Chapter 10

Trees

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice, Digimon or Shaman King

Author's Note: I know it may take forever but I am doing my best. I hope you continue to enjoy and I hope I can be able to do this so much faster. Enjoy!

"I'm telling you! He's crazy!" Hitomi shouted as she and the rest of the group sat in a table together for dinner. "Can you believe starting tomorrow we spend all our free time cleaning up the forest, planting everything back and removing the dead trees by our hands!"

"I always hated Jinno." Mikan said as she was crumpling up her tissue. "I always knew there was something mental about him. Sure he didn't lower our star rankings but to separate us from the other student population because they might get our 'rebellion germs'. Now I can't talk to Hotaru!" she said as she sighed.

All of them including Hikari and Takeru were all sitting in the same table as they were supposed to be divided from everyone else. They all sat in a table that was in the farthest corner of the whole cafeteria. Being the only table singled out thus brought about a lot of stares and gossiping aimed at them. In fact not only will they have to be separated in the cafeteria but all of those infected in the same grade with the 'rebellion germs' would have to sit together in a table at the end of the classroom whenever they have class.

Mikan finally snapped as she saw another person looking at them with the stare and shouted to the whole cafeteria. "WE'RE NOT ANIMALS IN A ZOO! Mind you own business!" Mikan exclaimed as she stood up on her chair and glared at everyone. In the process though, her friends, both the ones in her table and the ones who weren't affected by the 'germs', looked away in embarrassment.

Once Mikan sat down and people stopped staring at them and the group tried conversing once more back to normal. "So…" Takeru said "Back to the punishment…The period of it is pretty long isn't it?"

"Two weeks? Why two weeks?" Tai Chi said as he ruffled his hair and received groans of agreement from his friends Sora and Yamato.

"We should have known it was stupid to fight fire with fire. It literally just makes a bigger flame." Sora sighed in defeat.

"Yeah…I guess we just have to face the facts. There isn't any class tomorrow that means we have to fix the forest the whole day tomorrow." Chihiro pointed out. She said this with a smile though like she relished the thought.

"Umm…Chihiro? Why are you so happy?" Yoh asked in confusion as he saw Chihiro continuously smiling.

"Oh…it's just…can you imagine?" She started is she leaned towards Yoh and Yoh jumped back in surprise. "It's going to be amazing! The breeze of the wind blowing through my hair, the smell of the flowers and the beautiful nature everywhere, I can just taste it!" She said as she closed her eyes and smiled like she was dreaming.

"I can taste the pain and stress already." Hitomi added as she sighed in frustration.

"Wow…" Sora said as she tilted her head in wonder. "I never knew you were such a nature lover. You didn't seem to enjoy it yesterday." Sora concluded.

"Well…that's Chihiro for you. She always loved nature. In fact all three of us do. I guess the reason why Chihiro is suddenly confessing her love is so that she can look at the bright side." Hitomi said as she sighed and shook her head. She then proceeded to eating a clump of rice that was for her dinner. "She always has to look at the 'bright-side'" Hitomi said while doing spirit fingers in bright-side.

"So you're the half-glass full type aren't you?" Yamato said as he was picking up his glass to drink.

"Well…there's nothing wrong with that is there?" Chihiro exclaimed as she smiled and turned towards her food in front of her. She however stuck out her tongue at Hitomi before she did.

"Well…it will be tiring tomorrow won't it?" Mikan said as she picked up her fork. "Don't you think so Ruka?" she asked as she turned to Ruka.

Ruka was looking worriedly at his best friend who sat in the chair farthest from the rest. At first glance one would think Natsume was simply enjoying his gourmet soup. Mikan and Ruka knew better though wherein Natsume was actually eating the soup distractedly. The red-eyed boy was thinking greatly about something and his friends were worrying about it.

"Hey Natsume…" Ruka said ignoring Mikan's question. Everyone in the table then turned to look at Ruka. "Are you okay?" Natsume broke from his reverie and jerked up to look at Ruka. He then glanced at the rest of the table where most of them were looking at him with dislike.

"I'm fine." Natsume said plainly then stood up with his arms pushing him up from his seat. Natsume then turned and left without taking another glance behind him. "Natsume!" Ruka said as he stood up and followed behind him.

Mikan looked at the two and then turned to face the rest of the table. She sent them an apologetic face and smiled a small smile. She then got up and followed the two.

"What in the world do they see in that guy? He's just a mean, grouchy jerk." Tai Chi said as he shook his head and pierced a piece of meat with his fork and ate it.

"Hmmm…actually…I've met people like that before." Yoh said looking at the door where the three exited. "I became friends with a person like him actually. I guess…they're just misunderstood."

"Wow…what are you saying?" Hikari asked "He just seems pretty mean to me." she said while cutting her food.

"I agree with Hikari." Takeru said after he finished drinking his drink.

"Well…I suggest we shouldn't judge him quite yet." Yoh said as he crossed his arms behind his head. He smiled then turned to Chihiro who was smiling at her dish. She then turned to look at him in the eye and smiled at him.

Tai Chi was taking a drink when he turned to look at Meruka. She was sitting at the other end of the table and she was observing the other people who were eating. It seemed like she was spacing out though. Tai Chi then raised his eyebrow as he looked to see that Meruka hadn't touched her food one bit.

"Not hungry…?" Tai Chi said as he looked at Meruka. Meruka jerked up and realized that everyone is peering at her. Meruka then slowly nodded and explained. "I ate a heavy snack." she said and pushed her plate away without saying another word or any change in her pensive expression. Meruka then continued to stare at the other students who are partaking in their mealtime.

Tai Chi noticed that Hitomi and Chihiro were sending constant glances at the girl who seemed to have isolated herself from the rest. Tai Chi couldn't help but observe the girl. There was definitely something about her.

It was the next day and the punished students lined themselves sleepily outside the dormitories. Mr. Jinno wanted them to be there at five in the morning so that they could make the entire day 'fruitful'. His decision though led to one thing. Their hate for Mr. Jinno increased greatly.

"I hate Mr. Jinno. No questions asked." Yamato said as he leaned on the wall and continuously bumped the back of his head in order to wake up. The sun was still rising so it was still a little dark outside. Nobody wanted to wake up this early especially on a day with no school.

"I feel like I'm back at training with Anna." Yoh said as he yawned while pushing his body up from the wall with his arm as he and the others waited for Mr. Jinno.

"Who in the world is Anna?" Hikari asked as she looked at Yoh after yawning for a while.

"It's a pretty long story. Maybe I'll get to tell you someday. Right now let's just say it isn't the normal type of story you would hear." Yoh said as he struggled to keep awake and his hand made a swatting motion.

"You have your own story don't you?" Takeru said while looking at Yoh. "I guess we're on the same boat. We should exchange stories sometime."

The other past called 'chosen children' simply laughed and smiled as they remembered their adventures from when they were younger. Yoh smiled as he remembered his own and turned to look at Chihiro. His smile slowly died down as he looked to see Chihiro staring into space. Yoh was about to say something when Chihiro woke up from her reverie and saw him staring at her. She then smiled like nothing happened and waved at him. Yoh then turned to look at her two friends. Hitomi was looking at the ground and yawned. Meruka was far from them as usual and she was staring at the woods in front of them. Yoh was curious about what these girls' stories were.

While that whole exchange was going on another was ongoing with Ruka and Mikan. Natsume was leaning his back on the wall and closing his eyes in rest. Mikan and Ruka strayed a little farther from him in order for him not to hear them.

"Natsume is being an idiot again." Mikan said as she sighed and looked at Natsume. "He won't be able to make friends with his stupid attitude."

Ruka looked at his best friend and couldn't help but feel the same way as Mikan. Ruka however knew Natsume's intention. "Mikan…that's just how Natsume is. He has his reasons." Ruka tried to explain but Mikan was as stubborn as ever.

"Well his reasons are stupid." Mikan said as she stomped her foot and looked at Natsume.

"Mikan…you don't even know his reasons." Ruka said as he sighed at his persistent friend.

"I don't need to know! I already know it's stupid! I'm going to fix this! Somehow I will and Ruka, I expect you to help me." Mikan volunteered Ruka without his agreement and grabbed his shoulder and clenched her free hand into a fist as a sign of determination between the partners.

"But Mikan…" Ruka started when the sound of crackling caught the attention of the students who were interacting with one another.

"How good is it that all of you are actually on time." Mr. Jinno said as another crackle sent through his metal rod. "Including the no-stars and one-star."

Mikan twitched at the remark and Chihiro and Yoh had to restrain Hitomi from pouncing on Mr. Jinno. "Well anyway…" Mr. Jinno continued on not noticing the glares sent at him. "With the state of the forest as is, you need to do a lot of work. The damaged area is big so you can't all gather in one area. That is why you must break into pairs and each pair will be given a certain area to fix. So pick your partners and I'll see you guys at dinner time. Don't worry about lunch. You'll find packed food over here. Now I'll be leaving. No questions asked." Mr. Jinno said then gave a list to Tai Chi who was nearest to him. Mr. Jinno then left without another word.

Tai Chi contorted his face in disgust as he watched Mr. Jinno leave. He then looked down to see what the paper was. It contained the areas that needed to be fixed and what the division of areas was. Tai Chi was actually shocked. The affected area was pretty big. Now, he felt complete guilt.

"So…" Sora said taking a glance at the paper in Tai Chi's hands. "We need to pair up huh…" Tai Chi glanced to look at Sora. She was thinking with a hint of worry on her face. He noticed her glancing at Yamato every so often too. Tai Chi knew the exact reason for her reaction. He looked at her, simply took a breath and spoke up.

"I know how we do this! How about you and Yamato go?" Tai Chi said while putting a smile on his face. His suggestion shocked not only Sora but Yamato who was thinking along with Sora.

"Tai Chi…you don't have to." Yamato started to say to his best friend. Tai Chi however didn't let him finish.

"Honestly guys…" Tai Chi said as he waved his hand at both Sora and Yamato who were trying to speak up. "You can't expect it to be just the three of us. We're not attached to the hip you know." Tai Chi said while shooting them with a smile.

"Tai Chi…" Sora said in a worried tone as she lifted her hand to touch Tai Chi's shoulder.

"Hey…" Tai Chi said gently as he sent Sora a sincere smile but his eyes showed weariness. "I'll be fine. Besides I want to get to know our other friends. We can't simply isolate other people right. So…go on." Tai Chi said as he smiled at both Yamato and Sora.

He then pulled the two so they stood beside each other and pushed them towards the woods. The two expressed objections but Tai Chi continued pushing them and they went their way. The two would look back to check on him but they would see him simply smiling and waving at them. They wanted to turn back but Tai Chi already turned to face the other students.

"Big brother, Takeru and I are going together." Hikari said and Tai Chi simply smiled and agreed with the decision.

"Hey Yoh! Want to be partners?" Chihiro exclaimed as she turned to Yoh with a big smile on her face.

"Sure…but we might get lost." Yoh said as he scratched the back of his head when he though of the idea of getting lost.

"Oh don't worry…think of it as part of the adventure." Chihiro exclaimed with joy. With those words being said they too left leaving Tai Chi, Meruka, Hitomi, Mikan and Ruka to partner up.

"OH!" exclaimed as the idea hit her. "Come on Ruka let's go! We're partners!" Mikan exclaimed and started pulling Ruka towards the forest. Ruka didn't understand why Mikan was like this but Natsume saw right through it. If Mikan and Ruka were partners, that would leave him to partner up with one of the others. Natsume was about to say something to object when he saw that they already entered the forest. He was going to have to burn Mikan later and he intends to keep that in mind.

"Oh wow…" Hitomi said as she put her hands on her hips and smirked. She had noticed where the plan was going and she knew that one of them was going to be stuck with Natsume. "Looks like Tai Chi is going to be with…"

Tai Chi however interrupted Hitomi who was simply closing her eyes in relish. "Nice try Hitomi but Meruka is my partner." Tai Chi said while he was moving. Hitomi twitched with what he said and opened her eyes to object and glare when she saw Tai Chi pulling a startled looking Meruka into the forest. Hitomi tried to run but it was too late. Tai Chi and Meruka were already in the forest and it would be useless to try to find them.

Hitomi's eyes twitched and she simply stayed like a statue as she stared at where Tai Chi and Meruka excited. "Hey hot-head." Natsume said coldly with his hands in his pockets. "You better get moving because I'm not waiting for you." Natsume said and started walking towards the forest in front of them.

"I swear Tai Chi. I'm going to snap your neck." Hitomi said as her hands and fingers twitched in anger. "Why did you leave me with him?" Hitomi shouted in anger.

"So…do you know if we're going the right way?" Yoh asked as he and Chihiro were walking in the forest path.

Chihiro stopped for a second and scanned her surroundings. She then looked at Yoh and smiled. "Nope." She said and continued walking. Normally someone would be outraged and try to wring the person's neck. Luckily Yoh wasn't a normal person. In truth he was just like Chihiro, the happy, calm and ever-optimistic person.

"Hey…" Yoh spoke up as something occurred to him. "What was with you this morning? You, Hitomi and Meruka all looked down for some reason."

Chihiro stopped suddenly and Yoh just for a moment saw her worried and sad looking face. It then bounced back to a smile the next second. "Us?" she said as she turned to smile at Yoh. "We weren't sad it's just we were so tired from last night. We were ranting on Mr. Jinno the whole time. Hitomi loves ranting." Chihiro then started moving once more to their unknown destination.

Yoh knew something was definitely wrong but he couldn't pry. So he might as well get to know the girl, he became friends with, better. "It's amazing how you aren't freaking out about being lost. You have no idea where to go and yet you're enjoying it." Yoh pointed out as he looked at his surroundings.

Chihiro turned at him and smiled. "I just love the idea of not following some regimen. I have no boundaries, no worries and just living." She said happily and expressed it by spinning around in glee. "No matter where we end up it will still be fine for me. The best part of life is about not knowing what happens next and not about having everything planned for you." Chihiro concluded.

Yoh looked at Chihiro with speculating eyes. She was indeed something else and he couldn't help but feel happy with her. She was the total opposite of Anna. While Anna followed strict regimens Chihiro on the other hand doesn't believe in them. Yoh smiled and pondered about how spontaneous life is. He was battling shamans in one second and now he's planting trees.

"Isn't that a little careless." Yoh said after thinking for a few seconds. Chihiro didn't bother looking back or stopping and simply said. "Some things are worth the risk. In the end though, who knows you might just end up exactly how you wished it to be or even better." Chihiro then turned to smile at Yoh then she stopped and took on a puzzled face.

"Hey…is there something wrong?" Yoh asked as he moved towards Chihiro. Chihiro simply put up her hand to signal him to wait. She then patted on her skirt and dug into her pocket in search for something. She pulled out the map which Yoh didn't even know she brought along. She opened the folded up map and looked at it. Her face then broke into a smile.

Chihiro then pointed to an area and Yoh looked to see that see was pointing at a cabin at a short distance. "Do you see that?" she simply said while smiling. Yoh said "Yeah…I do" in reply. Chihiro then turned to him and brandished out the map at him. She then pointed to the location they were assigned to and then a small drawing of what looked like a cabin right beside it.

"I don't believe it." Yoh said in awe as he looked at the map. That meant that they actually reached their area with dumb luck.

"I told you." Chihiro said as she sent a smile at him. "Come on. We're almost there. I can just taste it." She said excitedly as she kept on looking behind at him. "This is going to be fun just spending so much time outside!" she continued looking at him and not at their area. "I just love the forest and the trees. The trees are just beautiful!"

After looking at her though Yoh faced front to look at their area. He stopped still though when he saw the area. Chihiro took on a look of confusion as she saw Yoh's shocked expression. She then turned around to see the area at last. She let out a huge gasp.

Their whole area was completely destroyed. Not a single leaf of grass made it through the fire. It was like some cursed forest with broken and burnt tree trunks surrounding them. The ground was covered with ashes and seemed to expand for a long stretch of land. Jinno wasn't exaggerating. A huge amount of land was indeed affected. She could swear she saw another pair at the very far area from their vision. Who knows how big the damage actually is?

Chihiro was shocked though. She didn't know the devastation was this great. She pursed her lips and walked over to one of the damaged and burnt tree trunks.

"Um…Chihiro…Are you okay?" Yoh asked as he walked towards her. Chihiro reached the tree and touched its trunk. She ran her hand over the trunk and smiled a sad smile. Yoh knew that there was some kind of story behind Chihiro and maybe even her friends. He knows however that he will find out when the time is right and he shouldn't force it out of her.

Yoh them smiled a small smile and walked to where Chihiro is. "Don't you think trees are incredible?" Yoh said as he smiled at Chihiro and Chihiro turned to look at him. "They die and we cut them down for selfish reasons. They burn easily in fires and can be brought down by storms. However the tree is really an admirable thing. They stand through time and the errors of mankind. It gives itself fully with no regrets only to continue living on with a newer generation which in turn gives itself once again. The tree is like the ultimate optimist and giver. It never asks of anything in return. It simply gives and bounces up from whatever happened to them." Yoh concluded.

"It's a disaster indeed what happened here but the beauty of it is that it can be fixed. As long there is a single tree standing in the world then the trees will still be able to live. They're not quitters and as human beings we should do our part to support them. So what do you say about helping their burden and help return the majestic and selfless trees back to their glory."

Chihiro simply looked up at Yoh and smiled back. "What are we waiting for." she said as she ran towards the seedlings of trees that was placed at the side. Yoh smiled as he watched Chihiro scuttle to the area with plants and placed his hand on one of the branches of the tree Chihiro was touching. He jerked his hand back quickly though. He felt something weird touch his hand and when he turned he was shocked. Right there on the branch was a little flower, unharmed. He could have sworn everything died but for some reason this flower survived. Yoh couldn't help but look at the flower curiously but Chihiro broke his concentration.

"Hey slow poke!" Chihiro called over causing Yoh to twitch in surprise. "I bet I can plant faster then you can." She smiled then turned to the seedlings.

Yoh smiled and laughed. Life is indeed a mystery but just as Chihiro said that's what makes it worth it. No matter the twists and turns he'll have to enjoy what life has to offer.

Yoh however didn't know how much life did have in store for him. He wouldn't have ever known that what happened would affect his life greatly.

I made this one long for you guys! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! My New Year's resolution would be faster postings! Hope you enjoyed!