Hi! This is my first fanfic for Gakuen Alice and I hope you all will like it. I really enjoyed reading the manga (and watching the anime) so I thought writing a little story of my own would be fun. So please review and tell me what you think. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters.
The classroom seemed to be louder than usual as Hyuuga Natsume sat there with his eyes closed, giving off an air as if he didn't have a care in the world. His legs were propped up on the wooden table and he had his fingers laced behind his head, the typical position he had whenever he was sitting in class. Listening to the rumble of conversation made him slightly irritated since he hadn't been sleeping well the last couple of nights. And to make matters worse, the incessant noise was pounding mercilessly on his ears.
Lately, Natsume had been having restless dreams about a certain someone who didn't allow him a wink of sleep at all. He was kept up all night with the image of her face, hovering above his eyelids.
Screwing up his face slightly in thought, he questioned silently to himself, "I wonder where she is? Class is about to start."
Concentrating on the slur of voices and trying to make out the upbeat and giddy voice that he knew very well, Natsume tried to pinpoint which one was hers, but to no success. He sighed heavily.
Luca, who sat beside him, noticed the sound immediately since it was the first noise his best friend had made all morning. With a raised eyebrow he asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing," he replied in an empty voice. "It's just too loud in here."
"Do you want everyone to shut up, Natsume?"
That voice wasn't Luca's. Natsume didn't need to open his eyes to know who that high pitched voice belonged to. It was Sumire, the self-proclaimed president of his fan club that he didn't even ask for. He could easily hear the eagerness in her voice that showed how she would do just about anything to please him. Usually, she tried too hard, but there were moments when she made herself useful.
He opened one eye and saw her excited face close to his. Natsume shrugged his shoulders—which she accepted as a sign of yes—and watched her puff out her chest as she hollered, "QUIET!"
The whole class fell silent.
Satisfied, Sumire said in a stern tone, "You're all bothering, Natsume! Keep it down."
Immediately, all of the other students nodded to be more respectful to his needs. They always did exactly as Natsume asked because he was a leader that they all followed willingly. Either out of fear (since he had the dangerous Alice of fire) or respect (he was naturally charismatic) nobody dared to speak out against him, except for one glaring exception.
Suddenly, as if called on cue, a certain someone was able to have the courage to raise her voice in the midst of it all.
"There's a better way to ask us to be quiet, Permy."
Natsume opened both of his eyes and sat up. "She finally came."
Mikan was standing at the door, with her hands on her hips. She had a slight glare in her eyes, but it was as intimidating as a rabid cat. Still, she had been here long enough to earn some respect in the class and everyone gave her their attention as they stared back at her.
Walking over to her desk and setting her backpack down, she said, "Besides, if Natsume thinks we're so loud, he should say so."
She turned her gaze on him, waiting for a response.
But before Natsume could open his mouth, Sumire exclaimed, "Natsume doesn't have to do anything! I can do it for him!"
Mikan shook her head. "Nope, he should do things on his own."
"Don't be so—!"
Sumire's comment was cut off as Natsume said in a clear voice, "You're annoying, Polka-Dots."
"Hah!" Sumire exclaimed in glee. "There you have it!"
Mikan, who was already quite used to this verbal abuse from Natsume, clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, "For the last time, my name is MIKAN. Not Polka-Dots!"
Natsume scoffed.
But he knew very well what her name was. In fact, every time anyone mentioned her name, he could feel his heart beat slightly faster and his hands start to get clammy. Natsume had no idea when all of this nervousness had started. The first time he met her, he saw her more as a nuisance than anything. But now nuisance was the last thing he had in mind.
Still, Natsume didn't let anyone know about his feelings, not even his best friend. He was as closed off as ever, except now, he was slightly more eager when a specific someone entered the room.
Leaning back farther into his chair, Natsume said in a bored voice, "Mikan, Polka-Dots…not that much of a difference."
"Of course there is!" she exclaimed in frustration. "One of them is actually—!"
But suddenly, Mikan was interrupted when the classroom door opened. Forgetting all about Natsume when she saw who had arrived, Mikan cried in glee, "HOTARU!"'
Mikan ran towards her with pure excitement until Hotaru whipped out her hoofed glove and whacked her one across the face. She flew back at least fifty feet and had an imprint of a horse hoof on her left cheek. Mikan's eyes watered.
"You're so mean, Hotaru!"
Hotaru placed her weapon away and sat down at her desk. "Don't rush at me like that. A simple 'good morning' is enough."
Mikan sniffed and stood next to her. "But we're best friends!"
Hotaru didn't respond. She reached into her bag and pulled out a book, ignoring Mikan entirely.
"Mo!" Mikan said angrily as she sat down next to her. "You didn't need to hit me."
Hotaru didn't say anything, but a ghost of a smile quickly crept across her face and vanished in an instant. Mikan didn't seem to catch it since she was gently rubbing her injured cheek with her hand.
Natsume, however, was slightly irked. Mikan was clearly having a conversation with him—no matter how impolite—and as soon as Hotaru walked through the door, she completely forgot all about him. Although the jealousy was irrational, since Hotaru and Mikan were childhood friends, Natsume couldn't help but feel as if he wasn't an important part of Mikan's life at all, even when she played such a huge role in his.
Hurt internally, Natsume played it off as if it was nothing and resumed back to his pseudo sleep as the entire class slowly erupted into the same bustle of noise.
Luca, however, was unconvinced and said under his breath, "Are you sure you're alright?"
Natsume gave a curt nod. "Why do you ask?"
"I don't know. You look annoyed."
He opened his eyes and saw Luca's anxious gaze. When Natsume relaxed his face, he realized that he really was tense. He had to be careful. If he didn't want others to know about his feelings, he needed to keep a better control of them.
"Don't worry about it, Luca," Natsume replied. "I'm just tired."
"Another late-night mission?"
Natsume stared back into Luca's hard eyes. When it came to the jobs he completed for the academy, Luca was the one who had the biggest issue with them all besides from Natsume. He was always worried about him and Natsume tried his best to give his best friend some ease of mind. So sitting up straight, he said firmly, "No. Now would you stop worrying? You're making me feel more stressed."
Luca smiled faintly. It seemed like Natsume wasn't lying so he allowed the subject to drop and resumed petting the white rabbit in his arms.
As soon as the clock struck eight, the classroom door opened and Narumi-sensei stepped through with his familiar outfit of outrageous fashion choices. The class fell silent as he clapped his hands together for their attention.
"Good morning class!" he exclaimed happily. "Hope you all had a good weekend!"
The class murmured their approval.
"Well, before we begin class, I want you all to meet a new student."
At first, everything was still. Everyone stared at the teacher with a look of disbelief before an explosion of noise ripped through the air.
"A new student?"
"Is it a boy?"
"What's his alice?"
"What if it's a girl?"
"Fine! What's her alice?"
"How old is he?"
"We don't need anybody new!"
"Class!" Narumi-sensei called sternly. Everyone quieted down.
"Now, I want you all to treat him well. He's a transfer student from an Academy in England who wants to experience what it's like to stay here in Japan. At the end of the week, he will make the choice of whether or not he wants to stay. So please help him make a wise decision, hmm?"
Although some, like Mikan and Inchou (the class president), were eager to meet the new student, the others weren't as excited. In fact, there was a slight gleam in their eyes that gave off the feeling that they were going to make sure the new student will ultimately decide to go back to where he came from.
Narumi-sensei, however, didn't seem to catch it since he smiled widely and said, "Alright then! So everyone, I would like you all to meet, Kenji Riku!"
The door quickly swung open to reveal a boy with icy, blue hair and sapphire eyes that seemed to gleam like stars. He was quite tall and slightly thin, but he had a friendly, white smile upon his face that made the girls in the class swoon with awe. He had an air around himself that made it seem as if he came from a family of royalty and walked to the front of the classroom with confidence.
He gave a low, generous bow and said in a cool voice, "Hello, my name is Riku. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
The students were stunned into silence, except for a few girls who tittered in nervousness and a boy who cried out bravely "What's your Alice?"
The tension in the classroom increased as they eagerly waited for his response.
Riku smiled warmly. "My Alice? I'll show you."
And with an extended hand facing upward, a bright, blue flame suddenly erupted in the palm of his hand, causing the whole class to rise in an uproar.
"You're a Fire Alice too?"
"Whoa, that's so cool!"
"It's blue!"
"You're like Natsume!"
"Quiet down, class!" Narumi-sensei said firmly as he tried to get them all to act calmly. After a few more minutes of scolding, the teacher turned towards Riku and said, "I forgot to mention that there are limitations when it comes to using your Alice here at the academy."
Riku nodded apologetically and replied with a bowed head, "I'm sorry."
Narumi-sensei smiled.
"Not a problem! You'll have plenty of chances to show your abilities to others later on."
"Now," he began with a beaming smile. "Since Riku is new to this place, I would like one of you to help him while he's here. Show him the ropes, as some would say. So who would like to volunteer?"
Like a firecracker, everyone jumped up and down with their hands in the air as they shouted their desires to be Riku's partner. Natsume and Luca seemed unfazed as they stared at the new student, especially Natsume whose eyes became slightly more wild than before. Hotaru had turned her attention back to her book; Inchou had a friendly smile on his face while Mikan gazed at Riku with a look of pure interest.
Narumi-sensei laughed and replied, "Well, I guess you're going to have no problem making friends, Riku!"
Riku chuckled humorously.
"Well, I guess I should let you choose who you would want as your partner," the teacher said happily as he stared at all the eager faces. "Everyone here would be a great choice."
Riku looked around the room. He smiled warmly at the girls, who all blushed profusely, and nodded appreciatively to the boys, who all grinned back in reassurance. But as soon as he reached the center of the room, Riku stopped. His eyes seemed to widen significantly as he his gaze fell on Mikan.
Mikan reflexively looked back in surprise, feeling her breath catch in her throat.
Riku fluidly walked down the aisle as every pair of eyes was gazing intently at his face. As soon as he stood next to Mikan's seat, he reached down to the hand on her desk and brought it to his lips.
The whole class gasped in surprise.
"Would you be my partner?" he asked gently.
Mikan, who felt her heart beat in overtime, was about to open her mouth and reply until a very loud noise came from the back of the room. Everyone turned around to see Natsume on his feet with a fire burning intensely in his eyes as he replied in a hard voice,
"She's my partner."
