Threads to Life Chapter 21: Jumis, a Prince of Tennis + Gakuen Alice Crossover fanfic

Hye! I am back… sorry for the delay… I know, I am lagging behind but that doesn't mean that I am losing interest at writing… I'll tell you this… that is IMPOSSIBLE to happen. I have some problems with my connection and I am stressing about it so I can't concentrate at writing. I have a change of plans… I can only update a chapter once a week, so expect for an update every week… Thank you and sorry guys… I hope you keep supporting this… domo… ^^

Sorry guys, this haven't reviewed yet. I didn't have the time... Expect for typos, grammar errors and anything of the sort... Gomenasai... /

Chapter 21: Jumis

Chapter Summary: She met them and a lot had happened. Find out as they encountered the jeweled-cored people.

She didn't waste time as she used her alice to the enemy. She extended her hands in front of her and concentrated.

The guy that they met earlier was being trapped by an orange-haired girl and she was doing something to him… like her hand was inside the guy's chest where she saw the light from him.

"Elazul!"

The orange-haired girl looked at them. The girl she was with shouted the guy's name. The girl released the boy when her barrier covered the boy's body.

"What the—" The orange-haired girl jumped away from the guy.

"Elazul!" The girl ran towards the crouching guy.

"Baka!" He said glaring at her while still holding to his chest as he panted, "Why did you come back?"

"I asked for their help!" She answered him wearing a worried look in her eyes.

"You!" The orange-haired girl glared at them, "I told you not to mingle with my business."

"What were you doing?" She asked her.

"I told you not to mind my business," She said as she gritted her teeth, "You'll regret this." After that she disappeared from that area.

"M-matte!" She was about to follow her but someone stopped her from her arm, "M-Mikan-chan."

"She's gone, you don't have to follow her." Mikan warned her and then looked at the new faces, "We should tend to them."

Upon hearing that, they walked closer to them. She looked at the guy who was still panting, "A-are you alright?"

The guy looked at her and nodded, "Thank you back then."

"What happened?" Mikan asked them, "What was that girl doing to you?"

"She's trying to get his core." The girl answered for him.

"Pearl!"

"It's okay for them to know!" The girl looked at them, "T-they helped us."

The guy grunted as he looked away. The girl sighed before she looked at them.

"We should introduce ourselves first, my name's Pearl and this is my knight, Elazul." Pearl said to them.

"My names' Sakuno and this is my friend, Mikan-chan," Sakuno smiled at them, "Nice to meet you too."

"So, he's the knight that you are looking a while ago." Mikan looked at them.

Pearl nodded as she blushed, "H-hai…"

"But I still don't get it," Mikan said blinking twice, "What's with the core?"

Pearl placed her hands to her chest and smiled, "The core is our life. If it's taken from us, we'll die."

Their eyes widened when she said that.

"That girl was trying to get your core?" Sakuno looked at Elazul.

Elazul didn't say anything as he stood up.

"Sandra is a jewel hunter," Pearl said standing up as well, "She steals cores from Jumi like us."

"Sandra?" Mikan asked her.

"She was the girl who attacked me a while ago." Elazul answered this time.

"But why would she do that?" Sakuno asked them this time.

Both of them looked at each other. They didn't answer her question. She was about to tell them something when they heard footsteps. Elazul walked in front of them and prepared his sword to his just in case.

"Ezazul-san, it's fine," Mikan said holding his hand where his sword was resting, "They're our friends."

"Ryuzaki-chan, Mikan-chan!" Eiji walked closer to them and stopped a few meters away from the knight, "Are? What's happening here?"

Elazul stood straight when he recognized them.

"It's long story senpai." Mikan said to them, "I'll tell you later."

"Echizen here sensed that Ryuzaki-chan used her alice a while ago." Momo said as he saw Ryoma walking closer to her.

Sakuno blushed as Ryoma approached her, "H-hai…"

"We should get going." Natsume said catching their attention.

"Where should we go after this?" Ruka answered looking at his best friend.

"Let's follow them." Sakuno said catching their attention. She was looking at Pearl and Elazul.

"Why would want to follow us?" Elazul asked her.

She only looked down as she blushed, "I… I don't know… I think… we could get some information from you."

"What do you think?" Tsubasa asked Fuji after a few seconds of silence.

"Saa… beats me." Fuji just shrugged.

Hotaru, Youichi, and Ryoma remained passive while Kokoroyomi was just busy invading their minds.

"I knew that we would meet again," Elazul looked at Sakuno, "but I didn't expect it this way."

"What do you mean?" Sakuno looked at him.

"You can see my core." Elazul answered, "Ours."

She blinked as she looked at their chests, "That are your cores?"

Both of them nodded. The regulars and Alice students just wondered about their conversation. The area was replaced with silence once again.

"Let's go back to the inn," Hotaru said after that, "You two can come if you want."

Elazul and Pearl looked at each other before they looked back at them who started walking away from them.

"Don't worry about Hotaru," Mikan said tapping Pearl's shoulder, "She's always like that."

"Let's go." Sakuno said slowly grabbing Pearl's hand.

Pearl smiled at her and followed suit. Elazul followed them with his eyes. When they sensed that he was not following them, Mikan looked at him with a curious expression. Closing his eyes in the process, he closed his eyes and finally followed the rest of them.

Back to the inn:

"So that's what happened." Fuji said as they understood the whole story. Elazul and Pearl told them the whole story, "Sandra is a Jewel hunter and her targets are jumis just like you."

Pearl nodded.

"Why is she hunting for your core?" Tsubasa asked them.

Elazul and Pearl looked at each other before the latter explained it;

"Sandra steal jewel cores so that she can feed it to the lord of jewels."

"Who's this lord of jewels?" Fuji asked her, his eyes opened due to the conversation.

"It's a creature that hungers for cores," Elazul gritted his teeth, "That Sandra is helping that creature to kill us all."

"The lord of jewels source of living is our core," Pearl said looking down, "If it doesn't eat a jewel core, it will die."

"…"

"I-is there other way… for the creature to live?" Sakuno asked after a moment of silence.

"If we destroy his own core, the creature itself would be able to live but we don't know where it is." Elazul said.

"Touche…" Eiji said not really know what to say at that moment.

"Senpai…" Momo said whispering to his senior earning a snicker from him.

The rest stayed silent as they would think of ways on how to help the jumi people. Fuji thought that if they helped these people, it could lead them to the 'sins'.

Just like what the fortune –teller told them a while ago.

"It's getting late. We should rest now." Hotaru said catching their attention.

"Imai-san's right," Fuji said standing up, "We should rest for now."

Everyone stood up and went to their respective rooms.

xxx

Elazul was just standing in front of Pearl's room. The girl was accompanied by Hotaru and Mikan. The Tsubasa was with Fuji, Momo and Eiji. Kokoroyomi was with Natsume, Ruka and Youichi much to Natsume's annoyance.

Like they previously planned, Ryoma was alone with Sakuno. As the days went by, she was beginning to notice that they were doing it on purpose. She was always paired up with Ryoma with they sleep. It wasn't like she couldn't trust him, she just couldn't take the awkward feeling when she was alone with the prince.

Ryoma was her crush ever since. She had a huge crush on him and he was beginning to notice her. She couldn't help but blush at everything.

"A-are you awake?" She asked him after a few seconds of silence. She was just staring at the ceiling the whole and sleep was hard on her.

"Un."

"C-can't sleep too?"

"Un."

"…"

"What will happen to us?"

"What do you mean?"

"All this things? I'm… I am worried." She said not hiding it anymore, "No… I am really scared."

"…"

"I think I have a big responsibility being dawned inside me. What if I… couldn't do it?"

"…"

"They have higher expectations from me."

"…"

"Gomen."

"Eh?" She looked sideways and sees him also staring at the ceiling.

"I made you have that responsibility."

She didn't know what he was talking about. She was about to ask him when he beat her to it.

"It all started with that stupid necklace." He said gripping his hands tighter which were resting on top of his stomach as he glared really hard at the ceiling.

Her eyes widened when he said that. The, she realized everything, "D-don't say that!"

Ryoma looked at her but he didn't say anything.

"That necklace was… was the first thing I've ever received from Ryoma-kun," She said raising a little from the bed with her elbow, "I… I wanted to have it back if possible." She looked down as she couldn't look at him.

"These things are happening because of that necklace."

"I… I know but…" She said still not looking at him. She didn't know how to defend that. He was true anyway. He was with her because of that necklace. He was protecting her because he was sorry. Her eyes widened even more when another realization hit her, "A-are you doing this b-because… you felt responsible for me?"

Ryoma didn't say anything after she asked that. Sensing that he would remain quiet, she looked up at him only to see him staring to her sideways. He was serious. She looked down once again.

He was still guilty of what happened. So their closeness was only because of responsibility. She couldn't help but feel upset about that.

She shouldn't get her hopes up.

"…No."

She looked up again and saw how serious he was… a bit different from before. Ryoma sat up and was still looking at her.

"I am doing this because I want to."

She blinked her eyes twice as her faced was heating up. His stare was intense at that moment.

"I am doing this because it's you."

Now she knew that her face was all red. So it wasn't because of responsibility after all. It was because he liked doing it. She couldn't contain the happiness that she felt inside her. She felt that she was getting closer to the person that she admired the most.

She was invisible to him before but now he was slowly seeing her. Even it was for being a simple friend to him would be enough for her. She was satisfied at that. At least Echizen Ryoma finally noticed her. Since it came to that, she wouldn't mind offering it to him right? So she would muster enough courage and asked him. She saw Ryoma blink when she suddenly sat up on the bed; her knees were folded properly as her hands were resting on her lap. She was looking down as her face was still blushing;

"I… I don't mind… if you… if… you know," She started fidgeting with her fingers, "sleep beside me… for tonight."

"What?"

"W-we're friends s-so it's alright," She bit her lower lip as she offered him that, "Y-you can sleep beside me tonight."

"…are you sure?"

"Hai…" She could sense that Ryoma sat up too. Her heart was beating fast when she said that. It took enough courage to offer him that so she hoped that he would agree.

"Okay."

She looked up after he said that. Ryoma stood up from the futon and walked closer to the bed. He sat beside her. She was blushing when he did that. Then, she noticed something. Ryoma raised a hand and pointed it to the door. She heard a clicking sound from the door after that.

"I locked it just in case of intruders."

"I… I see." She looked as she didn't know what to do. Well, she asked him to sleep with her but she was nervous now. It was her first time sharing a bed with a boy, let alone with her crush.

"Move to the corner then."

"Ah, r-right..." She started to move and lied down to her side.

Ryoma followed suit and lied down that she gave for him.

Both of them were silent as they were just staring at the ceiling. Eyes were still opened and couldn't sleep at all. To their surprise, they both look at each other at the same time.

Sakuno chuckled while Ryoma snickered a little. They turned to their side facing each other.

"Go to sleep, Ryuzaki."

"Hai…" She said as bent her head a little lower and fisted her hands to the sheet. She was tired after all, "Oyasuminasai… Ryoma-kun." That was the last thing she remembered after she closed her eyes.

The next day:

She woke up first thing in the morning. She blinked her eyes twice and the first thing that she could see was her hand… being enclosed by someone's hand. She also felt that someone's forehead was leaning onto her own head. Then, she remembered what happened last night.

Her face turned bright red as she immediately sat up and quietly panicked. She shared the bed with Ryoma last night. The last thing she remembered was they were just facing each other but when she woke up, they were pretty close to each other.

Her heart was panicking at the thought but then it suddenly calmed down bit by bit as she stared at him. Ryoma was still sleeping peacefully. A smile was brought to her face as she slowly reached to his bangs and touched them.

"He's cute when he's sleeping."

"I am not cute."

She felt that her heart jumped out from her chest when he started to talk. He was awake and he heard her speaking to herself. She immediately removed her hand away from his bangs, "R-R-Ryoma-kun… y-you are awake!"

He opened his eyes and slowly sat up rubbing his eyes, "Un."

She looked down. That was so embarrassing. She thought as she blushed really hard, "O-ohayou gozaimasu…"

"Ohayou…"

"L-let's get up now." Sakuno said crawling out of the bed. She didn't wait for him for she was really panicking at that moment. Her courage from last night was totally drained that very moment. Her shy nature came back to her.

Unknown to her, Ryoma was just watching her doing her actions. He shook his head as he smirked. Well, he would admit it, he had a wonderful sleep last night and it was a totally surprise for him that he would awake with such a remark coming from her. He would not push through though for the girl was already panicking. He sighed to himself as he too, moved around.

Some things never changed.

Later on:

All of them were sitting in front of the table and eating their breakfast.

"Your core symbolizes a jewel?" Tsubasa asked to Pearl during the conversaion.

Pearl nodded as she touched her chest, "Just like my name, my core symbolizes Pearl and Elazul symbolizes Lapiz Lazuli."

"I see." He nodded which was followed by the rest.

"We should go home now, Pearl," Elazul said, "I should take you home safe and sound."

"But the others, I want to help them too," Pearl said looking at her knight, "They need our help."

"You aren't helping them at all."Elazul said to her.

"But—"

"Enough," he cut her, "You made a lot of trouble to me and to the others as well. We should go back."

"R-right…" She looked down as she didn't protest anymore.

They became silent after that.

"You two are both happy."

The rest looked at the person who talked last. Kokoroyomi was looking at Ryoma and Sakuno. The former was almost smiling while the latter was blushing to the fullest.

"Something good happened to the both of you, am I right?" Fuji smiled as usual.

"N-nothing happened!" Sakuno defended as she looked down still blushing to the fullest.

"I see so that's what happened." Kokoroyomi suddenly said.

"What is it, Kokoroyomi-san?" Fuji asked the mind reader. Youichi was curious too.

The mind reader was about to say it but then Ryoma passed him a message. He sweat dropped before he answered, "I still love my life, you see."

Everyone sweat dropped after that. They didn't ask further than that. Later on, Pearl excused herself and told them that she had forgotten something upstairs.

"I'll go with you." Elazul was about to stand up but Pearl stopped him.

"N-no need, Elazul, it's fine. I won't be long." With that, she immediately walked upstairs.

The rest waited downstairs as they continued talking. Three minutes passed when Sakuno felt something odd. She was about to tell Ryoma about it when someone screamed from upstairs.

"Pearl!" In an instinct, Elazul stood up and went upstairs. The others followed him. The knight barged in to the girl's room and shock was registered to them.

Sandra was there, aiming for Pearl's heart.

"Let her go!" Elazul drew his sword and aimed for the jumi hunter.

"Too late." She smirked as she pulled her hand from her chest.

Sakuno knew that something was wrong. She walked a few steps forward and reaches to them, "N-no stop that!"

But it was too late indeed. As soon as Sandra pulled out the core from her, the area became black that even the Jumi hunter was shocked about it.

"What the—"

Ryoma pulled Sakuno once again as the area was covered with black. Natsume did the same to Mikan while Ruka protected Youichi with it. The others just closed their eyes.

It took seconds before the black light disappeared and they slowly opened their eyes.

"T-this is not a core?!"

They followed Sandra's line of vision. Their eyes widened. That wasn't really a core for they knew what it was.

"It was a 'sin'." Fuji announced.

"What? What 'sin' are you talking about?" Sandra said as she looked at the thing that she was holding.

"Pearl!" Elazul ran to the unconscious girl, "Wake up, darn it!" He looked at her core and something was odd about it. Before he could react, Pearl was suddenly covered with a blinding light.

They closed their eyes once again and when it disappeared, they looked around. Elazul was shocked when he couldn't see the girl in his arms, "Pearl!"

"There!" Eiji pointed ahead of them.

Everyone was shocked when they saw a person who was clad in a black dress.

"T-that is Pearl-san, right?" Tsubasa eyes the girl who was not looking at them, "B-but why is she different now?"

Sakuno was worried about the outcome. She bit her lower lip as she stared at the girl in front of them. She was shocked when Pearl started to snicker, making everyone flinch in the process.

"This is good, this power is good." Pearl said staring at her hands, "Who could've thought that I am hiding such ominous powers," She looked at Sandra after that, "Thank you for pulling that out from me. Now I've discovered my true power."

"I don't know what you're talking about?" Sandra said as she threw the 'sin' around the room, "I'm leaving, what a waste of time." She left after that.

The 'sin' reacted to Sakuno and went closer to her soon after it went inside her.

"That was interesting." Pearl said as she witnessed the entrance of the 'sin' to her.

"Pearl, why did you become black?" Elazul said walking closer to her.

"I like that name," Pearl smirked at him, "Call me black Pearl from now on."

"What happened?" Sakuno was really shocked, "P-Pearl-san."

"Beats me," She shrugged and smirked afterwards, "but I am willing to try this new discovery. So long now." With that, she immediately disappeared.

"Wait!" Elazul started to run and tried to look for her. He jumped from the window.

"Elazul-san!" Sakuno tried to reach out to him but no to avail.

"Elazul-san could still sense Pearl-san's core so he followed her." Kokoroyomi suddenly said reading Elazul's mind before he left them there.

Everyone nodded when he said that. For once, they thanked Kokoroyomi for the information .Having a mind reader in the group was useful… sometimes.

They didn't waste time as they followed the knight. The detection holders knew that the search for the 'sins' in that area was not over yet.

So they would follow the Jumi's for the meantime.

Done! How was this chapter? Haha… I don't know what I am writing anymore but don't worry, my plans are not intact… I know how to end this story now… for what for how many months… tee hee hee… this story hasn't reached the climax yet… Find out what will happen next… domo…

Elazul - from the Jewel named Lapiz Lazuli, Pearl's knight. A character from the game called the Legend of Mana.

Pearl – from the Jewel named Pearl. Also a character from Legend of Mana.

Sandra – The jewel hunter. I don't remember if she is also a Jumi but I am going to let her a jumi person here… the antagonist from the Jumi arc of the game Legend of Mana.

I don't own the characters being used in the fic… Zero-related.

Reviews please… need inspiration and motivation… really…

Next Chapter: The knight and the Guardian