(The song that Hana will be playing is Umi ni Kaeru Mono from 'Love Live Sunshine!'.)
"I see! So the best friend Mikan was talking so much about was Imai!" Narumi-sensei said. They all were standing in front of the middle school. Hana nodded.
"How lucky, Hana-chan, Mikan-chan," Narumi-sensei, said looking at Mikan, "Mikan? Mikan? Hello? Mikan? Hello?"
"She's in her own little world," Hana explained, "It's best not to interrupt her, right now."
"Her own little world?" Narumi-sensei repeated. Hana nodded again.
|| In Mikan's and Hotaru's own little world ||
Hotaru! I missed you so much! -Mikan
What is Mikan and Hana doing here? -Hotaru
Hotaru! Hotaru! Hotaru! -Mikan
There's no way they could be here. Wait... -Hotaru
Hotaru! -Mikan
More importantly... -Hotaru
Hotaru! -Mikan
|| Back into reality ||
"Stay away, snotty girl..." Hotaru said, dodging Mikan, who was running to Hotaru.
"Hotaru!" Mikan shouted, crying.
"Don't come near me with that dirty face," Hotaru said emotionless, "The Mikan I know is much cuter than that."
At those words Mikan stopped crying, wiped away her tears, and pulled her face, "How about if I do this?"
I swore that I'd always smile in front of Hotaru, no matter what, Mikan thought, still pulling her cheeks, "I really, really missed you, so I came all the way here to see you! Hana-chan came, too!"
"I see," Hotaru said, turning to Hana, "Did Mikan force you to come?"
"No! Not at all!" Hana said, shaking her head, "I wanted to come. I wanted to see you, too."
"Hotaru..." Mikan said, turning the two girls' attentions back to her, "Can I hug you?"
Hotaru looked down, "Just to see your friend, you came here without thinking of the consequences, pulling Hana with you? Not many idiots do that. You surprised me," Hotaru looked back up, "Come here, dummy."
Mikan grinned and ran over to Hotaru, "Hotaru!"
Hotaru looked over to Hana, "You too, Hana."
Hana smiled, and walked over to the two, "We missed you, Hotaru."
Narumi crossed him arms, "I can't decide if you guys make me smile, or make me concerned about your friendship."
|| Time Skip ||
"Here we are! Class B of the middle school division," Narumi said, "Make sure to get along with everyone, Hana-chan, Mikan-chan."
"Sakura-san?" the other class representative. Both Hana and Mikan turned to face him.
"Which one?" Mikan asked.
"Um... Sakura-san, Hana-san?" he tried again.
"Yes?" the two girls said.
"I'm Yuu Tobita, class B's class representative. Everyone just calls me Iinchou."
"It's nice to meet you," Hana said, bowing.
"If you're transferring from a regular, normal school, then it might be a bit shocking..." Iinchou said, "Don't be too shocked, okay?"
Iinchou started opening the door to the classroom, "Welcome to class B of the middle school division, Hana-san, Sakura-san."
What was inside the classroom, shocked Hana and Mikan. There was a boy running on the walls, another boy floating in midair, another boy drawing pictures in the air-which moved-and a ghost giving a different boy a shoulder massage.
"W-what is this?!" Mikan quietly shouted.
Iinchou walked besides Mikan, "This class may be a bit overwhelming at first, but you'll get used to it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me."
"We'll be sure to ask you," Hana said with a smile.
Mikan turned to Hana shocked. "How are you okay with it?" Hana simply shrugged.
Narumi-sensei, Mikan thought, Is it just me, or is getting along with my classmates going to be a challenge?
"Hey, Iinchou-san!" Mikan and Hana looked up to see a boy floating in the air. "Who're the girls?"
"Oh they're-" Iinchou started to answer but someone else answered for him.
"I heard the conversation outside the school gate earlier. They were almost kidnapped by two weirdos, because the older sister was stupid and wouldn't listen to the younger sister, but Naru saved them and enrolled them as new students."
"Oh?"
"How does he know that?!" Mikan asked Hotaru in surprise.
"He probably has transvection and super hearing," Hana answered for Hotaru, "I'm pretty sure those Alice aren't anything surprising at this school, right Hotaru?" Hotaru nodded.
"Wow, Hana-chan! How did you know that?!" Mikan said impressed.
"Well, sometimes I get bored so I look up random things. I just so happened to pass some boys who were talking about superheroes, so I decided to find out what are some powers superheroes have. It's nothing really," Hana said.
"Hey, Mikan," Hotaru said, trying to get her attention, "Mikan?" Finally after Hana also tried to get her attention Hotaru decided to use one of her inventions, Horse Hoof Glove.
"What was that for?! You're horrible!" Mikan shouted after Hotaru hit her with Horse Hoof Glove.
"I don't know what kind of Alice you got in here, but there's something I have to tell you," Hotaru said, "While we're here, you and I are strangers so I want you to act accordingly, okay?"
"Hana-chan, too?" Mikan asked.
"No, Hana and I don't have to be strangers," Hotaru said, putting away her Horse Hoof Glove.
"What?! How come?!" Mikan shouted.
"Because she won't get me in trouble, and I want to win this year's honor student award," Hotaru simply said, before going to her seat.
|| Time Skip ||
"We have two new friends in our class," the substitute teacher said, "Everyone, please give them a warm welcome."
Hana bowed, "Hello, I'm Hana Sakura, it's a pleasure to meet you all. I hope we can all be friends."
The students lowered the stuff in their hands, and started whispering to each other.
"She's so tiny!"
"Polite, too."
"Wow, she's so cute!"
"She's really pretty!"
At those words, Hotaru started taking pictures of Hana-most likely to make some money off of them.
"Hana, please take a seat in the back," the substitute said, pointing to an empty spot in between two boys.
"Yes sir." Hana said, walking to the back row, everyone-except to the two boys in the back-watching her. However, just as she reached the last step, she tripped and landed flat on her face.
"Owie..." Hana muttered, continuing to lay on the ground.
"She just tripped."
"She must be really clumsy."
"That's so cute!"
Hana flushed at the comments and quickly got up before resuming her walk to the back row. When she reached the last two benches, she stopped after noticing that the two boys weren't paying any attention to her.
"Excuse me," Hana said, timidly.
A blonde boy with a rabbit turned to look at her, "What?"
"Um, is it all right if I seat here?" Hana asked, gesturing to the empty spot in between him and the other boy, "The teacher told me to sit here. I don't want to be rude and sit here, if you don't want me to. Or if you wanted to sit next to the other boy."
"No, it's fine," The blonde boy said, getting out of the behind. Hana smiled and slid in besides the black-haired boy.
"I'm Hana, by the way, Hana Sakura," She said sticking her hand out, "Oh, but you probably already know that, cause I just introduced myself." Hana sheepishly lowered her hand.
"Eh, I wasn't really listening. I'm Ruka Nogi," the boy smiled.
"Did you see that?!"
"Ruka-sama smiled!"
Once the class calmed down, Mikan decided to introduce herself, "I'm Mikan Sakura! Nice to-"
"Idiot!" someone shouted throwing a wad of paper at her.
"This girl isn't a friend of ours!" Now most of the class started to throw stuff at her, too.
"Who do you think is gonna listen to you, you stupid teacher?"
"Leave!"
"Idiot!
"Idiot!"
"Adults shouldn't cry!"
"Sakura-san," the teacher said, crying, "please take a seat in the back row! Today is study hall, again! I'm going home!" After that, the teacher ran out of the classroom.
"Ruka-pyon, are you sure it's all right to have them do that?"
Ruka shrugged, "It happens all the time...W-wait... Ruka...p-pyon?"
"Yes. Can I call you that? It's because you have a rabbit," Hana said staring at the rabbit, "Can I pet it?"
"U-uh, s-sure," Ruka said handing the rabbit over to Hana, who was sparkling.
Meanwhile, as Mikan started walking down to the back row, the kids went silent.
"Nice to meet you," a girl with blue hair said.
"N-nice to meet you!" Mikan greeted back, beaming. She continued walking to the back.
"Hello neighbor," Mikan said as she sat down next to a boy with a manga on his face. The manga slid off to reveal his face. Mikan was shocked to see who it was.
The boy looked at Mikan and Hana, "Oh, you're that annoying girl, and C-cup."
Mikan jumped out of her seat, "You're that perverted groper boy!"
"Mikan, what are you talking about?" Hana asked, still petting Ruka's rabbit.
"Hana-chan, it's that boy that unbuttoned your dress and looked at your chest and bra!" Mikan shouted.
"Is it really that bad that he did that, Mikan?" Hana asked innocently. Everyone looked at her in shock, all thinking the same thing, She's so innocent!
"Your sister's right. What are you talking about? A groper is an idiot who acts upon his perverted urges," Natsume said.
"I don't get it," Hana said, confused, "What does perverted mean? And why would Natsume-san be a groper? He's not an idiot, Narumi-sensei said he's one of the youngest geniuses here." Again, everyone has the same thoughts, How can someone be that innocent?
"Exactly," Natsume said, "Stupid."
"Stu...Stu.. You're the one who's stupid!" Mikan shouted, pointing at Natsume, "How dare you do something like that to a a girl?! And an innocent one no less! You're a threat to women! A barbarian! Apologize, you moron! Do you realize what you've done?! Say something! Don't you hear me?! Who do you think you are, acting so high and mighty?!" Suddenly, Mikan was lifted into the air, and spinning in circles.
"Hey new student!" Mikan and Hana looked to see a boy, "How dare you say that to Natsume-sama!"
"C-can't you let her down?" Hana asked, standing up, "She doesn't really know that much-"
"Hana-san," Ruka said, "I suggest staying out of this."
"But, she's my sister!" Hana said, pointing at Mikan who was still floating in the air.
"Yeah, but it's her fault, and Natsume's not someone you should mess with," Ruka said. Hana bit her lip. She looked at Mikan, then at Natsume, both who were watching her to see what she would do. Hana looked back at Mikan.
"Sorry Ruka, but Mikan's my sister, and I can't just back down when someone's picking on her," Hana said, bowing.
Hana-chan, Mikan thought smiling at her sister.
"Stop it everyone!" Iinchou shouted, "Make him stop, Natsume-san! Alice's shouldn't be used for something like this!"
"Oh, there's no need to stop," someone said. Hana and Iinchou turned to see a girl with a weird permy hairstyle.
"Shouda-san!" Iinchou said.
"I kept quiet because I thought they were Alices, but what's with that girl?" Shouda said looking at Mikan, who was struggling to get down, "I mean she even called Natsume-sama and Ruka-sama, idiots."
"Actually, she only called Natsume-san an idiot," Hana corrected, quietly.
"They're being nice to her, if you ask me," Shouda said, continuing on as if Hana hadn't said anything.
"Let her down," Natsume ordered. The boy who was lifting Mikan up, listened, and set her down.
Hana and Iinchou ran to her, "Are you all right, Mikan?"
"Hey, C-cup, polka-dotted panties girl," Natsume said.
Mikan shrieked, "You saw my underwear?!"
Natsume shrugged, "It's not my fault your underwear was showing to everyone who could see. Anyway, what's your Alice?"
Mikan stuck out her tounge, "Bleh! There's no way in hell, I'd tell you!" Natsume snapped his fingers, and Mikan was lifted back in the air.
"You shouldn't use your Alice without permission! You could even get expelled for that!" Iinchou said.
"Expelled?" the boy lifting Mikan repeated, "Fine by me! I'd love to get out of this hell hole!"
"But, we were all gathered at this school to contribute to society and give people happiness!" Iinchou argued.
"You sure are gullible aren't you?!" the other boy shouted, "Can't you see they're using us?! All the adults want is to use our powers for themselves!"
"But I won't ever use my Alice to bully others!" Iinchou argued, taking a step closer to the boy.
"Get lost, you stupid goody-two shoes!" the boy shouted pushing Iinchou, "If you don't like what's happening, then use your Alice to save her! Or can't you use it without the school's permission?
"Hey you!" the boy shouted to Mikan, "Use your Alice to get yourself down!"
Come to think of it, I wonder what kind of Alice I have. Narumi-sensei said I'm an Alice but.. I don't feel like I have any special powers. Am I really an Alice? Mikan thought.
"'Come to think of it, I wonder what kind of Alice do I have'." Mikan looked down to see a boy talking, "'Narumi-sensei said I'm an Alice but.. I don't feel like I have any special powers. Am I really an Alice?', is what she's thinking."
Mikan paled, This boy...
"This boy..."
Is reading my mind.
"Is reading my mind."
Everyone turned to Hana.
"How about you, C-cup?" Natsume asked, causing the other students to whisper to each other.
"Do you think she has an Alice?"
"Probably not, and even if she does, then it's probably a weak one."
"What makes you say that?"
"Look at her! She looks so weak."
Hana mentally made a face at those comments, but decided not to argue. Instead, she turned towards Natsume and bowed, "I'm sorry, I don't know what my Alice is either. Narumi-sensei was the one who told me that I had an Alice. I'm very sorry for deceiving all of you."
The mind-reader nodded, "She's telling the truth."
How was Hana-chan able to say that so easily? Mikan thought.
"Stop it!" Iinchou shouted pushing the boy, who was lifting Mikan. Mikan stopped floating and fell face first onto the floor.
"Mikan!" Hana shouted running to help Mikan up.
"Unbelievable, she doesn't know her own Alice!" Shouda shouted, "What's a girl like her doing here anyway? It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe, these girls faked being an Alice, and weaseled their way into the school," another member of the Natsume and Ruka Fan Club said, "I bet they used some kind of magic trick or something."
"That's not true!" Mikan argued, "Narumi-sensei was the one that said we had an Alice!"
"Really? Then where's the proof?" Shouda asked.
"Proof?" Mikan repeated, "First of all, why are you all so worked up about Alices? Are Alices really that-"
"Yes, we are that great!" Shouda interrupted, "We Alice are the elite, who have been recognized by the government and are under its protection!"
Mikan was shocked while Hana remained calm.
"You don't seem to know anything, so I'll explain everything to both of you," Shouda said, "Alices have many contributions to politics, the arts, academics, and other fields throughout history. It's no exaggeration to say that the specialists in this country are almost all Alices.
"The government keeps the existence of Alices a top secret, even to this day. That's why the students here are only allowed to have limited contact with the outside world. Why do you think that is? If people find out that geniuses, prodigies, and all those at the top of their fields are Alices, then the regular people like you two, will become discouraged, and lose confidence to achieve anything.
"That's why, in normal schools, they can say, 'You can do it!' or 'If you work hard, then the results will follow!' Those are all lies. But's that's how they raise you to become a competent cog, for our benefit," Shouda finished
"No way," Mikan said.
"People without Alices are either parasites who swarm around us, Alices, so they can benefit from us, or worker ants, who act as arms and legs for Alices. Either way, they're just there to prove how superior Alices are. We are the chosen. Unlike normal people, who expendable and can be easily replaced, we're in a league of our own."
"If that's true, then you, Alices, can be replaced, too," Hana said quietly.
"What?!" Shouda shouted, enraged.
"There are other people who have the same Alice, so they can replace you," Hana said thoughtfully, "The only ones who can't be replaced are the ones with rare Alices. And even so, there'll still be a person that can replace them."
"Yeah!" Mikan shouted, "Just because you're an Alice, doesn't mean that you're better! That's nonsense!"
"You're the one talking nonsense," Shouda said, turning to look at Hotaru, "It must have been hard for Imai-san. Having to hang around annoying, average people like you at her last school."
Hana took a step back, a shocked expression on her face. What? Hotaru, please. Please tell me, you didn't think that. From all those times we had fun, was it really only me and Mikan having fun? Please Hotaru, say something!
Hana stood frozen where she was, while Mikan started walking to Hotaru, ignoring everything else.
"Hurry up and leave our school already!" Shouda shouted after them, "Imai-san has been recognized as an Alice, and is finally able to associate with people on her level. You two, are nothing but a bother to her and everyone else here."
"Now wait a minute," Ruka said getting up, "Hana isn't a bo-"
"Ruka," Natsume said grabbing Ruka's arm, "Don't." Ruka looked at him, then sat down.
"Hey," Shouda said, "are you two, even listening?"
"No," Hana and Mikan said at the same time.
"What?"
"No. We're not leaving," Mikan said, "We're Alices. We may not have any special abilities, but we're Alices, too!"
"That's what Narumi-sensei told us," Hana continued, "We trust his judgement. So we're Alices."
"Stop claiming that you are when you don't have any proof," Shouda shouted.
"However," Mikan said turning around, "unlike you, we don't consider Alices to above others. The only thing that you guys have that regular people don't, are those rotten characters of yours, you morons! So, you can use your Alice! But you don't know how to live a fulfilling life because you don't know how to work for it! Go get those moronic brains replaced somewhere!"
"Mikan," Hana said, eyeing everyone, "I think you went too far."
"You're nothing without your Alice! You're just shallow people, desperately clinging to your Alice!"
The levitator (the boy who lifted Mikan up in the air) clenched his fist, "Why you...! You don't know when to shut up do you?!" The levitator grabbed one of Mikan's pigtails and threw her to the ground, jumping on her.
"Mikan!" Hana and Iinchou shouted.
Just before the levitator could punch Mikan, a horse hoof punched him. It turned out to Hotaru and her Horse Hoof Glove.
"Only I'm allowed to make Mikan cry," Hotaru said emotionless.
"Why you!" the levitator, said running towards Hotaru. But Hotaru punched him with her Deer Hoof Glove.
"Well, there goes my honor student award, all thanks to you, Mikan," Hotaru said, "And there goes all the efforts I made to hold myself back, too. I'm going to turn myself in."
"Hotaru!" Mikan shouted as Hotaru walked out of the classroom.
"I'm going to turn myself in before he starts to make a scene," Hotaru said, walking away.
Hana poked her head out of the classroom and looked down the halls in each direction. "Mikan, I'm going to look walk around the school, okay?" Hana told her sister.
"O-Okay, Hana-chan," Mikan said, watching Hana walk away.
|| With Natsume and Ruka ||
"That new girl, Hana Sakura, is interesting," Natsume said to Ruka as they walked around the school.
"She's very nice," Ruka said, petting his rabbit.
"She is really, really innocent," Natusme said, "Even first graders know that if someone saw your chest and bra, it's a bad thing."
"One of the kids said that he heard her ask her sister and Misaki-sensei what romance was," Ruka commented.
Natsume snorted, "Seriously?" He nodded.
Suddenly Natsume stopped, hearing a piano playing. Ruka stopped, too, giving his friend a questioning look.
"I hear a piano," Natsume said, walking to where the music was coming from. It was coming from the music room.
Ruka and Natsume looked through the window to see Hana playing the piano.
"She's really good," Ruka commented as they listened to her play the piano. Natsume simply nodded.
Once Hana finished her song, Natsume decided to open the door and walked in. "That was pretty good."
Hana let out a squeak of surprise when she heard Natsume. "You heard that?"
Ruka nodded, also walking in, "Yeah. Did you create that yourself?"
Hana nodded, "Yeah, but it's not that good."
Ruka looked at her surprised, "Are you kidding? That sounded amazing, Hana-san! And you created it yourself!"
Hana shrugged, "It's nothing really. I should be doing better, and just Hana is fine."
Natsume gave Hana a hard look, "Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" Hana asked, tilting her head in confusion.
"Why do you belittle yourself?" Natsume asked, "The way you say it, it sounds like nothing you do is good enough."
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Hana said stiffly before quickly changing her demeanor along with the subject, "Anyway, are you sure it's okay for you guys to talk a person like me?"
Natsume gave her a strange look before shrugging, "You seem okay."
"You too, Natsume-kun," Hana said with a smile.
Natsume raised his eyebrows, "'Kun'?"
Hana's smile turned sheepish. "Is it okay if I call you that?"
"Sure, I guess," Natsume agreed, "but not in front of others."
Hana nodded, beaming, "Okay!"
"Well, I better go and find Mikan and Hotaru," Hana said, running out of the room, "Bye-bye, see you tomorrow!"
"Bye," Ruka and Natsume said after her.
Once she left the room, Ruka turned to Natsume, "You're right, Natsume, she is interesting.