Kyaaaaaaaa! This chapter is dedicated to SNOWMIRAGE for giving me my 100TH REVIEW!
Thank you all so much, my wonderful readers and reviewers! Your continuous support and advice over the past chapters have been precious and invaluable to me. As we hit the big 1-0 in this story, I'm going to need your support more than ever to keep this story going. Reviews give me the energy to turn ideas into words! –bows-
Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana-sama!
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Two Quarters And A Heart Down
10: Overstepping Authority
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I walked beside Natsume in silence.
It was okay though; he didn't seem to mind my quietness and I didn't really feel like talking anyway.
But I wasn't unhappy or anything. I was just feeling… contemplative.
Now that I knew what was bothering Hotaru, the next time I saw her after the meeting I'd make sure to let her know my finite feelings for her. I'd make sure that she'd make time for me before embarking on her latest innovation journey.
The main building was nearly a kilometre away from the Elementary Division dormitory and instead of taking the school bus Narumi-sensei had offered, Natsume and I decided to walk to headquarters. Walking there required us to pass by the charred Elementary Division dormitory. The elementary students were paired up with their older siblings or same ability-type seniors to share rooms with in the evenings until the Elementary dorm was repaired. I heard that Youichi was paired up with Natsume.
I sidestepped the ashes on the grass and regarded the dilapidated building with interest. Natsume said that he was the one who set the dorm on fire but I presumed he was under the control of the black smoke, or that person as Aoshi-san referred to the source.
Since the source of the fire was an Alice, the flames would have been near impossible to extinguish by physical means. I could have put out the fire with my Nullification Alice but considering the building's size, I would exhaust nearly all my powers doing so. The higher-ups in the Academy resorted to pooling together Alices whose abilities pertained to wind or water to put out the fire before it completely disintegrated the building.
I expected a few mischief-makers or scavenger hunters to be hanging around the broken building but not a huge crowd.
Nearly a dozen people --- mainly Middle School or High School students --- were crowding around an ashen tree not far from the building. Some girls were burying their faces in their boyfriends' chests; some guys were pointing at something hidden in the tree's leaves while others looked plain sick.
Natsume and I approached the crowd. I knew from experience that when Natsume wanted to see whatever was being crowded around, people made room for him. It was Natsume after all; there was reason to be scared.
This time, however, people did notice Natsume's presence but they didn't budge an inch. Whatever they were so interested in must be quite something if they think enduring Natsume's wrath was worth it.
I couldn't quite see what the object of interest was so I tapped on a boy's shoulder and asked. He ignored me completely even when I tapped his shoulder again.
Natsume saw this and I could tell he was getting annoyed. He clenched his fist (the one that wasn't in his pocket) and the surrounding air started to get warmer. I needn't stop him or ask the boy, though, because the student council President himself came to see what the commotion was about.
"Hey, you guys!" Koko called out amiably, followed by his entourage, which consisted of Iinchou, Sumire and two middle school students. "What's going on?"
I smiled shyly at Sumire and she turned away and stuck her nose in the air, arms crossed. I didn't miss the small smile on her lips though.
Mochu floated out of the crowd and grinned at him. "Do you even need to ask, President? You've got the Mind Reading Alice after all."
Koko's grin widened sheepishly. "Good point, Mochu. Now stay still so I can read your mind."
"But my moving doesn't affect your Alice's ability."
"You're right but I concentrate better when I'm not dizzy so stop flying in circles already."
"Hey!" a girl shouted. "Don't be so cheerful about it, Mochu. This is something serious."
The crowd noticed the President's appearance and girls started crowding around him. Huh. When did Koko get so popular now?
Seeing that hardly anyone else was crowding around the tree now, I grabbed Natsume's arm and dragged him over to the tree's base.
Sunlight filtered through the tree's canopy and cast intricate patterns of leaves and shadows on our faces. I glanced at Natsume. His face was cast skyward, eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Natsume, wha – " he cut me off by clamping a hand on my head.
"Don't look up," he commanded.
I wish I listened to him.
I really wish I did.
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I timidly watched Aoshi-san move piles of paper around his desk and how he would run a hand through his short, chocolate brown hair in irritation every now and then.
I felt faint and sick.
I wanted to do nothing more than just lie down here and sleep, never mind the dirty floor; to curl into myself and wish the world away.
There was no place to sit in Aoshi-san's office, seeing as everything besides his own desk was soaked in blood. Urumi's blood.
I didn't even want to look out of the window. Last time I checked, it was literally raining blood. Urumi's blood.
Natsume noticed my body's slight swaying and stepped behind me, squeezing my shoulders and giving me the support my legs seemed to forget to provide.
"Thanks," I muttered softly, closing my eyes and leaning my head against his chest. When I closed my eyes, the day's horrific events replayed in my mind's eye.
Where should I even think to begin? Of course, the tree was where it all began.
I remember looking up…
…and seeing Persona's decapitated head.
Actually, no. His head wasn't disconnected from his body yet. Looking back, seeing his body up there in the tree, I still questioned whether the guy was even dead or alive then.
Suspended between the thick branches and eaves of leaves was Persona's body. His head was wedged between two branches, stretching his neck. If more pressure were applied, his head would've come clean off.
And his eyes…
His white mask was nowhere in sight and as Natsume and I looked up, I felt as though his blood red eyes were staring directly at me.
His eyes were wide with shock; a strange expression on Persona's face indeed. The garbled rouge hues seemed to convey a mixture of estranged emotions: betrayal, blame, indignation, and most of all, fear.
The emotions dancing in his wide open eyes seemed so alive; so real, that it was hard to believe he was actually dead.
I had always thought of Persona as someone who had seen more ugliness, more bloodshed of humanity than anyone else I will ever meet; so much so that I came to believe he was untouchable.
I didn't want to believe he was dead because if someone could kill him, then what chance do the rest of us have? Kenta, Hiro and I… Even Natsume…
Our enemy was far greater than we could have imagined.
However, I couldn't delude myself into denial over Persona's death any more when Jinno-sensei and Misaki-sensei came running to the scene, apparently called for by Koko's secretaries.
They quickly dispersed the students from the tree but they didn't try to make Natsume and I budge. Probably because we were "personal" students of Persona…
Misaki-sensei took out some seeds from his pockets and vines burst forth from them, growing and wrapping themselves around the branches limiting Persona's body. Misaki-sensei pulled the branches apart and Persona's body slipped forward and fell.
The corpse was going to land on me.
I saw it coming; yet I couldn't bring myself to move. It was as if my legs forgot how to function temporarily.
Falling, I saw that Persona's face and hands were free of Alice limiters. Strange.
All I could do was brace myself for the impact; for when cold flesh collides with living warmth.
But it never came.
Before Persona's body could even make contact with the tip of my head, it burst into ashes.
For a while, it seemed like time had frozen as I watched the ashes swirl around me. The passing wind carried some of the ashes away with it, depositing his remains in places only Kami-sama knows where.
Then, I felt someone pull my ponytail, dragging me to the ground. I let myself be pulled down and Natsume immediately engulfed me in his embrace; cradling me and tucking my head under my chin, hiding me from death and anguish.
I closed my eyes and waited for death to stop raining.
I had no idea that what was coming next was much, much worse.
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I opened my eyes when Natsume prodded the small of my back.
My bangs clung to my forehead. I hadn't realised I had broken into a cold sweat.
"You okay, Polka-dots?" he asked nonchalantly.
"I told you I'm not wearing polka-dots today," I murmured weakly. It was a pathetic attempt to make light of the situation.
I glanced at the clock on the wall. It screamed 5:45.
The others were coming soon. Sumire and Yuu had left Koko's side to call them.
My eyes trailed over to where Aoshi-san sat at his desk. He had stopped moving the papers around and was now cradling his head with his hand. It seemed as though he was having a headache --- the effect of using his Alice, probably.
Besides Aoshi-san, Natsume and I, another person was in the room with us: Koko. He, too, was having a headache. He must still be hearing that person's voice in his head.
Natsume followed my gaze and let his intense stare land on Koko. "Hn," he grunted. "Poor guy must be tormented."
"Yeah," I agreed, taking pity on the blonde boy whom I've known since childhood.
I walked over to the couch Koko was slumped in (he didn't seem to mind sitting on blood) and kneeled before him.
"Koko," I called out softly, gingerly touching his knee.
His brown eyes fluttered open wildly. I winced inwardly. He looked pained and disturbed. His eyes looked sad and hollow.
"If you want, I can temporarily nullify your Alice," I said soothingly, "so you don't have to hear it any more."
Koko smiled sadly. "Thanks, Mikan."
He closed his eyes as I gently placed a hand on his head. I closed my eyes and concentrated, searching for the source of his Alice within him, and upon finding it, I temporarily sealed it. Koko was now an ordinary boy for the next twenty-four hours.
The moment I lifted my hand from the dirty blonde hair, the door burst open revealing a panting Kenta, closely followed by Hiro, Ruka, Hotaru, Sumire and Yuu.
"What the hell happened here?" Kenta demanded weakly.
I looked at Natsume, who suddenly found the ceiling, which was dripping with blood, very interesting. Aoshi-san had his eyes closed, massaging his temples and I couldn't possibly ask poor Koko to explain the situation.
Hotaru looked me straight in the eye. "Tell us what happened, Mikan." It wasn't a command but a request.
I gulped down the lump that had begun to form in my throat.
"This is Urumi's betrayal."
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To be continued…
-sniffs- Truth be told, this chapter was really, really hard to write.
But on the bright side, if you think Persona is really dead, think again...