Chapter 20: The Missing Tangerine
Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice. It is owned by Tachibana Higuchi. I also do not own Prince of Tennis. It is owned by Takeshi Konomi.
Summary: The Alice Academy sends six students (Mikan, Ruka, Natsume, Yuu, Koko and Hotaru) to Seigaku High for six months to pursue a Student Visit Program, where the appointed students can improve their social skills in the outside world, but must limit the use of their Alices and make it a secret. There, they meet Ryoma Echizen and the gang… will hell break loose? Prince of Tennix and Gakuen Alice crossover!
Note: So, dear friends, do you have any ideas what you want to see in future chapters? Let me know! Who knows, maybe I'll write about your suggestions if I find it fitting in my canon storyline
Chapter 20: The Missing Tangerine
"Okay, let's take a break. Take five!"
"Good job on that last match, Ryoma-kun!" Eiji calls to him with a goofy smile, bouncing his racket on his shoulders. "Next time we meet on court, I'll beat you! Take my word on it!"
Ryoma stares at him blankly, rubbing his face with a wet towel. It is 4:30 in the afternoon, thirty minutes well into practice, and he hasn't seen the exchange students yet. This bodes badly for them of course, because as members of the club, they are supposed to take part in the activities. All he can see right now from his class are the usual people – Horio, Katsuo, Kachiro, Sakuno, and that loud-mouthed girl tagging alongside her all the time. Her name was… something… something. Ryoma has never been good with names.
"Yeah, whatever," Ryoma mumbles, looking away and walking towards the water fountain. He hasn't seen Mikan since classes ended, and for some reason, that felt weird. She has always been there, in the background, doing something stupid or saying something moronic. He would always see her chocolate pigtails at the corners of his eyes, hear her voice in the distance, and…
And what? Ryoma thinks to himself, forcing indifference. He closes the tap water, wipes his lips with the back of his hand, and starts walking back to the tennis court. Faster. Faster. Before he knew it, he was running. And nothing. Mikan's nothing. Just focus on tennis… tennis…
"Eh? Ryoma-kun?"
Ryoma, surprised, looks up and sees the leader of the exchange students, Yuu, staring at him with an unreadable face. He doesn't really know this guy very well, only that Sakuno seemed to find him decent enough - absolutely miles better than that ever-frowning and ever-angry Hyuuga Natsume. He could see that Yuu wasn't alone, though – behind him were Hotaru and that mind-reading guy, also having a puzzled look on their faces - like they were incredulous to see him here, in the tennis courts, playing tennis. Like he should be somewhere else, anywhere but here.
"What are you doing here?" Yuu asks, an apprehensive looking crossing his face. For a moment there, Ryoma thought he saw a bit of fear, but surely that was a figment of his imagination. "Aren't you supposed to be going home with Mikan?"
What the hell? What kind of question is that? Ryoma thinks, raising an eyebrow. He pauses for a while, and then says in a blank tone, "Because I'm practicing. We have club activities. And I haven't seen Mikan since classes ended." He stops, then looks at the group before him closely. Something's not right. He could feel it in his bones. "What's wrong?"
"This… isn't good," the bespectacled boy mumbles, turning to Hotaru and Yuu, completely ignoring Ryoma now. Ryoma could see that he's starting to become uncomfortable and restless, a weird sight considering he has always seen this guy composed and level-headed. Yuu's constant fidgeting and restlessness were starting to make him wary. "I thought Mikan would be going home with Ryoma-kun today… if I knew she weren't, I wouldn't have permitted her to…"
What's going on? Ryoma thinks to himself as he continues to watch the exchange students huddle together in whispers. Did something happen to Mikan? Is that why she wasn't with them right now? What was this about her going home with him? Did she go home without him today? Was she angry that he brushed off her invitation this morning? But that can't be… she smiled as always, made stupid comments as always, was a klutz as always. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, as far as he knew.
Suddenly, he sees a duo of black and blonde hair walking towards the group, a scowl on the former's face as always. He gazes at the person for a while longer and could clearly see the red, fiery eyes, a pair of orbs he knew very well by now.
Hyuuga Natsume.
Ryoma remains silent as he watches the new students talk to each other in whispers. It was weird seeing them this way, missing one member. For some reason, he couldn't brush off the dread looming in his mind, that feeling indicating something was wrong.
And what? And nothing. Mikan's nothing. Ryoma thinks to himself again, frowning. Whatever, this was taking a chunk of his time. The results of the Ranking Matches would be posted tomorrow, and the start of the Regional Tennis Championships would be taking place three months from now. He needs to put his focus and concentration back to where they belong – in the game, in the court, in tennis. He has to start practicing seriously if he wants to win this time around, and he's definitely not going to allow a bunch of nobodies to ruin that. Not this. Not everything he has worked hard for.
As Ryoma started to walk away, Natsume glances up at him and gives a look of indifference. Then, he calls out, "Hey."
The tennis prodigy stops. Turning around, he faces the person he challenged and battled with a week ago. Natsume seems well enough now, well enough to glare at him at least. He could still remember the way he looked when he collapsed in their first playthrough, and the humiliation etched on his face when he accidentally threw the racket in the Ranking Matches. Despite winning both times, he couldn't help but feel they were incomplete wins, like he cheated his way through them. First, he got sick; second, he made a mistake and threw a tantrum. Before they expire their stay, he'll make sure they have at least one decent match.
"What," Ryoma says, smirking. "Want to lose again today, Hyuuga? Finally found your guts to play again, huh? Done moping?"
"Screw you," Natsume replies with a glare. "If you know what I'm capable of, you wouldn't even be able to talk to me that way. Know your place, Echizen."
Yuu sighs and pulls Natsume's sleeve. "Natsume-kun," he whispers with a weary voice. The class representative looks at Echizen's hazel eyes and then turns to fire-wielding Alice user again. "Please."
"Tch," Natsume mutters. Putting his hands into his pockets, he lifts his chin and stares squarely at Ryoma in the eye without missing a beat. "Echizen, we want you to call your house. Ask if Mikan's there."
Ryoma's eyebrows rise up in surprise. Call his house? Well, that was new. Call his house or not, challenge him to a tennis match or not, this was definitely suspicious. But… he can't dwell on that right now. He has tennis practice to attend to, and so, he needs whatever this was to be over with. He was only supposed to drink water and rest on the benches for a minute or two, but this conversation has gone way too long.
And it's tiring. It's so tiring to think of anything else besides tennis. Every time he sees this group of newcomers, people of origins he doesn't know, he can't help but think of the chocolate-eyed girl currently living with him. Of their conversation last week. Of that urge to stop her from going to that Hyuuga guy.
The sooner he can get rid of them, the sooner he can get rid of her.
"Right," Ryoma replies breezily. He walks to the benches and rummages through his backpack. He wonders what could possibly be happening that they're asking him of all people for a favor. Even that mind-reading guy was quiet, and that was an uncommon sight considering he's now popular in school for constantly reading everyone's minds.
From what he noticed, though, the most restless one today was that Hyuuga guy. His frown was deeper, his eyebrows were more furrowed, and he kept on sighing like everyone can't be any faster.
Ryoma finally finds his phone and dials his house. His mother picks it up at the third ring. "Hi, mom. Yeah, it's me. Did Mikan come home? Yup. Okay. See you."
He closes his cellphone and turns to the impatient group. He gives them the blankest look he could muster. "She got home ten minutes ago."
"That's a relief," Yuu sighs with a smile. He wobbles for a bit, and then collapses on the ground with a nervous laugh. "I was so worried, especially with that new anti-Alice group on the run…"
"Anti-Alice group?" Ryoma repeats, clearly confused. "What's that?"
"EEK! Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Nothing, nothing, nothing!" Yuu exclaims, flailing his hands around as if waving away any traces and evidence of what he said. "Forget about what I said! Please! Oh, look! Eiji-senpai is calling you! Aha… ha ha!"
Ryoma stares at the group a while longer. With a shrug, he walks away back to the tennis court, where the rest of the active regulars were waiting for him.
For now, no distractions.
"What was that all about? They sure stalled you for a long time," Momo teases with twinkling eyes, appearing beside the tennis prodigy suddenly. "So, what did they ask you? They seemed pretty serious. What was it? Autographs? Tips?"
Ryoma glances to his clubmate and gives a shrug. "Who cares."
"Well, I kinda do," his senpai smugly says. After a moment or two, Momo sighs and crosses his arms, concern all over his facial expression. "Say, Ryoma. What do you think of those kids? Do they seem… out of the ordinary… for you?"
Out of the ordinary? Aside from the mind-reading guy and the purple-eyed girl who keeps bringing weird gadgets with her, they seemed pretty normal.
"I dunno," Ryoma replies at last with another shrug. He takes a bottle of water and chugs half of it in one sitting, quenching the thirst that accumulated once more. Damn, he just drank a few minutes ago, and now he was thirsty again. "Why do you care anyway? It's not like you see them everyday. Besides, we should start practicing. School will close in two hours
"Have you ever wondered… that maybe, just maybe, they aren't normal?" Momo continues, ignoring Ryoma. He rubs his chin and studies the group huddled in the corner of the field, obviously too engrossed in their own bubble to care about the rest of the world. "A mind-reading guy; a girl who brought a freaking gundam robot to school; a boy who seems to be loved by every animal around here… heck, the other day, I saw earthworms crawling towards him in a frenzy! And that Hyuuga guy… he got fire to appear on a ball somehow…" Momo then pauses and glances to Ryoma. "You don't think that's sketchy?"
Ryoma closes his eyes and throws a ball to the air. He catches it after a second and then throws it up again. "What are you getting at?" he asks after repeating the throw ten times. As much as he tries to deny Momo's claims, he has to admit that in a way, the newcomers were suspicious. "Are you saying they have superpowers?" He smirks at the thought of this. Mikan? Having superpowers? She's the clumsiest person he has ever met. She can't even last a day without tripping at least once. Plus, she has the smallest pair of breasts –
"Yeah, I'm saying that," Momo interrupts, his voice in a serious tone. Ryoma turns to him quickly, confusion etched on his face. "Remember last week, during the Ranking Matches? I followed Natsume and Ruka when they run away. I saw it, Ryoma. That Hyuuga guy summoned a fireball in his hand, and the blondie called a frigging eagle from the sky!"
"You watch too many fantasy animes…" Ryoma mutters blankly, walking away from the exasperated Momo. "Come on, let's have a match."
Momo puts his hands on his hips and glares at Ryoma's back. It was true, after all. He saw both of them in the park, and there was even that snake Akaya to back him up. The fact that Ryoma refused to believe him was annoying. Seeing it was crazy enough, and talking about it even more so! Yet, he knew he had to tell someone, and that someone was Ryoma. He follows Ryoma to a court and insists, "It's true, Ryoma! I saw it! I saw it with my own eyes. Hey, are you listening to me?"
Superpowers, huh… Ryoma thinks to himself as he readies his playing stance, the racket swinging in his right hand.
"Welcome home, Ryoma-kun," Rinko greets with a smile, welcoming her son by the doorway. Ryoma grunts in reply and takes off his shoes, eager to be alone in his room for the meantime. The day has been exhausting so far, with the newcomers trapping him, and Momo-chan-senpai insisting about things that were too far-fetched in the realm of reality. All he wanted to do was to lay down and get some sleep for another day tomorrow.
"Huh, where's Mikan-chan?" his mother asks him before he could enter his room. "Wasn't she with you?"
Ryoma raises an eyebrow and walks back to his mother. He glances to the clock. 7:30 in the evening. He called around 4:30 in the afternoon. Three hours ago. "No, why would she? And didn't you say on the phone she got home ten minutes before I called?"
"Well, that's true, but she left right after you called," Rinko replies with a worried frown. "It's been three hours. She said she was going to the park to buy some trinkets. Ryoma, dear, can you go and fetch her, please? I'm getting extremely worried. You don't spend three hours in one place if you're only going to buy some souvenirs."
Ryoma scratches the back of his head and starts walking to the front door. He opens the door and puts in his shoes, no sort of emotion crossing his face. Turning to his mother, he says blankly, "Right. I'll see you in a bit then." He bows his head a bit and then walks out, slamming the door in the process.
She did it again. She invaded his house, his thoughts, and now she's getting in the way of his private time, time that he could have used to rest or read manga or just chill before the activities of the next day. What kind of girl would spend three hours in a park by herself anyway? The shops there close at 6, she should have been home by now. But no, right now, at seven thirty in the evening, a time when he could have been eating his mother's cooking, he's here walking in the cold of the night, looking for a stupid tangerine-named girl that suddenly appeared in his life, disrupting everything else in the process.
Ryoma sighs, and puts his hands in his pockets. What was happening to him, really? He never used to think this much about anything else. He never even openly mocked another person in public before, like what he did to that Hyuuga guy that afternoon. Sure, he knows he's good at a lot of things, tennis being one of them, but he didn't try to flaunt it. He didn't try to impose his superiority in that aspect. That thought never even crossed his mind. Yet, earlier, the sight of Natsume just made him want to show off and make that red-eyed boy feel little compared to him.
But why? What was the point of that? What was the point of all the sudden impulses and urges he felt in the past couple of days, things he never felt and did before? Why did he even feel that way?
He knew, of course. He always knew. Mikan. Because of Mikan, he felt like stopping her from her tracks a week ago. Because of Mikan, he felt like he was entangled in a competition between him and Hyuuga. Which is weird, considering before their conversation during the Ranking Matches, he never thought about her at all. She was a nuisance, an alien living in his home, someone he was perfectly okay with ignoring.
And now... why... why can't he stop thinking about her?
Before he could ponder the answer to that question, he already found himself standing in front of the park. He could see the souvenir shop in the distance, but it was already closed - same for the snack booths nearby. There were still a couple of people lingering about, mainly couples whispering sweet nothings to each other, but he couldn't see her from where he stood. Ryoma then decides to take a walk around the perimeter. If he circles the area at least once, he should be bound to see her sooner than later.
Forty-five minutes and two laps around the park later, Mikan still remains to be seen. At this point, Ryoma was starting to get worried. This is so very strange; why can't he find her? He passed by every landmark in the park but there was no one he saw that resembled the brown-haired girl. The tennis prodigy looks down at his watch only to see the time almost reaching 9 o' clock.
This is not boding well.
"You idiot, where are you?" Ryoma mutters to himself as he jogs to a service person cleaning the streets. "Excuse me, oji-san, but did you see a brown-haired girl pass by her? She should be smaller than me by a little, and would have her hair in pigtails."
The old man lifts his head and rubs his chin, deep in thought. "No, I don't think I've seen someone like that. I've been in front of the park entrance all afternoon, standing guard, and I never saw such a girl enter." Then he grins, and pokes his wrinkly head. "This old man remembers every face, y'know!"
Mikan... Ryoma thinks as he thanks the old man. As he looks up and sees the nighttime sky, he is hit with the cold truth.
She's not here.
She nowhere to be seen.
She probably never even entered the park.
With trembling hands, Ryoma takes his phone from his backpack and dials his house's number. "Hello?" he starts, his voice unsteady. He looks up and sees a few stars twinkling in the Tokyo sky - magnificent, yet blissfully ignorant of the matters and problems of the world. "Mom. I think Mikan's missing."