Chapter One
*Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice!
I watched helplessly as one by one all of my friends and neighbors fell down and burned to death. Regardless of age or appearance everyone was slowly torched. Families were forced to watch as their loved ones turned to ashes. No one could move. Leaves defied nature as they cascaded to the ground in the middle of summer. My feet were rooted to the ground. I knew it would be my turn soon but I wasn't able to bring myself to move. My body trembled and my mind screamed at me to scramble away. I couldn't. Resigned to my fate, my mind flashed back to when it all began.
It was a calm spring day. The birds were chirping and there was a light breeze. My friends and I all danced with the wind. We were laughing and talking amongst ourselves. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Everything was perfect. Then it all changed. The sky turned pitch black, a vivid contrast from the light blue color it was a few moments ago. The clouds rumbled with ominous thunder. The wind picked up, lashing out everywhere.
My friends and I froze. We didn't know what was going on. We scanned the area, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. BANG! The thundering sound reverberated through our bodies. The vibrations sent chills down my body. What in the world was going on?
Using my acute sense, I used the vibration waves from another deafening bang to track the source. Searching…searching…searching…THERE! The Northern Forest! That's where the explosion came from! I quickly told my friends. We decided to investigate the mysterious resonances.
Turning our heads both ways, we made sure that no one was looking. Then we quietly got up and started sneaking over to the Northern Forest. We moved slowly, constantly checking over our shoulders on the lookout. I heard a muted shout. We halted. As the voices came closer, we all stiffened and ceased moving. We stuck our feet firmly into the ground.
A group of frantic people approached. They shouted directions while running all over the place. "Mikan! Natsume! Where are you guys? It was a big misunderstanding! Mikan!" I saw Hotaru clinging onto Ruka. Her usual stoic face had broken. Tears ran in small streams down her face. She was crying. I saw Ruka turn to comfort her and wipe the tears away. Hotaru just brushed his hand away and said that she wasn't crying. Misaki, who was crying herself, suddenly turned to Ruka. "Ruka! You have the animal pheromone alice right? Call them out! Find Mikan and Natsume, please!" she begged.
Ruka immediately called out his favorite rabbit. "Usagi-chan, find Mikan and Natsume for me." The fluffy rabbit nodded, then blushed. After all, Ruka had trained quite a bit, so his alice was dreadfully effective. Usagi-chan called out some of her friends, and then hopped off.
Turning to the group, Ruka stated, "It will take a few minutes for Usagi-chan to find them and come back. We should continue searching in the meanwhile." Nodding in agreement, the rest of the group decided to split up. Ruka and Hotaru went off towards the middle school area. Misaki and Tsubasa went to the dorms. Anna, Sumire, and Koko proceeded to the high school area while Nonoko and Kitsu headed back to the elementary area.
My friends and I all let out a sigh of relief as they left. It was hard sometimes, always having to live on the sidelines. No one could ever know of our existence. If anyone found out, it would bring disaster to the world. People everywhere would probably freak out. Still, I yearned to move and play even when others were around. I longed to move and play with other people.
"They're gone. We can move now," my friend Maria whispered. It was easy to tell from the look on her face that she longed for the same thing I did. Todd let out a sigh, knowing what she was thinking as well. All of us wished for it…the freedom to wander the world as we wished. It was tiring to watch the years fly but do nothing. Every day we silently watched the world passing by. Our eyes saw every event that ever occurred…every single little incident, whether a tragedy or a moment of happiness. We had years of wisdom and wouldn't make foolish mistakes. But we would never have the chance to truly live. A moment of silence descended on our group.
It was broken by another echoing boom. This caught our attention. Glancing at each other, we all nodded our heads in silent agreement. Slowly we got up and made our way towards the Northern Forest again.
Finally we arrived at the forest's edge. The clashing sounds were louder now and occurring more frequently. We approached the center of the forest when we heard a loud shriek. "LIAR! I HEARD YOU! YOU AND ALL THE REST OF THOSE BACKSTABBERS! Do you think I'm stupid? I might be dense sometimes but I'm not naive. You can't trick me with your false words full of promises!" spat a furious voice. Turning my head, I caught Todd's eye.
"Who's arguing? They seem very mad," he whispered. I simply continued walking. The three of us slowed down when we neared a clearing. Light shone brightly on our eyes through a small gap in the forest treetops. We halted. There were two people fighting. They seemed to be the cause of the noises.
Peeking from behind the trees, my eyes widened. I recognized them. It was Natsume and Mikan. What were they doing arguing all the way out here, in the depths of the Northern Forest? I often watched them from the sidelines as they bickered childishly. Unfortunately, their faces showed something beyond elementary school flirting. We all blended into the natural vegetation as we eavesdropped on their conversation.
"Mikan, please," Natsume pleaded. A regretful and nervous expression replaced his usual stoic poker face.
"I'm leaving. This is what you all wanted wasn't it? Hotaru, Ruka…the whole gang was talking about how 'things would be so much simpler' without me around. You guys wouldn't have to 'take care of such a dense girl' all the time that 'has no sense of when to be serious," Mikan mimicked.
Natsume began to protest again, but Mikan interrupted.
"You know what hurt the most? It wasn't those words. No. It was when you muttered to yourself, 'It's so unfair that Mikan is cheerful all the time while we have to take all the pain." Mikan mimed Natsume's voice perfectly…almost perfectly. The pure hatred that eluded from her voice made even us flinch. However, when I listened closely, I discovered the hatred was laced with pain.
"I had thought, of all the people in the world, you would be the last person to talk badly about me. As we got closer, I saw more of your emotions. I thought I understood you better. You were cold and harsh on the outside, but truly cared on the inside. You secretly protected all of us if we got in trouble. But now? I don't know you. I don't know this Natsume that can't see below the surface. Maybe everyone else, but not you!"
Mikan gasped for air as she screamed the last sentence. As her breathing calmed, she turned her head back to Natsume, continuing her rant.
"I thought that you understood me, that despite our bickering, you were my friend. Maybe I was delusional," she said with a harsh laugh, "But I thought I was special. You always seemed to see right through me. You comforted me when I was visibly upset. Yet somehow you couldn't see behind the smile. Do you think I'm truly stupid; that I'm seriously that dense? Newsflash! I'm not. I know when you guys are making fun of me. I don't actually zone out that much. That giant grin you see every day? Half of the time it's fake," Mikan snarled.
Natsume's eyes widened. Then he gritted his teeth, angry at himself for not noticing Mikan's pain. He winced when Mikan started laughing maniacally.
"Hah! Every day I plaster a smile on my face to hide all of my pain. Not a single one of you can tell the difference between my genuine smile and the fake anymore! Not you, not even Hotaru, my best friend," Mikan said while using her fingers to quote 'best friend.'
"I-I'm sorry."
Natsume's words quietly echoed in the meadow.
"SORRY? SORRY?!" Mikan shrieked, "No, you're not sorry! No. No. No. If you were sorry you would've seen past the mask. If you didn't mean it, you wouldn't have said it!"
Suddenly closing her eyes, Mikan's face contorted with pain. Her knees buckled and she collapsed.
"Mikan!" Natsume cried out in alarm. He dashed over, catching her just in time. He slowly lowered her to the ground. Mikan just sobbed in his arms. She looked so fragile, so delicate. The light in her eyes was gone.
"Why t-today of all days? Why did all of my friends choose today to berate me?"
Mikan's words were all choked up. Natsume's mind wondered what was so special about today.
"Today is the only day I can't smile. Not when Ojii-san is d-dead," Mikan wept.
Natsume's eyes closed when he heard her share the news. The regret and pain shot through him like a bullet. He had thought Mikan was just mad, but now he realized the true cause of her feelings. This changed everything. Maybe on other days she could've ignored their words and just said that they were mean. But not today, the day of the death of the person who told her to always smile. Mikan's constant smile finally crumbled.
"Just give me five minutes to explain. Please. Then, if it's what you still want…you can leave," Natsume whispered weakly, "I won't stop you from moving to America, but please, just listen to me."
Mikan maintained an uninterested face, but gave a curt nod in consent.
Internally, Natsume was cheering. He would have the chance to redeem himself.
I glanced around the forest, wondering if the others knew what was happening. I leaned towards Todd, whispering, "I'll be right back."
I snuck off to search for background information. It was common for Natsume and Mikan to be fighting, but it was never this…serious.
I wandered around, getting everyone's point of view. Finally, I returned. Maria and Todd's heads snapped up when they heard me. Their faces were full of anticipation.
"So? What did they say?" Maria asked eagerly.
"Apparently yesterday Mikan had come to tell Natsume that her grandpa died, but instead she found him calling her stupid and the cause of his pain. Additionally, this was right after she had walked in on Hotaru, Ruka, and the rest of the group whom were also verbally venting their stress on Mikan," I explained. Maria gasped in horror.
"Poor Mikan! What did she do?" Todd asked.
"Today Mikan ignored everyone in class. They were really confused. Then at the end of classes, Mikan suddenly announced she was transferring to Alice Academy of Arts in America. Everyone asked her questions about why she was transferring and begged her to stay until she couldn't take it anymore. Mikan started screaming at them about how they should be happy that she was leaving. They were shocked to find out that Mikan had eavesdropped on them. Everyone apologized, but she ran into the Northern Forest. Natsume chased her here, and has been trying to convince her to stay," I answered.
SLAP!
The sharp sound caught our attention. We had been whispering amongst ourselves, and we accidentally completely blocked out their conversation. It was a skill we had acquired –the ability to ignore everything around us.
Alarmed, I started to turn, but I froze when I had the sudden urge to shiver.
The air turned chilly.
"No."
It was only one word, but we were chilled to the bone.
We spun around but everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. I watched as Mikan shimmered in the air and left Natsume standing there.
We stared as he gritted his teeth and punched a tree, not even caring about the blood running down his hand.
One word. At the time I didn't know how much that one word would change my life.
And then the burning began.
A/N: Who thinks I have officially gone insane? I promise I haven't! (^_–)
I started this story off of a strange prompt. At the end of the story I will reveal it.
Maria, Todd, and the narrator aren't human. It has to do with the prompt. Any guesses as to what they are?
I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! (The more reviews, the faster I type the second chapter!)
Thank you to my editor Eraser Bitz!