Hey guys! I'm back to writing :O I know, it has been such a long time since I've updated my other stories. I've been preoccupied with school work and stuff so I haven't had time to write. : Anyway, this is a new story of mine (I think I'll be focusing on this one more since I've been working on it frequently during my free time and I've already planned out the chapters!) and it's called The Song of Flames. I hope you guys like it. Reviews are highly appreciated. Tenkshoo (:

Dedications

To my family, friends, fanfiction friends and reviewers – I love you all. .

To GOD. Where would I be without Him?

And to YOU, reader. Thanks for taking the time to open this page up. Love you.

My inspirations for this story: SOFIE (Who fell in love with Natsume. Haha. You may not realize it but you inspired me A LOT) CUTEGABRIELLE16 (My long lost sister. Haha. GO MCR!) and DASHBOARD CONFESSIONAL (This band rocks hard!)

Disclaimer

Isn't it obvious that I don't own GA?

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The Song of Flames

Written by Keiko Oda

Chapter One: The New Student!

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They say the eyes are windows to the soul…

Flash.

"Don't be afraid"

I took his hand and gazed upon those ruby eyes of his. The song of flames had begun, and we were being engulfed in white fire.

"We'll end this"

He put his lips to mine as I watched the flames rise, I clutched his sleeve for support as the hot wind whipped us both. The fire was now spinning around like a tornado, destroying anything it could get its strong blows on.

Then, the twister of flames ceased and exploded. I could hear the phoenixes' cries as they finished up the last and final melody of the flame song. Tears ran down my eyes as I breathed my last breaths.

It was over. We had ended it.

And began a new beginning.

--

Tic. Toc. Tic. Toc.

The school was as silent as ever. Only the sound of the bell tower clock ticking away could be heard. No one dared to disturb the serene corridors. Everyone was in their respective classrooms.

EVERYONE except for ONE girl.

"KYAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Her high pitched voice echoed throughout the hallway, waking up the idle students who were secretly half asleep in their classrooms. The teachers dropped their chalk and watched that certain girl dash through the hall, her pigtails flying.

Those brown orbs of hers had immeasurable eyebags from last night's movie marathon, her uniform was crumpled and her socks didn't match. One was pink and one was white. Sigh. Mikan Sakura, how will you EVER survive high school?

The fifteen year old stopped to catch her breath as she leaned against her classroom door, panting like an exhausted bloodhound.

"Ne…I hope Jinno-sensei doesn't kill me. This is my ninth tardy in two weeks!"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath and slid the door open.

Jinno-sensei was standing face-to-face with her. He stared at her crossly, tapping his foot impatiently. The classroom was silent, everyone was staring at her. Jinno's frog croaked, breaking the silence.

"Sensei…?"

--

"Sakura-san, are you walking home with us?" some of Mikan's classmates said, as they watched Mikan cover the blackboard in "I will not be tardy again" sentences in white chalk a hundred times.

Mikan sighed heavily. "Nope. Jinno-sensei is punishing me"

She lowered her eyes. "You've got too much late records, Sakura Mikan. You have to be disciplined!" she groaned, mocking her adviser angrily. "Ooohhh. How I wish I could strangle you!" she muttered, breaking the chalk she was holding in half.

"That's too bad. We were wondering if you'd like to watch a movie with us" Nonoko said, taking her bag.

Mikan looked at her, rather sadly. "Maybe next time"

The brunette watched them leave the classroom and shut the door. She waited until their footsteps disappeared into the end of the hallway. That's what poor Mikan didn't have. True friends. She was downright lonely.

Of course she had her classmates. But that was different. There was nobody real enough she could talk to. Nobody close enough to hang out with. And there was nobody she could ever love.

The autumn sunset sparkled out the window and Mikan put down the chalk and gazed upon it. She noticed a flock of birds fly across the sun, or rather beside it.

She squinted her eyes. Were they really birds?

Mikan studied the structure of the birds. They were not like the usual birds that lived in Japan. They were gigantic birds with wingspans of small jets. Mikan could've sworn that they had a tail of flames flickering behind them. They reminded of her of those mythical birds she had read in books. They're called phoenixes. But they were just a story. They didn't exist.

Mikan left school and took the train back home. She lived in a small but comfortable house, it was only her and her goldfish who lived there. She had a grandfather, and yes, she loved him very much but he was all the way in Tokyo. And here she was, alone in a small house in Akita. Perfect.

She heated up some leftovers and ate them for dinner while watching a TV show about polar bears. She did the washing up and went to the room to do her Science project. By midnight, she grew sleepy and undressed and went to bed and dreamed.

She dreamed of those birds she saw earlier. The phoenixes. She was flying with them, in the midmorning sun. And they stared at her with curious golden eyes that were the size of watermelons. One of the phoenixes was white with electric blue eyes. And it stayed away from the sun and flew off quietly into the horizon. Mikan watched the birds follow that white bird and the dream ended there.

--

The morning after had a slight drizzle of rain so Mikan wore her new jacket on the way to school.

For once, she was early. She promised herself never to be late again after the incident yesterday. She sat down on her desk and studied a bit, waiting for her classmates to arrive. She was in a depressed mood and kept quiet, her nose buried in her book. She waited for someone to talk to her but nobody did. Then the teacher came into the classroom and class had begun.

"Today," he thundered. "You'll be having a new classmate join you this semester. He's a transferee from China. I'm sure you'll make him feel at home!"

The girls of the class (except Mikan for she was half asleep) began buzzing with excitement. Jinno-sensei said HE. So he's a guy! And that really put the girls into a hyper frame of mind since they started creating fantasies about how he looked like, what his eye color was and his possible hobbies. They were ecstatic.

Jinno-sensei wrote on the chalkboard:

HYUUGA NATSUME

The class fell silent as they heard footsteps approach the classroom door. They were anticipating his arrival. The boys gulped. What if they lost their girlfriends today?! Everyone's hearts raced as the footsteps ceased.

The door slid open.

Mikan immediately awoke from her daydreaming and read the name on the board.

In stepped a pale raven-haired boy with ruby colored eyes. His hair was quite messy and his uniform was crumpled and slightly unbuttoned. He had the typical bad-boy look. The girls loved it. The boys hated it.

Mikan stared at him, studying those crimson eyes that struck her so.

Then, the guy turned to her and stared at her maliciously.

Mikan froze. She could've sworn she has seen those eyes before.

"I'm from Beijing" he murmured.

The girls began hyperventilating. He had an amazing Japanese accent and rocked at speaking the language too!

"Please make him feel welcome" Jinno-sensei said. The girls nodded immediately.

Natsume was told to pick a seat. And he chose a seat not far from Mikan's. Mikan could feel him stare at her as he walked to his desk, shooting a deathly scowl at her. Maybe she was just paranoid or maybe he was staring at her. She didn't really know. She was scared to look at those eyes of his and she didn't know why.

Mikan looked out the window. "Hyuuga Natsume"

--

This Natsume guy didn't socialize much. He never participated in class and disappeared during lunch. When Mikan came to the classroom after breaks, he was there in his seat. Reading manga.

During class especially math, Mikan would spend her idle moments staring at her classmates. Natsume was one of them. She would study his wispy black hair and those amazing eyes of his (seriously, she didn't know why she spent so much time on his eyes). And then he'd look at her and give her a murderous glare and Mikan would pretend she was looking at her paper.

Mikan began to get the feeling that he hated her.

And then one day, they had P.E

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BREEP.

The class lined up into two lines. One line had the boys and one line had the girls.

Mikan had no one standing next to her at first and then the scent of ember filled the space next to her. Her gaze shifted to the right and standing next to her was Natsume, his arms crossed.

He glanced at her and Mikan immediately looked away, her cheeks heating up. Her heart had risen to her throat and she could feel it beating. It was so loud that she couldn't feel herself thinking.

"Okay," Miyanoshita-sensei said, tossing a volleyball at the person in front.

"We all know that we learned how to volley last week. So now, you're going to do pairs. Whoever's next to you shall be your partner!"

Mikan gulped. Oh no. Her fragile legs began trembling. Natsume was her partner.

Why is my heart beating so fast? I've only met him a week ago and he hasn't spoken to me…but still…

Mikan put her hands to her chest.

I swear I've seen him before. I know it.

--

"KYAA!!!"

The ball fell and rolled down to the woods that were next to the school building. Mikan slapped her head.

"I'm so stupid!"

She ran after the ball as it rolled, and then it stopped and slowly hit the trunk of a tree. Mikan got the ball and wiped her sweaty forehead with her t-shirt.

All of a sudden, scarlet leaves spread out in the air and Natsume stepped out of the opposite side of the tree, his hands in his pocket. He had a sly smirk on his face as he leaned towards Mikan.

He cupped her chin with his cold hands. "You're worse than I thought"

"W-what do you mean?" Mikan asked, as she took a whiff of his ember scent. It made her dizzy and she couldn't breathe. But she somewhat liked it, it was like a decadent sweet that she longed to have. Her eyes were affixed upon his smirking face. Her vision blurred and the scent of fire grew stronger. It was like a poison, a drug that was overwhelming her senses.

"I am…Hyuuga Natsume of the Red Fire Clan" he breathed.

Mikan gasped for air.

"And I am here…to kill you"

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End of Chapter

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That was the first chapter. I hope I did well. Reviews/comments are highly appreciated and accepted. If you have any questions about the story, you may PM me but I'm not giving away spoilers. Haha. Hope you enjoyed and see you in the next chapter!

Ja!

Kei-san