Author's Note

Sorry for the late update! I was busy with exams and other stuff! Haha! Anyway, I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. Thank you to the people who reviewed:

GlYnChAn, JC-zala, Caritate, melissa1995, Fallen Raindrops, Lady-von-Bielefeld, cute-azn-angel, Cupid's Diary, nikz135, Star Sapphirex, simplebutspecial, denii05, Konnichiwa Minna, Unfulfilled, Elemental Mummy, Sie the Story Eater, -KateDominqueXalice-, tensai-Chibi, forchan, chihiro hiroshima! Your reviews made me happy and I hope this chapter makes you happy as well (: If I forgot anyone

Disclaimer

I don't own Gakuen Alice

Warning

Slight OOC-ness will be featured in this chapter. You've been warned.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Song of Flames

[[Chapter Five: Nogi Ruka

By Keiko Oda

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A blonde boy sat on the branch of the tree next to Mikan's house. He was stroking a white rabbit in his arms.

"Sakura Mikan…"

He breathed.

"I have come for you"

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Today will be RAINY with a few THUNDERSTORMS here and there. So get your umbrellas out, Akita! We'll be experiencing rain the whole day! Sunrise will probably be at eight in the morning and sunset will arrive at five in the afternoon! And now we'll be…"

Mikan turned the television off and put the dishes in the sink.

"Hayyy…I don't like it when it rains" she sighed, putting on a pair of stockings. "It messes up my day"

She slipped on her school shoes and put on the school winter coat. She tied up her hair and left the house.

The air felt icy around Mikan's neck. She could feel the soggy orange leaves crunching below her shoes and…

All of a sudden, Mikan heard a roar of thunder and a crack of lightning somewhere in between those sad gloomy clouds chained together.

Oh no. Mikan thought, gritting her teeth. And with that, it began raining.

Mikan helplessly rummaged through her bag for her umbrella. But apparently, she had left it at home. And due to her rush, she dropped her bag and the contents in it.

"Oh Lord. This is just my day!" Mikan grunted, squatting down and picking up the drenched items whilst getting wet herself.

"Damn right it is" somebody said.

Mikan then felt the rain stop wetting her. She looked up and found Natsume smirking above her, covering her with a red and black umbrella.

"Natsume-kun!" Mikan exclaimed, her eyes widening. "What are you doing here?"

"Hey, you're not the only one who goes to school" he replied, watching Mikan get up with her bag in her arms.

"Oh. Right" Mikan laughed. Natsume simply eyed her.

There was an awkward silence as the two stared at each other.

"I guess…we should get to school now" the embarrassed fifteen year old said, laughing nervously. She had never been alone with a guy under the rain. No. She had never been alone with NATSUME under the rain. And the fact that it was Natsume who she was under the same umbrella with made her heart beat faster.

Natsume simply nodded and the two walked to school together without a word.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When they got to school, somebody was waiting for them by the year-three classrooms

Somebody with a frog latching onto his shoulder.

"Jin-Jin!" Mikan gulped as the two approached him.

Natsume didn't say anything but he simply rolled his eyes.

"You're LATE. Again" Jinno-sensei said, his spectacles fogging up.

The two students remained silent.

"Hyuuga-kun, I'll let you off with a warning since you're a new student and this is your first time to be late. I don't know if tardiness is punished in China but it sure is here in Japan. So be careful next time" Jinno said, eyeing Natsume sternly.

Natsume stared back at him with those emotionless eyes.

Jinno-sensei then turned at the girl.

"As for you, Sakura" Jinno-sensei said, staring at her as if he had seen a repulsive creature embedded in those pigtails.

"You've been late too many times already. It cannot be tolerated. You'll be given Detention today and I'm going to have a talk with the principal about you. If you're late one more time, I will see to it that you are given the exact treatment that you deserve" he growled.

Mikan gave him a frightened look and Jinno-sensei beckoned them to go to their classrooms and left the two standing in the hallway.

"Natsume-kun, let's get to class" Mikan said, tugging Natsume's sleeve.

Natsume seemed to be staring at III-C's classroom – his eyes wider than usual.

"Natsume-kun, what are you staring at?" Mikan said, waving her hand in front of Natsume's face.

"Huh? What?" The bewildered boy said, looking at Mikan.

"What are you staring at?" Mikan asked again, looking at III-C as well. She couldn't see what Natsume was looking at.

Mikan received no reply.

"Are you okay?" Mikan said, her eyes full of concern.

Natsume blinked. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get to class, Polka Dots"

"Oh…okay" Mikan said, turning around. She then walked towards III-A, their classroom.

Natsume remained staring at III-C.

"Ruka…"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That ditcher" Mikan said, when the lunch bell rang.

"I told him that I'd be having lunch with him today. That idiot Natsume" she hissed.

That morning, she passed a note to Natsume asking if she could have lunch with him. He made no reply. She watched him toss that note in the bin as soon as she read it. Being naïve and stuff, she took that as a yes.

Apparently, it was a NO.

Mikan got her wallet from her bag and walked to the cafeteria.

The walk from Mikan's classroom to the cafeteria usually took around three minutes. As she walked to the cafeteria, she happened to see a white rabbit near the entrance of the cafeteria – looking at her curiously. It had fuchsia colored eyes and a blue nose. It was the CUTEST thing Mikan had ever seen in her entire life.

"Hello," she said, crouching. "What's a rabbit doing here in the school campus?"

The rabbit blinked at her and scratched its ears. Mikan giggled. "You're so cute"

She stood up. "Oh well, I better get to lunch! Find your owner, little guy"

And then she left. The rabbit's eyes followed her to the cafeteria and after she disappeared into the crowd…

Red flames burst around it and it disappeared in a hiss of smoke

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mikan leaned against the wall, waiting for the line that led to the pizza booth to move.

"This line is taking FOREVER" Mikan groaned, her legs aching. "Maybe I should buy something else instead"

She was about to leave the line when her ears caught the attention of a conversation between Sumire and her friends.

"Oh my gosh" one of them said. Mikan didn't bother looking to see who it was or else Sumire and company would yell at her for being such an eavesdropper and humiliate her in front of the whole cafeteria. They're like that. So Mikan pretended not to be listening.

"What? What?" Sumire and some other person whose voice Mikan couldn't recognize said.

"Did you see the new student in III-C!?"

Sumire and the other girl made no response.

Mikan's eyes were all perked up right now.

"Anyway, he's HOT. He's blonde too. And he has BLUE eyes!"

"Oh my God! How couldn't I have NOT noticed him around campus if he's that hot?!" Sumire squealed.

"I don't know. But anyway, I think he's a FOREIGNER. But he speaks really good Japanese. You should hear him! His voice is heavenly!"

"So, he's like, as hot as NATSUME?!" another girl said, as if she had said something scandalous.

"They're in the same level of hotness!"

Sumire sighed. "I can imagine him already!"

"Oh yeah! And he has some weird tattoo on his wrist! It looks like a phoenix, you know!"

"Oohh. A bad boy! Just my type!" Sumire growled.

Mikan almost dropped her juice box. A phoenix? A PHOENIX?

And after hearing that, Mikan ran out of the cafeteria to find Natsume.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She found him in the classroom, reading his manga.

"NATSUME-KUN!" Mikan yelled, panting and gasping for air. "I was looking all over for you!"

"I was settling something with my friend, loser" Natsume responded, without looking at her.

"Friend? Who friend?" Mikan asked, slipping into a chair beside him.

It took awhile for Natsume to reply.

"You don't know him" he said quietly.

Mikan then remembered what Sumire's friend said about the tattoo on the new student's wrist.

She then got Natsume's wrist and looked at it. It had a phoenix tattoo. It was red and had blue eyes.

"What?" Natsume hissed, pulling down his sleeve. "You've never noticed that before?"

Mikan nodded.

"You're so unobservant" Natsume groaned, rolling his eyes.

Mikan returned to her own seat, which was on the other side of the classroom.

If the new student has a phoenix tattoo just like Natsume then doesn't that mean…

He's a Fire Breeder as well?!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After lunch, the day passed like a blur. Mikan spent two hours in Detention for being late and then left school at around six.

She was such in a rush to get home that she accidentally bumped into somebody in the school gate.

He had blonde hair falling to his neck and stunning blue eyes. Mikan was amazed at how handsome he was. His face looked like it was carved by angels. Yes, that's how beautiful he was. Mikan felt her heart skip a beat as he gave her a smile.

"I'm sorry" he said. He bent down and picked up her things that fell when she bumped him. Mikan was too dazed to even notice that her school supplies got knocked down.

"I'm Ruka Nogi. I'm a new student in III-C, from Beijing" he said, handing Mikan her stuff.

Mikan's eyes widened. Was he the one with the phoenix tattoo on his wrist? She wanted to grab his arm and check it out but she refused the desire for this for he might suspect something and think she's crazy.

And besides – she was too speechless for words. He was so handsome.

"So you're Mikan Sakura" he murmured, giving a mischievous grin.

"Eh?" Mikan asked, cocking her head.

"Oh nothing. I have to go now. Bye. I'll probably see you around campus" he said, waving goodbye.

"Maybe" Mikan said.

Ruka smiled. "I'm sure of it"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I'm sure of it"

There was something about Ruka's tone when he said that that bothered Mikan so.

The hazelnut colored haired girl finished up her trigonometry homework and took a shower. After taking a shower, she shut off all the lights in the house and went to bed.

She slept for about for three hours and woke up with a heavy furry thing sitting on her chest.

"HEH?!" Mikan yelled, jumping out of bed. She threw the furry thing out of the bed and switched on the lights.

On her bed was the white rabbit she met earlier. But this time, it had red streaks near each of its eyes.

"W-what are you doing here?!" Mikan stuttered, her voice quivering.

And then all of a sudden, something or rather SOMEONE grabs her from behind and pins her down to the floor.

And it was Ruka Nogi. He was wearing a red and blue silk outfit with a red phoenix on the back and had a golden bow and arrow in his hands similar to the one Mikan played with during the weekend when she hung out with Natsume. He looked very much different than awhile ago.

"Let me introduce myself one more time" he whispered. His voice was as cold as the air.

"I'm Ruka Nogi of the Red Fire Clan. And I was sent to kill you"

Mikan pushed him away and backed away to the corner of the room like a frightened and cornered fox.

A ring of white fire flickered in front of her.

"I'm impressed. You DO have the gift of White Fire" Ruka said and looked at his rabbit. "Usagi! Get her!"

The rabbit burst into red flames and curled into a ball. He then raced towards Mikan like a fire ball.

Mikan shut her eyes and the ring of white fire in front of her rose into the air, blocking Usagi from hitting her.

Usagi fell to the floor, the red flames disappearing.

"SO THIS IS WHAT YOU HAD TO DO, HUH?!" Someone yelled from outside the window.

Mikan looked at who it was. "NATSUME-KUN!" she yelled.

"Orders are orders" Ruka says coolly. "The princess won't like it if you disobey her orders"

"Then she must be REALLY pissed at me!" Natsume growled and took out his sword.

"Ruka! You don't know what you're doing!"

"EH?! You know each other?!" Mikan yelled, standing up.

"Hell yeah!" Natsume shouted.

"We're BEST FRIENDS" Ruka laughed and took his bow and arrow.

Natsume ran to Ruka and pointed his sword to his neck.

"I'm telling you" Natsume breathed. "This girl…you can't kill her"

"And why not?" Ruka whispered back. "Do you have a crush on her?"

"N-no! It's not that! This girl, Ruka – she's going to be the END"

"The end? The end to the war?!"

Natsume nodded.

"If I DON'T kill her – you do know this could bring our lives to stake!"

"Trust me" Natsume said. "I know what I'm doing! The two clans can't go on fighting like this all the time, you know!"

Ruka raised his eyebrow and put his bow and arrow down.

Natsume placed his sword back into his case.

"It'll be your fault if Akimitsu-sempai destroys us"

"I'm not afraid of that brat" Natsume said.

"Well, then – I guess I'm just going to leave you alone" Ruka said, turning to Mikan. "I came to Japan for nothing"

"No. You have to stay" Natsume said. "There are Fire Spirits"

Ruka froze. "What…?"

"The Fire Spirits. They have returned. You've got to stay. They're after her"

"And so?"

"Remember. This girl is going to bring the end to this war! If we just have patience with her and train her…and all that stuff…whatever…we can end it"

Ruka clenched his fists. "Fine"

Mikan smiled. Natsume-kun has faith in me.

Ruka and Natsume then sat down on the floor and talked some more.

These two…Mikan thought. They trust each other so much. They're really best friends.

And Mikan felt a hint of sadness in her heart. I, myself – don't even have a single close friend.

Mikan lowered her gaze upon the two boys and sighed.

She closed her eyes and fell back to sleep. She felt Natsume's head lean against her leg. Mikan opened her eyes a bit and saw that he had fallen asleep on the foot of her bed. Ruka had gone to sleep on the floor. Mikan smiled and closed her eyes once more.

Meanwhile, something rustled in between the bushes and trees outside Mikan's window.

A camera flash flickered by the window.

"This will make the school paper"

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

AHEEE.:D Hope you guys liked it! Sorry if it was kinda OOC. It was necessary. ANYWAY. Please leave a review. Thank you. I dedicate this chapter to my LOLA/GRANDMA cause today is her BIRTHDAY. Anyway, hope you guys liked it! Toodles, loves :)