To celebrate Christmas and my second anniversary!
To those who are interested in Luna and Hijito's relationship, here I present you a one-shot about them. This story is taken place after When I Met You. To be honest, I can't bring myself to hate anyone. I think they could be sweet and loved if only they're given a chance :)
Actually, I did have planned to have a short sequel of When I Met You, but I never expected it would be at somewhere in Christmas. Yes, I decided to make this fic within a few days left before my second anniversary approached.
For now, why don't all of you reminisce When I Met You again? Even though my writing isn't really good at that time…
Enjoy! And Merry Christmas to all of you!
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. If I do, then why am I still here writing a fanfiction?
She hated this.
She hated the life she was having now.
Kept on struggling to have at least some decent food.
Kept on moving from place to place to hide.
Kept on being chased by government's secret agents, day and night.
And most importantly, she was stuck with a male she despised the most ever since her childhood; a man who was unfortunately her partner when they used to work in a secret evil organization. She hated him for many reasons, so many that she lost count. His appearance, his behavior, his bright expression, his way of talking; she hated all of them.
But on top of it, the strongest reason of her abhorrence towards him was because of a single sentence he told her that faithful day before they parted on their way back to the headquarter.
'I do care for you.'
Because he cared for her.
And that was why she would end it today.
She would shove him away, far from her life.
-x-
Resistance
-x-
"Don't. Follow. Me."
In the middle of the crowded town, the single sentence sounded so vivid in Hijito's ear, clear enough to erase the bright smile which had been on his face ever since the early cold morning greeted the inhabitants of Japan yet another day.
In front of him, the brownish-red haired girl kept on walking without any care. Her feet, though, stomped on the pavement hardly, showing her emotion to the passing by pedestrians. The little scene quickly made her the center of attention with every step she took, but it was not long before the pedestrians shook their heads, thinking it was just a lovers' quarrel or so, and focused their interest back to whatever they were doing at that time.
Hijito, however, could not bring himself to care about the circumstance they were in now. His baffled mind was all on the irritated girl. He could not help wondering why she warned him all of a sudden. She was always annoyed every time he tailed her from behind – yes, she was – but she never bothered to tell him to stop.
Until a moment ago, she was silent all of a sudden and walked away from him before she uttered those shocking words.
"What?" the single word came out of his lips spontaneously, in a response of something he did not quite understand. He fastened his pace, in order to match her step.
Luna stopped walking, and so did he, before she turned to her back and glared at the man in annoyance. "I said, don't follow me," she repeated, her hands on her hips.
The brown-haired man tilted his head in wonder and leaned his weight on his right leg. "And why?" He inquired, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. The cold breaths which constantly came out of his lips were enough to prove how cold the weather was at that time. "You never minded about me following you all this time. Besides, we're living together now."
The brownish-red haired girl huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Well, from this second, we're not. I put up with you all this time just because I needed to recover myself from the wounds that Akari girl had caused."
"Wow, wow, was that sarcasm I heard?" Hijito piped in. "You still hate that girl even though she had passed away?"
It was true. She heard the news about Akari's death from Hijito himself, who often went out of their hiding place in order to get some food and hunt for information about what happened after they ran away from the isolated island. She was not happy though, to just lie and wander around the temporary residence while she was in recovery. It was exasperated for her to think she was hopeless without Hijito.
She could be captured and punished by the government if only Hijito did not save her. She would not be able to eat delicious food if only she was captured. She would not be able to walk in park like what she was doing now if only he left her unconscious in the forest at that time. She also might be as good as dead right now if only there were dangerous famished animals in the forest she was left behind back then.
But that were only a few of the reasons why she wanted him to leave her. Starting from this moment.
Luna pressed her lips into a thin line and threw him a fierce stare. "My hatred for my enemy is eternal," she hissed. "Now, shut up and stay out of my face."
Hijito looked thoughtful for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why should I? I don't feel troubled keeping up with you everyday if that's what you think."
Her eyes narrowed, almost turning into slits. "No! It's because I don't like you!" she spat. "You heard it? I hate you, Sasaki. Even your presence makes me want to strangle you to death."
Because you always pamper me like a child.
Because you make me feel weak and dependent on you most of the time.
Because you're always invading my mind in random moments.
Because your stupid smile always gets in my nerves.
Because, because, because…
"Do you understand now?" she cut off her own train of thoughts, coaxing her voice with as much venom as she could just to drive him away. "I don't need you anymore, Sasaki, now that the organization and such thing have been over. I can take care of myself."
She thought she could see the bright sparkles of optimism in his eyes dimming a bit the moment she said those words out. She quickly shook the thought off, along with the guilt that started to grow inside her, and continued, "I don't care about you. Not at all."
And with that, she turned and left him, and dared not looking back for she was afraid of the foreign expression she might find on his face if she did it.
She could not ignore the sharp pain in her heart though. It hurt too much and she did not understand why.
But she had an idea what the cause was.
"Damn you, Sasaki."
Really. She was getting softer now.
-x-
"Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle all the way…"
Luna heaved a gloomy sigh when she walked passing a big Christmas tree in the middle of the town. Even though two hours had passed since she left Hijito dumbfounded at the park, the image of his slight disappointed face still had not left her head and kept lingering there as if it wanted to make her feel blameworthy.
"Keep on dreaming. I didn't do anything wrong anyway," she growled to no one and wrapped the brown scarf around her neck tighter to prevent the cold air from making direct contact with her skin. Drifting her gaze far to the crowd gathering around the big tree, Luna found herself a bit irritated at the happy faces glimmered by the colorful lamps from the ornaments of the Christmas tree.
She did not understand why people could be so happy just by looking at the ordinary tree which was dressed up by various ornaments. She did not understand why people could be so joyful when they knew it was Christmas day, when it seemed like the same as other usual days, only it was a holiday. She did not understand how people could be so happy by such little things while she never felt happiness in them even once.
She did not understand how it was like to feel happy.
For her, every day was a fight. The next day had always been another yet battle she had to survive. All she could see all the time were just dark places, splattering blood, and blazing fires with the sounds of pleading screams joining in it. All of it had plagued every inch of her soul as a result of fourteen years living under the darkness and mental pressure circumstance Persona created. And in those fourteen years, the fight never ended for her, always coming one after another. She was forced to struggle back, to be better and stronger, because only the strong one who could survive in this unkind world.
There was never even one minute for her to feel safe and loosen up her guard, to enjoy the gentle breeze or the shining sun, since she never felt secure even for a moment.
The man, Hijito Sasaki, made it worse. He never stopped trying to approach her and, in her eyes, he did not seem to know when to joke and when to be serious.
He invaded the invisible border she had created around herself and tried to push her out of her safety barrier. As they did more missions together, she realized he was a threat to her, a hazardous one. He was getting too close to her already and she started to feel uncomfortable with his presence. The man had bugged her mind too much, more than necessary.
And it went worse when he said he cared for her.
Truth to be told, she was freaked out, because she was not used to have someone concerned about her; a girl who was temperamental, despicable, and mean in her every word and attitude. She was someone everyone deserved to hate.
"Joy to the world, the Lord has come…"
Carolers' harmonized voices reached her ears after minutes of brooding. Luna reluctantly dragged her gaze to the little singers in red in front of the Christmas tree and stared at them with expressionless face, before she clicked her tongue and walked away from the wide field. She needed a secluded place right now, where she could drown in her thoughts longer as well as warming herself up. The cold had started to reach under her skin.
She had not even been five feet away from the original spot she occupied before when her left arm was being pulled back hardly by a strong grip. She initiatively whirled her head to see who it was and wrinkled her eyebrows in annoyance when she saw a man wearing winter suits and black sunglasses facing her back, his lips set in a stern line.
She thought the man mistook her for someone else and she attempted to pull her arm away from his grip, gently at first. But when the stranger made no move to let go off her, her temper flared up. She tugged her arm away harder. "What the he-"
The man turned his head away to the direction of a candy shop and lifted his other free hand. Luna could see a small microphone attached on the collar of his winter jacket as he whispered into the tiny thing, "I got her." On cue, another man who stood by a pole near the shop straightened his composure and made his way to their direction.
Her eyes widened in realization.
Shit. The curse popped in her head on impulse as she stomped on her captor's right foot. A yelp came out of the man's mouth in an instant, followed by his loosening hold on her. Luna took this chance to snatch her hand back and run away. She had to hide before the two men told their friends about her and more of them showed up.
She would be damned if that happened.
-x-
"Damn, damn, damn…damn all of them!" Luna grumbled as she fastened her running speed with the remaining energy she had.
After her encounter with the men in the middle of the town, she swore sum of people who chased her increased unexpectedly. She knew the government's men had been patrolling every day in the whole town just to search for her and Hijito, but she did not expect they would find her so easily. With her black knitted hat, brown scarf, and blue winter jacket to cover her being, they should not be able to guess it was her. She should have looked just like a normal teen taking a walk alone in the middle of the town.
Damn the government, their technology and their sharp instincts. Why could not they just leave her alone? Besides, she had not harmed anyone for a long time.
Thank Heaven the stupid Sasaki was not with her, or she would get into deeper trouble by now because of his not-on-the-right-time-and-place jokes.
This is better. Far better. She assured herself.
After running for God-knew-how-long, Luna caught a view of an old neglected building from the corner of her eye. She turned her course and ran to the building, in hope she could hide there for a while to recuperate her energy and plan a way to flee from the men.
She pushed the rusty entrance door open with a quite loud bang and continued running. However, before she could venture further into the building, a man jumped in through an opened window which was just beside her and blocked her way.
"Got you, girl," he hissed, grabbing one of her arms and pulling her to him to stop her struggle. "Guys! I'm here! I've caught her!"
Panic struck her. They are here!
Desperate, she placed both of her hands on the man's shoulders and pulled him towards her with force. She tilted her head, opened her mouth, and inched her lengthened fangs close to his neck. Swiftly, she sunk her fangs in and tightened her grip on the man's shoulders when she felt him about to pull away. Three seconds later, she drew her face back and stepped away from the man as his hands fell limply on his sides.
"Don't let them get me," she commanded and ran passing him when she saw him nodding.
She could heave a sigh of relief for the mean time, but she knew it would not be long until they found out something was wrong with their friend and got rid of him before chasing after her again.
Door after door came into her sight as she ran deeper and she had to choose one of them to run into the moment she heard footsteps echoing in the corridor. Once she was inside the room, she took a quick glance of her new surrounding and hastily approached two dusty cabinets at the corner of the room.
She opened the one which stood right near a nailed window and squeezed herself into the lower part of the cabinet – because it was easier and had quite enough place for her – after pushing aside its contents, which consisted of a broken replica of human's upper body skeleton and some scrolled papers. She then closed the cabinet and stiffened when she heard the doors being opened quite brutally. The sounds were getting louder and louder as they neared the place where she was hiding in, and she could not help but unconsciously biting her lower lip in anxious.
She would not be able to fight more than three of them, even with her ability as one of the experimented children. Compared to others', her ability was useful in one-on-one fight only. If she was cornered, she could not do anything more. Usually it was her stupid partner who freed her from the disadvantage situation…
She shook her head as she realized what she had just thought. No, no, he was not here and she was alone this time. She would show the world that she would be able to get herself out of this condition even without his help. Yes, she would and she could.
She was Luna Koizumi, a temperamental and heartless girl with strong will and power. She would not be defeated just like that in the government's little game.
She heard a loud noise of door being slammed open and she knew the time had come. This is it. Lifting her hands in front of her, she readied herself to launch and push whoever's legs which came first to her sight. She no longer cared how many people out there, as long as she could get out of this narrow place. If she was lucky, she might be able to escape from here. Who knew?
An illumination came into the dark place she was occupying as the cabinet was opened. Luna narrowed her eyes and exhaled, waiting for the right moment to strike. When it was opened wide enough, she pushed herself out and shoved her hands to a pair of legs in front of her, startling the suspect.
Caught by surprise, the suspect lost his balance and fell on his bottom. While the suspect tried to take in what just happened, Luna promptly got to her feet and almost made a run to the door if it was not because three other men had been standing in front of her only way out.
"You're quite feisty," one of the three men who stood before the door said as he approached her.
She snarled and slowly lifted her hand up to unwrap the scarf around her neck. "One more step and you're as good as dead," she threatened.
The three chuckled. "No one will die here, Miss," the second man pointed out, leaning his back on the door. "We've cornered you and now you have no choice but to come with us. The cat and mouse game has been over."
"Or so I see." Luna slid the brown scarf off her and threw it right onto the face of the approaching man. She ducked right in time when the first man she pushed down before had stood up and was about to grab her from behind. She straightened one of her legs and slid it to the first man's legs, managing to catch him by surprise and make him fall for the second time. She then stood half way and made a leap to the second man, who was struggling with her scarf on his face, and hit his stomach with her elbow as hard as she could.
She was forced to hold her breath for a while when the other two men charged towards her. Bending down her head and closing her eyes, she bumped into one of them, exhaling when her victim choked out a pained gasp. After that, she scampered to the door, not bothering to fight the last man. Her priority was to get out of here and hide somewhere else before the three recovered and continued pursuing her.
She literally threw herself to the door, opening it by force, and made her way to the awaiting window at the corridor, right in front of her. She crossed her arms in front of her face and jumped, shattering the glass into small pieces. She rolled on the hard ground for a moment and winced at the new scratches the broken glass inflicted on her skin. Once the slight pain of the hard impact had lessened, she scrambled to her feet and ran to the forest which was not far from the building she had just gotten out from, not even looking back to check if her pursuers also jumped out of the window.
Trees, bushes, twigs, and dirty snows were all she could see as she ran through the unfamiliar forest.
When she was positive she had been running quite far into the forest, she slowed down her pace and panted hardly, swaying as she tried to bear the physical pain and stand up straight. She had no energy left though, and immediately slumped down under the nearest big tree in exhaustion.
She felt so tired, so weak. She was not even sure she could make any move to fight if the men appeared in front of her all of a sudden. She was drained. She just wanted to close her eyes and drift into a deep slumber, but she knew she was not safe to give up her consciousness yet.
Curling up into a ball, Luna hid her face in between his knees and clenched her teeth, cursing the path destiny had put upon her.
Fighting…struggling…running away…hiding…
She had gotten enough of them.
She wanted to get out of this. She wanted to break free from the darkness that had tangled around her since she was chosen to be one of the experimented children. She did not even ask to be one of them, damn it.
The sounds of breaking twigs snapped her out of her lament. Her entire being stiffened right away.
Had they found her? This fast? How could she get away from them now? How could she beat them now that she had no power left even to kick them?
"Luna?"
The gentle deep voice followed by a soft stroke on her hair. She pulled her head away from her knees and sneaked a glance at her old partner who was staring down at her weak form.
"Goodness," Hijito breathed, hauling her into his arms. "Are you okay? What happened after you left me? Did they do something to you at the old building?"
She merely stayed silent.
The truth was she wanted to ask why he was here and how he knew she was chased by the government's agents, but she could not voice out the question. Besides, she did not have to ask again, for she already got the answers from his concerned face and ragged breathing.
He, too, had been searching for her all this time.
Clenching her jaw, Luna brought her hands up and placed them on Hijito's chest. With her leftover strength, she managed to give him a small push and crawl away from his embrace. The man looked at her in bewilderment and tried to close the distance between them again, only to be met by her sharp glare.
"Lu-"
"Go away," she growled, inching near the tree, staring at him as if he was a complete stranger. "I don't need your help."
He snorted. "Don't kid with me, Luna."
"I don't." Resting her palms on the rough surface of the tree bark, she slowly steadied herself. She closed her eyes for a while to gather her breath before turning to her back and intending to continue running away, from her pursuers, from her brown-haired partner.
She had not even passed two trees when she stumbled on her own step and fell on her hands and knees. Hijito, getting alerted by her sudden fall, quickly came to her side. He was about to help her stand up when she slapped his hands away and bared her teeth at him. "Stop doing this!"
"Luna…"
She cut him off in exasperation. "I've told you I can take care of myself! I hate you! I don't care for you! Why don't you just leave me alone?" she roared, shaking her head to clear up her blurring vision, her fingers dipping into the ground. "I don't need you! I don't need anyone!" She slammed her fists once onto the ground and her throat tightened in despair, tears brimming in her eyes.
Luna realized she must look so pathetic at that time, rambling and wailing with her poor appearance. But she wanted to show she was strong. She did not fragile. She could take care of her own problems. She did not need anyone's pity.
She was already tired to be looked down, to be underestimated.
Dropping her head onto her folded arms, Luna shut her eyes and panted. Her breathing turned heavy and fast. Her head spun and she felt like she could faint any minute.
Her consciousness had almost drifted away.
"I've heard it a few times." She heard him shuffle behind her. "You hate me. You don't care for me. You don't need me." A sound of snapping twigs. "But I will keep coming for you," his soothing voice coated her feeble form as he crouched beside her and ran one hand through her hair which had mixed with dust and dirt, "and you've known the reason."
She did not bother to lift her head and chose to stay still in her position at that time. With difficulty, she swallowed another scream of protest down her throat. She knew it was no use to retort him. She knew it would be futile, just like all the previous deeds she had done to drive him away, because he was Hijito Sasaki, her stubborn partner. Or it might be because she felt extremely exhausted right now, that she had no power to come up with another reply or yell.
Hijito lifted his head slightly when a faint sound of footsteps were heard coming to their direction. Lifting Luna's limp body up, he held her securely against him and dashed away from the place. Only this time, she did not struggle.
Luna let her body relax in his warm embrace and closed her eyes, feeling she was safe enough to let the weariness consume her tired body and mind. It did not matter why the man did all of this for her again, since she, as he told her before, already knew the answer.
It was because he cared for her, and there was no other reason.
"Crap," she heard him mutter and felt the wind blew on her harder. As her consciousness weakened, her ears caught faint shouts and more snapping twigs as her carrier moved faster through the chilly air. But right now, Luna could be careless of the situation they were in, since she had trust in his partner.
For once, she felt relief he found her first. For once, she was less annoyed by his concerned act.
Maybe it was not as bad as she thought.
Maybe she could stand this side of his longer than she considered.
She sighed and smelled his minty scent, which only made her sleepier. The last thing she heard before the darkness engulfed her was the faint peaceful voices of carolers singing a joyful Christmas song.
-x-
It was five hours later she woke up to the chilly air and shivered. An arm immediately went up around her shoulders and pulled her to the source of warmth beside her, wiping away the trace of sleepiness in her eyes instantly. She raised her head in a swift move and a whimper escaped from her lips when she bumped something hard on the way.
"What the hell-"
"Geez, you have a sturdy head…"
She glared at Hijito who had pulled his hand back to rub his sore chin after the sudden bumping. "Who told you to get near me when I slept? Trying to take an advantage of me, huh?" she bit out, her own hand massaging her head.
Hijito's lips broke into a grin. "Are you hoping for that?"
"Want me to chop your head now?"
"You know perfectly I was only kidding."
"No, I don't."
"Jeez, loosen up a bit, will you?"
She snorted. "You wish. Just because you had helped me this time doesn't mean I will be soft and less mean to you. I still hate you."
He frowned. "I should bump your head harder. You might forget your nasty attitude." She pinched his side, causing him to yelp. "Luna! What the he-"
"Stop yapping random things and tell me where we are now."
Rubbing the spot she had pinched seconds ago, the brown-haired man grumbled. "We're on top of a neglected apartment I found not far from the central of the town. I couldn't bring you to the middle of the town with those wounds on your clothes and body, could I?" He pointed a finger at her bandaged wounds. "It would draw the agents' suspicion. Who knows how many of them left in the town? It couldn't be just four of them that had tracked down your position."
She let out a scoff and stared faraway to the small buildings in the town. "Do you think they won't find us here soon enough? Maybe not today, but what about tomorrow?"
He shrugged and leaned his back to the brick wall, shoving a pile of snow away from his dark-blue colored hat. "We'll be gone by tomorrow."
Running again. Exhaling a submissive sigh, she joined him leaning her back on the wall and glanced up to the grey colored sky. Snows were falling on top of the two of them without showing any sign it would stop in a little while. There was no wonder she felt so cold, even in her sleep. "How long have I been out?"
"Five hours, or so I thought," he replied curtly and gazed at her from the corner of his eye. "Where's your scarf?"
"I threw it away. It disrupted me."
"Are you crazy? Or you already feel extra warm?"
"Oh yeah, thanks to the stupid agents," she answered bitterly.
He chuckled and unwound his long black scarf as Luna gave him a weird look. "I'll just take a bit advantage of this, okay?" he joked while wrapping a half of the scarf around the brownish-red haired girl's shoulders and pulled her close so he could share his body warmth.
Luna scowled and grudgingly let him pull her closer, for she indeed felt so cold at that time, her teeth almost chattering because of the chilly air. It was better than nothing.
"Feel better?"
"No. You're taking an advantage of me."
"For a good reason."
"Jerk."
He laughed a merry laughter and, somehow, her hearts fluttered upon hearing it. One of his hands grabbed her shoulder as he continued chuckling. His hot breath showered her cheek and a few strands of his hair tickled her ear. He was too close to her liking.
But she did not push him away.
She did not mind it.
She stole a sneaky glance at him and huffed quietly. Now that she looked closely at him, the man's expression was so adorable when he laughed or chuckled. And he was quite loyal too, despite his odd sense of humor.
It might not be that bad to stop resisting once in a while.
"What are you smiling at?"
Hijito raised his eyebrows and smiled wider at the girl in front of him. "Can't I smile?"
Luna rolled her eyes. "Just wondering."
"So you said." He hummed and leaned the side of his head on her shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Luna," he said out of blue, heaving a long breath which resulted in a quite big white puff in the air.
She blinked for a while before shrugging the shoulder he was occupying on and grumbling in a low voice, "Yeah, yeah, Merry Christmas to you too, stupid guy."
Yes, it was not that bad…
-Fin-