Last time: 'Natsume.'

I don't know why his name came to my mind, but it brought me a small amount of comfort so I clung to it as I tried to ignore the feel of Tsubasa tearing my clothes off me, exposing me to him.

'Natsume.'

-Natsume-

I suddenly felt a chill run through my body and quickened my pace. My bad feeling had increased the farther I went into the woods. I'd felt Bethany's Alice a few seconds ago, but then it suddenly disappeared.

'Please be okay.'

I thought as I ran through the brush and made it to a small clearing in the woods. I looked up and couldn't believe what I saw. Tsubasa was ontop of Bethany, his shirt unbuttoned exposing his chest. His pants unzipped and barely hanging on his hips. Bethany's clothes were completely torn to shreds exposing her to the both of us. I noticed she had an Alice restrain on her lip and it was bleeding.

'That explains why her Alice suddenly disappeared.'

I thought as I assessed what was going on. I saw Bethany's eyes were shut and she had tears running down her face, that was all I needed to see to know Tsubasa had tried forcing himself on her.

"Tsubasa….."

I said calmly and his head shot up in my direction, his eyes widened in shock and fear.

"N-Natsume."

He said as he got up. He back away from Bethany and I took a step forward. There was no way in hell I was letting him get away after this. He turned tail and ran, I chased after him. I knocked him to the ground and he rolled over to try and crawl away, but I rolled him over so he was facing me.

"You asshole."

I said as I punched him in the face. He raised his arms to try and block me, but I grabbed both of his arms in one of my hands and burned him. He screamed out and I punched the side of his face.

"Shut up!"

I snapped and he stopped screaming, but I heard him whimpering.

"How dare you touch her."

I said and he looked up at me.

"What do you care? You've never cared if I've taken an interest in a girl before."

He said and I growled at him and smiled when he flinched.

"That was because you'd never gone that far before."

I said and took a deep breath.

"She is mine."

I said and his eyes widened again.

"I-I didn't know. I'm so sorry. I-"

He started, but I cut him off and brought a ball of fire towards his face. He screamed again and I smiled as the flames burned the side of his face

I let him up and he ran away. If he managed to get water on his burns fast enough they wouldn't leave too much of a mark, but I doubt he'd be able to. I turned back towards Bethany and slowly walked over to her. She was curled up in a ball on her side, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Bethany."

I said and she flinched.

'Damn Tsubasa.'

I thought as I knelt down next to her.

"Bethany, look at me."

I said softly and she slowly opened her eyes and looked at me.

"N-Natsu…me…?"

She asked in a whimper. Her voice sounded so broken.

"It's me."

I said as I picked her up. She shivered in my arms and I held her close. She curled up even more as I carried her back towards the academy. As we neared the edge of the woods she started to cry.

"Please. Please don't let them see me."

She cried into my chest and I nodded. I went the back way towards the Special Star dorms and took her to my room. I laid her down on my bed, then went to tell the mom bot to tell the teachers that Bethany and I had been sent on a mission and wouldn't be back to class for a few days. Once the bot was gone I went back to my room to check on Bethany. She had curled up on her side again and was crying. She was covered in dirt, and her lip was still bleeding.

I walked over to her and touched her shoulder. She flinched and I sighed.

"Come on."

I said as I picked her up again. She did nothing but cry as I carried her to the bathroom. I sat her on the edge of the tub as it filled with hot water. Once it was finished I cut it off and turned to Bethany.

"Take a bath, you'll feel better."

I said as I stood up and headed for the door.

"I'll let you borrow some of my clothes."

I said before leaving the room. I sat down on my bed and stared at the bathroom door for a while before falling back and staring up at the ceiling.

'Why did that have to happen to her? Why couldn't I have gotten there faster? Damn it!'

I thought before sitting back up. I walked over to my closet and grabbed one of my shirts and a pair of my shorts before walking over to the bathroom door. I knocked and heard the sound of water splashing onto the floor.

"Bethany, it's me. I'm coming in."

I said before opening the door. I kept my eyes on the floor as I made my way over to the counter. I laid the clothes down and turned back towards the door.

"Natsume…."

She said and I stopped.

"Can you….can you help me out?"

She asked and I turned to see her trying to get out of the tub. I blushed before grabbing one of the towels and walking over to the tub. I held out my hand and looked away. She grabbed it and I helped her stand. I held out the towel and when I felt her grab the edge I wrapped it around her, then lifted her up out of the tub before setting her down on her feet next to the clothes.

"Thank you."

She said and I just nodded as I looked towards the door, I could feel my face heat up even more.

"I-If you need me I'll be in the bedroom."

I said before leaving as quickly as I could.

I sat down against the headboard on the bed and tried to calm down.

'What's wrong with me? She almost got raped and I'm getting turned on by the fact she was naked in my bathroom.'

I sighed to myself. There wasn't anything I could do about it, I cared for her.

I heard the bathroom door open and looked up to see Bethany standing in the doorway. Her waist length black hair was wet and slightly curly at the ends. She was wearing my shirt, but it went to her waist. The shorts I'd given her were a little big on her, but looked fine. I swallowed as she walked over to me. She crawled onto the bed in front of me and leaned against my chest.

"Thank you."

She said after a while and I looked down at her in surprise.

'What is she thanking me for? I was almost too late.'

I thought and she turned her head to look at me.

"You were almost, but you weren't. It didn't happen because of you, so thanks."

She said and I blinked in surprise.

"How did you-"

"It's written all over your face."

She said before turning around and snuggling closer to me. I wrapped my arms around her and noticed she didn't wince this time.

We sat in silence and I actually didn't mind. I wanted to be able to help her in any way I could, even though I didn't know what to do at the moment.

"This isn't the first time something like this has happened to me you know."

She said and I looked down at her in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

I asked and heard her sigh. I felt her playing with my fingers as she continued.

"It was a few years before the academy started sending agents out to recruit me."

She said and I listened as she explained.

"I had actually just turned sixteen. Humans usually look forward to their sixteenth birthdays because they get a huge party and a car and all that, but I knew not to expect any of that. I'd known about my Alice since I was six. My parents cast me out when I turned eight, thinking that made them more civilized people. I'd found jobs here and there as I traveled. You'd be surprised what you can do when you've got nowhere else to go. It happened at the last place I'd gotten a job. I'd been working as a waitress at a café in some downtown city a couple of miles away from the school you guys got me from for a couple of years. The manager had always been overly nice to me, but I hadn't thought anything of it. I mean, he had always just given me hugs and pats on the shoulder, nothing more. But that all changed the night I turned sixteen."

She said and I noticed that her grip on my hand had tightened, but I didn't say anything and let her continue.

"We were closing up and everyone else had already gone home. I was loading the dishwasher when he came into the kitchen. He'd complimented me on how much I'd grown up and how beautiful I'd become. I thought he was just being nice so I said thank you and kept doing what I was doing, but when he came up behind me and started to fondle me I knew what he was doing. I'd gotten away from him, but he was blocking the only exit. He tried to grab me and I used the knife from the counter. I gave him a nasty scar across his left eye, but he got me in return. This was before I'd learned how to use my Alice. I knew I had it, but didn't know how to use it. He grabbed me by my hair and threw me down onto the kitchen floor. He used the knife I'd used on him to cut my clothes and then he….then he….he…."

She stopped and started to shake in my arms. I pulled her closer to me and tightened my arms around her waist.

"It's okay. Shhh, it's okay."

I said and she turned and buried her face in my chest as she cried.

I held her as she cried until she fell asleep. I laid her down in my bed and covered her up. I looked at her as she slept, her face stained with tears.

'She's been through so much, and tonight must have reminded her so much of that night.'

I thought as I watched her sleep.

'If I ever see Tsubasa again I'm going to kill that bastard.'

I thought before getting up and walking over to the couch. I laid down and closed my eyes. Nothing like that was ever going to happen to her again, I was going to make sure of it.