Big thanks to everyone who read the story, and an even bigger more appreciated thanks to my first reviewers for this story, michiruchama, Shiro-Tenshi563, Shiriru004, IceGirl7 !! The next chapter is for you all to enjoy, so please do :) Thanks for reading, reviews appreciated!

2

The next day Natsume sat in his usual seat next to his best friend, Ruka, at the back of the classroom. Narumi was late, yet again, which was no surprise. Beside Ruka sat Hotaru. Next row up sat Sumire, Koko, Anna, Nonoko, and in front of them were Kitsuneme, Wakako, Tobita and Akira.

On the other side of the class room, Nobara sat next to an empty seat that was usually occupied by Yusuke, on the other side sat Mochiage, and the rest of the class were people he didn't care to remember the names of. He and Ruka were sharing an IPod and reading the manga Death Note while waiting for Narumi to come in and annoy them.

He was also curious about whether that new girl that caused all the trouble, Mikan, would be coming to class today. It was hard to determine which self she would come as if she showed up; would she be herself? The bubbly relaxed person he'd seen in the afternoon? Or would she wear her facade, and introduce herself as the stiff, emotionless girl that broke out of a hospital by almost killing an innocent doctor that had previously saved her life?

He'd assumed that was the reason Narumi was so late. Because he thought Narumi would be fetching the new girl and trying to force her into the class room without being killed in the process. It seemed that he had assumed correctly.

"Hello, my dear students!" Narumi called in a bubbly voice that made him sound exceptionally gay. "Today, I'm happy to announce the arrival of a new transfer student!" he declared, clapping his hands together. "Come, Mikan-kun! Introduce yourself properly!" he called to her, while they waited for the door to open.

Natsume watched as she stepped through the door, looking immediately at her face to see it devoid of all emotion, but not cold and heartless like yesterday. It seemed she'd decided to be half herself, and half her facade. "Hi. My name is Sakura Mikan." She said in monotone, glancing around the room to take in all the faces.

Everyone stared at her, silent and in awe at her beautiful waist long brown hair and her molten chocolate eyes. The next thing they noticed was the black bands around her wrists and thighs' and the choker, alongside the two rings she was wearing, one of each point finger. Along with an earring at the top of her ear, and three more matching earrings along the bottom, all in the left and none in the right. It became obvious immediately that they were Alice restrictor, and so it was also recognized that she was strong.

"Any questions for Mikan-kun?" Narumi asked brightly, shoving her forward a little. She shot him a death glare, and he swallowed loudly, a little nervous. Natsume noticed that she no longer had the Alice stone on, and wondered if she could use her Alice now. He pretended to pay no attention, however, and sat reading his managa silently, waiting for questions.

Sumire's hand shot up, and Mikan turned to her, casting her a warning glare, as if to say: Ask a stupid question and I'll kill you. "What's your Alice?" she asked.

Mikan thought for a moment, then answered with, "Nullification," she said, observing Sumire's snobby look. Obviously, she thought Mikan's was inferior already. "And SEC." She finished, half smirking at Sumire's newly stunned face.

"Steal, Erase and Copy?" she asked, as if to clarify it. Mikan nodded curtly, unhappy with her stereotyping. Obviously this girl was trying to decide whether Mikan was lame, cool or dangerous. She seemed to be stuck between cool and dangerous, so she asked: "How about your star rank?"

Mikan raised an eyebrow, question her question. Luna turned to Sumire with a malicious smile. "She's a non-star, see her collar?" she said harshly, looking up to catch Mikan's death glare. She smirked and turned back down to her fashion magazine.

Narumi shook his head. "Hii-sama will be deciding between a three star and a Special star based on her work effort and ability to get along with other students today." Narumi turned, scanning the class room for something, or someone. "Would you like to pick a partner?" Narumi asked her, earning another death glare.

"I've no use of a partner. I work alone." She declared, still threatening his life with her eyes as he made a motion to touch her. He realized this was a bad idea, and his he's out stretched hand to scratch his head.

"A partner is just someone who shows you around and explains things, Mikan. When you partner up for any activities, that person will be your partner. When you go to central town, your partner must go with you." He explained, but he glare didn't falter. He glanced around the room and locked onto a spare seat in the back row next to Natsume, and jumped the opportunity. "Natsume-kun will be your partner.

Mikan glanced over and locked eyes with Natsume briefly before noting the seat at the edge of the room, right at the back. "Seating is appropriate." She stated, thinking for a moment. "Fine," she said, grabbing the hand he almost placed on her shoulder. "Do. Not. Touch. Me." She said calmly, turning his arm over to stare accusingly at his hand. "Do you know what could be on your hands? Your right hand, at that, for a male." She snapped, flinging his hand back at him as she strolled over to her seat and plopped down.

Narumi raised an eyebrow, trying to work out what she was talking about with the germs on his right hand, and then it hit him. He flushed with embarrassment and made his retreat after announcing that he had a meeting to attend, so they'd have a free study day; otherwise known as a bludge session.

Mikan stood and walked over to the window, then placed herself on the sill with one knee up while her other leg hung down the wall. She had an IPod in, and was staring at the window with no cares at all. Luna saw the empty seat next to Natsume, along with Sumire. They battled for it, and Sumire won, so Luna sat on the desk between the two of them.

"Poor Natsume," Luna said in a flirtatious voice. "Suck sitting next to that creepy new girl. Is it true that she almost killed a doctor yesterday?" she asked, catching Natsume's attention.

"Where did you hear that?" he asked coldly. He was sure that the teachers hadn't said anything, and no students that weren't in... Ahh, he thought, realization hitting him. She's in my class, of course. He'd managed to forget her, but it was short lived. She hadn't been at the hospital yesterday, but Persona would have informed her so she'd keep an eye on her.

"Persona told me." She announced, happy to have his attention. Sumire was shooting her numerous dirty looks. Mikan had turned her attention from the window to the classroom, and was observing the other students, like a scientist observing germs through a telescope.

The majority of them were all chattering away happily. In the front row, only one boy with classes was not talking, who she recognized as the class rep, Tobita. He was reading a book and taking notice, one of the few actually doing any sort of studying. In the middle row, one girl was cooking while another fiddled around with different solutions and test tubes. Mikan suspected an explosion would take pace eventually. In the back row, Natsume was talking to Ruka, while Luna and Sumire argued with each other over something. On the end of the row, Hotaru was staring at her.

Their eyes met, and neither of them looked away. It became a staring contest on the outside, but on the inside it was a struggle for recognition. They both had nagging thoughts tugging away at the back of their minds, struggling for long lost memories. It was futile, however.

Meanwhile, people had begun to notice the two, turning around to see what was going on. No one dared to step between them, or to interrupt them. None of them wished to feel the wrath of Hotaru's new and improved Baka gun, edition 4.2. After a good ten minutes or so of having an audience watch their staring contest, Natsume and Ruka noticed the event.

Sumire and Luna also turned to see what had stolen Natsume's attention, dismayed to find the new girl at fault. They'd expected as much, though. It was unfair, they thought, that they, the prettiest girls in middle school, had been trying to get at Natsume ever since he arrived, and he'd paid them no attention to this present day. Yet Mikan, the new girl, had already taken him as her partner, and was now reclaiming his attention.

Unacceptable! They both mentally hissed, sliding off the desk to confront her in unison. Standing in front of her, Sumire snapped her fingers in front of Mikan's nose, earning a cold glare. Sumire swallowed the fear that bubbled in her throat and continued.

"What's with the gloom? Can't you smile?" she snapped, hands on her hips. "Stop acting tough and cool, cause we all see right through your crappy facade, bitch."

Mikan raised an interrogating eyebrow, questioning her sanity. Quite uncalled for, she thought, concealing her amusement at Sumire. Perhaps she'd rather I slap her across the room? Or maybe she'd rather learn how to fly?

"Don't waste your time telling her to smile," Luna said, smirking as she interrupted Mikan's thoughts. "I bet she cut herself up on her own, you can see it in her eye." She continued, noticing the flash of interest on Mikan's face, which she mistook for anger. "I bet she wanted to get into the academy so bad that she paid someone to beat her up, cut herself open and laid at the gates waiting, but fell asleep."

Sumire nodded. "Yeah, I bet she did!" She agreed, high-fiving Luna. There were some murmurs of agreement from the room, but others remained quiet. "Get out of our school you self mutilating emo skank!" Sumire demanded, shoving Mikan's shoulder into the window.

"Listen here, permy and sea-weed hair. If i wanted to talk to you, I'd talk to you. Now piss off, you're stinking up my personal space. Ever heard of deodorant?" she questioned, her tone as cold as it had been yesterday. Raising an eyebrow, she waited for a reply from one of the fuming girls.

"What gives you the right to speak to us like that!?" Sumire snapped, lifting her hand to strike Mikan across the face. She brought her hand down, and Mikan caught it inches from her cheek, giving a malicious smile as she stood up, causing Luna to stumble backwards.

Mikan pulled Sumire's arm towards her, so they were face to face, and then she gave a brilliant smile, similar to the one Natsume saw yesterday. A light-bulb clicked on inside of Hotaru's mind. "How about now, Perm? Am I so much more likeable when I smile?" she asked, shoving her backwards onto her ass. "Do you find me for approachable? Prettier? Nicer?" she continued, taking a step forward as Sumire scrambled backwards along the ground.

Luna snapped out of her stunned haze, shoving Mikan in the back, while Sumire tripped her legs. She stumbled two steps forward, almost regaining balance. But then she hit a chair and tumbled over the desk, landing on Natsume and Ruka. This caused Luna and Sumire to grow even angrier, Sumire growing ears and whiskers.

Mikan laughed. "Kami, I'm just so lovely when I smile, aren't I?" she chirped, flinging herself off of the two stunned boys. She raised a hand, sealing them both in ice up to their necks as she strolled closer. "Should I drop you out the window? Or would you rather I freeze over her heads, cutting off your oxygen?" she asked, her voice a scary kind of sweet. "Or perhaps you'd rather I heated your blood to the point of boiling, cooking you from the inside out?"

"M... Mikan?" Hotaru said, unable to restrain herself any longer. It didn't seem possible, though, her conclusion. That smile she'd seen, fake or not, had triggered the memory.

FLASHBACK

"Hotaru!" Called the 10-year-old Mikan, running towards her at full speed.

"Mikan?" Hotaru said, turning her head to the sound of her best friends voice.

"You..." Mikan said, an evil glint in her eye "You big foolish moron!" She screamed, jumping at Hotaru to kick her.

Pulling out a newly invented giant flyswatter, Hotaru knocked her aside easily. "Time is short, if you have something to tell me, tell me now." She said.

Mikan sobbed dramatically on the ground, clutching a letter in her right hand. "I got this letter from you Hotaru... it says 'I am going to a school far from here,'" she said. "But you're leaving today, and furthermore, this school has all elementary, middle, and high schools connected..."

"Ah. It's all true." Hotaru replied.

"Don't send such an important letter through tortoise mail!" she demanded, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"If I had told you to early, you would have made a racket." Hotaru said.

"Hotaru! You're a big insensitive fool!" Mikan cried. "Why didn't you tell me about such an important thing!"

"Silly Mikan... you don't have to cry like this..." Hotaru said. "I will be back for summer and winter vacations. Besides, we will write letters." She placed a gloved hand on Mikan's cheek. "Let's pretend this tortoise if a farewell gift. Be good now."

Hotaru jumped the in the car, and in the distance, she heard Mikan scream loudly. "HOTARU! YOU BIG FOOL!"

END FLASHBACK

Mikan turned, momentarily distracted by Hotaru calling her name. "Is there something you want?" Mikan asked emotionlessly, unsure of whether Hotaru was friend or foe.

"You... don't remember?" Hotaru asked, eyes wide she compared the ten year old Mikan with the fifteen year old Mikan. From a girl who smiled all the time, who was always happy, turning into a girl that glared down everyone, smiling sadistically as she terrorises fellow students. It didn't seem possible, but the resemblance was uncanny.

"What should I be remembering?" She asked, forgetting about the two frozen girls for the time being.

"Over five years ago now, when we were ten, we were friends. Best friends. Don't you remember?" Hotaru asked, standing up now. The only difference between the little Mikan and big Mikan was the hair, and the years. "You were always wearing piggy tails..."

Mikan frowned, concentrating hard. Her eyes widened, and her head snapped up, mouth open slightly. "Hotaru... Imai..." she said, remembering something from long ago. Her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared accusingly at Hotaru, jabbing a finger at her. "You left!" she declared, obviously displeased.

Hotaru gave a small, unnatural smile that made her look slightly in pain. It was a nice attempt, though. "Nose drip girl." Hotaru said, laughing silently to herself.

"You big fool." Mikan retorted, completely forgetting about Luna and Sumire as she hurled herself at Hotaru, locking her arms around her torso as they crashed to the ground on their sides. "I-i missed you!" Mikan cried, her voice mixing oddly with happiness, anger and some sort of stress, like she were suppressing something along the lines of hysterical tears.

Natsume, along with every other student in the room, stared at the two incredulously. "You two... know each other?" Tobita asked, having closed his book to watch the fight earlier. Everyone else was at loss for words, having just witnessed a girl thinking up different methods of torture change into a girl so desperate for a hug that she'd hurl herself through two metre's of open space.

Hotaru stood up, Mikan still attached to her arm like a patient attached to a life support system. She looked just as stunned as the others, while Mikan remained in her own little world, where no-one existed except her and Hotaru. "I... what are you doing here? You... never had an Alice..."

Mikan opened her eyes, staring up at Hotaru like she alone held the secrets of the universe. "I always had my Alice's, Hotaru. Just like you. But my Alice's, for obvious reasons, weren't as easily found as yours was. I never needed to stop an Alice, and never had one to steal, erase or copy."

Strangely enough, what Mikan said actually made sense. More memories nagged at Hotaru's mind, and she found herself in her dorm, 4 years ago, with a letter from her parents. Due to her continued silence, Koko decided to announce her thoughts.

"...This may come as a bit of a chock for you, but the day of Mikan's birthday, almost a week ago now, her Grandfather died of his illness. After being told she'd be taken into foster care, we acted upon adopting her. She... accepted, but later that afternoon, disappeared. We, the entire town, and the police have been looking for her ever since, but so far it's proving difficult..." He read Hotaru's thoughts as she read the letter to herself out of her mind. Beside her, Mikan stiffened.

"It's been a month now and there's still no sign. Almost everyone has given up searching, and we're ashamed to admit that we too, are losing faith. We've asked to school to let you attend the funeral, but they have cold heartedly declined several times. We're sorry, Hotaru..." Hotaru noticed as Mikan released her arm, snapping her out of her past memories.

"Mikan... where did you go?" She asked softly, noting the formerly overjoyed expression she'd been wearing had transformed into a look of hatred and sorrow.

Mikan turned her head and walked to the door, everyone moved aside, not wanting to feel her wrath. Opening the door, she turned around. "I went away, Hotaru..." she said, dropping her head so her bangs shaded her brown orbs. "And only part of me came back."

With that, she left the room, letting the door slam shut behind her.

:D x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x Button? :D? xx-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x