First Day of School
Ok, you know I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of the characters, right? Ok, just checking.
"Whoa! I didn't know this place was so huge!" I exclaimed. My name is Hana Koro, and I was at Gakuen Alice Academy. And wowie, it was so HUGE! With my dirt-encrusted shoes, worn jeans with grass stains, and my T-shirt with smudges of dirt on it, I thought I looked pretty strange. And that's without my straw hat with a green ribbon tied around it that went over my dark brown hair. I had a carrying pouch with all my precious memories, including a little friend, slung on my shoulder.
It felt pretty strange to be at the Academy, away from my family and friends, but I was determined. I promised my mother that I'd be successful and I wouldn't let her down. So, gathering all my courage, I walked towards the gate, where a gruff-looking security man was on his duty patrolling front of the gates. He was busy munching on a doughnut like his life depended on it. I looked up at the gate, which was twice—or maybe even triple—as tall as me. But I was in elementary grade, so I guess that was not unusual.
"Mister Security, how do I get in?" I asked politely. The man glared at me and looked away. I knew he had ignored me, but I was used to those reactions. "How do I get in?" I said, a little louder.
"None of your business, girl. Why don't you just go away if you're just going to snoop?" He growled threateningly. Why did I get the feeling that he had done this before?
"But…"
"Go on! Shoo! I've got enough things to do than listening to a kid!" he shouted. He sprayed doughnut crumbs from his mouth. It was disgusting. I wasn't a good liar, you see, I was used to just blurting out the truth, no matter what.
"Oh, you mean devouring a doughnut like a pig who knows he's going to get eaten in an hour?" I blurted, unable to hold myself back.
The guard's face got all reddish and he looked as if he was ready to murder someone. Apparently, he wasn't used to being told the truth.
"You-no-good-brat-of…" He grumbled and he took a step towards me. "A wannabee, eh? You have to be special to go in, girl, but I don't think you are. So why don't you just leave before I call the authorities?"
I smiled real sweet at him. "I am special." I announced. "Unlike you, who spends all day ignoring his duties and sprays crumbs faster than a gun can shoot off bullets."
Uh, oh, I thought humorously. I've set off a bomb!
That man's whole fat body seemed to be burning up. He took even more steps towards me. "GIRL, WHEN I GET YOU, YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU DIDN'T LISTEN TO ME!" he roared.
At that moment, a man with sunny, golden hair appeared from the gate and placed a hand on the guard's shoulder. He seemed to fall in a trance.
"Don't harm the child, Keith, she's done nothing to you. Why don't you rest for a little while? I'll take care of this." The man whispered enticingly. I shuddered, feeling his power radiating from his voice. Yup, it was an Alice.
The guard swayed and muttered an agreement before waddle-sauntering back to his duty. The man then focused his attention to me and smiled.
"I am Narumi, a teacher at the Academy. Do you have something to do here, child?" the man asked tenderly, almost motherly (shudder).
I just stared at him for a second and smiled back. "Yes I do. My name is Hana Koro and I want to enroll here." I answered bravely, or I hoped.
Narumi-sensei gave me a look that clearly said, poor child, wants to enroll so badly. I'll humor her so I won't break her heart. I had a thing with that. Although I couldn't be sure, I always could figure out, a bit blurrily, what a person was thinking about. It wasn't an Alice. It was from experience.
"Really? Well, can you show me what it is?" he asked softly. I nodded and opened up my pouch, where a gray squirrel climbed up my arm. I dug inside a bit more and found the packet of seeds I was looking for.
When I saw Narumi-sensei eyeing my squirrel, I quickly asked, "Am I allowed to have a pet? Nut is more like a companion to me. I can't perform my Alice without him!"
Narumi-sensei nodded, so I sighed in relief. I opened up the pouch of rose seeds and sprinkled them on the dry ground.
"Come on, roses, grow for me! It's ok, grow!" I whispered to the seeds. I kept encouraging the seeds to grow.
Narumi sensei's eyes were unbelieving when the seeds began to take root and suddenly grow taller, growing thorns and beautiful flowers of every color. As I reached out to pick a rose, the thorns vanished where I held the stem and its stem easily broke off from the roots.
I showed the flower I picked, which was a bright yellow rose with its petals forming a similar face, a face of him. With a finger, I rubbed the cut base of the stem, which quickly hardened.
"Here you go, Narumi-sensei, it's a flower of you! It won't wilt as long as you give it water and sunlight." I told him, handing him the rose.
His face was of pure delight.
"Amazing!" he gasped.
"If you're extra nice to it, it'll sing you lullabies at night." I informed him. Yup, no one could sing better than a flower.
He beamed at me. "Welcome to Gakuen Alice Academy, Hana."
