Natsume Hyuuga

Twenty-sixth of August, 2000

A girl with messy brunette hair… holding a dagger with tears in her eyes… She is killing, like a wild maniac. Her anger shows by her furious eyes. The scenery is full of blood. The girl is stabbing a man with a mask.

"YOU KILLED THEM," she cries loudly as she stabs the man. "WHY?! TELL ME WHY… PER-"

"Natsume! Wake up!" I hear someone call my name and slowly open my eyes. The bright sunlight blinds my eyes as I began to see a blond boy's image in front of me. It is Ruka, a friend in Alice Academy. His eyes are ocean blue. He is sixteen, like me, third-year in high school. Both of us are in the DA section of the academy, as known as the Dangerous Ability. This section is the secret assassin section of the school. Only the teachers and the students in this section know about it.

"What is it Ruka?" I say angrily. I'm pretty irritated that he disturbed my sleep. The dream was so odd that I wanted to see more of it… Especially that girl with brown hair. Well, it was just a dream so whatever. It was probably not important.

"Persona called us to his office Natsume! Come on or else he's going to get really mad this time!" Ruka replies, trying to be as calm as possible. Oh great, here comes Ruka's panic attack. "You know what Persona does if you don't come!"

Ugh, whatever. I could care less about Persona. I get up and walk away, ignoring Ruka. I yawn. What class am I suppose to be in now anyway?

"Come on Natsume! Persona said something about the Human World!" Ruka shouts loudly, slight annoyance in his voice.

"The Human World?" I say. I have heard of that unusual world, where everyone is just a normal human being without magic. Ugh, that type of world seems like hell. But I also know that only the best students of Persona can enter that world of no alices. The reason for this is because the Human World used to be only a one-way trip. Once you're in, you can't get out. Well, now that the technology has been improved, a round-trip is possible.

Thinking about the Human World reminds me of one of my underclassman, Youichi Hijiri… He was sent to the Human World when he was only four-years-old to be a spy… I can still remember what happened…

"WHAT THE HECK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING PERSONA?! YOUICHI IS ONLY FOUR! YOU CAN'T JUST LET HIM DO A MISSION ALONE!" I shouted at Persona.

Youichi looked at me with teary eyes. He was just so young. I couldn't understand why in the world would Persona send someone to the Human World when he or she was so young… "Natsume-nii..." Youichi said, crying.

Persona rolled his eyes, "Four is old enough. If he doesn't work, he'll be kicked out. Understand, Hyuuga?"

"AT LEAST LET ME GO WITH HIM! WHERE IS HE GOING?! TELL ME PERSONA!" I screamed. I didn't want Youichi to go alone. He just couldn't. I would not allow that.

"I'm sorry Hyuuga, but I can not release that information to you. The only thing I'll tell you is that he will be a spy for who knows how many years. That is all," Persona simply told me that… and sent Youichi to the Human World. I couldn't save him… It was all my fault. If I was just strong enough, I could've saved him…

Sometimes, I wonder how Youichi is doing… It has been three years since then. He should be seven now that I think about it. I hope that he is doing okay… When he was transferred to the Human World, technology wasn't so good so it was only a one-way trip.

"Natsume? Earth to Natsume! Come on! We have to go see Persona," Ruka says. "So hurry up."

"HYUUGA! NOGI!" a familiar voice shouts. Great, it's the jerk, Persona.

"Shoot!" I silently hissed.

"Nogi, you took too long to get Hyuuga into my office," Persona says. Persona always wears a mask for some reason. Probably because he is really ugly or something. He also wears a ton of jewelry to suppress his alice, apparently he is really strong. An alice is what the Human World likes to call magic for some reason. What a strange name for an alice. I also have an alice suppressor on my ear, it is a red earring. The academy forced it on me since they were so scared of my alice, fire. Ugh.

"Sorry Persona," Ruka grumbles. He glares at me, his eyes telling me it's my fault. Whatever. Like I care.

Suddenly, Persona takes me by the arm and forcibly drags me to direction of his office. "Hey!" I shout. "Persona! What are you doing?" I struggle to get out of his grip but he is too strong, even though he pretty much looks like a stick. Ruka follows us in silence. I guess it's because no one dares defy Persona… Well besides me.

Persona drags me in his office and goes over to his desk. He sits on his dusty chair and starts speaking in a refined way. "Hyuuga, Nogi. I have a year long mission for both of you."

Ruka and my eyes widen. I can not believe this. A year long mission? I would be missing my junior year as 16 year-olds at the Alice Academy! That actually doesn't sound too bad. It's a nice excuse to skip school.

"Where? Impossible!" Ruka yells.

"That's because you will be going to the human world," Persona replies, as if it were obvious.

"The Human World…" I repeat quietly. A world without magic… such a boring world. If I go there, I may be able to save Youichi Hijiri…

"What is our objective?" asked Ruka.

Persona opens a drawer in his desk and takes out a small piece of paper. On the paper is a picture of a girl with brunette hair. Her hair is really beautiful but it is ruined by how she ties it in pigtails. Ew. I don't ever want to get close to someone like that. How childish.

"Kill this girl in this picture," Persona says simply. "It should be no problem for high class assassins like you two. Her name is Mikan Sakuram, sixteen, third year in highschool, like you two. I don't care how you do it. I'll give you a whole year to do it or else," Persona pauses for a second then smiles in an eerie way. "Or else I'll come by and kill her myself, including both of you."

"And why do you want her dead?" I say.

"Do I need a reason to want her dead?" Persona asks us madly. Why is he so mad anyway? All I did was ask a question. Ugh. What a jerk.

"No Persona," Ruka and I grumble in unison.

"Correct. Tomorrow I will provide you each a teleporter. It will look like this." Persona pulls out two necklaces out of his pocket. One necklace was shaped into a silver cross. The other was a gold key.

"The silver one is for Natsume and the gold is for Ruka," Persona states. "Tomorrow both of you will go to the human world at midnight. Say your goodbyes to your friends by then."

OoO

"Natsume! Ruka! I heard you two are going to leave the academy for a whole year!" I hear a familiar annoying voice cry. I turn around to see that it is Sumire Shouda, the president of Ruka and my fanclub. Ew… She totally creeps me out.

"Don't go Ruka, Natsume!" All the members of their fan club say in unison.

"S-Sorry, but we have too," Ruka says awkwardly. He was never good at keeping the fangirls away anyway.

"Go away," I said bluntly, glaring at the fan club.

"KYAH!" the girls scream. They scream so loud that my ears ring. Ugh. "Ruka is so shy and cute! And Natsume's coldness is itching my heart!"

Itching? What the hell does that mean?

The school day passes like normal. I spend all my time skipping class and sleep and read manga at my favorite cherry tree. For lunch, I meet Ruka on the rooftop of the school.

"Ah! Natsume! There you are! I've been looking all over for you!" Ruka exclaims with his lunch in his hand. "Why did you skip class again? This is our last day, you know that!"

"Ruka?" I say.

"Yes, what is it?" Ruka asks.

"Why do you think Persona wants that Mikan Sakura girl dead?" I ask. I just can't figure out why. Mikan Sakura is just a normal human girl. I've killed many people as a pro secret assassin but I would never kill someone innocent…

"Hmmm… I dunno! But if we ask we may get in trouble. No worries though, we have a whole year to kill her!" Ruka says with a smile, like there is no problem in killing her.

"I wonder why he's giving us a whole year?" I say out loud, thinking to myself. If it is just killing a human girl, it wouldn't take much of a fight to kill her.

"What was that?" Ruka asks.

"Nevermind, it's nothing Ruka," I reply.

"Come on Natsume, let's go eat lun-"

"OHHOHOHOHO!" I cringe at that voice. I can recognize it from anywhere… Oh no… here it comes… "Natsume! Ruka!" Yup, called it. It's Sumire Shouda, again.

"What a coincidence to see you two here!" Sumire cries happily. Mhm, sure it was a coincidence you freaking stalker. "I made lunch for the both of you! After all, you won't be coming back for a whole year ya' know!"

I gulp. Whenever she makes us lunch, it is terrifying. Usually her food is either burned completely blank (literally) or just plain raw.

Sumire opens the bento and a terrible udor comes out. Ruka and I immediately pinch our noses as hard as we can but we could still smell the disgusting udor of rotten and burnt food.

"Natsume, Ruka! Please try some of this bento I made for you!" Sumire says happily.

"Um... Shoda-san, is this fish even cooked?" Ruka asks worriedly. His face contorts as he looks at it.

"Yes! It was cooked for exactly sixteen seconds!" said Sumire happily.

"I… uh… I see..." Ruka says.

"Please try it!" Sumire says happily, offering him a fork.

Ruka, as kind as he is, takes the fork and prepares to eat it. "Um… Ok... here I go!..." Ruka says. He brings the fork with the raw fish towards his mouth.

"RUKA STOP!" I shout, trying to stop him. But it is too late. I couldn't save him from the terrors of Sumire's food. He swallowed it. His face is blank. There seems to be no emotion in his face at all.

"So? How is it Ruka? Tasty right!" Sumire said with a smiling face. "I worked extra hard on the bento for today!"

"Ugh…" Ruka's face twists, as if he is about to vomit. "Excuse me! I have to use the restroom!" he cries.

I sigh. Ruka is way too kind to say no to Sumire.

"Natsume! Look! Ruka loved my bento so much he couldn't eat it anymore! You should try some too!" Sumire says with a smile.

See what I mean by creepy? I think she must be insane if she wants me to eat that.

OoO

It is a quarter to midnight. Ruka and I drag our suitcases to Persona's office as we look at the scenery of Alice Academy for the last time. It is dark and cold. I can't wait to leave this place. It's like a prison here. I have to get to the Human World to rescue Youichi…

When Ruka and I step in Persona's room, he greets us. "It is finally time, did you bring everything you need?" he asks us.

I check my suitcase and nod along with Ruka.

"Excuse me Persona, but where will we live on the human world?" Ruka asks.

"I have an apartment set up for you," Persona replies. He digs into his pocket and hands us the two necklaces he showed us earlier. Now that I look closer, they are lockets.

"Here are your teleporters, the first place it'll teleport you to is your apartment. The rest is for you to control," Persona says. "Also take this." He takes out two chains from his pocket and hands them to us. "These chains are navigation devices. If you are wearing them, you should be able to navigate wherever the other person is and be able to contact them. Hook them onto your belts or something."

Ruka and I take the necklaces and put them around our necks. Then we take the chains, or navigation devices, and hook them onto our belts. I can tell that this is new technology. This teleporter should be able to take us anywhere, from different dimensions to even up the stairs.

"Now get going," Persona says. "Don't come back to the Alice World until you're done."

"Yes Persona," Ruka and I say.

"Ready Natsume?" Ruka asks.

"Yeah."

Together we open our lockets. As the necklace opens, a bright light starts to blind our eyes from seeing anything. It is so bright that it burns terribly. All we could hear is Persona's cold voice saying, "You know the consequences if you don't succeed don't you?"

- End of First Chapter -

Hi guys! I am back to Gakuen Alice with a rewrite of The Human World. This is my favorite story I have ever written, but my writing style in this story sucked in the past! So I will be rewriting everything and uploading it on this website! Thank you so much for reading the first chapter and please review!

~ Metallic Snow