Heyo, Foxtrotelly here. :D So yeah, I'm finally back and on the process of writing my fourth fic here. Enjoy, I thought well and hard for this story during the three weeks when I didn't have anything to type with. XD
Disclaimer: The author rightfully respects the artistic genius Higuchi Tachibana-sensei and her works! All rights reserved and copyrights to her, hands down! Woot! \mm/
The Little Glass Orange
A Foxtrotelly tale
"You brought this on yourself, Mikan-chan," Narumi stated with disappointment as Mikan could only look at him pleadingly.
"But Naru-sensei – ," Iinchou came to his friend's defense.
"We have no choice but to forbid her from attending tonight's festivities, seeing that you have all this spilled paint to clean up," said Jinno coldly, giving Mikan a disapproving glare.
Ruka opened his mouth to speak, but was only interrupted by Jinno.
"The decision is final."
:x :x :x
[Classroom 2B – 8:26 am]
The sound of tapping low heels against cold marble echoed against the hallway as our favorite brunette ran to her morning homeroom class, once again late for the 473rd time.
Narumi was cut off in mid-speech when the doors banged open.
"Sorry Narumi-sensei, I was busy preparing the stage lights for tomorrow night!" Mikan huffed, out of breath.
Narumi nodded and said with a smile, "You've been working hard, Mikan-chan. Please take your seat."
From beneath the shadows of class 2B, manic fangirls watched Mikan with the same menacing gleam in their eyes.
[Custodian's closet – 10:13 am]
"What the –, "Ruka shielded his eyes from the sudden flash of light.
The swinging lamplight that hung over their heads showed the stoic face of Hotaru Imai…
"Imai!" Ruka cried, his eyebrows meeting in frustration.
"As you may well know, tomorrow is Gakuen Alice's first ever – ", Hotaru started in business-like tone.
"What the hell is this fo – "
"Summer dance in fifty years. And as a way to bring back tradition – ", the raven-haired girl continued.
"What'd you pull me in for – "
"The attire is up the student him or herself, and – "
"Let me out of here I – " Ruka snarled at the unaffected girl.
"It would be themed as summer wear only. And lastly, besides the fact that – "
"IMAI! Wha – ", Ruka's growl slowly died as he felt the cold metal of a deer hoof glove press against his head.
"Most twelve year old boys barely know how to dress themselves, it would also be a night of manic fangirl hype since there's an 8 out of 10 chance you're bound to end up with the person you dance with. Do you comprehend?" Hotaru's languid monotonous eyes bore onto Ruka's disturbed ones.
"Y-yes, I think I do. But, what do you want wi – "
"Introducing Metamorpendants version 7.13.267 H. Imai pat. pending, the latest breakthrough in incognito technology," the amethyst eyed twelve-year old pulled out a small remote from her skirt pocket and pointed it to the low ceiling above them. As soon as Hotaru pressed a button, a flat screen television descended from a thin opening in the ceiling.
"Using this pendant, its wearer can change appearance and clothes, appropriate for the occasion," Hotaru gestured to a video showing on the screen, which was a clip of an animated girl wearing rags putting on the said charm. The charm glowed as soon as it touched skin, and almost too instantly, a blinding light illuminated around the girl and everything changed from her face to the clothes she was wearing.
"You got this from that Cinderella movie we watched the other day!"
"Only, some minor setbacks may be included, such as," Hotaru paused to point to the animated girl on screen who smiled to reveal a set of gleaming braces, "The metamorphosis process leaves out one attribute unchanged," she stopped and turned to look at the screen beside her, "and may leave some uncertain side effects…," Ruka watched in horror as the fair and petite girl grew purple spots on her left hand.
"Now if you're smart enough," Hotaru quietly spoke without turning back to face Ruka, "You'd take the prototype because we wouldn't want to be mauled by a bunch of crazy girls now, would we?" Hotaru faced Ruka with a laconically stolid expression that could have made a lion cower any day.
"N-now, don't you think of me as some kind of stupid boy you could always push around! I'm practically sure that I know that you know that I know we're twelve, and I'm prepared for whatever kind of blackmailing you have in store for me! I'm not the same underdeveloped kid you used to know, so… Oh, you just infuriate me at times!" Ruka sucked in a deep breath, his face reddening at the sight of impassive Hotaru.
Hotaru held out her open palm to reveal two charms on separate chains, one a cat and the other a rabbit.
"Only 6000 yen each, now pay up."
[Sakura tree – 5: 21 pm]
"Please Natsume? Just for me…" Ruka gave his best friend his best smile yet.
"No."
"Please?
"No."
"Please? You get to take the, uhm, cat charm."
"No."
"Imai's expecting her payment by seven-thirty…"
…
"How much for the cat?" Natsume rolled his eyes as he reluctantly took out his wallet.
[Random fangirl dorm – 8:14 pm]
"AHEM!"
The agitated chatter subsided as a blonde haired girl stood in front of a bunch of girls and cleared her throat.
"Now, now. As we all know, tomorrow is the Gakuen's Summer Ball. Knowing perfectly well that everyone here would die to have a dance with Natsume-kun, Ruka-sama, or both, we'd have to carry out the appropriate scheming in order for that to happen. Throughout the years our biggest threat from ever getting Ruka-sama and Natsume-kun has been none other than Sakura Mikan." The girl paused, allowing the agitated chatter to grow louder.
"Attention, attention! Hinata-san has something more to say!" A shaggy redheaded girl raised her voice over the loud buzz in the room.
The girl named Hinata made for a dramatic pause as she left the suspense hanging over the dead quiet room.
"Tonight, we carry out our plan. Tomorrow, WE SHALL BRING SAKURA MIKAN DOWN!"
Hinata cackled madly along with all the other few dozen girls in the room, then stopped to recite their fangirl sorority chant.
"WE DEVOTE ALL OUR LIVES TO THE GLORY OF YOU, THOSE OTHER GIRLS ARE NOTHING, OUR LOYALTY IS TRUE."
[Classroom 2B – 8:03 am]
The day of the first ever Gakuen Alice Summer Ball held in fifty years, though the classroom was abuzz with the excitement of the night's festivities with the girls chattering about what they were to wear and the boys complaining about why the attire can't be provided instead, everything still seemed unusually quiet – too deafeningly quiet, in fact, for a certain raven-haired SheHitler and crimson-eyed fire caster to handle.
'Where is that idiot?'
A girl in pigtails arrived in class 2B before anyone elsecould have thought of the missing noise maker. The whole class stopped talking to stare at the complete stranger that just showed up through their door.
Everything about her seemed different that day, since not only was her head bowed low but her entire aura and being seemed so down too. With her she carried a silence that seemed almost loud that nobody could stand being a meter within her distance. Hotaru gave an inconspicuous glance from her bible-think book on Nanotechnology Engineering while Natsume half-opened an eye to welcome the incoming girl that looked comical enough to have thunderclouds drawn overhead. Everyone stared at the person who didn't seem to be their beloved Mikan at all.
"Mikan-chan? Are you alright?" Iinchou's worried tone rang within the sudden silence.
No reply.
"What's up with the new vibe?" Kitsunume piped in as he hovered above Mikan and followed her to her seat.
No reply.
"Mikan-chan, what happened to you?" Anna eyed her friend in concern.
Koko, who was busy doodling on a piece of paper, had his attention grabbed when he heard Mikan's troubled thoughts.
'Why is everyone staring? I thought they wouldn't notice…'
"Are we having 'sad little clown day' today? What did you do last night, I don't believe I was able to get a memo."
'Sad little wha - ? Speaking of last night… Well, I ate dinner, bugged Hotaru for awhile, then went up to my room, took off my shoes, brushed my teeth – '
"I meant did you do anything last night to make you lose your voice or something, like say, talk too much?" Koko stood up and strode over to Mikan who just slumped down beside a "sleeping" Natsume that had a manga spread across his face.
A snort out of nowhere, and someone muttering, "Well that's a complete understatement," then followed by Mikan, being unaffected at all, mutely narrating the events of last night.
'No, not at all. Uhm, so after I finished brushing my teeth, I got out of the bathroom and found a shiny box waiting on my bed…'
"What was inside the box?" Koko further interrogated the Nullifier, somehow catching the whole class' attention now.
'Well, for one, it was really, really pretty. It had this shiny pink wrapper and this glittery blue ribbon on top. Oh, and it had the cutest card – '
"Let's skip that part shall we?" The sandy-haired mindreader rolled his eyes, still marveling at the density of his classmate.
'Uhm, let's see, when I opened it I found two boxes. The other box was yellow, which reminded me of a box of Howalons, and the other red, which reminded me of my favorite malts…'
"Who was it from?" Koko sauntered around their table for a bit, his eyes still on Mikan, with hands behind his back for that perfect detective interrogator effect. Aside from an "absorbed" Hotaru and "sleeping" Natsume, the whole of class 2B formed a tight circle around Mikan, Natsume, and Ruka's table that Koko was now circling.
'Yeah…didn't say. So when I opened it, the contents looked really pretty and I ate them…'
"So…What'd she say?" Iinchou eagerly looked at Koko.
"Judging by the effects, it's either she ate some Muting Malt Balls or wolfed down some Silencing Sugar Fluffs, more commonly known as Hush Hush Howalon or…" Koko scratched his chin, his gaze still upon the puzzled brunette.
"Or…?"
"Or she might have had both, which leaves for a double, or worse, quadruple effect of no vocal cords until next week," Koko added quickly, his circling trail around the desk stopping behind a dozing Natsume.
"Sakura… Did you eat all of the stuff inside both boxes?" Ruka incredulously asked.
Mikan hung her head in embarrassment.
Another snort, "Figures."
[Hallways – 9:45 am]
"The banner's almost good, we just need some more yellow and blue paint Narumi-sensei," four girls hovering above a 20x10 feet canvas chorused. Kitsunume, who was the only boy in the group of hovering painters, somersaulted freely some 15 feet up, earning begrudging glares from his fellow artists.
"Oh, ok, Mochu-kun, would you mind fetching some paint from the supply closet?" Narumi spun around to look for Mochu.
"Uhm, we sent him to get more paintbrushes Narumi-sensei," one of the hovering girls spoke.
"Nonoko-chan, could you be so kind to fetch the paint?"
"She's out, Narumi-sensei, getting, getting more newspapers!"
"Uhm, fine then, Yuki-kun? ...No, no. Karen-san? …Also not here," Narumi paused to look for more people within the vicinity that could get the paint besides the evidently clumsy brunette in pigtails that started waving her arms in front of him as soon as he popped the question.
"Anyone, anyone who can get the paint from the – "
Mikan started jumping up and down while she continued to wave about her arms like mad.
"Why don't you let Mi – ", another one of the hovering girls attempted to suggest.
"Hm, strange, why isn't anyone available to –, "Narumi, still in an attempt to overlook Mikan and pretend not to see her, was dragged to the ground by a pair of small hands.
"Oh, erm, hi Mikan-chan, didn't see you there… – "
"Naru-sensei why don't you let Sakura-chan do it?" The four girls said in unison.
Mikan's brown orbs went from eager to teary eyed as she only looked at Narumi-sensei in expectation.
"Fine, fine," Narumi sighed in defeat.
[Hallways – Ten minutes later]
Mikan ran, just as fast as she could without spilling any of the paint she was trusted to fetch.
…Some shuffling, then a single misstep…
The brunette was sent flying due to unexplainable reasons seconds later, the paint cans breaking free from her tight grasp and sent soaring across the hallway, splattering paint on the walls, lockers, corkboards, banner, Narumi-sensei, and yes, passerby Jinno-sensei. Kitsunume stopped in midsomersault and descended a few feet to see what just happened.
'WHA - ? HOW'D THAT HAPPEN? I, I – '
Mikan was sent crashing to the floor with a sickly thud, the paint buckets clanging to the floor after somewhat being suspended in the air for a second or two.
From behind her, the hovering girls tried hard to suppress the evil giggles of success while a girl hiding behind a potted plant winked at them wickedly. Narumi-sensei only stood in utter petrification while Jinno-sensei stood there, wiping the yellow and blue from his glasses, his pale face turning three shades of fuchsia.
A couple of students passing by ran back to the classroom to spread the news about the sight, and just like brushfire, it spread within seconds, a number of students gathering around the scene to prove it.
Ruka, Iinchou, and Koko were part of the students who caught sight of the scene, fortunately for Mikan.
As Narumi-sensei took a few minutes to process what happened and Jinno-sensei took a few minutes to compose his thoughts and self, Mikan could only sit there, stained in paint, wondering how things could've gone wrong.
Koko was able to pick up the thoughts of everyone who had been witness to Mikan's accident, including the hovering girls and the girl behind the potted plant that were in charge of this well-planned scheme. Yes, Kokoroyumi Mindreader-kun knew everything that he needed to know, and yet, it was astonishing how a few buckets of paint could turn the most normal situation into a whirlwind of utter disaster in the span of three minutes.
It was a never before seen feat, likewise never-before attempted – perhaps a new world record.
"You brought this on yourself, Mikan-chan," Narumi stated with disappointment as Mikan could only look at him pleadingly.
"But Naru-sensei – ", Iinchou came to his friend's defense.
"We have no choice but to forbid her from attending tonight's festivities,seeing that you have all this spilled paint to clean up," said Jinno coldly, giving Mikan a disapproving glare.
Ruka opened his mouth to speak, but was only interrupted by Jinno.
"The decision is final."
Foxtrotelly and Co. is now accepting comments, reviews, and suggestions - so please make my day, because even one comment can go a long way! :-bd