Food for Alice: Salted Caramel

2nd of the Food for Alice collection

By Miss March Muffin

A Gakuen Alice one shot inspired by Tokyo Ghoul. I disclaim ownership over both anime/manga series.

Here is the second one, a prequel, if you will, to the first one entitled "Blood and Chocolate" (check in my profile if you want, but it's not necessary in order for you to appreciate this one). This one shot is about the story when Natsume and Mikan first meet in this alternate universe, more friendship (or the budding of it) than romance. Warning, this one I'm not too satisfied with, mainly because I couldn't quite stick to one solid point of view...but, well, I tried, I guess... Anyways, read on, and be the judge yourselves.

Salted Caramel

Pairing: Natsume Hyuuga, Mikan Sakura (platonic)

Mikan had always wondered about him. He only ever bought a single piece of melon bread for lunch, though she'd never seen him eat more than a few bites. She only started noticing after he bought (stole!) the last melon bread from the school store before she could grab it. She'd sulkily stared after the precious melon bread as the so-called thief nibbled at it. (Nibbled! What a disgrace!

Later on, Mikan found out that her melon bread thief was actually Hyuuga Natsume, the silent, mysterious top student of their batch (heck, the whole school, even!). He never spoke in class; Mikan found it unfair that the teachers always seemed to miss him slumped over his desk half the day, but always called her name when she so much as closed her eyes for more than 3 seconds.

If that wasn't strange enough, Mikan swore his eyes were red. Red! Was it even possible for a human to have that eye color NATURALLY?

"I thought red eyes only existed in anime?" She ranted to Hotaru at lunch. "It's so unfair! I wish I had red eyes. Then I could be like those ninjas in Naruto! Mou, it's just too weird. Those have to be fake - contacts, most likely!"

Hotaru watched as Mikan chewed angrily on her yakisoba bread (Hyuuga had once again got to the last melon bread before her) before saying, "Why are you so fixated on Hyuuga anyways? You'd never noticed him in the past one and a half year of high school. And you can't say you're still holding that grudge over a measly melon bread; that was two terms ago. If I didn't know better, I'd say you like him, and are in denial about it."

Mikan flinched, choking on her food. Hotaru gave her a couple of solid thumps on the back that left Mikan teary-eyed.

"Idiot," Hotaru sighed, "You shouldn't be wasting such good food by choking on it."

Mikan pouted. "Well I wouldn't be choking on it if you hadn't said something ridiculous."

"What? I was merely stating facts. Unless you mean to say it's ridiculous because you actually do fancy the brooding wonder."

Mikan spluttered. "W-why would I like that stupid melon bread thief anyway? I barely know him! I'm not that shallow."

Hotaru simply shrugged, but her eyes held a knowing glint that only frustrated Mikan even more.

Later that day, Mikan had once again been subject to the wrath of the fan girls. Apparently her discussion with Hotaru had been a bit too loud, and the rabid females with their super-sensitive hearing (particularly and exclusively to words like "Hyuuga", "Natsume", and "hot") had gone ahead and come to the conclusion that she was a potential threat. This culminated to her being alone on cleaning duty with the classroom seemingly ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and then some. Was it so sad that she was too used to it to even complain? (Granted, she was internally ranting the whole time…)

It took nearly two hours to clean up, and the school was now virtually empty. Everybody else had either left for the dormitories or Central Town. If she hadn't known about the student council meeting being held right now, she would've sworn she was all alone in the building. She was just taking out the trash to the incinerator behind the building. Her current predicament being that the bag was now really heavy, and she had to go down two flights of stairs.

She'd stalled for as long as she could, but then it was starting to get dark. Having been unable to afford the in campus dormitories, she'd settled for a cheaper apartment two blocks away. But walking an empty (large) campus and down the two blocks all alone at night with rogue Alices prowling around wasn't Mikan's cup of tea. Not to mention, ghost stories in schools always happened to lone students at night, didn't they?

Just as she pushed up the sleeves of her uniform, Mikan heard noises. Muffled sounds coming from the direction of the restrooms. If her ears hadn't been on hyper-drive for any ghostly sounds, she'd probably have missed it. Her curiosity had often (always) gotten her in trouble, but she'd never learned to say no - fear of ghosts or not. Even as a hundred scenarios about ghosts and demons and monsters hiding inside the restroom stalls plagued her mind, Mikan inched quietly, closer and closer to the open door.

One of the faucets was open, and the sound of gushing water nearly drowned out the other noises. But Mikan heard the retching sounds all the same; the terrible rasping breathing of someone violently sick.

Worry dousing some of her fear, Mikan prepared to knock, drew a breath to ask if they were okay when she saw it. There, in front of the mirror, Natsume Hyuuga stood hunched and heaving. His jacket lay discarded on the floor, his tie in a loose messy knot, and his uniform un-tucked and half buttoned.

She'd heard about stories of Alices all the time. When she was a child, they came from her grandfather, and the other grown ups in the village. Now that she was on her own, she still heard them constantly on the news - attacks, raids, and breakthroughs. Alices were dangerous. Alices were monsters that disguised as humans. Alices had special abilities that could harm people. Above all, Alices needed human flesh and blood to survive.

When hungry, Alices had eyes that would glow, with slits for pupils - like a cat's. If you see one hungry, you run. And pray that you don't get caught.

At that moment, Natsume Hyuuga looked like a worse for wear teenager. But his eyes - oh God his eyes. They were glowing red, with long, thin vertical slits for pupils. They were not human. They were an Alice's. They were hungry.

Mikan couldn't think. Her feet moved on their own. Her heart pounded loudly in her ears - or were those her footsteps pounding down the hallway? Her breaths came in sharp gasps. Her view of the hallway shook and tilted. And then the ground beneath her feet suddenly disappeared, and she was falling head first down the stairs. She barely moved her arms in time to try to brace herself.

When she hit the landing, she hit herself hard against the wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs. Her head and knees throbbed, and her back and hips ached. Spots danced in her already doubling vision. Her stomach felt as though it had left her body somewhere during the fall, and had yet to catch up to her.

Trying to blink away the haze, Mikan saw the tall dark figure at the top of the stairs. The sounds were distant and muted in her ears. She blinked again, and he was practically on top of her, a dark shadow staring down at her with those glowing red eyes.

"I'm…sorry…so sorry…please…" She mumbled weakly, eyes clenched shut.

Natsume stared as the girl lost consciousness. This was bad.

She'd obviously caught him during a hunger spasm. Natsume cursed at his own carelessness. He really should have just locked the damn door.

He had gone longer without feeding than he should have, and the pills had taken longer to take effect. But even as he'd retched in that bowl, Natsume had mutinously given himself a pat in the back. Three solid months of nothing; three solid months closer to feeling more human.

But now this had to happen. He'd been seen. By this idiot girl no less. She'd been staring at him a lot lately, trying to be inconspicuous but being too obvious. He'd have passed it off as another fan girl in the making, but then he'd been classmates with her from the beginning and she'd never shown interest in him in any way. The coincidence was just too unlikely.

Had she suspected him from the start?

The smell of blood tinged the air; the girl had probably sustained an open wound from the fall. With his hunger spasm still simmering just beneath his skin, he clenched his jaw tight, breathing shallowly through his mouth. Gingerly, he turned her over to her back, quickly assessing her injuries.

The bleeding came from a scrape on her leg, and her left wrist was looked sprained. She hadn't hit her head too hard on the landing; it was probably the fear that had caused her to faint. She'd probably wake up bruised and sore all over. Clumsy idiot.

Should he just leave her here…? He could use this to his advantage, passing off her traumatic fall as the cause for her hallucinations…

"You're not going to convince me it was all a hallucination, are you?"

Natsume raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Weren't you passed out?"

"Actually, I was just pretending to have fainted," Mikan admitted meekly. Gingerly, she sat up with her legs carefully spread in front of her. Upon spotting the small trickle of blood on her leg, she fearfully looked up at him, inwardly flinching at the glow of his eyes.

"Ano…you…that is, are you…gonna eat me…?" Mikan gulped. "I mean, if you are, you'd need to have a lot of money because Hotaru will surely use this to blackmail you…but then she'd be the only one who'd really care and the only one smart enough to think past any possible cover up you'd use to explain my w-whereabouts…"

Natsume stared. What is this idiot…?

Then she added hastily, "B-but having said that, it wouldn't be smart to kill Hotaru too, because that would just be impossible, and more people would actually care about her if she suddenly disappears or dies. Her parents are rich and important people, as I'm sure you're already aware of, but more importantly, she's a genius who can - no, will - make a difference in the world someday for sure."

Her caramel eyes looked determinedly at him, and Natsume was surprised at the bright spark in her eyes despite her weak appearance.

What exactly is with this girl?

Her defiance despite her weakness struck something within him. But perhaps it's her stupidity that allows her to be stubborn? Definitely an idiot. She'd practically marketed herself to him as easy prey. The way she spoke alluded to her being alone (never mind the strange twinge he felt at the grief in her eyes), making it very convenient for him… But the very thought that she assumed him to be another flesh eating monster made his blood boil with anger (and something else he couldn't identify).

He decided to focus on the last one. Anger was more familiar, and preferred over those other confusing things.

She was just another pathetic, weak human girl. No different from the rest who saw nothing but a dangerous monster. This slip of a girl was dangerous for her stupidity - a stupidity that could - would - get her killed, or worse, expose him and ruin everything he's worked for.

He clenched his fists, his jaw. The devil could tempt him with the food of the gods, or tie him to a burning stake. He would not let himself, his life's work be jeopardized by this - this flimsy little girl.

"I don't eat idiotic little girls," He said coldly. "Especially one who still wears childish polka dot panties."

Natsume walked past her, not once looking back. He needed to stay away from that girl. Something in his gut told him she would be his undoing.

Over my dead body.

Mikan sat in shock. She blinked once, and he was gone.

Her mind fought to process everything that happened. Natsume Hyuuga was an Alice. His eyes were freaking glowing! And he had slits for eyes! Like a cat's!

…And then she'd fallen down the stairs, got a bit cut up and bruised, bleeding in front of a hungry Alice. An angry, hungry Alice. He'd looked about ready to kill her - eat her.

But then… he didn't eat her. What had he said…?

"I don't eat idiotic little girls."

"…especially one who still wears childish polka dot panties."

Something tugged at the back of her mind. Something he'd said sounded…off.

"…still wears childish polka dot panties.."

And like a douse of cold water, Mikan realized the compromising position she'd been in. With her aching, bruised and slightly cut up legs, she could only bare to bend them in front of her, the fact that she was wearing the uniform short skirt escaping her mind. She'd practically flipped up her skirt, giving him an eyeful of her underwear.

Mikan paled and trembled.

NATSUME HYUUGA IS A DAMNED PERVERT!

She hadn't realized just how late it had gotten until she saw the brightly lit street lamps on campus. It had taken some time to make the painful trek up the staircase again and back to the classroom and patch up her injuries as best as she could, given the very basic first aid supplies they kept in the teacher's desk. Mikan was forced to abandon the large trash bag by the stairs (promising herself to come extra early tomorrow to deal with it), seeing as she could barely go down the stairs in her state.

The building was truly deserted and dark when she made it out at last, and Mikan hurried down the streets trying not to panic. She had to give herself a pep talk before walking out the gates and out into the city streets.

No, sleeping out in the school grounds under one of the trees would not really be safer than the streets. Even if the guards did keep out troublemakers, there was no guaranteeing the weather.

Mikan fought to keep her hurried pace and ignore the throbbing of her shoulder, her hip and legs. Just a few more meters…! The apartment isn't too far! Just beyond the corner…!

She tried to tell herself it was her heart pounding in her ears, and not another set of footsteps. And the hair rising in the back of her neck was just paranoia, and not someone boring holes on back. Passing a dark alley, she jerkily freed her hair from its tie, keeping her head done and trying not to look out from the corner of her eyes.

But she could not deny the silhouette next to hers when she passed another streetlight. Or the glimpse of another's reflection on the window of a closed shop.

She caught sight of a pair of glowing violet eyes.

Mikan broke into a run. Before she could turn the last corner, something grabbed her by the hair. She cried out as her head jerked backwards and she fell hard onto the pavement.

A deep, smooth voice crooned into her ears. "Such a lovely scent, you have, little one," Mikan shivered as he sniffed and sighed at the skin behind her ear. "It's absolutely… ravishing."

"No, let me go!" She tried to flail her arms, only then noticing he'd already detained them in a firm one-handed grip. "Stop! Help! Someone please help!"

She felt his face move from her neck to her collarbones, and his other hand tug at her blouse. Her eyes flew open. "Stop! Don't! Let go of me!" She jerked her shoulders, managing to head butt him, and saw stars. Her assailant only seemed to get more annoyed at her. She panicked, and struggled even harder.

Somehow, she managed to land a solid kick and throw him off her. Muscles protesting, Mikan forced herself to get off her back, only managing to end up on all fours.

As she struggled for breath, she finally saw her assailant's face. The fact that he looked handsome made her stomach sick. Weren't bad guys always ugly and evil looking? This was all wrong! He could pass off as an idol - and maybe even does work as a idol! - and prey on unsuspecting fans who didn't know any better!

His purple eyes glowed even brighter in the dark, and Mikan shivered under his gaze. Well, he certainly looked evil now… Specifically, evil and hungry… and she so happened to be the 'lucky' food.

"A little feisty there, little kitten." He purred. And then something in him changed; Mikan tensed in apprehension. When he spoke again, his voice sounded weird.

"Why don't you just lie down and let me have my way with you?" He smiled. "I promise you won't feel a thing."

He got up at a leisurely pace, as though he had all the time in the world.

"No way in hell, you bastard!" Mikan yelled, cringing as his hand reached out. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He froze in shock, disbelief on his face. In that split second, a dark figure streaked in and punched him in the jaw hard, a loud crack echoing as he flew smack into a wall. In a moment, he was standing again, an ugly snarl contorting his handsome features. Before he could move, fire erupted all around him

Although not too close to Mikan and her savior, the flames gave off enough light, and Mikan caught a glimpse of the Black Cat mask her savior wore.

"Kuro Neko," Her attacker spat out from split, bloodied lips. Mikan felt another shiver at the hateful glare on his face. He glanced between her and Kuro Neko. "This is my prey. Fuck off and find you own."

Kuro Neko only lifted his hand, palm up, a big angry flame dancing on it.

The other Alice growled low and viciously, before disappearing into the shadows. The furious look on his face was imprinted in Mikan's mind.

When Kuro Neko moved, Mikan blinked out of her thoughts, noting the flames had disappeared.

She hurried to her feet as he moved away. "T-Thank you," Kuro Neko paused in his steps. Mikan swallowed. "…f-for saving me from-from…" the Alice? Another one of your kind…?

She bit her lip, not knowing what to say. Then her eyes saw the blood dripping from his fist, the one he'd used to punch the other Alice.

"Oh my God!" She reached for his hand, but he was quick to hide it. Mikan paused and looked at his mask, as if trying to see past it.

Swallowing, she dropped her gaze. "It's my fault, in a way… Please, let me at least patch it up for you. It's the least I can do."

Natsume stared at the girl as she moved about in the kitchen, preparing coffee.

He has seriously lost his mind. He's insane. Saving her from that bastard was one thing, but allowing her to drag him away to her apartment like some stray dog…?

But he remembered her scream, and that look in her eyes when she'd fallen down the stairs and thought he was going to eat her. Then he remembered seeing that bastard on top of her, and felt the anger surfacing again.

Natsume couldn't explain it, but something in him screamed at him, telling him to save her. Not that he wouldn't have, had it been any other girl, any other day. He wasn't a cold-hearted bastard. He wasn't a monster like them…or so he tried to be.

And then this same girl had earlier accused him to be like the rest of them, only wanting to eat her. Frustration hit him again, and he inwardly groaned, letting his masked head fall into his hands. He hadn't taken it off and he hasn't said a word to her, so he was pretty sure she hasn't twigged on who he was yet.

Idiot girl, letting a stranger into her house when nobody's around! Moreover, letting an Alice into her house!

He looked at her again, seeing her bustle around while humming. Humming. Damn it all, has this girl no sense of self-preservation?!

"What?" He stared.

Mikan shifted uneasily under his gaze…or well, at least she thought he was gazing at her. It was kind of hard to tell with his mask on…

"Aren't you uncomfortable with that mask? It's okay to take it off, you know." Then Mikan realized the purpose of the mask. "You don't have to worry about your identity. I won't tell anybody, I swear. You saved me after all. And you haven't done anything bad to me, so I see no reason why I should call the AAO."

She reached out for his injured hand, but Natsume has had about enough.

"Stop it."

Mikan froze.

"You are… Natsume Hyuuga…"

From beneath his mask, Natsume smirked sardonically. "So you can be afraid. Are you going to call the cops after all?"

Natsume waited silently. For her to scream, for her to move away from him, for her to point a finger and yell, "monster!" like every other human would do. He waited for it, had hardened his walls for it, practically expected it from everybody else.

But with this girl, it never came. What did come from her mouth, he least expected.

She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, peering into the eyeholes of the mask. "Red eyes..." she murmured. Before the shock wore off, she raised her hand and gave him a mighty head slap.

Natsume was so shocked; he couldn't even deflect the blow. And it was the shock of the hit rather than the actual pain that had him reaching for the abused spot.

"What the hell…"

"That was for being a pervert!" Mikan yelled; her cheeks flushed red. "Y-you p-peeked…earlier this evening..."

Ah, so it was about that. Recovering, Natsume shrugged. "I did not peek. You had it shown for all the world to see."

"You didn't have to look at it! You could have pretended not to have seen it! Now I'll never be able to get married anymore!" She wailed. Then she stood up, finger pointed at his face. "And this whole thing wouldn't have happened if you hadn't left me injured like that! I could have gotten home sooner and safely avoided being attacked!"

"Would you have rather I'd given in to a hunger spasm and eaten you?" Natsume asked coldly. It seemed to work; Mikan deflated immediately. "Make no mistake. I could have been that other bastard who attacked you. You're the one who's stupid enough to stay out late. You're the one idiotic enough to be at the wrong place, at the wrong time. If it hadn't been for me, you'd have been easy prey either way. I saved your life twice in one night, but it was all coincidence. The next time, you might not get so lucky."

He stood up to leave. He could have given in to his hunger spasm, and eaten her for dinner. He could have left her to die, probably raped before getting eaten by that other Alice. She'd almost died twice, and all she cared about was her underwear getting seen?

Her idiocy knows no bounds, it seems. And the knowledge of his most hated, most guarded secret rested in the hands of someone like her?

"Wait!"

What now? Natsume thought in aggravation. His patience has been put through the ultimate test tonight with this girl.

"I," Her voice was soft, regretful. "I haven't treated your wounds yet. Take it as my apology…for everything."

Natsume relented, suddenly feeling weary - whether from physical excursion or mental fatigue brought about by his hunger spasm, he did not know. Maybe it was both.

Mikan guided him back to the couch, and went to work cleaning and bandaging the scrapes on his fist.

"My name is Mikan Sakura, by the way." She peeked up at him, and then bit her lip. "I was serious when I said you could take off your mask, you know. You can't possibly be comfortable like that… The windows and doors are all locked. No one will know."

Natsume said nothing, did nothing. When she slowly moved to take off his mask, his whole body was tense, but still, he did not move. Bathed in the soft light from the kitchen, Natsume's face was taut and pale. His eyes were a deep dark red, the color of wine, with only a hint of the glow from earlier.

"Your eyes are so pretty."

Natsume stared at her in shock.

Mikan blushed, slapping a hand over her mouth. "Kidding! Well, I mean, I wasn't, really - because I think they are. Pretty, I mean. But I didn't mean to - I, that is…! Oh, never mind!"

Natsume snorted, unable to keep his lips from twitching. "You're an idiot."

"Hey! Don't call me that." Mikan huffed. "Only Hotaru can call me that."

"So you do at least know that you're an idiot. Maybe you aren't that much of an idiot after all."

Mikan glared at him. "Oh, because that makes me feel so much better."

Natsume nodded. "It should."

"Oh just shut up and drink your coffee!" He gave a dubious stare at the proffered mug topped with milk.

"…This is supposed to be coffee?"

"I didn't poison it! It's just a little bit of milk; even if you're an," Alice, she mouthed. "You can't seriously be fine with just black coffee. Eurgh."

And with a sigh, he did so, if only to hide the strange warmth he felt at her earlier words. And then he blinked in surprise yet again. There was an underlying hint of salt and caramel with the coffee...The blend reminded him eerily of…blood…

She was humming over her own mug of coffee, hers topped with a cinnamon stick, looking all carefree and as idiotic as earlier on. Was she seriously for real? She was supposed to be an idiot, but then every time she'd do something unexpected, leaving him reeling and struggling to keep up.

Your eyes are so pretty.

His eyes which he'd always seen as the mark of his monstrosity - eyes that could only belong to a murderer…she claimed them to be 'pretty'.

He took another sip. Salt and caramel…a disgustingly sweet flavor with a bit of spunk. Natsume stared at his bandaged fist, and then at the girl who's yet to treat her own wounds. That strange feeling in his gut was tingling again.

He was right again. This girl was dangerous. She could very well be his undoing; only a couple of hours and she was already affecting him this much. He needed to get away from her. Quickly.

He stood up abruptly, making her jump.

"Wait, you're leaving?" She followed him to the door. "Not that I want you to stay, per se. But you're being so sudden, can't you at least give a warning?"

"Do you ever shut up, Polka Dots?" He turned to look at her, cutting off her rambling. She was red again, working her mouth. "Bye Polka."

"See you tomorrow!"

And for the next few months, Natsume would try his damnedest to avoid her and deflect her attempts at 'friendship', and Mikan would come back again and again, determined to chase after this Kuro Neko who never finished his melon bread. Mikan would get attacked again, and Natsume would save her just in time (again), but not before opening up another Pandora's box of mysteries. But that wouldn't happen until much, much later.

...I've pretty much said my piece, earlier. I wanted to be able to give the whole picture, kind of like how movies/shows would sometimes feature more about this character's perspective, before switching... and I hope it wasn't too confusing. This piece was really the introduction of how Natsume and Mikan viewed their situation/circumstance - Natsume especially. And I felt that giving you guys a peek of what their thoughts are would accomplish that goal best. So yeah... I went over it several times to check for errors, but I might've missed some, so I apologize if there are.

As mentioned above, this is a one shot (part of a collection) that was inspired by Tokyo Ghoul - or at least, the themes and issues, atmosphere I saw in the anime series. No worries, there's no need to be familiar with Tokyo Ghoul in order for you guys to appreciate this story. If any of you are interested, I made an earlier piece, that one further into the relationship between Mikan and Natsume - a story that happens years after this one. It's a bit more sensual (it's Natsume! I swear!) but nothing explicit. I was simply too paranoid about ratings to have the courage to lower it to T (huhuhu).

I'm open for comments and other stuff you wanna pitch to me :) I think the next one would probably feature Mikan's parent/s. One of them, at least, to give a deeper background on Mikan's side of the story.

Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it :)

-Miss March