Hi Hi,

I guess I was in the writing mood and I was able to finish this chapter quicker then I expected. :)

I hope you enjoy it. I'm trying to speed things up a bit.

I have ideas for the next one already. So hopefully it won't take too long.

Enjoy

For the next several months, Mikan has been busy everyday.

When Mikan is not training she'll go visit Yuki and her teachers at the church.

It seems like Narumi is still as unusual as ever wearing very girly headgear and recently dyed his clothes pink!
It's quite hard to miss him when you step into the church. A pink girly male priest prancing around the church sure attracts a lot of attention.
Still, no matter how weird he looks. Narumi is a great resource of information and very support of Mikan.

When Mikan is training, she never trains alone anymore. She's always able to find Hotaru, Yuu or Ruka to train with and she's very grateful for that. It's possible for her to train by fighting undead monsters by herself, but she wants to get better at supporting so she prefers to go training with others and just play the support role.
Hotaru noticed something different about Mikan and couldn't really pinpoint what was the cause for her to change.
Mikan seems to be the same as always if you don't know her very well.
But Hotaru is able to see that something was different in her actions.
Yes she's still loud and hyper, but there's something special in her eyes now that becomes very apparent when they're in training mode.
At first Hotaru dismissed it because she just thought that Mikan was just in battle mode and it's good for her to be more focus and serious while training. But lately, she notice that Mikan seems more determined than ever in everything they do.
She has no idea what triggered her friend to be so serious underneath her playful facade.
Although the change is good, she can't help but feel that Mikan is hiding something from her. That is what triggered her concern in the first place. Mikan never hides anything from her. Last time when Hotaru commented on her change in attitude, she saw something flash in Mikan's eyes before brushing it off lightly with denial. She claimed she's the same as ever and maybe it's because she's in battle mode that she seems different. From that moment on, Hotaru knew she was hiding something from her for sure and have tried to figure out what it is that she was hiding but have failed to do so. Failing to figure out what's wrong, all she can do is try to stay by Mikan's side as much as possible to keep an eye on her and look out for anything suspicious.

The events caused by the dark guilds doesn't provide Hotaru any comfort. Lately, the dark guilds seem to be very active, their numbers seemed to have increased making them more powerful than before. Worst case scenario would be that Mikan is hiding something from her because of them.
Word out on the street is that some of the new recruits are forced into the guild through different means such as blackmail.
The Prontera knights have been working hard to find out just what sort of things they are using to blackmail all these people to do their dirty work for them. Rewards are being offered for any leads people can offer. Of course not many people are willing to provide information as they fear for their own lives. Most of the people who are not afraid of those guilds are already assisting the knights in different ways. Because of all the foul activities lately, Mikan and her friends have been cutting their training short and going home before sunset.

At this moment in Mikan's Secret Garden

"You really love this place don't you." Hotaru commented.

"Yeah, I was too busy to look after it when I was at the academy, so I'm sort of making up for it now." Mikan said sheepishly.

"You've been doing a good job fixing it up. Don't tire yourself out too much. We've been training hard lately." Hotaru said.

"True, but since we're coming home earlier these days, I'm not as tired so I have enough energy to come and do some gardening."

"Silly, you know you don't have to do gardening every day." Hotaru reminded her.

"That's true too, but even if I'm not working on the garden, it's still nice to come here. It's relaxing."

"Well, I'm going to head home now. You should come too." Hotaru said as she got up on her feet.

"I'll come along in a bit. I'm going to finish writing in my journal first before I go." Mikan replied.

Hotaru gives her a look of concern, "Don't stay too late."

"Don't worry, I won't stay late. I promise." Mikan replied with a smile.

Hotaru nods and leaves the garden.

Once Mikan was sure that Hotaru has left, she calls out, "Neko-chan, you can come out now, I know you're here."
Sure enough, the assassin uncloaks and sits down at the tree directly opposite of her.
"I'm getting better at sensing your presence." Mikan said while giggling.

Sure enough, Mikan is getting better at detecting the assassin. Every day, Mikan has been coming to the garden not just to take care of it, but to meet him.
Ever since their first meeting here, they seem to always be here at the same time. At first it was just coincidence, but after a while, Mikan would wait here until he shows up.
At beginning, he would stay hidden somewhere in the garden. Most of the times, he was up on a branch cloaked to be hidden from Mikan's view.
However, Mikan always used her Ruwach spell to look for him because she just somehow had a feeling he would be around somewhere.
After some time, the assassin gave up hiding from her. He said it wasn't worth the effort if Mikan was just going to run around with Ruwach to look for him.

"Why are you always hurt?" Mikan sighed as she walked over to where he was and started to tend to his wounds.

Although he doesn't admit it, he appreciates her healing his injuries.
He claims that the only reason why he would let her heal him is because he doesn't like drinking potions, but he secretly enjoys being close to Mikan. Not that he would admit it. He is unsure of himself why he would even let her come close to him.
While Mikan inspects his injuries and works on fixing them, she starts telling him about her day.
This has somewhat become a daily routine for the two.
Mikan will find him here, help heal him and talk to him; the assassin didn't talk much except for the teasing. Mikan always fought back in their verbal wars but always seem to loose.
Although the two have a strange relationship with each other, they seem to get along in their own little ways. They won't admit it to themselves, much less each other, that they actually enjoy each others company.

"You've gotten better at this." The assassin said quietly.

Mikan beams at his comment. "I've been working hard to improve my skills you know. Your injuries are not always easy to heal, I have to work hard to improve myself so I can treat you properly." She said while smiling at him.

The assassin was taken aback by what she said. "For me?" he repeated in a low voice.

Mikan blushes because she realized what she had just said. She doesn't know why this slip up cause her to feel butterflies in her tummy. She's still dense and naive as always so she doesn't understand what's the significance of the overwhelming need she has to make sure he's safe and in good health. She reasoned that it's because she thinks of him as a friend that she feels obligated to look after his well being. She's the type of girl that would help anyone in need, even if she doesn't know them. But annoucing that she is training for his sake made her feel embarrassed and shocked. She was shocked because she didn't even know when that comment came from.

"Well, if I don't take care of you who will? You obviously don't take good care of yourself. I mean, look at your injuries. I don't even hurt myself as much as you do and I'm the clumsy one." Mikan babbled away while trying to control her voice and blush. She knew he was smirking at her underneath that masks of his so she turns and looks away from him.

"So you admit you're clumsy now, eh."

"Oh hush." Mikan replied turning a deeper red.

"I should get going now, try not to hurt yourself too badly before I see you again tomorrow." Mikan said as she got up and left.

Meanwhile

"Hey Ruka, long time no see." Tsubasa called out to him when he saw him on the street.

"Hey Tsubasa senpai. What brings you to Morroc?" Ruka asks.

"I was sent here to do some investigating. The Prontera knights have asked the crusader guild for some help. So here I am, trying to finish my job. So what are you doing out so late? You know, it's not very good to be out so late these days."

"I just finished dinner and wanted to walk some of it off." Ruka replied with a smile, "It's not that bad in Morroc you know. Even though it's home to the Theif guild and close by is the Assassin guild, not all of them are bad. Actually, it's very rare for them to be bad. They're just awful names for those classes; I guess it can't be helped if they specialize in speed and stealth. It makes them perfect for those sorts of jobs."

"Don't worry; I remember that your friend Youchi has taken up the theif class. I'm sure he's still a good boy. I have nothing against the people in those classes. It's just the people in the dark guilds that worry me." Tsubasa said with a frown on his face at the mention of those guilds.

"Yeah, they seem to be very active lately." Ruka commented.

"Hey, Ruka, have you heard any news about that friend of yours that went missing?"

Ruka shakes his head sadly in response.

"Well, I don't want to scare you, but his situation sort of falls in line with some of the things the Prontera knights are investigating right now. You said that someone came and took his sister away and then shortly after he disappeared as well. Then after sometime, you thought you may have saw him as an assassin but he did not acknowledge you and disappeared after he helped you, correct?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Well, lately we are led to believe that some of the new recruits are forced to do the guild's bidding. We're still trying to figure out what they are doing to make these people do what they want. What if they're holding people hostage to force these people to do their bidding? I wouldn't put it past them to do something like that."

"You think that they took Aoi away as hostage and force Natsume to work for them?" Ruka asked with alarm.

"I don't know. I honestly don't know. It is only a theory, it can be entirely wrong. But you said that your friend is a genius and really skilled. To be able to get someone like that to work for them would be absolutely perfect."

Ruka is now staring at the ground, thinking of all the possibilities of what happened to his dear friends.

Tsubasa realized that he has made Ruka go into a depressed and worried state, so he mentally scolds himself for being too careless when talking.

"Hey, don't worry about it ok. I was just sprouting random ideas. I'm sure your friend is ok."

Ruka sighs, "I really hope so. I feel so useless not able to help him. I don't even know where he is for God sakes. It's so frustrating. I've been training everyday to take my mind off of it and to get stronger. But lately we've been ending training early because of all the foul activity and it's giving me too much free time to think again."

Tsubasa nods, "Just work yourself extra hard to make yourself so tired you'll pass out early." He suggested.

"How close are you to getting to your second class? It seems like you guys are training very hard to get there fast."

"I'm almost there. I think I will be ready to change into a hunter in the upcoming week. I just have to finish off mastering improve concentration and learn the skill arrow shower before I change into a hunter. Hotaru and Yuu are quite close as well. I think they're even closer to changing then me because they were training at harder places then Mikan and I were before we met. They were more skilled and experienced then we were before we even started to train together. Training with them have helped us gain experience faster than we did alone. Mikan still has a bit more to go. She has a lot more skills to master before she should even try to change into a priestess."

"Yeah, the acolyte class is quite annoying. It has so many skills you would want to master before changing into your second class that it takes so long to train before you should change. Who's Hotaru and Yuu?"

"Oh, Hotaru is Mikan's best friend and Yuu is Hotaru's classmate. They're both mages."

"Ah, I see. Mages have many skills to master as well before changing to their second class. But because they specialize in offensive magic, unlike Acolytes that focus on supportive magic, they gain experience a lot faster. It's very fast if you're a really good mage. Skilled ones can probably out train classes that have less skills to learn." Tsubasa replied thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they're both really smart and experience."

"Hey don't worry. Your ability to change into your second classes so fast is very good already. It took Misaki and me forever before we finally changed into our second class. We sort of took our time, relaxed and trained slowly. It's also partially Misaki's fault. At first she was going to change into a priestess, but then she realized that she doesn't like to stand around and support others while fighting. She would much rather participate in the fight herself. However, her mentor frowned upon this and did not encourage it. Battle priests are rare and she was discouraged to go that path. It took her a while before she finally realized what she wanted to do. I waited for her to make her decision. It was a long wait but it also gave me time to think about what I wanted to do as well. So I guess it's worth it now that both of us have jobs we enjoy." Tsubasa said with a small smile on his face recalling what happened.

Ruka tried to imagine Masaki as a priestess but it really didn't work. Her powerful punch and fierce attitude doesn't really fit the priestess image very well. Ruka lets out a small laugh at his imagination. "Yeah, I don't think she really fits the priestess image very well. Mikan on the other hand seems to be perfect for that role. She's so caring for others; healing people seem to be second nature for her."

Tsubasa smiles at Ruka's comment, "You have a soft spot for Mikan don't you?" he teases Ruka a little.

Ruka blushes at what Tsubasa said.

"Don't worry, I won't tell her." He continues to tease Ruka.

"Anyways, I should get going." Ruka said while trying to change topics.

Tsubasa nods in agreement, "Yeah it's getting late, I should be going back to report to the general. Actually Ruka, do you have a picture of Aoi?" He asks as he thought of a good idea.

"Yeah, I have a picture of all three of us together. We took it when Natsume and I graduated from Novice Academy. Why?"

"Can I have a copy of that picture and their full names? I can pass the information on to the General when I meet him today and let him know of their situation. Maybe we can get some leads on what might be happening."

"You think those men that took her away could be from those guilds?"

"Who knows? Even if they're not involved, the general could probably pull some strings and get information on those documents that they used to claim that they're Aoi's gaurdians. Any documents like that is archived and the General would have access to it. The paper work can help gives us leads to where she might be now."

Ruka gives Tsubasa a grateful look. "Yeah, let's go to my house and I'll get the picture for you. And thank you for doing this for us."

"No problem," Tsubasa replied while ruffling up his hair as they walk back to Ruka's house.

YAY NxM 3 Sigh...Natsume just makes such a hot assassin.

Please review. I'll give you cookies ~nods nods~

Thanks Immortal-Gem for the story alert 3 3

Well see you guys next time :)