Prologue
Happiness doesn't always last, just as love doesn't always stay
"Mum, where's Dad?"
"He's working Mikan, you know that."
I did know, but I was still anxious anyway. I always was. I was only 10 at the time, all innocent and bubbly, what my friends will call me energetic. I was just leaving the house to go and play with my best friend, Imai Hotaru. I didn't know my life was going to change then. Because I was "special", as my parents would tell me, I had no idea that people were after me. So, I walked to Hotaru's house, feeling very happy since it was the summer holidays. But when I got back, I knew something was wrong. I could hear Mum crying in the living room. Alarmed, I ran through to see what the matter was.
"Mum? Mum! What's wrong? Why're you crying?" I was scared, I didn't know what to do.
Then my Mum, Yuka, gave me the biggest bombshell I've ever known.
"Mikan, Dad is dead. Some very bad people killed him. They have found us, so we have to move."
What? Dad couldn't be dead. There was just no way, it was impossible. Shocked, I was frozen to my place. Suddenly, the door was broken off its hinges and men in black came barging in.
"Give us the child and no one gets hurt!" someone yelled.
I was still scared. I was only 10, I didn't know what to do.
"Mikan! Come here now!"
I did as I was told. It was all I could do to obey Mum's instructions, terrified as I was. She reached out for me and I went into the safe circle of her arms, knowing that she would protect me if Dad was gone. I suddenly had this very strange feeling that I was drifting. Drifting, floating, what ever you wanted to call it. I looked down at my hands just to make sure that I wasn't floating. Instead, I found that I was fading. Fading into nothing, and Mum was doing the same. What was happening? I turned wide eyes on Mum, who just soothed me as she always does.
"Everything's fine. I'm teleporting us to a safer place, where they won't find us." She murmured in my ear.
I looked back at the men in black suits. They were looking everywhere for us, but apparently, they couldn't see us. Because at that very moment, we were teleported away. Yes, my mother, Yuka Azumi, had the Alice of Teleportation and also the Stealing and Insertion Alice. And on that day, I also found out that I was an Alice too…