Disclaimer: All Characters from Gakuen Alice belong to Tachibana Higuchi.
A/N: Don't know how this is going to turn out but I couldn't get the story idea out of my head so i decided to go for it! I'll try to update as much as possible but I tend to get sidetracked a lot (lol I'm just a procrastinator) Anyway thank you for reading and I hope you like it? idk. yeah.
Chapter One
"And this," the teacher finished off, gesturing towards the closed-door beside them, "is your new room. I hope you enjoy your time here at Alice Academy, it's a pleasure to have you with us."
He threw her a pitying look before beginning to walk away, and Mikan smiled politely until she realized he'd already turned the corner of the hallway, leaving her alone in the huge building.
"Not even a goodbye," Mikan muttered to herself, frowning slightly as she began to dig around in her jacket pocket, "He was kind of rude."
After a few moments of fumbling, Mikan pulled a small key out, a few candy wrappers following her hand and landing on the floor by her feet. Not wanting to make a mess on her first day, she quickly shoved them back in the pocket before unlocking the door and pushing it open, cold air rushing out the room and piercing the exposed skin on her arms as the door swung back with a loud creak. Surprised by the sudden temperature changed, Mikan wrapped one arm around herself in an attempt to calm the goose bumps appearing as she used the other to pull her suitcase into the room.
"It's freezing in here," More cold air brushed against her cheek as she said the words, and she shivered slightly, "Is there an open window or something…"
After hauling her case onto the bed placed in one corner of the room and laying down the room key on top of the small desk beside it, she walked over to the window on the other side of the room and drew back the curtains. Her eyes widened at the huge field that was set outside the building before a frown overtook her face and she ran her hands along the window, checking for cracks or any holes that would allow cold air to get into the room. Not finding any, Mikan sighed loudly and decided to just put a jumper on, not wanting to make a fuss over a little draft. She had turned around and taken one step towards the bed before she noticed the figure sitting on it, squashed into the corner of the room with their eyes focused entirely on her.
"Excuse me," Mikan began carefully, eyes glued to the persons red orbs, "Who-"
The person vanished and reappeared right in front of her face before she could finish her question and a scream built up in the back of her throat, only stopped by the pale hand that covered her mouth. It was cold; freezing in fact, but she was too startled to move away, it was like she was frozen in place. A face moved close to her own, the red eyes narrowing and she noted in the back of her mind that it was boy.
"What are you doing here?" His voice was low and menacing.
Mikan felt his breath run across her cheek, even colder than his hand which he had moved from her face to her shoulder, allowing her to answer him, but she couldn't form any words as he continued to glare at her, making no move to back away. She wondered why he was here, if she had gotten the wrong room or if he'd snuck in to harass her, but the key worked so she had definitely got the right room and she hadn't heard the door open and close while her back was turned.
"I- I got put in this room," Her mouth worked on its own, and she took a step back, breaking away from the boys grasp, "I didn't know someone was already in here, I swear! I- erm, I'll go ask them for a different room!"
The chuckle that came from the boy made her flinch back away from him and her back hit the window, the thudding sound echoing through the room.
"That wouldn't work; you'd never get a new room." A smirk was plastered on his face, but his eyes remained emotionless, "But this is my room, so you better find somewhere else to stay."
Mikan opened her mouth to argue, confused at what he was saying, but the air around his body quivered and the space directly behind him became visible through his body. Mikan's first thought was to try to scream again, but instead she just stood and stared, her eyes blinking rapidly as she took in the sight before her. The boy didn't seem fazed by the slight transparency of his body as he continued to watch her carefully as she addressed the situation before her.
"Wha- What…" She took a deep breath, moving to clutch the material of her top with her shaking hands, "What-"
"What am I?" He said her question for her, raising an eyebrow and shrugging, "I guess you would call me a ghost or something… I'm surprised you haven't run away yet."
Ghost. The word rang over and over inside her mind, and she took a cautious step forward, one hand stretching out before her and towards the flickering boy. She remembered all the supernatural books she'd read about ghosts and spirits, all the stories that had caught her interest when she was younger. She hadn't touched those books in years, but she knew that they'd all said the same thing. That every visible spirit had a story, and that all their stories were tragic.
"What happened to you?" Her voice was quiet, and the boy twitched before completely disappearing, leaving Mikan alone in the room, her hand outstretched towards nothing.
She dropped her arm to her side, just now realising how fast her heart was beating, and she let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. She wasn't sure if she had imagined it, or if he had decided to leave the room, but after witnessing him, she could still feel his presence in the room and when a cold pressure brushed against her neck, she held in a gasp as she heard words whispered in her ear, "It's what I deserved." and the heart breaking tone of voice was enough to making tears spring up in the corners of her eyes.
The boy hadn't reappeared for the rest of the day, and Mikan was slowly beginning to think she'd gone mad and had imagined the whole thing. She had packed all her stuff away lazily, her body taking a while to feel comfortable again after what she had witnessed but by the time night came she felt so relaxed again in the room she automatically began to get changed into her sleeping clothes, forgetting that someone could be watching her.
"Polka dots, huh." The voice came from the other side of the room, but it startled Mikan enough that she jumped backwards and tripped over her own feet as she attempted to pull her pyjama shorts on, "What are you, five?"
"Don't just appear when I'm getting changed, you pervert!" Mikan shouted loudly, pushing herself up into a sitting position and finding that the boy was nowhere to be seen, "Oi, come back!"
All she got in return was a low chuckle from somewhere to her left and she glared in the general direction before climbing off the floor and onto the bed, quickly slipping under the blankets and pulling them close to her chin, thankful for the warmth. She knew that the boy had told her to find somewhere else to stay but she had no idea where else she could go; she was curious about him anyway, and she knew the only way she could get answers from him was to stay.
"Why are you still here?" The mattress dipped at the bottom, and Mikan glanced down to see the boy staring at her from the end of the bed, his body solid and dressed in the academy uniform, just like before, "I told you to leave."
"I find you interesting," His eyes widened slightly at her words before returning to their normal, unemotional state, "Plus I have nowhere else to go, so you better get used to me."
He huffed, crossing both his arms and legs as he moved to lean back against the wall and Mikan curled her legs closer to herself in order to keep warm as she realized his body was what was emitting cold air. She watched him while he stared blankly at the curtains opposite, and when he turned back to face her she felt her body stiffen at the eye contact.
"What?" He hissed, obviously not comfortable with her eyes on him
"Can you disappear at will?" The question slipped out before she could stop it, and as if to answer her question he disappeared right before her eyes before reappearing slightly further up the bed, his legs now stretched out across the width of the blankets, "Can people touch you? Or do their hands go straight through?"
"I don't know." He frowned, and then pressed his fingers together, "I can't leave this room and nobody's ever been in this here since… since…"
He didn't finish what he was saying as his eyes narrowed and he looked down at his feet, a frown appearing on his face. Mikan took this opportunity to lean forward and extend her hand towards him, smiling when he allowed her to press her fingers gently against his cheek, the icy skin not surprising her any more. He disappeared almost instantly after, but Mikan knew that she'd been able to physically touch him even if it was for just a short second.
"What's your name?" It was her last question, she didn't want to push it too far, "I'm Mikan, Mikan Sakura."
He was back at the very bottom of the bed, his hair falling forward to hide his eyes, "Natsume."
A/N : What do you guys think? I'll keep on posting more one-shots in my other story every now and again while I write this one, and I'll try to update as much as I can, so I hope you all like it:D
Thank you for reading!