Author: Yeah yet another chapter
Reanne: Hurry up with the chapters, will ya'?
Mikan: Yeah! I wanna know what's gonna happen to Natsume & Ruka!
Author: I feel like writing you guys first, then only should I continue the story of Natsume & Ruka!
Hotaru: You better be quick… (Holds the almighty baka gun in her right hand…)
CHP 2 : WHAT HAPPEN'S NEXT?!
Evening
….
…….
………
"I'm hungry! Can't we have any chestnuts to eat? A snack? Oh, come on! I want chestnuts!" Mikan grumbled.
"Though we have money, we have to save! I didn't bring much money with us, ya' know! & we can only survive on Hotaru's blackmailing & Mikan's hair styling every town we go!"
"Not to mention your guitar/singing performance on one street, but you did a good job, you got 124500 yen in five days. Plus the audience said that your voice & your songs were both very good. You even change your songs everyday." Hotaru said, munching on a piece of bun with crab for filling.
"Heh! Don't try to compare. Mikan turned into the most famous hair-stylist of that town in one day. She earned 215000 yen within three days. Man, I should have taken hair-styling lessons from Mikan-chan's 'oji-chan', too." Reanne said while driving Sumomo, her super-great car. (People aged 14 above can get a driving license & can get work to earn a living.)
"Nah… Hotaru is the greatest among all three of us! She sold the Arashi & Ayumi Hamasaki merchandises (Which were the ones you can never get. E.g.: Ayumi in her very own bedroom talking on the cell phone.) within one day & she earned 555500 yen! Ain't that the Hotaru we know?" Mikan said while looking at Hotaru's crab-filled bun, drooling…
"Please, Reanne! Let me be the third user of Sumomo! I promise I'll only order for chestnuts while you're driving! Pweeeeeaassssee? Puppy eyes" Mikan whimpered.
"…Hotaru…? Well, shouldn't we let her be the third user of Sumomo?" Reanne looked at Hotaru after pushing the 'AUTO' button. (This makes Sumomo drives by itself.)
Hotaru stopped eating her bun & said, "… I guess we should."
Mikan jumped up & down on Sumomo. (The car has no roof. If you know what I mean…)
"YAAAAAAAAAAAY! CHESTNUTS HERE I COME!!!"
"Under one condition." Hotaru's eyes shone.
Mikan stopped jumping. "Hn? What is it?"
"You can only order chestnuts & water. (Or should I say beverages.)"
"Agreed!" Mikan smiled warmly.
Reanne stopped the car.
"Sumomo, activate new user account screen."
//Yes, Reanne. Access accepted.//
A screen popped out of nowhere. (Hologram)
//Please speak, User No.3. //
"I LOOOVE CHESTNUTS!"
//Processing…//
"This will take a while…" Reanne said.
//Process complete. Please tell SUMOMO your name, User No.3. //
"Mikan!"
//Processing…//
"You should upgrade your Sumomo's programming software. It's a little too slow." Hotaru said.
"Then would you help me?" Reanne looked at Hotaru.
//Process complete. What is your command, Mikan//
"I WANT CHESTNUTS! HOT & FRESH CHESTNUTS!" Mikan squealed with excitement.
BAKA.BAKA.BAKA.
"Be patient, you idiot." Hotaru's almighty baka gun had once again punished another baka!
Mikan rubbed her head while Sumomo gave Mikan a packet of hot chestnuts. (Mikan sits at the second row #if you know what I mean# & a drawer pops out. #which is in the middle of Hotaru's & Reanne's seat# Voila! Thank you if you understand!)
"When will we reach the next town?" Mikan said while holding her packet of chestnuts in her right hand.
"About an hour, maybe." Reanne said.
"No way! By that time, night will be here!" Mikan said while some of the chestnuts fell out of the packet.
"Yup. Don't worry! Sumomo is fully anti-wild animals & anti-weather! It's even anti-insects! Hoorah for Sumomo!"
"Reanne. There's a mini-motel in front. Would you consider on that?" Hotaru said while eating on a vanilla-flavoured muffin. (She finished the crab-filled bun minutes ago.)
Karaoke Motel : The motel of Karaoke Paradise!
"So, anyone wanna try it out for the night?" Mikan said.
"Yaaay! Finally there's a karaoke to sing!" Reanne shouted with her hands up in the sky.
Hotaru & Mikan turned to look at Reanne, "No way, Reanne are you-.."
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
A girl was singing "Pretty Cure Max Heart" in a very powerful voice, so powerful that you envied her voice, hungrily want that powerful voice. People always want to become powerful, don't they?
This girl had won a karaoke competition three times in a row. The judges were apparently giving her high marks all the time. (The judges were actually a karaoke machine that can judge how good you sang & give you marks if you hit the correct note at the correct time. It's available in stores now, if you didn't know.)
The audience clapped their hands & cheered for this girl at once when she finished her song.
"Ne, Reanne? I think that's enough for today, right Hotaru?" Mikan sweated as she said.
"Why? If we continued, we could win the grand prize, ya' know?" Reanne pouted at Mikan to show how unsatisfied she was. (She wants to sing more.)
"What was the grand prize again, Hotaru?" Mikan turned to Hotaru.
(Hotaru was munching on slice of strawberry shortcake.)
Hotaru paused for awhile. "I think it was 100000000000 yen if I was not mistaken."
"& a free 4 person's trip to America! United States of America! For 15 days & 14 nights! Can't you imagine it?" Reanne screamed excitedly. (She's excited of the karaoke singing competition, not the money nor the trip.)
"Well, I guess I could…" Mikan closed her eyes for a while.
In her thoughts, she could see Mickey & Minnie Mouse waving at her. Daisy was putting on a beautiful white gown on Mikan. Donald duck & Goofy were taking Mikan on a tour. Mikan looked very happy. But…
"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh!!!"
Mikan was holding her head as if she was in pain.
"Mikan-chan? What's wrong?" Reanne asked her.
"The horror… The horror…" Mikan kept whispering while she crouched on the floor, vigorously trembling.
"Mikan has been afraid of Mickey Mouse & friends since she was 5 years old." Hotaru said as she took another slice of strawberry shortcake.
"Huh? I never knew Mikan would have been afraid of Mickey Mouse. Why was she?" Reanne sat down beside Hotaru, taking a plate of salmon sashimi.
"When Mikan first saw Mickey Mouse on the TV, she was happy to watch it. But one day…"
O.O.O.O Let's flashback! O.O.O.O
"Mikan! Come here! I have a surprise for you!" Mikan's 'oji-chan' shouted out.
"Hai!" Mikan reframed herself from her bedroom to play with her Rozen Maiden doll as always everyday.
"Look at what I got for you!"
When Mikan arrived at the living room (which was where 'oji-chan' was.), the enormous, the hideous-looking, the evil, the…
Mickey Mouse Life-size (or not) Doll was in front of her.
Mikan freaked out when she saw the gigantic Mickey.
Slowly, it fell on Mikan.
Mikan screamed & struggled to get Mickey off her. (But her 'oji-chan' thought she just wanted to get it off. Not realizing that she was already crying in fear.)
(A/N: Well imagine. You were just 5 & how tall would you be? For me, it could be around, 130 cm tall. & a 175 cm tall Mickey Mouse doll is #in fact# smiling widely at you, plus, at your age of 5, you only started to remember things with memory. So? Wouldn't that become into a phobia?)
O.O.O.O.O We're going back to present time! O.O.O.O.O
"& that's how she got the Horror-no-Mickey-&-friends-leux-phobia." Hotaru sipped her cup of sweet, hot chocolate.
"I can see why she got afraid. Wait. The Horror-no-Minnie-no-tomotomo-les-phorbi? What was it again?" Reanne said while taking a third plate of salmon sashimi, but this time with rice.
"#sigh# Never mind." Hotaru sipped a second cup of hot chocolate.
15 minutes later…
Mikan finally calmed down while munching on a Mont Blanc muffin.
♠ "Contestants please come to the lobby to prepare for next challenge." ♠
Reanne had just finished her rice ball. (This was wrapped up with dried seaweed & as big as your head.) (A/N: Instead as snacks, Hotaru & Reanne were eating their dinner.)
"Well, I'm off guys! I mean, girls! Wish me luck!"
As Mikan watched Reanne walking off, "Yeah, I'll wish that the competitor have more luck than Reanne. I so don't want to go to USA."
"& I wish Reanne wins in the end. I so want to get that 100000000000 yen & go to USA. (I'm planning on who will become my victims… Kelly Clarkson? Rihanna? Avril Lavigne? James McCartney? Hm… who else?)" Hotaru said with shining eyes. (A/N: Pray for your idols, people!)
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
"Woohoo! Another 19 more rounds & I'll be cashed with money! (But Hotaru & I decided to split it 50/50… Or else I'll have to take a bite of the almighty BAKA gun blackmail version. It's black in colour. What's more, I owed Hotaru 5000 yen 5 years ago… & free S.H.E. photos! All rights reserved to Hotaru Imai!) & a trip to USA! Yeah! Might as well I go visit my brother & my sister-in-law!"
"Reanne, you have a sister-in-law? & I never heard of your brother before!" Mikan said.
Reanne stopped cheering for a while. Looking at the floor, she said "My brother & I are worlds apart. Our age difference is 15 years. While I transferred to Japan (We were only 9 years old when we met. You know, Hotaru & Mikan.), my brother was already married to Elaine, my sister-in-law. They already have a 3-year-old daughter, Megan. Now she's almost as tall as I am, though she's only 8. They even have twins, Kimberly & Timothy, both aged 5. I also have a sister. She's aged 25. Married to a Briton. She just given birth to a baby boy, I'm not sure of her son's name, but I think it was Darren. Well, blah, enough about my family. Let's hit back to the karaoke competition lounge!"
While she went ahead of Mikan & Hotaru, Mikan said to Hotaru, "Reanne is trying to stay strong, Hotaru. Was it my fault to bring up the topic?"
Hotaru turned to look at Mikan, her puppy eyes were a little too much for a regular person, but to Hotaru, it was out of the question.
She turned her head back to the front, "Yes, it was your fault. Now try to cheer her up before she loses the competition or you'll face the wrath of the BAKA gun chaser version. It shoots missiles at idiots & never fails. It cannot be avoided. Unless you would still like to see the sunny side of the world, obey my commandments."
Mikan almost cried when she heard Hotaru saying that. What am I to do? What can I do to make up for Reanne? I know! Buy her a pair of super cool headphones! She loves headphones! But… They're expensive, aren't they? Um… What should I do to get more money? There aren't any villages here… Mikan's thoughts were swarming all over her head, She can't ask help from Hotaru, she'll only keep asking for a pay back. She can't ask Reanne either, it was supposed to be a surprise…
While Reanne was competing with other contestants, Mikan accidentally eaves dropped someone's conversation, "Why don't we go to the village downtown? I heard there was a sale going on there…" Another voice said, "Hm.. might as well we go earn some money there…"
Mikan's light bulb lit brightly. She stood up, "That's right! I'll go downtown to do some hair-styling! Yay! That way I'll have money!" She ran off to get her hair-styling equipments & to the village. Everyone sweat-dropped.
// Reanne wins, 95 points. Boy A loses, 78 points. //
"Yeah! I won again! Definite victory of round 11! Yahoo!" Reanne was cheering for herself while the audiences were clapping as loud as thunder. Some fans were cheering for encore. (Wow, in one day a fan club has been formed…)
O.O.O.O.O.O Let's go see how's Mikan doing! O.O.O.O.O.O.O
Mikan has been doing quite well & got a job in a barber shop. But she asked the keeper of the shop for permission to use his barber shop as a hair-styling salon for one day. Yet again, her puppy eyes never failed before a regular human.
Her business was doing pretty good; so far she's been styling hair for grandmothers & aunties…
But the word was spreading fast, anyone who gets a hair-cut from Mikan tend to look younger by 10 to 15 years! More of the villagers heard of it, & the young & old wanted to get a hair-cut from Mikan, too!
All in all, she had earned 78940 yen from the whole village in just three hours! (By that time, Reanne had been winning until there are 8 rounds left! You have to add in the break time.) Plus, with Mikan's lightning-fast hands, each customer only needed 3 minutes!
When the last customer left, Mikan looked at one of the windows, the people were all happy & satisfied with how they looked; a little girl outside the shop seemed to be sitting on a swing which was under a gigantic tree. She looked rather filthy & hungry. When she saw the children laughing happily at how pretty & energetic they looked, she started to cry.
Mikan saw that something was wrong, was she an orphan?
Mikan took some of her hair-styling equipments & ran out of the shop. When she walked towards the little girl & stopped, waiting for the little girl to notice.
The little girl raised her head up, & almost fell off the swing because of the sudden appearance of Mikan.
"Hey there, little girl, what's your name?"
"#sniff# Yumemi. #sniff# Is there anything you want from me? I don't have money with me… My 'oji-chan' is sick… I don't have any money to find a doctor & treat him… #sniff# What am I going to do? 'Oji-chan' is getting weaker day by day, he might even leave me… #sniff#"
"My name's Mikan. Want a haircut? #smile# Free of charge."
Yumemi looked at Mikan & paused for a while.
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
On the other hand, let's talk about Natsume & his friend who were just heading back to the Avalon HQ.
Natsume & his friend, who was known as Ruka Nogi, were in a black limo, driven by a teenager, whose name was Persona, aged 17. He wore a mask that covers half of his face.
"So, you failed to catch three rats… Detention for you, Mr. Natsume Hyuuga. Meet me at the old place." Persona said with a long, bored but sarcastic voice.
"Please, Persona! I'm responsible for catching those girls! Natsume had nothing to do with this! He-.."
"Enough with the blabber, Mr. Ruka Nogi. You are only a 4 star ally & you are not one of the four Elements. Unless you & your cuddly animal friends can defeat me, you are not allowed to interfere with the business of Alice & the four elements. Even though Natsume is part of the Elements, SHE gave me the responsibility of taking care & punishing Natsume. Three normal rats & you can't catch them. #sigh# Have you been lazy, Natsume?" Persona said, ending with a smile.
Elements : Four very powerful allies. Or should I say strongest among all star-ranked allies. They are the Element of Air, the Element of Water, the Element of Earth, & lastly, the Element of Fire.
Natsume had nothing to say. He went to sit by the window & lowered it. There, a lazy sunrise is rising up in the East. He wished he could once again lay on the cozy green grass under the wonderful sunlight. But dreams need to have an ending, & when that happens, nightmares will come.
Again, he looked into the sunrise, When will this nightmare stop? When will the world stop committing wrongs? When can I finally… See her again? A warm smile… Her wonderful smile… Natsume sunk into his thoughts. Slowly, his eyes became heavy, & fell asleep.
Ruka, not noticing he was sleeping, turned his head over to talk to Natsume. But when he saw his peaceful face, he turned his head back & fell asleep, too.
O.O.O.O.O.O.O Back to Mikan! O.O.O.O.O.O.O
"Wow! Thank you!"
Yumemi was looking into a mirror, staring at her hair.
Before Mikan had helped her, her hair was filthy & long & was always untangled. Since Mikan had styled her hair, it became clean & shoulder-lengthed & had hair that looked soft.
"Your hands are like magic! How can I ever thank you? I can never repay such kindness! It's-.."
"The only way I want you to repay me, is to smile no matter what happens."
Yumemi stared into Mikan's warm, beautiful & kind smile.
"Now, try this on, it should be your size." Mikan shoveled out a beautiful yellow dress from her bag. (She brought along two bags, one would be her handy bag, when she needs anything for extra, it'll always be in her handy bag. E.g.: accessories, clothing, some electronics & extra batteries. The other bag would be her hair-styling equipments bag.)
Yumemi hesitated for a moment, not knowing should she add up on the repayment bill, even though she doesn't have to.
"Wait up for a moment, I think it's a little too long for you. Let me snip a few metres of the hem."
………
"Done! But it looks a little plain… Maybe I should add up a few metres of white lace, maybe some beads would go on it, too. #Yumemi was getting nervous & felt awkward# Or maybe I should-.."
"Ok! It looks fine to me! So please don't do so much for me…! I had what I need already…" Yumemi stammered.
"Oh? Is that so? What about your 'oji-chan'?" Mikan said, looking into the air & waiting for a response.
"… I'll work. I'll work to get money." Yumemi said with a very strong & courageous smile.
That's a smile a strong girl will have. Mikan thought.
"Well, for starters, why don't you work for the barber shop? I'll teach you how to cut hair for both male & female & both young & old."
Yumemi looked at Mikan again, her face filled with gratitude.
"Let's start your training!"
O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O What about Reanne & Hotaru? O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O.O
Reanne continued to compete with the other contestants, while Hotaru went to buy some soda from a soda machine.
While Hotaru was doing so, she accidentally eaves dropped someone's conversation.
"I heard that Reanne girl is pretty good… But would she be able to defeat us, Hikari-chan?"
"I doubt so, Kairi-chan. We had been battling with sore losers, & we never lose. If we win this competition, we'll get to meet mother, won't we? Mother is waiting for our return."
"Why, yes. We must meet mother. Mother has been waiting for us since we'd been separated…"
"Kairi-chan…" "Hikari-chan…"
Hotaru couldn't stand such sisterliness. It was like watching them talk like Hikari & Kaoru Hitachiin from Ouran High School Host Club.
Hotaru turned to look at the two. A black haired-girl was loving her other twin sister, who had white hair. Both tied their hair up into two long & thick ponytails. (They look like Hikari from Pretty Cure: Max Heart. But different hair colour.) They were both hugging each other. (Like what Hikaru & Kaoru does always before the girls, but a little different as these two twin sisters were sitting down.)
"Oh, onee-chan…" "Imooto-chan…"
Hotaru took a picture of the two with her camera in silent mode.
O.O Mikan & Yumemi's training were over! What's gonna happen? O.O
"Training's over for today! We'll start again tomorrow!" Mikan said with a big smile, satisfied with Yumemi's training.
She can learn very fast. Mikan thought as Yumemi ran out of the barber shop.
I can't seem to find the keeper of the barber shop; I wonder where he is… Ah! Mikan fell & tripped over something.
Man, I thought there wasn't anything on the floor… How clumsy I am… Eh? What's this? Mikan picked up the phonebook which she tripped over. There was a piece of note stuck on to the cover page.
♣Dear Miss Mikan Sakura,
Looks like your business as a hair-styler is pretty good… I'll leave this shop to you for two days, which includes today. Please remember to close this shop at 6 pm. The key is within one of these pages.
Good Luck,
Keeper of the barber shop.
P.S.: Please leave 20 of the amount you earned tomorrow in the drawer with a teddy bear sticker on it. ♣
Oh, Mr. Keeper-san… #Even though I don't know your name# He's kind, at least he didn't ask for 50...
A customer came in the shop.
"Oh, I'm sorry, we're going to close the shop in the next five minutes. Please come again tomorro-.."
Mikan dropped the phonebook on the floor when she saw who was at the door.
O.O.O.O Cliffhanging! O.O.O.O
In Mikan's room which she shared with Reanne & Hotaru #Of the motel#, Mikan's suitcase for her Rozen Maiden doll was glowing.
Somewhere, but wasn't in this world, there was someone smiling. Not with any evil intentions, but it wasn't a warm smile either. Its smile was rather for something it wants to accomplish.
O.O.O.O We're back by starting to climb the mountain! O.O.O.O
It was Natsume Hyuuga, the one who tried to catch her! But he looked rather tired & battered up. Was that from the detention Persona had given?
"What do you plan to do? I'm not going to let you take me or the children or even the teenagers! #takes up her sharpest scissors# I'll hurt you with this! Don't come any closer!"
But he wasn't listening. He was still walking towards her. Blood was flowing from his head.
He stretched his hand towards Mikan. His hand was trembling.
Mikan was still holding her scissors in her hand, pointing at him.
Natsume finally collapsed on the floor. He was panting heavily.
Mikan carried him & locked the glass door of the barber shop with the key Mr. Keeper-san handed to her.
She then carried him back to her room in the motel without anyone noticing. (Surprisingly empty! Where did everyone go to? Oh, I think I know where…)
…………………………………
…………………………………
♠"Okay! Let's give it a rest for today! We'll continue tomorrow by starting up with the Seki twin sisters versus twin boys B! Good night for now!"♠
"Woah! What a day! So fun! I can't wait for tomorrow! Where's Mikan?" Reanne said while she walked towards her room with Hotaru.
"I think she just finished her part-time job down the village. She could be exhausted by now."
"Hotaru, may I borrow your camera for once? I'll pay you 5000 yen. I wanna take pictures of Mikan sleeping!"
"Make it 10000 yen. Cos' I got the pictures you wanted."
"Ok… #pays 10000 yen# Camera & the photos, please."
Hotaru puts the 10000 yen in her purse, & took out the camera (digital, forgot to mention.) & the photos.
"So, these two are the Seki twin sisters, huh? Hikari Seki & Kairi Seki. They were saying something about their mother, weren't they?"
"Yes. If information from the net wasn't wrong, their mother was separated from them because of their father, who found out they, too, were Alices."
"Do you know what Alices do they have?"
"Internet doesn't have everything. But all I knew is that their powers are powerful if they combined them together. What's your wild guess, Reanne?"
"I'm not sure, but looking at them reminds me of Pretty Cure: Max Heart crossed with Ouran High School host club… Ugh, gross & scary!"
Reanne & Hotaru opened their room door with a security card. They were much shocked when they…
Cliffhanged & end of CHP!
Author: Yaay… Finally! Please review!
Mikan: Ne, Author-chan, what's so shocking?
Reanne: Oh, you'll find out soon enough…#snickers#
Hotaru: By the way…
All excludes injured Natsume: Review!