My Candy: Chapter 8

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

Natsume Hyuuga will tell me what I want to know…
"I see you really like this girl named Mikan Sakura…"

Natsume darted his eyes to the source of the voice, which was a violet-eyed girl. He looked at her suspiciously.

She chuckled. "Hello, Natsume Hyuuga-san. You must be wondering how I know you. Tell you what… I'll get what I want easily. That includes your information."

He narrowed his eyes. "What do you want from me?"

"I should be the one to ask you that question… what do you want from me?" The girl let out a small chuckle.

"I don't know who you are, so leave me alone, ugly," he said, looking away from the girl. Even though he said ugly, the truth was the opposite. She was not ugly at all and was actually quite a beauty, but she wasn't more beautiful than his Mikan.

"I'm flattered to know you think I'm quite a beauty," she said with a small smile.

His eyes widened in shock as he turned to look at her.

"I'm not a mind reader like your friend Kokoroyumi Yome-san, but… like I said, I will get what I want easily."

He glared at her.

"Tell me your problem; I may or may not be able to help you…" she said again with assuring smile.

"Mind your own business."

"I guess you still can't trust me, but… I'm fine with it as common sense dictates that people shouldn't tell their problems to strangers." She tapped her chin.

"How about we start with a pointless introduction…" she said while pacing in front of him.

He looked at her curiously, and she suddenly said, "Mrs. Matsuo."

Confused, he blinked.

She chuckled. "You should call me that to assure my soul mate that you know I'm taken."

"Huh?" he replied unintelligently.

She waved her hand dismissively. "Don't mind it. If you are lucky enough, you will be able to meet my soul mate."

As she stopped pacing, her face turned serious. "I know that you are in love with Mikan Sakura, but a guy, or more precisely the head principal of this academy named Shiro Yamazaki, is also in love with her. You're in a pinch, am I right?"

He remained silent.

She took his silence as a 'yes.' "I could make you tell me everything right now, but I'm not going to force you if you don't want me to help you. It's up to you whether you want my help or not, but I assure you I can help you more than you could imagine."

"You will be able to find me here since this is the place you always come to," she said, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared without a trace.

Shiro Yamazaki will tell me what I want to know…

The night wind swished through silver strands as golden eyes stared up at the black sky. Feeling another unknown presence behind him, he stated, "Show yourself."

A soft chuckle followed by soft footsteps was his answer as the owner stepped out from the shadow.

Shiro turned around and looked at the intruder. "Who are you?"

"Does it matter to you? I don't think so… Even if I tell you now, you will probably forget it after I leave," the intruder, a girl, replied.

Shiro stared at her. "What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just want to see this form of yours. It's amazing to know you have another humanoid form." She shrugged.

He narrowed his eyes as he wondered if she knew about his ability to transform into a cat.

"I know about that, too! It's cool!" she said excitedly.

His eyes widened in shock. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The violet-eyed girl hummed. "If I ask you to leave the girl Mikan Sakura to Natsume Hyuuga, will you do that for me? Oh, I know a lot of things, and you could say it's beyond your knowledge, too."

Curiosity was evident in his eyes. "What are you?"

She moved closer and circled around him.

It somewhat unnerved him as she was moving like a ghost.

"I feel offended if you think I'm a ghost when I'm not," she said with a grin.

If you knew what I'm thinking then please leave me alone, he thought and looked up at the sky again.

The girl stopped circling around him and floated in front of him. "Why don't you let go of your past and move on with your life?"

He remained silent, and she continued, "I'm not coming here to lecture you but to remind you. You know how it feels to be ripped away from your soul mate. This might go against the rule if I tell you this, but I have to. Mikan Sakura is Natsume Hyuuga's soul mate, so don't interfere with them."

"Are you asking me to let her go just like that?" He looked into her eyes.

She nodded with a serious expression.

"Exactly who are you?"

She slowly floated higher and higher, but before she disappeared, she said, "I'm Fate. I write everyone's fate including yours…"

...xXx...

Since she had nothing to do, she played with her writing materials. While staring down at the blank piece of paper before her, she shrieked in surprise when two strong arms wrapped around her slim waist from behind and made her get up from her seat. The owner buried his nose in her hair and inhaled the rain's scent in her hair.

"How was it, love?" he asked with his deep voice.

She leaned into his chest and closed her eyes. "It was just like what I thought. I'm needed in this time."

He hummed into her ears as his hand moved to the front of her uniform and began to unbutton her shirt.

"Not here, Kazu!" she hissed and tried to push him away with her right hand, but he caught it easily.

"Write it," he muttered huskily.

"No!" she exclaimed quietly, but she slowly lost herself in his touches. Before she realized it, she was shirtless.

"Write it, Sachi," he whispered seductively, and she shuddered in delight.

Fighting with her soul mate would be useless, so she mindlessly wrote: Turn everything into Kazu's vision…

The paper she had wrote on turned into ashes in the count of seconds, and a barrier was created around them. He pinned her upper body on the table. She closed her eyes when his fingers touched her almost naked back. When he leaned down and kissed her back, kanji words of "Fate" appeared on their backs like a tattoo. Before they lost themselves in their passion, the words were replaced by "Destiny."

"Alone, I am Fate… Together, we are Destiny…" they muttered in unison before the barrier around them turned black and engulfed them in darkness.

...xXx...

"What should I do now," Mikan muttered to herself. It had been a week since she met the mysterious girl. She didn't know why, but she needed to find the girl again and talk to her. For the past few days, she had thought she might turn crazy. There were times when she heard voices at the back of her mind. It seemed as though her animalistic self was so close to her. It was strange to know this because as long as she remembered, she had never heard voices in her head.

"You look troubled."

Startled, she looked up instantly. When her eyes saw the violet-eyed girl, she stood up from her seat. "Who are you?"

"Honestly, why do people keep asking me the same question, 'who are you?' when it's not important at all," she replied with a low sigh. "Although, I must say this is the second time you've asked me. It was too bad that my power didn't work on you."

Mikan looked at her warily.

"So? What do you need from me?" the girl asked.

Mikan bit her lips as she searched for a reply.

The girl smiled. "My name is Sachi, Sakura-san."

"Mikan. Just call me Mikan," she started, and Sachi nodded in agreement.

Sachi tilted her head. "So, what do you need from me, Mikan?"

"How do you know that I need you?"

Sachi tapped her chin. "I always come when someone desperately needs my help."

Before Mikan could say something, Sachi went on, "Hey, why don't you come with me? It'd be easier for me to help you both at the same time rather than going one by one."

"Huh?" Mikan looked at her in confusion.

Sachi gestured for her to follow her.

When Mikan was about to touch Sachi's hand, she gasped as her hand went through it.

"Ah, no one can touch me but my soul mate," Sachi replied to her unspoken question with a small smile.

Mikan's mouth formed an 'o' in reply. Together, they made their way to… the Sakura Tree? She looked at Sachi's back curiously and wondered why she led her there. It surprised her even more when she found out that Natsume was there, too. He looked surprised when they approached him. Mikan didn't know if he was surprised because of her or because of Sachi.

"Since both of you have gathered here, now, tell me what your problems are," Sachi said at once while looking at Natsume and Mikan and waiting for one of them to speak.

"What are you trying to pull?" Natsume was annoyed.

Mikan looked at him in surprise. "You know Sachi, Natsume?"

Natsume turned to Mikan and looked at her with confused eyes. "Sachi?"

"Yeah, her name is Sachi," Mikan affirmed.

"Both of you are just stubborn. Just to tell you, I can only stay here for another two days, so I wish to settle this all before continue on my journey," Sachi cut in.

"Just how much do you know about us?" Natsume asked as he narrowed his eyes at her.

Sachi stared at him. "Not much… only your love for each other."

Both blushed instantly, but Mikan's face was redder before she exclaimed, "What?"

"I said 'not much, only your love for each other,'" Sachi repeated again.

Mikan didn't dare to look at Natsume, and neither did Natsume her.

Sachi shook her head. "This is unbelievable. Before I can help you, both of you must confess your true feelings for each other. Then, all I have to do is to seal it."

Both faces returned to normal as they looked at Sachi and, in unison, asked, "What do you mean by seal?"

"See, both of you even ask the same thing at the same time." Sachi chuckled and smiled. "You both are perfect for each other."

Mikan blushed scarlet. The current situation was so confusing that she didn't know what to say. It was unbelievable that Natsume was in love with her. Even though she wouldn't admit out loud that she felt the same.

Unknown to her, Natsume was having the same thoughts. Both were drawn back to reality when they heard Sachi sigh.

"I've done the favor by uniting you two, so what are you waiting for?" Sachi said with an eyebrow raised.

Still, no one said a word.

"Do you know that both of you have the same thoughts about each other?" Sachi said again.

Mikan turned redder. "Can you please not saying anything about it?"

"Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." Sachi assured with a smile and turned to Natsume. "Be a gentleman and tell her how you would feel if she chose Shiro over you."

Mikan's eyes widened in shock and stared at Natsume.

Natsume glared at Sachi for being nosy.

As Sachi gave him a blank stare, he rasped, "Tch!"

He looked away from them.

An uncomfortable silence settled between them.

When Mikan was about to open her mouth, he muttered, "I don't want you to become his mate."

Of course, that surprised her. Mikan blinked. "Can you please look at me when you say that, Natsume?"

After waiting for a moment or two, he looked into her eyes, and instead of repeating his previous words, he confessed, "I love you."

Her eyes widened even more than before. She opened her mouth but closed it again. She didn't know that she looked like a gold fish at the moment.

Even though he was serious about what he said, he couldn't help but holding his face for not chuckling at her expression.

A moment later, she looked down to the ground and muttered, "I love you, too, Natsume…"

He almost smiled. Approaching her, he put a finger under her chin and made her look at him. "Look at me when you say that."

She blinked, and after looking into his eyes for a few moments, she finally told him, "I love you, Natsume…"

Before Natsume could lean down and kiss her lips, Sachi cleared her throat, reminding them that they were not alone at the moment. As expected, Mikan pulled away from Natsume and blushed like a steamed crab as she muttered "sorry" to Sachi. Natsume glared at Sachi for interrupting them. However, he was thankful. With Sachi's help, he could tell Mikan about his feelings even though feelings after the confession weren't nice. No one would feel good when forced to confess when they wanted to keep their love a secret.

"So, both of you already know that you both love each other," Sachi started.

Before she could continue, Natsume asked, "What did you mean by seal?"

Sachi paused before replying, "It's about sealing your fates together."

Mikan blinked and looked at her, confused. "Fate?"

Sachi only smiled in reply. Slowly, her high school uniform changed to some kind of maiden attire, and an unknown figure started materializing beside her. It was a dark brown-haired man who was dressed like a warrior from the feudal era. Sachi turned to look at the man who possessed a pair of deep green eyes and smiled. The man returned her smile. Both looked at Natsume and Mikan who were still in a state of shock.

"My duty is done. I wish you two happiness." Sachi smiled at them.

A blank piece paper appeared before them, and a string of words started appearing and formed: Natsume Hyuuga's soul mate is Mikan Sakura.

The paper turned into ashes in the count of seconds.

"W-wait! Tell me who you are," Mikan exclaimed when she saw Sachi and the man fade away from their sights.

Sachi smiled at her and looked up at the man who looked down at her with gentle eyes. The man leaned in and kissed Sachi's lips.

Mikan blushed at the sight, but her face turned normal instantly when they faded into nothingness. She blinked as their whispered words lingered in her mind.

"Alone, I am Fate… Together, we are Destiny… Good luck."

Prev Chapter 1—The Transformation Chapter 2—The Golden Cat Chapter 3—The Truth Chapter 4—The Other Half Chapter 5—The Release Chapter 6—The Silver Cat Chapter 7—The Battle of Love Chapter 8—The Seal of Fate Chapter 9—The Curse Chapter 10—The Wolf Chapter 11—The Candy Next