Mikan the Alice
Chapter 9: The Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth)
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.
Mikan's P.O.V.
I continued to follow Narumi towards the second sin trial. I wasn't sure how I managed to get pass the first one. All I did was barf all over the table. `How's that passing? "Ah, who cares? I got through!" I smiled happily."Say Alice, I never got to know your name." Narumi said to me. I laughed.
"Oh I'm so sorry that I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Mikan, 14 years old, village girl." Narumi smiled.
"So, Mikan eh? That's a wonderful name for a little girl like you." I blushed.
"Thanks Narumi." I responded.
"Okay, here we are!" said Narumi when we reached a large spiral tree. I raised my eyebrow. And looked at the tree.
"A tree? How's a tree suppose-" But I was cut off when a girl leaped off of the tree and landed right in front of me. I jumped back, but I didn't scream. "Woah! I'm already improving on not screaming when someone randomly appears next to me."The permed green hair girl tossed her hair back and examined me. Then she scowled.
"Seriously? You think she will be the Alice? What is wrong with you people?" she said angrily while pointing at me. I frowned,
"Sorry if I don't live up to your expectations. If you have a problem with me, you have to deal with it." I said and put my hands on my hips. The girl scoffed and then pointed at me in disbelief.
"This lowly nobody just talked back to me?! Naru, who took care of her?!" she said. Naru magically made a book appear in his hands and turned the pages.
"Uh...here! Mikan was raised by her mother and father, but recently, her father had died because of illness and her mother is working hard on trying to care for her. But, "Naru turned the page. "She's thinking it's impossible because her daughter wouldn't listen and is very spoiled. But also, here it says that no matter how horrible her daughter is, she'll always love her because that was the only thing that reminds her of her loving husband." He finished and snapped the book shut. There was a great silence. And then, Sumire cruel laughter could be heard throughout the entire forest.
"What the heck? Your mother dislikes you and she's only staying with you because that reminds her of your father? Ha! I'd rather suicide than watch over you for the rest of my life!" She laughed on and on. Never stopping. I burst into tears.
"Stop making fun of my mother! She's already getting old and tired! What about your mom?" The girl finally stopped laughing. Instead, she had a grim look in her face.
"Naru, I'll start the trial now." she said dully. Naru nodded and winked at me.
"Good luck" was all he said. I smiled and give him nod to assure him that'll win. The girl climbed on the tree again and introduced herself.
"I am Sumire. A Red Spade. Loyal servant of the Red Queen. I will now be starting your trial." As soon as she said that, gas started to flow out of the tree. I tried to back away from it, afraid of what it would do to me, but there was an invisible force field around the area. And soon, the gas had reached into my nose. I suddenly started to feel drowsy and sick. I collapsed on the ground and moaned. "This sin...It's obviously sloth." I tried to get up, but I fell down again. I looked up at Sumire. She had a wicked smile on her face. "So, what are my methods? I can't resist it because I can't hold my breath for a log period of time. Maybe I could try to stop her from letting those gases out. So, I have to get her off guard... I got it."
I managed to crawl to the tree and lay on its trunk. I looked back at Sumire, who was now singing a lullaby. I felt to sleepy to speak, but I had to. Or I die. "Het Sumire. Tell me how your mom is better than mine's." She was caught off guard for a second, but she smiled and then nodded.
"Very well, I shall tell you. My mom is rich and beautiful. She may be 40 years old, but she looked like 25. She is very amazing and the second famous person behind the Red Queen. She respects the Queen a lot and since she always sends gifts over to her, the Queen also likes her back. Can your mom beat that?" she asked me in a taunting voice. To her surprise, I nodded.
"Yes. She works hard day and night. She always buys extra food at the markets so that she could send some to the poor and old people in my village. She is 40, but she still has such strong energy that I respect her. But, I was so stupid. I never realized until right now that she actually is a good mother. Trying to make me a better person, all by herself. She has already had enough grief about losing a husband, and I...I don't want her to suffer more. That's why I am going to live. So I can show her how much I have grown. From all her teachings and care." I was now breathing heavily. Tears flowed out of my eyes like a fountain. "Mom..."
Suddenly, I felt something wet land on my shoulder. I looked up and saw Sumire was crying. She was actually crying a lot. I gave her a confused look. She sniffled and then said, " That's...so touching...To tell you...the truth...my mother never...cared for me...that much. She says...that she has...too much work, but...I think that's...just an excuse...not to see me. She had always...ignored me. Even when I was young. The only thing she ever cared...about was...her looks. And know...that I've heard...how your mother is like...I really wished my mother would've...treated me like that." And with that, she burst into loud sobs. The gas suddenly stopped flowing. I smiled and stood up. I took Sumire's hand and led her down. I grasped it tightly and looked into her eyes. They were cold, hardened over the years she never felt true mother love.
"Don't worry Sumire. This feeling of warmth from my hands to yours is how it feels like to be loved by a mother. Remember that. So if you see someone in need of this, do what I'm doing now, pass the warmth onto them. I hope that your mother is watching this and realizes that because of you, you have made her life thrive. Say, do you have a dad?" She shook her head sadly.
"He died a few years ago. Too stressed from all the attention mother was giving herself." she squeaked out of her tight throat. She rubbed it with her hand.
"Then, don't become like your father. If your mother still doesn't realize what a great person you are Sumire, she doesn't deserve to be your mother. Someone else does." I hugged her tight. "When I go home to visit my home, I want you to come with me and stay a few days. Then you'll feel how a true mother cares." She nodded and started sobbing all over again. I left her and walked over to Narumi. "Hey, Narumi. I found out what sin this is. It's sloth." Narumi nodded.
"Now, all Sumire has to do is give up, or she can continue testing you." I looked at Sumire. And then, she gave me a smile. Not a grim smile I saw before. Not a wicked smiled I saw when she released the gas. A real Sumire smile. It shows the real her.
"I give up." she says. I jumped up and cheered.
"Thank you Sumire!" I ran over and hugged her. To my surprise, she hugged me back. We embraced each other for a long time. When we finally let go, I wiped tears out of my eyes. I walked back to Narumi and he started taking me to the third trial. I glanced back at Sumire and waved. She waved back.
"Go Alice. Show them who you really are." she said just loud enough for me to hear. I smiled and turned around, ready for the third trial.
Ruka's P.O.V.
"Oh shit." I said as I saw that Mikan was getting close to Sumire. "That girl is so annoying!" I shouted.
"Which one?" Nonoko asked me. I face palmed.
"Sumire obviously. When I was back at the kingdom, she would always try to get close to me and Natsume." I said as I crossed my arms. Nonoko looked away from the monitor and raised an eyebrow at me.
"So you still care about that jerk?" Nonoko asked me. I scoffed.
"I'm just saying. Why are you so naive?" I asked her, irritated. She rolled her eyes.
"And why are you defensive when someone just asks you a question?" she asked. I stuck my tongue out at her. We definitely will never get along.
"Hey guys! Look!" said Anna while pointing at the monitor. We looked up and saw Mikan and Sumire talking to each other.
"...I never noticed that I needed her so much until now." I catched Mikan say. "Who?" And after listening for their conversation for about 4 minutes, I understood they were talking about their mothers. I zoned out a bit when they continued to talk so I thought about the next trial. "Wait, what was it again? Since no one really made it to that part often, I don't remember what it was...but I'm sure I'll find out soon." Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I had gotten a text message. From...Koko? I opened it and read it.
"Hey Ruka-kun. I know that we don't talk much and all, but just for this once,
please listen to me. Listen, this is very urgent. I had overheard the Red Queen today.
She ordered every servant of her's that are testers in the trial to make their tests deadly.
But looks like Sumire-san isn't doing a good job. :P
That's actually fortunate. But the Red Queen never backs down.
She'll do anything to destroy Mikan-chan.
If you can communicate with her, give her a warning.
Her life is in your hands Ruka. Okay,
you don't have to believe me, but Natsume is also telling his tester to watch out for her.
When Kitsuneme and I asked him, he just ignored us as usual, but we got the hint he has a liking for our little Mikan.
So Ruka, please help! Mikan's life is in danger because of the Red Queen!
-Koko
I reread it over and over. "Mikan is in danger?!" I grabbed Yuu and whispered this into his ear. He gasped. "We have to find a way to tell her!" he said.
"But how? She doesn't have a phone on her and even if she did, we still wouldn't be able to call her!" I shouted. He looked around frantically.
"But-" he said, but then stopped when Anna walked over.
"What is it?" she asked a really worried Yuu. I told her and then she started crying all over again. "Maybe I shouldn't have told her...Oh nice idea. Shoulda thought of that earlier." I sweat dropped and slowly back away from Anna. I accidentally bumped into Nonko and she moved away from me.
"What do you want Black Rabbit?" she asked. I frowned.
"Don't call me that. I've already abandoned that name long ago." I said. She nodded.
"Right... Then I'll just go with Ruka-pyon." I was about to punch her, but I decided not to in front of a crowd.
"Listen, Mikan is in danger now. I just got a text message from Koko saying she's in danger because of the Red Queen. The Queen wants her dead." I said seriously. Nonoko snickered.
"Didn't I warn her? It's dangerous here in Wonderland. There is no way to escape danger." she said simply. This time, I got mad for real.
"If you don't want to save her life, fine with me. Fine with all of us. Yuu, Anna, and I will try to find a way to warn her." I said as I turned to go. I looked back at Nonoko. "If you want to help, you may." Yuu and Anna had already came to my side to think of a plan.
Suddenly, Nonoko said, "Telepathy." she said. I turned around and faced her.
"What?" I asked.
"You heard me, telepathy. Find someone with the powers of telepathy." she said. I thought long and hard. "Who has telepathy powers...?" We all looked at each other. We all shrugged. And then, we had only one choice left. Ask Nonoko for help. And if you ask her for help, you must repay her back big time.
"Um...Nonko? Can you help us?" I asked. She looked at me.
"I am not helping someone from the Black Kingdom." she said.
"How about me?" asked Anna. "We're both from the same kingdom. Well, before." Nonoko shook her head.
"It's more entertaining when guys beg." My eyebrow started to twitch. Yuu scoffed.
"Forget it. I'm just going to have to figure this out myself." He whipped out his phone and started searching for people. Suddenly I heard people clapping loudly around me. "Could it be...?" I looked up at the screen. Mikan and Sumire were embracing each other. "What?" Naru had also said Mikan passed the second trial.
"Wow." said Anna. I shook my head.
"No. This is actually bad. She's getting closer to another of the Red Queen's testers." I looked back at Yuu. "have you found someone yet?" I asked frantically. He nodded.
"Yes I did. But you won't like who it is." I raised my eyebrow, confused. He showed me his phone. My eyes widened. "Shuichi!" I breathed in deeply. Yuu nodded.
"But-isn't he-arrrgh!" I shouted. Nonoko chuckled.
"Finally irritated by the Black people?" she asked. I shook my head.
"No, it's just that..." I started, but Yuu finished for me.
"He saw him do something so horrible that he tries not to think about it." Anna and Nonoko looked at each other.
"Tell us." they both said. I shook my head.
"You don't wanna know." I shuddered. "No, think happy thoughts. Think happy thoughts." Nonoko started to get pissed, but then she just turned around and looked at the monitor.
"So, Ruka. How are you gonna get him to listen to you if you don't like being near him?" Yuu asked me as he put his phone back into his pocket. I shrugged.
"I just have to deal with it." I started to leave when Nonoko grabbed my wrist.
"When you come back from the Black Castle, you will have to tell me in return for telling you that idea." she said. Then she let go, leaving faint red marks on my wrist. I hesitated, then remembered my own words. "No hesitation."
"Fine." I said and ran towards the Black Kingdom.
Natsume's P.O.V.
"Hey Koko, what are you doing?" I asked Koko. He flinched.
"N-Nothing." he stuttered. I raised an eyebrow and then turned towards Kitsuneme, who was still watching that pig on his phone. I sighed.
"Go Mikan!" he suddenly shouted. He started to chant a cheer that drove me crazy so I walked into the garden, to the patio. I sat down and looked at the blue sky. "The world is so peaceful. How did we even manage to start a war?" And then, the flashback took shape in my mind. I shook my head to make it go away. I propped my chin on my hand, bored. I yawned and looked the other way.
I stood up and walked into the tall grass. I bent down and plucked a sakura petal from the dirt. I held it close to my heart and then looked down with my eyes closed. A soft breeze blew and more sakura petals flew off the large sakura tree. I walked closer towards the tree and put my hand on its tough bark. I remembered back to that day.
~Flashback~
"Natsume-chan." said my mother as she walked closer to me. I looked up from the toy trains I was playing with. She sat down next to me. "You need friends." she said. I turned away from her.
"I have Ruka." I said. She shook her head.
"I meant other friends dear." She took my face into her hands and turned my head towards her sad face. I stroked her beautiful face and cocked my head.
"What's wrong mom? You look sad." She closed her eyes and tears fell.
"Mommy's going to another place in a few days." she said. I scratched my head.
"How's going to somewhere so bad?You get to see other people and more interesting sights." When I said this, she burst into tears and hugged me close to her.
She stroked my messy raven black hair and said into my ear, "Natsume. Promise mommy that you'll find someone else to become friends with." I nodded. I mean, how hard can it be? She smiled with her sad face. "Thank you. This means so much to me for you to find a new friend. Who knows? Maybe like Ruka-chan, that child can change your life..." She started to trail off. Then she snapped back into reality and then smiled once more. "This wish just means a lot to me." I smiled at her and continued to play with my trains. What I didn't know was that that was mom's last wish.
"Mom!" I cried at her funeral days later. I sobbed and fell to the floor. People all around me were all watching my tiny figure cry continuously. I saw the Red Ace on the side, holding hands with her mother, sticking her tongue out at me. I cried some more. My dad had left me before I was born. Now that I was 7, my mother had now left me too. I had to rule an entire kingdom myself. The Red Ace would gather all her friends and then taunt me at how I was a useless King. I felt like this was the end. So, I did the only thing I could do. Go up to the mortal world and live there for the rest of my life, trying to get away from sadness.
Ruka had told me that there was a hole he had created when he was really young and led me to it. I climbed up, in my disguise, and waved good bye to him. He was sad, I could tell, but he still said bye. I walked around in the sun. It was a beautiful and sunny day. The place that the hole led to seemed to be a small poor village that somehow resembled the poor side of the kingdoms. I walked around in the grass. I wanted to introduce myself and live a new life, but I was too scared. "What if they found me scary? Horrifying?" Those types of questions floated around my mind. So I decided to stay around here until I finally man up.
Suddenly, I heard a voice that sounded around me. I looked up and right there, in the middle of my entire vision, was a girl that seemed around the same age as me, with long flowing brown hair, brown eyes, and a beautiful smile. I quickly got up and ran behind the rock I was sitting on. I panted and peeked over the rock. The girl happened to have a basket of food. My stomach grumbled and I blushed red. I hid down lower behind the rock and hoped she didn't hear that. Then, all was silent. I sighed. And then out of nowhere, the girl appeared next to me. "Hello!" she said. I flinched and averted my eyes. She continued. "I heard your stomach growling and I thought you were hungry so here." She pulled out a peice of bread from her basket. I cautiously took it and ate it slowly. She smiled.
"Say, what are you doing here?" I stayed quiet. "Not much of a talker huh?" Silence. She started to get nervous because she was fidgeting. I stood up, and walked away from her. "Hey! Wait a minute!" I stopped. She ran next to me. "Where are you going?" she asked. I turned away. She pouted. "Hey. Talk will ya?" She crossed her arms. I sighed.
"What do you want?" I asked her. She gasped.
"So you can talk!" she said.
"Of course I can. I'm not a mute." I rolled my eyes. She stuck her tongue out.
"I didn't know. So, who are you? I've never seen you before in my life." she asked, studying my face.
"It's none of your business." I said and pushed her away. She followed me. I took one step, she did too. I ran forward, and so did she. "Why are you following me?" I shouted. She shrugged.
"I don't know. Say, where's your mom?" I flinched. "What?" she asked.
"Never speak of my mom again." I said and walked ahead of her. She caught up.
"Oh, I get it! You are being rebellious now! Your guys had a fight so you're running away from home right?" she asked with shining eyes.
"Stop being so naive." I muttered.
"So what did happen?" I thought that maybe telling her things, she might go away.
"She died." The girl gasped.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know!" She started to apologize and being very flustered about it. She sort of reminds me of Ruka.
"Oh just shut up." I said. She did.
After walking for a while, she opened her mouth again. "So if your mother's gone? Where's your dad?"
"He died too." I replied cooly. She gulped.
"So, who's watching over you?"
"No one is. I came from somewhere else and then escaped here because I wanted to be alone. Forever." Suddenly, she grasped my arm. "Wha-?" I exclaimed.
"You don't have to worry. I will watch over you!" I tried to pull my arm away, but she was holding one too tight. I sighed and went along with it.
"Fine."
"Is that true? Your mom really said that?!" I nodded at the girl's astonished face. "Wow! Your mom sounds awesome!" I smiled. She squealed. "Aww! You're smiling! I wish I had a camera right now..." I stuck my tongue at her. She laughed. We were both near the hole I came out from and eating some food from the basket.
"You sure your mom's not gonna get mad?" She shook her head.
"I'll just tell her I gave it to the old man I was supposed to." I looked at her. She was smiling.
"You know...you shouldn't lie to your mother. You may never know when she'll leave you. And when she does, all those lies that you made to her will make you feel so much pain and regret building up inside of you." I said. She stared at me.
Then she softly asked, "Is that how you feel about your mother's death?" I nodded. She looked down at the apple she was eating. Then she threw it at a pile of ants on the side of us. "There! Now I can truthfully tell her that ants had ate it!" I shook my head and sighed at her idiocy.
Suddenly, she walked over to me and stuck out her hand. "I am Mikan Sakura! Nice to meet you!" She gave me another smile.
"I'm Nat-" I started, but then a rope wrapped around my waist and pulled me down the hole. I screamed and shouted. The place I was going to felt like hell to me. I didn't want to go there. I want to go back to the surface, where Mikan was. Where my friend was.
~End of Flashback~
Hotaru's P.O.V.
I didn't even look at Sumire when she stepped into the grand room. "No." I said. "Just get out of my face." She ran away as fast as she could. I groaned and stomped my foot. "Alice is still alive and I'm getting no where with my plans! But luckily, I still have 'that'." I smirked and pulled out "the" box. I drew out a gun from it. It wasn't the greatest weapon ever, but the bullets inside of it were amazingly strong. Ones hot can kill a person instantly, no matter where they have been shot. I tossed it to my new servant, Luna. She caught it swiftly in her hands. "Listen," I said as I pointed to the gun. "When it's your turn, you shall kill her with the bullets inside of it. You won't have to do the sin you're assigned to. Just keep shooting until she dies." She nodded and bowed.
"Yes, my Queen." she said. I laughed.
"You better obey. Before I shoot you with it." She looked up at me, and to my surprise, she showed no sign of fear. Instead, true wicked determination flashed in those very eyes. I liked that.
"I will. You'll' see." she said. And then, she left the room.
A.N. Mikan is still in danger. But in Natsume's P.O.V., there happens to be a little moment of caring and love in there? Seems so. Hotaru still strives to get Mikan killed. And what do you think Ruka saw Shuichi do that caused him to be so afraid? Find out more in the next chapter. Reviews are always appreciated. Also, sorry for not updating yesterday.
And here is the answer to the main question readers has asked me many times.
Is this a NXM story?
Well, I would say it's a RXM and a NXM story. I'm just getting there so hang on 'kay?
