Disclaimer: do not own Gakuen Alice.

Sorry for taking so long to update, because I felt bad, I made this chapter twice as long as normal! But seeing as my holidays just started, I should be much quicker now :D

Sorry, I know I said Natsume would be in this chapter, but he decided to take a couple of days off for his birthday (HAPPY LATE BIRTHDAY, NATSUME)

But maybe next chapter, I won't say anything for sure though. Oh, and some characters may be OOC

Thank you to all of the reviewers who made my day :D

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And I would also like to thank all of the people who added my story to their favorites, or story alert etc.

A Part of my World

Chapter 3

Alice Academy

Mikan hadn't been outside the orphanage since she was four years old, now she was fifteen. Everything made her jumpy, all the adults pushing and jostling on the sidewalk, all of the sleek looking cars whooshing past, the skyscrapers that literally seemed to scrape the sky. Tokyo was bigger, noisier, smellier and just plain different from the small orphanage where she had spent most of her life. Mikan had never seen so many adults in her life.

"It must be hard, seeing how much everything has changed." Narumi said kindly.

"Not really, I don't exactly remember much anyway. Well, actually, I don't remember anything." Mikan hesitated, staring at the ground "please, you knew my parents...please tell me." Narumi noticed that tears were welling up in her eyes. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder "Don't worry I will tell you, but not now, now's not the right time, 'kay?" Mikan blinked her tears away and for some reason forced a smile, as if Narumi were the one who needed comforting.

"Alright, later then. But, just because I'm letting you off so easily now, doesn't mean I like you or anything. You're still a gay cross dresser to me." Mikan expected him to give an idiotic reply, and was surprised when one didn't come. Maybe he did have more that half a brain...

"Don't worry, Mikan-chan! Soon we'll be as close as father and daughter, we can even share clothes!" Mikan took her previous thought back.

"I doubt that a normal father-daughter relationship involves sharing clothes."

"Never fear, my daughter, if you think that sharing clothes isn't father-daughterly enough, we can always paint each other's nails and do each other's makeup and..." Narumi stopped when he noticed Mikan's fingers twitching, as if they were already imagining winding themselves around his neck. But nonetheless, Mikan felt a little better after all of Narumi's blathering.

"Here we are! This is Alice Academy! Student population; in excess of 3000. It's a boarding school, so normally you would stay in the dorms, but since I'm your guardian, you can live with me in the teacher's accommodation."

"I'd rather live in the dorms."

"Huh, but if you live in the dorms you won't be able to live with me!" Mikan chose to ignore this comment.

The path that they were walking along was bordered by a dense forest, giving the pair shade as they walked. Mikan wasn't sure of the size of the school, but judging by how long they had been walking, it was much bigger than any place she had been before. But at last the forest seemed to be thinning, with more and more light reaching them. Mikan made an attempt at conversation.

"When do I start school?"

"Well, it's halfway through first term, so you'll be starting tomorrow!"

"What? That soon? But I don't have a uniform or anything. At least give me a week to settle in!"

"Now, now, Mikan, you shouldn't be so lazy. The sooner you start, the sooner you'll get used to the swing of things. And don't forget that I'm a teacher here, and anyway, you're uniform is already waiting! But as for your general presentation..." Narumi eyed her, "this school is rather strict about presentation, so we can't leave your hair like that, and we'll have to wash the makeup off your face."

Mikan sighed "It's alright, the only reason I dressed like this was so I wouldn't be adopted. Normally I don't really care, teasing my hair and putting on eye liner takes too long to do every day."

Narumi chuckled, "You really mustn't have wanted to be adopted, going to such extremes..."

"I guess...but it's gonna be a pain to untangle this" sighed Mikan, pointing at her teased hair.

"I know, I teased my hair once and never did it again, too painful." Narumi quickly changed the topic once he saw Mikan's expression "Well, here we are, this is the FU dormitory."

"Ermm, FU dormitory? Is that supposed to be an insult or something?"

"It stands for female's upper dormitory, you see, there are different ranks..." Narumi trailed off once he noticed that Mikan was no longer listening. Instead she was staring, awestruck, at the building before her. In a way it reminded her of a row of terrace houses, but much more modern. There were two levels, both coloured in greys and blues, soft to look at yet with a very striking effect. Around the building was a deck of polished red wood, on the second floor there were glass balconies, some with green potted plants, others with chairs to sit on in the shade of the extended roof. Both ends of the row of units curved away, out of Mikan's sight, making a giant circle.

"The arc that we're standing in front of is known as the Female's Upper Dormitory. It has a total of 50 units. The other side of the circle is the Male's Upper Dormitory, it also has 50 units. In the middle of the two buildings is a large courtyard. Each unit has, in addition to the bedroom, a living room, study, bathroom, 2 toilets, formal dining room and informal dining room."

"Wow, I get to live in that? So, how many people to a unit, five or something?"

"One."

"Oh, one...WHAT! So then, I'll live in one of those! No way! And didn't you say there are over 3000 students here? So it's impossible."

"Mikan, if these were that only dormitories, it would be 30 people to a unit, in fact, 30 people to a bed. These dormitories are only for the upper students."

"Upper students?"

"The students whose families can afford extra privileges. Only about 3% of students here are upper students. The rest are either triple star, double star, or single star students. Triple star students also pay the full price, but can't afford extra privileges. The double star and single star students are the scholarship students, with the double stars being the smarter ones. It's all very logical once you understand it."

"So then why am I an upper student? Do you get a discount because you're a teacher or something?"

Narumi shrugged "Not really, an anonymous benefactor has decided to pay your school fees. It's not such a big deal, just a rich person trying out philanthropy." Narumi waved to a blonde woman who was standing in front of the building.

"Mikan, this is Yamada-sensei. She'll be showing you around your unit today. Ask her if you have any questions."

"Huh? Are you going somewhere? Naru-sensei...?" Mikan watched his figure retreat before turning towards the woman fressed in a purple dress who was pointing at one of the units.

"Here we are, this is your unit! Don't worry about keys, you just need to look into the eyepiece and press your thumb to the sensor. It's the newest technology, donated from one of our past students." Mikan did as she was told and watched as the door swung open to reveal a tastefully done hallway with polished floorboards, crimson walls and feature lights. To the left was a well lit study and to the right was a formal dining room with a long table of polished wood. Down the hall was a bright room that Mikan guessed was the living room.

"As you can see, to the left is the study, you are provided with a computer and laptop. To the right is the formal dining for special occasions, or for when you will need to cater for a few more people," She led Mikan through the dining room, "Around the corner is the informal dining room, this is where you will have your meals like breakfast and snacks." she said pointing at a small circular glass table. They then went through a doorway into the bright room Mikan had correctly identified as the living room. It was spacious and in pale blues, greys, and whites, making it seem even roomier. A ridiculously large plasma was mounted on one of the walls. Opposite the plasma was an L-shaped couch upholstered in white leather. But what held Mikan's attention was the giant wall made of glass panes. The glass wall was shrouded in a grey gauzy veil, with heavier blue curtains hanging limp at each side. Mikan drew back the grey veil, revealing a set of frosted French doors leading out to what appeared to be a mix between a courtyard and a forest. There were stone paths leading to the centre of the garden, but there were so many shrubs, it was difficult to see too far in. When she looked up, she could see the other arc of the circle in the distance through the thick vegetation of tall trees and leafy vines. The walls were all made of a reddish wood, blending in with the forest-like surroundings.

"Nobody's here yet, classes won't finish for half an hour, so you can go upstairs and make yourself presentable. In 45 minutes I will send a student down to give you a full tour."

"Wait, do we have to wear the school uniform at all times?"

"No, just during classes. Now I really have to rush, I have a meeting with the principal. Well, Bye, Mikan. I hope you settle in well!" and without a second look the teacher walked away, leaving Mikan alone in her new unit. She sighed and made her way up the stairs, stopping to open the door at the top of the staircase. It took Mikan a while to realize that the entire upper floor was her bedroom. The room seemed to be split in half by the staircase, which had the walk in closet to one side and the bathroom and toilet on the other. Looking to the left, Mikan saw a king sized bed resting in front of a wall covered by indigo curtains. She walked over and drew back the curtains to see one of the balconies she had observed when she first saw the building. Looking to the other side of the room, she noticed a sort of informal living room, with a small, comfortable looking couch and a giant beanbag. She pulled back the curtains on this side of the room to reveal another balcony, but this balcony seemed to go uninterrupted around the whole arc, making visiting other rooms easier. Mikan, who had grown up in an orphanage, had never seen luxury like this and was sceptical.

"Narumi must've been joking" she murmured to herself, although it still didn't explain the presence of only one bed. Mikan looked inside the walk-in-wardrobe, determined to find signs of another person living in the unit, and found a couple of uniforms and a white and blue dress with a note apologising for throwing all of her old clothes away, as they were inappropriate. Sighing, Mikan took the dress and made her way to the bathroom, cringing at the thought of the battle she would soon undertake in against her hair.

After half an hour of tugging and pulling at her hair, Mikan finally emerged from the bathroom in her dress. With the heavy makeup gone, Mikan's walnut eyes lost their hard look, softening her features. Her hair now lay flat, cascading over her shoulders and gleaming gold where the sun touched it. The dress, although a little large on her, was still better than anything she had received while at the orphanage. But it still wasn't really to her taste, the blue flowers on white looked a little too...motherly? Mikan sighed before running downstairs when she heard the chime of a doorbell. She jumped down the stairs and quickly answered the door, before realizing that whoever was there was waiting in the inside of the circle, in other words, at the other door. It would take a while to get used to having several doors. Mikan opened the French doors and noticed a girl her age standing on the deck with an impatient look on her face. The girl had dark hair, cut short like a boy's. She was wearing one of the school uniforms (you know what it looks like) and was examining something on the ground. She picked it up, placed it in her pocket and turned to face Mikan with her lilac eyes. Her eyes reminded Mikan of two amethysts, purple, cold, unfeeling, but sparkling nonetheless.

"Hello, my name is Hotaru Imai, you may call me Imai-san," she said in an emotionless voice, "I was asked to show you around." Without another word she turned and started walking away from the unit, giving Mikan no choice but to hurry after her.

"This general area of the school is known as the Upper Quarters, it includes this building and the surrounding area and facilities. The Upper Quarters is the part of the school reserved for upper students, with facilities of a better quality and standard. The building surrounding us is known as the upper corona. The upper corona serves as a dormitory for all upper students, and is divided into two equal arcs, the female upper dormitory arc, and the male upper dormitory arc. The garden that we are standing in now is known as the inner corona, one of the safest places in the academy. You see, the only possible way to enter this garden, excluding the sky, is to go through a unit. To enter a unit one must have their retina and thumb print scanned, this prevents anyone who isn't an upper student or teacher from entering. Do you have any questions so far?" Mikan digested all of the new information for a second before noticing that Imai's patience was running thin.

"N-nothing, Imai-san, please continue!" Mikan said nervously, but then realized that Imai wasn't even paying attention. Her head was tilted slightly to the right, watching a boy out of the corner of her eye. He was tall with pale skin, dark black hair and bright green eyes. His features seemed perfect, he had the face of a model. Imai greeted him stiffly, "Kuonji."

"Hotaru, I keep on telling you to call me Katsutoshi, there's no need for you to be so formal." He reprimanded her. She just ignored this comment, the corners of her mouth turned down. Katsutoshi then noticed Mikan and shot her a dazzling smile.

"But you can call me Katsu, and what might I have the pleasure of calling you?" Mikan blushed before answering "I'm Mikan, umm, are you an upper student-" Imai cut Mikan off, "If you have no business with us, Kuonji, we will take our leave." She guided Mikan back towards the building but he grabbed her forearm, holding her back.

"Be careful of how you act, Hotaru, because you're not talking to me very nicely. We wouldn't want...an accident to occur..." He smiled at Imai politely, and tightened his grip. However, his grin disappeared when he felt someone prying his fingers off Imai's arm. It was Mikan.

"What are you doing, Miki?" he asked with a tint of anger in his voice.

"That's Sakura-san to you. Please leave Imai-san alone, she obviously doesn't want your attention." With a sly grin Katsutoshi retrieved his hand. "Normally I would get very angry at your words but, since it's you, Miki, I'll let it pass this one time, just keep in mind," he reached out for Mikan and pulled her closer to him, then bent down to whisper in her ear, "I'll be watching." He turned around and walked away, leaving a blushing Mikan.

"You like him." Stated Imai. Mikan didn't deny it.

"Yes, but I hate him too, he gives me the creeps. It doesn't matter how attractive he is, I can still tell that he's someone I should stay away from. At the orphande that was how you survived, identifying risks and avoiding them." Mikan looked up to see Imai...smiling.

"You're not as stupid as I thought."

"Imai-san..."

"Hotaru, you can call me Hotaru."

Was it good? Or did I desribe everything too much, I can get a little carried away...PLEASE REVIEW!!!