disclaimer: gakuen alice isn't mine.
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The last scene Natsume expects to stumble upon as the lock on his office door clicks open is that of his childhood friend standing over the prone body of his boss, Persona. And yet, the disturbing scene refuses to fade, even as he rubs his crimson eyes and surreptitiously pinches his arm.
His childhood friend, Mikan Sakura, is indeed standing in his office after years of no contact. Natsume notes the spatter of red, which he blanches at briefly, across the otherwise pale skin of her face and realizes that pinching himself will do him no good; this is not a dream.
The border between dreams and delusions is paper-thin,
In places, non-existent.
"Mikan?" He ventures, inching forward cautiously. He shouldn't be feeling this light, should he? After all, there is a dead person lying mere inches from his feet. Yet somehow he cannot bring himself to feel as he should. Natsume vaguely wonders if this inappropriate feeling of liberation is some form of mad euphoria brought on by the macabre scene before him. Or perhaps he is experiencing his first real taste of freedom? His slave-driver of a boss had been involved in rather dubious business dealings; he had been ruthless, power hungry and cruel.
An eye for an eye,
A tooth for a tooth,
And evil for evil.
Persona had been plenty evil. If Natsume's boss had deserved anything, it would have been death. Natsume didn't understand, however, why Mikan would have had anything to do with his boss's rather untimely demise.
"Mikan?" Natsume repeats, taking another step forward.
"Natsume-kun!" Mikan bubbles, smiling widely. Of course, as any rational human being would, Natsume chooses to ignore the body at his feet and instead focuses on Mikan's face. Looking closer, he notices that something about Mikan is off somehow. The way her smile is just a little too tight, the way her eyes are just a bit wider than usual. How it seems that if Natsume were to tap her shoulder, she would shatter into a million pieces.
Ashes, Ashes,
We all fall down!
"Mikan, what are you doing here?" Natsume asks conversationally, pointedly ignoring the bead of red dripping down his childhood crush's face. He sidesteps his boss and reaches out to tuck a stray chocolate-colored strand of hair behind Mikan's ear.
Contrary to his earlier observations, Mikan does not shatter. "I didn't come here for him, you know." She gestures casually at the prone figure splayed out across the crimson carpet, "I came to see you!"
"Of course." Natsume nods knowingly as if her statement makes perfect sense. He begins to feel the slightest bit of apprehension. If Mikan did not come for Persona, but killed him anyway (which in itself could not have been an easy feat), what in the world had she come to do to him?
I only ever wanted your love,
Was that too much to ask for?
As if sensing Natsume's discomfort, Mikan smiles angelically, which unfortunately does nothing to improve his mood. "Don't worry, Natsume-kun. I only wanted to give you a present since I haven't seen you for so long! I missed you, you know."
"And you just happened to kill my boss in the process?" Natsume questions, wondering if it would be prudent of him to scream loudly and run before Mikan loses it completely.
"Don't be silly, Natsume-kun, of course I had a reason!" Mikan smiles widely, showing off her incisors, "I killed him because he wouldn't let me see you." She glares down at the body, "And, well, I really wanted to see you!" Mikan steps over Persona, backing Natsume into a wall.
Seeing as everything Natsume has ever learned about Taekwondo has just fled his mind, he considers whether or not it would be rude to slap some sense into Mikan. Seconds later, he decides that she may take it the wrong way.
Mikan runs a hand up Natsume's arm and smiles in a rather unbalanced manner, "I'm sorry, Natsume-kun. I just got excited because I wanted to kill the wicked so badly…"
An eye for an eye,
"It's okay, right? He was wicked, right?"
A tooth for a tooth,
"I'm a hero now, Natsume-kun! A hero! Because I killed the wicked. That's what we heroes do, you know, we kill."
And evil for evil.
"Yeah, you're a hero, Mikan. Congratulations."
Mikan doesn't seem to notice the wry tone of Natsume's voice. "Thank you, Natsume-kun! Now I'm going to get what I came here for!" She giggles, fingers tightening around Natsume's arm as she pushes him up against the wall and kisses him directly on the mouth. Instead of feeling soft and warm like Natsume had always imagined, Mikan's lips are cold and cutting.
After what feels like ages to Natsume, Mikan leans away, smiling. "Thank you for the gift, Natsume-kun! I hope you liked yours." She gestures down at Persona's body, an oddly feral look in her eyes.
For the first time in his life, Natsume is completely and utterly speechless. Mikan flits to the door, smiles, and disappears from the room, leaving behind only a trail of small crimson footprints.
I want to eat you up,
I love you so.
A/N: wow, first off, sorry for not updating any of my stories sooner! it's been months, which for me is just plain weird. in three weeks I'll be on winter break, so expect concrete updates sometime around then :D anyway, I hope you like this, and please tell me what you think! honestly, I don't really consider this angst, I'd put it more under 'Psychological,' but fanfiction doesn't seem to have that category. boo hoo. regardless, r-e-v-i-e-w, you'd make my day :)
shinigami's lullaby