The Butterfly Effect

Chapter 1

Summary: Hotaru left for Gakuen Alice, leaving behind a distraught Mikan. In order to find her best friend again, Mikan steals her grandfather's savings and runs away to Tokyo. However, she knows nothing about this new city and unwittingly becomes part of a tragic accident. Meanwhile, Hotaru misses her friend Mikan, and cannot even send her letters without them being thoroughly checked. When she herself receives one, half a year after her enrolment, telling her that her best friend is dead, how will she react? More importantly, what happened to Mikan? WARNING: Possible character death.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Rating: T

A/N: Yes, I know I should be working on Chapter 5 of Music & Magic, but once again I have writer's block. This idea came to me a few weeks ago, so I decided to write it before I lost the idea…Enjoy! And also, please review (I don't mind flames; as long as I don't get too burnt xD Constructive criticism would be better; that way I can improve for your benefit :D) And now let the story begin...

'Dear Jii-chan,

I'm sorry, I had to leave. I will explain later.

Love from,

Mikan'

The old man looked with a mixed expression that was mainly worry, at the letter than his granddaughter had left only a day ago. He hoped she was alright. Mikan's friend had been transferred to Gakuen Alice half a year ago, and the stupid girl had run away to find her. He can't say it was totally unexpected though; that girl was known for doing things without thinking forward.

He slowly moved outside and looked up to the sky, to the sun that was almost covered by clouds. As he prayed for his granddaughter's safety, his hands were shaking slightly and his eyes were beginning to fill with water. He could only hope that he would get help from the gods to keep his granddaughter Mikan safe.

In the middle of the city of Tokyo, a girl danced through the crowd, 'ohh'-ing and 'ahh'-ing at almost everything she saw. Her brunette pigtails danced around her face with her movement and her hazel eyes were wide with amazement. Compared to the people around her, she was dressed quite simply with a plain pink halter neck top and a white pleated skirt. In her hands she held many bags, all with different place names on them, and a couple of boxes of sweets. She had bought souvenirs for when she would finally meet up with her best friend Hotaru. This girl was Mikan Sakura, currently a run-away.

Munching on a sweet dumpling she had taken from one of the boxes, she looked around, finally becoming aware of her surroundings, and realising that…she was totally lost. She looked around and saw that a group of people were waiting to cross the road. She approached the group and saw that most of them were holding briefcases or messenger bags, and were wearing suits or business uniforms. She was a little thrown back by this, as people in her small town never dressed like this.

She looked up and saw a red man flashing on a sign. As she looked at it, it changed to green, and she noticed all the people swarming across the busy road. Following behind the group, she didn't watch out for traffic, thinking it was safe to cross. However, as she had followed the last person, she didn't notice that the light had changed back to the red man. This meaning, she also didn't notice the silver car speeding towards her. The driver in the silver car had been busily writing the end of a presentation that they had needed for the day. They had not seen the young, overwhelmed brunette girl, when they had looked up. Only the green light.

Mikan heard the squeaking tyres and barely had time to turn around, not even registering what was happening before her world turned black…

2 Days Later…

"Ohayo Hotaru-chan!" a pink haired girl waved from a table to the right area of the cafeteria. With her was a girl with dark blue hair, both with huge smiles on their faces. The girl they referred to was also known as the ice queen of the school. She had raven black hair and amethyst eyes that remained emotionless. Upon hearing the girls' greeting she looked over at their table and with a tiny, barely noticeable shrug, she made her way to the table.

She sat down in the seat they had pointed out, her face remaining emotionless. From behind her a pink robot, commonly known as Takahashi, placed her large breakfast in front of her. Hotaru stared at her plate, not even saying thank you. The wavy pink haired girl that had called her over and had light blue eyes and was called Anna Umenomiya, while the girl with straight dark blue hair and the same eyes was called Nonoko Ogasawara. They were both friends of the ice queen, whose real name was Hotaru Imai.

All three were in attendance at a school known as 'Gakuen Alice'. This school was run by the government, and it gathered all kids who had special born abilities called 'Alices'. Once inside the academy, kids were allowed no contact with the outside world. Only honour students gained the privilege to see their families for one week. Some students (not those under surveillance or those who were 'troublemakers') were allowed to contact family through letters. Hotaru's parents had tried for years to keep her away from the academy, so she wouldn't be taken away. She had been transferred to many schools eventually ending up in the same small town as Mikan.

As that town had been such a small one it was much easier to hide from the government officials that were looking from them there. Hotaru had lived there two years, but in the last year, the small school that was the only one in the area was becoming low on funding and all the students would soon have to commute to the schools in Tokyo. Seeing the depression on Mikan's face at hearing this, and her determination to keep the school from closing down, Hotaru willingly allowed herself to be sent to Gakuen Alice. How would this help? Well, when a student was enrolled at the academy, their families were given a large sum of money.

Hotaru, not knowing how to show her emotions, did not want to leave Mikan and had never had any intention to, but in the end, decided it was for the best as she'd end up at the academy most likely anyway. Upon arriving at the school she was allowed no contact with the outside; of which she had known in advance. However, even after working her hardest for the past half a year, and finally gaining the 'privilege' to send letters, she could still only send them after they were thoroughly scanned and checked, meaning almost no letters were ever actually sent.

Hotaru picked up her fork and stabbed a bit of bacon onto it, lifting it to her mouth, only to be interrupted as Takahashi returned. Turning around to glare at the robot (Important rule; never interrupt Hotaru while she is eating) she noticed the robot holding a letter. "Imai, this letter has been passed to me by Narumi-sensei. He wished it to be sent directly to you".

Without losing her demeanour, Hotaru showed confusion only slightly in her eyes as she stared at Takahashi. Letters were only ever given out to students once a week. The last lot had been delivered two days ago, meaning that the next delivery shouldn't be for another five days or so. She took the letter out of the robot's hand, noticing a slight bit of solemness and sadness in the robot's eyes as she did so.

Takahashi instantly moved away, onto some other menial task no doubt, and Hotaru was left to stare at the letter in her hands. She could feel the eyes of her two friends, Anna and Nonoko, on her as she pulled a letter opener out of her pocket and opened the envelope, containing a very official looking piece of paper. Sliding the paper out of its envelope, she began to read…

'To Hotaru Imai-san,

We have been informed of your friendship with Mikan Sakura and must inform you of some grave news. '

At this, Hotaru's hands began shaking, like she already knew what it was going to say next. Anna and Nonoko began to look worried as Hotaru continued reading.

'Two days ago Mikan Sakura was involved in a tragic traffic accident on one of the main roads of Tokyo. Paramedics arrived as quickly as possible; however, there was nothing that could be done to save the girl.

We are extremely sorry to have to inform you, that Mikan Sakura has passed away.'

There was no message at the bottom saying who the letter was from, but it was not necessary. All Hotaru could think about were those last words in the letter. 'Mikan Sakura has passed away'. They echoed in her head. Before she knew it, she could feel water in her eyes and her whole body began to shake. This had never happened before. It was not like her to show emotion like this.

Before everyone could start asking what was wrong, she ran. Hotaru Imai, Gakuen Alice's one and only, blackmailing ice queen, ran from the cafeteria, with tears spilling down her face as she went. Anna and Nonoko looked at each other and both stood up, following after their friend and wondering what could have caused this reaction from her.

A breeze drifted through the curtains on the window, causing them to flutter. The same breeze lifted the hair on a brunette's face, as she lay in bed. Her eyes were closed, and she made no movement except the uneven rising and falling of her chest. Her head was covered in bandages, and her hair was loose, now covering her face from the earlier breeze.

Everything around her was white; the bed, the sheets, the curtains, the walls and even the floor. It just screamed hospital. On the end of her bed hung a chart, showing various charts and the closest one stating one important piece of information.

'Name: Mikan Sakura'

And that is all for the first chapter of my new story~ I hope you liked it, and I'm sorry for the semi-cliffhanger. This is more like a prologue then a first chapter... but anyway, please review :)

~Singing Alice