Now, has Mikan really changed all that much? Or does she simply want to believe that she's changed?

Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice. All rights go to Higuchi Tachibana.

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Two Quarters And A Heart Down
2: Numbing
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My exact instructions from Persona were: follow the Black Cat but stay out of sight. Step in for defence.

But Urumi's instructions were: only use your Alice for dispelling the effect of the enemies' Alices. Do not use your Alice for defending against physical attacks.

I knew why I wasn't allowed to use my Alice for physical attacks.

Though I had pretty much mastered my Nullifying Alice, even going so far as to discover that stealing other people's Alices was part of it, my ability to defend against physical attacks was rather erratic.

If I experimented with that aspect of my Alice now, I would probably fail and die, getting the Black Cat killed as well.

Of course I knew who the Black Cat was.

I was nervous enough on my first mission; he didn't have to make it worse for me, though he was unaware of my presence.

Natsume was standing in the middle of the road, muscles tensed. The black cat mask covered his face so I couldn't see how much his face had changed.

There were the more obvious changes though, like in height. His frame was leaner too. I had to admit, my feelings for him still lingered.

Baka! I reprimanded myself. I was on a dangerous mission here! I was supposed to protect Natsume, not get distracted!

I didn't have a cool mask like Natsume did and the abominations didn't prepare anything special for me to wear. So, to protect my identity, Urumi cleverly took a large handkerchief from her coat pocket and tied it around my head, secured at my nose. Add in a pair of sunglasses and I looked just like one of those underwear thieves from cartoons!

I silently cursed Urumi and her malevolent sense of humour.

My attention refocused on Natsume as a car pulled up in front of him.

Seven men in suits and shades scrambled out of the car and surrounded him, aiming their guns at him. Oh boy, the AAO goons were here.

Immediately, their guns caught fire and they dropped them to the ground, silently cursing.

Along with my ability to steal Alices, I could innately identify them too when they were used. The man directly in front of Natsume had an Alice that could make thrown projectiles explode.

He brandished a pebble from his pocket and threw it at Natsume, ready to make it explode. Natsume was caught unawares, unable to defend himself. His fire would only make the explosion worse!

I felt a surge of emotions rush through me: anger, urgency and… protectiveness?

A voice at the back of my head screamed Don't you hurt my Natsume!

As I leapt out of my hiding place amongst the trees and shadows, I saw most of the men had recovered and were drawing out new guns from their coats.

I shielded Natsume with my body, determined not to let him see me in my stupid disguise. I made a slashing motion in the air with my right arm.

There seemed to be ripples in the air as the pebble harmlessly dropped to the ground.

However, in my anger, I had made the effects of my Alice too strong.

The man with the Explosive Alice was thrown backwards from the ripple effect in the air. The other men were affected too and were slammed down on the ground.

The impact made their guns go off.

AHOU! I screamed at myself as I instinctively drew up my arms to protect myself from the onslaught of bullets.

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I gasped as we landed on the damp grass.

I felt like the wind had just been knocked out of me.

I blinked. What just happened?

I realised that a figure was lying on top of me. A hand quickly covered my mouth before I could scream.

"Sssh," Kenta hissed. "We're not out of the woods yet."

Literally.

I was rejoicing inside my head.

We were saved!

Apparently, Kenta was sent on this mission too. He used his Intangible Alice to make us, well, intangible.

The bullets had gone through us and we had sunk through the road and Kenta transported us back to the forest where I was hiding just a moment ago.

After a while, the voices of the men died down. I heard car doors slam and the screeching of tires driving off.

Kenta relinquished his hand and that was when I realised I was lying on top of someone. Natsume!

I quickly rolled off him and dusted myself off, my back facing him. I didn't want him to recognise me!

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He had gotten up now too, grumbling under his breath.

I sighed in relief. He was safe.

No words needed to be exchanged as the three of us made our way back to the Academy.

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I awoke to the sound of knocking at my door.

Since I had not yet bought a new pair of pyjamas, I slept in only my school blouse.

I groggily answered the door and blinked at the sight of a grinning Kenta.

"Good thing I woke you up," he sniggered, eyeing my messy hair. "Else you would've been late on your first day of school!"

"Ha ha, very funny," I sneered, ruffling his silver hair. Even back on that stupid island, my sleeping habits got me into loads of trouble with Urumi.

I grabbed a fresh set of my uniform and headed towards the bathroom for a quick morning shower.

"How long have you been at the Academy already?" I yelled over the sound of running water.

"Three months!" he yelled back.

I quickly dried myself off and haphazardly put on my uniform. I stepped out of the bathroom and proceeded to look for my boots, which I had kicked under the bed last night.

"Was last night your first job?" I asked, ducking under the bed. I found one boot.

"Nah," he replied. His footsteps echoed as he paced across my room. "I think it's my fourth. It's been the same missions since I got here: protect the Black Cat but stay out of sight until necessary."

"Was that all they've been training us for?" I asked, annoyed. I found the other boot.

"I think these missions are just practice, really," Kenta said casually. He sat on the edge of my bed.

I crawled out from under my bed and sat next to him, pulling on my boots. His mood was considerably better compared to his old brooding self. I guess being in the Academy was good influence for him.

I wondered if I would be like that too, in a few months' time. I wasn't really feeling like I should be happy. All I felt was anxiety but, for now, I'll pretend to be happy for his sake. I couldn't bear to ruin his happiness.

"I reckon we were trained for defense, not offense," Kenta continued, running a hand through his silver hair, "since that Hyuuga boy's more than enough to handle for offense."

"Mm," I said thoughtfully. I stood up and faced him. I noticed he was wearing the ochre uniform too.

"So, how old did you find out you are?" I joked.

He grinned at me. "Seventeen, and that means I'm your senior, kiddo."

His forehead creased as he grunted. He unbuttoned my blazer and re-buttoned it neatly for me.

I giggled. "Thank you, neat freak-sempai."

He kissed my forehead. "You're welcome, messy monster-kohai."

I laughed. I really missed Kenta in the few months he had been gone.

You'd think we'd be more serious and gloomy, living on that island for the past six years. But now that we're together outside that wretched clump of land, we just wanted to be happy with each other. We'd had enough of the depressing atmosphere of the island.

Besides, he was probably the only one in the whole school who had no expectations of me because he was with me as I grew and changed.

He's been like an older brother to me throughout the years and he often reminded me of Tsubasa-sempai.

I just remembered. Tsubasa-sempai was three years older than me and I was sixteen now. That made him and the others nineteen so they already graduated last year.

Kenta noticed my unusual silence. He grabbed my arm and steered me out of my room for breakfast but we didn't enter the dining hall, much to my relief. We also didn't encounter any of my old friends in the hallways so all I could say was, Thank you, Kami-sama.

It gave me a bit more time before the big confrontation I was expecting to get from my old friends.

Kenta took me outside and we sat under a large oak tree. He tossed me a sandwich and an apple.

We ate in silence. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence though; it was one of contentment between two good friends just watching the world go by.

There were elementary school kids laughing and playing tag with each other. The sun was shining and the birds were singing. It was so much more cheerful compared to the despair of the Black Hole.

Maybe… Just maybe… I could change with the weather too.

Maybe I'd be more cheerful again, even go back to being the old Mikan for my friends' sakes.

I knew it wasn't impossible; I'd been feeling a whole lot happier ever since leaving the Black Hole anyway.

After polishing off my food, Kenta tossed me a bottle of milk. I downed it quickly.

I decided to go back to my room and retrieve the map Misaki-sensei had given me. I definitely needed it to find my way to the classrooms.

"Wait," Kenta said before I turned around.

"What is it?"

In answer, he placed a pale yellow barrette in my hair, pulling one side of my hair back behind my ear.

My hand reached up to finger it. The barrette was very pretty; it had beautiful orange rhinestones set into it.

"Thank you."

And for the first time since I got here, I gave a true, genuine smile.

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When Kenta was out of sight, someone grabbed me and pinned me to the ground.

It was Urumi.

She slapped me and hissed, "Don't think I don't know what you did last night."

I refused to make eye contact with her. I was determined not to let her see an ounce of emotion.

"Listen here, Sakura-dono." The woman grabbed the front of my blazer and slammed me against a tree. "Do not lose control of your emotions again. I've told you before."

She began unbuttoning my blazer and blouse.

Unlike Kenta's Alice, my Alice's effects were directly linked to my emotions. To effectively manipulate my Alice, I was forced to wear one of those damned Emotion Controls. I was allowed to take it off for short periods of time but Urumi would make me wear it again if she felt my emotions get out of hand again.

She pressed her palm flat against my chest, directly over my heart. I felt something cold on my chest then suddenly, a hot, burning sensation seared through my body. I bit back a scream.

Urumi looked pleased. "You know the drill, Sakura-dono."

She pushed me against the tree once more and stalked away, laughing darkly.

I looked at the control device the abominable woman put on me. It was a dark blue metal chip in the shape of a dolphin. I fingered it and thought about the star-shaped mark that Tsubasa had. He said it was to make sure he didn't break the school rules again.

I sighed and brushed myself off. I had to go back to my room to clean myself up before classes started.

As I walked away, I couldn't help but bitterly think that the Academy had control devices for everything.

Who knows? Maybe next they'd invent a device that prevented you from falling in love.

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To be continued...

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