OMG guys! My computer is fixed :D Now I can finally update my chapters faster before my school here starts again ): I don't wanna go back yetttt T_T
Soooo I'm really happy that everything about Clarisse is now cleared and I can finally get on with the current event of the story ;D I hope you'll like this new chapter!
A big "THANK YOU" for those reviews :D especially for waiting for that new chapter after several weeks XD And I'm really glad to know that you're concerned about me (:
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A/N: Wow sooo everyone's starting to guess who's the dancer ;D we're all gonna find that out in later chapters =P So the ones that you've guessed are: Mikan, Ralph, Satoshi, and Clarisse. Mmmmm... we'll find out... hahaha XD
Disc: I don't own Gakuen Alice
Feelings don't die because we keep on feeding them with memories. That's exactly the reason why it's hard to move on.
It was already dismissal time and students scurried outside of their classrooms and went to their lockers to grab their stuff. They only have six hours to finally go somewhere else they wanted to go before the curfew for their dorms. The guards would surely close it and maybe report to the Principal about the students who weren't in their rooms yet.
The UnfathomableHigh10 was more anxious than usual because they were finally going to meet someone they haven't seen in one and half years. The twisted pain in Mikan's stomach was something she wanted to get out. This whole reunion with her old friends, Robert Ross and Clarisse Powell, made her feel happy but queasy and agitated at the same time. It was a great thing that Ralph was there for her before she break down in tears because of joy.
"I can't believe we're finally going to meet them again!" Nobara whooped. She was unusually energetic and the students were gaping in awe. Tsubasa was more obvious since he was freaking dancing on the floor thus, earning a lot more attention.
"Keep it down," Mikan warned, face was impassive but her eyes were twinkling with excitement. She was itching to finally get out of here and meet her friends. But she was also worried as to how would Clarisse would react when she saw her.
"Clarisse would be ecstatic," Ralph said, as if he knew what she was thinking. She looked up to him with those hazel orbs and he smiled at her.
"You think so?" she asked, worry lines began to get visible on her face.
Ralph rubbed the line between her two eyebrows affectionately and said, "I know so. Now, stop beating yourself up because,Mikan, Clarisse will be more than happy to see you with a smile than that guilty face."
Mikan finally smiled and tip-toed to give Ralph a chaste kiss on the lips and the students surrounding them gave squeals and ohh's. She then whispered to Ralph's ears, "Thank you, Alex."
"Anything for you."
"Eww, eww, eww! Now, can you guys stop smooching with each other so we can get on our way?" Leanne asked, covering her eyes. Nobara and the others nodded in agreement as Mikan and Ralph just chuckled at them. The two of them walked hand-in-hand as the others tailed behind them, chatting happily but also securing their cool façade in front of the students.
Hotaru was more than surprised when she heard that familiar laugh along the hallways. She turned around to the sound of voice and saw Mikan, holding hands with Ralph. Their friends were laughing along with them and they really looked happy. There was a twinge of guilt in Hotaru's heart when she realized that Mikan might never laugh again in front of her. Her trust on her was long gone and she could only hope that Mikan would somehow forgive her.
"Hotaru?" Ruka called out, touching her shoulder and shaking her slightly. She swiveled her head and her amethyst eyes met his cerulean ones. "Are you okay?"
She just nodded her head once as she continued to walk again. She saw Natsume and the others leaning against the wall in the corner and Yuu waved at them.
"Hey Hotaru!" Anna and Nonoko greeted in chorus. She just nodded and stopped in front of them.
"What are you doing here?"
"Don't you wanna go to the mall?" Nonoko asked, bouncing on her feet.
"Too troublesome," Hotaru simply replied.
"We're going somewhere else actually," Ruka interjected but Hotaru jabbed her elbow to his ribs and he made a sound like "oof!"
"That's canceled," she said nonchalantly.
Ruka opened his mouth to ask why and Hotaru simply shrugged and told him, "He has other important appointments."
"Oh."
Natsume quirked one eyebrow at that but didn't say anything more. He straightened up and pulled his backpack to his shoulders and asked, "Are we going or not?"
The others bounced happily, especially the twins. "Let's go then!"
"But wait! Where's Koko and Kitsu?" Anna asked, looking around to find the two guys who had these grins plastered on their faces. Hotaru pointed her thumb on behind them and came the other twins.
"There are the two other idiots," Hotaru muttered, rolling her eyes. She saw Natsume turned to leave and she followed suit with Ruka behind her and the others.
Mikan and the UH10 were waiting behind the school gates of the Art and Design School. They were in disguise as not to risk revealing themselves to the fans who might chase them at the brink of exhaustion and passing out, and the paparazzi who might post something in tabloids that might come out pretty ridiculous. And they didn't want that so they looked utterly lame in those huge glasses that came in different colors and not to mention the rainbow wigs, courtesy to the one who provided it all, Nobara.
"This will work I promise," Nobara said, giggling as she ducked in the wall when she saw the students coming out of the school.
"Boo!" The oh-so-familiar baritone voice came behind them were they were hiding between a big bush and the bricked wall. Nobara, Leanne, Misaki, and Mikan shrieked in surprise, jumping out of the bush while the other guys turned around to see the culprit. The fast beating heart of Mikan didn't slow down as she tried to calm herself, holding a hand on her chest and looking around frantically around the area as she saw that very familiar chestnut hair doubling over in laughter.
"Kyaaa!" Tsubasa mimicked the girls' squeal earlier as he also bent over and laughed. Ralph and Craig were also laughing and Satoshi was covering his mouth in one hand, restraining to make fun of the girls. The familiar guy with them tried to stop laughing, one hand on his knee while he waved his other hand to them.
"Yo! Long time no see!"
"Robbbb!" Nobara, Leanne, and Misaki ran to the older guy and squeezed him into a big hug. Mikan remained on her spot as she slowly smiled, taking off her huge shades and sauntering off to where Robert Ross was. The girls let him go, sniffling slightly and he spread his arms.
"Hey, Mik. Haven't seen you in a long time," Rob grinned. Mikan let a tear to drop as she embraced Rob. He tightened his hug on her and was about to caress her strawberry-scented, brunette hair when his hand came in contact with something curly. "You look amazing with the clown hair, by the way," he teased.
Mikan pulled away and playfully slapped his arm. "It's Nobara's fault."
"Hey! Don't deny that it's cute though!" Nobara protested.
Ralph came behind Mikan and slowly drew her to his arms. He smirked at Rob and said, "Enough of touching my girlfriend." Rob merely snickered and patted his back.
"Possessive as always."
Mikan giggled at that and they started following Rob when he began walking away from the school. He turned to them but didn't stop walking but backwards this time. "You have a car?" he asked them.
"We have the van," Satoshi replied, pointing at the silver van across the street. Rob nodded his head and told them, "Follow my car then and I'll bring you to her."
Mikan swept her gaze from Rob then to Ralph who stared back at her. As if sensing her uneasiness, he put a arm around her shoulder and whispered to her ear, "Clarisse will be happy to see you. Everything's gonna be fine."
Rob rode his red sports car in the school's parking lot and Craig waited for him to start driving. The van was driven by Craig since he had already gotten his license just last year. Mikan and the others were sitting behind, anticipating their meeting with their redhead friend. They started to follow Rob's car and it led them to a nice looking house after a twenty-minute drive. The gang went out of the van and hopped to where Rob was waiting for them. He motioned them in front of the house until they were standing in front of an oak door.
Ralph gave Mikan's hand a squeeze, assuring her that everything was gonna be alright. She gave him a tiny smile and took a deep breath. Rob rang the doorbell and they heard soft footsteps getting louder as it neared the door. The wooden door burst open and a lady with curly red hair stood in front of them. Mikan recognized her as Clarisse' mother.
"Rob!" Mrs. Powell greeted. Her smile got bigger when she saw the other visitors, especially Mikan. "And you brought the others too."
She let them in and led them to a comfy living room. There was a fireplace which kept the room warm. Mikan and the others took their coats off and Rob helped them hang it. They sat on the black, leather couch and waited excitedly. Rob had gone to get Clarisse from her room to the second floor and her mom was making them something to eat and drink. The UH10 took off their disguise so they could finally breath normally.
Mikan was biting her lower lip, a sign that she was nervous as hell while Ralph was looking at her and chuckling mentally. He loved that habit of hers.
And then everything seemed to stop when the familiar small face came in front of them. Her red hair was straight passed her shoulders and her baby blue eyes were shining. She began to tear up when she saw the familiar brunette hair. She flung her arms on her and Mikan received her gladly.
"Clarisse! I miss you!" Mikan cried out.
"I miss you, Squirrel!" Clarisse sobbed. Mikan smiled at her nickname that she'd gotten when Clarisse noticed how much she loved peanut butter for her sandwich, back when they were in Dream Star Music School. The thought of that school brought back memories and it saddened her so much that it made her squeezed Clarisse more.
"Stop suffocating each other," Tsubasa said, smiling widely at them. Clarisse reluctantly pulled away and then she saw Tsubasa, she hugged him and the rest followed and they formed a big, group hug.
Time flew by and they found themselves sipping some soup to get warm because of the temperature outside. They were chatting happily and loudly that the atmosphere in the house lit up and Mrs. Powell was glad that Mikan and the others visited. She left them in the dining room when she served them the chicken soup she made for them. The UH10 excitedly told Clarisse and Rob about their world tours and it was not until Clarisse asked them something that made them all awkward.
"I heard you were scaring the students in Alice Academy. Is that true?"
Mikan froze along with the others and they nervously looked at each other then to Clarisse. Rob had a paper and pen on his hands, waiting for their response. He had been writing all of the things that the band were saying for the past couple of hours and Mikan's chest began weighing down more when she always saw this.
"Umm, well," Nobara hesitantly muttered. She nudged Satoshi to start talking and he jabbed his elbow to Tsubasa and it was like a domino until it reached Ralph. He was gonna poke Mikan but she glared at him as if saying "Don't You Dare."
"Oh guys, stop with it," Rob interrupted. He sighed in exasperation and wrote something to Clarisse, Craig craned his neck to get a peek of it but Rob shielded it away from his eyes and Clarisse' lips formed a thinned line.
"Mind telling me what happened to Aaron and the others?"
Mikan exhaled. She was expecting her to ask about those guys so she opened her lips to speak. "I... I'm sorry. But I can't take it 'cause whenever I see them it always reminds me on... how you lost you capability of hearing."
Rob wrote it down and showed it to Clarisse. Her blue eyes softened and she looked at Mikan. "Mikan, you know that it's not your fault I'm in this situation. I accepted what happened to me and you should too. You can't just let that ruin you."
"But..."
"When my parents decided to sue the school for this, I begged them to just stop because I knew what would happen to me that day. It took a very long time for me to convince them to drop it but I took their doubts away when I suggested to home-schooled me. They must have been expecting me to give up with the life I chose. But I did not."
Mikan sniffed, tears were threatening to stream down her face. As Clarisse continued, she took Mikan's hands and stared at her even though she couldn't hear what was happening to her surroundings.
"It pains me to know that you're still guilty and you're still trying to make Aaron admit what they've done. I'm alright Mikan. I'm starting from the very beginning and I know it's gonna work. I'm not gonna give up because music is my life."
Mikan pursed her lips, gaining a little courage to finally tell Clarisse on what was happening. Rob was ready on Clarisse' side to tell her what was Mikan was saying. "I... I want to punish Aaron and the others for what they've done to you. You don't deserve what you've gotten in saving my life that day. That's why I'm... I think a revenge will make it equal."
"Mikan..."
"I was the reason on why they got expelled from Dream Star."
Rob was shocked as he stopped writing. His eyes widening upon this news and he stared at Mikan's tear stained face. He showed Clarisse what was on the paper and she, too, was surprised.
"You shouldn't have done that..."
Mikan's eyes fluttered closed and she whispered, "I know... but..."
Ralph and the others had solemn expressions and Nobara looked like she was going to cry. They've also done a lot of bad things to Aaron and his friends and now that Clarisse was there in front of them, they realized that maybe they've gone too far.
Clarisse' eyes softened. "You have a good heart, Mikan. Don't let the others destroy on what's inside of you. Doing bad things to Aaron is like stooping yourselves in their level. You shouldn't continue this whole revenge plan. Mikan, I forgave them a long time ago even if they haven't shown their face for a long time without even a single apology. Because I know they were afraid, and they still are. They're scared to face me because I know that in those times we spent together in Dream Star, we formed a bond of friendship. They're afraid to see what they've done."
At this, Mikan let herself cry in front of Clarisse. She repeatedly saying sorry as Ralph rubbed her back soothingly. Then the night came as they started comforting each other and Mikan felt like she became whole again once more.
And she couldn't help but feel helpless and unlucky because every time she felt whole, her heart would shatter and she would began picking up the broken pieces left again and again.
The next days were brighter than usual and the UH10 was less scary than usual but Mikan was antsy. Something was wrong with Ralph and Mikan knew it with the way worry lines were present in his face and his eyes looked troubled and edgy. He was almost not eating anymore in lunch but he was merely poking his mac&cheese. He was always spending time with Mikan and if possible, she bet he was trying to be on her side 24/7 and she found it unnerving because he wasn't acting himself. And he also had this "alone time" where he was just by himself doing nothing but he looked like he was deep in thought.
It was impossible he was jealous. And there was nothing to be jealous about, anyways.
"What's wrong with you?" Nobara asked, scrunching up her eyebrows. Mikan silently thanked her because she didn't want to be the one who was gonna interrogate Ralph when the person was a nervous-wrecked already.
"It's like you're waiting for some nuclear bomb to explode on your feet," Tsubasa said, sipping down his lemonade.
"And Mikan is also getting worried," Misaki added, looking at Mikan who stared at Ralph's amber eyes.
"Nah, it's nothing," Ralph shrugged and continued to "eat" his food. Mikan scooted closer to him and brushed the maroon and blond streaks on his hair away from his eyes.
"Are you feeling alright?" she asked softly, not caring if the students were looking at them dreamily.
Ralph caught Mikan's hand and softly kissed her knuckles. She saw something flashed on his eyes but it was gone completely the next second. He looked hesitant and it wasn't like him at all to distance himself but he only murmured to her, "I'm fine. Don't worry."
Mikan let it slide this time but she had this nagging feeling on the pit of her stomach and she didn't like it one bit. It was driving her nuts and she wanted to figure out what was wrong before she started pulling her hair out. She wanted this out of her chest and she was determined to find out what was going on with her boyfriend.
It was already nine o' clock in the evening and just thirty more minutes before the guards would finally lock the dorms. Natsume was wandering outside and was kicking the snows in the pavement. He breathed out and a puff of fog came out from his mouth. He snuggled his face to the red scarf around his neck and stuck his hands on the black coat around him. He saw a dimmed light somewhere and he figured out that he was on his way to the old gym again. He was about to turn back but somehow there was a pull that was inviting him to come towards to that abandoned building.
His footsteps left a trail behind him on the white, fluffy snow. He checked the time on his phone again and shoved it to his pocket afterward. He was expecting the music to greet his ears but he heard nothing but soft thuds. He opened the door and remembered both of his encounters with the pro-hip hop dancer. He began walking in the familiar hallway and stopped at the room where mirrors were everywhere and the shiny, waxed floor was present in his eyes.
"Yo," he greeted as the squeaks of sneakers stopped. He caught the dancer doing some warm-ups and that explained on why he didn't hear the music that he heard last time.
The dancer shook its head and turned to something and Natsume recognized the cardboard that he saw last time. The HH pro was writing something in it and his/her annoyance was present on how the capital letters danced on the piece of cardboard.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE DOOFUS?"
Natsume raised his palms as if surrendering. "I'm not here to annoy you, I'm just here to watch you."
"GET OUTTA HERE! I DON'T WANT ANY AUDIENCE!"
"Don't be so arrogant. I'm just merely... bored," Natsume replied, denying the truth that he was captivated by his/her moves whenever he/she danced.
"Just shut up and don't get closer."
Natsume then situated himself in leaning against the wall as he watched the dancer's every move, stretching and spinning. Then after setting up the stereo, the dancer started doing moves that looked complicated and difficult to everyone's eyes. It was graceful in someway as the HH pro slid across the room and spun himself, did back flips several times and the robotic moves he saw last time. This dancer was completely maneuvering the dance floor!
Natsume was interrupted when his phone vibrated in his pocket. He saw Ruka's name flashing on the screen and his message. He opened it and read, "Hurry uppp." He texted him back saying, "Be there soon." He then averted his eyes from the phone to the black clothed dancer again. Couple of minutes watching, the music stopped. He followed the dancer as he/she got a bottle of water from the black duffel bag and raised it on the air as if asking Natsume if he wanted one. He shook his head and chuckled. So this dancer was not that cold-hearted after all.
"You kinda remind me of someone," Natsume blurted out. He was surprised himself when he said that but he couldn't see the reaction of the dancer since its face was covered with a black mask.
"Who?" The HH pro wrote in that piece of cardboard.
Natsume thinned his lips and looked on the floor. "My sister." He felt the presence of the dancer walking towards him and stopped several feet away from him. He/she sat on the floor and crossed his/her legs as if telling Natsume that the dancer was gonna listen to him.
"What? Don't tell me you're interested in me now," Natsume said slyly. He then read the cardboard and that said, "I'm bored." He shook his head lightly in amusement and settled himself down on the floor. He noticed that he only had ten more minutes before the guards come reporting his absence to the school officers.
"I'm not gonna tell you my personal life," he said. The dancer didn't seem affected and Natsume figured that maybe he/she was really bored. "Teach me how to dance then." His crimson eyes were daring the dancer and he seemed so serious but the truth was Natsume himself wasn't sure why he wanted to learn hip hop. Maybe somewhere deep inside him, the promise he made to someone was still alive.
"Why are you desperate?"
Natsume grunted. "I'm not desperate. I'm just... I want to fulfill some promise that I made with someone. And I'm not even sure myself on what's the point of keeping that promise."
The dancer gave him a long, hard stare that would make him squirm in discomfort since it was like he/she was analyzing him with his/her eyes. And now that he noticed it, maybe this dancer was a guy because of how he moved and how he was clad in black.
"I'll help you then," the dancer wrote on the board. Natsume's eyes widened in shock and he quickly raised his eyebrows.
"There's a catch, isn't it?" he asked, suspiciously narrowing his gaze on the person in front of him.
"You'll help me clean this studio everyday."
Natsume was about to protest but thought better of it. Did he really want to be a ragged man in order to learn this modern dance? He was about to risk his dignity and his ego would be taking a huge blow by agreeing on this so he contemplated his options. If he did it, then he was going to fulfill his last promise to this someone. But if not, then he was saved from being a caretaker of this studio. He thought about it until his phone buzzed again and he took it out. Ruka was obviously panicking since he was sending him a lot of messages about only five minutes to run to the dorms and he'll be looking for him if he's not there in two minutes.
"Go."
Natsume turned to the dancer and he stood up. He was about to leave when he swiveled around and then smirked at the Hip Hop pro. "I'll do it."
With that said, he took off jogging towards the boys' dormitory. He barely made it in time but in some strange ways, he felt light and relieved. Maybe it was because his burden would be lessen when he finally accomplished the promise he had with one of the most precious people in his life.
His long gone sister, Aoi Hyuuga.
Okay, soooo now that everything's becoming more clearer with the issue of the UH10's anger with Aaron, what will happen to Mikan and the others now? They've already met Clarisse...Mmmm... I'm sensing something here... *cough* Mikan turning her anger *cough* to Natsume *cough* LOL ;D And... something's wrong with Ralph? :O OMG you've got to find out what it is! now, I'm sure you wanna know the turn of events now that "Mysterious Dancer" here is gonna teach Natsume how to dance... But the question is... who's the dancer? And what does Natsume's sister, Aoi, has something to do with any of these? Find out more in next chapterrrr :D Review :)
-CrimsonHazelEyes
