Author's Note: Thank you for reading this short little story!


Several centuries later, Mikan felt it.

She coughed.

At first, she thought it might have been a fish bone stuck in her throat, but her throat kept tickling, and she couldn't control her coughs. Then her nose got cold and she sneezed, the first time she had done so since becoming a demigoddess.

Because after all this time, the God of Death could not be denied his due.


Ironically, cruelly, it was the shivers.

Or Rei's warped, twisted version of it, mocking Natsume.

"It's okay, Natsume. We had a wonderful life together," she whispered, her teeth rattling even beneath a mound of blankets. Her husband sat by helplessly; the God of Fire unable to warm his wife.

Natsume raged; underground volcanoes erupted, a wildfire broke out again, global warming on the rise.

How was it fair? Hadn't Mikan proven her worth? Hadn't she conquered the Trials?

Hadn't Natsume already paid the price for her life so long ago?

To his surprise and utter betrayal, the other gods had counterarguments:

Even gods must go on peacefully sometimes, and Mikan was a demigoddess. She had been given centuries of time. The balance must still be maintained. They could not stop the God of Death from claiming what was rightfully his charge.

Natsume threatened to set the whole world aflame again, and yet, the gods did not yield.


The day Mikan Sakura of Minamimura passed on, Natsume was inconsolable. His children, his grandchildren, and even his great-grandchildren could not fight back the grief.

To his family's surprise, there was one visitor he accepted in those bleak times.

"I will watch over her soul, Natsume," Youichi assured him, not having forgotten his promise.

In compassionate silence, they sat together for a long time, still enough for them to seem like statues, much like they had so long ago. Natsume's tears had ebbed, leaving behind a numbness he had never felt before; an exhaustion.

Finally, as the sun set, throwing out dying rays of crimson and rose, Natsume turned to his companion. "Youichi, I need a favor."

The God of Souls nodded gravely, already expecting Natsume's request.

"Watch over my soul, too."


Nobody knew where Alices came from; perhaps they had always existed in secret since the beginning of time or perhaps they were a recent development, a mutation, a tangent of evolution.

Perhaps they were descended from gods.

"No, that's silly," decided Mikan Sakura, a third-year at Alice Academy, high school division. "All kami are supposed to be good and kind and just. You're too gruff to be a benevolent god. I would hate to think of how you would treat your poor worshippers."

She plopped her chin on her boyfriend's firm abdomen as she continued to read from The Theoretical and Scientific History of Alices, the homework assignment for that night.

Her boyfriend, the lazy genius he was, had already completed it.

"I would treat them like I treat my girlfriend," said Natsume Hyuuga, also a third-year at Alice Academy, high school division.

"Oh, so you would ignore them for manga? And whenever they asked for something very, very simple like a date, you would refuse?"

"We go on plenty of dates. Just yesterday, we had a study date."

"A study date, is that your idea of an actual date? It's not much of a date if math is involved."

"Well, it was a good thing math wasn't too involved." Natsume hummed contentedly, remembering how integrals and derivatives quickly devolved into kisses and caresses.

There was just something about his girlfriend that he couldn't keep his hands off, a glow and a warmth about her that attracted him like fire to wood.

Mikan rolled her eyes, but a faint blush dusted her cheeks. She was a modest and virtuous girl, but there was something about her boyfriend that made her want to give in to temptation like marshmallow melting over a fire.

"I mean, who would I even be descended from? Is there a god of nullification?"

Natsume pretended to ponder her question, though he knew there was none. "Hmmm, and there's no god of stupidity either."

"You're lucky if this 'descended from gods' theory is true. Yours is so powerful."

"Oh yes, Kagutsuchi, the god of fire and destruction." A note of bitterness stained his tone as he recalled his early days at the academy, full of death and fire and destruction. "Apparently, he set the whole world on fire once."

Mikan heard his tone. Abandoning her book, Mikan looked up at his face and her hand cupped his cheek, her thumb stroking his beautiful, precious skin. Softly, she said, "I don't know, I think it's sweet. Legend says he did it because he was in love with a mortal, and it was the only way to save her."

"He was still a merciless asshole." Natsume could not look into Mikan's eyes, could not bear to see the hope and optimism and sheer faith, faith in him, in such a dark moment.

"There was also Kojin, who used his fire for good, helping humanity," she smiled serenely, "warming hearths. There's always two sides to gods, just like with humans, and we need a balance of good and bad in life."

Seeing him still unconvinced, Mikan whispered, "You use your power for good, Natsume. You use it to save, like how you saved me and how you continue to save those who don't have the power to protect themselves."

Together they lay in companionable silence for so long, each lost in their own thoughts, though their tones differed. Mikan daydreamed about the future while Natsume brooded heavily.

"I would set the world on fire for you," he said seriously, thinking about what he would do if he were a god, if he were to choose between Mikan and the rest of the world.

His bold statement lay heavy in the air because he and she both knew he would. She leaned in for a kiss.

"And I would walk through that fire to be with you."


The End.