Obsession Chapter 35: Scarlet Tears, a gakuen alice fanfic

JC: Let's see how much trouble our characters will get into here. Like I said in the previous chapter, the Kawashima siblings are going to play more roles. Since Nonoko got manipulated by Aya, expect some romance between her and Kyo later on. I don't know if I should get a guy for Asuka. Maybe I should pair her up with an older guy. What do you think? Anyway, I don't want to waste my time in the intro. Let's get on with the story.

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice characters belong to Higuchi-sensei. Sugita Aya is a cross-over character from Kodocha. My own characters in this fic are Kawashima Kyo, Kawashima Asuka, and Hibiki Ryou.

Obsession

Chapter 35: Scarlet Tears

A little girl was crying. She was all alone in the park, sitting under a tree, as her face was buried in her palms. She was lonely and afraid. Her parents had passed away and no one would take her in. She was left alone in a cruel world. How was she going to survive all by herself? She was just seven-years old. Hugging her knees, she looked up at the sky with her scarlet-red eyes as tears kept streaming down her face. A strong wind blew swiftly, whipping her short brown hair about. Dark clouds were looming over her and soon rain begun to fall. It seemed like the heavens were crying with her. The tree was not enough to shield her from the rain and she found herself getting soaked. The little girl felt more miserable than before and only cried louder.

Just then, the rain seemed to stop falling on her. She could still hear the rain pouring, but she wasn't getting wet anymore. As she looked up, she saw a child about the same age as her, holding an umbrella for her. The child had two pigtails on each side tied with lovely white ribbons and she had the smile of an angel.

"You must have a reason for being this sad," the pigtailed girl said, taking a seat beside her. "But it's more painful to cry if you're all alone, so I'll stay here with you. Let all of your feelings out until you feel better, okay?"

Aya jarred her eyes open at the sound of footsteps. Here she thought she could have a peaceful slumber on the tree branch without being spotted by anyone. But her subordinate, Ruka, was able to find her quickly. Surely, he used his animals to help him. She looked down at the blonde boy, her scarlet eyes as cold as ever. "I hope you have a good reason for disturbing me, Nogi-san," she muttered, twirling some of her silver hair. "You woke me up from a good dream."

Ruka leaned his back against the tree and slid down to the ground. "The academy is in chaos, just like you expected," he said, brushing his hand through his hair. "Imai was heavily punished this morning and is still being questioned. Over twenty students are afflicted with the sickness."

"I stopped spreading the sickness when I went to sleep here," Aya replied, jumping down and landing gracefully on the ground.

"Aya-san, you defeated Narumi-sensei a while ago, right?" Ruka gazed upon her with lifeless blue eyes. And when Aya nodded her head in reply, he asked, "Where have you taken him? He was reported missing, and my classmates are pretty worried about him. Don't tell me you killed him off?"

Sighing in frustration, Aya crossed her arms over her chest. At the time she was beating up Narumi-sensei, her kinder side tried to overpower her. As much as she wanted to kill Narumi, her other side persisted and stopped her. In the end, she only managed to cause severe injuries to the teacher. Afterwards, she decided to teleport him back to the organization using a very powerful teleportation stone. "I didn't kill him," she said coldly. "I just sent him over to Ani-sama as a present. I'm sure Ani-sama will take care of him."

Ruka raised a brow. "You didn't kill him?" he said, sounding a little bit surprised. "Are you getting soft, Aya-san? I always thought you were heartless."

"Shut it!" Aya shot him a glare as she placed a clenched hand on her waist. "I think that teacher would be useful to the organization, which is why I sent him over there as a present. And I'm not getting soft."

"I see…" Ruka stood up and brushed off some grass bits from his pants. "Then shall we proceed to the next phase of your plan?"

Aya's lips curved into a sinister grin. "It's time to make Imai-san's life a living hell," she said, laughing mockingly.

"Are you going to use Hibiki or Nonoko-chan?" Ruka asked, slipping his hands into his pockets. "Or will it be me, Aya-san? I wouldn't mind it. I would love to give that Imai a taste of hell."

"The darkness inside of you, Nogi-san, is really strong," Aya said, poking his chest playfully with her finger. "I've only manipulated the teeny bit of hatred you had for Imai-san and it transformed into something big. I never expected that. I guess you wanted to get back at that stupid Imai-san for so long, huh? The hatred you're showing right now is something that you kept locked up in your heart. I understand your enthusiasm to destroy her, but you have to be patient, Nogi-san. I am still saving you for the grand finale. For the next phase, I'm going to use Hibiki Ryou. His Alice of Magnetism is needed."

Ruka grunted and turned his head away. "Tch…It can't be helped then," he said, gritting his teeth. "I'll just have to wait."

Aya reached for his face and pressed her temple against his. She had to stand on her toes to reach his level. "That's right…You'll have to wait. After all of this is done, you will get to spend the rest of your life with the girl you love. She's all you ever wanted. Because of that, you're willing to get rid of your best friend." She pulled herself away from him and caressed his cheek with one hand. "Nogi-san, remember that I am your accomplice. I am going to help you achieve what you want and you're going to help me achieve what I want."

"I'll stay here with you …"

Withdrawing her hand, she turned around and walked away from Ruka.

"Let all of your feelings out until you feel better, okay?"

She used to be weak and a crybaby as a child. Even after her parents died, she still didn't change. But after meeting the pigtailed girl with an angelic smile, Aya swore to herself that she'll become stronger. She swore that she will never drown in sadness again.

"What a day!"

"And how," Kyo agreed with his sister. "It was kinda hard to investigate around the school in secret. It's a good thing your creations are dependable. Still, it was risky for us. We don't have any idea what the sickness is and we went out of our way to look for the cause. I guess we're pretty reckless. Isn't that right, Nee-chan?"

"You bet!" Asuka took off her gadgets, which were in the form of bracelets, earrings and a necklace, with a sigh of relief. "But we didn't learn much from our little expedition around the campus." She flopped down on her big bed and buried her face in one of her pillows.

Kyo took a seat on the sofa. "The sickness has stopped spreading late in the afternoon," he said, cupping his chin with his hand, thinking very carefully. "There are a total of twenty-five students afflicted with the sickness. So far so good, no one is dying from it. However, the victims are suffering a lot." He leaned back on his seat, letting out a frustrated sigh.

The older Kawashima sat up on the bed and looked at her brother seriously. "Don't you think it's weird for the sickness to suddenly stop spreading?" she said. "It's like the sickness is controlled or something."

"I was thinking of the same thing. The medical team of the academy is still unsuccessful in finding a cure. Healings Alices are no good either." His heterochromatic eyes suddenly went wide. "I almost forgot! Umenomiya-san was also one of the victims and she's Nonoko's best friend. Nonoko is probably worried sick right now." He dashed to the door and reached out for the knob.

Just then, Asuka used a golden lasso to stop her brother from leaving. "We're not yet done talking, Kyo," she said. "Besides, you can't just walk out of my room like that. Remember, the academy is at high alert and students aren't exactly free to do whatever they want. The guards will be suspicious if they see you here in the high school dorm." She pulled on the lasso hard and made Kyo fall on the floor.

Kyo groaned and glared at his sister. "You don't have to be so rough," he said, and Asuka just smirked at him. "Come on, let me go! I have to go see Nonoko. She might be crying right now. She won't be able to sleep properly tonight because of what happened to Umenomiya-san." He was able to talk without falter.

Asuka released him from her lasso and knelt down to his level. She gave him a smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You really care for Ogasawara-san," she said. "You must be in love with her."

Blushing madly, Kyo lowered his gaze from his sister. "I…I'm not in love with her…" he said in a stuttering voice. "S-She's m-my friend…It's…only natural for me…to care for her…" His heart was thumping fast and he felt like it was going jump out any minute.

Ruffling his hair till it was messy, Asuka pinched his cheek hard and got him back on his feet by pulling his ear. Of course, Kyo winced in pain, but Asuka didn't care. "You should hurry up and realize your feelings soon, brat," she said. "You've already given up your love for my cute Mikan-chan and you only idolize her now. What you have there for Ogasawara Nonoko is different and special."

"I understand, Nee-chan," he muttered, "but you have to give me some time to think about it." With the current crisis the academy was facing, he knew he should think more of a way to solve the problem rather than thinking of his feelings for Nonoko.

Asuka patted his back before sitting down on her bed. "Kyo, you're a genius, yet you're naïve at the same time," she said, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Anyway, going back to the problem at hand… I think we should continue investigating tomorrow. But I am planning on making rounds around the campus tonight."

Kyo's heterochromatic eyes went wide. "Don't do things on your own, Nee-chan!" he uttered, grasping her shoulders tightly. "What if you'll get hurt?!"

"Who do you think you're talking to here, brat?" Asuka said grimly, narrowing her eyes at him. "You don't have to worry about me. I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm going to use my spy equipment. They're quite handy."

"Nee-chan, I know you're completely confident in everything you do, but I'm not so keen with the idea of you going alone at night to patrol around the campus."

"Oh, I'm not the only one who's going to do some work later." Asuka's eyes seemed to have their usual mischievous glint which worried Kyo. And as she stood up with an iron fist, she pointed a finger at Kyo and said, "You're going to patrol all dormitories!"

Kyo's raised an eyebrow. "What? Are you nuts?" He raked his platinum-blue hair uneasily. "Nee-chan, it's too risky. Even if I use your gadgets, there's no guarantee of what would happen. Aside from the sickness, the recent deaths of people are rather intimidating. I'm sure you're aware of that. Someone in this academy is definitely a crazy serial killer."

"We're still going to do it whether you like it or not," Asuka said with a shrug. "And about the murders… The whole academy already knows about Imai Hotaru's crimes. Not only did she kill two boys who harassed her, she also took the innocent lives of elementary students. I know Imai is weird and indifferent, but I don't really think she's the type of girl to commit murder. It's so unlike her. What do you think, Kyo?"

"I agree with you on that," Kyo replied. "Plus, Imai-san is Mikan-sama's best friend."

"I wonder what Mikan-chan will do if she finds out about this."

"From our investigation, Imai-san was questioned and punished several times. She had only admitted that she killed two boys. But a mind-reader exposed the truth and told the teachers that Imai-san killed the elementary students as well. The teachers kept asking her if she had an accomplice, but she refused to talk. And reports say that she wasn't controlled by any kind of Alice."

Asuka scratched her head in frustration and lay down on the bed. "This is giving me a serious headache," she grumbled. "I don't want to think badly of Imai but…"

"Nee-chan, let's do our best to find out the truth," Kyo said, walking towards the door. "I don't want Nonoko, Mikan-sama, Ryou, and you to get hurt because of this plague." He had reached for the door knob and slowly twisted it to open the door.

Asuka smiled gently and closed her eyes. When Kyo left the room, she opened her eyes and placed the back of her hand against her temple. "Kyo, you're such a nice guy," she said. "I'm lucky to have you as my brother. Aside from Mikan-chan and that darn Ryou, you're also the reason why I want to end this plague right way. If something were to happen to you, I don't know what I'll do." Yes, Kyo was her most important person in her heart. She would even be willing to give up her life just for his sake. He was her one and only little brother.

On the following day, Natsume wasn't at all happy. For the whole freaking morning, a handsome ladies-man, who goes by the name of Tonouichi Akira, kept on bugging him as if it was his favorite hobby. After waking up to a bright and beautiful morning, the guy immediately hauled Mikan away and asked her if he could spend the next hours with her. Mikan, being the naïve and sweet girl she was, didn't refuse her senior and went out with him around town after eating breakfast. Natsume refused to let them spend time together alone, so he tagged along and tried to get him away from his girlfriend as far as possible. However, Tono was really clingy to Mikan and he just loved to tease Natsume. The flame-caster really wanted to use his Alice badly on Tono. Sadly, he was forbidden to do so. As if Tono wasn't enough, Natsume had also kept some random boys in town away from Mikan by simply glaring at them. He appeared to be more of a bodyguard than a boyfriend, and it seemed like Mikan and Tono were the couple. It just irked him so much.

It was about noon time that Tono decided to go back to Mikan's humble home. He wanted to try more of Mikan's cooking than to eat out in town. He had to admit that Mikan's hometown was a nice place to live in. There were several cute girls he met in town and almost all of them were interested in him. When some girls, love-struck and all, asked for his number and e-mail address, he happily told them.

"Tono-senpai, let's go to my old school tomorrow," Mikan told her senior as they've reached the living room of her house. "I bet my friends would love to see you."

"Are they cute like you?" Tono said, bringing his face closer to hers, obviously making a certain raven-haired boy jealous again.

Mikan tilted her head a little to the side and smiled cheerfully. "I'm sure you'll like them," she said.

Natsume didn't bother hiding his raging emotions any longer. He was so jealous he practically shoved Tono away from Mikan. "Don't get so close, idiot," he told Tono in a rough tone. He then grabbed Mikan by the wrist and brought her outside. Once there, he pinned her against the door and glared at her with his crimson eyes. "I don't know what to do with you anymore." His voice was as cold as ice.

Mikan had no idea why Natsume was angry. She was sure she and Tono didn't do anything wrong, so why was he all worked up? He even acted so rudely to her senior. She wanted to reprimand him about that, but she couldn't find herself talking. Somehow, she felt a little intimidated looking at his eyes. "Natsume…you're pretty scary…" she muttered under her breath, sporting an awkward smile.

As expected, his girlfriend had no clue about what he was feeling at the moment. He can't blame her for being so clueless and overly friendly with other guys. He wished she would realize how annoying it was for him to see her together with other guys. "Don't act so normal when he touches you," he said, "especially in front of me."

"Natsume…" Mikan's amber eyes softened, though she still doesn't understand his problem completely. After all, Tono was her senior. Things like hugging him and pecking him on the cheek were perfectly normal for the both of them. They've been so used to it since she was ten. "What do you want me to do? Tell me, Natsume, how should I act when he touches me?"

He didn't have a ready answer for her. He simply turned his head away and clenched both hands. When Mikan asked him again, he stayed silent and walked away from her in a hurry. Mikan was going to follow him, but Natsume told her to leave him alone. He needed some time to clear his head and his heart. With his current state, he was sure he won't be able to have a proper conversation with Mikan.

"Don't try to avoid me, Natsume," she said, following right behind him. "Just tell me your problem. Did I do something wrong again?"

Natsume suddenly stopped on his tracks, and Mikan bumped into him. Peering over his shoulders, he glanced at his girlfriend and flicked her forehead hard, causing her to flinch. "I told you to leave me alone, polka-dots." Seizing the chance, he quickly ran away from her.

"Hey, come back here!" Mikan exclaimed, going after him in a rapid pace. She managed to catch up with him easily, but due to her clumsiness, she tripped and fell down on the ground. "Ouch…that hurts…" She sat up on the ground, her face a little covered with dirt.

He stopped and spun around to see his girlfriend wiping her face with her arm. She looked like a little girl who can't even clean herself properly. Nevertheless, she was adorable in his eyes. Kneeling down in front of her, he poked her temple. "You're such a klutz, polka-dots," he said nonchalantly.

The brunette pouted and folded her arms. "Well, excuse me for being a klutz," she said. "I wouldn't have tripped if you didn't run away from me. What's your deal anyway? Why did you get mad at me? It's not like I did something wrong."

It was true. She didn't do anything wrong. He was the one with the jealousy issues. He knew how much he meant to her, but he still gets easily jealous. He has this overprotective side that he couldn't control. What can he do? Yes, he was normally a reserved person, but it was also in his nature to be obsessed with his girlfriend. "I'm not mad," he belatedly replied, helping her back on her feet. He wiped the dirt beside her lip and caressed her face a bit. "I just don't want you sticking around with that stupid Tono all the time."

Mikan's eyes grew wide. "Natsume…"she muttered before her lips curved into a mischievous smile. "Don't tell me you were jealous of Tono-senpai again?"

Did she only realize that now? Natsume mentally cursed her innocence. "What do you think? Huh?" He shrugged as he rolled his eyes away from her. "Polka-dots, you're really slow."

"So, you were jealous!" Mikan giggled. She was kind of happy with that fact. Some girls just loved seeing their guys getting jealous. It showed them how much the guys loved them. Nonoko and Anna told her this once before. "No wonder you were irritated with Tono-senpai more than usual. But you don't have to get jealous of him, Natsume. He's my senior. He and I are nothing but good friends."

"He's an idiot," Natsume grumbled, still not looking at Mikan. "He touches you whenever he pleases. For crying out loud, you're not ten anymore. He's an adult already and you just let him cling to you like a leech."

"Natsume, he's just like Tsubasa-senpai," Mikan replied in her cheerful tone. "I don't mind if he clings to me. Even though I'm already fourteen, I still love to hug Tono-senpai."

He placed a hand on his temple and sighed in frustration. "You just don't get it, do you?" Mikan tilted her head in confusion, as he turned his head to look at her. "Sometimes I do wonder how you beat me in terms of grades."

Mikan gave him a big smile. "That's because I study hard!" she happily said. "I'm not a genius like you and Hotaru, so I work hard in order to be successful. You know what they say. Those who work hard will always be rewarded in the end."

Well, his girlfriend was certainly a hard worker, which was one of the reasons why he and most of the students in the academy, especially the boys, admired her. But Natsume still considered her innocence a problem, seeing that she can't even tell why he didn't want Tono touching her. "I know that already," he said. "You don't have to brag about yourself."

"I wasn't bragging, Natsume," she defended.

"Whatever…" He took a step forward, cupped her chin in instant, and brought his lips down to hers. He only kissed her for a short while, about ten seconds or so, and smirked in triumph as he gazed upon her startled face. "Didn't see that coming? Huh? Ichigo-kara…" After speaking, he moved past her and went back to the house again.

Mikan lowered her head as she touched her lips. "That Natsume…" she said. "He always does this…And he even called me…Eh? WHAT?! Did he…?!" She spun around on her heels, faced the house, and clenched her fists tight. "NATSUME, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU! YOU'RE THE BIGGEST PERVERT EVER!!" And a lot of birds flew away at the sound of her deafening voice.

Tono and Nobara knew Natsume had done something perverted to Mikan again and they were quite used to it. However, Grandfather Sakura approached them and asked them what Mikan was yelling about. Tono assured him it was nothing and that he should go back to what he was doing. The old man then questioned if Natsume harassed Mikan, and it was Nobara this time who answered him. She told him that Mikan and Natsume were having their usual arguments and they would make up right away. The grandfather was convinced with her answer and left the two alone.

The amplifier sighed in relief. "Natsume, that brat…" he muttered. "He has got to stop harassing little Mikan."

"What can we do?" Nobara said with a giggle. "Natsume-kun is just being Natsume-kun around Mikan-chan."

It was strange. It wasn't because the sickness and deaths have stopped. It was because a certain person didn't seem to be around. Kawashima Kyo had searched for Ogasawara Nonoko for the whole morning. He had checked her room and found no one there, although he felt bad for barging in without permission, and he had also tried her laboratory. He wanted to see Nonoko. He wasn't able to visit her last night, because the guards were heavily guarding the whole dorm. It would be bad for him if he got caught. "Where are you, Nonoko?" he asked as he walked down the hallways of the middle school division building.

As he reached the chemistry lab, he finally found her at last. But she wasn't alone. She was with Sugita Aya. He greeted the two girls politely with a charming smile. Nonoko simply greeted him back as her face flushed up a little, while Aya timidly returned a smile. Kyo remembered Aya to be a shy-type of girl.

"So, what are you girls doing here?" Kyo asked.

"I came here looking for a particular chemical agent for my medicine," Nonoko replied, her smile slowly turning upside down. "You see, I'm trying to come up with a medicine that would cure this unknown sickness."

Aya clamped a hand on her own arm and slowly dug her fingers in her skin. She looked quite as upset as Nonoko. "Ogasawara-san is going to do her best. I want to help her out, which is why I'm here." She looked up at Kyo, anxiety written all over her face. Her big round orbs seemed like they were about to sprout tears any minute.

Kyo placed a hand on Nonoko's shoulder and tilted her chin up with his finger, making her look at him. "Nonoko, you're a great chemist," he said. "I'm sure you'll be able to come up with a cure. I know you're not going to give up easily, because you want to save your best friend. Umenomiya-san is doing her best right now, trying to endure the sickness."

The young chemist girl trembled a bit in nervousness. "I don't want Anna-chan to suffer further," she said.

Kyo held her hands and squeezed them firmly yet gently. "Nonoko, be brave…" he said. "I'm sure everything will be all right." Seeing Nonoko so worried made Kyo wanted to work harder and find the cause of the plague as soon as possible.

Unknown to Kyo, the real enemy was standing right beside him. Sugita Aya was only a false identity. Even though she was maintaining an innocent and concerned look on the outside, her twisted personality inside was actually laughing maniacally. Everyone in the academy had no idea how and where the sickness started, and the deaths of people were all being blamed on Hotaru. Her plan was going as smoothly as she expected, and she wanted to do more damage to the academy. It was for the sake of the organization, the sake of her beloved Ani-sama, and for the sake of her own happiness.

Due to her individual experiences in the past, the one thing she feared the most was to be left alone in pain and sadness. Losing her parents took a big toll in her heart when she was still a wee child, and if it weren't for the little pigtailed girl, she wouldn't have the will to move forward.

Scarlet eyes stained with tears, she only cried louder and pushed herself against the brunette girl. She didn't want to be alone. She was afraid of what the future has in stored for her. She didn't want to know what was going to happen to her tomorrow. If it was possible, she desired to go back in time to save her parents from dying. Yet, she could only dream.

She stopped her sobbing as soon as she heard the brunette singing a lovely song. Her voice, though she spoke with a Kansai accent, was very beautiful and melodious. Somehow, her voice eased her troubled heart and soul. She continued listening to the song quietly and before she knew it, her tears have ceased coming out.

"You stopped crying!" the brunette said chirpily. "That's great. You know what? I bet you'll look a lot better with a smile. So, why don't you smile for me?"

Aya closed her eyes and smiled at the memory. The pigtailed girl of the past was the only person who comforted her and stayed with her until she felt better. She was, nevertheless, an amazingly kind girl, and Aya was so glad to have met her. As she opened her eyes again, one of her eyes had changed to the color scarlet. She then turned her head away to avoid letting Kyo see her eye. Damn, was she losing control over herself? Why do her eyes seem to change every now and then, especially if she drops her guard for only a split second? Something doesn't add up. And what was more surprising was the fact her now scarlet eye was sprouting tears. What the heck was wrong with her?

To be continued…

JC: Expect a big fight in the next chapter, and someone from inside the academy is going to the Anti-Alice Organization. Narumi-sensei is already in the AAO's clutches, but you guys don't know about his condition, right? If you're looking for Youichi, he has been sent home because of the Honor Student Award, so he's safe from the sickness. Should I reveal Aya's true Alices or not? I'm planning to keep it as a major surprise for everyone. I've revealed bits of Aya's past here. I know it's fairly easy to guess about the girl who comforted Aya. And, as usual, a jealous Natsume and a naïve Mikan make my day perfect. That's all for now. Make sure to leave some reviews. No flaming.