Disclaimer: Who came up with these things? I do not own Gakuen Alice; If I did, Natsume wouldn't be as hot.
Assumption
Dedicated To:
My Hopeless Romantic
You should all PM her and tell her to have a safe trip.
Why did he endure so young?
It was late. A time where children eight years old and younger should be safely tucked in their beds and snoozing. But this didn't apply to one silver headed little boy.
How could he sleep? How could he even think of closing his eyes? When he was frightened, his emotions went out of control and so did his alice. Various spirits were unleashed from the ground scaring everybody around him.
Except his Mom.
His Mom would go through all of the spirits just to hug him. She would stay with him and hold him throughout the night whenever he couldn't understand what was going on. He was young, what was he supposed to do? It was at times like those when he felt vulnerable that his Mom would whisper calm words and lulling him to sleep, protected in her arms.
That's what Moms do. They loved their children, no questions asked. There were no flaws in their eyes. That was how it shouldbe.
By the age of one, he could walk, was fully potty trained and could speak. He learned to control himself at a young age. Why? He did it because his Mom loved him, wasn't that enough?
No.
His father.
His father would never think he was enough. His father wouldn't go near him. Youichi tried his best to never let the spirits out so that his father would look at him; but he never did. Youichi knew his Mom was sad about this but she never left him.
When he was two, Youichi went into his father's study. It was safe since his Dad was at who-knows-where.
Youichi wanted to be smart. He wanted to impress his Dad. He wanted to be accepted. He learned Japanese and basic math. He read the dictionary in his spare time. During all of this, his Mom had nothing but love in her eyes. She didn't force him to do this but she knew how determined he was.
But late one night as Youichi sat down to learn long division, he heard a knock on the door followed by a scream.
"You can't take him away! He's only two!" It was his Mom. More yelling accrued and Youichi rushed downstairs.
He saw a blond man.
"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I promise that I'll try my best to look after him," said the blond man. Sorry for what? What was happening?
"Mom." Youichi stepped closer to her, bewildered when she hugged him and kissed his forehead.
"Youichi, my dear Youichi," she murmured, tears in her eyes. What was happening? "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you. I love you, and I won't ever forget you. Protect yourself. Make friends, choose them right."
Then she embraced him as tight as she could.
Youichi didn't understand.
That was all he could remember from his early childhood. He hadn't been admitted into class since they didn't have a uniform for him just yet. He was the youngest ever to be admitted into Gakuen Alice, after all.
He was too young, he was lost and… everything seemed to be happening too fast.
Even without a class, they did manage to place him into his Alice Type: Dangerous Ability.
When he wasadmitted into a class, it was with a sparse group of eight students who looked neither friendly nor welcoming. Everyday kids would pick on him. They'd always order him around, throw things or use their Alices, but Youichi didn't want to fight back. He couldn't. He was too numb by the events going around his two year old life.
It was too much. He couldn't take it.
One day, he ran to a Sakura tree and cried. He let it all out, every frustration from the day he was born to day he'd been taken away from his parents. A rustle above him made Youichi freeze. Oh how much he hoped it wasn't one of his classmates.
It turned out to be a student he'd never seen before.
He had tussled raven hair and piercing red eyes. To him, he was gigantic. He had a mysterious aura around him that instantly piqued his interest. In his hand, Youichi spied a book.
He'd been ashamed that someone had caught him crying and Youichi couldn't help hanging his head.
The mysterious boy went onto his knees and looked at Youichi directly in the eyes. Green eyes clashed with red and Youichi was stunned at the depth in his eyes. Abruptly, he turned and walked away.
Confused, Youichi wiped away his tears and looked down. It was the book he had in his hands! Youichi watched as his figure disappeared into the shadows. He had to give it back. No, Youichi was going to give it back.
But… he had no idea what class he was in or what age or anything!
Youichi wrote every two days to his Mom but there was never a reply. One day, he walked out of his one-star room to the Dangerous Ability class where, he saw a man dressed in black with a white mask. To his left, there was a boy with a cat mask.
"Hijiri Youichi." A cold voice. "You can help out in today's… exercise since our Kuro Neko is too… tired."
"NO," the boy in the cat mask yelled.
"What's wrong? He's new and needs to learn." The words were spoken in a sinister, monotonous voice. "You'll retrieve a jewel tonight at 8:05 PM and are to meet at the front gate. Don't be late." He touched a flower and it dissolved into ash.
The man walked out.
The boy in the mask sighed and took off his mask. It was him—the one who left the book! Youichi walked up to him and tugged on his shorts.
"Why do we even have to do this? You're so young," he murmured. He knelt down and looked at Youichi in the eyes.
"What's your name?"
"Youichi Hijiri, 2 and ¾."
The boy snorted. "Hyuuga Natsume, 10."
Hyuuga Natsume…
"You don't want to be here. It's the worse place to be. You have to keep a low profile. What's your Alice?"
"… Ghost Manipulation," Youichi's voice was low.
Natsume patted his head and walked out as Youichi watched his retreating back.
Natsume Hyuuga is cool.
The mission was scary; there were gunshots heard in every direction. Natsume told Youichi to stay behind the bush and he couldn't refuse.
But then, he saw a sight that made him furious. Natsume had grabbed the jewel and was swiftly dodging the bullets, but someone from behind shoved Natsume to the ground and stepped on him.
Youichi dashed out and jumped on the man.
"Youichi, get out of here." Hands were all over Youichi, lifting him off effortlessly and throwing him to the ground. He had never been so angry. Before he knew it, spirits were unleashed. The men yelled an octave higher than their usual voice.
Darkness.
Everything was blurry. When Youichi woke up he was in a huge bed and in a maroon room with black accents.
"You shouldn't have gone out." It was Natsume's voice.
"But you were stepped on. That's terrible."
Natsume raised his eyebrow.
"Worse things have happened to me than beingstepped on."
Youichi pouted. Well it had looked pretty painful.
"I'm sorry for going out," Youichi said, looking at his hands. "I was worried something would happen to you."
Natsume ruffled Youichi's hair, "Don't."
No one talked to Youichi in class. They were too scared. Youichi was in the Dangerous Ability class after all. But the one thing he hated most was being in Class A. They were tracing the letter Ain different colors for crying out loud!
Youichi crept outside and ran to find his Onii-chan, Natsume.
He walked into Class B and saw Natsume with his feet up on the table with the rest of the class talking instead of working. Seeing this, Youichi walked to his onii-chan and tugged on his shorts, instantly annoyed when the whole class stopped and watched with anticipation. The infamous Natsume Hyuuga was with a kid?
"What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to be with onii-chan." Youichi had large green eyes staring right at Natsume's.
He sighed. "Go back to class, Youichi." Did he not want him? Youichi stared at the ground dejectedly and walked back to class.
Youichi was depressed. His onii-chan rejected him and his Mom never sent him anything. It was Christmas and he got nothing. He didn't even have friends.
There was a knock on his door but before he even said come in, the door opened—it was Natsume.
"Onii-chan?"
"You haven't eaten in two days," he stated, not beating around the bush.
"I'm not hungry."
Natsume walked in and sat on Youichi's bed. "Since you're new, you probably don't know much." Natsume handed him a brown teddy bear and a small letter attached to it. "This was in the mail for you."
Youichi's eyes widened. It was from his Mom. Two weeks before the academy took him, he'd been staring at this bear through the window while his Mom went shopping.
Natsume picked Youichi up in his arms, "Do you want to go out to eat with me?"
Youichi gave a small smile and nodded. "Where are we going, onii-chan?"
"Onii-chan, huh? Well, Youichi, have you ever gone to Central Town?" Natsume cocked his head to the side and looked at the small kid holding his hand.
"No. What is it?" Natsume didn't reply, just led the small kid to the bus. They received strange glances by girls of all ages. The cold-hearted Natsume Hyuuga was carrying a kid? That's new.
Natsume took Youichi to a small diner, nothing fancy. Natsume ordered an orange soda while Youichi was too nervous to order more than a soda as well.
"I'm paying, so go ahead and order what you want." Whatever he wanted? He gave his onii-chan a small smile and looked through the menu.
"Hi Natsume," came a sour feminine voice. Youichi looked up to see a girl with bleached hair, a short skirt and a buttoned up shirt which had only 3 out of the 7 buttons done. "What are, like, you doing here at, like such a dark time?"
"Hag."
Natsume raised an eyebrow at Youichi.
"Watch this," Natsume said with a spark of amusement in his eyes. He snapped his fingers and her hair was on fire.
Her eyes widened and she let out a very sharp yell and ran to the kitchen.
Natsume chuckled and Youichi had pure admiration on his face. A few minutes later, the manager walked out with beads of sweat dripping down his face.
"N-natsume-sa-sama. I'm sorry fo-for the rude waitress. We'll give you a free plate of french fries, for-for free." He looked very nervous. What was his onii-chan's reputation in the school? It must be really great.
"Just make sure she doesn't bother us again," he replied in a bored tone.
After a minute, a fresh plate of french fries were placed in front of Youichi. His eyes lit up and he started munching on them immediately.
"I want orange soda too," he glared at the manager. "R-right away."
"Not too bad." His onii-chan was cool—no, he was more than cool. Youichi wanted to be just like Natsume.
As they ate, there was no talking, just comfortable silence.
When Youichi finished, he was nervous to ask a question and Natsume could feel him squirm a bit in his chair.
"Um, Natsume?"
"Hn?"
"You…you don't mind talking to me?"
"Youichi, there are two types of people in the world." Natsume looked out the window with a bland look on his face. "People like us, stuck on this world and used. And people who are complete idiots." He looked straight at him. "C'mon, let's go."
He got up and Youichi ran to catch up with him. "Are we going back now?"
No reply.
They ended up at this cloud looking type store. Natsume walked to the opening of it and placed some rabbits on the counter, "One box."
The box was a silver-pearl color and wrapped with a red ribbon. On the side of the box in black letters it said Howalon. "Here," Natsume handed the pretty looking box to the boy and they walked to the bus station.
Natsume dropped Youichi at his room, but ruffled his hair before he walked out. "Thank you onii-chan!" Natusme just strode with his hands in his pocket in the direction of his room.
Youichi jumped on his bed and opened the box. There were six pieces of fluff in it. He grabbed one and ate it.
It was good and it melted in his mouth. He grabbed another piece and looked at his bear. Natsume Hyuuga helped him settled in, and for the first time since he entered the academy, Youichi thought it would be okay. Everything would be fine.
His birthday came around and he was finally three. He held his head up and followed Natsume when he had the chance.
And two months later, he was introduced to a girl named Mikan Sakura.
Author's Note: Hello! I haven't written in about two whole years! Once again,you should all go PMMy Hopeless Romanticbecause she's going far away for averylong time; Also she beta read this at 2 AM, props to my senpai.July 4thmarks my 2 year anniversary with Natsume, wee! Aren't I a bit obsessed? No, I'mveryobsessed. So what do you think? Could you give me a review? Just maybe? Happy 4thof July!
-Midnight Taiyou
July 5, 2009;; 4:54 PM