Mew: Hello everyone! Finally! The third chapter of The Alice Crystal Chronicles is here! And it is a long chapter! Enjoy reading it!

CrystalKitten: I would like to take this opportunity to apologize for the Chapter 2 had 2 different titles although only one of them is correct: "Do you want to go with me". I'm so sorry to all the people who got confused by the chapter title. I promise I won't do it again. The first two SHORT chapters are like prologues. But they still have a connection to this new chapter. Now, time for the fanfic. Mew, do the honors, will you?

Mew: I think I'm getting tired… Do I really have to? Can't I say anything else?

CrystalKitten: But you have to…

Mew: Fine. But promise me that you will let me watch TV after this…

CrystalKitten: Sigh…Fine.

Mew: Yippee! CrystalKitten-Mew doesn't own Gakuen Alice! (Silence) Hey, CrystalKitten, where's the TV remote?

PREVIOUSLY…

"Hey Polka-dots!" a familiar voice said.

"Huh?" Mikan turned around and found herself face-to-face with Natsume. "Waah! What do you want, Natsume?"

Natsume then turned and said, "Do you want to…

Mikan said, "What?"

Natsume looked at her and said, "Do you want to go with me?"

Mikan was shocked. But she regained her composure and said, "Where?"

Natsume said, "Just somewhere."

CHAPTER 3: Trouble Begins: The Mysterious Deep Sleep

Natsume and Mikan walked out in the campus. She walked behind him. She had no idea where they are going. After all, Natsume didn't say anything else. Although she doesn't want to go with him, the new rule forces her to follow him.

Mikan thought, "Why did they make up this rule? What's the meaning of this, anyway?" She was so obsessed with thinking that she no longer notices

She was still thinking hard when she bumped into Natsume's back and she fell backwards. Apparently, he had stopped walking and while she was still deep in thought.

Natsume snorted. "Why don't you watch where you're going?"

Mikan kept on rubbing her back while saying, "Ouch… That hurts… Why did you stop Natsume?"

Natsume said, "Isn't it obvious? We're here."

Mikan asked, "Here where?"

Natsume didn't reply. Mikan understood this was a sign that she should just look around. And she did.

When she scanned her surroundings, she was sitting under Natsume's favorite Sakura tree.

"Natsume, why didn't you tell me that we were just going to this tree?" Mikan said.

"Stop complaining, polka-dots. I want to go here and because of that rule, I must drag you here", Natsume said in an offhanded tone.

Mikan is now annoyed and said, "You're not in charge here, Natsume! I get to go where I want to even if I have to break that rule!" She then stomped away to her room.

Natsume muttered, "Hmph. She's even more annoying when she tries to break rules."

Suddenly, a symbol flashes inside Natsume's mind. The same one from the shrine in Mikan's dream. Only it seemed to be colored in black and red. But he doesn't know what it is.

Natsume was startled. "What was that just now?"

Then a voice starts to speak in his mind. It sounded like a boy's and seemed to be evil. The voice said, "That symbol is something I must have for power. I want it! But I have lost it once. But this time I'm not going to lose it. I'll take over you now!"

Natsume then lies unconscious. A few moments later, he becomes surrounded by a black blob.

Meanwhile, Mikan continues to run, unaware of what is happening to Natsume. She has gone quite a good distance away from him. She stops. She then feels guilty of leaving Natsume alone when he asked her to go there with him. And besides, they were partners and should not leave each other. She then decides to go back to him.

Natsume is still surrounded by a black blob. The black blob then disappears and instead of Natsume, a different person appears. He has red hair and black eyes.

He then speaks in a harsh tone. "I must reclaim the crystal. I need power. Power to protect her."

A Middle School Division student then happens to pass by. He was walking alone.

The red-haired boy who appears to have taken over Natsume's body then notices the student and said, "That boy… He has a fragment of the crystal… His power is strong; it is Telekinesis… I must have it… for her"

The student the notices him and said, "Hey there! What are you staring at, little boy?"

The boy doesn't respond to him. The symbol from before then glows under him and black currents appear.

The student was startled and tried to run away. But he couldn't move. Something seemed to be holding him back.

The student said, "What the… I can't move!"

The boy then said, "You can't run away. You have a fragment of the crystal. Give it to me now!"

The student became frightened. He said, "Huh? But I don't have any jewelry or gems with me. I didn't steal anything from anyone. Now please let me go."

The boy said, "Never! Give me the fragment of the crystal now!" he then strengthened the black currents, which he directed to the student. The student then began shaking uncontrollably and what seemed to be a shimmering crystal piece came out of his body. The crystal fragment went inside the boy. The symbol then disappears and the black current fades away. The student then collapses into the ground, unconscious. The boy then exclaims, "I finally got a piece of the crystal. But this is not enough. I must find the other fragments. But this body is fighting me. I must return inside to recharge my power". Suddenly the black blob appears and envelops him. In a matter of seconds, the black blob perishes and Natsume shows up again.

Natsume felt dizzy. "What… just happened? I…feel weak." He then collapses into the ground.

Mikan FINALLY arrives and sees Natsume and the Middle School student out cold. She was shocked. She went to Natsume and shook him but he won't budge.

Mikan said, "Natsume! What happened here? Please wake up!"

But he won't wake up. She went inside the school campus and bumped into Hotaru and Yuu.

Mikan shouted, "Hotaru! Yuu! You have to come with me. Something's happened. You've got to help me!"

Yuu said, "Mikan! Slow down! I'll go get Mr. Narumi!" He then went away.

Hotaru looked skeptical. However, she felt an odd feeling that Mikan wasn't lying. So she went with Mikan.

When they arrived, Hotaru looked surprised. "Mikan, what happened here?"

Mikan replied, "I don't know. I got into a bit of a fight with Natsume. I ran away. He was under that tree when I left." She pointed to the Sakura tree. "But I decided to go back. When I came back, all I saw was him lying on the ground and that other student. They were both unconscious."

Hotaru looked around. However, this time, Yuu came back with Mr. Narumi. They carried Natsume and the student to the hospital.

They all sat at the waiting room, anxious to find out if Natsume and the other student were all right.

Mr. Narumi broke the silence, "Mikan, what happened back there?"

Mikan then proceeded to tell him the whole story that she only found Natsume and the student out cold on the ground.

Mr. Narumi looked like he was in deep thought. Suddenly, the door of the hospital opens and the doctor comes out. He looked grim.

Mikan and the others stood up. "How is Natsume?"

The doctor smiled. "Don't worry. He is fine. He's just unconscious. He seemed to be under a lot of pain inside. He had no external injuries. He's stable now and he's asleep."

Mr. Narumi asked, "What about that Middle School student?"

The doctor now frowned. "That is the bad news."

Mikan looked confused. "Huh? What do you mean by bad news?"

The doctor said, "The student's not dead. However, he won't wake up. He seems to be in a strange deep sleep. But that's not the real bad thing. There was something missing in him."

Yuu inquired, "What's missing? Please tell us."

The doctor declared, "Are you sure you want to know?"

Mr. Narumi said, "Please tell us, doctor."

The doctor then said, "Okay. Here it goes. Apparently, he's not dead and he's in a coma. But his coma doesn't seem to lead to any sickness or even death. He just… lost his alice."

Mikan was shocked. "Alice?"

Yuu's eyes widened. Hotaru covered her mouth in awe. Mr. Narumi looked like he was struck by lightning.

The doctor added, "His alice is no longer in him. It disappeared for some mysterious reason. And it seems it was forcefully taken. A force appeared to have infiltrated through his body and took his alice but that same force's power caused him to fall into a coma. In other words, his alice was taken from him by a mysterious force and this caused him to fall into a mysterious deep sleep."

They were all shocked beyond belief. They couldn't believe this has happened.

Then suddenly the rest of the faculty came. Mr. Jinno spoke, "Narumi, is it true that Natsume Hyuuga and a Middle School student were injured?"

Apparently, news of what happened spread to the faculty members.

The doctor then narrated the condition of the student and Natsume to the rest of the faculty members. But they were more stunned to find out that the Middle School student has lost his alice.

Ms. Serina asked, "How did that happen? Not even my alice was able to see what happened there."

Mr. Jinno spoke, "There's no way this can just happen without a reason. Ms. Mikan Sakura, did you and your nullifying alice do this?"

Mikan was shaken with what Mr. Jinno said. He did have a point; her alice has indeed the ability to do that but she didn't do it. She told everyone that she wasn't there when it happened. She was away and when she returned, Natsume was already on the ground, together with the other student.

However, Mr. Jinno remained firm. He wouldn't believe her. "Why weren't you with your partner? Why did you leave him? Or maybe you're lying."

Mikan said, "No, sir! I didn't do it!"

Mr. Narumi then interfered. "Jinno, there's absolutely no way that Mikan would do this. First of all, why would she want to take the alice of that boy? Second, did you see if she has the alice of that boy and third, she wasn't even in the scene when it happened. Where's your proof?"

Mr. Jinno was about to answer him back when Ruka arrived at the scene, together with Kokoroyomi.

Mikan shouted, "Ruka! Koko! What are you doing here?"

Ruka was panting. He looked like he ran a long way. Kokoroyomi looked even more tired than he is. But Ruka managed to say, "Mikan, what happened? Where's Natsume? He told me to go under the Sakura tree to talk with him but he was not there. Do you know where he is?"

Mikan stammered. "Ruka, you see… Natsume is…"

Hotaru spoke for her, "Natsume fainted. But don't worry, he is fine now. He's just asleep."

Mr. Jinno coughed to get their attention back and said, "Back to my question. Mikan Sakura, did you do it? Did you take the alice of the other student?"

Mikan said, "Mr. Jinno, I didn't do it! I wasn't there when it happened!"

Mr. Narumi now shouted, "JINNO! Stop accusing Mikan! You have no proof of this!"

Mr. Jinno countered, "Narumi! If we don't stop the culprit, more students will become victims of this and we can't let that happen!"

Mr. Narumi answered him back, "You are right but you can't just accuse a student if you have no evidence! Just because you are angry at Mikan and her alice doesn't mean you can use it as a reason to punish her for something she didn't do!"

Mr. Jinno raised his voice, "You yourself don't have proof of that!"

Ms. Serina stepped in between them and said, "Stop arguing! This won't solve anything!"

The two of them then stopped quarreling and the rest of the faculty returned to the campus. But Mr. Narumi remained behind.

Mikan approached him and said, "Mr. Narumi, why does Mr. Jinno think that I was the one who did this?"

Mr. Narumi then looked at her and said, "Mikan, I don't believe that you did this. Mr. Jinno is probably upset at what happened."

Mikan smiled. "Thanks, Mr. Narumi.

A few days later…

Natsume is discharged from the hospital but the other student who lost his alice remained in a deep sleep. He had no memory of what happened.

The teachers instructed Mikan, Hotaru, Ruka, Kokoroyomi and Yuu not to spread what happened around. The teachers did not let any of the other students know and declared that it was just an argument gone wrong.

It was nighttime. Mikan was in her room, thinking about what really happened to Natsume. She was about to sleep when she heard footsteps outside. Someone was knocking at her door. She went and opened it. It was Hotaru.

Mikan said, "Hotaru! What are you doing here? It's already late."

Hotaru, however, didn't reply and grabbed Mikan's arm and dragged her to the special star dormitories. There were lots of people gathered in front of Natsume's room and seemed to be looking at something on the floor. Hotaru dragged Mikan into the crowd and made her look down.

What Mikan saw made her slump to the floor. "It can't be… It's happened again… The same as before…"

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Mew: Wow! This is a long chapter! What happened in front of Natsume's room? Wait for the next chapter to find out! See ya!