My Candy: Chapter 10

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

Mikan watched herself change in front of the mirror. Her brown hair slowly grew longer as the color changed to golden and her pale brown eyes were became topaz. The news about how Professor Yamazaki and Kajiura had found the cure for her and Shiro was a really big surprise. She was beyond happy, but it only lasted for a few minutes.
Before everyone could start throwing questions at him, Hattori raised his hand, asking them to let him explain first, andeveryone became quiet.

Hattori sighed. "Even though I did say we found the cure for them, we can't give you any guarantee that it will work. We've been researching the cure for Shiro as he is our first case."

He turned to Mikan. "I can assure you, Mikan-chan. You're not the only one who has been in this predicament. As far as I remember, both of you are our oldest patients alive."

To say they were shocked was an understatement. They understood well what he was trying to say. Mikan and Shiro wouldn't be breathing if not for their Alices.

"To be honest, the cure is not ready yet. When it's ready, we will give it a try."

Dead silence.

"You're not saying that Mikan will become the guinea pig, right?" Akira gave Hattori a hard glare.

Hattori chuckled nervously while looking at Shiina for help, but he got an even more threatening glare.

"She will not become the guinea pig, Akira," a voice quipped.

Everyone turned to Shiro, and they immediately knew that he would be the one.

Natsume clenched his fists. He was happy that Mikan didn't have to be the guinea pig, but he felt utterly helpless. It should be he that helped Mikan, not his rival. Although Mikan had agreed to be his girlfriend, Shiro was still a threat not meant to be taken lightly. The only thing that kept him from losing his control at the moment was was that he knew this was the best decision.

Mikan couldn't help but blush when everyone threw her a knowing look. She became aware of Shiro's feeling because of Natsume, who told her after she agreed to become his girlfriend.

"Can you tell us how long we have to wait?" Hotaru asked, changing the subject.

Mikan sighed in relief as the attention was no longer on her.

"Approximately two months," Shiina answered.

Before Hotaru could ask another question, Hattori explained, "We already have the prototype of the cure. All we have to do is to make it permanent."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding and turned silent as they all knew that nothing could be done for now except to wait.

Mikan shook her head to dismiss the thoughts. They could still hope for the best. The chances were not high, but it was not impossible. Closing her golden eyes, she tried to block the voice in the back of her mind. The voice was clear as though it were said right beside her ears. It seemed like her other half was trying to take over her body and mind. Of course, she wouldn't allow it. When her twin brother's hands rested on her shoulders, she opened her eyes.

They looked into each other's eyes through the mirror for a full minute.

She offered him a small smile. "Thank you, Akira."

Akira raised one perfect eyebrow. "What for?"

Her smile grew a bit. "For coming here."

He turned her around. She closed her eyes when he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

"Don't smile if you don't feel like it, Mikan," he murmured softly. He knew her twin sister was not being honest. She tried to fool everyone with her smile, but too bad for her, she couldn't fool him.

A lone tear slid down her cheek as she wept quietly. As more tears spilled out from her eyes, she hugged her twin brother tightly. She clung to him as though he were dear life. At this moment, she realised it was easy to fool others but painful to fool oneself.

She wished she could convince herself to believe she could be saved, but with so many uncertainties, her belief swayed.

She wished this was just a mad dream that would disappear after she woke up the next day.

...xXx...

In a spacious laboratory room, two scientists studied various liquids in different tubes. Suddenly, a soft explosion erupted in one of Hattori's experiment tubes.

Hattori waved off the fog before scrunching his eyebrows as he resisted the urge to sigh in defeat. It had been more than twenty attempts, but the results were the same. He looked over the wrinkled documents on his desk once again. Those documents were what his older brother had left behind. It was an analysis that was done by none other than his older brother, or Shiro's real father. After taking off his glasses, he rubbed his temple. His headache was becoming more annoying than he thought it would be. He closed his grey eyes and leaned on the sofa. His eyes snapped open when he smelt herbal tea. He almost cried happily when he saw his assistant Eri offer him a cup of the calming tea.

"I don't know what I would do without you, Eri," Hattori said before taking a slow sip of his tea.

Eri smiled in response. "You're welcome, Professor Hattori."

She then offered the other cup to the other scientist who was busy calculating the complicated formula on her paper. "A cup of herbal tea, Professor Shiina."

Shiina didn't respond until she wrote down the results of her calculation and abruptly looked up at red-haired girl. "Ah, thank you, Eri-chan."

Eri left them dutifully, and Shiina looked at her partner's face. "I see you have not found the answer yet."

Hattori sighed dejectedly as he admitted, "It's more difficult than I expected it to be."

Shiina snorted. "Your older brother wouldn't have a hard time if it was easy."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious."

She rolled her eyes mentally.

"How's the kid?" she asked after a moment.

He knew she was talking about Shiro. "Same as usual."

"The kid is too hard-headed to please," she commented lightly.

"Just like my older brother." His lips formed a smile. "He calls me 'Father' though."

"Don't you think you're too young to be his father? I mean you are only 5 years older than him."

He chuckled quietly. "It doesn't matter. By law, he is my son, and I see him as my own son, too."

It was true that Shiro was not his son by blood, but Shiro was the only one that his older brother had left him with. He had promised his older brother that he would take care of Shiro before he left this wicked world forever. When he was just a sophomore of the best university in Tokyo, he took Shiro under his care. A few years later, he found out that Shiro was an Alice and let him go to the academy. The last time he met Shiro was when Shiro consulted with him about his other half. Other than that, Shiro only sent letter to ask for more medicine. So, he was truly shocked and utterly happy at the same time when Shiro called him 'Father' a few days ago.

No one bothered to look at who came when the door creaked open and the familiar voice of the owner greeted them, "Is everything alright?"

Both scientists looked at the long silver-haired man and were not surprised to find him in his other humanoid form.

"We would like to think so," Hattori replied while gazing into his son's golden eyes.

Silence ensued.

"When is the next test?" Shiro inquired quietly.

Hattori sighed. "Tomorrow. You should be resting, Shiro."

Shiro threw his father an 'are-you-ordering-me' look.

Hattori shook his head in dismay. "Aren't you tired from the previous tests?"

His son remained silent. Honestly, Hattori didn't know what to do with his son. As much as he wanted to get over this quickly, he didn't want to endanger his son. He mentally stated that love is indeed blind. His son was enduring the tests for the brunette girl. He then sent a silent plea to his partner.

Shiina, who noticed Hattori's pleading expression, rolled her eyes inwardly. "Shiro-san, the result will not go as expected if you push yourself too hard."

Shiro sighed inaudibly and closed his eyes. After opening his eyes, he stood up and made his way out of the room. Before closing the door, he said, "Good night, Father."

Hattori immediately grinned at Shiina with an 'I-told-you' look, and she rolled her eyes before continuing her analysis.

Unknown to them, a white, hovering orb was observing them outside of the window.

...xXx...

The heavy atmosphere was enough to suffocate everyone in the room. Shiina inwardly agreed that Shiro was just like his late father—hard-headed and stubborn as she watched the father and his son fight for dominance in the glaring contest. They wouldn't have to if Shiro hadn't disobeyed Hattori's request to stop testing for the day. They had been continuing the test for almost a week, and obviously, she and Hattori had agreed to let Shiro rest for now.

"I said 'That's enough for today,' Shiro," Hattori said sternly.

"I said 'I'm fine,' Father."

Hattori scowled. "Can't you see that you will hurt yourself?"

"A normal human will but not me. I'm not a normal human."

Hattori's face turned dark. "Normal human or not, you have to take care of yourself."

"I'm not a child anymore, so don't treat me like one."

"I won't be able to forgive myself if something happens to you, Shiro."

"I appreciate the thought. I know that you're trying to keep your promise to him."

Hattori growled. "It's not about my promise. You're my—"

The loud bang of the door cut him off. Every set of eyes turned to the intruder who was surprisingly Narumi-sensei.

Shiina was on her feet. "Did something happen?"

"Mikan—pant—something's wrong—pant—the candy—pant—is not working!"

The last statement was enough to make the three forget about everything that was currently happening, and they rushed to see Mikan.

Mikan heard the panicked and horrified voices around her. The voices around her slowly faded as she let the darkness engulf her. When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a small clearing. She blinked her eyes two times to make sure she wasn't dreaming. The soft breeze on her skin, the fresh air and the scent of the woods around her was so real. But, a little voice in her heart told her this was neither reality nor a dream.

"Welcome to my world, my little girl."

Mikan twirled around and gasped when she saw an unusual wolf. It was a golden-haired wolf, and its eyes were red like a beast's. She gulped. "Who are you?"

"Should you ask something to which you already know the answer?"

The wolf's voice was enough to make Mikan take a few steps back in fear. She shook her head in denial. It was totally out of logic as she was a cat, wasn't she? "It's impossible."

"You can deny as much as you want, but I'm a genuine wolf. I'm not a cat as you think I am."

"How could… How could I—"

"It's because I invited you here. You've been blocking me but not this time as your so-called human medicine has finally failed to keep you away from me."

Mikan eyed the wolf cautiously when it started circling her. She wouldn't deny that she was scared. "What do you want from me? If you want to take my body and mind, I refuse to give it to you; not without a fight."

"I'm glad that you're my little girl."

Mikan recognised the mocking voice of the wolf. She glared at the wolf as hard as she could.

The wolf suddenly stopped circling her."Shall be begin our game, my little girl? If you can defeat me, I will be yours. If not, you will be mine."

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