Locked Up Memories
By: Yonoko Ishizari
Summary: A box that contains some things that are very important, but it is safely hidden somewhere that they can't surely find by themselves, but as a team…
Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice or any of its characters, but I do own the plot.
"Hello, Hotaru! How are things going on around here?" a certain brunette asked as she entered her best friend's office. It's been a year since they have graduated from the Alice Academy. So they are now 20 or 21 years old. Hotaru Imai developed a research center. She uses her Alice to create inventions, and then sells it to the market. She has earned millions by using her Alice and is now living a life of luxury, although it's only a year that has passed. Ruka Nogi became as he have dreamed of. He is now a certified veterinary and is now the most famous of all the veterinaries in the world. Celebrities, normal people, and Alices take their pets to him to take care of, groom, and just simply have fun. All their other classmates are professionals now, well except for two that is.
Mikan doesn't have the slightest idea on how to use her Alice to earn money because, there's no need to nullify anything in any business. And besides, it only works for Alices like her. So she just decided to earn a living in a bake shop where she works as one of the bakers. (By the way, she cooks like an angel in my story here. Everyone that tasted her cooking just simply want to have some more.) She is the "good-luck charm" in the bake shop as they say, but sorry to say that it's a very small bake shop and rich people often call that bake shop as "a place for lowly people," but as we all know Mikan, she is optimistic as ever. The other person that I'm referring to is a certain black cat in the Alice Academy. After graduation, this certain fire boy walked out suddenly and after that day, he is never seen or heard of again.
"Oh, it's you, Mikan. It's been a while since you visited me. It's pretty much ok here, there are thousands of manufacturers drooling for my work, and you know, the usual ups and downs of business," Hotaru replied after sipping some exquisite tea.
"I envy you, Hotaru. You have a wonderful Alice and you are using it now to help our technology even go to a higher level," Mikan said.
"Don't be disappointed, Mikan. You have a wonderful Alice too. You just haven't discovered its true use. By the way, how's "the place for lowly people?" Hotaru asked with a blank expression.
"Don't call it 'that' it's a bake shop and it's name is "Pink Cats." It's not a place for lowly people!" Mikan said angrily.
"Relax, Mikan. I'm just teasing you, you know? And about that, you can easily quit that job and replace it with a more sensible job. You can work as a chef in a hotel or a famous restaurant. Anyway, your cooking was good and I'm sure that they'll hire you when you let them taste your cooking," Hotaru said with sureness in the tone of her voice.
"You know already that I can't, Hotaru. That place has a sentimental value for me, but the problem is…I don't know why," Mikan said with confusion written all over her face.
'Even one bit, she can't remember that day before graduation. That is special day for her and that other someone. It's just so sad that it seems that they both ended up losing their memories. The details are so uncertain, even now, but I hope that one day, destiny and fate will be on their hands. And I want to take a video footage of that day. It will make millions. I will sell it to all of our classmates and teachers at the academy and no one is ever going to stop me' Hotaru thought with money sign on her eyes.
"Hotaru, did you hear me?" Mikan asked.
"Of course I did! I'm not dumb like you," Hotaru answered.
BAKA!
"Ouch! Is that thing always with you wherever you go?" Mikan asked as she patted her swelling head.
"Don't think that I will throw this. (pointing at "Baka Gun") Until you learn how to be more mature, I will use it on you. And besides, when this is released in the market, it will be a very big hit. And that means that it will be more millions for me," Hotaru said with bigger money sign on her eyes.
"Hotaru, the thing is…Do you have the time to go with me to Ruka's clinic? I mean, if you're not busy or anything…" Mikan pleaded.
"Why do you want to go there all of a sudden? Do you have a pet dog or something? Is it sick?" Hotaru asked.
"No, but…" Mikan answered abruptly.
"Since a person like you can be lost on the way, because you're a big dummy. Ok, I accept to go with you on two conditions. First, don't embarrass me and Ruka. Second, don't act like you're just 10 years old for goodness sake! Your mind doesn't exactly match your age you know. We're already 20 years old and your mind is functioning like only the half of it. Well, got the message?" Hotaru asked.
"Following your orders with a promise, Hotaru," Mikan said while placing her hand on her forehead like a police.
"See what I mean, Mikan?" Hotaru said.
Mikan looked at her gesture then suddenly put her hands down while saying, "Gomen, Hotaru."
After a while, Mikan and Hotaru went to Ruka's clinic as expected. They rode on Hotaru's brand new limousine traveling through the busy city streets of Japan. As usual, Mikan showed her immaturity, and then she was hit by Hotaru's invention.
When they got there, Mikan adored the place like it's her first time to visit Ruka, when it's not.
"Kawaii! It's like a really big zoo!" Mikan said excitedly.
"Shut up, Mikan! Remember what I told you," Hotaru said quite irritated.
"Oh, right! Ok, let's go to Ruka's office right now," Mikan said. Her cheerfulness didn't lower a bit.
"These kinds of people never ever change," Hotaru said while a sweat drop formed at the side of her head.
At Ruka's office,
"Hi, guys! You came in here at a very good timing. Someone in the nickname of Black Cat wrote to me for the first time. I do perfectly know that someone in here wants to know more about him," Ruka eyed Mikan suspiciously.
"By saying that, do you mean that I want to know about what happened to that crazy friend of mine, which is by the way none other than Natsume Hyuuga?" Mikan said innocently.
"You're perfectly right, Mikan. Natsume wrote to me unexpectedly and I was so shocked when I received it," Ruka said with slight shock.
"So, where's that letter that you were talking about?" Hotaru asked suddenly.
"Here it is," Ruka said while handing the letter to the two girls.
This is what it says,
Dear Animal Lover,
This is totally dreadful. I'm in hiding because somebody in my life will be in danger. If I stay with that somebody, that somebody is going to be hunted and killed. I don't want to lose that somebody so I'm staying away from that somebody. This has something to do about THAT place. I messed something up and it's clearly all my fault. The thing is I don't know who that somebody is supposed to be. If you know where to find that someone, please take care of that somebody for me. I know that I can trust you with this kind of stuff. I want to see you, but as my situation starts to get more complicated, this means that I must concentrate on staying alive for you and that somebody before trying to contact you. This dark, awful place is giving me the creeps. I miss the warm light given to me by that someone. You know perfectly well that I don't want others to get hurt because of me. I'll write to you as soon as I can.
Your best friend,
Black Cat
"Who do you think is that someone that he's talking about, Ruka?" Mikan said innocently.
"You'll find out at the right time, Mikan," Ruka said. That really puzzled Mikan. She had been dreaming about a certain person since their graduation. Unfortunately, every time that she dreams about that person, all she sees is a blank face. Everyone around her seems to know about something about it, but every time that she asks, they just tell her that she will find it out at the right time.
"Don't worry, Mikan. We will help you which ever way we can," Hotaru said with compassion for her best friend. Mikan suddenly cried. It seems that fragments of memories are coming back to her.
Memories…
Mikan was with somebody with a blank face. They are in a place, a place that is so familiar to her. They are in the Alice Academy…
"Don't cry, Mikan. I'll be here for you. I will not anything happen to you. I will bet my life on it," a certain boy said.
"Don't ever leave me ok? I will not know what to do if you ever leave me," Mikan said.
"Promise me that you will remember me in your dreams. Even when we are apart, dreams can bring us together. Promise me that thing and I'll go peacefully without having something bugging my heart and mind," that boy said.
"What do you mean by that? So the rumors are true. You are going to leave for good, aren't you? I hate you! I thought that I'm important to you, but I guess that I'm not good as a fortuneteller!" Mikan ran away from that boy with tears falling from her eyes.
End of Memory…
Back in reality, Mikan fainted in front of Ruka and Hotaru. She was hurriedly rushed to the nearby hospital.
"Are you back with us now, Mikan?" Hotaru asked.
"Hotaru, I'm so scared. I've had another one of those flashbacks, and besides that, it's clearer now, but I still don't know who that boy is. Help me find him, Hotaru," Mikan said, her voice shaking.
"I will, Mikan. As soon as you feel better, we'll try to find him. I'm sure that Ruka will also help us," Hotaru made a statement.
"Who even said that I won't anyway?" Ruka said.
After three days in the hospital,
"Hotaru, I need to find that person immediately so please hurry up!" Mikan said hurriedly. They are at Hotaru's house getting ready. Ruka needed to stay at his clinic because there's a sudden emergency.
"Don't rush things. You do know that finding one person in a large place is not that easy. It's really complicated," Hotaru said.
"So, when I'm in the hospital, what did you do? Did you research?" Mikan said.
"Of course I did. I found out that this person that we are looking for is in a dark, deadly place 10 months ago. He escaped after 3 months and was never found ever since. I checked a website for this, and I think that I have a hunch on where he is," Hotaru gave useful information, but Mikan still don't know how she knew who that person is so she asked.
"Hotaru, can I ask you something?" Mikan asked.
"You already did," Hotaru replied.
"Oh Hotaru, you big meany! I just want to ask if you already knew who we are looking for," Mikan said.
"Don't ask silly questions. We are in a big hurry you know," Hotaru said.
"Oh, I forgot. Let's go, but before that, where are we going anyway?" Mikan asked.
After an hour,
"Is it really that far, Hotaru? Is it so far that we need to ride your very own chopper?" Mikan asked for the nth time.
"Yes, Mikan it is. For the nth time, I need you to know that we are going to the thick forest surrounding Mt. Fuji so just sit back and relax," Hotaru's getting irritated again.
After 4 long hours of noisy travel,
"Where should we start looking? This place has hundreds of trees," Mikan said.
"Invention no. 548, the 7th Sense, you can wear it as a mask and when you smell the person or thing that you're looking for, the radar at the back will show you where he/she/it is," Hotaru explained in an invisible audience.
"So, who's going to wear it?" Mikan asked.
After several minutes,
"I just have to ask, didn't I?" Mikan said.
"Don't complain. Besides, you're the one who want to find him, right?" Hotaru said.
"Hey, wait a minute, Hotaru. I think I smell something," Mikan said in excitement.
"Let me see. He's 30° northwest, about 500 miles away from our current location and right now, he's running so fast. Let's hurry up and find him. I think that he is in really big trouble right now," Hotaru said hurriedly.
They ran really fast and at last they caught up with him, but there's something wrong. It seems that somebody and I mean that lots of somebody are chasing after him.
"Is that really you, Natsume?" Mikan asked.
He just nodded. After a while he spoke.
"What are you two doing here? It's really dangerous. How did you find me? We must get out of here," Natsume said in a hurry.
"It's too late for a sudden reunion, guys. Lots of people are coming this way," Hotaru said.
Hotaru unleashed new deadly weapons and with the help of Natsume's fire alice and Mikan's nullifying alice they defeated the bad guys. (Take note: the bad guys are alices.)
"What happened to you, Natsume? You suddenly disappeared after graduation. And now, we find you bruised, hurt, and kind of out of your mind," Mikan asked impatiently.
"I…I…rescued Aoi, my sister, from the Anti-Alice organization and after that, the Alice Academy said that it's not in the rules. I must only obey what they ordered me to do, they say. I'm not a sinister puppet as they think. I discovered that Aoi was used as a guinea pig in the Anti-Alice organization. They are using her to discover if there was really a person who can have three or even more alices. If that really is true, they will use Aoi as a spy, they will brainwash her and use her to cause devastation at the Alice Academy. The Academy said that they are the ones that must handle the problem, but what can I do? She's my one and only sister. I wouldn't want my sister to get hurt. I talked to her and I said that she should hide herself from the enemy. On the day of graduation, I went away. It was the entire plan of the Academy. They just want to plant in the people's minds that I ran away, but the truth is, they never want to see or hear of me again. The people that you've met a while ago are members of the Anti-Alice organization. They want to know where Aoi is hiding," Natsume related.
"So, is Aoi the person that you're referring in that letter that you sent Ruka?" Mikan asked.
"The truth is, she isn't, I've tried many times to remember that person but I just simply can't," Natsume said truthfully.
"I think that all of your questions need a certain answer, and I have that answer. But first, let's go back to the Academy," Hotaru said.
"Hotaru…" both Mikan and Natsume said.
It's been a quiet trip to the Alice Academy. Nobody, not even Mikan, said a word. When Mikan saw the view of the Alice Academy from the window, she suddenly got worried. She knew that Natsume did a thing that the Academy didn't want him to do. But hopefully, Hotaru said something wonderful.
"Natsume, you have been forgiven by the Alice Academy. Narumi-sensei moved a motion to the Headmasters and said that they should forgive you for what you've done. He explained that a person such as a sister is more important than any other mission that you've ever been on and they accepted. By the way, Aoi is in the Academy. After you left her, the Academy brought her in and took care of her. She has a shop at Central Town and you can visit her anytime you want. But before that, I want you to be happy with the person that you cherished most. A person that is more important than your sister. I'm sure that you want to," Hotaru said with a smile.
"How can I find that person?" Natsume asked.
"Let's go!" Mikan said.
"Are you sure where you are going?" Natsume asked again.
"I just got a feeling," Mikan said simply. (Note: HOLDING HANDS!)
Mikan led Natsume to the cherry blossom, the same tree that the both of them go whenever they have a problem. Hotaru vanished without a trace. The only people there are Mikan and Natsume. That certain tree is located near a lake. It's almost sunset and the ambiance is so romantic, a perfect place to relate your love with the person that you like. Mikan dug closely near the cherry blossom, and so did Natsume. The both of them didn't know what they're searching for. They just both have a feeling that they'll find something there. Both dug hard until, finally, their hard work paid of. There, they found a box with a combination for a key and lock. The combination instantly found its way into both of their minds. Mikan suddenly cried. Same as Natsume, she now remembered a lost memory…
The day before graduation,
Natsume decided to say his true feelings for Mikan, the girl that he truly cared for. She is the light of his life, his everything. She showed him the warmth of light. She said that a person can't live in darkness forever. She said that she'll stay with him until he recovers from the darkness that he's experiencing. But for Natsume, it isn't enough. He wants to be with her forever. He then decided to propose to Mikan. After graduation, he wanted to settle a life with her in a peaceful town, to get married, and even have children if Mikan wanted to, but it's almost a fantasy. Natsume rescued his sister, Aoi, from the Anti-Alice organization the night before that day. He can now be sure that his sister is not in danger so he decided. That day, he will say his true feelings and at the same time, propose.
That morning, Natsume asked Mikan to accompany him at Central Town, but as he planned, it turned into a date, not just any friendly date, but a romantic one. At 5:00p.m., he asked Mikan to go with him at the cherry blossom.
"Mi…Mikan, watashi…I…lo…I…love…y…you. Will you marry me after graduation?" Natsume blurted out. After that, he showed her a beautifully cut diamond ring.
"Oh, Natsume. I've wanted to hear that from you ages ago. Of course I will! I love you so much! But since you said that it's after graduation. Can I bury it right here at the cherry blossom? I want to wear it exactly after the day of graduation. Is it ok with you?" Mikan asked.
"It's fine by me. But am I not dreaming? You just agreed to my proposal!" Natsume said joyfully while holding Mikan up in the air.
"Yes, my handsome and adorable prince. You are indeed not dreaming," Mikan said with tears at the corner of her eyes. It was tears of joy.
Later that evening, Mikan decided to snoop at other people's rooms because it's their graduation the next day. Some students went to other rooms to have pajama parties and the like. It was such a bad idea because Mikan just discovered a rumor that Natsume is going to leave right after graduation and he's not going to show up for good, but she remembered what happened at the cherry blossom so she decided to talk with Natsume in that same tree. The moment that they reached the place, Mikan cried.
Don't cry, Mikan. I'll be here for you. I will not anything happen to you. I will bet my life on it," Natsume said.
"Don't ever leave me ok? I will not know what to do if you ever leave me," Mikan said.
"Promise me that you will remember me in your dreams. Even when we are apart, dreams can bring us together. Promise me that thing and I'll go peacefully without having something bugging my heart and mind," Natsume said.
"What do you mean by that? So the rumors are true. You are going to leave for good, aren't you? I hate you! I thought that I'm important to you, but I guess that I'm not good as a fortuneteller!" Mikan ran away from Natsume with tears falling from her eyes.
After what happened, Mikan decided to erase her own memories. She went at Nonoko's (or is it Anna? Not sure here…) room and asked for a potion that can erase one's memories. Since it's already late, Nonoko gave her the potion. Mikan drank half of the potion with slight hesitation, but decided to do it anyway. She then gave the potion back to her friend and went to her room. She is kind of wiggly and dizzy so she decided to sleep. She then can't remember a single thing about what happened that day.
When Natsume heard about it, he was enraged of himself and decided to drink the same remaining potion that Mikan drank. After that, he forgot all about that day, but the memories are still lingering at both of Mikan and Natsume's hearts.
End of Memory…
"I remember all of it now, Natsume. I do love you a lot!" Mikan said.
"I know, Mikan. I love you too. I remember all of what happened at that very special day now. And to resume that day, (Natsume opened the box and got the ring.) Will you marry me?" Natsume asked with a smile.
"Of course I will! I definitely will!" Mikan exclaimed.
After that, they sealed it with a passionate kiss. Hotaru on the other hand was enjoying the view with her trusty video cam and wished that Ruka will propose to her as well. They have been seeing each other and Hotaru, YES, Hotaru Imai was indeed in love with an animal lover. A guy whom she knew that cares about her and loves her as much as she does love him.
Three months later,
"Hurry up, Mikan! We'll be late for our own wedding ceremony if you'll act as a turtle now!" Hotaru exclaimed.
A double wedding will be held and the lovely brides are Mikan and Hotaru with the grooms, Natsume and Ruka respectively.
"Don't worry, Hotaru. Our soon to be husbands will wait for us to get there. And besides, there are no more and will be locked up memories," Mikan said.
There it is! My first one-shot ever! Hope you readers out there like it! I'll gladly accept reviews! This story is kind of OOC and out of shape, but I do really hope that you like it! Exams are so overflowing and I can't really concentrate in writing stories so please bear with me. I'll also gladly write stories that you will request so don't be shy and just tell me. I'll try not to clobber you too much. (Just a joke!) He, he, he. Feel free to tell me suggestions, my mistakes and the like. See you on my next story!