[REVISED]

Chapter 3: And Then They Met

I Just Didn't Know

The auburn-haired woman stared at the mesmerizing red eyes of the before her. He looked at her straight into her eyes as if he could see her very soul. His piercing stares made the brunette uncomfortable. Silence filled between the two, but Mikan decided to break it.

"I said, who are you?" Mikan asked, cutting the silence that developed. The young boy eyed her, it seemed that he was checking her out. The brunette grunted, making the young boy muffled his short laughter.

"Natsume Hyuuga," He introduced, smirking. "Single and available." He tilted his head, making Mikan see the proportion and very muscular parts of his neck. Mikan gave off a scoff as soon as she saw the sight, she didn't know whether the guy was just being humorous or was trying to flirt with her. Nobody ever flirted with her since she looked like a total nerd in school with her braids and glasses.

"I'm not asking whether if you are either single or available!" She shouted at him as she stuck her tongue out at the boy.

Natsume chuckled, he was amused by her childish antics. For the longest time now, he hasn't laugh until now ever since he took the assassin job and death of his mother. "But from the sound of your voice, it feels like you developed feelings for me." He mused.

"I DO NOT!" She screamed, almost making his ears bleed. "That's why I hate conceited guys like you, it makes me want to kill them."

"From hereby forth," He said while he wrapped his arms around her, making her cringe in horror much to his delight. "You'll be my personal guide and escort. I must say, it's an honour for you, isn't it?"

"I kindly decline." Mikan rejected his offer, trying to use the right choice of words to make him understand that she didn't want to do anything with him. She pushed him away and continued to walk away. The raven-haired boy followed her from behind.

"Sure, sure." He said in a tone of disbelief.

She stopped from her tracks and turned to him with a fuming look carved on her face. "You...! You...!" She muttered whilst trying to keep her temper. She looked at him and saw him grinning happily. She slapped her cheeks and gave out a sigh. She decided that she'll give in for now to avoid a fight.

"Fine then," She said as she took hold of Natsume and then they both continued to walk. "Follow me."

Natsume flinched as he felt the girl's touch on him. He heard his heart thumping madly inside of his chest. He never experienced something like this before, he took one clear look again on the girl. He noticed the hidden beauty behind her thick glasses. If she wore contacts, he thought, her beauty would really show.

"I already shown you some parts of the school," She said as she placed her hands on her hips. "I'll take my leave now." The boy checked his surroundings out and gave her a slight nod. It was okay—the school, that was. The brunette had already shown him the important parts of the school such as: the library (good for sleeping), the clinic (one-way ticket to go home), the school botanical garden (good for skipping classes) and many more.

Mikan left him alone in the hallway and beamed a smile for herself. She was finally released from Satan's spawn.

Alice Academy, the institution that she was currently attending was full of all sorts of teachers and students. It was currently recognized in Japan that there were people amongst them who wielded unusual abilities. The government created Alice Academy for the people who have those unusual abilities but now Alice Academy was accepting ordinary citizens as long as they can pass the entrance exam and pay the tuition fee. Detecting people who had an alice was hard. Sometimes unnoticeable alices were often ignored and took a lengthy amount of time before their alices were discovered.

Mikan opened the door in front of her and found her homeroom teacher standing before her. He was different from the other faculty members—he had a jolly soul, pleasing personality and was very close to his students. He often wore different sort of clothes that made him different and was usually outrageous, making some of the students speculate that he was actually gay.

"Mikan-chan!" He sang in a sickly sweet voice.

Mikan looked at him but she passed him by, not even giving out a comment on how ridiculous his outfit looked like. She didn't dislike Narumi at all but she didn't want to get too familiar with him either, because she might risk the exposure of her hidden identity.

"Oh, look!" A student cried as he pointed his finger at the brunette. "It's the nerd."

A few of the students laughed at the boy's statement but soon the laughter died out when they heard the sound of hell itself.

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

The poor boy who teased Mikan was found lying on the floor, dizzy from the collision of the infamous baka gun of Hotaru Imai.

"Hotaru!" Mikan gasped as she ran towards her best friend, preparing to give her a hug.

BAKA! BAKA! BAKA!

"Ouch!" Mikan mumbled whilst rubbing a small lump on her forehead. It was the usual routine for the two of them, nobody was surprised. The only thing shocking was that how Mikan and the infamous Hotaru Imai managed to become best of friends.

"Didn't I tell you already?" Hotaru said in a matter-of-factual tone, placing her hands on her hips. "No hugging. I might get infected with your stupidity."

The brunette gave out a pout, "You're such a meanie." The class noticed that only Hotaru can bring out a different side from Mikan. The brunette only talked with a few certain people, making it hard to approach her with the aloof aura she was releasing. Although, nobody even talk to her.

Hotaru gave out a sigh and shook her head at her friend's reaction. Mikan linked her elbows with Hotaru and together they sat on their seats since they were just beside each other. No one dared to enter their friendship.

Then the door opened swiftly, causing everyone to be surprised. Behind the opened door, a young handsome boy was revealed. His manly and cool features made the girls go wild on their seats—they squealed rowdily, making some of the male students annoyed.

Narumi stared at the boy in front of him, his purple orbs met the red ones. It was an unusual colour but it reminded it of someone he used to know.

"Your name?" Narumi asked, smiling at the boy in front of him.

"Natsume Hyuuga," The boy replied, making some of the girls scream more. His voice made some of the girls faint in joy. Mikan simply shook her head in misery as she saw the sight in front of her. "Transfer student, fifteen."

Narumi sweat-dropped and chuckled at the same time.

"Natsume?" A blond student muttered in disbelief, his eyes widening at the sight of the raven-haired boy in front of him.

"Ruka?"

"You!" Mikan cried in disbelief.

"Oh, if it isn't you." Natsume sardonically whined as he gave his entire attention to the brunette, compelling some of the girls to glare at Mikan. He turned away from her and concentrated on Ruka.

"How come you're here?" Ruka asked, an excited expression carved on his face.

"Well, my sister called dad and said that I always come home late. Then my father decided to transfer me into a school near the house and then—" Natsume explained but he was cut off by Narumi's fake cough.

"Um, could you continue this later since I have some reminders to say?" Narumi asked as he shooed the two boys away .

Natsume glared at him but the teacher decided to ignore it. He took the seat beside Ruka and listened to what the blond teacher had to say.

"All right. Everyone, there are killers on the loose." Narumi warned, making some of the students gasp in fright. Mikan looked at him in boredom, losing interest on what he had to say.

"Great way to start the reminders." Hotaru muttered, rolling her eyes the other way.

"I'll try to pretend that I didn't hear that." Narumi said as he chuckled softly.

"Killers? Then there's more than one?" A green-haired girl asked, her long eyelashes batted. She's the class queen who goes by the name Sumire Shouda. She tapped her long, pointy fingernails against the table.

"Yep. Last night, four men were murdered. Each pair in different places and they suspected that it was done by an alice." Narumi told.

"Alice? Isn't it a legend?" A male student asked, he went by the name Kokoro Yome but he preferred to be called as Koko. "Only a few are left."

"Mmm, I can't say." Narumi replied.

"Sensei, what are alices?" Asked a girl from behind.

"Alices are people who have mysterious and unusual abilities. Some use it for good but some use it for bad things," Narumi explained in a way not to frighten his students. "In this very room, we have a person who wields an alice but she doesn't use it for heinous actions." In the corner of his eye, he brief caught sight of Hotaru who was yawning.

"What kind of bad things?" A boy asked.

"Um…. Mmmm… How do I explain this? Mmmm." Narumi muttered as he cupped his chin.

"Killing, raping, stealing, arson and so much more." A girl replied in pure delight, making some of her classmates look at her. Her wavy, yellow hair was her best charm, other than her curvy figure which made boys drool in awe. It was Luna Koizumi.

Everyone who glanced at her gave her a weird look, creating a tension in the room.

"Luna-chan, how do you know this kind of stuff?" Sumire asked as she nudged her friend.

Luna stiffened and looked at her classmates. She shouldn't have answer back, she could have bring out the different side of her and risk her identity being given out.

"I watch it from some movies!" She sang in a childish voice, making some of the suspicion died out. Well, nobody would have suspected that Luna was actually an assassin. In school, she was the class' muse—cute, kind and has an angel-looking face.

People who had an alice and gotten to be an assassin must pick a piece of paper from a box which had what their characteristics be as a hidden facade to avoid risking their identity away. There were different sorts of Agency which handled Assassins of all sorts. Unfortunately for Mikan, she got the 'Nerd' character while Luna got the 'Innocent Babe' character. The agency which Natsume worked for doesn't hold events like those so he got to be natural.

"Let's start classes." Narumi motioned.

"Ah, class is finally finished!" Mikan moaned in relief to her seatmate.

"Looking forward in going home?" Natsume asked, smirking at the girl behind her.

"I have no intention talking to you." She said then she turned the other way, making Natsume chuckle at her. Ruka glanced at Natsume, making a small smile.

In the Hyuuga's residence, the doorbell rang making Aoi stop on her tracks to the kitchen and went by the front door. She opened the door, and behind it was a tall, middle-aged man who was standing in front of her.

"Dad?"

To Be Continued