katreena: oh wow! so many reviews for one chapter and thanks to all who reviewed: xiannu007, KristiexxNguyen, Mikan-chan, danavalkyre, kionkichi, Chin-92, Yuuki Ishikawa, akuma, alf05, Sharmaine, dbzgtfan2004, SasuNaru-Love, blue3-mage, Kawaiimichiyo, amylovestakuya...you guys rock!
Tai: hm, I guess people do like this story.
Kaia: yeah. but I wonder how many will review for this chapter...(cough, cough)
katreena: you guys are cruel (sniff)...anyway, i do not own Gakuen Alice and never will.
Chapter Two
Once again, Mikan was late but unlike her usual lessons, she wasn't running. The 'short' nap she took during her free period went a bit into the next. So now she was walking quickly to her next class, the Special Class. Over the years, she hadn't felt bad about being in this class. She learnt that the students were all fun to be with and became friends with them. She hadn't seen Misaki or Tsubasa in a while and she missed them. Whenever she had something on her mind or a problem and needed advice, she would turn to them and ask their opinions on things.
Mikan sighed. She lifted her head and stared at the clear blue sky. No clouds were seen and the sun felt warm against her skin. Spring was a good time to be outside. Unfortunately, she wasn't paying attention to the path ahead of her and tripped over a fallen branch. She began to loose her balance, holding her arms out trying to stay on her feet. She failed miserably and fell on her rear end.
"OW! That hurt," she mumbled, rubbing her lower back. She sighed. I guess some things don't change, she thought after standing up and dusting herself off. She looked at her watch and her face paled.
Running all the way to the building was no easy thing. There were an unusual number of twigs and sticks on the ground and she had to be careful to dodge them. She was late. Later than she usually was for class. Mikan began walking down the endless corridor to get to the Special Group's room but stopped when she heard someone call out something. Thinking she was hearing things, she continued to walk.
"Oi, polka-dots!" Recognising the nick name, she turned around slowly. Natsume was walking towards her with someone following closely behind.
"My name isn't polka-dots you know. It's - never mind," she sighed, realising that talking to him was useless. She tried for the past couple of years and failed. She still had the painful memories to prove it, "what are you doing here anyway?" she asked bitterly. If Natsume was hurt to hear that tone of voice used on him, he didn't show it. He stayed silent for a moment before he answered.
"Class. The Special and Dangerous Groups have combined remember? Or does nothing penetrate that thick skull of yours?"
Mikan was fuming by now. How dare he insult her. Her hand was balled into a fist, as if ready to punch him. Taking a deep breath, she looked away and her eyes landed on Natsume's companion. His greyish hair and green eyes familiar to her but she couldn't quite figure out where she had seen them before. She must've been staring for far too long because she was surrounded be spirits. Frightened slightly, she used her Alice to get rid of them. Taking a deepbreath, she finally recognised who he was.
"Yoichi," she whispered. The boy had grown a lot. He was now an eight year old but looked much older. His green eyes had a tint of blue in them and his hair was much like Natsume's. Figures, she thought, he was pretty much his mentor.
"You should know I can cancel your Alice," she mumbled as she turned around to continue walking. She didn't get very far though, as she felt someone holding her hand. She stopped in her tracks and looked down. Yoichi had attached himself to her hand. He didn't look like he was going to let go any time soon.
"Mommy," he said. Mikan gasped. He didn't just call me Mommy? Did he? This was getting too weird for her. She bent down slightly so that she was at eye level with him.
"I'm not your Mommy Yoichi." He continued to stare at her. Mikan sighed. The kid was cute but there were times when he was unbearable.
Natsume's eyes were wide. He had never heard Yoichi call someone that. He had allowed the kid to call him Daddy a few times, away from other people ofcourse, but this was something else all together. It wasn't odd for young children like Yoichi to create substitute parents but why would he choose Mikan as his mother? It didn't make sense to him. He snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Mikan's voice.
"We should get going then. We're late." She walked away with Yoichi still holding her hand. Natsume began to follow quietly, all the while staring at Mikan.
His hands were in his pockets as he followed. Thoughts of Mikan kept plaguing his mind and they were happening more frequently. The fact that she was in all his classes now wasn't helping things much either. Life hated him. He decided that a while ago and kept repeating it to himself as they reached the door of the classroom. Loud noises reached their ears and upon opening the door, the were bombarded with laughter and talking. The class was quite big now as there were two groups in the one room. Natsume stopped abruptly at the door when he saw the sight.
"What the?-" he mumbled.
Mikan smiled at him.
"We always have a party to celebrate the start of a new term," she explained, taking a step into the noisy and extremely crowded room. After she placed her bag down on a spare chair, she motioned for Natsume and Yoichi to follow her. Placing her hands on her hips, she surveyed the room, looking for Noda-snesei.
"Hm, not here. He must be time traveling again," she said quietly to herself. When she turned around to face Natsume and Yoichi, she came face to chest with her teacher. She lifted her head slightly to see his face. A surprised expression was plastered on his face.
"Sakura -" he mumbled. Mikan's eyes brows furrowed.
"Sensei?" He seemed to snap out of his trance when he smiled and placed his hand on the back of his head.
"Ah, sorry Mikan. I thought you were someone else," he apologised, "I must be back at the Academy," he mumbled, saying the last part more to himself than anybody else. He began to walk to the front of the class when Mikan stopped him.
"Who did you think I was Sensei?" He paused before answering her though.
"Your mother. You look so much like her."
A brown haired girl could be seen aimlessly walking through the school. It was lunch now but she didn't feel like sitting in a noisy room filled with the delicious aromas of food. Her stomach grumbled and she sighed. She decided not to eat anything just yet, wanting to up to her room and have a bit of a rest before class started. As she turned the corner, she bumped into something solid. Taking a step back to stable herself, she opened her eyes to see amber eyes and dark hair. Great, could this day get any worse, she thought.
"Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," she said quietly. Natsume simply nodded his head, accepting her apology. An uncomfortable silence filled the air between them and Ruka looked from one to another, holding his pet rabbit in his arms. So he decided to do the only thing he could think of. Try to lighten the air.
"I wonder if Imai has some new photos to blackmail me with," he mumbled. Mikan stared at him and smiled. She laughed quietly before talking.
"She only does that because -" Realising what she was about to say, she clapped her hands over her mouth.
Ruka and Natsume stared at her strangely.
"Why does she do it?" Ruka asked. Mikan shook her head and placed her hands in front of her face.
"Oh nothing. Forget I ever said anything," she said nervously. Just when the boy was about to question her further, a girl with dark hair and purple eyes stood beside Mikan. She held up another photo of Ruka in a compromising position. He turned red with embarrassment and tried to snatch the picture from her hands. She saw it coming however, and backed away, just out of his reach.
"I've got something I need you to do Ruka," she said emotionless. After placing the photo in her breast pocket, she looked up at Ruka to gage his reaction. What else could he do but sigh and nod his head. He was totally at her mercy and he knew it. Hotaru gave a small smile that looked positively evil. She turned around to walk away with Ruka following, leaving Mikan alone with Natsume. Not a good thing.
Silence filled the air once again as Mikan shifted nervously from one foot to another. She suddenly found the ground beneath her feet to be quite interesting and chose to stare at that instead of his ruby red eyes. However, just as she were about to walk away, Natsume began to talk quietly.
"What do you think Imai is planning for Ruka?" Mikan looked up suddenly, eyes wide.
"She probably needs him to get more money. She's always been so greedy," she mumbled, remembering all the times she had to bribe her so called 'best friend' with nightmarish amounts of Rabbits.
"What were you about to say, before Imai showed up?" he asked, staring at her intently. Mikan blushed under his scrutiny. She clasped her hands behind her back before looking down at the ground.
"Well, I'm not aloud to tell anyone because it's a secret." Natsume nodded.
"She likes him then," he said, confirming his suspicion. Mikan nodded slowly before walking past him to get to her room.
"Don't tell Hotaru I said anything," she asked quietly before quickly running away from his rigid form.
"You're worried about what Noda-sensei said, right?" Natsume called to her. Mikan paused before answering.
"Yeah, it's something I would easily forget."
"Just don't worry too much about it polka-dots." And with that said, he walked away from her.
Mikan watched him leave, wondering what had gotten into Natsume. He was talking to her and willingly at that.
katreena: well, there's another chapter for all of you. I hope you all like it and please review! I love getting them and reading how wonderfull you think my story is...(begins to cry)...
Kaia: (laugh's nervously) don't mind her. She's just happy is all...
Tai: hm, well I think this was a pretty pointless chapter.
katreena: (stops crying) but isnt Yoichi cute?
