Disclaimer: I don't own any of the main characters of Gakuen Alice. And some characters and stuff belong to their rightful and respected authors. I don't own anything except for the plot. But if I do.. I wonder how the story would end XD..

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Chapter 5: Fire and Ice

Destroyed stone buildings and pillars greeted my eyes and there are also mosses, vines and some trees. And from the looks of it, this place was obviously deserted from a looong period of time.

My observing moment was cut by a scoff that visibly came from Hyuuga and I glanced at him. I saw his brows being raised. Did I do something weird just now?

"Why? Haven't visited a place like this before?"

A muscle under my eye twitched, "Do I look like I have visited one?"

"Hn."

"Hyuuga, was that a stupid yes or a no?" I demanded without thinking which of those were better. Though, nothing came and as a substitute.. he strode off. Urgh! I gritted my teeth. Can't I choose another partner?

Right. Why complain if I can't even request yet?

With no other open options, again, I tailed behind him as I adjusted the bag. The person who received it should be the one to carry it, right?

No. wrong, since that little phrase doesn't seem to exist in his think skull.

"There are two healing potions in that bag and we need to utilize those, so be alert. I don't need a dumb person as a partner." He informed in a monotonous tone after a silent span of time.

"I'm not dumb." I pointed out. He is soo mea"Aww!" I yelped as I bumped unto his shoulders. I took a few steps back with my left hand on my forehead . "Why did you stop?"

Nothing came. As expected and like the smart person like myself. I moved sideways and saw a group of golem-like creatures from a far that I am uncertain that they even really existed.

"Stop spacing out, stupid."

I blinked at him in disbelief, "Is watching them spacing out already?"

He faced me, "How about making yourself useful like sit in a corner and stay out of my way."

"Fine. No problem." I agreed right away. His tone made me obey him since it obliged obedience and no arguments. Well, his decision will make the whole test relaxing for me. I'll be just watching. I spotted a place where I think is a nice place to sit and watch. I headed to it, and at last, sat on the roughly cut rock pillar.

I studied the place we were in. We are in the plaza because of the destroyed and moss-filled structures that were a distant away from us.

And as my duty was being an audience, I returned my gaze to Hyuuga. He was standing on his spot, and then, he raised his hand in shoulder length. Out of nowhere, red and orange flickered on his palm. It looks more like fire. He was pretty clam despite the fact that those creatures were picking up their spend and were charging on us—er.. I mean him. I crossed my legs, unworn the bag pack and placed it on my lap. The empty card deck was hanging on my hip.

Hyuuga threw fireball to the charging group of golems and an explosion came. I then found myself refraining my eyes from blinking. I don't want to miss anything. His moves are flawless from punches and kicks. Even from my distance, I can tell that all those were powerful. He often summons fireballs and walls. As I intently watched him, I to consideration that some of our private spies and guards who came from this academy, though, I never expected that they had this 'training'.

I must say, those people were really impressive and their loyalty cannot be penetrated. Somebody informed me about that. Although, their loyalty had a huge disadvantage on my part.

A blend of quick red and blue lights flashed as the cards went flying straight to the deck, filling it.

He was still in the middle of defeating them when I suddenly caught sight of something that glittered from the corner of my eyes. I turned my head to its direction in curiosity and saw a new enemy. A mummy that was equipped with a bow and its arrow was aimed to Hyuuga. The mummy was at the edge of a broken building.

I put the bag to my side, got up, pulled my wand out from my blazer's pocket and quickly muttered a spell as my wand hit the ground. Ice spike grew out of the ground a few centimeters from my planted wand and it ran to him. I held my breath but soon I released it when the arrow disintegrated into dust when it hit my ice wall. I witnessed a glimpse of him with a little, very little, shock on him. Excluding that, it disappeared.

Maybe that was just my eyes.

I looked back and saw the same mummy. I then discovered that he was now aiming at me. Oh no, you don't.

U stopped up with a pull of my wand and summoned an ice stake. I drew out my strength as some wind swirled at the tip of it and launched it. Both weapons collided. Fortunately, the arrow was defeated that it broke into pieces and my weapon hit my target. It lighted red and it flown directly to the deck I had.

I took a step back and hit something. I turned my head to know what it was and I unexpectedly discovered that it was Hyuuga. And the next thing I knew, he threw me like a rug using my wrist as a medium. OUCH!

"Hey! That hurts!" I shouted at him. It really way.

"I told you to just watch."

"Watching is boring. So, I'm joining the club."

Hyuuga scoffed, "Whatever."

At the mean time..

Normal POV

"Imai! I'm your partner so will you stop including me on your attacks?" Ruka complained, stopping his own attacks to their enemies.

"You are in my way, Nogi." Hotaru emotionlessly said as she summoned more weapons.

The two were currently situated in a Pumpkin Patch and a great number of their foes were elimated and were cleanly done by the inventor and weapon summoner, Imai Hotaru.

"Imai, I'm not in your way." The blonde opposed but his would held less anger than it should have as he swung his arms and sent roots that complied themselves to create a spear and stabbed the approaching pumpkin-headed scarecrow. It turned into a red card and went straight to the card deck.. which was also with him.

The raven haired inventor continued to blast off her canon. Oddly, they hit her targets.

Ruka shook his head. He was ignored again, however, a topic crossed his mind and he brought himself to voice it out, "What do you think about Natsume being paired up with Sakura-san?"

Once more, no verbal response came from her as the noise from the explosions only filled the air and when Ruka was convinced that he'd get the same treatment which was known as 'ignored'. She spoke.

"Trouble." Her voice devoid other emotions other than annoyance.

Cerulean blue orbs traveled and landed to the girl in question. Confusion surfacing on him. Something is unusual here.

"Imai?"

Her cold amethyst orbs didn't even glanced at him. She defeated more creatures within the vicinity. His eyebrows rumpled down at her 'response'.

"Hey, are you—"he was cut when she out of the blue attacked him that successfully hit him and sent him to the ground.

"If I were you, stop asking or we'll be beaten up by Hyuuga on gaining points." Pure threat was underneath her tone as she coldly glared at him.

Her words made him think how wrong his assumption was. Maybe he was just over-thinking things. She was perfectly alright and was the same like before. Competitive-in-nature and the only person who could stand in front his best friend.

He stood up, dusted his pants off and corrected her, "But he He halted. Her cannon was again aimed at him. "Okay. Okay. I'll stop talking." He said in defeat, holding his hands up and wore an apologetic smile on.

"Move your lazy ass." She commanded. She shot her cannon on his direction that resulted for him to duck and only to discover that there was an opponent behind him.

"I'm doing my job here if you can see, it's not like I'm lazying here." He murmured.

Ruins..

Mikan used a magic stone and made it transform into a bow with a set of arrows. She was doing a good job on taking care on range-type enemies and upcoming ones; but like any other sets of arrows, it was already the last remaining piece that she had.

She closed one eye while the other was locked to her target. Out of her habit, she licked her upper lip for she believed it made her more focused on hitting her target in complete precision. She pulled the feathered-tip of the arrow as the bow creaked a little. At the time she was about to release it she—

"A-Achoo!" She sneezed. Her head lowered down, and thus, she lost the strength on her fingers that discharged the arrow.

It was wasted but that is not the issue for now. She lifted her head up and ascertained that crimson red orbs met hers. They're glaring. Her assault could have been a successful and powerful shot since its metallic head was dug deep enough, though it missed her supposed target. It landed near Natsume's foot.

"Watch where you're aiming at stupid." His rasping, low voice was loud and clear.

She raised both hands with her bow in one hand, "That was an accident. I promise."

Natsume clicked his tongue and that was left unheard from the girl's ears. On the other hand, she surveyed the vicinity. Surely, there were some approaching enemies.

Speculating an attack without the use of her magic, she lowered her hands to her side. When a vague plan came to her mind, something gripped unto her right wrist.

Her azure blue orbs ran back and she saw Natsume from a distant. She blinked. She then slowly moved her eyes to her right and they widened as she dropped the arrowless bow.

"Aaahh!" She shrieked.

Alarmed, the raven-haired lad flicked his head to her course. He scoffed at the sight of her being held as a mummy's hostage. It was pathetic to his eyes. Cursing under his breath, he summoned a fireball and uninterestedly threw it to her.

"Aaa—"

BOOM!

Mikan was sent rolling and hit a rock-bricked wall. An angry tick mark came to her forehead. The smokes from the explosion subdued and she sat up with her eyes darted to him.

"You don't need to blow that in front of my face!" she angrily shouted. She stood up and dusted her skirt.. until she caught sight that the mummy's hand remained holding to her wrist. "Aaah! Let go off me!" She screamed, waving her hand frantically.

Fortunately, it released her, although it flew to Natsume. He burned it into crisp. And taking that action of hers as half-meant, he scowled dangerously at her.

"That was again an accident!" She clarified. Well, she secretly hoped that the now-dusted remain hit him.

This girl is nothing but trouble to me. He thought, grudgingly.

Unaffected by the way he looks at her, she rushed to the bag pack and opened it to search for the items she needed. Securingly clipping their necks in between her candle-like fingers, she pulled them out with a little sound when their glass containers hit each other.

"Hyuuga!"

He didn't glance at her or even showed any signs that she heard him.

She inhaled a lot of air and shouted on top of her lungs, "Hyuuga! I need a hand here!"

Giving in to her infuriating, ear-splitting request, he heaved out an irritated sigh and spun on his heel. He meets her eyes. She then raised her hands that held sparkling yellow and orange potions on each space of her fingers.

The chocolate haired girl dashed her way to him as he stood there. Blankly staring at her. Her eyes narrowed at him when she thought that he was unable to guess what she was about to do; however her conclusion was erroneous. He finally moved a muscle as their distances shortened on every step she succeeds.

Time in slow motion..

5 She crossed her arms and let her hands a few centimeters from her ears.

4 She picked up more speed.

3 Natsume bent one of his knees down.

2 He clasped his fingers, his palm facing upwards and was left open.

1 Mikan stepped on it as he added his own strength to hers on her attempt on jumping on a much higher level.

Normal time..

Finally in mid-air, she was beyond contented at her jump with a little help from Natsume. She swung her left hand that had four sparkling potions and released them. They hit the targets. As their containers broke, it was revealed to be ice potions. The opponents who got in contact were enclosed by an ice-shell that shattered after a second and diamond-like dust floated in the air.

Swiftly, she swung her other hand that got three sparkling orange potions. Unlike the earlier assaults, their bottles hit the ground. Unexpectedly, raging fire appeared from the liquid and it ate anything that got in contact with it.

Feeling the pull of gravity, Mikan's heart stopped. Tension laced her limbs and resulted for her to hold her breath. No scream came out of her lips.

The scared girl tightly closed her eyes, bracing herself for that painful impact.. which didn't come. Instead, strong and lean arms caught her.

Natsume had an unreadable expression on his face. He was the one who caught her. It was her plan though she had that not completed since the last part ended like this. In addition, it was strange as to how he was able to convey what she meant without the use of words.

He shook his head to dismiss those odd ides. It was plain coincidence with no argument allowed.

On the other hand, reluctance engulfed Mikan as she opened her eyes. And before she knew it, she fell to the ground. He let go of her without an ounce of care.

She sat on her buttocks, eyeing him. She was about to speak up but he cut her,

"Polka Dots." He remarked with a smirk.

She blinked, "Polka dots?" She cluelessly repeated, making his smirk to widen in mock.

After a good 20-second of staring, well, Mikan was the only one in search for the answers within his eyes. Unfortunately, her search was fruitless, not until, her own realization hit her. Hard.

"Took you long enough, huh." He taunted. His cue was the enlargement of her eyes.

Her cheeks reddened in anger. She planned her come back and perhaps a short beat the hell out of him session.. sadly, her words hitched themselves at her throat.

Natsume had extended a helping hand to her, his smirk never left him. Her eyes traveled from him to his hand and vice versa. He rolled his mesmerizing crimson red orbs when her eyes stayed longer on him.

Her brows moved. She lifted her right hand up with hesitation, highly in doubt if she would really accept his help. He was rude on her to begin with.

As her hand was only several centimeters from his, the raven haired lad's hand went somewhere else,

Concluding that his 'help' was a sick joke, she curled her fingers in her palms, turning them into balled fists. She should have thought about that beforehand. She jerked her head to where his hand went and was shocked at her finding.

His hand caught something.

The sun light made the unknown object to reflect it. Then, it was revealed to be a thin, metal string. A piano string. The fire mage appeared to have used his magic since the string disintegrated.

"I told you to be alert."

"I-I was." She defended herself. She got up on her own and quickly dusted her skirt. Her eyes journey to her assumption of the string's owner, "Identical.. clowns?" She said, confused. Ruins and clowns sure don't match.

The said twin clowns were set in a fighting stance. Their backs were leaning to the other. If it weren't for their attires' color difference, they could have matched a mirror. Reflecting its copy. They had one hand normal whereas the other was a sharp-edged dagger.

"I'm helping out." She informed him without taking her eyes off the clowns. She just had a hunch that he wanted her to be in another corner again.

He scoffed "Do whatever you want. I don't care."

They begun to fight off the twins. Though, it turned out they were not close on crushing the mirroring Gemini as they were impressively could switch from offense to defense, like the one would attack while the other ducks so his twin's attack would hit one the two teenagers.

The clown that was Mikan's opponent kicked her with a round house kick that sent her to Natsume and they both fell on the ground. Natsume pushed her off when she landed horizontally on his stomach.

"Seriously, if I experience any body aches. It's because of you." She warned, standing up.

"No. Your dumbness is the reason." He countered.

Mikan sent him an angry look as he casually stood up. She rubbed her palms to remove any dust particles that might have stuck on them. I'm serious now.

Peculiarly, when they started to attack again, they unintentionally and unplanned moved in sync.

Natsume's opponent flew that also collided with her opponent. Then, the two turned into a single 20-point gold card.

The fire mage dug his hands in his pants' pocket and he saw a glimpse of something that caused for him to revolve his to the direction of the ice mage, "So the clown injured you."

"Ha?" She raised a brow and commenced on checking herself if she was really injured, since she was unaware if she did acquire one. Except that, all came down when she saw blood stain on her right palm. In an instant, she was at a loss of words. Her white undershirt was also stained with red.

Her chocolate brown bangs restricted Natsume from witnessing the excessive shock on her face. Recovering, she masked her shock, lifted her head up and faked a smile, "It is not an injury. Just a little scratch."

"It's bleeding too much to be a scratch." Was his witty reply.

"It is NOT an injury."

"It fit the category just right."

Mikan huffed, making her bangs flutter. Her left hand grabbed her right elbow and she wiggled hr hand's fingers and they were partly numb. Immediate treatment was needed or else.

"Hyuuga, you don't have to be too rude and just when I thought we're in sync awhile ago." She grumbled in a loud manner.

Sensing that his eyes were boring holes on her, she faced him. She took notice that his short brow were now knitted together.

"You.." He started with a very cold tone that caught her attention and her ears perked up. She had no clue on what words were coming her way, especially from him. They hadn't made even a decent take from the start.

His crimson red orb that glinted dangerously narrowed as they turned colder on every seconds, "..shouldn't have come here."

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Author's Note: Thank you very much for reading this story's chapter though, it's more of actions, well, if you felt it xD gomen if it did not.. =_ Anyways, thanks for adding this story to your fave and also for the alerts^^

Review?

Iloveanime15: haha yeah I kinda like to make them like that. Enemies. xDthanks for your reviews)

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