Chapter 4

"You'll find out soon. I'll tell you later. Come on, we've got to get to class now, or we'll be late!" I said as I grabbed her hand.

It was free period. Natsume had gone to the hospital for his checkup. I was lying under the Sakura tree and recalling the happy moments I had spent with Kai.

"Mikan-chan!" I heard someone call me. I looked around and saw Nobara-chan walking towards me. I stood up and hugged her. "Nobara-chan! I haven't seen you since the New Year!" I said. She hugged me back, and then released me.

"Mikan-chan, I know you have the Stealing Alice. What other secrets you have, I don't know. But be careful, the principal and Persona will find out about it." Nobara-chan whispered in my ear. Eh? She knew? I froze, and then something else, a cool feeling flowed through my veins. Uh oh, without meaning it, I had accidentally copied Nobara-chan's Alice. Sheesh, it seems like I cannot control this Alice. As I was thinking about this, I nodded in agreement to what Nobara-chan had said. We chatted about other things for a while and then bid each other goodbye.

Natsume's POV

I was lying on the hospital bed when I felt something.

"Persona. What do you want." I hissed at him. He seemed a little amused. "Hmm… I thought you would be weak, considering your situation. Anyway, I have found another person to train. Someone with the Stealing Alice, the one who you protect." He told me. The person that I protect? He…couldn't be saying Mikan, could he? But… all the same…

"No. You will not go near her!" I growled at him. He raised an eyebrow at me. "Unfortunately, that's not for you to decide, Kuro Neko. It's the Elementary School Principal who decides what will happen to her." He told me. "I'll take her missions! Please… don't go near her. Don't involve her in all this!" I nearly shouted at him.

"You're not doing your missions well, because of your Alice that keeps harming your life. We're just getting another person to help you out in the missions. Maybe Ruka would want to help out…" Persona told me. I swore. "None of them will help me out! I can manage on my own!" I muttered at him. He snorted.

"No deal, Kuro Neko. You obviously can't manage well enough now. It doesn't matter. I'll see you later…" He whispered as he disappeared. I tried to go and stop him. But he was gone by the time I had turned around. I cursed.

Mikan's POV

I was walking back to my room when I saw someone leaning against the wall beside my room's door. He was tall and wearing black, and a white mask… I froze. Persona. What was he doing here? I tried to ignore him as I opened my door.

"Mikan Sakura." I heard him say. I tried to ignore him, but his presence was disturbing me. I stopped what I was doing and faced him, crossing my arms over my chest and said bluntly, "What do you want."

"You have the Stealing Alice. On behalf of the Principal, I ask you to join the Dangerous Ability Class." He said. I frowned. How did he know that I had the Stealing Alice. As if he could hear my thoughts, he said, "Nobara can never hide secrets from me. I can always activate her other side and make her tell me what she has on her mind."

So that was how he found out about my other Alice! I tensed. The principal and him wanted to transfer me into D.A class, what should I do? Pretend that I did not know what he was talking about or consider his offer? Natsume and Nobara-chan had told me not to join D.A. But I wanted to help them! Natsume would kill me if I joined D.A. Nobara-chan would be pleased but concerned for my welfare.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't have the Stealing Alice." I told him coldly. "Don't lie, we've already seen what you can do." Persona told me, I stared at him. Huh? He had already seen what I could do? "I don't even have that Stealing Alice! I've never even used it!" I said, feeling astounded. I didn't recall using that Alice. Maybe I did use it to get his Alice out of my body, but other than that, I hadn't used it. Plus, I could always lie that it was Imai-sempai who healed me.

He scanned my face carefully and said, "We'll be watching." Then, he disappeared. I went into my room and took a bathe before I went to find Hotaru.

"Hotaru, Persona came. He wanted me to join the D.A class. I refused. But I think he knows, somehow that I have the Stealing Alice." I told her. She froze. After a few moments of silence, she said, "At least he didn't harm you. But how could he have known? It wasn't that obvious, and you didn't even use your Alice." She sounded a little anxious. I shrugged at her.

"So, do we involve the boys in our plan?" I asked her. She looked at me. "Hmm… I think… we should. They may prove themselves to be useful. Anyway, Natsume wants to know what is wrong with you. He cares, you know. Like Ruka." Hotaru told me. I nodded. If Hotaru said we must involve them, we must. They were our friends, after all.

~*~*~*~

As usual, Naru-sensei danced into the class, he was wearing a joker's suit today. "Good morning, my cute and lovely class!" he sang. Everyone around me puked. I smiled at his enthusiasm. "I have some important matters to deal with today, so this block is free for all of you!" he called as he danced out of the classroom. I looked at Hotaru, she nodded. She stood out and used her inventions, the crab and lobster thingy and grabbed Natsume and Ruka, then proceeded to drag them out of the classroom.

"Hey! Let go!" Ruka yelled at her as Natsume tried to burn the crab holding o to his head. But his fire was immediately extinguished. "It's no use. My inventions are fire-proof, now." Hotaru said emotionlessly. I stood up and went after them. As I closed the door behind me, I heard Permy shout, "How dare they steal our Natsume and Ruka!" I shuddered as she said 'steal'.

We took the boys to a secluded area-the Sakura trees, and handcuffed them. "What is this about? Sakura-chan?" Ruka said as he asked me. I smiled in apology and explained that I was going to go time traveling. "Do you want to follow me?" I asked them as I smiled sweetly. Ruka blushed faintly and he nodded. Hotaru released him from the metal prisons and trapped his wrists together. Then Hotaru looked at Natsume. He did not say anything. Then…

"Tch. Why should I care?" he made the question sound like a statement. Hotaru was quiet for a while, then she answered, "Because Persona came to find Mikan yesterday. He wanted her to join D.A. So I thought you might want to join us…" She didn't finish her sentence as Natsume said, "Shut up." He looked like he was blushing. I wasn't sure, since he looked at the floor, covering his eyes with his bangs.

"I'll go." He finally said and Hotaru released the handcuffs around his wrists. I sighed in relief, grateful that they were coming along. At least I didn't have to keep anymore secrets from my friends. But Natsume suddenly asked, "Then what were you brooding over? You were thinking of something else before you told the inventor, right?" Holy crap, how did he know that? "Nothing. I was just thinking of how I was going to mention this…subject to Hotaru, and what to do. Not to mention, I was wondering if I should tell Ruka and you what I was planning to do." I lied as convincingly as I could. He nodded. I could see that he did not doubt me. I thought it seemed a little lousy, but no one suspected that I wasn't telling the whole truth.

~*~*~*~

We decided that we would set off the day after tomorrow. Hotaru was busy making preparations for our journey. She had made an invention called the invisible ring. Hotaru said that whoever wore this ring would be invisible, but could see the other people wearing the same ring. She was concerned that they might need the rings in case something happened.

Finally, the day that we were supposed to leave came. Hotaru left a letter behind for Naru-sensei. She sent it by the tortoise(or is it turtle?) mail. She had posted it one week before. We gathered together under the Sakura tree. I looked around at everyone. Then, swallowed and asked, "Are you all ready?" They nodded and I reached out to hold Hotaru's hand. "We'll need to hold onto each other. Ruka, hold Hotaru's and Natsume's hand." I ordered. He quickly grabbed their hands. "Never let go of them. Or else, you'll be lost." I said as I closed my eyes. I concentrated on Noda-sensei's Alice and felt a gentle wind blowing around us.

Take us to the time where Yuka Azumi was in the Academy. Take us to that time. I said in my mind. When I opened my eyes, we were standing in a dark void. I felt the urge to wave my hand, and when I did it, a circular window opened in front of us. I saw a little girl being separated from her parents. She was crying. She looked like… Mother. She was my mother. This must be the childhood that she had. I tried to resist the urge to reach out to her. My Mother. The mother that abandoned you. Does she deserve to be pitied? She abandoned you, the way her parents did! A voice screamed in my mind. No. That was not true. Mother abandoned me for my own good. She did it for me, for me to have a happy childhood. Well, I certainly did have a happy childhood with Grandpa, I was able to forget all my worries when I was with him. Although I was not really happy. It was only when Hotaru came, then I did have a happy childhood; all my worries were forgotten.

Then the picture jolted and a lump of something came out through the wall beside the window. It was saying something, somehow, I could understand what it was saying. It said, "We have fast forward to when Yuka Azumi was 10 years old, to when she met Yukihira Sakura." I nodded and said my thanks and the thing went back to the wall. "Hotaru, Ruka, Natsume, we've gone a bit forward in time. To when Mother met Father." I announced out loud. "You were talking to that lump of… of… What is it?" Ruka asked me. I thought about it, then said, "Umm… It's a… I don't know what it is! Well, I call it 'Lumpy'…" I was feeling a little flustered.

We saw the meeting of Mother and Father. Then I jolted with shock when Luna appeared. What was she doing back there? What had Mother stolen from the Principal and Luna? What had Mother done to Luna? I knew Luna, Luna Koizumi, she had appeared in front of me after the New Year accident. She was very mean towards me. She was the source of those rumors. She told the school that I was a bad girl, that I was a troublemaker. She made it seem like I was doing all the bad things, that I was the one who caused all the accidents. We got rid of her after the Sports Festival. But she had whispered to me that I was the same, the spawn of the Devil, like my Mother. Like mother, like daughter, she had said. I didn't listen to her ranting at that time. But I now at least understood a bit, why she hated my Mother so much. I could almost understand her pain. I knew what it was like, to be shunned by your classmates just because of your Alice. Luna had made me experience that pain before. But I had the advantage, I had more friends than her. I was better off, compared to her. Tears appeared in my eyes as I sympathized her, but I held them back, making sure that not one tear spilled over.

But as I continued watching, I felt sadder for Luna and my Mother. They were such good friends, but Luna was too sensitive. That led to the downfall of their friendship. I would try to make Mother and Luna meet, but all this time… would Luna forgive Mother for her actions? I hoped so. I hoped that she would gain her respect, one day.

Narumi's POV

I received the letter from those kids through the… tortoise. At first, when it banged into my leg, I was thinking, what the hell is this??!! When I saw the words: This is the property of Hotaru Imai. I refrained from kicking it. What could be so secretive that Hotaru had to send it through mail? Or in other words, send through a tortoise? However, when I opened her letter, I could understand why she wanted to send it like this. In her letter, she spoke of Mikan's plan to go time traveling. She said that they would come back soon. Mikan, Ruka, Natsume and she were going. Ruka would go along, this I knew. But Natsume and Hotaru? I didn't know that Hotaru would go along. As for Natsume, it seemed like he was deeply in love with Mikan. Well, I couldn't do anything else, but wait and hope for their safety.

Why would Mikan want to go time traveling, though? She couldn't have known about her parents… Unless she knew Yuka Azumi was her mother… Sakurano and Imai would have known, they would have suspected. She might have mailed letters to her brother-in-law. She might have told him about Kai and Mikan. He would have told those two. I could do nothing now, they would have set off already. I hope Mikan would come back safely. After all, I was her godfather. She couldn't blame me, I had been locked in by the Elementary School Principal. After Yuka stole that from them… They haven't stopped trying to find her. Mikan, please come back safely. I prayed.

After a few days. Mikan's POV

I concentrated on Noda-sensei's Alice and concentrated on going back to present time. Now I knew everything. But, I wanted to keep what I had learnt a secret from everyone. "Hey, everyone, we'll keep this a secret from everyone, 'kay?" I asked them. "After all, I'm not supposed to know what happened. We'll pretend that this trip didn't happen, ok?" I asked them. They nodded. They were probably still stunned by what had happened. Then, we stopped. I looked around, thinking that we ad returned to Gakuen Alice. To my horror, we were in front of a house, it was on the outskirts of a wood. But it was still relatively close to a town that was nearby. Then, we heard two people playing with each other. Their voices seemed to be coming closer and closer.

"Quick! Put on the invisibility ring that I gave you!" Hotaru said quickly. I slipped it on. Then I reached out for Hotaru's hand. But she let go of my hand. "Wait… this voice sounds familiar…" she said as she tried to make out the figures that were walking towards us. "Please, Hotaru! Please, let's go!" I cried out softly. I knew what was going to happen next. This would cause me. It was a painful memory. I covered my face with my hands, then my legs buckled and I fell to the floor with a soft 'thump'. "Sakura-chan! Are you all right?" I heard Ruka-pyon say. I nodded my head weakly. I could taste the bile that was rising up in my throat. "Can we go, please?" I forced the words out through gritted teeth. Hotaru seemed to hesitate. "Well… I want to see this part…" she said hesitantly.

"Do you have any earplugs?" I griped. She had a pair, but she sounded confused at my attitude. Well, she would understand soon. She handed them to me and I quickly plugged them in. To my relief, I could hear nothing. I looked up and forced myself to stand up. I had to lean against Hotaru, as I was sure I couldn't live through this.

Hotaru's POV

I knew Mikan was forcing herself to stand and watch this part of the past. I couldn't understand why she was acting so strangely. She looked a little pale and was leaning against me for support. Why did she need the earplugs? To block out what? To block out the sounds of the two people playing with each other? Why? She knew something that was going to be shown to us. Why did the voice of one of them sound so familiar? I could almost hear the other two thinking the same thing like me: Why does that little girl's voice sound so familiar?

My thanks to those who have reviewed my story and those who have added me to their favorites. I will be posting the chaps on weekends due to the reopening of school.

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