Chapter III

"Your match commences... now." As if on cue, the Alices who were teleported near the entrances became visible. Mikan noted to herself that all of the Alices looked fairly young; they appeared to be about 17 or 18 years old. Nearly all the students, the exceptions being Mikan, Hotaru, and Hyuuga, stood up with either alarm or anticipation. But despite the fact that Mikan's first round of Man Hunt was beginning, and that the once faint sense of tension became palpable, she didn't move an inch. She frowned thoughtfully as she reviewed the note once again.

Man Hunt Practice Round

Sakura Mikan

Target: Andou Tsubasa

Even though she didn't know who this 'Andou Tsubasa' guy is, there was another reason for her confusion and unease.

It was the lack of rules the principal implemented that made her so perturbed.

She won't pretend that she never gave much thought to Man Hunt after her talk with Hotaru that fateful night, but now she realized that she should have reflected on the game some more. She should have asked the indifferent teen more about the rules, because now Mikan thought of more queries, like 'does the target know who is after him/her?' which led her to more questions, until her reverie was broken by a desperate yell. She looked up from her note, and sure enough, there was a foolish boy who charged at one of the still Alices with a yellow sticker on his index finger. Mikan remained sitting, receiving a clear view of what was going to happen. She paid close attention to the boy's target, noting that the tall target was doing nothing to prevent himself from getting marked. The boy reached out an arm and placed a sticker on the man's chest, flinching in the process as if he was anticipating a strike that would never come. Mikan's eyes widened with confusion when the idiot marked his target with no problem whatsoever. However, her gray eyes narrowed when she saw all of the older, intimidating Alices chuckling.

"Strike one for Akira Mochiage for defying a rule." The target pulled the cheerily yellow sticker off of his shirt, and let it fall to the ground with a leer. "Try again... please."

Every freshmen in the auditorium now began to talk, speculating and attempting to deduce what other rules existed that the principle failed to mention. Mikan turned to Hotaru and was about to start firing away, but the amethyst eyed beauty beat her to the punch.

"The fool broke rule number one, the most important rule; no one can see you mark your target." Mikan almost glared accusingly at her partner for excluding this piece of information from their conversation. Instead, she focused on her genuine disbelief. She had no idea that such a rule existed, but now that she thought about it carefully, the rule made perfect sense.

It was quite ingenious, actually.

Any Alice could have stuck a sticker on anyone by merely restraining the target, but with that rule, one was forced to think of innovative ways to mark another. Mikan opened her mouth to speak.

"So does the target know who's after them?" Hotaru shook her head.

"No, the target has no clue. Now if you will excuse me," She got up and drew a mini water gun out from her knee-high boots, "I have someone to 'kill.'" Her calculating gaze became one of mad fervor.

"Wait- I was wondering if you could tell me who Andou Tsubasa is before you go and... prey on a poor, unsuspecting student." Her mauve eyes glanced around the room offhandedly. They stopped at the north entrance, the one near the stage.

"Him." She nodded vaguely over to said entrance as Mikan stood up. Unfortunately for Mikan, the surrounding area was dimly lit, leaving behind many deep shadows. "The one with the black hair and blue eyes. He has a star shaped tattoo under his left eye." She squinted her gray eyes, catching a glimpse of the Alice.

He was dressed extremely casually, but looked very handsome; a black, long-sleeved shirt with a pair of ripped denim jeans, topped off with a pair of black Converse shoes. Along with his azure eyes came a look of boredom as he observed the round commencing around him. Mikan smirked predatorily, thinking of the moment she would be able to smear that expression off his face. She continued with her analysis of the tall, 6 foot something teen, while Hotaru slipped away to complete the round.

Mikan wasn't too worried about his Alice; he seemed harmless enough, and she always had her nullification alice handy. She decided to not reveal her other two alices, wanting to keep them a secret until she really needed them.

She came up with a plan, settling on the idea of using his obvious casualness against him to win the round. She carefully prowled around a couple of dueling Alices, and found herself near the deserted entrance. She realized that her target was the only one in this area, and paused for a second. Why would he stay in the shadows, when there was a huge chance that he will get marked? Unless...

"Hello, beautiful. What brings you here?" A soothing voice inquired from her right. Mikan let her nullification alice down, putting her plan to action. He stepped out into the faint light, a cocky smile spreading across his face. She feigned a blush, and looked down at her feet, trying hard not to vomit.

"I- I... I was trying to sneak around my target... and get him from behind." She muttered hesitantly, fingering a strand of light brown hair. Mikan bit her bottom lip and looked up from under her long eye lashes. She suppressed the urge to grin evilly, as she saw him believe in her story. His lips twisted into a lazy smile, as he slowly approached her, closing the few feet of distance between them. He tucked the piece of hair she was playing with behind her ear, Mikan felt her body freeze from his lingering touch, as she purposefully made her breathing hitch.

"What's your name?" He murmured in her ear. This time, Mikan could not stop herself from beaming triumphantly, as she placed the canary yellow sticker on the hem of his shirt, pretending to clutch it. She boldly put her face near his ear.

"My name is Sakura Mikan, and I just won the practice round of Man Hunt." The surprised male looked down at his shirt, spotting the mocking sticker. He took a few steps away from her, surprising her with a pleasant laugh. She felt her stiff body relax instantly, sure that he was going to be angry at her.

"Oh man, you got me there! I was so sure I had you good with my alice. I guess I was too distracted by the way you were acting. By the way, you would be a crazy good actress with the way you were trying to seduce me. It was really well done." She looked at him inquisitively.

"You knew? And you used your alice on me? Why-" She put the pieces together, realizing that the sudden stiffness she experienced must have been from his alice. She concluded that it wasn't her acting that made the effect of his alice weak, but that she had unconsciously nullified part of his alice.

"Yes, I knew. From the moment you began to approach me from across the auditorium. Anyway, since you have passed this round, you may go to the auditorium where the real orientation assembly is being held. Your placing will be posted up on the first day of school in the cafeteria. I hope I'll see you around Mikan. Come find me anytime, maybe we can go out on a date." He finished with a wink. She rolled her eyes at his blatant flirting.

"So where am I supposed to go?" She asked, mildly irritated at his antics. Mikan glanced behind her, figuring out that Hotaru, Hyuuga, and a few others were gone. She tried not to be too disappointed with her slowness at completing the round, as the other Alices were still struggling to finish the round. The attractive male pushed the door open, and gestured for her to go first.

"After you, milady."

A/N: Hey guys, sorry for the ridiculously short chapter! I promise I will update REALLY soon. Thanks for the reviews! I really appreciate them.