Yes, as you can see, I have revamped the whole story, starting with the title and breaking down those hideous (might I add, cringe-worthy) blocks of paragraphs that could give you a hemorrhage in seconds. The plot seemed a bit off, and each chapter was pretty much a spontaneous burst of imagination, if you know what I mean. :)
Disclaimer: All please bow down to the great glory of Higuchi Tachibana-sama.
In Consequence
A Gakuen Alice Fan fiction
Chapter 1
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Dark clouds hovered precariously overhead the prestigious academy. Thunder sounded somewhere off the distance as lightning tore the sky apart. It had started out as a drizzle, but as the minutes passed, the rain had started to pick up, thus the immediate downpour ensued. This was no ordinary overcast; a storm, a disastrous cyclone was passing through Tokyo, and chaos was wreaking havoc in its wake.
But what was worse was that it had to rain on that day.
Her birthday.
Mikan Sakura dashed into the Northern Woods, pushing her way through the boughs of trees that scraped on her arms and legs, wading through the knee-deep puddles of mud. Tears spilled relentlessly from her eyes just as the clouds poured rain onto the earth. The thunder roared louder, startling her, but she kept on her sprint as she came into a clearing near the river. She halted, stumbling a little and dropping down on her knees.
She panted, the pain in her lungs constricting as she tried to catch her breath; the rain was not helping, as she choked on her own gasps. The burn had subsided, but there was another pang throbbing in her chest; there was something else that was bothering her.
A sob erupted from her throat, and it followed into a chorus of succeeding whimpers. She considered just letting it all out, to just sob her pain away, but the effort was futile; it had left its mark on Mikan, embedded deep within her wounded heart. It was useless crying over it now, but it didn't matter all the same.
She pounded her fists on a tree trunk and instinctively buried her head on her now-bleeding hands. She felt all was lost. A dead end.
But, what happened in the first place? Wasn't this day a day to celebrate? Where was the fun, the joy, the merry-making? Why was she all alone?
'Why?' She spoke softly to herself, but her voice had been strained from all the crying that it barely came out as a whisper. 'Why me?'
Something was bothering her a lot lately; no, it didn't involve her relentless, overdue debts to Hotaru, nor did it have anything to do with a toothache from eating too much Howalon. It involved a guy who went by the name of Natsume Hyuuga.
Mikan and Natsume, they had a strange relationship; insults and name-calling aside, they didn't exactly row each other's boat. Everyday together was filled with a massive heap of quarrels and Alice abuse, and their bordering towards adolescence (read: hormones) was not helping much. But Mikan didn't want that. She had hoped for something more, keeping keen on even the slightest hint of friendship. She wanted nothing more than to see Natsume smile.
It seemed impossible, like all her efforts were in vain; there seemed to be an invisible wall that stood between them, and she couldn't find any loophole from this barrier. She felt as if the more she'd prod, the more he'd recoil. He was too distant, so reserved, and he had always been beside her every day in class.
She couldn't take it anymore, his problems, his suffering. All she could possibly want was to wipe that nonchalant smirk off his lips and be there for him. She wanted to stop all those missions the academy sent him to. She wanted everything to stop.
Fate felt her interference was a hassle; after all, the academy saw Mikan as nothing but a nuisance, a distraction, and it was not good for their special black cat. And so Natsume kept his distance, always a little out of reach, always keeping to himself (under Persona's orders, of course), but he was making it all the more difficult for her to understand.
And Mikan? She didn't want to understand…
…at least, not anymore.
"Mikan-chan!"
A blonde boy called out from across the room, his eyes peering over from the pair of round glasses he sported. The said girl did not look up from her position in her seat, still caught up in her daydreaming.
"Mikan-chan!" The boy repeated urgently, in a desperate attempt to catch her attention. But the girl had remained oblivious to his calls.
"Hey, polka dots."
Her head rose, and she shot a devious look at the boy to her side. Bloodshot eyes stared back at her dully. "What?" she snapped.
"You're being called, idiot." He replied, averting his eyes from her gaze and returning to the comic book he was reading. Her cheeks flushed red at the sound of the insult, but her face lit up as she turned around to acknowledge the blonde boy. "I'm sorry, Iinchou!" she said as she approached him. The boy heaved a sigh of relief, finally catching her attention. He had Natsume to thank for that. He stared off at his head as he slouched among the benches, his disheveled black hair sticking out in random places, and the dark aura that radiated off from him, and he began to think otherwise.
A voice brought him back from his thoughts. "What is it Iinchou?"
Mikan looked at him innocently, her brown eyes sparkling as a frown made its way to her mouth. He bit his lip.
"Mikan-chan, Hotaru's asking for you, and she's waiting in her lab!" he spoke through rushed words, nervous that he might blow his cover. "Hotaru?" she asked, before nodding eagerly and dashing out of the room. "I'm coming, Hotaru!" she shouted. Natsume poked his ear to see if there were any signs of bleeding. "Stupid, loud girl." He muttered.
The sound of footsteps clattering against the floorboards echoed throughout the hall, and Mikan's heart skipped a beat. Things have been pretty strange lately, what with people acting weird around her. It was like she was left out on an inside joke, and the others were sworn to secrecy to keep mum about it. And now, Hotaru was asking for her. Hotaru never asked for her; she asked for Hotaru!
She merely shrugged, brushing the thought aside as she arrived at Hotaru's lab. She knocked twice, waiting for some kind of response. She got nothing.
The curious cat she was, Mikan knocked again before the door pushed open for her. She peeked from the cracks. "Hotaru?"
The door swung at full length, and the girl jumped. The room before her was dark, and an eerie presence filled the air. "Ho-Hotaru?" she wavered.
Her heart pounded heavily, and she could feel the rush of her pulse thrumming in her veins. A cold wind passed, and she shivered. Someone's breath was on her neck.
"Mikan…"
The brunette squeaked, a blood curling scream building up at her throat before it was cut off mid-shriek. The lights flickered on, confetti burst everywhere and peers and classmates alike popped out of nowhere.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIKAN!" They chorused.
It took a while for the girl to register the situation; she had fallen on her butt, shocked beyond recognition. Her usual beaming face was cold and pale, and the hairs on her arms and legs stood. But she slowly regained color in her cheeks, a smile creeping up at her face. "It's my birthday?" she deadpanned, the statement coming out in the form of a question.
"Yes, it's your birthday, stupid."
Mikan scrambled to her feet and whirled around to find her best friend smirking at her; the girl was armed with a strange weapon at gun point.
"Hota–"
And the girl was launched halfway across the room. The aforementioned inventor blew off steam from the gun barrel, murmuring a low, "Happy Birthday, idiot," afterwards.
Mikan struggled to get to her feet, her sight blurry at the peripherals as she rubbed her aching head; a sore spot had started to swell somewhere along her forehead, and she focused her gaze on Hotaru, mustering the best puppy look she could give. Alas, not even the great Hotaru Imai could withstand such an expression, and she lowered her weapon in defeat.
"Aw, all right. Come here." She whispered, and Mikan's face glowed. She started forward, and in a split second, relished in the warmth of someone's body.
"Err.. Mikan?" Hotaru asked flatly, a slightly irritated tone in her voice.
"Yes, my dear Hotaru?" She replied, tightening her grasp.
"I'm over here, you moron." She said, and before she could blink, produced a camera and clicked.
A flash went off, startling the girl. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up to face her. Suddenly, the room quiet, as all the color drained from her cheeks.
"..."
"Get off of me, polka dots."
"eh… eh! NATSUME!"
-grins cheekily- I'll never get tired of that. :)
I guess this calls for a whole lot of re-reading, eh?
.Q&A section.
Q: Why'd you decide to revise the story?
A: When I'd first started this, I was roughly in my teens. Fresh from elementary, at that. Hard to believe, I know, but I swear, those sad excuses for paragraphs were killing me. I felt it my obligation to change everything.
Q: Why 'In Consequence'?
A: First and foremost, it sounds a whole lot better (and I mean a hell of a lot better) than its former title, 'I did it because I Love You'. Oh spare me – what an utterly hideous and mundane title that was. I mean seriously, what kind of person would be in her right state of mind to name her story with such poor choice of vocabulary? –points at self- Oh.. well, that changes everything. X) Secondly, it makes sense when you read the summary, but you'll get full grip of what I mean as the chapters progress. I'll be crossing my fingers.
Q: Seriously, what were you thinking when you started this? My dog could've written better crap than this.
A: Well, I was thirteen when I first wrote this, and yes, your dog could've probably done better in the whole composition thing. But at least I took the initiative to make it worth your while now, if it hadn't exactly been TWO YEARS ago..
Q: Will you be updating this any time soon?
A: Hopefully. I've got three other multi-chaptered stories to work on, but by some God-given vocation, I feel compelled to finish this.
Q: You are truly a kid.
A: That wasn't a question, and I'm not complaining.
.Q&Asection.
Free hugs all around.