Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. :)

This is the story I've always wanted to write, but somehow, never gotten around to. I've been thinking about it for a year in different kinds of scenarios, but basically the same main plot. I hope y'all enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. ^_^

PART 1

,.,.,

,.,.,

Chapter 1: COOKIES

,.,.,

,.,.,

"Now, let's go through the plan one more time."

"No need, I've read it," I snapped, irritated. "You find her dangerous because of her abilities that can render yours useless, and you want her dead. But I refuse. End of story." I pointed towards the door, but my God, the woman was relentless.

"There must be something that can let you change your mind."

"No." I shut the folder Luna Koizumi handed me and she gave a pout. I rolled my eyes and turned my seat away from her. It was a sickly smile. Unpleasant. Many people seemed to be a victim of it, but I wasn't it.

"I won't stop. I'll ask Persona about this. You'll see."

"You will not ask Persona to let me handle that mission. I won't murder," I said resolutely. I sounded calm, but if need be, I'd threaten her.

She laid a hand on her hip. "You're over-thinking it, Natsume. All you have to do is burn her to a crisp."

I was ruthless to my enemies, but I wouldn't kill this girl. And I had no bloody idea why.

I snatched the file folder from Luna and threw it open to the centre of the desk.

"Look at her," I gestured. "You want me to kill her?" I said with incredulity.

"She's seventeen." The same age as me. "A brunette. She wears pink, probably dreams of floating on rainbows too," I said, partly disgusted. She was clueless, innocent, and as cheerfully ignorant to the violence of the world as a woman should be.

"Exactly why she's so dangerous. Could be an outer shell she shows to the rest of the world. When she discovers the extent of her abilities even more, we will eventually have to destroy her. And… rumor has it, she has the Stealing Alice."

I glared at her. It was enough for her to flinch and look away. I folded my arms across my chest. "But right now she lives in rainbows and pink. I see no point in, as you say, destroying her."

"The possibilities, Natsume. Over time, she'll become the one to destroy us first."

"I said no."

She gave a little jerk in surprise from my heavy tone, and stepped back. I handed her the folder once more, and she quickly made her way out of the room.

Just when she left, Ruka entered.

"I have no idea how you do it, but one day women are all over you, the next, they're running for their lives. It's an endless cycle," he said with a grin. "So," he said, giving me a can of coke. "What did you do this time?"

I rubbed my temples and replied, "I refused her offer to kill a Nullifier."

"You realise-"

"Yeah. She'll run to Persona again, and I'll end up doing it. Fuck."

Ruka shook his head, and looked at me with what looked like sympathy. Couldn't blame him. I even felt sorry for myself. "You wanna swap? I gotta take care of some Alice users in China. Said they were planting some bombs."

I raised a brow. "Think he'd let me?"

"Nah. You're right." He clapped a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to kill her if you don't want to. We can still escape all this."

Comforting words, but not solutions, merely extended ways of getting to the same result. Eventually.

"No. I'm not running away."

I could hear the familiar clacking of heels before she spoke not long after. I braced myself for her words, but it did not do a thing to lessen my frustration.

"Natsume," Luna called through the door. "Guess who's calling for you."

Damn.

I didn't bother reading through the file one more time. After all, I'd already read it and I was deeply against it that I'd swear I'd be burning it once the mission was over. But then, damned morals didn't exist in a mission to kill. With emotions and ties in the way and morals and ethics, it would be near impossible to succeed in a mission.

But I had no choice but to kill her. I'd been given the deadline of a month. It wasn't as though they distrusted me, far, far from that. It was ample time, however, according to them at least, to spy in case she had any secret agendas or plans.

The file folder fell from the train seat when I bent down to tie my shoelace. The photo slipped out of the folder and I was confronted with the face of blinding purity. She was… To put it in a single word, beautiful, though I would never admit it. She was, after all, a target first, before a woman.

How the hell am I supposed to kill her? This photo, this woman, was already giving me a headache and I hadn't even met her.

But damn. There was innocence in her face. Hope in her shining eyes.

Mikan, her name in file said.. Mikan Sakura.

I managed to pull my eyes away from the photo. It held the draw of a magnet. If it was difficult to pull away from a photo, how much more if I met her?

I arrived in her hometown just before noon. I bought a bottle of water on the way, when I found her.

She looked every bit as magnificent as her photo. Except her hair was down, and it suited her better.

Her back was turned from me. Arguing. With the ex-girlfriend of my best friend that made his life hell- Hotaru Imai. It was long ago in what seemed like an entirely separate world.

I was taking a sip of water when it happened, and I choked on it, coughing. Exposing me.

We'd met once, though If it was any other woman, she'd forget me, but she wasn't. She was too shrewd for her own good. At some point, I could swear that she had a little compartment where she placed all the names of people she knew and information about them, stashed away somewhere.

She saw me, and her eyes widened, before it narrowed to slits. Whatever she saw in me, she didn't like. She knew I was in a mission, and she didn't know what I was about to do. I suspected she didn't like anything that she couldn't calculate ahead of. It was only a matter of time before Ms. Pink and Fairies turned to follow the direction of her friend's gaze.

Her eyes blazed with curiosity, perhaps wondering if Hotaru Imai knew me. Then Imai approached me, and I waited, interested.

"Hyuuga. What could you be doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Camping," I replied with a smirk.

"You don't camp. Not with your job."

"Sure I do. I camp all the time."

"Well, camp out of our town."

I raised a brow and turned to my target. "Is everyone in this town this inhospitable?"

I flashed her a smile which she returned warmly. Something tugged at my heart. Would she be smiling even till the very last moment? When I betray her?

"If… If you're just camping around, you could stay at our place. There's only me and my grandfather."

She was trusting too? How had she ever lived up to this point in her life? I didn't realise it would be this easy. But the quicker the better.

"Mikan, he's dangerous," she warned my target.

"I retired. From that job," I lied smoothly.

"I didn't think they let retirees live." Well, I didn't think they did either.

But this was my job. I was supposed to lie, cheat, deceive, if that could get me to complete my mission. Yet I could live with that, knowing that I wouldn't be harming innocents. I suppose now that meant I had screwed up honor.

I merely shrugged. Her eyes seemed suspicious and had a look that told me 'I'll be watching'.

How my best friend got to date her, I never knew. Hotaru Imai was a scary woman.

"You don't talk very much, do you?"

"I don't consider it necessary." We kept walking.

"You're always frowning."

I glared at her. "I am not."

Instead of distancing herself from me and running like hell, her lips curved upwards into a smile. Her innocence was terrifying. She didn't belong to this world. She should be running away like crazy, not smiling.

People think I'm an unfriendly guy. That's because I send signals to people whenever we talk. Deadly signals. Signals that make people very, very afraid. I'm one of the lucky people who could communicate intention with a single stare, and I'm proud of it.

There was something wrong with Ms. FairyTale. Something to do with her head. She doesn't seem to be receiving those signals I'm sending. Maybe her Nullification Alice blocks those signals too. I'm not a friend. I'm a stranger. A stranger her friend warned her about.

"There it is!" she said brightly. To my surprise, she pulled my hand with hers. Her hand was warm, her skin was soft. Her hand in mine felt right.

Bloody. Hell.

What was I doing? I wasn't allowed to feel things for a target. Not even an ounce of compassion. I was going to kill her. Her murder would be on my hands, etched into my memory. Pure and innocent, gentle and beautiful. She had the smile of an angel.

She led me into their living room. Her grandfather was sleeping on the couch to my left. It was a small place. Not much furniture, aside from the basics. Television, radio, couch, cabinets, and maybe a vase or two. And I could smell something burning.

She seemed to realise that as well. "Waaa! My cookies!" She finally let go of my hand, and it felt cold. Empty. Like the person I was. I entered the kitchen and stared.

"You left the oven on?" I snorted incredulously.

She was baking something. And she left the house, leaving it open. How could someone be so careless?

Again, I wondered how she ever lived up to now. She was lucky we arrived before anything major happened.

"Hotaru called me, to talk. I… I forgot."

Forgot? I could hardly count the number of lives were lost from 'I forgot'. "What's so important that you 'forgot'?"

"Don't worry, I won't be burning the house while you're here," she joked lightly. "Hotaru's news just depressed me. It seemed that the competition just got canceled."

"Competition?"

She looked deflated at the mention of the topic. "A… running marathon. And I was looking forward to the prize money. It's not fair! It's the same as last year," she told me despairingly and gave a sigh.

She was like an open book. When she was happy, it was obvious, because she wore a stupid grin. When she was sad or upset, like the expression she wore now, it showed. In fact, if not for the file, I wouldn't have guessed that she even possessed an Alice.

She was… human. More human than anyone powerful I knew. She desired simple things. Could I take them away from her?

I had to kill her. I'd get close to her, and then I'd kill her. Or maybe I'd just kill her now. I wouldn't burn her, no, that would be too painful. She deserved a peaceful death. A painless one.

It was the first time I've felt any compassion towards anyone I had to kill. It was astounding that I would feel so fiercely protective of a woman I haven't even known for long. It was her ignorance, of course. She seemed so defenseless, I pitied her for her fate. Yes, that must be it.

She was about to throw it away, when curiously, I reached for one cookie and gave a bite. Her eyes widened and she gasped.

"No, don't- that's burnt," she said, panicking, trying to snatch the cookie, but it was too late, because I finished it. It tasted… Well, good. I haven't ate any home-made things in a long time. I flashed her a grin.

I'd let her live… for awhile. If only so she could bake me another tray.

Soooo... The plot of this story has been sitting in my head for the longest time. And it's the longest thing I've written in awhile. I kinda like it. I've written the same main plot in a fic before, but I was stuck. When I wrote this, everything seemed to flow.

-.- Let me know what you all think.