illutia mist: …Can I go now?
Jacklyn: Nope.
illutia mist: B-but I have made it a bit longer this time!
Jacklyn: (Snorts) No matter how long it is, we won't let you go.
illutia mist: … (Cries)
Natsume: …What a crybaby… (Annoyed)
Jacklyn: (Grunts)You're right.
Mikan: (Sweat drops) …illutia doesn't own Gakuen Alice and its characters. She does own Jacklyn and Jack and this story's plot.
Natsume: And Bourne Severity belongs to Ryuamakusa4eva.
Jacklyn & illutia & Mikan: (Surprised) You just did the disclaimer?!
Natsume: (Glares at them) Shut up.
Hotaru: (Holds out a recorder) Recorder of Hyuuga's voice when he did the disclaimer. It will be a nice sell for the other authors. (Eyes sparkle)
Natsume: (Bends eyebrows) …Imai…
Jacklyn & illutia & Mikan: (Shakes head while sweat dropping)
-x-
Small Pieces of You
-x-
25th Piece: Worsening Pain
She wept, alone, in her dark silent bedroom. Her knees were drawn close to her chest, arms resting on it. Her head were buried in between the space created by her arms, messy wavy-black hair sprawling on her shoulders and upper limbs.
She just had a nightmare again, her long forgotten nightmare. It was about the time before she moved to Alice Academy.
She was only twelve year old when she entered the best Junior High School near her house. She had dreamed of a great school life since she was still in elementary. And she did. She had a great experience for three previous months. She had good grades, participated in school's activities and made so many friends. She enjoyed all of them, until an event occurred.
One of her best friends, at least that was what she thought, accused her for flirting with her boyfriend. She denied of course, but her so-called best friend didn't want to hear her. Therefore, the bully started. And it wasn't nice at all.
Her best friend had wide influence at their school and used it to make her former friends turn against her. A few students that sympathized with her couldn't do anything, for they were afraid they would get bullied later if they ever went near her. There were one or two students that were brave enough to defend her, but they ended up entering the hospital or moving to other school.
And she was alone again.
She hated it. She hated her former friends for bullying and leaving her, just because the one who told them had more power at the school. She was glad when she was taken to Alice Academy, far from her traitor friends. But ever since then, she had changed.
She had learned from the experience. Being weak wasn't helpful at all. She must have a wide influence in order not to get bullied again and she was drowning in the obsession.
Another quiet sob escaped from her lips as she remembered the bad experience and she blamed the non-alice girl for this. Because of the girl, the nightmare came to her again. The girl reminded her of her old self; so naïve, so weak, but acted strong. The difference between them was the dark-brown eyed girl had faithful friends with her, hanging around her and supporting her. Even though she had warned her what the consequence she and her friends would get if she was near them, they didn't care and their relationship went on.
She hated her. She hated her so much.
The door then opened. The light from the lamps at the corridor found their way into her dark room, illuminating her small figure. She didn't move, drowning too deep in her own lament.
"…Marika…?"
She moved slightly upon hearing her name being called, but she still didn't bother to lift her head.
A figure appeared at the door, its big shadow looming over her. "…Marika? …Did you have nightmare again?"
The weeping girl looked up, her face stained with tears, a few strands of her black hair sticking to her wet cheeks. Her teary turquoise eyes watched the figure walking to her direction. She waited until the figure stopped beside her bed and sat down on the soft material before she muttered, "…Suzuka…"
The light-green haired girl smiled a bit and stretched out her hand to wipe the strands of hair from Marika's face. "Something bugged me and I couldn't sleep. I thought you had a bad dream again…" she uttered softly.
"…Yeah…I did…" Marika admitted, wiping the tears from her eyes and cheeks using the back of her hands.
Suzuka stroked her wavy-black hair, staring at her in silence. She wondered why the girl always had nightmares lately ever since their second encounter with the sketchbook girl. She ever thought that it was because of the girl's alice which they hadn't known what it was yet, but Marika said it was just an usual nightmare. She hadn't heard anything from her what her nightmare was about. It seemed like the ice alice user had the same nightmare every day.
"…You can tell me what your nightmare is," she mumbled. "Maybe I could help you…"
Marika shook her head then looked up. "It's nothing, Suzuka," she smiled.
Suzuka nodded curtly at her answer and continued to stroke the girl's hair. Marika closed her eyes and enjoyed every soft stroke the wind alice user gave her, especially after the nightmare she had. "…Have the higher-ups found out about the incident?" she muttered, hesitation in her voice.
Suzuka's hand stopped moving, brown eyes gazing at the girl in front of her. "No…not yet…" she replied. "Your limiter isn't broken. Don't worry…"
The wielder of ice alice nodded. She owed the wind alice girl so much for the incident that happened a few days ago when she lost control of her alice. Her anger had passed her limit of patience at that time, thanks to a certain non-alice girl. Suzuka had to stop her by using her wind alice in quite high level, causing both of the girls to be thrown back hardly. That impact managed to prevent her from using her ice alice. After that, Suzuka quickly brought her out from the place, going to the other place that was far away from the incident spot so they wouldn't be suspected.
"…Did our members have gotten the picture when she has wings on her back?" Marika asked, eyes still closed.
Suzuka shook her head. "They haven't. The girl never uses those wings again." She then grew quiet for a while before saying, "…Don't you think it won't be useful? There are so many students with various alices in this academy. It won't affect her just by spreading the picture of her and her angel wings. They will just think she has wings alice."
Marika's eyes snapped open. "Then what should I do?" she asked, a bit irritated. "Do you want me to fight her once again? Because I will gladly do it."
"Marika…"
"Don't tell me to stop here and just leave her alone!" she snapped, hands curled into fists. "She has gotten on my nerves by accusing me with those non-sense statements last time! I won't forgive her!"
Bending her eyebrows in confusion, the light-green haired girl asked, "…Why do you hate her so much? You said it's because she's always hanging around Hyuuga. But seriously, Marika, I don't think so."
Her eyes flickered at her friend's statement, the same statement she ever heard from the girl she loathed so much. "So you take her side now?" she growled. "You believe her more than me?!"
"Marika, this isn't about I believe her or not," Suzuka butted in. "Your action towards her is just so diffe-"
"I hate her because she's messing with us! She is an eyesore to me! She must be taught some lessons for not obeying my warning!"
"Marika!"
Her stern shout silenced the angry girl. Suzuka's brown eyes were staring at their so-called leader in a sharp way. Her hand that was on Marika's hair now held the side of the ice alice user's head. "You must forget about her, Marika. I'm serious," she said when the other girl was about to open her mouth once again to protest. "You might not realize, but you become obsessed with her lately. At first you just want to teach her a lesson, but slowly you want to hurt her, kill her, and harm her in every way."
"I don-"
"No! You hear me," she cut her off again. "Forget her, Marika. Forget her and do your daily things like the time before she came to this academy. I beg you."
Silence fell upon them for a few minutes. Their conversation was continued by staring and glaring at each other. After a few moments, the light-green haired girl pulled back her hand and stood up. She turned her back to Marika and walked to the door, leaving the ice alice wielder alone on her bed again.
Placing her hand on the doorknob, she stopped and spoke, "You changed ever since you met her, Marika. And it's not in a good way." She turned her head to the silent girl a bit. "I don't like to see you like this. You'll just hurt yourself in the end."
Marika didn't answer. She rested her chin on her arms, not even looking at the wind alice user. What she heard next was a soft sigh and the sound of door opened and closed. The darkness and deafening silence were engulfing her once again. Her eyebrows wrinkled as she drowned in her own thoughts. Suzuka's words played repeatedly in her head, but she quickly dismissed it and settled her mind.
She wasn't going to back off just like that, not before she got her revenge on the girl for what she had said before. With that decision, she lay on her bed and pulled the thick quilt up to her chest. Closing her eyes, she slowly drifted to oblivion.
-x-
"Did you hear when Narumi told us that will be an Alice Festival in a few months again?"
"Hm…"
"And do you know that we will take a part in the festival?"
"Hm…"
"I wonder what we will do for the festival later. Hey, what do you think?"
Grunt. "Hm…"
"What's 'hm'? I don't understand what it is. Could you explain more about the meaning?"
A vein popped up.
"Yeah? What is that?"
More veins popped up.
"Hm? What is-"
"For goodness' sake! Can't you be quiet for a while?!" Jacklyn hollered in frustration, right hand leaning on the wall while the other hand was holding her waist.
Both of them were at the school corridor right now, walking to their class. A few students who were walking past them turned their heads to the annoyed female and hyper male near the wall, wondering what the shouting was about. When they saw the two just staring at each other for a while, they shrugged and continued their way to their destinations, leaving the two alone.
Jack blinked. "I did. For millisecond," he said, grinning ear to ear.
Jacklyn rolled her eyes at his stupid answer. "Be serious, Jack."
"I am."
An exasperated sigh escaped from her lips and she continued to walk again, wincing at the throbbing pain on her waist every time she moved. The orange-haired boy realized her hurt expression and wondered what was wrong with her. "Are you okay?" he asked.
"…Yeah…" was her tired reply.
Jack eyed her from her quite messy black hair, wrinkled uniform, to her hand that was on her waist. The last part irked his curiosity. "…What's wrong with your waist?"
"…Falling from the bed…" she muttered. Jack raised his eyebrows and then turned his head away from her, staring at the end of the corridor while walking beside her in the same pace with her.
Jacklyn cursed inwardly at the pain on her waist. It was all because of a certain Black Cat. The excuse she uttered to Jack just now was a white lie. The fact was she didn't fall from the bed. She got the pain from her mission last night, where she had to make sure Natsume was fine once again. The difference was she didn't go into the building that night and just watched over the lad from outside, behind trees and bushes.
Unlucky for her, the fire caster decided to jump out from a window on the third floor to the tree where she was hiding under the branch. Apparently the branch couldn't hold the sudden weight on its surface, and decided to separate itself from the trunk, making a loud 'crack' sound and sending the boy down to the ground under him. But instead of the hard ground, he landed on the girl's back, causing her to lay on her stomach while whimpering in agony.
She threw a few curses at him after that, which he completely ignored. And that pissed her off more.
At first, the pain just hurt for a while and started to fade as minutes passed by while they went out from the place and went on their separate ways to the academy. After reporting to Hirai about the successful of the mission (and the pain Natsume caused, which gained a chuckle from the man), she went back to her room and took a good rest. She believed tomorrow would be another nice bright day.
She was wrong.
Morning sun light struck into her room through the window, its bright light waking her up. She moaned at the rude waking up act and shifted her body, a big mistake she had ever done. She groaned, feeling an unbearable pain on her waist. She cursed under her breath as she remembered she forgot to treat her invisible wound the night before to prevent it from worsening. But what could she say? It was her own mistake.
And so, without any choice again, she got up from her comfortable bed and prepared herself for school, wincing and groaning at every single move she made.
"I give you my sympathy," Jack joked.
Jacklyn rolled her eyes once again. "Buzz off, Jack," she remarked in a sarcastic tone. Had she added that the boy who showed up from nowhere when she was walking at the corridor worsened the pain more?
He chuckled at her rude comeback, but didn't make any effort to fasten his pace and leave the girl walking alone at the corridor. She was annoyed at his company, but was also glad at the same time. She was just annoyed because the lad seemed talking too much than what she ever dreamed of. Oh well, it's not a big deal, but it just…ruined her imagination about him a bit.
The bell rang, warning the students that the class would start soon. Jacklyn sighed and looked at her companion. "You go ahead. I won't be able to get there in any second," she said in submission.
Jack raised an eyebrow at her suggestion. "I'm not going to leave you here alone," he stated.
The drawing alice user glared at him from the corner of her eye. "Just go, Jack," she rumbled.
The blue-eyed boy hesitated. "…Are you sure you're going to be fine?"
She nodded. "The first period is Narumi-sensei's class. I'll be fine. Don't worry."
He frowned. "I'm not worried about whose class it is. I'm worried about that," he said as he pointed his index finger to her waist.
Raising an eyebrow, Jacklyn's eyes followed his finger which pointed to the direction of her waist. "Oh…" She looked back at him. "Yeah. It will be fine as time passes by," she said casually. 'Actually, it will get worsened as time passes by,' she added in her thought, rolling her eyes.
Jack was just staring at her, unconvinced with her answer. Feeling being stared at, Jacklyn shifted her gaze to everywhere but him. She realized that the corridor had been empty. Not even one student could be seen wandering around at the place. Now there were just two of them who hadn't gone into the class.
She finally met his blue eyes and said, "I'll catch up with you later. I want to take my time here anyway."
Jack rose on of his eyebrow at her excuse. "…I don't know that you're a lazy type of person," he commented and ran when she lifted her fist to hit him. Before he turned at the corner, he faced her and yelled, "See you at class, turtle!" When he saw her face, he laughed and disappeared at the turn of the corridor.
On her spot, Jacklyn fumed at his laugh which still echoed in her ears. The boy was too cheery for his own good. Someone might get irritated at his little joke and feel like to hit him for that. She was sure of it because that was what she felt now.
Huffing, the wielder of drawing alice swung one of her feet forward and winced when she made a step. She groaned as quiet as she could and made another step forward, wondering if she would arrive at the class in hours. As long as it wasn't Jinno's class, she was fine.
Minutes later, sound of footsteps was heard when she was about to turn at the corner. Engulfed by curiosity, she turned her head behind and saw a certain brunette was running to her direction with eyes closed. Her lips was moving, chanting something about 'being late' repeatedly. Jacklyn opened her mouth and was about to warn her about her presence there when the brunette bumped right onto her and they fell down.
"Ouch! I'm sorry!" Mikan said, trying to get over the dizziness she got because of the hard impact.
"Tch. I've told you many times to watch where you're going to, Polka," came the rude reply from beneath her.
…Wait…Beneath…?
Mikan snapped her eyes open upon hearing the male's voice. She looked down and found her eyes staring at a pair of alluring crimson eyes, which was also wide opened in surprise when the owner realized their position at that time. The brunette was on top of him, mouth hanging open in shock as she stared down at the lad under her.
"…Er…guys…could you get off of me…?"
The voice that came from between them snapped both of them out of their shocks. Their gazes moved to the direction where the voice came from and saw Jacklyn looking at them with a bored stare. The poor girl was now being squeezed between them, just like a meat in the middle of a burger.
"…Mikan…my back…" she mumbled, reminding the brunette of their position at the time in case if she was drowning in her own thoughts again.
The girl in topic blinked and then gasped as she realized what the poor girl meant. "Oh! I'm so sorry, Jacklyn-chan!" she squeaked as she got off of Jacklyn.
"It's…okay…" the drawing alice user managed to breath out and she slowly got off from the bottom layer of the human burger, Natsume. She grimaced when she felt a sharp pain throbbing on her waist in the process. It hurt like hell!
Biting down her lower lip to hold back the pain, she placed her right palm on the wall and stood up. A small whimper escaped from her lips as she tried to walk again. Mikan, who heard the small whimper, watched her from behind in wonder. "Are you okay, Jacklyn-chan?" she asked, worried when her eyes spotted the said girl's frowning face.
Jacklyn turned to her and faked a smile. "Yeah," she replied. "I just…fell down from my bed this morning."
"Stupid sketchbook girl," came the comment from a certain fire caster who started to walk to the class.
Jacklyn sent a glare to his back when she heard his comment. 'It's your fault, cocky boy!!' she complained in her thought while imagining a few ways to get him back for the pain she got. The tap on her shoulder snapped her out of her deep thoughts and she raised an eyebrow when she saw the brunette smiling at her.
"Let me help you," said Mikan.
Not waiting for the black-haired girl's answer, she circled her arm around Jacklyn's left arm and guided her to the class. Never once she released her hold on the girl until they reached the class fifteen minutes later. Narumi just gave them his kind smile when he saw them walking into the class. Jacklyn quickly gave him the excuse of why she and Mikan were late. The wavy-blonde haired teacher nodded in understanding and let them walk to their seats before he continued his lesson.
The drawing alice user sighed in exasperation as her bottom touched the hard surface of her seat. Opening her bag, she quickly took out her notebook and writing utensils, ready to note down the lecture. She opened her notebook and was about to write on it when a paper bird landed on its white surface. Raising one of her eyebrows, she took the bird and saw a few small words written on one of its wings.
Faster than a turtle. Great job.
Eyebrows twitching, she looked up and her eyes immediately found the sender. Two rows in front of her, Jack was grinning at her, satisfied when he saw her expression after reading his message at that time. Jacklyn stuck her tongue out at him, set down the bird on her desk and focused her eyes on her empty notebook again, right hand starting to jot down the note on the blackboard in front of the class.
Nonetheless, sometimes her eyes would steal a glance at the bird on her desk, and she couldn't help but smile when she saw the creature flapping its wings or covering its flat face with it like a real bird. She then propped her chin on her fist, eyes never leaving the paper bird that was now sleeping peacefully on her desk. Narumi's voice was heard faintly in her ears as she drowned in her thoughts.
Paper alice.
She remembered what her so-called living drawing told her at the night he entered the academy. Being a naughty one, the lad sneaked out from his room and flew to her window to get into her room. Yup, flew. She was surprised at first, bombarding him with questions of how he could be in her room when she walked out from her bathroom. The lad just smiled and answered her questions with patience.
Apparently he had paper alice since he was born to three dimensional world. With that kind of alice, he could make the paper alive and control it if he wanted to. It could last for twelve hours. Well, at least it was better than hers. Not that she didn't like her alice. She liked it and it was quite useful, but it would become troublesome when she didn't want it to last for twenty four hours. The wings she ever made alive was the example. Aside from that matter, she was fine with it.
She snapped out of her trance when she felt something dull stabbing the skin of her arm. She looked down and saw the bird nudging her with its sharp beak. She chuckled softly and moved her left hand to the small creature, patting its tiny head with her index finger. The bird nuzzled its head against the tip of her finger, causing a smile to hover on her lips.
Her dark-brown eyes glanced up, searching for the lad's figure. He was staring at the blackboard with a serious look on his face, chin resting on his palm. As she gazed at him longer, she remembered another thing he had told her that night. He had another alice. The second alice which people barely had. But when she asked him what it was, he just answered her with a smile and then shifted the topic. When she nagged him to answer it, he just said she would need it one day and no more.
She wondered what his second alice was, and why he didn't bother to answer her question.
…And why would she need it one day?
Why not now?
-x-
Lunchtime was one of moments the students had been waiting for. After listening to the teachers' endless lectures and writing down a bunch of notes, it was best to relieve the pressure and tiredness on their brain by taking some sustenance for the poor organ in their heads and chatting with friends. The moment the bell rang, students quickly dashed out from their classes and raced to the cafeteria to get the first place in the queue. Their stomachs had been craving for delicious food to be inside them.
But not for one student.
With legs stretching out on his desk and hands behind his head, he slept on his seat with his manga covering his face, undisturbed. Even the brunette who sat beside him had given up on waking him up. His blonde best friend had also tried to persuade him to go to the cafeteria with them, but he responded by telling the animal pheromone alice wielder to go first and leave him there. Ruka hesitated at first, but the raven-haired lad managed to convince him to go.
When Ruka had gone out of the class and closed the door, he pulled his manga away from his face and opened his eyes. He looked at the door for a while, making sure his friends have gone from the class before he slipped his manga into his bag and stood up from his seat. He walked to the door where Ruka just went out and opened it. When he was out of the class, he walked to the direction that was contrary to the direction of the cafeteria.
No, he didn't go to the wrong direction. His destination was the Dangerous Ability class. Not like the other students, he barely had time to lay down and relax. He had missions to do which always put his life in danger. That was the risk for being academy's living weapon.
Coughing lightly, he took a turn at a corner and walked again. He could see students running past him to the cafeteria, a few of them stealing a glance at him when they passed him by. He didn't say anything, nor looking at them. The fame he got because he was Black Cat and a special star student didn't make him happy or proud. Instead, he loathed it. If he could, he just wanted to be an ordinary student, laughing and doing many things he hadn't been able to do.
He might be able to spend his time with the brunette more…or even ask her to be his girlfriend…
…What the heck was he thinking just now?
He shook his head briskly at the thought and focused his gaze on the corridor in front of him. The journey to the Dangerous Ability class seemed short. Three minutes later, he had been standing in front of the big wooden door. The class was at the end of the corridor, secluded from the other classes. Just like the name, the students were mysterious, dangerous, and isolated from the other students. If he could, he would choose to join Mikan and the others than to be in the place at that lunchtime.
Reluctantly, he stretched out his hand, placed it on the doorknob and turned it open. As soon as the view inside the class came to his sight, he felt the cold and uncomfortable feeling, urging him to close the door and catch up with his friends at the cafeteria. But he knew he wouldn't do that the time he stepped inside the room. He still felt the uncomfortable feeling, but his body denied to turn and walk out from the class.
Inside, there were two people standing near the teacher's desk, discussing about something he couldn't hear from the distance. The taller one was Persona, his white mask never gone from his face. The other male was Bourne, his blood-red eyes staring at the papers in his hands, his lips murmuring something as he read the papers carefully.
As soon as Natsume closed the door, the two males stopped talking and turned their heads to the door's direction to see the new guest that disturbed them in the middle of the conversation. He didn't take any care about it and ambled to them with his hands in his pants pockets. "I'm here now. What mission will I have today?" he asked nonchalantly.
Persona took a paper from the desk and gave it to him. The fire caster took it and read the contents for one minute before he burned it. "Tonight, right? I get it," he mumbled before he turned to his back to walk out of the room and take a rest for that night's mission. He didn't like the pressure he felt in the room and he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
He had reached the door and was about to open it when Bourne spoke, "I won't go with you tonight. I have to do another mission."
Natsume clicked his tongue. "I don't care. I don't need your help anyway. I could do it by myself."
The spiky-blonde haired lad raised an eyebrow at his remark. "I just want to remind you to be more careful since you were careless yesterday that you have to jump out from the window to avoid those guards."
The fire caster scowled at the piece of embarrassing truth that came out from his lips. "It's just a coincidence. There won't be any trouble again this time," he countered in annoyance before he opened the door, walked out, and slammed the door close harshly.
A few incoherent curses slipped out from his lips as he stomped away from the place. He recalled the mission he did last night. When he and Bourne arrived at the building where they should get things they had been ordered to, they separated. Bourne would get a secret document at the east wing, while he would get a disc at the west wing.
Things were going smoothly at first, until his illness acted up all of a sudden. He clutched his chest and coughed hardly which was, unfortunately, heard by the patrolling guards. It was a hard moment since he had to suppress his pain and fight the guards that kept on coming to catch him. Being not be able to fight back again as the pain consumed him, he finally decided to run from them and ended up jumping out from the third floor. Who knows that the spiky-blonde haired boy caught him in the act?
Natsume stopped abruptly as he placed his right palm over his mouth then coughed loudly in the next second. He leaned his back on the nearest tree trunk he could find and continued coughing until it subsided by itself. A few seconds later, the cough stopped and he was breathing heavily. He pulled his hand away from his lips and saw the view he had been familiar with.
Blood was covering his palm.
He curled his hand into a fist and used it to wipe the remaining blood from the corner of his lips. He closed his eyes as he felt a pain he had recognized in his chest. It was getting worse in each single day.
How much time did he have before his time finally came…?
-x-
"He isn't fine."
Persona looked up upon hearing the statement that came from the boy in front of him. "You mean Natsume?" he asked, his voice slick.
Bourne continued reading the document in his hands. "He's getting weaker and weaker every day," he said, closing his eyes and folding the paper in his hand once.
Persona walked around the table and sat down on the seat. "That's why I asked you to accompany him in doing yesterday's mission," he uttered. "But since you have to do more urgent mission tonight, he has no choice but to do this mission by himself."
The blonde-haired boy opened his eyes again and looked down at the folded paper in his right hand. "He will do it gladly," he commented, recalling how the fire caster treated him as his old rival. "But I think he will force himself beyond his ability." He threw a glance at the masked man from the corner of his eye. "Couldn't it be cancelled?"
Persona shook his head and rested his chin on his knuckle. "I'm afraid not. The Elementary principal wanted it to be done tonight."
"How about using another student?"
"No can do," was his simple reply.
Bourne sighed and gazed at the folded paper again. "I'll see if I can catch up with him later after I finish this job."
The corner of the older man's lips tugged up, forming a teasing smirk. "Even though he's your old enemy?"
He rolled his blood-red eyes. "He's the one who think of me as his old enemy, not me," he retorted as he started to walk to the door.
"But you never denied it," he pointed out.
Bourne shrugged his shoulders. "Why do I even bother?"
Persona chuckled. "You never change."
"I won't," he replied, touching the doorknob and opening the door.
"Going to Imai's place?"
Bourne didn't answer. He walked out from the room and then turned to his Dangerous Ability class teacher, smirking as he said, "Time to catch up with an old friend, Onii-san." Then he closed the door, leaving the smirking masked man inside the room.
-x-
Peeking out from behind a tree, Jacklyn gazed around the green field, making sure a certain orange-haired boy wasn't following her. After she was sure he wasn't there, she walked out from the tree she had been hiding ever since the school was over and stretched her arms while inhaling the fresh air from the afternoon breeze.
She then brought her hand to her waist and patted the hurting part lightly. She winced a bit when the pressure of her hand made contact with the bruise, but the pain was better than before. At lunchtime, she had gone to the clinic and asked the female doctor to treat her bruise. She didn't think she needed to go to hospital and search the wielder of healing alice to heal her just because of the small wound. Oh well, at least she could walk properly now.
She looked around once again and realized that she had been hiding in Northern Woods. She took one step forward, two steps, and stopped when she realized she had been lost in the woods once again. There were just trees and bushes everywhere. She didn't see any small path or sign of Junior High School building behind the green view. She paled and mumbled, "…Where the heck am I?"
Jacklyn gazed around one more time and sighed in submission. Was it so wrong to avoid her living drawing that Fate made her lost in the woods? Oh wait, this was her own fault. She should have just hidden in the janitor closet or bathroom or maybe another empty class instead of the woods.
Today wasn't the best day for her. First, she was lack of sleep. Second, her waist was in pain. Third, the annoying voice of Jack irked her and then she was being squeezed between Mikan and Natsume at an incident this morning. And now, she was lost in the forest. What was her fault that she deserved this kind of bad luck?
Jacklyn hitched her breath when she heard the bushes behind her moving. From the sound, she knew it wasn't because of the wind. Someone was there. Her face lit up at the thought. It meant she would come out from the place soon. She turned around and the big smile on her face disappeared in the next second when she saw who the person was.
"…Houji…" was the first word that slipped out from her parted lips.
Marika stood beside a tree, looking at her with a sharp gaze. Her eyes were a bit red and her wavy-black hair was messy. Jacklyn raised an eyebrow at her untidy appearance, wondering what happened to the girl after they didn't meet for a few weeks. "…What's wrong with your face?"
Marika's glare sharpened. "…It is all your fault," she hissed, hands curling into fists.
Jacklyn blinked. "…What?" And quickly ran behind a tree to avoid two icicles which were being shot at her without warning. "Hey! That's dangerous!!" she shouted, gluing her back on the trunk. She could feel her heart beating fast behind her ribs. The answer that she got was the sound of something stabbing the trunk five times. "Hey! I don't remember I did something terrible to you!"
"You do!" the ice alice user finally shouted back. "What have I told you before? What? I told you not to come near Natsume again!"
She stuck her head out from behind the tree. "It's none of your business! Besides, I didn't approach him! It's just a coincidence he's there when I approached Mikan and the others!" she said, pulling her head back before an icicle managed to stab her forehead. Unfortunately, her waist bumped the hard surface of tree trunk in the process. She winced at the sudden ache that jolted through the wounded part and bit her lower lip to suppress her moaning of pain.
"You think you're stronger than me?? You must be having a not useful alice that you don't want to show it to us!" Marika said as she walked approaching the tree where Jacklyn was hiding, her shoes snapping a few twigs on her way.
"Are you that obsessed with my alice? You could just ask me nicely if you want to know what it is!" Jacklyn retorted, hand rummaging inside her bag, searching for her small sketchbook.
Her opponent had been mad without any reason and she had to do something before anything happened to both of them. Her lips formed a triumphant smile when she finally found the things she had been searching for. She quickly took it out and ran from the tree, knowing Marika was approaching the spot now. She ducked to avoid three icicles that were being shot to her head. "She has gotten insane," she muttered under her breath then threw her body forward and rolled behind a tree as she felt the pain on her waist acting up again.
"Why don't you just give up? You're weak! You shouldn't sacrifice yourself just for the worthless friendship!!" Marika shouted in irritation.
Jacklyn hung her backpack on her back and opened her small sketchbook, grinding her teeth in the process to hold back the worsening ache. She found her rope-gun weapon on the fifth page and placed her palm on it. In the next second, she felt the gun in her hand. "Time to end this meaningless battle." She went out from her hiding place and immediately shot her opponent with the gun. Marika was caught off by Jacklyn's sudden attack and slumped down on the ground. The rope tied her up, locking her arms by her sides.
The ice alice user looked at the rope that tied her in shock then lifted her head to glare at her opponent. "What are you-"
"What if I'm weak?" Jacklyn said as she lowered her gun and stood up.
"Wha-"
"What if I don't want to give up?" she cut the ice alice user's word off. "What if I don't think the friendship I have now is worthless? What if I'm ready to sacrifice myself for that?"
Marika's gaze turned from rage into confusion. "Why would you do that? What will you get from it?"
Jacklyn's lips curled up into a smile. "The satisfaction for my mind."
Marika blinked and let out a sarcastic chuckle. "You're stupid, you know that?"
The drawing alice user's smile twitched, not because of Marika's mocking comment but because of the throbbing pain on her waist. She stepped back until her back touched the tree. "…I don't care. Why should I…?" she remarked as she started to pant.
"…Do you ever feel weak? Do you ever feel hopeless?"
Jacklyn shifted her attention to the girl in front of her. Her breath started to get ragged as the pain spread wider on her waist. How could a small wound affect her entire body like this? She felt weak all of a sudden.
"Do you think they will pay attention to you? Do you think they will appreciate your hard work and sacrifice?"
Something struck her heart as she heard her questions. Would they look at her for once? Would they appreciate what she had done? The image of her sister, Izu, and her parents suddenly crossed in her mind. The feelings that she started to forget were showing up again. Jealous, sadness, irritation and desperation were engulfing her heart once again. Why she had to be reminded of them at time like this? It just added another pain to her.
"Do you think-"
"Shut up!" Jacklyn hollered as she torn the last page of the small sketchbook and thrust it onto her chest. A pair of white wings appeared on her back, surprising the girl in front of her. Jacklyn hung her head low as she flapped the wings and flew high to the sky, getting out from the prison of trees and bushes in an instant, leaving the ice alice user behind.
She flew to the direction of the dormitory, clutching her aching waist with her left hand. Sun had set down in the west and bathed her with its red light. Jacklyn didn't pay much attention to the scenery, neither did she care if there was someone seeing her at that time. She just had one destination in her mind.
Her room.
She unconsciously fastened her speed and she finally arrived at the window to her room in one minute. She opened her unlocked window and flew in, not bothering to close it again. She stopped flapping the wings and let herself fall down to the floor on her knees, hand stretching out to prevent her face meeting the hard surface. Her lips parted as she tried to catch her breath. With the ache she felt on her waist and in her chest, the pain was unbearable.
She lowered her head until her forehead touched the cold floor and slowly curled herself up into a ball. The wings acted as her quilt. Short breaths came out of her mouth and her eyes were staring at nowhere. Her gaze was empty. A small tear managed to slip out from the corner of her eye and landed on the floor, but she didn't feel anything at that time except the pain.
Her eyelids dropped down, hiding her empty dark-brown eyes behind them. As she inhaled and exhaled in rhythm, she welcomed the pain and sank herself in it. By doing that, she wished all the pain would be gone when she woke up.
And she would be her normal self once again.
--To be continued--