Chapter 11


"This is a contract, for you to be a member of Alice Academy."

Mikan held the thick document in her hands, her amber eyes scanned through the pages nervously. Her partner was sitting next to her, eyeing her intensely as if she would run away.

"You are not to speak a word about Alice to the people outside of these walls, especially non-Alices. This is the cardinal rule of being an Alice. There are a couple other minor rules to abide, however they are quite simple, such as no vandalizing Alice Academy's property and so on," Narumi explained as the young woman started reading the clauses carefully.

"This contract also says that I can always quit from Alice Academy anytime I want?"

The blond teacher smiled, and handed Mikan a pen to sign the contract, "You are correct. However, no one has quit the Academy for a long time due to it's lax policy towards the members. You can compare it to being enrolled in an honorary organization in college, you wouldn't even realize you were a part of them."

Natsume quietly listened to their conversation, as he could still remember the day he first met Narumi. It seemed that the teacher hasn't really changed since.

After a few seconds passed, the brunette took a deep breath, and signed her name on the paper, "I guess this is it."

She slowly placed the pen on the table, and unconsciously looked towards Natsume, who gave her an encouraging nod and mouthed, "Congrats."

Narumi took back the paper, and swiftly placed it inside a folder, "This will go into the Academy Archives." With a big smile, he extended his arm and said, "Congratulations Mikan, you are now part of the family!"

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Mikan could feel the cotton candy skies were gleaming that day. It was encouraging her to say what was on her mind.

She pulled all the adrenaline in her body to boldly ask, "Sensei, how do I become a Quest member?"

Two pair of eyes immediately stared at hers. She hadn't told anyone what was on her mind, so it was no surprise that both Natsume and Narumi looked flabbergasted.

"I-I kind of want to try to be part of Quest. Am I allowed to?"

Natsume knew what Narumi was thinking, and why he went pale.

There is no rule in the Academy that says members cannot join the Quest. However, they do have to go through an intense 6 months-training session, that will prepare them for whatever obstacles might come during their mission.

Nevertheless, usually new members wouldn't sign up for Quest right after they officially joined Alice Academy. No one had done so before. No one except for a young boy with crimson eyes, twelve years ago, who had witnessed the dark side of Alices with his own eyes, and wanted nothing but revenge.

"Are you sure, Mikan? You know it's not going to be easy."

The brunette looked nervous, however nodded with a determined look in her eyes, "Yes, I'm a hundred percent sure."

Natsume noticed that Mikan was slightly trembling. It seemed that she knew that being a Quest member, or going on missions, were completely outside of her element.

He couldn't help but wonder, what made her want to join so bad?


Hotaru could vaguely hear the music and conversation behind the white wooden door.

She rang the doorbell, and a few seconds later, Permy appeared with a smile on her face, "Welcome to our humble abode! Glad you can make it despite of the last minute notice."

"I wouldn't miss it," the black haired woman simply said as she stepped inside the medium-sized apartment, taking off her ankle boots in the progress, "Where's Mikan?"

"Yeah, about that..." Permy's eyes trailed off to the kitchen where the stereo was playing loud R&B music. A brunette was sitting on the marble counter, while Koko and Anna next to her were laughing on her joke. On the other side of the room, Natsume and Ruka were sitting on the couch and each holding a red plastic cup. An empty bottle of sake, half-emptied bottle of Jameson, and an array of beer bottles and chips were seen on the coffee table.

Hotaru raised her eyebrow as she unbuttoned her flannel shirt, revealing a white tank inside, "I see that the party already started."

Taking a deep breath, Permy gave the young woman a little insight of what had happened earlier, "Short story, Mikan had a long day."

"It is only her first day as a member and she's already tired. Huh."

"She also met Luna Koizumi. Do you remember her? Tall, ironically pretty, strawberry blonde hair. Natsume's crazy ex-girlfriend, who won the bitchy-attitude-award of the year. Apparently, she was the person behind the rumors that Mikan is part of Zero."

"Why am I not surprised?"

"Well, maybe you're not surprised, but I assure you, Mikan was horrified. She was able to hold her composure though, at least until we got home and cursed her to the end of time."

"Of course she did."

"First thing she did after walking through that door, was chugging cheap ¥1,500 sake from the bottle, which is now empty, mind you. She also pulled out a couple bottles of alcohol from underneath her bed, saying that she had saved them exactly for days like today."

Upon hearing that, Hotaru bit back a smile and started walking towards the kitchen counter, "I didn't expect her to be a strong drinker."

The green haired woman sighed in exasperation, "She is not really-"

"Hotaru! Oh my God, you're here!" Mikan spotted the short haired woman, and have her a tight hug as soon as she stepped inside the kitchen. A big grin was plastered on the brunette's slightly red face, and her long brown hair was tied in a ponytail, "I'm so happy to see you!"

With a calm demeanor, Hotaru returned the hug and replied with the slightest hint of smile, "Congratulations, Mikan. I'm glad you can join us in the Academy."

"Aww, thank you, I'm really excited!" The brunette exclaimed as she swiftly grabbed a plastic cup that was already filled with clear liquid that obviously wasn't water, and handed it over to her guest, "Sorry, we're pretty much broke and don't have any fancy glasses around, but here you go, your drink!"

Hotaru took the cup and clinked it with Mikan's, "Cheers."

Seeing her flatmate took more swigs of the alcohol, Permy simply sighed and said to herself, "This is going to be a long night."

Anna gave her a sympathetic smile before whispering, "I can help you make a hangover soup tomorrow."

"I'll help cleanup too, don't worry," Koko chimed in and stood next to her.

Watching Koko staring at the green haired woman, Hotaru raised one of her eyebrows and said instead, "I think you're wrong, Permy. This going to be a very interesting night."

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Ruka's eyes were following a certain dark haired woman with amethyst eyes as soon as she stepped inside the apartment. He was so ready to go up and talk to her, however being a good friend that he was, the blond decided to stay on the couch with his best friend, who had a grim look on his face.

A lot of people have different reactions to alcohol. Ruka was definitely the typical red-cheeks with slurred speech kind of guy. On the other hand, Natsume became melancholic and emotional from time to time. Unfortunately, that day was no exception.

"Still pissed?"

Natsume glared at him and took another sip of his whiskey, "Not any better."

The blond laughed and took a few chips from the table. They were discussing what happened earlier with Luna, which definitely worsen Natsume's mood by the second, "Well, I did try warning you about Luna when you were still dating-"

"After it was too late, yes. I didn't realize there were a few loose screws on that woman's head," Natsume said with a snarky attitude, before he leaned back and tried to stay calm, "I thought I was done with her. Of course, I was proven wrong. What would you have done differently?"

Ruka held his chin thoughtfully and said, "I would've grabbed a tracker chip from the Mission Bunker, and injected it on her. Just like that, voila! You'll know where she would be at all times and avoid her before she could find you."

The raven haired grunted, "I'm being serious."

"I'm also serious, you know how persistent that woman is," Ruka shrugged and drank more Jameson from his cup. He was getting more dizzy, but he simply didn't care. "How's it going with Mikan?"

Natsume only raised one of his eyebrows, while Ruka shot him a grin, "I assumed you're courting her, correct? You've never left her side this whole week."

"Only because she's under probation. And," he paused hesitantly and continued, "Narumi asked me to take care of her." He wondered if she had told anyone else that she was planning to be a Quest member.

The blond simply shook his head and said, "That just can't be it. I'm sure you fancy her, at least a little. I can see the signs, Nat, I'm your best friend."

Natsume stayed quiet while Ruka stood up and head over to the kitchen. He wondered if what Ruka said was true, or if he was simply sprouting nonsense from the alcohol talking. Not long after however, the crimson eyed lad decided to get fresh air and started walking towards the balcony.

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"I was surprised when you invited Koko along," Anna stated while dipping a tortilla chip into the homemade artichoke dip that she brought earlier.

Across from her was Permy, who simply scoffed as she took a sip of a bottled beer and stretched her feet on the carpet.

Mikan was still alive and chirping in the kitchen counter. She got along well with Ruka, who was already really, really, red at this point. Hotaru subtly took out a small camera from her studded MCM backpack and smirked as she took a couple pictures of the blond; something that Permy had noticed for a while.

In the balcony were Natsume and Koko, whose cigarette packs had been confiscated by her. Their apartment has a strict no-smoking policy. Besides, Mikan also hated the smell of cigars and would most likely be furious if she found out people were smoking in their apartment.

"Honestly, it wasn't my intention too. He was there when Mikan told me she accepted the offer to be a member," Permy explained, "Automatically he was invited when Mikan said she wanted to throw a little celebration party, aka an excuse for her to drink til' she drops."

Anna smiled for a brief moment before commenting, "I would never peg her as someone who likes to drink to be honest. She looks too innocent."

"And so are you," Permy snorted and passed her beer bottle to Anna, who laughed and gladly drank the liquid.

Suddenly, a question popped up in her head, and Permy decided to ask her friend for an answer, "Anna, do you know that Koko's been wearing an Alice Restraint for a while?"

The pinkette lowered her bottle and stared at her friend quietly. She was debating whether she should tell her the truth, but her expression gave it away. Permy obviously noticed and simply took a deep breath.

"You knew, huh? I wonder how I never noticed."

"He asked us to keep it away from you, so you wouldn't need to worry about him."

The shape-shifter sighed as she glanced at the balcony, where the said man was casually conversing with a certain raven haired. "He was right. Now that I found out, I'm actually worried about him."

"Don't be. He's a big boy, Permy, he can handle his own problems. After all, he believed the Restraint would help him control his Alice more, and it did. He also had Natsume to help him get used to it at the beginning," Anna said with a reassuring voice.

Permy shifted her jade eyes at the fire caster, as her brain played a short flashback from her memories.

She remembered having a silly crush on Natsume when they were younger, when he was very different from he is now. When he first came to the Academy, he was known as the boy who burned his whole house to dust because he lost control of his Alice. No one really knew whether the rumor was true, but soon enough he started wearing multiple Alice Restraints, and people were scared whenever he was around. The only person who stayed by his side was Ruka, who of course became his best friend since.

When Permy first joined Quest, she often teamed with Koko and Natsume to take on missions together. Lo and behold, she fell for Koko's charms and realized that her feelings towards Natsume were purely admiration, instead of affection. She dated the mind reader for a few good years, before she called it off when he abused his Alice to constantly read her thoughts.

After a while, Koko decided to quit from being a Quest member, and she barely saw him around anymore. Somehow, Permy had a feeling that she was one of the main reasons why Koko decided to wear the Alice Restraint. However, she was honestly too scared to find out the truth.

Instead, she looked at the mind reader's back and whispered slowly, "I'm glad he wasn't alone when he had to go through that."


A man with dark hair and fair complexion was looking at the lights from the cars below. He was at the top floor of a high rise building, and the Tokyo skyline at night was before him. His business suit was firmly pressed, as he quietly observed the view from his tall chair. Suddenly, the door to his office was opened, and a redhead with white tank and ripped jeans stepped in.

Turning his seat around, the man greeted his underling with a smile, "Reo-kun. I thought you would be occupied with work all day. Your new album is coming out soon, right?"

Reo scoffed as he recalled what happened that made him visit the HQ late at this hour. A certain woman gave him a call with urgency in her voice, and convinced him to break the news to their boss as soon as possible. Even though slightly annoyed, he obliged anyway since he owed her a lot of favors. After all, she had been a huge help to him when he first started debuting as a singer.

"Boss, I have news from the Princess," he said while handing the man with a white envelope, "She said you would be interested to see this."

The man took out a single photograph from the envelope, and his hand immediately paused midair, "Impossible. Where did she get it from?"

Seeing the change in his boss' expression, Reo immediately concluded that the woman in the picture must be no ordinary person. Damn it, that Princess must not have told him the whole truth. "The Alice Academy, sir. Apparently she is a new member there, and also the Black Cat's partner."

Unexpectedly, the man chuckled and said, "What an interesting turn of event. Can you please call Senshi for me? I have a new assignment for him."

Reo simply nodded, and was about to turn to the door when the man asked, "One more thing, Reo-kun, what is her name?"

"She goes by Mikan. Her full name is Mikan-"

"Yukihira," the man completed the sentence and placed the picture slowly on his desk, "I'm looking forward to the day I meet her."

It sounded like his boss must have heard of her family before, and the redhead couldn't help but ask, "How do you know that name, sir?"

In a brief moment, the temperature in the room dropped as a blue stone gleamed from the man's pocket. He pursed his lips upwards to form a thin smirk.

"Let's say, that particular lineage owed me something. And I'm finally going to collect the payment. "


Mikan was about to grab a phone charger from her bedroom, when she spotted her partner sitting alone on the couch, staring at chips on the table with a troubled look. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed an opened bottle of sake and plopped herself next to him. "Why the long face, Natsume? You're always so serious."

The raven haired blinked as he watched the energetic woman poured a generous amount of the liquid into two red cups.

"Here, drink up! Let's celebrate, we are officially partners now!" Mikan giggled and handed him his portion.

Natsume watched her gulp a good portion of the drink and her face was slowly getting redder.

"How many drinks have you had?"

"A lot, but not enough!"

Hearing her respond, Natsume sighed before taking a gulp from his drink as well. Screw it, he need to de-stress too.

"Just be careful, don't drink too much."

"B-but I'm at home! This is the safest place for me to drink to my heart's content!"

The raven haired could tell that she was definitely intoxicated. The only thing was, he didn't know how bad. Mikan, however, was ready to launch a full on rant to him and said, "Besides, it's your fault too, Natsume! Your ex was so mean to me, you know. She always looked so beautiful and perfect, but she was actually a meanie on the inside."

Natsume found this direct and sassy side of her amusing, however simply nodded in agreement to what she was saying, "You're right. She definitely has problems, that one."

The brunette pouted and crossed her arms, "Obviously you two should have a long ass talk and resolve whatever problems you had."

"I didn't know she was behind all this, I'm sorry," Natsume said before adding, "Guess it's been pretty difficult being my partner, huh."

Mikan sighed as she didn't like how Natsume always blamed himself on everything. With a firm tone, she looked at him in the eyes and replied, "Stop saying things like that, I didn't mean it, okay, it's not your fault. Stop taking the weight of the world on your shoulders! At least you have me now, don't you?"

The raven haired went quiet as there was truth in her words. Perhaps, his instinct when they first met was right. She really was going to make a difference in his life.

Before he was able to respond, Mikan sank deeper into the couch and laid her head on the cushion, "Ugh, I'm so sleepy..." Her brown hair was messy and loose from the ponytail, covering half of her face as she slowly closed her eyes and mumbled, "Thanks...for not letting anyone know that I wanted to join Quest. You're a great guy, Natsume."

Natsume simply smirked as the woman never ceased to surprise him. She turned from a ball of energy into a sleeping log in just a matter of seconds. Of course.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm glad I have you, Mikan."

The brunette slowly curled herself and hugged one of the pillows tightly. Impulsively, Natsume stood up and draped a thin blanket over her body and said, "Don't worry, I know you'd do great as a Quest member."

Little did they know, that a couple feet away, a certain black haired woman was able to capture the tender scene with her camera, and a small smile pursed on her lips.

"Seems like bunny boy was right after all."

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A/N

Another one (finally)! Thanks for bearing with me and for those who patiently waited for an update.

I hope you like the whole college-y scene, and maybe can relate to some of them too. Nothing crazy happened...this time ;) Side note, drink responsibly folks!

Anyway, things are going to turn around so quickly in the next chapter (which I'm really excited about), so stay tuned in 2 weeks time ~