Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice

Chapter One

Natsume Hyuuga was an assassin. Not yet twenty years of age and already known and feared all over the world as the Black Cat. He was a shadow of fear, operating in the darkness. Ordinary people sat in their pubs and exchanged tales of his exploits, the nobles lived in dread of him and the army would have gladly paid 50,000 gold coins for the identity of his master or his capture.

Yet no one had ever seen him, no one knew what he looked like. No one knew that he was not merely a killing machine.

Natsume was a master of disguise by necessity. Being one of the most wanted men in the world made it inconvenient to just wander around wearing his own face. But on the rare occasions when he was himself, he was breath-taking. Unruly raven locks framed a compelling face and mesmerizing crimson eyes.

On the other hand, Princess Sakura knew no such shadows. She was 17 years of age, at once wise and innocent. Mikan had mahogany hair that was long enough to reach her waist and azure eyes. She was always smiling, laughing for the sheer joy of living and inviting everyone to join in her happiness. She was the second child of her parents and had two brothers, Tsubasa and Youichi. Tsubasa was older than she was and had recently been coroneted as the King of Alician and Youichi had just turned 10.

King Persona sat on his throne and said, "Hmm….interesting"

He clicked his fingers. A trembling page appeared.

"Yes, your majesty?"

"Send for the Black Cat immediately"

The page bowed and withdrew. He wondered what the king wanted with the poor lad now.

"You sent for me?"

"Yes. The situation up in Alician has become rather…shall we say unusual?"

"In what way?"

"Well, according to my spies' reports, it is not King Tsubasa who is ruling"

"Then who?"

"It seems his sister is the one whom the nobles and people truly follow"

"I see. Now you want me to…?"

"Kill her"

"Yes, your majesty"

Natsume bowed and withdrew. Much as he hated to admit it, he wasn't really suited for this job. The guilt he had been feeling lately irritated him. At first, he hadn't felt any mercy for his victims because they had deserved it. They had been greedy, corrupt lords, with as little compassion for their fellow creatures as for animals. But lately, he had…

He shut his eyes. No, he would not let himself feel anything. Tomorrow, he would set out for another mission. A new day, a new challenge.

****************

Two weeks later preparations were in full swing for the celebration of Princess Sakura's 18th birthday.

"Baka" said the Princess's best friend, Hotaru, pointing her latest invention, a baka ray, at a servant who was placing a yellow balloon among the blue ones.

"Noooo Hotaru!" cried Mikan.

"I 'm afraid I can't hear you" said Hotaru coolly and a second later, the servant slumped, unconscious.

"Try to leave some people awake Hotaru, otherwise we'll have to do everything on our own"

"Whatever you say, baka. It is your birthday after all" she said pointing the baka gun at Mikan, who managed to dodge it.

"Princess! This is the new page. He has just arrived today"

Mikan turned and found herself confronted by a pair of crimson orbs.

"Natsume, this is our Princess" continued the housekeeper, Misaki, smiling.

Natsume inclined his head in a cool gesture of respect.

"Everything about him just screams arrogance!" thought Mikan, indignant that he apparently hadn't thought her worthy of more respect.

Nevertheless, she smiled and said, "Welcome! I'm afraid I have to leave now. There are lots of preparations that I have to oversee"

"And she obviously wants to get away from a lowly, unimportant page" thought Natsume cynically.

"Princess! Princess, aren't you ready yet?" her housekeeper, Misaki, came bustling in. She looked at Mikan in horror.

"Princess what are you doing?" she cried.

Mikan looked up guiltly. She and her friend, Ruka had been having so much fun blowing up balloons and then throwing them at each other that they had forgotten all about the time.

"I'm sorry Misaki"

"What would your brother say if you came down to the ball dressed like this?" she chided.

Mikan and Ruka bit back grins. It had not escaped their notice that the King and Misaki were getting rather fond of each other.

"Come on now! We need to hurry!" said Misaki, ushering Mikan out of the room.

An hour later Mikan emerged from her room looking absolutely stunning. Ruka, who was waiting to escort her downstairs, let out a low whistle of appreciation.

"Isn't this dress beautiful?" asked Mikan happily.

"It isn't the dress that's beautiful, it's you" said Ruka huskily.

Mikan blushed and said, "Thank you, Ruka-pyon"

"Shall we?" asked Ruka gallantly offering her his arm.

She smiled and took it. As she walked down the hall towards the staircase, all the pages smiled to see her joy. All except one.

Natsume just looked as coolly unaffected as ever.

"Another rich little girl, living it up with her father's money" he thought

But it couldn't be denied that she looked gorgeous. She was wearing a beautiful white gown and it seemed to lend her an almost ethereal glow. Her hair was tied back in a soft chignon and she looked extremely elegant.

As she entered the ballroom, conversations came to a standstill and people craned their necks just to catch a glimpse of her. Then, as one, they lifted their glasses in a toast to her.

"To the birthday girl!" cried Tsubasa and the crowd repeated "To the birthday girl, our Princess!"

Mikan blushed and said "Thank you! I'm so happy all of you could come and make this day special!"

The music started and couples started dancing. Mikan danced and chatted with all her guests. She had a way of making people feel as if they were special and important. Which was probably why, Natsume noted, her brother's subjects followed her with such devotion.

As he idly scanned the room, Natsume saw someone move, almost like a shadow in the balcony. The stranger was dressed in black, a strange choice for a ball. He saw the stranger take out a bow and arrow and carefully take aim. The stranger moved and for a fraction of a second, he could see the stranger's face clearly.

He swore. No! This could not be happening! Persona had promised!

Almost as if in a dream, he saw who the arrow was pointed towards – Princess Mikan

The next thing that he did was so incredible that for a second everyone, including him, thought it was a dream.

He threw himself towards the Princess who was dancing and laughing at something at something her partner had said. Mikan turned, wide-eyed. A second later, they were both rolling on the floor, wrapped up in each other's arms.

"What the..?" roared Tsubasa.

A moment later a quivering arrow was embedded in the wall in front of which, a few seconds ago, Mikan had been standing.

The stunned crowd was silent.

Suddenly a man started clapping. Slowly, the applause grew louder as the people thanked the young man who'd saved their beloved princess.

"How dare you?" Mikan screamed, cheeks flaming. She still hadn't realized that her life had been in danger

Natsume got up, his mind whirling. He had just saved the life of the person who was supposed to be his next victim. And the figure in the balcony….. How could this be happening?

It was only then he realized that the arrow had grazed his shoulder. Mikan, who had by now realized what was happening, at once turned to help him up.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah" he mumbled.

"He's bleeding!" yelled someone.

"Out of the way, out of the way, everyone!" came Misaki's voice.

"I'm fine!" insisted Natsume.

"Rubbish. You're bleeding. Come on, we'll go patch this up. Princess you should also go and clean yourself up"

Mikan looked down at her dress and realized that it was covered in dirt and Natsume's blood.

"But he…"

"Now, now, I'll take care of him. After all, it's your birthday"

Mikan reluctantly turned to leave after she noticed Hotaru fingering her Baka gun.

Just as Natsume was about to leave the hall, she whirled around and cried, "Wait! What's your name?"

Natsume's thoughts were still pretty jumbled up. "Huh?" he said.

"She asked you your name" said Ruka gently. He was helping Misaki get the half-conscious lad out.

"Natsume Hyuuga"

The next day Mikan fidgeted impatiently while Misaki tied the ribbons on her gown. She wanted to go and meet the brave footman who had saved her life yesterday evening. Tsubasa and the rest of the Councillors and Advisors of Alician had questioned her after the incident but she couldn't for the life of her think who would hate her enough to want her dead. As far as she knew she had no enemies. She was nice to everyone, from the highest noble to the most unimportant peasant. Then who had sent that assassin?

"Princess do stop fussing! I can't tie these ribbons properly if you fidget so much"

"Then let them be Misaki!" said Mikan impatiently.

Misaki snorted. "And let you run down the stairs to the hospital ward to see a boy looking like you've been waiting to do nothing but that all morning?"

"But I have been waiting to visit Natsume in the ward all morning!"

"That may be so but as a royal you have a dignity to maintain, Princess"

"Dignity be damned. I hate all these frilly dresses anyway. Why can't I just wear simple shirts and breeches like Youichi and Tsubasa?"

"Oh Mikan, not that argument again!"

"Its completely irrational in my opinion. Men get to walk around freely and not worry about things like tripping over their own dresses while women have to watch their every step to make sure that they don't fall over themselves like clowns in a circus!"

"Princess Mikan will you just stand still!" said Misaki, exasperated, "I don't want to hear another word from you

now!"

Mikan kept quiet so that Misaki would quickly finish and she could go downstairs and apologize to Natsume. She was still embarrassed by her behavior towards him the night before, before she had realized that he had saved her life.

The moment Misaki said "There! I'm done now", Mikan flew down the steps. She was in such a hurry that she ran into a man. Stopping for a second to apologize, she did a double take when she spotted a familiar dark head and crimson eyes, walking down the corridor, towards the courtyard.

"What's he doing out of bed? He should be resting" she thought.

She followed him until they both reached a Sakura tree. Natsume sat down in the shade provided by the tree. He had his head in his hands. Arguments were running in his head, giving him no peace…

How could Persona….

Did that mean he was no longer….

But then why did Persona give him this mission…

Was it just to get him out of the way….

Had Persona known that he would object….

But then what about their agreement….

Did that mean it was all over….

He groaned, unable to find answers to any of his questions.

"Is your shoulder hurting you?" came a concerened voice. He raised his head and found himself confronted by the biggest hazel eyes that he had ever seen. They were on him, watching him intently and…could it be…sympathetically? It felt strange. No one had ever taken care of him. He had been stared at several times but those glances had always been curious, assessing, sizing him up. No one had ever looked at him as though they genuinely cared about him …. except for that person of course.

"What do you want?" he asked coldly.

The girl in front of him blushed. "I wanted to apologize for my behavior last night. I was unforgivably rude"

He frowned. His memories of the last evening were a little hazy and he had no idea who this girl was or what she was apologizing for. But still he felt like teasing her a little.

"If you were 'unforgivably rude' then why expect my forgiveness?"

"Well of all the…" she said indignantly, "its just a phrase! When somebody says that you're suppose to say 'It's alright'"

"I didn't realize we were on a stage with all the parts already decided and dialogues written"

Mikan was amazed. She had felt the same way when had first appeared in court. Everyone had been so proper, so rigidly following the codes of etiquette that she had felt as if everyone had written down exactly what they had to say to whom before entering . But how could this arrogant footman know that?

She looked at him strangely. "What did you just say?"

"Do you have hearing problems as well as being ugly, little girl?"

The color rose up to her face and she screamed "I am not ugly!"

"Whatever you say, Polkadots" he smirked.

"Polkadots?" repeated Mikan, confused. Where had Polkadots entered the conversation from?

His smirk grew bigger.

And then she realized….

"Pervert!" screamed Mikan, picking up a rock and throwing it at him.

"You have a pretty good aim" he said as he neatly dodged the stone, "for a girl" he added, dodging the second rock.

"Why you…."

"I know sweetheart, I defy description"

"Don't call me sweetheart you pervert!"

Abruptly his mood turned serious.

"Who are you?" he asked grabbing her fist as she bent to pick up another stone.

Mikan's hazel orbs looked into his crimson ones in shock. Had he lost his memory? Suddenly she remembered that after he had pushed her out of the way, the two of them had hit the hard marble floor and he had shifted her in his arms and hit his head instead.

"I'm so sorry" she whispered.

Natsume looked at her beautiful face. She seemed familiar, vaguely he remembered that she was someone important.

When he had woken up, Natsume had been told that he had rescued the Princess Sakura, a fact which he found ironical, considering that he had been sent to kill her. But the shock of seeing that person in the balcony combined with the impact of the hard floor had cleared almost everything that had passed last evening from his mind, right down to his introductions to the palace staff and the princess. Vaguely, he felt irritated that he could no longer remember the face that he was supposed to remove.

"Who are you?" he repeated, giving her a little shake to break the reverie that she had apparently fallen into.

"I am…" she hesitated. What should she say? A wild idea had formed in her head. She had always been the cosseted Princess Sakura. After Tsubasa's behavior at yesterday's meeting , she could tell that the guard around her would be doubled by tonight. Sometimes she longed to break free, to…to just be herself. To be Mikan, not Princess Sakura. What should she say? If she told him her real name he would probably bow and scrape like the rest of them, she thought. So definitely not Princess Sakura. Should she say Mikan? No, one of the old palace maids who like to gossip would probably tell him the truth soon…then what about…

"Yuka" she said, adopting her mother's name.

"Took you long enough. Tell me, is everything about you defective? Your hearing, your face and now it turns out, even your memory?"

"Aarrggh! You irritating boy!" she said flouncing off.

Natsume inwardly smiled a little. She looked so cute when she was annoyed. Wait, what the hell was he thinking? Cute? But still he felt intrigued enough to ask one of the old kitchen maids about her later that day.

"Ehhh? What did you say?" said the old woman, holding an ear trumpet close to her ear.

"WHO IS YUKA?" shouted Natsume for the tenth time.

"No need to shout, I'm not deaf, you know"

"Alright, fine. No need to get offended"

"Ehhhh?"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION FOR GOD'S SAKE!" he screamed, finally losing patience.

"Rude I call it, shouting at a poor old woman like me. Anyway, to answer your precious question, yes, we do have a maid with that name here. She's in charge of cleaning the Princess's bedroom"

"I see" said Natsume She was probably well-paid for taking care of the princess and was perhaps something of a companion to her, which would explain her fine clothing, he thought. Perhaps cultivating her acquaintance would help him get closer to Princess Sakura. After all that was the main reason that he as here…..

He sighed, thinking of the distasteful job that lay ahead of him.

After he left, a group of giggling maids who doubled as his fan-girls requested the old woman to tell them what their idol had been asking her about.

"Ehhhh?"

"WHAT WAS NATSUME ASKING YOU ABOUT?"

"Oh that boy. Honestly, I just don't understand why young people theses days shout so much. This generation had no manners, why in my day we…"

"JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION FOR GOD'S SAKE!"

"Hmpf. He was asking about Suka"

"Suka?" said his chief fan-girl Sumire, astonished. Suka was an old woman and had been the princess's maid for as long as anyone could remember. She was about 70 years old, a hunch-back and thin as a stick. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________

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