No, unfortunately I don't own Gakuen Alice
Chapter One
"Hotaru!"
Hotaru looked at Mikan coolly, her emotionless eyes saying that she didn't want to be disturbed while she was eating her crab and watching her favorite sitcom on the television.
"I'm busy," she said simply.
Mikan was on the floor on her stomach, her legs in the air. She had a soccer ball under her chin as she looked up at Hotaru with a disappointed look on her face. "But Hotaru! We need to go now or we're going to be late!"
Soccer tryouts were in twenty minutes, and they still had to get to the indoor field and change. If they didn't leave right that minute, they were going to be late. And no coach wants to have a player who's late for tryouts.
Hotaru sighed and stood up. She took her plate into the kitchen and then walked back to stand in front of Mikan, looking down at her with her arms crossed over her chest and an annoyed look on her face. "Hurry up, baka," she said. "Or we're going to be late."
Mikan smiled and shot to her feet, taking her ball with her. She walked with Hotaru do the door of her best friend's parents' house and they both picked up their sports bags. Hotaru led the way out to the car waiting in the driveway, and the two sixteen year olds got in.
It only took ten minutes to drive through the city and stop in front of the indoor field, but they still needed to change. So, without wasting any precious time, Hotaru parked the vehicle and popped the trunk.
Mikan opened her door and stepped out into the fresh summer air. She walked over to the trunk, where Hotaru was already pulling their bags out. "Thanks Hotaru!" she exclaimed, snatching the bag away from her. "Now let's go!"
The other ten minutes they had before tryouts consisted of changing, tying hair back, and walking out onto the indoor field with the rest of the girl, completely prepared to show off their skills.
There were at least forty other girls, and all of them couldn't make the team, so Hotaru and Mikan weren't ready to cut anyone some slack. They were ready to give it their all, and then they planned on going out for coffee later.
Another girl, one with dark hair, walked up in front of Mikan and smiled. "Hi, I'm Nonoko," she said sweetly, holding out her hand. "I've never seen you two here at the field before." Her eyes began to shine with affection and she took her hand back before Hotaru or Mikan had a chance to shake it. "Just wait until you see our coaches. They are the most amazing guys in Japan! Not only are they the best soccer players, but they're both totally handsome."
Mikan and Hotaru looked at each other and shrugged. "Aren't they supposed to be older than us?" Mikan asked casually, trying to hide the smile on her face as she studied Nonoko's dreamy expression.
Another girl walked up, this one with pink hair and a pale skin tone. She had a bright smile on her face, almost identical to the one Nonoko wore. She also had the same dreamy look. "They're only seventeen, but both of them are so skilled! They'll be great coaches!"
Nonoko linked arms with the other girl and started hopping up and down excitedly. "I'm so excited, Anna!" she squealed.
Hotaru grabbed Mikan's wrist and dragged her around the two jolly girls and to the front of the large group. That was when they saw two men making their way onto the field.
One man, the taller one, had dark, raven colored hair and crimson, piercing eyes. He wore an expression like the one Hotaru normally wore, emotionless and careless. He certainly was a handsome man, but his attitude made Mikan hate him just by looking at him.
The other coach had light, blonde hair and striking blue eyes. He had a kind smile on his face, making the girls swoon as soon as they set eyes on him. He had just as much muscles as the other one, but this guy looked much more likeable.
The two coaches stopped in front of the large group of girls and studied them carefully. They didn't pay attention to anyone in particular, but they did give curious glances to Mikan and Hotaru, who were unmoved by their presence.
"I'm Hyuuga Natsume," the raven-haired one said coldly, dropping the ball he had been holding and stepping on it lightly with his right foot. "This is Nogi Ruka, and we're going to coach whoever is good enough to make the team. Don't expect us to go easy on you, because we're going to train you to win."
Mikan leaned over to Hotaru. "He could have said that in a much nicer way," she whispered in her best friend's ear. "I mean, doesn't seem a little harsh to say 'whoever is good enough'?"
Hotaru merely shrugged.
Natsume kicked the ball at Mikan, aiming for her head. Too bad for him, she had fast reflexes and turned her head in time to head-butt it right back into his hands. She glared at him, her eyes dancing with anger.
"What was that for?" she hissed, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes. "You could have said, 'Hey, you, stop talking.' You didn't have to freakin' hammer it at me!"
All the other girls – except Hotaru, of course – almost fell over when they heard her say that, but she really could care less. Who did he think he was, trying to smack her in the face like that?
Ruka stepped in before the two of them started bickering. "Anyway, I think we've wasted enough time," he said, stepping forward. "Let's get started on tryouts, shall we?"
The next hour or so was mostly just playing against each other. They were divided into two teams and Natsume and Ruka watched, marking things down on their clipboards after they had received everyone's names.
Mikan and Hotaru, who formed a powerhouse, were dominating, but they didn't forget to pass to the other players. They stopped trying as hard near the end of the game, since their team was winning by a long shot.
Finally, Natsume blew his whistle and everyone gathered around, panting and sweating as if they'd just run a marathon. It was understandable, though, since the coaches only gave them two breaks that were only two minutes the whole entire tryout.
"Good work today, ladies," Ruka said, smiling and making the girls (except Hotaru and Mikan) swoon once again and melt under his gaze. "We'll post the names of those who made this tryout on the bulletin outside at the admission counter. For those whose names are on that list, we'll be seeing you again in two days for another tryout. We can't pick our team yet, seeing as there were too many of you, so we have to have a second tryout. Once again, great job and you can go shower and get changed."
Mikan and Hotaru were just turning around to follow the rest of the girls out into the change rooms when a voice stopped them. "Hey, Imai, Sakura, stay here a moment, will you?"
It was Ruka.
Mikan and Hotaru slowly turned around, the same thing going through both of their minds. What are they up to? Both girls narrowed their eyes in suspicion as they walked back over so they were face to face with Ruka and Natsume.
"What do you want that's worth wasting our time?" Hotaru asked in her emotionless voice, as usual.
"Yeah," Mikan agreed, frowning. "I have to get to my job in half an hour, and if you make me late someone is going to pay, and it's probably going to be one of you, if not both."
Natsume was the one who spoke. "How long have you two been playing?" he asked, ignoring Mikan's threat and Hotaru's question.
Mikan glanced at Hotaru. "We've both been playing since we were four," she said quickly, getting slightly impatient. "Why does it matter? If I'm late I'm going to get fired."
"You both have good skills, but there's always room for improvement," Ruka said, flashing one of his smiles and receiving raised eyebrows from Mikan and Hotaru. "We just wanted to tell you that we didn't have to make much of a decision about putting you on the team. We still want you to come for the second set of tryouts, but we can tell you now that you're already on the team."
Mikan's face lit up and she turned to Hotaru, who remained emotionless. She took the other girl's shoulders and began shaking her violently. "Hotaru, do you know what this means?" she asked loudly, trying to contain her excitement but failing miserably. "We get to play on a real soccer team, instead of out in the stupid field! And-"
"You're different." Ruka was speaking again, and he was eyeing the girls carefully.
Mikan stopped rejoicing and released Hotaru's shoulders. She turned back around to face Ruka and Natsume, and she frowned at them. "So just because we don't start drooling over you makes us different?"
Hotaru grabbed Mikan's wrist. "You're going to be late."
Mikan looked to the wall clock. "Oh no! Hurry, Hotaru, hurry!"