Author's Note: I accidentally replace chapter two with chapter three when I was editing this story so this chapter might be a bit different from the original...

Disclaimer: Aimee does not and will not own Gakuen Alice.

Warning: OOC (Out of Character)

Previously:

Meanwhile, Narumi was passing the front gate and saw the "new" students enter.

His eyes grew big and he became very surprised at what--or rather who he saw.

"Mikan-chan?!"

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Chapter 2: Surprise?

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"Are you sure about where we're going, Sakura?" Akira asked skeptically. They been walking for more than half an hour now, and they were just looking for the admissions office or the teacher's lounge or somewhere where they can go to enroll in Alice Academy.

Mikan laughed nervously and said, "O-Of course I do!" She pointed to a random direction. "It's that way!" she said and started walking in the direction she pointed.

She stopped all of a sudden and face the two people behind her. "Akira! My name is Mi-kan. Call me Mikan, not Sakura." She pouted. "Please, Akira-kun," she knew that Akira couldn't resist her pouting face and used it to get what she wanted. She inched her face closer to his. "Please," she repeated with a pleading voice.

"Okay, okay, Mikan," he said and averted his gaze. His cheeks had a tint of pink on them. Why does she have to bring her face so close to mine, he thought, tempted to kiss her.

Ayu snickered at the scene before her. "Could you two get a room?" She saw Akira blushing and she just couldn't resist the urge of teasing him. She loved to tease Akira and Mikan. She just found it entertaining and comical at times.

Akira glared at her. "Shut up."

Mikan didn't get what Ayu was trying to say or imply, so she just continued looking for the room where they had to enroll. Within a few minutes, she said "Ha! See, I do know where I'm going," Mikan huffed proudly. She pointed at the door which a plaque with the words 'TEACHER'S LOUNGE' written on it. She actually had no idea where the hell she was going but she pretended like she did anyway. Of course, her two friends knew that Mikan had a very poor sense of direction so they knew that she only found this room by luck.

Akira knocked on the door and entered. "Hello," Akira smiled at the people who were in the room--most of them were girls. He tried to charm them with his looks and smooth talk. The people there had a look of surprise on their faces when they saw the girl standing by the doorway. "Is this where we have to come to apply to this school?"

"YES!" Jinno shouted. A small blush crept onto his cheeks out of embarrassment once he realized what he did. "I, uh, excuse my behavior." He regained his reserved posture and motioned them to sit down. "Please, have a seat." He cleared his throat. "Actually, you don't even have to fill out a lot of annoying papers and whatnot; just a few for your basic information. I'll give the papers to you later. Of course you can enroll here and start immediately." He looked at Mikan. "But I'll have to know if these friends of yours have Alices or not, Sakura-sam-" he paused, realizing that he almost said 'Sakura-sama' "Sakura-san."

Mikan looked at him blankly and said, "Of course they do. I obviously wouldn't have brought them here if they didn't."

"Is that so... I'll go get someone to bring you to your rooms and give you your uniforms and things," Jinno said and walked away. He smiled once his back was turned to them. Sakura-sama... He was happy because she was back--an important person to the academy was back. The old Class B of the Elementary Division might not be as chaotic once she came back. He was thinking the same as a lot of the teachers there: Mikan was back; she was the one who would could make her former classmates happy again. They thought that their troubles would be over since Mikan's old classmates became very... Different soon after she left. They thought that everything would be back to normal and that those students wouldn't cause anymore ruckus and would stop making trouble. But they were dead wrong.

Were they blind or something? Mikan was wearing all black; her two companions were too. It's been about four years. Just like everyone else, Mikan changed. She wasn't the bubbly, optimistic, and enthusiastic person who they knew. They didn't even notice that her once bright eyes were dull and full of a painful expression.

Narumi entered the room. "You called for me, Jinno?" He flashed his signature bright smile.

"Ah. I did," Jinno answered. "Take these new students to their rooms, will you? And give them their uniforms and the rest of the things that they need."

Narumi turned his head to the new students. "Mikan-chan!" Mikan stood up from her seat to properly greet her "otou-san." His smile grew wider and ran toward her for a hug. He frowned and let go of her when he didn't feel her hugging him back. "Mikan-chan?"

Mikan looked at him with an apologetic look and smiled sadly. She looked at her friends; they nodded at her, meaning that she could do what she wanted. She smiled. Akira and Ayu knew that her smiled meant "Thank you."

Mikan hugged Narumi tightly. "I missed you, Otou-san."

The youthful teacher looked down at her and smiled. "I missed you, too, Mikan-chan." The top of her head was just below his nose and he could smell her strawberry-scented shampoo. He chuckled. I guess some things haven't changed after all.

"Let's get going, shall we?" He held the door open. "After you," he said.

Akira walked out and grunted. Ayu followed and muttered a low "Thank you." Mikan followed.

Time seemed to fly because they were standing at the fork path that separated the girls' dorm and the boys' dorm. Narumi handed them their keys and told them that their uniforms are already in their rooms, place by the robot, Takahashi-san. "Akira's dorm is to the left and Mikan and Ayu's dorm is to the right. See you tomorrow."

"Where and what time do we meet tomorrow?" Ayu asked.

"Here. Seven thirty. Don't be late or else I'm leaving you two," Akira said.

Ayu smirked and faced Mikan. "Yeah, I'm sure our little Mikan wouldn't want to be late on her first day, ne?" Ayu teased.

"Ayu!! Stop it," Mikan pouted, letting her childish side show.

"Oi," Akira said. But he was ignored. "Oi," he tried again, but still got ignored. A vein popped on to his head. "This is ridiculous," he muttered and left the two there. Mikan being the tortured and Ayu being the torturer. They were so engrossed in their little argument that it took them a while to notice that Akira left some time ago already.

--

Mikan sat on her window sill, staring at the dark night sky. Only a few stars were out tonight and the one that shone the brightest of out all the ones in her sight caught her attention.

"I wonder how they're going to react when they see me tomorrow," she said to no one in particular. She shook her head. I'd better forget about them... They'll probably end up hurting me again... I've got real friends now...

She looked up at the brightest star. As if talking to it, she said, "I wish I could be like you... To shine brightly to everyone who is lost and to show my beauty..." She laughed at herself for thinking such a thing. As if I have any brightness or beauty at all.

She jumped onto her bed and went to sleep.

--

Mikan stood in front of her mirror and looked at herself from head to toe. It felt kind of weird wearing the Middle School Division's uniform. She thought about how much she's changed and wondered if her old classmates have changed as well.

Three rapid, impatient knocks were heard on her door. "Mikan, hurry up!" It was Ayu.

"I'm coming," Mikan replied and put her shoes on. They went to meet Akira, who was surprised that the girls were actually on time.

They got to their new classroom and found Narumi standing in front of the doors. "Ah, so you came. Wait her until I say so, okay?" The golden-haired teacher entered the room and left the three outside. Mikan inhaled deeply.

"Class, settle down, settle down," Narumi said. The students looked at him point blank and wondered what kind of weird thing he was going to do today. They began to get a bit noisy and rowdy again so he cleared his throat and said: "Aaaahem. You have three new classmates. You guys can come in now." A twinkle of excitement was in his eyes.

The three figures entered.

Gasps could be heard in the classroom. "Mikan?!" was what the others said and some said "Sakura?!" Obviously they were all shocked... Or rather surprised, right?

Author's Note:Chappie two done. Hope you enjoyed it.

-Aimee