One Midnight
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Mikan POV
I have just entered my house. Suddenly, I hear a sickly, moaning sound coming from a room at the end of the hall. As I cautiously approach the door, I am taken aback by a bizarre odor.
My heart is pounding, I peer through the slightly opened door and I see a boy with raven black hair, sharp white teeth, and dressed head to toe in black. He was crouching on his knees beside a figure. But those details didn't intrigue me the most. What really set me off were his familiar crimson eyes. They were blazing with hunger, lust, and sorrow.
There was blood everywhere, and a body behind the boy. I look at the body. My eyes widened and I shook uncontrollably. I started to scream hysterically. I said, "you killed my father, you killed my father, you killed my father!" over, and over again, and started to sob heavily. The boy just stared at me with hungry, emotionless eyes.
"I'm sorry" was all he said before he sprung onto me and bit my neck. Pain exploded where he was biting me. A voice was whispered in my head: you will forget all that happened just now, and darkness engulfed me.
I woke up with a scream. It was just a dream, nothing else. I told myself. My gut told me otherwise while I tried to get back to sleep.
It was the last day for summer holidays, and school was going to start soon. I was brushing my hair while thinking about the dream I had last night. My head felt as heavy as led, and my mouth tasted funny. The scar on my neck also throbbed unpleasantly. This always happens when I have that dream I think to myself grimly.
The scar I had ran diagonally from the nape of my neck to my throat. I don't know how it got there, but I didn't like it. People would stare at it sometimes and look at me funny. As I was tying my hair into two neat pigtails, my cell phone rang.
"Hello, Mikan Sakura speaking" I said. "Hey idiot, are you coming to the café, or not?" Hotaru said with an impatient tone. "Yes, I'm coming." I replied. "Then what's taking so long?" I was debating about telling Hotaru about the dream again, but decided against it. If I told her, I would ruin her fun. "Is something wrong?" she asked with concern. I answered, "I'm fine", but a little too slowly. Hotaru picked up on this immediately. "I'm coming over right away, hang on" and hung up.
"You had that dream again, didn't you?" Hotaru said unconvinced that everything was okay with me. "N-no" I stuttered. I was a bad liar, and everybody new it. What Hotaru said next reflected my thoughts exactly. "You're an awful liar, you know that right?" I give up. I thought tiredly. "Yes". I said. Hotaru cocked an eyebrow. "Are you saying 'yes' to 'you had that dream again' or 'I'm a bad liar'?" "To both", I say humorlessly. "So what happened in the dream this time?" she asked. "The same as always", I replied. Silence stretched for a while. Finally Hotaru said:
"You have to see a psychologist, or this problem is never going to stop," declared Hotaru. "I know just the guy. I'll call him and book an appointment for you. Although I was really grateful that I had Hotaru as a friend, sometimes I felt that I was a burden on her. She had helped me with many things; things that I could never do on my own. And although she could be cold and mean sometimes, I was really glad Hotaru was always there for me.
"Thank you Hotaru," I said quietly. "Thank you". Tears started to form in my eyes. "Hey, don't get so emotional, I'm just helping you get better, I mean, what are friends for?" she said. "Hotaru…" I sobbed, and then hugged her tightly. "You're the bestest friend I've ever had". I let go of her and saw her have a smile on her face. "Hey Idiot, 'bestest' is not a word" and hugged me one last time before we left for the café.
The café we went to was only about a ten-minute walk from my house. When we arrived, thoughts about the dream started to fade as I looked around. The café was small but homey, and emitted a friendly aura. The walls were painted a neutral orange and the furniture was solid wood with simple designs on it. The tiles were clean and dull, but that made the place even more welcoming.
When we reached our seat, everybody was there already. Anna, Nonoko, and Permy (Sumire), and were all waiting for us at a table.
"It took you long enough!" yelled Permy. "Hey, don't yell at her Permy, or I'll make it so you can't open that mouth ever again" threatened Hotaru. This shut her up immediately. If Hotaru threatens you, she means it.
"What happened Hotaru Chan?" asked Anna worriedly. "It was just another one of those damn dreams again," said Hotaru sourly. "Don't swear Hotaru", I said. "It's not nice". "Doesn't matter. That dream keeps on torturing you ever so often, since your dad passed away. It deserves to be damned for doing that to you."
I looked at her sadly. Hotaru was always like this now. Seven years ago when I was ten, my dad was murdered. The investigators did the best they could to try and find and catch the criminal, but there was no such luck. He or she had left no evidence whatsoever to get a lead on. They told me to try to forget this incident.
I had gone to consoling, and other treatments that tried to help me cope with losing my father, but secretly, I still didn't feel any better. Although the doctors and counselors were really kind, I didn't trust them with my real feelings. I was afraid they would put me in some kind of group home and keep me away from my friends.
The first time that dream happened, I had gone into shock, and had gone into a period of depression. Nobody could get through to me except Hotaru during that time. I'm better now, but sometimes I still feel depressed at random moments of time.
Ever since that incident, Hotaru grew to be very protective of me over the years, and tried to help me in anyway she could.
"Um, is everybody ready to order?" asked the waitress nervously. She seemed to feel the heavy atmosphere around the table, and wanted to leave fast. "I'll have a mocha latte," said Permy. "A hot chocolate for me," I said. "A coffee for me", said Hotaru. "We'll have cappuccinos," said Anna and Nonoko. The waitress nodded and said, "Okay, I'll be right back" and left quickly to the kitchen.
A heavy silence hung in the air. "So… who's excited for school?" asked Nonoko shyly. She was trying to lighten the mood. "I am. I wonder who the new kid is going to be?" I asked trying to help Nonoko. She gave me a grateful look. "Yeah, I wonder if they're a him or her, or if they're nice or nasty?" said Anna excitedly. "I hope it's a him and that he would be very handsome," purred Permy. "Gross, Permy" I said. "Stop calling me Permy!" yelled Permy. "It's Sumire. S-U-M-I-R-E, Sumire." "We don't need you to spell your name, Sumire," said Hotaru mockingly. "Hey, don't use that tone of voice on me!" And so they started to argue.
I smiled. They seem to be having a good time, I thought. That's good. The waitress came back relieved that the tense atmosphere was gone and replaced by a friendly one. We all drank our drinks and talked for about an hour. We paid, and headed for the exit. While walking out of the café I called out "see you guys tomorrow!" "Bye Mikan!" They replied. "You'll be okay by yourself?" asked Hotaru. "Yes Hotaru, and thank you". She smiled and left. At that exact moment I ran smack into someone.
"I'm so sorry!" I said while rubbing my sore nose. I looked up at whom I ran into and gasped. He had deep crimson eyes; raven black hair and slightly pale skin. He looked about my age and was very handsome, but emitted a dangerous aura. He had a look of astonishment on his face, but it disappeared quickly into a look of annoyance.
"You're in my way," he said gruffly. "Huh?" I said stupidly. "I said, you're in my way, now move." He shoved me out of the way and took a step towards the entrance.
Anger suddenly burned inside me. Who did this jerk think he was? Forgetting about the danger my instinct told me, I stepped in front of him. "Hey, what's you're problem, jerk". He tried to go around me, but I blocked him again. "I asked you a question, now please answer." I said firmly. He smirked. "Do you really want to know my answer?" "Yes" I said without hesitation. "Well, my problem is you of course. I hate you". I stared; stone shocked at him while he entered the café, tears threatening to spill.
I arrived home in a daze. I headed to my bedroom and flopped right onto my bed. The tears came quickly, followed by the questions.
How could he say that to me! What did I do? Was it something I said? These questions kept repeating itself in my head, over and over again, like a broken record. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Why did it matter if he hated me or not? The guy was a complete stranger! Yet something deep inside me stirred at the thought of him; like my subconscious new him already. But that's impossible! I've never met or even seen him before. How could I possibly know him?
I kept on crying until I fell asleep.
I had a dream that took place during a ball. It was a rather fancy one at that, with chandeliers hanging, polished flooring, and tables full of fancy foods. There was even a band playing music on a stage.
I was standing near the wall when I saw a mirror nearby. I decided to take a look at myself. I was wearing a deep red dress with white lacing at the bottom and around the collar. My hair was down and my bangs were clipped to one side.
Beside the mirror, on a small table, was a golden mask. It was the kind that only covers your eyes; masquerade masks I realized. I took a look at the other people around me. All of them were wearing a mask similar to the one on the table, except different colours to suite their either their dress or tuxedo.
I decided to wear it just for fun. After I put it on, I wanted to go to the food tables, but I had to walk through the dance floor. As I was nearing the tables, the band suddenly changed its song to waltzing music and all the couples started to waltz. I was trapped in between them and tried to get out of the crowd, until a black-gloved hand reached out and grabbed me.
I tried to scream somebody help me! I wanted to yell out really loudly, but no sound came out. I turned around to face my captor and saw he was wearing a mask too, a black one at that. In fact, he was wearing all black, except for the shirt collar that stuck out of the tux's neckline. He asked, "Would you like to dance with me?" Well, this is a dream anyways, so why not? "Sure, I guess". The man smiled. My heart did a small flip. He has a nice smile I thought to myself dreamily.
As we started to dance, I couldn't help but wonder how I knew how to do the waltz in the first place. "I like your dress, it really suites you". I blushed fiercely. "Thank y-you". He grinned a mischievous grin. "That's cute. You're blushing because of me". I looked away, because he had made me blush even more. "Humph".
We stayed silent for the rest of the dance until the song was ending. "Hmm, it seems like our time together is ending." He smirked. "Well, I enjoyed dancing with you, but since our time is almost up, I want to do one last thing." He leaned down towards my face and before I realized it, he kissed me right on the lips.
As he was kissing me, the waltz song ended, and the couples were applauding, as if praising his kiss, even though they were actually clapping for the band… and the dream ended.
I woke up with a start. My scar throbbed surprisingly, pleasantly, as I felt my lips where the man in my dream had kissed me. At the thought of the kiss, I felt my face get hot with embarrassment.
If I remembered correctly, the kiss was nice and gentle as if the man were asking, is this okay? Or maybe… I'm sorry? I wondered what even made me dream of a man kissing me. Oh well, I thought. As I was falling back asleep, all I knew was that I liked the kiss immensely, and smiled as I fell asleep.
The next day, I got ready for the first day of school. I felt really giddy from nerves and excitement about going to school again. Finally. I'm in my 3rd year of high school. I thought to myself. Top of the school! I laughed despite of myself.
I walked to school with Hotaru, Anna and Nonoko. We were all in our 3rd year uniforms and feeling superior to the other 2nd and 1st years.
"I can't believe we're at our last year of school", I said excitedly. "Yup" replied Anna. "I can't wait to see my new schedule and classmates", said Nonoko. "Be quiet and walk faster if you're so excited," said Hotaru with a smile.
As we entered homeroom, Narumi Sensei was already handing out our schedules. "Here you go Mikan", he said, and left to hand out the rest of the schedules. "What do you have first, Mikan?" asked Anna. "Math, how about you?" "Aw, language." I heard the first bell ring. "Shoot, first period is starting. We'll compare schedules at lunch then. Bye Mikan!" "Bye, Anna".
As I entered first period class and found myself a seat, Jinno Sensei announced: "Hello class, here is our new student, Natsume Hyuuga. Everybody be nice to him, and be friends, okay? Natsume, you can sit beside Mikan".
There was a murmuring in the classroom, especially from the girls. They all gave me glares. I looked up to see what was all the fuss about, and I gasped. The new kid was the exact boy that appeared in the café. Yup, this is going to be a great year.
Thank you for reading my fan fic! I really appreciate it. Please R&R!