Disclaimer: I don't own the idea of Gakuen Alice, or even the manga. I don't own anything! :D What I do own is the song that is further in the chapter. Please don't steal it or use it for personal gain. It took forever to come up with something meaningful! Some of this chapter is pretty much like the first couple of chapters of G.A, but there are some subtle differences!
Summary: Eight year old Mikan Sakura wanted nothing more than to enjoy her years of elementary school. She was popular, made friends easily, and was happy all the time. How will her life change when Hotaru Imai, a mysterious transfer student, appears into her life?
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"Find the happiness
You've wanted to obtain…
The time is short
But summer is here.
It'll only be a matter of time
Before you're wish is granted…"
-Hotaru
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Chapter One:
The New Girl
"Alright class, we have a new student to welcome into our classroom today!" The third grade teacher enthusiastically called out to the seven and eight year olds. It wasn't often that the school had a new student, but then again, it was the only school within a good distance from the town. The next closet school was in the city about sixteen and a half miles away. Not only would the younger kids have to wake up earlier, they'd have to ride a bus to and from the city school. Some of the parents weren't enthused about the idea either; they preferred their kids to walk and be close to home if they could help it.
"Come on in Imai, this is your new classmates. Introduce yourself." The door slowly opened to reveal a small girl with stunning purple eyes. Unlike most of the children's eyes hers held a sort of knowledge others didn't acquire until adulthood. Her hair was cropped short in even tendrils running as far as the nape of her neck. It was a strange black color compared to the other small children's brown or dirty blonde hair, and to top it off, her hair was in great condition. She was just like a porcelain doll; feminine eyes, perfectly tended raven hair, and delicate skin.
"Hello. I'm Hotaru Imai. Age seven." Her voice was soft, yet it held a businesslike manner. There were a couple students in the front of the classroom that were attentive to her every move.
"What's your favorite subject?" Unfortunately, there were those students that loved to sneer at the new kids. These were the ones who started pestering the new girl with questions. The girl didn't show any signs of weakness as she instantly said the next word aloud.
"Nanotechnology."
This was when everyone was left speechless. Who even knew about nanotechnobabble at the age of seven? That was when everyone shortly figured out that this new girl would not be someone to mess with.
The teacher coughed out twice to get her students attention back from their stupor. Even if she didn't understand why Hotaru Imai was knowledgeable about technology at that caliber, she always represented her students with the respect they deserved.
"Imai, why don't you sit in the front next to Kobe. Now let's start today's lesson on how to properly place a comma into a sentence…" Shortly after the teacher's sentence, the class was back in session with a new transfer student in tow.
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It had been a few weeks since Hotaru Imai had transferred in. She was a mystery to everyone within their grade, and just like her icy exterior she kept to herself. She was very smart for her age, and it didn't take long before some of the boys in their class had begun to admire the girl's skill at correcting the teacher's mistakes during lessons. Sometimes there would be a mistake in the text book and the girl would immediately reprimand the teacher for teaching the wrong material.
From the above description, it would make the girl sound like a snob, and that was entirely wrong. She was quiet, reserved, and when it came to academics she was very serious about it. Everyone was in awe of her academic levels. While the students were reading Black Beauty, she was reading a college level textbook called: The Art to Forensic Science.
"Hey Mikan what do you think of Hotaru?" The voice was a bit shrill, not yet hitting the maturity of a teen, but it would only take a matter of a couple years to fix it. Her blonde hair was pulled to the left side of her head into a ponytail. "She's kind of mysterious, don't you think?" She was looking up into the tree above the swing set but the only thing that made a sound was the rustling of the leaves.
Another girl who was sitting on top of the swing set was swinging her feet back and forth. She was smiling brightly but the small bruises and scratches on her arms and legs contradicted her current mood. Her black hair went straight to her shoulders and the bangs were held back by two clips. "Yeah, but she's amazing! She helped me with my worst subject the other day! In fact today I'm going to take her out for ice cream since I promised her I would."
Suddenly a girl had jumped down from the branch above where the two girls were animatedly chatting. Her hair was pulled back into two pigtails and her auburn bangs were hovering just at her eye level. She was wearing a pleated cream skirt with a short sleeved red and white tee. She was wearing her white school shoes outside of the building but the teachers didn't care unless they got scuffed.
"I don't know…" It had sounded like she was annoyed at something and because of the tone the two girls didn't understand why she was annoyed.
"What don't you understand Mikan?" Her blonde haired companion asked, but the other girl just laughed. "I bet Hotaru could help you understand Mikan! She's great!"
Mikan just narrowed her eyes at her friends before heaving a short sigh. "...Nothing. I'm heading back inside now." The two girls quizzically looked at the back of Mikan as she walked back into the school building. The only thing these two didn't understand was the feeling of jealously coursing through the eight year old girl. Before Hotaru Imai transferred in Mikan Sakura was the idol of the town. Now with her new competition she was second rate in comparison.
"I wonder what's wrong with Mikan."
"I wonder too…"
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Heavily sighing out Mikan glanced out the second floor window to see Hotaru Imai leaving the school premises. Normally the girl was alone but this time she was escorted out by Mikan's two friends from lunch to get ice cream. Her hand lightly touched the window as she peered out with sadness. She just wanted to tag along too but with Hotaru Imai there, she wasn't sure anymore. Taking another stagnant breathe the girl went to grab the cloth besides her to clean the rest of the window. It was her turn to do cleaning duty that day anyways.
Before the trio of girls turned the corner in front of the school's gate Mikan saw Hotaru glance back at the school building. Her eyes were intently staring through the window at Mikan's before turning away. Once she was out of sight Mikan began to relax again. There was something about that girl that set alarms off everywhere… and Mikan wasn't going to let her guard down if they continued to do so.
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A week had gone by after the window incident. Nobody mentioned the fact that Mikan had quietly shut herself away as everyone curiously pondered over the mysterious new girl. Nothing new was discovered… well, only that she was very skilled at hands activities and she was intelligent. She easily made things no one could have possibly dreamed of, and to top it off, they were designed after animals. Mikan had surprised herself one day with a thought such as that when she saw the cute walking turtle on Hotaru's desk in the front. Its legs were small, and they were wobbling around.
"Hey." It was the quiet voice Mikan had been dreading to hear since the first day she transferred in. She had thought that she had kept perfectly to herself, going home alone, playing by herself in the tree, she even forced herself to hide in the library a couple of times to avoid the other children.
The girl knew it would have been inevitable to avoid everyone forever, and so without further ado the eight year old was forced to face her nemesis. She tried to smile a bit but she knew it wouldn't be possible in her current state. The girl paid no heed to her foul mood and instead pulled out a single sheet of paper from behind her. From what it looked like, it was a competition for girls only… and the requirements were that you needed at least two people within your group to sing and dance. Of course one of the judging aspects of the contest was of the girls' cuteness.
"Since we're different we may be able to pool our cute assets… like a boy band."
Five point seven ninths of a second later Mikan exploded into a bright arrangement of red. It wasn't odd to have a couple guys from the neighborhood call her cute and give her free food but this was something she was not expecting. At first glance Mikan had thought that Hotaru was nothing more than a snob… but now she couldn't think that way about her. She was… cuter than what she had first thought.
Raising a hand to her gaping mouth she slowly nodded her head to the short haired girl.
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A beautiful friendship was born afterwards. Once the day ended the two of them left the school grounds together to practice what to do for the contest. Mikan was preparing the dances, lyrics, and song material while Hotaru just worked on special effects. All in all they pretty much worked together and once the month had ended the contest was upon them.
"Hotaru, did you finish the lighting that you said you were working on?" Mikan was pulling one of her small fluffy pillows to her body while Hotaru just twisted a screwdriver in her pale hand.
"Yeah, but my inspiration just stopped." She gave a depressed sigh out but then went to stare at the clock. The girl had found it odd that her creativity stopped whenever she was around Mikan, but that didn't stop her from hanging around with the girl. After all, they still had those free food coupons to win. The second hand was hovering just over the eleven while she twiddled with her tools. They'd be performing in a couple of hours at this rate.
"I wonder why that happens. I mean you are the smartest in this town. Heck you even corrected that business man that came to teach us that one day." Mikan laughed at the memory when the stoic girl innocently raised her hand during the first five minutes of the lesson. Supposedly the man was from the major cities schools branch and was showing how great the education was over there, but once he had begun Hotaru had instantly brought his ego down to a grain of salt.
"It only happens when I'm working with you. Maybe I need to stay away from you to avoid losing anymore brain cells. Also that man was in way over his head. I hate people who are conceited." She was twirling her tool back and forth between her thumb, index and middle fingers while Mikan threw her pillow over her head in frustration.
"Hotaru how could you say that about your best friend?" The eight year old puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. How could she say something so cruel when they worked so hard to get where they were today? "Aren't you being cruel Hotaru? Well, anyways, let's go over the formations one last time before we head to the festivities."
Hotaru didn't know whether or not the girl was dumb or just too narrow minded under the crunch. It only took Hotaru a month to figure out who Mikan really was as a person. She had thought her first impression of the girl was a little off, especially since the girl kept glaring at her whenever she had the chance too. Then there was the time when she became completely silent. It was odd to see her that way even though Hotaru was still new to the area and its people.
"Sure." Mechanically, the seven year old followed the brunette and perfectly mimicked the dance the way she was taught. Though she didn't have that bright smile that Mikan had, she did have her mysterious charm hovering over her in this town. Everyone found her amazing the first few steps she took, and from there everyone pretty much acknowledged that Hotaru Imai hardly showed any emotions.
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The contest had started with a huge bang. There were plenty of groups that had entered the contest and were very good competition. Hotaru wasn't worried, but backstage Mikan was shaking her hands up and down in front of her. It was hard to see why the brunette was nervous since she practically breathed the whole routine an hour ago without much thought.
"You'll be fine Mikan." Hotaru had made the change from calling Sakura to Mikan after the first two weeks of being acquainted with each other, and Mikan had just called Hotaru by her first name since the beginning. The girl didn't mind being called without honorifics; actually, she thought they were overrated for their age. "My machines will cover us if something happens."
"Oh Hotaru I knew I could rely on you!" Mikan grabbed on to Hotaru's arm and gave one of her best smiles. "Let's do our best, 'kay!" Lightly nodding her head Hotaru flashed a very rare smile to the girl and patted her head.
"Sure. Now get off so that I can walk onstage." Pushing Mikan's head away from herself, she pulled out a roller to wipe down any wrinkles Mikan might have caused. She was always meticulous when it came to last minute details.
"EH? It's our turn!" Mikan shouted out in a hushed whisper while jerking her head both ways to find the time. On the wall closet to the emergency exit was a regular wall clock and the hands were pointed at the seven and six. "Six thirty-five, we're almost up Hotaru!" She was continuing to speak about other important things about the routine but Hotaru was pulling out some of her inventions from earlier that afternoon.
"Hey, stop mumbling like a buffoon and help me with the equipment."
"Right!" The brunette saluted to her friend and grabbed the closet lighting instrument. It was slightly heavy for someone her age to be carrying around but Hotaru seemed to trust her enough to not wreck it before the show.
"Alright, next we have Two Dimensions premiering Mikan Sakura and Hotaru Imai!" The crowd outside was cheering out for both of them while they started to put stuff on the stage. The loudest one out in the audience though was Mikan's grandfather and he was wearing a red ribbon around him forehead and was sporting a huge flag with Mikan's and Hotaru's name on it.
"GO HOTARU! GO MIKAN!" Around him some of the people jumped up surprised that a person his age could yell that loud and not get winded shortly after. The shock never wore away as he then started to wave his flag high in the air.
"Grandpa sure is excited for us, huh Hotaru?" Mikan was plugging in the fog machine in the back of the stage while Hotaru made some last minute fixes of the lighting instruments up front.
"He's just like someone I know." She replied out before pulling off her work goggles. Mikan just laughed with a bit of humiliation at that comment.
"Heeheehee… Well, you ready Hotaru?" The way their show worked was that the lighting would give off a cooling effect to the audience, while the fog was set up to soothe the soul and mind. It was Hotaru's idea to give off a "summer may be here, but it won't be bad" type of thing and Mikan was up for it one hundred percent.
What was even cooler about their show was that Hotaru planned something that Mikan had no clue about. She had an idea that Hotaru had a secret plan for the finale but she wouldn't find out about it until the last pose.
"Performing for us as our final act is once again Two Dimensions starring Mikan Sakura and Hotaru Imai. Welcome to the stage our lovely stars!" The crowd cheered when the two set themselves onto the stage. They started side by side right in the center and the lights flashed on. They were colored lights blaring from red, to blue, to yellow in a matter of minutes. Sometimes they pulsed, but everything stopped into an eerie blue color just as the fog machine kicked on. The lights were all off except for a spotlight in the middle of the stage.
"Leaves blowing in the breeze,
The billows rolling through the skies,
Schools finally out for once in our third grade lives!"
Mikan and Hotaru stepped forward at the same time with their right hands extended to the stars. In their left hands were the microphones the backstage crew gave the two before they went onstage. They both moved in unison to the left and then to the right while singing the first passage out. Mikan was singing the higher parts while Hotaru covered the lower one. Over all it was a beautiful harmony.
"We're here tonight to sing our praise
Let loose, but don't overlook a good day's wage!
Summer's here for us to enjoy, so don't fear,
Just relax, kick back, and go sail!
There's so much out there to explore and learn,
It might be hard but no worries, we're here!
Two dimensions will keep you rocking,
Don't stop now, we're not done shocking!
Mikan easily performed a cartwheel to the side just behind Hotaru, while the raven haired girl continued the next line on her own. Everyone was pretty amazed by the special effects that had begun to work.
"Don't stop, Go run.
Look at the places you've found.
The world isn't scary
But just keep at it to find that joy."
Some people were nodding their heads to the rhythm, while some others were clapping to the beat. Mikan jumped up from behind Hotaru at this point, and without a pause the girl tossed off stage some soft candy to the kids in the front row before joining Hotaru in sync dancing.
"Cause we're Two Dimensions,
We'll keep you rocking,
Cause once you've started
You'll never go stopping."
The song drifted to its last rift, and before Mikan and Hotaru jump into their last stances, the dark skies lit up with white fireworks. The two girls looked up at the same time causing everyone in the audience to do the same and they immediately awed in response. There were a couple images in the sky such as watermelon, and ice cream. There were also exploding stars with purple and reds expanding at the sides.
"Wow!" Mikan gasped onstage while Hotaru smirked. Grabbing Mikan's hand she reminded her of the last addition and she nodded her head in agreement. Mikan stopped short after the first verse wanting Hotaru to take the last words. Even though it was Mikan who was in charge of lyrics Hotaru did change it up to sound a bit more upbeat. So it was evident that Hotaru should get the spotlight.
"Find the happiness
You've wanted to obtain…
The time is short
But summer is here.
It'll only be a matter of time
Before you're wish is granted
For Two Dimensions will keep you rocking,
So that you'll never go stopping…"
The song ended shortly after Hotaru's last words; Mikan was so absorbed in the fireworks show now to actually hear the last verse her friend had added in, but someone heard it. Taking a moment to look out into the audience Hotaru saw her mom and dad seating in the second row in the fifth section. Her mom looked like she was going to cry while her dad gave a weak smile. Someone noticed the darker tone of that message.
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"Hotaru, you didn't tell me you had fireworks set up in the back! I was in shock! No, the judges were in shock. I'm glad that we won though!" Mikan was shoving the fog machine into Hotaru's storage room at her home.
"If I did tell you, you would have told your grandfather. Then he would have told everyone in town because of how excited he would have been. Trust me; we didn't want to lose the surprise factor." She was counting how many food coupons she had gotten from the judges while Mikan was still shoving her inventions into the container.
"I guess…" She heaved out, and once she finished up she closed the storage door and slid down to sit. "But wow, I'm super exhausted after all that work. That was epic!"
"What I can't get," Hotaru monotonously said, "is why you just used the word "epic?" Last time I checked, that word was only used to describe tales of famous heroes such as Homer from the Iliad, or Hercules from the Greek legends. We are not that great, and I'm sure pop stars such as Reo would scoff at our little rock show… Or the lack of one."
This time it was Mikan's point to be confused. Who was Romeo, or Hercelers, or Relo? They weren't people she even learned of. "Who the heck is… errr… Relo…?" The black haired girl just sighed before tugging Mikan up off the ground.
"Follow me, I'll show you who Reo is. He's a new pop star that appeared in Tokyo a year or two ago. He's pretty famous now, though then again, it might be because of that."
"Because of what?" Mikan questioned aloud. She followed Hotaru up the staircase to her room, where she then pulled out a laptop to go to Google. She was quick at typing for someone her age, but then again, this was Hotaru Imai they were talking about.
"Reo," Hotaru explained pointed at the picture of a male around the age of nineteen to twenty. "He graduated from Gakuen Alice, the elite school in Tokyo, and became an instant hit amongst the populace. It says that all of his fans will fall speechless when listening to his music." Zipping the mouse up to the right corner of the webpage, the girl pulled out another webpage to only type in YouTube. A matter of seconds later she found one of the first concerts he did a couple weeks ago and played it through.
The lights blared, and behind him were mechanically controlled instruments. Looking back at the person, she realized that he had magenta red hair that was evenly combed off to the side, and he had an alluring purple tint to his eyes. Once he began singing the crowd instantly stopped chatting and just listened. Hotaru on the other hand stuffed her ears with earplugs and waited for his song to end. Why would she do that when he was just singing?
Staring intently at the screen she wondered why a singer such as him got so much appeal.
Once the song ended Hotaru instantly shut down her laptop to perform a bug test. She was saying something about a computer virus running through her laptop thanks to listening but once the software cleared everything she was happy.
"Now I don't have to worry about being brainwashed." She muttered once she closed her laptop shut.
"What?" Mikan asked quizzically while Hotaru fumbled away from her terminal. Unlike Mikan's room which was a traditional eight panel Tatami mat room, Hotaru's was pretty modern with a bed and desk. On the floor was machines strewn all over the place.
"…Nothing, forget I said anything. I'm getting some watermelon from the fridge. Let's go Mikan." Abruptly she left her room before Mikan could ask any more questions regarding the last conversation. Hotaru was mysterious, but there was something to that mystery that began to unravel within that short span of five minutes.
"Okay!"
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T.K.: Sorry for not updating lately! It's been super hectic right now! I haven't written much for The Assignment yet, but I will update that shortly! Like my profile says I will sit down and work on it soon! Please look forward to more updates. :D
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Completed: September 17, 2010; 8:22 a.m.