Technical Abilities Class
The halls of Alice Gakuen were as busy as ever, and full of busy body students. They propelled themselves to their classes while laughing loudly. Several mischievous students played pranks on serious-faced students. It was pretty normal for a school day.
A tall blonde man with a feminine face glided through the corridor, with a raven-haired girl at his side. Students clad in white and black tops and red skirts and pants threw "good morning"s at him, to which he gave a beaming smile each in return.
"As I was saying," Narumi continued, looking on with amusement as a student made parts of the hallway rain, and stepping carefully through a puddle that collected in the middle of the floor, "today's a special day."
Anzu glanced up in confusion. "I've already been here for a week," she said, pondering. Excitement then lit her eyes. "Oh, so it's that, huh?" A bright smile lit up her face. "The weekly classes?"
Narumi chuckled as he pushed on the heavy mahogany wood door of Class A. "Yes, that's precisely it." He strode over to the front counter that was piled with papers and settled on his rickety wooden stool. Anzu came to a slow halt before him.
He laughed. "Do you know what class you're in?"
Her dark brows knit together in concentration. "Um…" she said, and her voice was strained. "Special Abilities?" She sounded almost hopeful. Her dark hazel eyes shone with puppy-like begging.
Narumi's pale hand flew to his mouth. "Oh no," he laughed brightly, ruffling her hair. "You're actually in the Technical Abilities class…"
"Eh?" was all she could say. Her heart plummeted. She had really wanted to meet the same teacher who had her mom. Anzu was curious about the aloof, easy-going Nodacchi who always got lost in his spontaneous time traveling.
Narumi chuckled. "I'm sorry," he apologized with a smile. "But you won't be alone, Anzu-chan. Let me see…" He reached out to one of the clip boards on his desk and flipped through its contents. He squinted at the small print on a blue paper, then grinned. "Don't worry, you'll be with Hoshino-kun, at least," he laughed.
Anzu gathered her strength together. It's all good! The thought of being with her "cousin" made her relaxed. A dubious look crossed her face. He's so antsy though, she thought worriedly. Will Hoshino-kun be alright?
"Ah," Narumi said suddenly, startling her out of her thoughts. "By the way," he began curiously, "what Alice does Hoshino-kun have?" His lavender eyes flickered to the said boy as he walked into the room nervously with his sister. "I'm aware that Maiko-chan has the ability to read and control emotions…."
They both watched as the pair split to the opposite sides of the room: Hoshino sat with the boys who snickered deviously, probably planning a prank on a few unwary girls, and Maiko with Maria and Nakao, debating about recent divinations and strange phenomenon.
Anzu's eyes looked distant. "Hmm, well," she said slowly. "At our last Christmas party, not the one last month, but the one one last year, we made a few things with our Alices."
Narumi nodded in fascination, and she continued. Her eyes were wide as she felt the disbelief from a year ago. "Hoshino-kun made something for me. It was a beautiful bow and… what do you call those.. a container? There's a word for it… A container of arrows.
"I asked about the way he made them. Then he grabbed some paper and asked for a needle." Anzu looked shocked. "I got the needle for him, and he pricked himself! His thumb, actually… I yelled, but he just ignored it and pressed his thumb onto the paper. Hoshino-kun drew something with his blood. But I can't remember what it was.. Anyway, it leapt off the paper and was a real thing! Like, I could touch it and stuff!"
Narumi waved a hand for her to calm her babbling. "So," he laughed at her red face, "he has the ability to create objects by drawing with his blood."
She nodded furiously, and the older blonde man chuckled. "It's quite ironic," he laughed. "It's almost like the Invention Alice Imai-san has, but with a strange twist."
Anzu perked up. "Ohh, Hotaru-obasan? That's right."
The bell chimed throughout the room and corridor, and students shifted into their seats. Anzu bowed quickly and hurried over to a patient Maiko and the girls. Narumi smiled in relief as a student with untidy dark brown hair slunk into the room, not caring that he was tardy.
Naruse-kun! Anzu thought with disapproval and unease as she watched him walk calmly to his seat in the back. His head was always down, his hair covering his blank expression. Seriously, what is wrong with that guy? she thought angrily as the events of last week flooded her senses. Naruse had threatened her with a sharp ice crystal. Anzu had once wondered why he didn't just freeze people by enclosing them in ice, and realized something awful. He probably enjoyed watching people stagger away with blood dripping from their wounds, figuring it would leave them more mental damage then yelling silently from a coffin of ice.
Anzu pouted and turned away from him, disgusted. Maiko looked calm as she patted her hand under the table.
"It'll be alright," she said quietly. Anzu immediately relaxed. The girl with the topaz eyes had tampered with her emotions a bit, siphoning in some relaxation through the back of her hand.
"Thanks," Anzu whispered back, grateful, but somewhat put out when Maiko didn't allow her emotions to run as they pleased.
Narumi smiled brightly, smoothing the flared collar of his periwinkle blue shirt. "Good morning, class!" he laughed. "Today we'll be having a pop quiz! For Anzu-chan, Maiko-chan, and Hoshino-kun, don't worry about the questions. Just do your best."
A moan rippled through the class, and several students pondered mutiny, their wide eyes flickering from the enormous stack of papers in Narumi's hands to the two wooden doors on each end of the spacious room.
Narumi chuckled. "You have ten minutes. Don't cheat! If you do, I'll punish you, and you know how that goes…" A meaningful silence followed.
Students hurriedly passed around the quizzes, and their pencils flew across the papers.
The bell chimed the end of homeroom, and students chattered as they slid out of their seats and out the door for the next class.
Anzu slung her brown school bag over her shoulder, and waited for Maiko to slide her class materials into her sheep backpack. Impatient, she spoke out before Maria and Nakao could leave.
"What class are you guys in?" she asked curiously. "You know, the weekly class."
A smile lit up Maria's pretty face. "Me and Nakao are in the Latent Type class."
Nakao added, "It's for those with psychic abilities. Telekinesis, teleportation…"
"I'm also in it," said Maiko calmly. "Hareta-sempai as well. Because he has the Teleportation Alice, and the other one…" She frowned, thinking of a name to call the Alice that allowed their middle school upperclassman to travel through walls.
Anzu tilted her head. "I guess it makes sense that we're not together," she said sadly.
"My dumb brother will watch you, so it's fine, I think," Maiko said with dark humor as she put her arms through the straps of the little sheep bag. She was acutely aware of Hoshino, who appeared by her side.
"Who's dumb?" he asked sarcastically. Hoshino seemed used to being made fun of by his younger sister, and didn't seem offended any further when Maiko remained silent.
"You guys," Anzu said, dismayed as she tried to dissolve the barrier between the two siblings. She glanced at Maria and Nakao for help, but they flashed quick smiles and thumbs-up and left the premises in a hurry.
The three of them left Class A, and Anzu felt small as the siblings bickered on either side of her. She broke them up several times by flustering her arms, but they kept at it until they reached a different building and came to a halt at a hallway intersection inside.
Maiko pointed at a large wooden door several paces away. "Latent Type's over here," she said calmly. "See you at lunch." She then waved at them briefly, and walked through the hall at their right. She paused, and turned to eye Hoshino sternly.
"Make sure Anzu doesn't screw someone else up," she said with a small smile. "She can be pretty klutzy sometimes."
Anzu looked defiant. "I-I'm not klutzy!" she sputtered, waving her arms around in mock anger. The quiet girl smiled wider for a moment, then turned her back to them and disappeared through the door. Surprisingly, no noise came from inside the room. It was more of an ominous buzz… like when many people were mumbling in low voices at once.
With chills down their spines, Anzu and Hoshino hurried down the hall, scanning each wooden door for one that was labeled "Technical Abilities."
They found it after experiencing a lot of frustration and panic. Hoshino was bad with directions, though he had an extremely detailed map of the grounds in his hands. Anzu was the impatient type, and quickly plummeted into panic when they discovered they had walked in the same halls more than a few times.
Hoshino, feeling obligated to hold the door for Anzu, pushed the door open first, and a burst of loud noise exploded in their surprised faces.
A myriad of students clad in aprons and goggles, all with a variety of tools in their hands greeted them with grins. A banner was hung over a few exposed ceiling beams, stating, "Welcome, Newbies!" They looked on with amazement when it rippled, changing the words on itself, and realized that it was not a banner, but a hologram created by a machine.
A woman with her burning red ringlets tied with a ribbon into a ponytail and startling gold eyes stepped toward them with open arms.
"Hello," she said in a magnificent, dramatic voice. She flourished a hand at their extremely full classroom. "Welcome to the Technical Abilities class, you two."
Anzu's eyes were wider than Hoshino's. "Aaah!" she yelled, suddenly stunned.
The young woman looked delightfully surprised. "My, how adorable!" she laughed enchantingly, pinching Anzu's cheek. "What an exciting delayed reaction!" She smiled at the confusion on their faces and hurriedly ushered them in. Students clamored up to them, shooting questions endlessly.
"W-W—" Hoshino sputtered when two middle school girls crept up from behind and threw a white apron on him. They handed him a pair of goggles, then did the same for Anzu.
The young woman nodded, pleased with the additions to their appearances. "Alright," she laughed. "I am Haruna, your teacher for this class." She twirled a deep red ringlet around her index finger as she surveyed them with pursed lips. "Hm, yes…" she said suddenly. She turned toward her left and pointed by the windows. Light poured in from the outside, and through the glass, Anzu could see sparkling white snow, like diamonds, gathered on the spindly bushes outside. But, by a desk full of paper and ink and pens was…?
"Ah, you look so surprised!" Haruna laughed, clapping her hands delightedly. She tugged the winded pair to the open space. "It's a grand. Isn't it lovely?"
Anzu ran her hand over the smooth black leather of the piano bench in front of the spotless black grand piano. "It's beautiful," she said softly. Smiles came from all around the room.
"Yes!" Haruna shrieked. She looked ecstatic. "You have a Musical Alice, yes? You are welcome to use this. It was from the Music Room. Thank them, not me." Her perfect Japanese had been replaced with an elegant foreign accent that sounded like fragrant flowers basking in warm sunshine. "And you, my friend," she laughed, indicating the desk full of paper for Hoshino, "this is yours."
"Thanks," he said, a bit confused.
"Hm," she said, clapping her hands as if he had said something funny. "'Thanks,' he says!" Haruna said in a shrill happy voice. Then her expression turned dark. "Narumi warned me about your Alice," she said, her gold eyes flickering. "You are not to cut yourself on my watch! Understand?"
Hoshino nodded wordlessly. Haruna looked ecstatic once more. "Very good! I am glad to be understood. For now, you will practice with ink and pens." She held up a hand when the blonde boy protested. "I know that it may be impossible for your Alice to work without blood, but I was strictly told to not allow you to become anemic. Too much blood loss is bad for body!" She jabbed her index finger at him theatrically. Silence filled the room.
After a moment more, she said calmly, "That is all." Haruna whipped around and glared at the silent students crowded around them. "Scram, class!" she roared, her jewelry around her wrists clanging as she waved her arms. "Back to your stations!"
The students scattered hurriedly, reassuming their places. They became once more absorbed in their individual work, and Haruna grumbled to herself and strode to her untidy desk, her silk dress billowing around her graceful, long legs.
Anzu pressed a hand on her hammering heart. "Goodness," she whispered to Hoshino as he reluctantly sat down. "What a strange teacher! I feel like I've been thrown around like a rag doll."
He picked up a pen and stared at it uncomprehendingly. "Yeah," he said as he set it down and unscrewed the lid of the bottle of black ink. Hoshino glanced up and looked confused. "Why don't you sit down already?" He gestured to the empty piano bench.
"Ah, sorry, I was just thinking," she said distantly as she slid onto the cool, familiar black leather. She had missed her piano back at home, where she would play everyday and make her parents smile.
Anzu mindlessly lifted up the black lid and balanced her fingers daintily on the ivory keys. Then a thought occurred to her. "Oh," she said aloud.
"What's up?" Hoshino asked, not looking up from the beginnings of his ink drawing. She couldn't tell what it was yet.
"I don't have any paper to write on," she said, standing up and peering around. "I have to write the notes in…
Footsteps approached from behind Anzu. "Here you are," a girl with black hair tinged electric blue said kindly. She wore an apron over her black blazer jacket and blue checkered skirt. She was a middle schooler.
The girl handed empty music sheets and a mechanical pencil to her. Anzu took them gratefully. "Thank you, um, Sempai…" she said shyly as she propped the papers up.
"It's Midorizawa Kioriko," she laughed. "But you can call me Kiori. And you two…?"
"Nogi Hoshino."
"Hyuuga Anzu."
Kiori grinned. "Eh, looks like I just got myself two cute kohai (underclassmen)!" She smiled and indicated a lazing guy tapping a pencil against the surface of his desk, and a girl who studied several photos spread out before her. "See those two? Those are my friends. You want to talk to them?"
"S-sure!" Anzu bubbled enthusiastically. She hurriedly tore Hoshino away from his drawing, and ignored his protests as she dragged them over to the group.
Kiori nudged the loafing boy. "Hey, you haven't written anything yet," she scolded playfully as she cuffed his ear. "Write something, Tazaki!"
The boy named Tazaki stopped tapping his pencil and covered his thick notebook with his arms. "I've got a severe case of writer's block," he said seriously. "Leave me alone."
Kiori tugged the notebook free with ease. Tazaki didn't put up much of a fight. She squinted at the neat characters that spewed all over one page.
She laughed brightly and whacked her friend with the heavy notebook. The girl with the photos, who sat across from him at the same table, was startled out of her chair.
"You moron. Are you a man? This is some good stuff. Now write it in paragraph form. Put life into this part."
"Huh? No way, I wrote that on a whim. It's junk. Don't read it."
"Stupid, why say that when I already saw it? Anyways, it's fine, so just write already! You're just being lazy."
Tazaki turned to stare at Hoshino and Anzu with his head still in his arms. His eyes gleamed mischievously. "Maybe I am," he said distantly.
"This guy," Kiori growled at the younger children as she clobbered him on the head with the book, "is a great writer. His stories are amazing! Simply put, he can write a story that can make you laugh, cry, and cheer for the hero or heroine. You feel like you're there with the characters. Kind of like in a movie."
Tazaki patted his head for any mysterious lumps Kiori might've created from repeatedly hitting him. "It's nothing," he said distantly.
"Accept. Complements. Already," Kiori said irritatedly, whacking him on the head after each word.
The girl with the photos leaned forward, worry flickering on her small heart-shaped face. "P-please don't fight anymore," she said in a small voice while waving her hands. Her eyes were wide. "Not in front of those two…"
Anzu giggled. "Um," she said. "Please stop, Kiori-sempai. Tazaki-sempai can't write like that, can he?"
"Ooh," growled Kiori, her eyes gleaming devilishly. "Anzu-chan, you don't know the half of it. He's suffered worse. And he still wrote a mind-blowing ending for a tragedy. So it's alright if I just hit 'im a bit more…"
Whack! Whack!
Tazaki sighed, and tugged the notebook away from Kiori. "I'll write, geez." He laughed loudly, and several heads around them turned away from their work. Haruna whipped her head up and glared. "Whoops, just made Sensei mad. Let's quiet down."
Hoshino looked startled as the teacher's hard gold eyes studied him carefully. Then she cheerfully went back to sifting out whatever was on her desk.
"What's up with Haruna-sensei?" he asked in a low voice. "W-what is she?"
Kiori scoffed. "You talk as if she's an animal."
"Well…" Hoshino said, sweatdropping.
Tazaki chuckled, and the girl with the photos smiled. "Haruna-sensei is always like this. She's dramatic and yells a lot. She's definitely not from Japan, but no one knows where she's from. A total mystery. Anyway, she doesn't like how quiet it is in here, so she makes a lot of noise so that she doesn't get bored." He grinned. "She's strange, but we all love her."
The girl with the photos giggled. "Haruna-sensei can be very kind. She understands difficult issues… You'll come to like her in time."
"Ah, whoops," laughed Kiori as she knocked on the other girl's head. "I haven't introduced the quiet one. This is Namikawa Miroko. Her Alice is what's in those pictures right there."
Miroko looked shy as Anzu and Hoshino carefully picked up the photos on her desk. Anzu glanced at one of a tree in spring and nearly dropped the picture.
"It's moving!" she gasped, watching as the little trees branches swayed in the wind. Small green buds dotted its long, sweeping branches, and tendrils of grass rippled like an ocean wave.
Hoshino was looking at one of a dancing woman. "Cool," he said as the woman did a pirouette. He laughed as the lady in the photo looked at him with a surprised expression. "You just take pictures normally?"
Miroko nodded, her face flushed from the praise. "Uh-huh. It turns out like this… at first, I was scared of my ability, but I came to like it.." She smiled.
Anzu squinted at her. "Your last name is Namikawa?" she asked wonderingly.
Miroko nodded again, her long, wavy dark hair tickling her face.
"Are you related to Axel…?"
The older girl looked surprised. "Oh my," she said. "You know my little brother?" Then she looked happy. "Of course, you must be in the same class… how silly of me." Miroko laughed. "Yes, Axel is my brother, but I'm afraid I don't know him too well. My memories of him were when I was five… he was one, back then. I came to Alice Gakuen after that."
"Oh," Anzu said, surprised. "I see."
"Yes, I've been trying to spend more time with him," Miroko said distantly. "Ah, for the Christmas celebration last month, I gave him a present and we danced around the Christmas tree…" She seemed to be mumbling to herself.
"Ah," said Anzu. "I just thought of something. What Alice does Axel have? He didn't tell me.."
Horror flickered on Miroko's face. "Oh my!" she exclaimed. "Th-that is…" Her soft gray eyes were wide. "I'd tell you, but he'd get mad at me. No, he'd be furious…"
Hoshino leaned forward. "Oh, Namikawa… that guy in the front of our classroom? What's up with him?" He made a dubious face. "He shuts out everyone. It's annoying."
Anzu turned on him. "Hoshino-kun," she hissed angrily. "What do you know? He's perfectly nice."
He looked shocked. "Nice? Him? No way. You're mistaking him for someone else. Seriously… he says the most sarcastic and witty things. Like he knows everything. And really, all those girls around him.. what about him is so special?"
Anzu wanted to punch him. "Shut up," she said, scrunching her eyes closed. "Don't talk like that. He's not like that at all."
"Um," Miroko said in a small voice. "P-please don't fight…" She flinched when everyone turned to look at her. "Axel is often misunderstood.. I think he likes it that way."
Hoshino looked incredulous. "Hmph, weird guy…" he muttered, the fire put out. Anzu glared at him.
"Anyways," Kiori laughed awkwardly, "we've got to go back to our seats… Haruna-sensei looks like she wants to murder us…"
Tazaki chanced a glance at the teacher. Her eyes were narrow slits, and her furious expression was mostly hidden by a pile of things on her desk. "Well," he said nonchalantly. "It was nice talking with you kohai. Bye."
Hoshino and Anzu returned to their places, each swimming in their own thoughts.
Anzu grimaced as the bell chimed the end of class. Two music sheets were filled with scribbled notes. She hadn't been able to concentrate on her music as she was thinking about how angry Hoshino was.
Uwah, scary, she thought as she put away her used papers. The rest she left on the piano for next week. Is he still mad?
She eyed him stealthily from behind the piano. Hoshino was tightening the lid on the ink bottle. Suddenly he spun around and noticed her eyes on him. He looked cautious, as if he too wanted to gauge her mood. They both laughed at their similar expressions.
"Sorry about earlier," he said once they had left the room. Noise overcrowded the halls, and he nearly had to shout. "I got over my head."
"It's okay," Anzu said sheepishly. "I went a bit nuts myself. Sorry." She looked frightened. "We still friends?"
He laughed, and patted her head. "Well, yeah." Hoshino grinned. "Sorry, I was supposed to watch you, but you ended up watching me, huh?"
"S-stop saying sorry!" Anzu blurted, feeling flustered. "And what's with the watching? Maiko-chan's strange…"
He looked dubious. "You said it," he said, shivering. "Don't say that name. It brings bad luck."
"How mean!" she said. "Your poor sister…"
"Hello," said a calm voice next to Anzu.
"Eeek!" she shrieked, and she threw herself onto Hoshino.
Maiko looked amused. "My, I've never had such a strange reaction to my greeting," she said calmly. "Were you two talking about me, perhaps? 'The devil appears!' or something…?"
They both shook their heads furiously. They didn't want to get a beat down.
"Oh…? Really?" she said, tilting her head as she regarded them. A smile then flashed on her face. "No matter. It's time for lunch. I'm hungry. Let's go."
Maiko then grabbed them both by their sleeves and dragged them to the bustling cafeteria.
Comment: Axel is keeping his Alice a secret. (laughs) He hates it. You'll see in later chapters…
Oh, he'll show up a bit more often. He hasn't appeared in a while (ack!). ^-^
Have to come up with the next chapter… I'm going to be caught up with summer school work, so updates will probably come kinda slow (like this one, but I was on vacation). If they come in fast, it means that I'm procrastinating with my other work (ugh!). Haha…
