Nothing Short of Godly

Written by: Azreil

-A collaboration of zagogay and Shinigami's Lullaby-

Chapter I: Of Ruined Appetites

Mikan POV.

"Right this way, Ms. Sakura!" The flamboyant blond gesticulated wildly down the corridor, practically bouncing in excitement as I shadowed him grudgingly. It figures that my parents would end up sending me to such a weird school. I had begged them to stay with me in Japan, but my mother grew up in France and her grandmother was ill; they had gone to organize her affairs and say goodbye. I wasn't on the plane right now with them because I had never known her. My parents weren't fans of international travel, or airplanes in general, so they'd never seen fit to take me to meet my own grandmother. Instead I was here, wherever here was.

"Alice Academy boasts various amenities." The blond man's violet eyes sparkled as he continued, "Included within these are two heated indoor pools, a fitness room, the Grand Dining Room, the Tsukashi Theatre building, and personalized academics fitted to your specific needs."

Without looking over his shoulder to see if I cared, which I didn't, he continued down the hall, talking loudly to nobody in particular. Or, well, me. But I wasn't paying attention. Instead I looked around, noting the delicately carved crown-molding juxtaposed with the abandoned clown toy discarded on the floor. Exactly what kind of school was this? I frowned, fingering a strand of my honey-brown hair. I held it up to my face, suppressing a sneeze as the hairs tickled my nose. Split ends. Mom was going to kill me!

My mother, Yuka, always complained about my tomboyish attributes. I've never particularly cared about fashion, which drove her up the wall. It wasn't that I didn't take care of myself or anything; I cut my nails, brushed my hair, and put on lotion. I just didn't do anything else.

However, I've always been ambitious. I've always competed in sports, academics, and I've always wanted to be at the top of the social pyramid. At my last school, I was the tagalong best friend of one of the most popular girls at school and had to suffer through the social backstabbing of all her other friends. I set myself apart from the other girls by genuinely caring for my friends; I wasn't a social parasite, I only ever wanted for people to like me. Hopefully, the Academy girls will be nicer.

I looked back up at my tour guide -- Narumi was it? -- and took an involuntary step backwards as I realized that he was nowhere to be seen. Oops, I thought, rocking back on my heels. Where is he?

The corridor split ahead of me into three identical hallways, all decorated with white crown-molding and red wallpaper. I headed down the middle hallway quickly, intent on finding my tour-guide and something to eat; I was absolutely ravenous.

I tugged at the black pleated skirt I wore, cursing the short school uniform. I wasn't eleven years old anymore! I straightened and strode down the hallway, smiling in satisfaction as I began to smell the savory scent of steak. Bingo.

As I continued walking, the smell began to fade away and I turned around, frowning. I took a few cautious steps back the way I had come and the smell once again taunted my watering mouth. I strode back down the corridor, pausing every few seconds before dark wooden doors; I must have missed the cafeteria in my haste to find said place.

I paused before a room labeled '313,' which I immediately realized was the source of the smell. I reached for the brass doorknob and stopped, there was no way this could be the cafeteria, right? But it smelled so good…and I was hungry…maybe I could ask the person inside for directions to the cafeteria, and maybe if they were nice they would just give me some of their steak?

I gripped the doorknob and turned it lightly, letting myself in. The scent of the steak grew stronger and stronger as I swung open the door and stepped into the room, promptly slamming the door shut behind myself.

Yum, I thought happily, eyes locked on the juicy looking steak.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" A deep, masculine voice shook me from my steak-induced stupor and my head jerked up involuntarily, my brown eyes clashing with annoyed crimson.

Standing behind the mouthwatering steak was a boy who looked to be about my age, perhaps a year or two older. He was…wow – definitely worthy of the steak before him. He wore nothing but a towel wrapped around his waist, thus showing off his nothing-short-of-godly muscular abs.

He shook his long raven hair from his deep crimson-colored eyes and glared at me.

"Sorry!" I apologized quickly, backing up and grasping blindly for the doorknob. "I didn't mean to barge in. It's just, I'm hungry and your steak smelled so good!" My eyes were once again riveted on the steak and I hoped he would be nice enough to give me a slice.

"Are you insane?" He questioned, staring at me in confusion. So much for giving me some of the steak…

"Um no," I replied, "You don't have to be such a jerk about it. You could have just said that you want to eat your steak yourself and then given me directions to the cafeteria."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to be so rude!" I ground my foot angrily into the floor and then turned to leave.

"My name's Natsume." The boy said suddenly, leaning out into the hallway just as I opened the door and stepped outside. "You'll want to know that when you're writing that love confession I know you're thinking about." A flicker of annoyance shot through his eyes. "Make it short; I'm tired of reading those things," he practically growled before slamming the door shut in my face.

Heat rushed into my cheeks as I raised my hand to my face, where I still felt the warmth of his breath – What a jerk!

Natsume POV.

Dear Natsume-sama,

You might not know me… no, actually, there's no chance at all that you might know me. But, I just want to tell you one thing…

I love you, Natsume-sama. That much is already obvious, I guess.

You've no idea how much my hand is shaking right now. I'm very nervous. I hope you react to this letter very positively. I heard that you've turned down a lot of girls before. But I hope you won't turn me down.

Natsume-sama, will you go out with me?

I dared not read any further.

This was the third of the love letters propped up against my door this morning. One among many that now rested on top of a coffee table inside my Special Star room.

I don't even know why I bother reading them, either. I suppose they amuse me. No, actually, they don't. They annoy the hell out of me.

Why can't these girls just leave me alone? Have they any idea how annoying they get?

But at least this one had the decency to double-check her grammar. There is nothing worse than a rubbish-worthy love letter. It disgusts me to no end.

Deciding that I needed a nice warm shower to clear my aching head, I crease my forehead as I walk to the bathroom. I strip and turn the shower on to a moderately hot temperature.

As I soak under the steamy water, I think about… well, nothing, really. Like I would tell you, anyway. I'm the Natsume Hyuuga. I don't tell anyone my secrets.

Well, disregarding Ruka Nogi, my best friend.

He's blond; he's white; he's nice; you can easily mistake him for a girl – we're complete opposites.

But you know what they say – opposites attract. And in this particular scenario, I choose to believe that saying.

I turn off the shower as I get out of the cubicle, grabbing the nearest towel I can reach and quickly wrapping it around my waist. I ruffle my wet hair and look at the mirror.

"What are you looking at, huh?" I say, threatening my own reflection. "Shit-face," I snarled.

I've never liked myself. Never have, and never will.

Of all the people I hate, I would have to be placed at the top. I hate myself. If you'd been given this curse of an Alice, I'd imagine that you would think the same.

Every night, the Academy drains me with constant missions. "Don't leave any survivors," they say repeatedly. And I blindly follow the orders – dirtying my hands with blood that belongs to those who probably don't deserve to die, individuals with a family waiting for them at home and a life of no less value than mine.

Curse it. I shouldn't be feeling any pity towards them.

I glare at my reflection one last time before turning to open the bathroom door.

What meets my eyes is a girl. A rather short girl, to be exact. She is sniffing away at the steak that had miraculously appeared at my coffee table beside the mountain of letters from girls I don't even know.

How the hell did that steak get there? I don't have a memory of ever putting it there; I didn't even know that I freaking had a steak.

But either way, she's in my room. My room is my privacy. No one gets to enter my room. I repeat: no one.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" I say in a slightly threatening manner. She jerks up and looks at me. I gave her a once-over, my eyes wandering from her face to her almost non-existent chest, to her flat stomach, and then down to her brown sandals.

I flick my hair out of my eyes as I glare at the stranger.

"Sorry!" she says, backing up and fumbling with the doorknob. "I didn't mean to barge in. It's just, I'm hungry and your steak smelled so good!" She looks at the steak, and I swear I saw a drop of saliva hit the floor.

"Are you insane?" I ask. What the hell is this woman?

"Um no," she said. "You don't have to be such a jerk about it. You could have just said that you want to eat your steak yourself and then given me directions to the cafeteria."

"Excuse me?"

"You don't have to be so rude!" she snaps, banging her foot down on the floor. She turns to leave, but not before giving me a glare of her own.

I grab hold of the doorframe. "My name's Natsume," I say. "You'll want to know my name when you're writing that love confession I know you're thinking about. Make it short; I'm tired of reading those things."

I slam the door in her face.

"Just another fangirl," I mutter to myself. "Annoying little fags."

I walk over to the coffee table and examine the steak. Beneath it is a note.

This is for you, my dear Natsume-sama. Eat it while thinking of me!

Love,
Ayameko Chiyo.

Blasted fangirls! Annoying little brats! I was planning on eating that steak! But not anymore, that note just ruined my goddamn appetite.

To be continued...

zagogay's notes

Natsume's point of view was written by me, although I think Shinigami's Lullaby tweaked it a bit. Same as I did to hers, anyway. But yeah. I found writing Natsume's point of view quite fun. I enjoyed writing it, at least. And I hope you guys enjoyed reading it. Anyway, I'll see you in the next chapter. Drop us a review if you can. It will be greatly appreciated.

Shinigami's Lullaby's notes

I hope you guys liked this first chapter, writing Mikan's character was a lot of fun! I kind of was messing with her personality: trying to keep the cheerfulness while giving her a new tougher twist. Tell me if you don't like it so I can revise! Comments would be lovely so we know what to improve and what we're already doing well. Thank you for reading!

Ciao!