Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.
Claimer: This fan fiction and the OCs are mine.

This story follows only the anime, and takes place fifteen years before its timeline. The interpretation of Noda presented in this fic is my own, and has been drawn up based entirely on the anime. I don't read the manga, so please overlook any inconsistencies with it that will undoubtedly turn up.

Catching the Sands of Time

The young woman stared at Noda, wide-eyed. "It's you! The pervert who was in my bathroom!"

Chapter One

Noda, The Pervert

There was a loud thud, followed by a groan.

"Ow," Noda muttered, having just landed on the floor in a careless sprawl. With a grunt, he pulled himself up and plopped down, rubbing his aching sides. Wearily he glanced up to see where he was, only to realize that he had fallen out of midair again.

I need to learn how to land on my feet next time.

"Noda?"

At this the young man paused, finding a grim-looking Jinno staring down at him. The older man adjusted his glasses, to which Noda could only grimace in response. His hair was unruly, his clothes were ripped in places, and his cheeks were still bleeding: It looked like he had been through hell and back – which wasn't entirely inaccurate.

"Good morning, Jinno-sensei," he greeted, still very polite despite his state. "Pardon me, but how old are you today?" he asked, pulling a twig out of his hair.

The Math teacher lifted an eyebrow at the question, looking mildly concerned. "Where have you been?" he asked instead.

Noda scratched his head, and winced when he touched a bump. "In the jungle," he replied, frowning as he remembered how he had literally been running for his life just moments ago. "I was being chased by an elephant."

Jinno shook his head, almost sympathetic. "I'm twenty-three today."

Noda sighed in relief. This was the right place and the right time. "Thanks, Jinno-sensei. Sorry I missed your class." According to the clock tower across the building, it was almost half-an-hour past nine – too late for his Math class at eight.

"It's all right." Jinno waved a dismissive hand. "Why don't you go to the nurse instead?"

"I will, Jinno-sensei. Thank you," Noda said, and watched as Jinno nodded stiffly before walking past him.

As soon as the teacher was gone, the young man leaned back against a nearby wall, tilting his head upward to steady his breathing. I wonder how much I missed again today.

The seventeen-year-old Noda had gained quite a reputation in the Academy because of his sudden appearances and disappearances, caused by his erratic alice. His teachers, including Jinno himself, had been requested by the school administration to overlook this, since he was doing quite well in class, anyway.

This morning he had woken up all set for his Math quiz, only to be disappointed as his alice suddenly activated and he found himself in an ancient jungle. In trying to work his alice he crossed the territory of primates – which, unsurprisingly, did not appreciate his intrusion.

And so he spent the last several hours running around the forest, more amused than scared as he considered bringing someone with him in his next travel across time and space.

Noda rolled up his sleeves, glancing down the nasty cut across his arm. "Oh," he murmured, frowning when he realized that it was still bleeding. He sat unmoving for a few moments, thinking things through, strangely calm despite everything that had happened.

I could have died there.

The young man yawned, the thought of death stirring not even the faintest of his concerns. "Death, huh."

He still had schoolwork to catch up on.

۞۞۞

The dark vehicle stopped in front of the spiked iron gates, its driver rolling down his window to confirm his identity. It wasn't long afterwards that the car started once again, swiftly slipping into the estate behind the tall boundary walls.

Sitting in the backseat was the seventeen-year-old Kazuhara Shizue, watching the well-tended scenery change as the vehicle cruised up past them. She had her chin propped up in one hand, her gaze fixed outside even when she was too distracted by her own musings to really see anything.

"Alice Academy," she whispered. Up ahead, she could see that the trees lining the freeway stretched on for miles, looking almost endless. They had not been kidding about the size of the Academy when they described it to her.

Kazuhara shifted in her seat, remembering how it had only been three weeks since she left her high school. With or without her mother's consent, the Academy's order was for her to be immediately fetched from home and be taken to it, where she would finish her high school.

The private school she had been attending had been more than enthusiastic with the immediate processing of her papers, making up for the fault in its security measures. Even her mother, stubborn and unyielding almost to a fault, could not argue against the directive of the Academy.

In a ridiculously short span of time, her transfer to Alice Academy had been arranged. It was for the first time that Kazuhara realized what the school for alices was really capable of, and just what it could do if it wanted to.

Its administrators had made sure it left no question about its authority, asserting itself loud and clear: "We entrust our alices to no one but the Academy."

The words had sounded so protective and territorial, and Kazuhara remembered how she couldn't bring herself to doubt the truth in them. "I'm entrusting myself to you, then," she muttered, looking out the window with a faint smile on her face, "Alice Academy."

Three weeks ago, prompting both her mother and the Academy's decision, was another attempt on Kazuhara's life.

۞۞۞

Misaki didn't even try to hide his scowl as soon as Noda stepped into the room.

"Sorry," Noda muttered before the younger man could breathe a word. The twelve-year-old was an assistant in the Academy clinic, who did more than his fair share of work by procuring medicine with his plant alice. He had always been the one to tend Noda's wounds after the mishaps that Noda's alice brought upon himself, and the two had been friends ever since either of them could remember.

Despite being five years younger, Misaki would always lecture Noda about being careful and how he should really be giving attention to mastering his alice of time travel. "Where have you been this time?" Misaki asked, frowning as he pulled out a small box of first aid kit.

Noda plopped down on the couch, holding up his injured arm. He had stopped by his room to take a shower and change clothes before going to the clinic; Misaki would have been furious with worry had he seen Noda's state when he came back. "Some jungle," he replied casually.

"I don't understand how you can be so unconcerned by all this," Misaki grumbled as he sat down next to Noda to clean his wounds. "And hadn't I heard that they've given you an inhibiter already?"

Noda smiled, gazing almost wistfully at the gold bangle around his uninjured wrist. "It doesn't help much. My alice is much too strong for inhibiters."

Misaki's frown deepened, whispering top star under his breath.

"It's not as fun as you might think," Noda said, laughing quietly. The Academy had long classified him as a Top Star student, much to his amusement. He was told it was because of the remarkable strength of his alice, which had always somehow resisted most – if not all – alice control devices.

That, and his good scholastic records helped, too.

"Yeah, right. It's not fun to get a big allowance and eat the most delicious food from culinary alices," Misaki said lightly.

This time Noda really laughed, despite his wounds. "I relent, Misaki. It is fun being a Top Star student."

۞۞۞

Kazuhara followed the chauffeur as he led the way down the length of the gallery, occasionally glancing down the Alice Academy map in her hands. She had been told that this was the Administration Building, where one of the Academy administrators would speak with her.

It's not in the map, she thought, folding the piece of paper she had been given. If anything, she was even more curious to meet someone from the higher-ups. She vaguely recalled being told that no one – except for a very, very few exceptions – ever saw anyone who directed the school. It wasn't even absolutely certain what – or who– ran the Academy.

"We're here, Miss Shizue," the chauffeur called out, interrupting her musings.

Not without hesitation, Kazuhara stepped through the double doors that had been laid open for her arrival. She paused mid-step, eyes growing wide at the darkness inside. The faintest pool of light was only cast on a couch in the very center of the carpeted room. Puzzled, she shifted her gaze to the wall the seat was facing, and finally noticed the vague outline of a widescreen hanging from it.

It was then that she comprehended the setup, prompting her to resume her stride. Whoever was overseeing the Academy obviously had no plans of meeting personally with her. This was Alice Academy just as she had been told: shrewd and subtle and cautious.

She took her seat, and the door to the room clicked shut. For a few moments there was only darkness, until the screen flicked on and a voice echoed throughout the elegantly wallpapered walls.

"Kazuhara Shizue?" it called out. It sounded distinctly young, like the man who owned it was just someone around her age, or even younger.

Kazuhara let a smile fall on her face, encouraged by the friendliness and mirth of whoever was speaking. "Yes."

The screen flashed a shadowed figure seated on a swivel chair, and then:

"Welcome to Alice Academy."

۞۞۞

"Did I miss anything?" Noda asked, a puzzled expression crossing his face as he let his gaze wander around the classroom. A distinct feeling of excitement hung in the air, accentuated by the enthusiastic voices of his classmates. That it would be Homeroom period in the next few minutes could probably explain everything, but it was still rather unusual, especially for a Monday.

"The Math quiz," one of his friends said, giving him a playful slap on the back as they made their way to his seat. "It was nasty."

He shook his head, remembering how Jinno was slowly growing infamous for his difficult exams. "But everyone seems very happy today," he commented, just as several more friends approached him and crowded around his desk.

"We have a new classmate," a voice from behind said.

Noda shifted in his seat, an easy smile gracing his face when he saw the young man who spoke. It was Kouji Ryuunen, his best friend as well as the president of their class. "Another one?" he asked. It had only been two weeks ago since an alice joined their class.

Kouji nodded, his features impassive as always. "She arrived this morning – "

"Noda!" the girls called out, effectively interrupting Kouji. "You should meet our new classmate!"

The gray-haired alice was at a complete loss as his classmates pulled him to stand up. "I-I'm coming," he muttered, quirking an eyebrow in Kouji's direction as he mouthed what's happening?to his best friend.

"She's a Special Ability, too," Kouji offered.

Noda only blinked at this information.

۞۞۞

"This is my time and I still feel like I'm lost," Noda said as Kouji fell into step with him. One of their classmates was dragging him to the back of the classroom, where the new alice was apparently seated.

"I'm sure you're used to it by now."

Noda shrugged. "I guess." He halted his tracks when he finally saw the most recent addition to their class, a young woman just about his age. She was clad in the high school uniform, its dark colors a direct contrast to her pale skin. She was talking to one of their classmates, the high pigtails of her wavy blue hair quavering everytime she nodded.

As if feeling the stare on her, she glanced up, her long bangs falling carelessly around her face. She smiled at him, her sapphire blue eyes as if accented by the sparkle of dark pearls on her ears. "Noda, isn't it?" she asked, standing up. "I'm Kazuhara Shizue, and I'm – "

Noda watched her pause – freeze, even – as a flicker of recognition showed in her eyes. He furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully, sensing something was wrong. "Is something the matter?" he asked.

"Y-You…" she muttered, sounding almost dazed as she looked intently at him. Around them, several classmates turned to look. Kazuhara's tone was laced with a strange familiarity, like she and Noda knew each other.

"Me?" he asked, pointing to himself stupidly. He gazed back at her, the confusion starting to show on his face. He was almost too sure they had never met before, but the next words she spoke still made his blood run cold.

"It's you! The pervert who was in my bathroom!"

…to be continued…

I'm proud to say that I'm the first person in the archive to write a Noda-centric story. I've always wanted to write about him, and I feel really great about publishing this. Hurrah!

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the idea of time traveling, especially with Noda defying Physics by his ability to travel backto the past. There's also the question of time paradoxes, which I'm doing a research about. Likewise, I'm rereading Michael Crichton's Timeline for reference. Hopefully it won't be necessary to elaborate on the Physics bit, but just in case!

Feedback and insights are always appreciated.

Hilaire
05.19.10