My Soul Divided; A Stolen Goodbye
Disclaimer:
I own not Gakuen Alice or any of it's characters (Unfortunately)
Only thing I own here is the plot -sobs-
Credits to Spirit-in-the-Rain for help with story name~
Hope you enjoy it :D!
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"Get OFF of me! No-"
Oof!
I had the air pushed straight out of my lungs when my attacker rolled me over, squishing my face flat against the dirt. Kicking my right foot back, I managed to knock the weight off of my body, flinging it away from me as I scrambled to get on my feet.
What to do now? I thought wearily, spitting out the dirt that had gone into my mouth. My t-shirt was covered in dirt, my jeans were downright disgusting and I was thoroughly worn out from fending off my assailant. The sun was still high up in the sky, but my legs were about to give way any minute now. I should ―
"Take…this!"
And another body landed on top of me.
Struggling to get free, I gathered more air in to scream for help just as a soft hand covered my mouth.
"Mhrey! Rawrt Vawr!"
"All's fair in love and war." said the one covering my mouth. At least she understood what I was trying to say, I thought, glaring at her. Despite the fact that we were now entering fall, she was still wearing a bright orange tank top with only a cropped loose tanker that ended mid-riff. She had a pair of emerald green capris on the bottom and her light pink hair bounced as she leaned down to look at me. Mischief was evident in her cerulean blue eyes and she turned to her partner. "Don't you think?"
"Well, it's not exactly love here…just war." The girl with slate-gray eyes added as she walked up to me, stretching the sore muscles where I'd kicked to get her off. She was dressed in the exact same attire as the other girl, except her tank top was purple and her capris were black. Twirling her straight, dark blue hair with her fingers, she kneeled down and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by a growl from a nearby tree.
"Are you guys bullying Mikan again?"
"Uh…" The pink-haired girl gulped nervously, the mischief in her eyes replaced by anxiety and unease. Looking to her companion then back at the trees, she promptly removed her hand from my mouth, got up, and began to back away.
"We weren't REALLY bullying her…just having some fun." defended the blue-haired girl. She too, began to back away though, and smiled meekly when she saw a figure walking out from the trees.
Emerging from the shadows was Hotaru, with her short black hair rustling in the wind and her arms crossed over her chest. Though she was only wearing a blue 3/4 sleeve shirt and dark skinny jeans, it did nothing to offset the threatening aura she had around her.
"Hotaru!" I cried, pushing myself up into a sitting position. I didn't bother standing up; my muscles were too sore, and she was walking towards me anyways.
"You okay, Mikan?" She asked, violet eyes looking me over quickly before directing her attention back at the two girls.
"Yeah." I replied, wincing while I pulled my feet in. The impact from the tackle must've hurt my knees, I thought, faking an angry look at the girls. "But honestly, what happened to this being a mock fight? Nonoko, that tackle kind of hurt and Anna, covering my mouth with your hand wasn't fair! You guys were double-teaming me; I deserved to shout for help."
"Yeah see? We weren't REALLY bullying her," Anna said sheepishly, not bothering to note my complaint against her. Taking a step closer with arms extended apologetically, she was walking towards me but immediately stopped, hands flying up in surrender, when Hotaru narrowed her eyes. "Just practicing, that's all."
I laughed an inner chuckle at Hotaru's reaction, but waved her off as I relented. "It's alright." I said, earning a contempt "Hmph!" from Hotaru in response. I was glad that she came to my rescue, but it was my own fault for not paying attention.
Since the weather was nice, I'd asked Anna and Nonoko to practice with me, feeling the need to brush up on my skills. Anna had spontaneously agreed, always excited for a quick bout or two to liven up her day. Nonoko had laughed lightly at her younger sister's enthusiasm, but went along with my request. The two fraternal twins were quite different from each other, shown in both their appearances and personalities. Their style of fighting as well, was the reason why I asked for both of them to help. Anna was loud and outgoing, reflected in her strong punches, whereas Nonoko was quiet and hard-working, her swift movements hard to avoid.
It still shouldn't have been hard though, since I actually had much more hand-to-hand combat training than they did. Most people would blame it on my occasional (or maybe not so occasional) klutziness, but I usually do a good job of preventing that from interfering with me when in a fight. It wasn't my klutziness that had caused my loss today; I'd simply gotten distracted during the middle of our brawl.
Smiling to Anna and Nonoko as an "ok" signal to approach us, I tried my best to relieve the tense atmosphere. "It was a good practice I guess, though I'm probably going to show up in bruises tomorrow. Now I know how much I need to improve on huh?"
"I think it was just because you weren't focused." Nonoko said, the corners of her mouth turning up into a gentle smile as she walked up to brush some dirt off of my ochre-coloured hair. "You weren't paying attention, were you?"
Now it was my turn to smile sheepishly. "You caught me. Was I really that obvious?" Of course, if Nonoko could tell. I wasn't paying attention at all, didn't even hear Anna's footsteps or Nonoko's chuckles before they pounced. The twins were good fighters, but they weren't really known for their stealth. If I didn't realize it when they were about to ambush me, it meant a big lapse in concentration, which I did have.
I was too busy thinking about our Shifts, an ability that manifests in each of us at different times of our childhood. A Shift allows a person to be able to transform into some sort of creature, and it's varies depending on each individual. After a person first shifts, the animal form that they take becomes permanent. Inseparable. It is essentially a part of you, always there inside your body, its animalistic instinct taking over as your body changes. It's not the adding of the soul of an animal into your body, with it rotating control of your consciousness as you Shift. It's more like two souls are merged into one, with it growing as you grow. The Shift does not work together with you; it is you.
Generally, people take a while to get used to it, but afterwards, it's really just...there. We don't necessarily shift when we are in danger because for some people, shifting won't actually help in a fight. There are some who prefer to remain in their Shifts, whether it's because of convenience or preference, depending on the type they had.
The reason why Anna and Nonoko were so scared of (well, not scared, but had decent respect for) Hotaru was because they knew that their Shifts would not be able to overpower Hotaru's. Hotaru's Shift allowed her to transform into a midnight blue coyote, meaning that Anna the squirrel or Nonoko the blue jay wouldn't have stood a chance.
I looked down miserably and thought of my own Shift. I had been so worried about it, since I was already close to reaching the age of 17, when it finally became apparent a few months back: a duck, and an ugly gray one too. Why did everyone get such cute or useful Shifts but me? Don't think about it Mikan, I thought, shaking my head to clear such depressing thoughts. No one laughs at you or anything; you should be happy.
I was though, extremely happy and also very fortunate to have such kind friends. Anna and Nonoko meant well, though they could go a little overboard sometimes. Hotaru didn't show much affection, but I knew that I could trust her with my life if/when it came down to that.
Forcing my sore muscles to unwind, I stood up and brushed the dust off of myself. Act normal; don't think about it. Letting out a breath I didn't know that I was holding, I smiled a big grin at all of them. "Come on! Let's go and eat lunch already. You guys may not be starving, but I sure am!"
"Actually, that sounds like a great idea." Nonoko agreed, linking her arms together with Anna. "We're all worn out from the practice anyways. You coming, Hotaru?"
"Of course!" I answered happily for her, and received a irritated glare in response. She gave in with a sigh a few seconds later, and looked back at me with a defeated smile.
"Alright, alright." Hotaru ceded with a huff. "Let's go."
Leaving the small clearing that I liked to use for training, I lead the way, running straight back into the forest of Bruyn with the scent of nature filling my nose. The place was named for the old bear that lived in the heart of the forest, who guarded and looked after it from harmful creatures. I met him once before, and he was surprisingly friendly, probably because a Shifter like me couldn't do anything even if I tried. The forest was his to protect, and it was felt great to live in a peaceful place like this.
We lived down in a valley, protected from fierce winds by the mountains up north. The forest of Bruyn covered the entire south-eastern side, opening into little fields and clearings here and there. It continued until cut off by the fresh, rushing water of several rivers and streams out west, with a flat plateau on the other side. In the heart of our valley was a large plain of beautiful, green grassland.
The entire valley was our domain, with some of us living near the river while others were closer to the base of the mountain. The Shifters in each territory would have their own groups and ways of communicating between the relative Shifters. Anna was a Doru, meaning "tree-dwellers",and so was Nonoko, as they both lived mainly in the trees. Hotaru roamed and resided within the forest and so was a Foris.
As a whole though, we were still one big community, and we've built a small settlement, complete with houses, shops, and libraries, located at the north-eastern edge of the grasslands. When mealtime came along, we'd get together at a regular meeting place that we had established, closer to the center, so that we could all meet up and hunt together.
The smile of my face faltered a little at the thought of that. Meal times were dicey, because carnivores like Hotaru had to be careful to not eat the friends of Anna or Nonoko. We've gotten down a list of the general Shifts and animals in the area though, so people knew which ones to avoid. Most of them just got used to compromising their diets with berries and plants.
Except for Persona.
I winced at the memory, and the moment's hesitation almost caused me to trip over a tree root. Embarrassed, I looked around to find that I had run off the path and lost Hotaru and the others. Oh well, they know where to go. I shrugged, directing my eyes back to the front as I continued my run, thoughts returning to the fight 3 months ago. We had to drive Persona away because he refused to follow the rules. His Shift was a jaguar, and so he had hunted many friends of the smaller Shifters before we finally put a stop to it.
The memory was not a great one. Some people were injured trying to drive him away. Others, like me, wouldn't have been much help and so were forced to stand aside and watch. We had lost Nobara too, who left with Persona because she wanted to stay with him. Her cheerful smiles were greatly missed, but no one would have forced her to stay. Or could have, for that matter; her Shift also allowed her to become one of the large predators: a white tiger.
A sudden flash of silver caught my eye and for a split second, I dared to hope that maybe Nobara had decided to come back after all. Planting my feet to a stop, I looked towards the hill on my right and, to my disappointment, my gaze zeroed in on not Nobara, but Ruka, shifted into his wolf form. As a wolf, he had the most beautiful silver pelt, second only to Nobara's striped shining white. It was dazzling, the way his fur sparkled as it reflected off sunlight.
Nodding first in acknowledgement, I then looked into his eyes with playfulness evident in mine. Let's race, my eyes communicated as my mouth turned up into a sly grin. "But you have to Shift back." I added out loud. "It wouldn't be fair otherwise."
He rolled his eyes, and a second later, I saw the normal Ruka again, yellow t-shirt and khaki shorts, blond hair falling gently against his pale skin while his soft blue eyes gazed down at me. "Of course I would turn back." He smiled, carefully placing his feet as he descended down the hill. "So, are you ready?"
I nodded, eyes gleaming in anticipation. Turning my head to look to the front, I began the countdown. "Three…two…―"
"One!" He shouted in sync, and we sped into the forest, leaving a trail of kicked up dirt.
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In the end, Ruka won.
Although he had shifted back, the race was still unfair for me because no matter the form he chose to take, his wolf attributes would always remain a part of him, meaning that he could definitely outrun a slow duck like me.
I caught on a minute or two later, panting as I pulled to a stop in the open grass area of our meeting place. I was too preoccupied to notice at first, but the silence in the clearing caught my attention after I finally had the chance to catch my breath.
"Ruka?" I shouted, eyes searching for him in the clearing. His ears twitched at the sound of my voice, and my eyes caught sight of his silver pelt near the base of the rock hill where we gathered to eat when it rains.
Wait a ― pelt?
Why had Ruka Shifted? My first instinct was to look for any signs of danger, but there were no strangers in sight. The others had already arrived and were with him: I could see Natsume, Tsubasa, Sumire, Koko, and Kitsuneme all gathered around in a circle, around someone.
Who was in the center?
Urging my aching muscles to move once more, I jogged lightly to where the others were, stomach churning oddly with a bad feeling. "What's wrong?"
Natsume was dressed in his standard black t-shirt, red shorts outfit, and though he looked at me in acknowledgement, he didn't bother to explain the situation. Sumire was wearing a white skirt with her arms crossed over her pink blouse, eyes screwed together, like she was trying to decipher a puzzle. Tsubasa had on a pair of blue-black checkered pants with a black sweater, but since he was looking down at Yuu, I couldn't get his attention with my eyes.
Finally, Ruka turned his head around and I could see even in his wolf form, eyes that were filled with sadness and pity. He gently butted his head into my side and whined, but I couldn't understand what he was trying to say. As he turned to look back into the circle, I put my hands on top of Ruka's back and tiptoed to see who they were all crowding around.
In the middle of the huddle sat Yuu, legs splayed out, hands in his face as tears flowed endlessly from his brown eyes, making its way down his pale cheeks and into the ground.
Squishing in between Natsume and Ruka, I made my way in and bent down to examine Yuu. "What happened? Are you alright? Are you hurt?" I fussed about, inspecting every inch of him, but not seeing any visible wounds. Yuu was still sobbing, not pausing long enough to answer my question.
Eventually, my curiousity peaked and I couldn't help but shout, mostly out of concern for Yuu. "Will someone PLEASE tell me what's going on?"
Tsubasa opened his mouth to reply, but Natsume beat him to it. "He can't do it anymore." Natsume said plainly, in a stressed tone somewhere between shock and anger. The fire in his piercing red eyes gave me chills, and suddenly I was sure that whatever had happened was nothing anyone could have ever foreseen.
"Do what?" I asked, horrified, but the wheels in my mind not turning quite fast enough.
At Natsume's statement, Yuu began sobbing even more, pulling up his legs together so that he could bury his face in his knees. Realizing the sensitivity of the subject, I patted Yuu gently on the back in an attempt to soothe the miserable boy.
Looking up at Tsubasa, I tried to convey to him through my eyes what my mouth could not. Do what? What can't Yuu do anymore?
Tsubasa sighed, and proceeded to pull me away from Yuu by the arm. Reluctance to leave Yuu alone and curiousity to find out what happened tore at me, but Kitsuneme gave me a nod to go. He filled my spot as I left, and sat beside Yuu while gently murmuring words of comfort.
Satisfied that the distance was enough, Tsubasa let me go a few meters away from the group. "We don't know what happened," He began, eyes glazed with worry. "Yuu just suddenly realized that he had lost it when he was trying to run away from a preying fox."
"Lost what?" I asked again, unusually impatient now that I was finally starting to grasp the seriousness of the situation. I was on the verge of reaching out to shake the answer out of Tsubasa before he finally replied.
"His Shift," He said in a dull voice, as though he was in Yuu's place. "He lost his ability to Shift."
My eyes grew wide with shock, one foot shuffling back as I took in what Tsubasa had said. Can't…Shift? That's not possible! Once a person transforms for the first time, their Shifts stay with them, through adulthood, until the day they die.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hotaru, Anna, and Nonoko finally arriving from the far edge of the forest, realizing faster than I was that something was wrong when there was no one there to greet them.
As Hotaru rushed over, I tried my best to gather my thoughts; I was scared for what this could mean, for both Yuu and the rest of us. My hands were shaking, but I put them on Tsubasa's shoulders and summoned up what courage I could before looking him desperately in the eye once more. It couldn't possibly be true, now could it?
Tsubasa could do nothing but nod sadly. "He can't transform anymore. Yuu will never Shift again."
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So...how was it?
First time writing for this pairing, and as I am not quite familiar with it, I do hope I portrayed them "ok"-ly :D
Comments/Feedback are always appreciated ^^
If you do happen to bother to check out my profile, you'll find that it's "our" profile, because this story is actually going to be a collaboration between my friends and I, where we each write our own chapters, following only the information that was given in the previous chapters, so don't get all confused when the next chapter is written in a totally different way/style XD
See you guys in chapter 4 :D!
-S. Rukagi