Author's note: Gakuen Alice and all characters from it are, of course, the property of its creator Tachibana Higuchi-with the exception of any original characters that I may create myself.
This story will be exploring the long relationship between Narumi and Misaki and its evolution over time, from their antagonistic relationship as children up to their later friendship and increasingly complex connection in adulthood.
(You may have already read one of the later chapters that I had posted earlier while I was still finishing the first chapter, so here, finally, is the actual first chapter of the story...)
P.S. As far as I know Misaki's first name has never been offically revealed in the manga but it felt strange for one of my main characters to be without a first name so I just chose one based on the meaning that I felt was most significant to his character and in his juxtaposition to Narumi's character. The name translations are from what I found online. I'm so sorry about how weird it looks but the program keeps fighting my formatting, so hopefully you'll still be able to read the gist of it. You'll understand what I mean below...
This is my first fanfic, so please let me know what you think. Thanks!
A Lifetime of Memories
Prologue
The raven haired man quickly inserted his key and unlocked the door, eager to escape the early-February chill in the air that Saturday evening. Misaki entered the foyer of the Elementary Division's Faculty Housing quietly and stripped off his coat and dark woollen scarf, hanging them up on the gleaming wooden coat rack near the door as he made his way to the living room that was shared commonly by all the teachers residing within the house.
Misaki lingered a moment in the archway as caught sight of the room's single occupant who still hadn't noticed that the Plant Alice had returned. Narumi was sitting on one end of the sofa with his long legs curled up beneath a fleece throw and his golden head bent over a stack of Class B's compositions in his lap with an uncharacteristic frown of concentration on his face. Misaki noted that his friend was once again wearing gloves in the house, something that the blonde had taken to doing constantly ever since Christmas time and was making frequent markings on the paper in front of him with a red pen. The dark haired man came further into the room, making the language teacher look up.
"Misaki-sensei!" Narumi greeted him with a bright but bemused smile. "I didn't expect to see you back so soon."
Misaki gazed intently at his friend, observing with disquiet the paleness of his face and the shadows beneath his eyes despite the usual cheerfulness of his smile. He paused, uncertain what to say. "...I changed my mind. I didn't go." Misaki finally admitted as he sat down on the sofa beside Narumi.
The biology teacher had spent the better part of an hour simply wandering around Central Town aimlessly after having called the restaurant at the last minute and cancelling his date with a chemistry teacher from the Middle School. Misaki felt like a jerk for having agreed to the second date with the woman only to go all the way there and realize that he really didn't want to be there...
"What? But why?" Narumi pouted at him like a disappointed child. "You have so much in common!" And after all the trouble that the Pheromone Alice had gone to to talk up his single friend to the pretty new Chemistry teacher and convince a stubborn Misaki to go out with her...
"A little too much." The Plant Alice retorted as his friend gave a long suffering little sigh. "It's like I'm talking to myself- I can stay home if I want to do that. And would you stop trying to play matchmaker already? It's annoying." Misaki turned to look sternly at Narumi as he said this, hoping that the irrepressible blonde might actually listen to him for once.
"...I just...Sorry." His friend smiled apologetically. "I only wanted to help...I...I don't want you to be alone..." This last sentence came out in an involuntary whisper and Misaki's dark gaze lit to Narumi's face, to the smile that he was endeavouring to form...but all Misaki could see was the sadness in it and in his emerald eyes that he was trying so unsuccessfully to hide.
"I'm not alone." Misaki said quietly, faltering slightly but forcing the next words to come out firmly. "I'm...already where I want to be."
The raven haired man looked intently at his long-time friend, into his eyes, trying to will his unspoken words into Narumi's mind.
I am with you...
Misaki watched silently as the blonde's eyes widened with understanding and something that looked an awful lot like trepidation but the Plant Alice forced himself to wait as a myriad of emotions flickered across his face. Narumi's lips parted as if to speak but no words came out as he stared back at Misaki with such an unexpectedly open vulnerability in his eyes, caught off guard and so visibly shaken that Misaki moved instinctively to cover his friend's gloved hand firmly with his own. Narumi swallowed nervously with painful uncertainty and let out a shaky breath as he finally gave Misaki a gentle and moved smile and slowly turned his palm up beneath his long-time friend's hand and held it in his, not letting go...
o-o-o
NARUMI f Japanese o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oMISAKI 美咲 f Japanese
Meaning: Growing beauty; o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-From Japanese
may be written with the characters o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o美(mi) "beautiful"
(naru) "turn into; grow; elapse; reach" o-o-o-o-o-o-and 咲(saki) "blossom".
and 美(mi) "beauty; beautiful"
o-o-o
ANJU f Japanese o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oKENSHIN 謙信 m Japanese
May be written with the characters o-o-o-o-o-o-o-From Japanese
(an) "apricot' and (ju) "timber trees; wood" o-o-o謙(ken) "modest" and 信(shin) "truth".
o-o-o-o-o
Chapter 1: Welcome to Alice Academy
21 years earlier...
The homeroom teacher for The National Research Institute of Alice Academy's Class A Elementary Branch was an older man with a thinning head of mostly silver hair and a severe face with a forbidding demeanour to match. As he entered the first class of the morning with a faintly irritated expression a small boy of six years old reluctantly trailed after him. The boy's large brown eyes widened as he took in the chaos of the classroom and he unconsciously inched a bit closer to the strict man in apprehension, despite having instinctively disliked him from the first time he'd met him just this morning when he had introduced himself as 'Nishimura-sensei'.
There was a red-headed girl who was walking in mid air like it was the most natural thing in the world and a large hurricane of school books were hurtling through the air above the student's heads in a flurry. A blond haired boy ducked swiftly and nonchalantly as a large textbook nearly collided with his head and slid into a seat three rows from the back. A brown haired boy reached to seize a book from the air but missed it. The new boy gasped as the boy's arm suddenly stretched several metres in length and caught the book, bringing it back to himself effortlessly. Many other children of a wide variety of ages were either standing around talking, shouting or just running around.
"Everyone in your seats!" Nishimura-sensei growled at them and some of the children froze immediately at the sound of his baritone voice and quickly moved to their designated seats. Some of the wilder ones continued as if he hadn't spoken until the man bellowed at them, "Now! Move it! The last person still standing will be cleaning the Gomi Bako (throwing-up bins) every day for the rest of the week!"
It was as if a wave of terror had run through all of the rebellious students and they scrambled for their seats like it was a game of musical chairs. The new arrival stood beside the teacher's desk and wondered what on earth 'Gomi Bako' was. To add to the chaos of the students' mad dashes the textbooks that had been hurtling through the air had stopped and begun thundering down on their collective heads. "Watch it, Ojima-kun!" came many disgruntled shouts at the source of the falling books. One boy shoved another out of his way to make it to his seat in time and the boy, half-fallen into another desk, looked around in dread as he realized that he was the last student standing. The boy's face sunk and he wordlessly threw himself into his chair as the towering silver-haired man made a note of his name high on the blackboard alongside the characters for 'Gomi Bako duty-one week'.
"Good morning, class," began Nishimura stiffly, "we have a new first grade student joining us this morning. Say hello to Misaki Kenshin." Only a handful of students actually obeyed the instruction to say hello but nearly all eyes were riveted in curiosity on the solemn, brown eyed, sleek black-haired boy and he nervously looked at the floor. Nearly all eyes that was- the exception being the blonde boy that Misaki remembered having seen ducking the flying textbook earlier; he was the only one who hadn't seemed to have even glanced at him. He had his chin propped up on his hand with an air of supreme boredom, gazing out the window.
Murmurs arose in the room and an older boy shouted, "What's his Alice?"
"I'm sure Misaki-kun can tell you that himself, all in good time." Nishimura said in a reprimanding tone at the interruption. "Now, as I'm sure you all know it is customary for new students to be assigned a partner to help them acclimate to life in the academy...Are there any volunteers?"
There was a long silence and everyone fell still. Finally, a girl with long chestnut hair who looked a few years older than Misaki raised her hand from the front row.
The teacher turned his head about as though he was still looking for volunteers, "No one? Well, that's unfortunate..." Misaki looked up at him questioningly- couldn't he see the girl that had raised her hand? She was only a few desks away from him. "I suppose I'll have to assign a partner...and my decision is final...Narumi Anju!"
To Misaki's slight surprise the blonde boy looking out the window slowly turned his head in recognition; wasn't 'Anju' a girl's name? The girl who had raised her hand frowned slightly and lowered it quickly. Misaki glanced up at the teacher, unnerved by the hard look in his eyes as he glared at the boy he had unilaterally volunteered. And the look that this 'Narumi Anju' was levelling the man with wasn't much better- he'd narrowed his eyes, glowering at Nishimura before rolling his eyes contemptuously and returning his gaze to the window. The teacher's expression darkened and Misaki shifted anxiously, wanting to distance himself from the livid man but having not been assigned a seat yet.
"Misaki-kun," Nishimura said in a tense voice, "you may sit with your partner from now on, since there's so much room." The teacher pointed directly at the blonde boy and Misaki felt a pang of dread.
He really had been partnered with the glowering boy...and he could see what the teacher meant. The classroom was laid out in rows of long tables with long benches behind them. Each bench could easily accommodate at least three students comfortably...maybe four if they were small but Narumi, curiously, was the only child in the whole class who had a bench all to himself.
"Yes, sir." Misaki said quietly, clutching his textbook tightly to his chest as he made his way back to where the blonde boy was sitting. He set his book down on the corner of the desk and removed his book bag from his back, setting it on the bench. Narumi glanced sharply at him with vivid emerald eyes as he sat down at one end but other than that made no move to obstruct Misaki from sitting next to him.
"Ojima-kun," he heard Nishimura's deep voice demand sharply, "Pick up all these textbooks you've thrown about and hand them out to your classmates...Move quickly! Unless, of course, you'd like to assist in Gomi Bako duty after school?" A boy of a similar age to Misaki with an unruly head of curly black hair moved rapidly to his task upon the threat.
In the mean while, Misaki-who had never been a particularly talkative kid to begin with even if he wasn't already instinctively wary of the blonde boy- reluctantly forced himself to turn and greet his new partner.
"Um, hi," he began tentatively, "...I'm Misaki."
"I heard." His partner stated dully, not lifting his gaze from the manga he was openly reading in class.
Misaki paused awkwardly when the boy said no more, continuing uncertainly, "...You're, ah...your name is Anju-kun?"
The blonde's head suddenly turned with a scowl, "It's Narumi." He said shortly and went back to his manga.
"Uh, yeah, sure...Narumi-kun." Misaki responded quickly and slowly turned to face forward again anxiously. Narumi sure wasn't going out of his way to be friendly...
Ojima came around shortly with a put upon expression and set a textbook in front of each of them and Misaki seized upon it immediately, grateful for the distraction whilst his partner simply ignored it in favour of his extracurricular reading. Nishimura instructed the class to turn to page two hundred and fifty-four and Misaki complied mechanically, flipping to the correct page but staring down at it unseeingly. The boy knew that he should be paying attention to the lesson- Kami knows he didn't want to get on that teacher's bad side, especially on his first day- but he couldn't seem to get his mind to focus on Nishimura's voice. His mind was filled with a flurry of thoughts of the last several days and his breath was tight in his chest with anxiety.
He didn't want to be here.
He just wanted to go home.
Yesterday morning Misaki had been called into the principal's office at the rural elementary school in his small village from class and saw to his surprise that his mother was there sitting in a chair in front of the principal's desk. Misaki was further unnerved when he saw that they were not alone- also sitting in the office were two men in identical black suits that Misaki had never seen before. His mother pulled him to her, wrapping her arms around him and wringing her hands together anxiously. The strange men looked intently between Misaki and his mother as they introduced themselves as representatives of The National Research Institute of Alice Academy in smooth and formal tones. Alice Academy they explained to his mother was a prestigious institution for gifted children sponsored by the government and that they were offering a sought after position to her son.
His mother had quickly begun to protest against their insinuation that her son was 'gifted'- while Misaki wasn't a bad student he wasn't exactly at the top of his class either- but the men merely smiled and one of them lifted an empty Styrofoam cup that looked as those it had formerly had some kind of dirt in it. Misaki's mother stared at it, puzzled, but the boy recognized the name of a friend of his written in permanent marker on the side. The man then turned his attention from his mother to Misaki and began to ask him questions about his friend's school project and the help that the little girl had said that he gave her with it. Misaki stared back at them with wide brown eyes, nervous and unable to speak.
He hadn't really done much of anything- Misaki had only held a tiny handful of flower seeds for his friend while she had made a hole in the soil in the Styrofoam cup and then dropped them in for her. But...he wasn't supposed to do even that. Misaki's father had told the school that Misaki was severely allergic to all kinds of plants and flowers and as such he was always excused from participating in any type of class project that involved either. Misaki knew that that was a lie but it was one that his father had told and made him tell ever since kindergarten. His father had knelt down until their faces were nearly level and put his hands on Misaki's shoulders and explained to him the most serious expression that the boy had ever seen on his father's face that it was for his own protection. No one must ever know the strange kinds of things that Misaki was able to do with plants.
Misaki had always liked making pretend gardens in his sandbox at home, digging neat little rows and 'planting' little rocks and leaves and blades of grass beneath the sand just like he saw his mother do. One time when he was four or five his mother had given him a little patch of her garden to play in, letting him plant flower bulbs there and he'd dug in happily. His teacher at school had read a story to the class- 'Through the Looking Glass' or something it had been called Misaki thought- and the boy had been captured by the idea of large talking flowers with faces. Perhaps it was because Misaki had been imagining this very thing so intently... pretending that he really was planting flowers that would grow up quickly and be able to talk to him, that it really happened.
One afternoon after school a few weeks later he had been playing in the backyard when he heard his mother shouting and he'd run to her. He was shocked to find her pale and trembling, her eyes wide with fear as she attacked Misaki's flowers with a pair of hedge clippers. They had grown huge in such a short period of time and Misaki could still remember the screams that the flowers had made as his mother had cut them down and was utterly stunned to hear their voices begging her not to kill them. Misaki had run forward crying for his mother to stop but she had been terrified and had pushed him away and had continued hacking away until they were all dead.
Misaki had cried for over an hour that afternoon after his mother had called his father home early from work and had barely been able to sleep that night. He kept having dreams about the flowers screaming in pain and begging him to save them. He'd ended up sleeping in his parent's room that night and several others, sandwiched in between his mom and dad.
The boy had clung to his mother's hands surrounding him in the principal's office as he stared fearfully at the men in black. They knew, he realized. Something must have happened with the seeds that he had held for his friend, even though he had barely had any contact him them. Misaki shank back pressing himself against his mother- was it these men that his father had meant when he had spoken about Misaki's protection?
It must have been, Misaki thought in distress as he sat in his seat at Alice Academy staring at the page in front of him with tear-blurred eyes. Later that evening those same men has showed up at his house and even though his mom and dad hadn't wanted to give him to them in the end, somehow, he had ended up being led by them into a large shining black car and taken away. Misaki could still see his mother in his mind's eye as she had run out of the house and across the lawn, trying in vain to reach him as the men drove away.
Misaki tried to blink his tears back but a few drops escaped his eyes and fell on the textbook page open in front of him. He rubbed his eyes dry as surreptitiously as he could and sneaked a glance at Narumi, but fortunately he seemed to have not noticed the boy's tears. The blonde's eyes were lowered to the manga beneath the veil of his eyelashes.
His lashes are so long, Misaki observed distantly, just like a girl's... Blonde hair and green eyes...he must be a foreigner. But his name is Japanese so he must be at least part Japanese, even though he doesn't look it.
Misaki had never seen so many kids of so many nationalities in one place before he had arrived at Alice Academy. In Misaki's small rural elementary school there had probably been maybe only a few dozen foreigners in the whole school and only two of them in his class. One of them, a girl from England with long, light brown hair and pensive hazel eyes had been his best friend since kindergarten. Misaki had always been a rather shy boy and hadn't had a lot of friends but Akemi-chan had been the only kid in his class to seemed to read as much and as well as he did and Misaki had somehow been drawn to her. He wondered if he would ever see her again...if he would ever see his parents again.
When he had asked Nishimura-sensei this morning if he could call his mom, at least, so she wouldn't worry the man had firmly replied that students of Alice Academy weren't allowed to have contact with anyone in the outside world, not even their parents.
What kind of place is this school, Misaki raged in disbelief, that they can just take kids away from their parents?
Bang! Misaki jumped, jarred instantly from his thoughts, as Nishimura brought down a wooden metre stick down with a sharp crack on the front of his table. His whole body instinctively tensed and his heart thudded in his ears as he stared up at the irritated teacher with wide eyes. Nishimura's ire, however, was directed at the manga-reading blonde who's head had jerked up to look at the man with a similarly startled expression. Narumi's countenance almost instantly resolved itself into a look of wary watchfulness whereas the new arrival Misaki sat apprehensively beside him, not knowing what to expect.
"Narumi-kun," Nishimura's deep voice came, gravely sardonic, "Since your grasp of the subject matter must clearly be formidable to be so freely indulging in non-school related reading material during my lesson perhaps you would grace your classmates with an answer to the question I've just asked?"
The emerald-eyed boy raised delicate eyebrows as he fidgeted slightly, "Um...would you mind repeating the question, Sensei?"
"Yes, I would." The teacher replied flatly, pausing a moment before adding, "Perhaps your partner can repeat the question for you..."
Crap. And here Misaki had thought that he had dodged the bullet with Nishimura.
There was what felt like an incredibly long and tense pause before Narumi very reluctantly and very slowly turned his head to regard Misaki, lifting his eyebrows at the raven-haired boy with a prompting look that seemed to say, "Well?". Misaki just cringed beneath the intent stares of his classmate and teacher, sitting rigidly and finally muttering an apology under his breath.
"How disappointing, Misaki-kun..." Nishimura murmured condescendingly with a slight shake of his head before turning his attention back to his equally clueless partner. "Since you are unable to provide a correct answer I expect more attention paid- by the both of you- from now on." Narumi opened his mouth with a glare to rebuttal against this but then promptly shut it again, as if thinking better of it.
"Yes, Sensei." The blonde replied curtly and Misaki quickly echoed his sentiments.
"And as for this..." The older man said sternly, reaching out a hand to Narumi's manga, "You may have this back at the end of detention after school."
Narumi's eyes flashed at the mention of detention and as Nishimura withdrew, book in hand, the boy swiftly caught his hand with his smaller one. The man's eyes widened and Misaki gawked, taken aback by the blonde's audacity.
"Well..." The corners of Narumi's mouth drifted upwards in a sweet smile as he met Nishimura's gaze from beneath the veil of his lashes. Misaki felt his apprehension dissipate like fog melting away against the burning of the sun. The older man's countenance rapidly drained of its characteristic sternness and irritation, gentling as the harsh lines of his face calmed into an open expression.
"...I would like to spend more time with you, Nishimura-sensei, even if it's in detention I wouldn't mind...if it was you." The blonde boy continued amiably as he cupped his chin casually in his free hand.
The teacher's eyes widened in pleased surprise and a smile burst forth on his face, "Really? You would?" Misaki sat riveted by Narumi's charming countenance and tone; his gaze locked on the boy's radiant face, but was dimly in the back of his mind aware that the other kids in the class had turned around to stare at the scene.
"Of course!" Narumi replied warmly as he nonchalantly retrieved his manga from Nishimura's distracted grasp with his other hand and set it in his lap and simultaneously shifted his small hand more securely into the man's now empty palm. "You're my favourite teacher...why wouldn't I want to spend for time with you?" The man's pale deeply lined face flushed slightly with delight at this declaration. "...But as much as I want to...I can't come after school..." The blonde's large green eyes gazed sadly up at Nishimura as he clutched tighter at the man's hand. "I'm really sorry...please don't be angry with me, Sensei..."
Nishimura pulled in a sharp breath, a pained look in his eyes at Narumi's sorrowful and pleading tone, "No...no, Narumi-kun, I'm not angry...I could never be angry at you. It's alright if you can't come; I understand..."
The blonde smiled in relief, "Oh, I knew you would...Nishimura-sensei is a very understanding teacher. Sensei..." Narumi looked at the older man kindly, "I hope you don't mind my saying so but you seem kind of tired..."
Nishimura lifted a hand to his cheek, seeming touched by the boy's concern, "Well, yes, a little..."
The blonde squeezed his hand, "You shouldn't work so hard, Sensei. You should take more time for yourself...In fact, why don't you go back to the staff room and relax for a while? You deserve it."
"Hmm...yes. You're right..." The teacher murmured to himself. "But..."
Narumi sat up straighter and smiled brightly, "Oh, don't worry about us, Sensei, we'll be fine...You just go and rest."
Nishimura seemed a bit dazed as he replied, "Yes, I think I will. Thank you, Narumi-kun...Such a sweet boy..." The teacher muttered to himself as he drifted out of the classroom with a soft smile on his face. The students watched their teacher walk out of the room with twenty minutes still left of class in a stunned and uneasy silence.
Narumi smirked to himself, quite pleased, but jerked abruptly when he realized that the new boy that Nishimura had bestowed upon him in vengeance had scooted over until he was so close that the blonde nearly brushed his nose against Misaki's cheek when he turned his head. Narumi's face scrunched up in annoyance and he hit the boy soundly upside the head with his manga. Crying out in surprise, Misaki clutched at the side of his throbbing head as the blonde boy unceremoniously slid out of his seat, grabbed his book bag and made for the door.
"Hey!" exclaimed the older girl with long chestnut hair who had volunteered in vain to be Misaki's partner earlier, standing up abruptly and setting her hands on her narrow hips. "Narumi-kun, where do you think you're going?"
The blonde paused and turned to flash the girl an impish grin over his shoulder, "Relax, Prez, you'll get old before your time...that old geezer's not coming back before the end of class..." With that cocky assertion Narumi sauntered out while the brunette stood frowning.
Misaki found himself shaking his head as if to clear it. What the heck just happened? he wondered in bewilderment.
The boy remembered clearly what had just taken place but now that Narumi had gone it was as if his understanding of the situation had gone with him. Somehow, it had seemed completely natural scarcely a minute ago to do whatever the blonde boy had wanted but now...
"You look confused." Misaki looked up to realize that the older girl was now standing in front of his desk. Several students began to leave their seats and soon enough the chaos that Misaki had witnessed when he had first come in with Nishimura at the beginning of class resumed. The girl whirled around on the class, "Nishimura-sensei could still come back so don't any of you leave!" One guy rolled his eyes, a girl waved her hand dismissively and the others just ignored the older girl's statement. She sighed and turned back to Misaki, "Oh, well, it's not my problem if they get punished...Your name is Misaki, right? I'm Kimura Hikari. I'm the class president for Class A...so if you have any questions or anything I'm here to help."
"Um, thanks...Kimura-san..." Misaki said uncertainly.
The girl smiled as if amused, "Oh, you can call me Kimura-chan or even 'Prez' if you want. A lot of kids do. Anyway, sorry you got stuck with Narumi-kun; you kind of came on a bad day. Nishimura-sensei's still mad about something Narumi-kun did yesterday..."
Misaki blinked, "What did he do yesterday? And what just happened? Is it just me, or was that really weird? It's like he did something but..."
"Oh, that was Narumi's Alice!" Burst out the flying textbook boy from earlier, Ojima-kun, who had been listening. "He's always doing stuff like that! He has a Human Pheromone Alice...so basically he can make people do whatever he wants. Even the teachers can't say no to him!"
Misaki frowned and repeated carefully, "Human Pher-o-mone? Like with animals and insects?" The Plant Alice had always been fascinated by science and had spent hours and hours reading about various subjects (being at an advanced reading-level for his age) and he vaguely recalled having read something about pheromones in relation to different animals, insects and plants.
"Yeah, that kind, but Naru's works on people," Ojima explained. "I heard some of the teachers talking about him once and Nishimura said that Narumi's Alice is unusually powerful for his age- that's why they made him a double star even though he's always causing trouble."
"Double star?" Misaki repeated questioningly.
"You just got here so you don't have a ranking yet," began Kimura, "but all of the students at Alice Academy-from the elementary branch to the high school-all have an assigned ranking. They'll probably give you one maybe at the end of the week. Most of the students at the elementary level are one-stars. The little kids- that is the children in kindergarten or younger don't usually have a ranking- they're considered no-stars. There are only a handful of students in the elementary division that have more than one star and there are only two in our class that do."
Misaki noticed the two gold stars neatly affixed to the front of Kimura's uniform, "You're a double star, too..."
The girl blushed slightly, "Um, yeah...Anyway, as I said, if you have any questions please feel free to ask me. I'm afraid Narumi-kun won't be much help...Sensei really shouldn't have made him your partner..."
"Yeah," Ojima agreed, pulling a face, "That kid only knows how to help himself! I got demoted to no-star for a whole week yesterday because of him! Narumi and me were both late for class yesterday morning and the punishment for being late is cleaning the Gomi Bako- which is just disgusting by the way, so don't be late! Anyway, Nishimura was on Gomi Bako duty after school yesterday and he dragged me and Naru down there to clean it but then Narumi used his Alice on him and made Nishimura clean the Gomi Bako instead!" The curly haired boy snickered in remembrance. "And Sensei did it with a huge smile on his face, too...It was hilarious! Well, that was until the principal and Sawajiri-sensei-that's the new English teacher- walked by and saw Nishimura up to his elbows in puke. He's the head teacher for the elementary division, you know, so I guess it looked really bad...You should have seen his face...the whole thing was red! He was so mad! I never heard him yell like that before-especially not at Narumi...that kid gets away with murder around here! So he demoted both of us to no-star for a week, which is fine for Naru- he's the one who can't just take his punishment like everyone else! But me? I didn't even do anything! I got punished just because I was there!"
Misaki listened with wide eyes, a little overwhelmed by the flood of information.
"And now Nishimura-sensei's using you to get back at Narumi." Kimura explained calmly. "Hopefully he'll calm down in a few days though and you can ask him to let you sit somewhere else. Being that close to Narumi-kun can really only get you into trouble..."
"Yeah, you already got hit in the cross-fire, I saw you!" Ojima chuckled and dropped onto the bench beside Misaki. "You totally got hit by Naru's Pheromones- you had that goofy look on your face that people always seem to get around him. You're just lucky he was after Nishimura and not you! Really, the best thing you can hope for at this point is that he'll just keep ignoring you because, trust me, you don't want that guy to take notice of you!"
"Ojima-kun!" Kimura exclaimed, "Don't tell him things like that! You're scaring him! Narumi-kun is a trouble maker, yes, but he really just likes to make mischief, that's all. He's not really a bad kid- he's just kind of spoiled. He's used to getting his own way-"
"He's used to getting his own way? He's a tyrant, you mean!" Ojima retorted and Misaki looked back and forth between the two. "He's our very own 'Tyrant Prince'!"
"Ojima-kun, don't say things like that!" The class president protested.
"What?" he shot back. "You're the one who came up with that name after he made you do that ridiculous dance at the school assembly in front of everyone-" Kimura's face reddened as the boy snickered and she gave Ojima a hard punch in the shoulder. "Ow!"
"Anyway..." The girl interjected quickly. "Homeroom is the only class that we all have together so if you need anything, Misaki-kun, you can talk to me in the morning. We're all considered 'Class A' because there are so few of us, but they split us up by grade for our academic subjects. They teach all of the five and under kids together. First and second graders like you and Ojima-kun are grouped together, too, so, Ojima-kun, you try and help out Misaki-kun, okay? I'm in the third grade so I have separate classes from you guys-"
"Hey, Hikari-chan," called a pretty girl with cornflower blue eyes and long pale blonde hair pulled back into a high ponytail, "Are you coming? Class is almost over."
Kimura turned to glance at the similarly-aged-looking girl, "Yeah, just a minute...Oh, Misaki-kun, this is my friend Yamada Serina; she's in third grade, too. And this..." The brunette tilted her head to try to see a small boy with a pale, timid face and long jet black hair tied back in a ribbon that was clinging to Serina's hand, half hidden behind her. "This is Fututan-kun... come on out from there. It's okay...come on." The class president smiled coaxingly and extended a hand to the shy little boy peering nervously at Misaki with round brown eyes but he just held on tighter to the blonde girl, burying his face in her skirt.
Kimura gave a little shrug, glancing at Misaki, "Oh, well...he's only four- almost anyway- and he just started here a few months ago...We've got to go though, so I'll see you later, Misaki-kun. Ojima-kun can show you where your next class is..." She looked expectantly at the curly-haired boy and he jerked his head in put upon acknowledgement.
Ojima stood up and went to collect his book bag from his desk, "All right, let's go then." Misaki quickly followed suit and trailed after the second grader out of the classroom, glancing briefly over his shoulder to where Kimura was trying to separate a crying Fututan from Serina's leg. "So, I forgot to ask...what's your Alice...?"
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
By the time lunch hour arrived Misaki was picking morosely at his food, too anxious to eat anything as he sat at a table by himself surrounded by a intimidating sea of students grouped together laughing and talking in the cafeteria. Misaki recognized Kimura Hikari and Yamada Serina sitting at a table in the distance with a bunch of other girls he didn't know. Finally, he plucked the apple from his tray and left the rest of his lunch on the table, making his way outside on his own as Ojima had deserted him in favour of his friends. Although Autumn was on its way it was still a nice, sunny day and the fresh air and open space made Misaki feel fractionally better.
The Plant Alice noticed that the so-called 'Tyrant Prince of Class A' Narumi seemed to have had a similar idea. The blonde boy was sitting cross-legged and solitary at the foot of a tree not far outside the elementary school building with an open book in one hand and half a sandwich in the other. Narumi didn't look up as Misaki passed and the raven-haired boy just avoided him along with anyone else who happened to be outside, not in any mood to have to talk to anyone. He wandered absently, lost in his own thoughts and worries, not paying any real attention to where he was going.
Misaki ambled along, munching at his apple, continuing to walk until he was obstructed by a long series of hedges running along in both directions. The boy was about to turn and walk back the way he came when he saw something that made him pause. Were those roses that he saw peeking over the edge of the hedges? Misaki tossed aside his apple core and started to travel along the short wall of hedges, looking intently for an opening. Finally, he came to a series of bushes that seemed to have ample space beneath them and he crawled on his hands and knees until he reached the other side.
The Plant Alice climbed back to his feet and brushed at the dirt on his bare knees as he looked around in wonder. Surrounding Misaki was the most beautiful and expansive garden that he had ever seen...He turned around slowly in a circle, gaping in amazement, he had never seen so many different kinds of flowers and varying hues of cherry trees in his life. It was still and silent but for the chirping of unseen birds and the air was fragrant with a myriad of perfumes...
Misaki felt tears pricking his eyes as he stared at all the roses...there were so many! He wished that his mom could see this... Roses were her favourite...his mother would have loved this place...The boy felt his face crumple as hot tears streamed down his face. Suddenly he was seized roughly by the back of his uniform by an unseen hand...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
Nishimura was at his desk composing questions for Class B's upcoming math test when a knock sounded on the faculty room door. He turned in his padded straight-backed chair to see a young teacher from the Middle School Division cross over to him dragging a reluctant and dirty looking Misaki behind her.
"Good afternoon, Nishimura-sensei..." The young woman greeted politely. "I found this student trespassing on the Hanahime shrine grounds. Hi-sama is very upset...she insists that this intruder be punished."
Nishimura's bushy grey eyebrows arched as he glanced with a frown at the six-year-old 'intruder'. "I'm sorry to hear that, Sakamoto-sensei. Please send my sincere apologies to the Headmistress for any inconvenience that may have been caused. Misaki-kun is a new student- he's only just started this morning, in fact- I'm sure he didn't mean to trespass."
"Ah, I see..." Sakamoto-sensei relinquished her grip on Misaki. "Well then, I'll leave him to you. Good day, Nishimura-sensei."
"Yes, thank you, you too..." The older man replied as the Middle School teacher left. Nishimura turned to regard the boy's red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained face, paused and then sighed tiredly, "I'm going to assume that you didn't know that you that elementary students are not permitted to leave our part of the campus, Misaki-kun, and I'll let you off with a warning this time. Don't let it happen again."
Misaki left out the breath that he hadn't realized that he'd been holding in relief, "I won't, sir. I'm sorry, Sensei..."
Nishimura glanced down at the boy's dirty knees and shoes, "Class starts in less than ten minutes...Go and clean yourself up and don't be late."
The boy nodded and fled to look for the nearest washroom- he had totally thought that Nishimura would surely rake him over the coals...so whatever the reason for his unexpected leniency Misaki was grateful for it...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
It shortly became evident that while Misaki had been let off the hook Nishimura hadn't let slide the Headmistress' insistence on punishment for the intrusion. The Plant Alice sagged with relief as he crossed the correct threshold to his math class after he had spent the last several minutes thundering down the halls in search of his next class.
Boy, that was close! Misaki thought as the bell rang sounding the beginning of class. I was barely five seconds away from Gomi Bako duty!
He sought rapidly for the nearest empty seat, not wanting to give Nishimura-who was also their math teacher- the chance to make him sit next to Narumi again. As he went by the blonde's seat- which Narumi once more had all to himself-Misaki tripped and went down hard, banging his mouth on the corner of the next bench. Covering his stinging and bleeding lip with his hand, the dark haired boy turned to look over his shoulder wide-eyed at Narumi's booted foot sticking out in the aisle.
"Thanks a lot, idiot!" The Pheromone Alice hissed, glowering down at him. Misaki cringed and painfully forced himself to his feet on throbbing and bruised knees, standing red-faced with humiliation in the aisle.
Nishimura looked coldly at him from the front of the class, unimpressed by his injuries. "Find a seat, Misaki-kun...You're holding up the class."
Misaki looked around anxiously at his indifferent classmates. Finally Ojima called his name. "Misaki-kun, there's room over here!" The Plant Alice wiped at his bleeding lip and limped over to Ojima as quickly as he could, sitting down gratefully. The boy slid a math textbook over to him silently and the lesson began. About fifteen minutes later Nishimura left the room after assigning them a selection of problems to work on. Misaki anxiously peered over his shoulder at Narumi who glared back fixedly at him and he whipped his head back around.
Ojima's earlier words about the blonde came back to him, 'Really, the best thing you can hope for at this point is that he'll just keep ignoring you because, trust me, you don't want that guy to take notice of you!' If the ferocity of Narumi's glare was any indication Misaki felt certain that the tyrannical boy had finally taken notice of him...
"So..." drawled Ojima in a voice barely above a whisper, "I heard that you made a visit to the Hanahime shrine." Misaki's head turned sharply towards him; how did he know that?
The raven-haired boy protested in a similarly hushed tone, "It was an accident- I didn't know that I wasn't allowed there!"
"Yeah, and Nishimura gave Narumi an earful about it just before you got here." The second grader informed.
"What?" Misaki muttered, "But why, it's not like he was with me when I went there..."
Ojima just shook his head, "Doesn't matter...Not to Nishimura. He made Naru your partner and since it's his job to make sure you know the school rules, Sensei said from now on that any of your mistakes would be his mistakes, too."
"That's crazy!" The Plant Alice whispered. "Besides, it was an accident- I didn't do it on purpose! He didn't even punish me; he just gave a warning..."
The other boy just shrugged, "Well, he might not have punished you but he's punishing Narumi- which is worse because now Naru's pissed at you. Sensei gave him detention for the next three days and he says if Naru doesn't show up for all of them he'll be demoted to no-star for another week! And he said it to him from the front of the class so Narumi couldn't use his Alice to get out of it and Naru can't stand being a no-star so I guess he'll have to go..."
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
By the time Misaki's first day mercifully ended he felt like he really had been raked over a bed of hot coals. He trailed listlessly behind the robotic dorm mother/housekeeper as it led him to the room that it said had been temporarily assigned to him by the school. Not even the impossible sight of a real, live, functioning robot was enough to jar the boy out of his melancholy as he followed it up yet another flight of stairs, with his small suitcase clutched tightly in his hand.
When the men in the black suits had arrived here with him last night after a very long car ride, they had placed Misaki in a cramped and dusty room that looked like it was used for storage with a fold up cot for the night. They had said that there wasn't a room available for him yet and that he would be moved again later when there was one.
The dorm mother finally stopped at a worn looking wooden door in what seemed to Misaki to be the massive attic of the elementary dormitory and knocked on the door.
"What?" came a petulant sounding voice and Misaki stiffened. Was he going to have a roommate? The robot opened the door and ushered the Plant Alice in. Misaki came to an abrupt halt as Narumi looked at him in disbelief from where he was sitting on one of two of the single beds by the window.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me?" Narumi growled, glaring at his unwanted partner and now apparently undesired roommate. He just couldn't get away from this boy! It was like some twisted God had tied them together with a red string of fate as some annoying joke! And his hand was still sore from the detention that he had just spent with Nishimura, forced to copy from the dictionary for forty-five minutes straight. If nothing else, all of the detentions that he had acquired today would certainly improve his vocabulary...
"I don't kid, Narumi-kun," the dorm mother stated flatly, "This is the only room that has a bed available for a no-star student...unless, of course, one of you wouldn't mind sharing the big room with the kindergarteners and nursery aged children?" The blonde looked appalled at the suggestion and Misaki wondered for a moment whether it would be better or worse to have to share a room with a bunch of near-toddlers. "...I thought not." The robot said knowingly and turned to leave, "I will leave you to unpack and remember: any misbehaviour will result in further penalty. Have a good evening, Narumi-kun and Misaki-kun." With that the dorm mother left and softly closed the door behind it.
Narumi gave a snort of contempt and flopped back on the bed, "Have a good evening...right! Kami, this room is disgusting...I can't believe they make those little kids live up here!"
Misaki stood rigidly by the door and glanced around at the bare, dusty and dimly lit little room. He squinted...was that a cobweb above that rickety old bed that he was supposed to sleep in? The Plant Alice stepped forward tentatively and placed his suitcase on the dusty coverlet and shivered against the chilly draft of the room. Didn't they have any heat in this room? If Narumi couldn't stand being a no-star Misaki really couldn't say he blamed him- and what did he just say about little kids? Kimura had said earlier, he remembered suddenly, something about the kids five years and under being no-stars. Fututan's pale and crying face as he had left homeroom that morning with Ojima flashed in his mind.
Was this really how they made those little kids live in this so-called 'prestigious institution for gifted children'?
Misaki looked down at the dusty coverlet and cringed at the thought of having to sleep there. He glanced hesitantly at Narumi who was lying on his bed staring up blankly at the ceiling, "Um...what are the chances of getting new sheets and blankets?" The Pheromone Alice's bedding looked much fresher than his.
"Do I look like a housekeeping robot?" Narumi replied scornfully, sitting up and seizing his book bag before unceremoniously deserting the room.
Misaki made a face after his retreating figure and muttered after the blonde was out of earshot, "Thanks for your help, jerk..." He guessed that he should take that as a hint to go and find one of those robots...
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
The Plant Alice had never imagined that a robot with a stationary metal face was even capable of looking at someone like they were an idiot. But that's just how the robot that he had found had looked at him when he had told it that he didn't know how to make up the bed once it had provided him with clean sheets and blankets.
A several hours later Misaki was sitting at the round little table in the corner of the dreary room trying to do his homework after having returned from having half eaten his dinner at the school dining hall surrounded by indifferent children he didn't know. And after having finally finishing his continued labour in changing the bed, washing the floor and thoroughly dusting the room he was drooping tiredly over his school books. But as challenging as the job had been for him- his mother had always done those things for him he'd realized; he had never really been aware of just how much he had really been taken care of his entire life until today- it had at least provided him with a good distraction for a while. His attempts so far at focusing on the chapters assigned to him in Social Studies weren't going so well.
Misaki looked out the window at the darkening sky and wondered distantly where that jerk Narumi had disappeared to. The kid didn't seem to have any friends, so where could he have gone for so long? Misaki couldn't remember having seen the boy at dinner, either. The attic room was quiet... too quiet. Weren't there supposed to be little kids living on that floor, too? Misaki put his head down on his folded arms...
If he was at home right now what would he have been doing? He might very well have been sitting at his kitchen table forced to do homework but at least his mom and dad would've been home. Or he might have been reading one of his many books or playing with his toys in his room...Misaki looked around with a sinking feeling at the starkness of the room he was in. There was nothing in here. The room was unbearably empty and intolerably silent. Even Narumi's ranting about the disgusting state of their no-star room would have been preferable to this silence.
Misaki really wanted to just stop trying to read the textbook and just curl up and go to sleep. At least if he was asleep then he wouldn't have to be awake. But he didn't know what his teachers might do, what punishment they might give him if he didn't finish the homework that he had been given...
The boy squeezed his eyes shut tightly...he just wanted to be at home. Misaki felt tears burning in his eyes again and he threw the textbook at the wall in anger and grief. His head sunk back down into his arms and his small body shook as he dissolved into sobs. Suddenly the door jerked opened and Narumi walked in, chucking his book bag on the floor beside the bed. Misaki sat up, startled, and wiped frantically at his eyes and damp cheeks in embarrassment, trying to turn away as the blonde's emerald gaze lingered on his face. Narumi's eyes lowered uncertainly for a moment before he moved towards his side of the room.
Misaki was surprised a second later when the blonde tossed a box of tissues to him and it hit the table top with a clatter as Narumi turned away to look out the window as he said matter-of-factly, "Don't worry about it...There are lots of kids crying in this place."
The Plant Alice pulled out a few tissues and wiped his eyes as he asked quietly, "Were they taken away from their parents, too? This school...how can they do things like this?"
Narumi turned his head to meet his desolate gaze with piercing eyes as he scoffed, "This school can do whatever it wants..." He spat out the word 'school' like it was a profanity before stating bluntly (and a touch forlornly Misaki thought), "You're an Alice now, Misaki-kun...the world isn't the same anymore. Not for us..." Reddened eyes widened as the boy gave a bitter laugh that should never have been able to come from a six year old child and added sarcastically, "Welcome to Alice Academy."
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A/N: I know this was a long chapter (twice as long as I had originally intended, actually) but if you have any energy left (LOL!) even a short review or comment would be appreciated. Thanks!