Authoress's Note:
Hello readers! I am back with chapter 10 yipee! I had fun writing this one because we all know Sumire is not as bad as she seems :)
Thanks for the reviews, favs and follows!
Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice
"Speak." The atmosphere was nerve-wrecking because it was like two mob bosses speaking to each other. Their words were short and curt, and both of them simply didn't bother to sugarcoat their words.
"I received an order to track an alice from our school."
"And what does that have to do with us?"
Unable to explain, he pulled out the file, which the leader gave to him, from within his coat. Hotaru eyed him suspiciously, and opened the file slowly. Her eyes widened when she read the details but quickly reverted back to normal.
"You don't seem as shocked as I thought you would be." Natsume expected that Hotaru would be really surprised to find out that her best friend, who was full-human, was actually an alice. A supposedly extinct Hokkaido Wolf alice to boot.
"...I knew it a long time ago." She looked down, recalling the days where she used to practice shifting with Mikan under the tutelage of her parents, Yuka and Izumi. She smiled faintly at the memory of Mikan complaining how it was so difficult to switch between fully shifting and partially shifting. And when they finally mastered it, both of them plopped onto the ground drenched in sweat.
"What?" Natsume frowned, not knowing how to feel. Hotaru heaved a sigh and told him the entire story of how she knew Mikan was an alice.
Although she was only 5 at that time, she remembered each detail perfectly. She joined a shifter school in her town, and that was where she met Mikan. In her school, she was disliked and bullied for being weak. As a tiger, she was supposed to be the strong one, but somehow she couldn't call out to her alice properly. Her classmates called her names behind her back, thinking that she wouldn't find out. Hotaru didn't care anyway, the haters were going to hate, and so be it. She gradually distanced herself from her classmates, but only one person extended her hand out to her.
That person was Mikan.
Mikan wasn't like the others. She was kind and impartial, and didn't look down on her weakness. She would spend every day with her, and even brought her to her house to ask her parents to train her. To Hotaru, Mikan was more than just a friend. They were sisters even closer than real siblings. Nothing separated them, until the day she had to be transferred.
Her parents had enrolled her into Gakuen Alice to be with her brother, Subaru. She didn't want to leave Mikan, but she had no choice. She was in no position to go against her parents.
Knowing Mikan, she would probably just bawl all day long with snot coming out of her nose. She didn't want to see Mikan like that. It would probably make her feel like crying too. It was probably better not to tell her so Hotaru merely left a letter in Mikan's mailbox the day she left, without bidding farewell.
It wasn't farewell to Hotaru, she would see Mikan again one day, and she crossed her heart.
Meanwhile...
"Whew I've finally reached the vending machine!" Mikan wiped a sweat off her forehead, and took out some coins. "I wonder why Hotaru only buys coffee from this vending machine..."
Seeing that she had some extra coins, she decided to buy another can to figure out what was so special about the coffee. After hearing a clank sound, she bent down to retrieve the coffee cans from the take-out port. Just as she stood up, she felt a hit that felt like a ton on the back of her neck. She staggered forward, her vision blurry. She could feel the blood rushing to her head, and her head was literally spinning.
She struggled to turn around to see the culprit but before she knew it, she dropped the cans and fell forward because of the dizzy spells. Man, this person sure could hit hard! She felt unfamiliar arms holding her waist, picking her up. Her mouth opened to scream for help but darkness consumed her first.
Natsume...
Sumire swaggered along the hallway with her head held high. Wherever she went, she displayed an aura of confidence whether or not there were people around her. She believed that being an alice meant that she was superior and gifted compared to regular humans, and this applied to all other alices as well. Full-humans were self-centered and only worked for profit. They only strived for power and wouldn't give a damn about the consequences. She had seen so many of such humans that she found it revolting and transferred to Gakuen Alice.
When she saw the all-mighty Natsume and Ruka, her heart pounded hard. She knew that that was the kind of alice she wanted to be. Proud, confident and strong. She had spent years chasing after their shadows, and just that made her happy already. However, Sakura Mikan changed everything in her life. A mere full-human like her easily got close to her beloved princes, whereas she could not. Sumire tried to warn Mikan countless times to get out of the academy, but the clueless girl always had the backing of her princes and the evil queen.
Despite all her warnings, the brunette never got angry at Sumire. Mikan even treated her warmly without any ulterior motives. Sumire was baffled by her actions and attitude. Shouldn't Mikan hate her? The full-humans she knew were cold and unfeeling, yet this one was warm... Just like the Sun. It even made her feel like being her friend.
No! Snap out of it Sumire! You hate full-humans and she is one! She slapped her cheeks so hard that her handprints was very visible. The pain would wake her up from her delusion. Sumire shook her head to clear her mind, and decided to get some coffee to wake her mind up.
As she approached the vending machine, she saw Mikan from the distance. Speak of the devil. And then all of a sudden, a second figure appeared behind her and karate-chopped her from behind. Following that, the unknown man in black leather jacket and tight jeans picked her unconscious body up and slung her over his shoulder like a sand bag. Wh-what just happened? She flustered, and hid behind a pillar just in case she would get spotted. She eyed the two as the man who looked like some spy walked off.
Who's that suspicious looking guy? What is he doing with that annoying girl? She bit her fingernail, What should I do? Should I follow them? She closed her eyes to think. Why should she risk her life and save the girl? Shouldn't she be glad the annoying girl was finally gone? Something sharp pricked her heart, and she could hear a voice at the back of her mind reprimanding her. She clicked her tongue, feeling frustrated. I...I'm just doing this because that guy is obviously an intruder! I am definitely not doing it for Mikan!
She gathered her mind and stalked the mysterious man, while masking her scent.
The man stealthily made his way out of the building and into the backyard. He didn't want to risk alerting the vigilant alarm system. As he was escaping, he felt like he was being followed. He walked a few steps and paused, and his suspicions were confirmed. Footsteps that did not belong to him could be heard. He stood in the middle of the backyard, which was not covered by security cameras.
He put down the light weighted girl slung over his shoulder, "Come out. I know you're there."
His stalker was undaunted, and fearlessly walked out to show her face.
Looks like she was caught. Sumire folded her arms and tilted her head. "What are you doing with a student of our school?"
The unknown man smirked mockingly, as if she was dumb to not know what was going on. "Oh just taking this beautiful lady out on a date," and then he snorted through his nose, "obviously doing something shady duh."
A vein popped in her head. How dare a full-human mock her! This man sure has the balls to do so!
"I see... Mind if I join?" She unleashed her claws, and lunged forward at the man.
The man dodged her skillfully with a slight body movement to the right. He placed one arm on his hip and moved his index finger, provoking her to attack once more. And she did.
"Is that all you can do?" He said with a bored tone, while evading her swift punches with mere movements of his head. "Are alices that weak?"
"What did you say?!" She gave a left hook, only to find her wrist being caught and her body flung to the ground. She groaned in pain, holding her back.
Just then, Mikan stirred after hearing all those noises. Her mind felt really heavy just now but it was clearing up now. She opened her eyes, only to find Sumire and a strange man exchanging blows. Were they practicing fighting moves or something? She smacked herself in her head. What was she talking about? This was a real fight!
She saw Sumire trying her hardest to fight back, but she was obviously overpowered. She got flung to the ground and could not get up. The man was about to deliver another blow but Mikan wouldn't stand for it.
Mikan rushed out, and covered Sumire with her body, getting struck in the process. She cried out in pain, but it was worth it for her self-proclaimed friend.
"B-Baka!" Sumire shouted, surprised to find Mikan covering for her.
"Are you okay Permy?" Mikan smiled weakly, trying to erase any trace of pain on her face. Which she obviously failed big time.
"Are you stupid? Why did you cover for me?!" Sumire helped Mikan up, one hand around her shoulder and the other around her waist. Why did Mikan help her? She had no reason to!
"You're my friend aren't you? Friends help each other..." she coughed.
Sumire felt her body temperature rise, and she looked away from Mikan's piercing eyes. "W-who and who are friends! That's disgusting!" she said, her ear turned beet red. But she had to admit... she was actually kind of happy.
"Aww friendship," the man said with an annoying fake tone, "how touching."
Seriously, this man is irritating! Although I hate to admit it, I can't defeat him in my partially shifted form... She surveyed her surroundings, confirming that they were the only three people here.
"Look annoying girl, you better not tell anyone what you see." Mikan looked at her confusingly, but later understood when she saw Sumire shifting into her animal. Or should she say animals?
Sumire was lean and kind of small compared to Natsume's form. Her fur was green with darker green stripes covering her legs. She had slit jade coloured irises that shone in the dark, much like a jewel. Her paws resembled a dog's, big and strong. Her striped tail was long and thin, just like a cat's.
The man flinched a little, but he tried to stand his ground. But he made the wrong choice. He should have ran instead of reaching for his weapon. The silly man was completely no match for Sumire's enhanced speed and prowess. Sumire tightened her powerful leg muscles, letting out a threatening bark, and lunged forward to bite his arm. She brought her weight down on him and slammed him onto the ground, still digging deeper into his arm. The man let out a bloodcurdling scream, and kicked her in her stomach.
She leapt high, avoiding his kick, and hissed at him. Sumire then unleashed her razor sharp claws and swatted at his face, leaving nasty claw marks. The man scrambled backwards, and cowardly ran away with one arm bleeding profusely and his face scarred. Mikan winced at the sight of his injury, and bet that the man was more mentally scarred as compared to physically. To be honest, she kind of felt bad for the guy.
Sumire shifted back into human form, putting her clothes on so fast that it was impossible to catch.
"That'll teach him not to look down on alices!" Sumire said with gusto, proud of her work.
Mikan stared at her in amazement, her mouth wide open.
"Wow... You're so strong Permy!" she patted her on the shoulder, feeling her muscles.
Sumire swatted her hand away in embarrassment, "Stop calling me Permy! And you better not tell anyone you saw my alice form!"
"You mean your cat-dog form?" Mikan said, completely ignoring her warning, "Why? It's cute!"
Sumire blushed even harder, covering her face with her hands.
"...Hybrids like me look weird. It just looks wrong." she looked down, remembering how her bullies used to call her a freak. She swore to get stronger and get vengeance on them. And she did, paying them back tenfold. She remembered the satisfaction she felt when she saw their faces. It was the greatest moment of her life, other than meeting her princes.
"Nonsense!" Mikan exclaimed, holding Sumire's hands. "Cats are cute, and so are dogs. So mix them together, and you'll get super cute!"
"... Weirdo." But I kind of like her...