A Wilting Rose
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.
Hope you enjoy!
Chapter One
Kuonji slid a picture in front of Natsume and looked expectedly at him. The room stank of rotting food and rubbish and the lighting had failed, leaving the room and its occupants in complete darkness.
"What did she do to upset you?" Natsume growled, his crimson eyes flashing in the suppressing darkness. Kuonji's mouth twisted into a sinister smile.
"Oh she didn't do anything to me, her parents did. Those stupid lawyers almost uncovered me smuggling goods, if I didn't have connections, I would have spent who-knows-how-long in a stupid cell." Kuonji paused for a moment and narrowed his eyes before laughing. It was a sickening laugh, the kind that reminded you of rusty metal being scraped together. "What? Are you implying that you don't want to do this? You do remember that with the snap of my fingers, those you find most precious can be killed in an instant, your parents are an example of that. I presume you haven't forgotten."
Kuonji was right, Natsume hadn't forgotten, and never will. His uncle, Kuonji, had killed his parents once he had seen the potential that Natsume had through a fight with the people who had bullied his little sister, Aoi. The next day, his parents were dead; a pool of warm blood spreading beneath them, and Kuonji took them in. From then on, Natsume had lived a life of an assassin, killing all those who Kuonji deemed a threat to him.
He had never failed a mission, and Kuonji made sure of that. If he didn't complete a mission, then his sister and Ruka's lives were gone in an instant. It was impossible to run either, Kuonji had too many and too skilled assassins working for him.
Natsume gritted his teeth and his dull eyes met Kuonji's pitch black ones. He couldn't endanger Ruka and Aoi's lives. He opened his mouth as lightning illuminated the room and sent shadows scurrying into corners.
"I'll do it, Mikan Sakura is as good as dead."
…
Mikan grabbed her bag, said a hurried goodbye to no one in particular and left her house. Her parents were hardly ever home, always cooped up in an office typing away. However, they were the most sought after lawyers in Japan, so it was expected for them to not have time for their daughter. Mikan fished out her phone from her bag and checked the time.
"I'm going to be late!" Mikan squawked and quickened her pace. As she ran, she scooped her hair into a messy ponytail and tried to keep her bag from falling off her shoulder. She heard the contents inside being jostled around, however being on time for school was more important.
In her hurry, Mikan didn't notice the pole in front of her and ran head first into it. There was an impressive 'bang' sound that sent the pigeons nearby flying. Her head throbbed and her vision was slightly blurry from the impact. The trees and ground seemed to have swapped positions, and the sky had turned a lovely shade of red. Along with the ringing in her ears, she heard a laugh. It was the wonderful sound that reverted Mikan's eyesight back to normal. The sky was now blue and the trees were firmly on the ground. However, if someone was laughing, it meant that he or she had seen her. Her face turning red, Mikan peeled herself away from the pole and prepared a glare for the person who had laughed at her.
Mikan whipped her head around and immediately, all thoughts about glaring disappeared. He stood in behind her, a half-smile on his face and his distinctive red eyes slightly hidden by his ebony hair. His uniform hung perfectly on his lanky figure and he had one hand in his pocket. Mikan was awestruck; she had never known that someone with looks like this could exist.
"Want a ride?" he offered casually and signaled to the bike beside him. Mikan hadn't noticed it. Mikan thought about declining his offer, however after quickly checking the time, she accepted. He was wearing her school uniform, so Mikan figured he wasn't some kidnapper. Sitting behind him, Mikan gripped onto his bag and made herself comfortable. The person turned around and after seeing that Mikan wasn't going to fall off any time soon, he began to pedal.
"You know, you shouldn't trust people too easily. What if I was a sketchy person and was planning to kidnap you for a ransom?" he said quietly, but with a playful tone.
"You're wearing my school uniform."
"Naïve girl."
"And it's not 'what if you're a sketchy person', you are one."
"What makes you think that?"
"You haven't even told me your name yet."
"I'm Natsume Hyuuga."
"I'm-"
"Mikan Sakura, right?"
Mikan opened her mouth to ask how he'd known, however a rush of wind and a sudden rush downhill stopped her. Instead of asking, Mikan let out a shriek and felt her stomach drop as the bike continued to rush down the hill.
"Scared?" Natsume asked mockingly.
"N-No," Mikan stammered, trying to hide the fear in her voice, before the bike went down another hill. She let out another shriek however clamped her hands over her mouth so it was muffled. Then, she realized what she'd done. She had let go of Natsume's bag. Mikan Sakura, the biggest idiot alive, had let go of the only thing that had kept her from falling off of the bike.
The ground rushed up to her at an alarming rate, however the hard ground and pain that she had been expecting didn't come. Instead, she felt a pair of ropy arms scoop her away from the ground and into the air.
"Are you alright?" Natsume softly asked and let Mikan down. She couldn't do anything but stare at him, and then at the bike which was lying on the ground several metres away, a wheel still turning.
"H-H-How?" Mikan managed to say and pointed weakly at the bike. Could this guy have jumped off the bike and caught Mikan just before the ground hit her? No way, that was impossible. Well, it was possible for someone with freakishly fast reflexes and amazing speed, but you don't find people like that everywhere. Natsume just looked quizzically at her.
"How what? And you should hurry up and get back on otherwise you're going to be late," Natsume said and picked up his bike. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed and he frowned, his gaze on the café next to them.
"What's wrong?" Mikan asked nervously and tried looking too, but she found nothing abnormal.
"I'm sorry, I don't think I can take you all the way to school, you know the way to school from here, don't you?" Natsume's gaze was still trained on the café. His body was tense and the way he stood suggested that he was ready to spring at the slightest unease.
Mikan nodded slowly and worriedly eyed Natsume.
"And you should hurry, school starts in two minutes," Natsume added, his eyes flickering down to Mikan for a split second, as if he was checking she was still there, before returning to the café. Mikan's eyes widened before she realized that she didn't have time to stand there being stunned. She grabbed her bag and broke into a fast sprint. Streets flew past as she ran and occasionally, she had to sweep back the hai, which fell into her face. She rushed into the school just as the bell rang, scrambled up several flights of stairs and pushed open the door to her classroom before collapsing on the floor.
"Eek! Mikan-chan, are you alright?" Nonoko gasped.
"I-I'm fine."
…
Natsume walked up the stairs with the teacher, Narumi, and watched amusedly as the man staggered under the weight of a large pile of papers.
"So, how are you finding this school right now?" Narumi panted and took another laboured step.
"It's fine, the girls seem a little too…attracted…to me, but otherwise, everything's good," Natsume said before sighing and taking half the papers. Narumi's relief was evident.
"Thanks. Also, you should think of what you want to say in the introduction."
Natsume looked outside the window and watched as a rough wind swept up the rubbish in the playground, creating a mini-rubbish-hurricane.
"I'm going to say my name."
"Eh?"
"I'm going to say my name in the introduction."
Narumi's surprised face was extremely funny and Natsume resisted the urge to take out his phone and take a picture.
"Natsume-kun, you have to say more than that at least, say why you transferred," Narumi laughed.
"Those reasons are private."
"Ah I see, it's ok then, the only thing you need to say is your name."
Satisfied, Natsume followed Narumi down the corridor and stopped when he stopped.
"Welcome, to 2-B," Narumi said brightly and pushed the door open. He beckoned for Natsume to follow him in, and that was what Natsume did. He deposited the stack of papers on Narumi's desk and stood at the centre of the room.
Everyone in the room was staring at him, with eyes wide. Especially the girl at the back, her eyes were almost as wide as saucers. Her face was a little flushed and her bangs framed her small face while the rest of the hair was in a messy ponytail at the back. Without meaning to, Natsume's eyes travelled down to her full pinkish-red lips and he had to spend a few seconds admiring how wonderful they looked, before returning to her large brown eyes which stared at him.
It was Mikan Sakura, the girl he met this morning, the girl who was his target. With that thought in mind, he broke their eye contact and scanned the rest of the students warily. No one here was from Kuonji's group of assassins. That was one worry off his shoulders.
"Natsume Hyuuga," Natsume said curtly, earning another funny face from Narumi.
"And he transferred here because of personal reasons," Narumi added and opened his rolls book. "Your seat is over there, next to Mikan-chan." Narumi pointed to the seat next to the target. How perfect.
Natsume brushed away the girls who lunged at him in the front row and strode purposefully to the back. The girl, Mikan, was looking away outside the window when Natsume sat down. Up close, he had to admire how long and lush her eyelashes and the way her eyes seemed to sparkle.
"Hey Mikan-chan, Natsume Hyuuga's looking at you," one of her friends whispered, unaware that Natsume could hear her. "I think he's interested in you!"
Mikan frowned, an action that didn't suit her, and turned around, meeting Natsume's gaze. He saw a blush inch up her neck to her pale face as she looked away.
"He's not interested in me, it's just that we met this morning," she said while trying to keep her cool, although it was obvious that she was flustered.
"Lucky," her friend sighed before turning away.
…
It was night, meaning that it was peaceful and quiet, except for the occasional dog barking at a passing by car. Natsume sauntered down the road with both his hands in his pockets. He fingered his school tie loose and kicked a squashed can off of the road. The clattering of the can pierced the night's silence. He looked up at the night sky to see a white moon amongst the black velvet sky.
No one was out at this time and Natsume wouldn't have been out either if he had been able to sleep. However, sleep eluded him tonight and was replaced with the guilt of killing an innocent girl who had done nothing wrong. He also sympathised with her parents, who didn't do anything wrong either but accuse a criminal of smuggling goods. Natsume clenched his phone and walked around the corner.
As a row of shops appeared in his vision, he noticed a slight movement from beside him, very subtle, but Natsume never missed anything. He narrowed his eyes and stopped at a nearby ally. Natsume beckoned for the person to come out. After a few seconds, a face appeared and a pair of sly eyes could be seen.
"Reo Mouri," Natsume hissed, his hand darting to the gun he had on him.
"Still armed to the teeth I see, but don't worry, I'm not here for a fight," Reo drawled, a sinister smile still on his face. "I'm just here to pass on Kuonji's message."
Natsume grunted, however didn't loosen his hold on the handle of his gun. It being Kuonji's message made it more suspicious. Reo Mouri spun a pocketknife casually, the smile never leaving his face.
"Kuonji says, finish it tonight."
Natsume stiffened visibly and he muttered a curse under his breath.
"I know right? That's stupid, no fun. I know your routine, you seduce them into trusting you, and then you kill them. Just killing them like that is no fun, I mean, killing's a game anyways. Anyways, I hope you know what I mean when Kuonji said finish it tonight." Reo laughed before slinking back into the darkness. Natsume bit his lip and tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. Why was that Reo Mouri so twisted? It wasn't as if Natsume wanted to seduce all those girls, it was that he had to and Kuonji found it fun. And, he did know what Kuonji meant by saying, 'finish it tonight'.
That sick bastard meant to kill Mikan Sakura tonight.
However, a mission was a mission, and he couldn't fail, the price was too high to pay. Natsume wove dexterously down streets and soon arrived at Mikan's house. After checking the address in his phone for one more time, he slipped over the fence and into the backyard. He hoisted himself onto a tree and jumped onto the window ledge nimbly. This was Mikan Sakura's room.
A gust of wind blew in, taking a few leaves with it, as he opened the window. The pink curtains billowed and a few papers were sent flying. He crouched on the window ledge with the moon shining brightly behind him, casting shadows on his face. His eyes scanned the room and landed on the sleeping girl, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets. Her mouth was slightly open and her breathing was slow. She looked so peaceful and innocent, so vulnerable.
Her silky hair was spread out on the pillow, making her seem like those princesses you find in fairytales, the princesses who were awoken by the kiss of a prince. However, this was no fairytale and she wasn't going to get awoken by a kiss, but get sent into an eternal sleep by a bullet. With his eyes a blank and dull red, he slipped the cocked gun out and rested his finger on the trigger.
"Goodbye, pretty girl."
-Mystical Ace
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