Hello people! I'm not supposed to be doing this but I just HAD to, you know? I still have three more papers to go next wed, thurs and fri. -.- But I reallyyyy had to update this.

Without further ado, let me say my thanks to my reviewers:

Guest: Well, I hope this won't be confusing. You're the first 'Guess' in my review for Chapter 9… Anyway, thank you for your review! :3

Guest: The second 'Guest'… Nah… You didn't come off as a rude person. :D

DEVIlishAngel00: Hahaha! Thank you for your review! You don't have to beg :P

xSapphirexRosesxFanx: Yes, yes. Me too! :D

16-Dreamer's Hope-roanne: And thank YOU for reviewing it :3

Xx-ScGa-AddIctSs-xX: Hmmm thanks for the idea! I'll try to put it somewhere in my story if it suits the plot! :D

BrokenBlackCat: I know :/ But I hope it won't be long! Hehe, well… Intuitions are mostly right (for me)

Guest: Third 'Guest'… Thank you for your review!

Prism Stream: It's okay… I don't think I want Sumire to remain as a baddie… (Whoops. Spoiler?)

TheAnimeGirl4321: Thank you for liking it then! :D

Lovelyanime: Here's the update!

CuTexAnGeLxWriter: There will be romance between them… Just not so soon yet :P

Iarepiggie: To be honest… I rather have Luna be the slutty one :( But I guess she'll maybe have a change of heart? Idk :P

UnShed Tears: I don't like stories with Hotaru being b*tchy as well :( Hehehe… About their past… Soon perhaps?

anheru-chan: Me sianto honrado! (I had to use google translate! :P)

jane143: I'll try! But it's still a long way to go?

Wincesslos: :( But I keep having writer blocks. Thank you by the way! :D

TECKK: Thank you! :D :D *Feeling the love*

GEM: Huh… It didn't cross my mind that it'll be piqued as unique and different. Nonetheless, thank you! :D

Starlovers: Yes, yes I'll try

Sparkle9510: Okay, thanks :D

I DO NOT OWN GAKUEN ALICE! (oh well)

ENJOY!

Previously in Chapter 9:

"How was training?" The raven haired girl asked immediately when the brunette sat down next to her.

Mikan sighed. Hotaru smiled. It was her first time hearing Mikan heaving a sigh. 'That girl is changing for sure.' Thought Hotaru.

"Training was tiring. I don't like it."

"It's okay. You just have to tolerate it for another few more years."

Mikan grimaced. She wasn't sure if she would survive that long.

CHAPTER 10: A Visit to Central Town and Mikan's Past

Mikan's POV

I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. It's Sunday today. This means I don't have to go to class which is a happy thing.

Happy.

My classmates are really mean to me, except for a few such as Hotaru, Anna, Nonoko, Ruka and… Natsume? No, he is mean to me. He didn't care about me. Why is he like this? Can't he see that I need friends? He seemed lonely too. I bet he wants some friends too.

If mommy was to see me like this… She would have been really sad.

Mommy…

Flashback:

"Mommy, mommy!" A little girl with pigtails tugged the skirt of a woman.

The woman bent down and smiled, "Yes, dear?"

"The kids… In my class…" The girl started.

"What about them?"

"They don't like me." The girl's eyes started tearing.

"Hush, Mikan… Of course they like you." The woman hugged her daughter. "They just don't know it yet. You are special. Really, really special. Remember that."

But the girl cried. "They don't like me! They said I'm weird!"

The mother, after seeing her daughter cried so loud, said in a soft, soothing voice, "You're making mommy sad. Stop crying. I'm sure everyone loves you. If you're sad, mommy will be sad."

That made the little girl's crying stop. She looked up, hazel eyes staring at her mother's, "Mommy is sad?"

"Yes, of course. When you're happy, mommy is happy."

End of flashback.

I cannot be sad. For mommy.

*End of POV*

Mikan decided to visit Hotaru yet again. However, Hotaru wasn't in her room. She left a note outside which showed 'Baka, if you see this, it means I'm in Central Town buying more spare parts.'

She showed a tiny smile. Hotaru knew she was going to visit again. She decided to go to Central Town as well to find for her new friend.

When she reached there, she started feeling scared. The whole place was crowded. And she has forgotten the place where Hotaru went to buy the materials (poor sense of direction). Walking alone, she kept looking down, trying to avoid unnecessary attention. But fate has always been cruel for Mikan.

"Look who's here?"

Mikan looked up. In front of her was none other than Sumire and her posse.

"I'm surpised you have the guts to come here." Sumire sneered at her.

Mikan, thinking whether it was worth talking to her decided that it was not. She walked off, continuing her journey to find Hotaru.

"Oi! I'm talking to you!"

"I think she's deaf. She didn't have any reactions just now." Her friend whispered.

"Probably. Ugh! I can't stand looking at her! Let's go!" Sumire complained.

"Without doing anything to her?" Her other friend asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Wakako, we're in Central Town. There are so many people around. Use your brain sometimes!" And with that, she stalked off to the opposite direction of Mikan.

Mikan tried to ignore the encounter with Sumire and pretend as if she hadn't seen Sumire. But, Sumire unfortunately has caused quite a scene just now and some people started looking at Mikan. She bowed her head lower and reached the lemonade stall where she and Hotaru went the other day.

She decided to wait at the stall for Hotaru. If Hotaru wasn't going to turn up in an hour's time, she'll head back. Realising this, Mikan smiled a tiny bit again. She felt that she was becoming more independent – riding the bus to Central Town by herself, walking around Central Town by herself, and probably going back to the academy by herself too if Hotaru wasn't going to appear.

While drinking, she was interrupted by a small boy with silver hair. He sat opposite her across the round table and stared at her through her curtain of hair.

"You're Mikan Sakura."

Mikan just nodded and eyed at him suspiciously. Waiting for him to say more, she stared back at him. But he said no more and they ended up staring at each other.

After what seemed like minutes, he broke the silence, "You're boring."

Taken aback from what he said, she let out a small "huh?"

"Oh, so you do speak." The small boy said emotionless. "You're ugly."

Mikan, new to this type of conversation just nodded. She didn't know whether or not to agree or disagree, but she thought agreeing people will be better.

The small boy continued to stare at her blankly. "You're very ugly."

Mikan nodded again.

The small boy continued, "You're stupid."

Mikan nodded.

The small boy then said, "You're weird."

Mikan paused for a while. Then after a few seconds, nodded.

"Why aren't you talking?"

Mikan tilted her head to one side. "There's no reason for me to talk."

The small boy seemed unaffected by her voice. "I just said that you're ugly, stupid and weird. Aren't you going to defend yourself?"

"Defend… myself?" She said slowly. "Like… attacking you?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "You are stupid." After that, he left.

"Was that Hijiri?"

Mikan turned and saw her new friend. "Hotaru."

Hotaru smiled at her. "I knew you'll come here. So was that Hijiri?"

"Who's Hijiri?" She cocked her head to one side.

"That small boy just now. He talked to you, didn't he?"

"Is that his name?"

Hotaru nodded. "Youichi Hijiri. He's from D.A. class too."

Mikan nodded in reply. She continued sipping her lemonade. Then, realizing Hotaru was just sitting there, offered her lemonade too, which was gladly accepted by Hotaru.

"So, are you ready to continue your story?"

Mikan hesitated. After some time, she nodded. "Yes. You'll have to know sooner or later anyway."

The raven haired girl just made a small smile.

"So, when the bad guys came, mommy told me not to come out from my hiding place. She went out and I don't know what happened. But like what I told you the other day, I hid under the table for 3 days. I was really hungry by then. I crawled out of the table slowly, without making any sound.

"They could still be inside my house. I crept out silently. The living room was quiet. I went to the kitchen to look for some food to eat but I think the bad guys emptied everything. When I went out from the house, someone suddenly shouted, "The daughter! Get the daughter! Send Dokoshimi!" Using all the energy left inside of me, I ran back inside the house.

"They kept on banging on the door. I ran upstairs. But I knew I couldn't jump down. Although I knew mommy has inserted the flying alice stone into me, I've never tried. I didn't dare to risk my life. They managed to break into the house somehow. The Dokoshimi person was scary. I could remember how he looked like. Scarred face, limps almost broken, body seemed to be mutated but yet he was walking perfectly fine.

"He smiled at me. Not the prettiest smile I've seen.

"Hello, little one."

I looked at him, terrified of what he was going to do to me. He laughed.

"Dear, oh, dear. Not as brave as your mother, eh?"

I was in shock. I wanted to ask what happened to my mother but I didn't dare.

"She did some really nasty things to me, you know that?"

When I didn't reply, he laughed again.

"Look at me! I look like a mutated human!"

I stared at him.

"She also inserted some funny alice stones inside me. I used to be able to hurt people using my mind. Of course, it won't kill them. Just scare people off, something like that. But I don't know what she did. Instead of trying to hurt her, I hurt myself. It was agonizing, the pain I mean. I felt like I was going to die. I tried to grab her again but she inserted another stone into me again.

"Whatever that was, it made the pain stopped. But I was sort of transfigured into some sort of monster. I couldn't control myself. I started attacking my partners instead. I can't remember what I did to them but after I regain my own conscience, the rest that stayed out of my view explained what happened to me. I sort of 'sent them to hell'. Their soul escaped from their body and entered mine."

At this, I gave a loud shriek. Even though I was still very young, I understood what he was saying. He found it funny when I shrieked.

"Oh? Little girl is scared? You shouldn't be." Then he took out a knife and approached me. I didn't know what to do. He raised his hand and I tried to push him away. Something happened. I can't remember what. But suddenly, I saw him lying on the floor unconscious. I must have stolen his alice and it absorbed straight inside my body.

I felt the pain and collapsed. The next day or it could have been a few days later, I woke up in a hospital. There was an old man sitting beside my bed. I tried to get up but those tubes were stuck to me. I started crying again and woke the old man up.

"Hey, hey, you're awake. Don't cry." He comforted me and I somehow stopped crying. I think I was really touched. "Are you hurt?" He asked in the gentlest voice. I shook my head slowly. He smiled, showing all those wrinkles and said a "good".

Since that day, he took me into his house and we had a grandfather-granddaughter type of bond. He told me he found me outside of the house. How I got there, I will never know.

Then one day, Narumi-sensei visited us. He explained to both grandpa and I about Alice Academy. I was grateful for what grandpa did, so I came here, since they give money to the student's family. I promised to visit him after I graduate and he told me he'll wait.

So here I am."

Mikan ended her long story and looked at Hotaru. "You don't think of me as a killer, right?"

"Baka, of course not. You did it as a self-defense. And that alice, I don't think you can control it?"

Mikan shook her head. "I try to prevent it from taking control over me. But sometimes it acts on its own. I think… I have Dokoshimi's soul within me…" She said the last sentence softly.

Hotaru narrowed her eyes. "Why can't you take the alice out from yourself?"

"I tried. But I couldn't. I don't know. Narumi-sensei said he'll help me."

Hotaru nodded, and then said, "It's late. We should go back."

And so they left Central Town.

"I've told you my story. When can you tell me yours?" Mikan asked timidly.

"Let's just say it concerns Luna Koizumi and my brother." Hotaru answered stoically. Then looked at Mikan seriously. "She's coming to class tomorrow, isn't she?"

Mikan nodded.

"Just be careful."

When they reached back to their dorm, Mikan went straight to her bed.

Mikan's POV:

What is this feeling? My heart seems lighter. Somehow, I'm glad that I told Hotaru my story. She's such a nice person. How I wish I can help her too. I wonder what happened between Luna Koizumi and her brother.

And so! What do YOU think happened between Luna Koizumi and Hotaru's brother? Tell me what you think and I might take your idea because well… I'm having writer's block -.- So don't hate me! :P

Anyway, if you all have Twitter and don't mind reading all my random tweets, follow me at LittleAddiena :D (You'll learn my real name :P )

I hope you enjoyed it. It's passed 1.30 a.m by the way -.- But since you people are such lovelies, I don't mind staying up late to write this!

P/s: I promised to write longer the next chapter! . Wish me luck for my finals! ^^