?"
Natsume leaned his back on the headboard of the bed and answered, "It's obvious, sketchbook girl."
"Good." She let out a sigh as she smiled a little. One problem had been finished.
…At least that was what she thought at that time.
The crimson-eyed lad looked at her with curiosity. "Hey, why did you say that the bandage will be gone after twenty four hours before?" he suddenly asked.
Jacklyn blinked. "Because that's the way how the thing works," she answered with a confusing sentence.
Natsume cocked an eyebrow, knowing that the girl must be hiding something. "Spill it out," he said impatiently.
However, Jacklyn didn't want to give up and spill all out that easily. "What?" she asked as she tilted her head a little.
His impatience got thinner in every second. "You. Know."
"No, I don't," she retorted, which was heard as a challenge for him.
So, there he goes…
"NATSUME!! PUT IT OUT!! PUT THE FIRE OUT!!" the black-haired girl shouted when a fire appeared at the corner of her sketchbook.
Seeing her reaction, a smirk appeared on his good-looking face. "Tell me first."
Jacklyn glared at him, having the urge to knock him out at that time. "No!" she declined as she launched her right hand that had formed into a fist at him, right on his face.
But unlucky for her, she lost her balance, causing her to fall flatly on his lap on the bed. She grunted in annoyance, "Oh! Darn it!"
"Oi. Are you going to get up or not?" Natsume asked in a half-infuriated tone, absolutely not liking the awkward position at that time.
"Why did this sentence sound so familiar?" Jacklyn grunted as she tried to get off from his lap.
Just then, the door opened. "Natsume, I heard you-" The familiar coquettish voice stopped when the owner of the voice looked at the view in front of her.
Her jaw dropped.
Jacklyn, who tried to get off from Natsume's lap, froze on her way. In Marika's eyes, it looked like she was the one who hopped onto the bed. The fire caster remained expressionless.
And in Jacklyn's eyes, it was bad.
Very, very bad.
The problem was…
It wasn't just Marika who went into the room without knocking first. There were a few of the fan girls that followed her into the room too.
'Fortune Goddess, this is so unfair!' she wailed in her thought while daring her self to stare at the fan girls with a stoic face. Her face might be stoic, but her brain was panicked. 'This is the worst situation so far!'
She acted like nothing happened and maintained her move to get off from the fire caster's lap. Once her feet touched the cold floor, she straightened herself and shifted her gaze back to the fan girls. "Hi," she greeted them with her stoic expression.
Marika snapped out of her thought then glared at the black-haired girl who was standing beside their idol. "What were you doing just now?" she growled as a dangerous aura appeared around her.
And Jacklyn knew that it wasn't a good sign at all.
She moved to the opened window while saying, "I was trying to get off from this cocky boy." She looked out of the window, checking how high her current position was from the ground. 'Second floor, huh?'
Angry at Jacklyn's calm behavior, she snapped. "What's with the-"
"Get out." Marika was cut off when Natsume said that and the room's temperature suddenly rose.
"I'm sorry, Natsume. But this girl-" She was cut off again when the irritated lad glared at them. "…I understand…We hope you get better soon," the black wavy-haired girl forced a sweet smile on her face, which made Jacklyn and Natsume twitch at the same time, then she went out from the room with the rest of fan girls. Jacklyn thought she saw the leader glare back at her dangerously in a second before the fan girls blocked her sight from the angry girl.
After the door was closed, Jacklyn looked at the annoyed fire caster. "Can you drop the temperature now? It's hot inside here," she said, earning a glare from him.
But the temperature back to normal though.
"Get out," he said dangerously.
This time, Jacklyn glared back at him. "From the door? No. They'll kill me," she retorted in irritation.
The crimson-eyed boy smirked. "So what? Are you planning to jump out from the window?" he asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Sort of," she replied simply as she found a branch of a tree that wasn't so far from the window. She climbed the windowsill. Before she jumped, she gazed back at Natsume. "Hey, don't use your alice too much. Your life is worthier than that," she said, which surprised him a little.
"Hey. Who told you-" He was cut off when the girl jumped and reached the branch successfully.
Well, not too successful. She was hanging on her stomach right at that time and grunted unpleasantly.
'Darn! This will be easy if I use those wings. But it means I reveal my identity and I can't attend Jinno's class,' she thought irritatingly as she hanged on the branch with her hands. She let go off her grasp on the branch and landed on the ground, almost kneeling.
She regained her composure and looked back to the window, which she recognized was Natsume's room, then she shouted, "YOU BETTER GET WELL SOON AFTER YOU CAUSED ME THOSE TROUBLES!!" After that she ran to Junior High School building.
That message was heard clearly by Natsume from his bed. "I've told you to mind your own business, sketchbook girl," he muttered with an annoyed expression.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he quickly covered his mouth with his right hand and coughed violently.
After a few seconds, the cough subsided. He took a deep breath and pulled back his right hand from his mouth. He looked at his right palm.
Blood…
'It's getting worse again…' he thought as he closed his right hand. 'How much time that I still have to be with her…Mikan…'
--To be continued--
Jacklyn: You told me to drag her. That means you're a weakling, cocky boy!
Natsume: Whatever you say, sketchbook girl. You just want to run from the responsibility.
Jacklyn: I'm not! It's just…you're a boy! Feel responsible a little, would you?
Natsume: It has no connection with gender.
Jacklyn: (Rolls her eyes) Of course it is, stupid.
Natsume: (Glare at Jacklyn) I thought I heard you call me stupid.
Jacklyn: Yeah. And must I add again? Cocky boy?
Natsume: …Prepare your grave.
Jacklyn: Whoa… Scarryyy…
Mikan: (Shakes her head) Here they go again…
Hotaru: Idiot will always be idiot.
illutia mist: (Sits while watching the quarrel with Mikan and Hotaru) Wow, nice.
Mikan: In your eyes…
illutia mist: (Grins) Whatever. It's still nice. Anyway, thanks for reading, good readers! Please review! This is a good show while waiting for the review… (Snickers)
Hotaru: (Mutters in annoyance) I can't turn it into money.