Blood Red

Depressed Writer

It is sadder to find the past again and find it inadequate to the present than it is to have it elude you and remain forever a harmonius conception of a memory.
-F. Scott Fitzgerald

Chapter 1: Elusive

Disclaimer: I'd lie and say it belonged to me but then I'd be in deep trouble. So, no, I don't own Gakuen Alice.

I'd never heard of Alice Academy. Nor did I want to attend such a prestigious place. If anything, I'd really rather stay far, far away from Alice Academy. So why was my mother forcing me to attend this place?

To say that the school was big would be a huge understatement. A beautiful white building rose up in front of me. A similar building stood proudly to the right and a cluster of smaller buildings were far off on my left. There was probably another building somewhere and a swimming pool, a tennis court, a basket-ball court and god knows what else. I had to admit, all together, it looked really, and I mean really, impressive.

And the only thing separating me and the really, big impressive academy were a pair of iron gates.

"Now remember to do your laundry every week. And don't forget to put on warm clothes in the winter."

"I'll be fine, Mom," I muttered, "You don't have to worry about me."

When she had finally finished giving instructions and stopped fussing over me, she stepped back to look at me.

"Well, I'll help you take your bags and settle in, shall I?" I could have sworn I heard her voice cracking a bit at the end. I simply nodded.

We carried my things all the way till the main lobby of the school, the kind security guard helping us on our way. While my mother was filling out a form at the reception, I took the opportunity to look around. The lobby was very grand; a few students and teachers milled about, lush, comfy sofas were thrown in casually at places and rich paintings and portraits adorned the walls. A board behind the reception boasted of all the facilities and achievements of the school.

All in all, it seemed like a pretty neat place.

"Mikan," my mom called me over to the reception area; apparently, they needed my signature. After everything was sorted out, the smiling receptionist told us it was time to say our goodbyes. My mother didn't seem too happy about this.

"Be a good girl, Mikan. I love you," she hugged me and when she had run out of things to say and fuss over, she finally turned around to go and waved. I felt a bit sad, seeing her go, realizing that the next time I'd get to see her would probably be after months.

I picked up my suitcase and followed the still-smiling receptionist. She led me through a long flight of corridors till we reached a door.

"This is usually how the students get from their dorms to the main building," she explained. "It's shorter than the long way round the front."

I smiled and nodded to be polite. A winding path led from the main building to the student dorms. When we reached there, we had to take another set of stairs, before finally getting to my room. She explained how one building was for the boys and the other was for the girls. The smiling receptionist (doesn't her mouth hurt from too much smiling?) told me I'd be sharing the room with another girl.

Suddenly, the door opened and a teenage girl about my age strode out, talking on her phone. When she saw me, she frowned and quickly ended the call.

"So, this is the new girl?" she queried, placing a manicured hand on her hips. Her hair was dark with the tips curly at the end and her thin eyebrows shot up as she looked me up and down. "She looks stupid."

I didn't like her one bit.

"Well, at least I don't look as stupid as you do," I shot back. That got her mad.

"Watch your mouth, new girl, I can make your life hell."

"We'll see about that." We would probably have went on arguing with each other if the receptionist hadn't intervened.

"Ms Sakura, this is Sumire Shouda, she will be your roommate from now on."

Great. Just great.

I sat on my bed, sorting out my belongings. The smiling receptionist had gone to attend to her duties long ago and Permy, er-I mean, Sumire was standing impatiently in the doorway, waiting for me to finish unpacking.

"Hurry up, Nikan Makura, or whatever your name is," she said leaning against the door frame, "It's almost dinnertime and I can't leave you alone here."

I found her very annoying. If she wanted me to 'hurry up' then maybe she should have tried shutting up and helping me like all good roommates were supposed to do.

"It's Mikan Sakura, actually," I said. "And what's wrong with leaving me here?"

She rolled her eyes, "It's because you're new here...I was assigned to help you out before you even reached this academy. That's the only reason why I'm even standing here talking to you here. If I wasn't unlucky enough to have to get stuck with you then I would be hanging out with my friends right now," she crossed her arms impatiently, "So like, hurry up."

When I had finally finished unpacking and sorting out my things, I met Sumire outside in the corridor and she closed the door. I noticed an electronic card swiping machine installed next to the door on the wall.

"You'll get your room card sometime today," she explained. We took a set of stairs down. There were still a lot of people milling about, who weren't hungry yet, or maybe just had decided to skip it. Sumire seemed to know a lot of them and waved at them as we walked past. Then we reached a place where another corridor intersected ours.

"This," Sumire said gesturing to the other corridor, "Is the boys part of the dorms. You're not allowed to go here after 7 pm. And that," she said pointing towards a large door in the middle of the corridor, "Is the dining hall."

I could hear the hub of conversation and noise as the thousands of students in the academy ate and had fun.

"Come on, let's go."

Suddenly, my throat went dry and I felt nervous. As much as I didn't want to care about this school, I still found myself thinking that I'd better not embarrass myself or do something obviously stupid. I was a new kid. I had to make sure I was accepted.

"Feeling nervous?" Sumire asked, and I was surprised to find that there was a bit of kindness in her voice. "That's okay, everyone feels a bit nervous at their first day in a new school. You can sit at our table, if you want."

I nodded gratefully, relieved. Maybe Sumire wasn't that bad after all. She pushed open the door and a loud barrage of noise suddenly seemed to roar into existence.

...

Well, it certainly was an...'unexpected' ...scene. Food was literally flying through the air. Students completely covered in food grabbed everything they could find and threw it at each other. Teachers screamed at students trying to maintain order, but they did it half heartedly; some of them were even joining the fight!

"WHAT," I asked my mouth agape, "Is going on?"

Sumire cursed, "It must have been one of the ninth graders. Those annoying Tokihara twins, I bet. Come on." she grabbed my hand and dragged me through the crowd. I just let her lead me, my mouth was hanging half a metre below where it originally was. Some of the students laughed at me. But I was too shocked to care. Did they, like, do this everyday or something?

"SUMIRE!" I heard a girly voice scream. We turned around and saw a cute pink-haired girl at the far side of the hall. I noticed, it was calmer and quieter at that side. She was gesturing for us to come over. I stared at her. To think that she could scream loud enough so that we could hear her voice above all this uproar. ..Wow..

We pushed past the crowd together, sometimes having to crawl under tables to avoid flying food and the mob of students. Sumire was muttering curses and some very severe profanity under her breath. When we finally reached the other side of the hall, I immediately collapsed into a nearby chair and gasped for breath. If this was how it was going to be everyday, first thing after dinner would be to call up my mom and scream at her over the phone to come and take me home.

"So who's your new friend?" I glanced up to see the pink-haired girl staring at me quizzically.

"Mikan Sakura," I said standing up and offered her my hand, "I'm new here."

She grasped my hand, "Hello Mikan, I'm Anna Unemoniya."

"Nice to meet you, Anna."

We stood there awkwardly, smiling at each other. Sumire broke the silence by clearing her throat, "Let's go sit down at a table and talk. Anna, where are the others?"

She led us through the crowd. Behind us, at the 'other side', the students were still on a food rampage. Just listening to them scream bloody murder made me glad I was on this side. The safe side, I decided. We reached a large round table for six. Three girls were sitting around them, leaving three other chairs empty. We sat down and then the chatter began.

I didn't participate in the conversations much since I was new and didn't know anything. But I soon learned their names. The one who sat next to me was Hotaru Imai. She barely spoke. Her hair was dark and cropped short and she had a transfixing pair of lavender eyes. She didn't smile either.

Nonoko Ogasawara had dark straight hair and had a passion for chemistry. Which was weird since I wasn't much of a fan of chemistry and couldn't for the life of me figure out why someone would actually like it.

The girl with the squeaky voice didn't make much of an impression on me. Her name was Wasako, I think.

I left my place and came back with a plate piled with food. Don't ask me why, but all of a sudden I was ravenous. I caught Sumire wrinkling her nose at me as I stuffed my mouth. The food fight was still going strong. The screaming and shouting made it hard to even think. All I know is that I was just lucky to be on the safe side of the overwhelmingly large lunch hall.

Except Hotaru, who only made casual comments, the other girls were non-stop chattering. They ate between sentences and Sumire, I noticed had barely anything on her plate at all. As for me, well I concentrated on the food. While I was stuffing my mouth, my thoughts began to drift. I wondered about the academy and if my mother would have reached the house by evening.

All of a sudden, I noticed a change in the atmosphere. The noise had died down. Completely stopped,like God almighty had snapped his fingers. All the shrieking and noise disappeared. I swivelled my head around to see the cause. Did the principal or someone equally important just enter?

There was a small confusion at the entrance, as food covered students standing near the doorway shuffled aside. I craned my neck to get a better look, the crowd of students blocking my view. The entire hall had fallen eerily quiet now. No one said a single word. The infectious silence had affected our table as well. Everyone, I could see, was turning in their seats and craning their heads.

When I was just about to take my courage in my hands and ask what the hell was wrong, I heard a voice speak. A male voice, husky and a tad angry. It was loud and in the silent lunchroom.

"Ichiro, Kaede, I thought I warned you about fights before." Frantic whispering broke the silence.

Next to me, Sumire squealed and then clamped a hand over her mouth, "Oh my god, it's him!"

I was perplexed, "Who?"

There was a bit of shuffling at the back of the crowd, as they parted to let two sandy-haired twins-make their way towards the front. I could hear some muttering and mumbling. Someone laughed. There was a lot of whispering going among the students now. Beside me, Sumire kept muttering to herself and fidgeting.

Miraculously, the crowd slowly began to disperse and I saw the cause of the sudden discipline. A tall, lean, raven-haired boy stood at the entrance. He looked to be about the same age as me. His figure radiated unadulterated annoyance. I couldn't see much, but it didn't take a genius to figure out he was scowling and angry.

Without warning, his head swiveled around and his gaze locked onto mine. I stiffened immediately, my posture going rigid. Then, he averted his eyes and the brief moment passed.

When our eyes had locked, I registered two things. One, I was blushing uncontrallably for some unfathomable reason. And two...

And two his eyes were red. A deep shade of crimson. Blood red.

"Who," I said my eyes fixed on the lithe form of the boy, "Is that?" He made his way to a table, a few people around him.

"Natsume Hyuuga," several voices answered. I tore away my gaze from the him and looked at the people seated around the table. Sumire, I noticed was looking at me suspiciously.

"Who?" I asked a little too innocently.

Hotaru raised an eyebrow, "Natsume Hyuuga. I expected Sumire to tell you all about him."

"Hotaru!" Anna reprimanded. Hotaru shrugged in reply.

Now I was confused, "What's so special about him?"

Sumire gawked at me. Even Anna and Nonoko exchanged looks.

"What's so special about him?" Sumire echoed, "What's so special about him?" -Might I mention her voice had descended to a vicious whisper- "Darling, everything is special about him."

I must have still had a confusing look on my face because Sumire sighed, exasperated, and continued.

"Okay, one, he's like the hottest guy in the whole school," she ticked off each topic on manicured fingers. "Two, almost every single girl in the school is after him. Three, he's stinkin' rich. Four, he's a genius. Five-"

"Okay, okay," I put my hands up in surrender, "I get it."

I continued eating, but I wasn't really tasting the food. My thoughts were somewhere else. I was still thinking about the weird eye contact we had shared a while ago.

Natsume Hyuuga...

I gazed around the room again — a room that was devoid of any type of food fight, and had resumed the normal hubbub of conversation —hoping to find him, and find him, I did.

He sat at a far away table. A crowd of giggling girls blocked most of my view, but from what I could see, he slouched lazily in his chair, mostly ignoring the dumb girls and talking very little with the others seated around the table.

One of the giggling girls, a curvaceous blonde caught my attention. Well, she practically caught everyone's attention with the way she kept flaunting herself. She placed both hands on Natsume Hyuuga's table in such a way it made her boobs almost pop out of her tight shirt.

For some reason, the sight made me sick.

"I'm hungry," I announced to our table suddenly. "I'm going for seconds."

I pushed the chair back and stood up, hearing Sumire mutter something about 'storing fat for winter'. I made my way to the large buffet and waited in line impatiently. When my turn came, I reached out eager hands to serve myself. Instead, the booby blonde from before came between me and my precious food.

"Excuse me," I said clearing my throat, "I was here first."

The girl turned around slowly and met my gaze. A scowl formed upon her face and she planted a hand firmly on her rounded hip. She flicked her hair behind her shoulder, and said in a LOUD voice, "And what the hell do you want?"

Several people passing by turned to stare and I felt my cheeks sting. The tips of my ears turned a rosy hue.

I bit my lip, "I was here first. If you want some food you should wait in line."

The girl scoffed and gave me the 'up-and-down' look. Her friends gathered around her with smug expressions on their faces. They all wore revealing dresses, of course.

"Listen girl, are you new here?" the booby blonde, who I took to be the ringleader said. In a voice that was dangerously sweet.

"What if I am?" I said defiantly, gathering courage.

"Yeah? I thought so." She folded her arms across her chest, her face turned malicious and she snarled, "So listen up while I...enlighten you," her friends laughed loudly, "On the way things are run at this academy."

"First of all," she gestured to me, "Girls like you-"

"The name's Mikan Sakura," I interrupted. Her face turned animalistic and I wondered whether it would have been better to keep my trap shut.

"Fine, Sakura," she spat. "Girls like you don't speak with girls like us. We're different, get it? Dirt-" she gestured to me, "And us don't mingle." She smirked triumphantly.

My entire face was burning now, and tears stung my eyes. Dirt. She'd called me dirt. Of all the mean things people had told me over the years, so far this one topped the list. So much embarrassment was rippling through me, it felt as if it was leaking out of my pores.

"So why don't you just get your whiny ass outta here?" More of her friends had arrived; more people to laugh at me. The whole school was watching, I could feel their eyes trained on me, waiting to see if I would fight back. I imagined them having a good time at my expense. It wasn't everyday that some freakish newbie got humiliated and picked on.

I was seriously in danger of crying now. A gut-wrenching feeling pervaded me. My breathing became shallow and I kept my head well down, not wanting anyone to notice how near-tears I had become. She rambled on about other things but I didn't hear any of that. The only thing running through my mind at the moment was that she had called me dirt. The world swirled around in my mind, filling up every square-inch.

Dirt...

Dirt...

Dirt..

Oh, hell no. From somewhere within the deep recesses of my mind, a faint voice came to me. A kind smile and twinkling laughter.

Remember Mikan, never let anyone make you feel inferior.

"Shut up." An elusive memory tugged at the edges.

She immediately stopped mid-sentence and her eyes narrowed incredulously, "Excuse me?"

"I said shut up. You hard of hearing? Oh wait, I forgot. With all that talking, the only thing that you can probably hear is your own mouth." I raised my head and glared at her straight in the eye.

The girl's friends shared incredulous looks, their mouths open. It wasn't just them; the entire lunchroom broke into shocked whispers. Someone hooted. The girl herself didn't say anything, seeming to be furious for one moment. Then her mouth pulled back into a sneer and she seemed herself again. My sudden-found confidence dropped a notch. She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by another voice.

"Leave her alone, Koizumi-san. The poor girl just wanted some food."

I chanced a glance up and was startled to find a tall blonde man standing a few feet away. A few earrings glinted on his ear and he seemed to have a rather- er -flamboyant taste in clothes. My heart immediately reached out to this stranger, my hero. I realized he was a teacher from the way the students reacted.

Koizumi turned to me, eyes narrowed, "You're lucky this time, Sakura. I won't go so easy on you next time." She turned around, her friends trailing behind her. A few of her friends threw furtive gances back at me, as if the mere idea of wanting more food repelled them. Students immediately parted to make way for her. What was she? A queen? Well, either that or they were actually running away from her.

Slowly, people got bored with me and resumed whatever they had been doing before Koizumi started humiliating me. The blonde teacher was standing at the side. He wore a broad grin and beckoned me over. I numbly trudged up to him.

"You're Mikan Sakura, I presume? The new student?"

I nodded. I stood there awkwardly before realizing that I was supposed to say something. "Thank you for, you know, back there- er-"

"Narumi L. Anju," he took off an imaginary hat and mock bowed, "At your service. And don't mention it. Luna-san can be a bit rude when she gets upset."

Upset? She seemed to be having a rather good time picking on me and flirting with that Hyuuga guy.

"So, you're a teacher right?"

"Yes, I teach English and I'm in charge of the drama club. Maybe you'll be in my class, Mikan-chan," he winked at me. The more I talked with him, the less awkward it became and it wasn't long before I was laughing along freely with him. After some time he excused himself and politely left. I was still standing there smiling like an idiot when Sumire crept up beside me and tapped my shoulder.

"Oi, quit your daydreaming. Nice show you put on back there. And of all the people to get mixed up with, you go and screw with who? Luna Koizumi."

I felt irritated. "It wasn't like your own help was forthcoming," I shot back.

"It wasn't," she admitted, "But listen Mikan, that girl means trouble. Remember, earlier when you arrived, I said I could make your life hell? Well, I can't even hold a candle to Luna. If you're not careful, she'll make sure that every single second you spent at the academy is torture."

I fell silent, pondering this new piece of information and wondering what the hell I had gotten myself into when-

"But you know, the way you stood up to her back there was pretty amazing. Not many people have the courage to do that." I looked at Sumire. She seemed genuine.

"Thanks," I said finally.

She shrugged, "It wasn't a compliment. I'm just saying."

"Oh, okay."

After lunch, Sumire ditched me saying she had things to attend to. I had no idea where Hotaru disappeared to. Anna And Nonoko left saying they had a project that they were working on together to complete. Since it was a Sunday, there were no afternoon classes. I roamed around the school absent-mindedly, getting lost more than often. Some of the students would stare at me as I walked past, no doubt remembering me from the afternoon's fiasco. Late evening rolled by and I received my card which I would use to get into my room and 'only my room' as the smiling receptionist had so cheerfully pointed out.

I skipped dinner and opted instead to go to bed, something I hadn't done since the 6th grade. But something else had been niggling at the back of my mind. Something that no matter how hard I tried remained out of my grasp. An elusive memory. It felt like one moment I had almost got it but then it'd vanish and leave me feeling frustrated.

I wasted a lot of time searching for my room, I wandered through the building till I came upon a familiar corridor. It seemed deserted. I trudged through till I came upon my room. I produced the card, but then I noticed that the door was slightly ajar. I pushed it open, expecting to find Sumire inside. Instead it was empty. Sumire must have popped inside and forgotten to lock the door.

I vaguely noticed that something was different about the room from the last time I had come here. But the sight of the inviting beds made me forget everything and collapse into the one which I remembered to be mine. My eyes flickered shut, and the events of the day washed over me. Then a thought occurred to me. It was of my father.

Remember Mikan, never let anyone make you feel inferior.

It was a memory of my father. I smiled drowsily into my pillow before I drifted off. The last thing I remember thinking was, 'Why aren't any of my things here?'

Okay, this chapter was not easy to write. But stick with me people, I promise to get better. Thank you to the people who are following the story and/or reviewed.

Tell me what you think of this chapter. Oh, and any guesses as to why her stuff aren't in her room? *evil grin*

-Depressed Writer