Chapter IV
The day before Christmas was quite pleasant- the pale sun paired with the frigid, fresh air did not change from earlier that morning, ignoring the eventful battle which continued in the auditorium two yards away from the peculiar couple.
A tall, well-built man strolled casually next to a shorter, slender teen; the former pleasantly babbled about something with a content smile gracing his mature features, whereas the latter tainted her elegant face with an aggravated scowl. It wasn't one of those typical 'look-at-those-whores-eye-raping-the-beautiful-male-next-to-me.'
It was more of a 'I-wish-I-could-get-the-fuck-away-from-the-beautiful- male-next-to-me-and-kick-him-in-the-balls' kind of glower.
Even though Mikan would rather jump off a bridge than admit that Andou is very attractive, she couldn't help but admire the faint outline of his toned body that was hidden under his snug shirt. His raven hair whipped around carelessly in the wintry air as he gave another amiable chuckle. Mikan continued to tune out his incoherent chatting about his previous girlfriend, adding in a couple mumbled "mhmm's" and "yeah's."
At last, he finally fell silent, but the peace was short lived.
"So.. what are your hobbies? Your dreams? Your alice?" His poorly executed tone of nonchalance did nothing to hide the deliberate choice of questions; they both knew that he only genuinely cared about her answer to his last question. Mikan sighed to herself. She knew that he was going to ask the question sooner or later. She fruitlessly hoped that they were going to arrive at their destination soon. Wanting to remove all traces of pretense, she went straight to the point.
"We both know that you don't give a crap about what my hobbies and dreams are." Andou opened his mouth, but shut it quickly when Mikan continued. "As for my alice, I don't feel comfortable with disclosing this information to someone I don't know very well. Much less a person who was my target." He nodded his head in assent, then halted in his tracks. Mikan stopped too, and looked at him strangely.
"Well, then. I guess we should just forget everything that happened just now. The name's Andou Tsubasa, but you can call me Tsubasa. My alice is shadow manipulation; I can control a person's shadow to do whatever I want, but I need to come in contact with the shadow. Pretty cool, eh?" He boyishly winked at her, as she suppressed the urge to grimace.
But now, a feeling of dread filled her entire being.
Mikan was stuck between two decisions, and she didn't know which one to take. Should she allow this boy to know her name and alices, or should she revert back to her conniving ways, and trick him like she did with the others? He did tell her his alice willingly, and he doesn't seem to have any ulterior motives. She took a deep breath, coming to a decision that will soon prove to be beneficial.
"My name is Sakura Mikan, and you may also call me Mikan. One of my alices is nullification." Instead of the usual surprise she saw in people's eyes, his became excited at the disclosed information. Mikan became more relaxed, bathing in the sudden weightless feeling she experienced when she chose to not lie to the shadow manipulator. But she also felt very naked and insecure. She began to doubt her decision, allowing the oath she made earlier echo mockingly in her mind...
And here she was. Displaying one of her alices for this stranger to behold.
She had never felt so exposed. So vulnerable- it made her extremely frightened of all of the pent up emotions which exploded at the moment. The luxurious feeling of buoyancy departed, leaving a feeling of severe disappointment in its wake. Mikan wanted to cry with frustration at breaking her promise and becoming weak again, but she realized that she had no more tears left. She raked a hand through her chocolate tresses, spent from the multitude of emotions she had experienced in the past two days. Tsubasa remained silent, respectfully giving Mikan some time to get her act together, even though he had no idea what was going on. Finally, without her realizing that they had been walking again, they arrived at the doors of the real auditorium. She shook her head absentmindedly in an attempt to banish her pessimistic thoughts, and astounded her new friend even more with her next action.
Mikan Sakura slapped herself. Hard.
Tsubasa froze, his navy blue eyes widened comically as he heard her sigh with relief. Despite the evident stinging which arose from her left hand, and the brilliant fuchsia mark on her cheek, she was glad that her mind was clear again. She welcomed the feeling of composure that now displaced her once conflicted emotions.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" He grabbed Mikan's wrists, assuming that she was going to slap herself again. "You tell me your alice, and now you're slapping yourself? Jesus- if you're going to be like this, why bother telling me in the first place?" She rolled her eyes at him while she irately twisted her wrist out of his grip.
"Because-"
The doors opened to reveal a flamboyant fair-haired man, successfully cutting Mikan off. She faintly heard Tsubasa exhale in an exasperated tone. The striking man opened the doors wider, beaming at the two as if they were newborn babies.
"Welcome!" He ostentatiously ushered them in without commenting on Mikan's striking red hand print, or Tsubasa's slightly aggravated look. "My, my aren't you just a pretty one. My name is Narumi Anjo, but you better call me Mr. Narumi, Mikan." Her gray eyes became guarded when he said her name. She opened her mouth to interrogate him, but was cut off once again. "Ah, Tsubasa! I did not see you there, love." The man forcefully embraced the scared looking teen in apology. "I believe a lovely Harada Misaki is waiting for you in the back. Don't get too naughty now." He pushed Tsubasa away and the latter sprinted away with alacrity.
Mikan found herself wistfully longing to be in Tsubasa's shoes, as she braced herself for the worse, reinforcing her nullification barrier.
"Now dear, no need to be on edge." He chuckled jovially. "I'm just here to welcome you to the official Alice Academy orientation assembly. Just enter through those doors, and you will find your fellow classmates there." Mikan slowly turned to the entrance he was pointing at, careful to keep an eye on Narumi at all times. She sauntered into the actual auditorium when she was satisfied that he wasn't going to do anything.
Inside, the auditorium was at least three times as big as the previous one she was in. Rows upon rows of gleaming seats crowded the area, showing off their polished mahogany wood and red velvet seats. She spotted some teachers chatting quietly behind the drawn back curtains on the stage, and the lone microphone that stood in the middle. She ambled down the red carpeted aisle, bringing herself to a stop in front of the row where Hotaru sat. She plopped down next to her immaculate partner, feeling the vindictive clench of the aftermath of experiencing too many adrenaline rushes. Mikan transformed back into her innocent self, despondently feeling the hefty burden of guilt return. She plastered on a faux smile.
"How long have you been here for?" She observed the other Alices who made it through the round; Koko, Hyuuga, Hotaru, herself, and two others were loosely grouped together at the front of the auditorium. Koko's periwinkle eyes met her gray ones, and waved. Mikan waved back tentatively, unsure of how to handle such boisterous actions. Meanwhile, Hyuuga stared at her with a fiery intensity that made her feel intimidated. Instead of sitting up straighter, and meeting his gaze unflinchingly, she knew that this was 'out of character.' She opted to break their staring contest, and looked back at Hotaru with watery eyes, feeling a bit sore at backing down from his unspoken challenge.
"For about 23 minutes and 47 seconds." Hotaru stated a bit smugly, letting her amethyst eyes turn to Mikan. "Of course, I was supposed to finish earlier, but my 'target' was being a bit... recalcitrant." Mikan's eyebrow cocked to the side infinitesimally.
"Of course. Only you would use the word 'recalcitrant' in a regular conversation, Imai." A refined voice inputted smoothly from behind the two girls. Mikan turned around with curiosity, while Hotaru did it with indifference.
A sophisticated lady sat behind them with a blunt, unflappable aura encompassing her willowy figure. She wore a jet-black turtle neck, a pair of skinny jeans, and dark leather boots, finished with a pair of expensive pearl earrings. With her flawlessly curled, dark green hair framing her slim face and verdant emerald eyes, she could have easily passed as one of the most beautiful women in Alice Academy.
"What's up with everyone being so disturbingly pretty at this school?" Mikan accidentally mused out loud. She blushed and clapped a hand over her mouth, legitimately shocked that she had voiced one of her thoughts. The conversation between the beautiful teen and Hotaru came to a stop.
"I'm very sorry for my lack of manners. My name is Shouda Sumire, but you may call me as Sumire, Sakura Mikan."
"Oh, right. I remember Koko mentioning you before." Mikan chose to leave out the details of how they got to talking about Sumire. "Yeah, you can call me Mikan!" She gave a cheery beam, steeling herself to control the ounce of shame she felt. "But... just curious... How do you know my name? Actually, why do a lot of people know my name?" The brunette hesitantly asked, thinking back to Mr. Narumi, a bit irritated that a lot of people knew her name.
"Because many people have speculated about your alice this week. Some of the Alices who have connections realized that they can't access the file that contains your alice. Obviously, you're not the only one who has her alice under tight confidentiality, but it's still enough to make people curious."
Mikan absorbed this new bit of information, vexed at the inevitability of others trying to discover what her alices are, but relieved that the Academy managed to keep it a secret. She exhaled soundlessly, but froze with dread at Sumire's next words.
"Or should I say alices?"
In her peripherals, Mikan saw Hotaru scrutinizing her reaction to this inquiry. She realized that if she didn't act accordingly, then her fake mask will be ripped apart to shreds by these two alert women. She pinched the bridge of her nose in mild desperation, aggravated that they purposefully backed her into a corner. She sifted through the pros and cons of telling them such a personal piece of information, and opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted again.
"Good afternoon, everyone!" The familiar voice of the principal rang out through the auditorium, except that this time, he was standing in the middle of the stage; visible for everyone to see.
He was a stout and little man, but he held himself with great esteem. He looked to be about 50 years old, but Mikan couldn't be sure, because the spotlight that ricocheted off of his bald head concealed his features. He wore a pricey suit, along with a jovial smile.
Mikan finally realized that the rest of the freshmen were sitting already, and that Hotaru and Sumire both wore faces frustration; although the former only had a tint of it, whereas the latter exuded extreme amounts of it. "Great job at finishing the practice round. As I expected, all of you passed the test!" Most of the audience stared at the principal in rapture, while Mikan pretended to pay attention. She saw their targets, the upperclassmen, lined up against the wall; they all had expressions of extreme boredom. However, Tsubasa wasn't there, and before Mikan could ponder about where he was, the principal caught her attention.
"Now, I will explain the workings of this Academy to all of you. First of all, I trust that you know that Man Hunt is not just a silly child's game." A few of the upperclassmen nodded in agreement. "It determines what your placing is out of your classmates, and therefore the special privileges you receive. It challenges your ability to think under pressure, and how resourceful you can be. So, I expect you all to treat Man Hunt with the utmost respect, but remember that it is just a game, and not your life." Mikan frowned, wondering why he would issue such a warning to them. She looked over at Hotaru, and saw that she wore a look of understanding. Mikan noted to herself to ask Hotaru about this later.
"So, transitioning from that serious note, I shall talk to you about the formal rules of the game. If any of you break any of the rules, the first rule being the exception, you will be taken out of the round, and banned from the next one. The first, and foremost, is that you may never be seen marking your target. Of course, as I said just now, you will not get any penalties from breaking this rule. The second is that you may not kill, or torture, your target." Mikan grimaced, not finding it hard to believe that this rule had probably been broken a couple of times. She knew some Alices who could be ruthless with getting what they want. "And there will be new rules added on to these two as we progress through the year.
"To add, we have made a slight change in Man Hunt this year." The restless shifting of the upperclassmen came to a halt. "Instead of making teams an option, it is now mandatory. You all have to form teams of six, but these Alices can only be in your year, for the sake of keeping the teams as equal as possible. When you have made your team, you all have to sign a form to seal the deal, and turn it into the main office. You will still have individual targets, but you may also get more targets. You will never receive your teammates as targets, and in some rounds, you will be allowed to ask for help from your teammates. There will be a separate placing chart for teams which offers other special rights, so it would be in your best interest to enlist powerful allies." Mikan noticed Hotaru giving Sumire a meaningful glance.
"And lastly, you will stay in your current dorms, until you have made your teams. Then you may move into your new home, with your teammates."
Mikan swore in her head, knowing for sure that her pure, joyful appearance will be dissected by at least one person, Hotaru, at every waking moment. She wasn't sure if she could handle that caliber of stress everyday without cracking.
"So, I welcome all of you, and I hope you will all have a wonderful year here at Alice Academy."
A/N: a kinda-ish long chapter, I'm very sorry that I couldn't upload it sooner! Reviews much appreciated.