A long time ago, I promised myself I'd finish this story. :)
Lesson Ten
The Alice of Many Faces
Friday, lunchtime.
Luna could feel Mikan's eyes on her as she stared up at the banner that greeted her from the door. It was fastened by an almost invisible rope, the words Welcome to Special Ability Class! imprinted on it in big, dark font. She stood frozen where she was, trying to take it all in, barely hearing the girl's voice amidst the loud hooting of her new classmates.
"We always do this when there's a new student joining our class," Mikan said. Luna turned to her and saw the brunette giggling softly at what must have been an astounded expression on her face.
"This is amazing," Luna managed to breathe, muttering a silent 'thank you' when one of her new classmates handed her a party hat and a glass of soft drink. "You really go through all this trouble for a new student?"
Mikan smiled. "It's no trouble at all, really! We're a big family here in Special Ability, and we treat every member of the class very important to us." She gestured to the banner once more. "Welcome to Special Ability, Luna! I'm sure you'll have a lot of fun in this class!"
"Oh, she will. We'll make sure of that," a pink-haired girl of no more than fifteen said, approaching them with a dark-haired young man. She smiled at Luna as she introduced herself. "Welcome to Special Ability. I'm Misaki Harada."
The young man grinned. "Tsubasa Andou. Welcome to the class."
Luna smiled back, encouraged by their friendliness. "Luna Ishihara, troublemaker," she said, starting to feel more at ease.
"I've heard of that," Tsubasa said with a laugh. "I think we'll get along really well." That earned him a nudge from Misaki. "Aw, Misaki. You'll destroy my ribcage by the end of the day," he complained good-naturedly.
"Shut up, Tsubasa."
"You make a good pair," she teased lightly, and continued before any of them could protest. "So where's Noda-sensei?" she asked, very curious of the teacher who seemed to be adored by the whole class. She had asked Yuki and Kaede about Noda, and both could say only the best things about the Special Ability moderator.
"He said he'd be late, but he'll be here soon." Misaki chuckled. "He nearly froze to death in the mountains."
She raised an eyebrow, unsure if she heard right. "Mountains?"
"He has the alice of time traveling, and he usually ends up in the weirdest places," Tsubasa said. "He ended up in the mountains this time, so when he came back a few days ago he had a bad cold and a high fever."
She grimaced, imagining what Noda must have been through. "Is he all right now?" she asked.
"Don't worry; he is. He doesn't look it, but he's pretty tough," Misaki assured her.
"That's a relief," she said, suddenly amused when she realized that she did feel relieved to know that her teacher was all right. "I've been looking forward to meeting him so I can ask him more about my alice."
"Oh, you'll meet him later," Tsubasa said, giving her a push towards the heart of the celebration. "For now, let's just enjoy this little celebration we prepared for you, shall we?"
"Let the party begin!" Mikan and Misaki chorused.
۞۞۞
Narumi narrowed his eyes at the smoke that enveloped most of the Northern Forest. It had been more than five minutes since the second explosives went off, but the smoke still obscured parts of the forest from view.
Beside him, Subaru Imai was quiet. He had commanded the use of water alices earlier, but Narumi only disagreed with this. "There's something amiss here," he said.
"I can see that, Narumi-sensei. The Northern Forest is burning when it shouldn't," Subaru said, having a certain edge to his voice. He glanced over to the flames at the center of the woodland, his eyes unreadable. He and the rest of the teachers were in a safe distance, protected by a barrier alice.
Narumi took a deep breath. "Those aren't real flames."
Subaru stared hard at him, unable to hide his incredulity. "What?"
"Leaves burn fast," Narumi explained, "especially dried leaves. Northern Forest wouldn't have lasted this long if that's a real fire." He paused, almost hesitant to tell them his theory. It made sense, all things considered, but it was equally preposterous at the same time. "Setting the forest on fire is not the prank. I suspect it's merely a distraction."
"That's one hell of a distraction," one of the Student Representatives shot back, apparently irritated by Narumi's calm.
"What do you suggest, Narumi-sensei?" Subaru asked, narrowing his eyes at him.
"We wait," he said simply.
"Narumi-sensei," Subaru called out, distracting Narumi's musings. "Time's up." The teacher had asked the young man to make a seven-minute countdown from the moment the second set of explosives went off.
"Thanks." Narumi nodded at the other Student Representative, signaling for her to use her wind alice. She scoffed at him, but summoned the winds regardless, dispelling the smoke and clearing most of the area for them.
Narumi narrowed his eyes, gave another nod, and the student created another strong breeze, this time letting it blow for a longer time.
In a few seconds the wind dispelled even the fire, slowly but without doubt.
Narumi could hear the gasps from the Representatives as they watched the flames fade easily. The trees and bushes that had seemed to be burning just a while ago remained in their places, untouched instead of being reduced to ashes; not even looking singed at the slightest.
He turned to Subaru, giving a small nod.
The student hadn't lost his composure, but he looked furious. "Is Luna Ishihara making a fool of us?" he muttered, his voice pitched low.
Narumi only managed a weak smile before walking ahead towards the heart of the forest.
۞۞۞
The man in front of Luna hardly looked like he had just recuperated from sickness. With his easy manner and a smile that never seemed to leave his lips, Noda was very easy to like. He blended in well with his students, and it was almost unbelievable that he was a teacher instead of a student like themselves. "Hello, Luna. I'm Noda-sensei, and I'm in charge of Special Ability Class. I'm so glad you've finally joined us."
Luna smiled, easily won over by his effortless charm. "I am, too, Noda-sensei," she told him sincerely.
"I'm sorry I couldn't join your party," he continued, scratching his head sheepishly. "I got really sick."
"That's all right," she said. "I understand that you were taking a rest."
"Don't worry, Noda-sensei! We saved you some cake!" Mikan added helpfully, occupying the desk just opposite Luna. Behind her were Misaki and Tsubasa, looking vaguely amused. The three had graciously offered to come with Luna to her special training, curious to hear what their teacher had to say about her alice.
"Thank you, Mikan," Noda said, before turning back to her. "I'm sure you look forward to learning more about your alice, Luna."
"I am," she said, giving a nod. "The mirror alice."
"Let's begin, then." Noda picked up a piece of chalk and drew a mirror on the blackboard. "The mirror alice got its name from the fact that it works just like a mirror: It copies the exact ability of another alice within its bounds." He paused as if to emphasize his words. "It has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, like all other alices."
He held up a forefinger. "One of its greatest disadvantages is that the mirror alice can never work without other alices around it." He nodded to her. "Tell me, Luna: How did you find out about your alice?"
She straightened up. "My best friend is an alice, and I accidentally used his own alice while he was with me."
"Is your best friend still in the Academy?" Misaki asked from the back of the room.
Luna turned to the younger girl, smiling. "My best friend is Yukihiko Ishigure."
Mikan blinked, obviously knowing the young man. "Him? But everyone says you're going out…"
She gave a quiet laugh at this. "We've been friends since he was five," she said. "We don't really tell anyone about it; it keeps his fan girls away most times." With a dismissive shrug, she turned back to her teacher. "I was thinking Yuki's alice must have triggered my own."
"That's a possibility, considering how strong his alice has become," Noda agreed. "Dangerous alices like his own very often develop to be the strongest of alices, and it's not hard to imagine it triggering yours."
He held up another finger. "This brings us to another disadvantage: Mirror alices are hard to discover. It's not unusual for mirror alice wielders to enter the Academy so late."
"Doesn't it make her alice dangerous?" Tsubasa asked curiously. "An alice triggered so easily sounds risky, even to the one who owns it."
Noda shook his head. "Not quite. The mirror only did what it should have had: mirror an alice within its bounds. Inactivated alices are usually unsteady, so when Luna's alice came across a powerful one, it must have been readily set off."
He glanced at Luna. "This danger scarcely exists once you know the basics of controlling your ability, although it doesn't completely disappear. You will have to be very careful of the alices you use your alice on, especially if you don't know the extent of their potency."
She nodded. "Are there requirements or limits to what my alice can do?"
"Distance is one of the main concerns when using the mirror alice," Noda said. "A fixed characteristic of mirror alice that we've observed over time is the radius that it can cover – roughly two meters from its wielder. The alices you can mirror are limited to those within a two-meter radius from you."
"But she can use all alices?" Misaki asked curiously.
"Technical alices are not within the scope of the mirror alice," Noda answered, and gave a little nod to Luna. "Their alices come from their knowledge, and even your alice can't claim any of them for yourself." He smiled. "It's like the saying that no one can steal your genius."
"That seems fair enough," she said, smiling. "So how long can I use an alice I've mirrored?"
"It depends on the shape of your ability," he said, explicating the four shapes of alices. "Mirror alices usually take the intermittent shape, which means you can only use the ability for a short period of time, although at a relatively high power."
"You're allowed to mirror the ability of a person only once within twenty-four hours, and this alice lasts for only about ten minutes in your possession," Noda added. "If, for example, you mirror my alice now, you'll only be allowed to do so again tomorrow, at this exact same time. Trying to mirror it again prior to the twenty-four hour rule is futile."
"Oh." She paused, furrowing her eyebrows thoughtfully. "Is there a specific number of alices that I can mirror in a given period of time?"
"You can use as many alices as you want," he said, "but you have to realize that the use of so many alices that differ in strength and shapes can be very exhausting. You're limited to what your body will allow you to use."
It was at this moment that Mikan raised her hand, making Noda and Luna turn to her. "Mikan?" Noda called out.
"Doesn't the nullification alice work on the mirror alice?" the young girl asked quietly.
Noda assumed a detective pose, as if remembering something. "I almost forgot about that." He smiled at his students. "The nullification alice works on all alices. There are no exceptions to this. However," he said, glancing at Luna, "the mirror alice has one unique characteristic."
Luna turned to Mikan, her eyes flashing with mischief. "The mirror alice can nullify a nullifying alice."
It took a moment before the younger girl could react. "It can what?" she repeated, disbelief written all over her face.
"Nullify a nullifying alice," Luna repeated, smiling with a touch of smugness.
"Nullify a nullifying alice," Tsubasa mumbled, exchanging glances with Misaki. "I didn't think that was even possible."
"It is," Luna said. "If I use my alice to mirror Mikan's before she nullifies mine, then my nullifying alice can cancel Mikan's nullifying alice, so she can't use it."
Noda nodded his agreement. "I'm surprised you know of this already."
"I realized it only two weeks ago," she admitted to her stunned classmates. "It's not necessary that the alice I want to mirror is in use before I can mirror it, so I thought I'd try to mirror and nullify Mikan's alice to stop Jinno-sensei's – without stopping mine."
"I think I get it," Mikan whimpered, covering her face with both hands. "So Hotaru was right! I didn't nullify the alices, after all!" She looked very disheartened by what she learned, and Luna almost felt bad, if she cared enough.
Noda didn't seem put off by this. Instead he walked over to his younger student, an encouraging smile on his lips. "Cheer up, Mikan. It was all a matter of timing, and awareness of the alices at hand. It doesn't mean a flaw in your ability."
"It just means you'll have to be more conscious of the alices around you, and what they can do to your own. The coexistence of alices makes them an even more interesting thing to know about, and their interaction can bring the most terrible or the most excellent outcomes." He nodded. "You can look at this as a way to improve your alice, Mikan."
The young girl was still teary-eyed, but she seemed to accept this. "You're right, Noda-sensei. This is a lesson for me! I will definitely be more careful next time!"
Luna could only smile, admiring Noda's effortless encouragement. It wasn't hard to imagine that Mikan's alice would develop into something much more than what it was at the moment, with a teacher like Noda to guide her every step.
"So, Luna," Noda said, turning to her with a smile so cheerful it made it hard not to smile back at him.
"What do you say we put your alice to a test?"
۞۞۞
The forest clearing that they found revealed nothing of the mayhem that had occurred. It seemed very peaceful, and quiet; with the sun filtering through the high canopy and the occasional rabbits scurrying along the path.
"Will you explain what's going on?" Misaki finally asked, confusion making its way to his voice. He had been with Narumi ever since the latter called for help, and his own exasperation with the confusing events that had played out before him was starting to show.
Narumi let his gaze wander around the woods. "It's an invention of the Technical Types. It's a special prop that produces the most believable explosions and flames, which we use during plays and sometimes even during the Alice Festival. It lasts for seven minutes at most, although a wind alice can always put it off before it dies out by itself."
He stared at Subaru, who was looking up at a cherry blossom tree nearby. "There were no explosives. Just another genius invention, and perfect timing."
Subaru didn't seem to hear this. "Call for Luna Ishihara," he ordered instead, his face a mask of coldness.
"What is it?" one of the Student Representatives asked inquisitively. She craned her neck, taking a look at the tree that Subaru had been glaring at, and muttered an oath under her breath.
It didn't take long before Narumi and Misaki saw what had enraged them further. Hanging on the tree, tied to a branch, was a scrap of paper with a note.
Gotcha, was what it said.
۞۞۞
"Nullify your alice?" Luna said hesitantly. She was pretty confident of her alice, but she rather liked Noda, and she wouldn't want for her alice to be the reason for him to be lost back in time again. "Where will you get sent to if I don't successfully copy Mikan's alice and cancel yours?"
"Oh, I don't know," Noda said, looking too unconcerned for his own good. It almost seemed like he was used to being everywhere – and at whatever point in time. "But that's part of the risk I have to take as your teacher."
"You make it sound so dramatic," Misaki teased, putting a hand on her waist as she turned to her new classmate. "He's just putting pressure on you."
"He always does that," Tsubasa agreed, taking a seat behind a desk. "I have a question, Noda-sensei. Does the strength of the alice Luna uses depend on the one whom she mirrors it from?"
Noda shook his head. "Not at all. The mirror alice only copies the alice; not the level of mastery of it. Luna takes an alice as her own when she mirrors it, so its strength depends on her as its wielder."
"That means the nullification alice I'll be using can either be stronger or weaker than Mikan's," she said, squaring her shoulders as she took her place beside the brunette.
"That's right."
She took a deep breath. "Ready when you are, Noda-sensei."
The teacher gave a final nod. "Now remember, Luna," he said, just as he started to fade from their sight, "the mirror alice – "
It was then that the door to the classroom suddenly opened behind him, interrupting them.
"I want to speak to Luna Ishihara," the imperious voice of Subaru Imai said as he stepped inside. He adjusted his glasses as soon as he saw everyone agape at him, apparently realizing that he picked the wrong time to storm in. "What's happening here?"
"We're having a class," Luna snapped as she darted an annoyed look at the Student Representative behind her teacher. "Now get out – "
"Luna, Noda-sensei's alice!" Mikan exclaimed in panic.
Luna blinked, cursing herself for being so distracted and careless. "Noda-sensei," she whispered earnestly, and made an instinctive leap for her teacher as she mirrored Mikan's alice to cancel his.
A few moments later, she found herself hugging Subaru, his eyebrows twitched dangerously as he looked down at her. "What the hell do you think are you doing?"
…to be continued…
Oh, Subaru is pissed. ;)
Hilaire
08.31.09