It took them about another ten minutes to get to the office. It was a straight path with no turns whatsoever, but nonetheless, the two girls kept getting-er-sidetracked.

Knock knock.

"It's open."

The door to the office was pushed open, and the two girls stepped inside the spacious room cautiously. Akashi followed them inside.

"Are you Miyano Kurumi and Kusakabe Ariko?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Mrrow~"

"She means yes."

The female teacher inside sighed, setting the newspaper she was reading down. She had shoulder-length brown hair that hadn't been bothered with brushing, and irritated brown eyes that ran over the two girls skeptically. She had on a black tank top and brown, baggy sweatpants and was barefoot-nothing like what a teacher would wear. Not to mention she had been reading the magazine on the couch with her legs propped up in the air, but she (almost reluctantly) sat up properly when they entered. "About time. I was starting to think you weren't coming."

"My apologies," Kurumi lifted the edge of her skirt in a slight and curt curtsy.

"Kurumi-" Akashi spoke up quietly.

Kurumi nodded at him. "Yes. It should be fine now. Thanks, Aka-chan."

"Of course," Akashi bowed stiffly before exiting the room.

The teacher laughed, using one hand to sweep her lush hair out of her face. "It's a new thing to see that well-respected Sengoku Akashi acting so stiffly towards a little girl."

"Ara, is that so," Kurumi answered innocently, though a small anger mark popped slightly on her head at being called a little girl.

"Well, sit, sit," The teacher gestured at the couches in front of her.

"Thank you," Kurumi sat politely, tucking her skirt in under her.

"Thrank chuu," Ariko mumbled around a mouthful of taiyaki, plopping down on the chair.

"I'm Komai Suiko, but you'll call me Komai-sensei," She said, cocking a thumb at herself. "So which one of you is Miyano and which one's Kusakabe?"

"Oh, I am Miyano Kurumi," Kurumi tipped her head slightly. "This is Kusakabe Ariko-chan."

"Mrrow," Ariko answered contentedly, biting into the tail of her taiyaki.

"She can answer you properly when she's finished eating, Komai-sensei," Kurumi translated with a nod.

"I see," Komai-sensei looked slightly skeptical but brushed it off. "Well, whatever. I'm assuming you both know about Alices?"

"Yes, of course," Kurumi answered curtly.

Ariko's ear twitched as she finished off her taiyaki and wiped her mouth, as if to say, 'would I be here if I didn't?'

"Then that makes things easier," Komai-sensei sighed and crossed her legs, giving them a frivolous smile (for a teacher, at least). "Welcome to Gakuen Alice. No contact outside is allowed. That includes letters, phone calls, Alice-sending methods, or any electronic transmissions of any sort."

"Now, now, Komai-sensei, you shouldn't put it that way~"

A cheerful voice rang out inside the room as the door opened and a new teacher stepped in. He had somewhat long (for a boy) light blond hair and purple earrings matching his violet eyes and wore a thin white business shirt as well as blue jeans. He smiled cheerily as he entered.

"Narumi-sensei…" Komai-sensei sighed. "What are you doing here? This is the middle school division. Aren't you an elementary school teacher?"

"You don't have to be so cold~" The teacher called Narumi-sensei chirped. "That aside, we don't want to scare new students away on the first day, do we?"

"Then how else should I put it?" Komai-sensei snapped. "Well, whatever. What are you doing here?"

"I just came to drop by for a visit."

Bam!

Komai-sensei's fist suddenly stretched out to reach forward and slam into Narumi-sensei's face. It wasn't that she or he had moved at all; her arm merely stretched across the long distance of the room and enlarged to a giant mallet size as if responding to her will and imagination.

"Okay, okay," Narumi-sensei laughed as her fist returned to normal. "I'm here to deliver something."

"Deliver something?" Komai-sensei repeated with a scowl.

"More importantly, shouldn't you get them their school uniforms now?" Narumi-sensei suggested.

Kurumi tilted her head, slightly perplexed by the adults' conversation.

"Yeah, yeah," Komai-sensei sighed and stretched her arm out again, this time reaching into a closet nearby and digging out two middle school girl uniforms: both with a black blazer and blue plaid skirt.

Ariko stared silently at the school uniforms, green eyes blinking slowly. "We have to wear these?"

It was Kurumi who answered. "Why of course, Ariko-chan! Don't you want to?"

"Of course not. The blue doesn't look good on me."

"You'll have to wear it anyway," Kurumi chided.

"Hmph," Ariko tossed her head, her nekomimi standing on end.

"Listen, you…" Komai-sensei heaved a sigh, as if trying to say 'why do I have to deal with this?' "Whether or not you like it-"

"Here, Ariko-chan. Taiyaki."

A new fish-shaped bread entered the cat girl's mouth. She chewed thoughtfully for a while before her eyes lit up and she grabbed it with both hands, breaking off the head. "Let's go get changed, Kurumi."

"Ne~?" Kurumi beamed, reaching forward and grabbing the school uniform from the couch.

('^') Time Skip ('^')

After the two girls finished changing, they came back into the room. Narumi-sensei clapped his hands. "Waahh, kawaii, kawaii~"

Kurumi giggled and spun around. "It's kinda light...but it's tighter than I thought. I suppose I'll make a few adjustments to it later. What do you think, Ariko-chan?"

Ariko licked her fingers and wiped them on the brand new skirt, nodding. "Nice."

"I'm glad you think so too~" Kurumi clapped her hands excitedly. "Ah, come to think of it, I have yet to introduce myself. My name is Miyano Kurumi."

"Kusakabe Ariko," Ariko bowed her head slightly, her nekomimi twitching.

"Oh, I'm the homeroom teacher for the elementary school division's Class B. You can call me Narumi-sensei," Narumi-sensei chirped.

"You narcissistic, perverted, lady man teacher," Komai-sensei muttered.

"You're cold, Komai-sensei!" Narumi-sensei complained.

Komai-sensei said nothing in reply.

"Narcissistic…" Kurumi blinked up at him, thinking. "No, that actually fits really well. Say, can I call you Naru-chan?"

"Huh?" Both Narumi-sensei and Komai-sensei blinked at her in confusion.

"I see," Ariko mused. "Narcissistic Naru-chan…"

"Hey, hey, no matter how you look at it I'm still a teacher, you know!" Narumi-sensei insisted.

"Then Naru-chan-sensei!" Kurumi piped up. "Naru-chan-sensei, can I ask a favor?"

Sensing that she wasn't planning on giving up any time soon, Narumi-sensei shrugged and leaned down to face her. "What's up?"

"Can I tour the entire school campus grounds?" Kurumi asked excitedly but politely at the same time.

"Mm...I'm pretty sure that isn't a problem, but…" Narumi-sensei thought.

"Why are you asking him?" Komai-sensei asked in annoyance, cocking her thumb at the elementary teacher. "I'm in charge of you two."

"Well, I was thinking he could take me around the elementary school division first," Kurumi explained, tipping her head.

"Okay!" Narumi-sensei clapped his hands. "Let's do that, shall we?"

"Waaiii!" Kurumi cheered.

"You…" Komai-sensei sighed. "Weren't you here to deliver something?"

"Oh, that's right," Narumi-sensei seemed to remember. He dug into his pocket and held something out to Kurumi. "Kurumi-chan, right? I was told to give these to you and tell you never to take them off."

"Oh…" Kurumi's smile dipped a bit, but she quickly pasted it back on and accepted the clear, dangly Alice-restraint earrings. "Thanks!" She slipped the earrings into her piercings, taking off her current diamond studs. "Then, let's go!"

"Ariko-chan want to come too?" Narumi-sensei asked curiously.

Kurumi spotted Ariko's slightly disappointed face and said quickly, "Say, Komai-sensei, where's the nearest taiyaki stand?"

"Taiyaki stand?" Komai-sensei repeated, looking up from where she sat cross-legged on the couch. "Probably in Central Town."

Ariko's nekomimi immediately perked up and she turned around to dash out of the office.

"Ah, wait!" Kurumi protested.

"Hang on a minute, Ariko-chan!" Narumi-sensei echoed.

Ariko returned to them reluctantly, her green eyes wide and her cat tail waving in the air behind her.

"You probably couldn't buy anything yet," Narumi-sensei explained. "The currency here in Gakuen Alice is different-"

Kurumi dug around inside her previous black skirt's pocket and dug out a five bills. "Here, Ariko-chan. I'll limit you to 500 rabbits for now. Take this and this-" She passed the bills and tossed a taiyaki to the cat girl- "and go buy yourself a mountain."

Ariko grabbed the bills and caught the taiyaki in her mouth, bouncing on the balls of her feet and nodding excitedly before dashing off.

"Where did you get that?" Komai-sensei asked skeptically.

"Aka-chan gave it to me," Kurumi said brightly. "He said it was insurance money. I still have another 500...600 rabbits."

"I see," Komai-sensei shrugged carelessly. "Well, if I have anything else I need to tell you, I'll remember eventually."

"Then shall we go, Kurumi-chan?" Narumi-sensei asked cheerfully.

"Okay!" Kurumi nodded, all bubbly.

As the two headed out, Komai-sensei couldn't help but notice that the once clear earrings passed to the girl now flashed a deep blue.

Sorry I haven't updated in so long~ I've been really busy lately: went on vacation, a lot of cousins came over, my summer homework still isn't finished, and my house's internet is crap. But thank you to those of you reading my fanfiction and I hope you continue to support me! It'd be great if you could review and provide feedback for me and just drop in and say hi so I can say thank you for reading. I hope you liked the chapter! :) I'll try to be faster with updates, but school starts soon, so...we'll see.

~Chikage