I'M BACK!

Wahahaha. I really love all the reviews my beloved readers have given me! I wish I had the time to reply to each and every one! I know I promised to post this chapter yesterday but my mom had to drag me off for a party at her colleague's house and I had a rotten time there.

To QUEENEYZ, I promise next chapter will go more in-depth with Mikan's feelings. SAKURA0038, I so hate that device thing too! I can't wait to get rid of it, really.

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana.

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Two Quarters And A Heart Down
4: First Blood
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"I'm not an idiot. I knew it was you last night."

For the second time that day, I felt like a complete and utter moron.

I was in my school uniform during the mission and it was common knowledge that, besides my mother, I was the only Nullifying Alice that had been permitted to enrol in the Academy. Moreover, the most obvious indications of my Alice's abilities were in full swing last night.

Making sure my poker face was held firmly in place, I studied his features while thinking of a way to respond to the situation.

Natsume still had his tanned complexion and his crimson eyes still spoke volumes of paradoxes --- a warm, burning passion encased in icy aloofness. I noticed that he had dark circles under his eyes. Wasn't he getting enough sleep? Was he doing too many missions? I felt a pang in my chest as I quickly dismissed the concern his dismayed features stirred in me.

I noticed that his cheekbones had become more prominent as well.

Natsume's jaw clenched and unclenched. He was impatiently waiting for a reply.

Natsume was a good head taller than me, and because he was pinning me against a tree, he was blocking the glare of the afternoon sun for me and I felt grateful to take shelter in his shadow.

From the light filtering through the tree's canopy, shadows concealed part of Natsume's face. The shade softened the angry glow of inquisition in his eyes.

This made it a little easier for me to look him in the eye.

Denial was the first thing that came to mind but I quickly dismissed it; denying the obvious would only strengthen his case against me.

I settled for the next best thing.

I laughed. It sounded hollow and cold even to my own ears. "So you caught me," I said nonchalantly as though we were merely discussing the weather. My voice took on a gentler, even loving, tone, which I surprised myself with. "It's nice to see you again, Natsume."

I placed a hand on his left arm and it immediately fell limp by his side. "It's really nice."

His ruby red eyes widened in shock and sadness. It was hard to tell which emotion was stronger.

I began walking away from him.

"Goodbye," I called out softly, not bothering to turn around or wave.

Sadness or astonishment? Both emotions were in tumult in his scarlet irises. I knew why though.

I hadn't smiled once.

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I forgot to look for Hotaru during lunch break and Misaki-sensei, her Technical Type teacher-in-charge, had called her out of afternoon classes to discuss matters about her latest invention. Apparently, one of her many investors was already looking into manufacturing the prototype.

Natsume and Ruka weren't in class A or had skipped afternoon classes so I didn't have to face another difficult confrontation.

Sumire and Yuu were in class A but they didn't give me a hard time. My seat in class A was right next to the door, which meant I was beside Iinchou. He tried talking to me for a while but after just glancing at him and replying in one-liners, he took the hint and backed down.

Sumire was a different story altogether. Knowing her personality, her claws were out and ready to demand an explanation but thank goodness Yuu managed to calm her down and steer her away from me.

I wasn't in the clear yet as I knew Sumire would still try and get something out of me.

Yura Otonashi, the fortune-teller, was also in class A. She gave me a knowing look when I walked out of the classroom to look for Kenta in the second-year classrooms.

I didn't want to go to Central Town alone so I waited for Kenta after classes and asked him to go with me.

Kenta held my hand as we walked. I didn't really mind it; it was rather comforting, actually. At this rate, the only people I could actually be comfortable with from now on were Kenta and Hotaru, if she didn't start prodding too much, that is.

"Come on," he said, leading me to a café. "Let's get a bite to eat."

I propped my chin on my elbow and watched students pass by the café shop window. Students, be them in elementary, middle or high school divisions, walked throughout Central Town with looks of glee on their faces. They walked in large groups or in pairs; I never saw a loner out there.

I snapped out of my reverie as a waitress set a plate of chocolate cake in front of me.

Kenta grinned at me from across the table, fork poised in the air to snag a chunk of his strawberry cheesecake. "You're drooling, sweetie."

I grinned back at him. "Yeah, well, after today I definitely deserve some chocolate."

He swallowed a morsel of his cake and waved his fork nonchalantly. "Harsh confrontations?"

"Yeah," I rolled my eyes. "And to make it worse, Urumi cornered me this morning and forced one of those blasted devices on me."

Kenta choked on his cake. After a quick gulp of his juice he spat out, "No way. Even I don't have to wear those any more."

I calmly explained to him how my emotions were directly linked to the effects of my Alice. Last night, for example, I never meant to make it a physical effect. I also told him about the "big meeting" with Yuki Aoshi a.k.a. the headmaster a.k.a. my biological father.

I haven't talked that much in a long while so I gulped down my juice as Kenta banged his fist on the table. "No way!" he exclaimed again, venting out my anger for me. "That bastard. At least Narumi understands."

A grateful smile escaped my lips as I felt a stinging sensation tingle over my heart. "Well at least you understand too, Kenta."

His sky blue eyes twinkled at me. I shuddered inwardly --- his pale silver hair and pale blue eyes were hauntingly beautiful.

"I know. Let's spend the 5000 rabbits he gave you on something nice. Buy yourself a little welcome back present. No, make that a big welcome back present."

"Well, I still have to buy my necessities first, Kenta," I stated listlessly. "You have to help me choose clothes."

A look of horror struck his features. "No way," he grunted, for the third time in the space of half an hour. "You only told me to accompany you to buy clothes. You never said anything about having to give my opinion on which… sundresses or shorts or…"

I finished the last piece of my cake. "Lingerie store's up first."

He glared at me. "No way."

I sighed and stood up. "You say 'no way' way too much. Fine, you can wait outside the lingerie store," I conceded to his bemoaned expression. "But only for the lingerie store."

He made a face at me and I snorted with laughter --- the giddy delight that I'd been trying to suppress reared its ugly head.

My snorting and muffled laughter caused several café patrons to look in our direction. I nearly fell over if I didn't grab onto the chair to support myself. Burning sensations flared up in my chest again as I struggled to recompose myself.

Kenta helped me get up and steadied my shaking shoulders. Concern soaked his blue eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I forgot about the blasted control device." He used my own words to refer to the dolphin-shaped mark.

Kenta put a very serious face on in an attempt to bemuse me.

But it only made me laugh harder.

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I managed to get my shopping done when Kenta hoisted my body onto his shoulder and ran out to dunk my head in the fountain. That sure did the trick; I sobered up immediately.

We walked in silence for the rest of the trip and I quickly got what I needed. I left Kenta with the task of buying me some casual clothing whilst I got shoes and underwear (not the polka-dot kind).

We got back with half an hour to shower before dinner was served. When I undressed, I was shocked to find that the skin around the mark was bruised. It was an ugly mix of purple and red and it hurt when I touched it. I bandaged it after my shower.

At the dining hall, I spotted Hotaru and sat opposite her. The only words exchanged between us were hellos.

Both our faces were emotionless and we were silent throughout the meal. I noticed that the rest of the students from our year were sitting a good three or four chairs' distance away from us.

I wondered if Natsume and Ruka were eating dinner. I remembered that they never did eat much in elementary school. Also remembering his thin frame, I hoped that Natsume wasn't skipping dinner.

I was careful not too think too deeply about past incidents as I did not want to aggravate the device.

However, for peace of mind, I was about to use my Alice to look for the fire and animal boys. I needn't bother in the end because the two aforementioned teenagers plonked their dinner trays right beside us.

Silence ensued in the dining hall as Natsume took a seat beside me and Ruka sat beside Hotaru, who was raising her eyebrow at the intrusion.

It was the first time I saw Ruka in six years. He seemed to be doing well and aside from getting taller of course, his facial features were exactly the same though he no longer looked like a child.

I could feel Natsume burning imaginary holes in my body as I flicked my peas around my plate. My poker face was held in place.

He opened his mouth to say something and I tensed at that. I was tired and I definitely wasn't up for his interrogation.

Thank Kami-sama for Kenta, though.

He noisily clambered up to our table, holding a bouquet of daisies in his arms and looking sheepish. He thrust the bouquet at me, which I accepted with confusion as well as gratitude for his intrusion.

He looked at the floor and put an arm behind his head, looking much like a naughty schoolboy.

"Kenta, what's this for?" I prodded softly.

"For today, at Central Town," he said, sorry written all over his face. "I'm really sorry, Mikan. I can't believe I forgot about the control –"

I quickly shushed him lest my old friends know about the cursed mark and let a small smile tug my lips. "Thank you, Kenta. I forgive you." I pulled him into sitting in the chair next to mine. "Sit. Eat with us."

He glanced nervously at Natsume. I was sure he was glaring daggers at his mission partner. "I-I couldn't."

I could almost see little swirly objects in his eyes as he frantically searched his mind for an excuse to get away from the fire boy. He was sweating and I realised that Natsume was making the room temperature rapidly increase. Annoyed, I nullified Natsume's Alice and the room got cooler almost immediately. I heard Natsume grunt in annoyance.

Kenta looked ecstatic all of a sudden. Grinning, he said, "I heard Hiro's coming tonight. I'm gonna go meet him now."

Hey, that was good news for me too.

"I'm coming with you," I said, standing up.

"No," he said quickly. Too quickly. "Uh, I mean, you just saw him, what, a couple of days ago? I haven't seen him in a bloody three months. Guys gotta bond, ya know?"

I sighed and sat back down. Swishing my water in my cup, I felt all eyes on me.

"Who's Hiro?" Natsume's gruff voice broke the silence. Chatter started again in the dining hall.

"A friend," I stated simply. I then thought of how Hiro's kind amber eyes and soft, generic black hair reminded me of Kaname-sempai. Hiro was always the one who helped nurse me back to health when I got injured or sick. "A very good friend," I decided.

Natsume grunted in response. Leaving his steak untouched, he got up. "I'm not hungry any more. Come on, Ruka, let's go."

Ruka's fork stopped in mid-air. Natsume saw the chunk of broccoli Ruka had stabbed with his fork, and, for some unfathomable reason, glanced at Hotaru. "Never mind, stay there. I'll see you later."

Ruka didn't try to follow Natsume or convince him to stay, much to my surprise.

Ruka smiled warmly at me and tried to make small talk.

"Long time no see, Mikan."

I nodded in response. He gulped.

"So, where've you been these past six years?"

I placed a finger on my chin as I thought how to best answer that question. Might as well be truthful.

"On an island."

"Oh."

I shovelled the rest of my food in my mouth and drank the last of my water.

"Goodnight," I said, gathering my tray and bouquet.

I put my tray in the kitchen for the robot matron to wash. Then I headed to my room for some well-deserved sleep.

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I swore I saw something move outside my window.

I dismissed it though, believing my mind was just playing tricks on me.

I stepped out of the T-shirt and shorts I had worn for dinner, leaving me clad in only my plain pink panty. I wasn't wearing a bra because I bound my chest with bandages.

I gasped when a cold wind rushed into my room and I realised that someone had entered through the window. I clutched my pyjama top to my chest and faced the intruder.

It was Natsume.

He gathered me in an embrace and buried his head in my hair, inhaling my scent. I felt tears well up in my eyes.

I couldn't take it any more.

That's why I did it.

I kissed him.

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To be continued...

Reviews please!

Oh, and I'm going back to school tomorrow so updates will be slower... Please don't give up on me!