"You may sit where you like, I have to go report to my superiors while Mai will be fetching your class representatives." Narumi-sensei said as he touched my shoulders. "Please wait here for a while ."
The door slammed closed.
I was feeling the stress put on me from copying Narumi's Alice. It seems I have another burden to deal with. I will do anything for you Yuriko. I put my bag down on one of the several empty couches and wandered over to the sleeping boy.
"Natsume huh?" I sighed. I looked round a very organized room. A sturdy theme of golds reds and oranges. I wandered back to Natsume. I wondered what that was all about. The mask, the flashy explosion. I touched his hair slightly, black and greasy. Should I really trust Narumi? He whips children... Maybe this was school? It's like sexual harrassment.
"Narumi! Are you the one who stole the growing whip seed from the greenhouse!?" A man stormed in with a sword.
"I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me!" I shouted in surprise and hid behind the couch.
"Huh? Oh. I'm sorry for surprising you. Are you the prospective student that Narumi brought?" He asked embarrassed.
"Yeah, I am Kyouko Shirai." I hugged my knees.
He introduced himself as the biology teacher, Misaki-sensei, "I came here because I heard Narumi was here, but... sorry for interrupting you." He turned to leave, but I got up to stop him.
"Please help me! I don't understand what is going on...!" I started to recount the incident with Narumi and Natsume and my fears.
"So you are saying you're really doubtful whether you can really trust Mr. Narumi or not?" Misaki-sensei clarified.
I nodded, "My twin sister also goes to this school. When I... think about Yuriko being tortured that way, I..."
"Calm down, Kyouko. " He picked me up and put me on his lap. "I'll ease you're worries." He lost it. I touched his face. He was blushing. Pheromone Alice. Curse you.
"How does Narumi control his Pheromone Alice?! I accidentally copied his alice with mine and now you're being affected by it." I explained.
"His earrings are Alice Control Devices Kyou-chan. I love your strawberry blonde hair. It smells like peaches." Misaki-sensei complimented me.
"Uh, thanks. Can I get an Alice control device? Is there a blindfold one too? Can you get a few for me? Please?" I asked urgently.
Misaki-sensei got up, "Okay! Luckily, there are a few stored in some of these rooms." He took a small chest out from a small closet. "There's no blindfold, but there's a bandage roll we could make a makeshift blindfold with and here is a necklace." He helped me put them on. The bandange blindfold inhibited my sensing of my surroundings so I switched it back. Misaki-sensei seemed to return to a solemn personality.
"That was..." He couldn't finish.
"It was weird so I tried to save you by putting this on." I pointed to the necklace. I stowed two rings away in my bag.
"Well, thank you. We got off topic, but I think Narumi took such measures to save Natsume." He started to explain, "This boy is a repeat offender for escaping and troublemaking. If he hadn't been punished or fainted and had simply been brought back, then if he had been handed over to the superiors, he would've recieved an even harsher punishment. Natsume was too worked up, and he may have caused you injury, so what Narumi did was inevitable."
I nodded, "That makes sense. So does that mean Mr. Narumi isn't a bad person?"
"I really don't like to defend him, but. He may seem like a pervert, and he is often mistaken for one, but don't worry. The person who brought you here is not a bad guy." Misaki-sensei said.
I'm so glad that he's not a bad person! I sighed in relief. "Oh, by the way. What is your Alice? It has something to do with your eyes? You mentioned a little bit of it earlier." He wondered aloud.
"Ah, I guess I should tell you. I've tried to hide it from people for so long saying that I was blind and never leaving the shrine..." I laughed nervously.
"Oh, I was wondering why you were wearing a kimono... But that makes sense. A shrine huh? But anyways, your alice?" He encouraged me to continue.
"I have a ridiculous amount of excessive energy that takes shape around me 24/7. See?" I willed my tails to be visible for a few moments.
"Wow. Nine tails. Like a Kitsune." Misaki sounded interested.
"My eyes are cursed to show whoever looks into them, their worst fear or their greatest dream. It's really unstable so I don't risk anyone seeing them. And apparently now I can copy alices? Or maybe I've just developed pheromone alice by coincidence?" I shrugged.
"That's a lot considering most students have one ability." His phone buzzed, "Oh, an intruder in the greenhouse?! I'm sorry! There's an emergency so I must leave you. Ah, you!"
"Yessir!" I replied.
"I'm going to send someone over here soon. So if Natsume wakes up before anyone comes, press that emergency switch immediately. He's a dangerous person. That mask is a control device as well, the top level, but he can still render it useless." He said before leaving.
Dangerous person, huh? I pinched his nose for a few seconds, but he continued sleeping. "He's not going to wake up for a while." I picked up my bag and shuffled through it to find my candy bar I bought earlier. I caught movement behind me just as I was yanked back by the hair. Natsume pinned me on my back on the couch he was resting on.
"Answer me in 5 seconds. If you don't I'll burn your hair. Who are you?" He asked. I didn't resist him.
"Who wants to know? You're gonna have to burn my skin for me to answer." I spat.
"You asked for it." He retorted and burned my wrist to the bone. OUCH!
I stuck my tongue out at him then growled, "What was that? A match? A non-alice can inflict more damage in one blow." I focused on my energy not to heal the burn. Natsume tsked then spread his hand over my whole face and started to burn it when something crashed through the window.
"You're late, Ruka." Natsume said plainly, adjusting himself to sit on my torso.
The new boy made a noise of disdain, "Geez, I shouldn't have come to help you Natsumi. Whose fault do you think that is?" He got up to brush himself off. Who are these people that keep walking in here? "Anyways, what are you doing? Who's that?"
"She was here when I woke up, she refuses to reveal her identity." Natsume grumbled.
"Huh, is she an alice?" Ruka asked, "Why is she in a kimono? Is there some festival we don't know about?"
"No clue. Dunno, she won't obey me at all, so I thought I'd make her cry." He replied, twisting my body around.
"Why don't you use your alice?" Ruka asked.
"I am. It's possible she can't feel pain?" He mumbled trying to keep his hold on me as I struggled.
"Look at this!" I spat, showing the burnt wrist and face healing almost instantly.
"Oh crap. Someone is coming." Natsume said as a series of noises eminated from the hall. I tried to throw him off my back, but they kept tugging on my cloths.
"Perverts! If I wasn't in such a restrictive position, I'd kill you for sure!" I growled as people bursted through the door.
"Are you okay, Kyouko?" Narumi called.
"Natsume! Ruka!" Misaki yelled as they were retreating to the window and I ran to Narumi's embrace.
"See ya, 'poka dot panties!'" Natsume called, sure enough he was holding my panties. So that was what he was up to! He jumped out the window before I could respond, leaving me embarrassed infront of two male teachers.
"Perverts!" I tugged my kimono down more, feeling naked and exposed. I wiped my tears before they could trickle.
"What? They were able to take it off you?" Narumi asked discouraged, then sighed, "Anyways, here. This is your new uniform. Why don't you go try it on."
I did so and found it was a perfect fit. I walked out to greet them. "Oohh! You look so cute Kyouko-chan" Narumi-sensei said pleased. Misaki-sensei clapped, "It looks good. He's right."
Narumi-sensei swooped me off my feet and started swirling me in the air, "Look! You're the cutest in this world! "
I giggled, my energy becoming visible with my happiness. When he finally set me down he got to the point. "Now Kyouko-chan, about your entrance to Alice Academy. Well, it's been approved! " He clapped. "But for you to officially enroll you need to pass a test during your one week trial.."
An entrance exam, I froze to contemplate this. "Don't worry. All you need to do is be accepted as a friend by your classmates in Class B. " He assured me. "We'll track your progress and decide your Alice level."
I gasped, "That's it?" There must be some catch, this is too fantastic!
"Yup, that's it! " Narumi said.
"Its so weird, my first experience meeting so many people turned out really good. Besides those two pantie-snatchers. They're the worst!" I declared. There was a knock on the door.
"Ah, they're here!" Narumi announced as two students entered.
"How may we help you?" A brown-haired boy with glasses asked.
"Kyouko-chan, these are your class representatives." Narumi told me.
I examined them thoroughly, the girl looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on it, "It's nice to meet you, I am Kyouko Shirai. I hope we can get along." I bowed out of habit from working at the shrine.
"Shirai? What a coincidence, there's a Yuriko Shirai in our class." The boy pointed out.
"That's because she is Yuriko's fraternal twin sister." The girl announced. "Although they've been separated since she enrolled here."
"Eh? What? How nice! Twins with alices." The boy said excitedly.
Yuriko... "She talks about me then?" I asked hopefully.
"No, I have been her friend before she enrolled. Hotaru Imai." She introduced herself. She was the one that took Yuriko away from me.
"Nice to meet you." I smiled.
"Well let's head over to the Elementary Division shall we?" Narumi smiled and guided us out.
The campus was large. We had to drive to get to the elementary division. "Well... We've arrived at the classroom!" Narumi announced happily. "So Kyou-chan. Go make some friends! " He waved before leaving to return to the main building.
"Welcome to Elementary Division Class B, Miss Shirai!" The boy said opening the door. There were a lot of students doing a lot of things. Someone's drawings were moving and making noises, while others were floating and throwing ball. They all stopped and turned to stare. It was chaos. Evil at work!
"I'm Yuu Tobita, the class representative. You may be confused in a class like this, but if you have anything you don't understand, please ask me." He started to blush.
I started to feel a lot of pressure. I had to be accepted as a friend. This class doesn't seem very "easy" as Narumi predicted. Or was that just me?
"Yo class rep!" A floating boy called, "Who is she?"
Another boy answered for Yuu, "I heard them talking at the gates. She's the new kid that Naru brought in." Extraordinary hearing then. I broke out of my daze as I sensed my sisters aura, "Yurippe! You're alive! I'm so glad." I said joyfully, I focused on her as she looked my way. She looked surprised, but it disappeared quickly, "Hey you. Don't call me that, stranger! What are you doing here?" She asked bluntly. I was unwanted. I was taken aback, did she hate me?
"You didn't come visit like you promised that Thursday. You said you had something special to show me, but I felt like a loser when you left without warning." I told her. "And so after missing you for 10 months, I decided to enroll." I just took in her appearance. We had the same agua blue eyes. Her brown hair was tied into two long pigtails. We had a competition when we were little to see who would grow their hair out the longest. I see she still had it long. That made me happy.
"That was stupid." She said flatly. "I see you've met my best friend." she empathized the last bit. A teacher entered the room.
"Ah, you're here. Good, good!" He smiled tentatively at me, then turned to the class, "This is our new friend, Kyouko Shirai. Everyone, please be nice to her." He announced kindly. I started to greet them when they started throwing crumpled paper at him. I blocked them with my energy. Wh- A complete breakdown of rules. I patted the teachers back. "I got your back. Don't let them discourage you." He started sobbing. I felt really bad.
"Thank you, Shirai. Please sit in the seat in the back." He sobbed before walking out. Will I really be okay here...? I'm so worried now... A girl said hello as I walked past. She looks nice. I remembered Narumi's words of encouragement. That's right. I didn't come here to be discouraged. I'm going to try my best.
I turned to my neighbor, "Hi, nice to meet you!" I said only to see it was Natsume with Ruka sitting on the other side of him. "Oh, it's you."
"Ah! The pantie-snatchers. How could you do that to a girl?!" I am so pissed. I continued to raise my voice, "You're a woman's enemy! A barbarian! Apologize morons! Why do you act so high and mighty...?!" I was suddenly pulled into the air by an Alice.
"Hey new girl. Watch. Oh wait! You can't!" The user sneered. "What do you say to Mr. Natsume?"
I scoffed, "Very funny."
"Stop it everyone!" Class-Rep panicked. "Stop him! Himukai, how can you do this to a powerless girl?"
"Oh, there's no need to stop. I though she was one of use, so I'd been listening quietly, but she has been bad-mouthing Natsume and Ruka." A girl said snootily. "This is almost too kind."
"Shouda!" Yuu said to his horror.
"Let her down." Natsume ordered.
"Yes Mr. Natsume." The boy, Himukai did so. This is ridiculous! I shouldn't resort to physical damage. It's bad luck to be at fault on the first day. Or any day...
"Yo polka dots." Natsume called. "What type of alice do you have?"
I felt my anger go through my eyes and I closed them. "Like I'll tell you!" I was lifted back into the air.
"Focus... Don't let them in. If they see your eyes... It'll only hurt you" Someone repeated my thoughts. "Deep breaths. Besides, it would take too long to explain... That boy... is reading my mind..." I scrambled for a different topic.
"Get out of my head," I shouted.
"Oh no. My energy... no don't show!" He continued. I resisted and trapped my energy. I felt something unlock inside me and I swiped my hand and threw both the levitating boy and the mind reading boy into the cabinets. Uh-oh, I copied all their alices. I was floating on my own. Wait, couldn't I have used my new pheromone alice to have them leave me alone or summon Lord Night or Kuzel to scare them or something, "Ugh! I'm so stupid." I let myself crash to the ground.
"What just happened?!" Shouda exclaimed. I thought of fire, and sure enough a small flicker appeared in my hand, I waved it away before anyone could see. This is not good. My body started to react to the new chemistry of Alice stones.
"Kyouko!" Yuriko called worried. She still cared. That made me happy. Class-Rep rubbed my back as I sunk to the floor. "Shirai, are you okay?" He asked. I felt flickers of my energy attack my insides. Stay hidden you stupid energy!
"Her aura is scary. What's going on?! Yuriko, you're her sister!" Shouda repeated.
"This has never happened at home," Yuriko snapped. "Class rep. Please step back. She just needs space." That's right... I had a similar breakdown at home, on my last visit before I was under "house arrest" at the shrine. My energy was beginning to form visibly for the first time when playing with Yuriko.
I started coughing up a little blood. Looks like this Copy Alice had the same effect as that one time...
I felt my energy wrap around my core of the copied alices, as if to temporarily seal them inside itself, nullifying all the natural powers inside of me. I got to my feet, wiping the blood from my face. "I'm fine." I said gruffly as Class-Rep and Yuriko touched my shoulders. I realized my mental sense of eyesight was truly gone.
"Well, thanks for that display. Where's the proof that you're one of us? If you can't show us proof, then you've practically admitted that you're not an alice." Shouda said folding her arms with her little groupies. "Hurry up and leave... Hey! Are you even listening!?"
"No!" I snapped, then wheezed. "Over my dead body. I am an Alice, but I don't think that alices are better than others! If there's anything you people have more than others, it's your rotten personalities, morons! That's why I refuse to flaunt mine." I growled at them.
"You... You better shut your mouth." A new deep voice bellowed. I knew I couldn't protect myself in this state, so I did. I bet my eye alice was null too. I pulled my glasses off. Yuriko gasped, "Kyou..."
"I'm fine. All the side effects went null a while ago. I was just wearing it for old times." I told her calmly. I opened my eyes and sighed. "Wow, it's so nice to see again."
"That's so random!" Shouda said exasperated, turning away. She had short, curly, black hair. It draped nicely around her oval face. Looks like the crowd was dispersing a little.
"Yo, polka dots." Natsume called from his seat, "I heard that you can't enroll if you don't get along with the people in this class within a week."
"Oh!" I turned to him, spotting the mind-reading boy. Oh. Stupid, but how can I counter that? "Yeah, my temper is short due to your stupid alpha display in the main building."
"Either way, it looks like you won't be enrolling at this rate." He said plainly. "Although I could give you a chance since you are an Alice." A ripple of shock buzzed through the classroom.
"So, what's the catch?" I asked curiously.
"You see those 'Northern Woods'?" He asked. "If you can get through those woods to the high school division and leave a footprint there, then I'll accept you as a student and let you stay here."
"That's impossible!" Yuu gasped, "Those woods are off-limits to even alice students!"
"I didn't say she had to go. If she doesn't want to, then she can just leave." Natsume shrugged. If this meant I could be with Yuriko, I'll go smiling. "So, are you going to do it?" He asked.
"Yes." I held my tongue from making a sarcastic remark.
"Since you're new here, I'll let you have a friend who can guide you." Natsume offered.
Yuu spoke up nervously, "I'll go with you Miss Shirai. As Class Rep, I cannot let a girl go into those woods alone!" He volunteered.
Natsume nodded, "Then, we have a deal. Let the game begin."