Mikan the Alice
Chapter 6: Wonderland Markets
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.
Mikan's P.O.V.
"Moooouuuu~~~. It's so boring..." I said as I leaned back into my seat at the breakfast table. Anna raised her eyebrow at me?
"Seriously? Boring? You were trapped by the Red Queen, saved by the Black King's messenger, and carried Ruka back here after he fought the king. How is that boring? I wish I were in your place! I never have any fun in my life." she whined. Nonoko rolled her eyes.
"Oh please. Having a normal life is fine by me. Nothing too dramatic or in Mikan's case, life threatening." I grimaced when Nonoko said "life threatening". I shrugged.
"That may be all cool in your point of view Anna, but to me, I think it's just another average day in Wonderland." I sat up right in my seat again and ate the rest of my pancakes. "Speaking of my days in Wonderland, don't I have only the rest of today to live my life before I enter the 'Seven Deadly Sins' trial?" Anna nodded, but Nonoko shook her head.
"You do have only today, but if I were you. I wouldn't do anything since the past two days has already become dangerous for you and even for poor Ruka." Nonoko pointed out. I pouted. She was right. If only I had listened to Yuu, didn't visit the Red Castle, didn't fall for the Queen's tricks, didn't get locked in the bathroom, didn't have to get saved by Kitsuneme, and didn't have to cause Natsume to fight with Ruka-who was only protecting me-, no one would've gotten hurt. But I hadn't listened to Yuu and that's why I'm here right now, sulking on the table.
Ruka limped into the kitchen from his bedroom. I couldn't even look at him even he said, "Good morning guys." I just slumped lower into my seat and knocked my head on the table. Ruka pointed at me, but Nonoko raised her hand and waved it, meaning, "don't even ask". He shrugged and fell into his seat and panted, from walking with a limp without any support besides the slippery cave walls. Yes, we live in a cave. But I shouldn't complain, this was better than living on the streets. Suddenly, when I thought of the word streets, an idea took place in my head.
"Hey! Can we go shopping out on the streets today?" I exclaimed loudly. The three Peace Jokers looked at me, unblinking. Then Anna clapped her hands together.
"That's a wonderful idea!" she chirped. Even Ruka smiled a bit. But as usual, Nonoko didn't agree with my ideas.
"I told you, you shouldn't go out now. Who knows? Maybe the Red Queen might be out in the markets today. Or the Black King, who's doing his usual tea drinking at noon. You never know." She closed her eyes and sipped some more tea. My shoulders slumped. But to my surprise, Anna and Ruka defended me.
"But we can go with her so she won't get into more trouble!" shouted Anna.
"And I have to go grocery shopping today so that gives us another reason to head out to the markets." Ruka said. This cheered me up. I stood up and crossed my arms.
"You can't say anything to that can ya Nonoko?" I asked with a victorious tone. "Do you want to starve?" She scoffed and the waved us off.
"Fine, do whatever you want. But if you get into trouble, I'm not saving any of you." We all cheered and then ran out of the kitchen. But then I froze.
"Wait, Natsume has tea drinkings at noon?" I asked Ruka. He nodded and snickered a bit. Anna stared at me.
"How did you know the Black King's name? I lived here for 14 years and I still don't know it! Well, until now." She looked at me with curiosity flowing out of her. I explained to her about yesterday, again, but this time adding the part when Ruka had said Natsume's name. But for Ruka's pride, I didn't bring up the fighting part again. Anna nodded and then murmured, "Natsume. How strange for a Black King." Then she just shrugged and we all walked out towards the markets.
When we finally reached our destination. I was amazed at the large quantity of things the people sold. Ruka had informed me before that the Wonderland Markets were outside of the Kingdoms so the people can come here anytime they want, during or not during the war. The Blacks and the Reds don't have to worry about the "you're my enemy" thing, because they are not involved in the war. Only the kingdom's soldiers and of course, the leaders. He also said that's why both Kingdoms must have a servant that isn't too engaged into the battlefield. For example, Kitsuneme. He works for Natsume, but he doesn't participate in the war so he is considered as just another person buying food.
I saw many things other than food too. Like toys, utensils, furniture, and so on. I caught sight of a black rabbit stuffed animal and immediately thought of the hybrid standing beside me. Wasn't that what Natsume had called Ruka? His "Black Rabbit"? I turned away from it, but the thought still lingered in my mind. We walked to many stands, buying fruits, proteins, vegetables, and drinks. I even considered buying the black rabbit toy for Ruka, but it might be awkward when I give it to him.
When we walked to the less crowded part of the market, I caught familiar scent drifting in the air. I followed the scent and saw that it came from a pink puff-ball like object. I streched my hand out, wanting to taste one, but Ruka slapped my hand away. I gasped. "What-?" I started to ask but he cut me off.
"Never go near howalon. They are very dangerous." I raised my eyebrow and pointed at the cute little things.
"That is dangerous?" I asked while laughing. But when he nodded grimly, I stopped immediately.
"The howalon may seem tasty but too much is too dangerous. Eating a few is no harm at all. But if you eat a bit more, you'll start felling queasy. But if you eat a whole bunch, you die." I gasped. He continued. "You could die from it in two ways. One is because you have consumed too much, and two is that your arteries get clogged up by all the sugar and thus, having no more blood circulation." I whipped my hand back to my side. I caught scents of the howalon now and then, but I decided to take a deep whiff. Suddenly, I remembered where I smelled it before. I dragged Ruka into an alley and started whispering frantically.
"Howalon. It was in the Red Queen's castle. I smelled it in the cakes the main cook gave me. That must've been the Queen's true intension all along!" Ruka's eyes widened and he gasped.
"Does she want you...dead?!" I nodded.
"As much as I hate to admit it, i know it's true." My shoulders fell. But then Ruka flicked me in the forehead.
"Why are so sad? The Alice shouldn't be! She's always smiling and happy! She has no time to be down or sad. If you keep on being like this, you'll die tomorrow in the trial!" he shouted. I was amazed at the strong energy he had inside him. I gave him a smile and nodded.
"Thank you Ruka pyon! For believing that I could be the Alice. I really want, to but, I'm not sure..." He flicked me again. I yelped. "Okay, you have to stop that."
"Look who's talking! You are hesitating. In the trial, there won't be anytime for hesitation at all! You must be quick and hold a strong heart. That's what I think how the Alice is." I laughed and then patted his back.
"Okay, okay, Ruka pyon. I didn't know that you cared so much for me." I saw him blush a slight pink and I giggled.
"I..." he started. I laughed.
"No hesitating!" I mocked him.
"What I was trying to say was I care about you because you-" But he was cut off by the loud fanfare sounding right now. We walked out of the alley and found Anna standing alone and we joined her.
We all turned and tried to see what was all the commotion was all about. I heard Anna gasp behind me and I looked at her. She was wide eyed and pointed at the stand that sold clocks. I raised an eyebrow at her, wondered why she would want to buy a clock. But she shook her head and whispered, "The time." I looked at the time and gasped too. "Noon." I grabbed Ruka's arm and told him to run. He was confused at first, but when I pointed at the clocks, his eyes went wide like saucers. We ran for our lives. We were almost far away from the crowd, but then suddenly, a pair of arms snaked around my waist.
"Oh my Mikan-chan, it's so nice to see you here." I tried to spin around and when I did, I found myself face to face with Koko. Most of the people's eyes were still on Natsume's grand entrance, but now some were looking at me and Koko. I blushed and pulled myself away from him. I bowed and then stood up again.
"Nice to see you too Koko. Say, where's Kitsuneme?" I asked. His face fell.
"You actually care more about him than me?" I saw him sniff and I started to panic.
"No, no, no, no! You got it wrong! I just asked you because you guys were always together and-" But I was cut off by Koko's laughter.
"Got ya." he sneered. Kitsuneme was now beside him and when Koko told him what he did, he started laughing loudly too. My eyebrow twitched at the sight. "I was tricked by a couple of idiots. It's a new level of stupidity. Even for you Mikan. Quiet Mikan. You be quiet. I was until you came and-" I shook my head, ending the imaginary argument of myself. Natsume must've heard the laughter because he had already walked over to us when I was having a myself fight. He took one look at Ruka's black eye and slight limp, and a cruel smile spread across his face. I felt Ruka's hand gripped tightly on the ends of his shirt. I glared at Natsume for hurting my friend. I just want to smack that smile right off his stupid yet attractive face. I mentally whacked myself from behind. "What did you just think to yourself Mikan?! Nothing!" I turned around, grabbing Ruka's and Anna's wrist, and announced that we should leave. They both nodded and turned to go.
But then suddenly, Natsume said something that made us all freeze. "Friends, why must you leave? Weren't you going to join me in my tea drinking? It'll be interesting..." he said with a smirk. The crowd started to whoop and cheer. About Natsume having his afternoon tea with some of his friends. The cheers were getting to me. I couldn't help it. I turned towards my friends.
"We should listen to him. If we do, we won't get into anymore danger than we are currently in." Anna nodded in agreement, but Ruka hesitated at first. After a slight kick to his shin, he finally nodded. We turned back to Natsume and I said in an absolute fake smile, "Shall we then, my King?"
I sipped some of the tea I had in front of me. I eyed Ruka and Anna, wondering how they were feeling. From Ruka's constant eye twitch, I would say he's agitated. And from Anna's noticable fidgeting, I'd say she's nervous and scared. I mean, who wouldn't be? The guy that happens to be the greatly admired King, had harmed our friend, and is very devious in a way, was sitting right across from us. I put down my cup with a small clink. So did Ruka and Anna. "Okay, was this a game of copy cat or something?" Natsume cleared his throat.
"So, how are you guys. No hard feelings from last time right?" I nodded, but very slowly. So did Ruka and Anna. "Please stop copying me guys." I laughed nervously and took another sip. Suddenly, a faint smell wafted in the air, and into my nose. I picked it up and breathed in deeply. And then, my eyes went wide. "Howalon. Wait, howalon? Right here?" I followed the scent and when I saw where it came from, I gasped. A waiter was walking to our table, the teapot full of howalon tea. He had already started to pour tea into Natsume's cup. I saw a red spade on his uniform that he was trying to hide. "The queen wants to kill him." I picked up a saucer and threw it at both the cup and the teapot. It flew out of their hands and landed on the floor.
People gasped everywhere. Then, they all started to shout about how rude I was. They tried to get to me, but two police officers have already got handcuffs on me. They started to bring me out the door, but then I shouted the truth out to defend myself. "Natsume! I did that because the Red Queen had ordered that red waiter to grind howalons into the teapot. But he hid the scent so well I almost couldn't smell it. But I did and almost saved you from the Red Queen's trick. Like what she did to me..." My voice started to trail off. One of the officers grunted and tried to pull me out the door.
"Oh please, that's so far the worst excuse I've heard so far." But then, Ruka's voice rung out above everyone's.
"Wait, I think she may be right." He walked over to the pink puddle and then sniffed it. Then he dipped his finger in it and swirled it. Sure enough, the tea had pink fuzzy spots in it. Everyone gasped and turned to the red waiter. He was sweating tons now. One of the officers dropped me and ran over to seize the waiter. But then, he spoke up.
"How can you be so sure? What if that was a new ingredient?" Ruka gave him a cold glare that somehow matched Natsume's. He walked towards the officer until they were face to face.
"Officer, I am a hybrid. My smell sense is amazingly better than any other non-hybrids. If a mortal girl could sniff that well hidden scent out, how could I not smell it out after being so close to that puddle?" The officers started stuttering, obviously trying to hide the embarrassment that he had lost an argument to a hybrid rabbit. Ruka crossed his arms and walked back to Anna and I. The other officers arrested the waiter and brought him to jail.
After that confusion had past, we ended up outside of the tea shop. "Wow Ruka pyon!" I exclaimed. "You were awesome! You showed that officer! If you were a lawyer, you would've already defended your client the second you walked in." Anna and I laughed while Ruka just rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Natsume appeared in front of us. Alone. But he had only faced me out of the three of us. It was silent for a long period of time between us. That's when I knew he was hesitating. I stifled a laugh at the thought of me telling him: "no hesitating".
And then, he muttered the words, "Thank you." Under his breath. Everyone was shocked when they heard the Black King thank us. Ruka was the most shocked one of all.
"What?" I asked, making sure I didn't hear wrong. He glared directly at me and clenched his fists.
"I said 'thank you'." We all stared at him again. Another wave of silence passed over us. But then, I broke it by laughing. And then, Ruka and Anna joined in. Now Natsume must be super pissed. "Shut up." he said behind clenched teeth.
"I'm sorry. It's just that it's so amazing to hear that from you." I wiped the tears from my eyes. "But don't feel offended, but we're actually glad to hear that. and you didn't really have to thank us. As the Alice, I must help others and have a positive attitude." I eyed Ruka when I said that. He smiled proudly at me. Natsume just spun around and started walking away.
"Whatever. You people are just idiots." And with that, he left into the dark night.
When we got back home to the cave. Nonoko and Yuu were both resting on the couch. Nonoko heard us coming in and asked, "Did anything bad happen?"
"Well, we ran into Natsume the Black King and almost got arrested." She smirked at us.
"Hehe. I was right." I shook my head.
"Not entirely. After that, I was actually innocent and we managed to get a 'thank you' out of Natsume." When the two heard this, they both sprung to their feet.
"WHAT?!" they both shouted.
"How did you-?" asked Yuu.
"Impossible!" exclaimed Nonoko. Ruka, Anna, and I just laughed and walked to our rooms.
Natsume's P.O.V.
"That bitch dares to laugh at me. I am so going to kill her." I walked into the grand room and sat on my throne. I looked around, bored. and for some reason, I suddenly remembered that dorky little girl's smiling face in my mind. I punched my head. "I'm going crazy again. But not as crazy as that red bitch." I closed my eyes and dreamt a really weird dream about the sun and hos it creates an entire life under its protection.
Hotaru's P.O.V.
"HE GOT ARRESTED?!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Sumire nodded. She backed away a little until she bumped into her co-worker, Wakoko. I shouted and threw more wine at the walls. I screamed so loud that the world could've heard me. "ALICE! I SHALL KILL YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!" Then, I grabbed a mysterious box from the tray Wakoko was holding and opened it. "Yes, yes. The beautiful weapon is now in my possession..."
A.N. Woah, guess someone has also fallen for Mikan! :3 And seems to me Hotaru has a strong hatred for Mikan, don't you think? Get ready for the next chapter where Mikan finally enters the "Seven Deadly Sins" trial! Which sin shall be first? Review your answer! (Or just review, whatever.)