Chapter 12
Who?
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, Digimon or Shaman King.
Author's Note: It's unbelievable how to find spare time. It's summer and I promised to post at least two…or maybe three. I just hope that you enjoy this story. :D
"BAM!" the door went as it was slammed right open. The secretary then slowly looked up in fear from the papers that have been scattered all over the floor. Her eyes widened as she realized who the person in the doorway was. It was none other than the Principal who has been absent for two weeks. Her eyes scanned his appearance, and she noticed the Principal's stubble of a beard, his baggy eyes that were red apparently from lack of sleep, and his wrinkled clothes. The secretary then dropped her eyes at the suitcase the Principal was carrying. Before the secretary could comment on anything else, the Principal zoomed past her and went straight to his office. He entered his office with the door slamming right after him.
In the office, the Principal, in frustration, shoved off all the things on top of his desk. He then proceeded to drop his suitcase on top of the desk and slamming his hands on the desk. The Principal then collapsed on his chair and laid his head in his hands. He had an enormous headache. He couldn't help but think how horrendous these past two weeks turned out. The panic that rose through all of the organizations was just crazy. To think, he had always hoped that it was some crack-pot story. Now, he has to start with the plan which he can't fail. At least, this plan is more understandable and peaceful compared to the others. If he does fail, however, things could go horribly wrong and the organizations might have to do drastic measures.
The Principal ran a hand through his hair. "There's no room failure." he said as he remembered those words being told to him. The Principal then sighed and walked up to a buzzer for his secretary. He then pressed the button and began to speak. "Chikako…" he said to call his secretary's attention. On the other side he could hear rustling and then the secretary replied "yes, sir.".
"Can you give me the names of the students who were involved in the fire accident." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right away, sir." The secretary replied. The Principal then headed towards his suitcase and clipped it open. Once he did, a bright light flashed towards him. The Principal gingerly picked up the stone that was glowing so brightly. There is no doubt about it. It only glowed like this when it entered the academy. They've been found out. Everyone now knows that the Dark Conquerors have arrived and are right now at this academy. The whole world may be at their mercy.
"I'm so tired!" Mikan complained as she stretched about. "I can't believe that it's been two whole weeks and yet we've only fixed about one-sixth of the land that was burned." She said this to Ruka and Natsume as they were entering the premises of the cafeteria.
"Maybe if you weren't yapping and complaining, we would have done more progress." Natsume said as he looked at her and continued walking on with his hands in his pockets. Mikan glared at him and stuck a tongue at him.
"How about the fact that it was your fault in the first place? The oh-so-great Natsume Hyuuga can't even control his stupid power!" Mikan said as she shouted at him.
At that moment, Natsume stopped walking and lazily looked at her. "Psshh look who's talking! Miss no-star. You couldn't even control your power back then and who was it again you asked help from?" Natsume said while narrowing his eyes at her. Mikan flinched as she remembered all the times she tried nullifying his fire. It was a very painful memory and now he was gloating about it. Mikan couldn't help but stomp her foot and edged her face forward in order to glare at him in a closer distance.
"Um…come on guys…how about we take a seat first and maybe eat." Ruka said as he tried to pacify the situation. They would always have silly fights like these and to think that Mikan is actually supposed to show other people that Natsume wasn't all that bad. He would have to stop this fight before it gets ugly. However, this time Ruka should have learned when the right time to pacify is. Mikan suddenly turned to him and sent him an electrifying glare. Ruka couldn't help but feel a little shocked. "SHUSH it bunny boy! Now stop acting like a Bugs Bunny and stay out of it!" Mikan shouted at him as she turned to glare at Natsume once again.
"Hey guys!" Sora suddenly came forward from the entrance of the cafeteria to greet Mikan and Ruka but stopped her cheery smile that she had been wearing when she realized the situation. "Mikan? Are you fighting with the hot head boy? You should really stop associating with him if you keep on fighting with him anyway." Sora said as she crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at him. Sora and all the other gang are still touchy when it comes to Natsume. In all honesty, it's not like he tried anything to change their opinion of him.
Natsume simply rolled his eyes. "Put a cork on it red-head. Why won't you just go ahead to your boyfriend and play with your pixelized pets." Natsume said as he continued walking away to the table.
Sora's eye twitched. "Must you always be so hostile?" Sora shouted at him in anger. Before Sora decided to strangle him, Ruka then stepped in front of Sora in order to break her sizzling glare at Natsume. "I apologize for my friend." Ruka said apologetically and then turned at his heels to where Natsume was walking. It seems that Ruka has to always be in charge of stopping Natsume's fights. It could turn disastrous for whoever goes against Natsume.
"Honestly Mikan…" Sora said after sighing. She then turned her head slowly at Mikan and shook her head. "Of all people…why befriend him? He's no good." Sora said.
Mikan then looked up and looked at Sora. "Sora…" Mikan began. "HEY GUYS!" Tai Chi said with a huge smile as he walked in between Sora and Mikan. Mikan and Sora gasped a huge gasp due to shock. Sora in irritation slammed her fist to his head. "Honestly Tai Chi, why do you have to be so idiotic sometimes?" The two girls glanced up to see Yamato was right behind Tai Chi.
"Come on let's eat." Yamato said as he nodded towards the table and Sora & Tai Chi consented. The three of them walked towards the table together. "Well isn't that interesting?" Yoh suddenly said and Mikan screamed out in shock at his sudden entrance.
"Great! Is it 'Scare Mikan to Death' day! Haven't you guys heard about the word called 'sounds'." Mikan said as she glared at him. "Sorry…it's just as if they remind me of you, Ruka and Natsume." Yoh said while smiling. He then turned to Mikan but received a punch to his forehead. "You idiot! No way would Ruka be as silly as Tai Chi and Sora & Yamato are obviously dating. There's no way that's happening between Natsume and I"
"It's so obvious that you guys are acting practically like a couple. You can definitely see that as a comparable point." Yoh said happily but received another punch to his head as a reply.
Mikan was about to kick him when someone pulled her back. She was rampaging but saw that Chihiro was the one holding her back. "Um…sorry Mikan but Yoh is still my friend." Chihiro said apologetically at Mikan who continued to struggle. Right behind Chihiro was Hitomi and Meruka who were simply looking at what was happening with interest.
"Let go of me!" Mikan said as she squirmed. "I swear I'll teach that boy to simply make stupid analogies like that." Mikan said as she clutched her fist really tight and brandished it to Yoh. Yoh was simply rubbing the parts where Mikan hit him. "Honestly Mikan, it isn't that much of an offense."
"Why? What did he say Mikan?" Hitomi asked as she stretched. Mikan glared at him in anger. "He compared me and Natsume to Sora and Yamato. As if, we were a couple."
Hitomi gasped with disgust. "Kill Him!" Hitomi then glared at the unsuspecting Yoh. "That was a huge and complete insult." she said as she took one step forward. Hitomi only got as far as balling her fist when Meruka pulled her away from Yoh.
"You understand why I feel like kicking him in the shins!" Mikan said as she struggled at Chihiro's arms. "He's obviously not in the right state of mind. A little pounding will surely clear that up!" Not surprisingly, what she said only made Chihiro tighten her grip.
"Let her go! That jerk head deserves what he's getting to him. Give him a good strangling after beating him up." Hitomi said as she shot another glare at Yoh.
"Why are you so angry about it? Do you like him or something?" Yoh asked Hitomi in confusion. Luckily, Meruka saw it coming and grabbed Hitomi's arms before it could strangle the life out of Yoh. "LET ME GO! I'LL STRANGLE HIM MYSELF!"
Both girls struggled at the arms of their restrainers. "YOH! Run while you can!" Chihiro said as she tried to hold on. "We can only delay them for so long!"
Yoh didn't need to be told twice as he quickly darted for the exit. The two restrainers decided to release the two fidgeting girls after what seemed like a fair head-start for Yoh. With no surprise, the two offended girls darted through the doors. While doing so, Chihiro and Meruka could hear certain words concerning with strangling and beating up Yoh.
After shaking their heads, Chihiro and Meruka then advanced towards their cafeteria table that was isolated from the rest of the student body. Their friends greeted them and couldn't help but ask what happened to Yoh and the other two girls.
"Let's just say that if we hadn't heard of Yoh in three hours, we should send out a search team for his body." Chihiro joked as Sora worried about what will happen to Yoh. "It's a shame though if he dies. We were supposed to check out this new movie tomorrow." Chihiro then drifted to the seat beside Sora.
Meruka drifted towards her seat that was at the end of the table. It seemed as if Meruka and Natsume just enjoyed sitting in those chairs farthest away from the group. Natsume now however, usually sits beside Ruka and sometimes Mikan, and they were surrounded by empty chairs in the long cafeteria table. Meruka on the other hand stayed completely by herself in the seat that was at the very end. She's been doing that ever since the fire incident. Her friends just simply say that Meruka is like that and she has moments like these. Apparently Chihiro and Hitomi just decided to respect her decision.
It didn't sit well with Tai Chi though who was sitting at the opposite end of the table. He was surrounded with his friends. He had Yamato on his right side. Sora sat right beside Yamato and on Tai Chi's left were Hikari and Takeru. They were laughing and enjoying the meal along with Chihiro. Even Hitomi, Mikan, and Yoh would be enjoying with them if they weren't busy with their cat and mouse chase. Heck, he could even see Natsume smiling with Ruka at times. Meruka on the other hand didn't seem to be enjoying at all when she sat there. It wasn't as if she was depressed either. It seemed like she was just null. Tai Chi can't even see her eating her meals sometimes. The last time he saw her actually eating meals would be in her first few days of school. Right at that moment, she seemed to be absorbed in some book.
Tai Chi drank from his glass and eyed Meruka. Once he put his glass down, he started to get up when his eyes met Chihiro's. Chihiro looked puzzled then turned to see what he was looking at and realization dawned on her face. She then turned to look at Tai Chi with a sympathetic look. Chihiro shook her head slowly. It was simple to understand. She was telling him that it would be useless to try. Tai Chi couldn't help but notice the look in Chihiro's eyes that seemed to want to explain more.
Chihiro then glanced back at her food and stuck a piece of food into her mouth and chewed at it slowly. Tai Chi stayed frozen as he started to wonder about Chihiro. How many times was she burdened about Meruka? From the look in her eyes, it felt like this happens on a regular occasion. Chihiro is usually the happy type but just the way how Chihiro looked at him it felt like there was something more to her. Just like Meruka… Tai Chi then glanced back up at the girl who was still reading.
Tai Chi made up his mind and stood up from his chair. That called up the attention from the rest of the table. All of them were wondering what he was doing. He could see Chihiro shaking her head as a way to tell him to stop while he can. He could see Ruka and Natsume looking up with interest and even Meruka peeking up from her book.
Tai Chi then walked up towards Meruka and pulled out the chair beside her and sat on it. Meruka lowered down the book and looked at Tai Chi with curiosity. "You do realize that you haven't eaten any of you food." Tai Chi said as he pointed to Meruka's meal. Meruka simply looked down at the food and looked back at Tai Chi with confusion.
"I'm not hungry tonight." Meruka said slowly to Tai Chi. She then started to continue reading her book. Tai Chi shook his head. "Is that so? So tell me when there is a night where you are actually hungry?" Tai Chi said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and lounged back into the chair. He eyed Meruka as she slowly looked up from the book with a sigh. Meruka's eyes then looked at Tai Chi with frustration. "I guess I'm not a big eater or anything." Meruka concluded coldly and she went back to her book.
Tai Chi could have sworn he heard Chihiro mumble 'crash and burn'. Tai Chi couldn't help but narrow his eyes at Meruka who was still reading her book. He then quickly raised his hand and snapped Meruka's book shut and grabbed it from her grip. Meruka replied with a gasp of disbelief. Now Tai Chi was sure it was Chihiro who mumbled because he heard her again say 'oh boy…'.
Meruka glared at Tai Chi but Tai Chi simply returned his glared and pushed the plate of food towards Meruka. "Did you know that there are people starving everyday? Some people don't even have a single grain of rice in their stomachs such as the children in Africa. Now here you are. You are wasting a completely perfect meal. So Meruka…just think of what would the children of Africa do if they were in your situation." Tai Chi concluded as he looked at Meruka in the eye.
After what Tai Chi said though, Meruka sighed in defeat and picked up a fork. She then proceeded to eat her food. He even heard Chihiro mumbling sentences of disbelief. Tai Chi smugly put the confiscated book beside Meruka. He then stood up to walk to his end of the table. While doing so, everybody's eyes were all on him including Meruka's that were full of frustration. Tai Chi then sat back down on his chair and continued eating his food like nothing happened.
"Hey guys!" Mikan's voice broke through the tension that just built up. Everybody looked up to see Mikan and Hitomi standing in front of them.
Chihiro's eyes widened. "Did you kill him?" Chihiro's face turned pale as she stood up. Sora who sat beside her couldn't help but see Chihiro's hand clutch tighter.
Hitomi looked at Chihiro with frustration. "No…we couldn't freaking find him." Sora watched as Chihiro's face slowly gained back her color. "We only came back because we wanted to eat. Mikan and I are starving, and we deemed it useless. We can always get him tomorrow morning." Hitomi and Mikan were about to get settled into their seats when Hitomi froze due to the sight see saw.
"Meruka?" Hitomi asked in disbelief. "Are you actually eating?". True enough Meruka was there holding her fork that carried a clump of rice. Even Mikan couldn't help but gasp and point it out. "She is! She is!" Mikan said as she jumped up and down.
Meruka rolled her eyes and exhaled in frustration as she stuck the clump in her mouth. She then chewed thoroughly as she looked at the gaping Mikan and Hitomi with contempt. The rest of the table could sense that Meruka was probably imagining the clump of food as someone's head.
Hitomi couldn't help but feel confused and her face was full of disbelief. She then turned to Chihiro and the two looked at each other and talked through facial expressions. Chihiro told expressed how she was just as shocked with a raise of both eyebrows.
"Believe it." Chihiro said as she shook her head as if she was still trying to convince herself. Hitomi mouthed "How?" as she shook her head. Chihiro then turned her head towards the guy sitting at the other end of the table. "Tai Chi…" she mouthed. Hitomi looked at Tai Chi with wide eyes that seemed to reflect some kind of new found respect.
Tai Chi couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable as Chihiro and Hitomi looked at Tai Chi. Their gazes were full of disbelief and appreciation. It couldn't possibly that great. All he did was make Meruka eat a hearty meal for once. Her two friend's gazes seemed to show much more appreciation than needed for that act. That was it. He definitely knew that something is up with these three girls.
The tension building up was stopped when Meruka herself spoke irritably. "Oh come on!" she said as she shook her head. "I'm only eating! For goodness sake!" she said and to strengthen her point she took another bite. "Oooohhh…be shocked…" she said sarcastically. She then took up her book and got up. "I'm going back up." and with that she left the cafeteria.
Chihiro went back towards her meal as she just picked through it. Hitomi looked down at her hands that were placed on top of the chair she was supposed to sit on. All the people in the table eyed the two. They could notice as Hitomi clutched the head of the chair and Chihiro would completely freeze from what she was doing but her eyes were deep in concentration.
Hitomi then nudged Chihiro. Hitomi looked at her friend and could tell that she was bothered as she was. Hitomi smiled wryly and mouthed that she was going up. She needed to talk to Meruka. Chihiro was about to stand up to join but Hitomi stopped her. The two looked at each other and Chihiro knew that she had to stay. Without another word Hitomi left to go up to their room.
Chihiro then turned and plastered a smile at them. She then turned to Tai Chi and looked at him with an intensified look. "Who in the world are you?" she said as she laughed and shook her head. "You have no idea how long we tried to get her to eat more than a morsel. I should have realized that kids in Africa would work." She said happily.
Everybody in the table couldn't help but feel surprised. Here Chihiro was smiling and laughing. The thing was even if they looked at her eyes, no one could see the hurt in them. Not a single trace. If Chihiro could so easily mask her feelings that easily and simply jump off topic, then how many times had she felt horrible and no one would notice. Everybody decided to continue on like nothing happened. Surprisingly, it actually worked. Before they knew it, they were smiling, laughing and making jokes again.
In the end though, no matter how much fun they were having. No one can quite forget the look in Chihiro's and Hitomi's eyes. Who are they really? What are they hiding?