A little less than an hour later, the train stopped in Tokyo. Upon leaving the train, the crowd overwhelmed the girls. The clock just struck 8:00 AM, and everyone appeared to be trying to get to school, or work, or wherever else. Had they not been wearing their flashy, colorful outfits that clashed with the crowd's bland school uniforms and suits, the girls would have definitely lost sight of each other.
"Oh my god. Take me back to the hell hole. I can't deal with this," Sumire grumbled just as another stranger jostled her to the side for the fourth time.
"Get your asses over here," Hotaru barked. Somehow she managed to glide through the hoards of people and already stood by the exit of the station.
"I'll race you there," Mikan challenged the others. "Loser does whatever the winners want."
"You're on," Nonoko, Sumire, and Anna accepted in unison.
Together they charged toward Hotaru, the exit, and their chance at a new life.
Oh, and Mikan lost the race.
Sumire whistled in awe. "This place is definitely loaded. Like, look at this wall. Do they want to keep the rest of the world out?"
The five girls walked toward the iron gates of Alice Academy, peering in through the bars. Not much to see though. Behind the gate a long cobblestone driveway lined with pine trees stretched on for what seemed like forever. The driveway seemed so long that the girls couldn't even see the school buildings from where they stood. A thin veil of fog further hindered their view, so they settled with admiring the brick wall surrounding the campus to pass time.
"This is straight up out of a mystery novel," Nonoko noticed.
"My uncle should be here any minute now..." Mikan mentioned nervously. Even though she had been preparing herself to meet him for the past week, she couldn't help but feel anxious.
What if I don't make a good first impression? What if he goes back on his word? We really should have made a Plan B…
Nonoko looked away from the gate and back at Mikan. "Hey. Chill. I'm sure he's a nice guy. He admitted us while knowing that we're drop outs."
Mikan could only nod at this reassurance, not feeling reassured at all.
She closed her eyes and did some breathing exercises she'd learned in PE. They were meant to help you catch your breath after running long distance, but she figured they're good for any situation when she couldn't breathe normally. Like now. When she was on the verge of having a panic attack.
The sound of a car engine caught her attention halfway through her second set of exercises; a black van pulled up to the other side of the gate.
A few seconds ticked by before a man came out of the vehicle. Mikan immediately knew he was her uncle. Although she never met her father, she knew what he looked like through pictures. And man, her uncle looked almost identical to him, just a little older.
"You must be Mikan," he pointed out.
"Y-yes. Sorry, I'm kinda out of it right now. This just seems surreal, ya know? So, yeah, I'm Mikan, and well, this is Hotaru, Sumire, Anna, Nonoko, and Hotaru. Oh, shoot, I already said Hotaru…" Mikan continued rambling, and her friends almost died of secondhand embarrassment.
The entire time Kazumi Yukihira just quietly watched her. She really looks like her mother.
"Mikan, can you just shut up? Like, please…" Sumire couldn't take it anymore.
"Well, then. Shall we get going?" He seized the opportunity given by Mikan's pause in speech to usher them onto the campus. He unlocked the gate and opened the van's doors, inviting them inside.
"Of course. Sorry, I'm just nervous. We all are—Ouch!" Mikan was interrupted by a jab in her side.
She turned to Hotaru, who looked at her with intent. Her eyes said, Aren't you forgetting something?
Ah, yep, almost forgot.
"Um, thank you so much for taking us in on such short notice. We really appreciate it. I don't know how to repay you for your kindness, Mr. Yukihira—" she started as the other girls climbed into the van.
Her uncle started the car engine and headed down the driveway. "Call me Kazumi. We're family after all. And it was no problem, really. The school had been looking for students to give scholarships to, and you happened to ask at the right time."
"How exactly did we get these scholarships, Mr. Yukihira? I'm sure Mikan has told you about our...circumstances...for leaving school," Hotaru questioned.
"Yes, I'm aware of that. But you know, despite your bad reputations, you girls have remarkable grades. I'm shocked by it myself. You didn't cheat on tests or anything, did you?"
"Definitely not! I wouldn't let them!" Anna felt the need to defend her friends, even though she knew Mikan's uncle was only teasing.
"Of course, of course. You girls all have talents as well."
The girls looked at each other. Talents? Like what? They were only good at tests and fighting.
Kazumi saw their confused expressions. "Well, clearly you don't know what you're worth."
They blushed. They weren't used to being complimented.
"Anyway, I'm sure you all had your own reasons for behaving the way you did. But, let me be clear about something." He shifted to principal mode. "Here at Alice Academy, no form of disrespect or violence is tolerated."
He only needed to say it once for them to understand. Their days as gang members were over. From now on, they were normal high school girls.