Natsume Hyuuga was the idol of Alice Academy. He had it all: the looks, the brains, the talent, the power. Girls – and a few boys – threw themselves at his feet in hopes of winning at least a single glance from him. Fellow males, no matter how old, admired and longed to be him.
He had it all.
Except, apparently, the love of his life.
Natsume's eyes, as crimson as ever, swept the obnoxiously loud classroom of 2-B and settled on one girl. One infuriatingly naïve and cheerful girl who couldn't seem to know the meaning of being too kind, a girl unique in every way possible, someone rivaling even him in popularity and power. She also happened to be the one girl he couldn't keep his eyes and mind off of.
He cursed the day Mikan Sakura came to this godforsaken academy. Before her, his life had been simple: wake up, ignore everyone else but Ruka, and maybe be kicked out to carry out a mission. Eat, breathe, sleep, and press the repeat button.
It was a never-ending cycle, one he didn't care enough to even want to end. Ruka had continuously told him time and time again that he was losing his will to live, that he couldn't give up, he still had a future ahead of him. And each and every time, Natsume had replied in a hollow voice, "What future?"
As much as he loved his friend, at times he'd wished Ruka would just give up on convincing him to live. Because really, what was the point? His Alice would kill him sooner or later anyways. He was already drowning in darkness, wasn't it obvious that he couldn't be saved?
And then she came, Mikan. As much as she'd annoyed him, he couldn't seem to stop his gaze from drifting over to her, wherever and whenever. Before he knew it, he'd fallen head over heels for the girl.
Pfft. And to think, he'd once thought that being born with an Alice was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He now figured that falling in love, a love he knew couldn't possibly be returned, was a hell of a lot more painful.
So he forced down the feelings, tried to remain distant to her, but of course the stupid pig-tailed girl refused to leave him be. She drew him closer, forced him to, really, and went off to flirt with other guys. Take that shadow bastard, for example: she called the Natsume Hyuuga a – what was it? Oh yes, a meanie, before scrambling into the arms of that damn shadow manipulator.
Sometimes he thought she enjoyed torturing him.
Love wasn't good for his already crappy health, he mused sourly to himself, his eyes still boring into the back of Mikan's head. If his Alice didn't kill him, then the unrequited love he had for the girl would finish him off for sure.
He sighed almost inaudibly and forced his eyes to return to the manga in his hands, and had done a good job of almost forgetting about her for the moment when she just. Had. To. Laugh. That exasperatingly beautiful laugh of hers. His heart leapt painfully, and he narrowed his eyes.
Unrequited love really wasn't for him. Because what else could it be? The girl was dumb, but she wasn't so stupid to possibly fall in love with a dark, dangerous and dying guy like himself. No, she probably was in love with Ruka –
His heart clenched.
Natsume Hyuuga stole a look at his love and sighed again. No, unrequited love really wasn't for him.
Mikan laughed along with her friends, pretending to listen. She was doing a good job, but was hardly listening: all she knew was that they were discussing Hotaru's latest picture of Ruka-pyon, and that the girls in the school were going gaga over it.
She kept the wide smile plastered onto her face, but continued to sneak glances at a certain raven-haired, red-eyed fire manipulator sitting at his seat and reading his manga. Natsume…
He was bad for her health, she decided gloomily. No matter how much she longed for him, no matter how many times she stared at him and daydreamed of being his girlfriend, she knew it was impossible for him to return these pathetic feelings of hers. Because he was Natsume Hyuuga, genius and school heartthrob, while she was plain old Mikan Sakura, bumbling airheaded fool.
There was no way he would ever think of her as anything more than a pest.
Even so, she found herself following him around, nagging and whining and generally being a nuisance. It was the only way he would pay attention to her, so she kept at it. It disgusted herself, but hey, love screws with people's minds.
She studied his perfect, god-like profile out of the corner of her eye and felt her heart skip a beat when he sighed, eyes faraway. He was lost in his thoughts, and the sight made her heart race.
Mikan groaned inwardly. God, she was pathetic. No way was he going to fall for her, never in a million years… so she should just give up on him, right?
Her heart dropped at the mere thought, and she found it harder and harder to keep the smile on her face. Yeah, she reminded herself, Natsume Hyuuga is definitely not good for the heart – and yet she was the fool who fell in love with him.
Love was going to be the death of her one of these days.
Hotaru Imai was a genius. She could build anything and could figure out anything. Nothing was too difficult for her, and she prided herself on it. But one thing, one tiny little thing, she couldn't work out for the life of her.
She didn't understand just why her idiot best friend Mikan and that arrogant brat Hyuuga just didn't get together already. It was obvious to anyone with a brain that the two loved each other, but for some despicable reason they couldn't admit it to each other.
Hotaru toyed with the idea of forcing them to acknowledge their feelings, but in the end she rejected it. After all, she wasn't very well acquainted with her heart; no, she used her head much more. So maybe, being the cold and frozen person she was, just maybe she was missing out on something….
She observed the two secretly glancing at each other and suppressed an urge to facepalm. All in due time, she repeated in her mind. Sooner or later, the two morons would discard the one thing that held them back and confess that they loved each other.
Hotaru Imai would watch over them, namely Mikan, till it happened. This was a love she had no choice but to approve of.