Chapter Two: Alice Academy, Japan

Outside in the corridor of the U.S Alice Academy, my two friends, now dubbed Sakurai Mitsuki and Narita Hana, and me, Sakurai Karin, talk about our current situation, trying to come up with a good cover story.

"Okay," I say, trying to clarify things. "Mitsuki and I are fraternal twins, and Hana is our distant cousin." Mitsuki nods and Hana motions for me to continue. "We've been living abroad since we were born?" I suggest.

Mitsuki, the master story-weaver, nods, her finger tapping her chin. "Yes, that would work. That would explain how we've never been seen in Japan."

"What about our parents?" Hana asks, causing Mitsuki to freeze. She had never completely recovered from the loss of her parents.

I quickly answer the question by saying, "Let's just say that they're dead. No one will ask about them then. They'll probably be afraid that they'll offend us."

Mitsuki had recovered. "Good job, Karin."

A week later, we board a private jet at nine o'clock late at night. We would arrive at Tokyo in ten hours, then another hour to arrive at Alice Academy. Afterwards, school would begin.

Our Japanese isn't perfect yet, but we have learned enough in order to have a decent conversation with someone. At least our accent is flawless; so flawless that in fact, no one would ever suspect that we aren't Japanese natives. In writing, Hana and I are completely hopeless, while Mitsuki got the knack of it pretty quick, although she keeps on mixing the characters up with Chinese characters.

On the plane, Hana and I are feverishly practicing our hiragana, while Mitsuki is watching an anime episode and reading manga on the laptop, claiming she is "practicing" her conversation skills.

I start chanting, "We can do this!"

Mitsuki interrupts my train of chanting by saying in Japanese, "I wonder if we'll see some cherry blossoms? Its spring now, so maybe we can go see them?"

I quickly reply back in Japanese, "Maybe we shouldn't. I hear they're a major tourist trap."

"I see." Mitsuki pauses, then her lips curl into a pout. "Aww…" Then her face assumes a thoughtful expression. "I've always wondered this one thing. Why are 'cherry blossoms' called 'cherry blossoms'? Do they produce cherries?"

Hana shrugs and says, "I don't even know, okay Mitsuki?"

I yawn. Hana leans her head against my shoulder. "Mitsuki, get some sleep soon." I yawn again. Then, I fall asleep gradually to the sound of Mitsuki's anime.

"Karin. Karin!" I wake to see Mitsuki shaking my arm. Hana is packing up our stuff.

Grumpily, I mumble through half-closed eyes, "Wha? What's wrong?"

Mitsuki smiles at my dazed voice. "We're going to land in half an hour!"

My eyes fly open. I hold up my hands. "Help me up." Mitsuki pulls me up. I yawn and rub my eyes.

I groan, "Darn it" while grabbing my toothbrush and toothpaste.

"Don't forget to change!" Hana calls.

"Wha?" I mumble again, groggily. Mitsuki pushes a packet into my arms, grinning widely at my half-awake form. Rubbing my eyes, I notice that Mitsuki and Hana are already decked out in their brand new uniforms, a blue plaid skirt with a white shirt, black ribbon, and black overcoat. I sigh, resolving to add my own personal touch to the stiff look and hurry to the bathroom.

Fifteen minutes later, I come out of the bathroom to meet the scrutinizing looks of Mitsuki and Hana. I leave my shirt untucked, and the last button meant to reunite both sides of the collar together is not buttoned. My ribbon is not tied at the top near my collar in the traditional bow; instead it is tied loosely and simply, allowing the edges of my collar to flap freely. In the chart enclosed in the clothes packet, I see that I'm supposed to tuck my shirt into my skirt. Throwing away the chart, I leave my shirt out, where it is supposed to be! My outer coat is not buttoned either, for who would like to be all stuffed up in this warm weather? My knee-length socks are neatly folded down to halfway up my calf, and my brown school shoes are shiny new. My long layered black hair hangs straight down my back and my bangs lie flat on my forehead. Looking into the mirror, I know I look foreboding. No one would ever believe that I am the youngest of the trio.

I return my friends' stare. Mitsuki is wearing her uniform similar to mine, except she abandons the ribbon altogether. Her silky long, straight cut black hair is gathered into a tight ponytail at the base of her neck with a couple chopped strands held behind her ears with clips on either side of her head. She looks kind of like me, a fact that causes many people to mistake us as sisters, but when you dig closer, you'll see a big difference. Being the shortest, and most possibly the silliest of the trio, no one would ever believe she is the oldest.

Hana meanwhile, wears her uniform the correct way; buttons all buttoned, tie in the correct location, socks pulled up all the way. With brown hair that seems to float and deep light brown eyes, she looks the gentlest of us three, the most approachable. I feel sorry for the many people who have underestimated her and gotten flipped by what I like to call: "her awesome kung-fu skills!"

A man's voice calls out in English over the speaker, "Misses, we shall be landing in Tokyo in five minutes. Please be seated and fasten your seatbelts."

After we land, we begin the exhaustive process of lugging our baggage out to the limo with tinted windows that was to take us to Alice Academy.

"Aieee!" Mitsuki, Hana, and I squeal. "We're actually going to ride in a limo!"

Our joy was short-lived though, and it ended right when we opened the limo door. My expression is definitely Wha? right now, and Mitsuki and Hana have to be thinking the same thing I am. Who is this guy with the weird cuckoo mask? A man was sitting in the limo, with dark hair, pale skin, and dark lips. Weird…He wears a mask that covers his eyes and part of his cheeks, being one the only things he's wearing that's white. Dressed in dark clothing and dark high heels, he seems to be having his own little dark party in that corner of the limo.

Being polite people, we say nothing and step calmly into the limo. Of course, I get stuck sitting next to the cuckoo, but what else is new? I cough, and the weirdo startles slightly, dark girly lips curling into a half-smile.

"Welcome to Japan, girls." He says in a dark voice. "I hope you like it here."

"Thank you very much." I say primly. "I hope you like it here too."

Extremely dark eyes flicker to my face, and I stare stubbornly back. "Thank you, Sakurai-san."

"I presume you already know my first name, so you may call me that." I retort. "No use wasting time."

"You girls may call me," the man pauses, most probably for dramatic effect. "Persona."

"Phmf!" Mitsuki stuffs her knuckles inside her mouth while Hana and I shoot glares at her, trying to contain our own giggles. I mean seriously. Persona? Is this dude a dude or a dudette?

"May I ask what is so funny, Sakurai-san?" Persona asks icily. "Let us all in on the joke. I'm in a good mood today." Probably because he just added three more powerful Alices to his posse. I find myself angrily thinking.

"I apologize, Persona-san. There was a man doing…um…outside. Please excuse me." Mitsuki says respectfully, managing to bow sitting down. "And please, call me Mitsuki."

Persona turns to Hana next and takes her hand. "Narita-san? May I have the pleasure of addressing you as Hana?"

"Yes, you may." She breathes softly, clutching onto my arm for comfort. Persona reaches into a bag and extracts a few things. I warily stare at his movements, assessing them carefully. He hands each of us a sticker-like star inside a circle.

"Stick this on your collar." He instructs us. "You are special stars, the highest of the high. You will be informed of your special privileges later." He also hands us each a key. "Here are your room keys. Have a nursery robot show you to your rooms."

Mitsuki and I glance at each other. A robot? Persona continues, "As for classes, your first teacher will escort you to your first class. The kids in your beginning class stay with you the whole day, so you can just follow them to find your other classes. After classes are over, there's a special period of time where you'll train your Alice with other members of the same group. You will report to the Dangerous Ability room."

Of course we'd get put into the Dangerous Ability group. And training? Joy.

"I'm assuming you already know what our Alices are?" I ask without looking at Persona.

"Naturally." Persona shrugs, leaning towards me. "I know everything about you. Everything."

I keep my face straight, although I'm frantically thinking; Does he know we're spies?

"Good. Then you know about my anime and manga tastes." Mitsuki extracts a list from her backpack. I stare at her in astonishment, and Hana shakes her head. Mitsuki is smiling a bit, as if she's had a great idea. Mitsuki stands up in the moving car- don't ask me how, she stumbled a little- and squishes in between Persona and me. She hands Persona her list and begins explaining to his stony expression, "Well, I like this one, and this one, but I absolutely love this one the best." Persona snatches away her list and crumples it up. A long silence fills the room.

Hana finally breaks it. "Say, Mitsuki." She says calmly. "Did you fix your watch yet?"

Mitsuki brightens, then inches her watch closer to Persona's face. "Excuse me, Persona-san, but could you please tell me what time it is? As you can see, my watch is completely off." As Persona looks at her watch, I see her press the button used to reset the watch.

I understand now! Hana has just reminded us about the report we must make at the end of the day. Mitsuki is using the camera mode on her watch!

Say cheese. I think devilishly.

"It is 7:03 AM right now." Persona says. Obviously, he didn't suspect anything. I give a silent sigh. It's such a sad life, being underestimated. But, that's why we're such valuable tools to the U.S. "School begins at eight, as I believe you know."

I yawn a bit and say, "Yeah."

The rest of the ride there, we completely ignored Persona, who was leafing through some files on his lap, and fiddled around with the TV, the stereo, the refrigerator, and the windows. I think I heard Persona mutter "… (This part was inaudible) Americans…" when Mitsuki opens the window, causing all his papers to fly around the limo.

"I. Am. So. Sorry." Mitsuki whispers. Persona glares at Mitsuki, making her turn into a frozen fish stick. Hana and I do our best to keep upright in the moving limo as we stoop to pick up the scattered papers.

I know that not looking at the papers would be the polite thing to do. But; and I smile sheepishly as I think this; I am a spy. Pretending to stoop in order to pick up an imaginary paper in a dark corner, I quickly leaf through the papers I have already recovered.

Each of these papers is like one of those lame profiles you see on those bogus dating websites. With bated breath, I extract my glasses from where they hang precariously on the neckline of my shirt, and put them on. Sliding my finger along the metal framing of my glasses, I find the switch no one but me can touch. Pulling the switch, I activate my own camera, hidden in my glasses. I pull the switch several times, photographing every page in my hands.

"Karin-san!" I stop myself from jumping violently with surprise, and quickly replace my glasses to their previous location. When I turn around, Persona is looking at me with a suspicious expression.

"Thank you." He says as he snatches the papers from my hand. His eyes take a swift look at my glasses. "You wear glasses, Karin-san?"

"Yep." I mumble. "Ever since I was nine years old. Read too much."

"Why aren't you wearing them?" Persona's eyes narrow behind his stupid cuckoo mask. Obviously, he's not as stupid as the mask.

"I hate wearing them." I say stubbornly, knowing in my mind how much more suspicious I sound. But the irony is I really did just state the truth. Persona's still staring at me.

"I see." He finally says, breaking eye contact and going back to his paperwork with a red pen.

We take our seats beside him again, and this time, sit patiently and demurely. My excitement increases as large, impressive looking gates with the words "Alice Academy" engraved on a grey plaque. There were other words too, but they were too small to see clearly.

The limo stops at the gate, much taller than I thought, then enters the campus when the gatekeeper hurriedly opens the gates. We cruise down a long driveway, me growing more and more excited with every crunch of gravel. Even though I'm telling myself I should calm down, because I'm not here for fun, I'm still bouncing on the seat, earning me two sighs each from Mitsuki and Hana, and a look from Persona that clearly said, "Are you crazy?"

All of a sudden, while I was in mid-bounce, the car stopped with a loud SCREECH, sending me to the floor of the limo. The limo hurtled forward relentlessly. All of a sudden, it miraculously stopped. Sitting up, I hear a BUMP from outside.

"Eh?" I exclaim.