You know, I really should stop making promises. It's too early to go in-depth with Mikan's emotions (I have something else planned for her muahahaha) and yes, I realised I was rushing things with the kiss but -points to little memo in brackets- so ignore whatever notes I made in the last chapter, aside from thanking the readers of course, I really do appreciate and love you all!

At least I'm getting rid of the device in this chapter! Oh, and this might be a little... fluffy...

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Two Quarters And A Heart Down
5: Ordinance
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When I realised what I had just done, I broke the kiss and pushed Natsume away, breathing hard.

"Get out of here!" I screamed, pulling the pyjama top over my head. "Get out of here."

I didn't look up until I heard my room door snap shut.

I locked the door then collapsed on my bed, clutching my chest. I was burning up and my whole body was in pain.

Kami-sama, what did I just do?

Screw sleep, I decided.

Jamming on a blue sweatshirt and a pair of jeans, I made my way out of the dormitory building.

I knew it had been only one, and very long, day but I couldn't take it any more. The damned device and the Alice Academy atmosphere just didn't, couldn't and will never mix!

Things were different back on the island.

Back on the island, whenever you had an emotionless face or looked upset, no one tried to cheer you up or make you laugh because everyone knew the reason why. They didn't try to make a difference because they knew that you'd be looking and feeling the same way for a long time. It was no use convincing the trainers to stop hurting them or to take the Emotion Controls away. They'd only hurt the person you're trying to protect more or punish you.

They had all the power and we were just prisoners; pawns for them to play with in a game.

In the Academy, no one knew what had happened to you. I doubt anyone ever knew of Emotion Controls either.

In the Academy, most people were normal. Their lives weren't tainted and they weren't forced to witness the horrors of humanity.

In the Academy, people expected you to be like them, just like society.

Society only accepted you if you were like the majority. They didn't like most individualists or those different from them. We were ostracised.

I remembered Akira Mitsuhara and Tokiya Morita, old friends sucked in by the Black Hole.

They were very close friends and, when the atmosphere allowed it, we often joked about how the two boys would get married one day.

Tokiya's Alice enabled him to turn his body into steel. Akira's Alice let him conjure up caltrops out of nothing, trapping enemies in one place.

Once, during a training session, Tokiya's trainer was experimenting on the different types of attacks and weapons his steel body could defend against. The trainer ambushed Tokiya and attempted to wound him, to find out how fast he could react to the situation.

Tokiya couldn't react fast enough and he lost his right arm that day.

Akira was furious. It was most unfortunate that that boy had a strong belief in the "eye for an eye" policy.

You can guess what happened next.

Akira didn't win and he lost more than just an arm or an eye.

And, when Tokiya found out his best friend had died, he slipped into an even deeper stupor of depression if that was even possible.

We tried to get him to eat, to talk, to get out of the creaky old bed he had found shelter in but we gave up after three days. I remembered offering to hang the clothes for him when laundry duty came round, seeing as he couldn't do much with just one arm. But, like all the others' attempts, mine was futile.

Tokiya had lost the will to live and there was nothing we could do about that. He became a vegetable; an empty shell of a boy. His soul had long since departed but his body was still alive.

The trainers decided that he was useless. They wanted to get rid of him --- they called it "taking out the trash"; when an Alice was no longer useful they'd just throw him away, like garbage.

I remembered with great contempt that it was Urumi's idea to toss him off a cliff on the island. "Let it drown to death," she said.

Akira Mitsuhara and Tokiya Morita, ages thirteen. Best friends in life, best friends in death.

I stopped in front of the main building. The teachers had probably gone home by now and I had no idea where the headmasters went after hours but I prayed Aoshi-san was still in his office.

Emotion Controls, like most control devices, could only be taken off by the person who initially implemented it.

I knew it had only been one day but I just couldn't take it any more.

The Alice Academy reminded me too much of my old self, too many happy memories, too many old friends… I couldn't survive here with this device.

I was finally free of that wretched island, that plethora of despair. I came to the Academy looking forward to living an easier life, despite what my old friends ended up judging me with.

I didn't want to see death any more. I didn't want to feel lonely any more. I didn't want to feel nothing any more.

Here I was at the Academy, surrounded by people but alone in my plight.

If I was going to confront Urumi, I needed some back-up, preferably a person of high authority. Who else other than Yuki Aoshi, Headmaster and the one who had a firm grip on Urumi's paycheck?

If there was one thing I learned about Urumi throughout the years, besides her sadistic amusement and tendency to become an object of hate, she was very materialistic. I don't know what kind of life she led outside of Alice-related matters nor whom she needed to support (and honestly I just don't care to know) but I did know that she would do anything for money.

No one stopped me on my way in. The hallways were brightly lit as I followed signs to the headmaster's office.

I stopped just short of my nose colliding with the wooden double doors. A gold plaque on the door screamed Headmaster, High School Division.

I could vaguely hear voices coming from the other side of the door. I knocked.

Once.

Twice.

The voices hushed.

Silence.

I felt cold sweat trickling down my neck and back. I was feverish and I shivered even though I was wearing long sleeves. I clutched my heart in pain. It was getting harder and harder to breathe.

I heard a thump as my body made contact with the polished marble floor.

I heard footsteps.

Then, nothing.

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I squished dirty sand through my toes as I found myself in dreadfully familiar scenery.

I ran on the sand and stepped on broken glass but my bare feet seemed to go through the shards. I stopped when I saw a little girl sobbing by the cliff, the same one the abominations rolled Tokiya over all those years ago.

The little girl's shoulders were shaking dramatically and her long, brown tresses were mangled and matted. She was garbed in an oversized shirt and grimy shorts.

I peered at her face, which was covered in dirt and blotchy from tears. It was then that I realised that the girl in front of me was about thirteen years old. She only looked like a child because of her small frame. My eyes widened as I realised that the little girl was me.

Then I remembered why I was crying.

It was the first time I had gotten my period and I didn't know what to do. I didn't have a mother, sister, aunt or even grandmother to turn to for help. The only girl other than me on the island had passed away from pneumonia some time ago. I was too embarrassed to tell the boys; besides, what could they do about it anyway? There was only one person I could turn to.

I watched the younger me get up and run to the trainer's hut.

"Urumi!"

A dream?

I opened my eyes but had to shut them almost immediately as the well-lit room blinded me.

"Mikan? Mikan!" a deep, male voice resonated throughout the room. It was laced with concern.

"Uhhn…" I struggled to sit up and a firm hand pushed me back down. I opened my eyes and realised I was in a recliner in the headmaster's office. "Aoshi-san?"

I swear I heard him wince when I referred to him so formally. Must be a hard blow; he is my biological father after all.

I surveyed the room. Well, wouldn't you know, Persona and Urumi decided to drop a little visit to the headmaster as well.

What caught my attention was my blue sweatshirt draped over a chair on the other side of the room. The bandages were still in place and a blanket was draped over me to preserve my modesty.

Aoshi-san saw the frantic look in my eyes. "We found you unconscious outside my office," he began to explain slowly. His voice took on a soothing tone. "You were burning up then we noticed you were clutching your heart in pain. We unzipped your jacket and found that blood was soaking through your bandages." He took a breath.

"We got a nurse to come in and have a look at you," he continued, waving his hand dismissively in the air. "The area around your heart was bloody and blotchy. A disgusting sight, really. Also," he glared at Urumi, "there was a metal chip attached to your skin."

"An Emotion Control device," I said weakly. "Urumi made me wear it. In fact, we all had to wear it back on the bloody island."

I was pleased and amused at the look of contempt on Aoshi-san's face. "I had Tenaka remove it." Tenaka was Urumi's surname. "Tenaka," he snarled, rounding on Urumi. "Such devices are banned in the Academy."

Venom and sarcasm were laced in Urumi's deadly calm voice. "But we weren't in the Academy during the six years' training, sir. And these devices are no different from the discipline marks and Alice control devices you make your own students wear."

"But she was wearing the device in the Academy. We all saw it. Moreover, these devices are different as they were made by the Anti-Alice Organisation and distribute more pain than necessary." He indicated my bandages.

I sat up a little straighter at this. Those damn objects were made by the AAO? But weren't we training to fight for the Academy?

"Besides," Aoshi-san said exasperatedly. "Mikan is only a teenager. You can't stop teenagers from feeling. In fact, denying an individual of their emotions is just inhumane."

I was a little surprised at that. I was seeing a side of Aoshi-san that I hadn't seen, nor ever expected to see, earlier that day. Was this his, dare I say it, fatherly side?

Urumi's face was listless. "Yes, sir," she drawled, bored as ever.

"Persona," my father said, rubbing his temples. "Get this woman out of my office. Punish her as you see fit."

"My pleasure," Persona's silky voice wafted through the air.

I didn't get a chance to sneak a peek at Urumi's face as the two abominations left the office so quickly.

"Now," my father turned to me, "I couldn't help but notice you saying 'bloody island'."

I nodded. To where was this leading?

"Six years' training on a plethora of wretchedness; a dumpy little island in the middle of nowhere," I spat out bitterly.

Concern once again soaked his deep emerald irises. He softly urged me to tell him more about the worst years of my life.

Seeing this new side of the headmaster, I truly felt like he really was my father. So I told him more.

At the end of it all, he sighed and shook his head. "I just don't understand," he muttered, more to himself. "We didn't design the training programme to be so… morbid. Perhaps that person's behind all this…"

"Father?"

He snapped from his reverie and smiled sadly at me. "I'll look into matters as soon as possible, I promise, Mikan."

His eyes widened when he noted the difference in the way I referred to him. Man, this guy was sharp. "You called me father," he said softly, almost disbelievingly.

I shrugged. "Well, you are my father."

"I am your father," he reiterated. His face broke into a wide smile. "And you're my daughter."

I couldn't help but smile back. I was finally free of the damned device! I know it had only been one day but it felt like an eternity to me. I was inwardly rejoicing; I had gotten rid of the cursed mark, gotten Urumi into a crapload of trouble and I had found a father in the headmaster after all. What was the phrase --- killing three birds with one rock?

"I'm your daughter."

"You are mine. And I am yours."

"I'm yours and you're mine."

"I am yours and you are mine. We are father and daughter, Mikan, bound by blood." He knelt by my side and squeezed my hand. "Don't be afraid to tell me anything, Mikan. I may be the headmaster but I am your father first and foremost."

It could have been a very nice father-daughter bonding moment if it weren't for the gunshots.

Screams were heard as the nearest dormitory was set on fire.

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To be continued...

Reviews please! I really wish I have the time to reply to each and every one of you but each review really does mean a lot to me!

So... next chapter there will be someone ... and Mikan will ... and Natsume will ...

I can't wait to write the next chapter but it's nearly midnight here and I have to wake up early tomorrow for school.

'Til the next chapter, reviews please!