This is it! Here is Chapter Five, dear readers! I hope you will enjoy reading! Please kindly leave a review and some suggestions as well! Arigatou Gozaimasu!

Thank you to sherea, anime-fangirl-o.0-vm, CrystalKitteN-MeW, 'orange-ideas', kuronekomimi, Ebony Glasse, manimefrances and hannahfinella-chan for reviewing!

Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.

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CHAPTER FIVE

THE BLACK CAT

The main hall erupted into deep conversations; they were talking about Prince's Natsume's sudden disappearance. A woman clad in a pink floral gown whispered to a man who had thick bushy hair, "Perhaps Prince Natsume thinks that Princess Mikan isn't too good for him!" The man replied with a harsh laugh and said, "Kids these days."

Hotaru looked at her best friend who was standing there at the bottom of the staircase. Mikan looked flabbergasted at what had just happened. Her mouth was hanging open and her eyes were wide from shock.

Anna looked at Mikan and pitied her. This was supposed to be her night! She was excited earlier but now, she looked like a little kid whose lollipop had just been taken away by an older child. She could do nothing whatsoever. Maybe Natsume thought that she wasn't good enough for him.

Nonoko made her way towards Mikan and held her shoulders and guided her toward the others. "Are you okay, Mikan-chan?" asked Nonoko. Mikan looked at her friend and said, "I'm okay Nonoko! Don't worry about me!" Mikan tried to muster up a smile but Hotaru suddenly said, "Don't try to pretend you're happy, idiot."

Mikan ran towards Hotaru and locked her in a tight embrace. Tears came rolling down her cheeks. "Hotaru!!! Wahh! I knew it! I felt that something bad was going to happen and now look! Something bad did happen! Natsume's gone!" Hotaru patted Mikan's back and said, "Mikan… Someone wants to talk to you."

Mikan quickly wiped her tears off with the back of her hand and turned around. It was King Ryozo, Natsume's father.

"Good evening sir!" greeted Mikan, smiling. King Ryozo smiled back and said, "I'm terribly sorry. We'll do our best to find Natsume as soon as possible. Cheer up Princess Mikan." Mikan nodded as she watched King Ryozo walk towards Queen Ayako.

Kokoroyomi shook his head sadly and said, "Don't worry Mikan! All Princes do these kinds of things! He doesn't think that you're not good enough for him; he's just probably fashionably late!"

Hotaru rolled her eyes while Anna and Nonoko glared at Kokoroyomi. "Gomenasai Mikan! I was just trying to lighten things up!" Nonoko said bluntly, "Not helping, Koko!"

"It's okay, Koko," said Mikan, smiling.

The five continued on discussing about Natsume's disappearance. Then, Queen Ayako approached her daughter and embraced her tight. "Are you okay, Mikan?" asked Ayako, stroking Mikan's soft auburn hair.

Mikan looked up at her mother and gave her a smile, "Yep!" Ayako hugged her again and said, "Don't worry. We'll find Natsume soon."

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In the forest, everything looked the same. The trees all had the same eerie faces carved in their trunks and there were a lot of tiny animals crawling slowly in the ground. But all of these weren't going to stop Natsume from getting to his destination. He had to find the wizard immediately before everyone in the party worries about him. More importantly, he had to tell Mikan that the engagement could not go long any further.

Natsume stopped for awhile. He noticed that every time he went deeper into the forest, his surroundings got even darker. It's typical of course, because the trees tend to be thicker in the middle of the forest but even though he stopped from running, his surroundings still gradually turned into dark. After two whole minutes, Natsume was engulfed completely in the darkness.

"Darn it! I can't see a thing!" he said aloud. He raised his hand, palm up, to create a fire that will lead him into the forest. The flame glowed among the shadows. At last, Natsume could see the path again. He looked above and noticed that the moonlight didn't even pass through the thick foliage in the forest.

He just shrugged and continued running. He knew there was a secret passage or something to reach the wizard's place. But he couldn't remember where the passage was located any longer for it was a long time ago since he heard about the wizard's secret home.

After 15 minutes of running and resting, Natsume reached a fork in the pathway. There were two signs that pointed to opposite directions. The arrow that was pointing to the left read 'Danger Ahead'. The arrow which was pointing towards the right read 'Peril Ahead'.

Natsume stomped his foot hard on the ground and said, "Now where will I go?! There's danger and peril ahead!" He examined the signs, and tried to determine what was more risky, danger or peril. "I hate synonyms…" said Natsume to himself.

After careful thinking, he picked the way the 'Danger Ahead' sign was pointing at. But before he could even start running again, he saw a dark figure and beside the figure was a big blue fire. Natsume made his fire larger and ran towards the stranger.

When he was about to hit the person with his fire, the blue flame suddenly vanished, as well as Natsume's fire. Natsume looked around him and noticed that the trees were moving away from each other and the moon light shone brightly over the two.

Natsume looked at the person who was standing right in front of him. It was an old man who seemed to be in his early 60's. He was carrying a neatly-wrapped gift and two thick books in his arms. He had a black pointy hat that neatly fit his head and a wand was tucked behind his right ear.

He had short wavy brown hair and green eyes. He was wearing circular glasses and he had slightly pink cheeks. Natsume watched as the man opened his mouth and said, "Prince Natsume? Is that you?"

"Wait, are you the wizard?" asked Natsume forcefully but calmly.

The man smiled at Natsume and said, "Yes."

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People started to leave one by one from the engagement party. They were all arguing on how much distance they traveled just to attend this event. One man even said, "What a no-show. They didn't even care to explain why Prince Natsume didn't show up! What a waste of 1,000 Rabbits! My family even rented a flying carriage!" Unfortunately for the man, Hotaru heard him. She took out her baka gun and hit the man 2 times in the back. But of course, the man didn't find out it was Hotaru.

Meanwhile, Kanji had a smirk on his face as he watched Mikan talking with Hotaru, Kokoroyomi, Anna and Nonoko. "I have to thank Natsume for not turning up! And his disappearance saved me a lot of time rather than taking care of him myself." he thought.

He smiled to himself and left the castle with a smile plastered on his face.

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Ruka's POV

I gazed at the open castle doors. I didn't expect that I would be looking though the door with no Natsume walking from it. He was a bit excited when the two of us talked earlier in the Ecila Kingdom. But what could his reason be of not showing up? I have to say sorry to Princess Mikan in behalf of my best friend.

I spotted Mikan talking to some of her friends. They're probably discussing about Natsume's disappearance. I hope she understands and…

I hope she still remembers me…

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"Erm… Good evening Princess Mikan," I said politely. Mikan turned around and looked at me. She smiled cheerfully and said, "Good evening! Um… What's your name?"

I answered, "Ruka Nogi. I'm from the Ecila Kingdom. Um, I'm really sorry about Natsume. You see, he's my best friend and I'm sure that he has a sensible reason why he didn't turn up. Please don't be mad at him. You have to continue the engagement."

She doesn't remember me…

I felt goose bumps crawl over my skin as Mikan placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "It's okay Ruka! I'm not mad at Natsume… But… I wish he should've told me that he doesn't want to be engaged or why didn't even bother to show up. "I nodded my head and said, "I'm sorry if you had to go through with this."

Then suddenly, there was a flash of white light. Mikan suddenly jumped around and said, "Hotaru! Why are you taking pictures?!"

Hotaru took the photo that came out from her invention. She blew at it and all of a sudden, an evil smile appeared on her face. "Look who's blushing," said the jet black-haired girl with purple emotionless eyes as she showed Mikan and me the photo she just took. Mikan's hand was placed on my shoulder and when I looked at myself in the photograph, I noticed that I was blushing like a tomato!

I felt blood rise into my face and my cheeks felt hot. I quickly grabbed the photo from the girl who was named Hotaru but her reflexes were too fast. She stuck out her tongue at me and said, "You can't take that photo from me that easily." The girl ran around the main hall as I tried to run after her and get that photo.

Normal POV

Mikan looked at the two as they race around the hall. If Natsume turned up, she probably didn't have to pretend that she was happy. She wore a smile outside but a frown inside. While she was thinking about Natsume's whereabouts, Anna tapped her shoulder and said in an excited voice, "Hey Mikan! Let's go out and try to search for Natsume!"

Mikan's face lit up and replied, "Sure! Um, Hotaru! Ruka! Let's go find Natsume!"

Ruka and Hotaru stopped running and walked towards the others. Ruka was glaring at her best friend. They looked really cute when they walk side by side.

Then all of us decided we should divide into three groups.

Kokoroyomi raised his hand and spoke, "So, Anna and Nonoko, you pair up and search for Natsume at the back of the castle. Hotaru and I will search the carriages and um… Mikan, you and Ruka can go up into the tower and try to spot if Natsume's somewhere in the castle grounds."

So Anna and Nonoko trudged outside and Hotaru and Kokoroyomi followed suit. Mikan and Ruka were left alone in the main hall with a few more people who decided to go search for Natsume as well.

Mikan and Ruka went up the stairs and climbed about 6 narrow staircases.

When they reached the tallest tower, the two of them walked towards the balcony and breathed in the cold night air. There was a telescope set in the terrace so one could just stay here and gaze lovingly at the evening sky studded with stars.

Mikan adjusted the telescope and pointed it downwards to the castle grounds. She peeked into the eyepiece and searched. Ruka and Mikan didn't say a word until Ruka decided to ask Mikan if she still remembers him.

"Wait… I don't know what Natsume looks like yet. Stupid me! Oh yeah… He kind of looks like the boy who pushed me into the fountain!" said Mikan to herself.

Ruka cleared his throat and said, "Um… Princess Mikan? May I ask you something?" Mikan looked back at Ruka and said, "What is it Ruka?"

Ruka just gazed at her. The moon shone brightly at the two of them as a gentle breeze came. There was a long silence; the two of them just looking into each other's eyes.

Mikan waved her hand and said again, "Um… Ruka? What was it you wanted to ask me?"

Ruka made up his mind not to tell her yet. There was a right time and place when he asks her whether she still remembers him or not. He's going to confront her after Natsume comes back from wherever he was right now.

"Um, can I use the telescope? I want to try and find Natsume as well," said Ruka. Mikan smiled and said, "Of course you can!"

Ruka walked towards the telescope and peeked through the eyepiece and searched for his friend. But of course they didn't know that Natsume was now on his way to the wizard's house in the dense forest.

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"So where were you going?" asked Natsume as he and the wizard walked along the forest. The wizard looked at Natsume and said, "I was on my way to your engagement. I wonder why you're here right now. Has something happened?"

Natsume looked down; his bangs covering his crimson eyes. "I can't tell you the reason. It's too personal," said Natsume.

"I won't force you," said the wizard nicely.

After a few minutes, they reached a vast clearing. There was nothing to be seen but dried leaves and a few sharp rocks, scattered on the ground. "Here we are!" said the wizard. Natsume watched as the wizard raised his hand into the air. He mumbled some words in a language that Natsume didn't know. Then all of a sudden, an invisible wall slowly vanished and revealed a large tree in the middle of the clearing. It was the largest tree Natsume had ever seen. Its leaves were of different colors and the trunk had a scary-looking face and there was a small house on top of the tree. Well, at least he thought it was a house.

"Welcome to my humble home," said the wizard.

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Anna, Nonoko, Hotaru, Ruka, Kokoroyomi and Mikan returned to the main hall after they realize that Natsume was really nowhere to be found. They all tried everything. They yelled out his name and looked behind trees. Kokoroyomi even looked under a rock. Hotaru's latest invention failed of finding the prince too.

They all sat down and resulted to eating leftover food. They lost hope in finding Natsume. It was like searching a needle in a haystack. After about an hour, the guards returned along with King Ryozo, King Seiji and Queen Ayako. Mikan's dad made his way towards Mikan. He placed his hand on Mikan's head and said dolefully, "We couldn't find him. I'm sorry. But the search parties are now doubled and we'll continue on finding the Prince tomorrow."

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Kanji teleported to the Fire Castle and locked himself inside his room. "Yes! No more Natsume! Tomorrow, I'll go to the Alice Castle and comfort Princess Mikan," said Kanji happily. He removed his cape and threw it on his bed.

He removed his clothes and took out a towel from his cabinet and went inside the bathroom. After taking a long bubble bath, he dried himself and put on his pajamas.

When he was about to close his eyes to sleep, an idea came thundering in his mind.

"If Natsume's gone… Hmm… Time for another dose of the Clone Potion…" thought Kanji.

He smiled to himself and slept soundly. What could Kanji's next plan be?

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"Why do you have to put your house on top of this tree?!" complained Natsume as he sat down and drank water offered to him by the wizard.

"I like it when I go to the rooftop and just gaze at the stars," said the wizard.

"So… Wizard man… Can you he—"said Natsume.

"Call me Wizzy!" interrupted the old man.

"Wizzy, do you have any invisibility potion? Please I need it now!" said Natsume urgently. Wizzy turned his back on Natsume and looked at his work station. There were various assortments of rare magical herbs and fungus contained in bottles, hundreds of potions and dusty old parchments.

Wizzy looked at all the bottles and finally, after a few minutes, he held out a small flask that had thick greenish liquid inside. There were bubbles forming and popping and when Wizzy opened it, an unpleasant smell came circling around the room's ventilation. Natsume scrunched up his nose and said, "Ugh… What kind of smell is that?"

"It's the smell of the invisibility potion! Drink it when you reach the castle. It will only last for one hour. Got it?" said Wizzy.

Natsume took the flask from the wizard and said, "How I wish its smell was invisible too."

Wizzy chuckled and grabbed his wand. He waved it counterclockwise and then muttered, "Arglonis Abalabedum!" Suddenly, wings sprouted from Natsume's back! Go fly to the castle now. You have no minute to waste!" Natsume inserted the potion into his pocket and checked if it wouldn't fall off when he's flying.

After checking if the potion was secure, Natsume said a thank you and flew away into the night.

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As soon as Natsume's feet touched the ground, the angelic wings turned into a wispy white smoke. Natsume regained his composure from all the flying and he looked to his front. He was now standing in the right side of the castle! He made it!

"I hope I'm not too late," said Natsume to himself. He took out the flask and removed the cork. The unpleasant smell came back again so Natsume had to hold his nose while he drinks the potion. He held his nose and tipped the flask straight to his mouth. The liquid poured slowly into his mouth. Natsume swallowed the contents of the flask until nothing was left inside it.

Natsume threw the bottle into the grass and examined his arms, down to his feet. He certainly wasn't invisible. He waited and waited then suddenly, he felt a weird sensation in his stomach. He felt the liquid rising.

It was a tickling sensation at first but it turned into a painful feeling after a matter of seconds. It seemed as if the liquid was covering everything inside Natsume's digestive system. He closed his eyes from the pain as he pushed his stomach inwardly. Then suddenly, he just collapsed into the ground.

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Natsume's POV

I slowly opened my eyes and still found the moon glowing in the night sky. I was lying down the grass on my clothes. I felt the cold air run against my face. I shivered as I noticed that I wasn't wearing any clothes.

What?!

I stood up on my feet and looked at the ground. All my clothes were just lying there! Who could've removed my clothes? I'm going to beat up whoever did this!

But then, I glanced at my body. Wait, something was wrong. I was all black and furry. Was this the after effect of the invisibility potion I drank? Uh-oh. What time is it anyways? The potion must have worn off by now!

But then I noticed another thing. I wasn't as tall as before. I looked at my feet.

"Where's my feet?!" I yelled in panic. I only saw…. paws. I looked ay my arms down to my hands. They were all black and furry! And instead of hands, I've got paws!

I reached towards the side of my head. Where are my ears?! I crept my 'paws' upwards and felt two pointy ears, like that of a cat's.

"Oh no… Please not a tail," I said to myself.

I reached to my rear end and I quickly felt the presence of a… long black bushy tail!!!

I couldn't believe this. I'm a cat! I'm a stupid little cat! I thought I was on my way now to tell that little girl I cannot go on any longer with this engagement! But at least I still can talk. But… How am I going to tell her now?! I have to get back to Wizzy and tell him he gave me the wrong potion.

I put my four paws firmly on the ground and walked towards the entrance to the forest. Then, suddenly, I heard footsteps, coming this way! I looked behind and saw a guard peeking from the front side of the castle; and he was looking straight at me!

He probably must've heard me talking! I didn't know what to do so I just said…

"Meow?"

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I hope that you all liked chapter five! Please kindly leave a review! I will highly appreciate that! Thank you! Ja ne!