Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice. That's impossible !!
"Excuse me. Excuse me. Excuse me," Mikan said repetitively, trying to get across all the people in the corridor.
Then, she finally spotted the person she had planned to see that morning.
"Hi!" Mikan said cheerfully to Sandy, who again, was reading.
No reply.
"You really like reading, don't you?" asked Mikan, examining the thickness of the book.
"Don't touch it," Sandy said quietly without looking up.
"Listen, uh-Regarding the-um…The matter…the other day," Mikan finished somewhat lamely.
"Yeah?" Sandy asked, again, without taking her eyes off the book.
Mikan did not know what to say. Sure, she planned on talking to her, yet she had no idea what about. She had imagined talking to Sandy last night, yet she did not realize it was even harder on the spot.
Sandy, impatient with Mikan's long silence, spoke instead.
"I'm guessing you've come here with a fairly important reason, seeing as it's time for our first lesson you're meant to be heading the opposite direction. You're looking at me stupidly not saying anything, but obviously, with a hundred thoughts flying off your head. I'm not a mind-reader, but I can tell. Anyone can-if you give them that look."
"I don't know what happened, but, we're friends, right?" asked Mikan all of a sudden.
"If you're telling me you came here because of that, don't think I'll accept all that crap."
"No, you're right. It's not what I'm here for. It's because…I know now."
Sandy did not need to ask what Mikan knew. Her silence already indicated it.
"Took you quite some time," she said.
"You see, my friend gave me a clue. I don't think I would have solved it without her…I mean, I asked Koko, and he gave me a riddle…something like "Starts with an 'N', ends with an 'E'….And last night, while thinking about it, I… I figured it out…By the time I made these 3 lists."
Mikan held out 3 lists, the first 2, were extraordinarily long.
"You may not be weak, but you sure are an idiot," Sandy said, grinning.
"It took you all these words to figure out one word. And it's not even a word. To be precise, it's a name. Really, I could laugh a whole month."
"You never gave him up, did you?" asked Mikan all of a sudden.
After a few minutes, Sandy spoke.
"Well… No. And that's exactly why I challenged you, I guess. If I couldn't beat you with Natsume, at least with strength…But…It's foul. What I did was foul. I'm sorry for…I'm sorry for doing that to you."
"I guess I wanted a challenge too. I don't know why, but I just couldn't make myself lose…"
"You should have seen Natsume. When I attacked you, he was really angry. And your inventor-best friend…You're lucky, you know. To have such people care for you."
"He- rejected you? Why?"
Mikan, suddenly realizing that she had probably asked a personal question, quickly decided to change the topic.
"If-If you want, I could…We could be your friends," said Mikan.
Sandy laughed.
"But could I? I like Natsume who likes you, who likes him. Really, it's negative 100 percent chance."
Sandy's teacher came into the classroom, in which Mikan took as an indication that she had to go.
"Wait," Sandy said.
"Yeah?"
"I got the impression that you wanted to know why he rejected me."
"Well…Yeah…" said Mikan, who felt rather mortified.
"What's the status of your mind right now?" asked Sandy all of a sudden.
Mikan was dazed.
"Care to explain that?" Mikan asked.
"You think you can handle another riddle?"
"I very much doubt that," replied Mikan.
"Well, I hate to add to your list of "What makes me go crazy", but, here is my answer: Starts with an 'M', ends with an 'N'."
"Another one?" asked Mikan, who was apparently vexed.
Mikan thought silently…..
"Hotaru. No. Ruka-pyon? Big no. How about…" Mikan opened her fingers, counting letters, opening each finger as she said each letter. "M-I-K-A-N?"
"Finally," Sandy said with great impatience.
"Eh? Why would Natsume reject you because of an orange?"
(Note: Mikan means mandarin orange)
"God help her," muttered Sandy under her breath in utter incredulity.
"Oh!" Mikan exclaimed in comprehension.
"So Natsume rejected you because of—because of- because of ME?!" Mikan said, only realizing what it actually meant.
"YES-IT'S-YOU," she said, carefully emphasizing, and elaborately spacing her words, as if taking to a 5-year-old.
"But-oh- that's ridiculous."
"No more ridiculous than you talking to me. You can still consider me a friend after- after all?"
"But seriously! Natsume, reject you because of me? Isn't that implying that he actually likes me?"
"Precisely."
"Again, you are wrong. Natsume….He just doesn't hate me, that's all... I'm guessing he probably doesn't think anything of me, and that's all there is to it."
"You make me want to hit you one more time," replied Sandy in annoyance.
"It's true."
BANG.
Mikan's head was hit with the book Sandy was reading.
"Lucky it's not a hardback book," Mikan thought.
"Ouch! What did you do that for?" cried Mikan.
"Why?! I'll give you a tip, OK? Go talk to Natsume right now and say that in front of him, will you? I can't stand how you could just- just say it like that! Maybe he might even hit you for me!"
"That hurts," Mikan complained.
"I'm not sorry. Go think about things you've said."
"I Figured it out, Hotaru!"
"I know. You told me that for the fifth time."
"But I really can't believe it's Natsume!"
"Obviously."
"You-you knew?"
"Who do you think gave you the hint?"
"Oh yeah. Sorry."
"The weather is rather nice today. I think I'll take a walk. Want to join?" asked Mikan.
Hotaru held up another invention of hers that looked sort of like band, which Mikan knew only too well, meant she was going to be working on it the whole evening.
Mikan was sitting on top of the tallest tree she found, of course, with the aid of her alice.
"What did Sandy say again? Something like 'Think about things I've said'……Come to think of it, Natsume never answered my question whether he liked me. But of course, it's not true... I mean, how could it? We practically tease each other all the time. He thinks of me as an idiot. He always wants to be alone, I always want to talk to him. He's always reading a book, and I never read a book. Unless I have to of course. But... No," Mikan said, shaking her head in incredulity. "Impossible!"
"Careful of falling off the branch," said a voice.
What Natsume had said had been a slight exaggeration. Mikan was sort of on the edge, but she wasn't going to fall, and besides, she had the copy-alice to protect herself in some way.
Natsume was sitting on the same level as Mikan, in a branch of a tree to her left.
"Since when were you here?" Mikan asked.
"As always, you're too slow to realize people's presence. What if you were suddenly hit from behind?"
Mikan, thinking about what Sandy said, was not really able to hear what Natsume said.
"What's wrong?"
"Concerned?" Mikan asked, mocking Natsume.
"No," Natsume retorted quickly. A little too quick.
"Natsume, can I ask a question?"
"You already asked me, but fine. What is it?" he asked.
"Don't worry. It's not long."
"So what is it?"
"Here it is: What do you think of me?"
There was a brief pause.
"Why did you ask?" asked Natsume.
"Because… Because it's been bugging me all this time. You always acted cold towards me, but really, you do care. But lately, I've been wondering, does Natsume actually like me? …Not as a friend, or anything around that context."
He was silent. Nor did he move.
"I thought not. It's-It's impossible! We're very different. In almost every single way really. Could it really be possible? I really don't think so. I mean, you see, I thought, 'Natsume probably doesn't think anything of me'. 'He doesn't hate me'-That's my only confirmed fact.
"You saved me in me and Sandy's initial fight, and you even hurt her to take revenge for it. Once more you protected me with your alice on the second time we fought. They were all hints, but I'm- I'm confused. But surely- you couldn't!"
"Couldn't? I don't see how I could not. Dense. You always have been."
"But-"
"Thickheaded."
"What?!"
"Idiotic."
"What do yo-"
"Unbelievable."
"Natsume, I asked you a simple question-"
"Simple? The only simple I can think of right now, is how exceedingly simple-minded you are. I suppose I shouldn't even expect you to be any more wiser, because that's only going to happen in a million years."
"Natsume, by that time, I'm dead."
"That's exactly the point."
Mikan sighed. "It's a yes or no question."
"What if I don't?"
"Then you don't."
"If I do?"
"You can't!" said Mikan.
"But I do."
There was complete silence.
Suddenly, droplets of rain began hitting the ground, creating a soft sound of dripping water. The rain then, after a few seconds, slowly became heavier and heavier, and continuously poured, like it never ran out of water.
"You-you -what?" asked Mikan. It wasn't that she didn't understand what he said, or didn't hear it, but because she just couldn't believe it. Natsume had probably sensed that too- that it wasn't really a question of whether he really said those, but a confirmation, as she was skeptical.
Both of them were getting wet, but strangely, it was as if neither of them even noticed that it was raining at all. After a few minutes of complete silence, except the heavy downpour of the rain, Natsume turned, and headed towards the academy. Mikan neither moved nor spoke. She decided to teleport back into her room to change and dry herself.
Somehow she felt her energy had been washed along with the rain. Mikan looked at the windows-all the raindrops dropping, rolling down the glass window. Why had it rained when the weather a few hours ago seemed … perfect?
"Mikan, are you sure you're OK?" asked Iinchou.
Mikan was in a room that was like a library- except without the librarians hushing students to keep quiet, or the signs saying "Be quiet" or "silence" or some other similar sign. Nor did they restrict food from the room. It really wasn't a library, but it was pretty much treated as one. It was a quiet place, so people who usually studied or were bored went there, either to read, think or to study, or simply to talk.
"My head hurts," Mikan complained, resting her head on the table.
"What Natsume said is NOT true," thought Mikan. "NOT true. NOT true," Mikan said aloud over and over again, which got the attention of a couple of students, who looked up at her curiously.
Her head was once more filled with different thoughts, different questions…
"But what do I actually feel? What should I feel? Happy? Sad? Obviously, I couldn't help being shocked, because… Since when did Natsume even like me? It never crossed my mind, because it's unlikely. I don't think I could face him yet. It's all so…awkward."
"Are you sure you're OK?" asked Iinchou reassuringly.
Mikan hesitated before she answered. "I don't know," she said slowly
Hotaru stood up, finished with her invention.
"Would you like me to test a new invention? It's a lie detector," she said to Mikan.
Mikan, who wasn't really listening took the invention and wore it, saying "It's a pretty bracelet for a gift Hotaru. Thanks."
Hotaru held up a small rectangular screen, reading the question:
"DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT HAVE AN ARGUMENT WITH NATSUME HYUUGA?"
"Argument? N-no. Not exactly," answered Mikan. The white band slowly turned a light shade of green.
Then, another question came up:
"ARE YOU UPSET BECAUSE OF SOMETHING HE HAS TOLD YOU?"
"U-upset? Well- sort off. And- shocked. That's all."
The band turned blue.
"WHAT ARE YOU FEELING?"
"I- I don't know," Mikan said, and once again rested her head on the desk.
The band turned red.
"You're lying," Hotaru said promptly.
"What?"
"You do know what you're feeling," Hotaru said.
"Ok- Fine. Yes, I do… But- It's- confusing…"
The band turned green.
"Hotaru, what is this thing?" asked Mikan, who was admiring the change of colors.
"I told you. It's a lie detector."
"A lie- WHAT?! Hotaru, get this thing off!" Mikan tried to pull the band off, but it wouldn't loosen up. "It won't come off!" she panicked.
"You press that button there, baka."
Mikan pressed it, and it loosened up, and Mikan quickly took it off.
"Hotaru, it's almost the same as reading my mind!" Mikan said.
"Not really. But you wore it anyway," Hotaru said, shrugging.
Mikan once again laid her head on the desk.
"I don't like it when it rains."
Hotaru raised her eyebrows.
"You've always liked rain," she said.
"That was before. I don't like rain anymore."
"Why?"
"Because I'm getting a headache. I'm sure it must be because of the rain."
"The rain? That's right. Blame it all on the rain. Even when he told you that, that was still just the rain talking. It's really all the rain's fault, isn't it?" said a voice. Sandy emerged from the doorway, sitting down the seat next to her.
"You-you know?" asked Mikan apprehensively.
"When I saw you two, I already knew."
"You believe him?"
"You mean you don't?"
"No! I –I've always thought to myself that when Natsume tells that he does like me, I wouldn't know what to do. But to me, of course he doesn't. But- But he does. And I really don't know anything anymore," Mikan said.
"Well?" asked Sandy, in a tone which sounded like she demanded a reply.
"Well what?" asked Mikan.
"Well what did you say?"
"I- I asked him if it was true."
"You asked him? He wouldn't answer. Definitely not."
"You're right. He didn't- and- and- I feel- weird."
"Weird? In what way?" asked Sandy.
Mikan had not thought of that before, as she suddenly said it in the spur of the moment.
"It's just- awkward, if you know what I mean," answered Mikan, thinking.
Natsume entered the room along with Ruka. Somehow, Mikan felt that she wanted to talk to him again.
"Let's play truth or dare!" said Sumire all of a sudden. Everyone seemed uninterested, but suddenly, Hotaru spoke: "We can use my lie-detector."
With that single sentence, everyone suddenly seemed so eager to join.
"I WANT TO KNOW IF NATSUME-KUN LIKES ME!" yelled a voice. The room however, was too crowded to see who said it.
The last time Mikan played this was when she fought Sandy. She was getting a bit tired of it, but joined anyway.
Approximately 3/5 people in the room joined.
The bottle was spun, and to Mikan's surprise, she observed that the bottle was being controlled by an alice. The bottle was going to point towards Natsume--Mikan turned the bottle so it pointed towards the person who controlled it.
"The rules are this," Sumire spoke, interrupting the game.
"You see, let's make it clear that anyone who tries to manipulate the spin of the bottle will be disqualified. And don't try lying. We have a lie-detector for that. And guess what? It says you do it," said Sumire, pointing at the girl who had controlled it.
Everyone nodded in understanding, and the person who manipulated the bottle was proven to have manipulated it by the lie-detector. She sat on a corner, frowning, mumbling something like "It's not fair...I want to know about...Natsume-kun".
The bottle was spun.
The first one was Sandy.
"Yeah?" asked Sandy.
"You're supposed to choose truth or dare," said a girl Mikan did not recognize.
"I'm not playing."
"Then why are you here?" asked a girl.
"Me? I'm a spectator," replied Sandy.
"Ok, next person," said Sumire.
The bottle was spun once more, and this time, it was Natsume.
"Dare."
"I'm making the dare," Sandy declared.
"But you're only a spectator, you can't say the dare," said the girl who had previously spoken.
"Who's to say spectators can't? I'm not playing, I'm just giving the dare."
"So what is it?" asked Natsume impatiently.
"I dare you to choose truth, and answer the question I ask truthfully," Sandy said.
"What's the point of the game when the only option is truth?" asked Natsume.
"For fun?" suggested Sandy.
"What's the question?" he asked.
"About an hour ago, you were talking to someone- a girl." Sandy started.
"So?" asked Natsume, not seeing the connection.
"The girl who you were with when it started to rain- do you like her?"
"What's it to you?"
"It's a question in Truth or Dare. You don't ask someone why they ask a question."
"Fine. I do."
The band slowly turned green.
"You do? Why?" asked Sandy interestedly.
"For a number of reasons that does not concern you."
"Care to recite your list?"
"I'm sorry, did you not hear what I said? I said it does not concern you," Natsume said in indignation.
"To tell you the truth, people ask a lot of things in truth or dare that doesn't necessarily concern them. It's just pure curiosity," said Sandy.
He sighed.
"Girls are all too damn sensitive. Following you like they want your autograph then talk like they're screaming, following orders thinking like you're some higher life form or something, or they'll die if they don't. All girls who come across me act like that... All save one."
Everyone in the room was simply staring.
Mikan blushed as Natsume looked at her direction. The band turned green.
Everyone looked at each other, all with puzzled expressions.
"Is that faulty?" asked someone, pointing at the band.
Hotaru took it off Natsume, and placed it in the guy's wrist.
"Doubtful? OK. Do you sleep at classes?" asked Hotaru
"Well- Sometimes..."
The band turned blue.
"There is some truth to it," said Hotaru quietly.
"Do you eat during classes?"
"No."
The band turned red.
"You like a girl one year lower than you, right?"
"No…"
Again, it turned red.
The boy turned redder and redder as Hotaru asked each question.
"Still doubtful?"
The guy did not answer.
"Thought so," she said.
"Natsume, wait!"
"What?"
"Is that...true?"
"How many times do I have to answer that question?"
"But that can't be. You're- infuriating, most of the time. I could even say you enjoyed it," retorted Mikan.
"Aren't you infuriating too?"
"Natsume, I didn't come here to keep on arguing with you."
"Well then get to the point."
"I was going to, when you interrupted," said Mikan rather stridently.
Koko suddenly dropped his books, which resounded through the corridor. Mikan and Natsume helped pick them up.
"What do you need all those books for?" asked Mikan.
"Have you forgotten? There's a big test next next Monday."
"Yeah, but it's next next Monday. It's only Monday today. The day of the test is still a fortnight away."
He shrugged.
"It's good to be prepared," he said simply.
"It feels weird not having to use your alice on the test. Makes you feel that you're no good at all," he added.
"By the way, having an LQ?" asked Koko.
(Note: L.Q Lover's quarrel)
"No!" Mikan said defensively
"Just a joke, sorry. Got to go study now," he said grinning, and left.
Mikan realized that they were both alone now. Suddenly, the atmosphere turned serious.
"Continue," Natsume said to Mikan.
"You see-"
"Natsume, Sakura-san!" Ruka called out, from the door of the room, cutting off what Mikan was saying.
"'Truth or dare' is resuming, " he said.
The game started within a few minutes, and apparently, people were really interested about Mikan, whom they called the 'mysterious' girl they called 'The rain girl', apparently because the only clue they had was that she was with Natsume when it started raining.
The bottle pointed to Mikan.
"Oh great," she thought sarcastically.
The bottle seemed to point at everyone Mikan knew. Including her. "Ruka-pyon might even be next."
Was this pure coincidence or what?
"I choose truth," Mikan said promptly.
The group apparently chosen Sandy to give the question or dare, depending on what the person chosen.
"OK. My question is just this: Do you feel the same way?" asked Sandy.
"About what?" asked Mikan.
"About the you-know-what business."
"…"
"Whether I say something or not… The band is going to show the color," thought Mikan. She had no choice but to answer truthfully.
But does she? After everything, after how many times he annoyed her, she always managed to still be friends with him. After how many times he protected her, she didn't realize up to know really how much she appreciated it.
"I-I feel the same," Mikan said earnestly.
Then the band slowly turned green.
"Oi. Polka," Natsume said.
"W-what?" asked Mikan.
"What you said. Was it true?"
"How many times do I have to answer that question?" asked Mikan, imitating what Natsume had said earlier.
"So it is true."
Mikan was having another stroll outside upon waking up really early. She was in the habit of that of waking early now.
She climbed up a tree, when suddenly she felt a presence… It was familiar. It was someone she knew. Then she found him.
The old man from her dreams, and from the man she met weeks ago. The man who had previously owned her alice. In her dream, he didn't want the alice. But why? Could he possibly not want it too, even in reality?
The man was running, just like the first time she had seen him- Except he was devoid of the fear or grief she once seen him in.
Mikan followed the man. She was tired of not knowing. She was sick of guessing. The dreams the old man left her had not escaped Mikan's mind. She wanted to know why he had not explained properly. Why he had just disappeared. To Mikan he was simply the "old man", as his name, Mikan had not even discovered.
"Wait!" Mikan called out. He ran even faster. Mikan used one her alices which increased her speed, until she completely went past him, and stopped right in front of him.
He was surprised. His face was someone of 60, his face was wrinkled, but his expression was calm.
"Mikan…Mikan Sakura," the man said quietly.
"How do you know my name?" asked Mikan in surprise.
"The girl who stole my alice," he smiled.
"Oh! I'm sorry! Please- have it back. Take it."
"No.. Oh dear- no! I don't mean it that way," the old man chuckled.
"What- What do you mean?"
"No, I want you to have it. But to me, you will always be the 'girl who stole my alice'."
"Well to me, you will always be the…… the 'old man'," Mikan said apologetically.
"No need to feel sorry. I am quite old too, many people tell me. So, how have you been?"
"Eh? Me? I should be asking you that, said Mikan.
"I am old. Old people, as you may have learnt, do not really have very interesting lives much. Young people have exciting stories to tell. Tell me, how has it been?"
"…To tell you the truth, when I first came into this school… I thought the only alice I had was Nullification. Then I slowly learnt…That I also have another alice…The alice to steal others' alice... You could say I was really shocked. People might run away, might have been scared of me. But my friends never left me. They were supportive…. Then, I learnt that I had an alice, or rather, alices, which wasn't really how it seemed… Teleportation, super strength, and all sorts. I was confused." Mikan paused. Then she went on. "I have had many dreams. Each different, but only one message. Copy Alice copy alice copy alice. I never…I never saw that. I was really dense. I didn't know when it was all in front of me. But when I knew, I… I didn't know how I would take it. Whether I should feel guilty, happy or upset… Whether what I did to you was even right…"
"You are just like your mother."
"Eh?! You know my mother?"
"She always talked to me way back when she was young, saying how she was doing, and how "Jinno-sensei" always got her in trouble. I guess you could say I was the first person she met. I was like her second father in the academy. You two are very alike… Her personality, like yours, was very strong. She always smiled. Whenever I see you, you remind me of her."
"He knew my mother…"
"Who… Who are you?" asked Mikan bluntly.
"Tatsuya Nakamura."
"Why…Why did you want your alice stolen?"
"My alice is the one that shortens my life-span. I didn't want to have an alice anymore. I'd die any sooner, and I'm forever grateful for what you have done. At that time I was weakening- I needed a way for my alice to be taken away from me…"
"But you still have an alice?"
"I wasn't planning for you to steal everything. I intended, to some extent, have some left," the old man said.
"I have nullification left.. ." he continued.
"Really?" asked Mikan.
"The alice is very useful, I should not think of ever losing it."
There was complete silence. The man spoke again later, after a couple of minutes.
"Remember, use your alice well. So let this be our last meeting... Farewell," he said, and he left Mikan with a photograph lying on the ground.
It was a picture of her mother, and the old man, Tatsuya Nakamura. The occasion looked like New Year (Mikan's birthday), and there were a couple of presents in the background. Mikan could clearly see the resemblance between her and her mother…
(A/N: finished!! I'm sorry, this really meant to be finished yesterday, but I didn't expect it would take me longer. This is the last chapter, please don't forget to review. Thanks everyone!)