I Love You: Chapter 5

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

What should I do now? Natsume asked himself while looking down at the girl who was currently sleeping on his bed. He sighed silently.
He knew everyone was waiting for his answer while he was still debating with himself whether he wants to help her. She was nobody to him, and they didn't even know how to lift the curse. What was he suppose to do with the curse? Moreover, what would happen to both of them after he helped her? This was the first time he didn't know what to do.

"Hotaru, if Natsume decides to help Mikan-chan, then what should he do?" Ruka asked.

Natusme mentally thanked Ruka for asking the same question that was bugging him as well.

Hotaru seemed to be in deep thought for a while. "I don't know. The white witch only told us that much."

The group except for Natsume and Hotaru sighed dejectedly. They were clueless as to what they should do.

"But… why don't we try the magical way to lift the curse?" Hotaru suggested plainly.

Everyone looked at Hotaru with confused faces.

Sumire gasped. "No, we can't try that! What about Mikan-chan's feeling?"

Natsumee stayed silent as he didn't really understand was this "the magical way" was, at least not until Koko added, "That might be a good idea, but I don't think it will work at this point in time. I mean, they just met today. What are you expecting?"

With that Natsume finally understood what Hotaru meant by "the magical way." He pondered if he could do that or not.

"We won't know unless we try," Hotaru said.

Everyone looked at him, again.

Natsume sighed mentally. Honestly, he had never felt this frustrated before. When he was about to say something, his inner heart stirred.

'Natsume…'

He knew that voice. With his inner heart, he asked, 'Where are you?'

'Natsume…' that was her only answer.

He didn't know what had possessed him, but he knew where she was without her telling him. Walking tothe balcony, he looked at the Northern Forest. "She's in the forest."

Suddenly, he felt himself floating. Floating!

As he looked at everyone, the guy named Mochu spoke, "I'll help you."

Soon, he was at the entrance of the Northern Forest. Without looking back to the group, he ran. When he found her, she was sleeping on the dirty ground.What a silly girl, he thought while looking at her sleeping face. After he brought her back to her room, everyone gently pushed him out of the room. He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Let her rest in your room," Hotaru said before closing the door in his face.

He sighed mentally and looked down at the girl in his arms. Seeing her shiver from the cold, he had no choice but to bring her back to his room and gently put her on his bed, but… she was clutching his shirt and wouldn't budge even a bit when he tried to pry her hands off of his shirt. He sighed andclosed his eyes. Tired, he also fell asleep.

She was having a nightmare around midnight, so he did what his mother always did for him when he had one. He hugged her while whispering words that he didn't even realize he could say. Somehow, those words made her stop whimpering and hugging him in return. Chuckling softly, he wondered what her reaction would be upon waking up.

...xXx...

Warm. She didn't know that her bed could be this warm. No, it was not her bed. The warmth came from whomever she was hugging. A thought crossed her mind. It can't be… As she felt the heat radiating from the body, she was sure she was hugging someone. Her eyes snapped open, and she shrieked loudly inside her mind.

"Silence!" Natsume demanded as the loud voice inside his head irritated him.

Mikan gasped as she realized who the owner of the voice was. Reflexively, she immediately backed off and jumped out from the bed. She froze when he looked at her with amusement.

"I see that you're awake now. Thanks to you, I had to share my bed last night," he spoke nonchalantly. He got up from the bed. "Don't you remember anything from yesterday?"

She stayed silent.

He smirked while walking towards her.

She walked backwards until her back met the wall, and he trapped her in his arms.

Snaking his arms around her waist, he leaned closer and inhaled the scent of her hair. "You were amazing."

She froze.

"I didn't know you would be that wild, Mikan."

No, what happened last night? I can't remember anything! She gasped. We didn't do it, right?

Unconsciously, tears started forming in her eyes. She shakily asked, 'W-w-we didn't do anything, right?'

Natsume, still unaware of the situation, said with a serious tone, "We did it, Mikan."

She looked down to the floor in shame, and the tears started to flow down from her already red eyes.

That was the first time he noticed her tears as they landed on his arm. Looks like I overdid it…

He cupped her chin gently and tilted her face upward to make her look at him. "Don't cry, Mikan."

'B-b-but… w-w-we…'

He sighed and hugged her. "Yes, we did sleep together, and you had a nightmare last night, so I was holding you till you woke up."

Her eyes widened. 'You! You lied to me!'

"What are you talking about?"

She blushed scarlet.

He smirked. "I didn't know you would think about—"

'Shut up! It was your fault!' she exclaimed even though her face was already as red as a tomato.

"Go back to your room and fix yourself. We need to talk. I'll see you again once I'm finished," he said and released her before going to his bathroom; he left the stunned and bewildered Mikan alone.

She blushed again as she remembered she was sleeping with him. However, she smiled. It was he who said those words when she had a nightmare last night.

"Everything is alright, and I'll be here with you, always."

Prev Chapter 1—The Mute Girl Chapter 2—The Black Witch Chapter 3—The Prince of Japan Chapter 4—The Special Condition Chapter 5—The Decision Chapter 6—The Unexpected News Chapter 7—The Forbidden Family Chapter 8—The Ancient Memory Chapter 9—The Other One Chapter 10—The Price Chapter 11—The First Pact Chapter 12—The Pain Chapter 13—The Endless Love Next