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RECAP:
The library suddenly loomed in front of them and they all slowed down.
"So this is it ,hunh", said the flying blonde.
"Yes it is.", said Natsume putting on his mask. "Men. Mission Commence!!"
"Roger that", echoed the four voices as they slipped silently into the building.
Chapter 3: Ruckus and a Rendezvous
The library was dark and foreboding and seemed even more so when five shadows seemed to detach themselves from the darkness of the room. They had entered through a window on the first floor and now crept silently to the ground floor. The raven haired boy looked around quickly and with a couple of hand signal's from him, the rest positioned themselves at the four corner's of the room hiding, in the shadows.
He looked at the boy named Ruka and nodded. Ruka quickly ran up to him, closed his eyes and concentrated, a frown on his face as if he was expecting something to happen. Suddenly, his face cleared of its strained expression and he knelt to the ground smiling and staring at something, which was running up to him, in the shadows.
They heard a patter and scratching of tiny feet as three mice ran up to the two boy's at the centre of the room. Ruka bent down and spoke to them in a soft voice. The mice listened carefully, nodded and then ran toward's the numerous shelves of books. Natsume made a few more hand signals and followed the mice with Ruka and the dirty blonde, Yuu following close behind. The other two stayed behind as lookouts.
The mice stopped when they reached the shelf marked "Z", turned, chattered to Ruka and ran away after he quietly murmured his thanks. Ruka smiled after them and turned to see Natsume and Yuu standing at the far end of the shelf, staring at what appeared to be a small door in the wall. The door was left wide open and led to a flight of stairs which seemed to go into some kind of basement. Even more bewildering, was that a faint light was shining from it.
"Is this it Ruka?"
"Yes..atleast..that's what the mice told me…"
"Natsume-san…I don't think it would be a good idea for us to go down there."
Natsume and Ruka turned to Yuu who'd just spoken.
"All this seems too convenient don't you think?? I mean...we thought of searching for it in the restricted section even though we weren't sure there'd be one and sure enough, the mice lead us right to it."
Natsume and Ruka slowly nodded. They saw where this was going.
"Then just as soon as we are led to it, we find that not only is it open but also a light coming from it. It's as if all this was set up. It could be a trap for all we know and it's unadvisable to go through with this!!"
Ruka nodded at Yuu and had just opened his mouth to agree with him when he saw Natsume. He was calm as always but was also smiling a little.
"Uh...Natsume...what do you think??" he asked, a little unsure.
"Yuu may be right. That could be one possible scenario. But still, think about it, it would be absolute stupidity for our 'assailant'-if there is one- to invite us so obviously into the trap. It would've been subtler. Something so damn obvious would have scared us away by now, don't you think?" he said, smirking a little. "This is probably just a mistake on the owner's part…carelessness more like."
Ruka and Yuu still looked unconvinced.
"But like I said- Yuu may be right. I'll go and confront whoever is down there. If it goes smoothly, I'll call you two to help me with the search. And if I'm not back in ten minutes, I want all four of you to get out of here and report to Persona."
"But-!"
"No buts. This is an order. Besides," he said with an even bigger smirk. "Have I ever made the mistake of being captured on a mission before?" He turned and quietly vanished down the staircase.
"Ah…Natsume san!!" called out Yuu, his hand outstretched. "Gone…" He turned to Ruka who had already set the stopwatch for ten minutes. "Is this a good idea??"
"I don't know", said Ruka. "But this is Natsume we're talking about", he smiled at Yuu. "He'll be fine. Don't worry about it. For now, go and inform Kitsuneme and Kokoroyomi of the developments."
Natsume crept down the stairs to the basement. There were about sixty stairs in all and were narrow. He then slipped on his mask- his trademark he used on all missions such as this, and gaped when he reached the bottom. The restricted section was…huge!! It was easily larger than the library upstairs and not only did it have a high ceiling but it was also vast with many, many shelves of books.
He saw that the light seemed to be coming from a desk in the the far end of the library and jumped onto the shelf closest to him. He made his way to the desk by jumping carefully from shelf to shelf. On his way, he saw a book which was placed on the shelf he was on. He picked it up and read the cover.
The giraffe and the Pelly and me. By Roald Dahl……You've got to be kidding me. This isn't the kind of book a restricted section should have! This is a children's book and belongs up there with the rest of the books!! Hold on. Here's another. Journey to the river sea by Eva Ibbotson. What?? Not another one!! And another, and another!! What's going on here??
His internal dialogue was interrupted by a growling sound from the vicinity of the desk. He placed the books back and quietly continued to the desk.
Just a little more and I'll see the fool who tried to draw us into this poorly researched trap. And if they don't talk I'll just burn them up. A little more...just a little more and...WHAT THE HELL??
He was poised right above the 'assailant' and could clearly see her face. A little too clear, for his liking.
It's that girl from this morning!! Mikan, her name was, I think. And to think I wasted all that time creeping around...what the heck is she doing down here anyway? Oh yeah...it's her library. Looks like she'd been reading by that old-fashioned lamp when she fell asleep on the book and- Is that drool?!
And so it was. Mikan had done exactly what Hotaru had warned her not to, and as Natsume watched, she gave a little snort and started snoring softly.
Natsume was so overwhelmed by the desire to laugh that he lost his footing and fell with a soft thud on the carpet beside her.
Shit!! He cursed. He turned and saw she was still snoring peacefully on her book, her drool all over it.
Thank God for idiots, he thought, heaving a sigh of relief and rose to his feet, keeping a wary eye on her.
I think Kokoroyomi'll be able to help me with this one. This is going to be easier than I thought! I'll just ask her for it, instead of wasting my time searching through all these books.
He walked a couple of steps away from her and made his second mistake when he turned his head back to look at her once more. He didn't notice the knee-high stack of books and tripped over them, crashing head-first into a shelf. Many books fell from the shelf on him and he was buried in the books save for his face. He sat there, a little dazed from his fall and cursed inwardly again at his luck. A lone book teetered on the shelf and plonked itself on his head.
Yeah, real smooth Natsume. If she'd been some kind of gangster, you would've broken your record of not making a mistake where missions were concerned. Brilliant. Now she's going to wake up and bring the bloody roof down...
He resigned himself to his fate and looked at the girl once more. He saw her eyes half-open, blink a couple of times and slowly roam to where he'd fallen. She blinked a few more times and then, in sudden realization, snap open completely as she took in the unwanted intruder. Her eyes widened some more and she opened her mouth-
Oh crap, thought Natsume. Here it comes..any second now..
-"Kitty??"
A/N: ... o.0
Where am I? It's cold in here. Oh yeah. It's the restricted section. Ojii-chan told me not to come down here without permission. So what was that noise I just heard? Like books falling down. Oh yeah..They've fallen out from that shelf behind me. Must be because of that big black cat buried in the books………HUNH?!
Mikan snapped her eyes open completely when she realized what she'd just seen.
"Kitty?? How did you get in here? Don't tell me I left the door open..anyone could come in if I had-Oh my gosh!! The door!!" She ran to the staircase and peered up at it. She ran up as soon as she realized she could see moonlight streaming through it. She reached the top of the staircase and nervously said "Hello?? Anybody here?? Hmm. Guess not." And shut the door tight, locking it on the inside.
"Good. I'm done. Silly kitty. Coming in here and giving me a fright. Clumsy too…Oh my gosh!! Kitty!! Hang on Kitty!! I'm coming to save you!!
He he…poor Natsume…Mikan's proving too much of a jinx for him..anyway..Hope you guys liked it!! The next chapter is coming up very very soon!! I'm already working on it!!
Do continue to read and review guys!! Thanks a bunch!!