Sorry for being evil and making you wait for nearly a month! Next chapter will be posted tomorrow.
WARNING: This chapter is unedited so the author wishes to apologise for any atrocious errors.
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Two Quarters And A Heart Down
12: You Could Do Better
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Narumi-sensei happily dished out ample amounts of tea to everyone gathered in the moonlit gazebo. Often, tea would overflow from the little porcelain cups only to be collected by their little porcelain saucers.
Ahhh. Tea.
Tea was the universal cure to any emotional ailment.
Or so they say. I mean, when your pet guinea pig dies, what do you do? Have a cup of tea. When your fiancé breaks your engagement, what do you do? Have a cup of tea. When you've just found out that the whole purpose of your existence is to serve someone else, what do you do? Have a cup of tea.
Why serve tea when you can serve sugar?
Sugar makes you happy! And happiness will make you forget your misery, even for only a little while.
"Mikan," Iinchou said worriedly, wiping his overflowing teacup with a napkin. "Are you sure you haven't had too many sugar cookies?"
"I'm fine!" I chirped happily, shoving a tenth cookie into my mouth and munching happily.
"Sugar's good, neh, Mi-chan?" Narumi-sensei crooned in a sing-song voice. When I nodded, he gleefully passed me the plate of sugar cookies again.
"Narumi-sensei," Sumire said tentatively. "Um, are you sure there are enough biscuits for everyone?"
"Of course! Why, would you like another round of shortbread, Sumire-chan?" Narumi-sensei's eyes crinkled in delight as he produced a large box of assorted treats from goodness-knows-where and plonked it on the table, making even more tea spill onto the little porcelain saucers from their brimming little porcelain cups.
"Mou, Hiro-kun!" Kenta whined. "See! Naru's got more than plenty in his stocks! Why'd you have to stop me from eating the biscuits!"
"Shut up, Kenta," Hiro muttered, calmly sipping his tea.
"That's Kenta-sempai to you, inferior."
"Shut up, shorty."
"Why, you - !"
I sniggered as I picked up yet another cookie and wiggled it in front of Hotaru, who had biscuit crumbs all over her mouth. "Neh, Hotaru-sama, you want a cookie?"
"No thanks."
"More for me then!" But before I could pop the sugary delight into my mouth, Natsume hissed across the table, "Hn. Pig."
Indignant, I threw the rock-like cookie at him and it hit him squarely on the forehead. I sniggered.
Natsume grunted. "Stop stuffing your face, Pinky. This isn't some freakin' tea party."
"It's not?" Both Narumi-sensei and I stared at Natsume wide-eyed, our heads tilted to the side in confusion. Then, realising Natsume's reference to my underwear, I cried, "Hey!" Smirking, I whispered, "If you must know, it's not pink today –"
Aoshi-san cleared his throat. "Hyuuga-kun. We will discuss your, ah, escapades, for wont of a better word, with my daughter some other time – " Koko sniggered while Sumire puffed her cheeks in annoyance. Ruka and Yuu sweated while Hotaru remained stoic (Narumi-sensei continued to pour tea into Hotaru's already overflowing little porcelain cup and little porcelain saucer, oblivious to the mess he was making on his pants) " – but yes, the purpose of this gathering must prevail. Mikan, as you have been chosen as the most appropriate to convey the day's events by your peers, please, continue."
I giggled giddily. The sugar had a really strong effect on me. I felt like swinging on the tree branches nearby…
"She needs to sober up first," Natsume remarked, noting my sugar-induced hype.
"Oh. Oh, right, Urumi's betrayal," I murmured.
Might as well get this over with. That way, I can be reunited with my sugar cookies faster. I have my eye on this particularly large, teddy bear-shaped one and I noticed that Hotaru's been looking at it too.
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When I left off, Aoshi-san's fifth question for Urumi (who was under the control of my father's Inquisition Alice, and whose life was left to be determined by fulfilling a pact of answering eleven questions truthfully) was "How did you come to know of the All-Seeing Eye?"
As a recap, "the All-Seeing Eye" was some kind of title or crazy pseudonym for a single person who apparently thinks he's God. My father refers to him as that person and he seemingly has control over the Anti-Alice Organisation's movements. Moreover, my mother --- Yuka was her name, I believe --- allied herself with this charlatan for reasons I've yet to reveal, or truly know, for that matter.
I know that Aoshi-san's Alice was supreme (he was classified as a Dangerous Ability Type as a student) but I still had my doubts to Urumi's answers under his control. I mean, her answers were biased --- only part of the entire truth. Naturally, there was a part of me that wanted to believe that my mother did not abandon me so callously like the abominable woman said she did.
Anyway, Urumi's answer to the fifth question sounded more like a socially deprived schoolgirl's love story rather than a meeting with a shady underworld crime lord --- or so I'd like to think. Considering that I was brought up in the countryside and most of my adolescence was spent in seclusion from society and humanity in general, I had very little understanding of how social circles functioned so Urumi's answer was really eyebrow-raising for me.
I recall the ugly contortion of Urumi's lips in what I now believe was meant to be her lovesick smile. As she answered, her voice was dripping in saccharine sweetness that it was hard to discern whether she was being sincere or sarcastic. "He was the one who saved me from the darkness."
The abominable woman's choice of words made me recall what Natsume had told me years ago: "Don't look into a darkness you don't need to see with that silly head of yours that doesn't think much."
But I had a feeling that Urumi's case was different from Natsume's.
The sickly sugary tone was quickly replaced by the monotonous one as Urumi elaborated her "answer". A quick glance at the occupants of the room, save Urumi, told me that they were as clueless as I was. Although I swore I saw a look of pained regret on Narumi-sensei's pallid features…
"It was two years after my graduation from the Academy --- about a year before Sakura-san entered the school --- I was gradually losing hope of ever shaking myself free from the higher-ups' control. After a failed mission to retrieve some specimen samples from Organisation Q's Somatic hybrid experiments, I was badly injured in a collision between two of their transport trucks. I was caught in the crossfire."
I winced inwardly, regaining some feeling back in my arm and squeezing Natsume's hand back. Was that how she lost her right eye? In that accident?
Urumi's remaining eyeball swivelled over to me as though reading my thoughts. This woman was beyond freakish --- she was downright creepy. In an attempt to break eye contact, I nervously turned my head ninety degrees to the left where Aoshi-san maintained his white knuckled grip on the green, nerve-like instrument that was once his necktie. Beads of sweat trickled from his damp hairline and dribbled down his chin. His emerald eyes shone with resolve.
"I was the only survivor of that unfortunate incident," Urumi continued blandly. "I remember losing mobility of my legs before blacking out completely. Oh, how I recall the trauma I went through thinking about how the Academy would throw me away for being a useless tool as I could no longer walk. I worried about who was going to support my brother if I had no source of income? That was when I met him --- like he was the answer to all my problems."
Urumi mentioned her legs, not her eyes so I assumed that she did not lose her eye in that incident. Perhaps she lost it from cutting a deal with "that person"?
"When I came to after the accident, I was in a dark room that was lighted by only a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I remember panicking, as I knew for sure that the Academy watchdogs would be out looking for me. It was then that I tried moving my legs but I found them incapable of doing so despite being free of restraints. Then, a voice came out of the darkness --- I never found its source but it sounded so enchanting, so very convincing. The voice said, 'Get up, Urumi-san' but I could not. Then it said, 'I need your Alice; I need you.'"
Urumi's visible lavender eye had taken on a dreamy, glazed look. Her "answers" were turning into her life's stories. I wasn't exactly sure if I wanted to listen any more at this point on but I did anyway.
Aoshi-san seemed to be growing uncomfortable with Urumi's grandmother story as well as his shoulders drooped slightly from fatigue. "Hurry up, Tenaka," he growled. "I've still got six more questions for you."
"Yes sir," Urumi drawled timidly. "The voice introduced itself as the All-Seeing Eye and introduced a deal to me: give him my Alice's assistance in the future and he shall give me back the legs I lost. I had no choice but to say yes. After that incident, I kept hearing his wonderful voice in my head and, eventually I complied to the All-Seeing Eye's requests."
Finally, another "vein" dropped off from Urumi's neck.
Quietly, Aoshi-san asked, "Sixth question: what did the All-Seeing Eye mean by wanting your Alice?"
Urumi smiled maniacally. "In the Academy, the higher-ups saw my special ability as nothing more but a useful tool in the medical field but the All-Seeing Eye saw my ability's potential in a far greater field ---- he said with it, I could assist him in world domination."
My eyes widened. So the All-Seeing Eye's true goal is not to demolish the Alice Academy but to conquer the world? And by using Alices? A bit too ambitious, don't you think? It's a crude mission, if you ask me. I had my doubts about Urumi's answer --- perhaps her "master" was deceiving her.
A brief glance around the room told me that Koko, Natsume, Aoshi-san and Narumi-sensei were as tastelessly shocked as I was.
Sighing, Aoshi-san prompted, "Seventh question: what did the All-Seeing Eye want from Yuka Azumi?"
Upon hearing that name coming from my father's lips, I gasped. Natsume let go of my hand and snaked his arm over to my shoulder, pulling my closer to him in comfort. I frantically glanced at Narumi-sensei's face, searching his eyes for confirmation of my suspicions. The amethyst-eyed older man smiled sadly and nodded wearily at me. I felt tears spring forth from my olive pools as I brought my hands up to my face. I pinched my cheeks a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming.
Yuka Azumi: my mother.
More attentive than ever, I focused my attention on Urumi, staring at her a little more intensely than I intended as she opened her mouth to speak. "The All-Seeing Eye wanted her Nullifying Alice, simple as that."
The seventh appendage relinquished its roots and dropped from Urumi's neck limply.
The tension that had risen in the air quickly dissipated after Urumi once again closed her mouth. Narumi-sensei, my father and I were visibly disappointed at such a lacklustre answer. I was not entirely naïve ---- I already figured that "the All-Seeing Eye" wanted people for their Alices.
Through gritted teeth, Aoshi-san spat out, "Care to elaborate, Tenaka?" It was useless though; the "vein" had already dropped from the horrible woman's neck so we couldn't get anything more out of her for that question.
Laughing hollowly, the manic grin returned to Urumi's face as she sneered, "You and I both know that that's all you're ever going to know for now, Yuki-chan. Besides, you wanted short answers, right? I'm just giving you what you want."
Aoshi-san furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. Shoot, we wasted one question. Four more left. "Fine," my father snarled venomously, tightening his lethal grip on the truth eliciting instrument, causing the dark-haired traitor to scream once more. "Eighth: why did the All-Seeing Eye want Yuka Azumi's Nullifying Alice?"
Urumi said monotonously, "To use it to control people of course. The All-Seeing Eye is not so crude as to use beastly, physical and crude methods like war to gain control over territories. He is subtler by using others with influential powers to win puppets over."
The eighth "vein" dropped off.
I couldn't help but nod at that; the black smoke controlling Natsume was definitely "subtle" in a sense that it didn't require infiltration or kidnapping a person. So far, we had gained two dire pieces of information from Urumi --- one: "the All-Seeing Eye" was collecting Alices for world domination. Two: he was planning to take over the world by manipulating the minds of others.
I glanced uneasily at my father. We only had three more questions left --- we had to be very careful. I clutched at the soft, black material of Natsume's sweater as I anticipated the next question. Natsume squeezed my shoulder reassuringly in return. I supposed we kind of looked like an anxious couple waiting for their son/daughter-turned-criminal's verdict in court.
Aoshi-san dragged a long sigh as he closed his eyes in painful contemplation. Save for Aoshi-san's demands and Urumi's ramblings, the pin-drop silence in the headmaster's vast office was constant. "Ninth question," my father finally said, "where is the All-Seeing Eye located?"
"I'm afraid I do not know," Urumi answered immediately. "No one knows where his physical presence is located --- he contacts his ah, connections from afar by intangible means."
Another "vein" dropped off, meaning that the horrible woman wasn't lying. Shoot, how could we locate this charlatan?
"Yuki," Narumi-sensei interjected. "You've only got two more questions left and you're tiring out. Be very careful."
"Narumi-sensei," I blurted out, unable to keep my curiosity reigned in anymore. "Ano, how does Aoshi-san's Alice work?"
"Oh, Mikan," Narumi-sensei blinked at me as though seeing me for the first time. "Well, first, he has to find something long that he can channel energy through --- a kind of bond that connects his fist to his opponents body as he channels his Alice through his palm. Your father's Alice enables him to ask absolutely any question and get the answer to it, granted that the person he is interrogating knows the answer. Also, depending on how much of his Alice's power is being expended, he can get more information from the person he is interrogating. For example, did you notice that Urumi's answers were longer and more detailed towards the beginning?" I nodded. "That is because Aoshi-san was at full power at the moment of inquisition."
Eyeing my sweating father warily, the blond teacher continued to explain, "However, there are limits to his power. The more questions he asks, the more he has to expend his Alice. He needs to dish out even more power if he wants elaborate, well-detailed answers. Also, Yuki's Alice is the kind that shortens his life span every time he uses it."
"Oh," I muttered, nodding dumbly. What a complicated Alice… But a rather frightening one too. Imagine extorting national secrets from the world's greatest figureheads and politicians… No wonder my father was classified as a Dangerous Ability Type and his life span was affected too, just like Natsume…
Eyes practically popping out of my sockets, I waved my arms gamely at Aoshi-san. "I'm sorry, Father!" I cried. "I know you're in pain, sorry… Can we continue?"
Aoshi-san smiled tiredly at me. "It's good that you're curious." He added in a whisper, "Just like me…
"In any case, let's continue. I don't have much energy left anyway." Aoshi-san took a deep breath and tightened his grip on the dishevelled necktie, newfound resolve burning in his emerald irises. "Tenth question: was it the All-Seeing Eye who brought Yuka and I together?"
Once more, Urumi answered immediately. "It was. The All-Seeing Eye wanted the two of you --- Inquisition Alice and Nullifying Alice --- to produce a child for him. This child is special; the possibilities of manipulating her Alice are limitless, especially since she came from two very powerful benefactors."
What?
My parents were forced?
They didn't fall in love naturally like Aoshi-san said? Why did he lie to me? Or rather, I'm sure he didn't know it himself to begin with.
The second last "vein" shrivelled away, leaving us with only one more question and one more truth.
"The eleventh and final question," Aoshi-san's voice trembled. "Why does the All-Seeing Eye want Mikan?"
"The Nullifying Alice is a wonderful thing," Urumi answered. "There must be hundreds in the world that don't even know they possess it because they've never been around Alices before to utilise it. The Nullifying Alice is the All-Seeing Eye's greatest asset. With it, he can never be caught and he is able to manipulate others from distances as no one will ever be able to trace the source; the Nullifying Alice covers up the trails."
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I stopped talking and took a sip of tea.
"Are you done, Mikan?" Yuu asked gently.
I shook my head. "No, there's still a little bit more left."
I smiled weakly at my friends. Urumi's last few words were still etched vividly in my mind. Anyway, back to my recollection.
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"Mikan is probably the most powerful Nullifying Alice in the world," Urumi continued monotonously, "since the sources of her power are Yuki Aoshi and Yuka Azumi. Moreover, she has gone through special training. The All-Seeing Eye wanted to use her as his most lethal weapon against humanity. That is the whole point of her ever being born in this world."
The "vein" hadn't dropped yet so Koko, Aoshi-san, Narumi-sensei, Natsume and I waited with bated breath for the last bit of her answer.
"She is to replace her mother because Yuka Azumi is dying."
And the vein dropped off.
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To be continued...
Reviews are much appreciated. They are also my motivation for writing faster -snigger-
Ehhh. That was a pretty lame cliffhanger in my opinion. The "world domination" thing is so cliche, I know.