Behind Thy Crimson Eyes
Mikan's POV
The first thing I saw was his eyes. They seemed to draw me in, heart and soul. I didn't think that would ever happen again. I didn't want it to happen again. Not after the wound still felt so…raw. But oh, those eyes, those burning eyes, piercing to my core, never faltering, as if taunting me, daring me to look away. But I couldn't. Well, for a few seconds I couldn't. After hearing that school bell I realized I was already late for my first day of classes. Great. Reluctantly, I tore my gaze away and walked briskly towards the academy.
Natsume's POV
I don't know what it was. But for some reason, I couldn't take my eyes off of her. There wasn't anything special about her. She had long auburn hair that looked like it had highlights in the sun. She wore the academy high school uniform (though it looked like the skirt was pulled up an inch or two higher than school code). She had a red and black shoulder bag. Really, about everything was normal. But when I looked into her eyes…despite being across the courtyard I could see she had these brown golden eyes. They were glassy, as if she were about to cry, but still bright. They held pain and happiness, caution and curiosity. It was as if they held her whole life story.
Before I could dig any further she turned away. It wasn't until then that I realized she was staring back at me. It wasn't until then that I realized I was staring at her. What the hell was I doing? When have I ever been so engrossed in someone else? Before the situation got any more out of my control, I dug my hands in my pockets and started towards the classroom.
Third-Person POV
"Okay everyone, settle down," soothed Narumi to his rowdy class. They all seemed fit to ignore him. "If you all don't listen up, I'll have no choice but to use my a-lice," he said in a sing-song voice. The entire class rushed to their seats and shut their traps. No one wanted to fall victim to Narumi-sensei's pheromone alice. "Now then. I have a new student to introduce to you all. I know the semester has already started so it's a bit strange to be having a transfer student, but please be nice and look out for the student." He smiled and winked at the class.
They immediately went into a frenzy. Who could the student be and why were they transferring here? Was the new classmate cute? Both the guys and the girls wondered that since Narumi had purposefully left the student without gender.
A few students were unfazed by the news and continued their daily ritual of ignoring Narumi during homeroom. Hotaru, with her black bobbed hair worked on a new complex invention, Natsume had a book over his face while sleeping, Ruka petted his rabbit sitting in his lap while leisurely looking out the window, while Sumire examined her nails.
"Did you try reading them, Koko?" Sumire asked nonchalant. Though she appeared to be bored with the subject, deep down she was a little bit curious herself.
"Yeah I did," he responded with an everlasting smile on his face. "But my mind-reading alice didn't work. It kinda, bounced off, as if it hit a wall," he tried to explain. He had straw light brown hair that was unkempt. "Whoever it is, he or she is quite powerful to be able to deflect my alice."
This only got the class even more riled up. They immediately began to rise back up to their usual rowdy homeroom behavior. Sensing this, Narumi went to the door to let the student in.
"Well, why don't we let them in now," he said, returning to his seat after opening the door.
Without further introduction, Mikan walked into the noisy room, and stood in front of her classmates. The room went dead silent once-again, this time much faster than when Narumi enforced it. She waited for Narumi to say something, but when she turned to him, he merely winked at her.
"Hello. My name is Mikan Sakura and I will be transferring into your class today. It's nice to meet you all," Mikan said in a cheery voice. The boys went wild. They couldn't believe such a beauty transferred into their class!
"Well now, Mikan-chan. You can sit over there in the empty seat in the back." Narumi pointed to the seat next to Natsume, who still had his book on his face. Mikan gave a short bow to Narumi and then proceeded to her assigned seat. She could feel the stares and the whispers start up. This is not the first impression she wanted to make. She didn't want to stand out here like she did in her old school. She stood at the top then. But now, she just wanted to coast through the middle.
As she sat down, ignoring the looks and comments, she half-sat, half-tripped into her seat, shaking the whole row.
Ruka looked up, startled at the bump, and the book on Natsume's face slipped off to the floor. The class filled with giggles and outright laughter. The mood seemed to lighten at Mikan's clumsiness.
Mikan's POV
Oh, great. Now I'm a laughing stock. But I didn't feel like I was being laughed at. My little trip seemed to bring me closer to my new classmates. A small smile crept on face.
Before I could redeem myself, the boy who sat next to me empty seat started to awaken. The moment his eyes opened, I realized who my new seat mate was.
It was the boy from the courtyard! His crimson eyes locked on mine. There seemed to be recognition in them for a moment. But I might have imagined it since they almost immediately narrowed into a glare.
"Way to be a clutz, strawberry," the red-eyed boy snickered. I was confused until I realized what he meant. My slightly good mood plummeted and was replaced by anger.
"You, you are…" I started, ready to explode. But knew if I did, I'd attract even more attention to myself. Calm down Mikan. Just keep it together. I took a deep breath and sat down in my seat, promptly ignoring his comment.
"Oh, so now you're ignoring me? What are you, five?" he sneered.
Oh yeah. He was definitely on my stay-away-from list.
"You deaf, strawberry panties?"
My go-to-hell list too.
