Here goes the first chapter of a new fanfic. I will only make the disclaimer once: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters!
There, enjoy!
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Chapter One
Natsume was sitting under his favourite Sakura tree, concentrating hard on the manga which was placed on his lap.
He growled in frustration as he noticed that he had looked at the same page for a few minutes now without actually understanding what was happening.
His mind was elsewhere, wandering to the seven people who were swinging on a hammock, obviously enjoying themselves.
It wasn't hard to tell anyway, as they were all screaming and laughing, pushing each other around and off the cloth, joking around.
What a stupid idea of Koko to have bought this thing. And then to hang it up right next to him, when they all knew that he wanted to be left alone.
The mind reader's head shot up as he heard those thoughts, and Natsume glared at him. Apparently, Koko had so much fun that he didn't even seem to mind and simply smiled back at him before proceeding to tickle Anna.
"How childish can anyone actually get?" the flame caster muttered under his breath.
But it wasn't as much their presence which disturbed him, as he tried to convince himself, but the fact that they could have fun so easily, without having to think of anyone else, and just be who they were.
He sighed, but it sounded more like a snarl. He wasn't getting anywhere if his mind was so restless.
This was definitely not his day.
He closed his eyes for a second, exhaled sharply and opened them again, his eyes looking over to the others.
Ruka, Hotaru, Koko, Anna, Yuu, Nonoko, and Mikan.
In his mind, he had separated them all into pairs, with Mikan left at the end. He felt a strange pain in his chest as he looked at her.
She never looked that way when she was with him for longer than a few minutes. At the beginning, she always was, but then, he always said something which brought a frown to her face.
He had to, didn't he?
'Of course' he answered himself in his mind, too quickly.
Natsume clenched his fists, looking away.
"Natsume!" her high-pitched voice was carried by a gentle breeze. He didn't look up.
"Natsume!" He ignored her and lay down, his book on his face, resting his head on his arms. But he knew that she wasn't going to give up.
He was right; her footsteps, light on the green grass, stopped directly next to him, waiting.
He was waiting too, waiting for her to go away. Not wanting it though.
As she didn't, he slowly freed his right hand from under his head, lifting it towards the manga on his face, removing it at an unhurried pace.
Any other person would have felt insulted or would have quickly left, but not her. She smiled at him, her innocence like a slap in his face.
She was so different of him. If she knew who she was trying to be friends with, she would never look at him that way.
It was as if his mind snorted at that thought. Who was saying that she really was trying to be his friend? She was like that to everyone.
"I know that I already asked you, but I really want you to come and join us" she said, her smile growing even wider. How was that possible, to make her bright smile even brighter?
As he didn't answer, she kneeled next to him and took his arm. Her skin felt warm through his shirt.
"Please? You're so alone here, and…"
He interrupted her. "If that is your only reason, just know that you needn't have bothered. I'm fine here."
It looked as if she was going to be mad because of his rude tone, but she simply looked back at her friends who were all going on with their games.
It wasn't hard to see who with whom; they were exactly divided into the pairs Natsume had thought of earlier.
Mikan giggled, and the fire caster was puzzled for a short moment before he understood.
"You see, they are all having so much fun with each other…Not that I complain, because they also play with me, but I just thought…" her voice trailed off.
Since when was she so perceptive? Natsume wondered. It seemed that she could tell the feelings of others, but not those directed towards her.
He sighed. Strange little girl.
"No" he said abruptly. He couldn't, Persona had already seen him spending so much time with her anyway; he couldn't risk any more mistakes.
She frowned lightly, then bit her lips.
Regret washed through him, but he couldn't help it. Was it his fault that she kept on coming to him?
He didn't directly stop her though; he had told her once, but she hadn't listened. Why wasn't she scared by the darkness within him?
"Now if that was everything, you can go. I don't want to, so just go back" He kept his tone cool, detached, then turned away once again to not have to look her in the face.
He despised himself, but was sure that this was the only way for keeping her from getting hurt.
He knew that there were more ways of getting hurt than just physically, but his first priority was to keep her out of Persona's reach.
Natsume heard her move again as she stood up. Only as she removed her hand from his arm did he realize that she had kept it on for the whole time.
The air surrounding him seemed avid to push away all the warmth which was the only thing still left from her touch.
His arm felt like it was burning now, burned from a cold fire, and it was as if he could still physically feel her hand.
What he didn't know, or didn't want to know was that he was feeling it with his heart.
He leaned back on the tree which had often comforted him, but it felt cold as well. What was wrong with this day? Even the sun had hidden behind a group of clouds.
Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the sounds that his surroundings made, something he often did after his missions to forget.
There was the soft sound of the breeze through the branches of the trees, birds singing, his friends laughing. He could make out her laugh clearly among of those of the others.
He smiled bitterly. She didn't need him anyway; proof was that she was laughing with them. Why had she come to him, asked him to join if she could have fun with them better than with him?
He opened his eyes. Apparently it was her turn to push the hammock, the others sitting in it, holding the edges to not fall out while she was swinging.
A boy in their class suddenly came running down the path which lead towards them. Natsume was instantly alert.
"Mikan!" he shouted. "Mikan!"
Natsume's eyes widened as he watched what happened next, unable to move. He saw Mikan turning around, looking out for whoever had shouted.
The fire caster held his breath, seeing everything in slow motion. He closed his eyes as if resigning, opening them just a split second before the mat hit Mikan and sent her flying back a few meters.
What a classic; it was almost laughable. Almost.
Everyone was still; the shocked boy was frozen in place, on his face a comic expression. Comic in the sense of exaggerated, something you usually saw on TV.
In one swift movement, Natsume had gotten to his feet, reaching her inert form before anyone else had been able to move.
She was breathing flatly, her face white, a thin line of blood escaping her nose and the corner of her mouth.
Her lips were pale, contrasting the bright colour of the liquid, making it stand out even more.
Blood. On her face. He turned around, narrowing his eyes at the boy who had come closer.
"You son of a bitch!" If not for Mikan, he would have thrown himself at the other boy immediately.
He clenched his fists, then opened one of his hands slowly, never leaving the terrified eyes of his opposite. A flame flared up, hot and burning like his anger.
Instinctively, the boy stretched out an arm to his face. Natsume growled.
A look on Mikan's seemingly sleeping face stopped him from going any further. The blood from her lips, which had flowed down her chin and on her neck made him realize that there was no point in doing anything rash.
The flame went out, leaving his hand open. He stared at it for a second, then turned towards Mikan again.
A sob escaped Anna's lips; Nonoko held her comfortingly.
Natsume realized that he had lost control once again. This was unacceptable. It couldn't happen again.
Unchained, he might even be as dangerous as Persona.
Without looking at anyone, he picked up her limp figure in his arms, his arms holding her head and her legs, keeping her close to him.
The boy got closer, hesitantly, but his conscience was stronger than his fear.
"Let me…help" he mumbled.
Before Natsume could reply, Hotaru answered; he hadn't noticed that she was now standing next to him.
After looking at Mikan's face, she inhaled sharply and looked at the boy, her eyes firm. She couldn't completely hide her concern though.
"You have done enough!" she said calmly, but her voice was so sharp that she might have shouted. Her calm was worse though.
"But…I…it was…you…" he stuttered.
"If you want to help, go and make yourself useful by informing Narumi that Natsume and me will not participate in the afternoon classes." Her voice still hadn't lost that scathing tone.
With a look on Mikan, she stared at him mockingly. "Neither will Mikan…obviously. Now go!"
Without another word, he turned around and ran, as fast as he could.
Natsume nodded lightly into her direction, thankful. He definitely wouldn't have been able to handle it as calmly.
Walking away towards the hospital wing, he left it to Hotaru to follow him now or to join them later.
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There it was, please review!! Hope you liked it :)