I really hate history.
That had nothing to do with the story :P

Disclaimer: Can you really mistake my artistic talent with Higuchi Tachibana's? Uh, not really, therefore I do not own Gakuen Alice.


The next day, Mina was very impatient. She was eager to speak with some people about her idea of a prom, but the day was filled with-of course- tests and studying. Her curriculum wasn't cooperating with her, so Mina had to wait until the last bell sounded before she could find some people to talk with.

And-at last-the bell rang and Mina bolted the classroom, leaving the other students staring at her.

Mina arrived at the girls dormitories and presented her I.D to Yayoi-san, the robot that maintained the girls' dormitories.

"I'm here to visit Mikan Sakura." She said, trying to be calm, but inside she was just dying to rush past Yayoi-san.

"Mina Iemochi, Last Year in Middle School Division. Room 3H."

"Yayoi-san, I live here but can you just scan the guest list and let me through?" she asked through clenched teeth. The red robot twirled around, its eyes changing into various colours.

"Scan complete. Mina Iemochi found in Mikan Sakura's guest list. Please pass through."

"Oh my freaking gosh, finally!" she yelled as she passed through Yayoi and entered one of the numerous elevators. She jabbed the circular number 3 button and hopped up and down until the ding sounded.

Thankfully, Mina didn't have to pound poor Mikan's door to the ground, as Mikan was walking down the hallway towards the line of elevators.

"Mikan-chan!" she cried. Mikan grinned and sped up to meet Mina.

"Mina-chan, why are you here?"

"I need your help." Mina started "Listen, remember how I was...rambling on about having something to help us loosen up from these educational crap?"

Mikan giggled "Yup. I remember it clearly."

"Well, I have this idea. It's a prom. We need a prom."

Mikan thought about it for a moment. She smiled her trademark smile and nodded.

"That's sound really fun, Mina-chan. But, how're we going to initiate it..."

"That's when you come in. I asked Kamiko if she could casually drop a clue to the event coordinators and let them think about it, then when the time's right, me and her can come out straight with the idea. But Kamiko says just the two of us won't be any effect, so I suggested I get some people to agree with us, help up start it." Mina couldn't help but look at Mikan with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, I'd love too! Sounds like a great idea...Hotaru!" she suddenly cried over her shoulder. Instead, the infamous Hotaru Imai come striding down the hallway.

Enter: Hotaru Imai.

Hotaru Imai is known as 'Ice Queen' all around Alice Academy. The nickname is almost pictures her perfectly. Her image is usually stoic, blank and cold, but if you know the real Hotaru Imai, you'd know that she really deeply cares for anyone she considers close. Her best friend is-amazingly-Mikan Sakura, who can be considered as a polar opposite. Hotaru is also known for her Invention Alice, which enables her to create amazing inventions (but it also causes her to be a bit greedy and materialistic.)

"Hotaru, come here! It's Mina-chan from class! She has a cool idea!" Mikan cried. Hotaru took her time coming towards the two girls. When she finally came towards them, she didn't say anything, which incited an awkward silence.

"Um...you see Imai-san...well, I have this idea about having a prom. You know, that big event they have at school. I thought since there's lots of work going on, we need some time to knock off the books..." Mina finally explained, filling the silence.

Hotaru looked at Mina. Really looked at her, with detached amethyst eyes, staring her down. Mina bit her lip and waited. Mikan was smiling blissfully without a care in the world.

"That's fine. I can make a good profit if I put some of inventions at the event." Hotaru said quietly, her voice sending a chill down Mina's spine, although she did smile genuinely.

"Hotaru, if you want the prom to go forward, you need to come with Kamiko-san and Mina-chan when they inform the higher-ups."

"Okay. I'll pencil it in. Hopefully I have no clients or such."

Mikan and Mina giggled. Hotaru was already worldwide with her quirky yet ingenious inventions. Her path was basically all planned out for her, just waiting for her to graduate

"Thank you so much, Imai-san, Mikan-chan. I hope I can find more supporters like you."

"Can't wait!" Mikan cried as Mina bolted, once again.

***

By the time it was seven forty-five, Mina had ten other girls accept her idea of a prom. Mina was basically in heaven. She pushed back the thought of the coordinators not accepting her idea and continued to walk through the Academy property until Kamiko came running out of the main building.

"Mina! What are you doing? It's almost eight!" she cried in panic, tapping her wristwatch. Mina stared at her for a while until it hit her.

"Curfew! Oh God, I forgot about curfew!" she yelled. She whirled around, looking at the grounds and saw that it was almost bare, no longer filled with other students. Mina gasped and turned back to Kamiko with widened eyes.

"Why are you standing there? We've got-" Kamiko glanced at her watch and gritted her teeth. "Five minutes to reach the dormitories."

"Yeah. We have to be there ten minutes before the actual time, or else we get a warning." Mina repeated. She started sprinting off with Kamiko by her side.

***

The sunlight sent little speckles of light through Mina's light blue curtains. She slowly began to open her eyes, until she managed to fully face the light of the morning. She stood up immediately and stretched her arms.

"A new day!" she cried, satisfied. She caught something with the corner of her eye, and bent over to pick it up.

It was a painting she had done before she entered Alice Academy. It was a large garden courtyard, with gentle flowers and bushes surrounding the granite circle. There were tall and majestic lampposts standing at each corner, providing a dim fire. The starry sky above was shining with twinkling stars lighting up the dark backdrop.

Mina smiled, amazed that she had created something like this. She remembered dreaming of something like this one night, and painting it at dawn. She sighed contently and gently turned the canvas, to see her signature and the title of the painting scrawled quickly.

Dream Night.

Mina suddenly gasped. She reached for her bookbag to slip the canvas in.