My Favourite Girl: Chapter 1

#05: Gakuen Alice (Natsume & Mikan)
...xXx...

"Sakura-san, he's waiting for you at the teacher's office," Misaki-sensei informed Mikan quietly before starting the homeroom.

Mikan nodded and made her way out of the class. Along the way, she passed a raven-haired boy with crimson eyes. As soon as she arrived at the teacher's office, she softly called out, "Aniki."

Persona appeared before her in count of seconds. "You have a mission tonight with Black Cat."

"This is the first time I will have a partner for a mission."

"Don't worry. He might be short-tempered, but his skills are quite good."

"Just tell me the time, Aniki. I'm sure the place is still the same."

"Be ready by 10."

"Right. See you, Aniki," Mikan bid with a nod.

Persona disappeared from the sight and reappeared before Natsume, who was resting under the sakura tree he loved so much.

Natsume, who finally noticed Persona, spat, "What do you want?"

"Be ready by 10, same place," Persona informed shortly and disappeared without waiting for an answer.

Natsume sighed. Another mission, huh?

Time passed away without a hitch until lunch time at the school canteen.

"Kyaaaaa, it's Natsume-sama!" one of fan girls screamed. The other girls quickly locked their eyes on Natsume, who entered the canteen emotionlessly. None of the girls dared to come near him because of his Alice, so they all only watched him from their own seats.

Mikan also went to the canteen, and for the second time of the day, she walked past Natsume.

Who is she? Natsume thought secretly, studying Mikan's back. Her hair was tied in pig tails, and she was hugging few books. Her high school uniform seemed too big for her body.

"Mikan-san!" someone called from behind.

Mikan stopped in her tracks and turned around to face the one who called her.

Thanks to that, Natsume finally discovered she was wearing very thick glasses, which allowed no one to see the color of her eyes.

"Yuu-san," Mikan greeted with a smile.

Yuu approached her with a smile, too. "It's been a while."

"Yeah… How have you been?" Mikan asked while they made their way to get lunch.

Looks like they know each other, Natsume noted as he also made his way to get his lunch.

Three of them arrived at the same time, and coincidently, there were three counters that were available. Mikan took the centre while Natsume took the right, so they were standing side by side.

"Set A," Mikan and Natsume ordered in unison.

Both of them realised instantly that they were ordering the same thing.

Mikan shook her head. "I changed my mind, set B please."

Coincidence much? Natsume mused.

Both got their orders at the same time. Since there was only one special star table left for them, the three of them shared the same table. They ate quietly, but Yuu was sweating a lot because he was too nervous with Natsume's presence. Mikan, being Mikan, didn't notice this and ate her lunch normally. In a few minutes, she finished her lunch before the two young boys.

"I'm sorry, Yuu-san. Gotta go, see you around," Mikan bid him and walked out of the canteen, unaffected by the stares from the fan girls.

"That nerd…" one of the girls said annoyingly.

"I think it's okay if it was her, though," her friends prompted.

"Yeah, yeah, don't you know that Sakura-san is the best student since elementary," another girl piped up.

"I heard she detests handsome guys," the others continued before everyone went silent.

A sapphire-eyed with brown hair came to the canteen and scanned the room only to sigh in defeat.

Yuu stood up. "Akira-san, if you're looking for Mikan-san, she just left a moment ago. I think she went to the library."

"Oh, thanks!" Akira thanked him before running out from the canteen.

The fan girls stared at each other.

"She might detest handsome guys, but she has a handsome cousin," one of the girls started again, and the others nodded in agreement.

"She doesn't detest them. She only doesn't care about their presences," a green-haired girl said, making her way to the fan girls.

The fan girls stopped gossiping immediately because they all knew the girl in front of them was one of Mikan Sakura's best friends Sumire Shouda.

"I’m sorry, Sumire-san. We didn't mean to talk ill about Sakura-san," one of them apologised quickly.

"Of course, of course. Just remember that if you do, you will have to face me and her." Sumire left them afterwards.

The fan girls froze at once as they heard her from Sumire's mouth. Another reason why no one wanted to have a problem with Mikan Sakura was because of her other best friends Hotaru Imai, the Queen of Black Mails. There was no fan girl that didn't know what happened a few years ago; one of the girls talked ill about Mikan when her cousin Akira Azumi just arrived. The next day, the girl just vanished without leaving any trace, and the following day, everyone found out that the girl already dropped out from the academy because she lost her Alice. After that incident, everyone steered clear from Mikan.

...xXx...

"Got you," Akira, who came from behind, whispered into Mikan's ear.

Mikan glanced up at Akira, who was making himself comfortable beside her. She smiled at him before reading her book again.

"Mikan, I heard from Serio-nii-san, you had another mission tonight and with a partner…"

"Jealous, huh?" she teased.

"I'm not. I wonder why Serio-nii-san never assigns me to a mission anymore…" At least I could be your partner.

He looked at the girl in front of him. To be honest, he loved her more than a cousin. The very first time they met each other was when they were five. He was an orphan that was adopted by Azumi's family. Even though they were not blood related, he and the girl were so close to each other like a real brother and sister.

"You need to take a rest, Akira," Mikan stated quietly.

Akira sighed. "I did make everyone worried about me, didn't I?"

"Everyone loves you, Akira. Not the least, me." Mikan gave him a gentle smile and continued reading.

Yeah, you love me but not like the way I love you, Akira thought sadly.

...xXx...

"She doesn't detest them. She only doesn't care about their presences."

Who is she? Natsume asked himself while entering the Northern Forest. She's really an interesting girl. Up until now, I never met a girl that ignored me completely.

Right before he reached the meeting point, he distantly saw someone approach Persona. He didn't mean to eavesdrop, but his feet led him to hide behind the trees. Am I going to have a partner tonight? He scanned the person, who was obviously a girl, from head to toe. She was wearing a black suit exactly the same as Persona but with a black mask that covered half of her face. She tied her black hair to high ponytail which made her look like a professional thief. He stared at her. She's quite gorgeous.

"Aniki!" she chirped happily and threw Persona a warm hug.

Aniki? Natsume thought in disbelief. He never knew that Persona, their DA advisor, had a little sister.

She broke the hug. "Tell me. Why do I need a partner for this mission?"

"Don't be so upset."

She sighed. "I'm not. It's just… since when did the Black Rose need a partner?"

Black Rose? Natsume went horror-struck as his eyes widened in disbelief. He heard before that there was a person that was assigned for special missions. It was called special because their task was to kill without leaving any traces, and that person's codename was Black Rose. Even though most of the dangerous ability student did missions for the academy, most of them were only to steal information or something important from the AAO. All in all, no one had ever met Black Rose before.

He's here, Mikan thought alertly. She closed her eyes while creating an ice dagger and pointed her right hand immediately to the trees where Natsume's.

THUD!

The dagger was set right beside Natsume.

Ice dagger? Natsume's eyes widened. Being caught, he stepped out from his hiding place.

Persona smirked. "Never knew the Black Cat has an eavesdropping habit."

"Whatever," Natsume said and put his hands in his pocket.

Persona began, "Please meet your partner tonight, Black Rose. I don't need to explain who she is because you heard about her before."

Natsume and Mikan exchanged glances.

"As for the mission, there was a secret weapon at the warehouse 636. Your task is to steal and bring it to me."

Both of them nodded.

"Mission start," Persona said at once.

Natsume and Mikan immediately made their way to the warehouse 636.

Hiding behind the bushes, Mikan scanned the warehouse with her X-Ray Alice and started counting. After she was finished, she tapped Natsume's shoulders and used her Telepathy Alice. You go to the room and wait for me there.

Natsume twitched. Never in his life time had a girl commanded him like that. When he was about to object, she had used her Invisible Alice on him, which made him went silent instantly. Now, he had no choice but complied with her command.

With a quick pace, Mikan also went to the warehouse. While Natsume went to the room where the secret weapon was in, she used her Darkness and Illusion Alice at the same time around every enemy and knocked them off silently. In a few seconds, she was already beside Natsume. Together, they arrived at a room that was covered with so many securities. Once again, she scanned the room and started counting the many traps that needed to be taken down. She brought out her small notebook and connected it to the security cables. She quickly hacked the system, and in count of seconds, the security went off.

Without second thought, Natsume went in to get the secret weapon. Right after he went out of the room, Mikan held his shoulders, and they were teleported back to the academy.

"Your status?" Persona asked at once.

"Complete," Mikan reported to him.

Natsume handed the secret weapon to Persona and walked away from them, annoyed. What was that? She can do it alone without me. The night was still young, so he went to his favourite spot and rested high up on one of the sturdy branches. When he was about to close his eyes, someone approached the tree. It was a boy. He stayed still when he saw Black Rose come out from the forest, too. The boy was about to say something, but Black Rose stopped him by placing her index finger to the boy's lips.

Mikan embraced Akira and, through her Telepathy Alice, told him, Black Cat is still here, Akira.

Natsume's eyebrow furrowed because he didn't know what the Black Rose did to the boy. They broke the hug, and the boy asked, "Are you all right?"

"Perfectly fine," Black Rose replied.

The boy smiled in relief. "Glad to hear that… then… I will go back to my room now. Good night."

"Good night," she replied, and then, she was gone with the Teleportation Alice.

The Black Rose is a student in the academy, Natsume concluded. I will find out her real identity.

Chapter 1—The Partner Chapter 2—The Invitation Chapter 3—The Masquerade Ball Chapter 4—The New Adviser Chapter 5—The Identity Chapter 6—The Confession Chapter 7—The Unexpected Turn Chapter 8—The Argument Chapter 9—The Favourite Girl Next