AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello...uhm... yeah? I've been missing from FFnet but hey, I'm back again and hopefully I'll be able to continue this story in a steady pace now that I'm done with college. I'm so happy, so happy I graduated. -sniff- I can't tell you guys how scared I was of not passing my senior year. The teachers were not forgiving too. Every week there were exams and by exams I meant long exams. Just thinking about it makes me think how in the heck was I able to pass college. Anyway, I can't celebrate yet since I have to take my board examination this september. Wish me luck. :))

I would like to thank to all my readers who left some reviews. You guys are the best. I could cry right now. -sniff sniff-

By the way, I haven't BETA this story. Please excuse the grammar and spellings. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

She found Natsume absolutely annoying and depressing.

Ever since Natsume's confrontation five days ago, the man had eluded and avoided her. He didn't speak to her, talk to her or even dare look at her in the eye. Saying that she confused was an understatement. She was damn lost and dang it she didn't like the feeling of it. She hated it, loathed it. The worst of it all was the tight gripping emotion that rendered her lungs' capacity useless. The mere mention of his name made her pause and think sullenly.

Mikan stared blankly at the ceiling above her. The sun had risen three hours ago. She hasn't slept the whole night, staying up late thinking about what Natsume had said. Was it right to omit her identity to him? She blinked her eyes as her mind supplied the answer almost immediately to her semi-catatonic state.

It was.

Why? Her traitorous mind asked.

Why not? That particular past had long been gone from her. Every time she thought of it, she was only reminded of what could have been. If her parent's car wasn't gun down by the AAO, would she have been able to stay with Natsume and her sister? There were so many scenarios and events that might have change. It only made everything depressing again. Things that could have happened…

That's not exactly the reason is it?

No it was not. In all honesty, she was afraid. Hence the reason why she hid the truth from her brother, Tsubasa Andou and from the raven haired boy.

Afraid of what exactly?

Mikan closed her eyes. "Of your expressions once you knew what I did to survive…" she opened her eyes and let a sigh out. And what is to come, she thought disdainfully as she was reminded of Setsu's absence from the excursion activity. She pulled her body to a sitting position and turned to look at the bright rays of light splaying all over her bedroom floor. It was almost 10 o'clock in the morning of Sunday.

There was no point idling around on bed. She got up from her bed and made her way to her bathroom, passing a mirror on the way. Her footsteps trailed off as she looks at the image of herself in the mirror. The girl in the mirror had darkening bags under her eyes. Her eyes looked sullen, almost as if somebody had just died. Mikan blinked her eyes. God she looked pathetic. She shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. A fight with Natsume was enough to make her pathetic and useless.

Mikan took her time taking a shower, letting the water erase all residue of last night's mission. Moments after exiting the bathroom and drying her hair with another towel, the rapping sound on her glass window caught her attention. Her eyes narrowed as she opened the glass window. The wind blew pass her. "About time," she muttered. Clad in only her black shorts and a slightly large long sleeve shirt, she hoisted her legs over her window seal. With one last look towards her lock door, she pushed herself over the ledge of her window.

[-

"Hm," Persona thoughtfully hummed. "She's on the move. What do you think she is up to now?"

The teacher inclined his head slightly to look at his favorite student, the brooding raven haired boy. Said boy didn't even bother to acknowledge the question his teacher asked him nor did he bother to move from his position. He quietly stood still, leaning on the door frame with his arms cross. "I don't care," he finally said after a moment of silence.

"Oh?" the teacher asked in mock curiosity. "You're not even wondering where she's going?"

"That's her business," he stiffly replied with his eyes close.

"If I didn't kn0w any better Natsume, I'd say that the both of you were having a lover's quarrel." he amusedly chuckle. Persona watch the minimal cringe of shoulders from the teen and a gleeful smile appeared on his face. "I'm right then."

"Mind your damn business Persona."

Personal quickly grappled the neck of Natsume with deadly accuracy and glared. "Your business is my business just as her business is your business and mine. Mind you that you and I are here on guard duty." he growled lowly, his temper finally snapping.

The teen boy shrugged the offending appendage from his person and glared with equal ferocity at his teacher. "I get it," he grounded his voice. "Now move."

Natsume fixed his shirt properly as he exited the room with his temper simmering at the surface. Just the mention of her made him irritated. "God Natsume," he shook his head slowly. "How pathetic you have become. Getting mad over something you know the answer to."

[-

Hotaru was quietly munching a late morning snack while lounging on the receiving area. Her thoughts went to a particular person who was absent during breakfast. 'Where is she?' she thought, concerned.

While it was not a new occurrence for Mikan to be absent in almost anything, it still worried Hotaru. She munched unto her crab flavored noodles and set to fix another machine she had made. The idiotic girl was probably up to something no good. And by no good… she stopped fixing her machine as her eyes went melancholic. Sometimes she wished she knew what Mikan was thinking.

"What are you doing?"

Hotaru blinked her eyes and turned to see Mikan sitting on the armchair of the couch. "Where have you been?"

"Feeling the wilderness," Hotaru noticed dry humor and watched her as she sat down on the couch. "Do you have food with you?"

"Your fault for being absent,"

Mikan closed her eyes and sighed. She reached out her hand, palm facing upwards as an apple levitated in the air and landed on her palm. She quietly took a bite and opened her eyes to look at Hotaru. "It's funny how my eyes don't scare you Hotaru,"

"And I should be afraid of it because…" Hotaru trailed off and raised an inquisitive brow.

A soft hum escaped the lips of Mikan. She shrugs her shoulder. "It's not every day you see an alice user who has glowing eyes."

'She's right,' Hotaru thought. In fact, she's probably the only person that Hotaru knew had glowing silvery blue eyes whenever she uses her alice. She blinked her eyes in realization before a smile settled on her lips. "Your eyes are beautiful Mikan."

Mikan smiled quietly at the praise. It was a rare moment for the both of them and they both knew it. "I'm not asking for your opinion about my eyes," she retorted playfully. Despite her adamant wish to break ties with Hotaru, Mikan knew that it was not an easy feat to do it. Hotaru had been her friend when she was young, alongside with Miku.

Their small talk was interrupted by the sound of the door being closed. Both girls turn to look at the person who had entered the small but lavishly decorated receiving room. Ruka had quietly waved at them with a small smile in greeting to which Hotaru responded with a slight nod. She slid her eyes away from the blonde boy to look at the raven haired boy beside him. Natsume scowled his face and turned to leave the room immediately, almost as if he was avoiding someone.

'Interesting,' she thought. The usual barb exchanged between the teens was absent. She good naturedly started to fix her machine again to gain some semblance of normalcy all the while watching Mikan from the corner of her eyes. The girl had frowned sullenly. Hotaru blinked her eyes at the expression. Now that was new. Usually when Mikan frowned, the expression was accompanied by irritation, frustration or anger. Her expression right now though was almost guilty and sad.

Hotaru knew that against all odds, Natsume meant something to the girl. How important he was to her remains a question. She continued to fumble with her latest invention even when Mikan stood up to take her leave.

"Where are you going?" Hotaru asked without looking at her.

"Out," she heard her tired reply.

"The best way to set things right is to say what you want to say," She turned just in time to see Mikan looking at her with an unreadable expression. "People won't understand if you don't tell them right away."

"Thank you,"

Hotaru nod her head and smiled serenely. Though she loathed how Natsume treats Mikan from time to time, she hated it even more if Mikan was sad. There was enough sadness in her life already. There was no need to add more to that.

[-

Mikan sighed audibly. She was lounging on a nearby tree in a lotus position. Her eyes were closed as her thoughts went to Natsume's reaction to her presence a while ago. To see him walk away without sparing a glance was painful. It's as if a bullet had suddenly pierced her heart. For a moment, she couldn't breathe. All she could see was Natsume turning his back on her and it had hurt. So painful she didn't know what to do.

The heavy weight on her throat wouldn't go away and her heart and body got heavier with depression with every passing second. Another sigh escaped her lips as she opened her eyes. Her eye color changed from brown to silvery blue as she elegantly waved a hand. A soft grunt was heard from behind her.

"M-Mikan-chan," the voice strained.

Another wave of her hand and the person floated to her. "What are you doing Narumi-sensei?" she asked sullenly and dropped him on the empty spot beside her.

"Ow. That hurt Mikan-chan." Narumi rubbed his bum continually. Curiously, he leaned over to look at Mikan's expression when he didn't hear any insult from her. "Mikan-chan?"

"Is there anything you want to say to me Narumi-sensei?" she asked softly, her eyes trained on him.

"Um," Narumi muttered. "I think it should be the other way around Mikan-chan."

Mikan looked at him, surprised. "What?"

The jolly teacher chuckled and set himself comfortably on the spot Mikan had haphazardly drop him. He smiled knowingly. "Is there anything weighing on your mind?" he inquired and watched her reaction. "Or did you get into a fight with a certain somebody?"

"Is it that… obvious?" she inquired, her voice caressing through the air after a long moment of silence.

Narumi had to blink a couple of times to process her question. She was acting out of behavior. The Mikan he knew was proud and snobbish. However… he scratched his head. "More like seeing you not together is new."

A small chuckle escaped the girl. "I guess… we were inseparable for a while huh." Mikan paused. "Narumi-sensei, how angry would you be if a person close to you hides something important?"

"Really angry," he answered without hesitation and noticed how Mikan had tensed. "But I guess it really depends on how important it is. Most people don't like how their important person hides something from them. Some of them view it as a sign of betrayal through omission. Others just don't like their love ones to shoulder the burden. They get worried. More often than not, people express anger when they're worried or sad. It's easier to get angry than admit that they were hurt, no?"

He watched with amusement when Mikan seemed so engross with his words. Gently, he placed a hand on Mikan's back as a sign of reassurance. "The best way to fix a relationship Mikan-chan is to approach the problem with honest feelings."

'Hotaru said the same thing,' Mikan thought.

Cling cling

The bell rang in a monotone pace. Narumi sighed and stood up from his position. "They're here."

"Who are?"

"The Osaka Branch Alice Academy." He replied and dusted the invisible dirt from his clothes. "The chairman said it would be nice to acquaint the students from Tokyo's Branch and the Osaka Branch. After all, it's a rare opportunity to socialize outside the Academy. You should go and meet other people."

Mikan slumped back to her lotus position as Narumi watched her carefully. He had to suppress the sudden urge to chuckle. The whole situation of Mikan and Natsume was rather obvious to him. And while he strive to help his students in any way he can, probably this one time he won't interfere. He smiled goofily and patted Mikan's head.

"Everything's going to be alright." He reassured her. "And Mikan-chan, you should sleep."

"Annoying teacher," she muttered under her breath and closed her eyes.

[-

The day wane and soon the sky darken as little stars started to paint the night sky. The night was cool and Mikan reveled in the cold temperature. She had not moved from her position since then, merely looking at nothing and at everything. She had seen the students from the Osaka Branch associating with her classmates and from the looks of it everybody had gotten along. The mansion was filled with light music and colorful lights. The noise carried over to where she was sitting – the happy chatter and the inane shouts from the students as laughter filled the quiet night.

Mikan tore her gaze away from the jolly atmosphere and stared at the night sky dotted with stars. She drowned herself with the beautiful picture, ignoring the heavy feeling settling in her chest. It didn't take a genius to know that Hotaru and Narumi got the gist of what was going on between her and Natsume. While they don't know the full details of what was going on, they knew that she and Natsume were not on good terms. Mikan knew what she had to do. She knew. However the bitter feeling of fear rooted her from finding Natsume.

She was scared of what his reaction. Most of all, she was at loss of words. She didn't know what to tell him. A soft breeze blew over her unmoving form. Mikan closed her eyes and leaned against the tree.

The soft sounds of footprints alerted her that somebody was near. Mikan quickly opened her eyes and got to her feet, her eyes scanning her environment lazily. "You're still here?" the voice of her teacher reached her ears.

"That's none of your concern," she took in the gaudy appearance of her homeroom teacher.

Narumi smiled at Mikan and grab her arm gently. "This is not good for your health Mikan-chan," he admonished with a click of his tongue and pulled her towards the mansion. "As your homeroom teacher, I hate to see you sit in one place for a long time."

"Hey!" she resisted slightly as her hands tried to pry his grip on her. "Let go."

Narumi ignored her request. When he had his little confrontation with Mikan in the afternoon, he had been happy. He was happy because she didn't try to demean him for his words of advice or push him away from her. It was an improvement. He looked over his shoulder, wondering if Mikan had finally given up on their little tug of war game. "This seriously won't do Mikan-chan," he repeated. "You won't be able to accomplish anything if you sit still in one place."

Mikan scoffed quietly, too tired to say anything. Upon their arrival in the mansion, she was immediately greeted by the bright lights coming from the chandelier above. Her eyes took in the new faces inside the house. 'So these are people from the Osaka Branch,' she thought. She watched as her classmates laughed and chattered with the guests in the house.

"Narumi-sensei,"

Mikan turned her head around to see a girl not younger than she is. Her hair was trimmed short, reaching just above her shoulders. The messy and shaggy short hair had only enhanced her beauty. She had a fair complexion with no blemishes on her face and skin. The most startling feature of hers was her eyes and a small mole located just below her right eye. 'What was it they call that mole?' she asked herself quietly. 'Something along the lines of capturing attention and whatnot.' The girl smiled happily at Narumi. "I haven't seen you since this morning."

"That's very kind of you, Kazuki-chan." Narumi smiled back at the pretty girl. "Ah! This is Sakura Mikan." He gestured to the sullen girl beside him. "Mikan-chan this is Kazuki Minami. She's from the Osaka Branch."

Mikan tipped her head in greeting, expecting the girl to do the same. A lot of people told her that because of her hard expression, people get scared of her before knowing her. So it had naturally shocked Mikan when said girl grab Mikan and pulled her into a friendly hug. "It's so nice to meet you Sakura-san."

Mikan awkwardly returned the hug and pat the back of Minami, not sure what to do. She slightly pulled away and noticed that the smile of Minami was replaced by a frown. "Oh Sakura-san," she heard her say. "You should sleep more often. The bags under your eyes are really dark!"

Twitch

Twitch

She was sure her brows were twitching. Mikan silently glared at the newcomer. This girl was no different from Narumi who constantly smiled. 'Annoying,' she thought dispassionately. Mikan took a cautious step back when Minami leaned towards her. "You should sleep," she heard her repeat and felt another twitch of her eyebrow. "Whatever," she muttered and waved a hand. "I'm going back to my room."

Narumi chuckled a little bit when Mikan had left. "Is something wrong teacher? Did I say something wrong? Why do I feel like she hates me?" he heard Minami asked cutely. Narumi shook his head to assure the worried girl beside him. "Don't worry. She's always grumpy."

[-

The morning had come quicker than she had thought. Mikan had risen earlier, despite the small hours of sleep. The black bags under her eyes were unforgiving, showing just how restless she had been. It was prominent enough that Mikan knew even from a far distance the dark circles under her eyes were obvious. Accompanied by her rather pale skin, Mikan was sure she was an imitation of a brooding villain like those in comics.

She closed the door to her room and made her way to the dining table. Yesterday, she wasn't able to stomach anything down because of her worries. A long inaudible sigh left her as she finally entered the dining room. Just as it had been last night, the room was packed and awfully noisy. The noise did nothing to appease her growing headache.

"Mikan," a monotonous tone regard her, effectively catching her attention.

She tipped her head in acknowledgement, "Hotaru."

"It's a bit of a surprise to see you here,"

"Is it?" a brow was raised at the question. "I'm here for food and that's surprising for you?"

Mikan looked at Hotaru weirdly, her inner thoughts all expressed in that particular facial expression. A small chuckle left the lips of Hotaru and softly, she patted the back of her best friend and smiled. "No," she softly said. "More importantly, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," came the immediate response. Mikan followed Hotaru closely to grab breakfast. After piling their plates with food, they went to seat on a table near the window.

Hotaru took a sip from her hot chocolate and said, "That's not what I meant Mikan."

"I know,"

Hotaru hummed quietly, not at all convinced. She leaned her head on her hand all the while taking in Mikan's look. It was so weird to see Mikan so placid. Hotaru pursed her lips. "There's something that you need to know."

"What is it?" Mikan asked and placed her eating utensils down.

"Your partner seems to be taken by a newcomer," Hotaru lifted her eyes to look at Mikan when she failed to give a response. The girl had stilled. Her hands were lifeless on the table and her expression was blank. "Are you okay with that?"

Mikan stood up from her seat and smiled coldly at Hotaru. "What that person does is no longer my concern," she said with apathy. "He's on his own."

"Is that so?" Hotaru scoffed well naturedly. "Mikan, there's no point in lying. You should talk to him soon." She watched with amusement as her best friend stiffly walked away to who knows where. For some reason, watching Mikan struggle with her emotions was rather entertaining than blackmailing other people to do her bidding. A soft chuckle escaped her as she continued eating her breakfast.

[-

Mikan walked around the villa aimlessly with no destination in mind. She had thought that walking around the villa and basking under the green fields of grass and trees would allow her to relax. However, the scenery did nothing to her frayed nerves.

She was about to exit perimeter of the mansion to go see the beach when a guard not afar had spotted her and forbid her to go out. The lecture left her disgruntled. While normally, she would have probably glared at the guard and use her alice to let him sleep or manipulate his memories so that he won't remember her leaving, she felt rather too tired to deal with those trivialities. And for some reason, it felt even more tiring to do things.

"Amazing," she muttered with a scoff, not amused in the least of her actions.

A fight. A bloody fight with the idiot and it was enough to render useless and stupid. She ran a furious hand over her hair, disentangling the strands of her hair. "Mikan-chan!" a voice shouted not far from where she was.

Mikan turned her head in time to see Kazuki Minami coming to her. "Kazuki-san," she politely greeted and nod her head in acknowledgement, albeit reluctantly.

"It's so good to see you here. I was just waiting for somebody." she enthusiastically said and smiled radiantly.

"Oh yea?" Mikan almost sighed. The girl acted like a toddler and for some reason. No matter how annoying she was to Mikan, there was just something about her that she didn't have the heart to say no. 'Or maybe I'm getting soft,' she thought.

Quietly, they both sat on a bench. Minami had started talking nonstop about almost anything her mind would come to. It was rather exhausting. Mikan wasn't expecting to Minami to be this talkative. Her mouth was shooting out words incomprehensible to her but nonetheless, she tried to act like she was listening. Another sigh threatened to escape her lips and for a moment, Mikan was tempted to use her alice.

"…. And then he said…." Minami trailed off when she noticed Mikan's inattentiveness. "You're surprisingly a very morose person, aren't you Mikan-chan?" A soft scoffed escaped the lips of Mikan which made Minami chuckle. "Surprisingly, you act like him but more so I should say."

"And who exactly?" Mikan asked uninterestedly.

"Minami?"

Minami's expression immediately brightened as she stood up immediately to greet the person. Her smile, if possible had widened and brightened. The butterfly feelings that she have been keeping in wraps had suddenly surge through her that she couldn't stop the giddy and goofy expression on her face. Momentarily forgetting she had company, she went to the person and hugged him happily.

"Natsume! It's so good to see you!" she exclaimed. "I haven't seen you in a very long time!" She detached herself from the rather stiff man and pulled him with her to where Mikan was. "Natsume, this is Mikan. Mikan this is Natsume but I'm sure you guys know each other since you guys come from the same Academy."

[-

She couldn't believe. Her eyes were wide and the urge to run away was strong. Apparently, only he was capable of inciting that urge from her. Never had she run away from an enemy, never. When Minami had dragged her to wait for the person she was supposed to meet, she did it out of pure boredom and to kill time. Now, she wished that she hadn't. She was unprepared.

Her expression betrayed how she really felt on the inside. Mikan looked rather bored and disinterested as her eyes speared through the raven haired boy. Natsume was standing in front of her harboring the same expression she was wearing. However, the small tick on his forehead told Mikan all the things she needed to know.

"Let's go," Natsume said and walked the other way. Minami turned to look at Mikan confusedly before following the raven haired boy.

Mikan stood stiffly, not once moving even after the sight of Natsume's back was gone. 'He's mad,' she thought pitifully. She knew Natsume was angry at her with how he had been treating her. How deep his anger was remained a question to her. Now that she knew just exactly how furious and mad he was to her, it hurt.

It hurt so bad that she was at loss to do.

Mikan let out a strangled breath and looked down, her fringe covering her eyes. Gently, a forbidden tear cascaded down her cheeks but she was so immersed into her guilty feeling that she failed to notice it.

AUTHORS NOTE: Have you guys seen Tokyo Ghoul? For some reason, the angst and tragedy of the story is deliciously addicting dont you think? The animation of the manga was good but I prefer the manga. :))

Thank you for reading and don't forget to leave a review. Reviews are driving motivation to my inner muse. Please feed him, he's so depleted at the moment. Have a nice day ahead!