His Neko Angel

Chapter Nineteen

After joint classes, Dolly had decided to see how Mikan was doing. She saw the S. A. Leave class, but no Mikan or Tsubasa and Misaki. 'Did Mikan cut class?' She thought as she peered in. Then she saw their teacher and and the three students. "What's up Mi-chan? You get in trouble or something?" She asked the bubbly girl. Mikan smiled and laughed at her question. "No. No. Not at all. I want to train my Alice, so sensei is giving me extra classes." The girl mouthed 'oh' and took a sweet next to her. "Well the first step to strengthen your Alice is knowing your Alice. Then theirs your Alice shape." Mikan was confused on the Alice shapes. So her teacher went over them in more detail. "Doll-chan? Do you know your Alice shape?" He asked the white haired girl. Dolly nodded as she pet her cat, who was fast asleep on her desk. "I do. My Alice shape is life shortening. But in my case, it's a little more complicated. I cannot go into further detail though." Mikan grew worried for her friend. Life shortening meant she could die if she over used her Alice. And if she died, Natsume would be devastated. Not to mention the others who knew her. "So would it be possible to strengthen my Alice, so I could nullify even Dolly's Alice's?" The girl looked at her with a smirk. 'Just like her.' She thought to herself.

"Remember, the key to mastering your Alice, is liking it. Right, Dolly?" She nodded. "Say Doll-chan? How did you have full control of your Alice?" Dolly sighed sadly. "I was trained by my family and after becoming an orphan, I learned to defend myself against the bad people who use people like us. It was important to be stronger than my enemies." Mikan's teacher look sadly at the young girl. 'How awful for such a young child.' He thought as she examined his expression. She saw the sympathy in his eyes and smiled. "It's okay. I had Dante and the others. Plus we had each other. So it wasn't all bad." The teacher smiled at her reassuring smile. Once extra class was over, Mikan got into serious mode. She practiced punching the air and looked pretty ridiculous. Hotaru soon swung by and commented on how stupid she was being. Mikan just replied back with determination. Class rep soon came by and Dolly still didn't understand how this helped. But kept her thoughts to herself and thought about how to properly train. 'Since her Alice seemed to only activate when others are in danger, it must be triggered by her protective nature. And if that's the case, she might be a little difficult to train.' She thought to herself. She didn't notice Natsume come up to her and try getting her attention. She felt boop her nose. She looked up and jumped back some. "Natsume? When you get here?" He looked into her eyes and smiled. "I was looking for you. You disappeared on me, Doll." He said annoyed at the fact, she was helping no star. Partners or not, he still found the pig tailed girl annoying. But she was a good enough person to be around her. "Sorry. Mikan had asked for extra class and I stuck around. Then I ended up following her. We can go now. Mikan, I'll talk to you later about training, Kay?" Mikan nodded and went back to arguing with Hotaru. "Let's go, grump." He tcked at that and they left.

"Where we headed?" Natsume looked up to the girl. She seemed okay, but slightly paler than usual. Though she didn't appear sick or injured, she just seemed off for some reason. Since he couldn't put his finger on it, he just shrugged it off for the mean time and answered the girl. "Ruka and I would like to have tea with you. Our treat. No work on your part, but to enjoy our company. Sounds good?" She smiled at him and nodded. Happy with her smilingly again they continued on to where Ruka was waiting. "You found her. And just in time. The tea is perfect now." He said passing the two a cup. Dolly took a sip and the tea tasted wonderful. "Almost like mom's." She said taking another sip. The three enjoyed each other's company with no intrusions.

Once the school cultural festival was announced, classes were dismissed for the duration of the two weeks. Natsume and Dolly stayed in the classroom. Dolly was tired. So she snuggled his arm, while he read his manga. He smiled at her finally having a peaceful sleep. Her nightmares, turning into night terrors. She basically got no sleep, except for her naps. They enjoyed the peaceful of the classroom, until dinner. "Let's go get ready for dinner." She yawned, only having the energy to nod in agreement. They left and went to their rooms. Dolly had no appetite so she gave most of her food to Mikan. Natsume and Ruka didn't like the idea, but knew not to push her. Natsume tried feeding her his, which seemed to work, but she still didn't eat enough, to the boys' liking. After dinner, Dolly showered and changed into pjs. She knocked on Natsume's door and he let her in.

Natsume let her know she's welcome to sleep in his bed, or vise versa, so she could finally get a peaceful nights rest. Dolly had thought about it, and had decided it was a better idea than getting no sleep at all. Her fatigue was making her sluggish, and causing her physical pain. She hid her ears more. Her black fur spreading more. It was becoming very noticeable, though no one pointed it out. 'I'm getting worse.' She thought as she fell fast asleep to the rhythm of Natsume's heartbeat. He wasn't tired yet, so he just looked at her ears and tail. Her tail had gown in black fur. And her ears had grown more too. 'She's not doing so well. Between her getting no sleep and her energy being drained, she's just getting so sick.' He thought. He felt guilty. Being the reason why she was using her Alice so much. 'I'm sorry, Doll. I'll try and be more careful. I can't keep hurting you like this.' He thought as he looked at the sleeping girl in his arms. She was fast asleep. Not a sign of her having another night terror. Content with her having a peaceful slumber, he kissed her forehead and quietly said, "goodnight, my sweet doll." He smiled as sleep took him.

Both Natsume and Dolly were having a content sleep, unaware someone was watching the pair. Someone angered by the boys actions towards the white haired girl. "That bastard! When I get my hands on him I'm going to end him!" A male voice roared, trashing the room he was in. The male then calmed down and focused his orb on the girl, in Natsume's arms. "Soon will be together, my sweet Darling. Very very soon, my sweet." He said kissing her image in the orb. Soon he cuddled a red body pillow and was fast asleep. His dreams about a certain white hair girl.