Mikan's head was spinning by now. This had to have been the weirdest day of her life. First a pretty boy makes her entire gang faint, then a boy produced fire from his fists, then she found out that she actually has special powers, and now her best friend who she hadn't seen since she was nine was standing right before and not only that but in the same class as her.
"H—Hotaru? Is that really you? What… How?"
Hotaru didn't open her mouth but her large purple eyes said everything. Her face was like a stone but her eyes shone brightly with what looked like tears that would never make it onto her cheeks. Mikan stepped towards Hotaru, her mouth slightly open in awe.
"Hotaru!" Mikan's eyes filled with more palpable tears, but when Mikan reached out to hug her, for once Hotaru didn't swat her away with a cold 'stop crying, Baka.'
And they both stood there in the middle of the empty classroom hugging until Hotaru broke the silence
"How are you here, Mikan?"
"Me? What about you?" asked Mikan.
"This is where I've been for the past few years. They recruited me here. But to be here you can't just be normal. You—this is going to sound idiotic, but to be here you have to have superhuman powers."
"I know."
"You kn—you have an Alice?"
"Yes. But it isn't anything flashy. I have the Alice of nullification. What are you here for?" asked Mikan.
"Mikan, remember when I used to make all those gadgets. Like turtle mail?"
"Oh yes. It was a joy getting that the minute before you were leaving," Mikan said somewhat coldly. Hotaru's eyes widened slightly. She had never heard Mikan be sarcastic before, or speak so harshly.
"I'm sorry. I was being selfish; I just didn't want to see you sad." Now it was Mikan's turn to gape; Hotaru had never apologized to her before. "Well, anyway, I have the Alice of Invention."
"What kinds of Alices can there be?" Mikan asked.
"That's tough to say, it could be anything, like clairvoyance or flying."
"Flying?"
"Yes. Some can even read minds or possess things."
"Wow, this is a really strange school."
"I see you still have the habit of pointing out the obvious."
"Eh, do i? But you've changed a lot. You were never this warm and open towards me. You were always cold and uninterested."
"Baka. It could be the fact that I haven't seen you in 5 years and then suddenly we go to the same school. I see you're still an idiot."
"There's the Hotaru I know! But what you said is true. It's really been a long time. I mean we were nine years old when you parted and by some strange miracle here I am in front of you."
"By the way, how are you here? I mean how were you discovered?
"Discovered? What do you mean?"
"I mean how did they find out you had an Alice? They found out about me because of the inventions I sold to people in the neighborhood."
"Oh! It was teacher from this school called Narumi-sensei that found out about me, actually. See we tried to steal his briefcase—"
"You were doing what!?"
"I'm not done yet! See we were trying to steal his briefcase or at least scare him away because he had entered our alley—"
"Your alley?"
"Well it's not really our alley it's just where we meet."
"What? Are you in a gang or something?"
"Well sort of…"
"Mikan… you're serious?"
"What you couldn't tell by looking at me?" Mikan gestured towards her long jacket with her gang's manifesto written on it, her dark makeup, and her dyed hairstyle. All of a sudden a deer hoof came out nowhere and banged her on the head.
"Baka. Just when I thought you had finally grown some brains, too. Honestly, why would you join a gang. Why were you in Tokyo anyway? This did take place in Tokyo right."
"Oh that's right," Mikan said quietly, "You don't know about Jii-chan."
"What about your grandfather?"
"Just a few months after you left, Jii-chan became very sick. Then when I was ten, a little under a year after you left, Jii-chan's doctor insisted that we move to Tokyo so that Jii-chan could be under the care of a better equipped hospital. At first he seemed to be making progress, but then, after a year of living in Tokyo, he—he…" tears spilled out of Mikan's eyes.
"Mikan…" Hotaru couldn't find the word to comfort Mikan.
"After his funeral, I was left with a little bit of money from his will and the apartment. I tried to find a job but because I was only eleven everywhere I asked refused me. A few months later the rent became too heavy for me to pay and all the money from the will was soon gone. I was homeless, and had only five hundred yen with me. I was staying behind a dumpster in an alleyway when Reiko found me.
"By that time I couldn't cry anymore, and I just sat there, listless. Reiko must've been about sixteen or seventeen then. She came straight up to me and slapped me on the face. I looked up and she said, smiling, 'Just checking to see if you're alive. Young people shouldn't have such expressionless faces.' After that I burst into tears. Reiko just pulled me onto her back and said, 'there, that's better.'
"She took me her apartment and fed me and let me use her shower. She asked me if I had run away from home, and I said no. She said the restaurant she works at needs someone to clean dishes and that the owner doesn't care how old the person is as long as it's done. She said that I could stay as long as I worked there and pitched in with the rent. She also said I had to go to school. She said 'If I had to suffer through 3 years of Jr. High then so do you'
"Then she told me about the Bōsōzoku gang. It's not like the yakuza or anything (although some do end up in the yakuza), all we did was race motorbikes, or at least that's the only part of the gang she would let me witness. I know there were some gang fights and uglier parts like that, but Reiko rarely let me participate in those parts. She really cared for me, like I was her little sister or something. She didn't even let me ride a motorbike alone until I was 13. Before that I always rode with her. This week I was supposed to have my first race."
"So you were saying Narumi-sensei found you?"
"Yeah, so he was walking down the alley we usually meet, and so the gang started circling around him. Then Mizuki—she's the leader of the gang—takes his briefcase and hands it to me. But then he did something weird to them. I think he called it using pheromones. Everyone around him fainted, but I was unaffected. Then he started to run after me but I thought he was a child molester or something so I ran, and he ran after me. Soon I had run into a gated alleyway. I tried to climb over the fence, but Narumi whipped something at my leg and pulled me down. Then I backed out and when I woke up I was here."
Then Mikan told Hotaru what happened with Natsume.
"A giant white light, you say? Well I have to say Mikan, you sure have a way of finding trouble. But I guess it's okay since you're the first Alice Academy student to stand up to Natsume and not be burned to a crisp."
"Is he really that powerful?"
"Yes. And he's the most dangerous. Anyway, even though you've overpowered him once already, I wouldn't attempt to provoke him again."
"Hey, hey, Hotaru-chan, don't tell me you're worried about me?"
"Pft. Who could worry about a baka like you? You'll probably cause me more trouble this year and I won't get honor student again. Baka, you couldn't even stay in one place."
"Hotaru, w-"
"Forget it." Hotaru had returned to her icy cold self.
"Mikan-chan!" Hearts flew into the room and Mikan spotted Narumi sticking his head into the room.
"Narumi…" Mikan said glaring daggers at him, remembering how he left her.
"I've come to show you around. Ah! Hotaru! Just the person I wanted to see. Could you
Please share a room with Mikan until she gets a ranking?"
"Hai." Hotaru went to put her books into her backpack, avoiding eye contact with Mikan.
"Come with me, we have to pick up your uniform," said Narumi.
"Okay," said Mikan distractedly; she was staring at Hotaru, trying to figure out what she was thinking.
She followed Narumi down the huge corridor outside the classroom, taking in the polished wooden floors and high windows. She was torn between feeling overwhelmed or impressed.
"Ah! Jinno-sensei!" said Narumi suddenly. "Did you get my memo?"
"Yes," he said curtly. "Is this the new student?"
"Yes. This is Sakura Mikan."
Jinno eyed her disdainfully, taking in her deep purple jacket and dyed hair.
"Well, you certainly have a knack for picking out students Narumi."
"I'm just taking her to pick up her uniform."
"I see. Well, then I suppose I'll see you at the teacher's meeting." Jinno walked away in the opposite direction.
"Who was that?" Mikan asked
"That was Jinno-sensei. He'll be your English teacher. Here we are," he said coming to a store room. Inside were about ten racks full of uniforms. "Pick out as many as you want. Make sure you get something for winter as well."
"Umm… Narumi?" Mikan said as they were walking towards the dormitories.
"Yes?"
"About that boy, from before…"
"Oh, you mean Hyuuga Natsume. What about him?"
"Is he alright?"
"Hmm he's in the hospital building right now but he should be awake by tomorrow."
"Did I really hurt him that much?"
"Oh no, he's just knocked out. Once he's awake he should be alright."
"Oh… good," said Mikan. Hyuuga Natsume, eh?
When Mikan got to Hotaru's room, Hotaru was at her desk doing her homework.
"Hey, Hotaru?"
Hotaru said nothing.
"I-I'm sorry." said Mikan.
"For what?"
"For not coming to find you."
"I'm sorry too."
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She rode her motor bike down the empty streets, her eyes set furiously ahead. She had been riding for hours. Her eyes searched every corner of the city but she could find nothing. She knew it was useless to try, but her mind was set on one thing: kill that blond man.
A/N: Just so you all know, I'm about as Japanese as Dick Cheney, and I only know a few words in Japanese (which i learned from watching the anime for Gakuen Alice), so if i make any mistakes please feel free to insult my patented american ignorance. Anyway I know very little on the subject of japanese biker gangs, and what i know of them is from Kamikaze girls and wikipedia. Look up Bōsōzoku in wikipedia and that should give you some idea.