Yearbook Day

Disclaimer: The author rightfully respects the genius of Tachibana Higuchi, creator of Gakuen Alice.

Author's Note: When there was a lull in my schoolwork, I was surprised that this was the story I wanted to write. Set before All in a Day's Work and years after After This. Cross reference with Ten Years to Date.

I flipped the pages of the yearbook I was holding and immediately smooth cursives and ineligible scrawls leapt out of the glossy pages.

Thanks for everything.

Hope you stay the same!

I wish you all the best in life.

Don't ever change.

I smiled wistfully and wondered how many of them really meant what they wrote. Perhaps, in the frenzy of exchanging yearbooks, they just wrote down the first cliché that came to mind. Did 'everything' cover all that they were grateful for? When they told their friend 'not to change', were they aware of what they were asking? What did the 'best in life' entail?

I went through the book without really reading it. Then I paused to run a hand down one dedication that seemed to jump out higher than the rest.

Always keep in touch.

That request proved harder than I thought. The last time I saw anyone from the gang was five or six years ago. I've been away from them that long.

Today was a Wednesday, the middle of the work week. However, instead of being inside the cosmetics lab, I was sitting at a coffeehouse that was well outside my district and flipping through a yearbook that wasn't even mine. Why was I here? There's a good story behind that; one that I hope to be able to tell my friends one day without feeling so miserable.

A supermodel had tried to bully me into giving her a formula that would add bounce to her hair. When I refused to pay her any attention she actually played a childish trick and switched the labels of the ingredients in my lab. Luckily, my Chemistry Alice tipped me off. If a less capable chemist had been involved, a small mushroom cloud could've easily erupted on top of our office tower.

Needless to say, this pissed me off.

"You can't Miss Nonoko!" my assistant cried when she saw that I was angry enough to concoct a mixture that would spell doomsday for the chicken-legged blonde. "She's a client!"

"Didn't she know how dangerous that was?" I started throwing random liquids and powders into a large beaker. "She could've seriously hurt someone!"

"Miss Nonoko, you have to calm down. I'm sure she was just being playful. Please, relax," she begged when the tonic gave a small pop then turned into a mysterious green hue. "Don't, don't hurt her."

"I'm not going to hurt her," I said soothingly as I stirred the liquid. "In fact, I'm going to give her exactly what she wants— extra bouncy hair."

I think that may have scared my assistant even more.

So I finished my special gift and gave the supermodel a unique shampoo under the pretense of goodwill. She was elated; that was until she woke up the next day and found that her hair had not only grown ridiculously voluminous but had also turned into an ugly shade of puce. She was hysterical and I became an office hero. The formula wore off after two days and so in the end no harm was done and she didn't sue. In short, that concoction was a worthy Alice prank.

Instead of feeling satisfied, this incident became sort of an epiphany because I realized that I had purposely committed my first mistake in my three-year career— and it was my proudest moment.

That's why I decided to call in sick this morning. That's why I turned my car around and took a two-hour drive away from my office, thirty kilometres away from my apartment. And it made me feel better than I had in months. I didn't know where I was going but it felt liberating to be headed in the opposite direction.

When I finally stopped, I ended up in front of a quaint coffeehouse. I went inside and ordered a simple cup of coffee. I selected a table for two near the window then got ready to will away the time by flipping through random books in the shop's library; like this dog-eared yearbook.

Hope you have a nice life!

Good luck in all your endeavours.

Luck, I realized wryly, only had five percent to do with whatever "success" I was experiencing now. The more relevant factor had always been my Alice.

I reached for the coffee then stirred languidly. After a moment's pause, I lifted the cup, breathed in the aroma then let the process begin.

Xanthine derivatives, 2-furfurylthiol…

I took a sip.

Brewed via automatic drip, medium roast… one hundred fifty-one milligrams of caffeine, point thirty percent citric acid, point twenty-two malic, point thirteen lactic…

I swallowed.

Sugars and theobromine…

And more… much, much more.

By my Alice, I could discern all of it in a flash. Each ingredient had a name. Every element and every compound was locked in my memory. I'd close my eyes and see things as atoms and molecules, and I'd figure out the structured math that was the language of all things chemistry.

It's coffee. Just coffee. No need to complicate anything.

The bitter taste faded from my tongue and my semi-trance was broken when the shop door creaked to admit a new customer. I opened my eyes and was startled. It may have been six years since I last saw him but I would know this person anywhere.

He'd become rather lanky, with lean shoulders and an angular frame. He wore a blue collared shirt with a white logo stitched on the breast pocket. He carried a backpack on one shoulder, which he hitched up in a familiar habit as he closed the door. Then he turned. That bespectacled face wreathed with a benign smile that could calm a Black Cat and befriend an Ice Queen, looked across the room and found me. A sudden fretful look came to him and that too was endearingly familiar.

Yuu.

"Ogasawara," he blurted out.

My face fell and I mentally corrected myself. This wasn't Yuu. This was Tobita. The name sounded right but foreign. Never had the distance from my friends hit me as forcefully as it did at the moment but I didn't have time to dwell.

"Tobita, hey," I said at last. He took that as his cue to approach.

"What are you doing here?"

"Just enjoying a cup of coffee," I said with a small smile. I didn't need to be Koko to hear what he was thinking. I didn't live in the area. I was out of place here, but he couldn't say so.

"Well, I'm taking my order to go," he said after an awkward pause. "So… I'll see you around."

"Yeah, sure. I'll see you," I echoed. He half-turned then glanced back. I waited expectantly but he still looked unsure.

"You look well."

"Yes, thanks," I said kindly. "Take care."

"Bye."

The exchange left me cold. It was so dry and so unbelievably alien that I was torn between laughter and disbelief. To talk to Yuu Tobita the way I just did was so strange. I know it's been years but I had hoped for a warmer greeting.

I didn't realize I was staring until Yuu turned around and caught my eye. He sighed heavily before turning back to the counter. He bowed then started shaking his head. He looked so doleful that I wasn't sure what to think. There are hundreds of coffeehouses in Japan and he had to walk into this one. I look well. What does that even mean?

Yuu finished his business then headed for the exit. He pulled the door open then paused to glance uneasily in my direction. I gave a half-hearted wave. He shifted uneasily for a moment then walked out. I thought that was the end of it, but then he mustn't have gotten very far because five seconds later he walked back in and came over with a purposeful stride.

"I'm sorry. I was being an incredible dork just now. May I sit with you?"

"What?"

"I was being a real ass," he said this time. "May I sit with you?"

"Why?"

"We haven't seen each other in six years." He smiled sheepishly. "This is a chance meeting. Chance. That means it's hard to come by, so I can't not sit with you. The girls would kill me."

The girls. He must mean Anna and the others. I laughed then pulled down my bag to make room for him. "I wouldn't want you to die on my account."

"Okay, maybe they won't kill me," Yuu conceded as he took the chair. "But I'll never hear the end of it. Mochu would assert how absolutely hopeless I am when I'm hitting on girls."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're hitting on me?"

"No!" Yuu said quickly. He looked flustered. "I mean, I'd never do that to my sister. Well, you're not really, though you kind of are— but I'm not hitting on you."

"Just relax," I giggled.

He blushed then muttered, "Mochu would be right then. I am hopelesstalking to girls."

His expression was terrific to see. It looked exactly as it did way back then, but older now and just so pleasant. I laughed out loud. "God, I miss this."

"We missed you," he answered promptly. "How are you?"

"You said I look well, just now," I teased.

"You look well, but that doesn't mean you are. If that were true, you wouldn't be having coffee at a place that's more than a little out of your way." He leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees. "So talk to me. What are you doing on my side of the country?"

"I'm playing hooky from work," I said rather proudly. "Then I went for a drive and somehow ended up here."

"Did something happen?"

I could tell him about the supermodel. "No, not really; except my team can't decide what shade of orange makes skin glow just right for the camera."

He whistled. "Tough crowd."

"Isn't it?"

"Hotaru could fix you up with a Baka Gun v24. I hear it does wonders for her at work."

I smiled. "I don't think I want to take the easy way out."

"But was it bad enough to force you out of town?" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Is the cosmetics industry not as rewarding as it used to be?"

"Depends," I said wryly. "How do you define rewarding?"

"Is that rhetorical?"

I sighed deeply then tried to explain myself better. "Do you know what it's like when your Alice reaches its full potential?"

He shook his head and grinned. "Show me."

I lifted my coffee cup, took another sip then exhaled. "Coffee grounded from fresh beans, five point three grams. Brown sugar, one teaspoon, four point two grams. A shot of hazelnut, but it's artificial. Water, filtered in eight steps, heated to the boiling point but served just two degrees above room temperature— mineral not distilled."

"Wow," Yuu said when I finished. "That's really amazing. You could make the proverbial perfect cup if you wanted to."

"I guess."

"Or you could take a job listing down ingredients for consumer packets."

"Hey!"

"Dream big or dream small, point is that you're happy," he said with a laugh then stopped. "Shouldn't I have said that?"

"Yes, but it's okay."

Yuu leaned back on his chair. I knew he was studying me, repositioning himself to try a different approach. I was fascinated by how easily he was able to carry this conversation. It had been his same strength as a Class Representative. Yuu had remarkable empathy.

"Do you remember that essay we wrote for Mr. Narumi's class? The one that paved the way for Natsume to keep writing one-line essays for him?"

I chuckled. "The ten-year plan?"

"Yeah. What did you say you'll be?"

"The chief scientist of an organic chemistry lab."

"So aren't you well on your way to the dream?"

"Putting colored powder together until I can tell pink from fuchsia is not the dream," I scoffed. "It's more like a fluke or a dismal imitation of it."

"I see. You're burned out. Maxed out your Alice is what you meant."

It felt nice to be understood but I didn't want to burden Yuu with my troubles. He tended to involve himself. That I haven't forgotten.

"Don't worry about it too much. What have you been up to?"

He patted his backpack proudly, gesturing to blueprints and plans that I couldn't see. "I'm an architect."

"That's so great," I said sincerely.

"I spent two years in the Middle East— it's really an architect's dream there— but now I'm back. I'm actually returning to the Academy next semester to teach."

"Wow. What are you teaching?"

"Art."

"Very funny."

He grinned widely. "I get that a lot."

"You're teaching art? Why?" I asked before I could catch myself. With his intelligence and credentials, he could easily teach a core subject if he wanted to.

"Maybe because it makes me happy? It's really just that simple," he mused. "Kitsuneme says it's good that I'm branching out."

"Well, It is."

"Sumire also agreed," he said slowly. "She says it's a good outlet for my Alice since architecture isn't enough. She thinks I'm more artistic than I let on."

"That's nice of her to say."

"Anna says the whole gang will drop by the school together if I set up an art exhibit. She'll bring one of her special cakes for the occasion."

"I'd expect that—"

"You know, I'm just going to come out and say it," Yuu broke in. "I've been dropping names since I walked up to you but you're not taking the bait."

"What do you mean?"

"Ask me about Wakako or Ruka. Don't you want to know if Natsume and Mikan are still together? It's okay. We can talk about them." He squinted at what I had been reading. "Because I hate to break it to you, but you're not from St. Mary's Academy for Dramatic Arts. You're from the Alice Academy. You're one of us."

I blinked at his words. Then without really knowing why, my eyes started to water. The blood drained from Yuu's face.

"Woah— wait, don't cry!" He fumbled through his pockets then pulled out a handkerchief. He started to fret. "I wasn't being mean! Oh no… I'm such a jerk."

I laughed and I cried. "I'm sorry. I'm just really moody right now." I gestured with the yearbook. "It's not poetry and it's not mine but reading this was making me sentimental and then you walked in and I wasn't expecting that—"

"Neither was I."

"—and I haven't seen any of you in such a long time. But here you are, ready for stories, and you're able to talk about everyone from the gang—"

"Not everyone," he said gently. "I can't talk about you, but I'd really like to be able to."

I took a breath, recognizing his invitation to reintroduce myself. I never thought we would reach a point like this in our friendship.

"Are you in a hurry?"

His grin was encouraging. "Not for this."

After graduating from the Alice Academy, our class went separate ways to pursue fields that were as diverse as our special talents. Naturally, my skill led me to Chemistry and what followed was a period of erudition under a department where I was effortlessly the star. I suddenly understood why they said Alices had bright futures. We receive a superior education and we grew up in an environment that forced us to excel. So even if the talent was as useless as glow-in-the-dark fingernails, that Alice still had the potential of a world-class leader. Thus, for four years in the University, I was a very big fish in an equally big pond.

"You have to show up Nonoko!" I could still remember Mikan cajoling during that last phone call before I took off for America. "This is the seventh get-together you're going to skip!... What do you mean?... Of course I'm counting! We miss you!"

If she was counting until now, I'd have a lot of occasions to make up for.

But I didn't do it on purpose. I simply became more immersed in my studies. I was dazzled by the attention because for the first time there was no Hotaru Imai to reign supreme in the sciences, no Natsume Hyuuga to be hailed a genius, no Yuu Tobita to win school-wide esteem. There was just me and I didn't realize how much I would enjoy it.

"What do you mean you're busy?" Anna had demanded when I took her call while running an experiment in a fizzy Erlenmeyer flask. "Everyone's busy. The point is to make time Nonoko."

"I'm sorry. I just have to finish this for my thesis."

"You can run experiments in your sleep. Sumire's birthday only comes once a year and we all have to be up at the same time for it. She's expecting all of us there."

"I'm sorry Anna," I had said hurriedly as the liquid boiled over. "I have to go."

So go I did, and somehow I never looked back. I don't know how I managed it. Six years is a long time and Alices are all over the place. Occasionally I'd run into a fellow alumnus but that was about it. After all, there were only eleven people that mattered and I managed to avoid them.

Until today.

"So her hair definitely had bounce. In fact, I think she may very well redefine bouncy hair for the industry."

Yuu laughed appreciatively. "Why puce?"

"Because she was blonde," I said with a vengeance. "I thought it would give her nightmares."

He applauded. "Hotaru would be proud. Heck, who wouldn't be?"

"Thanks," I paused then began carefully, "Speaking of Hotaru, how is she?"

"She's doing really well…" Yuu trailed off. He paused to consider me then reached for his backpack. "You know what, I'll show you how she's doing. I'll show you everyone."

"How?"

Yuu pulled out a sketchbook and handed it to me. I opened it but it was blank. He seemed amused by my confusion. "I'm maxing out my Alice too. Hold on."

My puzzlement gave way to surprised pleasure when the blank sheet suddenly came to life with moving pictures. I saw Hotaru in her workshop. She was tinkering with something on a low table and her work gloves were dirty with grease and oil. Even with the grime, I could tell how striking her appearance was. She'd grown her hair, though it still hung above her shoulders. Her features were the same but finer somehow.

"Hotaru runs her own company now," Yuu narrated proudly. "She cashed in her stock options and founded a start-up tech company. She named herself Chief Engineer."

The pictures shifted and I laughed when it showed Kitsuneme hanging upside down from a branch with his camera pointed at the audience.

"Kitsuneme is almost as hard to get in touch with as you." He grinned. "Almost, but then he always sends us word on his site. He's a travel blogger now and the pictures he takes are amazing…"

He went on to show me Anna, who was a pastry chef at a five-star hotel; Sumire and Wakako who were vacationing at the East Coast; Mochu who pilots a lightweight airplane during his free time; then Koko and Ruka who had gone backpacking through Southeast Asia.

"Natsume and Mikan are still together," Yuu finished with a smile. "And whenever anyone mentions marriage, it's Mikan who gets the hives."

The last photo faded away only to be replaced by more pictures that he presented like a family slideshow. I laughed at a couple and asked some questions about those that caught my eye. Everyone was faring well enough. Some were changing gears to jumpstart their careers. Ruka was a vet who somehow outperformed Hotaru's stock portfolio. Koko was thinking of joining Kitsuneme on his trip to Budapest in April. Anna was considering quitting her job to start a bakery.

"And then there's you." The picture was replaced by a picture of me with a coffee cup, which may have been what Yuu had seen when he walked into the shop. "A successful junior scientist with a lucrative job in a cosmetics company."

"Whoopee," I laughed.

"I had to put you on there," he said, then emphasized, "Because you're one of us."

"Thanks," I said and was amazed at how deeply my gratitude ran. When the page faded back to white, I closed the sketchbook then laid it on the table. "Looks like your Alice has also reached its full potential."

"Nah, I'd like to think there's still room for me to get better." Yuu sipped his coffee and I recognized the gesture as buying time. He didn't look at me directly when he spoke. "Listen… if you're not satisfied where you are right now, you could move."

"To where?"

"Anywhere. Your Alice places you in a pretty broad field," he said encouragingly. "Or discounting your Alice, you could try something else entirely, like music or art."

"I never considered that."

"Well you could start now. You could… why don't you join me back at the Academy?"

"As a teacher?"

"I bet you'd be really good at teaching science." His face lit up. "Yeah, why not? The kids would love you."

"I don't know," I said uncertainly. "I've never tried to teach."

"Yeah, and you look pretty terrified with the idea so I won't push." Yuu grinned. "How about something simpler? Dinner at Wakako's tomorrow night?"

I yelped. "Tomorrow? I can't."

"Jogging next Tuesday with me and Koko?"

"I live in a whole other district—"

"Food tasting at Anna's? Summer outing with Sumire and Mochu? Poker night at Ruka's?" he suddenly listed. "You're going to have to cave some time."

I started giggling when I realized what he was doing. While he was talking he had started fixing up his things. He was about to leave but he wasn't going until he got a confirmation from me.

"Listen, I'm sure you'd like to see everyone again and everyone would want to see you," he said bluntly. "And I want to see their faces when they realize I found you."

"I'll think about it," I said at last. He didn't look satisfied so I fished out my cellphone. "Give me your number. I promise to keep in touch this time."

He looked somewhat relieved. We swapped numbers then Yuu demanded my home address, email and office number as well. I smiled at how earnest he was.

"You're not done looking out for us, are you?"

"It's an old habit," he said with a shrug. "One I don't want to get rid of. Alices may be growing in number but there'll only be this class I care most about. You might be the chief scientist of a Chemistry lab one day but to me you'll always be one-third of the Three Geeky Sisters."

"Mochu's wrong," I murmured. "You're not hopeless talking to girls. Not hopeless at all."

Yuu laughed then he finally got up and pulled his backpack over his shoulder. He looked at me meaningfully, like a person warning his junior not to wander too far off lest I get lost again.

"Think about my invitation. Any of it," he urged. "It would be great to have you back with us and I'm speaking for the whole gang."

"Thanks Tobita."

"Yuu," he said quickly. He paused, as though thinking about it. Then he grinned faintly and I knew he was apologizing for his earlier misstep. "Call me Yuu. Nonoko."

"Thanks Yuu," I said significantly. Then he took his leave and headed for the exit.

I realized how glad I was that he took the time to sit with me. Otherwise, I'd have spent the time poring over the borrowed yearbook. He didn't solve any of my problems but really that wasn't his job. What he had just done was enough and I wouldn't ask for more.

Suddenly, my eyes fell upon Yuu's sketchbook, which was still sitting in front of me and I started. I immediately grabbed it.

"Wait Yuu! You forgot your sketch—"

Only it wasn't. The sketchbook had evaporated into thin air. What I was holding instead was a small square red envelope. Curiously, I opened it and slid out a decorative red ticket that was slated for this Saturday.

Life on a Standstill: Art and Images by Yuu Tobita

Our conversation came rushing back. His words, his carefully selected words, were testament to why he had been our three-star Class Representative for years.

"The whole gang will drop by the school together if I set up an art exhibit…"

"I'm maxing out my Alice too…"

"I'm sure you'd like to see everyone again and everyone would want to see you…"

"It's an old habit. One I don't want to get rid of…"

A knock came at the window and I looked up. Yuu was standing on the sidewalk with a beatific smile. He pointed at the ticket then said through the glass, "See you there at seven?"

He really wasn't going to leave without a confirmation. I smiled then nodded. "I'll see you all there."

Yuu beamed then he gave one last wave then walked off, without a hitch in his step; almost as though he enlightened old friends in coffeehouses for a living.

I slipped the ticket back in its envelope then stood up to return the yearbook on the shelf. Then I headed for the door. I reached my car, not quite the same as when I had left it. For what felt like the first time in months, I was my old self: one-third of the Three Geeky Sisters that was now friends with a vet, a travel blogger, a pastry chef and an architect.

When I get back to the apartment, I think I'll pull out my own yearbook and marvel at how young we all looked. Then tomorrow, I'll dig up an old science project and launch a volcano with nothing but baking soda. On Friday, I'll spend longer hours at work to get some experiments out of the way. After all, there was somewhere I needed to be the following day.

I don't mind having to drive this long distance on a weekend. I've come very far but that's probably why it took me longer to look back. Taking another two hour trip this Saturday would be worth it, because sometimes even Alices need to find their way back home.

"Thank you, Iinchou."

THE END