DISCLAIMER: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Hello! And enjoy. Mikan's POV.

Usagi Academy

I stood with my mouth hanging wide open, watching all the students chatting and fooling around in front of me.

It was absolute chaos; there were wind-up toys on the ground and tables, walking around as if they were alive. There was blue chocolate, half-eaten, lying on one of the desks. Books zoomed by so quickly through the air that they were a blur, hitting unfortunate students in the back of the head. And was that a…boy flying up there too? There was no way I had class in here. Maybe I took a wrong turn somewhere.

But my hopes were disappointed when a timid man practically crawled through the mess of students and greeted me with disheveled hair and a light smile. "You must be Mikan!" He expertly ducked to avoid a lethal encyclopedia, despite his clumsy look. "Welcome to Usagi Academy. I see you have all your books." He sidestepped a murderous rogue novel. "I'm sorry about this. This isn't how new students usually are introduced. Please forgive me. I'll have the class ready soon."

"No, wait, Mr…um. You really don't have to." I absolutely refused to stand in front of this class! Or even let them know I existed. Why oh why did Nobara have to be in a different classroom?

"I am Fukutan-sensei, homeroom teacher of Class B-agh!" His poorly timed greeting was cut short when a small, but incredibly fast novel flew into his shin.

"Fukutan-sensei!"

"You should've just stayed in your room." I turned to gaze indignantly at the speaker. It was that nasty boy Mochiage. I should've known things would take the turn for the worst and land me in a class full of people I didn't know and the only person I did know in some way or other was a complete jerk.

"Oh yeah? Well I'm not afraid of you!" But it was the wrong thing to yell. No sooner had the words left my mouth did I feel a fierce grip on my arms and legs roughly tugging me up, higher and higher, until my feet left the ground!

I yelled again, only this time in surprise and at the sinking feeling I felt in my stomach that usually came with freefalling. "Put me down! Put me down, you jerk!" The rest of the class hardly paused in what they were doing, simply continuing to chat amongst themselves, focusing hard on a textbook laid out in front of them, or staring listlessly out a window. Things like this might have happened everyday for all I knew. I noticed only one girl and one boy had actually turned their heads to take a good look at me. The girl had a sneer, her face framed with curls. The boy had on a pair of glasses and sad, worried eyes, though he hardly budged to do anything about it.

"Who are you?" I turned my head to the right only to see a pair of wide eyes peering at me from a distance of one inch. My brain cancelled on me and it took a second for the fact that he was hovering besides me to register. Did he enjoy being lifted against his will?

"She's wondering about you, Kitsuneme," Another voice piped up from the ground and I whirled around to see a perpetually smiling boy. "She's wondering if you like being lifted by Mochiage."

"I'm not being lifted by him at all!" Kitsuneme said matter-of-factly, as if I was supposed to know that. "I can fly you know. I don't need Mochiage to lift me."

"It's true," The smiling boy agreed emphatically with his classmate. "We all have unique abilities that we call Realizations. Can you guess mine? Oh! That's correct."

I shut the mouth that was about to say my answer.

"She wants you to put her down now, Mochiage." He said cheerfully to the slant-eyed boy.

"I think she already said that, Koko." I was getting tired of this, of Kitsuneme's practicality, of Koko's annoying Realization, of Mochiage the jerk, and of the craziness that this entire morning had simply been drowning in since I stepped out of bed.

"Watch out, Mochiage, she's angry now."

"Like she can do anything about-"

"That's IT! I'm done! I've HAD IT!" I felt something stir inside me, a suction-like feeling that reminded me of a plunger being pulled out of a toilet. It wasn't pleasant, yet it felt as if I'd dislodged something that had been stuck for the longest time. I felt a sudden wave of nostalgia and, in that same moment, Mochiage's hold on me lifted. Then a kind of whoop-for-joy excitement filled me for the split second before I fell.

Everyone went quiet. And were as still as elephants cornered by a single mouse.

I landed in a graceful fashion, which was still shocking, as I was liable to trip on air less than a week before. Everyone stopped talking and turned to look at me almost all at once. The wind-up toys that had been walking around earlier had fallen down and the flying books were lying everywhere in a mess. I heard a low whistle and saw Kitsuneme looking at me widened eyes from where he'd fallen.

"My toys!" squealed one of the girls sitting next to the one who liked to sneer. Then again, they all looked like girls who sneered.

"Uh…um…Class! Please welcome our newest student, Mikan Sakura!" Fukutan-sensei announced, his glasses askew, with the worst timing in the world. I clapped my hand on my eyes in embarrassment. Maybe if I can't see them, they won't see me. I thought despairingly.

"That wasn't bad, Sakura." Was that a compliment? I looked in disbelief at Mochiage.

It was short-lived, however, once the girl that liked sneering spoke, "That's nothing special! I bet she can't do it again even if she wanted to."

"Now Sumire, be nice." Fukutan-sensei scolded lightly. He straightened up slightly and began restoring order in his classroom, something he should've done five minutes ago. "Your classes will be starting in ten minutes. Get ready for Tonochi-sensei!"

Everyone suddenly looked several times more enthusiastic as they began picking up the books scattered around the floor and straightening up their desks. The blue chocolate I'd seen earlier was immediately thrown into a trashcan.

"Wait! Where do I sit?" A boy emptied the table in front of me and began walking away to throw away his load. "Hey those are my books!" I made to chase after him, but then a girl slipped a rug out from right under me! "Hold on I was still standing on that!" I thought about how all this chaos was for Tonochi-sensei. "Who is Tonochi-sensei anyway?" I murmured under my breath as I fought my way through the rushing tide of students. A helping hand unexpectedly grabbed me by the sleeve, pulled me out, and placed my recovered books into my arms.

A slight boy with overly large glasses stood shyly in front of me. "Tonochi-sensei is our social studies teacher. We have him everyday at this time. He's really nice, though he's nicest to the girls."

"Why is that?" I asked.

Before he could reply, however, Fukutan-sensei began ushering students as best as he could. "Class! Please! Go to your seats. Tonochi-sensei is here in five minutes!" Poor Fukutan-sensei. This time I could feel some sympathy for my homeroom teacher. He really isn't fit for this job.

Tobita took one look at his scrambling classmates before turning back to me, "Like I said, he's very popular. My name is Yuu Tobita by the way. But you may call me Iinchou. I'm sorry I didn't help you earlier. As Class representative, I should've been more assertive. Please forgive me."

He looked so apologetic I wouldn't have denied him anyways. "It's alright. I'm fine. You don't need to put on that face. Besides, I managed to stop them didn't I? Well, I might've stopped everyone…"

"Just be careful with your Realization. You need to work on controlling it and learn to use it in appropriate amounts-"

"What's your Realizing thingy?" I was curious as to see what this gentle looking person was capable of.

"Realization." He corrected me politely. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again his pupils were slit and a glowing red had bled into his natural eye color of light brown. "On your shoulder, there's a flower blooming. It's bright orange and very lovely."

I blinked a couple times before I realized he was being serious and I looked. "What…how? This is amazing!" I reached for it, but it dissipated once I tried touching its petals.

I looked back at him to find his eyes looking searchingly into mine. His voice was somber as he spoke, "As much as I wish a real flower can appear on your shoulder, mine is only an illusion." He looked unhappy about it and I tried to sympathize with him. But I couldn't.

"What's so bad about illusions? I think it makes much more sense than having an uprooted flower on my shoulder." I liked his power, so beautiful compared to mine.

"No, no, I wasn't trying to say that I didn't like my ability. I just wish I could let you touch the real thing, although you are right about the flower. It would be better to have a potted one instead, though I suppose you probably wouldn't like having something so big sitting on your shoulder."

I imagined myself crushed underneath a large potted plant and could see his logic. "No, probably not."

Iinchou turned to go to his seat and I was about to follow him when the sneering girl cut me off.

"This is my seat. Go somewhere else!"

"Hey!" I was indignant when I turned and walked away to find another seat. To my horror, the only one left was next to Mochiage.

"Looks like the newbie is more pathetic than she looks." Sumire whispered loudly into Iinchou's unwilling ear.

"Stop it, Sumire," He replied in an equally loud whisper. "You don't have to be so jealous." The effect was worth it, even though I heard an audible thump as Sumire dealt Iinchou one on the arm.

"Shut up!" She hissed before she settled into a silent pout. Though I kept a straight face as I went to my seat, I was laughing on the inside and gave props to my new friend.

"Ohayoouu!" Came a cheerful voice from the doorway and I found my gaze lingering on the young and incredibly longhaired teacher that had stepped into the classroom.

"Ohayo, Tonochi-sensei!" The class chirped back.

The air suddenly began to fizzle with an unseen force. It entered my body as the room filled with the strange sensation and I felt something warm in my belly like hot tea. I surged with energy and looked around to see if anyone else felt the same thing.

No one even batted an eye.

I turned to Mochiage. "Can you feel it?"

He kept his eyes toward the front of the classroom, "That's his Realization. Amplification, though I'm not sure if you even know the word."

I huffed at his slight as quietly as I could.

"What's this? A new student! Would you care to tell me your name?" Tonochi-sensei's voice was louder than I anticipated when it was directed only at me. My gut managed to roll once before I answered him.

"Sakura Mikan."

"Is that so? You've come rather late into the semester so I'm afraid you'll have to do a bit of extra reading to catch up. But other than that, please allow me to take care of you." His last few words were only meant for politeness. Nonetheless, my cheeks burned. "Now everyone take out your books. Mikan-chan, that would be the one with the samurai on the cover. Chapter five. Meet with me after class to get the material you missed."

"Yes, Tonochi-sensei." I sighed softly to myself. School, no matter where it took place, could always find a way to be stressful. For the first time that day, I found myself thinking about what I left behind outside the school walls, Hotaru, Ojiisan…Natsume.

I hid my face behind my book so I could hide the sudden stinging in my eyes. I missed them, more than I would ever tell anyone.

And I knew that if anyone did find out, I could never get away from this place.

"I'm here for my extra materials, Mr. Tonochi." The classroom was emptied before I brought myself to approach my very popular teacher.

"Oh yes. This is the schedule from our first semester. If you need help in catching up, please come talk to me." He gave me a wink before packing up his own things to move on to his next classroom.

I thanked him and I turned to leave when he called my name and I looked back.

"Mikan…I mean it when I say that you can come talk. If you ever need help…of any kind." His look was sincere and kind and something in my heart told me to trust him.

"Sure, Tonochi-sensei. I will." I smiled my best for him before walking out the classroom and closing the door behind me.

How could I forget? I wasn't doing this alone.

On his way to his next class, Akira Tonochi was deep in thought. He was so occupied that he almost ran into Hayate Matsudaira, the English teacher.

"Hey hey! Watch where you're going, you blind long-haired freak!" The man was a looked a little too crazy for a teacher at work.

Tonochi clapped a hand in exasperation to his forehead. Hayate was always a little too open with his words. "Hayate. Control that mouth of yours. I don't want the students to hear a teacher insulting another teacher like that. It's just bad form."

"Well I'm not the one walking around with his face up in the air like you." Hayate gave a wide, fanged smile.

"I heard about the incident today. You took off your earring again didn't you?"

"I hate that damn thing! It makes my ear all itchy and I can't ever concentrate on teaching."

"So you decided to endanger a quarter of the student body by placing yourself in a potentially destructive situation?"

"Hey! I thought I could hold it for about a half hour, but I guess I was wrong. I promise! I won't do anything like that again."

Tonochi sighed, knowing Hayate's tendency to be all talk. "Whatever, Hayate. You should be glad that certain people don't curse your stupid hide."

And then Tonochi knew he'd made a mistake when Hayate's face darkened.

"Don't even mention those bastards in front of me," he growled savagely. "I'm only here at this school for the students, not them. They can do what they want, but I don't want to even think about them if I can help it."

Tonochi wrenched him forward by the collar at that point, his eyes feral and pupils slit. "Remember you fool, before you make it worse for these students you want to protect." He brought his face close to the other man's. "Remember that you work under those same people you hate so much and if any of them hear you saying things like this, you won't be here to protect those kids anymore."

Hayate was quiet for a while, which meant he was at least processing what Tonochi had said to him. "Yeah. Yeah I know." He gave an empty laugh, his cat-like eyes dulled just slightly. "I'm not that stupid, you know? Stupid Tonochi, always telling me what to do."

"You have Sakura Mikan in your next class right?"

"Yeah. I already know about that one. I heard she already had her first kill, one of Persona's men. Early bloomer I guess."

"Hayate." Tonochi was serious when he said it. "She may just be older than you and I, though she definitely doesn't look it. I saw the results from her physical. She is diagnosed to have only half our blood and her birth can be dated back more than 200 years, although for some reason she hasn't aged since that point." Actually telling Hayate this out loud made Tonochi hear how it sounded ridiculous even to his own ears.

"Oh!" Hayate didn't look phased in the least, even though it seemed as if he really did believe Tonochi's words. "I guess that changes things. I suppose you never heard the legend, huh?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Tonochi gave his co-worker a raised eyebrow. "I don't have time for legends."

"But some really are true. Have you ever heard of the Realization of Longevity?"

"Perhaps. So you're saying that Mikan acquired that ability and then happened to forget that she had it?"

"How am I supposed to know what really happened? I'm just an English teacher. See you later, pretty boy Tonochi. I'm almost late for class."

Tonochi rolled his eyes, but he waved Hayate off anyway. "I'm getting to the bottom of this," he vowed quietly to himself. "There are enough secrets in this school to last several lifetimes."

Oo

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I bounced up and down on my squeaky bed out of sheer boredom. P.E had just finished and I really had nothing to do now but lounge around and bounce the day away.

Nobara was sitting in front of a new squat table that must've been brought in when I wasn't here.

"And how were your classes today, Mikan? Did you enjoy our economics class together?" Nobara's cheeks were very pink when she turned away from me.

"They were boring." Nobara looked back with saddened eyes. "No, no! I didn't mean our cooking class! That one was fun, although I think the teacher probably hates me now since I accidentally set her chef hat on fire."

Nobara gave me a smile and I calmed a little. For a moment there I thought the poor girl was going to burst into tears. "I'm glad. I had fun too. Did Sumire give you any particular trouble?"

I thought about the trashcan incident where I tripped over something that hadn't been there before. "No, not really. I've had worse at my old school."

"You mean the human school?"

"Yeah."

"If you don't feel like telling me, you don't have to."

When I actually put more thought into it, I realized that maybe it wasn't so much the bullying that I was trying to remember, but whom I went to school with. Hotaru. And my eyes got that stinging feeling again.

"No. It's not like that. I mean, I was bullied, but I mainly remember the person who was always by my side during those times. Her name is Hotaru and she isn't here right now. And I…" I miss her. I miss her so much that I want to scream.

"Oh Mikan." And then I was suddenly bundled up in Nobara's arms. She was cold at first, but then my warmth transferred to her body and we began to share body heat. "You can cry if you want to. It's just you and me here. No one else is watching. It'll be okay."

At first, I fought to keep them back, but they eventually broke through and my cheeks became wet as I gripped Nobara tightly to me, like I would fall even further apart if I were to let go.

Oo

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Nobara was wrong. Someone had been watching them.

The man peering in through the girls' window had had his hand on the doorknob, ready to come in silently and shock the inhabitants of the room. The white mask was the most eye-catching part of the man's outfit.

Persona, or known by a rare few as Rei Sergio, hesitated at the door when he saw the two figures inside.

Nobara. What was she doing comforting someone else like that? Had she ever shown him that side of her? Perhaps. His mind brought him back to the first time they met, several years ago, when everyone else had backed away in fear of the strangely dressed and imposing man, whose reputation preceded him greatly. She had been the only one to approach him with an outstretched hand, smiling shyly at him like she didn't understand the word fear. Maybe she didn't fear him, for he couldn't remember a time when those eyes ever became hateful in any way.

Darling. He often called her that in front of others. But did it ever mean anything besides just a name? His darling.

His heart shuddered for the first time in his life in a way Persona was unprepared for and he grasped at his chest to grip the front of his shirt in surprise. He was beginning to feel irritated just by seeing the scene before him. His temper was rising and he wanted to break the two of them apart, separate them.

Let the girl cry alone, he thought coldly, though his heart shuddered once more and he wanted to pound the door in frustration. This shouldn't be happening! Not to him!

His hand moved of his own accord and he wrenched the door open, completely startling the two girls inside with his presence.

"Rei!" Nobara spoke his name, perhaps involuntarily, but she seemed to realize her mistake when she covered her mouth with one hand.

"You!" The other girl, that Sakura girl, looked more surprised than angry at his intrusion on their sweet moment, but he really didn't care right now.

"Nobara. I thought I put you here so you could observe the girl, not play sisters with her. Don't tell me you've already forgotten the plan?" He hissed. His terrible side wanted to see her cry, see her break down, and tell him how sorry she was and what a fool she'd been. His better side wanted something close to that. But what he got instead was an unfamiliar defiant look in her eye. There was something different about this girl now, he noticed. Was it because of Sakura?

Nobara stood up, motioning for Mikan to stay where she was. Truthfully, her emotions were in conflict, but she knew that either way, she needed to talk to Persona about this issue alone. She surged forward and the two of them were gone and out of sight, fast enough for a rush of wind to push back the hair from Mikan's disbelieving face.

Nobara closed the girl's bathroom door behind her and locked it, her back facing the man whom she had known and trusted since a young age, indicating that she believed he wouldn't attack her even with her guard down so low. Suddenly, two hands slammed down on either side of her head and she felt his breath on her neck, raising the hairs.

"What do you think you're doing, Nobara?" He demanded her smoothly. It was bold of her to try this. Maybe he'd underestimated her all this time.

"I'm making certain things clear and answering your question." Nobara didn't turn around when she said this and Persona felt a little cheated that she didn't have to look into his face and tell him.

"Look at me." When she didn't turned immediately he went to her ear and breathed, "I want you to look at me so I know you mean it." He saw her body shiver and he gave her a mocking smile. Her body was so much smaller than his, so easy to take advantage of. How could this frail girl ever protect anyone else?

When she finally did turn around, she did something else that surprised him enough to make him freeze up when she did it. Her delicate hands reached up to grip both sides of his mask, an action only he himself had ever done. His entire body stiffened from the shock. The gesture felt intimate, enough to make him suddenly hyperaware of everything about her such as her uneven breathing and her heightened pulse. He could smell her own uncertainty at what she was doing, but sense the resolve she had deep inside her heart.

When she finally took off the mask, she whispered, "I want the stakes to be fair. You need to look at me too." And, although she had seen him without his mask a few times, the sight of his eyes left her in awe from its close proximity. He had such intense eyes, more so than any other person's she had ever seen, even more than Mikan's.

"I haven't forgotten the plan." Her voice nearly caught in her throat, but she continued on. "But that doesn't mean I will go through with it anymore."

"So you're betraying me?" His voice was soft when he asked the question, but Nobara heard the danger behind it. Her eyes became sad and she shook her head no, but Persona was relentless. "If you don't do as I say, then you are betraying me."

"If you put it that way, then you are only fooling yourself. I'm not a little girl anymore. I wouldn't betray you just like that. I…" Suddenly, Persona's hand was around her throat. And although he put no pressure, the threat was there all the same. She closed her eyes; it wasn't out of weakness, but to show she wasn't afraid of him, though he could hurt her easily.

The grip on her throat tightened, but Nobara refused to open her eyes. She trusted him with her life. And if he chose to end it, she would accept his choice. But then Nobara suddenly remembered the girl waiting for her back in their dorm room. If Nobara were to die, then the girl would be left alone in that room, like how Nobara herself was until only recently.

"I'm sorry, but I can't die yet." Her voice was kind when she spoke, but firm. She reached up to gently touch Persona's gloved hand and he removed it like he'd been burned.

How dare she touch him like that! Even though it was only skin on leather, the contact sent a sensation up his arm that wasn't entirely unpleasant. Was he losing his mind? He wanted to laugh until everything became a joke and the unstable ground he was standing on righted itself again.

And then he suddenly felt hair touching his cheek and the mildly wet kiss of a young girl on the corner of his lips. His body froze at that point and Persona knew he had lost this battle. She really wasn't a child anymore, like she said.

Nobara, her insides numb, deftly unlocked the door behind her and slipped out without a sound. Her hands were shaking by the time she was almost to her room, having a hard time believing what she just did, and then discovering that she still had his mask. She slipped it discreetly into her pants pocket before returning to Mikan.

Persona held out a hand to steady himself as he moved rather ungracefully towards the door. He was halfway in opening the door to let himself out when he realized that he no longer had his mask on. And then he supposed that he really didn't care.

Oo

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Sumire was pushing and shoving as she fought her way to salvation. She had been holding it in for the past five hours and this next one was an hour too long! By the time the girl's bathroom door was visible, Sumire swore she would explode into bits and pieces any second.

Almost there!

She raged past a woman just coming out of the bathroom. It was only later that she gave any thought to the way the woman was dressed so strangely and had smeared black lipstick across one corner of her lip. She shuddered at the possibilities and decided that it was better to leave certain questions unanswered.

A/N:

And so concludes another fine installment in the Bloody Secret novella!

Throw whatever you want at me. I'll take it.

Like I said, this story isn't abandoned, but it's struggling to be remembered, like Mikan's memories and the truth behind it all.