Recap
Updating this story took a long time again. I'm very sorry about that. Just to refresh your minds, here is what's happened in Flame so far in the past 17 chapters.
After Mikan comes back to Alice Academy, she regains two things. First is her memories, which everyone expects. The second one is her nullification, stealing and insertion alices, which no one thought would be possible.
Mikan's rare alices make her a prime target for those wishing to gain power for their own evil purposes. She makes up her mind to hone all of them in order to help Alices who are being targeted by nefarious organizations.
Natsume still struggles with his dark past as part of the former Dangerous Ability Class and with reconnecting with his family, but is slowly opening up to Mikan about both. He eventually accepts and supports Mikan's resolution, going in so far as to train her, with Hotaru and Ruka's assistance.
However, Natsume, Hotaru and Ruka are against Mikan's decision to remain in Alice Academy after they graduate. Remaining in Alice Academy was something that Mikan's uncle, High School Principal Kazumi Yukihira, suggested. This is for her own safety. The three are still figuring out a way so that they can all leave Alice Academy together and pursue their own individual dreams afterwards.
Stay tuned tomorrow for Chapter 18! We'll finally get to see what's happening outside Alice Academy, where Behemoth and Genesis lurk and scheme.
Behemoth is made up of two merged groups, namely the Alice Hunters mentioned at the end of the manga and another group called Imperium. Genesis is made up mostly of the remnants of the Z Organization.
Sakurano, Narumi and the former Dangerous Ability class members except Natsume and Youichi help out in dealing with these organizations.
Genesis' rookie agent, Tohru Noyamano, has assassinated one of the former directors of Alice Academy. Noyamano was a former student of Alice Academy and Kitsu's crush.
The former director that she assassinated is the uncle of High School Records Director Kyousuke Minami. Minami is a highly powerful Water Alice trusted by Principal Yukihira. He was a former drinking buddy of Mikan's father and currently Natsume's secret sparring partner.
P.S. I can promise that his story will not spill over to 2022. Flame will end in under 30 chapters. Thank you so much for staying with this story :)