Whee, Chapter Five. This fanfic is moving slowly, but moving nonetheless.
Although the events are happening a little faster than I had planned, so I strayed from the original storyline a little. Mikan became more defiant a bit too quickly, but what I'm trying to say is that she's been surrounded and helped by many of the other people. So she's slowly forming a shell, but after her little chat with Persona…
…What?
Dark.Black.
Another room just like the one in all my other mistress or master's house.
I thought I was in Alice Academy?
…I am. But I've been transferred to another master.
I cannot defy his orders…
Whether it be to steal something…
Or to kill.
I cannot defy…
Persona smiled. The girl was his to command. She had been raised like this.
She stared at him fearfully.
"I see our Kuro Neko has been teaching you to be defiant?"
Mikan stayed silent. She had thought that she could escape. But she was wrong.
"You should know your place."
His voice came cruelly, like ice.
Mikan nodded slightly, her brown eyes filled with fear.
"I see you're quite attached to Imai, Hijiri and Natsume. You don't want them leaving this world, now, do you?"
Mikan's eyes widened in horror.
"Then I'll be having you obey my orders. I'd rather you not go anywhere near them, or if you've but no choice to be near them, you will not talk to them."
"B-But…Youichi…as my brother…" She managed, although her voice was barely a whisper.
"Oh? You're already trying to defy my orders? I see you've been around Natsume too much."
Mikan shook her head.
He placed a think collar around her neck with a keyhole.
"You will tell no one about these missions."
Mikan touched the collar lightly.
"But…" She said, or rather, tried to say. The collar shocked her with what was probably electricity.
This was probably something to prevent her from talking.
She winced from the pain, trying her best not to scream or yell, because the collar would probably shock her again.
Persona smiled.
He had succeeded in taming the beast.
Natsume sat under a beautiful, tall Sakura Tree. It was his favorite spot to hang out, mostly to sleep or read manga.
But today, he sat on one of the branches, zoning out.
What was on his mind was Mikan Sakura. When she first came to the academy, she was afraid. But after a while, she seemed to realize that no one was here to hurt her, aside from Sumire. She seemed to warm up, and started to let go of her past.
He was a bit happy.
She was kind. Around her, he wasn't treated as an outcast, or an object.
No, he didn't love her, but he did feel comfortable.
He stayed for hours just thinking.
She was scared. Oh gawd she was scared.
With the collar around her neck, she couldn't even whimper.
Persona had led her out into the deeper woods to train her. He called her a "panther that doesn't know how to hunt". He then began calling her "Shiro Neko", not Mikan, or Sakura.
She had never endured so much hardship.
Running, dodging, attacking…
With her heart disorder, it was harder because she couldn't breathe at times. It was only then that she was allowed to rest and take medicine, which she received from the school nurse a few minutes before.
She wasn't scared of the training; she was more scared of Persona himself. His aura and his threats…
Any hope she had of escaping her past disintegrated away.
Like a bird trapped in a cage.
Will there be anyone…
To free this tormented soul?
Will there be anyone…
To break her chains…
By making her happy?
Only time can tell…
But sometimes…
There's not enough time.
She's not immortal.
Two Days Later…
Everyone could see Mikan change drastically. She became even more afraid of everything than when she first arrived. Loud noises freaked her out, and no one could get near her. She never talked, although, she did do sign language when she need to say something. When she did try to talk, she shut her mouth, and bit her lip, like she was trying to cover up pain.
She always wore something to cover up the collar.
Mikan was afraid. She had been tortured and abused more than before with a whip, and she just didn't know anymore.
Youichi watched her with worry. His sister had never been like this. He had never been so ignored by anyone. Her eyes were fearful and weary of everything. Everyone, everything. Her eyes only softened a little bit when she was around him. Today, he finally broke down, and grabbed her sleeve as she was walking after school.
"Mikan-nee," He said firmly.
She didn't try to escape.
"What's wrong? You've been acting strange."
She seemed nervous, like she wanted to escape.
"Talk to me, Mikan-nee!!"
Everyone else who was walking, including Hotaru and Natsume, and his friend Ruka, who had soft blond hair, gray-blue eyes and the Animal Pheromone Alice, stopped.
Mikan looked around. She ripped out a piece of paper from a pad she had in her pocket, and wrote something with a pen she had in her other pocket.
She folded it and shoved it into his hands. With a look of apology, she ran away, crystalline tears running down her face.
The little boy opened the note. People crowded around to see what she wrote, because they wanted to know what happened to her, but they couldn't read it, as it was written in English.
I don't know what to do anymore.
I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry.
Natsume and Hotaru came over to him.
"What did it say?" Hotaru said, with a hint of worry in her voice.
"You should be able to read this." He said, and shoved it into their hands, like how Mikan did with him.
"Something's not right…" Natsume murmured.
Hotaru and Youichi rolled their eyes.
"You can tell, you idiot!" Youichi snapped.
Natsume kept quiet. He knew that Youichi was worried.
"Why is Sakura-san so…different?" Ruka said quietly.
Moment of silence.
"She's never been like this," Youichi whispered hoarsely.
"I know…" Hotaru murmured. "I know…"
Huff…huff…
She was breathing heavily as she held a short sword in her hand.
Where the hell did Persona get something like this?! School grounds are supposed to be safe, even if the school is for Alices!
But the more she thought, the more she realized.
The school grounds were safe because there was someone to protect it.
Natsume being one of them, and herself being the only two she knew.
Who knows how many other people there were, protecting the Academy?
"Don't hesitate!"
Persona's voice came sharply, as he threw several rocks like darts.
Mikan tried her best to dodge them, and block out the rest she couldn't dodge with her sword.
"Better," Persona called. "You need more practice. You cannot hesitate; otherwise, you'll wind up dead."
His voice didn't have much feeling in it. Did he care at all?
Sweat trickled down her forehead.
"Your Alice is quite useful," Persona continued.
"You have the Alice of Nullification, as well as the ability to copy or steal another's Alice…"
Mikan's eyes widened in surprise. She was never told her Alice when she was brought here by Narumi. Having two was quite rare.
Persona took the sword away.
"Practice with activating your Alice, now. It's about time you know how to use your Alice properly."
Persona stepped away from her, and prepared to throw some more rocks.
Mikan was confused. Activate it? How??
Within seconds, the rocks were flying towards her.
You're useless!
Do it right!
Pain.
The sound of whipping.
NO!!
She held up her hand in defense, and some sort of barrier formed around her.
Persona nodded in approval.
"Try again."
He threw the rock again, but this time, her Alice didn't work. The rocks whizzed past her face, leaving a few cuts on her cheeks.
"So its chance of working is fifty-fifty, hmm…?" He mumbled to himself.
After a few moments, he turned to Mikan.
"That's it for today. If you see anyone using their own Alice, copy it. The power should come naturally. More Alices will come in handy on missions,"
Mikan nodded.
Did she have a choice?
The sky was tinged beautifully of reds, oranges, and golden yellows. Slivers of blue could be seen, but not much. The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon, as the sky darkened.
Mikan slowly walked back to her room. The first thing she did was tend to her cuts, cleaning them out and sticking on a few band-aids.
The sky was darkening and turning into night very soon. Stars started to twinkle as the sun continued to fall.
She was exhausted. Deadbeat.
She sat on her bed, and then fell back on her pillow, laying there.
Sleep was what she needed most. Tomorrow was the weekend, so she didn't have to wake up early.
Within seconds, her breathing became soft and uneven, as she fell into a well-deserved rest.
Does my existence have a meaning?
Everything has a meaning.
A cage?
It can be broken.
When?
Only time can tell
And if there's not enough time?
There will be.
Probably.
Rusting…rusting…
Broken.
The first chain has been broken…
By Darkness
Fear.
"Only time can tell…
But sometimes…
There's not enough time.
She's not immortal."
So I'll wait till the day my prince comes to free me from my curse.
I'm waiting.
So please…
Find me soon.
Blargh
…
I realized as I was typing the whole scene where Youichi says to Mikan, "Speak to me, Mikan-nee!!" I never introduced Ruka. So he's there now.
I'm not really sure if there's going to be any RukaxHotaru in here. There might be some scenes of romance between them, but I'm not really sure. :/ You can see that Hotaru really isn't a huge character here. I was actually going to not make her and Mikan know each other at all…but I found that hard to do. XD I've always made them know each other. XP
Dang…this chapter was kind of long. 8 Pages! Including my notes and stuff, though…
So that kinda kills it, though…but hey, a new record!
XP
Sorry for the late update...Writer's block is lasting longer...
Frogs and Toads will be on Hiatus for a bit...Stained Red will be updated sooner or later.
Hope you like this chapter! (even though it was uh...-a little- depressing...)
Please review :D