A few papers fell on the four once again when they're searching for the freaky author.
Jacklyn: (Annoyed) Agh! Just what the hell are these things?! (Grabs a few papers and glares at it)
Natsume: They're papers. Can't you see? (Picks up a paper)
Mikan: What is it this time? (Stares at the words on a paper)
Hotaru: Read it first, stupid. (Grabs the rest of the papers and reads it)
-x-
Small Pieces of You
-x-
19th Piece: That Simple
She never wanted to do this.
But she must.
She knew how wrong and stupid she was, but she still didn't stop her act.
She knew that one day, she should call this over.
…Only she didn't know when…
Jacklyn looked outside through the window in her dorm room, watching the dark sky that covered the entire Alice Academy. She just finished doing her morning routine and decided to take her time for a while, staying in her room for it was still 6 am in the morning.
Her thought wandered to the day before when she woke up and found herself in the clinic at 9 pm in the night with Koko and Yuu waiting for her. She still remembered their smiles when she finally opened her eyes. She couldn't say that she wasn't happy for that.
To know that there's people waiting for her…
To know that there's people caring for her…
Koko told her about how Youichi found her and asked him for help to bring her here. He also asked her what she had done until she overused her alice. Of course she didn't understand and told them she didn't use her alice.
This brought up a question in her mind, but she was too tired to think at that time. Her body was still worn out from an unknown cause that ate up all her energy. She decided to call the day over and bade the two goodbyes before she went off to her dorm.
She knew those two got wondered and they would try to ask her about why she avoided them recently if she didn't go out from that place hastily.
She heaved a sigh as she trailed her fingers on the slippery glass. She remembered her missing drawing page she held before when she was at the roof. She had asked Koko if he saw a page with a boy drawing in it, but he said he didn't. She guessed the last page had been blown up by the wind, considering the wind was so strong at that time and she lost her grip on the page when she fell unconscious.
She had lost the last remains of the birthday gift from her mother…
The black-haired girl heaved a sigh then turned away from the window. She grabbed her bag from the desk and walked to the door. Walking out from her room, she made sure that she had locked her room before she proceeded her way to the Junior High School building.
Somehow, she had this feeling in her heart.
A cue that something would happen today…
-x-
A certain brunette ran along the corridor to her classroom. She thought she had already been late for her class. And as usual, when she was about to turn, she bumped into something hard…or rather, someone. Whatever it was, it made her fall on her butt.
"Ouch! Sorry!" she apologized as she rubbed her head.
"Watch where you're going, Polka," that someone said irritatingly.
When the brunette heard the familiar voice, she looked up and found a familiar irritated person standing before her. The raven haired boy just stared at her, not bothering to stretch a hand to help her stand up.
Forming a pout on her lips, Mikan stood up and dusted her skirt. "Geez! I'm sorry! You don't have to be like that every morning," she said gruffly.
Natsume, being Natsume, didn't take any heed to her protest. "Whatever," he replied as he walked away.
The brunette puffed her cheek in annoyance at his answer. It didn't take a long time for her to forget her irritation when she remembered something. "Wait! Natsume!" she called while trying to catch up with him, because the raven-haired boy didn't show any sign that he would stop walking even though she called him. "Did you see Jacklyn-chan?" she asked when she had arrived beside him.
"No," he replied simply, not looking at the brunette. Mikan sighed, a bit upset when she heard his cold reply.
She was worried about the drawing alice girl when she heard the quite surprising news from Narumi yesterday.
Well, when it's Narumi's class yesterday, the teacher announced about the black-haired girl's absence before he started his lesson. It was because Mikan asked him and the teacher knew she wouldn't be silent until she got the answer.
He told them the black-haired girl was found unconscious on the roof, and then told the brunette not to be worried about the girl for she had been brought to the clinic. He didn't tell her the detail after that. That just made the brunette wonder at what had happened to the black-haired girl.
When she took a visit to the clinic at lunch time yesterday, the girl was still sleeping and she couldn't ask her what had happened to her. She had asked Koko and Youichi, but the little boy just shook his head, meant he didn't know what had actually happened. Koko also said that he just brought her to the clinic, so he didn't know anything before that.
Mikan had that gloomy expression on her face as she remembered yesterday's event which finally drew the fire caster's attention to her.
"I've checked her room this morning, but there's no response even though I have knocked on her door for the tenth times…" she said sadly. "She has avoided us for four days…I wonder if she'll also avoid us today…"
Natsume didn't say anything. There were a few minutes of silence between them until the brunette realized something. "Where's Ruka?" she asked as she looked round. She couldn't find the blonde-haired boy who usually walked with the fire caster to the classroom.
"Barn," the raven-haired boy replied nonchalantly. "One of the animals is sick."
Her lips from an 'o' shape after she heard his reply. "I hope the animal will get well quickly," she said, feeling sadder after hearing the news. The raven-haired boy didn't give any reaction at this.
After walking for what-it-seemed-like an eternity because the silence engulfed them, they finally arrived at the class. Mikan opened the door and greeted her classmates. "Good morning, everyone!" she said happily. She wouldn't show her sadness in front of them.
But she didn't get any response like usual. The class went silent as they looked at the brunette who was with Natsume at that time. Mikan, who was confused by the sudden silence, asked, "What?" Natsume didn't take any care about the eerie silence and proceeded his way to his seat as Nonoko and Anna approached the brunette.
"Mikan-chan! You came with Natsume! Are you two together now?" Anna asked enthusiastically. Her eyes were sparkling. Nonoko nodded in enthusiasm too.
Behind the two, there was Sumire, who looked like a Medusa with her dangerous aura around her. She looked like she was ready to kill someone. "Is it true, Sakura?" she asked in a dangerous tone. Even though she smiled, there was something not right about her.
Sensing she was in a dangerous situation, the brunette shook her head quickly and said, "No! We just met on the way to the classroom!"
Sumire's dangerous aura started to fade away. The eerie feeling that Mikan felt in the green-haired girl's smile before was gone. The cat-dog alice girl gave her a sweet genuine smile and patted the brunette's shoulder gently.
"That's right. It's impossible that you two get together," she said, a happy tone could be heard in the sentence.
Yeah. So, after four years, Sumire had been a bit soft to the brunette. Sometimes, she treated her as a friend and sometimes as a rival, though she would turn scary if there was unhappy news about her crush, namely Natsume Hyuuga and Ruka Nogi. Like what, you asked? Like if there was something bad happening to them, or the worst for the seaweed girl was the news about the two of them got girlfriends.
It really was a bad, bad news for her…and maybe for the two boys' fan girls.
Mikan smiled back at her, but she felt her smile a bit weird after she saw the green-haired girl's scary mode. Shaking her head, she shooed the feeling away from her mind.
"What's wrong, Mikan-chan?" Nonoko asked with concern, bringing the brunette's attention to her.
"Nothing," the auburn-haired girl answered. After the short play before, the class finally went back to normal, noisy. The brunette had clarified there was nothing between her and the fire caster, so there's no need paying attention to the already ended show.
Mikan was about walk to her seat when she spotted a certain raven-haired girl at the front seat. And as usual, she ran to the stoic inventor while placing a big smile on her face. "HOOTAAAARUUUUUU!!" she shouted as she opened her arms, ready to hug her best friend who looked at her a second after the brunette called her.
BAKA!
Too bad, the brunette dropped on the floor after she got the wrath of Baka Gun. She thought the inventor would let the brunette hug her again after what had happened at the cafeteria yesterday.
Well, she was wrong.
"Ouch! Hotaru! You're so mean!" Mikan whined as she stood up while rubbing her forehead which got shot by the Baka Gun.
The Ice Queen just blew up the smoke from her Baka Gun and turned to her brunette best friend dispassionately. "You know it would happen. But still, you came to me," she retorted with her stoic face.
The brunette smiled. "It's because I want to hug you, Hotaru."
If she thought that she could touch the inventor's cold heart with those words, then she was wrong. "Pay me if you want," Hotaru answered simply then shifted her gaze back to her invention.
Mikan pouted after hearing her best friend's reply. She knew the blackmailer would say that though. Her best friend surely loved money more than everything. After pouting for a while, she remembered something. The pout disappeared from her face and it was replaced by a serious expression.
"Hotaru, did you see Jacklyn-chan? I couldn't find her in her room," She said, hands intertwined behind her.
The Ice Queen looked at her again for a few seconds then moved her head to the side for a bit. The brunette got wondered at her action. "What's wrong with your head, Hotaru?" she asked in confusion.
The aforementioned girl looked at her then muttered, "Stupid." Then she looked back at her invention again, checking on it. At the 'stupid' nickname, the brunette pouted again.
Okay. She may be stupid sometimes, but the raven-haired girl hadn't answered her question.
…Or she had?
"Good morning, Sakura-san," the class representative, Yuu Tobita, greeted the brunette with a smile.
Mikan looked at him and gave him her best smile too. "Good morning, Inchou!" Then she clasped her hand in front of her and said, "That's right! Inchou, did you see Jacklyn-chan? I couldn't find her."
Yuu raised his eyebrows then nodded. "She has arrived at the class even before I arrived. Now, she's sleeping at her seat," he said while looking at a certain direction at the back of the class.
The brunette followed his gaze and she surely saw a certain black-haired girl having her head lain on the desk with her bag beside her. A relief and happy feeling gusted inside her heart as she finally found the person she had been searching for.
"Thanks, Inchou!" she thanked the glasses boy before she went to her seat which was just behind the sleeping girl.
Mikan stopped just beside Jacklyn's desk, intending to see if the girl was really sleeping or not. She couldn't see her face because the drawing alice girl faced the other direction. The nullifier decided to go to her own seat and check on the sleeping girl from there.
In the process, she pushed Natsume for a bit with her shoulder because she wanted to see if the girl still slept or not.
And that just made the fire caster annoyed.
"What are you doing?" he finally asked, irritated. He shut his manga close and looked at the brunette.
"I want to know if she's still sleeping," Mikan said as she kept pushing the raven-haired boy, trying to look at Jacklyn's face.
Natsume glanced at the girl in front of the brunette's seat and found out her eyes were closed. No, he didn't care about the girl. It's just…this brunette beside him would keep on disturbing him until she knew about the black-haired girl's condition.
Heck, why did she care about the sketchbook girl that much? Even when that girl had avoided them for four days, the brunette still cared about her, annoying the fire caster with a bunch of questions about the unknown alice girl.
"She's sleeping," he said in a bored tone. He wished the brunette would be satisfied with his answer, quit disturbing him and go back to her own business whatever it was. He didn't care.
But to his dismay, the brunette didn't get satisfied that easily. "Really? Where? Where?" she asked as she pushed him more.
Natsume got more annoyed with her continual action. Finally, he ran out of his patience. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap. The brunette was immediately shocked with his action and she let out a loud gasp.
At her gasp, all students' attentions turned to them. All of them had their jaws dropped, including Sumire who was also watching the scene. Only two persons that didn't gave such reaction at the scene; Jacklyn, for she was still sleeping at that time, and Hotaru, who started to take a few photos of the two.
"Natsume! What do you think you're doing?!" Mikan shrieked while blushing furiously.
"You kept on pushing me, little girl. It's annoying," he replied irritatingly. "Have you done looking at the sketchbook girl now?"
Upon hearing that, the brunette remembered what she wanted to do. But before she could look at the black-haired girl, Sumire, who was standing near Jacklyn's desk, broke the sleeping girl's desk into two, causing the poor girl to hit the floor and wake up in confusion. Just when she was about to stand…
"SAKURA!!" Sumire's evil shout was heard so loud in her ears, making the black-haired girl annoyed and cover the perm-haired girl's mouth in God's speed, almost slapping her mouth actually. The class' attention turned to the black-haired girl and Sumire.
Jacklyn, who was annoyed because she had been awoken by force, glared at the cat-dog alice girl for ten seconds. Didn't she know that she was tired? Didn't she know that she couldn't sleep last night and she woke up early in the morning? Oh wait. Of course she didn't. But heck, she should realize that there was someone sleeping on the desk and she shouldn't destroy it or scream right beside her with a high-pitch-cracking voice.
"Can't you see that I'm sleeping just now?" she asked dangerously. "You could wake me up with a more kind way, you know." Sumire was irritated at her, but she couldn't retort because her mouth was being covered by Jacklyn.
Pulling back her hand from the furious girl, she picked her bag up from the floor. She dusted it and then looked at Yuu who was staring at them with a shocked face. Poor boy. "Tobita, is this already break time?" she asked with sleepy eyes. Hell, she didn't get enough sleep, thanks to the seaweed-haired girl who was freezing beside her now.
Yuu recovered from his shock after he heard the sleepy girl ask him a question. Why not? There were three continuous shocking incidents that happened in just a few minutes; from Natsume and Mikan to Sumire, and lastly, to Jacklyn. "Um…Not yet, Jacklyn-san," he replied.
Hearing that, the black-haired girl nodded a bit at him, giving him her gratitude for answering her question. After that, she averted her gaze to Sumire, more like glare…
Of course the seaweed-haired girl glared back at her.
"So, why did you wake me up that rough? It hurts," she said while gritting her teeth, trying to hold back her angriness.
Of course Sumire didn't want to be blamed. She acted that way because there was something that made her furious. Now, she was going to show the girl who should be blamed. "Ask that Sakura!" She scowled as she pointed to a direction, which was exactly behind the black-haired girl.
Grunting, Jacklyn turned her head to the direction which Sumire pointed. What thing that was more important than her sleep anyway?
There, she saw Mikan still sitting on Natsume's lap. She didn't react at the view for a while. No wide-eyed, no jaw dropped, and no shock. She was expressionless.
Sumire believed the girl would be shocked after a few seconds…just a few seconds again…
"Good morning, Mikan, Natsume," Jacklyn greeted the two as if nothing happened, a smile visible on her face.
All students fell on the floor anime-style, except for Hotaru and Natsume who remained expressionless, and Mikan who was froze at the black-haired girl's sudden change, from irritated to a kind one. The rest of the class didn't understand why that scene didn't shock the just awakened girl.
For Jacklyn, it's not something incredible. Yes. What's the big deal about the brunette sitting on the fire caster's lap anyway? Fan girls…
Jacklyn looked back at Sumire who just stood up again. "What's with them anyway? You disturbed my sleep for nothing," she said in annoyance as she sat back on her seat, which fortunately didn't break into two pieces too.
The seaweed-haired girl's anger finally passed the boil point. "YOU SAID IT'S NOTHING COMPARE TO YOUR SLEEP?!" she shouted as her face got reddened. Oh man, fan girls and their emotions…
The black-haired girl put her right palm on her face then sighed. "Can't you be quiet? I have a hard time to sleep and now you're bugging me. Plus, you broke my desk. How can I study now, Permy?" she muttered annoyingly.
"DON'T CALL ME PERMY ALL YOU WANT, SKETCHBOOK GIRL!!" Sumire shouted as she clenched a firm fist in front of the irritated girl.
Jacklyn glared at her. Why did she still call her sketchbook girl? After these four days, didn't the perm-haired girl realize that she didn't have any sketchbook with her again? Darn…it just reminded her of the ruined thing which the remains was still being kept by her.
She could feel her emotion start to flare up then decided to go away from the place before it blew up. Jacklyn then stood up. "I don't have any sketchbook," she said as she took her bag and walked away from the 'incident' spot.
But Sumire didn't want to call the mouth-fight over that fast. "I HAVEN'T DONE WITH YOU!!" She got angrier as she pointed at the walking girl. "COME BACK HERE, SKETCHBOOK GIRL!!"
The said girl stopped abruptly on her track. The silence filled the classroom as the audience waited for what would happen next. Would there be another mouth fight or maybe an alice duel?
"I thought I have told you that I don't have any sketchbook," she said calmly from her current standing spot, not bothering to look at the furious girl. All students were still silent, watching the whole scene.
Too bad. Short temper could never be erased from a person's personality, except they wanted to learn how to manage their anger. "Are you challenging me?" Sumire growled, still not understanding the tense situation.
Jacklyn finally turned to the green-haired girl and stared at her firmly. She didn't feel any anger inside her. She felt something deeper…
Was it a misery? She didn't know. She kept her eyes locking at the other girl and calmly said, "You're the one who challenges me."
Sumire smirked. "Then let's get started," she said as she activated her alice.
No. She didn't want to fight for now. She felt so tired and passionless. Heaving a sigh, Jacklyn opened her mouth for a bit and muttered, "Too bad…I can't…" Then she turned away and proceeded her way to the door.
"Scared, are we?" the cat dog alice girl mocked her as she folded her arms in victory, at least that what she thought.
Jacklyn stopped on her way, and this time, she didn't look back. "…No…I just can't…" were her last words the class could hear before she disappeared behind the door in the next five seconds.
A certain brunette didn't let go off her gaze from the black-haired girl since the girl woke up. Her big hazel eyes followed her motion since then.
Not long after the drawing alice girl walked out from the room, Mikan got up from the fire caster's lap, which this action of hers got the attention from the class once again. She quickly ran to the door. And before she could lay her hands on the doorknob, the door was opened.
For a second, she thought the girl came back to the class. She was a bit happy. "Jack-" she paused when she saw it wasn't the person that she meant.
It's Narumi, their teacher on the first session that day.
When the teacher saw the brunette in front of him, he smiled. "What's wrong, Mikan-chan?"
Mikan just stood there with her bangs covering her eyes. She didn't answer the teacher's question which made the teacher confused to see her unusual act. He averted his gaze from the brunette to the class. All students froze on their spots and they were silent. The wavy-blonde haired man got more confused when he saw his students' strange behaviors.
"Jacklyn-san just went out from the class," Hotaru managed to say as the representative of the silent class. Even the real representative also fell silent.
Instead of placing a surprised expression on his face, the teacher smiled. "Ah, yes. She said she doesn't feel so good, so she asked for my permission to skip my class," Narumi said lightly.
Upon hearing that, the brunette looked up at him. Staring intently at him, she asked, "Narumi-sensei, can I catch up with her?"
The teacher lowered his head to her level then patted the brunette's head. "She need some time to be alone, Mikan-chan," he whispered lowly so it was just her that could hear it.
Surprised, the brunette whispered back, "You know?"
Narumi smiled. "I know, Mikan-chan. Her face couldn't hide it," he said as he straightened himself. "But if you insisted, then how about if I give all of you an assignment?" the man asked the silent class. All students groaned upon hearing the 'assignment' word.
"It's easy. Do it with your partner, okay?" Narumi signaled the brunette to go back to her seat and convince her partner to do the assignment with her. Mikan could just nod in agreement and went back to her seat.
She wasn't sure that her partner would agree to do the assignment with her though, considering that the fire caster didn't care about it. He didn't even care if his partner would pass the subject or not. Oh man…
Narumi clapped his hands to get his students' attentions. He plastered a big smile on his face as he announced, "So, the assignment is…"
"We'll do it!" the one and the only mind reader, Kokoroyume, cut off the teacher's sentence.
The class' attention was now full at him. The students got wondered what assignment was when they heard the goofy mind reader agreed to do the unsaid-yet assignment with passion, including the brunette. "What's the assignment, Koko?" Mikan asked, excited.
Koko looked at the brunette and smiled. Happily, he answered her question, "Find Jacklyn-san!"
As she heard the mind reader's answer, a smile slowly crept onto her face. Joy erupted in her mind. She was absolutely glad to do this assignment. "Let's go, Natsume!" she said as she dragged the raven-haired boy, who grunted in annoyance and looked like wanted to burn the brunette at that time.
It's good that he didn't do it for real or her killer shriek would already be heard by now.
After Mikan left the class with Natsume, the other students exchanged glances. They got excited when they heard what the assignment was and then followed the two going out from the class to finish the assignment.
Yes, even Sumire.
Even though she muttered incoherent words angrily, she followed the others anyway.
-x-
Jacklyn stopped her step. Looking up, she found herself standing inside the room in the building where she fought the fan girls a few days ago. She then averted her gaze to the bracelet on her right wrist and lifted it up. She pressed her lips on it lightly and a hologram screen appeared.
A man with silver-blue haired showed up on the screen. A small simple smile graced his face. The usual blue mask covered his face from his forehead until above his nose. Jacklyn never thought that she would see him again until a week later after her conversation with him last time. "Well, if it's not Little Angel…"he said calmly. "What's wrong?"
"Can you come now? I get permission to skip the class," she said with a stoic face.
"No problem."
After he said the words, the screen disappeared. Jacklyn stared at the bracelet for a while then inserted it back to her sleeve and sighed. She realized that she couldn't turn back again. The reason why she asked him to come was because she wanted to ask many things about the training that he would give her later.
Not only that…
Somehow, she had this feeling that he had another intention when he offered her his help. She just wanted to make sure what it was.
"Why are you sighing, Little Angel?"
The black-haired girl was startled by the voice, thinking that she had been found out by another person. She turned to the voice's direction and saw the silver-blue haired man leaning on the wall near the entrance.
"You startled me," she said, having her hands in front of her chest as a spontaneous act when she was surprised a second ago.
The man chuckled. "The Little Angel could be startled too, huh?" he said.
"I'm not an angel. I'm just a human," Jacklyn retorted as she calmed herself down. She knew that nickname was because he saw her when she thrust her wings drawing to herself. At that time, she activated her alice, causing a pair of white wings to appear on her back and make her look like an angel.
Though she wasn't one.
"So, what do you want to talk about at our midnight meeting a few days again? I'm a bit curious, so I called you now," she intoned.
Still with the calm smile on his face, he approached the girl. "I want to explain what you have to do in exchange for my training."
'Bingo.' Jacklyn sighed inwardly. She was right about having a feeling that the man had another intention behind his kind offer. Not too good, but she had to know what his intention first. "What is it?" she asked, trying to lure him to say out his real intention.
"You know Natsume Hyuuga?" he asked as he stopped a few meters in front of her.
It's the ridiculous question she ever heard. Of course she knew the troublesome fire caster, considering she had had a problem with the raven-haired boy since the first time she attended the class. Rolling her eyes in annoyance as she remembered the conceited boy, she asked, "What's with him?"
The man still smiled at her, though he knew the girl was annoyed when she heard the name. "He is a great asset to this academy. But do you know that his alice will shorten his lifespan every time he overuses it? Don't you want to help him?" he asked, suddenly showing his concern.
The black-haired girl somehow had the urge to say 'no' directly after he asked her the question.
…Scratch that. She was just kidding.
She got wondered when she heard the man ask her the question. 'Help him? But how?' Jacklyn arched an eyebrow. "How? I'm going to missions too?" she asked back. "So, I'll be one of the academy's tools too? But I heard that only the Dangerous Ability class which will be used for academy's purposes."
If that's right…then darn her and her decision. She just sold herself to the academy. Not that she hated the academy, she just didn't like being used for the academy's purposes like what Mikan had told her before.
The man let out a soft chuckle. "No. This isn't for the sake of the academy, but for the sake of you and your friends. You'll just be going to missions which are taken by Hyuuga," he explained. "I choose you because I think your alice is an unique one and it will be a great help for him, if you know what I meant…"
Great help? Her alice could be a great help for that conceited boy? The man must be kidding. She even hardly could defend herself and he said that her alice could help the boy?
Jacklyn blinked, still confused by his words. "I don't understand what you meant with my alice is an unique one. I think everybody's alice is an unique one," she exclaimed.
The man nodded twice in understanding while lifting both of his hands, as if he tried to calm an outrage criminal. "Okay. Nevermind that," he said. He brought his gaze to her and locked it with her dark-brown eyes. "So, you haven't changed your mind then?"
Jacklyn didn't break the eyes contact. Instead, she kept her eyes locked into his too. "If that's the condition that I have to agree as the exchange of the training you'll give me later, then I'm fine with it," she said firmly. She was a bit curious why she was the one that he chose to help the boy.
There's something deeper behind this training matter…
"But one thing that you should know," she added as she raised her index finger in front of him.
"Yes?"
"I don't care about that cocky boy. I do this to strengthen myself and to protect my friends," she stated clearly.
Chuckling, he asked, "Are you too shy to admit that you care about him?"
At his question, Jacklyn threw a hard glare to him. "No," she replied simply and firmly, no hesitation in her answer.
Of course. She didn't care about the cocky boy even a bit! Heck, no!
A smile appeared back on his face. "Whatever you say, Little Angel," he said. "I'll make you stronger than you are now in short period."
"Your prediction?"
"More or less a month," he replied certainly, "…starting from tonight."
Jacklyn realized that the man forwarded their schedule, but she just let it go. More fast, more good. "I hold your words." She started to walk out from the building.
But before she was out from that place completely, the man called her. "By the way, you still remember my name, right? It's Hirai!" he said loud enough for the girl to hear.
Jacklyn stopped on her way. "…Will the human pheromone alice make me spoil our conversation all this time?" she asked without looking at him. Surely, she was afraid that the blonde wavy-haired teacher would know all of this if he used his alice on her one day.
And she didn't want it to happen.
"No. That bracelet is made to protect you from all alices that could meddle with your mind, including the pheromone alice. You don't need to worry," he answered smoothly.
"…Thank you, Hirai-san…" she muttered before she resumed her way to go out from the building.
After Jacklyn was out from the sight completely, Hirai smiled to no one. "You're really an angel…" he whispered in satisfaction.
-x-
'…Can I totally trust him …?' the black-haired girl thought in silence while walking on the grassy ground. She was too deep in her thought at that time and just went out from the forest when someone called her name.
"Jacklyn-san?"
Initiatively, she turned her head to the voice's direction and saw a familiar blonde-haired boy with a pair of cerulean eyes approaching her.
"…Ruka?" she said unsurely. She was sure the class hadn't been over. 'Why is he here?'
Ruka smiled as he arrived beside her. "What are you doing here?" he asked kindly.
"I'm just taking a walk," Jacklyn lied. She had decided the conversation would be a secret and no one should know about this. It wasn't that necessary to tell them too anyway. "And you?" she asked back.
"I'm just from the barn," he replied.
"Something happened to the animals?"
"One of them. The squirrel is sick."
Jacklyn formed her lips to an 'o' shape in understanding. "I hope it will get better soon." She smiled.
"Yeah, me too." Ruka smiled back then the two of them walked side by side.
Both of them were on the way to Junior High School building when they passed the famous Sakura tree. At that time, they saw a figure standing under the tree. The figure was looking up to one of the branches, waiting for something.
The two exchange glances and nodded before they walked approaching the standing figure. After a few meters from the tree, they recognized who the figure was.
"Youichi!" Ruka called.
The aforementioned person turned to their direction. "Ruka nii-chan…sketchbook girl…" he uttered the last nickname in annoyance.
Jacklyn sweat dropped at the nickname. 'Must be the Natsume's teaching…' she thought. Yeah, who would call her with that nickname other than the fire caster? Oh wait. There were a few persons who called her that.
The animal prince chuckled at the nickname which he knew the little boy had learnt from his best friend. "Her name's Jacklyn, Youichi," he told the spirit controller.
"Whatever," Youichi replied coldly as he stared back at the branch of the tree.
The black-haired girl wondered when she stared at Youichi who kept looking at the tree branch for a quite long time. "What's wrong with the tree branch?" she asked, curious.
And her kind question just earned a glance from the little boy and "None of your business" as his answer. 'Mini Natsume,' the girl thought as she sighed. She was really wondering what that little boy thought or waited fo-
'Oh!' Jacklyn eyes widened as she remembered something. Because she was thinking about the fan girls too much and also too busy avoiding a few certain people, she forgot to put the feather for a few days!
"Oh! Darn it!" she said out loud while slapping her own forehead, catching the two boys' attentions.
"What's wrong, Jacklyn-san?" Ruka asked, confused.
"Oh, it's nothing," she quickly replied before she shifted her gaze to the younger one. "…Are you waiting for Miss Angel?" she asked, making Ruka and Youichi look at her once again.
Youichi looked at her in suspicion. "How do you know, sketchbook girl?" he asked, a bit rude.
The girl stared at him sadly as she remembered her already gone sketchbook. But then, she smiled. "Koko ever talked about it. Remember?" Youichi averted his gaze back to the tree branch. 'Oh no…He's very upset,' she thought in guilt.
"She didn't fulfill her promise and she also didn't come to visit me too…" the little boy muttered, upset.
'Sorry, Youichi…' Jacklyn thought while looking at the upset little boy. She knew it was her stupidity for forgetting her own promise to him. She was too busy thinking about herself that she forgot about him.
She must fix this fault of hers.
"She'll fulfill her promise today…I think…" the black-haired girl said. "You have to believe in her. She must have something to do that she couldn't fulfill her promise."
'Yup. Something selfish to do…' she added in her thought.
As he heard her explanation, the little boy looked at her. "Why are you so sure?" he asked. 'It couldn't be…'
Jacklyn sighed and plastered a smile on her face. "Think more positive, Hijiri. She doesn't fulfill her promise doesn't mean she hates you," she tried to cheer him up. "Plus, you're skipping your class now. Is that okay with you?"
Youichi kept his eyes on her. "You're also skipping your class, sketchbook girl. Don't lecture me," he said annoyingly.
"Ah that's right! Narumi-sensei's class!" Ruka remembered. Jacklyn forgot that the two didn't know she asked for the teacher's permission to skip the class.
"I-"
"Ruka-pyon! You-chan! Jacklyn-chan!" a cheery voice cut off the black-haired girl's sentence.
The three said person looked at the source of the voice, seeing a certain brunette running to their direction while dragging the famous Natsume Hyuuga.
"Sakura?" Ruka was confused to see those two at the place. "It is Narumi-sensei's class right now, isn't it?"
The brunette approached them while panting lightly. "We got an assignment from Narumi-sensei!!" she said happily.
"What is it?" Jacklyn asked, wondering what the assignment was that it could make the brunette do it gladly. It's quite unusual for her to be that happy when they got an assignment.
"It looks like Ruka-pyon is the first one who finished it," Mikan added, a bit upset. But then, she showed her bright smile. "But it's okay!" These words of hers made the three got more confused at what assignment Narumi gave them.
Whatever it was, the blonde-haired boy could be relaxed for the brunette announced that he had finished the assignment. But no matter how relax he was, the curiosity still engulfed him.
"Okay. What's the assignment?" Ruka asked.
Mikan's smile brightened. "Find Jacklyn-chan!" she answered happily, which was quite confusing and surprising the three with the answer. "And we are the second persons that found her! Isn't it great, Natsume?"
Too bad. The said boy's reaction at the assignment wasn't the same with his bubbly partner. The fire caster had this gloomy, or rather, scary expression on his face. It was clear that he didn't welcome the task happily. "Tch. What a stupid assignment," he grunted in annoyance.
Jacklyn bent her eyebrows in annoyance. She knew that this was a stupid assignment. To find her? It's very stupid. But as she remembered she should help that cocky boy in his missions, she felt like to hit him right now. "I would have smacked your head if only I still have my sketchbook in my hand," she murmured as she glanced to the other direction.
The brunette looked at the two. She knew those two never got along, and maybe wouldn't, but for now, she chose to ignore the crimson-eyed boy's remark. "Sorry, Jacklyn-chan. We have seen what has happened with your sketchbook…" she apologized, a sad expression on her face.
Jacklyn looked at the brunette. Of course she couldn't forget the incident six days ago. But the brunette didn't have to apologize. It's not her fault anyway. "It's okay. It's not your fault my sketchbook be like that…"
'I can protect myself!'
'You can't help anyone, non-alice girl.'
'I have no friend. You have no one to threat me.'
'If we ever see you with someone, you know what will happen to them if you're still messing around with our Natsume.'
'A WEEK DOESN'T MEAN WE'RE FRIENDS!!'
Jacklyn remembered those words.
Those words that Marika said…
Those words that she said…
It was still heard clearly in her ears.
'I'll protect my friends with my own way.'
…Yeah…Then why…after saying that, she avoided them? And could she avoid them forever…?
After thinking for a few seconds, she chuckled then giggled. Youichi, Ruka, Mikan, and Natsume looked at her, wondering what she was laughing at. "What's wrong, Jacklyn-chan?" the brunette asked as she tilted her head in bewilderment.
The mentioned girl shook her head. "Nothing," she said, still laughing softly. 'Why did I always end up with them? I'm stupid,' she thought, a bit happy. 'I can't avoid them that easily. Not if they're still wandering around me. What a stupid person I have been…'
Wondering why the girl kept on laughing, the brunette called her once again. "Jacklyn-chan?"
The other members of Mikan's usual gang came to the Sakura tree after a few seconds, right when her laugh subsided. The black-haired girl straightened herself and smiled at the brunette. She didn't know if they would forgive her if she did this, but that would be another problem later.
"…I would like to say…sorry…I have been rude to all of you six days ago. I'm very sorry," she apologized from her heart as she bowed to them. "I couldn't think of anything at that time…"
Hotaru raised an eyebrow as she saw this. "Why so suddenly?"
Jacklyn looked up, still with her apologizing smile on her face. "I just realized when I thought back to the last five days where I avoided all of you…No matter what happened, I always ended up with you guys. There's no way I can avoid all of you if it stays like that," she said. She had decided.
If they're after my friends, then I have to protect them…
"So…we are back to usual?" Mikan asked, excited.
"Mmhm." Jacklyn nodded as she smiled.
And to protect them, I have to strengthen myself…
"Jacklyn-chan, it's so good to have you back!" Nonoko held the black-haired girl's hands in hers.
"Thank you, Nonoko. Me too. It's very good to have all of you as my friends," Jacklyn said.
No matter what it will cost…
"So, we have done the assignment then." Koko smiled.
"Should we go back to report to Narumi-sensei?" Yuu asked.
"Yes! Let's go!" Anna replied fervently.
Even if it's my life…
"Let's go back then. You too, Youichi," Ruka said. The spirit manipulator nodded then followed them.
"I never said I'm your friend," Natsume muttered.
"Natsume! I've told you thousands times!" Mikan complained.
Jacklyn looked at the two then giggled. "You two can make a great couple, you know?" she said while giggling.
"NO WAY!" both Natsume and Mikan denied at the same time. The others laughed, except Hotaru and Youichi who smiled secretly.
Because they're my friends…
And it's just that simple.
--To be continued--
Mikan: … (Faints in the next second)
Jacklyn: … (Eyes swirl)
Natsume: (Eyebrows bend in annoyance) …What the hell…
Hotaru: …Does she try to kill someone with this extra-super-long chapter?
Natsume: (Looks at Hotaru) Who?
Hotaru: The three of you.
Mikan: … (Still fainting)
Jacklyn: … (Veins pop out)
Natsume: …I feel like kicking her right now… (Vein pops out)
Hotaru: You should get her first.
Someone: HAHAHAHAHA!! YOU WON'T GET ME!!
Natsume: …I should give her a bonus punch.