Helloo! Chapter 2, ready for consumption! So sorry it took so long! I did it in pieces, and had to send it to my beta every now and then. Then I had a trip to Arkansas, with no wi-fi or cell service. It was awful! But I'm back now! But I'm starting school Tuesday. :P Anyway, enjoy this chapter! **Chapter 1 was slightly edited; if you haven't read the new version, you might wanna do so. Not much of a change, but, you know.**

DICLAIMER: I don't own Gakuen Alice, and I can't remember the name of the person who does :P


Project Natsume

Chapter 2- Shadows of the Past

Natsume's POV

Sirens disturb the silence of the night. I awake to the screams of the neighbors and the fire alarm blaring from the hallway. As I try to register what's happening, I get out of bed and stumble out of my room. The first thing I see is bright red, yellow, and orange flames. Then the blanket of suffocating smoke attacks me head-on. My eyes widen, and I'm startled fully awake.

Once my head clears, my thoughts turn to my mother, is she okay? Does she know there's a fire? I fight my way down the hallway with my Alice, protecting myself from the real flames by creating a barrier of my own. When I reach her room, I'm horrified to see that the door is open and the room is filled with the deadly fire.

It's getting hard to breathe; I cough into my sleeve and step into the room. The only thing visible is the bed, and on the bed, a figure being consumed by the flames. My first instinct is to run straight into the inferno and save my mother, but, of course, I realize that it isn't the smartest approach. I try to control the element, but for some reason, I can't. The only time that ever happens is when…the flames are Alice-created. The thought worries me greatly. Who would use their Alice for something so evil?

My thoughts return to the predicament in front of me. I must help my mother. I'm getting desperate, and my choices are limited. I can leave and try to find help. But what good would that do? Water can't put this fire out. Or I can stay here and try to free my mother on my own. But how? How to get past the unstoppable flames without burning to a crisp?

My heart is racing, and adrenaline is pumping through my veins. But I'm stuck. There's nothing I can do but watch and hope whoever did this finds their heart. Of course, I was never one to believe in luck.

I awake with a start and find myself lying on the floor with my limbs sprawled about, tangled in the sheets. For a moment, my thoughts linger on the dream, no, the memory, but something else pushes its way to the front of my mind. There are alarms going off. Just like that night. Except this time it's a specific alarm, one that I've been forced to memorize, telling me and my co-workers to meet in the conference room. Something must be amiss. I don't think, I just jump up and run out the room and down the hall, into the prearranged place.

The room is already full. Once I arrive, Tonouchi Akira, Persona's number 1 subordinate, starts the meeting.

"Alright, is everyone here?...Good. Now, the first order of business is to-"

"Wait! …ten, eleven…we're missing someone!"

"That can't be. Who would…" Tono's voice trails off as he does his own headcount. "Who is it?" he demands. "Whoever it is tripped the alarm."

"Tsubasa," says a timid voice, barely heard above Tono's enraged fuming. The voice speaks up again when no one takes notice. "It's Tsubasa. He's the one who's missing." The quiet voice belongs to Shouda Sumire.

Realization dawns on Tono; his eyes widen, and a long line of colorful obscenities escapes his mouth. "Find him! Go now and find him! Don't let him get away!" He barks out orders to the others, all the while thinking, I never trusted you, Andou. You'll pay for this.

PROJECT NATSUME

*slight flashback*

Tsubasa's POV

The bland gray walls that surround me may as well be my only company. Harada Misaki is slumped in my arms, still snoring away. Man, she's a heavy sleeper, I think, continuing the long journey from Persona's main office on the top floor to the basement and the incinerator. A shiver runs down my spine. That's the worst part of this job.

It's bad enough that we have to take these innocent people from their homes. You'd think that after getting the ransom money, Persona would just let them go. But it doesn't roll that way with Persona. Once they're here, they can never escape. Personally, I think Persona is just paranoid. For good reason, of course. Kidnapping is a risky business even when it isn't bya giant organization that could crumble at any moment. Or get caught. One rogue employee is all it takes.

Not that I'd mind. Sure we'd all go straight to jail, but it's better than this lifestyle.

I'm jarred from my thoughts by a rustling sound in my arms. I look down and realize that Harada is awakening. I pause in my footsteps for a moment as she collects her bearings. When she meets my gaze, I swiftly set her down on her feet. I don't need it spoken. The look in her eyes says it all.

"Where am I going?" she asks.

It's against protocol to tell her the truth, so I just say, "You're moving rooms." I don't expect her to be satisfied with that.

"Why? What's wrong with where I was staying before?" Her questions are laced with sarcasm, and I'm not slow to pick up on it. Moments ago she was housed in a cell much like a jail's, with the cold concrete surrounding her and the meals coming through a slot in the bottom of the bars.

"Trust me, where you're going is a step up." I don't say any more, mostly to leave her hanging there confused, for my own amusement. Sure enough, the blank look on her face is priceless. I start walking again, and she runs to catch up. Just as she comes up beside me, I see a bright light, a reflection off of something on Harada's wrist. For a moment, the world freezes, and my mind is whisked away into the past, back to the first time I saw that reflection flashing in my eyes.

The scene that flashes before me is one from my childhood. I'm only about 6, and a girl is sitting next to me on a park bench. A girl with maroon hair that hangs loose and reaches the small of her back. The girl looks over at me and gives a dazzling smile, then she starts laughing, and it sounds like the tinkling of a million tiny bells. All too soon, the vision starts to fade, but I can still hear her beautiful voice. By the time she is done, I'm already drifting back into the real world. I vaguely register Harada's hand resting lightly on my arm, and her voice calling to me from what seems like a distance.

"Dude, are you okay? I think you should sit down, you don't look so good." I obediently drop to the floor on my knees, trying to figure out what's wrong with me. "Take deep breaths, that's it." I don't know why I let her baby me like this, but I can't seem to protest. I just sit there trying to regain my composure while Harada leans over me with a worried look in her eyes.

All at once, the situation registers to the both of us. Harada straightens and takes a step back. I stand up and look away. An awkward silence envelopes us for a few seconds.

A small ding sounds. Tonouchi steps out of the elevator at the end of the hall. He's carrying an unconscious girl that I recognize to be Ibaragi Nobara, whose father is currently the president of a big acting agency. For a second I'm almost grateful for the distraction, but then I catch the look in Harada's eyes. Pure hatred.

Tono unsurprisingly notices right away and narrows his eyes at me, like it's my fault Harada despises him. Heck, I don't like him much either.

Instead of passing us, like I really wish he would, he stomps to a stop a foot away. "Persona wants a word with the two of us when you're done with that." Stepping back before I can reply, he gives one look of loathing to Harada before stalking off.

The only thing I can think to do is walk towards the elevator, leaving Harada to trail behind. When we reach the steel doors, I reach for the necklace that's tucked into the front of my shirt, the one that holds two things. One plain silver key that accesses almost all the rooms in the building, plus the elevator. And one sapphire blue key, one that has nothing to do with the present and everything to do with the past. Except, I refuse to go back to that time. Everything was better then, simpler. But I can't fantasize about that time anymore. It's never going to be like that again.

I'm so lost in my thoughts that it takes Harada calling my name three times to get through to me. I blink a once or twice and realize that my hand is still clasped around the keys on my necklace, and Harada is waiting for me to open the elevator. While she stares at me like I'm an idiot, I fumble to slide the sliver key into the slot beside the doors.

"Just get in," I say just as she opens her mouth, probably to say something sarcastic. She's been a prisoner for a while now, about three weeks. Yet, I still haven't gotten used to her random bouts of courage, during which she makes sure to nag at me non-stop. I get the feeling she doesn't enjoy being locked up 24/7 in a cold, grimy cell with no one to talk to but me and the other prisoners. Needless to say, I'm the object of her entertainment.

Once inside the elevator, I press the button for the basement and we start the long descent from the top floor, the 70th floor. It takes about seven seconds to pass each floor, so I try to think of a way to fill the silence that has engulfed us. Since we're safely on our way to the incinerator, and there's no chance of it meaning anything, I decide to bring up the subject of Harada's imprisonment, even though it's certainly a sensitive subject.

"I guess you should know, your parents paid the ransom." A safe enough start.

Or maybe not. The silence stretches on for several more seconds before she finally speaks in an emotionless voice. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

This catches me off guard. "Of course! It means your parents care enough about you to put up a large sum of money to free you. It means you're going home." I feel the ever-present guilt pressing down on me once again. I have no choice but to lie. Telling them that they're on their way to being consumed by flames isn't really any better.

Harada just scoffs. "Yeah, 'cause home is so much better than this place. My parents don't love me. But letting me get kidnapped and not attempting to rescue me would look bad to the public. That's the only reason why I'm getting out of here."

"That would explain why it took them three weeks to pay. It's not like they couldn't afford it." It looks like I strike a nerve. Harada looks down in what I assume is shame.

"I'll never know why God made them my family. Why couldn't I have been born into a loving, caring family like he had?" She gets this faraway look in her eyes, so I decide not to ask who 'he' is.

"Kinda reminds me of someone I once knew," I muse, mostly to myself. My hand instinctively reaches for the sapphire key on my necklace, which is still out in the open, because I'll need it to open the door to the basement.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Harada glance toward my necklace with a curious gaze.

"Hey, can I see—" She's cut off when a loud bang erupts from below us and the elevator jerks to a stop, sending us both tumbling to the ground.

"What the-?" I look up at the digital screen at the top of the tiny room, only to see that we're stuck on the 62nd floor.


Notes: So there it is. This will probably sound stupid, but I actually had a friend help me act out the elevator scene so I could figure out exactly how long the elevator would be moving, therefore which floor they would get stuck on. (56.4 seconds, i think) :P I know, crazy. Their elevator is ridiculously slow, I apologize if it's unrealistic or something. It's a really old elevator.

Sooo, what do you think is going on with Misaki and Tsubasa? It's actually pretty obvious isn't it? Haha sorry.

Questions, comments, critiques? Review! ThankYouSoMuch!

Also, if anyone reads SkipBeat!, I found this author that is the best fanfiction author I've ever seen. Seriously. leavesfallingup. I hope it's okay that I'm putting their name in this. Anyway, check them out! You won't be disappointed.

I'll stop rambling now.

content edited by finding. She works so hard to pick out my stupid mistakes, and keep the story going in the right direction.

R&R! Till Next Chapter!