Disclaimer: Alice Academy is penned by Higuchi Tachibana, not me.
A/N: Back with a new chapter! Thank you for your never ending support, guys. If you guys consider two weeks quite long, please understand that I have to attend to my school works (I haven't reviewed for my history and English quizzes over the weekend just so that I could finish this chapter so I do hope that you guys would appreciate my efforts too). Anyway, thank you to those who added this story to their list of favorites or list of stories on alert too. And silent readers, you too guys! Especially to my dear reviewers-if it weren't for you guys, this story would cease to exist (being dramatic over here but it's kind of true.)
I wasn't able to edit this chapter since I got too excited to update this, so sorry if this chapter has a number of typographical/grammatical errors or scenarios that are deemed nonsensical. So... here's chapter three! :)
Chapter 3
A Formidable Foe
Watching Natsume Hyuuga being revered by my classmates reminded me of my first meeting with the big boss: both need not say a word to capture their attentions, and their mere presence is deemed as something honorable that even I should pay my respects to them. If one ever opens his mouth to speak against such a high figure, his followers, to their utmost abilities, will respond in such a manner that they'd attempt to patch that flaw in their superior through intimidation, with the goal of filling the weaker one with doubt in his heart and regrets in his memories. They almost seemed like a cult to me.
As much as I hate admitting it to myself, this sort of tactic was effective in inflicting terror within me. What once was my goal of getting through a single year without drawing that much attention to me will never surface, courtesy of this arrogant teenage boy driven with power over his classmates, who continuously shower him with praises and offer him gifts of various kinds. To top it all off, he's not trying to build his image, but rather it's those who are below him that create the illusion that he is to be respected.
So in the end, I've made a fool of myself, just like the rest of the people who wanted to see a change in this cruel and biased world. The reality is that those who are stronger control those who are weaker. If only people respected each other in a way that they'd want to be treated, then perhaps I wouldn't have to pose as Jin Hideaki in Alice Academy, would I?
But sadly, I am.
-xxx-
On our way to the classroom, Yuu had a set of index cards in his hands which he browses one by one before looking away, memorizing the terms that he had written last night to ace today's quiz in Physics. Meanwhile, Koko has occupied himself with a game console close to his face, a small portion of his tongue sticking out and his eyebrows creased. As for me, I was rereading my notes for today's test, my eyes feeling heavy due to lack of sleep, but determined nonetheless.
I would avert my gaze from my notebook every once in a while, whenever I had to memorize a topic to make sure that everything I've been reading actually sinks in my head, although there were moments when I get distracted with the noise coming from Koko's game console. Hearing the sound of explosion followed by the words "game over", Koko ceases his steps, releasing his frustration by stomping on the ground, whining.
"Damn! I was about to surpass my previous high score." Koko pouted, proceeding to walk again when he has noticed that we didn't stop for him. "I should find better friends, the ones who aren't so preoccupied with their studies, you know?"
I chuckled, and from the corner of my right eye, I noticed Koko glancing at me. "The test wouldn't be so hard anyway. Why study?"
"Because unlike you, we can't read other people's minds and we find it unforgiveable to cheat during exams." Yuu retorts without having to remove his attention from the index cards in his hands. "So if you want to hang out with your other friends, go ahead, but I doubt it since Kitsuneme is sick."
Koko grunts, facing the sky above us before everything had become silent amongst the three of us, which is pretty ideal for studying. I turn away from my notebook, my mind set on memorizing Schrödinger's ridiculously long equation, but strangely enough, everyone in sight was silent upon noticing our presence, along with fixed glares that spoke much louder than any word they can ever utter at that very moment.
I glanced at Yuu and Koko—it hasn't occurred to them that every high school student was staring at us, which made me uneasy.
Perhaps I'm only fretting over such a matter that I need not bother for I still have a Physics quiz to take, and my study notes to keep me preoccupied. The matters on their minds are none of my concern.
"Jin! I didn't know that you and Natsume are having a duel."
I freeze in my place upon hearing Koko speak those very words as chills make their way down my spine. With eyes wide open, I face Koko, whose goofy smile is somewhat taunting me. Even Yuu was stunned to hear such news that he stopped studying in an instant and turned to us in mild puzzlement compared to mine.
"This isn't one of your jokes again, is it?" Yuu asked, soft-spoken. His tone conveyed how he was still hanging onto the thought that Koko was merely kidding. "You might be scaring Jin out of his wits."
"I'M NOT SCARED!" I cried. "B-but… Koko, what are you talking about?"
Koko shakes his head violently. "I'm not making this up, I swear. I've read all of the minds of every student we had passed by, and all of them were thinking of the same thing. That explains why they were staring at Jin all this time."
Oh. So that's what those glares were for.
"This has to be a mistake." Yuu added.
"Oi, Hideaki!"
The three of us turned our heads to the direction from where the voice was coming from, which was right in front of us. Ruka was running towards us with a blue piece of paper in his right hand, panting. His hair slightly damp due to sweat, his face flushed. The fair haired lad halts his steps upon closing our distances, bending forward with his hands on his knees as he takes the time to catch his breath. After a while, he takes a deep breath in as he rises up to meet our stares filled with anticipation.
"These flyers were all over the high school building." He raises the hand that gripped the blue piece of paper before slamming it against my chest, making me move a few steps back, coughing as my hands reach for the object while the area which he had hit starts to ache, and I try not to show signs of pain. Ruka proceeds, "What were you thinking? A duel? Seriously? If you're trying to pull a joke, then it's not funny! Natsume has enough bullshit ahead of him already. Be a good student and try not to be a burden to him; we'll appreciate the effort!"
"Hey!"
"Ruka, Jin had no idea about this." Koko contradicts Ruka, taking it rather well compared to Yuu, who's a bit shaken in his place after seeing Ruka display his rage over the matter. "We are as much shocked as you are."
"Then let Jin deny it himself!" Ruka faces me, his blue eyes depicting how furious he was yet they were glistening. They were beautiful, as well as how his golden locks brush against his forehead. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself!?"
I snapped out of the daze I've caught myself in, though there really is something behind those blue eyes of his: they appear cold yet there was a tinge of warmth and gentleness to them, unlike the owner of those crimson eyes whom I've learned to loathe the moment we saw each other at the Northern Forest, bearing nothing but absolute resentment and indifference towards the people around him.
Opening the flyer in my hands, I read the words printed on the paper while Yuu and Koko's heads hover over my shoulders and joined me.
-xxx-
THE ULTIMATE SHOWDOWN!
CATCH NATSUME HYUUGA AS HE BATTLES WITH THE CHALLENGER JIN HIDEAKI!
5:00 PM, THE NORTHERN FOREST
NEAR MR. BEAR'S CABIN
WHO WILL WIN?
FIND OUT!
-xxx-
My jaw dropped in disbelief. I actually have a fight with Natsume today.
I lifted my head to face Ruka, hoping that he may be convinced with my honesty. "I have nothing to do with this. I didn't post these flyers around campus, I swear!"
"Will you be able to prove this?" Ruka quirks an eyebrow as I become more and more uneasy since I don't really have much evidence to disprove his accusation.
"Jin has no idea who Mr. Bear is, so how would he decide on the location?" Yuu speaks up, and I felt a sense of relief dawn upon my very being.
Ruka's expression lightens up, and it didn't take that long for him to calm down and return to his normal self. "You... you're really telling the truth?"
I nodded my head slowly, surely, and sincerely. "I am."
The lad before us was in disbelief to even mention a word until he forces a chuckle out of him, a sad one rather, and I couldn't tell whether he was relieved that the duel is a deception set by whoever is out to get me and that he was worrying over nothing, or disappointed that he won't be able to see me burn in the hands of his dear friend.
"That's good." Ruka heaves somewhat a sigh of relief, stuffing his hands within the pockets of his pants while he diverts his gaze to the ground beneath us, looking sheepish. "Sorry for that, Hideaki." He mumbles before directing his gentle blue orbs towards me, a meek smile emerging across his face while my lips start curving on their own as a response to the warmth that he's showering my way.
"I was in my bedroom last night and I didn't go to the Northern Woods. It must've been someone else."
Despite Ruka's seemingly strong relationship with Natsume, I've observed that both of them possess different personalities. At first glance, Ruka would appear cold and unwelcoming towards the people around him, but if one manages to look closely, he would realize that this image of his is merely a pretense in order to hide his gentle nature, and I'd consider myself fortunate to see this side of his even though I'm treated as an outsider among my classmates.
Meanwhile, Natsume remains aloof regardless of the attention he's been receiving from his classmates. I've never known the man personally, and our meeting was very unconventional which leads me to a biased opinion towards him. However, there must be a reason why Ruka chooses to stay by Natsume's side, which could either be good or bad.
Either way, Ruka is plain adorable.
"No problem, Ruka." I assured him, still beaming.
"What this all about, new student?"
Immediately, our laughter has been put to a stop at the sound of his low, husky voice coming from the figure lurking behind Ruka at a certain distance, a trace of anger evident within it. As he draws himself closer, my feet feel like they have been nailed to the ground even though my mind was set on escaping, and with each step he makes, my heart starts thumping rapidly, probably at the heart rate of a mouse. I sense cold sweat beads on my forehead as his face finally comes into view—it was just like how I had imagined it to be, only that he now had a reason to loathe my being, thanks to the flyer that's in his hand.
He scoffed, and in a blink of an eye, he had burned the flyer into ashes using his Alice of fire.
"Who do you think you are, huh? You even had the guts to spread these flyers around campus." He snarled, having ceased his steps with a few inches to spare between us. Contempt loomed on his face, while I could feel mine become paler by the second. "You were dead scared when I had you at the Northern Woods the other night, and I haven't even unleashed my Alice on you that time. Still, you insist on fighting."
"Natsume, this was all a misunderstanding. Jin had nothing to do with the flyers!" Ruka exclaimed from where he was standing, making Natsume glance at him from behind before returning to face me with a smirk on his face.
"You trust people so easily, Ruka." Natsume scoffed. "I don't usually give in to these sorts of fights, especially with the weak. However, I'll be making an exception with this one."
Silence has taken its place for a period of time as Natsume and I continue to stare at each other, with him being so full of confidence while I suppress the fear that has been making its way out on my face. From the corner of my eye, I could see Koko restraining Yuu from getting closer, for the air surrounding the both of us was rather tense.
"I'll teach you how to mess with other people!" he shouted, taking me by the shoulders before dragging me to the nearest tree, my back crashing against the bark as I winced in pain. I place my hands on his arms, struggling from his strong grip while my eyes are shut close, my head tilting to the side. In a swift motion, a hand had landed on my neck and I was being deprived of oxygen by the second.
"Natsume, stop this!"
"Please don't do this, Natsume-san!"
My hands now attempt to remove his hand from my neck that's getting crushed by the second as my breaths become uneven. It had occurred to me just now that my feet aren't even touching the ground anymore, and I've been struggling for air for as long as I could remember.
"JIN!"
I slightly opened my eyes, glimpsing at his right hand that had flames on his palm. That smirk of his lingers on his face, his cocky attitude triumphing against my terrified state. I was defenseless, unable to help myself in times like this. Indeed, the strong will forever trample the likes of the weak.
Just then, the high school principal's words echoed in my ears.
"You have the nullification Alice; a very rare Alice indeed."
Do I really have an Alice? And even if I do, do I even know how to use it? Given the situation, I couldn't even use it even if my life's depending on it and this just goes to show it. But I might as well try it, since he's about to unleash his vehement flames at me.
Focus, focus, focus… if I actually have an Alice, let it surface right this instant, please. I am at my wits end.
Simultaneously, I could feel the heat coming from Natsume's flames as it gets closer to my face, but strangely, moments have passed and I remain unharmed.
My eyes fly open, his grip onto my neck having gotten weaker as I watch him throw his flames towards me, but to no avail since they'd be extinguished by the time they come in contact with me. It could be compared to a barrier, and I become amused at how Natsume falters before me in disbelief, all because his flames were useless against me. His hand even produced this huge flame and he casts it at me along with a groan coming from him, but no matter how gigantic it was, they just didn't work.
I then direct my attention to Yuu and Koko while the lad with the dirty blonde hair points at his wristwatch, mouthing the words "We're going to be late" and I gasped at the thought of that. On the other hand, Koko was raising his two thumbs at me, his amusement towards me and Natsume quite obvious.
Returning to Natsume, he starts shooting glares my way instead of flames. He begins to tighten his grip onto my neck once more, and as a reaction to it, my foot just moved on its own, hitting his body, although I'm not sure where exactly. Nevertheless, his face is contorted in pain as he releases his hold of me and he finds himself on his knees, muttering curses to himself that were audible enough for me to hear.
It was only then that I realized that I had kicked him in his most sensitive area—oh, what the heck, I kicked him in the balls!—and to be honest, I didn't know how to react back there, but there was something thrilling to it—the thought of kicking the man who was about to murder you in the balls—and I was resisting the urge to cackle and tell him that he deserves it for being such a jerk. The image of having him in pain while his hands are placed on his sensitive area is priceless. If only I had a camera.
Taking this opportunity to escape, I run past Natsume, heading to my two friends who remain flabbergasted with their mouths agape. Holding their hands, I led them away from where Natsume and Ruka were, and ran with all my might as I laughed to myself.
"Where did you get all that courage from?" Koko remarks, his tone conveying his fascination over my heroic act. "Jin Hideaki, you are my hero. No one has ever had the guts to even lay a finger on Natsume, and you kicked him… in the balls!"
"I had to defend myself, you know!" I snapped at him in the midst of my chortling.
"But I have to warn you, Jin. You have to be more careful when you're around him." Yuu commented, a hint of concern in his tone. "You've become foes with a student who's rumored to fulfill dangerous missions for the academy."
"If it helps, there's also this rumor that he burned his entire neighborhood to ashes, but you're a tough guy, Hideaki. I bet you can bring Natsume down, especially with that Alice of yours. That was incredible!" Koko added.
I halted my pace when I've finally realized the gravity of Koko's words, my smile vanishing from its place. Koko and Yuu did the same, their hands still holding mine.
"H-he b-b-burned down his… neighborhood!?" I stammered, surprised over the rumors that this guy is involved in. "I made enemies with a guy who burned his neighborhood to a crisp. Is this really, seriously, for real!?"
"Natsume's Alice is so powerful that he even uses a number of restraining devices to give him better control of his Alice—,"
"Koko, stop it. We wouldn't want him to regret what he has done." Yuu hissed, which is the very first time I've seen him do so, considering his kind and submissive behavior, even though he's the class representative of Class C.
I guess it's too late to say sorry?
A/N: Liked it? Hated it? Do I have a dry sense of humor? Any violent reactions of some sort? Please do tell me, I'd be glad to hear from you guys.
-My-violinprince.