Woo! I've gotten back on track a little. While I was stuck on the chapters for Stained Red, I think after I got an idea for a chapter and posted it, it triggered some inspiration. Anyway, I think my block has cleared. And again, some of my chapters that had been fine before were all messed up, so I deleted them and re-uploaded them. Sorry for any weird emails you got!
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Manipulated, Chapter 11
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You idiot!! I thought your love was stronger than this!!
My love? For whom?
It's not Reo! Please, please…before…eternally…please…
My head…
It hurts…
To think…
Flashback
"Okaa-san!"
A smiling girl, her warm eyes, her honey-brown hair…
"Ah, Mikan, what's wrong?" Who am I talking to? Who is this little girl?
"Nothing! I love you, okaa-san!"
"Mikan-nee! Okaa-san!" A teal-eyed boy, silver hair…
"Ah, You-chan, you shouldn't be out of bed!"
"I found a flower!"
Such a warm family…
End Flashback
Why does it hurt…so much…
…to remember?
Reo narrowed his eyes cruelly.
Yuka was fighting. She was fighting with the erasing Alice.
His subordinate had the Erasing Alice, something that could literally erase things on paper, or something that erased people's memories. He had asked him to erase Yuka's memory, but somehow, she was trying to snap out of it.
The man turned away. No one had ever managed to get away from the erasing Alice. Sure, they fought, but in the end, it was a useless struggle.
…but now, it was show time. Literally.
"REO-SAMAAAAA!!"
Fans screamed as he stood on the stage, Yuka backstage. All the students of Alice Gakuen were crammed into a huge room. But still, space was limited.
"WE LOVE YOU!!"
He was going to start to soon.
Reo Mouri adjusted his Voice Pheromone Alice with his purple earring.
Mikan was quite close to the stage, with Hotaru, Ruka and Natsume.
Hotaru had blackmailed some students to give up their front-row seats.
The brunette closed her eyes, still a bit crestfallen.
Her mother…what was wrong?
He stepped out onto the stage, his fans screaming louder.
He did nothing else, and started to sing.
"…"
And suddenly, everything went into chaos.
"WHAT THE HELL!!"
"YOU BASTARD!"
"GET YOUR SORRY BUTT BACK HERE, YOU ASS!!"
Mikan was the only one who was unaffected, due to her nullification Alice.
"What?!"
Even Hotaru, Natsume and Ruka were fighting.
"Hotaru, stop it!" the brunette cried frantically.
"Shut up, little girl!" Hotaru snapped.
Something was terribly, terribly wrong. Hotaru always, always called her 'Mikan'. No matter how mad she was, no matter how much she didn't feel like talking, it was always 'Mikan'.
"Ho…taru?"
"I told you to shut up, little girl!!"
But she and Natsume were engaged in a pretty intense fight, while Ruka was calling in tigers and other wild animals.
"Sto…STOP IT, EVERYONE!!" Mikan screamed.
And due to her emotions, her nullification Alice was unleashed.
"!!"
Yuka, who was going to step out and tell Reo something, stopped.
"Okaa-san!"
"Okaa-san!!"
"Mikan! Youichi!"
That's right…
Mikan, You-chan, my beloved…
Daughter…and…son…
"Mi…kan?"
Even though the room was still noisy from confused chattering, the brunette heard her mother's voice perfectly.
"O-Okaa-san…?"
"…"
Reo stood there, his mouth slightly open.
She had seriously broken through the Erasing Alice.
But just as Yuka leant forwards to hug her daughter, the red-haired idol grabbed the woman's hair.
"!!"
"Yuka…" He hissed harshly. "Have you forgotten?!"
"!"
Hotaru narrowed her eyes.
"Don't play with us, Mouri."
"Little girls should stay out of this, Hotaru Imai,"
"You should stay out of messing around with families! Yuka-san was never 'brought' to you, you kidnapped her!"
Reo clamped his teeth together.
"You loved her best friend, who left you for another man! She was already engaged! Did you think that you could torture her through Yuka?!"
"Of course. Grudges are a scary thing, Imai…"
"Well? Let me tell you something," Hotaru hissed. "That woman is dead. She died because she loved you. On the day of her wedding, she tried return to you, but she was hit by a car."
"Shut up, SHUT UP!!"
And like he issued some telepathic command, several men, dressed in black suits appeared behind him, instantly activating their own Alices.
Yuka narrowed her eyes, and held out her hands, to protect her daughter.
The colors of red, blue, orange, yellow all bounced off of Yuka's hands.
The nullification Alice…
"Okaa-san…"
"She has the nullification Alice, too…?" Natsume said, as he lit fireballs in his hands.
"No…" Hotaru shook her head. "Azumi Yuka's Alice is the stealing Alice, or to copy. Mikan's father had the nullification Alice, so Mikan inherited both Alices, while Yuka-san most likely copied her husband's Alice."
"Yuka!!" Reo's voice was icy cold. "Are you going to betray me?!"
"All you've told me have been lies, Master Reo. You've used me for revenge. You made me leave my son and daughter alone at such young ages. Stand on your own two feet, and walk forward…Reo."
Mikan stepped next to her mother.
"I…I'm sure…that mother's friend wouldn't have appreciated this, Mouri-san…" Mikan said timidly, and she closed her eyes, and held out her hands.
The brunette glowed a rainbow colour, and then, a ghostly figure appeared before her.
A woman with long, long blonde hair and grey eyes smiled.
"Reo…please…" She whispered.
"…!!"
The red-haired man collapsed onto his knees.
Mikan smiled, but soon, her legs gave out, her eyes closed, and she herself collapsed.
"MIKAN!!"
Hah…Hah…
Ara, ara…You've used up too much power…
But…It's okay. I've found my place where I belong.
You've found the place where you belong, but…
You haven't realized who you love…
…
Haha,
I think I've finally got it
…
Four Days Later…Midnight, Alice Academy's Healing District (Hospital)
Natsume was the only one in Mikan's room at this point.
She hadn't woken up for four days.
Hotaru, Ruka, Aoi, Youichi and Anna and Nonoko came to visit every single day, but Natsume was the only one who stayed with the brunette for the whole day.
The fire-caster stared at the girl, and stroked her hair gently.
"…"
And like it was all planned, the brunette's eyes opened.
"Natsume…"
The raven-haired boy was a bit surprised that she had woken up so suddenly.
She smiled though, and lifted herself up slightly, her lips lightly meeting his.
"I've finally realized! Na…tsume? I…really…love…you…"
Her voice trailed off, as she fell back onto the bed, falling asleep once again.
Natsume smiled, as he touched his lips.
"Baka…"
And he leant down, to kiss her, a full, deep kiss.
Thank you, Natsume,
For saving me.
Ten Years Later…
"Mama!" A little girl called.
Her eyes were a warm, deep crimson, and her hair was a light, honey-brown.
"Hm? No, Rina, you have to wait till daddy comes home for snack time, okay? Mama's having her friends over, so you'll get to see Taro, too."
"Yay!" Rina cheered.
A few minutes later…
"Mikan, I want some crabs."
"Uwahhh, Hotaru-chan, you're lucky Natsume bought some home," the brunette said, placing a plate of crabs before her best friend.
"Hotaru, asking for crabs just as you enter Mikan's house…" Hotaru's husband said. A familiar, blonde hair and sapphire eyes.
"What, you've got a problem?"
"No…"
Mikan laughed.
"You're going to get chewed up one day, Ruka…"
And the famous flame-caster stepped out of the kitchen with some glasses and refreshments.
Ruka burst out laughing.
"Natsume? Carrying refreshments?"
Natsume rolled his eyes. "It's because the little baka would spill everything. We've spent too much money on plates and dishes."
"Shut it, Natsume! Rina, take this up to your room and share them with Taro, okay?" Mikan said to her daughter.
Taro, blonde hair like Ruka's but cold, emotionless eyes like Hotaru, nodded and followed Rina up to her room with a plate of cookies and some juice.
"See? Rina's only five and she can carry things without spilling something." Natsume told Ruka.
"KYAAAAAAA!! Oh, I almost spilled the juice…" Rina's voice sounded.
"…"
"…Rina's very obedient, isn't she?" Hotaru stated, chewing some crab meat.
Mikan smiled.
"She won't be like me…"
The brunette glanced at her husband for a moment.
"What?" Natsume said, sitting down next to her, Ruka across from him and Hotaru across from Mikan.
"Nothing…"
A butterfly that has just hatched from its chrysalis cannot fly just yet.
A baby bird cannot fly just yet.
A plane in construction cannot fly just yet.
But after the butterfly had dried its wings,
After the bird is old enough to spread its wings,
After the plane has been complete,
They flutter,
Soar,
Fly.
And this wounded bird has finally healed.
The chains which have held her wings have broken.
And even though she had fallen out of her nest,
The black cat,
Has made her feel at home…
"Uwahhhh! What a wonderful play!" a little girl screeched.
"It's not just a play, my dear granddaughter. This was a true story." The old man told her, putting away his puppets.
"Come on dear, it's time to go." A mother' voice called for her daughter.
"Yes mother! By grandpa!"
"Farewell, my granddaughter."
The old man stared at 'Mikan' and 'Natsume' for a while, as well as all the other characters.
He smiled, and grasped a pair of scissors, cutting the strings…
Of puppetry.
She is no longer a puppet.
She is no longer wounded.
She is now, a beautiful, new-born angel…
The little black kitten,
Has broken her chains, given back her heart,
And saved,
Our little bird.
The four best friends, at that table ten years later…
Ah,
A peaceful ending.
And thus, our play ends…
Here.
Writer's End Notes: So this is the end of Manipulated. I hadn't really expected it to end this chapter, but somehow I just sort of…kept writing…
So…yeah. I was really unsure of how to end this. Mikan's not a puppet anymore, but the Grandfather was telling the story to his Granddaughter through the puppets, so isn't that like she's still being controlled? So I had him cut the strings. :D
But then afterwards, I was like: "…hm…if I end it here, It'll be a bit blunt, so…add this..and this…no, wait…and this…"
So it was towards the very very end that I was like "I dunno what to write! -sob-"
Um, so yeah. I'm not too sure about the ending, but I hope you guys liked it.
I'm really sorry if it seemed too rushed. XP
So…tell me what you think. Maybe I'll revise some chapters towards the future? I dunno.
Thanks for reading Manipulated!
-Cuna999