Mismatch
by akaiihana
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Gakuen Alice/Alice Academy…wish I did, though!
Mismatch, Chapter One
A girl with hazel hair ran down the corridor to her classroom from her dormitory room. She said, "Good morning!" to everyone inside and let out and excited squeal at seeing her best friend Hotaru, a raven-haired emotionless girl and immediately skipped over to hug her.
"Hotaru-chaaaan!!"
There was a loud bang as Mikan crashed into the other side of the room after getting hit by Hotaru's Baka-Gun yet again.
"Hotaru-chan! Do you have to do that to me every morning?!" Mikan asked.
"You know how I feel about your hugging me. When you learn that you are not supposed to hug me, I will stop hitting you with my Baka-Gun." Hotaru replied tonelessly.
"If you say so," Mikan sighed. "Oh, good morning Ruka-kun!" and beamed at another good friend of hers. "Oh, and, good morning Yuu-kun!"
"Good morning…" Ruka yawned to hide the blush that had appeared on his face.
The door suddenly slammed open. A red-eyed boy entered and glared at everyone in the classroom. Undaunted, Mikan greeted Natsume with a cheery, "Good morning, Natsume-san!"
"Hmph." Natsume turned away from her and sat down at his desk.
Mikan was a little hurt by this. She had tried to be nice to Natsume, and he had been so rude to her. She wished that even sometimes, Natsume would smile at her and return the simple yet cheering greeting. Wait a minute, she thought, why am I even worried whether Natsume smiles at me or not? Why would I care if he says good morning? That's his personality, to shut everyone out…so why do I feel hurt, even just a little bit?
Mikan's train of thought was interrupted by Hotaru.
"Mikan-chan, are you alright? Are you sick? You look pale."
"Don't worry about me, I'm perfectly fine, Hotaru. But thanks for the concern." Mikan smiled at her best friend. Even though Hotaru could seem expressionless and uncaring on the outside, Mikan knew that Hotaru wasn't really like that. She knew perfectly well that it was just the way Hotaru was and, well, she just liked Hotaru for who she was. And she knew that Hotaru cared for her as well, though she didn't show it.
Natsume's POV
Not again. Why do I have to do this every morning? Slam the door open, glare at everyone, ignore Mikan's greeting and sit down. No wonder everyone keeps away from me. They think I'm some kind of freak loner who'd kill them if they come too close. Well I can't really blame them for thinking that. But they better not try messing with me, or I just might really kill them.
Who do I think I'm kidding? This is exactly why everyone stays away from me…
-end of POV-
Just then, Mr. Narumi came into the room. The rest of the class settled down since their first lesson of the day was about to start.
"Good morning, class." Mr. Narumi said. "I want to tell you about your next project." The class groaned, and he smiled. "Now, now, this isn't a regular project. In each group, there will be two boys and two girls. You will each be given a task and you will be graded according to how well you act in it."
"Task?" Mikan asked.
"Yes, each group will be assigned a random task. In order that you will not find it too easy, the tasks will not concentrate totally on one subject. There will be other topics as well." Mr. Narumi answered. "Now, group yourselves! I will give you ten minutes to group yourselves, and then I will call each group one by one and assign your task."
The class was immediately thrown into action. Here and there, you could see different members of the class clustered around one another. Predictably, Natsume was still alone. Mikan approached Hotaru with a smile.
"Hey Hotaru-chan, who do you think should be our group mates?"
"I did not say anything about being group mates, but since you are here, we might as well be." Hotaru decided that there would be an unspoken agreement that they would always be group mates when group mates were required to be chosen. "What about Ruka-kun and Natsume-san?"
Mikan turned to look at them. Like herself and Hotaru, Ruka was looking around the classroom for two more girls to be group mates with. Expectedly, Natsume looked bored.
Mikan wasn't too happy about Hotaru's suggestion, but no one else had a group that still needed a pair of girls.
"Oh, alright, but who's to say that they'll want to be in the same group as me? Especially since it's Natsume-san…" Mikan sighed.
"We have no other choice. We must content ourselves with who is left. Even Yuu-kun has a group…" Hotaru observed. "Besides, there is no need for us to approach them, seeing as they decided to ask us first." And indeed, Ruka was coming over to the two girls.
As Ruka came closer, Mikan noticed that he had an odd expression. And he was blushing too. Naïve Mikan couldn't think what it meant, although to other people, it would have been quite obvious.
"H-hey, would you two mind being our group mates? There's no one else, you see…" Ruka asked quietly, not meeting their eyes.
"That'll be great!" Mikan excitedly answered. "But…does Natsume-san mind?"
"Mikan-chan, whether he minds or not, we are now his group mates and he can't do anything about it." Hotaru said in a detached voice.
"Okay, then. That's good." Mikan said, relieved.
"Class, settle down now." Mr. Narumi said. The class sat down in their seats. "I would like each of you to meet with the rest of your group and wait quietly for me to assign you your task. Remember, the higher your noise level, the harder it will be!"
The class obeyed. Natsume, Ruka, Mikan and Hotaru all went to a corner of the classroom and sat down there. Mr. Narumi started going around the room. The way he was going, it seemed that they would be the last ones to get their task.
"Don't make any noise, Polka Dots, or else our task will be more difficult." Natsume said to Mikan. "Hey, why don't you just call me by my proper name, you pervert!" Mikan retorted.
"Shut up, idiot!"
"You're the one who started it, idiot!"
"Stop it, you two! You sound like lovers who are quarreling." Hotaru remarked.
"Who are you calling lovers?" Natsume glared at Hotaru, though a barely noticeable blush had appeared on his cheeks. Hotaru stared right back at him.
"Hmph." Natsume broke the staring match.
Hotaru smiled just a very little bit. All through this, Ruka didn't say a word. His bangs were covering his face and a blush was visible on his face.
Mr. Narumi finally reached their group. He was holding a big bunch of paper and some cards.
"So, the group members are…Hotaru-san, Mikan-san, Natsume-san and Ruka-san." he said, scribbling down their names on a piece of paper. "Alright then, you are group number three. Your task will be…" he chose a card from the ones he was holding. His eyes widened. He read what it said twice and wordlessly handed it to Natsume.
Natsume took the card and started reading it. "You have been assigned to the Academy's mission area. You have now been recruited to take on and fulfill certain missions. This mission is…" Natsume stopped and cleared his throat. "To…a rescue mission."
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A/N: Sorry about the cliffhanger! Just why a rescue mission is so important will be cleared in the next chapter! Hope you enjoyed, read and review! Ja!
locked-away rainbow