Chapter One: Into the Woods...

Written by: DreamerofClouds

***

Author's Note:

Hello, my darlings! Hope you guys are doing great and your summer - so far - is mother-freakin-tastic XD!! I just got the idea of writing this story the other day, after playing a demo game that one of my friends made, based on Alice in Wonderland. And it got me thinking, that would actually be a really cool story line! So, I hope you guys enjoy!

Love you all!

P.S. For my Hisoka/Illumi lovers, Chapter 10 is still under some major edits and I still need to write about 1/2 of it, so please be patient. I will post that up as soon as it's done. 

Sincerely,

DreamerofClouds

***

It was a boring day.

It was a really boring, shitty day.

I sat in my desk, doodling a bunch of random characters around the edges of my notes. So far, I had drawn Godzilla over here, a Chewbacca over there, and a fattened Pikachu that trumped them all on top of the page.

It still didn't distract me long enough from my boredom.

Sighing, I finally looked up for the first time since the beginning of class and stared out the window. The school security guard had just arrived at his post and his helpers had pushed the gates open. The sky had darkened to a deep red, as if it had bled from some unforeseen cut.

All indications that school was about to be over.

Not soon enough, I thought.

As if agreeing with me, my classmates began whispering and talking to each other, completely ignoring what the English teacher, Katsurou-sensei, was saying. Random blurbs of weekend plans and homework pains.

Really, there was only a handful of girls that paid attention – and they were the snotty, heavily-wearing make-up ones that just wanted to flirt with Katsurou-sensei and get in his pants.

Which was disgusting, by the way.

Don't get me wrong. Katsurou-sensei was attractive, what with his 6 foot 2 inch tall stature, his muscular frame and his mischievous/cheesy smile; but, he was still a teacher.

Definitely off limits.

"With that being said," Katsurou-sensei clapped his book shut and set it atop his table. "I will not assign homework for tonight. However, do think about why literature – specifically 'Alice in Wonderland' is relevant to your everyday life."

A uniform groan worked its way across the room.

The loudest one being from me.

For the past two weeks, we had been discussing the complexities of English author Lewis Carrol's work "Alice in Wonderland." The crackpot tale of a girl being kidnapped by a rabbit and made to paint red roses.

I mean, how the hell is that literature?

If anything, it was a piece of –

"Oh, don't be like that," Katsurou-sensei pouted, sticking out his bottom lip. "I promise you. Once you find the answer to your question, you'll be set to take the exam. It's not that hard."

The bell rang.

"Have a great weekend!"

Most of the students began to pack their stuff and shove themselves out the door. Pushing each other like friggin' idiots.

Some students – a group of girls – stayed behind so they could talk to Katsurou-sensei. Asked him about maybe giving some private tutoring for the upcoming test.

I couldn't help but roll my eyes. They're pathetic...

Standing up, I began stuffing my backpack with the homework and textbooks I needed to bring, and slung the strap over my head and across my chest. I looked around to see if there was any way of getting out from the maze of students and desks; but, by the looks of it, I had a better chance of climbing on from desk to desk.

Such a pain in the ass, I thought.

"Miko~chan~!!"

Suddenly, someone tackled me from behind. I didn't have to look behind or hear his voice twice to figure out who it was: Usagi Hakudoshi (last, first).

My childhood best friend.

Also one of the few loud, obnoxious people I tolerated. But even then, that was on a good day.

"Get off me," I muttered. Placing my hand on top of his arm, I pulled him off and turned to face him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

"About 352 times this year," he responded. "If you count how long we've known each other, then about 5,500 times."

I gave him a droll, irate stare.

With long, messy, tousled blonde hair, big brown eyes and cheeky grin, Haku scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Sorry, Miko-chan," he apologized. "You know, I can't help myself. When I see you I have to do it."

He threw his arms around me again.

"It's a habit!"

I scoffed. "Whatever."

"Aw, come on now," Letting go, Haku put on his best 'you-love-me' stance and smirked. "You don't have to be all grumpy around me."

...But I was.

So, I began walking away from him.

Haku's smug smirk fell and was replaced with feigned offence. "Mayonaka, Kimiko-chan! You did not just walk away from me!"

"I just did," I replied bluntly, not bothering to look back. "Idiot."

"Hey, don't call me an idiot!" He jogged up behind me and clung on to my backpack like a very needy girl. "And don't walk away either! Good golly, why are you so mean?!"

I'm not, I thought to myself. I just don't have the energy to deal with you...

After somehow finding a way through our hellhole of a classroom, we were stuck again. Right by the doorway.

Where the same group of brainless Barbie girls were fawning over Katsurou-sensei.

Why they had to be in the doorway, I don't know.

But it irritated the heck out of me.

Why can't you people fall in love with him somewhere else? Like a dark, bottomless pit or something.

The least they could do was leave enough room for me to squeeze through. I'm not that fat, anyway.

Behind me, Haku wrapped his arms around my waist and rest his chin on my shoulder. "Hey, guys," he said, putting on his cutest pleading look. "Do you mind moving out of the way? Miko-chan and I wanna go."

Barbie #1 and Barbie #2 looked over at us, gave us a disgusted once over and then turned back to playfully suck ass at flirting with our English teacher.

Haku pouted.

"Well, they're stupid," he whispered.

"Yeah," I said back.

This is why I never waste my breath on talking to them about anything. The last time I did was when we were in Calculus/math class and I had to explain to three of the Barbie wanna-be's that the pound sign was not a "hashtag."

"Oh, Mayonaka-san," Katsurou-sensei kindly cut off one of the girls and turned to me. "You're here."

I nodded. Thanks for noticing...

"Listen," Katsurou-sensei said. "I actually need to talk to you for a bit. Do you mind staying behind until everyone leaves?"

The whole Barbie gang turned their heads to look at me. It was really freaky. I mean, it was like I was in a horror movie and the possessed dolls decided to make me their lucky target.

They bore their beady eyes into my skull.

I simply avoided their gaze.

No point in trying to prove them wrong. They would just get angry and still find a way to turn the whole situation against me.

Behind me, I could feel Haku's grip tighten protectively.

"Mayonaka-san?" Katsurou-sensei tilted his head. "Is that okay?"

"...Sure," I said.

"Great!"

More glares.

I wiggled out of Haku's grasp and sat down in the nearest desk. For a sec, Haku pouted from our break of contact and took a seat next to me, but not before he secretively flipped the girls off and made a stanky face at them.

Which didn't really help my case.

So troublesome.

Setting my backpack down on the ground, I let out a frustrated sigh and banged my head against the table.

It hurt.

More bearable than the Barbie's laser beam eyes, I thought to myself, slowly getting over the dull pain.

Beside me, Haku poked me shoulder.

"Hey, Miko-chan," he said. "You there?"

"No," I responded, voice muffled by the hard wooden desk. "Go away."

"Not until you tell me why you're not talking," he poked my shoulder three times. "So, lift your head up, darling dear, and talk to your sweet hubby."

"Ew," I scowled. "Stop talking like that."

"Like what?" he asked innocently.

"Like we're a couple," I muttered. "You are not my hubby, and I am not your darling. Is that clear?"

"Whatever you say, darling!" he chirped.

...I figured as much. There was no getting through to that thick-ass skull of his. I don't know what it is, but Haku always had this annoying habit of giving me pet names and being lovey-dovey. It's not like we were a couple or anything.

"So," he began.

I kept silent. "..."

"Are you doing anything after school today?" he asked.

Still silent. "..."

"You're not, right?" He said, trying so hard to keep the non-existent conversation going. "In that case, let's hang out together!"

"No," I said instantaneously. "No way in hell."

"But why?!" he crossed his arms.

Again, I didn't respond. "..."

Haku puffed his cheeks – something he did whenever I got on his nerves. And that was frequently.

"I really wanna hang out after, though!" he whined. "You don't have a choice in the matter, Miko-chan. Okay?"

"Shut up," I muttered.

"You responded!" He cheered, throwing his hands up in the air as another grin broke across his face. "I will take that as a yes!"

I banged my head against the table again. Don't make up answers for me, idiot...

The bright 16-year-old boy began going on about a bunch of activities he wanted to do. Mostly about going to this old playground we constantly played at when we were kids. He was so insistent too.

Ranting on about the beauty of childhood memories and how they have to be relished. I swear, every time he got like this, I felt like someone took a handful of sunshine and tried to stuff it down my throat.

Luckily enough, Katsurou-sensei came to the rescue.

"Sorry for the wait, Mayonaka-san," Katsurou-sensei apologized after finishing his conversation with his group of admirers. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."

Haku pouted.

Another thing about the Usagi child, he never liked our English teacher much. I asked him about it once and he said he just got the "heebee-jeebees" around him.

Talk about stupid reasoning.

"Hmph!" Haku exclaimed. "Can't you do anything about those annoying girls? They're always blocking the way out."

"Oh, Usagi-san," Katsurou-sensei laughed. "I'm sure they don't mean to be in the way."

"Sure," Haku replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just like the taxonomy table is labelled wrong and I'm actually a platypus."

"Well, you could be," Katsurou-sensei responded playfully. "If you remember today's message of what Lewis Carroll was trying to get across to his readers, what you are is completely up to your mind."

He gave my best friend a significant look.

"Do you believe you're a platypus, Usagi-san?"

"...no..." A small stress mark throbbed on Haku's head before he turned away. "I don't like English class anyway."

Satisfied that he got the best of his student, Katsuro-sensei smiled yet again and looked at me. "Shall we go to my office, Mayonaka-san?"

I shrugged. "Okay..."

Just as I was getting up, Haku blocked the way. Arms spread-eagle, he acted like some human meat shield.

"Why can't you just say it here, sensei?" he asked, a little too demanding. "Why does she need to go to your office?"

"Because," Katsurou-sensei said, unfazed by his rudeness. "This is a matter of grades and privacy. I don't think it is right to discuss something confidential out in the open."

"But there's no one here," Haku argued, gesturing to the classroom. Just as he said, the three of us were the only ones in the lonely, but messy classroom. "Might as well say it now."

"I can't," Katsurou-sensei shook his head. "You're here, Usagi-san."

"So what?" Haku shot back. "I'm her best friend. I've been with her longer than you have, and I deserve the right to know everything about her!"

I bit the inside of my lip out of habit. There he goes again...

Another annoying habit of Haku's: clinging on to me. As if everything concerning me had some relevant impact in his life.

"Haku," I said with a dangerous undertone. "Move."

"But –"

I stepped on his toes.

My best friend, being the loud-mouth that he was, yelped like a little girl and grabbed hold of his foot. He hopped around like a helpless little bunny, much reflective of his last name.

"Miko~chan!!" he looked at me helplessly. "Why did you –"

I squeezed past him.

As a result, Haku – who had been a little too close – lost his balance and fell on his butt.

"Let's go," I muttered under my breath and quickly walking out of the room before the said stupefied blondie could get up and stalk me again. Katsurou-sensei didn't waste a second as he turned on his heel and caught up to me.

***

We managed to lose Haku.

Granted, it took five minutes; but, hey, at least we shook him off. Right now, Katsurou-sensei and I were walking outside the courtyard, where a couple clubs were doing their exercise. I figured outside was probably safer than in Katsurou-sensei's office, where my stalker could find me.

"So," I said, slowing down my pace so the 25-year old teacher could talk to me properly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Your quiz, actually," Katsurou-sensei said. "I was wondering if you could explain this to me."

He pulled out a half-a-sheet paper with a several words circled in red ink and a tangent of question marks all over the page.

I stared at it, unblinking. "What about it?"

"Your responses," he slipped the paper into my hands so I could get a closer look. "I understand that 'Alice in Wonderland' can be a hard novel to stomach; but, even so, I don't think these words are quite...appropriate."

I raised a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"Really?" I asked. "I personally think 'bullshit', 'crackpot' and 'high on meth' accurately describe the story."

There was no way in hell someone could get this creative and colorful without indulging in a couple doses of drugs.

I could sense – practically feel – Katsurou-sensei's disapproval eeking out from behind his twitchy smile. And, just as he opened his mouth and I thought he was going to criticize me, he said: "Try thinking about Carroll's work from a different perspective. What message is he giving you?"

I had to bite my lip and prevent myself from saying something stupid. Like, "Don't do drugs, kids," or "Follow Stranger-Danger rules."

When I didn't respond, Katsurou-sensei continued.

"You know, Alice in Wonderland actually brings up one of the most important questions we could ever consider asking ourselves in Chapter 2," He paused for dramatic effect. "Who in the world am I?"

...

...

...

Yeah, really awkward, cheesy silence.

I didn't know how to respond to that; not to the question, but to his failed attempt in dramatic arts.

"So, Mayonaka-san," he said, when he saw me starting to go off into a daze. (Totally not imagining him as a dead-beat, last-rate actor in some kid's show about tying shoe-laces). "Who in the world are you?"

"Me?" I asked.

"Yes," He nodded. "You."

I didn't hesitate to answer next: "I am 16-year-old Mayonaka, Kimiko – a high school student who attends Seichuun Gakuen and really hates people."

His eyes narrowed. "Are you sure about that?"

Again, I had to bite my lip and resist the urge to lash out my super-sarcasm. Something I usually reserve for the Barbie dolls and Ken posers.

I mean, of course I know who I am. Who the hell doesn't know who they are? It's not like I was some refugee who swam here from a different continent and changed my name so the bounty hunters couldn't find me.

That would be ridiculous.

When Katsurou-sensei saw that I wasn't responding – at least, not any time soon, and not with anything sarcastic-free – he clapped his hands together and gave me a close-eyed smiled.

"Well, in any case," he said, sweetly. "I think I've kept you here long enough."

"Yeah..." I managed to reply.

"You should go back to your friend," he continued on. "I'm sure Usagi-san is turning the whole school upside down, looking for you."

Just as he said that, Haku's head popped out of the second-floor window, directly above us. He scowled.

"Oi, Miko~chan!!" he yelled. "Stay right there! Don't you dare fudgin' move! You hear me?! Don't you fudgin' dare fudgin' move!!"

He disappeared inside the building, rushing down the halls and stairs at God-knows-what-speed. I glared at Katsurou-sensei.

Dammit, I thought. I was actually planning on going home alone...

Have a nice, peaceful walk without any loud-mouths shouting in my ear and berating me with questions about, "Why did you leave me?"

But no.

This guy had to jinx it.

Screw you, I cursed.

Slightly adjusting the strap across my chest, I huffed and walked past Katsurou-sensei. Planning to just ignore him fully for the rest of the school year. As of now, he was dead to me.

Just as I was about to pass him, his hand grabbed hold of my arm. His touch sent sudden shivers down my spine, and I couldn't help but shudder. Looking up, I saw that he had a very mischievous glint in his eyes.

Almost...devilish...

"By the way, Mayonaka-san?" Katsurou-sensei said, this time, his tone somewhat off. "You should be careful going home."

"What?" I muttered.

"The woods aren't friendly around this time of the day," he said. "Don't you think?"

Before I could ask for anymore, he let go, scratched the back of his head and laughed jokingly. "Oh, I'm sorry," he apologized, personality a complete 180 from half a second ago. "I'm just worried about your safety, is all."

"What?" I repeated, still trying to process what happened. Again, his mood change was so quick, I found myself asking his strange message scenario had really happened.

He walked away.

"Take care, Mayonaka-san!"

***

Haku was rushing out of the foot-locker area, just as I passed its doorway. Heavy panting, sweat dripping, he looked every bit disgusting as a crushed Twinkie.

"Miko-chan!" he gushed, throwing his arms wide open. "I am here now! Come embrace me, my darling!!"

I walked past the nutcase.

He cried.

"M-Miko-chan," he said, all disheartened and droopy when I didn't acknowledge his presence. "Why aren't you hugging your hubby?"

I rolled my eyes. There he goes again with the nicknames...

Is he ever going to stop?

Then, I felt a small tug on my back. The familiar sensation of Haku gripping on to my backpack and following me like a little kid.

I let him hang on and kept walking.

About half a minute of silence passed before the blonde opened his mouth again, to disrupt my peaceful evening.

"Miko-chan," he said, whining very apparent. "Are you mad at me?"

I continued up the road. "..."

"You are mad at me," he whimpered.

Again, continued up. "..."

"Why are you mad at me?"

Sigh.

"Haku –" I began, just before he threw his arms around my shoulder and hugged me tightly from behind. He buried his face right at the crook of my neck.

"I don't like it when you're mad at me," he muttered, needy. "Please don't be?"

A small guilty feeling worked its way from the pit of my stomach and up my throat. Clingy and overprotective as Haku might be, he was still my best friend. All of his nicknames and hugging may have been annoying; but, it was nothing I couldn't tolerate.

Releasing another sigh, I reached up and ruffled his hair a bit.

He looked up at me, shyly.

"...Fine," I mumbled. "Just...calm, okay?"

"Okay!!" He threw his arms up in the air and began dancing around me like a happy fairy princess. "You're not mad at me, you're not mad at me –"

I tripped him.

He pouted.

"Don't do that," I muttered, running a hand through my hair and walking away. "The neighbors will think you're crazy."

"But you still love me, right?" he asked, hopping back on his feet and rebounding like the Energizer Bunny. "You do, right?"

"Sure," I shrugged.

"YATTA!!" he punched the air excitedly.

I began walking away from him at that point. Heads began popping out from neighboring houses' windows so they could see what the whole commotion was about outside. Haku quickly noticed what was going on and bowed to all of them apologetically, before dashing down the road to catch up.

***

So, I ended up giving into Haku's request.

We reached the old playground around six o'clock. Nobody was in sight; the place had been abandoned a long time ago when a kid had disappeared from it and was never found. Most people took it as a sign of bad karma.

I took it as a sign of peace and quiet.

I sat down in one of the low-hung swings. The chains creaked and groaned as they used the last bit of their strength to hold me up.

Haku took a seat next to me, swinging slightly.

Not even one second after he did, he clapped his hands excitedly and threw his arms up. "Let's play a game!" he exclaimed. "What about hide and seek?"

I shook my head. "Too much work."

Plus, we're not little kids anymore. It would feel weird trying to play a kindergartener's favorite past time, while we were young adults.

"No, it's not," Haku puffed his cheeks. "It's exactly what you need after a long, hard day of school!"

"Exhaustion?" I asked.

"Relaxation!" he replied.

Pushing himself off of the swing, he stood up in front of me and placed his hands on his hips. Like a really happy-to-be-in-command type of girl.

"The rules are simple," he said, grinning widely. "I hide and you come find me. Okay?"

I rolled my eyes. "Everyone knows that, idiot."

"So you'll do it?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Great!"

What...?

"In that case, close your eyes and count to ten," he grabbed my hands and placed them on top of my eyes against my will. "No peeking, got that?"

I tried to pull my hands off, only to have them slapped back on.

"I said no peeking~!" the 16 year old blond repeated.

I sighed.

"This is stupid," I told him, though complying with his request to cover my eyes. "Why are we playing this game?"

"..."

No response.

Which was more fun.

"Haku," I called out to him. "Can we just not do this?"

"..."

Still no response.

Sliding the palms of my hands off my face, I blinked and looked around. Haku was nowhere in sight. To be honest, I was a little bit surprised.

And impressed.

Not that I would tell him.

How'd he hide so quickly? I wonder to myself.

As far as I could tell, he was nowhere in the playground. Not like there was much to hide in in the playground anyway. Just a couple seesaws, a jungle gym, a slide and a merry-go-round. At the far end of a corner, there was the blacktop area for basketball, which had no basket hoop and a kickball area with barely-legible paths.

"I don't want to do this," I grumbled, pushing myself off the swing set and began wandering around.

Again, there was nowhere for him to hide. He was a really big guy, only a couple inches shorter than Katsurou-sensei. So, no way would he fit in the tube slide – the only possible place that could serve as a hiding spot.

At this point, it had been about 10 minutes.

And I was starting to lose my patience.

I really don't want to do this, I repeated to myself, looking up at the tube slide for the nth time in a row.

Straightening up, I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted. "Haku! I give up!! Where the hell are you?!"

No response.

"Haku!"

Nothing.

"Haku!"

Nope.

"I'm leaving you!" I said this part the loudest, hoping he would hear my words from wherever the hell he was hiding. "Bye!"

...Creeeaaaak...

I jumped.

Slightly surprised from the sudden sound, I looked over and saw the wire gate, which was connected to the wire fence that ran across the edges of the playground, was open. It swung about, to and fro, despite the fact that there was no wind blowing.

My eye twitched. Creepy...

Even more so, was the fact that I couldn't remember the last time that gate, which was at the very back corner of the playground, was opened.

If memory serves me right, they county administrators had permanently locked that gate because that was where a couple of kids saw the missing child from years ago walk through to go into the woods; only to never return from said woods.

I kept staring at it. Why the hell would it be open?

Then, I realized.

"Don't tell me," I muttered, walking closer to the gate and examining the ground. Sure enough, there were fresh foot prints on the ground – a size 11 – that had Haku's bottom shoe imprints. "You have got to be kidding me..."

Of course that idiot would do something this stupid, I thought, running a hand through my hair. Only he could ignore the signs 'Prohibited' and 'Imminent Danger' when it was written and scrawled in big, bold letters in front of him.

It was just so...Haku of him.

I stared at the woods.

I took a couple steps forward.

An uneasy feeling welled its way from the pit of my stomach. Just being near this place sent shivers down my spine. As if my body knew that something bad, something terrible was going to pop out and scare me.

Careful of the woods, a voice said in the back of my head.

I scowled.

I made a mental note to mind-fnck Katsurou-sensei next time I see him. 'Cause his advice was, in no way, helping me at all.

Do I go in after Haku, or do I not? It was honestly a hard choice. But, before I could decide on it, the wire gate slammed shut behind me.

I yelped. "Ah!"

Turning around, I tried to get the wire gate opened; but, with my luck, it was stuck. The lock was broken and the wires were much too entangled with other wires for it to unfasten easily.

"What the hell..." I muttered under my breath.

After a couple minutes of trying to get the gate open, I gave up.

Looking over my shoulder, I faced the woods. It was cold, dark and dreary. Although it was still light outside, I could barely make out the small trail that led to God knows where.

"Screw it," I cursed.

Tightening my bag strap across my chest, I brushed my hair back and rushed in. If I was going to go look for Haku, I was going to do it as quickly as possible. The less time I spent in this creepy-ass forest, the better.

Determined, I stomped straight into the forest.

You better be dead when I find you, Hakudoshi, I said, emitting scary brain power. 'Cause if you're not, you will be...

***

Someone Else's Point of View

***

"Oh my, my, my," the tall, brown-haired 25-years old man shook his head, a mischievous grin spread across his face. "It looks like she didn't take my advice after all. Isn't that a shame, Kuro~chan?"

I scowled. "You weren't exactly clear about it."

"True," he said. "But, then again, it's sort of hard to miss the phrase, 'careful of the woods,' isn't it?"

I remained silent.

"If anything," the 25 year old man continued on. "Mayonaka-san is a bit stupid."

I took my tanto – a small samurai blade – out from my pocket and held it at his throat. Narrowing my eyes, I gave him a warning look.

"Shut up," I hissed.

He merely chuckled, completely carefree.

I dug the blade in even deeper. The sharp edge had cut his skin, deep enough that blood should have sputtered out and dribbled down the side of his neck.

Instead, it remained clean. I wasn't surprised. Heartless beings never bled.

"I could kill you," I whispered, seething. "Very easily."

"I know you can, Kuro-chan," he said, making no move whatsoever to move my blade out of his jugular. "But you won't."

"And what makes you think that?" I asked, my eyes never leaving his.

He didn't answer; he merely smiled. In the dimming light, I could see a slight tinge of madness in his eyes.

It made my skin crawl.

With anger.

Heaving out a heavy sigh, I retracted the tanto from his neck and pocketed it away. Brushing two of his fingers up against the cut, he slid it across the slit, making a small zipper noise as he sealed his wound.

He clapped his hands together, cheery.

"Let's go, Kuro-chan!"

With that, he walked towards the corner of the playground, where the wire gate had slammed shut. Jamming my fists into my pockets, I followed him.

i