Author's Space: Hello there, everyone! This is a fanfic I just thought of and I hope everyone will like it!
Chapter 1: Encounter
"Natsume! Wait for me!" Mikan's shouts could be heard loud and clear. But instead of stopping to wait for the running girl, Natsume continued walking even faster.
"Hey! Did you hear me?! Wait!"
It had always been like this. Mikan, who usually tend to oversleep, chasing her best friend who was never willing to wait for her to go to school together.
"Shut up. You're embarrassing me." Natsume said, sounding cold like usual.
"You're so mean!" Mikan was always complaining about Natsume's attitude towards her. But honestly, she knew very well that he cares. At least she hoped he really does.
We can say that Natsume and Mikan had known each other for their whole lives. That was because they were neighbors since they were born in a small town. Ever since Mikan was born, she lived with her grandpa while Natsume lived with his father and little sister.
But when the two of them were 6 years old, for some unknown reasons, Natsume's father and little sister had to move to another town. Mikan's grandpa then promised Natsume's father he will take good care of his son.
From that moment onwards, there was a new member in Mikan's family.
Mikan was never sure of her relationship with Natsume. Were they best friends, normal friends, acquaintance or strangers?
Well, she was completely sure they weren't strangers since they lived together. She was also sure they weren't just acquaintance since they spend so much time together. Normal friends? But normal friends don't play video games, hang out and even stargaze every weekend, right? Well, Mikan often forced Natsume to go stargazing with her since she said it would be boring doing it alone.
But every time Mikan called Natsume as her best friend, he would say, "Don't be stupid. Why would I become best friends with someone as dumb as you?"
She had always admitted she's somehow dumb and he's like super smart but in her opinion, it wasn't a good reason for him to not acknowledge her as his best friend!
But oh well, as long as Mikan felt happy being around Natsume, she just ignored his mean words and continue living her normal life as a kid in a small town.
About 4 years had passed after Natsume moved in with Mikan and her grandpa. Even when they were already 10 years old, not much had changed.
It was Saturday night when Mikan forced Natsume to go to the lake to stargaze.
"Come on, Natsume! The sky is so pretty tonight!" Mikan pulled Natsume harder when they almost reached the lake.
"So troublesome. I still don't get why you won't come alone." Natsume was clearly annoyed but her constant begging was even more annoying so he had no other choice but to follow her to the lake.
Mikan then lay down on top of the grass and forced Natsume to follow her.
"Look! There are so many stars tonight!" Mikan had always liked stargazing and it never failed to amaze her.
Natsume was about to take a short nap when Mikan suddenly shook his shoulder while shouting, "Natsume, look! That star is moving so fast! Is it a shooting star?!"
Natsume, who felt annoyed again, opened his eyes to take a look, "No, you idiot. That's a plane. How could you be so stupid?"
"A plane?!" Mikan took another look. "Oh right. And there I was thinking I was so lucky to be able to see a shooting star!"
Mikan continued staring at the sky as Natsume slowly fell asleep. But soon afterwards, something woke him up again. This time, it wasn't Mikan.
The sound of people falling could be heard, surprising Natsume and Mikan.
"What was that?" Mikan asked as she looked around to see if there was anything out there.
"Probably just some animals." Natsume was just too lazy to go take a look.
"I think that sound came from there!" Mikan pointed towards a tree at her right side. "Let's so take a look!"
Natsume didn't move at all but Mikan managed to pull him to stand, "Come on, Natsume! What if it's someone who needs help?!"
Natsume sighed and then followed Mikan to the tree she pointed earlier.
Mikan slowly moved away the branches blocking her way and found two children who seemed to be hurt.
"Natsume! Look! I think they're injured!" Mikan quickly rush to the two strangers to take a closer look. Natsume was about to do the same but was distracted by a big eagle flying above them.
"An eagle?" Natsume whispered to himself. He then decided to just go see what's going on first.
One of them was a boy with blonde hair while the other one was a girl with short dark hair. Both of them seemed to be exhausted and had some injuries on them, although the injuries didn't seem severe. They had fainted and looked really tired.
"We better bring them back home with us!" Mikan suggested, as she began carrying the girl.
"We don't know them. What if they turn out to be bad people?" Natsume thought this might be a bad idea.
"They're just kids like us! Hurry up and carry the boy!" Mikan then began walking back home.
Natsume sighed again, carried the boy and began walking back home too.
"Grandpa! We found these two kids injured near the lake!" Mikan called out as she reached home. She sat the girl on the sofa at the living room and went to find her grandpa in the kitchen. Natsume also sat the boy on the sofa beside the girl.
"What's going on?" Mikan's Grandpa was in the kitchen when Mikan suddenly pulled him out to the living room to show him what she was talking about.
After seeing the two injured kids, Mikan's Grandpa quickly rushed to them to take a closer look, "Oh my, poor kids! What happened to them?!"
"We don't know. They were already like that when we found them." Mikan answered, feeling worried for the two strangers they just found.
"For now, let's tend their injuries and let them have some rest." Mikan's Grandpa said as he went to take some towels and medicines for their injuries.
Natsume and Mikan just watched as Grandpa tend to the two kids' injuries.
"I wonder where they came from. I never saw them or saw the uniform they're wearing right now." Mikan said, feeling curious.
"I never saw this school uniform too. Perhaps they came from another town or city." Grandpa answered as he finished tending to the injuries, "That's it! I just hope they can have a good rest tonight. Why don't you two bring some mattresses here for them while I fix things here?
"Okay!" Mikan answered.
Mikan and Natsume brought two mattresses to the living room and laid both of them down on separate mattresses.
"I hope they're okay." Mikan said.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they'll be okay after some sleep. The two of you should go to sleep now! It's already quite late!" Grandpa said.
Mikan's house only had two bedrooms since it was bought thinking only Grandpa and Mikan will be staying there. Ever since Natsume moved into the house, Mikan got herself a roommate.
Mikan's room was quite spacious so the distance between her mattress and Natsume's was quite far. Both of them had their own wardrobe and desk. Mikan had always liked talking to Natsume before sleeping. But of course, Natsume never really responded much so Mikan was never sure if he's awake or asleep.
But that night was a tiring night and once Mikan lay down on her mattress, she was fast asleep.
It was still 6 AM when Mikan woke up the next morning. She then decided to take a look at the two kids they found last night. Her steps were loud and she even closed the door loudly and hence, made Natsume woke up too.
Feeling annoyed to be woken up so early in the morning on a Sunday, he sat up and whispered, "What in the world is wrong with that girl?" He then left the room and went to find Mikan, guessing she must be at the living room with the two injured kids.
And of course, Natsume's guess was right. Mikan saw Natsume and whispered to him, "Hey, Natsume! I think they're waking up already!"
Natsume stood beside Mikan as they both looked at the two kids who were beginning to wake up.
The girl woke up first and seemed to have a headache while the boy woke up soon afterwards looking quite nauseous. Mikan then went to the kitchen and brought back two glass of water, "Here! Drink some water! It'll help you two feel better!"
Still feeling weak, the two of them slowly drank the water and began looking around.
The girl saw Mikan and stared at her with a questioning face, "Who are you?"
"My name is Mikan Sakura! And this is Natsume Hyuuga!" Mikan pointed at Natsume who stood beside her. "We found you near the lake last night! The two of you fainted and had injuries so we brought you back to our house. Are you guys feeling better now?" Mikan asked, sounding concerned.
The two of them nodded slowly, obviously still feeling quite weak.
"Where are you from? And what are your names?" Mikan asked.
"My name is Hotaru Imai and this is Ruka Nogi. We're from Tokyo."Hotaru answered as she stood up. Ruka stood up afterwards too. "Thank you for helping us."
"No need to thank us!" Mikan was glad they were fine already.
"Oh, the two of you are awake already? That's good to know!" Grandpa walked into the living room and looked happy to see the two of them looking much better than yesterday.
"Thank you for helping us." Ruka and Hotaru said to Grandpa and bowed a little.
"You're welcome! But what happened to the two of you?" Grandpa asked, looking concerned.
Ruka and Hotaru looked at each other before Ruka answered, "We ran away from school and got hurt during our escape."
"Ran away from school?! Why?!" Mikan wasn't someone who loved going to school but she never really thought about running away from it, especially if you'll end up getting injuries after doing so.
"We came from Alice Academy. A school only for people with special powers called Alice. For us, that school is more like a jail than a school." Hotaru explained.
Ruka then continued, "After someone enters that school, he or she won't be allowed to leave the school. Even our parents aren't allowed to visit us. The only way we can contact our parents is through mails."
Natsume, Mikan and Grandpa looked shocked after hearing all those.
"Did the two of you run away from that school because you miss your family?" Mikan asked, feeling sorry for the two of them.
"Well, that's probably half the reason why we ran away." Ruka answered. "We just don't like the idea of being trapped in that school so we tried escaping from it."
"I never knew there's such a school." Mikan whispered to herself as she looked at Ruka and Hotaru.
"Anybody who has an Alice will be forced to go to Alice Academy no matter what." Hotaru added, looking quite upset.
Mikan then thought to herself, "Wow, having this so called Alice would be cool! Though I can't imagine my life being trapped in a school! And life away from Grandpa and Natsume would be horrible!"
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.
"I wonder who's there." Grandpa said as he began walking towards the door.
Natsume then noticed the slight fear in Ruka and Hotaru's eyes.
"It might be people from Alice Academy." Ruka whispered to Hotaru. "Let's escape through that window if it is really them." Ruka pointed to a window behind them and Hotaru nodded.
Grandpa opened the door and saw a man with blonde hair, smiling brightly, "Hello there, Sir! I would like to ask if you saw a boy with blonde hair and a girl with short dark hair. They're about 10 years old and are wearing similar uniforms."
Grandpa began to panic a bit but tried to remain calm, "I-I didn't see them."
That man in blonde hair had seen through Grandpa and began to feel suspicious, "I see."
Suddenly, he noticed two kids behind him running as fast as they could through a window. He laughed a little before saying, "Thanks, Sir! I seemed to have found the people I'm looking for."
Grandpa looked behind him and saw that Ruka and Hotaru had disappeared. When he turned back to the door, the man with blonde hair was no longer there.
"Oh no!" Grandpa shouted at Natsume and Mikan. "That man must have saw the two kids and is chasing after them!"
Mikan then quickly ran through the door, "We must help them!"
Natsume ran after Mikan, thinking she can't do things on her own.
"W-wait a minute! Be careful!" Grandpa was never able to run after Natsume and Mikan since they were always so fast.
Natsume and Mikan found Ruka and Hotaru by the lake, where they were stargazing last night. The man with blonde hair they saw earlier on had caught up to them.
"You two sure are brave enough to escape." The man said. "Come on now, you two. I don't want anybody to be hurt. Be good kids and come back with me."
"No way, Narumi. I'm not going back there!" Ruka shouted, looking angry.
"That's not the right way to take to your teacher, Ruka." Narumi took another step towards Ruka and Hotaru and looked as if he's ready to attack them. "I really don't want to hurt you two but I had to do so if I have no other choice."
It must had been reflex because seeing Narumi looking as if he'll hurt Ruka and Hotaru, Natsume quickly ran towards them and shielded them with a fire barrier he don't even know where it came from.
Narumi took some steps backwards and looked really surprised, "What was that?!"
Natsume himself looked quite surprised at what he just did, "What in the world was that?"
Mikan looked surprised too. But suddenly, she saw Narumi stood up straighter and was walking towards Natsume. Thinking that Narumi will hurt Natsume for what he just did, Mikan ran towards Narumi and grabbed his right arm, "Don't hurt them!"
Narumi was shocked and looked down to see Mikan, "I wasn't going to hurt them!"
"Yes, you were!" Mikan insisted.
Narumi sighed and then thought to himself, "Looks like I have to deal with them one by one. Let's start from this girl." Narumi looked as if he was going to use his Alice on Mikan. But few seconds had passed and nothing happened.
"What's going on?" Narumi thought to himself. "Why isn't my Alice working on this girl? Don't tell me…"
Mikan continued glaring at Narumi, as if warning him not to do anything to hurt any of them.
Narumi was still in shock and didn't notice Natsume who's behind him.
Natsume kicked Narumi's back and pulled Mikan, "Come on! Run!"
Ruka and Hotaru followed Natsume back to Grandpa's house, leaving Narumi touching his back after the sudden kick, "Ouch!" Narumi stood up straighter and thought, "I must bring back Ruka and Hotaru to the Academy. And those two other kids too."
Back at Grandpa's house, the four of them were panting and feeling tired.
"I wonder if that guy will come back again." Mikan said, catching her breath.
"He will come back." Hotaru said and sighed.
That was when a knock could be heard from the door and everyone suspect it must be Narumi.
"It must be him again!" Mikan said, sitting up straighter.
"Let me open the door." Grandpa said as he walked to the door. "I'll beat him up if he tries to hurt any of you!"
After Grandpa opened the door, it really was Narumi. Grandpa was about to scold him when Narumi said, "Wait, Sir! I'm not here to hurt anyone! I'm here to discuss about something!"
"Like I would believe you!" Grandpa was about to hit Narumi when Ruka suddenly spoke.
"Grandpa, let him talk first. He might be annoying but he doesn't seem he will hurt us." Ruka sighed.
Grandpa walked back to the living room and let Narumi in.
Narumi smiled and walked to the living room too, "Well, I'm here to persuade Ruka and Hotaru to go back to the academy. And another thing…"
Narumi stopped for a while before continuing, "Looks like these two kids must go back to Alice Academy with us too." Narumi looked at Natsume and Mikan.
There was a silence for a few moments before Grandpa spoke, "What?! What do you mean by that?!"
Narumi explained, "Because of our encounter earlier on, I found out that these two kids have Alices too."
"Are you sure?! Don't sprout nonsense!" Grandpa said.
"Yes, I'm sure." Narumi answered. Even though he honestly wasn't too sure about Mikan's case. "That's why these two kids must come back with us too."
"What if we don't want to?!" Mikan said.
"Well, anybody with an Alice has no choice but to come with us to the Alice Academy. We really don't want to use force to bring the two of you back with us. Why don't the two of you think about this first? I'll come back again tomorrow morning. I hope the two of you will cooperate with me so I don't have to use force to bring you two back with me. I guess that's all for now. I'll take my leave first." Narumi said and left the house.
There was a silence for a few moments before Mikan whispered to Natsume, "Natsume, what should we do now?"
Natsume always knew what to do whenever something happens, but this time, things are different, "I don't know."
What will happen from now on?
Author's Space: That's the end of the first chapter! How is it? I hope it's okay. Please tell me your opinions by reviewing! You may also suggest on how to make this fanfic better or correct my mistakes but please be kind. Thank you for reading and I hope everyone will continue reading the next chapters! I guess that's all for now and I apologize if I can't update the next chapter fast. But don't worry, I will write and update as soon as I have time! Thank you again for reading and that is all for now! Have a nice day and bye!