Home Alone
(Koko x Sumire)
Disclaimer: I don't, and never will I, own Gakuen Alice.
Dark hair sprawled all around her head and face, 25 year old Sumire reached for her ringing phone that she was sure was somewhere atop the bedside table. Getting the phone after much difficulty, she looked at the caller ID registering on its screen and deliberately pressed reject call and threw the phone beside her and went back to sleep.
Feeling dead beat, she went back to sleep. Not a minute later, she heard the door of her apartment unit open and noisy footsteps going to her direction.
"What are you doing on a December 25 lazing around on your bed?" along with a noisy toy trumpet, Koko announced loudly the moment he got in her room.
"Oh for goodness' sake, Koko, I just got in at 9 from a 48 hours operation, at least let me spend my rightly-earned holiday as what it's called, a holiday," she faced the other way and pulled the comforter over her head.
"We're both working under the police, Sumire," he reminded her.
"Unlike you who only have to sit and wait for people to interrogate, I have to be up and about, risk my body, and exchange blows with hooligans to bring them to you for interrogation," she shot back at him without looking. She already knew that he was mouthing every word as she said them.
"It's Christmas, I thought you'd be excited for an excuse to get all dressed up," he said as she heard the wooden doors of her closet open.
"It's not like there's a Christmas Ball to get dressed up for," she finally removed the comforter over her head but kept her eyes shut.
"Aren't you meeting with your brother?" she opened her eyes lazily and saw him now seated on her dresser chair, the chair turned in the opposite direction but him facing her.
"He's probably there on his lab too caught up with whatever experiment he's trying, no use meeting with him," she waved her hand in dismissal. "Now would you get the hell out of here and let me sleep? Go bother Kitsu or Mochu or whoever."
"They're both working today, so they're a no go," he quickly answered.
"You won't stop, will you?" she blew out air in frustration. No one dares bother her when she firmly says no except for this mind reader. For some reason, he was scared but at the same time not scared of her.
His smile turned wider in triumph. "Get up and get dressed," he said simply. She had no choice but to will her tired body up. She headed for the bathroom but stopped just before turning the knob.
"Are you planning a prank again? I'm not gonna get back to a room full of spiders, am I?" she asked suspiciously.
"Just get changed," he said and proceeded to her living room and turned on the game console.
"Tsk, what a child," she shook her head and went inside the bathroom to take a shower. Even though still feeling tired, the water completely woke her up. She opened the door and heard the loud sound of someone playing a game in the living room. She went in front of the open closet and lazily scanned her clothes. Most of the clothes there were her police uniforms, if not training clothes. "Koko, where are we going?"
"Just get dressed up however you want. If you want to go all out, you may," he shouted back.
"Did not really help," she gritted her teeth in irritation. She looked at her clothes again. She had jeans, but her tops mostly consisted of t-shirts. After searching more thoroughly, she finally found a top that was more suitable for hanging out, but was obviously stuck in her closet for so long it was totally crumpled. She looked up and saw a lone dress at the end of the hanger line. She raised both outfits and shook her head. "These are the only casual clothes I have left, huh."
She settled for the dress and sat in front of the dresser to prep her face and hair. Reaching for her makeup materials, she realized just how dull her dresser looked for a woman. While she owned cosmetics, they were all suited for simple office makeup. She looked around her and realized that her room was dull and plain. A bed that had linen that were obviously bought just for the sake of having linen, a dresser with just the basic necessities like comb, a plain wooden closet, a desk with a file cabinet, that was it. She wore the dress and went out of the room. She saw Koko still playing in her living room.
He turned his head to give her a quick look then went back in front of the TV. "You can play for a while, I'll just have a quick coffee." He nodded and continued playing. She went to the adjacent kitchen and turned on her coffee maker. She took a cup and settled on a seat at her small dining table. She watched Koko play as she sipped on her coffee. The whole apartment unit was plain. Anyone who came in would think that the person living here just goes back here to sleep and take a bath. The only reason she had a gaming console was because Koko bought it as a 'gift' for her last year, but it was for his own benefit too, so that he could play when he was here. She didn't understand it but he comes over all the time, sometimes for no reason at all. Sometimes he came and simply played there while she worked or slept or cleaned.
"I'm done, let's go to wherever you're taking me," she said. Koko quickly shut off the TV and followed her. She saw his all too familiar car and headed directly to the passenger side as Koko went to take his seat on the driver's side.
"Where do you want to go have breakfast?" Koko asked her as he started the car.
"I dunno, you're the one who forced me to go out, you decide," she answered.
"Okay, want to have pancakes?" She glared at him. He grinned. "Right, nabe it is."
He'd been used to that. No matter if she says he decide, she'll dictate what she wants in the end anyway. They headed for the shopping street and went to a nabe restaurant there to eat first. "What a glutton."
She immediately whacked him and pinched his ears. "You're the one who went waking me up to eat."
They ate quietly. She looked at Koko while they ate. It's been years since they graduated from the academy but she still can't read him. He was pretty much her best friend but sometimes she felt it bothersome to have him around since he could read her mind.
"I'm treating you to lunch and I'm still bothersome?" he grinned at her. Her eyes glared at him sharply as she knocked his head with her fist. They continued eating and then they went out to the street and walked around. "We still have time. You can shop, I'll follow you."
"What's with you today?" she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Stop getting confused, I get confused too," he could read her mind and her confusion. WHACK!
"Years pass and you're still an idiot," she crossed her arms and went ahead. "Where are we going really? Don't tell me you took me out today just so I could shop?"
"Just shop if you want, you used to love shopping when we were still students," Koko said with his signature eternal smile.
They walked along. The street was full of people shopping and eating out. Despite not being a national holiday, the Christmas spirit can be felt in the air. The crowd was full of couples, families, and group of friends hanging out spending the day happily. She noticed that most were young, high school and college students. They were all dressed fashionably, and she knew it was one of the most important things for them at that age. She was like that once too, always taking care of how she looked before going out of her dorm room.
They continued walking, her leading the way and Koko just following behind her. As she looked through the windows of the shops, memories of the past came back to her. Everyone was pretty much the same during their entire stay in the academy. After they graduated high school, most of them stayed at the academy for their specialist training, the higher education equivalent for them alices. Some of them though had to complete their training somewhere else due to the nature of the paths they decided to take. It was sad, but they knew they had to live their own lives too.
Life in the academy was hard, but life outside the academy, the real world, was harder. That was what she realized when she finally got out of the academy and lived on her own. They all went their own ways. She knew Ruka was a veterinarian, Hotaru now owned one of the largest tech companies in the world, Mikan decided to become a teacher in the academy, while she decided to join the police. Koko did too, but unlike her who was always on field, Koko was only called for interrogations.
They constantly saw each other due to the close nature of their jobs, however, they rarely see their other friends, her especially. As they both climbed ranks, she got more and more to take care off while Koko on the other hand got more and more free time. Her life ended up this way, no time to hang out with friends or get dressed up and go out. Her free times she used to rest. She barely met even her brother.
"Go buy something for yourself. You only use your money to buy guns," Koko called out to her. She didn't know how many shops did they pass by already.
She stopped in front of another shop to look at the dress on display carefully. "Let's go inside this one," she said finally and went in. She took the dress to look at it carefully.
"Aren't you gonna try it?" Koko asked, though he wasn't looking at her as he was casually browsing through the racks.
"Did you know that you're the person I'd least want to go clothes shopping with? One, boys are absolutely useless to go clothes shopping with, and two, you'd probably get all weird clothes and tell me to try them on and laugh," she said with an eyebrow raised. He suddenly let go of a hanger he was just about to pick and laughed sheepishly. Through all the years they'd been together, one thing she learned was to not stress herself out with each and every idiocy he does as she would just be the one getting tired in the end. She turned to the shop assistant. "I'm going to try this on. Koko, stay put and don't you dare whine while I try this on."
She went inside the changing room and tried on the dress. It was more for a dinner than a casual hang out, but she liked its look on her. She went out to show Koko. "Oi, what do you think?" Koko looked at her and blinked. "I told you what do you think?"
"The dress is nice, but you're ugly anyway," WHACK! He laughed. "Your mind is saying, say I look okay with it at the very least, you dimwit. But buy it if you want it, don't worry about things like you don't have anywhere to wear it at."
"Ugh, like I said, absolutely useless to go clothes shopping with," she said, doing her best to calm herself. "Anyway I'm buying this."
It started off a chain of shopping at the street for her. They went in shop after shop and she almost bought at least one article of clothing at each shop. Koko on the other hand just followed her through it all, though he started getting bored in the middle of it and just played on his phone while they walked. He didn't say anything though, even when they went inside a cosmetics store.
It was around 4 when they decided to stop and sit for a while. She looked up then spoke to him. "Hey, what really is up today?" Koko still didn't answer and just kept his perpetual smile and sipped on his drink. All her shopping bags were around him, as she of course ordered him to carry them all.
She looked at him and watched him as he was alternately sipping on his drink and playing on his phone. At that moment though, while their lips was closed, they still kept conversing through her mind. She finally thanked him for taking her out today, for reminding her how to take care of herself, for being beside her at this time.
"It's time, let's go now," he then stood up and picked up all her bags again. Without telling her what's up, they went back to his car and then he drove somewhere. They finally stopped at a hotel.
"Why are we in a hotel?" her eyes widened. She almost forgot to control her whiskers and dog ears from showing. He just continued leading the way. They went to the second floor and then he led her to a function room. What was there totally surprised her.
The room was decorated with Christmas décor. There were lots of food and music was flowing through. What surprised her more was the presence of most of their friends back in the academy who were here in the country.
"Permy! Koko! You're here!" Mikan excitedly went to them and tried hugging her.
She was temporarily stunned. Mikan was hugging her tightly which she didn't take note of until she woke up from her trance due to the hug tightening around her. She immediately threw her off her. "Get off me, idiot, I'm not your nerdy best friend."
"Looks like you didn't change, Permy," Mikan grinned. Did she not, really?
They joined the others as they talked, asked each other about how life was recently, and reminisced about the past. In the midst of it all, she still couldn't believe she was with her friends once more. It was as if she went back to the old days in the academy, when December 24 meant Christmas Ball with everyone in the academy.
Almost everyone was there, with the exception of Hotaru and Natsume, who were both overseas as of the moment according to Mikan.
"It was so lucky I arrived yesterday because I wanted to spend Christmas with my family," Anna said, who was taking an apprenticeship under a world renowned pâtissier in France.
Even some of their close seniors were there. Tsubasa and Misaki, whom she knew were also working for as investigators on a much higher rank, the student council trio, Shuichi, Subaru and Shizune were all serving as teachers in the academy, Tono, who would only tell them that he was doing 'things here and there'.
"Who organized this, anyway?" she asked.
"Mikan, I guess? Iinchou said Mikan just gave him the idea and didn't stop bothering him until he called on everyone. I guess after calling just a few persons, it just spread around and people started calling one another," Nonoko answered.
"Nonoko, do you have something for body pain? The old hag always says her body is dead beat after every operation," Koko popped up beside her. WHACK!
"Koko is still the same," Nonoko laughed then searched through her bag. "But yeah, I do have one. Here, Sumire, it's a tea infusion good for the body after a tiring work."
"Nonoko, just to clarify, are you sure a ghost won't come out of this?" she asked anxiously. Everyone knew Nonoko's track record of creating weird experiments all the way until high school.
"No, definitely not! I did get better at handling my alice after training. And besides, I drink it when I get home from work. It's available in the market too," Nonoko smiled.
"Hey! Kitsu give me back my cake!" they heard Mikan yell. They all looked and saw her running after Kitsu who was floating with a plate on his hand. "And I even made sure to get the best part."
Koko laughed hard at Mikan.
"Oh dear, the three idiots are together again," she tapped her forehead. Pretty soon the place was already chaotic, as if they weren't mature adults already, as if they weren't separated for years now.
"I arrive expecting a reunion party and this is what I see?" just then, the door to the function hall opened revealing the younger Imai, tall and as powerful-looking as ever.
"Ho-ta-ru! You made it!" Mikan immediately dramatically rushed over to Hotaru to hug her, but before she even got a meter near Hotaru, a canon was launched against her.
"Aho Canon Extreme, a portable canon launcher that automatically aims at any stupid person," she immediately advertised.
"I thought her business was tech? Why is she in firearms?" "I think we should be worried more if it's actually legal to have those."
"Looks like many made it. Are there crabs? Ruka, you're here too, go get me some," Hotaru scanned the crowd, her look stopping at Ruka.
"Hey, I'm not like before, you can't boss me around," Ruka said, furious.
"Okay, I guess I'll just release a special edition photobook," she said, flashing various photos of Ruka while tending to animals with his animal pheromone. "These were the unreleased cuts, Ruka."
"Did you also want me to get you fish roe and clams?" Ruka asked dejectedly. Hotaru smiled in triumph and took a seat. Ruka proceeded to get her a plate full of seafood while murmuring. "How did she even take those pictures?"
"You're already a billionaire, Hotaru, why do you still need to spy on Ruka and take pictures of him to sell?" she asked.
"They sell pretty well, as much as my more expensive inventions," Hotaru said, money signs obvious in the glint of her eyes.
"Now that's one person who really didn't change," Yuu said with a grin. "It's a pity Natsume isn't here. He's pretty much the only one who isn't here."
"Mikan, where is Natsume now?" Anna asked.
"The last time he went here, he just told me not to be too nosy when I asked him where he was going yet again," Mikan said with her head down.
"He's in Russia this time," Ruka said with a gentle smile. "He'll be gone for quite a long while too."
"Natsume still treats you the same, huh," she snickered at Mikan. Mikan just stuck out her tongue at her.
"Ruka, it's your chance," Koko and Kitsu immediately patted Ruka at which he blushed beet red.
"After all these years, you guys are still fighting over an idiot?" she teased.
"Oh, they're on a higher level now. Natsume takes Mikan out every time he's back in the country while Ruka always sends her stuff like fruits from the different provinces he goes to," Koko said. Ruka immediately ran after him to beat him.
"You didn't know, Permy? Aren't you the president of the Natsume and Ruka fans club?" Hotaru asked her with an eyebrow raised.
"That was a long time ago. I didn't even know that Natsume came back after the first time he went out of the country," she said. "There are cases left and right that I have to take care of."
"You should enjoy yourself more, Sumire. We're both being sent here and there too but we try to find time to relax sometimes," Misaki said to her. "It's fun to find new places to eat at every time we solve a case."
"No plans on having children yet, senpai?" Hotaru asked the couple. They got married immediately after graduation. "I thought you got married early because you two were too excited."
Tsubasa just scratched his head while Misaki laughed. "Nah, we'd like to enjoy ourselves a bit more. Besides, if we have kids I'd have to stop working. Who knows what this idiot would do when I'm not around?"
She observed the ever-bickering couple. She knew they were handling international cases, and for sure it was a lot more work than she has. Yet they didn't look half as tired as she was. Was it because they were together?
The party ended late at night. The ones who were teaching in the academy left all together. One by one the others followed suit.
"Hey, Sumire, remember what we told you, enjoy yourself a bit more. You're working to support your life, not living to support your work," Misaki said again before she and Tsubasa left.
"Iinchou, thanks for organizing something like this," she said to Yuu. It was only them left, plus Koko who was seeing Kitsu and Mochu off.
"Oh, it was Mikan and Koko's idea. Mikan just suddenly told me to tell everyone but they were the ones who actually prepared everything," Yuu, ever humble, immediately waved his hands in dismissal. A car stopped in front of them and a chauffeur opened the door for Yuu. "Well, I'll go now, it was good to see you, Sumire."
She waved at him still stunned. When she turned, Koko was already in front of her.
"We should go too, I'm pretty sure you have an operation tomorrow again," Koko said and led the way to his car. That was when she remembered that she did have an operation tomorrow. "It was in the back of your mind earlier, when I first barged in your house."
"So you do admit that you barged in my house?" she crossed her arms. He just laughed aloud.
"By the way, the senpais have a tougher job than us, right? Why does Misaki-senpai look younger than you are?" WHACK! Her fist already knew how to act without her willing it to in times like this. It probably already memorized the shape of Koko's head.
"Baka!" she said, seething. Koko just laughed again. They reached his car and got in. She stayed quiet and so did Koko who focused on his driving.
"I won't go up anymore. You're as strong as a bull, you can carry those bags," he said when they reached her place. Her eyebrows twitched but she herself was tired too, having him go up would just entail them arguing for a longer period of time. She took the bags of the things she shopped for earlier and got out of the car. Koko got out too, to see her off at least.
"Hey," she called out when she was a few steps away from the car already. She faced him when she was near the entrance. "Thank you. I wasn't able to get anything for you this Christmas, I'll try to give something to you next time. But it was a nice Christmas gift."
She turned around to get in immediately, embarrassed.
"What do you mean? I left your gift inside your room," she turned back again, and she saw him with a smile that said that he just did some mischief again.
Her eyes widened in surprise. He waved his hand. "You. Did. Not." She ran inside the building and into her unit. She fished for her keys in panic but when she finally slid it in the keyhole, she hesitated in opening the door. There was no knowing what Koko could do. She just silently hoped it wasn't something like a large hairy spider hanging in front of her door.
Holding one of the paper bags in front of her face, she slowly opened the door. No spiders. She breathed in relief then continued going in carefully. She was almost tempted to reach for her gun to shoot whatever creature it was Koko left in her house. There was nothing in the main room. She was about to proceed to her bedroom when her phone rang.
She reached for it. It was Koko. "It's nothing scary, don't worry," he said, fully aware that she haven't seen whatever his gift was. "Go look for it."
"If this is something that would give me a heart attack I swear I'm going to kill you," she said as she opened the door. "KOKO!"
The moment she opened the door, a spider fell right in front of her face. It was hung through a string on top of her door. Koko laughed at the loud scream she emitted. "I'm getting better at calculating. I got the timing of your actions precisely. If Math when we were students was like this it would have helped me."
"You idiot!" she yelled at the phone as she realized that the spider was actually a fake one. She was about to yell at him again when she looked past the hanging spider and saw something on top of her bed. "Wait a sec."
On top of her bed was a small gift box. She went to it and picked it up. She wedged her phone between her shoulder blade and ear then unwrapped the box. The wrapped box turned out to be a jewelry box. "Oi, do you have a death wish? You think I'll be fooled just because you used a real jewelry box? It's going to be a real spider this time, isn't it?" her nostrils were already flaring just thinking about it.
"Just open it," she heard him chuckle. She hesitated. Did Koko really give her a serious gift this time? Thinking about it, Koko shouldn't have a box from a jewelry store if he didn't buy from it.
"Can't be," she murmured. She got an insecticide in one hand then slowly opened the box using the other. "What the—"
She put down the insecticide and sat on her chair. Right in front of her was a necklace with an emerald pendant.
"I never gave you a gift you actually liked, did I?" Koko said from the other line.
"What's with you today?" she asked, once again stunned because of him.
"Try it on," she complied and started to remove the necklace from the box. She lifted the foam to take out the necklace but she felt something despicable behind it. She removed the foam fully to reveal another fake spider behind the box, causing her to drop it necklace.
"KOKO!" he laughed just as hard as she yelled.
"At least it's not real, I contemplated making it a live one," he said, then laughed hard again. On the other hand, she, having calmed down a bit already, picked up the necklace and held it up. It was really pretty. While still a bit irritated at the continuous pranks, she couldn't help but feel touched just seeing the necklace.
She silently put it on then looked at the mirror. It suited her emerald eyes nicely. "Ne, tomorrow after my operation, let's try out a new place to eat at," she said when she picked up the phone again.
"Okay," even without seeing him, she knew this time he smiled a genuine smile. "Good night then."
"Good work, Officer Shouda," the chief said when she and her team got back after a mission.
"Chief, I'll be getting off work early today. My missions for today are done," she said.
"That's a first. You seem to be in good spirit today, but it's not as if Mousey's the hardest case for you," Mousey was an illegal drug dealer who her team was tracking for months now. "Going to sleep until tomorrow again?"
"No, chief, I'm going out today," she grinned.
"Do you have a normal boyfriend now? Ei, what's that brat Koko doing? How many times did I tell him he won't be able to keep you if he doesn't take you out on proper dates?" the chief shook his head.
"I don't have a boyfriend, chief, and Koko isn't my boyfriend either. But he's the one I'm hanging out with today. You're still annoyed at him, chief?" she laughed. The chief had also been their head when they entered training under the National Police Agency.
"He's good, but always a headache. From training until now. Speaking of that brat, where is he right now?"
"He's in the northern district, chief, you're the one who assigned him to handle the investigation there. He's coming back to meet me at around 5," she answered. "I'm leaving now, chief."
He nodded and allowed her to leave his office. She was already at the door when he called out to her again. "If it keeps you in high spirits, do you want me to assign your cases to him?"
She smiled gratefully. "That would be nice, sir," she replied and then left.
She stopped by the shopping street near the headquarters to pick up something from a branch of Hotaru's tech store. She then drove back to her building to change her clothes and wait for Koko there.
She took out the new clothes she bought yesterday and took her pick. She decided to go for black tights, a skirt, a furry top, a beret, and finally a bootie. She looked at the mirror carefully. This was totally different from how she'd living for the past 4 years, but was how she had been before that.
"It's nice to be back," she said softly. Just then, she heard the main door open.
"Old hag, I'm here!" Koko shouted as he welcomed himself in. She went out of her room to greet him. "Oh, the old hag doesn't look like an old hag today."
WHACK! "I am in a good mood today, Koko, don't ruin it," she warned him sternly.
They went out of her house and rode his car. "There's this place in the southern district that the officers had been raving about. Let's try that place," he said as he started the car. She agreed and they drove there.
When they got there, they ordered most of the menu. Because of that, their table was totally full. It took them hours before they actually finished eating. It didn't matter though, for they took their time, talking about a lot of things as they ate, from work-related stuff to the nonsensical stories that Koko seemed to never run out of.
There was a lot of teasing, whacking, and most of all, laughing as they ate.
"It's fun," she said with a smile. Koko has been with her ever since but this was the first time since they graduated that she felt like she was hanging out, just having fun times. "Chief said he's assigning you back to handle the central district cases, did he tell you?"
"He forgot when I reported in earlier. That means I'll be handling your cases, huh?" he said.
"Yeah, we can eat out again like this after operations," she said.
Maybe they weren't like Tsubasa and Misaki who were a couple ever since, but one thing's for sure, Koko was her partner, then and now. He was probably the reason why even though it was really tiring, she held on to her job. Because she wasn't alone, she had her partner, and having her partner with her made the job enjoyable.
He drove her back to her house after. That was when she gave her gift to him.
"A bit late, but here's your Christmas gift. Though I always give you useful gifts, I'm pretty sure you'll really like this one," she said. "Thank you, Koko, and Merry Christmas."
His eyes widened when he saw the paper bag from Imai's. "Woah, don't tell me it's the latest release? I was just about to order it. Thanks, old hag, see you."
She saw the car dart off before heading inside the building. As soon as she got inside her unit, her phone rang. The screen registered her brother's id.
"Hey, Sumire, I heard you met your friends yesterday. Sorry I wasn't able to meet you for Christmas. I'm glad you weren't alone this year," her brother said.
"It's okay, onii-sama, I wasn't alone," she said. "I have Koko."
Her brother teased her a bit before finally hanging up again. She looked up at the stars, she was in her balcony.
"Yeah, I was never alone," she said to herself. "Koko must be home by now."
She estimated that Koko was about to try out the CD. She gave him a ring, which he picked up immediately. "I was just about to try it. Here goes."
She tried holding back her laugh as they both waited for the game to load.
"What is this?" Koko yelled from the other line. She finally let out the laughter she was holding back. "What are these old hags doing in my game?"
She had asked Hotaru to give create a CD of the game but had the contents changed to anything that was sure to disappoint him when he played it.
"Hotaru's totally a genius," she said, barely recovering from laughing. "Search the back of the box."
"Is this real this time? I swear if this isn't, I'm going to fill every corner of your house with spiders," Koko's voice seemed threatening this time. Nobody messes with a boy's game, after all.
"It's real, don't worry, I just thought of paying you back for that prank earlier," she said. She heard Koko finally let out a chuckle at the end of the line.
"Hey, old hag."
"Yeah?"
"This new year, let's watch the fireworks show on the temple rather than on your balcony, what do you say?"
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, my Christmas special which is way overdue. I had a lot of things going on that hampered my writing progress namely: doing my cousin's homeworks, my other cousin getting sick, and then finally me getting sick. Anyway here it is, and as for Partners, I'm updating this Saturday.
Happy New Year, everyone :)