Okay so here is my new story…. And as per the votes it will be called "My Mesmerizing Mirage" and not the other title.
Summary—Betrothed at birth, Shun and Alice had come to accept their engagement. However, Shun moved away. Now, he is back to reclaim his bride. What changes await Alice? More importantly, will she fall in love with him again despite his attitude?
Thanks to all those kind enough who took the time to vote. And thanks for choosing this link and now here is the first chapter of the story…
My Mesmerizing Mirage
crystal-mist
Chapter 1.
Who's that guy?
Tick tock tick tock tick tock… Alice Gehabich wondered exactly why the needle of the clock was taking extra long to venture around its circular path. The whole concept was simple enough; then why was it so sluggishly slow?
The tiring monotonic drone of the teacher filled her eardrums as she half-glared at the wall-clock.
"Miss Gehabich…Pay attention to class." commanded the teacher.
Alice's chocolate eyes widened. "Y...yes madam!" she exclaimed as stood up from her seat abruptly.
The room was instantaneously filled with the chuckles of her classmates. She blushed and sheepishly sank back into her chair.
She shifted her attention to the blackboard which was now filled with sprawls of extremely tiny handwriting. Upon realizing that she couldn't complete copying all of it into her notebook she conceded defeat and planned on borrowing either Runo's or Joe's notes.
And soon, the metallic clang of the bell sounded through the speaker. The lecturer left and all the students stood up and dispersed almost at once.
Alice sighed as she made her way to her best friend Runo.
Runo smiled at her. "Spaced out again, were we?" she questioned smiling.
Julie soon joined the both of them. "Hey guys…So Alice, are you still planning on joining the literary club?" she asked.
Alice nodded at the silver-haired girl. "That's right. I've already submitted the form and everything."
Julie sighed in regret. "Aw, I thought that you'd be able to join the drama club… Now, I'll have to be content with Runo."
"What do you mean by THAT Ju?" stormed Runo.
"Hey girls, what's up?" came a male voice from their right.
Joe, Baron and Dan soon joined their discussion of clubs. They sat down for lunch and the conversation was highlighted with randomness. Being university students they had proved to be extremely fickle.
After the last class had ended the students made their way to their respective clubrooms.
Somehow Runo ended up being persuaded by Julie to join the drama club. Alice and Joe were in the literary club. Dan was in one of the sports clubs with Baron.
Alice and Joe were climbing the stairs at a lethargic pace.
They reached the clubroom only to find it empty. Alice placed her bag on one of the tables and made her way to one of the book shelves. Her brown eyes scanned the titles and finally picked up a book with a purple cover.
Joe sat down on a chair positioned beside her and the both of them started reading their respective books.
"Joe, what's the story about?" she asked.
"Well, it's a bit too orthodox in my opinion. You know the kind of stories where the protagonists were engaged right from birth and their struggle to get around their engagement and so on. The time for such arranged marriages is over…It's nothing but a thing from the past nowadays."
"Hm…" Alice found it a bit absurd that Joe was reading such a book. Not only was he a guy but he normally had this fancy for 'extreme' science fiction.
What's more, his perception of the modern families was incorrect. She of all people knew that for a fact. Why? Because she herself was betrothed right at birth.
Ever since she could remember, she had been told clearly who she was to marry in the future. And this engagement hadn't particularly bothered her. The prospect of not being able to fall in love freely did not scare her. That was however until she was seventeen.
She realized just how important and just how adventurous it was to search for your second half by yourself. It seemed so intriguingly enigmatic. Besides, it had been eight years since she had last seen her 'fiancé'. God knew if he were still alive.
She had gone on a few dates since then, but nothing too serious. Not even a first kiss.
On the romantic sphere her score was a big huge whopping zero. Who in this world would not have experienced a single kiss at the age of twenty? Pathetic!
Joe raised an eyebrow at her. "You seem a bit…distracted."
She shrugged her shoulders. "Not really." She murmured as she sat back in her chair.
She was unaware of Joe gazing at her. 'Perhaps….I should ask her out on a date. I've been waiting long enough.' He thought to himself as he gazed out of the window to the bright blue sky.
After the club activities the boys had gathered together.
"Let's go to the arcade." declared Dan, pumping his fist into the air. Soon, Baron joined him in that ridiculous pose.
Joe sighed exasperatedly. He knew that there was no way to avoid this situation, so he admitted defeat and went along with the enthusiastic duo.
"No way!" Dan cried as he ran over to one of the game machines. "Someone beat my record for strongest punch!" he exclaimed pointing at the record meter. He was pouting like a five year old.
"Well, I reckoned that someday a Sumo wrestler would walk past and beat it to a crisp." commented Joe.
Dan glared at him. "This is not a time for jokes. It is a matter of my pride."
"Yes, Dan-sama's honor." accentuated Baron.
"Fine, knock yourself out."
Dan ignored the unresponsiveness in Joe's voice as he rolled up his sleeves. He huffed and hit the red cushion with all his strength. The lights lit up and some numbers were displayed. But the score didn't even come close to the new record.
Dan tired again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again…and again.
He only stopped when he heard a faint mocking chuckle coming from behind him. When Dan turned around he came face to face with another guy. He was leaning onto one of the arcade machines with an extremely smug smile on his face.
"What're you sneering for, huh?" called out Dan.
The other guy had sleek black hair which was tied into a neat (cool-looking) knot behind his head. He also had piercing golden eyes. One of his eyebrows was raised as he smirked in mockery. "You. Punch. Like. A. Girl." He answered in a level voice, stopping at each word to emphasize it.
"What!…I dare you to say it again."
The raven-haired guy only snickered. "The truth hurts." He muttered as he walked up to the machine and slipped in a coin. With not as much as an attacking stance he hit the red cushion. The lights immediately started blinking and huge capital letters reading "NEW RECORD" flashed in luminous blue writing.
Dan's eyes were wide open and his mouth dropped open. "Can't be! There's something wrong with that contraption."
"Want me to try that on you, hot-shot?" asked the black haired guy showing Dan his clenched fist. And before Dan could respond he walked away.
Shun Kazami was his name. He had returned back to Japan after a good eight years or so. Life in the US had trained him to be tough, especially after both his parents and grandparents died and left him to fend for himself.
Dan glared at Shun's back as he gritted his teeth…He did not like that guy, not one bit. He was glad he wouldn't have to see him again.
And boy was he wrong!
The very next day after classes. They bumped into Shun once more; literally, bumped into him. That's right, Baron wasn't acutely paying attention to where he was going and well- BUMP, THUD and OW.
Baron fell to the ground. The man he had bumped into didn't seem to be affected too much.
"Hey watch where you're going." Shun half=ordered glaring at Baron.
"Well, Buddy. You should as well." Spoke up Dan indignantly.
Shun snorted and Dan narrowed his eyes. "You have some nerve to be so rude. And that too for a second time." Spoke Dan.
Shun's golden eyes danced a little as he smirked. "Second time?" he chuckled. "Wait, so does that mean that I should remember you from somewhere?"
"Just yesterday! AT the arcade, you really crawled under my skin." thundered Dan.
"Oh…Hn, forgive me then I feel no point in remembering the insignificant accounts I have with weaklings." muttered Shun smugly.
And then there began an all out street fight. It was doubtful to determine who the one who dealt the first blow was. But, in the end punches were thrown from anywhere to everywhere.
You'd expect Shun to be outnumbered but he definitely wasn't. The match was three to one after all…
And strangely enough the three of them lost to the raven-haired golden eyed guy. One reason was because Baron punched like a girl. Second, the soles of Joe's shoes were too slippery and it slipped like crazy on the moist footpath. Third, well, third because this other guy was much faster, much stronger and much more skillful than them. He handled Baron and Joe as if they were babies.
Now with Dan, he had a bit of a hard time… Very soon Dan was on the ground as well.
"That…guy is strong…" whispered Joe as he gingerly fingered his stinging cheekbone.
"Damn him…." huffed Dan as he struggled back onto his feet. Shun just watched with an eyebrow raised and an amused look on his face.
Dan lunged forward with what little strength he had and set out a punch at Shun. Shun dodged it lazily and with a swift movement of his leg he had tripped Dan and sent him hurtling to the ground.
A few students from their university were watching this scene and none of them dared to interfere.
That was until an orange-haired girl emerged from the gates. She was surprised. She wondered what all these people were looking at. Her eyes were as wide as plates as she saw her friends –Dan, Joe and Baron on the ground, covered with scratches and bruises.
Without a second thought she ducked through the crowd and soon reached right in the middle of the fight.
The three guys on the ground looked at Alice in wonder…What the hell did she think she was doing?
She crouched down next to Joe, who was the closest one to her.
Shun stared blankly at the back of this girl. Something about her orange hair struck a string in his memory… But he shut the reminiscences away, there was no point remembering all that now…Not after all these years.
Dan had stumbled back onto his feet (talk about stubbornness). Shun was by now quite bored of knocking Dan to the ground time and time again. So, he raised his fist to strike a final blow that would force him to the ground, perhaps even knock him unconscious.
But his fist drew to a stop as his eyes met the determined brown orbs of Alice. She had put herself in between Dan and him. And she stood there with extended arms. "You shouldn't hurt them anymore… They're already so frightfully injured." She told Shun sternly.
Shun raised an eyebrow. "And who gave you permission to tell me what to do?"
"Please…Leave them be…" she was starting to feel an unreasonable fear clouding her. So her voice went from stern to soft. "They need to be taken to the Nurse's office right away."
"Get out of my way little girl." He muttered, his eyes narrowing ominously.
Alice gulped in hesitation. But she shook it off and just stared back into the face of this golden eyes stranger.
"Look, if you think that I am driven by inconsequential morals such as 'never hit a girl' then you're wrong…" he stated frigidly as he glared at her fiercely. "So, stop interfering and get the hell out of here." Saying this Shun raised his fist once more.
Alice felt as if his eyes were emitting concentrated acid -or something- from the way his look digested her.
She felt her throat dry up, and her legs trembled faintly. Yet, she still stood there in front of Shun, she did not move. Or rather she could not move .She had to help her friends.
Another set of hurried footsteps sounded as someone else came running towards this group of people.
It was Runo, she was fuming. "Are you crazy? ALICE!" she yelled as she tried to cut through the sea of people.
That name! Could it be her? No, it possibly couldn't be her, could it?
Shun paused for a moment, his face immersed in deep thought….That hair, those eyes, that name… and then a slightly incredulous look passed his facial features.
"Alice Gehabich?" he questioned her, disbelief evident in his voice.
Alice was taken by shock, her knees were still weak but she moistened her throat and spoke up. "Yes." She gulped once more, now the fear in her heart was evident on her face. "How… how do you know my name?" she forced the question out. She pressed her hands to her sides so that they would cease trembling.
Shun's fist dropped to his side as a sort of chuckle escaped his curved lips. "You will know." He muttered. "Very…soon."
And with that said he turned his back on them and walked away. Right after Shun's figure disappeared round the corner Alice sank to her knees.
"Now, that was scary!" she exclaimed to herself, but something was bothering her in the back of her mind….What could it be though?
And that was the first chapter.
True to what have predicted I am down with a high fever…hat's right, burning temperature, sore eyes and then an eternity of boredom….And so I thought why not just complete this story while consumed with all this dullness.
And that's just what I did…I wonder if I'll be able to make it back to school tomorrow.
Anyway, please REVIEW... This is the first chapter after all….Pretty please?
Bye bye for now. Hope you'll read the upcoming chapters as well.