Chapter Two
A Small Courage
Mikan fidgeted uncomfortably in her new school clothes while Narumi "ooh-ed" and "ah-ed" like a proud mother. Noriko stood by impassively, barely looking at her granddaughter.
"You'll be fighting off boys with both hands," Narumi said with a wink. Mikan tightened the red tartan bow around her neck, blushing profusely.
"I certainly hope not," she said softly. She turned to grab her school-bag but Narumi held up a hand to stop her.
"Before you go, I have something for you," he smiled at her and retrieved a long white box from his coat pocket. He handed it to her, his eyes sparkling with pride.
Mikan felt Noriko's cold glare as she accepted the box, she brushed it off and opened her gift. Inside the box were two red silk hair ribbons, Mikan brushed her hands over the smooth fabric before looking up at Narumi.
"They're beautiful," she said. Narumi beamed at her and she smiled despite herself.
"Let me tie your hair up for you," he said, and Mikan stood still trying to ignore her grandmother's hate filled stare as he tied her shiny chestnut hair into two braids. "There," he said with a sigh as he looked her over again "That's perfect," He gave Mikan a quick hug and escorted her towards the door. To both of their surprise, Noriko followed them, still glaring hatefully at her granddaughter.
"Goodbye," Narumi said as they reached the porch "Don't worry, everyone will love you, they always do." he kissed her forehead and disappeared into the house, leaving Mikan alone with her grandmother. The old woman sniffed and turned to head inside, but not before muttering.
"You look just like that whore."
~X~x~X~x~X~
School had never been hard for Mikan, she had never been popular, but she was never disliked and always had at least five friends. But that was Nikko, and Nikko was much smaller than Tokyo. And besides that Narumi had signed Mikan into one of the more elite schools in Tokyo, Alice Academy. All of the other students seemed so perfect and sure of themselves, Mikan was sure she looked like a country bumpkin compared to them. She clutched her bag in her hands so hard that her knuckles bleached white, and she kept her eyes focused on the relentlessly polished linoleum floor.
"I haven't seen you around here before!" Mikan flinched as someone tapped her on the back. She turned to face the speaker, looking like a deer in the headlights. Judging by her uniform, the girl was a Senior, four years ahead of Mikan. She wore her dark pink hair cut short, but not in an unfeminine way and her brown eyes sparkled with mischief. She wore shorts under her skirt and wore a bandage on her left cheek, she looked sort of like a gangster.
All eyes were on Mikan and the girl which was the last thing Mikan wanted for her first day. She forced down her nervousness and offered a bright saccharine smile.
"I'm Sakura Mikan, I just moved here from Nikko," the girl's smile faded and her eyes widened.
"Sakura?" she asked in a whisper. Mikan opened her mouth to respond but the girl was already walking away, fading into the crowd.
Other than her odd experience with the pink haired girl, Mikan's first day at school was pretty uneventful, at least, it was until lunch period.
Alice Academy's cafeteria was so full that Mikan could barely hear herself think. Hoping to avoid another weird encounter Mikan quickly ordered her lunch and looked for the least crowded table available.
None of the tables were completely empty, but there was one, in the middle left corner that was mostly empty and Mikan decided that mostly was better than nothing. As she approached the table she tried to look at the other people sitting there as secretively as possible. There were only three others, all girls, the one on the left had long, straight blue-black hair and pretty dark brown eyes.
The girl to the left had even longer hair about the color and texture of cotton candy, she had big beautiful blue eyes and a smile on her face, she looked like the type of girl who was excited for everything.
The girl in the middle was smaller than the other two and had her midnight black hair wore in a stylish boy cut. Mikan couldn't see her face because it was obscured by the book she was reading DIY Robotics. Mikan sat at the other edge of the table, not wanting to disturb the other three girls who were clustered in a way that suggested they were friends. But as she navigated around the table she collided with something, and her food tray clattered to the ground.
Mikan began scrambling to pick up her food items, she was just about to say sorry when a haughty female voice said.
"Are you an idiot? Don't you even know how to walk?" Mikan looked up and into the brown eyes of an extremely pretty girl, Sophomore judging by her uniform. Her perfectly manicured brows were narrowed in irritation but her mouth was quirked into a small, taunting smile. Mikan knew theses types, she had dealt with them back at her public school in Nikko. Mikan gathered the salvageable food and stood up, not breaking eye contact with the girl. She made to move past her, but the girl shoved her and sent her stumbling back, scattering her food again. For the second time that day, everyone was watching Mikan. She flushed in embarrassment and anger.
"I just want to sit down," she said quietly.
"I asked you a question though," said the blonde girl, smiling prettily. "Do you know how to walk?"
Mikan scanned the cafeteria, looking for someone, anyone to stand up for her, the cafeteria was still. With and embarrassed sigh she said.
"Yes, I know how to walk."
"Can you walk and see at the same time?" the blonde girl asked.
"Yes, I can walk and see at the same time."
"That's funny, because I could have sworn you just bumped into me."
Mikan felt tears stinging her eyes. She tried her best to force them down and she was just mustering the courage to shout at the girl to let her pass when a cold voice spoke up.
"Leave her alone Koizumi"
Mikan searched the sea of faces for the speaker, and found him. It was a boy, and not just any boy, it was the most jaw droppingly beautiful boy she had ever seen in her life. He was tall, she could tell because he was leaning against a table, his arms crossed. His skin was flawless, and lightly tanned, his hair was a messy raven black and his bangs hung in his face, nearly obscuring the most fascinating part about him, his eyes. They were red, the color of fire, but they were so cold that Mikan had to look away from him. The boy was pure danger, and every small movement he made was imposing, intimidating. The blonde girl looked away from Mikan and took a small step back, her lips curled into a charming smile.
"We were only having a bit of fun Natsume-kun, it's a girl thing," she looked at Mikan "right?"
The boy's eyes were on her, she could feel them boring into her, into her very soul. "Let me pass," she mumbled and pushed past the girl. She was about to leave the cafeteria when she heard someone call after her. She turned to see the cotton-candy haired girl from earlier, waving her hand and smiling.
"Hey! Come sit with us!"
The girl with the short black hair had put down her book and was now staring at Mikan with her cheek resting in her hand. She had cold purple eyes, but they were cold in a completely different way from the red eyed boy's. And in those flinty purple eyes, Mikan thought she saw a brief flash of approval.
