My Fiancé: Chapter 5

#02: Gakuen Alice (Natsume & Mikan)
...xXx...

Damn, I couldn't sleep at all last night, Natsume thought and cursed himself. Why on Earth do I need to think about Mikan Sakura?

"Good morning!" Narumi said happily when he walked into the classroom.

"Morning," the class replied blandly.

Iinchou worriedly began, "Ano, sensei…"

Narumi-sensei looked at him. "Yes?"

"Mikan-san and Akira-san are absent," Iinchou reported.

Where are you, Mikan? Natsume thought worriedly before hearing a chuckle from a certain mind reader. He growled. Try to read my mind again and you will be roasted… Koko-crunch!

Narumi-sensei began, "Ah, if it's about Mikan-chan, I already know about it. She went on a date with—"

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"I'll ask Mikan to pay me because I helped her to shoot you, a baka, with my Baka Gun," Imai said emotionlessly, and the class sweat dropped.

"Mikan-chan is just busy with her work as one of the Student Principals," Koko explained, and Natsume felt a little relieved.

Stupid girl, making me worry like this, he thought and continued reading his manga.

...xXx...

Two teenagers were busy on examining and studying a pile of documents from elementary, middle and high school division.

Looks like I can't hold it any longer… Mikan sighed.

Akira looked at her worriedly. "Are you alright, Mi-chan?"

"I'm totally alright, so you don't have to worry," she lied. The mission was killing her. Since last year, she had started coughing blood, the side-effect of overusing her Alices. She couldn't do anything about it since the mission had become tougher. She smiled at her cousin. "Thank you, Aki-kun... for helping me with this work..."

He smiled back at her. "You don't have to thank me. I came here to help you, Mi-chan."

"Help me?" she asked, momentarily confused.

"Yeah, Oji-san asked me to help you do your work. Though you are already used to it by now, Oji-san knows you also do missions for the academy, so you will need more time to rest."

Otou-san… arigatou… she thought gratefully. She paused her work and looked at the scenery outside. The sakura tree was in full bloom.

"Mi-chan, you can leave this to me," he told her with a smile.

Shaking her head, she looked at the documents again. "No, I'm fine." She really wanted to go outside, but all this work was bugging her. Besides, she didn't want to burden Akira more than she already had.

"Mi-chan, I want you to take a break." Aki-kun said and looked at her gently. "Please..."

"If you insist..." She sighed before smiling at him. "Arigatou."

...xXx...

Sitting under the blooming sakura tree, he thought of nothing but a certain brunette. "Mikan…"

"Yukihira."

Startled, he looked up at the person who sat high on a tree branch above him. He stifled a gasp and tried to keep his face emotionless. Mikan… "Tch." He looked away, acting like he didn't care about her.

Mikan elegantly jumped down from the tree. "I don't know why you called my name just now but call me Yukihira when we're alone." She stepped away after adding, "Don't forget that, Hyuuga."

This was not the first time someone called him Hyuuga, but when she was the one who called him that, it hurt. He found it strange as to why it hurt him so much. He closed his eyes and asked himself, Do I really like her?

...xXx...

Mikan held back a scream when the pain shot through her chest. It's coming out again, huh? The pain slowly became unbearable as she coughed again and again. Soon, she could barely catch a breath. Just in the nick of the time, she found the healing stone. She didn't bring it to the school because she didn't want anyone know about her pain. When the pain slowly went away, she closed her eyes. It's been a year, huh?

Lately, after finishing her mission, she found it difficult to breath properly, and the pain in her chest became harder and harder to ignore, so she went to Subaru Imai, Hotaru's older brother, to do some check-up.

"Mikan, I think it's better for you to ask someone to help you with the missions."

"Please understand, Subaru-nii. I don't want to bother anyone about the missions. I can handle it."

He shook his head disapprovingly. "I'm afraid that you won't be able to handle it again. You need to rest, Mikan. You've been doing missions since you were twelve and you know that your Alice is the fourth type. Once you overuse it, you will experience the same pain, which will affect your life span." When she didn't respond, he pleaded, "Please hear me out, Mikan."

Mikan looked away and muttered, "I'm sorry, Subaru-nii…"

Subaru sighed dejectedly, knowing she wouldn't listen to him.

She knew that he was worried about her, but she couldn't afford to put someone else in danger. That was the reason why she and her brother took all the entire missions.

"Take this healing stone then." Subaru handed her the stone. "It can help ease the pain."

"Arigatou, Subaru-nii." She smiled. "And please don't tell anyone about this. Please…" she begged, and he grudgingly agreed to keep this from everyone.

"Am I going to die?" she asked herself and looked at the floor, which was already stained with her blood. When she closed her eyes, someone knocked the door. Quickly, she cleaned and dried the floor with her Water and Wind Alice.

"Yes," she answered and opened the door. Shock came over her when she saw him. Natsume… She looked away from him. "What do you want, Hyuuga?"

"Blood," he stated with a hint of worry.

She gasped as she had forgotten to wash her face. She quickly covered the blood, but unexpectedly, he caught her hand and pushed her inside the room. He then locked the door behind him.

"What are you doing, Hyuuga?" she snapped and saw him flinch.

"Natsume," he said, still holding her hand.

"I don't know what you're trying to do, Hyuuga, but—"

"Natsume, not Hyuuga," he said again as he tightened his hold.

What's wrong with him? she thought and sighed. "What do you want, Natsume?"

Finally, he released her hand, and she went to the bathroom while he sat on one of the couches.

"Since when?" he asked after seeing her out from the bathroom.

"What are you talking about? I don't—"

"Don't lie to me. I know that this is not the first time. I saw you last night. Why are—"

"This has nothing to do with you," she bit back, interrupting him as well.

He smirked. "Is that so?"

Mikan hated that smirk. She was aware that he might tell Hotaru about this, but she knew that he wouldn't meddle with other people's problems. Yes, she was his fiancée, but since he didn't know it, it wouldn't be a matter. "If you don't have anything to say anymore, please leave."

He surprised her by actually leaving without saying anything.

She closed her eyes. I'm sorry, Natsume…

...xXx...

"Mi-chan, I hate to say this, but I think we have to ask him to replace you," Akira said. "At least, temporarily."

"No, Akira, I won't ask him to replace me. You know I can't do that," Mikan replied almost immediately.

"I understand, Mi-chan, but even though I hate him, he's still your fiancé and not someone else," Akira said, trying to convince Mikan.

"No, definitely no," Mikan said at once.

"You really love him, am I right?"

Damn, if only I didn't follow them to the Northern Forest yesterday, I wouldn't be this restless, Natsume thought, cursing himself. He sighed. So Mikan already has a fiancé, huh? Ignoring that fact, he couldn't help but worry about her condition. He slapped his forehead after a few moments as he felt stupid for not doing that sooner. Getting up from his comfortable spot under the sakura tree, he made his way to a certain someone's room.

Prev Chapter 1—The Family Arrangement Chapter 2—The Two Identities Chapter 3—The Arrival Chapter 4—The First Discovery Chapter 5—The Second Discovery Chapter 6—The Unexpected Departure Chapter 7—The Third and Final Discovery Next