Spiral: Yep yep! Onto chapter 2, everyone! With Mikan and Natsume's Innocence! Okay, maybe not Natsume's, but definitely Mikan's! Sorry if it seems a little D. Gray-Man-centric, but it's because of where the action is right now…so…gomen (1)! Also, please note that I have refrained from using the whole "Destroyer of Time" shtick because this isn't really D. Gray-Man…it's still there, it's not exactly the role it played last time…gomen…
Disclaimer: D. Gray-Man goes to Katsura Hoshino and Gakuen Alice goes to Tachibana-san.
Chapter 2
Previously…
"Come on. Get up, Ichigo. There's still one more step for you and Walker."
"There's still more?" said Allen, pulling Mikan up from the ground. He sighed, before following Natsume as well.
"Ikuzo, Mikan-chan!" said Lenalee, pulling her along through the halls to the elevator. "This is much less painful. I know. My brother is…traumatizing."
"No kidding," said Mikan, fuming with an evil, black aura hanging above her. "But where are we going?"
"Now you go and meet Hevlaska," said Lenalee.
Mikan looked from side to side. "Who?"
"You'll see, you and Allen-kun both," said Lenalee.
"I vote Allen goes first," said Lavi, backed up by Komui with his drill and hard hat.
"I'll go," said Allen, fast as to avoid the drill.
"Don't worry, Hevlaska's nicer than Komui is!" shouted up Lavi as Allen felt himself be lifted into the air.
He felt weightless, and then made the mistake of looking down. He never wanted to be this high ever again. The blob called Hevlaska kept probing at him with warm tendrils. They pushed into his Innocence, forcing him to invocate, making drastic changes. The Crown Clown started taking shape, transforming his left and right hand. He was still feeling somewhat queasy from Komui as well, and it wasn't exactly helping his stomach along.
"So you're the Destroyer of Time," said Hevlaska. Allen looked all around, wondering if she really was making a mistake. The Destroyer of Time? How in the world did you destroy time anyways? "Do not worry for now. Your synch rate is…1...8..." and the numbers kept going on up till she finally called, "83." Allen finally felt ground underneath him and he pretty much rushed to the railing to hurl a little.
"Mikan-chan, your turn!" said Lenalee. Mikan looked around for support. Natsume looked away, Lavi was grinning, Allen was still hurling, and the anti-social humbug in the corner…well…remember? He's like Natsume. Assuming that was Kanda, she couldn't find any support anywhere, so, she just let Hevlaska take her up.
"Interesting," she said, pressing a tendril to Mikan's forehead. She shivered, somewhat fearing the giant blob. She didn't exactly want to be like Allen, so she kept her head held high. "Invocate, please." Mikan had no understanding of it at all, but she felt a painful sensation as she tendrils that were examining her were probably "invocating" for her.
The cross in the center of her forehead glowed, glowed until it was painful to watch. Mikan repressed the urge to scream and/or shout for help. Smaller crosses formed a line across her forehead. It was like she was wearing a headband of the those crosses. The pain finally died down, the glow finally softening, then dying out.
"Your synch rate, Mikan Sakura, is 1...5...13..." and so on and so forth until Hevlaska reached, "87." Mikan felt like she was floating down, her Innocence, or whatever the heck it was, returning to its normal state, if you could call it normal, and she finally touched down onto the ground.
"See, she's much better than Komui," said Lenalee. "Looks like you're an Exorcist with us, Mikan-chan! Hotaru usually helps out the geeks here, but I think that she got sent out again today…you're going to like it here, everyone's really nice, don't worry!" Mikan was still skeptical, but decided to trust Lenalee anyways.
"I still think that Persona is better than Komui…" she said, still exhausted from her bout with the drills. She looked over at Natsume. "Ne, Natsume? Who do you think is better?"
"Neither," he said. "They're both idiots." He looked over with his devil-like eyes and his creepy dark aura around him and Mikan and Lenalee both backed off.
"So how long is Hotaru-chan going to be gone?" said Mikan, looking up to the girl.
"Dunno. Depends on where she's going," said Lenalee. "I don't know."
"Who're the two senpai over there?" asked Mikan, pointing to Lavi and Kanda.
"Lavi is the red-head, the one that actually talks. Kanda is the one that could be Natsume's brother," said Lenalee.
"I heard that!" said Natsume, looking up from his talk with Allen. "So what were you saying…?"
"When Kanda talks, it's usually to insult, swear, or, well, there's nothing more than those two things," said Lenalee. "He's very anti-social. Lavi's the only one that will talk to him, and it's usually a one-sided conversation."
"So how many Exorcists also have Divinities?" asked Mikan, letting the questions roll out, one by one.
"Oh, not too many of us. There are 108 pieces of Innocence, but a lot of them get destroyed," said Lenalee. "There's, well, us, I think one or two kids from the Elementary Branch, and then one other guy from High School and that's about it. There are more people that don't have Divinities and have Innocence than there are that have both."
"Souka," said Mikan. "So what's your Innocence?"
"I have the Dark Boots," said Lenalee, hoping that she wouldn't have to answer more. "And Lavi's is that little hammer, on his leg. It grows bigger, much, much bigger. You'll get used to this life eventually. It's kind of fun, really. And, on a different note, Allen and Natsume seem to be getting along well. At least, Allen's hair isn't on fire yet, which is a sign that they'll probably be good friends."
"Ne, what's Natsume-kun's Innocence?" asked Mikan, curious about Natsume, as well as Hotaru's. "And Hotaru-chan's."
"Natsume's is…well…you see that pair of shackles around his wrists?" asked Lenalee, pointing to them with Hotaru's teacher stick. "That's his Innocence. Hotaru's, well, she generally doesn't use it much, not unless she has to really. She usually hides it. It's a long chain that she wears."
"Cool," said Mikan, dazed by all the information. Dang. She was going to have trouble sleeping tonight.
-X-
The next day, still no word from Hotaru. Mikan wandered around the classroom, and always managing to find Allen talking with Natsume somehow. Everything seemed so normal compared to yesterday. She almost felt…out of place. Sumire was arguing with Yuu about something, and seemed to be losing, Koko was talking with Anna and Nonoko, and Ruka was just sitting next to Natsume, listening in on their conversation. Mikan sighed, sitting on her desk. Lenalee was nowhere to be seen as well.
"Oi (2), Cherries," said Natsume, looking up from his conversation with Allen. "What are you doing just sitting there?"
"You hentai!" said Mikan, resisting the urge to slap the boy. "And Hotaru and Lena-chan aren't here at all."
"Where is Hotaru?" asked Ruka, worried about his new girlfriend. "I never saw her all day."
"She's—" said Mikan, about to tell Ruka about the inner workings of the Chaos Branch.
"Probably out selling the animals your pictures again," finished Natsume, keeping his hand clamped onto Mikan's mouth. Allen sweat-dropped as Ruka's face grew redder and redder.
"Sakura-san," whispered Allen. "Remember the rule? We aren't allowed to tell people about…you-know-what. Gotta stay secret."
"Baka," said Natsume, smacking her on the back of her head.
"Itai (3), Natsume!" said Mikan. Allen was smiling and Ruka was laughing as well.
"Does this always happen?" said Allen, about to break into tears from laughter. "I mean, are they always arguing like this?"
"Only on good days, Allen," said Ruka, trying to get a breath of air. "Only on good days." Natsume looked away, not about to let Ruka see him blush while Mikan tackled Ruka. Allen couldn't contain himself. He was giggling like a little school girl while Natsume cracked a rare smile.
"Let the boy breath!" said Allen, trying to stop laughing. "You're going to choke him!" The little golden ball from yesterday could be seen from underneath Allen's collar.
"I never did find out what that was," said Mikan, pointing to the little ball.
"This?" said Allen, bringing out the little ball into full view. "This is my master's golem, Timcanpy." The little golem flew around Mikan's head for awhile before it got tired and rested in Natsume's hair.
"Allen-kun, are you liking it here so far?" asked Mikan, hoping that maybe he was a nice guy even though he hung out with Natsume.
"I-it's alright, Sakura-san," said Allen. "It's really big here and everyone's really nice, even Natsume. And there really aren't many spirits that get my Divinity working on its own so I'm really liking it here."
"Your Divinity activates itself?" said Ruka, somewhat amazed. He couldn't believe that Divinities could even do that…could they? "It can do that?"
"Yeah, under some rare circumstances. Actually, most of the time it does. I can't exactly control it too well," replied Allen, sweat-dropping a little bit. "It's a bit of a hassle."
"Souka," said Mikan.
"Oi, Allen, you gonna come with us to Central Town after class?" said Natsume, getting up with Ruka. "We were planning on going. Come along. There's a lot of cool stuff there."
"They haven't decided your star rank yet, have they?" said Mikan, getting up as well.
"Star rank?" repeated Allen, sitting around with a dumb look on his face. He was still new to the Academy after all. There was still a lot he had left to learn. "I'm pretty sure you explained it to me yesterday…?""
"Yeah, we get allowances depending on the rank we have. Specials get 300 rabbits, triples get 100, doubles get 50, and singles get 30," said Mikan. "You still don't have a rank, or allowance yet…forgot…"
"Is it Jinno's class today?" said Ruka, putting in a random piece of conversation.
"Yeah…" said Mikan, feeling down now. "Are you any good at math, Allen?"
"You learn math here?" said Allen, not being very smart.
"Yeah, we may have Divinities, but we still learn you now," said Mikan, sliding into her seat. As much as she loved to go to Central Town, it'd have to wait until Jinno's class was over.
"So that's the intimidating Jinno-sensei," said Allen, putting his head on his hands. "I thought he'd be a little scarier…"
"Did you say something, Mr. Walker?" said Jinno."Or would you maybe like to come up and solve the problem on the board?"
"I-iie (4), Jinno-sensei," said Allen, now understanding Mikan's distress at the man.
-x-
After class, the quartet gathered together to leave for Central Town. Iinchou decided not to go and Natsume had Yo-chan in his hands.
"Come on, Allen-kun!" said Mikan, pulling him along to see the different shops. "I can lend you some money if you want to buy anything."
"S-sakura-san, n-no! You don't have to do that!" said Allen, still getting sucked into buying something at Mikan's expense.
"Mikan is fine, Allen-kun," said the girl, satisfied that she'd finally gotten the boy to buy something. "I told you, you don't need to call me Sakura."
"H-hai," he said, sweat-dropping a little. "Arigato, Mikan-chan." He held up the little bobble that Mikan had bought for him. It wasn't really special, but he liked it, a lot. The little star grinned back at him as he stuck it back into his pocket. He looked over to see Natsume glaring at him.
"Nee-san," said Yoichi, pulling on Mikan's skirt. "Howalon."
"That's right!" said Mikan, pulling Allen along again to the Howalon store. "You have to try this!"
"Ne, Allen," said Natsume, pulling him over before they actually got to the Howalon store. Mikan didn't seem to notice. She was too excited over the Howalon. "Back off."
"Wha…?" said Allen, confused.
"Mikan," said Natsume, blushing a little. "She's mine."
"Yeah, alright. Not to offend you, but, I'm not too sure she's my type…" said Allen, thinking of Lenalee. "I mean, she's really nice, but…"
"Just making sure," said Natsume, dragging him back. "Cherries, did you get a box yet?"
"Hentai!" said Mikan, looking away. "Almost, though. Just wait over there. We'll bring it over in a second!"
"So you really like Mikan?" said Allen. Natsume looked away, somewhat annoyed by Allen. "Gomen, Natsume-kun. I was just curious." Ruka, standing between the two, looked at both of them rapidly, swinging his head around in both directions.
"D-did I miss something?" he said, confused. Yeah, Ruka isn't exactly in the loop. "What's going on?"
"Betsuni (5), Ruka-kun," said Allen, sweat-dropping. "Sorry for leaving you out of the conversation like that. So…what is this Howalon that Mikan and Yoichi are excited about?"
"Howalon is Central Town's number one product," explained Ruka. "Mikan and Yo-chan love it a lot. It's this candy that's sort of like a marshmallow. Try it!" Mikan was bringing back a box by this time with Yoichi in hand.
"Allen-kun!" said Mikan, holding out the box. "Try one! They're delicious!" She herself popped a piece in her mouth and Yoichi grabbed his own from the box. Natsume and Ruka both grabbed their own as well and Allen picked his own up. He looked at his experimentally before taking a bit out of it.
"Sugoi (6)!" he said, grinning. "Arigato, Mikan-chan!"
"It's alright! You don't need to thank me!" said Mikan, smiling as well. "As long as you're enjoying it, Allen-kun!" Natsume sent the boy a death glare while Ruka sweat-dropped.
"So, do you like it here, Allen?" said the animal boy.
"Hai!" said the boy. Guess it didn't matter if Allen was a year older then the group; he was still enjoying himself. "Thanks for bringing me." Allen grinned, ruffling Natsume's hair. Natsume couldn't resist a smile; it had been a great day.
-X-
The next week passed by like a blur for Allen. Nothing really interesting happened; Hotaru and Lenalee were still out on a mission. There were no particular points of interest, especially after that trip to Central Town. The only thing that was even worth mention was how Natsume kept glaring at him whenever he was talking with Mikan.
"Have Hotaru and Lena-chan come back yet?" said Mikan, not exactly whining, but definitely being annoying again.
"Urusai (7), Polka Dots," said Natsume, getting that 4-star thing on his forehead. "Come on, Komui said he needed to talk with us."
"And Komui is…?" said Mikan, being dragged by the collar by Natsume. Allen sweat-dropped next to the other boy; Natsume had reminded him of his old master. That bastard, thought Allen, having the heavy dark aura surrounding him.
"Oi, Allen…" said Natsume, pulling on the older kid's shirt like Yoichi. "You feeling alright?"
"R-right," said Allen, following Natsume into the Chaos Branch.
"Komui!" yelled Natsume, finally letting go of Mikan's collar. "I brought those two!"
"Since when are we 'those two'?!" said Mikan, pouting. Allen poked Mikan, signaling that they needed to follow Natsume.
"Come on," he said. "Natsume and Komui are probably getting really impatient. We really shouldn't keep them waiting." Mikan followed Allen through the never-ending corridors of the Chaos Branch.
"That's where you were," said Natsume when Allen finally found the right door. "Komui's got to send us out on a mission."
(1) Gomen: Shortened version of gomen nasai. Both mean sorry or I'm sorry
(2) Oi: Hey
(3) Itai: Ow
(4) Iie: No
(5) Betsuni: It's nothing
(6) Sugoi: It's amazing
(7) Urusai: Shut up
Spiral: Mwuahaha! Cliffy! BTW, I'm feeling really distracted by a whole lot of other anime and the forums that I usually go on are finally up again, so I'm probably not going to be on fanfiction a lot…gomen nasai! Also, sorry for the short chappy! And thanks, Amu-chi, just one toaster, and aka-chan for reviewing. Aka-chan, I hath figured out my love triangle! It is AllenxMikanxNatsume. :)