Chapter 9

A young boy with soft brown hair and clear grey eyes slammed the orphanage door open in a hurry.

He ran towards the front yard with excitement in his eyes, as a certain figure entered the premises with a big box in her hands. As loud as possible, he called out in his slightly squeaky six-year-old voice while the figure fumbled to close the wooden gate behind her, "Mikan-nee! You're finally here, I miss you so much, Mikan-nee!"

The brunette turned around in surprise and giggled as the young boy hugged her knees with all his might. It only had been seven days since she last saw him, yet it felt like ages ago at the same time, "Good morning, You-chan. Oh I miss you too!" She placed the box on the ground, and knelt down to give the boy a squeeze, "Have you been a good boy this week?"

Youichi Hijiri nodded vigorously as he looked at his favorite caretaker with a proud look, "I helped Yuna-chan made a b-bracelet yesterday," He scrunched his nose as he stuttered to pronounce the word, "She also said that I did a good job."

"Wow, I'm so proud of you, You-chan! We should make a bracelet together too."

"But Jun-kun said it was a girly thing to do," the boy frowned when he remembered being laughed at by his particularly naughty classmate. "Am I girly, Mikan-nee?"

Mikan laughed and stroked his hair lightly. With a teasing look, she lifted him up in her arms and said gently, "I think that makes you look very chivalrous, You-chan. Do you know that helping your friends in need, will make you look even more handsome?"

Upon hearing her compliment, Youichi blushed and grabbed her shoulder with his small hands, "O-okay then, let's make bracelet together, Mikan-nee."

Akane Shouko was smiling by the door as she watched the exchange between the two.

The middle aged woman had been running the Tanoshii Orphanage for eight years, and never met a young caretaker who was as dedicated as Mikan Yukihira. The cheerful and caring brunette initially volunteered at the orphanage when she first joined Tokyo University's Philanthropy Club. She would occasionally bring books, toys, clothes, and even food for the orphans. After a few months, Akane decided to hire her as a part-timer in the orphanage to help her with errands, paperwork, and even maintaining relationship with their sponsors. Even though Akane had a few employees helping her with day-to-day chores, she felt that Mikan brings a positive energy whenever she visits, in which she believed exactly what the children need.

All the orphans fell in love with her since day one, including little Youichi who tend to give the adults a hard time with his stubborn personality. The young boy first came to the orphanage when he was four years old, and had been very quiet. The police said that the poor kid witnessed his parents being murdered in front of his eyes, which might have traumatized him since. However, he began to open up more since Mikan started visiting the institution, and would follow her like a little puppy wherever she goes.

Noticing that Akane was standing nearby, Mikan gave her a polite smile. She was about to walk towards her, before Akane signaled her to continue her conversation with Youichi instead.

After all, no one could make Youichi had such a lively expression except for Mikan. It was clear that the young woman had a special kind of affection to him as well, and Akane wondered if it was because she too had lost her parents at a very young age.

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"Look! It's a Rapunzel doll, oh wow, she looks so pretty."

"I call dibs on that robot, don't you take it, Saki-kun!"

"There are so many stuffed animals! I want that one!"

The children were circling the big box that Mikan was carrying earlier. Their eyes twinkled upon seeing the toys that were stacked inside. The Philanthropy Club had been accepting toy donations throughout the school break, and each member had taken their time to carefully go through each item, to make sure they were still in good condition and non-hazardous for children. After carefully cleaning the toys if needed, they would give them away to five different orphanages that they collaborated with, including Tanoshii Orphanage that Mikan was in charge of.

Akane clapped her hands twice to get attention from the kids and said, "Everyone, what should we say to Mikan-nee for bringing us these presents?"

The little kids looked up from the box and chorused almost immediately, "Thank you, Mikan-nee!"

Mikan smiled when looking at the sweet faces of the children and replied, "You're very welcome. Don't forget to share them with your friends, okay."

As the children started playing with their new toys, Mikan proceeded to the kitchen and helped Akane made chicken and vegetable curry for lunch.

She just finished cutting the potatoes when her phone rang, and immediately picked it up without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mikan. You weren't answering your messages, so I thought I'd call."

Mikan's eyes widen upon hearing the familiar husky voice, as she realized she had completely forgotten the time. She was supposed to meet him to have a look around the Mission Bunker, and was carried away with her routine in the orphanage instead, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, I wasn't checking my phone this whole morning!"

"No worries. Good thing I called," he paused for a moment before continuing, "How about I give you a ride later? Are you going to be home?"

"Really? That'd be awesome! I'm not home though, I'm at the Tanoshii Orphanage right now," Mikan said while signaling Akane that she was going to step outside of the kitchen for a bit.

"Tanoshii Orphanage?" A surprised voice asked from the other line, and the brunette couldn't help but let out a sheepish smile when an idea popped in her mind.

"Actually, are you free right now? Do you want to join us for lunch? We're having curry today."

Hayami Jinso was pacing back and forth inside his Press President Office in the News Department, a worried look was visibly plastered on his face.

Almost a week had passed since the Academy News incident, yet he still couldn't bring the courage to apologize to a certain girl named Mikan Yukihira. He felt terrible when he read the article about her, and even worse after finding out that he had written the post and published it to the entire Alice Academy's mailing list!

"Stop pacing back and forth, you idiot, you don't even know what happened that day, moreover remembered that you wrote it."

Hayami looked at his friend, Tsubasa Andou, who was casually sitting on the sofa. The black haired man with a star tattoo under his left eye was munching on roasted almonds, and waved his hand in a relaxed manner, "I'll accompany you to apologize to her in person, how about that? I'm sure she would understand after hearing your explanation."

Sighing loudly, Hayami pushed his glasses above his head and sat on his chair, "Thanks a lot, man. I feel horrible. If only I could make it up to her somehow."

Tsubasa glanced at the CCTV camera in the corner of the ceiling, and raised his eyebrows, "Have you checked the CCTV yet? Maybe you can find the real culprit from the footage."

Hayami nervously pressed his hands against each other while looking down, "That's what I've been telling you. No one else was here that night. I only saw myself writing the article and published it. Isn't it crazy? It's as if I was hypnotized, like I was controlled by some sort of trickery or magic or-"

"Puppeteer," Tsubasa spitted the word and glared at the CCTV, as if blaming the harmless electronic for not doing it's job properly. "The Puppeteer. Do you think she was controlling you?"

Hayami gulped as he had thought of the possibility as well. Puppeteer was the Alice nickname of a certain Luna Koizumi, who was once a Quest member a few years ago. She quit after her first mission failed, and became a normal AA member instead. He knew Tsubasa didn't have the best relationship with the woman, and wouldn't doubt that he would be suspecting her in this case. "I'm honestly not sure. However, if she was the culprit, the big question is, why? Why would she do it? Why spreading rumors about an innocent member under probation?"

Chuckling dryly was Tsubasa, who unconsciously clenched his hand as he remembered what the woman had done to his female best friend, "Why? Isn't it obvious? That woman is the true depiction of an evil queen. A powerful woman filled with jealousy, and cunning as a snake. I wouldn't be surprised if she was behind all this."

Hearing his words, Hayami felt slight chills running down his body. If Luna was the one controlling him, then sadly there was nothing he could do except taking the blame on him.

"You met Mikan at the Gala? Really?"

Hotaru rolled her eyes and placed her pincers down. She was working on a fun invention this time: a penguin robot, before the blond barged in her private lab to have a chat. "Do you want me to repeat that again?"

"I can't believe it. Do you think Natsume knew?" Ruka was still in disbelief. What are the odds that Mikan is part of the Elites too? Has destiny had been playing with them for the past few days?

The Animal-Pheromone Alice took a seat next on an empty chair next to Hotaru, and smiled when he saw the penguin-looking robot on her desk. What an adorable looking creature.

Hotaru noticed his gentle expression, and stealthily took out her phone to capture the moment. She had been secretly editing and selling Ruka's pictures to a bunch of fan girls that he didn't even know he had. Most of them thought Ruka was a Japanese-Italian model named 'Luca', a name that Hotaru came up with because it was one of the most common Italian names out there, and rhymed perfectly like Ruka. The young woman acted as his publicist and used the pseudo-name 'Ice Queen' to post and sell his pictures online. She took advantage of the opportunity to not only generate a lot of money, but also give him the prank of his life.

Ruka gently touched the robot before focusing his gaze on the young woman. If only he knew that Hotaru was attending the JAP Gala a few days ago, he would've joined her in a heartbeat. "Maybe we should all go together to one of the Elites' events sometime. It will be fun."

The black haired woman scoffed as she opened a drawer filled with different sizes of nails, and grabbed a few smaller ones for the penguin robot's body, "Fun. I wonder if your friend Hyuuga would think the same way."

Unconsciously, Ruka rolled his eyes and his lips formed a smirk, "Oh, I'm sure he would oblige."

Hotaru raised one of his eyebrows, startled with the overly confident answer coming from him, "Oh? Is there anything that I should know about?"

The blond lad chuckled as he looked around the lab, as if not wanting anyone else to hear what he was going to say next, "Mikan and Natsume have been meeting each other lately. They'd make a good couple, don't you think?"

Hotaru went silent as she didn't want to break the bunny boy's romantic fantasies.

Obviously, he didn't know that Narumi had asked Natsume to take care of Mikan while she was under probation. The innocent lad must had been so delighted at the slightest chance that the Natsume Hyuuga might be interested in dating a good girl, for once. His past love interests always turned into nightmares, especially his latest ex who couldn't seem to move on. Hotaru wouldn't be surprised if the she-devil still traumatized him until now.

In the end, however, the young woman faked a sweet smile and replied instead, "Sure, why wouldn't they make a good couple?"

Lunch time in Tanoshii Orphanage had always been chaotic yet enjoyable for everyone.

A total of twenty children would line up in the kitchen, from youngest to eldest, and they would gather in the living room area to dine together. The couches, tables, and chairs were pushed back against the wall, while the glass door leading to the veranda was opened to view the small yard in front of the three-stories house. Bushes of marigolds were peeking through the bushes, and a birdhouse swung lightly from the big pine tree branch at the corner of the yard.

Natsume Hyuuga arrived when lunch was just being served. He parked his shiny black E-Class Mercedes-Benz right across the building, and proceeded to walk towards the orphanage's gate that was already unlocked.

He had to admit that he wasn't expecting Mikan to be at an orphanage. At first, he offered her a ride to make sure no one bothers her when she arrives in the Academy. A lot of people are going to be there for the Assembly, and he would make sure to keep her close at all times. Looking at the building before him, Natsume recalled that Mikan mentioned she was part of her university's Philanthropy Club. However, he didn't know that she was also working there. He could hear the children's loud voices from outside, and started to feel slightly anxious.

Natsume was a lot of things; intelligent, royal, and handsome. But children had never been his area of expertise, especially when it comes to entertaining them.

Unlike Ruka who could pull his Alice to summon a cute animal such as bird, butterfly, or squirrel out of nowhere to gain the kids' interest, Natsume was rather rigid and slightly awkward. Now stepping inside the yard, he started to wonder why he even said yes to Mikan's offer and came at the first place.

Suddenly, a little boy around the age of five or six spotted him walking in, and Natsume unconsciously held his breath. The boy's expression changed from curiosity to surprise, then his eyes widen in terror.

Crap.

Before Natsume get to do anything, the boy was already yelling on top of his lungs, "Akane-san! Help! There's a stranger inside the yard! Stranger danger!"

The raven haired lad sighed and stopped on his tracks. He should've known something like this would happen.

Natsume debated whether he should wait until an adult comes out to calm the little boy, or simply ignore the child's cry and continue walking towards the door. A few good seconds later, he saw a flash of long brown hair, olive plaid shirt, and black jeans. Mikan Yukihira appeared at the door and swiftly scooped the child in her arms.

His savior had arrived.

"It's okay, You-chan. This onii-san is my friend, and he's going to have lunch with us," Mikan said gently and the boy started to calm down. He obediently nodded, while keeping his eyes on Natsume with an unsure look.

With a big smile, Mikan waved and signaled her Alice partner to come inside. "I'm glad you can make it, Natsume. Welcome to Tanoshii Orphanage! We just finished preparing the bowls for lunch."

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"Onii-san, you are so tall! Even taller than Mikan-nee!"

Natsume couldn't help but let out the tiniest of smile when he saw the little girl's genuine reaction. He bent his knees so she didn't have to look up so much to meet his eyes, "That's because I ate a lot when I was your age, and I played basketball too."

The young girl in pigtails opened her mouth in wonder, then took his hands towards the kitchen area, "Then you should eat a lot today too, Onii-san! Mikan-nee's curry is sooo good."

Somehow, the girl reminded him of Aoi when she was young, and Natsume quickly obliged to her request.

Mikan was serving the last few portions of curry, when she noticed that her friend was occupied with one of the most hyperactive girl in the orphanage.

She chuckled lightly as Natsume started to get a little flustered answering a million questions that the seven-year-old had for him. "Yuna-chan, have you introduced yourself to Onii-san yet?" Mikan asked while scooping rice from the rice cooker. She gave Natsume a wink, and the raven haired shot her a relieved look.

The young Yuna shook her head shyly, "Not yet, Mikan-nee," She looked at the adult with wide amber eyes and asked, "Onii-san, what is your name? My name is Yuna."

"Nice to meet you, Yuna-chan. My name is Natsume." The raven haired answered, and the girl struggled to repeat his name correctly, "N-na-tsu-m-me. Natsume-nii?"

Youichi was silently listening throughout the conversation, and asked out of the blue, "Is it okay if I call you Natsu-nii?"

A little unexpected, Natsume realized that it was the same boy who was screaming in the front yard earlier. "Of course, you can. What is your name, young man?"

The boy felt his cheeks grew warm as it was the first time someone put his name and the word 'man' in the same sentence. He was happy and embarrassed at the same time, but immediately looked away. "My name is Youichi. But people call me You-chan."

Natsume ruffled his hair lightly and said, "Nice to meet you, You-chan."

The little boy blushed and puffed his cheeks, causing Natsume to chuckle. Somehow, he felt like he just passed a test to gain the boy's approval.

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Most of the children were sitting on the floor and laughing merrily with each other as they ate their lunch. The scene before Natsume was foreign in his eyes, as he never paid any visit to orphanages before. Some kids decided to play with their toys outside in the yard, and Natsume felt the urge to install a short basketball stand for them to play with.

Mikan slowly stood next to Natsume who hadn't touched his food yet. She had finally finished serving lunch for everyone, and decided to take a break and enjoy her meal. "So, Natsume, what do you think of the orphanage?"

The raven haired lad looked at her in surprise, as he didn't realize the brunette was standing there all along. "I think this is a very wonderful orphanage. The children look very happy, and Akane-san seemed like a really nice and responsible woman to run the institution."

Hearing his words made the brunette smile, and she silently observed how the man's posture had relaxed compared to the first time when he arrived. She noticed that the neckline of his gray sweater was slightly crooked because Yuna was pulling his clothes earlier. Instinctively, Mikan almost reached her hand out to fix his shirt, like she would with the kids. However, she realized what she was doing and stopped herself immediately.

Goodness, Mikan, that was close.

She unconsciously blushed at the thought. How embarrassing would it be if that happened! She tried distracting herself and started stirring her food instead, "You should try the curry before it gets cold. It's one of the kids' favorites here."

Natsume looked at his bowl, then took a spoonful of rice and curry in his mouth. A smile appeared on his face for a split second before he said to her, "This is really good. My respect for the chefs."

Beaming with pride, Mikan grinned as she watched him taking another bite, "Me and Akane-san had tried perfecting this recipe for months. I'm glad it was worth the effort."

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After spending another hour in the Tanoshii Orphanage, it was time for the two Alices to start heading to the Academy.

Earlier, Natsume had offered to help wash the dishes, in which Akane insisted to refuse. The stubborn lad, however, would hear none of it. "It's the least thing that I could do to help," He politely said and the woman finally let him work alongside Mikan to clean the pile of dirty bowls and cutlery.

Youichi pouted as Mikan started bidding her goodbye to the children. The young boy tugged her shirt and asked in a sad voice, "Can't you stay a little longer, Mikan-nee?"

Mikan smiled and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead instead, "I'll see you next week, You-chan. Let's make that bracelet together next week, promise?"

The brown haired boy smiled and nodded quickly, "Promise!"

He slowly averted his gaze to Natsume who was looking at his direction as well. Unexpectedly, the man with crimson eyes ruffled his hair and smirked, "I'll see you again, You-chan. Don't yell at me when I visit next time."

Youichi grinned as he watched the pair walked towards the gate, "I won't, Natsu-nii! Come again, okay!"

Slowly, Akane crept next to Mikan and whispered in her ears, in which made the brunette blush uncontrollably, "N-no we're not! We're just friends, nothing more, Akane-san, really!"

The middle aged woman placed her curls behind her ears, and rolled her eyes at Mikan with a knowing look, "We'll see about that, young lady. We shall see."

Tsubasa Andou was looking at the folder filled with documents about his next mission that night. It was a Level 0 Mission, and that could only mean one thing: Supervising Task to monitor Alices outside of the Academy.

He stopped in front of a door with a metallic frame label: "Gear Room". The door slid open to reveal a spacious room with shelves, cabinets, benches, and mirrors all around the walls. A few changing rooms were placed in one corner, complete with shower stalls and sinks. The racks were stacked with dark colored garments, ranging from sleeveless tanks to thick sweaters. They also had wetsuits, tuxedo blazers, and even ball gowns. On the bottom cabinets were a variety of shoes like sneakers, boots, oxford, and heels. All of the outfits were custom-made by a renowned fashion designer who also happened to be an Alice. That being said, the gears inside the room were able to fit every Quest member according to their different body shapes and sizes.

Proceeding to one of the shelves, Tsubasa grabbed a black hoodie and a pair of jogger pants. He picked a duffel bag from the bottom cabinet and stuffed the clothes inside. Looking at his watch, he realized that he still had plenty of time to kill before the Assembly starts.

"Hey Tsubasa! Let's use the simulation and train together!" A young woman suddenly jumped and hugged him from behind like a koala, and Tsubasa impulsively held her legs so she wouldn't fall down.

Misaki Harada laughed while Tsubasa gave her a glare, "How many times should I remind you that this habit of yours can be dangerous? What if I didn't catch you on time? We could both fall!"

The young woman rolled her eyes as she knew he'd lecture her sooner or later. He used to be more carefree in the past, until the day she got into that serious accident. She was forced to stay in the hospital for weeks, and he started becoming extra protective of her since. "I know you'd never let me fall, Tsubasa. Especially with that Alice of yours. I trust you, you shadow-freak."

Tsubasa sighed and slowly placed her down on one of the benches, "How did you know I'm going to be here? Do you have a mission too?"

"Nope, I was heading to the Training Room when I saw you walked in here. Come on, let's use the Mission Simulation this time. I heard the Tech division just implemented the latest model to the system," Misaki took his hand and started to pull him to exit the room.

The young man smirked as he complied with her request and said, "Probably I'll score better than you, again, Misaki."

With one fast movement, the red-haired woman smacked his head, an annoyed look was visible on her face, "I'm not gonna let that happen!"

Tsubasa laughed and swung his duffel bag behind his shoulder. She had always challenged him since the first day they met, which was exactly the reason why they ended up becoming the best of friends; or maybe, even more.

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A/N

This might be the longest chapter that I've written for this story! Wow, didn't realize I was typing so much until I stopped.

Anyway, I hope you adore Youichi as much as I do ~

As always, your thoughts and feedback are much appreciated!