*EDITED*
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HALLO FRIENDS!
YES YOUR EYES ARE NOT FOOLING YOU, MOMOCANDY IS BACK WITH CHAPTER 4 OF CIRCUS!
It's been over a year since I last updated this. IT'S BEEN OVER A YEAR. A year is a really long time. I wasn't even a 10th grader when I updated my last chapter and now I'm almost an 11th grader. Wowie. Time flies.
So, since it's been a whole damn year, I know that most of you have probably lost interest or forgotten what the hell this fanfic was about (I did too, had to reread the past three chapters...), but that's my fault so I'll accept the consequences.
Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy this long-awaited update of Circus!
Happy reading! :)
Disclaimer: I do not legally own Gakuen Alice or any of it's characters.
Circus
by: momocandy
Chapter 4 - Shenanigans
XXX
"WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA?"
"SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS!"
Mikan groaned and facepalmed herself on the table for the gazillionth time that Saturday afternoon. First Spongebob, then Spongebob, and now MORE SPONGEBOB.
THERE WAS ONLY SO MUCH OF THAT YELLOW MONSTROSITY A PERSON COULD TAKE.
Sure, the huge flatscreen TV was mad tempting, especially since they only had one of those outdated box TV's back in their apartment, but did Sumire really find this one show just so fucking entertaining?
"AHAHAHAHAHA!" Spongebob's obnoxious laughter boomed through the living room, coupled with Sumire's own giggly snorts, and Mikan jammed her fingers into her ears in an unsuccessful attempt to shut out the noise.
"Ugh, someone shoot me now."
Hotaru had long before locked herself in her room to do some top secret stuff, like she always did—probably dissect the computer monitor or play Angry Birds or something. After all, she was the techno freak, so besides dancing and Angry Birds, only circuits, wires, and the like could intrigue her. She could annihilate and reassemble whole machines without breaking a sweat. Mikan hailed her as the mechanic genius.
Anna had escaped to the kitchen and submerged herself in the lovely sounds of clanging pots and pans, happily baking something that, so far, smelled like heaven on earth. In terms of cooking, Anna was a natural-born prodigy. She could literally make a dinner feast from a pile of shit and worms. No kidding.
Meanwhile, Nonoko was sitting on the couch perpendicular to Sumire, nodding steadily to the beat of the music that was blasting into her ears through her cobalt earbuds, thus unable to hear Sumire cackling insanely at the retarded yellow sponge with the ear-murdering voice that made Mikan want to smash the TV into a million little pieces and wring Sumire's neck while she was at it.
Lucky her.
Well yeah, Mikan also had music on her phone, but she had stupidly left it in her suitcase, and her legs really weren't cooperating with her right now. Actually, every time she moved, they tingled as if a hundred needles were being poked into her skin.
Yep, she was definitely not standing up.
"SQUIDWARD...HEY SQUIDWARD..."
SLAM.
"SUMIRE, TURN DOWN THE FUCKING VOLUME, NOW...Owww."
Nothing like tenderizing the table and your hand to prove a point. Though it was all for naught, since Sumire continued to stare at the TV without moving a pinky.
Mikan's eyebrow twitched in irritation.
How dare that woman ignore her? Did she not remember that the last time someone ignored her they spent two months on crutches? But since Sumire was a *cough* close friend *cough*, Mikan would show some mercy.
Maybe a football tackle, aye?
All of a sudden, the greenette exploded into manical laughter that caused Mikan to jump in alarm and bang her knee against the edge of the coffee table.
"OWWWWW!"
Mikan rocked back and forth in agony, her leg exploding with pinpricks from the sudden movement after being asleep for so long.
She was half-kidding before when she thought of a football tackle, but football tackle it was.
With the reflexes of a feline, she sprang up from the floor and launched herself at Sumire, ignoring the aggravating stinging in her feet. She was ready to catch that girl in a good old headlock and box some ears while she was at it. Out of all the girls, Mikan was undeniably the strongest. She had gained the most experience from the frequent gang fights on the street and could definitely beat Sumire down in a fistfight.
In a normal situation.
This was not a normal situation.
Without taking her eyes off of the TV, Sumire raised her leg and swung it in a wide arc, catching Mikan in the face and kicking her away like a sack of potatoes. Nonoko mouth dropped open as Mikan hit the ground hard.
How long had it been since Mikan had taken a direct, in-the-face blow from someone?
Five, six months?
Sumire was definitely an entity to behold.
As Mikan glared at Sumire and rubbed her throbbing cheek, she happened to notice that the remote control was lying on the couch next to Sumire, completely unguarded.
Her eyes flashed with renewed determination.
This was her chance!
Her arm snapped out faster than a bullet and reached for the remote. But her fingers only closed around air.
Mikan blinked, quite startled. Then she looked at Sumire. The girl had not taken her eyes off of the TV even once, but in her hands lay the remote control, clutched protectively between her fingers.
Mikan didn't know whether to be amazed or horrified, but she didn't have much time to think anyways because in the next moment, Sumire had lifted her foot and kicked her back, successfully shoving the brunette away from her snug position between the couch and the coffee table and onto the open floor.
Mikan felt her anger bubble past boiling point. That was it. Sumire had crossed the line.
Because you do not just kick Mikan and get away with it.
With a bellow that Godzilla would've been proud of, Mikan scrambled over to the TV. Her hands randomly grabbed a clump of wires and she yanked them mercilessly out of their sockets, holding them up in the air triumphantly as the TV screen blinked dead.
AHA, VICTORY!
Sumire stared at the now dark TV with the ultimate poker face. Then she slowly got up from the couch and stumbled over to Mikan, wobbling to and fro like a zombie. Mikan stopped, the triumphant grin frozen on her face. She watched as Sumire reached out toward her with wiggling fingers, a psychotic smile on her lips.
Gulp.
A minute later, Spongebob's voice was once again heard through the the room and Mikan was lying off to one side, sporting a bump on her head and a swollen cheek.
She had failed. The alpha girl Mikan was an alpha girl no more. It was time for her to go cry in a corner now.
But a wondrous aroma of baked sweets beckoned her away from said corner and into the kitchen.
Mikan heaved herself onto a stool at the kitchen counter. Anna had just finished baking her cake from Heaven, and was putting icing into the squeezy tube thingy.
"I want cake..." the brunette moaned, her hand stretching toward the mouth-watering chocolate confection. Anna broke her concentration to glance over at the source of the sound and jumped in surprise. She immediately dropped the tube and went to smack Mikan's hand away.
"No, bad Mikan!" she scolded as if to a doggie. "The cake is for dessert, you know that! Wait until after dinner!"
Then, with a gasp, she noticed the lump on the head and the swollen cheek.
"Ohmigod, what happened to you?"
"Sumi..." Mikan mumbled, her head on the table. "...Sumi happened."
Anna arched an eyebrow and craned her head over Mikan to verify this, just in time to see Sumire throw back her head and howl in maniacal laughter.
"F IS FOR FIRE THAT BURNS DOWN THE WHOLE TOWN, U IS FOR URANIUM BOMBS! N IS FOR NO SURVIVAL!"
BONK
That was Mikan's head on the countertop.
No survival...ironically she found truth in all of that nonsense.
Anna stifled a giggle and went over to the fridge. She scooped some ice and put it in a plastic Ziploc bag, then handed it over to a half-dead Mikan.
"Here, for your head and cheek. You better put a band-aid on your cheek later, okay? Just to be safe."
Mikan grunted as she grabbed the ice pack and propped herself up on her arm, pressing it to the bump.
Anna stared at her for a moment before giggling again.
"What?" Mikan mumbled, disgruntled.
"I—I just don't get why you're so annoyed by it," the pinkette said, laughing now. "That was actually pretty funny. It's stuck in my head now."
"Funny?" Mikan coughed. "You try watching it for, like, five hours straight on full volume and see if it's funny. And please don't start singing the song or I'm gonna have to throw the refrigerator at you."
"Well, nobody forced you to sit there and watch," Anna shrugged as she resumed scooping icing into the tube. "You could've went and done something else like me and the other girls."
"Do not underestimate gravity," Mikan shook her finger. "It's got powers beyond your imagination."
Anna rolled her eyes.
"Uh-huh. You lazy bum."
"It's science."
Mikan watched as she started drawing beautiful flowers on the cake.
"Perfect as always, Anna Banana." The brunette shook her head in awe. "You're amazing."
"Of course," Anna retorted playfully. "Sweets are my forte. When I grow up, I want to open my own patisserie. "
"After you retire from dancing, huh?" Mikan mused.
"Yup," Anna nodded. "I mean, eventually, we're gonna get too old and rickety to dance, so when that time comes..."
"You could also sign up for one of those patisserie competitions," Mikan suggested. "It'll get you big money and recognition."
Anna laughed.
"That is, if I win."
"Pssh, you'll get first every time, no doubt."
Anna raised an eyebrow.
"Really now?"
"Them critics'll be blown away by your cooking, I guarantee."
Anna giggled and reached over to pinch Mikan's cheek.
"Love you too, Mikan. What would I do without you?"
Mikan wiggled her eyebrows slyly.
"I dunno, that's why I won't ever leave your side."
"Ewww," Nonoko mimicked barfing noises as she appeared from nowhere and slid into the seat next to Mikan. "That's disgusting."
"Go away," Mikan shooed her. "Nobody invited you here."
Nonoko rolled her eyes.
"Spare me."
"You're such a serious character sometimes, Noko," Anna chided. "Just where do you get your attitude from?"
"I dunno, probably Dad," Nonoko said without missing a beat.
The atmosphere suddenly got tense. Even though the twins talked really casually about it, Mikan still knew that this was a touchy subject.
"Dad, huh?" Anna contemplated. "I guess so..."
They fell into silence amidst the backdrop of Spongebob's cackling voice.
"Anyways..." Anna started, breaking the ice, "Who's wants to go down and look at the competition topic? It should be up by now."
"Wait, what day is it?" Mikan gasped.
"Look at the calender, you moron," Nonoko said flatly.
Mikan threw her a dirty look and rushed over to check. There was a loud gasp.
"Saturday...IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS! Okay lets go."
Without further ado she grabbed a bewildered Nonoko's hand and pulled her out the door.
"Why—do I—have to—come along?" Nonoko tried to pull herself out of Mikan's grip as she was dragged out of Building A and onto the forest path.
Mikan just hummed cheerily as she plowed onward, completely unaware of Nonoko's struggle.
"Let go of me before I kill you."
The humming continued without the slightest pause as they entered Building C. Nonoko's expression darkened and she pulled her fist backwards.
BAM SMACK
Mikan suddenly found herself falling down a flight of stairs.
"WOAH OMG WTF OW OW OUCH."
She had managed to avoid the worst of the fall by using her hand to swivel upside-down and maneuver herself down three-fourths of the staircase, but then her foot slipped and she went tumbling down the remaining steps. Strangely enough her face hit something hard, but she was sure that it wasn't the floor.
Actually, they felt more like...a pair of shoes.
Nonoko tried to contain her laughter at the top of the stairs, but Mikan clearly heard her snorting. That bitch...!
Then she painfully raised herself up and found herself staring at a pair of baggy black sweats. She tilted her head even higher.
Oh gosh darn jibber jabbers. Fuck.
"You're going to have to pay me for the damage you just did to my shoes." A low, arrogant, unbearably annoying voice rang through the silent hall.
Mikan slowly got up. Really, just her luck. Of all shoes she could have fallen on, it was his shoes. Dammit, if she had known she would've made sure to smear some snot on those pearly white soles.
"Oh my oh my Natsume," Koko peered at him with his foxy eyes, "she really fell for you, didn't she?"
Now it was Mikan's turn to punch someone.
"I just came down to check the competition topic," she huffed. "Go away and leave me alone."
"Me...and Natsume...just did that..." Koko choked, doubled over from the blow.
Mikan's scowled. Damn, the douche got to it first. Knowing that just left a bad taste in her mouth.
"Good for you."
She brushed past Natsume and headed for the main office. Nonoko sighed and followed. Natsume watched them go.
"Oh hey, wait, Mikan!" Koko suddenly shouted, and Mikan craned her head back, clearly annoyed.
"What?"
"Tell Anna that Crabby Patty is gone! I don't know how she did it, but she's actually gone! Bless her soul!" Koko yelled.
"Crabby Patty?" Mikan echoed in confusion. "Who's that?"
"The office hag!" Koko replied. "Patty. Patricia. Y'know."
"Oh," Mikan realized. Looks like her uncle had pulled through. "Of course she's gone! Couldn't let a bitch like that stay here if I could help it."
"So you're involved too?" Koko asked curiously.
"Of course I am," Mikan smirked and flipped her hair. "I'm an expert at firing teachers."
"Cool." Koko was genuinely impressed. "Can I hire you?"
Mikan shrugged not-so-apologetically. "Sorry, my services are only offered to five special girls. Go look for someone else."
"Phooey." Koko acted crestfallen.
"Yeah, sucks right?" Mikan really didn't care. "Okay bye, I've wasted enough time with you."
And without waiting for the sandy-haired boy's response, she headed into the main office with Nonoko.
"The theme for the first round of the Alice Tournament is..." Mikan squinted at the bulletin board. Then she rubbed her eyes and tried looking at it from different angles as if that would change the word that she saw. "...family? Family? What?"
"Choreograph and perform a dance that symbolizes the concept of family. Dance: Any style. Costumes: Can be chosen by participants. Duration time must be a minimum of four minutes," Nonoko read. "Hmm, simple enough. It'll be easy to pick off contestants this way."
"Simple?" Mikan shrieked. "What part of this is simple? How the fuck can breakdancing portray family? What kind of stupid theme is this?" Then she gasped. " I swear if my goddamn uncle is behind this I will go up to his office right now and strangle him."
"Calm down, idiot," Nonoko rolled her eyes. "The teachers decide the themes, not the principal. And the theme isn't that difficult to understand—" she paused, "—except that you aren't the brightest of the bunch. Right, I forgot."
"Don't mock me, girl," Mikan threatened. "Or you're gonna be choreographing this whole entire thing by yourself."
"This is only the first round, and you're already struggling. At this rate you're not gonna go anywhere."
Nonoko turned up her nose and walked away. Mikan only growled and made faces after her.
Koko was still crouching at the foot of the stairs when Mikan and Nonoko returned.
Mikan huffed and walked up to him. "Why are you still here?"
"Oh, you're back!" Koko's eyes brightened and he jumped up. "I was waiting for you!"
Mikan raised her eyebrows and leaned back cautiously.
"...Okay?"
Koko suddenly drew in close and draped an arm around her shoulder.
"So, remember that—"
"Hands off," Mikan glared at him dangerously. "Don't touch me without my permission."
Koko immediately let go.
"Woah, you suddenly seem to be in a crummy mood, Mikan."
"She just doesn't like the theme of the first round," Nonoko sniffed.
"Huh?" Koko blinked. "You mean 'family'? Yeah, it's a weird theme."
"It's impossible," Mikan muttered under her breath.
"But we have a month, girl, take it easy!" Koko patted her on the back. "I know you'll figure it out."
Mikan gave him a look and he just grinned and continued patting her back.
"What do you want?" she sighed. "Hurry up and say it."
"Okay, okay." Koko got down to business. "So remember that private performance we were talking about the other day?"
Mikan did remember. "Oh, that. What, you wanna do it?"
"Yeah. But at your dorm."
Mikan furrowed her brows. "Why?"
Koko just shrugged innocently.
"Weeelll, I think a new dorm just...gives off better vibes, y'know?"
"Uh...no."
Koko shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Well anyways, let's do it. Today. Right now."
"Right now."
"Yup."
Mikan glanced at Nonoko standing next to her, who just shrugged indifferently. One part of Mikan wanted to quickly discuss the first round theme with the others and get right to work, but at the same time she didn't want to throw away the opportunity to see these guys dance. They were competition, after all. It's not every day they got a chance to analyze a rival.
"Okay, fine. Get the others and meet us at the elevator in Building A. You better show us something good."
Koko clenched his hand into a triumphant fist and cheered.
"Don't worry, we'll show you guys something crazy, something so epic that even you will only be able to—"
"Just go already."
"Yes, ma'am!"
And he rushed off.
Mikan did not understand where this boy got his energy from. Beside her, Nonoko scoffed and rolled her eyes. She wasn't so naive.
"Hmph, boys will be boys."
Ten minutes later, Mikan found herself with one high-spirited and four otherwise confused boys by the elevator.
"Hey Mikan, Nonoko!" Ruka greeted them. "Wait, Koko where are we going?"
Koko refused to look at him and instead addressed Mikan and Nonoko.
"Ok, girls, lets go!"
"Let's go?" Yuu repeated. "Let's go where exactly?"
Mikan quirked a brow. She felt like she was starting to catch on here.
"To our dorm, right?"
Ruka, Kitsu, and Yuu all choked. Even Natsume seemed a bit surprised.
"What in the name of god did you do, Koko—"
"So you really didn't tell any of them about it before dragging them here—"
Koko saw his scheme fall to its inevitable end and frantically pushed all of them into the elevator just as the doors were closing. He himself dashed off like a madman for the stairs.
"KOKO GET YOUR LITTLE ASS BACK HERE YOU—"
And then the elevator doors closed, conveniently muffling more vulgar language.
By the time the elevator dinged open at the fifth floor, situations had been explained and decisions had been made. Mikan was not letting the boys leave without seeing a dance, and the boys were not going to leave without brutally maiming a certain someone.
But although Mikan understood their agitation in being pulled into something they were not previously told about, she still had no idea why the hell everybody was so tense. It was just a dance, right? Or were these boys surprisingly shy and not confident?
She glanced at Natsume.
Nah, no way. Not if they had someone like him in their group.
The six of them met up with a nervous Koko at the top of the stairs and he chuckled sheepishly as he received silent glares from his friends.
"Come on guys, I know you all secretly wanted to do this, you just didn't have the balls—"
A kick to his own manhood was enough to shut him up.
As they got closer to the dorm Mikan thought she heard people yelling. She did text Anna that the guys coming over, but Anna never replied, which Mikan realized was pretty strange for her. The sound slowly became louder and louder, and then they were right in front of the door and she heard distinct voices shouting inside and a lot of banging and clashing and crashing.
Oh boy.
Now she had a pretty good idea why Anna never got the message.
The boys exchanged uncertain glances as Mikan sighed and slowly opened the door.
"F IS FOR FIRE THAT BURNS DOWN THE WHOLE TOWN—"
"SUMI IT'S TOO LOUD TURN IT DOWN HOTARU'S GETTING MAD!"
"Shut it off now, you fool."
BANG CLASH BOOM
Mikan calmly closed the door. Then turned around with quite the solemn look.
"So, as you can see, today is actually not a very good day to come over. Maybe another day."
The guys just looked amused.
"C'mon, we're already here!" Koko whined. "It took me so much effort to get this all up and ready!"
"You shut up," Kitsu smacked him.
"But it looks like your friends are fighting. Maybe you should help them?" Yuu suggested with a casual shrug.
"Yeah, go ahead, don't worry about us," Ruka assured her. "Besides, the other students might start complaining if this goes on."
Mikan looked at the boys and sighed.
"Well, I was doing it mostly for your sake but if you're fine with it then whatever. If you step into the room now you might die, so I advise you not to do that until I clean things up."
"Got it," Ruka answered, trying not to smile.
"Yes ma'am," Koko saluted.
Mikan took a deep breath and reached out to open the door once again.
The door wasn't even fully open before one queen-sized, lime green lump of cotton collided flatly with her face.
"Ah." Koko stared at the pillow that had fallen to the ground.
Nonoko put her hand on her forehead and sighed.
"Mikan!" Anna shouted with relief when she noticed her. "Thank goodness you're here!"
She was desperately shielding her yet-to-be-finished cake as she fended off various flying objects coming her way.
"Do something about the two of them!" she jerked her head toward Sumire and Hotaru, who were currently in an intense face-off that seemed to consist of picking up whatever was at hand and chucking it at each other. In the background Spongebob continued to chatter at an ear-deafening volume.
"Wow, Hotaru's reaaallly pissed," Nonoko marveled. "Sumire's done it now."
The guys just stared from the doorway.
"I feel kinda scared," Koko mumbled as he took a tiny step back.
"The scariest one is her," Nonoko nodded toward Mikan, who was starting to emit some very dark vibes.
"Oh. Right." Koko took a bigger step back.
"Girls..." Mikan began, in a voice that was barely audible amidst the chaos.
The boys swallowed and braced themselves. Mikan walked right in between the two feuding girls and grabbed each of their arms in an iron-tight grip.
"SHUT.
THE.
FUCK.
UP."
Just a minute later, the TV was silent and both Sumire and Hotaru were sitting quietly on the couch. While Hotaru looked ruffled up but completely unscathed, Sumire had a purpling bruise on her jawbone and various cuts on a grumpy-looking face. At this point the boys decided it was safe to enter the room.
"What are you guys doing here?" Sumire scowled, eyeing Koko with the most suspicion.
"Who allowed this scum into our dorm?" Hotaru hissed, remnants of anger still present in her voice.
"Well, excuse me," Koko muttered.
"I did," Mikan stood up to block Koko from Hotaru's lethal glare. "They challenged us to a dance battle. Of course I accepted."
"Dance...battle?" Ruka repeated, taken aback. "Wait, when did that happen?"
"Er, no, Mikan, a performance," Koko corrected her uneasily. "I am an advocate of peace and harmony. No battles please."
"But that's boring," Mikan frowned. "I mean if you guys dance we're obviously gonna want to dance too, and if we both dance then it would be way more interesting to make it a dance battle, right?"
"Uh...no?" Koko replied hesitantly.
"Well, if you don't wanna do a dance battle then I see no reason for you to be here," Mikan said bluntly. "So get out."
"Wait, wait! Okay, fine, we'll do a dance battle!" Koko shouted hurriedly. "Right, guys?"
He looked toward his friends with pleading eyes. They just stared back at him with the most unreadable expressions on their faces.
"I don't even care anymore," Ruka finally sighed.
"Aye," Kitsu agreed.
"We're already here, so might as well..." Yuu nodded.
Natsume remained silent.
"Alright, group consesus, yes!" Koko cheered. "Let's do this!"
Sumire cracked her knuckles eagerly, already recovered from her previous scuffle. "So this'll be our first dance battle out of the home city, huh? You guys better make this fun."
"Don't underestimate us," Kitsu smirked. "You people are new here, so you wouldn't know, but we have a reputation in this academy."
"Oh really?" Nonoko raised an brow, smirking. "Then don't blame me for expecting something good."
"Go ahead," Kitsu replied, unfaltering.
"Woah, was baby Kits actually kinda cool for a second there?" Koko whispered loudly to Yuu. Kitsu bristled.
"Shut up, you nincompoop."
"Ouch, you hurt my feelings brother."
"Like hell I care."
"So meaaaannn. Kitsu's a meaannniieee!"
"And the twins are at it again," Ruka shook his head hopelessly. "Every minute of the day, literally."
Mikan snickered. "Funny, I think we have someone who's stupidity matches pretty well with Koko's."
Sumire narrowed her eyes at Mikan.
"Did you say something?"
"No, nothing." Mikan feigned innocence.
Ruka covered a laugh. "I see... Well, its getting late, so if we're having a dance battle we should get started soon."
"Right."
"Okay, lead the way, Mikan."
Mikan blinked at him, puzzled.
"Lead the way...where?"
And that successfully squeezed an irritated sound out of the mouth of sassy ole' Natsume.
"Oh c'mon, you still don't know where your dance studio is? Are you fucking serious?"
"WOW OKAY," Mikan exclaimed loudly, her anger igniting instantly. "I'm so sorry I don't know every single inch of this place after getting here only three fucking days ago thank you so much for pointing out my stupidity I really appreciate it."
Everyone smiled. Except Natsume.
"That was so fucking hilarious," he rolled his eyes.
"Tsk tsk, that vulgarity," Koko interrupted as he shook his head. "I don't approve."
"Shut up, Koko," Natsume and Mikan said in unison.
Then the two proceeded to glare at each other.
"There we go again," Ruka sighed before turning to the girls. "Anyways, let me explain. The dorms here are designed so that each one has its own dance studio where the students can train by themselves. Some people have to share with others if they enrolled by themselves or in smaller groups, but since you five fully occupy a dorm like us, the dance studio is all yours."
"Dance studio?" Anna's eyes were sparkling with wondrous excitement. "Woah, really?"
"Where is it?" Hotaru demanded quietly.
Mikan felt like Hotaru hadn't shown any active interest in anything new since forever, so this was some serious stuff here.
"Well, it's in some obscure place," Kitsu rubbed his chin as he thought. "See, it's different for every dorm, but usually the students find it on their first or second day here."
Nonoko exhaled. "We get the point, okay? Sorry for being so slow."
"Uh, wait, no—that's not what I meant—" Kitsu fumbled with his words, flustered.
"Uh-oh, baby Kits isn't so cool anymore," Koko said with a hand over his mouth.
"I SWEAR KOKO—"
"So the door to our dance studio is in our bathroom closet," Yuu told the girls, ignoring the fuss in the background.
"The bathroom closet," Anna repeated, a smile twitching on her lips.
"Yeah, it took us a while to find it," Yuu chuckled, scratching his head. "The rest of us were alright with it, but Natsume was kinda pissed."
"Well yeah, who puts anything in the bathroom closet?" Sumire agreed. "It's dumb, right?"
"It is," Natusme agreed.
"Who decided the location of the studios anyways?" she huffed.
"I'm guessing the principal?" Kitsu shrugged. "Maybe he blindfolded himself and pointed randomly at every dorm blueprint."
Mikan frowned. "That's dumb."
"I'm not saying he actually did," Kitsu hurriedly added. "I know a guy who just has a normal door. More than one person probably worked on it."
"Hmm." Mikan's frown remained.
"We can't blame you guys because they told us about the dance studios at the opening ceremony. The principal must've forgotten to mention it when you guys met up with him."
Mikan sighed. "Of course he did. Stupid principal."
Yuu raised an eyebrow.
"What happened? You don't seem to like him much. I thought he was a pretty nice guy."
"He's okay..." Mikan's responded hesitantly. "He just...does dumb things sometimes..."
Yuu chuckled. "Well, he's only human."
Mikan eyes grew distant and she was quiet for a moment.
"...I know," she finally conceded. "Anyways, let's go find that dance studio."
"Okay, okay."
~4 hours later~
"I can't do this anymore," Mikan groaned as she sprawled on the couch. "Where the fuck did that stupid uncle put our dance studio?"
"Uncle?" Ruka echoed as he slumped against the wall, exhausted.
"When Mikan's tired she starts spouting nonsense," Hotaru calmly covered up Mikan's sloppy mistake as she settled onto the other couch.
"Oh, okay..."
"Do you think they forgot to attach a dance studio to our dorm?" Anna wondered.
"No, probably not," Yuu answered. "We just haven't looked enough, I guess."
"Haven't looked enough?" Nonoko repeated, incredulous. "It's fucking 8 o'clock and we haven't even eaten dinner yet! I'm dying here."
"I agree," Kitsu moaned, collapsing on the carpeted ground.
"Urgh..." Even Koko was too drained to crack a joke.
At that moment Anna clapped her hands together smiled brightly.
"Then why don't I make us all something to eat?" she suggested. "We can start searching again afterwards!"
"But aren't you tired too, Anna?" Mikan knitted her brows together. "Don't push yourself. We could always order pizza or something."
"Stop it, Mikan," Anna smacked the brunette's shoulder lightly. "When have I ever been too tired to cook? And pizza's unhealthy and costs extra. Besides, I barely did anything. It was mostly you and Sumire and Koko running all over the place."
Mikan glanced over at a knocked out Sumire sprawled on the ground next to Koko. She was right.
"Then we'll leave it to you, Anna," Mikan surrendered.
"Yup!"
And Anna went straight to work.
In just half an hour, a delicious smell swept in from the kitchen and was an effective wake-up call for all of the people conked out in the living room.
Mikan, who had fallen asleep, dragged herself over to the counter and took a seat, yawning. The others followed suit. Anna cheerfully spooned some delicious smelling french onion soup into ten bowls for each of them before turning around to fill ten plates of her special parmesan spaghetti.
The first spoonful was swallowed.
"THIS IS FUCKING AMAZING!" Koko's voice rang out. "HOW DID YOU MAKE THIS? IT'S EVEN BETTER THAN GRANDMA'S!"
Anna giggled. "I'm glad you like it."
"But this is really really good," Ruka said as he mouthed another spoonful.
"Seriously," Kitsu slurped the steaming broth and licked his lips.
"Restaurants can't even make it this well," Yuu agreed.
The girls looked at each other and smiled.
"Wait," Koko suddenly gasped in revelation. He turned to Mikan. "Do you guys live like this every single day? In this delicious, delectable luxury?"
"Well, Anna is our very special friend."
"NOT. FAIR. COME TO OUR GROUP ANNA. I"LL BE YOUR FRIEND."
"Life isn't fair. Too bad, Anna is ours."
"But I can't survive on takeout and instant cup noodles every day!" Koko bawled.
His friends shifted uncomfortably at this.
"Well, there's nothing we can do. None of us really know how to cook..." Ruka admitted sheepishly.
"Suck it up, Koko," Kitsu grumbled. "You're not the only one suffering."
"Takeout and cup noodles!" Anna gasped in horror. "Is that really all you're eating?"
"Sadly," Yuu confirmed.
"That's crazy! How do you even have the energy to dance? Oh, I can't let you guys go on like this!"
"Oh no," Sumire froze, her spoon in midair. "Please don't—"
"Alright, I've decided! Every night for dinner you guys can come over to eat with us! That way you can at least get nutrition from the biggest meal of the day!"
"And there she goes," Sumire grumbled. "I object to this, by the way."
"I second that," Mikan nodded. "My peaceful dinners will be gone."
She threw a pointed look at Natsume, who blinked innocently back at her.
"I haven't done anything yet."
"You said 'yet'," Mikan narrowed her eyes at him. "You said 'yet'."
He just shrugged in response.
"Someone who can get into a fistfight with me over stretching is not something who I'd want to have dinner with," Mikan crinkled her nose. "I can just imagine you stealing all my food."
"You'd be better off with less," Natsume smirked. "You're heavy, Sakura."
"See? He's definitely going to steal my food!" Mikan whined to Anna, completely ignoring the the insult.
"I don't agree to this either," Nonoko raised her hand in protest. "I would rather not share my dinner table with strangers. It's uncomfortable."
"Well, we just have to become not-strangers then," Koko pouted. "It's not that hard.'
Hotaru didn't even have to say anything to express her displeasure toward the proposal.
"Girls, these boys are starving here," Anna said with a smile as she tapped a silver ladle menacingly on her palm. "Why don't you behave yourselves and listen to what I say. Or else I won't cook anymore."
Her four unsatisfied friends immediately stopped retaliating. There was nothing they could do. Anna had the upper hand here.
"Wait, are you serious?" Koko gaped, looking back and forth between Anna and the girls.
He disregarded the four glares directed back at him.
"Well, maybe we shouldn't—I don't want to impose..." Yuu tried.
"No, I insist," Anna pressured. "None of us have a problem with this, right girls?"
Sumire, Nonoko, and Mikan gulped and nodded reluctantly. Even Hotaru complied in silence. There was really no one who could go against Anna when her Mommy mode was switched on.
"Alright, then it's settled! We usually have dinner around seven so just come over then!"
The boys all nodded slowly. Usually Ruka and Yuu would have resisted more, but the food was seriously too good, and they were getting horribly sick of their current artificial diet. And Anna also half-forced them into agreeing so it wasn't completely their fault.
C'mon, it wasn't every day that such an amazing cook just offered to make dinner for them. It was just too difficult to decline.
Anna then served her parmesan spaghetti. Everyone savored it in silence for a while.
"Anna, I think you should just quit dancing and become a cook," Koko advised.
"Nah, I love cooking, but in the end I love dancing more."
"But all of that wasted talent! You're a cooking prodigy."
"It's not wasted. I cook my dishes for the girls every single day, and starting tomorrow I'll be cooking for you guys too."
"Oh right! You're totally right. You'll also be cooking for us now, so I guess it's not a waste anymore."
Koko started humming happily as he chowed down on his spaghetti. Sumire, who was sitting next to him, eventually couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed Koko's ear and twisted it hard.
"Koko if you don't shut up you're not getting any of Anna's cake later."
Koko's eyes widened in delight and he almost dropped his fork.
"SHE HAS CAKE TOO? OMIGOSH THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE."
The cake was finished in a split second. Sumire almost started a riot again when Koko stole a bite from her slice of the cake, but that was resolved quickly when more than half of his share was nabbed by Kitsu, who was sitting next to him. Koko would have pummeled his brother into a pulp, but lucky for Kitsu, Sumire held him down. And now the nine of them were sitting groggily at the counter, drowsy from all of the good, warm food in their stomachs. Anna was dutifully washing the dishes.
"We should start searching again, right?" Mikan reminded sleepily.
"Do we have to?" Sumire groaned.
"Then what about the dance battle?" Kitsu drawled.
"There's always tomorrow, man," Koko replied, his head on the counter.
"Koko's right," Ruka agreed. "Tomorrow's Sunday, we still have time."
Yuu got up from his seat and stretched. "Then I guess we'll come back tomorrow."
"Mm-hmm," Nonoko settled.
Mikan watched as Natsume stood up. He seemed on the verge of falling asleep, which meant that he ate the food and enjoyed it just like the rest of them. For some reason that made her feel satisfied.
But just as Ruka was about to open the door, Anna suddenly cried out.
"Wait, guys, look!"
The boys all turned around. The pinkette was pointing to something on the other side of the counter. Everyone immediately filed into the kitchen to take a look.
"Isn't there a nudge in the side over there?" Anna squinted. "It seems like too perfect of a curve to be made by accident."
"You're right..." Mikan kneeled down and peered at it closer. It almost looked like...
"A handle," Natsume said.
Mikan looked at him. Wow, he just finished her thought. That was kinda weird.
"Do you think...?" Yuu voiced what they were all wondering.
"Let's try it."
Mikan dug her fingers into the groove and pulled. Nothing moved. She pulled harder, but then her fingers just slipped out of the shallow indent. She tried again. No success.
"Ugh, this is why I hate sliding doors," she grumbled.
"Move aside," Natsume stooped down and pushed Mikan away.
Mikan gaped at him.
"You seriously need to learn some manners."
He ignored her as he placed both palms flat on the side of the counter and pushed to the left. At first nothing happened, but then there was an abrupt crack and the side slid open.
"Hallelujah!" Koko clapped Natsume on the back. "Bravo, Natsume, bravo!"
Mikan pouted and crossed her arms. "I totally loosened that for you."
Natsume smirked at her.
"Uh-huh."
She was even more annoyed now.
"So it was here," Nonoko sighed. "We finally found it, goddammit."
"But what kind of dumb place it this?" Sumire complained. "C'mon, it's even worse than the bathroom closet! I searched the kitchen a million times and didn't notice it."
"That's because you're dumb," Mikan remarked.
"You searched the kitchen a million times too, bitch."
"You wanna fight?"
"Alright, girls, calm down," Anna negated the ominous aura between them. "Don't you wanna go check out our dance studio?
Mikan shot one last glare at Sumire before crawling into the rather large space underneath the counter. She noticed a handle next to her foot and pulled that back, revealing a dark rectangle below, which she assumed was the entrance to the dance studio.
"Wow, it's like a trapdoor and shit," Kitsu marveled.
"Um...am I supposed to jump?" Mikan peered into the darkness but saw no sign of a floor.
"Ladies first," Natsume inclined his head politely.
"Oh, so now you show some manners, you wuss."
"Just go, Mikan. You've always been the daredevil anyways," Sumire snickered. "Go pretend you're Spiderman again."
"Spiderman?" Ruka asked curiously.
"For the record, Spiderman doesn't make a habit of jumping down into pitch black emptiness," Mikan retorted.
"So you'd rather jump across the roofs of buildings than this."
"At least I can see where I'm going."
"Okay stop whining and go, you chicken."
"I am not a chicken."
Mikan squinted one more time down the dark rectangle. Nothing. She let out a big sigh and stuck her feet down.
"Gosh, you people are such wimps."
And she jumped.
"OW-OW-OW WOW THE GROUND CAME UP WAY FASTER THAN I THOUGHT IT WOULD," they heard her voice yell from the pit.
"Looks like she's fine," Anna laughed.
"She's done a whole bunch of dumb shit and survived, I can't imagine this would stop her," Nonoko shook her head.
"It's so dark down here. I can't see anything. Is there a light switch somewhere?" they heard her say.
There was a hollow thump.
"OW OK I ASSUME THIS IS THE WALL."
The listeners all snorted. This was surprisingly funny.
"If I follow the wall I'll find the light switch eventually..." They heard the brunette deduce, and then there was some shuffling of feet.
"Aha!"
And the rectangle exploded with brightness.
"Agh my eyes!" They heard Mikan shriek.
Ruka was the first to squint back into the rectangle.
"Oh," he noticed, his sky blue eyes twinkling comically, "there was a ladder."
Natsume and Hotaru cracked a smile. Sumire choked and tried to hold back her laughter but failed massively.
"HAHA THERE WAS A LADDER! GOD THIS IS TOO GOOD I'M DYING HERE."
"Ladder...?" Underneath Mikan slowly pried her hands away from her eyes to let them adjust to the brightness. Then she saw it. A nice and sturdy steel ladder that led straight from the rectangular hole to the studio floor.
"ARE YOU SHITTING ME THERE WAS A LADDER WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK."
"Calm down, Mikan," Nonoko hushed as she descended the ladder. "It's not like we knew."
"But still!" Mikan whined. "Why am I always like the sacrificial victim or something?"
"You volunteered yourself by climbing under the counter first," Sumire replied simply as she came down.
Mikan grunted and fell into a moody silence.
"Wow, look at this!" Anna gasped as she also made her way down. "This is amazing!"
One whole wall of the studio was covered top to bottom in mirrors, while removable mats hung on the opposite side. There was a variety of fitness equipment in the back, all shiny and new-looking and begging to be used. Benches were located at the adjacent walls, with a steel bar across the side of those walls for stretching. There was a counter with a mini-fridge at the corner of the room, and Anna opened it to find it stocked with Gatorade, water, and other yummy sports drinks. A boombox with an insertable iPhone plug rested conveniently on top. The floors were polished so much that they reflected the soles of their sneakers, and the whole studio was well-lit with bright fluorescent lightbulbs lining the ceiling.
Hotaru's eyes swept the studio and she gave a satisfied nod.
This was really the best they could have asked for.
"Check it out, even though it looks so slippery, my feet stick really well," Sumire tested as she did some simple footwork.
"And these babies are legit," Nonoko patted an arm of the treadmill happily. "It's not like the run-down trash we had to work with back in Miyazaki."
"Wowie," Mikan gaped, no longer sulking, her caramel eyes twinkling with excitement. "This is fucking crazy. I love it."
Then she gasped. "Oh shit, we've got to tell Akira and the others about this!"
She immediately whipped out her phone and started tapping furiously away at the screen. Anna bounced over and draped her arms around the brunette's shoulders.
"Make them jealous, girl," she giggled teasingly.
"Of course," Mikan replied with a smirk as she stood up to take a pano of the room.
"Akira...?" Ruka prompted curiously.
"I mentioned them vaguely before," Nonoko answered. "They're the ones who taught us breakdancing. We've known them for a pretty long time. They're probably the closest people to us besides each other."
"Oh."
It might've been her imagination but Nonoko thought Kitsu looked a little down. Actually, all of the boys seemed a bit crestfallen.
"Are they a lot older than you guys?" Koko tried to casually drop the question.
"Nah, they're actually about the same age," Mikan answered without looking up from her phone. "Surprising, right?"
Koko only looked more depressed.
"They deserve to be here more than us," Anna sighed. "But for them, the streets are the only true home they have."
"I hate to admit it, but I miss them already," Sumire agreed. "Man, I wish they could see this."
The girls didn't notice, but the atmosphere in the room was getting steadily gloomier as they spoke.
The boys all understood why Kitsu disliked what they were hearing, but Ruka, Yuu, and Koko never meant to get serious towards any of the girls, so they had no idea why just the mention of other guys made them feel so uncomfortable. And then there was Natsume, who was inspecting the boombox on the counter and seemed to have no interest in this topic whatsoever.
Heavy silence settled over the group and they listened to the click clack of the keys on Mikan's phone. Soon Koko started feeling incredibly drowsy despite his gloominess and conked out right there on the floor. Sumire quickly followed suit, and Nonoko slowly drifted off leaning against the wall. Kitsu, staring blankly into space a few feet away from her, soon closed his eyes as well. Hotaru, being the think-aheader that she was, unhooked a mat from the wall and used it as a makeshift bed. Ruka followed her logic and unhooked another mat, quickly dozing off on top of it. A half-asleep Yuu crawled onto the mat with Ruka and snoozed away with the other half of his body still lying on the floor. Anna quietly fell asleep on Mikan's shoulder without her realizing it.
"Ok, done!" Mikan finally pressed the send button and smiled in satisfaction.
Hearing only silence, she looked around. Everyone was sleeping like pigs.
"Well, it's been a long day," she chuckled to herself as she gently set a sleeping Anna on the mat with Hotaru.
Her phone read 12:02 PM.
"I think...maybe I...should sleep too..." She let out a big yawn as she stumbled around, trying to get to the counter to get a drink of water.
In her dazed state she tripped over something and fell, and didn't bother trying to get up again. She just surrendered to fatigue right there, her breathing getting deeper and softer as she was swept away into dreamland.
What she didn't know was that she had tripped on a certain someone's foot. And just happened to land in that certain someone's lap. And even though that certain someone could have easily shoved her off or moved her somewhere else, for some reason, he didn't. All he did was reach up to turn off the lights, and in the darkness his crimson eyes stared at the peaceful expression of the brunette sleeping soundly in his lap. He had always been a pro at hiding his feelings in front of others, but in the silent darkness of the room, there was nothing to hide from.
"Akira, huh...?" he said to himself, his eyes locked on the face of the sleeping brunette.
And if one looked closer, they would notice that he seemed just the slightest bit bothered.
And there we go! End of Chapter 4!
I keep getting this nagging feeling when I type that I'm dragging things out too much, so please tell me if you think the action is moving too slowly.
Otherwise, reviews and critiques are appreciated, as always! Don't be afraid to point things out that you would like me to fix or change!
With regards to my updates, I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to update again this summer, nor can I guarantee that there won't be such a gigantic time gap between this update and the next, but I can guarantee that I will never forget fanfiction, even if it gets pushed to the back of my mind sometimes.
If I ever decide to completely stop writing fanfics (which won't be anytime soon, so don't worry), I will definitely inform you guys on either one of my stories or on my profile page. So until you see that notice, it's safe to assume that I will eventually update my fanfictions, no matter how long the wait starts to seem.
I know that many of you dislike writers who take so long to update (yup, I do too), so I definitely won't blame you if you want to drop this story. However, I'm reaching a point in life where I have to get my priorities straight and unfortunately, fanfiction isn't near the top of that list. I definitely want to continue writing, but I will be going at a pace that is comfortable for me. I hope you guys understand.
Thank you for listening to this selfish speech of mine after a such a belated update.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter anyhow!
Love you guys!
-momocandy XD