I kept writing 'Narumi' as 'Naruto'. I hope I fixed all of them...
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice/ Alice Academy in any sort of way! This is fanwork only! I do own Sayuri Miyazawa, though, so if you'd like to use her, gimme a note (:
-X-
Giggle. Giggle. Giggle.
"..."
Giggle. Giggle. Giggle. Snort.
"...Okay, What the eff?" I narrowed my eyes at the source of the sound: Sumire Shoda and a group of Who-Knows were giggling with each other during Work Period in Class. From a crack in the group, I made out a few bills being waved around. I felt like getting all up in their business and walking by to "TEEHEEHEE' loudly, but then I thought better to just stay in my seat.
"Those don't look like bills, though..." I muttered, struggling to see the details on the slips of paper. Maybe it's Monopoly money! Oh boy! NOT.
"They're called Rabbits, dumbass." I growled at the sound of his voice. You would too, if you have his dude on your nerves twentyfour/seven. I could feel Natsume's smug smirk, and I felt the sudden urge to storm into Narumi's office and use him as a Whack-a-mole hammer. I twisted around to give a witty comeback, but Yuu came up to talk to me.
"Eh? Does Sayuri not know about the Rabbits?"
I frowned. "Why does everything have a funky name around here? Can't you just call them 'Talents' and 'Money' instead? First it was 'Alices', and now it's 'Rabbits'? Who pays in a form of animals!?"
I heard Natsume scoff from behind my head.
"Don't make me freeze your asshole shut, you-"
"Miyazawa-chan! Th-that language!" Mikan whimpered from a few desks forward, sending me puppy eyes that I quickly avoided, gulping heavily.
"Well, he doesn't have to make fun of me every time I ask a question..." I muttered in defense. Behind me, Ruka shot Natsume a mocking glance that Natsume refused to meet.
"Hey! Sayuri-chan's never been to Central town before! Neither has Mikan!"
At this, Mikan and I both perked our ears up. "Central town?"
"Mmhm!" Yuu responded cutely.
I blinked. "What's that?"
"What an idi-"
"YOU KNOW WHAT, HYUUGA!? YOU BETTER S-T-F-U BFORE I RIP OUT YOUR EYE SOCKETS AND FEED YOUR GUTS TO A ZOMBIE GIRAFFE, YOU JERKWAD, GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF-!"
"S-SAYURI-CHAN!!"
This place is supposed to make me feel better?
-X-
"Central Town? Sure, I'll let you go after I check with Jinno and them. You guys still have classes, don't think about sneaking out," Narumi informed, as soon as I went sprinting up to him to ask about Central Town.
He continued, "You guys have to go to your Groups."
I was confused. Confused and hurt that Narumi wasn't with me to hear my rambling hate for that thing behind me in class, but I'll save that for another Narumi-Sayuri conversation. "Groups?"
Narumi nodded. "Yup. You're all sorted into your own categories for Alices."
As Narumi did a brief breakdown of the different groups, (Latent, Technical, Somatic, Special and Dangerous), I had a semi-migraine.
"O-Okay... so... we're sorted... by our Alice, like you said earlier?"
"Yup!"
"... So... We're pretty much... 'training' our Alices, right?"
"Yup!"
"NOT HAPPENING. I'M OUT!"
"HOLD IT! SAYURI-CHAN!!"
Narumi held me down by the shoulders, refusing to break eye contact with me, knowing it was key. "Sayuri-chan, I know it's hard for you to use your Alice in front of an audience, but think of it as a control session, to make sure you don't use your Alice the wrong way. I'm sure you'll end up discovering some valuable stuff about your Alice through the training-"
I looked at him through eyes filled to the brim with poignancy. I can't help myself; I'm naturally emotional and tend to express too much of it, especially with personal matter like this that no one else can understand. It seemed to work, though, because the look on his face just screamed confusion and sympathy. "I'm not going to like it."
At this, he smiled and patted me lightly on the head. I didn't tell him how much I hated it when he did that, so I just let him wonder what my mind was thinking as I turned on my heel and marched out of the room.
-X-
"We're thinking of putting you into the Special Abilities, but we haven't gotten a very good look at your capabilities. The Head Master is skeptical about Narumi's observations of you. It's rare to have element Alices here, did you know that?" the teacher said, guiding Sayuri outside onto a field. Sayuri had forgotten the teacher's name when she had first introduced herself, so out of guilt, she followed obediently without a fuss.
"... What group was my father put into?"
"Your father? Hmm... He started out as a Special Type, and was later moved into Dangerous. He wasn't a bad student, your father, but he was extremely strong, take it that the discipline and teaching methods weren't as advanced as they are now. If your father said he could freeze everything in the range of 100 kilometers, I wouldn't doubt his words whatsoever," she said, recalling on her memories, from the way she looked up at the sky. "It was quite a spectacle. Ice is a beautiful thing when used properly."
Sayuri was suddenly anxious. Would the expectations of her father be put onto her? She remembered the days the other kids' parents would look down on her. A small scene, from back when she was four years old, came first to mind.
"How useless, can't even put some ice into my drink," Lady Serena hissed, spilling her wine onto a waiter's tray before plopping the cup onto it as well. "Pitiful child. Can't do anything."
Sayuri glared, feeling a rush through her heart commonly known as anger. How she'd love to freeze that woman's mouth closed and then gouge out her eyes with ice daggers covered in salt.
Sayuri had a frightful temper as a young girl.
"Pardon my daughter, Lady Serena Cordova. She has yet to see five summers, and her abilities are already generating at high speed," Sayuri blushed as her father stepped up from behind her and lifted her into his arms. "I'm proud of my girl. I didn't even know what ice was until I was three, and when I started using it, I was a already a prime young lad at seven years old."
Sayuri giggled as the woman turned cherry red and apologized in a low voice for her manners. She walked away, scooting her son farther away from the crowd and picked up another glass of red wine, drinking solemnly. Sayuri smiled up at her dad. He looked back at her with the same blue eyes and blue hair that Sayuri possessed, except his hair was obviously shorter and his eyes had begun to narrow due to age.
"Don't listen to what she says. You're my perfect small lily*." His words earned a smile and a kiss on the cheek. "Come now, let us go find your mother. I'm sure she'd love to see her Sayuri all dressed up. Come." He let her down and she jogged to catch up with the strides of his long legs. He chuckled as she reached out for his hand and laced her fingers through them. He gave a reassuring hand squeeze as he led her to her mother's bedchamber, where she laid resting, beautiful and unwell.
"I take it that you've had expectations on you before. Just try your best. From what Narumi says about you, the bar I'll give you shall be much too low."
Sayuri nodded nervously as she thought about whether or not she should thank Narumi. Wait a second... Didn't that mean she couldn't let Narumi down, then? Ahhh, fail...
The instructor stood courteously behind Sayuri as she scanned the field. There were obstacle courses, a track field, target practicing stations and countless other contraptions that she did not know the name of. It was an outdoors field, which featured many trees outside the boundaries. The scent of wild life and fresh air soothed her rapid heart.
"Why don't you start out by telling me roughly what you can do?" the instructor asked, getting ready to write on her clipboard.
"... I can freeze water, um... and work with ice?" The instructor nodded, jotting that down.
"I can also take any plant or human and suck them dry of any liquid," the instructor made a low humming sound and quickly continued writing. A silence ensued and she looked up expectantly at Sayuri.
"Is that all?" she asked.
"Uhm, I think so?" It wasn't like Sayuri to get so nervous, but the thought of someone analyzing her capabilities was taking a toll on her. She didn't like to disappoint, and was she really as strong as they thought she was?
"See that target over there? I'd like you to hit it."
"With what?" Sayuri replied dumbly, regretting her words already.
"Hmm. How about an icicle?" she answered. Sayuri nodded, and gave a wave of her hand, extracting water from the ground in front of her before shooting it forward. In a split second, it was imbedded a few centimeters off of the bulls-eye: a sharp piece of ice instead of water.
The teacher smiled, her long brown hair lifting up softly in the wind. Sayuri felt just a bit more comfortable because now she knew her skills didn't suddenly abandon her for no reason whatsoever. She always had a weird fear that she would falter and lose her Ice, despite her being a Limitless.
"Alright, now why don't you do a few exercises to show me your skills?"
"... Skills?"
"Yes, you said you could suck a tree dry. Why don't you try that?"
"... That would kill the tree."
The teacher sighed, giving a sad smile. "Yes, but I need to see what you're capable of, Sayuri-chan. I need to see your Alice in action for me to put you into a group-"
"Eh? Shima-sensei, Good Morning!" called a boy passing by.
"Oh, Andou-san, Good—... Why aren't you in class!?" Sayuri whipped her head around for a split second to the sound of the voice. The moment she saw that it was someone she did not know, she looked forward before he could catch sight of her. The boy was older than her by a few years (probably in the high school division...). He eyed her rear appearance and became interested in the unique colour of her hair. He grinned good-heartedly and began to walk over.
"Hey, is this girl being tested!? Wow, I didn't know The Academy still did that."
Sayuri grimaced, shuffling forward with her rear facing the conversing pair. First, I have a name. Second, no one else gets tested? Just me!?
"Yes, Andou, now I'm the middle of... Hmm..." Shima-sensei looked from the 'Andou' boy back to Sayuri. Sayuri stiffened in the suspenseful silence.
"Sayuri, would you mind if... I made you spar with Andou-kun?"
"Ehhh!? Spar!? With a grade schooler!? Shima-sensei, you do me little honor!" he grinned cheekily. Sayuri shot him an offended look.
"Don't get so caught up in your pride, High Schooler. I could take you down faster than you could say 'Hi', if I wanted to," Sayuri growled, finally gathering the courage to actually walk forward and away from the instructor and her company. She refused to turn around and talk to his face.
"... That would be a very believable thing, if what you say about freezing the insides of a person were true. Or you could suck him dry. That is all true, but let's not kill anyone, Sayuri-chan. You don't want to use your Ice Alice for harm," Sayuri heard the teacher say.
"W-what!? She has an Ice Alice? She's just like Ibaragi!"
"She's very different than Ibaragi, Andou-san. Don't underestimate her."
He hadn't meant for the words to be 'degrading' her, and if the teacher thought he was, obviously this girl had something sneaky going on about her. "Ice. That's a dangerous-"
"Changing your mind?" Sayuri hissed, her back still facing them. Take that for looking down on me, you conceited, good-looking jerk.
He was shocked, taken back. He thought for a moment, before grinning. "Then why don't we spar? Just until one of us gives, not to the death. I want to live or else my future girl friends will cry, you know?"
Sayuri glowered before nodding unhappily. Shima-sensei smiled. "Go over there, I'd like to watch. Sayuri, not too rough, now."
"Shima-sensei!" he whined. "Are you serious? This girl can't even go full out on someone like me!?"
"You both have a Limiter on you, so don't even think about getting carried away. Just don't get too hurt, you foolish boy!" she replied with a light-hearted chuckled.
And then, Sayuri and the boy, whom she still did not know the name of, were staring each other down. Well, if you can really say that, because Sayuri's eyes were closed. She was giving him the expression that her guard was down, just in case she wasn't in the mood for attacking first. He was nervous just looking at how Sayuri so calm and collected, her blue hair blowing softly in the wind. He kept his straight poker face to ward off any pretenses Sayuri might make in case it inflated her confidence in winning this.
"Not too rough now, Sayuri-chan," he teased, smirking devilishly.
"You're just lucky that I have a Limiter," she said, and right before his eyes, a giant block of ice appeared out of the ground.
"HOLY-" he said, watching as she did a kick in mid-air and before he could register the peculiar placement of her kick, ice dagger rained on him, following the motion of her foot.
"Didn't you know?" Sayuri asked, several meters above the ground level, eyes open, but glaring.
"It's scheduled to rain today," she spoke, landing on a plain of ice, hands clenched into fists with steam coming from them: frosty, glittering steam.
The boy dropped his jaw, his poker face façade entirely gone. "Shima-sensei, she's trying to kill me!"
Shima-sensei was still dazed. This girl just—Out of no where!? She snapped back into reality, suddenly even more interested in Narumi's new catch. The Limiter was obviously set purposefully low for her. Despite Narumi laughing out loud and claiming it was not low enough, they still set it at a 60%. To have such a result even with a Limiter... was extravagant. "Well then, you're going to have to try harder, Andou, if you want to make it out with only a scratch!"
"Is that what a teacher says to her student?" The boy muttered under his breath and got up off the ground, dodging another batch of ice daggers.
"Gosh, why are you so mad at me!?" he yelled, going behind a tree. Suddenly the feeling against his back changed. He looked back and noticed the tree was only a twig standing up from the ground. A slash! And the twig was cut in half. He gaped, with his dark blue eyes twitching uncontrollably.
"I'm not angry. Just in the mood for showing off."
...Note to self: This girl is some scary sh*t when she's angry.
"Fine. Alright, maybe I'm a bit angry at you. But I'm just really stressed right now."
... Note to self: I think she can read minds, too.
A puddle of water swirled above her calm expression. With a flick of a finger it flew to the side, watering down a patch of trees. Narrowed orbs glared him down. He couldn't make out what colour they were, though.
Guess it's time to get down to business.
He narrowed his eyes and studied his position. He put on his game face, ready to battle it out. He laid out his game plan in his head, breathing slower. I've got the advantage here. She doesn't know what my Alice is.
Sayuri seemed to suck in a breath just then, as if realizing the same thing. Her face remained unstrained and unmoving, but her hair was blowing madly into her face and the boy still couldn't have a good look at what she fully looked like. He began to think she was hiding her appearance on purpose to toy with his curiosity and focus. He was surprised to find that it was working.
"You haven't even introduced yourself yet," he commented, marching out from under the covers. The sun was still peaking out through the clouds despite the weather forecast that Sayuri had claimed, and his eyes drooped in content at his luck.
Sayuri kept her guard up. The vibe she was getting from him wasn't to her liking. "... Miyazawa Sayuri."
"Miyazawa Sayuri?" he smirked. He twittered, "I'm Andou Tsubasa: Age thirteen, 165 centimeters, 52 kilograms, Blood type O, and single!"
This caught Sayuri off guard. Her eyes went wide. "... W-was I supposed to include all that? Ahh..."
And then it was Tsubasa's turn to lose his cool at her reaction.
"Uh.. I'm Miyazawa Sayuri, eleven years old, and um... Blood type O...Single? Etou (uh)..."
A pause, followed loyally behind by a tint of pink behind her cheeks.
"G-gomen ne (S-sorry), I... don't know the rest," she squeaked, looking to the side, embarrassed.
Tsubasa was still too shocked about the sudden change in attitude about this girl. So she had a soft side. If he hadn't seen the creepy, 'I-want-to-chop-off-your-privates-and-gut-them', crazy side of her, he might have thought she was...
Cute.
Sayuri immediately snapped her head back to his direction, eyes glaring and menacing like they had been before the attitude change. Tsubasa raised a brow. Pre-Menstrual Syndrome?
"What was her name? Shima-sensei?" Sayuri checked.
"Hai!" Shima-sensei responded at the sound of her name, from about 200 meters away, still curiously observing and writing things in the clipboard.
"What is my Limiter set at!?" Sayuri shouted at her. Tsubasa had a head-palm moment, wondering why on earth she was asking such a thing at a time like this.
"Sixty percent!"
"Agggh!" she groaned. "I can't do anything!"
Tsubasa felt exceptionally disturbed and looked down upon, just then. She couldn't do anything? Ice daggers raining at him from the sky, a giant ice block blasting up from the ground, and sucking a tree as dry as a twig wasn't 'anything'!?
Alright, then, little girl. Time to turn this game around.
She really can read minds; Tsubasa continued to muse as Sayuri got down into a fighting stance. She was getting ready for close combat, just as Tsubasa was about to force her into. Tsubasa wondered if she was bold enough to make the first move, before she came sprinting at him with amazing speed.
"Whoa--!" He dodged extremely last minute, and she sped past him. His brain raced, processing the movements in slow motion and realized that she was in fact bare footed, sliding on ice.
...What. The. F*ck.
"Hey!" Tsubasa exclaimed again as she decided to thrust her fist at him again. He caught it in time, impressed. It was not a kid's throw, which meant she had experience in the field of Close Combat. However, he had the overall advantage in experience, height and physique, nonetheless. She threw multiple punches at him, and he managed to dodge each and every single one. She scrunched her face in annoyance and did a roundhouse kick, which grazed his cheek. He staggered back, breathing heavily from the continuous attacks. Sayuri braced herself as he charged forward and leapt up at her, followed by an immediate duck from her punch and spinning away from her kick. Sayuri felt like yelling out in aggravation why none of her attacks worked, until she resolved to use her ice again, extending an arm out to pull water-
Tsubasa planted his foot firmly onto the ground, and Sayuri froze. Not literally, but she was suddenly immobilized. She gasped, unable to move a finger.
"You noticed too, right?" he said in between breaths. He was stationed behind her. "That my Alice has not revealed itself in this fight," he bent down slowly, writing 'Stay' onto the shadow. Then he began to circle her, like a vulture, and sized her up. Sayuri's heart raced. Tsubasa stopped after a few paces and stared at the back of her head. Her face was looking away from him still, and she felt small; vulnerable, naked, and small.
"Do you want to take a guess at what it is?" he inquired politely, reaching out a hand to cup his soft fingers around her chin to slowly turn her face around to get a better look at it.
He blinked, seconds away from staring directly at her. "It's-"
Water rained from the heavens, pouring down onto him in truckloads. He didn't have enough time to suck in a breath and hold it. He struggled to get some air, gasping, wheezing, and coughing through the endless shower. Finally after a course of 30 seconds or so, it stopped; he tried desperately to remember how to breathe again.
"Shadow Manipulation," Sayuri breathed out.
He forced open his clamped eyes and breathed for a while longer. The feeling of mush touching his cheek alerted him and he abruptly recognized his position. Tsubasa was being held onto the ground, his face pressed against the soggy mud, and his hands and arms detained behind his spine by two petite, strong gripping ones. He noticed that they were trembling lightly, though, and that Sayuri's breathing was much more strained and forced than his. With a body like hers, she was obviously exhausted after such a fight. Furthermore, he was also at his limit: skipping gym class almost certainly wasn't such a bright idea anymore.
"I told you, didn't I?" she whispered tenderly, breaking the pattern of harsh breathing. He slowly blinked, his body sore and his throat burning from the silent screaming he had been doing under water. He coughed weakly before responding.
"Hmm?" It was one of those answers that you gave when you had nothing else to say. He felt her soaking, cerulean hair drip water onto his head. He snuck a glance sideways to try and see her face.
"That it was going to rain today."
He couldn't take his eyes off the endless azure abyss that stared back at him.
-X-
"How are you feeling? Better? What was Shima thinking, really?" The same Nurse that Sayuri had met on the first day was treating her and Tsubasa. They sat on beds next to each other, in cleaned uniforms, dry hair, and bandages.
"I'll be out for a moment," The Nurse stood up. "Don't get into another fight. I'm going to send Narumi here, anyways."
She exited the room and an awkward silence followed.
"I'm sorry about your arm," Sayuri started, glancing sorrowfully at the cast around his left arm.
"Eh, it's nothing. You've got a fierce kick for a ten year old."
"Eleven."
"Sorry!" he grinned, apologizing. "Well, I wasn't expecting to get this injured when Shima-sensei suggested it. But when you soaked me, I realized that I'd be lucky to have any of limbs, or even live to see the next day."
He stared at her with his own dark blue pupils. "You got me good, Miyazawa."
"You frustrated me so much! I couldn't land a single punch or kick on you successfully where I wanted..." she murmured. Tsubasa seemed to chuckle and gain a bit of his pride back.
"Yeah, I'm a lot taller than you. Most of your punches and kicks were at my stomach and groin. I didn't have much of an area to protect."
Sayuri groaned. "I should have gone for your legs!"
"Oh! Plotting your next attack on me, are you!? I'll be ready! I'm going to work out like crazy!" They shared a laugh, and the atmosphere was finally lifted into a friendlier mood.
"Hey, how were you able to move? I had you completely frozen, and yet you were still able to make water come down like that," he said, and Sayuri nodded slowly, expecting the question to come eventually.
"There was a hole... a flaw in your Shadow Manipulation, Andou-san," Sayuri said, eyes closed, breathing in the air coming in from the open window. It was a bright, sunny day, with birds chirping happily outside.
"What!? No way- Ahh!" Tsubasa winced in pain as he sat up too vigorously. Sayuri laughed before staring at her hands with a forlorn smile.
"You didn't stop my heart," she elucidated gently.
He stared at her in confusion. Stop her heart? Of course he wouldn't! That would kill her... Wouldn't it? "Are you saying that the only way to-"
"You can't manipulate my heart do what you want, can you? As long as that stays the same, then you won't ever be able to win against me, Andou-saaaan," Sayuri sang teasingly, and Tsubasa became flustered.
"No fair!" he complained loudly.
She guffawed at his immaturity. "Life isn't fair, kid!"
"Who are you calling 'kid', kid!?"
"Can you really call the person who kicked your ass a 'kid'?" Sayuri drawled out wickedly.
"You just caught me off guard! I would have taken you down faster if you hadn't acted so cute!" Tsubasa crossed his arms childishly and pouted.
Tsubasa snuck a glance at Sayuri and noticed her cheeks flushed a deep pinkish red colour. He raised a curious brow and asked, "What's wrong, Miyazawa-chan?"
Sayuri blinked several times and then sighed, her cheeks back at a normal peach colour. She half smirked at him, just before beaming optimistically at him. He sucked in a breath, unable to get a word across. He finally opened his mouth to say something.
"Sayuri! Where are you!?" Narumi stormed in, worry written all over his face. He caught sight of Sayuri's blue hair and rushed over to her bedside. "Oi! Baka(Idiot)! Why did you get into a fight with a High Schooler!?" He looked over at Tsubasa. "And you! Why did you fight with a Middle Schooler!?"
"Sh-Shima-sensei told me to, though!" they both desperately defended themselves.
He sighed. "Maataku (Geez)... Troublesome students these days: You just attract trouble."
Sayuri shrunk under his presence. "S-sorry."
Narumi observed Sayuri's helpless form, gathered up in blankets, with her hair flowing like a sea over her shoulders. He cleared his throat. "Well, stay in here for a while. Tsubasa Andou, get to class!"
"EH!?" Tsubasa blurted. "Where's the justice in that!? I got beat up worse than her!"
"Exactly why you should now know that being in class and not skipping is for the best, then. Now get your behind to class!" he commanded. Tsubasa frowned like an immature kid being told to get up and go to school -- Ehh, irony? – And Narumi put his arms on his hips.
"When you're feeling better, Sayuri, go to class, too. We've agreed on what type of Alice you are now," Narumi patted her head chummily and turned towards the door.
"Which one?" Sayuri called after him just before he disappeared behind the doorframe.
"The Dangerous Type," he said with a mischievous wink. Sayuri couldn't help but feel as if there was a double meaning behind Narumi's words. She shook it off, getting out of bed.
"Getting up already? How great it must be, to be young and love school~" Tsubasa chimed.
"How great can it be?" Sayuri rolled her eyes and Tsubasa slapped her on the back with his right hand. They both walked to the door and looked at each other one more time.
"Well, uhm... bye," Sayuri murmured, and Tsubasa chuckled lightly at how quickly they had become strangers again.
"Miyazawa-chan?" he finally called when she was a few meters down the hall. She twisted her head around in curiosity, and Tsubasa was met with the same azure eyes that had left him speechless and in awe.
"Yeah?"
"You're one amazing girl!" he shouted, grinning, and then he vanished around a corner. Sayuri was left walking, her head turned back, and in shock. She wasn't offered with much time to think though, before she crashed into a hard surface. She rubbed her forehead, her butt on the ground and she looked up at the wall expectantly.
Only, it wasn't a wall.
"...I can see your panties, moron."
"OH, JUST SHUT UP, HYUUGA!"
-X-
**The Name 'Sayuri' means 'Small Lily', thus why her father called her that.
Hmm. Should I throw some Tsubasa Andou Fluff somewhere in my story? Maybe I should. Yup, I will. Later. After I'm done brainstorming how this story's going to fly~
I HATE MAKING OCS, GAH. BUT WAIT, I ALSO LOVE THEM! *confusion*
Err... This chapter was not, and I really mean, WAS NOT supposed to go in this direction at all. Actually, this is my... hmm, what? 5th draft? I decided to post this one, though, because it offered more character and plot development than the others, despite the development not being so major...
HOPE YOU ENJOYED!! THERE'S TSUBASA ANDOU FOR YOU, BAM!
~. Review, you amazing readers, you .~