I don't own Gakuen Alice. Please enjoy the story ^^
Chapter 14: Memories
Natsume couldn't believe in his ears anymore. He was there at the critical of time. Also, he got to hear the words he wanted to hear the most.
Mikan is in love with him
He didn't know if he wanted to cry or shout in happiness right now because there was no words that could describe this feeling.
With that, he looked down at the girl in his arm. However, his eyes widened at the sight in front of him. Mikan's skin was pale. There was no warmth coming from her body. She was closing her eyes like she was only sleeping. And her hand was lying lifeless on the ground
"Mikan…" He called out as well as shaking her body in order to wake her up. But she didn't open her eyes at all.
"Mikan…." He called again. This time was louder. But she still laid there, lifeless inside his arm.
"MIKAN" He shook her again, this time with force. He didn't know what this feeling was but he felt that she was no longer in this world anymore.
Wait. No longer in this world anymore… Didn't it mean she…?
Natsume stared at the brunette in his arm. "No… It can't be…" He knew it. He knew something was wrong. But he didn't want to admit it. A tear came out from the corner of his eyes. And another one… Another one. He didn't realize he was crying
"No… Mikan… Wake up…" Natsume said between his sobs, something which he didn't want to admit. He bent down to kiss her lips but the only thing he got was a cold feeling brushed again his skin. "No…Don't…"
He hugged her inside his chest. "Please, Mikan… Please wake up … Please look at me with those hazel eyes of your again… Please show me your brightest smile again…" But everything was in vain. She didn't wake up. She was lying there… like sleeping beauty.
"No…" Finally, it sunk inside him. He finally knew that she was gone. Quickly, he took out his phone and pressed the emergency call. Looking at the face of his loved one again, he didn't want to do this at all.
"Please… save her... I don't know what to do without her"
But whether good or bad, he still had to do what it can to save her. If not, he would willingly to go with her…
.…..xXx…..
The light of the plate in front of the operation was still on. The raven-haired lad couldn't sit up in his seat. He was too worried. If he didn't leave her under the cold weather…. If he ran a bit faster… If he discovered the letter sooner… Then this thing wouldn't happen to her.
He was the one to blame.
He sat down on one of the benches, his hands covered his face entirely. He didn't want to meet anyone now. He didn't want to admit the truth at all. But everything seemed so vague…
"MIKAN" He heard some shouting as he looked at the long white corridor where some of his friends were rushing in here. There was Imai, Ruka… and even Hijiri-san…
They stopped in front of Natsume, trying to arrange their breathes "Where is Mikan, Hyuuga?" Hotaru immediately asked him without wasting any second.
Natsume only looked down to the ground and pointed at the door where an operation was in process. The gang looked at the door and gasped. Before he knew it, a fist came contact with his cheek.
"YOU BASTARD" Youichi shouted in furious "I should have known this is coming." Then he turned to glare at the raven-haired lad on the floor "I SHOULDN'T HAVE GIVEN HER TO YOU"
Finally, Natsume snapped "SHUT THE HELL UP." It was his turn to glare at Youichi "DO YOU THINK THAT I WANT HER TO DIE? SHE DIED WHEN SHE WAS IN MY ARM AND DO YOU THINK I CAN GET OVER WITH IT?" Natsume's voice died down and replaced with hiccups. "I can't… I really can't…"
Youichi clicked his tongue in frustration. He then turned to look at the other direction, refusing to meet Natsume's eyes.
"You two" Hotaru said with her tear-stained face. "It is no time for fighting" She then turned her attention to Natsume "Hyuuga, what happened when you got to her place?"
Natsume stared at the blackmailer for a second then let his eyes wander to the ground "The moment I came to her, her body has already been so cold. It was like her life has been taken away from her"
"As I thought" Hotaru wiped all the tears away as she turned her heel and walked away from the hospital
"Wait, where are you going?" Ruka said, chasing after Hotaru
"What do you look like I'm doing?" Hotaru glared at him "I'm going to Mikan's house to find some information."
"Why do you want to go to her house?"
Hotaru's expression softened as he saw a pain feeling in her eyes "Because… there was one reason why she became like that and it happened once in the past. The time when she got into her coma after the accident…"
…..xXx…..
Mikan slowly opened her hazel eyes and looked around. Around her, everything was dark. She could neither see nor grab something. She remembered Natsume running to her under the Sakura tree and she finally said the words that she wanted to say. But she didn't know how to face him again.
Then she realized, she has already regained all the memories. That mean she was in a coma. In another words, she was stuck in her own mind.
She looked around in hope to find someone but everything was in vain. Then suddenly, a bright light started to shine in front of her. As the light began to dim out, Mikan stared at the woman standing, clashing in white dress.
"K-Kana s-san…." Second shock in a same day, by one person
…xXx…..
"Did you find anything?" Hotaru asked, impatiently as Ruka shook his head. They have been looked around the house, her grandpa's room. Everywhere but they couldn't find anything. Now, there was only one option left.
Mikan's room
Both of them stared at the door with Mikan's name plate on it. They looked at each other then nodded as Ruka slowly pushed the door open.
Mikan's room was still as clean as Hotaru remembered. There was no clue that she wanted to be in a coma. Hotaru looked around the room, hoping to find something worthy
"Imai-san… Is this it?" Hearing Ruka's voice, she immediately ran to where he stood. She stared at the letter on the desk
"Yes. I think this is it." Hotaru said, hope was seen in her eyes. With that, both of them decided to open and read the letter.
However, as soon as they finished the letter, a horror expression was plastered on their faces as they immediately ran out of the house to the hospital. To where Mikan was.
…..xXx….
"Surprise?" Kana said as she opened her arm out with a sly grin on her face. Mikan, on the other hand, just stared at the brunette in front of her with a pale face.
"H-How..?" Somehow, she managed to find her voice.
"Well, where should I start first?" Kana wondered, putting her thumb on her chin. After a moment, she looked at Mikan with a sweet smile "To be frankly, I only exist to hold onto your memory, Mikan. The truth is I have died years ago"
"W-What?" Mikan didn't believe in her ear anymore
Kana said, her eyes looked at a faraway place "The moment he died in front of me, I also left the world the other day. Because I can't live in a world without him"
"He? Your boyfriend?"
"Yes. I was like you, Mikan. Heart-broken by the person you loved the most. I thought he didn't love me anymore so I cut all ties with him. However, when I discovered the truth, I didn't want to believe in anything anymore" This time, big, fat tears rolled down on her cheek "He was everything for me. But he had to be stubborn so much that he wanted to bear the burden alone"
"T-Then, why are you still alive?" Mikan asked
"You know that your grandpa works in a shrine, right?" Kana turned to look at Mikan who nodded in return "He used a spell to bring me back into life and asked me to take care of you like a mother." This time, Kana had a hollow laugh "But you know, carry the memories of the person you loved the most, I have to admit that I really envy you guys"
"E-Envy?"
"Natsume, he cares for you more than anyone else and loves you the most in this world" Kana tugged a strand of hair behind her ear "You don't know but I saw, I heard, I remembered the reason why he said that words to you. He was such a cute boy at that time"
"Y-You mean the letter incident years ago?"
Kana ignored Mikan's question as she looked at her with angriness "He said that because he loves you so much that he didn't want any other boys look at you. Yet, the plan back-fired him at the moment you heard it and everything went wrong. He even tried to reach to you but you ignored him. In the end, both of you suffered"
….xXx…
"Damn it." Natsume cursed under his breath
BAM
Everyone looked up and saw a massive hole on the wall as a raven-haired lad with blood gesturing from his knuckle. "Why is it taking so long?"
"NATSUME…" A voice called out, gaining all the attention as they all turned around to see Hotaru and Ruka running at their direction
"What happen-… Oh my gosh, look at your hand" Ruka freaked out as he stared at his best friend's blood-stained hand.
"It's nothing, Ruka" Natsume rolled his eyes and turned to the other place. His shoulder trembled. It was not because of rage. It was not because he was sad. He was mad. He was really mad. It was his entire fault. He was furious at himself. He was a bastard and he couldn't do anything except for hurting the person he loved the most
Slap
He felt an impact to his cheek as his face turned 45 degree. He cupped his now red cheek and glared at the person in front of him. It was none other than his famous cousin who was on a verge of tear but still kept a cold composure on her face
"What-…"
"YOU DUMBASS"
Her shouting caught him of guard as everyone turned to look at them with odd eyes. It was not everyday that you could hear the blackmailer screaming like that. And when she did it, she must be very very mad.
"I….what?" He asked with a dumbfounded expression. Hotaru was fuming again and took out her Baka gun, shooting at the raven-haired lad
Baka Baka Baka Baka
He was knocked out on the cold floor as Hotaru made her way to the poor boy who was wincing in pain. She kneeled down before him and grabbed his collar, choking him. "You really don't deserve her at all" She hissed out the words as she glared at the crimson-eyed boy.
"Why? Why did you have to take her away? Why can't you protect her at all?" Hotaru said as tears began to flow down freely from her eyes "She tried her best to forget about the past, to forget about you. But you have to be a bastard to make her remember it all. If it weren't because of you, maybe she would still have a happy life right now."
The words hit Natsume like a thousand of needles went through his heart. He couldn't cry now. He knew it was his fault in the first place. If he hadn't said those words, she couldn't have been suffered through this. Her family would still be alive now. And maybe, she would still be by his side now
Really. He didn't deserve her at all.
"Yea…"
…..xXx…..
"You see, Mikan. Natsume doesn't care about you at all" Kana said as she circled around Mikan in a teasing manner "Just a word from that best friend of yours, he has already been broken. Just like you"
She darted her eyes to the girl crawling like a ball in front of her. Broken-heart was still a feeling that nobody would happy for. After letting her see some images of the present, Mikan somehow got into a bad mood.
She never thought that Hyuuga would give up on something easily like that. Mikan didn't know what to say anymore. All this time, she thought Natsume was the one who hurt her the most. But in the end, it was her.
It was her fault that both of them had to suffer so much
So this was the reason why he always looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes. No, not only that. There was also regret. At the same time, he wanted to fix the mistake that he had in the past, by making her happy again.
A tear fell down from the corner of her eyes.
Ah, she knew it. If that were the reason why he didn't want to find happiness in his life, the reason why she became a burden to him, then she couldn't stay by his side anymore…
Yes….
She shouldn't be in this world anymore…
"Kana-san, if I disappear then Natsume will be happy, right?" Mikan asked with tears in her eyes. Kana looked at her for moment then nodded
"Please, take me with you"
Just like that time 7 years ago, she chose to leave everything behind...
…xXx…
"Yea…"
Like that would happen
Natsume tried to break free from Hotaru's grasp "LIKE I DON'T KNOW ABOUT THAT" Add the sarcasm and a little bit of shouting, please. He pushed his cousin to aside and put his head on one knee.
The gang looked at Natsume with sympathy "I admit that Mikan became this way is my fault but I want you to know that…" Natsume turned his full attention to Hotaru "…I believe in her and she won't die."
"Why are you so confident about this?" Koko popped his head into the conservation
Natsume's eyes softened for a moment with a small smile plastered on his face "Because she is the woman I love the most in this world"
Everyone was at a loss of word. They didn't know that there will be a day Natsume will admit this to himself. However, it sounded so cheesy everytime you heard it.
"Good. At least you understand that" Hotaru said, wiping all the tears away. All eyes immediately turned to her "I thought you just wanted to fix the past and didn't care about the feeling at all"
She stood up and dusted her pant "To be frankly, at first, I didn't want to give her to you after all. But after some time, I understood that this is some work of 'fate' and I had to admit, you two can't live without each other because you have such a strong bond"
"I-Imai…" Natsume shuttered. So, she had just been playing with him the whole time. Damn her.
"Actually, I knew the truth about this" Hotaru said as she took the letter out of her pocket "And we need to find Kana Ueda… Fast"
"Why do we need to find Ueda-san?" Anna wondered to herself
"Because according to this letter, she is the reason why Mikan remembered it all" Hotaru said, showing them the letter in her hand. The gang read it carefully as the information finally sank inside their mind.
"This is no good at all" Nonoko said as everyone became worried. However, as soon as they tried to find a way to do it, everything has already been too late.
Beep…Beep…..Beep….Beep….
"Doctor, the patient's heartbeat is slowly decreasing"
"I can't find any pulse"
"Her breathing is getting weaker and weaker"
The nurses ran around and around in a panic mode. Just a moment ago, this girl was still breathing but now, it was like she almost left the world. What on earth has happened?
Standing outside the operation room, the gang could hear perfectly everything as anxiety began to build up inside them. They immediately rushed to the operation room and looked through the glass window.
"MIKAN!" They banged on the door, shouting her name all over again. They could see Mikan inside with many wires attracted to her body. Also, next to her, there was a heart monitor with a green line which was getting slower and slower each time
"MIKANNNNNNNN"
Tooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot
The sound they didn't want to hear the most
The sound they hated more than anything else
Because it showed them that Mikan was no longer in this world anymore.
Yes
It was proven that….
Mikan is dead
Hello everybody
Well, I took so long to write this chapter, right? Sorry about that.
And for another thing, the next chapter will be the last. Yep. It was time for this story to end so that I can continue other stories (To tell the truth, there are two more stories I want to update but can't. I can't help it. The idea just formed in my head like a speed of time)
Okay, now I don't when I will update the next chapter. Just say it will be next month.
Thank you very much for reading and surpporting my story ^^