Recap:

"Thank you, Kaname-kun…" Mikan smiled. 'A Smile? Me? A real one? And the –kun thing too? I'm happy… I have a friend…'

Chapter 3: Color of the Past

"So, Mikan-chan, you're in tenth grade a first year?" Kaname asked.

"Yeah. You're two years older than me so that puts you as a third year? Ehhh... That means you're a senior. Lucky." Mikan tilted her head back. He laughed. For some reason, she felt he was really trustworthy and it was easy for her to be herself.

"You're cute, Mikan-chan. Anyway, I haven't seen you around before. Usually I'm in the hospital, but I get the sense you're new… Otherwise you wouldn't have run out here in the Northern Woods…"

"Why? Is this dangerous or something? And that's correct. I'm new today and I think I'm skipping class right now…"

He held out his hand. "In that case, allow me to escort you to class." The blonde upperclassmen led Mikan to her classroom. He told her about the dangers of Bear and the Northern Woods on the way back to the academy. "Class 2-A? Here it is, Mikan-chan." He opened the door for her and the two approached the front of the room. The room filled with gasps and whispers from the students.

"Hm?" The teacher turned towards Mikan and Kaname. "Ah. The new girl. I advise you to not be late for my class again. Since it's your first day, I'll overlook it. And you are here why, Mr. Sono?"

"Sorry. She's late because of me." Kaname bowed politely.

"N-No, It's not Kaname-kun's fault." Mikan tried to take responsibility.

"Ms. Sakura. Take your seat beside Mr. Hyuuga in the corner." Mikan wondered how in the world she was supposed to know where that was. The room had four corners and three of the corners were guys. She heard more whispers and gasps, but found her seat because all the girls turned to look at a boy in the corner. He had crimson colored eyes and raven hair.

"Have a nice day, Mikan-chan." Kaname said and smiled at Mikan before he left. Now without her new friend, she started walking towards her seat. Kokoro grinned at her as she walked passed and Nonoko gave her a reassuring look.

The brunette sat in the corner, looking out the window as Jinno continued with the lesson. She could feel eyes looking at her, but tried to ignore them. 'This is certainly a time I would love to be working back at Tsubaki-sama's home. There aren't as many eyes.'

Mikan felt someone kick her leg and looked up to see the crimson-eyed boy. He held out a piece of paper that had her name on it. She looked at it, then him.

"Take it." He whispered. Mikan nodded in a polite bow sort of way as she took it. She opened the piece of paper and read it.

We're all going to Central Town after school. Come with us please, Mikan-chan. Invite anyone you'd like. Meet us here after school gets out and we'll go from there.

–Koko

"Ahem. Ms. Sakura, is that a note?" Mikan's brown eyes looked up at the teacher. 'Am I not allowed to read notes? I've never actually been to school, so…'

"Bring it here. Detention for you, Ms. Sakura." She got up and gave him the note. 'Detention?'

"Sorry, Jinno Sensei," Mikan bowed with noticeable fear in her voice. She heard a couple girls snicker.

"Take your seat." As she sat down again, she heard the black-haired boy laugh quietly.

"You're supposed to hide the note, new girl."

"Sorry, Master." She bowed her head at him.

"Natsume Hyuuga." He replied.

"Sorry, Natsume-sama." He looked at Mikan and then went back to focusing on the teacher.

Before they left the classroom Natsume approached Mikan, "Koko said we'll go to Central Town tomorrow instead."

She nodded. 'Why the sudden change in plans? Oh well.'

Mikan walked out of the classroom with her books and other stuff for her classes. Most people were carrying a bag for their stuff, but since she was new, she didn't have one. 'School is so confusing…'

She opened the door to Narumi's office and was greeted by him. "Ah, Mikan-chan. Welcome back. Follow me. We have your dorm ready." He walked passed her, taking some of her books form her arms as he went, and she followed.

They walked to an elevator. 'An elevator? How many floors is this place?' The two stepped into the elevator and Narumi pressed the number 25.

When they arrived at the top floor, he led her to the room at the very end of the hallway.

"This is the top floor. Only special students live up here. You have star rankings and since you have two very unique Alices, you are special star ranking. It's the top rank." He gave Mikan a pin with a star in the middle along with an 'S'. "If people ask, you have the power of Nullification. I wouldn't say your other. They might be scared of you." He sweat dropped. "Welcome to Alice Academy, Mikan Sakura-chan!" He opened the door to her new room.

"This is mine?" Mikan stood in awe as she took in the scenery.

"Yes. The president of the school insisted on giving you this room."

'It's… the best and biggest room I've ever gotten. Everything looks so expensive.' She still couldn't believe it. "T-This is too much. It's so nice."

"It's yours." He smiled.

"Thank you, Narumi-sama."

"Ah ah ah, Mikan-chan. No '-sama'. Sensei is fine." She nodded.

"Sorry, Narumi Sensei." She slightly bowed.

"You're too polite Mikan-chan. These kids will chew you up. Be a little more intimidating, please."

"Huh..?" She tilted her head in confusion when he said this.

He laughed. "Mikan-chan, you're too cute. I hope you're happier here."

"Thank you, Narumi Sensei." Mikan blushed.

"You will get your partner assignment tomorrow. Here," He handed money to her. "This is your allowance every week. There's about 1,500 rabbits there. Take care!" He waved and walked out.

Mikan looked around the room. 'It's so big… It's going to take some time getting used to this. I've never been treated so nicely except…' Tears swelled in her eyes. She blinked them back.

"Do not cry, Mikan. I love you, that's why." Mikan's father placed his hand on her cheek.

"Daddy… don't leave. Mommy and brother are gone, too. Don't leave me by myself."

"It's alright because you're strong. I know you can get up after being knocked down, so keep on going. Don't let anyone or anything stop you." The tears kept falling from her cheeks, into the corner of her mouth.

"Mikan, please be strong… for the both of us… for your mother and your brother. Be strong…" His hand dropped from hers. Mikan cried even harder.

"Okay, daddy… I love you. I'll be strong for all of us."

The brunette put her hand to her face and felt it was wet. She was crying. Looking at her surroundings, she remembered where she was. 'Oh yeah. I'm standing in the middle of my room.'

What's the matter, Mikan?

I miss Dad.

Be strong. For him and your brother. If not for them, at least for yourself.

I will be strong for everyone.

You should get to sleep.

Okay.

She ventured further into her room and noticed a note on her table. It read:

Evening, Mikan-chan. I don't think you had time to shop so I went shopping for you. There are clothes in your dresser and closet. I might have over-done it, but it's okay. Now you have a lot to wear! I'll see you for homeroom in the morning.

P.S. The only days we wear uniforms here are Mondays and school assembly days, so wear one of your new outfits tomorrow! Don't forget to stop by and show me!

'Narumi is so nice. He has such a good heart.' Mikan smiled to herself and opened the closet. She stared with disbelief and grabbed one of the many pairs of pajamas hanging there. It was a very nice, purple, silk night gown. The brunette changed into it to see how it would look. It only covered down to the top of her thighs. She went to look through the others. They were all pretty similar, most of them were like the one she wore only different colors. 'He went way over-board. Pervert… Though, I guess I'm very grateful because they're probably the nicest thing I've ever owned.'

Mikan yawned and sat on her bed. 'It's huge too. Everything is so nice. Who is this principal guy?'

Goodnight, Mikan.

Goodnight.

Sleep tight. See ya' tomorrow.

Mm-hmm.

Mikan woke to the sun shining in her eyes. She checked the clock. '5:30. Two hours until school begins…' She sat up and looked around. 'Jeez… This room is way too much. I've never been treated like this. There's so much I should be thankful for.'

The brunette sighed and decided that she should get out of bed and take a shower. She went about her morning in a familiar way. She was used to getting up very early, and choosing a style wasn't difficult for her, but she usually chose for someone else never herself.

The brunette opened her closet and peered inside. 'There's a lot to look through. Narumi Sensei really wasn't lying when he said he got carried away…' She started with the far back right end. Seriously, why does someone like me need a closet the size of another room? Gosh. Who's the principal? He seems like a nice guy.' Mikan searched for an outfit. She spotted a gray v-neck sweater and chose a pair of blue jeans and colorful sneakers. When it came down to it, Mikan was good with fashion. She knew how to wear clothes, even just the plain, normal ones like what she was wearing right now.

She brushed out her long, brown hair and used the hair-dryer to dry it. Then she styled it so that it complimented her outfit and straightened her bangs across her face to the right, but still covering her whole forehead, just getting longer as the bangs framed her cheeks. After completing her image, she checked the clock again. '20 minutes to go, better get going.'

Mikan walked into homeroom and everyone stared at her with mouths dropped open. She became slightly annoyed, again because of their reactions. The brunette just avoided them and walked to the window in the back so that she could sit in the windowsill and admire the Sakura tree outside.

She found it hard to ignore the people when her name was all she could hear among their whispers. Their eyes felt like daggers to her. Not long after, Mikan could hear a couple squeals form girls. She didn't even turn to see why. 'Who cares?'

"Natsume-kun!" Sumire squealed. Two boys walked into the classroom together one with crimson eyes and the other with sapphire eyes.

Natsume noticed the new girl sitting in the window, so he ignored Sumire and walked over to her. 'Damn. She looks hot. Where did she get those clothes? Did she pick them…? With the way she acts, you think she'd be wearing her uniform, but she turns something really plain into something not.'

"Yo, new girl. What are you doing? Get to your seat before the teacher gets here." Mikan bowed her head.

"Sorry, Natsume-sama." She walked to her seat.

"Hey, Natsume, what's up with that new girl? She didn't even try to converse with you! How dare she?" It was Sumire again, but Natsume was caught up in his thinking, 'This girl is weird. Most of them usually only dream of talking to me. Me coming up to someone, especially a girl, is unusual. This new girl is weird!'

"Hey, new girl! Get over here now!" Sumire ordered. Mikan stood up and quickly made her way over to the curly haired witch.

"Hey, Sumire, what are you doing? Leave the new girl alone." She heard a voice say in the background.

"Yes, Sumire-sama?" Mikan's brown eyes looked at Sumire, who was smiling in an evil fashion.

"Find me before lunch. I'll be waiting here for you." She sat in her spot.

'Will this be another to serve…?' Mikan went back to her seat.

Sigh…

Don't worry about her, Mikan. She definitely won't treat you like a slave. She won't be able to.

How do you know? Of course I'm not worried… I'm used to this by now.

That's no good. Even though you say that, I think you lie. You can't get used to this because you know what it's like to be free and happy, right?

Just shut up… I'm in no mood to argue.

Yes, yes, my dear Mikan. I will see you later.

You've said that twice. How can you see me? Who are you?

Uh… Isn't it just like saying, "Bye, talk to you another time."?

I guess that's true… Then bye.

See ya'.

"Alright. Take your seats. Class starts now." It was Jinno Sensei. "Ms. Sakura." He walked back to her desk and pointed his wand at her. "You skipped detention yesterday." The brunette heard whispers from the other students.

"Detention? I thought it was just another word for 'delinquent' here, seeing as this is no government." Mikan frowned at the fact she just back talked to someone.

"Ah, quite the joker, aren't we? Ms. Sakura, tell me what detention is."

"Detention is a state of confinement directed by the government…" She didn't keep eye contact with him.

"Ms. Sakura, I don't know how you got here, but this school doesn't accept kids who misbehave. We don't need students like you." She stared up at him on the verge of tears.

'Students like me? What did I do? I really don't know what a school detention is! I've never been to school before now. Plus, I'm not a criminal.'

"I see. Your Alice certainly is interesting." Jinno said looking at her student profile. "You have no partner yet, so your partner will be Natsume." He turned and walked back to his desk. Whispers filled the room and eyes glared at her. Natsume coughed in amusement. 'What a jerk…' Mikan thought.

"You will have ability classes before lunch today instead of last period. You're dismissed." Mikan opened her schedule to see which ability class she was in special ability.

She walked down the hall for what seemed like forever. "I'll never find it…" The brunette whined out loud.

"Find what?" She turned to a male's voice from behind her. There was a boy with a star under his left eye. He was wearing a pair of green jeans and a white t-shirt with a faded orange and blue line through the middle. There was an orange, long sleeve shirt underneath. The converse he wore completed his outfit.

"Uh… um…" Mikan didn't say anything, so he took the paper from her hands.

"Oh. You're the new girl? My name is Tsubasa Ando. I'm a senior. I'm also a Special Ability type." The senior smiled at Mikan. She bowed her head as he did this until he said, "Nice outfit." which made her blush.

"Well, let's go, then." He said. The two walked down the hall and soon came to a room. The door opened and a girl with dull, pink hair was there.

"Oh! Hey, Tsubasa! You're here! I was just about to come find you! Who's this?" She looked at Mikan.

"I found the new girl. A thousand points for me!" Tsubasa answered.

"No fair! You can't just go out on your own and look for her!" She pulled him in. "Come on!" The girl looked at Mikan. "My name is Misaki Harada. Call me Misaki Senpai! Yesterday was your first day and you skipped. We even got a party ready!" Mikan nodded, not taking her eyes off of Misaki.

"Hey, guys! The new girl is here!" People crowded around the three of them.

"Tell us your name!" Misaki exclaimed.

"I'm Mikan Sakura…"

"It's great to meet you, Mikan-chan!" Misaki grinned. "Make yourself at home here!"

"Yeah, people call us freaks, but for that, we pretty much get to do what we want in this class. Noda Sensei is awesome!" It was Tsubasa.

"If there's anything you ever wanna talk about or anything, we're here! We're a family!" Misaki added, having one arm around another girl from their class. Everyone was smiling and laughing, whereas Mikan was just trying to take the new atmosphere in.

"You can count on me, Mikan! I'll always be there for you!"

Mikan's lips curled into a smile, but went away just as quickly when other memories came into her head.

"Go, Mikan! I'm doing this so you can get away! Run, now!"

"Mikan-chan, are you hungry? We have cake! We sort of went a little over-board with this whole 'new student' thing…" Misaki said.

"No thank you, Misaki-sama." Mikan plainly turned her down. Misaki glanced at Tsubasa.

"Hey, Kohai! Have some cake!" Tsubasa called.

"I'm not hungry, Tsubasa-sama."

"Misaki Senpai is fine, Mikan-chan." Misaki stated.

"Yeah. Tsubasa Senpai is okay, too."

"O-Okay… Tsubasa Senpai, Misaki Senpai…" Tsubasa and Misaki looked at each other, then at the brunette. "So, what's your alice?" Tsubasa wondered.

"Nullification an-… Nullification…"

"Hm…? That's pretty cool. What rank?"

"Special Star."

"Eh…? Really?" It was Misaki this time. "Hey, guys! Mikan-chan is a Special Star!"

"What?" A couple of them gasped.

"I know, right? I don't think there's been a Special Star in this class for a while. I think she had the same alice, too!"

Mikan wasn't really interested in what they were saying so she sat on the windowsill and looked outside. 'Liar… You said you'd always be there for me… Where are you now? You're a liar, Kizuka…'

"Mikan, we're friends, right? Count on me! I'll always be by your side to make things better for you!"

"Ki-Kizuka-kun… I-I made this for you…!" A small Mikan held out a red card with a pink heart on it.

"Hm…?" He took it. "Mikan, you made this for me?"

"Y-Yes…! I know it's girly, but you're my first f-friend, so… I-I thought it was a g-good idea...!" Kizuka smiled. "Thanks, Mikan!" He hugged her tightly. She blushed.

"Y-You're welcome!" There was a huge smile on the little girl's face.

"You can count on me, Mikan! I'll always be there for you!" She smiled.

"You're my best friend!" The brunette hugged him. The two smiled at each other's company.

'But that didn't last long… Such happy moments will never come back.' Mikan continued to remember as she sat, still staring out the window.

"Get back, Mikan!" Kizuka shouted. She stood behind him, afraid. There was blood everywhereon her new dress, on Kizuka, on the card she'd made for him… everywhere. Kizuka was holding his left eye. It was the source of the blood. Mikan continued to cry.

"What do you want?" Kizuka yelled. He wasn't crying, but his voice sounded shaky.

"Come with me, boy, and you might be able to save your little friend there." The guy taunted. He had reddish, brown hair, a green shirt, and tight black pants. He walked closer and closer then smirked.

"Ah… you look just like your mother, little Sakura-chan."

"Huh? Mom? My real mom? Where is she?" The small girl became even more curious.

"You'll see her soon enough, but for now, I'm taking this little fella'." He grabbed Kizuka's arm. He made no effort to fight back.

"Kizuka!" Mikan screamed.

"Go, Mikan! I'm doing this so you can get away! Run, now!"

"Kizuka…" She was quiet this time.

"Go." He looked at her with his right eye, still covering his other. She took a step back.

"I'll tell you one thing, Little Sakura-chan, you're real father… He's dead."

She shook her head, recalling how afraid she was then and how much she wanted to know more about her real parents. 'Kizuka was taken by the guy who also later kidnapped my brother and mother. Even though she was my foster mother, I liked her. My foster parents gave my brother and I a place to stay. My foster mother wasn't the nicest, but my foster father was still kind, so it wasn't completely horrible.'

Why don't you go have some fun, Mikan?

I don't wanna.

Why not?

For one, I don't really know anybody.

And you never will if you don't try.

For two, it doesn't really look all that interesting. They all look like they're busy talking to each other.

So. Join them.

I don't want to.

How many friends have you ever had?

Why?

Just tell me their names.

I met a boy named Kaname. We're friends, I guess. He seems to want to be friends anyway… But you already know that.

Who else?

Why does this even matter to you?

Who else? Can't you trust me? We talk every day. We're friends, right? So who else?

His name was Kizuka. He was my first friend, but was kidnapped by the same guy that took my mother and brother.

Good.

Tell me in what way that is good!

I didn't mean it like that. I meant 'good' as in 'thanks for telling me'.

Oh.

"Hey, Mikan-chan, class is over. Why didn't you come hang with us?" It was Misaki. Mikan shrugged. "I guess I don't feel very well today. Bye." She bowed and walked off towards homeroom to meet Sumire.