Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice
Senior High
Chapter 1
It was the first day of school, yet none of the students were standing along the corridors, conversing about which homerooms they belonged to, or where they went and if it was fun, or if they looked tanner or paler than before. Instead, if you walked in, all you would see is a completely deserted hallway, except for several papers filled with phone numbers here and there. Well, it wasn't morning anymore, so that explains it. It was already lunch time, so a more reasonable place to find anyone is in the cafeteria.
"Ruka, how was your vacation?" a brown-haired girl asked the blonde-haired boy who sat right across from her.
"It's just the usual. How about you?" he asked her, stabbing his fork on a lettuce. The girl shrugged.
"Same. It was also just the usual for me." she replied with a grin.
"Mikan, I know you're lying." Ruka told her. Her smile turned upside down.
"No, I'm not lying." said Mikan defensively. Ruka looked at her doubtfully as she twirled and gathered her spaghetti carbonara.
"Seriously, I'm not lying!" she said angrily. He nodded and stabbed another lettuce. He still looked skeptical.
"If you're not, then why did you look so happy when you said 'the usual'? I know that you don't like just staying locked up in your house." he asked.
Mikan swallowed her spaghetti before answering, "Mom came home for vacation." Ruka choked and looked at her with widened eyes.
"Really? She did? I didn't expect that." He muttered, more like to himself. Mikan's smile returned.
"Me neither. I thought that I'd have to wait until graduation before I see her again." she said happily. Ruka smiled.
"I'm glad for yo-"
SPLASH!
Mikan and Ruka instinctively stood up and jumped away from the table.
"I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to! I'm really sorry!" a pink-haired girl apologized, bowing her head repeatedly.
"No, it's alright. None of us got wet anyway. It isn't a big deal, right Ruka?" Mikan smiled warmly. Ruka nodded, looking curiously at the girl.
"You have a nice hair color." Ruka and Mikan said to her in unison. The girl stopped bowing and looked at them confusedly. Then realization appeared on her face.
"Oh! Um… Really? Thanks." she said shyly with a red tint on her face.
"What's your name?" Mikan asked her.
"I'm Anna. Anna Umenomiya." she said.
"Anna, that's a nice name! I'm Mikan Y-Sakura!" Mikan said.
"Mikan…Mikan Sakura? Weren't you one of the smartest people in our batch last year?" Anna asked in surprise.
"I was?" Mikan looked confused. She looked at Ruka and saw him nodding at her mouthing "You were."
"Well, I guess I was…" she said unsurely. She never bothered knowing who the top students were.
"Who is he?" Anna asked, gesturing towards Ruka.
"He is Ruka Nogi, my childhood friend." Mikan answered.
"Nice to meet you, Nogi-san." Anna said with a smile.
"Nice meeting you too." said Ruka, returning the smile.
~Ding Dong~
Lunch time is over. Please report to your next class.
~Ding Dong~
"What? Lunch is already over? Wasn't that too quick?" complained Mikan.
"Oh well, let's go. I don't want to be late for Jinno's class." Ruka said with a shudder, looking at the schedule he had pulled out of his pocket. Jinno was their math teacher for their past three years of high school. He was really terrifying that if someone was given detention for a whole month for not answering one question properly, they wouldn't even dare make a single noise of complaint and just oblige to his commands. Now that they were in their last year in highschool, they expected him to be even stricter, possibly giving them a year-long detention for not giving a satisfactory answer that reaches his standards-which by the way, is very high.
"I don't want to be late for Misaki-sensei's class either." said Anna with a dreamy look, gazing down at her own schedule. Anna -Ruka and Mikan inferred- had a crush on the said teacher.
"I'm fine being late for Naru's class. He never marks me late." Mikan chirped in happily. Ruka gave her an envious look.
"Lucky." he grumbled under his breath.
"Let's go now." he said, walking towards the cafeteria doors.
"Hey! The three of you, come back here!" a strict voice yelled. Mikan, Ruka, and Anna stopped on their tracks and looked back to the voice, seeing the most infamous and feared janitor of Gakuen Alice, Janitor Ting.
"Us?" Ruka asked, pointing to himself unsurely.
"Yes, you three!" Janitor Ting yelled.
"Why?" Mikan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why?" Janitor Ting repeated "Why? Go and look at the table where you sat a few minutes ago!" she screamed furiously. They obliged and saw that spilt chocolate shake covered almost the entire table, , and the melting shake dripped from the edge of the table to the floor, creating a wide 'chocolate sea' for ants. They also saw chocolate soaked salad and spaghetti.
"I totally forgot about this!" Anna cried out. Mikan and Ruka nodded, still staring at the mess.
"Clean this up! If you don't, I swear I will… " Janitor Ting's voice lowered so much that they did not hear her entire threat.
"Okay, okay, we will. Just give us the mop and a bucket, and we will be done in no time." said Mikan.
"Who said that you would be cleaning using a mop and a bucket? Because you won't be using them." said Janitor Ting with a smile that did not suit her face at all.
"What are we supposed to use, then?" Ruka asked.
"I don't know. Find that out on your own." Janitor Ting said before she strutted away from the cafeteria, swinging her mop back and forth. Ruka and Mikan looked at the spill.
"Umenomiya-san, just what size of chocolate shake did you order?" Mikan asked.
"I'm really sorry!" Anna apologized.
"No, I'm not blaming you. I just want to know what size this is." Mikan said with amusement evident on her face.
"I ordered jumbo size." Anna said embarrassedly. Mikan gasped.
"Really? You order that size as well?" Mikan asked excitedly. She also does, when she feels like she couldn't even lift a finger due to exhaustion. It helps her recharge her energy level.
Anna opened her mouth and asked, "You order that size too? What flavor do you order?"
"I also like chocolate, but my favourite is strawbe-."
"Girls, we have cleaning to do here." Ruka interrupted before the small chat could change into a big, oral diary exchange. Mikan huffed, irritated at the interruption, but nevertheless, nodded. She headed to the table where small packets of ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, syrup and butter are located. The table, other than the packets, also contained a paper tissue dispenser. She pulled tissue after tissue, until both her hands were filled with piles of tissue paper.
"Guys, here." She handed them some of the tissue papers.
"Let's start Mission #1; Cleaning the Chocolate Mess." muttered Ruka.
"Finally!" Mikan jumped in victory. They had finally made the mess disappear, though not completely, since the stickiness still remained, and so did the smell.
"My hands are so sticky! It feels gross." muttered Anna as she clapped her hands together, and then slowly pulled them apart.
"Let's wash our hands before we get to class." said Ruka, sniffing his chocolate, yet dirty-smelling hands.
"Yeah, you're right." Mikan said after removing her sticky hands from a table, leaving a handprint. They went to the bathrooms and washed their hands.
"Sakura-san, I'm sorry again for the trouble." Anna apologized while rubbing her hands, creating bubbles from the soap.
"Call me Mikan. And please don't apologize. Besides, we had a lot of fun cleaning up. Didn't we?" Mikan said, washing the soap off her hands. Anna smiled and rinsed the soap.
"Call me Anna then. Honestly, I really did have a lot of fun." she said. Mikan nodded and smelled her hands.
"By the way, what do you reckon is the smell of this soap?" Mikan asked.
"I smell sunflowers." said Anna. Mikan raised her eyebrows.
"Really? That's weird. I smell lavenders." said Mikan.
"Oh well, I guess it doesn't matter." said Mikan with a shrug.
"Let's go." and they went out of the bathroom.
Too bad they didn't see the list that contained the scent's meanings.
Mikan went in Narumi-sensei's classroom with an apologetic smile on her face.
"Narumi-sensei, I'm sorry I'm late." she apologized.
"Mikan-chan! Where were you?" Narumi asked worriedly.
"Janitor Ting made me clean up a mess in the cafeteria." she said.
"Oh, I see. Go on and sit in a seat. We were just choosing what game we are going to play." he said with a grin.
"Alright." She went to an empty seat beside a stoic raven-haired girl whom she recognized as the genius, Hotaru Imai.
"So it's decided. We are playing hide and seek!" Narumi announced "And Mikan-chan will be the It."
Anna slid the door open and entered the greenhouse. It was huge, considering that it contained about a dozen of cherry blossom trees, known as Sakura, several rows of flowers like yellow tulips and blue violets, and many wooden tables that can accommodate up to six people.
Anna approached a dark-haired teacher who was inspecting a green plant with a violet flower.
"Uh… Misaki-sensei," Anna said, causing the teacher to look at her.
"Anna-chan, where were you?" Misaki-sensei asked.
"I'm sorry I'm late. Janitor Ting made us clean up a spill." she said. At the mention of the Janitor's name, Misaki-sensei's face showed dislike.
"Oh that old woman made you do that? I understand. She also made me do that before." he said with a chuckle. Anna blushed.
"Okay, don't worry. I won't mark you late for that. I gave the class free time to explore the greenhouse. Go ahead and join them." he said. She nodded and looked around the place. When she saw a familiar blue-haired girl, she immediately headed to her and tapped her on the shoulders.
"Nonoko, it's me." Anna said.
"Where have you been?" Nonoko asked worriedly. Anna told her about spilling the shake, chatting with Mikan Sakura and Ruka Nogi, and cleaning the spill by the orders of Janitor Ting.
"Janitor Ting is as strict as usual."-Anna rolled her eyes-"You met Mikan Sakura and Ruka Nogi? You are so lucky!" Nonoko exclaimed. Anna gave her a confused look.
Seeing the look, Nonoko said, "Mikan Sakura is one of the smartest people in our batch," she paused. Anna gave her a look that said "go on" and gestured it too.
"And Ruka Nogi is one of the most popular boys in school." Anna wasn't too surprised at this. Ruka was indeed good-looking, but he didn't seem to know that he was popular.
"So?" Anna asked. Nonoko looked at her weirdly.
"So it means that you got to know some important people." She stated matter-of-factly. Anna's mouth, just realizing this, formed into an o.
"You're right!" she exclaimed. Nonoko shook her head.
"Seriously An, I can't believe that you don't know this." Nonoko said.
"Hey, I knew that Mikan is one of the smartest people in our batch. But how was I supposed to know that Ruka was very popular? I only transferred to this school in the last few days of last school year!" Anna said defensively.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Nonoko rolled her eyes "But still, you're really lucky to have met them An!" she nudged Anna playfully.
"I guess you're right." Anna said with a smile.
"Class dismissed." said Jinno, a bespectacled old teacher, with his pet toad on his right shoulder, in his usual, strict tone. It was already the last period of the day.
"Finally! School's over for today." Several students uttered excitedly under their breaths, careful to not be heard. Mikan immediately collected her notebooks and headed out of the room.
She unlocked her locker and pulled out her dark blue backpack. She double-checked her things and closed the locker door. Hoisting the backpack on her shoulders, she walked down the hallway, until she reached the cafeteria. She headed to the salad bar and placed lettuces, toasted cube sliced garlic breads, corns, and mayonnaise in her plastic bowl. She weighed it and handed the cashier her payment, before she headed to an empty table and plopped herself down.
"Mikan-chan!" Mikan looked to the voice and saw Anna waving at her, sitting on a table occupied by a navy blue-haired girl.
"Come sit with us!" Anna invited, gesturing Mikan to come to their table. Mikan smiled and nodded. She slung her backpack on her shoulders and carried her salad bowl with one hand.
"Hi Anna-chan." said Mikan with a smile, settling herself across from the pink-haired girl.
"Hello to you too." Anna said.
"This is Nonoko Ogasawara, my best friend since preschool." Anna motioned to the blue-haired girl who sat beside her.
"Nice to meet you, Ogasawara-san." Mikan said. Nonoko nodded.
"Nice to meet you too, Sakura-san. You can just call me Nonoko." she said with a smile.
"Alright." Mikan nodded.
"Do you ride a school bus?" Anna asked.
"Yeah, I do. Bus number 5" Mikan replied.
"Did you know that they changed the time for bus pickups?" Nonoko asked. Mikan shook her head.
"No, I didn't know." she said. Nonoko pointed to a poster.
"They did." Mikan read the poster.
For students who ride school busses,
The time the busses will pick you up from school will change effectively on the first day of school. Instead of 3:20 pm, the pickup time will be at 4:00 pm. I hope this does not cause you any inconvenience. –Principal
"Why did they change it?" Mikan asked curiously, looking at her watch. It read 2:59 pm.
"I have no idea. Nonoko and I were just discussing about it before I saw you." Anna said with a shrug.
"So anyways, why don't we get to know each other more?" Nonoko asked.
"That's a good idea." Mikan agreed.
"So, are you two related?" Mikan asked. Both Anna and Nonoko looked similar, especially their eyes. They were blue-green. Anna and Nonoko giggled.
"No, we're not." they answered in unison.
"Really? I thought you were." Mikan said, surprised.
"Yeah, many people thought so too." Anna said with a smile.
"Actually, we might be related in the future." Nonoko stated. Mikan raised an eyebrow.
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Well, Nonoko's older brother is dating my older sister." Anna stated happily.
"Really? That's awesome!" Mikan said. Anna's phone suddenly rang.
"Hello?" she asked.
"Huh? You're picking us up? Now? Alright, we'll be there." Anna shut her phone and grinned apologetically at Mikan.
"Sorry Mikan-chan. Nonoko and I have to go now. My mom is picking us up."
"No, it's alright. I'm leaving soon too anyways." Mikan said, swallowing the last piece of lettuce. Anna and Nonoko waved her goodbye, before they dashed out of the cafeteria.
"Excuse me." Mikan looked up from her food and saw a guy wearing a pig mask.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Do you want to join the acting club?" he asked.
"Umm, sure?" she said hesitantly. She liked acting, but she can't do it in front of many people. But she'll give it a try anyways.
"Is that a question or an answer?" he asked, finally removing the mask.
"It's an answer." she said quite confidently now. He grinned.
"Thank you so much! I'm Kokoro Yome by the way. The first meeting will be tomorrow after school, here in the cafeteria." he held out his hand for a shake.
"I'm Mikan Sakura. Please take care of me." she shook his hand. She looked at her watch again and grabbed her backpack and the empty plastic bowl.
"I have to go now. Bye!" Mikan threw the bowl away in the nearest garbage can.
"Bye! Don't forget, meeting is tomorrow after school!" Mikan heard Kokoro yell before she exited the cafeteria.
This is my second fanfic. I hope you enjoyed it! –S.O.M.