Chapter 5

It's a fine weather that day. The wind swift softly along the grounds of Gakuen Alice as it blows away the leaves around the campus. One tree at the end seem to beam more as the ray of light from the sun makes its leaves sparkle in delight.

A man entered Mikan's room, oblivious to everyone due to the atmosphere caused by the previous event. He studied the scenario and saw Mikan surrounded by her friends and felt sorry for the young girl he brought in to Alice Academy more than two years ago. He remembered her as a little lass who innocently but persistently made her way to this school in search for her best friend but ended up having more than what she could wish for. Being able to capture not only the attention of most of her classmates but the heart of the fire alice-yielder as well, she is definitely a special student in her class, though she's so unaware of it. If only…

"Mr. Narumi! We haven't noticed you back there." Yuu Tobita greeted him which made all the occupants of the room face him too, including Mikan.

"Ahh…" Mr. Narumi started while scratching his head. "You seem to be so serious in there so I decided not to bother you a while ago. But I guess I got your attention now so it's okay." He ended with a wink.

"Mr. Narumi, what happened to Natsume?" Ruka started to ask.

"Well, if it's okay with everybody, I would like to talk with Mikan first…alone." He said with a smile.

The occupants, although hesitant, one-by-one left the room. When everybody has already left, Mr. Narumi turned to face Mikan and his expression changed into that of a sorrowful father.

"I did not expect you to know it so soon, Mikan. I was supposed to talk to you before you meet with Natsume but I guess, with friends like yours, and with your personality as well, I bet news like this would really reach you before I even get the chance to meet you, and indeed, I was right." Mr. Narumi started.

"Mr. Narumi…what happened? Why did Natsume not recognize me?" Mikan asked in a soft whisper.

Mr. Narumi studied Mikan for a moment. The moment he first laid eyes on her, he had known he is special, just like the special girl he had known before. He took a chair, sat down, and faced the curious lady in front of him.

"Mikan, let me tell you about what happened to Natsume. He had been away for about a year now, as you know. While the academy doesn't want to believe that he is already dead, we announced the news because no one could ever survive that attack, not even an alice-yielder as strong as Natsume. However, we have been informed about 3 months ago that he was able to jump off from the ship even before it exploded and an old man took care of him after finding him at the seashore almost lifeless. He suffered a lot, Mikan. He had been through a lot and the old man made a good decision of taking care of him in secret."

Mikan pondered on his statement for a moment. After awhile, she asked again. "So what does it have to do with Natsume forgetting me?"

"We still don't have a conclusion on what happened. We believe that he had a temporary amnesia. But in his case, he did not forget everybody. He only forgot you."

"M-me?" Mikan choked. "But is it really possible that he would forget me but remember everybody else?!"

"Well, we are researching about temporary amnesia that makes one forget about particular persons only. If our presumptions are correct, it could be that Natsume forgot the one thing that he wants to preserve the most. It could be that you are the last thing that he was thinking before he fell into deep sleep."

"Ha? I can't believe a condition like that exists."

"Well, you don't believe that alices exist also before you got here, right? We'll just have to believe that there are so many unexplainable things in this world and that there are still wonders that science haven't discovered. You see Mikan, that is reality.

"How about the other girl? Who is she and why is she holding Natsume's hand?" Mikan raised her voice with an obvious deep hurt evident in it.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Her name is Mizuki Yamamoto. She is the granddaughter of the old man who found Natsume. It seems like she was the one who took care of Natsume the most since the old man is usually selling at the market." Mr. Narumi paused, while contemplating on something. Finally, he decided to ask the safest question he could think of. "What do you think of her Mikan?"

"She's pretty. Being near the sea could have given her the nice tan that she has. And they seemed really close." Mikan ended the statement with a sob.

"I was told that Natsume finally got better after four months, thanks to her care. The impact of the explosion even made him close to coma, but he was really a lucky guy to manage it all somehow."

"She must be a good caregiver." Mikan uttered, sighing. "How I wish I was in her place that time, then I could have taken care of Natsume myself. Guess I have no right to get angry or jealous of her because Natsume only tried to defend her not knowing who I am."

Mr. Narumi remained silent. There were so many things he wanted to tell Mikan but as of the moment, he knows it's not yet the right time. That girl…

"Mr. Narumi?" Mikan asked, interrupting his thoughts. "Can I stay here for the meantime? I want to take some rest. Please tell Hotaru and the others not to worry about me because I'm ok now." Mikan ended with a forced smile.

Mr. Narumi nodded. He was thankful that Mikan herself did not ask any more questions or he could have been forced to say something he shouldn't have. He quietly stood up, uttered some "get well soon" and leaves the room.

"Hey Hotaru! Speak up! What have you heard from Mr. Narumi and Mikan's conversation? We wanna hear it too!" Yuu started after they scattered away from Mikan's door even before Mr. Narumi went out.

"Oh…he only said that Natsume has temporary amnesia which is why he did not recognize Mikan." Hotaru replied bluntly, removing her Eavesdropping Device from her ears.

"Amnesia?! But Natsume recognized me! How is that possible?" Ruka butt in after being silent for awhile, lost in his own thoughts.

"He said this is another type. Something that science haven't discovered yet." Hotaru said while taking a turn in the direction of her laboratory.

"Is that so? Well, that explains why. Well then, we've got no problem! All we've got to do is tell Natsume about it and tada! Everythng will return to how it was before." Nonoko said as she quickened her steps to go along with the group.

"Yeah. It will return to how it was before." Hotaru said, more to herself than to her friends. She quickly excused herself to go to her compartment and her friends bid her goodbye while they too went on to their respective rooms.

When Hotaru entered the lab, she was greeted by a smiling Amanatsu. Being her first invention since she entered Gakuen Alice, Amanatsu was made to look like Mikan to make other people smile. And since then, Amanatsu followed Hotaru and run errands for her at times too.

But right now, Hotaru is deep in thought. She replayed the conversation between Mr. Narumi and Mikan awhile ago and something's telling her that there are things left unsaid. A temporary amnesia?! It's true that alices are unheard to common people but it is because it only exist in gifted people. But temporary amnesia is different; anybody is at risk to have it. It had been researched and had undergone a lot of tests. And was there any case of amnesia on certain persons only? No. That's why this case needs a little more information.

Hotaru walked back and forth while thinking of possible ways to gather clues to the mystery of Natsume's disappearance. Suddenly, an idea came to her mind. She gathered the things she would be needing and started to work.

"Natsume, you shouldn't have done that. She did not do anything to me. And she seemed to really know you."

Natsume looked up to her green-eyed savior then turned his head. "She deserves it. If she knows me that much, then she would not have tried to hurt you."

"But I'm really okay. I don't think she meant bad. Maybe she was just excited to see you."

Natsume paused for awhile. It had been a long time since he left the academy, almost a year. And it looked like nothing really changed. He saw his favorite tree when he arrived and it is still rising proud. The campus and the students still bore him like before. But that girl…Ruka said her name is Mikan…

Suddenly, he felt his heart beating faster. He clutched his hand on his chest, and true enough, it's pounding so hard…

"Natsume? What's wrong? Are you ok?" Mizuki asked, getting up to assist the lad.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just a little bit jittery. Maybe it was because of the long ride we have had." Natsume answered. But he knows that's not the reason. He doesn't know where the feeling came from, it's just a little weird. He remembered the Mikan girl again but he cannot recall any memories of her. Maybe I'm just imagining things. He thought.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have forced you to return to this Academy. I know you would have preferred them thinking that you're already dead so you won't have to do any stuff for them but I'm just worried that…"

"I told you a thousand times already Mizuki, it's okay." Natsume interrupted her. I don't like being a burden to you and your grandfather anyway. This is where I belong and I need to do this for my…" Natsume stopped before he could say anything about his family. Since he met Mizuki, she had been asking him about his family, and he would always deny the topic. It was good that she understands him and so he could preserve his privacy.

"By the way, how was your application to the Academy? Are they going to accept you?" Natsume asked his companion.

"Well, Mr. Narumi said that I would need to undergo some test for one week first before they finally decide to accept me. I guess that's okay. He said we're going to be in the same class."

"That's good. I will introduce you to Ruka again. He's my best friend. The introduction awhile ago was a little bit informal because of the fuss so I hope you understand."

"Of course, it's okay with me." Mizuki smiled.

"So, what's your alice?" Natsume asked as he slid back to bed to rest.

"Nullification alice."

was supposed to make this a week ago but I was hooked up with Death Note and I can't help but make a fanfic of it too. Well, if you're interested, please try to read it and leave a review. I would really appreciate it.

Thanks so much for those who reviewed, hope you like this chapter.

Please review again, so that I'll know if it's getting boring or what. It is my only inspiration also so please, please do. So few people making reviews for me..sob-sob..But I still want to continue this for the sake of those who still believe in me. Arigatou gozaimasu!