Warm heart

? After Natsume finished speaking, he didn't care about the reactions of the teenagers, and he stretched out the cat in his hand to everyone's sight.

Then, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the not-so-small Lucky Cat disappeared instantly, bringing with it a whirlwind that went against common sense.

The sound of exclamation sounded, which was extremely obvious in this silent space.

The corner of Natsume's mouth curled up into a smile of unknown meaning, and with a strange emotion in his eyes, he glanced at the boy who was stunned in place.

For some reason, the teenagers, especially Atobe and the others, suddenly felt their hearts tense up, subconsciously suppressing the shock in their hearts.

It can only be said that the sixth sense of teenagers is very strong and accurate. Natsume has experienced so much pain because of his own specialties since he was a child, and he has already developed the habit of subconsciously hiding himself, so how could he suddenly have no reason? Expose these.

Moving her eyes back to Hemei, the usually cold girl clenched her hands into fists, her body was tense, her head was lowered, her bangs blocked the upper half of her delicate face, revealing only her slightly pale lips that were pursed straight.

I hope that after his buffer, these people who care about beauty will not act so hurtful.

He didn't want Hemei's heart to be hurt again.

Natsume sighed and patted Madara's body lightly.

Madara's long and narrow eyes glared at Natsume impatiently, but obediently transformed into the form of a beckoning cat, and then handed it over to his arms.

Accompanied by the same whirlwind, the cat appeared as suddenly as he disappeared, this time the teenagers did not show their shock again, wondering if it was a relationship between negative and negative, they calmed down instead.

"Come in." As if nothing happened, Kazumi raised her head, her voice calm as usual.

Entering the room without a word, and subconsciously inspecting the layout of the room, the first word that came to mind was emptiness.

As far as the school dormitory is concerned, the room is surprisingly large, almost the same size as the room Atobe lives in in Atobe's main house. You know, that size can almost accommodate the daily life of a family of three.

Against the background of this size, how could a room with only one bed and one wardrobe not look empty.

only……

"Woman, where is my residence?" It was Akutsu who spoke, the only person here who had nothing to do with Kazumi, and there was no buffer like Tezuka in the middle, so he didn't care if it was a good time to ask questions, he just wanted to get own answer.

In fact, in Akutsu's own opinion, being able to reduce his own existence feels that now, it has already given Kazumi and Natsume a lot of face.

Natsume, who had been watching Kazumi all the time, noticed her almost desperate look when she heard Akutsu's question. Before she could stop her, Kazumi stood there and stretched out her hand...

Sudden change—the wall that didn't exist originally 'grows' out of the ground at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Natsume closed her eyes, sighed in her heart, then opened her eyes, and walked to Kazumi's side, her eyes full of distress.

Hemei showed her abilities in the most intuitive way in front of them.

To be honest, Natsume regretted a little, because if it weren't for his previous actions, Kazumi would not have chosen such an extreme method.

What Natsume doesn't know is that at this moment, Hemei's heart is full of peace of mind and steadfastness that cannot be described in words.

Having been together for five years, she is very clear about Natsume's attitude towards her ability, which is a kind of fear and inferiority from the inside out, even if he has begun to accept it now, it will not change his determination not to let others know that he is "abnormal" !

But at this moment, she was shocked and heart-warmed that he could do this for her.

What Yukimura Kazumi wants is someone who can trust her wholeheartedly and think about her!

A person who will not forget her because of a substitute, will not choose to hide her existence because of concern for others, and will put her first in his heart!

Without Natsume's knowledge, Natsume Takashi gave Yukimura Kazumi enough courage to face reality!

Looking at the slowly forming compartment and the eyes and mouths of the teenagers widening in an instant, Yukimura Kazumi stood in front of Natsume Takashi and smiled peacefully...

The days that followed were both reasonable and unexpected.

After witnessing with their own eyes how unusual Kazumi is, the attitudes of the teenagers towards her have changed somewhat, not fear or disgust, but just a little... alienation.

Fortunately, Kazumi divided her room into two rooms, out of sight and out of mind.

To be honest, it's impossible to say that she doesn't care at all. After all, those are the people she cares about the most. It's just... feelings can't be forced.

In the past few days, the teenagers have been adventuring in Alice together, probably because Kazumi brought them here, coupled with their looks and conduct, although the middle and higher divisions are still lukewarm to them, but the elementary and junior divisions still treat them lukewarm. The children in the other department have slowly relaxed their guard against them and started to get in touch with them.

During this period, although Kazumi did not show up in front of them, she has been paying attention to them all the time. At the same time, she is also dealing with another matter with Natsume-the curse of Jirou Akutagawa!

There is a child in the junior class of Alice Academy - Shengyang - whose Alice is a summoned soul body. With this ability, it is not afraid that the other half of Jiro's soul will not be found after the curse is lifted.

Knowing from Atobe that he didn't hold the talisman on him, Kazumi immediately made the cat reveal its original shape, then went to find the little flower demon, and let Jiro get the talisman by himself through them.

Because of time, they also let Madara, the big demon, improve the ability of the spell as much as possible without harming Cirou. With only one back and forth, Cirou's curse has been completely solved, and the rest is a matter of self-cultivation. Although there will still be some drowsiness, but to that extent he can already control it.

She didn't tell Atobe about this matter. First, she didn't like to tell what she did. Strictly speaking, she did very little in this matter, and she couldn't be greedy. The second is... Recalling the news that Madara brought back, Kazumi couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth. She has seen someone who is lazy, but she has never seen someone who is lazy so straightforwardly, and she is still under Atobe's nose. It is already possible to imagine his miserable life after Atobe found out about his little tricks.

Unlike teenagers who are interested in 'people', Natsume is more interested in being with Kazumi, so when the relationship between the teenagers and the children in the elementary and junior divisions is deepening, the relationship between Natsume and Kazumi is also advancing by leaps and bounds.

In the past ten years, there is an element of love in the relationship between the two of them, which is similar to family affection and friendship. Although it is rare, although neither of them feels it, although it is not pure, it is the strongest!

This day, Natsume felt a little different atmosphere as soon as he went out with Kazumi. This made him feel very strange. The indescribable silence and depression, like this... um... lively atmosphere, he thought before that it was insulated from this academy.

Seeing Natsume's doubts, Kazumi said softly with a smile and a touch of sadness: "School Festival, we also have it here."

Natsume frowned subconsciously, this was not the attitude of a student when he mentioned the school festival.

"Hmm..." Natsume deliberately made his voice relaxed, and said expectantly, "I really want to see what Kazumi will perform, it must be very exciting."

Darkness flashed in his eyes, and just as Kazumi opened his mouth to say something, he was interrupted by a series of exclamations: "Senior, senior, Yukimura-senpai, Yukimura-senpai..."

The girl who rushed to the two of them was the girl they saw when they came to Alice Academy. After going through the sadness of leaving her family and the fear of unfamiliar environments, the girl Mikan used her positive attitude and never gave up like a little sun Such a mental outlook infected everyone around him.

"Slow down, don't worry..." Looking at the cute girl who kept panting heavily, Kazumi reached out and stroked her back.

Feeling the comfort from the cold and dusty person in front of her, Mikan's big eyes were full of happiness: "Senior..."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"...By the way, Zao is looking for you, saying that your teacher is looking for you." Suddenly remembering the cold and contemptuous eyes of that young man, Mi Gan quickly recovered from his obsession, feeling a little angry in his heart.

"Him?" Hemei's beautiful eyes instantly darkened upon hearing Mikan's words.

Withdrawing her hand, Kazumi said to Mikan: "My friend is not familiar with this place yet, can you help me to accompany him?"

"Yeah! I will definitely treat big brother well!" She waved her fist childishly, and Mikan's voice was full of firmness.

With a faint smile, Kazumi patted Mikan on the head, and said to Natsume: "Takashi, I..."

"You go, I'm fine, after all, there is such a cute little princess here."

Received the compliment, Mikan clasped her hands in front of her chest, her face flushed with excitement.

Her favorite senior talked to her and asked her to help. She also likes her, right? !Moreover, this big brother is so gentle!So happy, so happy...

Natsume watched Kazumi's smaller and smaller figure disappear from his sight, looked down at the girl who was still immersed in her own world, the corners of her mouth curled up, this girl is really likable.

After thinking about it, Natsume asked casually, "Do you know what Kazumi will perform at the school festival?"

Natsume swears that he will ask this question because he is afraid that the two will be left alone. After all, they are not familiar with each other at all, and the only point of intersection is Kazumi. In addition, he thinks that this little girl must also be very interested in the school festival, so he wants to use this topic It opened the situation, but why did the girl who was still intoxicated with happiness become so... sad after hearing this question? !

"Uh... Mikan, what's wrong?"

Mikan raised her head to look at the worried Natsume, with an expression on her face that was about to cry: "There are rules in the school, and the dangerous department cannot participate in the school festival."

"Why?" The questioning words blurted out, Natsume just felt baffled, obviously they were from the academy, why did the academy festival exclude them?

Tangerine shook her head and stood there dejectedly.

Knowing this information, Natsume was not in the mood to go shopping anymore, and after a few words of consolation, he bid her farewell and returned to his residence.

Absently pushing the door open, Natsume was surprised to find that everyone except him was in the room, and the atmosphere in the room was surprisingly silent.

"What happened... What happened?" Looking around quickly, Natsume found that everyone was very depressed, even the iconic smiles on the faces of Yukimura and Fuji were gone.

What is even more surprising is that the answer to Natsume's question was actually Akutsujin who has always been very selfish.

"Hey, nothing happened, what could happen?"

Natsume frowned, and looked at Yukimura with a little force.

Yukimura smiled wryly, and said, "It's just being ignored by the collective." Not only were they rejected for speaking, they didn't even look at them outsiders, as if they didn't exist.

Hearing this, Xia Mu frowned even deeper.

Although he also noticed the strong xenophobic sentiments of the people in this academy, they did a good job of being friendly on the surface, why...

Thinking of the difference between them and him, Xia Mu had a faint guess in his heart...

"I don't feel it."

In a word, the eyes of other people in the room were focused on Natsume.

Natsume didn't seem to feel it, and continued: "They ignore you probably because you are ordinary people?"

"What do you mean?" Tezuka asked.

"Do you know why this place is called Alice Academy?"

Although the answer was irrelevant to the question, none of the people in the room were extremely smart. Natsume's words suggested this point, which was enough for them to figure out all the joints.

It's just because ordinary people like them have broken into a world that doesn't belong to them, just like a commoner who enters the noble circle will also be ignored.

After figuring this out, Natsume immediately thought of what Natsume said before, and couldn't help asking: "You haven't been ignored, so you also have the ability similar to Alice?"

The body froze slightly, and then returned to normal, so fast that no one noticed except Natsume herself.

"Well, I can see yokai and communicate with them."

After speaking this sentence calmly under the gaze of everyone, Natsume found that it was actually not as uncomfortable as he imagined, but instead felt a sense of relief, as if breaking some shackles.

He felt that he could live freely in the future. ?

☆, end

?After that day, the teenagers adjusted their mentality, no longer approached this place with excessive curiosity, and maintained a normal heart to look at it.

Especially after Kazumi 'built' two tennis courts in an open space at the request of Yukimura, they who are obsessed with tennis spent more time on the tennis courts.

This approach made the Alices more relaxed, at least some lower grade children had already communicated with them.

"Did you already guess that this would happen?" Outside the tennis court, the president looked at the active teenagers and asked Hemei who was standing beside him.

Kazumi nodded, and said with a blank expression: "Although the children in the academy have been hurt, they are still very innocent, but they are more defensive than others. Now that they realize that they are harmless, they will naturally get close to them." Woke up."

Hearing Hemei's words, the president didn't say anything, and left after watching for a while.

Alice, who has grown up like him, can't communicate normally even if she knows that they won't hurt her.

Soon, the day of the school festival arrived.

Except for Akutsu, the teenagers who already knew that there were no programs in the dangerous department surrounded Kazumi from the very beginning. As for Akutsu, he came here for other purposes, and Kazumi sent him to that place a few days ago What will happen next to the purpose is beyond her control.

Because of the relationship between tangerine and jujube, Hemei's goal is very clear, which is a maze of special abilities.

Because they have to take care of the incompetent teenagers, the students of the Special Ability Department are exceptions and let them go through the barriers with Kazumi.

□□, shadows, making others laugh, levitating, reading minds... After seeing all kinds of strange things and various abilities, the teenagers without exception fell silent.

They finally realize that they don't fit in here.

It's not that they don't accept them, and it's not that they don't get close to them, but they just can't really get the heart-to-heart interaction.

This time, their hearts are even heavier than before they found themselves ignored.

Both Kazumi and Natsume were aware of this, but they both chose to ignore it tacitly.

Hemei has lived here for ten years, and she is very aware of the mentality of the people here. If you continue to communicate, one party will always be hurt, so it is better not to start.

Natsume was rejected and bullied because of his special ability since he was a child, and he can more or less feel the attitude of the people in Alice, although he himself gets along well with monsters because of his ability, and his relationship with his classmates has also eased recently , but he knew in his heart that not everyone was as careless as his classmates and teenagers.He didn't want to get along with the teenagers to give these young Alice the illusion that other people were like these teenagers, and then get hurt again because of it.

All in all, Kazumi, Natsume, and the older Alices all hope that the boys can leave!

It's a cruel idea, but it's good for both parties.

A few days after the school festival, a few people headed by Atobe, Yukimura, and Tezuka proposed to leave. Looking at the complex emotions in the eyes of Atobe and the others, and Mei Xiang, they probably noticed their thoughts, after all, they are So sensitive and intelligent...

Although Natsume himself has special abilities, he also chose to leave when the teenagers proposed to leave. He said: "Although I also have different abilities from others, but after all, this is not Alice. They don't feel comfortable."

In this regard, Hemei is speechless.

On the day they left, Kazumi and some lower grade children stood at the door to see them off.

The faces of the teenagers were always filled with smiles like the sun, and even Sanada had a rare smile on his face.

"Sister..." Yukimura walked up to Kazumi, and said calmly, "I'm sorry, because of my waywardness, I caused trouble to you..."

Kazumi shook her head peacefully, and raised her hand to rub Yukimura's head, just like when she was a child.

Yukimura's eyes were sour, and tears almost couldn't help falling down. Is it different from when I was a child? If I do this again, my sister needs to stand on tiptoe, and he needs to bend down...

The moment the tears were about to fall, Yukimura hugged Kazumi violently, buried the face exactly like his in his chest, and said goodbye to her silently in his heart.

Yes, goodbye.

She is still his older sister, he is still her younger brother, they are even twins, they are the two closest people in this world, but there is an indelible gap between them, and because of this, they embark on two completely different paths.

Yukimura doesn't want to find out how far away the other party is from him every time he meets, until the two can no longer find anything to say, at that time is the real separation, so this is good, not far or close, but give The other party has a special place in my heart.

It's better not to see each other.

This is the truest portrayal between them.

Yukimura thought so, but what he didn't know was that this was also the firmest decision in Kazumi's heart.

The biggest difference between her and others is not that she has Alice, but that her hands are covered with blood. During the time when she reunited with them, she has been grateful that they have not changed much in her life. time to meet again.

No matter how much she suppressed and resisted, sooner or later, the blood on her hands would stain her soul. At that time, she would truly live in two worlds with him and them.

And what you get is always equal to what you give. Her Alice is such a heaven-defying existence, how can she not give anything?

There is a place in Alice Academy, that place is almost the strictest existence in the whole Alice, that place, once you enter it, you can never come out, that place is called Forbidden, and it is specially prepared for her Yukimura Kazumi.

To be precise, it was prepared for her after being polluted by blood.

Because her price is her sanity.

Unlike other Alices, her Alice is growth-oriented, which means that as she grows older, her abilities will become stronger and stronger, even if her soul cannot be controlled and collapses, It would continue to grow stronger until even her body couldn't take it anymore.

And the most frightening thing is that before the time comes, no one knows where the limit is.

This was her fate, and it was already destined to end.

Finally, standing in front of her was Natsume.

Looking at the young man's warm and affectionate face, Hemei realized that she actually had the urge to cry.

Facing Yukimura, she is an elder sister; Facing Natsume, she is just a little girl with a heartbeat.She wanted to tell him how much pain she would face in the future, but she couldn't.

Taking a deep breath silently, forcing back the tears, she looked at Natsume as usual, and then her heart couldn't stop hurting——she read a little bit of affection in Natsume's tolerant and gentle eyes.

I'm sorry, I love you, but it's impossible for us to get together again.

After saying this to Natsume in her heart, Kazumi was in a daze, not knowing what he said, nor what she said, let alone when those sunny boys left, her memory stayed On the warm smiles of the teenagers, the sun slowly filled the heart.

Goodbye, forever.

------------------

In the car, the mood of the teenagers was very different from before they got in the car. Not to mention the warm smiles, they didn't even have some of their iconic expressions, and all of them were expressionless.

Natsume, who had been restless after parting with Kazumi, caressed the cat for a while, absent-mindedly, he didn't notice that the cat, which had already blown its fur, was unusually quiet at this moment.

The pictures in my mind kept changing, and finally it was fixed on the picture of Yukimura holding Kazumi and crying. Suddenly, Natsume turned his eyes to the silent Yukimura, feeling a burst of doubt in his heart...

wrong!Very wrong!

It was just saying goodbye, why would he act like he would never see her again? !

"Yukimura..." Natsume said in a panic, his usually warm and friendly voice became hoarse: "Why do you act like you'll never see Kazumi again?"

For some reason, Yukimura's reaction was a little slow, and after a while he replied dumbly: "This is the last time, sister will not see us again."

"How are you sure?" Natsume's voice became softer, and the expression on his face became more and more strange.

"We are twins, and some ideas can be shared. In short, it is a very mysterious thing, but we can feel it."

Natsume heard the words and didn't say anything more. After a long time, he asked the teenagers who were looking at him calmly: "You all know that too?"

Atobe touched the tear mole, looked at Natsume whose eyes were getting more and more hollow, hesitated for a moment before saying: "I guessed a little bit, now I'm sure."

The cat who had been listening to their conversation suddenly narrowed its eyes, showed its claws and scratched Natsume's arm unceremoniously, sighing uncontrollably.

Perhaps it is the only reason in this car that knows why Kazumi did this. It is a demon, and no one can see it except for people with spiritual power like Natsume. Even if Kazumi is unwilling, she It can't be seen either, so it can see the unique room specially prepared for Hemei.

Afterwards, it learned about the fact that Hemei had concealed it through other channels. It was naturally suspicious in its investigation, and it did not take any detours.

After knowing everything, it also thought about whether to tell Natsume, but before it figured it out, it discovered the chemical reaction between Natsume and Kazumi and the decision Kazumi made, and then it decided to hide it like Kazumi.

Natsume is good at everything, but maybe it is his childhood experience that made him care about his family and his emotions extremely. This kind of care may not even be known to Natsume himself. It's well-informed, and it won't find out.

Telling him this after he had longed for a home to Kazumi, it couldn't imagine what Natsume would do.

It is best to separate now, and take the lead in eliminating the possibility between them while there are only seeds between them that have not germinated.

The idea of ​​a cat is beautiful, but the reality is cruel.

No one thought that what was just a small seed back then became Natsume's own obsession.

Many years later, when Yukimura's younger brother had given up thinking about Kazumi, Natsume, who was alone, would still go to Alice Academy every month, but he didn't know what Kazumi did back then. People who have entered Alice Academy can no longer find that road—even though it is within that range, they can only see endless trees.

Occasionally, Yukimura and the others would receive a letter or gift from Kazumi, but Natsume himself did not receive anything.

On this day, Natsume came to the gate of Alice in his memory again with the cat in his arms—although what he saw now was only a piece of beautiful trees, but he still believed that this was the place in his memory, even the place he remembered. The person in the middle is also standing there.

After adulthood, Natsume still maintains the gentleness and elegance of his youth, but added a bit of mature charm on top of that, like a noble, but what is different from ordinary nobles is his peace and a lingering Melancholy and vicissitudes, this added a bit of mystery to him.

After a long silence, Natsume spoke as if telling someone: "Kazumi, long time no see, I didn't come last time, do you know what happened? You never thought that Yukimura married Yukimura Kazumi, do you remember Yukimura Kazumi? It's the girl who took your place before... and Sanada, such a serious person, actually found a very lively person to marry. Every time I see them get along, I always feel that it's about father and daughter...Tezuka's His wife is a very gentle person, she is very suitable for Tezuka, they got married the first time, and now their daughter is one year old... and Huadi, although he looks not as good as them, but his wife is the best of all The most beautiful one is living happily now...and me..."

Talking intermittently, Natsume suddenly stopped, a little bit wronged, begged, and whispered softly: "My happiness is you, when will you meet me...I miss you so much..."

After standing there for a long time, until the cat became impatient, Natsume turned around and left. The back view could not tell whether it was loneliness or hope.

But what he didn't know was that there was a pair of eyes watching him all the time...

Natsume didn't feel wrong, the place where he was was indeed Alice's gate, and Kazumi was indeed standing in front of him, but Kazumi...was no longer the Kazumi she used to be.

After so many years, Alice's price has gradually left obvious marks on her body. Not only has her body become thinner and weaker due to the competition, but more and more blood red appears in her beautiful purple hair and purple eyes, which are like white jade. Blood-red marks like birthmarks also appeared on the face.

These blood reds ruined that transparent girl like a curse!

"Do you regret it?" Zao, who used to be a young man, has also grown up, and the thorns all over his body are well hidden by him. If you don't look at those eyes that are as cold as knives, you will only think that this is just a young man with an indifferent temperament.

Raising his hand to wipe the blood red on his face, Hemei shook his head stiffly, and said word by word: "Regret, what?"

"If it wasn't for your decision back then, at least you could live happily together for a few years."

"It's not necessary, no matter how happy the memories are, there will be a day when they will fade away, leaving nothing but sadness."

While speaking, Natsume's figure had disappeared at the end of the road, and finally Kazumi said expressionlessly, "Take me back."

Zao bent down obediently, and hugged Hemei Heng neatly——Hemei herself can no longer use her body freely, and this is just the beginning...

Another year passed, during which Natsume would go to Alice almost three or four times a month, and he even wanted to go every day if time didn't allow it.

Yukimura asked him why.

He said, I don't know either, I just feel that if I don't go, there will be no chance, and if I don't go, I won't be at ease.

Later, Natsume never visited Alice again.

After Yukimura and the others found out, they all breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he had finally let go.

But what happened later told them that they relaxed too early. Although Natsume no longer went to Alice, she spent a lot of time in a daze every day, occasionally interrupted by others, and would always blurt out the word "Hemei".

Later, Natsume got old, his spiritual power disappeared, and the cat disappeared from his eyes, but his habit remained the same, but he spent more time in a daze.

Natsume never married, had no children, and Yukimura's descendants took care of him until his death. In their cognition, Natsume has always been their uncle and has never changed!