"What's that, what's that?" Kurumi's eyes lit up in excitement watching the stuffed bear carrying a broomstick and sweeping the ground. "It's su~per super cute!"

"Isn't it?!" Yui beamed. "Ah, but you don't really want to go near it."

"I-I-Isn't that…" Naoki backed away quickly.

"Yup, its name is Bear!" Yui smiled brightly.

"It is!" Naoki yelped fearfully.

"Can I pet it, Yui?" Kurumi looked at the stuffed animal longingly.

"No!" Then Yui thought. "Well, if Yui-"

There was a sudden rush of air, and they all turned.

"...Ah…"

Ariko went charging at the stuffed bear like a rampaging rhino, her eyes glinting dangerously.

"Ariko-chi!" Yui yelled.

"D-Don't, Kusakabe-san!" Naoki protested.

"Go, Ariko-chan!"

"Eh…?" Naoki looked at Kurumi. "Y-You don't know that bear! It's-"

"It's a bear, obviously," Kurumi said innocently. "Anyway, Ariko-chan can handle it."

"Yup, yup!" Yui nodded her head confidently.

Bear dropped the broomstick and pulled a punch on the cat girl-

Swish.

Ariko reflexively moved her head to the left, the punch hitting her hair.

Swat. Swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat swat.

Ariko moved in a blur, dodging the lightning fast punches at lightning fast speeds. She still had her usual carefree face on, as if she didn't care that one punch would send her flying. Then she ducked a punch and pounced forward, grabbing Bear in a giant-well, a giant bear hug. No pun intended.

Even as she squeezed the stuffed animal half to death, Bear kept punching her in the face, though she gave no reaction to it despite her red cheek, and her hand ran across its head and ears.

"Kumomimi...Kumomimi so soft...Kumomimi…" She murmured, looking like she was in sweet bliss.

"See?" Kurumi beamed at Naoki. "No problem at all, no? Ariko-chan, Ariko-chan! I want to touch it too! I wanna touch it too!"

"Me too!" Yui cheered and raced down the hill, leaving Naoki standing there trembling.

Almost reluctantly, Bear stopped punching and looked at the cat girl with somewhat sparkling eyes. Then it smiled and put its small arms around the girl happily.

"So cu~te!" All three girls cooed.

"I wanna feel too!" Kurumi reached forward-

-and was met with a punch to the face.

"Ah." Kurumi dodged to the right, but this sudden action caused her to become clumsy on her feet and she yelped as she slipped and landed hard on the ground. "Ow! I mean, I'm fine! Don't worry!"

"Hime-chan!" Yui exclaimed as she rushed to help Kurumi to her feet.

Ariko released Bear, and her eyes glinted dangerously like a cat who had found its prey. She held up her hand and her nails sharpened into claws. "Are you going to do that again?"

Bear felt the murderous aura extruding from the girl, looked down at the ground, and shook its head.

Then Ariko returned to normal and grabbed Bear in another giant bear hug, her nekomimi perked high and her tail swishing. "Love kumomimi…"

Kurumi and Yui quickly joined her in playing with the stuffed bear, who looked happier than it had been for a while.

('^') Time Skip ('^')

"Wha-no way!" Akemi protested, shooting to her feet as she slammed her hands on the table. "They actually tamed that Bear!"

"Ehhh, no way!" The two girls exclaimed.

"That Bear…?"

"I thought they'd be done for for sure…"

"That's just not possible!"

"And it's only been a few minutes since they met…"

('^') Time Skip ('^')

"Tch, I'm really irritated now…" Ren said in annoyance, clicking his tongue as he brushed his hair out of his eyes. He slammed his fist into a tree nearby, causing it to shake and several leaves to flutter to the ground.

"I can't clear the blood behind my eyes…"

"Ren."

Startled, Ren turned when his name was called suddenly. "Yuuta."

"What's the matter?" Yuuta asked as he headed over. "You've been acting kind of strangely."

"Is that so?" Ren shrugged nonchalantly. "It's nothing really."

"Ren!"

Ren looked away at his sudden sharp tone, and sighed. "I have a headache. That's all. And I'm really irritated…"

"I see." Yuuta sighed. "No wonder you told them to go to the Northern Woods. But-" He looked up and realized the person he was talking to had suddenly disappeared.

"Ren…?"

"This is bad, Fujitome-kun!"

Startled, Yuuta turned around when a girl in his class ran up to him. "Ishigawa-san...is something the matter?"

"Giant Piyo escaped again!"

"Again…?"

Yuuta sighed. Looks like I don't have time to worry about Ren, huh…

('^') Time Skip ('^')

"I-It's Giant Piyo!" Naoki yelped, stumbling backwards. "How did it get out again...and it's time for its lunch too! It's probably hungry!"

"Hungry?" Ariko's nekomimi perked up. "Did you say food? Taiyaki?"

"Um...why are you associating food directly with taiyaki…?" Naoki stammered sheepishly.

"Obviously because taiyaki is food," Ariko's eyes sparkled.

"I-I see...but no one would have any-"

"Ah, sorry, I forgot. Here, Ariko-chan!"

A strawberry jam-flavored taiyaki was thrown to the girl, who immediately caught it in her mouth, grabbing with both hands and taking a bite of the head.

"Where did you pull that from…?"

"Hm? The Giant Vacuum Bag, of course."

"I see...no, actually, I don't see."

"Anyway, Yui rea~lly su~per super like Giant Piyo! It's the mutation chick that the Somatic Class is keeping, you see~" Yui explained. "Giant Piyo knows Yui, too!"

"Really?! Let's go say hello!" Kurumi's golden eyes lit up enthusiastically.

"S-Say what?!" Naoki sputtered.

"But it's su~per hungry right now, so it might not recognize a~ny of us," Yui commented.

"That's fine, that's fine!"

"Okay if Hime-chan says so~"

"Ah...ah….M-Miyano-san, Kusakabe-san, Takino-san!"

"Kurumi's fine, Onohara-kun!" Kurumi called as she waved, running backwards.

"Be careful, Hime-chan-"

"Kyaaa!"

As expected, she tripped and fell flat on her face.

"Uwaaah, Hime-chan, are you okay?!"

"Don't worry! I'm fine!"

"Kurumi…clumsy…"

"Hm?"

"Nothing...taiyaki."

"Say, Ariko-chi, what made Hime-chan suddenly want to come to Gakuen Alice?" Yui asked Ariko curiously as they headed down the hill towards the giant chick.

"Not sure," Ariko shrugged, her tail swishing.

"So you don't know ei~their?" Yui sighed. "Guess really only Aka-chan kno~ws~"

"Mm," Ariko's head bobbed, chewing on taiyaki thoughtfully. "I asked her, but she told me it was classified-"

"Kyaaaaaaa!" Oomph!

"-information," Ariko finished, turning around to watch Kurumi trip and run head-first into the giant fluffy chick. "I think we shouldn't have left her alone."

"I agree," Yui said sheepishly as she quickly ran down to check on Kurumi. "Hime-chan, you okay?!"

"I'm fine…"

Kurumi mumbled this with her face buried in the soft yellow fur, her face one of sweet bliss.

"It's soft…~"

"Oh…Yui wanna too!"

"I think we should run."

"Piyo!" With a squeak, Giant Piyo knocked all of them aside.

Kurumi landed on the ground in a rather lady-like way, blinking and standing quickly. "I'm fine!"

On the other hand, Yui landed on her face. "Owie! Piyo-chan's angry!"

Ariko shook her head, landing nimbly on her feet. "No, it's hungry."

Yui thought and giggled, sticking out her tongue. "Oh, right, Yui said that~ Anyway, forget that-"

The hyper pink-haired girl grabbed the other two by the collar and sprinted back up the hill of the Northern Woods while being chased by a giant angry pecking mutated chick.

"We're de~finitely running~"

('^') Time Skip ('^')

"U-Um!" Naoki yelled as they ran away from Giant Piyo. "Shouldn't we head back now? It should be okay to head back to the school! I'll talk to Sawakiguchi-"

"Who were you going to talk to?"

They all skidded to a stop in surprise when Ren suddenly appeared in front of them, dropping down from a tree. His violet eyes, which not long ago held a look of mischief, were now dark and ice cold. He had his left hand in the pocket of the blue school uniform and his right dangled carelessly in the air under his silver earring.

"S-Sawakiguchi-san!" Naoki yelped in surprise.

"Ren-kun!" Yui sounded equally surprised. "Ah, wait, if we stop now, then Giant Piyo will-"

"It's not going anywhere."

"...Eh?" All four middle school students whirled around.

"Piyo! Piyo! Piyo! Piyo!"

Though Giant Piyo still took the same giant steps while running through the woods, it wasn't moving anywhere and stayed in one place as it ran, as if on a giant treadmill. The giant chick looked extremely confused as it continued trying to run to them, tears pouring in its eyes.

"See?" Ren flicked his hand at it, proving his point.

"S-Sawakiguchi-san-you couldn't have-!" Naoki protested loudly.

"It won't die," Ren said coldly and carelessly. "More importantly, I'll come out and say it. I want to know your Alice."

"Me…?" Kurumi pointed at herself when he looked directly at her.

"Who else?" He walked over slowly, but Yui quickly held out her arm to block his path as she stepped between him and Kurumi.

"What do you want, Ren?" Yui asked quietly but in a firm voice. She dropped the honorific, and her eyes were narrowed sharply.

Naoki was again surprised by the way this girl changed when it came to Kurumi. ...They definitely know each other… He had no choice but to come to this conclusion.

Ren stopped, also a little startled, but got a nonchalant look on his face just as fast. "Who knows? My head hurts, and I'm a little irritated. I can't think straight. But I do know that it isn't everyday someone gets direct orders from the academy to not reveal their Alice. This is an Alice school, after all. So you could say I'm curious. Why don't you tell me? What your Alice is."

His violet eyes glittered dangerously, making Yui shiver slightly, and he had a mischievous but also somewhat dark smile on his face.

I wonder what happened to Ren-kun…

She thought this to herself worriedly. But her fuchsia eyes narrowed sharply.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but there's one thing I'm certain of."

In her solemnity, she dropped her habit of referring to herself in third person, but reclaimed it when she declared confidently,

"Even if it's you, Ren-kun, Yui will ne~ver let you touch Hime-chan!"

('^') Time Skip ('^')

"Oi, Ruka! Where are you going?"

Yawning, Kazu floated through the air and followed the blond boy carrying a rabbit when he had suddenly turned around and started walking in the other direction.

"Just because Natsume's gone for the time being doesn't mean you can go and ditch me you know."

His face flushing slightly, Ruka whirled around to face the flying boy. "That's not it!"

Kazu laughed, shrugging his shoulders as he landed on the ground. "It was a joke, a joke. So what's up?"

"I'm sensing something's wrong from the Northern Woods," he said anxiously, glancing over. "It sounds like Giant Piyo…"

Kazu laughed again. "Ah, right, Ruka's an animal boy."

Ruka's face flushed red again. "S-Stop it already, Kazu!"

"Oi."

"Natsume," Ruka looked up in surprise when the crimson-eyes boy dropped down from a nearby tree.

"Oh? You're back already?" Kazu whistled.

Natsume ignored him, looking at Ruka. "Ignore it. Let's go."

"Ah...right…" Ruka quickly hurried after him, although slightly reluctantly.

"Come on, don't just ignore me the moment you get back."

Kazu lifted in the air using a well-controlled vacuum under his feet, following the boys back towards the elementary school. But he'd barely gone five meters when he turned back around midair to look at where Giant Piyo could barely be seen in the Northern Woods.

I hope Ojou hasn't gotten herself into any trouble...

"Kazu?" Ruka called out. Natsume had stopped as well, looking annoyed as the two of them waited for him.

Kazu shrugged and flew back over to them, laughing and landing next to them. "So you've finally decided you'll miss me?"

"Shut up," Natsume said as he stormed off.

Kazu laughed.

I'm probably thinking too much into it.

('^') Time Skip ('^')

Bam!

Yui slid across the ground, leaving a trail of steam from the friction of her boots against the grass, and bit her lip as she watched Ren walk out of the smoke unharmed. "Tch. What an annoying Alice. Yui doesn't like it."

Ren shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

"Uwaaah, Takino, Sawakiguchi, please stop it…" Naoki insisted, though Yui immediately leaped at Ren again. "Wait…!"

"Onohara-kun."

"H-Hurry and help me stop them, Miyano-san!" Naoki insisted, turning to Kurumi when she said his name. "At this rate-"

Kurumi ignored him. "Tell me something."

Naoki stopped panicking and blinked at Kurumi's calm but commanding tone. "Yes…?"

"What is it? Ren-kun's Alice."

"Oh…" Naoki looked down hesitantly. "Ren-kun is a...special case. He's the only Dangerous Ability Type in our class."

Kurumi's eyes flashed. "Dangerous…"

"Yes," Naoki nodded. "I myself didn't really think that it's a dangerous Alice, but I've heard rumors...I-I don't want to be one to spread rumors, but I've heard stories that he's actually killed someone with his Alice before."

"Killed…" Kurumi's gaze lowered, but she didn't look particularly surprised.

"Sawakiguchi-san has...what they call the Distance Alice."

"Distance Alice?" Ariko blinked in confusion, finishing the tail of her taiyaki.

"Yes," Naoki nodded. "He is able to modify the distance between any two objects, places, or anything of the sort, be it making it longer or shorter. For example, in the case with both Giant Piyo and Komai-sensei, he lengthened the distance between us and them so that they seem like they aren't even moving when they walk. When he jumped from the classroom earlier today, he shortened the distance between himself and the floor. That kind of stuff."

"Oh…" Kurumi's voice trailed off as she stared at Ren, who was easily deflecting all of Yui's Gravity Attacks. "I see…"

"Oh, right, right…"

Easily brushing off Yui, Ren turned around to where Kurumi, Ariko, and Naoki were standing. His violet eyes glittered.

"It was you, wasn't it…"

Yui appeared in front of Ren, her hands outstretched protectively. "Don't you dare, Ren-kun! Yui won't let you!"

"Ah, you're getting annoying~" Ren brushed her hand across towards her face. Yui saw this coming and tried to dodge-

The attack came faster than she expected. She didn't even make a noise as the back of his hand connected with her cheek and she was sent flying across the woods. She quickly used her Alice to lighten the gravity, allowing herself to float in the air before she hit anything.

"Hime-chan!" She yelled as Ren brought back his fist. Even though they were nearly 15m apart, she knew that with Ren's Alice, he could easily hit her from where he stood.

But the one Ren hit wasn't Kurumi.

"Sorry about this, Prez, but the one I'm trying to hit isn't you."

His fist connected and Onohara Naoki was sent flying.

"Ah…"

And at the same time, a bright green signal flare was sent up into the air.

Yaayyy so we got past meeting Bear and Giant Piyo! Giant Piyo sure likes to run away, huh? Or rather, I guess I should say the middle schoolers are rather careless~ Ah, also, one thing I'm really excited about: I'm drawing a cover for the story featuring Kurumi, Ariko, Yui, and Akemi! It's turning out really nicely! I've got most of the lineart done (so this cover right now is temporary.) I was going to draw Ren and Yuuta instead of Yui and Akemi, but I've only drawn boys twice so I really can't after all~ But wish me luck! I'll post the next chapter as well!

: Thanks thanks thanks so much for reviewing! You don't know how much it means to me~ But don't worry, I'm just happy to be writing and posting. (I mainly write for my little sister, so I will keep writing). I'll keep trying my hardest to keep my chapters up to your expectations! (owo)

The rest of you please R/R as well if you like it!

One last note I'm adding last minute: I just realized all of my squiggly line (~) interruption breaks aren't showing up, so I'm now changing the line break to the cute little {('^') Time Skip ('^')}. It's labeled with the words "Time Skip" even if it isn't a Time Skip but a...Location Shift, I guess...instead, so just note that. I'll post this on the first chapter as well. Sorry, it might make more sense now if you go back and read it. Thanks!

~Chikage