Author's" note: Yay! I finally finished this...erm...long chapter. It took me ages just to edit and write it out. This was the chapter which gave me a really big headache. I am also so terribly sorry that I took so long to update. I was pretty busy with school and couldn't get my hands on the computer (very sad case). Once again, I would like to thank those that have reviewed. Trust me; it is very inspiring to know that someone is reading your work. Please continue to R&R! This was the chapter which gave me a really big headache. I kept mopping over it for weeks, before posting this. Mmmm…so Happy Reading!

Disclaimer:I don't own Gakuen Alice and it's a fact.

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Chapter 2 – The meeting

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Their pearly white canines shrunk, while their powers wither away like the soft petals embraced by the wind. Mjuk arrives whether one likes it or not. It comes as it will and never fails to fulfill its duty of rendering a vampire defenseless. Stripped of their abilities, it was obvious why every vampire hates it. Vulnerable, helpless, reliant as humans are, but the differences are clear. The thirst for blood never ends...

o.O.o.O.o

Mikan Sakura stood, frozen in a mixture of delight and awe. For right in front of her was her new school. But it wasn't the school that had shocked her so greatly; it was the majesty of the school gates that truly wowed her. Indeed, it was a sight to see. After all, the rusty steel gates that rooted itself to the ground were five times larger than any other metal gate, decorated with vines of crawlers which winds elegantly around the metal. Mikan had seen too many huge gates that she couldn't even count them with her hands or her toes. But none could rival the gate before her. In fact, it was so massive that it practically seems futile to depend on human strength to open it. Yet standing with his back faced against her was a single man. However despite the ramblings on how impressive it was, Mikan could not shake this feeling of uneasiness. Troubles always followed.

Her mouth curved slightly, vanquishing the smile from her face. She recalled how her previous school or more specifically the principal had dismissed her. It was certainly not a pleasant experience being in the principal's office.

"Mikan-chan, I'm sorry but the school cannot afford to have any more of this rowdiness."

"Principal-dono…"

"I'm sorry, please leave. The bullying has escalated beyond control."

Her knuckles turned pale, as her fingers dug into her palms. It wasn't easy being an orphan nor was it simple to withstand the numerous taunts from the classmates though Jii-chan had often preached of forgiveness and patience. However she had endured, smiling, believing that they would come through. Unfortunately for her, they never did. Trouble seems to love her and she got kicked out of school over and over again. She sighed. If she were to survive in school, she would become one of the top students here and prove her worth. Hard work and diligence should be able to overcome talent.

Unintentionally, her gaze slipped back to the watch on her hand. A low groan and a soft grumble could be perceived if near. She had sidetracked again despite being already late. Shaking her head profusely to clear the memories, she secretly pondered what this school would be like.

Her heart sank at one look of her surroundings. This was certainly not a school for the poor or the dumb. Ironically, Mikan somehow comprehend that she perfectly fits into both categories. (Well, Mikan's not dumb, she's just blur and slow) One of her hands sourced through her bag, emerging with a clump of paper. She unfolded the crumpled paper with care and reread the letter. The name of the school splashed in cursive on the board hung next to the gate was an exact match to the name printed on the paper.

There was only one thing left to do - get in.

"Eto...Security guard-sama," she began, carefully phrased her sugar-coated sentence, "do you mind opening the gate for me?" Her puppy dog eyes wordlessly pleaded the man, while an award-winning smile was tucked neatly into the corners of her mouth. Her hands clapped together, emphasizing her point.

Her grin widened when the Security guard rotated his head slowly towards her direction in response to her plea.

'Yes! The battle was already half won,' Mikan smirked, praising her intelligence to the highest. But was it?

The man's head was now facing Mikan, but his back was still against her. If one examines the figure, one would immediately notice a large tag label that says, "Made by Imai Hotaru for late coming baka(s) like Mikan Sakura", but of course, Mikan had selective vision.

"No access for latecomers. Too bad...ne," the security guard sneered in monotonous drone. As soon as the security guard had finished his statement, his head sprang back like a stretched spring to its original position and he trudged out of sight.

Mikan gaped at the security guard. The grin that was once tucked into the corners of her mouth rapidly disappeared into a scowl. No wonder her dramatic acting did not work, the so-called security guard was a machine! She cried out in outrage, sweeping her bangs backwards in frustration. Drinking the air with huge, heaving gulps, Mikan calmed herself down. After all, it was useless to get so work up over such a "small" matter.

Plopping down on the floor, she considered the other alternatives. After what seem ages, she finally came up with two. The first was to jump over the gate (At this very thought, Mikan gazed at the gate), while the second was to wait until someone comes. Preferably, she would like the latter as the former was mission impossible for her, but the latter will take...

"Forever," she voiced out her thoughts, agitated by her useless situation. Waterfalls sprang out of her eyes animatedly as she paced up and down before the gate with her hands tossed up in the air.

o.O.o.O.o

It was a queer sight to see and should anyone catch a glimpse of this, they would have thought that the girl was an escapee from a mental hospital and that was precisely what Natume thought. He had a rather gratuitous view of the situation.

His blood red eyes trailed the small figure in amusement as the brunette shuffled up and down. A rare smirk graced the smart features of his face. He was late, but he doesn't give a damn about it. Besides, if he been such a goody two shoes, he would have missed out on such an entertaining show. He strolled calmly towards the newcomer, erasing the smirk of his face.

Poor, he glanced impassionedly at the baggy material that lay on the pebbled floor. It was certainly not a new trend to have such a worn out bag. Stopping a few feet before her, he continued to observe as the brunette ran pass him again and again. Slow isn't she. He mused to himself. The brunette finally stopped and for a second, Natsume thought he would be swallowing back his statement, but the brunette merely bent down, puffing and panting like a canine. Silly,exhausting her energy by running around like a lunatic. Childish, he snorted - the girl was still tying her hair into two pigtails. Had this child been attending school here? He was pretty sure he did not miss out any of the students' profile. It can't be…a new student?

Natsume intentionally stepped forth, in front of her trajectory path. As expected, the brunette had charged at full force, but the impact was much softer than he had thought so.

He watched with great interest as the girl lost her balance and fell right down on her butt, exposing more than required.

But she is interesting, he reasoned to himself.

"Wha?" Mikan cried out in astonishment at the sudden appearance of a man. Instinctively she placed a foot forward to halt her motion, but accursed inertia had resulted in her fall. She groaned, rubbing the sore area. Thank goodness her reflexes were good. She turned to fix her gaze at the culprit. Her mouth paused in the midst of an apology.

The culprit was lean, muscled and straight-backed like an experienced dancer. He towered over her with slits for eyes, looking condescendingly down upon her. Catlike face with its finely attuned features and strange beauty blatantly displayed disdain and boredom. The culprit had an unmistakable aura of superiority, even the way he carried himself would have clearly distinguish from the others. His supremacy over her was probably somewhat true considering she don't have the money or brains. He would have been easily stereotyped into royalty if not for his unruly raven-black hair which had completely ruined his princely image and revealed the rebellious streak in him. Upon closer look, she found herself mesmerized in pools of red. His blood red eyes told of a story of numerous trials and tribulations, of harden emotions and an apathetic world. It enticed her, yet saddened her. For one so seemingly young, it appears to be tragic. A wave of sadness gripped her as she continued to study the stranger.

Natsume on the other hand, fidgeted uncomfortably under the brunette's gaze. He was used to glares and gossips, but nothing like this. It was as if the girl could read him like a book, going through the pages of his memories. He particularly didn't like what he perceived as piteous looks in this youngling's eyes.

"Get up, Polka-dots. How long do you intend to gawk?"

Red flushed across her cheekbones as the girl looked away, appearing in deep in thoughts. Natsume seized the chance to study the brunette once more, this time up close.

He had seen many who are breathtakingly stunning that the girl before him could never rival. He had seen many who took a classier approach to their uniforms with mini skirts and tailored shirts than her. In fact, her oversized uniform sagged against her form, revealing nothing much of her figure. The sweat that had once drenched her had dried off amazingly fast. The skirt she brought was unfortunately tailored to be modestly above her knees, again showing nothing of her thighs. She was relatively odd and old fashioned. Yet he could sense that the girl was unique. How so? Her auburn hair vaguely reminded him of someone he met once upon a time - a maiden with brown eyes of innocence and intellect which rival his. No. she was not her. His gaze fell upon the fair skin at her throat. He could distinctly hear blood pulsing through it, the sweet smell of blood wafting up his nose. Wait...smell? Natsume cocked an eye in silent question.

"I'm sorry. Well, aren't you staring as well, Mr. arrogant?" she retaliated indignantly, sticking her tongue childishly. The brunette got up, brushing off the imaginary dust from her skirt.

Natsume cast a cold glance at her; one of disdain and irritation.

"So Mr. Arrogant, Do you know how to get in?"

Natsume shrugged his shoulders in silent respond. His eyebrow twitched ever so slightly in annoyance.

"I don't, polka dots," he lied, emphasizing on the nickname he gave her. He wondered how long it would take for polka dots to realize where her nickname came from.

He sensed quick movement and reached out to catch the brunette's raised hand by her wrist. He however intentionally overlooked her other hand and a loud sound resounded, resulting in a stinging pain on his cheek. He stared at the girl before him in puzzlement, while rubbing his cheek. That was new. He had never been slapped before. It was a curious tingling feeling.

"Pervert! Have you no respect for a girl's privacy?"

Oh, she had finally noticed.

"Well, it was you who showed it to me, polka dot," he stated in a muffled matter-of-fact tone. His eyes lit in amusement.

"Your p-an-ti-es," He stressed each syllabus, entertained as the brunette grew redder by the words. The events from earlier replayed itself in her head like a coloured picture book. Red flushed across her cheeks in hot embarrassment upon realization that she had in fact revealed her lingerie. Her mouth grew agape in outrage.

"B-but that doesn't give you the right to call me that!" she retorted, her face unconsciously inching towards Natsume.

"Oh?" Natsume taunted, raising the tone of his voice in bemusement. He moved closer to her.

"Yes! You could have just…" The brunette lashed back, but paused midway at a loss of what to say. "…kindlyinformed me," She finished off lamely. Her face was almost touching his.

Natsume opened his mouth, ready to oppose the brunette, but bewilderment overcame his anger. He ended up chuckling in amusement as he noticed how close she was to him. Wrapping his arms around the surprised girl's waist, he pulled her towards him.

"Well, I didn't want to spoil the fun," he whispered in her ear, sending chills down her spine, "We're all adults here right?"

He grinned, knowing full well that his victim was at his mercy. Blowing lightly at her ear, he smirked triumphantly as she produced an involuntary shudder.

"What are you trying to do? Pervert!" the girl protested, banging her fist against his chest, only to find that the grip had tightened. Natsume grinned boyishly as he reaffirmed his hold on her. For a plain Jane, she smelled strangely nice. He lifted a stray lock away from her neck, revealing pale skin, fair as snow. An aroma drifted towards him, sweet and tantalizing. He was instinctively made aware of the rapid pound of her heart; the flow of her blood gushing through her veins and the potential beneath her fair skin. The sudden smell brought up a primitive urge, which pulsated through the very fibre of his being. It whispered of promise and blood. Somewhere back in the very edge of his mind, the last shred of sanity was screaming for him to stop. He listened, but his body betrayed him. A hand tenderly stroked the brunette's neck. It was not his. His other hand paused midway to restrain it. His face contorted with pain at the very effort to move. His body ached of longing and desire. This creature before him allured him, tempted him as the devil would, slowly drawing him into madness. After all it was just a bite, a small bite to the end of his agony. Fangs gleamed threateningly in the sunlight as he lowered his head toward her neck. He could almost taste it in his mouth – the sweet, thick, fast flowing liquid and death. There wasn't a single soul around to bear witness; there wasn't any to stop him...

o.O.o.O.o

A blur of green crackled with deadly accuracy. Grey pavement caved under the enormous pressure, smattering into concrete pieces. A piece in particular cluttered onto the dirt floor, right before Natsume's feet. Natsume easily sidestepped the attack and eyed the spot in distaste. There was a wide trench, deep enough to bury a child. It intentionally missed Natsume by an inch.

He scowled at the culprit. Bean-whips are dangerous items when placed in the wrong hands, especially in the hands of his homeroom teacher. Natsume cast a disdainful glare at the blonde teacher, who was not much happier to see him. The usually friendly aura surrounding Narumi was replaced with anger and irritation.

Narumi was roughly the size of a proper adult, 5'8 foot with a scrawny figure. Wavy golden hair of shoulder length and blue eyes were his most striking features. Besides that, Natsume had no more interest in him than he would to an ant. Noticing his pain and desire had dwindled, Natsume silently felt relieved for the arrival of Narumi. He however, would have preferred a less flashy entrance. The stinging pain had dulled into exhaustion. He stepped backwards cautiously despite the last of his lust abating into detachment.

"O...tou-san!" Mikan blurted out in shock.

She froze for a moment, still unable to take in what was happening. One moment she was "embraced" by a total stranger (whom she figured was a bit too perverted for her liking) and the next, she was released by his grasp and her father appeared out of no where. Her eyes took in the deep impact made on the floor. It was simply too confusing for the brunette to figure out what was happening, but Mikan Sakura knew one thing at the sight of the deep trench. Her godfather intended to kill the stranger right before her. She pursed her lips in nervousness. Her godfather was very protective of her indeed.

"Otou-san! Are you trying to kill him?" she cried in distress at the older man as she stormed towards his direction.

"You know, if you did, maybe you should be just a little quieter and perhaps less obvious," she paused and thought for a moment, "you should have worn darker clothing too so as to not be catch by the police."

In return, a soft chuckle was heard from Narumi, who enveloped the brunette into a bear hug. A weak smile played on the old man's mouth as he warmly welcomed the brunette. Natsume, who once again had an extravagant close-up view of what was happening, merely stoned at the scene, not knowing what to make of it.

As far as he could remember, his "gay" teacher was not married nor dating another person of the opposite gender, but of course, you cannot cross out the possibility that he got someone pregnant. However, the girl was not a vampire and he bet that the girl didn't even know a single thing about vampires.

"Hyuga," the teacher murmured under his breath, catching his attention. He pushed Mikan aside, bent on leaving her out of the conservation. The teacher's azure blue eyes pierced through his.

"Don't you dare touch her," he hissed venomously. "I will personally kill you."

Natsume shrugged, unfazed by the threat.

"As if you could." was his arrogant reply. He gave a smirk before sauntering past the two of them through the gates into school.

"You have better listen, Hyuga. She is too precious to be contaminated by the likes of you."

Natsume ignored him and carefully concealed his curiosity. The brunette was important? He felt doubtful, but let it lie. He was soon out of sight.

Instinctively, Mikan's first response was to chase after the arrogant jerk; they have yet to settle their dispute, but was held back by a very disturbed Narumi.

"Let's get you to your classroom, Mikan," Narumi muttered under his breath and headed for a large building. Knowing that her godfather would not budge, she obediently linked arms with him and let herself be led through the gates in a different direction.

o.O.o.O.o

Mikan was surprised to learn that stones dominated the school buildings. It was all around - the floors, the walls, the ceilings and the spiral staircases which wounds all the way to the very top. There were no windows as they walked down the corridors - another undecidedly pleasant streamed freely, lighting their path past the numerous wooden double doors of classrooms.

As Mikan trailed her fingers along the cool surface of the walls, she felt the inconsistent bumps and dents from the inscription engraved in it. She could not tell which language the words belonged to. Gibberish letterings circled along the pillars in an orderly fashion, joined by elegantly curved arches. The mural of a woman, bowed humbly with a box in her hands and a devilish looking counterpart stretched impressively across the ceiling.

Her gaze lingered on the devil-like figure; it was astoundingly well-drawn right to the very details of its black waxen hair. She shivered. There was something hauntingly familiar in that picture. She was glad when her godfather tugged her along.

Mikan was much more surprised to find the school inhabited by life. From the corner of her eye, she spied the translucent webs of a spider. The spider had just completed its work of art and perched on its web. It stared curiously as the young man and little girl passed by. On one of the beams of the ceiling, a nest of younglings chirped. As they walked a little further, a blue jay swooped past them. She wondered if the younglings belonged to it and reached out as the bird flew above her.

Narumi was only reaching his thirties, yet he felt so old standing beside a young girl of seventeen. The girl, despite being seventeen, retained much of her innocence. He watched as Mikan raised a hand towards the bird. Okay...perhaps her childishness had never fade, but it would be untrue and unkind to state that the child had not matured over the years even if it was not evident. He grinned inwardly at the thought. He however withdrew his smile upon reflecting on the recent events.

"Mikan, you should stay away from that guy," Narumi warned. "He's…"Narumi paused to find the right word to continue, "dangerous".

Mikan chewed on her lower lip; the sternness in his voice had momentarily startled her. Although she was inclined to follow her godfather's order, she could not help but feel a piqued interest towards the boy. "Curiosity kills the cat" she had heard it a thousand times, but has yet to prove it wrong herself. She was sure if she knew the mysterious guy better, she could find out what complexities that guy was made of and the turmoil of emotions found deep in those mesmerizing red eyes of his. Besides, socializing with another does not bring much harm…does it?

Narumi stole a worried glance at her. He sensed her hesitation and did not blame her. She was already seventeen going on eighteen. How time flies. She has her freedom to choose who she wants to be with. However, this was too grave a matter; Natsume Hyuuga is naught but trouble and treachery. Slowing his footsteps to a stop, he faced his alleged daughter with the "worry" spelt all over his face. His daughter followed suit, puzzled by the sudden stop.

"Mikan," intentionally, he softened his tone, "Promise me you will stay away from him." Again, he noted the uncertainty in his daughter. It vaguely reminded him of another person who was equally stubborn and ended up...dead. He did not want that situation to repeat again, not if he could help it.

"I promise," Mikan assured the blonde. Her usual smile easily slid back into the corners of mouth.

Though these two words came out as a whisper, it brought endless comfort and relief to Narumi. The tense atmosphere that had once shrouded them was brought end along with the conversation.

"Come on," Narumi grinned haughtily, "Let's get you to class, latecomer." She in return pouted childishly, sticking out her tongue at the word "latecomer". Shoving the brunette playfully on the shoulder, Narumi led the way confidently through the halls.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot. In school, you better call me sensei, got it?" Narumi's clear voice echoed through the deserted hallway. He raised his index finger teasingly.

"Ehhhhhh? Why?" Mikan whined as she struggled to keep up with her godfather. Their voices travelled further and further away from the darkness.

Ending note:I pretty happy with this, comments are appreciated! I even welcome flames…or maybe not. Haha.