When Death Comes Knocking
Author's Note: This is my first Gakuen Alice fic so I hope you can be a little easy on me. I'm actually very nervous about this even though I have posted other fics already but I guess it's because this is my first try at Gakuen Alice. Don't be fooled by the pen name. Yes, I love Umbreons and all but don't you think I should have other favourites? Umbreons rock and so does Gakuen Alice. They are all still 10 here, by the way.
Summary: Death comes knocking at Natsume's door. Will Mikan and everyone at the Academy be able to save him from himself? What can they do against the AAO that is still after Natsume? How about Persona? This follows the anime. I don't really know what happens in the manga but from what I've heard, it seems that the manga has more Natsume and Mikan relationship stuff. KAWAII!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything concerning Gakuen Alice.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Chapter 1 – Mikan's Concern
Peering outside the classroom window, legs on the table, hands in his pockets and not seeming to be paying any attention to the sensei…These are the things Natsume Hyuuga excelled in. Ditching class and trying to make futile escapes from the Academy were what he did before, that is, till she came along… with that annoying smile of hers that she wore everyday of her life.
Natsume took out his manga and flipped to the page where he had stopped, not wanting to listen to the sensei's boring lectures. Ruka patted his favourite Usagithat he always carries with him and also didn't listen to the sensei. Not long afterwards, the bell rang, signifying that it was break time. Mikan skipped over to Natsume and Ruka who were still busy with their daily routines.
"Ohayo, Ruka-pyon! Ohayo, Natsume-kun!" Mikan greeted like as if she didn't that morning, still smiling that trademark smile of hers. "Do you want to come with me to Central Town today? There's still some wonderful Howalon that I want to eat!"
"Still with that Howalon thing, baka? You never seem to get over them, Polka-dots." Natsume grunted, not taking his crimson eyes off his manga.
"Mou, Howalon tastes heavenly! And for the last time, my name is Mikan, you hentai!"
"Che. Whatever, Ichigo Kara." Natsume got up from his seat and walked out of the classroom, the manga still in his hands.
"NATSUME, HENTAI!!!!"
Natsume practically ignored all of the insults thrown at him and sat down under his favourite Sakura tree that was blossoming with beautiful Sakura flowers. He leaned against the tree trunk and opened up his manga, hoping that the baka youju wouldn't come to bother him anymore. Well, that wouldn't happen even after a lifetime.
"Natsume!" Mikan yelled out, running towards the fire caster. "You haven't answered me yet! Will you go with me to Central Town today?"
"What do you think?" Natsume grunted.
"I think you'd say no again, won't you?" Mikan looked at the ground, shifting her feet sadly. "You always do that, Natsume…"
'Oh great, I made her sad again.' Natsume thought guiltily.
"Then…" Natsume heard her mutter. "Can I sit here with you, Natsume? Everyone else is busy with their own stuff. I'm kind of lonely so…" Mikan then proceeded to sit next to Natsume. "Can I?"
No one spoke for a while. There was an unusual silence between the two, till Natsume broke the silence.
"Do whatever you like."
"Arigatou, Natsume-kun."
Mikan stared at Natsume as he continued to read his manga. She was feeling very bored and Natsume didn't say anything to start up a conversation with her. Natsume noticed the deathly silence between them but this time, he didn't do anything to break it. Suddenly, Natsume heard a twig crack. Of course, Mikan couldn't hear a thing. She wasn't trained to sharpen her senses since the Academy never allowed her to go on missions, unlike Natsume, but Natsume was highly-trained enough to be able to catch it.
"Persona…" Natsume muttered under his breath. Mikan, unfortunately, caught that.
"Natsume, who are you talking about?"
"Nothing that you should care about, Polka-dots. Now get lost before I burn your hair."
"Natsume, what is going-?" Mikan never got to finish her sentence but Natsume knew what she wanted to ask.
"Just go now, little girl, before I really burn your hair."
"Fine! You want to act all high and mighty, then go ahead! I won't be bothering you anymore today!" Mikan yelled angrily before turning around and storming off. Natsume looked down and his bangs covered his crimson eyes. He heard someone jump from the Sakura tree from above and turned to face him.
"Well, well, Natsume, I didn't know you were in such an urge to protect that adorable girl with a different aura."
"Cut the crap, Persona. What do you want?"
"You have another mission waiting for you. Now come along," Persona motioned to Natsume who followed reluctantly. Natsume turned to look at Mikan one more time and went off on his mission.
After classes…
Mikan went over to Ruka and noticed that Natsume wasn't there with Ruka, which was quite odd since Natsume is always with Ruka.
"Ne, Ruka-pyon, have you seen Natsume?"
"No, I haven't. In fact, I haven't seen him since break time."
"Oh no, during the break, Natsume told me to go away. Do you think…?" The conversation attracted Hotaru and Yuu/Iinchou who went over as well to find out what was happening.
"Yes, it's very likely that Natsume has been sent on another mission again," Yuu stated.
"Oh no! Then Natsume is in danger then!" Mikan exclaimed with worry. Hotaru sighed and took out her Baka Gun.
Baka! Baka! Baka!
"Waaahhh… Hotaru, you meanie!" Mikan wailed.
"Before you go getting yourself worried, you baka, remember that Natsume has gone on missions like this before. Why should you worry when he's not even back yet? If he comes back with injuries, then we should get worried. Do you understand, you baka?" Hotaru asked emotionlessly while the others stared at her. She has never said that much about Natsume's missions before and it got everyone into a state of surprise.
Hotaru noticed everyone's stares at her and got ready her Baka Cannon and stated, "Stop staring or else you'll all face the wrath of my Baka Cannon." Everyone sweat dropped anime style and backed away from Hotaru.
"Imai-san has a good point, Sakura-san," Yuu pointed out. Mikan turned to face Yuu. "No need to get so worried just yet. We should wait till he's back from his mission."
"You're right…" Mikan whispered.
"Tell you what," Hotaru said, putting one of her hands on Mikan's right shoulder to comfort her. "Since you care this much about Hyuuga, we'll all stay up tonight till he comes back. Tomorrow's a weekend, anyway. If he's wound-free, get to sleep. If he's injured, we'll bring him to the hospital, all right, you baka?"
"…" Tears formed in Mikan's eyes and she proceeded to hug Hotaru. "OH HOTARUUUUUU!!" Hotaru just dodged her and Mikan's face impacted with the hard cold floor.
"Get away from me, lest you spread your baka germs through your snot."
That night…
Mikan, Hotaru, Ruka and Yuu stayed up that night in order to wait for Natsume's arrival. In their perspective rooms, they took their alarm clocks and read the time. It was nearing midnight and Natsume still wasn't back from his mission yet.
'It must be a tough one…' Mikan thought to herself. 'I hope that he'll be OK…' She sat by her window and looked at the full moon while waiting. Much to her disappointment, Koko was still awake that night and he was walking past Mikan's room when he read her mind. He knocked on her door and Mikan ran over to open it.
"Don't worry, Mikan. I'm sure Natsume will be alright. He is your boyfriend, after all." A vein popped from Mikan's head, anime style.
"Koko, you've been reading my mind again… I really don't understand how with my Nullification Alice… But you shouldn't invade others' privacy! And Natsume is NOT my boyfriend!"
"OK, OK, keep it down. You don't want to wake everyone else up, do you? Besides, I'm certain that he'll be alright. I'll get Nonoko and Anna! That'll make you rest easily and Natsume will be happy to hear that his girlfriend's at ease."
"For the last time, he is not my boyfriend!" Mikan stated while blushing heavily but Koko had already gone off. Mikan closed the door and sat on her bed, waiting patiently for Natsume's arrival. 'Please be all right, Natsume-kun…'
With Natsume…
The Kuro Neko jumped from a tree branch to another tree branch and then to another tree branch. He spotted Persona near a dead tree and jumped down from the branch where he was standing on, landing on the ground gracefully. He blocked the moonlight beaming down from the sky, forming a long and narrow silhouette. Natsume removed his Kuro Neko mask and it revealed a small cut on his right cheek. Persona, his hands behind his back, turned to face the Kuro Neko that was back from his mission.
"Mission complete. Go back to your dorm and await for further instructions, is that clear, Natsume?"
"Hn."
"From your reply, I think it went very well, didn't it? I hope you haven't gotten tired from using your Alice after this mission."
"Just shut up." Natsume was about to turn around and jump back to his dorm when an excruciating pain forbade him to. Natsume held onto his left arm, trying hard not to say out anything to show that he was wounded.
"What's wrong, my favourite Kuro Neko?"
"N…nothing that you should care about…" Natsume muttered out painfully and ran away quickly, not wanting to stay there anymore. Persona just smiled grimly.
Moments later…
Natsume reached his favourite Sakura tree not long after the short talk with his least favourite person. He sat under it and held onto his left arm which was bleeding. Persona was watching him from behind another tree and was still smirking. Natsume was too busy trying to hold back the pain that he didn't notice Persona there.
Mikan, on the other hand, was looking outside her window, still worried about Natsume. She looked to and fro and finally spotted him sitting under their favourite Sakura tree.
"Natsume!" Mikan rushed out of her room and called for Hotaru and the others. They all came out of their rooms and followed Mikan to Natsume's destination, but by the time they reached there, Natsume was gone.
"Baka, your eyes must've played tricks on you. You should go for an optical check-up," Hotaru stated emotionlessly.
"B-but Natsume was here just a moment ago! He seemed to be in pain!" Mikan protested.
"You two should stop arguing. We have to split up and look for Natsume," Yuu suggested. Everyone took up the suggestion and split up to look for Natsume in pairs. Anna and Nonoko went with each other, Yuu and Koko went with each other and Hotaru and Ruka went with each other, leaving Mikan alone.
"Imai… Are you sure you want to leave Sakura alone?" Ruka asked.
"Look at it this way: That baka gets to spend some lovey-dovey time with that Hyuuga while we get the great footage and get rich," Hotaru explained emotionlessly as she held up her video camera. "You want those two to get together, anyway." Ruka sweat dropped anime style.
"Imai, this isn't time for your blackmail routine. My best friend and your best friend might be in danger."
"We can just get everything on tape and if they face danger, one of us will just go and help them. Anyway, the action recorded is bound to get millions of Rabbits."
"I don't know about this, Imai…"
"If you don't do it with me, I'll sell all of your Snow White photos."
"OK! OK! I'll do it! Geez!" Hotaru just replied with an evil smile and Rabbits signs in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Mikan ran off alone in search for Natsume, crying his name out loud and hoping for an answer from him but she got nothing from him. How she longed to hear his voice and see his beautiful crimson eyes…
"Aah! Snap out of it, Mikan!" she scolded herself. "This isn't the time to think about that hentai's good looks!" When she said that, however, she couldn't help but smile at the thought as she felt herself blushing a lot. She soon shook her head and ran off, continuing her search for Natsume.
"Natsume! Natsume-kun! Natsu-!" Mikan didn't get to call out anymore as a swift hand covered her mouth. The owner of the hand appeared from behind Mikan and Mikan moved with much difficulty to look at the stranger. She couldn't see his face but she saw that the person had an unconscious boy in his other arm. Mikan mentally gasped when she saw the blood dripping from the boy's left arm. She immediately recognized the boy even in the dark.
It was Natsume.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A/N: So how was that for the first chapter of my first Gakuen Alice fic? I know the plot doesn't seem all that original but I'm trying the best I can. I promise it'll get better as this goes along. Please be patient with me. I still have another major fic going on so updates will take a long time. Gomen…
Ichigo Kara: Strawberry Pattern