*Avoids being hit on the head by an oversized hammer* I'm so so so so so sorry guys, it's taken me forever to update. Please forgive me, if any of you are even still bothering to check if I've updated T.T Please enjoy this next chapter and I'll try to get the next one done for you guys as well, because I need to apologize and this chapter isn't as long as my others .
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice or any rights. Gakuen Alice belongs completely to Higuchi Tachibana-sama (Seriously, if I owned it, it wouldn't be anywhere near as good as it is)
Note:
'…' = thoughts
"…" = speech
Chapter 4
Mikan Sakura POV
My guitar case over my shoulder, I leapt out the window and onto the branch outside (very ungracefully). I tried to gently lower myself onto the next branch but, like always, I fell down and onto the thankfully soft, dew-covered grass below.
With less scrapes then I'd normally have, I started heading towards the sakura tree, hoping that mine and Hotaru's plan would work. It wasn't really I plan I suppose, it was more of a go-with-the-flow and hope for the best kind of plan. If anything went wrong she would be there to back me up- but to know that was all I needed to be reassured, because I knew Hotaru definitely wouldn't let me down.
I finally arrived at the Sakura tree, and set my guitar case down, looking for the person. They didn't seem to have arrived, so I checked my watch. It read midnight exactly. My eyes scanned the area again, and just as I turned to the opposite way to check in the direction of the forest, I heard the audible sound of a branch snapping.
Turning back towards the school quickly I saw a dark figure heading towards me. Their hand lifted and I stiffened before realising they were waving. "You must be Mikan Sakura, I'm Azura Amai. Pleased to meet you" the girl held her hand out for me to shake, but I took a step back instead, not quite sure about this girl.
Now she was closer I could see she was wearing a blue school uniform; the colour for middle schoolers. 'That must be why I didn't recognise her…' I thought to myself. Her hair was light brown, fully straight and reached to her lower back. Her eyes were a light rose pink, and she had a headband with a pink bow on top of her head, probably to keep any loose bits of hair out of her face.
As I stepped back, Azura stepped forward and forcefully grabbed my hand, shaking it, before letting go of it. I let my hand drop back to my side as I stared at the girl with a mixture of shock, confusion and anger. "You…you stole-!" she cut me off with a soft tinkling laugh.
"I didn't steal anything. I borrowed this" she held her hand up high; in it was one of my most prized possessions, my songbook (A/N: The other is her guitar XD). "Give it back!" I yelled, trying to snatch the book out of Azura's hand. "All in due time" she replied with an annoyingly sweet smile on her face, as she hid the book behind her back.
"First, I need to talk to you Sakura-san". The tone she had used to say my name made me cringe a bit, but nonetheless, I sat down under the tree with her and decided to hear her out. I needed my song book back, so I thought I may as well.
"I will give you your songbook back…but you have to agree to a few things first; just hear me out, ok?"
Hotaru Imai POV
I stared closely at the monitors in front of me. I had never seen this girl before, so I took out my pocket identifier and ran her photo against all the students at the school until I found a match. "Azura Amai…" I muttered to myself "15…possessor of the copying and...Crap!" I exclaimed, hoping what my screen read was wrong.
But I knew it wasn't. My data wasn't wrong, because I had copied it from the actual school files. But how I had missed this major fact, was unbelievable. I stuffed my baka gun in my pocket and grabbed my spying kit. After pulling out one of the 'Invisibility Patches' and sticking it on my leg, I climbed out through the window, the same way Mikan had and headed towards the tree.
I had left my computer on in my room, because I had been too worried about Mikan to turn it off. The words that had been written on the screen ran through my head, as I neared the tree that was annoyingly far away from the school buildings.
'Possessor of the Copying and Poison Alice…Dangerous Abilities Class...' Hotaru did know this girl after all. Everyone knew this girl. But it was very rare to see her in classes or even in the corridors, as she would usually avoid contact with people. Everyone avoided Azura, and they had a good reason too…
'Detailed Alice Descriptions:
Poison Alice: Able to create any kind of poison with minimal ingredients. Can also absorb poisons and pass them on by touching someone'
'But why would she want to talk to Mikan…'
Natsume Hyuuga POV
I looked down and saw Polka approaching the tree, looking pretty nervous. I shook my head at the idiot. I hadn't really expected her to show up. She has no clue about this person and she still showed up…that songbook must be really important to her.
I watched as Azura approached her, and instantly felt a shiver run down my spine. I wasn't scared of her or anything; it's just the aura she gives off is so…evil. "You must be Mikan Sakura, I'm Azura Amai. Pleased to meet you" she said to Polka, holding her hand out.
I pleaded inside my head for her not to shake Azura's hand, and sighed with relief when instead she took a step back. But that relief didn't last long, as Azura forcibly lifted Polka's hand from her side and shook it, with a smile spread across her face.
I could see the confusion and anger on Polka's face and it was probably reflected on mine, even though I had no real reason to feel angry. 'Azura…she better not have…' I thought to myself. I watched as Azura told Polka to sit down beside her, and decided just to listen for now…it's not like I really cared what happened to Polka anyway.
Mikan Sakura POV
(A/N: Yeah, I know I might be changing POV a little too much, but it's just so you all know what's going on :P If you don't like it, you don't have to read it I suppose xD)
"W-what?" I replied. "You heard me" she replied, her voice still fake-sweet. "Now, are you prepared to answer my question?" she asked. I felt a shiver run down my spine, but I nodded, wondering what on earth she wanted to ask me so badly.
"Mikan Sakura, do you know what your Alice is?" she asked, looking straight at me. "Alice?" I asked curious, and watched as her expression turned to one of amusement. "So it is as they say. There is one at this school who does not even know what Alice means. You best be careful Mikan Sakura. One wrong step, and who knows what might happen to a naive girl such as you. Here" she tossed Mikan's songbook into her lap.
"I have no more use for that stupid thing anyway" she said coldly as she stood up. "I advise you watch who you talk to, and don't attract too much attention" she said, and walked away in the direction of the dorms.
I shivered involuntarily, and hugged my songbook to my chest, wondering what was going on. 'This academy is turning out to be such a strange place…'
As I was pondering over the words Azura had said to me, I could barely make out a figure running towards me in the dark. "Hotaru…"I said softly, forgetting that she had heard everything. As she came into view, I could make out the slight signs of worry on her face.
Hotaru sat down beside me, and I pulled out my guitar. I needed to do something to relax myself, and I always found singing the best thing. As I began to strum the chords, I could have sworn I saw Hotaru smile slightly out of the corner of my eye.
Invisible- Taylor Swift
She can't see the way your eyes
Light up when you smile
She'll never notice how you stop and stare whenever she walks by
And you can't see me wantin' you the way you want her
But you are everything to me
[Chorus:]
I just wanna show you
She don't even know you
She's never gonna love you like I want to
And you just see right through me
If you only knew me
We could be a beautiful
Miracle,
Unbelievable
Instead I'm just invisible.
There's a fire inside of you
That can't help but shine through
She's never gonna see the light no matter what you do
And all I think about is how to make you think of me
And everything that we could be
[Chorus]
Like shadows in a faded light
Oh, we're invisible
I just wanna open your eyes
And make you realize
I just wanna show you
She don't even know you
Baby, let me love you
Let me want you
You just see right through me
But if you only knew me
We could be a beautiful
Miracle,
Unbelievable
Instead I'm just invisible
She can't see the way your eyes light up when you smile
I stopped playing and packed my guitar away, smiling to myself. Singing never failed to cheer me up. Never. I closed my guitar case and clicked the lid shut. Placing it gently on the grass beside me, I noticed Hotaru staring at me.
"Um, what?" I asked her. She just shrugged and stood up. "I'm going to sleep. See you later, baka." And with that, she left and headed back to the dorms. Not wanting to be left behind, I slung my guitar over my shoulder again and picked up my songbook before running after her. "Hotaru! You meanie!" I shouted out, before I realised everyone was sleeping.
I covered my mouth with my hands, as Hotaru looked back at me smirking. "Told you. You really are a baka" but she slowed down after that, and let me walk with her to our rooms.
We walked in silence, but it was a comfortable one. That was until I remembered what had happened earlier. "Hey, Hotaru…"I trailed off. "Hm?" "What's an 'Alice'?" I asked, all of a sudden really curious. "How would I know stupid?" she replied, her face blank as usual.
I stared at her as she walked past the door to my room, headed for her own. "Good night, baka" she said softly, turning her head to glance at me before rounding the corner out of sight. I smiled to myself; glad that I had an awesome friend like Hotaru, and swung the door to my room open, walking in. I put my guitar back in its usual place, and went to put my songbook under my pillow for safekeeping. As I lifted up my pillow however, I noticed a white envelope sticking out from underneath. On the front it read 'Mikan' with slightly messy, but still legible, handwriting.
Next to it was sitting a small pouch, with a ribbon tied around the top. I placed both on my side table and stuffed my songbook under my pillow, before climbing under my sheets in my bed. I decided I would read what was inside the envelope when I woke up in the morning, and the pouch could wait until then as well. I have had enough surprises for one day.
Once again, I'm really sorry guys...I can't even promise when the next chapter will be up, but I promise I'll make it really good just for my readers, ok? :) I hope you liked this chapter, and even if you didn't, there's a review button below and I'd love it if you'd review...(even though I don't deserve reviews after how long I've made everyone wait T.T)
~Singing Alice~
