Chapter 9: On the Wrong Side
I've revised a bit of Chapter 6: The Impossible Truth and Chapter 8: Trust in Me. This is to reflect the fact that students of Alice Academy graduate after three years of Specialist Training and not after three years of High School, as previously indicated in those chapters. I'm very sorry about that! Well, here goes the intense ninth chapter.
He begs but she does not yield.
Featuring her reasons and her guardians.
Gakuen Alice and its characters are the wonderful creations of Tachibana Higuchi.
Mikan promised herself that she would not let a tear escape from her eyes. She accomplished that. She had just told Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru that she got all her alices back and that she has decided to stay in the academy after graduation.
"It's for my own protection," she said and waited for their violent reactions.
"That's impossible, Sakura!" Ruka said.
Mikan sighed. "That was exactly what I told my Uncle, Ruka-pyon. But you all know he can detect Alices right? He knew I lost my Alices back when we fought the former Elementary School Principal. He has no reason to lie to me."
"How gullible can you be? Have you learned at all? They've failed you in the past! You and your whole family! They erased your memories, are you just willing to let that go?" Natsume said as he glared at her, more menacing than ever.
"That was in the past and it wasn't like they wanted me and my parents to get hurt. They erased my memory but it was necessary. It was cruel, but necessary," Mikan tried to keep her voice even.
"You idiot! You're siding with the wrong people!"
"Have you told Jii-chan?" Hotaru said, her hands clenched into fists at her side.
"I've told him that I had something to tell him about my future plans. I'm not going to lie to him, Hotaru."
Hotaru was about to say something but Natsume opened his mouth faster.
"So, you're content to have Yukihira, Shiki and Narumi go to you grandfather and tell them your so-called choice to protect yourself? Tell him that as an unprecedented case of Alice recovery, you're going to be the academy's lab rat and promise to set you free after two years? Do you really believe they'll let you go? How stupid can you get?"
"I agree," Hotaru said.
"I know what I'm doing!"
"No, you don't!" Natsume grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, hard.
"Natsume, you're hurting her," said Ruka.
Mikan pried herself away from Natsume, not looking away from his eyes. They kept staring at each other, daring the other to break eye contact.
Hotaru and Ruka knew that they better leave Mikan and Natsume alone.
"Nogi. Let's go," she whispered to Ruka. Ruka took one last look at the two and nodded. They left the Mikan and Natsume in the gazebo where Mikan chose to give her announcement.
"Natsume, I need this. Years ago, I kept saying I want to protect everyone. That was stupid! I couldn't even protect myself! I'm not going to be someone who's just full of resolve without the ability to back it up!"
"Foolish girl! Can't you see they're just tricking you into staying? I can protect you! Why chain yourself to this forsaken place?"
"I don't want you to hurt yourself any further on account of me, Natsume! Two years, two more years after graduation and I'm out. It's not being in chains, it's just an extension that would do me good. I'll be prepared to face the real world outside the academy."
"What about me, then?!" His tone was unmistakably angry, but his anguish was evident in his eyes. Mikan took his hands and spoke gently.
"You get what you deserve. You get to be with your family."
"Why should I have to choose between you and them?"
"Natsume, you shouldn't even have to think. And it's not like that. I'll be with you after two years. Nothing and no one can stop me. I'm not as foolish as you think. Besides, you of all people should know how terribly stubborn I can get. I won't let anyone manipulate me. And this time, I'll be the one to come to you. I promise."
He broke away from her.
"All these months, all these dates, all of the times we spent with each other! You knew all along. All along, you were saying goodbye to me! No wonder not all your smiles were genuine. What do you take me for?"
She took one step towards him.
"I had so much fun with you and I know you felt the same way. I would have done the same even if I haven't recovered my alices. I wanted to live a normal high school life with the the person I love! I wanted to do everything campus couples do! But of course my secret would always surface in my thoughts and I'd unconsciously give you pained, half-hearted smiles. I'm not staying here because I want to, I'm staying because I have to. You have to believe me, Natsume."
He took one step back and looked at his feet.
"That's our problem, isn't it, Polka dots? We're not normal and we'll never be."
"Natsume, that's not what I meant. I'm also doing this because of you, too."
His head jerked up. "What?"
"Natsume, I'm staying here to train, to be strong. I want to have the ability to protect not just myself, but to have the ability protect you as well. I'm not looking down on you, believe me!"
"There's no way I'm letting you go through with this plan and that's final! Either you get out right after graduation with us or I will stay behind with you!"
"You can't make me change my mind and I won't let you stay here with me!"
"You said it yourself, two more years is just an extension! You talk about training. Do you even know what this is? This isn't some spy movie. Stop being reckless!"
"You say you'll train under Shiki and Narumi? The Middle School Principal was a terrorist, a former top Z agent. Narumi was a favorite of Kuonji. He and Persona came for me and Aoi! Plus he brought you here and look where that got you?"
"Natsume, Shiki-san is a friend of my mother. After graduation, Shiki-san chose to forsake his family and searched for my mother until he found her in the snow, almost dead. Shiki-san assisted my mother in all the dangerous work she did in trying to topple down Kuonji. Shiki-san protected this academy from the attack of the Z organization and continues to protect the academy to this day."
"Narumi-sensei rescued me from being exploited by shady people when I arrived outside the academy's gates. Narumi-sensei is the closest thing to a father I have in this academy. Narumi-sensei delivered my letters to Jii-chan personally. Narumi-sensei risked his life for me and all the students of the academy. I have no excuses for his part in your misery and all the things he did for Kuonji but I know that if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have discovered who I truly am. I wouldn't have met you."
"I have no regrets about coming to Alice Academy because I love you, Natsume. I love you, and so does your family. They don't deserve to be away from you for two more years. So please, let me stay behind to learn how to defend myself and go to them after graduation. I will be by your side after two years."
"Don't do this, Mikan. Just don't."
"I have to do this, Natsume. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Why do I have to lose you again?"
"You won't!"
"Maybe I already have."
End of Ninth Chapter