This is my first fanfiction :) The idea of the story suddenly popped into my mind just like that and then I wrote the first chapter according to my imagination shortly after. So I haven't really planned out every detail of the story, only the rough plot. Haha. Please read and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I will only write this once and thus applied to every chapter within this story.

I do not own Gakuen Alice. Other fictional characters, plot and settings are solely mine. Any similarities with other fanfictions are purely coincidental.

The Contradictions of Our Existence

Chapter One - Battles In and Out

The night was dark and silent. There were no stars to see, no sound to hear except for the rustling leaves and the sound of my poised breathing.

I kept myself calm and collected, maintaining myself undetected underneath the black attire while my eyes scanned a few meters around me with eagle-like eyes, missing nothing under my scrutinizing gaze. I stayed still, not moving an inch. There were no signs of them yet even after hours had passed from the time they were supposed to arrive. I frowned. Did Persona send the wrong information? 'No, he would not do such mistake. Persona was extremely careful in everything he did', I thought sarcastically. Then why haven't they arrived? I smelled something fishy here, and I hated the idea very much. I have never liked surprises.

My all-time companion, Ruka, caught my eyes from another branch. He shot me a look asking me what to do next. I answered by simply nodding. Then we waited again quietly. Ruka and I could converse without speaking verbally. We had been through many things together and our bond got stronger by each passing years. I should say no one could understand me better than Ruka.

Not long after, I caught a slight movement nearby the old building. My back straightened and I instinctively became more alarmed. A man in a black suit who carried a black suitcase walked cautiously while being accompanied by his four bodyguards. I studied their movement carefully. Based on my calculation, the two of us was enough to defeat them all as their skills were undoubtedly far outmatched. 'Here goes nothing.' I mentally stated.

When the group reached one meter mark before me, Ruka's eyes turned gold, cerulean blue aura swirled around him like a coiling wire. Almost immediately, hundreds of bats appeared and surrounded the group of men, sending them shrieking in surprise. I smirked, claiming our victory. This was no more a match for me. I jumped and landed on my both feet. I ran with an incredible speed, faster than any human eyes could see. With a flick of my finger, sword-like fire enveloped my hand, its hilt gripped within my pale fingers. In a blink of an eye, I stabbed the four bodyguards straight to the heart and they collapsed to the ground afterwards. When the man holding the suitcase witnessed the death of his bodyguards, he took a few steps backwards but his face did not show any change of emotion. Just blank. But from the corner of my eyes I could see his hands slightly trembled. It was strange. A human was supposed to be tremendously terrified by now. I slowly walked towards him some more and my eyes were solely fixed on him. It was meant to intimidate him but he still did not flinch at all. My mind stirred, thinking of any possible reasons. His scent reeked of human; I was sure of it. However, the way he did not feel intimidated somewhat bothered me. Either this human had encountered a creature like me before, or...

Shit.

Before I even finished my sentence, several shadows loomed up against the dark. I froze and looked around. My whole body twitched in alarm. Four more men surrounded me, eyes blazing like predators which had pushed their prey in a corner. When their eyes turned gold, I realized these enemies were not to be underestimated at.

Crap. It's an ambush.

I saw the corner of their lips tugged into a savage smile of victory, but they were wrong. Let me show them who's the prey here.

One of the men pulled the man holding the suitcase backwards, securing him, while the other three instantly attacked me. A red-haired guy maneuvered his hand in the air, making some huge air slices. 'He is a Wind Alice user,' I noted. I sent fireballs towards the air slices and a single strand of fire towards the red-guy's chest. One more men joined their friends, making the game more and more interesting. One down, three to go.

I tried to swept two of the men's feet by a single blow but one of them suddenly flew above it and the other blocked the fire with metal. 'Levitation and Metal Alice,' I thought. Suddenly I felt a cold surge of glacier invaded my head and tried to break the wall that protects my mind. I shoved it effortlessly by concentrating some of my flames and delivered a storm of fire towards the invader. I mentally laughed at the man with a moon tattoo below his eyes. 'A mind-reading alice? Tch, seriously. Is he stupid or what?' The storm of fire not only burned the surge of glacier but also the guy with mind-reading alice. He turned into ash in a matter of seconds.

The remaining two men glanced uncomfortably at their dead companions and shifted their gaze towards me. As I am not the type of guy who patiently waits, my hands blasted off fire towards them. As I expected, both of them avoided the fire but I had something else. The metal alice user realized my intent too late as the fire twisted and turned around to strike his stomach. He cried in pain and collapsed, but not dead.

The levitation guy grew furious and desperate. He flew towards me and tried to send a blow to my head. But I was quicker. I lit my hands in flame, pushing myself upwards and my leg floated in air. The guy was shocked. What, did he think he's the only one who can fly? He flew up to match my level and threw some daggers in a blinding speed. I blocked it with my fire, but apparently the dagger were resistant of fire. One of the daggers scraped my bicep and the other grazed my leg. Blood trickled down from my body. I lunged at him. A whip-like fire grabbed my opponent's foot and lifted it far up, making him offguard and tilted. He tried to break free but my fire was much stronger. Then he unexpectedly threw another dagger and pierced squarely into my chest. I didn't feel it coming at all until it dug into my chest painfully. I realized he must have used his levitation alice to accelerate the dagger and made it almost as if invisible. I staggered and felt a stung on my body. I sensed my energy was betraying me all of a sudden. I cursed. This had to be because I failed to replenish my energy yesterday. The fire subsided and I dropped several meters from the sky and landed on my back with a loud thud. The enemy touched the ground too, readying himself to send the last blow to me. Before I could attack him back, his eyes shot open and the colour turned from gold to dark brown.

I stared at him curiously, but my questions were answered when Ruka stood before the man and observed him. I eyed Ruka questioningly and he lifted his hand to show me a scorpion on his palm. I smiled slightly, thanking him for saving me. Ruka's style of fighting was different than mine. He rather waited very patiently to attack using 'soft' ways, unlike me. Subtlety wasn't my specialty indeed.

Ruka approached me and helped me stand on my feet, supporting my back and shoulders.

"You pushed youself too hard this time, Natsume. Had I not been there, you could've been blown."

"Then why didn't you help me sooner?" I asked, slightly annoyed.

"Because it takes time to call on archeids, not like flying mammals," Ruka reacted patiently to my quick temper. He then looked at me suspiciously. "Had you regain your energy yesterday after the mission? Or meal, at least?"

"No."

Ruka sighed. "No wonder your energy quickly drained just now. You should've eaten some more before we left."

I simply answered him with a grunt. Food wouldn't help either. I caught the four men sprawling on the ground, unconscious. The man holding the suitcase was lying on the ground as well. I strode towards him and took the suitcase. I pressed a button behind my ear.

"July 23rd, local time 11:24 p.m. Team Alpha speaking. Seven killed in action, two heavily wounded and poisoned. Four Alice users and five Non-Alice users in total. Target acquired in 100% condition. Evaluation: mission accomplished, repeat, mission accomplished."

Ruka and I walked through the woods quietly. It's been a long day for both of us. I felt tired and weakened; almost all of my energy was used during the fight. My head throbbed wildly and my body was sore all over. Drops of sweat trickled down my forehead.

"Ruka, do you have that liquid? The chest wound burns like hell."

Ruka took out a small bottle containing silvery liquid from his pocket and handed it to me. I stopped my tracks and sat under a tree. After opening my shirt buttons, I dropped some of the silvery liquid onto the wound on my chest. The liquid instantly burned my skin, transmitting an excruciating sting. The only reaction I made was a crease on my forehead. I held my breath. I noticed Ruka cringed a bit when the liquid dissolved into my flesh. Silver tendrils slowly covered the wound and seconds later, new flesh replaced the wound, although it was not completely cured. I did the same to both wounds on my bicep and right leg. I closed the bottle with the lid and returned it to Ruka.

"Thanks," I muttered.

Ruka nodded in return. "Do you want to call Sumire to your chamber? I think food alone won't satisfy your needs right now."

"Yeah, sure. Call her."

I could feel the hunger within me arisen and could not hold back much longer. I needed to regain my energy as soon as possible. Alice users' strength is not unlimited. The energy we used to activate our Alice has its limit, and there are only two ways to regain it—either food or sex. Food often helps to recharge our Alice, but most of the times, especially after battles, sex is the only thing that can entirely restore our energy. The feral need usually starts when an Alice user turned sixteen during which our Alice matures entirely. I remembered the first battle I survived after I turned sixteen.

My mind was hazy and my stomach churned agonizingly at that time. I grabbed all the food I could find but in that moment, I felt something else. I felt the beast locked within me struggled to be released for the first time. I punched a fist to the wall and clenched my fingers until my knuckles turned white. I breathed hard, determined to resist the demon inside. But Persona just stood there watching me and smirked. He calmly spoke to me, "You cannot fight against your true self, Natsume. That's who you really are—what we really are. Resisting it won't do much good. You'll end up dying in the end."

Since then, my lifestyle was changed drastically. I began to go in and out of club every night, laid some girls… Those are necessities anyway, and I rather enjoy it. However, Ruka, in particular, had a hard time during the first year, and had to spend some years before eventually getting used to it. Now, he doesn't have a problem screwing girls at all. No matter what, we, the Alice users, cannot fight the demon within ourselves. They are always a part of us.

I hope you guys enjoy reading the first chapter as much as I wrote it. Rated scenes will be in later chapters. English is not my first language, so pardon me if there are any grammatical errors or typos. (I'm trying hard to work on it ) I'll appreciate it very much if you guys write reviews. They really encourage me to write more. At least, tell me how you like the chapter :) Critics are welcomed but please don't bash :(

Well, till next update! :D