Opening Note(s): Expect a slight change of characterism. Needless to say, they are OOC. Oh, and since I suck at Geography, I'll be making-up my own globe. Also, forgive my lack of knowledge to ships. Lastly: Stealing is bad okay! Don't try to do these stuffs at home— or everywhere!

Disclaimer: I have... let's say around 20 bucks in my wallet, no bank account, there are a few who owe me money but I doubt it'll reach a thousand. And Gakuen Alice costs around millions. So, umm, I guess you already figured it out if I own it, right? You fellas are smart. And no, the disclaimer won't be repeated every chapter. I see no sense on that. It isn't like the fact ever changes.

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Rules of Abduction
Written by: Snow Sparkle
Chapter I – Mikan ala Helen of Troy

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Rule 1: Spontaneity leads to serendipity. Take Mikan Sakura, the most impulsive person on earth, for example.

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Natsume kicked a random and rather unfortunate lying chunk of wood into the ocean. Based on his scowling expression, Hotaru and Ruka knew how bored and how peeved he was and how he longed to get out of what seemed to be a hell-hole.

They were somewhere at the middle of the Northern Hame ocean, one of the world's largest bodies of water, with nothing but a deliberately big and devastated wood of a once-great ferry. The piece of wood was sturdy and steady enough, much to all of their relief, that one could stand, lie or dawdle on it.

'Better than storming though...' Ruka, one of the strandies reassured and consoled himself under the sun that was cheerfully roasting all of them. Certainly, this wasn't the worst situation. He knew. He wasn't merely saying that because of listening to other's misadventures. He has his own. He, no, them, they had been on much tougher situations than this. Unfortunately, for his crimson-eyed friend Natsume, nothing was worse than pure, absolute and lasting boredom. He adorable hated it.

"Dammit!" Natsume ran his fingers through his raven locks, seemingly to forget the fact that his wind-swept hair was in a messy, sticky tangle due to salt water. He threw his hand furiously, his fingers, needless to say, have failed to go all the way.

Trying to bend his anger on someone he whipped his head to their only female companion. "Imai..." he growled, clenching his fist. "How dare you miscalculate! We've been here for two hours!"

Hotaru, the one he called Imai, eyed him evenly, not in the very least furious or bothered at his crude remark. She was used to his cussing anyway. "What do you expect me to do, apologize?" She folded her arms in her most defiant way. "It's your fault, you merely provided their departure time and distance from here but you didn't give the state of the ship's machines, the crew's personality, if they were fast-workers or non-tardy—"

A hand of signal to stop interrupted Hotaru from berating him. At first, Hotaru thought that he was annoyed and that he had had enough of bruising him with truths of his poor leadership. Then a great shadow loomed over theirs and instantly, knew what was the halt all about.

Quickly she ran to the edge of the slightly wobbly wood, dipped her cupped hands into the water and gave herself a brief body wash. Not that she was vain or anything, it was a must of their current task.

"What are ya scalawags doing down there?" a gruff, bulky and body-less man yelled as he peered down at them.

The great shadow turned out to be an average-sized ship and it stopped probably for curiosity's sake. Hotaru couldn't help but to glare at Natsume.

So the ship was a small fry, it wasn't like they had to back down.

"Oh thank goodness!" Ruka cried to himself. Staring with anticipation, he replied in a strangled voice, "We need help! Our ship was wretched of storm! It was terrible!"

Yeah. Like everyone says that.

The man narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. "How can us know we can trust ya?"

Ruka sighed in exasperation. He hated being the spokesman and dealing with them. "Believe it or not, we're royalties and if you so do help us, our kingdom will be willing to reward you."

The man's eyes sparkled with poorly restrained greed, obviously the materialistic type. With a keyed-up greedy snigger, he about-faced to turn to his party and laid-out the deal. It wasn't a long wait when the same man returned, this time with a sham friendly smile.

"Sure thing lads, hop on!"

Without further ado, the three niftily scaled their way up through a makeshift ladder that was conveniently dropped down. Instantly, they were aware that the crew was studying and appraising their pretty faces.

Starting with Ruka's sunshine-gold hair and deep-ocean-blue eyes, to Natsume's heavenly raven locks and ultra-rare crimson orbs and finally to Hotaru's as equally heavenly as Natsume's dark tresses and sparkly amethyst irises— With all their pretty faces and seemingly flawless, smooth skin, they were undoubtedly royalties to the eyes of the crew.

That was why all were dead and lightning-stricken when Natsume, who was merely about seventeen or eighteen, deftly did a somersault to the stack of barrels around six-feet in height with a haughty, belittling look on his face.

"Listen, bunch of doofus, don't you dare do anything brash or you'll end up in charcoal sacks. Give me everything you've got—"

A loud rude guffaw interrupted Natsume, much to his annoyance but pretty much expecting it.

"Pretty boy here's havin' a delusion he's a pirate!" someone pointed out and all of them laughed as if the whole ordeal they were in was the biggest joke they had ever had.

They were quite understandable anyway. The physical stereotype for pirates were maimed or/and disengaged parts of body, eye-patches, middle-aged (if not enough for afterlife— a.k.a. the 'olde salt'), scruffy hairs, unlikely pets, armed with deadly weapons and certainly the crew was more than the number of three. Heck, the one they were terrorizing looked more of pirates than them.

Natsume gave the crazy crowd a lop-sided grin. He couldn't hold on much longer to make them eat their own scorns. Instantly, fire appeared on his palm and played it with his fingers.

"Feeling inferior, mere mortals?" He chuckled almost darkly that even made Ruka, his teammate, cringe. Satisfied at the mobs horrified expression, he released the ball of flame and threw it down the floor where they stood.

"Show off." Hotaru waved the smoke off her face with measured stokes, not a bit impressed with her teammate's display of power. Peering down the hole he made, she inwardly exclaimed Bingo! upon spotting what seemed to be the main room. Looks like she didn't have to go on a thorough search and since all the losers were fiercely running in all directions, she invited herself down the hole in search of loots.

If there was one thing that could make the almighty Hotaru fell into her knees, it was money. And she literally did, that moment she cracked the ship's vault open with her deft hand and ear.

—

"How much?" Ruka asked conversationally, taking a seat next to Hotaru who was in charge of counting the amount of loots.

She didn't look back. Her attention was on the loots. Picking up a seraph figurine, she cupped her chin and replied. "Less than hundred-k."

"Cheapskates..." Ruka couldn't help to mutter. All the work and unwanted sunbathing for nothing.

"I know."

He sighed. Forget about the dingy loots, what if the cheeseparers spread a word that the great Raven Ridge was burgling even the lowest sea-vessels? Now, that could maim their reputation...

"They won't believe them." Hotaru said in monotone, reading him like an open book.

"Believe what?" Dear heavens, he didn't comprehend.

"Us robbing them." she pointed out with a Duh! lacing her tone. "It's as absurd as a story of a sane, rich, handsome, macho, perfect, ladies' man raping a horse."

Ruka pinched his side to avoid unwanted shuddering. "Too much unnecessary details!"

"But it works." She smiled knowingly at him.

He waved his hands in an off-hand manner, trying to convince her that he thought she was ridiculous and very much annoyed at her penetrating, calculating stare. "Do you think what we did is as absurd as that?"

"Close." she said, disgusted. "That best friend of yours can't keep his arse on bay that he even accepts random mission tips."

"You know what he does to kill his boredom. It's his greatest enemy." he argued without conviction. "And it was Persona who tipped him."

Hotaru upturned her lips. Disapproval evident. "That twerp again..."

"Yeah... I really don't know what made Natsume trust that guy. Persona's every atom exclaims death."

"He doesn't trust that twerp. He merely accepts every mission because he sense the twerp's challenge." Again, there was this knowing and arrogant smile on her face that Ruka was so sure he'd give anything just to rub it off.

Kiss her senseless. That'll do the job, his inner mind jeered and he couldn't help not to laugh with his absurd thoughts. Looking at Hotaru's pensive stare, he entertained the idea for a while until he didn't find it funny any longer and soon found himself flushing hot in embarrassment.

"What's for dinner?" Natsume without a warning, busted the door open and stood there waiting for response.

"Instant noodles..." Ruka answered glumly and scrambled the to the next seat, intending to leave a one-seat gap between he and Hotaru.

"Fucking instant noodles!" Natsume stormed loudly, expressing his distaste of the food by banging the wall with sheer passion. "Why the hell, with all this fucking money, all we get to eat are stinking junks?!"

"Because," Hotaru eyed him warily, "we're days away from land, fishes at Hame weren't edible and instants are convenient in view of the fact that they don't spoil easily."

"With your fucking alice you could invent something that could preserve food for months!"

Hotaru raised a brow, sensing his challenge of battle of wits. Like she was going to let him win. "You said it yourself, Hyuuga," she sneered his paternal name, "I invent not do magic. I don't break Laws of Physics."

"I thought you were a law-breaker, Imai." he equally sneered her name as well. "Even not, aren't you innovative and resourceful enough to invent something from the materials lying around uselessly here?"

"Unlike you, I don't use my alice on shameful materials," She was referring on how he showed off on their last task. "I use my alice solely to the best and there's no way I'm gonna let you ruin my reputation."

Ouch. "Whatever. Let us stuff ourselves with bad cholesterol..." He mentally kicked himself for slowly in loss of nasty words.

With that Hotaru knew the round went with her but she wasn't finished. Just to spite him she again talked. "I can ruin my reputation under one condition."

Natsume struggled not to let his face show anticipation. They had been eating instants for more than a week and he was actually craving for actual food.

"You produce fire in an airless vault."

Natsume, the fire-tempered captain narrowed his eyes, walking steadily as he sent daggers of glare to Hotaru.

"How dare you prissy inventor insult my fire—"

"Phone!" Ruka gasped out, relieved that he had an excuse to ease the tension and delay the war.

Natsume whipped his head. "Who?!" Damn he was in no mood for phone calls.

"Your phone buddy." Ruka announced with a wide grin. Even when Natsume snatched the handset from him, his grin didn't falter.

"Yes?!" he snapped in the line, in full intention to make the person flinch and cower in fear. To his surprise, he instead heard a low gurgling rumble coming from the throat that suspiciously sounded like a chuckle.

"How are you doing?" was the greeting.

My phone buddy indeed... he thought darkly, grinding his teeth upon recognition of the voice.

Persona...

"Great. How's fucking boys lately?" he inquired in a mock innocent and interested tone, leering inwardly as his hand met Ruka's approving high-five.

There was a pause in the line. Either he was thinking of a spiffy comeback or was too stunned to talk. It turned out to be the former. "Not quite good. I yet have to get a taste of you."

"You bring vomit to my throat."

"My pleasure." Persona replied evenly. "I will no longer inquire of how's your last mission, it always goes well. I am here to seek your help."

"On what?"

"I need you to kidnap—"

"We don't abduct people."

"This one's big-time. It's a princess."

"What do you mean 'This one's big time.' you knew— Wait, a royalty?!"

Persona smiled slyly on the other line, pleased that Natsume momentarily forgot to rattle him about his unintelligent slip-of-a-tongue of the last mission. "Yes. Whatever you thought it was?"

"Your sex monkey?"

"Nice try. You won't get into my nerves no matter how hard you try. Only I can make you do that."

Natsume took a sharp breath. No way he was going to let Persona know he had yet again made his nerves tangle in anger. "Kingdom of what?!" was his brilliant move. His snap made Persona smirk in triumph.

"Frayland."

He raised a brow. "Got wars there?"

"In spite of the name, Frayland's quite a peaceful kingdom. However, yes, a long time ago it was the theatre of war of—" he deliberately stopped, shaking his head for telling unnecessary tales. "I don't want to do history now. I'm busy so I need to know if you're gonna accept or not."

"How much?"

Again, there was his sly smirk that Persona was wishing Natsume could see it and made him snap more. "Not How much?— What?"

Natsume rolled his eyes. He wasn't in the mood to talk grammar with him. "By all means, shoot!"

"Does an alice stone of your choice sounds good to you?"

He clenched the handset and briefly tempted to tweak his ear in case he didn't hear right.

He did hear alice stone, didn't he? The stone so ultimately rare and was considered to be the most valuable item in their time... How the hell did Persona get his filthy hands on one of those? And why was he willing to give one, not to mention of his choice?

Meaning... he got a lot of those...

Testingly, he said, "How big?"

"Clench your fist."

He didn't. He'd be damned before he did what this manipulating Persona told him to do. "Go on."

"Very well, that size of the fist you're seeing is how big your alice stone is."

Now he did clench his fist!

Staring wide-eyed and jaw shamefully dropped down, he was already seeing his fist as a giant alice stone.

There was a chuckle in the line and Natsume knew Persona had seen through him. He had manipulated him and he wasn't aware of it.

Irritated that he again fell for his traps he growled. "Is there anything funny?"

Persona quelled his laughter. "No, no. Nothing."

"Then you must be crazy for laughing at nothing."

"I am crazy Natsume. So what now? I'll send you the details. Do we have a deal?"

Of course anyone would have answered straight away. A bounty so fabulous and rich as an alice stone! However Natsume didn't, he wanted to but he didn't. He wanted to prolong the wasted seconds just to spite Persona. And then, after good fifteen seconds, he did. "Deal." He smirked.

Perhaps now, Persona thought he had yet again manipulated Natsume by agreeing. But no, no, no. Not this time. He had plans of getting back at him and this time, he'd make sure the strings would be wrapped around his fingers and so the puppeting.

—

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Mikan ran paddling like a duckling, her speed horse like. Her arms were carrying yards of heavy clothing and her fur shoes were quite slippery against the marble tarmac.

She was agile, quick, energetic and lively— not like what most thought of her. The freezing night breeze prickled her exposed skins. Usually she savored the air but she wasn't in the mood to be all-jolly and carefree and all those Sound-of-Music-ish antics.

Within minutes she shut her room with an atomic bang and flew herself to the enormous bird-tomb draped bed, crying her eyes out whilst positioning herself on an Indian-sit. She had make-up lessons later that night yet as per usual, she didn't give a shit. What was it to lose anyway? It wasn't like she was to make curriculum vitae out of it. In fact, she didn't need to make one.

Her life was so annoyingly and disgustingly comfortable— it was a nightmare, a complete bore! All she had to do was pretty herself to impress royalties and then someone would marry her to live happily ever after. No dragon-slaying prince, no hard-ships, no stupid evil witches to conspire her immaculate life.

Her mother, who preferable wanted to be called 'The Queen' (as she was in fact one), her remaining living close relative since her father died, had seemingly betrayed her when the queen had engaged her to Marques Alexander O'Hara.

It wasn't because O'Hara wasn't a prince that made her reject him and it certainly wasn't because O'Hara was ugly. Truth to be told, his dark, handsome looks could make girls and women swoon. The turning off points were: O'Hara was an incredibly boring man, he liked politics (Mikan hated it) and he was a vain narcissist who kept talking about himself.

...And mom had to break it today on my sixteenth birthday...

Her crying had quieted now, only a few hiccups here and there. Then with a mass of frustration and anger she let out a strangled scream until— a cold hand callously clasped over her mouth. The hand was steady as a stone and smelt of the sea. The goosebumps swarming from her lower back to her nape told her she was in danger.

"Mrph mm mhr mhrmmng?!" Obviously Mikan.

She felt him smirk behind her, seemingly an expert in making out words out of muffled voices.

"Abducting you." he explained flatly. His voice was deep and cutthroat.

"Mr! Mrp hrrmp mmphr hh mrph hrsh, mrr hmphm hmp mrp!"

He snorted. "I'm not an idiot to release you just yet."

Yet she was persistent and he had wished he could downright hit the girl. But orders were orders. Besides in his 'Code of Ethics', hitting a girl or a woman was the most degrading thing a man could ever do. "Mrsh mm hmpp hrrp!"

Annoyed like hell for he didn't know what to do as this was his first time to deal with kidnapping, he released her mouth, threw her face down to her bed and pinned her down with his hands to show her he was still in control.

"Just you try—"

"Oh! For the love of—" Her words ended in a gasp when he roughly turned her into a supine position, him sitting on her stomach and finally giving her the face of her assaulter.

"Love of what?" he challenged, a harsh look on his red irises that made Mikan wonder how could harsh eyes such as his heed her request for press freedom.

Maybe he was confident enough to let a prissy little princess like her have her tongue?

"Of self expression." she managed to answer cheekily. "Look, as what I've told you, I won't resist. I simply want to get my things."

"You're not fantasizing to elope with me, are you?" Natsume snorted and let her go, surprisingly lenient and swiftly positioning himself at the center of Mikan's chamber, letting her know his speed was to be reckoned with and that she shouldn't think about escaping.

"No. Are you?" Really now, she should be shutting her mouth and even hiding her arse under the comforts of blankets but she couldn't bring herself to be afraid of this boy. Intimidated, yes, but definitely not afraid. Why, he was looking about the same age of her! He couldn't mean her harm, could he? If he did, he could have knocked her over and he wouldn't discharge her.

She clambered under her bed and momentarily shifted hidden items under it and then came out with a valise. It wouldn't take a genius to concur that she had long ago planned her escape.

What a convenient abduction...

Brushing where she thought have dust stains, Mikan faced her abductor in the moonlight and for the first time she noticed that he too was smeared with charcoal dirt and hinted her he came from the chimney. Obviously, two people would have a hard time passing through a chimney so how does he plan to escape?

She stretched out her arms indolently to him, beckoning him to carry her bridal style (like what she have seen on folk tales) yet he caught her off-guarded and rather dumb-stricken when he hauled her up (instead of securing his arms around her back knees and shoulders) and threw her over his shoulder. Needless to say, he was carrying her like a sack of potatoes.

No doubt Mikan was peeved and threw him all kinds of expressing her distaste. A princess being carried as if she was a mere baggage? As spoilt as it might sound, that was the biggest insult a royalty could ever take.

But he simply ignored her protests and kicked her suitcase high up, deftly catching it with his free hand. "Enjoying it?"

"Not as much as you are enjoying it." she said with all her spite. Unfortunately, all of her spite churned to horror by the time he stormed not into the door but into the glass windows— her permanently pasted glass windows, and he jumped and flew into the air.

And like all the princesses do, she fainted in the most shameful, maladroit way.

How clichéd.

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Ending Note(s): Not much of a start, hunh? Lest you're wondering who is Helen of Troy, she was. Um. Voluntarily abducted (if there's such kind) by her lover— Obviously it wasn't because she fell in love with Natsume at first sight. Don't beat me but I hate it when characters fall in love that easily. X3

I do hope what I did was enough to catch your interest, I'd love to see you all again next chapter. And, I may be a new writer but that doesn't mean I'm new here so I know about the purple button down there. (hint! hint!)