Chapter 9

Sakura Mikan opened her eyelids slowly. She scanned around the rooms with her still droopy eyes. "Where am I?" she whispered to herself.

"So you're awake," a rough voice startled her that her eyes opened wide.

"Wh-who are you?! What are you doing to me?! Why am I here? Where is this place?!" she shrieked all of the sudden that the guy who spoke to her covered his ears.

"I see that you have forgotten already. What are you, having a short-term memory in your stupid brain? We were here in this old hut since yesterday!" Ayumi's voice spoke harshly.

"Ayumi-san..." then Mikan remembered the entire incident that happened yesterday. "Just let me go! I don't want to be here anymore!"

"Would you shut up?! I'll kill you right now!"

"Go on! Just kill me! Let me out of this pain!" Mikan shouted angrily.

"Do you really wish to die? You don't want to see your family and friends again?" Ayumi smirked evilly. The mention of her family and friends made her immediately shut her mouth.

"I see you're quite obedient today," Ayumi laughed a little.

"..."

"Kinta-kun, bring this girl her food," she ordered her henchman to bring Mikan some food. As Mikan heard the word food, her stomach growled. She blushed intensely. The guy reached to her and put her plate of food down on the ground. Mikan saw her food consisted just a small amount of rice and a fried fish. She sweat-dropped. "That's all?" she thought.

"Now eat. We are kind enough to give you food to keep you healthy so that you can do missions. Don't leave a scrap behind," Ayumi said.

"How can I eat just this? Plain rice and a fish? You expect I could get full just like that?" she asked sternly, obviously not satisfied.

"What, you don't want to eat? It depends on you if you want to eat or not. It's not my fault. They bought the food, not me," Ayumi said nonchalantly.

Mikan growled silently as she glared at the arrogant girl. She really wanted to kick her ass right here and now. "Fine, fine... I'll eat!" she sighed. The rope that tied Mikan's legs and hands had been opened and she could sit properly and eat.

She had to eat the food by hand since there was no spoon for her. She pressed the rice and a bit of the fish with her thumb and the first three fingers and put them in her mouth. She munched quietly, trying to feel the rice.

Then her eyes turned wide and twinkling. Ayumi noticed her. "What...?"

"So delicious!! I never thought this rice and the fish is so delicious!! Never thought that we could eat something delicious in this small rotten hut!" she exclaimed happily. Ayumi and others sweat-dropped. Persona wasn't there coz he need to go back to the school.

"What are you being so excited about? Our henchmen had always bought yummy stuff, so this is just pretty normal," Ayumi sighed as she drank a bottle of water. "Even it's just rice and a fish," she added.

"..."

"Hey, bring me back to the school!" Ayumi ordered one of her underlings to transfer her back to Alice Academy using his teleportation alice.

"Just give up, Ayumi-san," Mikan's voice spoke. Ayumi twitched and glanced at her.

"What?"

"I said just give up. If they knew that I'm gone, they will surely find me. And you guys will get beaten by Hotaru and Natsume!" Mikan smirked.

"..." Ayumi stared at her for a while. Then she smirked widely.

"Wh-what..?"

"Oh my dear Mikan, don't you worry. I can fill your place. They won't notice anything."

"What do you mean?!"

"Do you know that I was happened to disguise as you? I seduced Natsume. I can't believe he fret out telling me that "this isn't you!"... ahahahhaa!!! I felt like I wanted to laugh that time, but I held it back. Now I need to go back to school to meet him again,"

"D-don't touch Natsume!!"

"Shinpainai yo (don't worry), Mikan dear. I won't do anything to him. But he will become mine, SOON."

Mikan felt a moment of despair.

"C-curse you, Ayumi-san!!" Mikan bent down her head on the floor. Her fists clenched tight.

Ayumi laughed evilly as she disappeared within the teleportation alice.

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"Oi, baka yarou..." Natsume's stern voice called Hotaru. Hotaru was busy repairing her slightly damage invention.

Hotaru clicked her other baka gun and fired at Natsume. However he easily dodged all the bullets that came out.

"Tsk,"

"Just tell me what you want from me," she asked rather coldly. She was so irritated since early in the morning. Guess she was having period problems.

"Where's that polka dots? She should be here by now."

"Maybe she's late again... oh there she is,"

"Good morning, everyone!!" Mikan-Ayumi said happily. Ayumi had been observing Mikan's actions to copy her. She did it successfully.

"And then, hug Imai. Geez, I hate to do this, but I have to anyway..." she thought. Then she did what Mikan usually did, and ran towards Hotaru to hug her. "Hotaru!!!!!"

But she earned three shots instead before she could hug her. "Damn it, why did you do that, you dumbass?!!" she yelled and rubbed her forehead.

"Dumbass? Since when did you start using those bad words, Mikan?" Hotaru eyed Mikan-Ayumi suspiciously.

"Err... I... waaaaahhh!! What did you do that for, Hotaru? I'm your best friend, right?" Ayumi started her acting again. "Shit, I act as my usual attitude just now... she must suspect something... this bastard Imai is not stupid," she thought.

Hotaru eyed her again. "Surely Mikan is weird today," she thought. "You're not Mikan"

"Heh? What are you talking about Hotaru? I'm Mikan! You don't know me anymore! Waaaaaaa!!! I'm your best friend!"

"No you're not. I'm sure of it."

"Shit..." Ayumi nearly prepared herself into battle stance when Ruka spoke.

"What are you talking about, Imai? This is Mikan, no matter how you look at her."

"Arigatou Ruka-pyon!"

"Okay then, go back to your seats! I want to take your attendance!!" Narumi said happily. He was weird clothes again with a hat that attached with a purple ribbon. His clothes were also frilly. He really liked to cosplay as one of his favorite characters in his novels.

"Tch!" Mikan-Ayumi hissed quietly.

Narumi started taking attendance until he arrived at Ayumi's name. "Ayumi-chan doesn't come again? What a pity... Mikan-chan, do you know what happened to Ayumi-chan?"

"I'm here, you moron!" Ayumi thought angrily. But she forced a weak smile like Mikan's. "I don't know, Narumi-sensei, we didn't come together today. I hope she's alright..."

"Mikan-chan, you really care bout your partner, aren't you?" Narumi laughed a bit.

"Of course, she's my partner after all!" Ayumi acted as a very caring person.

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After school

Flashback

"Mikan, I want to meet you at Nothern Woods after school ends. I wanna have a lil' chat with you. Can you do it?"

"What? What is it? Are you gonna bring me somewhere interesting? Yay!! Hotaru asked me out on a date!" Mikan-Ayumi danced happily.

"Of course not, idiot!"

"Heh?"

"Just come to the Northern Woods, understand? Just you alone."

"Oh, you're quite early, Mikan," Hotaru wore a fake smile.

"Of course! I wanna know what you wanna talk about privately!" Mikan-Ayumi also wore a fake smile.

"Actaully, I wanna give you this," Hotaru turned around to take something out of her bag she put against a small tree.

"What is it?"

BAKA! BAKA!! BAKA!!! BOOOMMM!!!

Three shots followed by a large explosion came out from the newly-upgraded baka gun.

"Wh-what was that for, Hotaru?! Are you trying to kill your own best friend?!" she coughed in the smoke.

"Best friend? You are no best friend. Now show yourself, imposter!" Hotaru held her baka gun aimed at Mikan-Ayumi.

Mikan-Ayumi held a very serious expression, followed by deep hatred towards Hotaru.

TBC

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