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"Caught"
The dark gray room, illumed with dim lights, holds within itself the ones in despair. Peace? No, there's peace no more. The scorching flames of battle, pouring cries of people, some are shaking the earth as they run -wanting to be saved, hearts are pounding, longing to break loose, tears are flooding from eyes like water bursting out from cracks of the dam. Merciless! He enjoys the view –the view of the agonies of others! Heartless! So it seems. She cares less about the chaos. Stupid! (-the most simple and accurate description to generalize them all)
"So that's why you never have a girlfriend… (LOL)… you're a homo!" he teased as he munches his marshmallows, comfortably sitting on his wheeled chair.
"Shut up stupid! (he got caught and stumbled, flat on the ground)… Listen here kiddo, I'm not your lover, okay! I'm a man, YOU HEAR, A MAN! The one you really love is that person there!" 'she' forced 'her' way out of his tight embrace and tries to clear things up to him. 'She' points at a certain green haired guy who's acting like a sissy and sobbing dramatically talking to no one in particular: "What a cruel fate! Now, Natsume-sama will surely avoid me, 'cause I… I… I'm a man!" 'He's' sulking 'his' heart out.
"But Natsume's always avoiding you, Sumire-chan." commented Yuki, only to be shot back by a deadly "Shut up!"
Not far, a certain brunette is seriously noting every possibility why the second switcher didn't work. Her friend seemed really worried since the invention failed to return the two back to their respected bodies. "Hotaru…"
"It seems the Soul Switcher won't work twice on the same persons, so the problem now is how to return back when even the inventor himself fell on the trap that he himself dug." She concluded to herself, but made her friend even more confused.
"I didn't see him fall Hota-" click –from a certain gun "Wanna have a trip to outer space, this one's on the house?" then a bulb lighted on her thought, "Mikan, maybe you could nullify the Switcher's effect."
"I'm not sure about that Hotaru, you know our bodies got swapped, right? So maybe… our Alice got swapped too."
Yes, she got a point there, but- "Tsubame, what do you think?"
"I wish I could help you out but this kid here kept on hugging me and I can't concentrate let alone breath!" while shoving Koko's face away from him/'her'.
"Imai-san got an idea there. I think that even if your bodies got swapped, you can still use your own Alice. See, the kind of Alice you hold depends upon one's personality or otherwise one's soul, so whether wherever your soul go, you may still have your Alice with you. Megane gave me the thought –even though his Alice is to possess things to begin with. Oh well, just give it a shot, Mikan-chan."
"You could give it a try on those two there." Hotaru pointed a finger at a depressed 'Kyo' and the desperate 'Sumire'.
"Sigh, it's worth a try… here I go." She closed her eyes to concentrate while saying to herself "I can do this!", she snapped a finger and…
Turns her attention to the swapped pair… "So, did it work?"
"Sigh, my Alice worked all right, but not on Permy and Kyo-sempai…"
?????????????????????????????????
"Oooooooohhhhhhhh…" everyone raised a brow at the mind reader Kokoro Yome… -He's wearing all white and preparing a katana as if making ready for hara-kiri! Hey, somebody stop him!
…………………
Err… It seems he can't do it anyway… after flying and crashing across the room because of… BAKABAKABAKABAKABAKA. Poor kid, I'll give you a candy after this fan fiction too, but I must say, purchasing one of those baka guns will surely be useful!
"So it seems it's not that simple after all… but thank god that's over!" 'Sumire' supports 'herself' up but fell out of balance when Hariko suddenly bulged out from behind, unintentionally surprising him/'her' with her voice as she perkily –yet carelessly- greeted them.
"Hotaru-chan, I think I know…- (noticed Kyo's reactions) what's the matter with Mr. Swallow?"
"You knocked him off by suddenly popping everywhere."
"I didn't know I have that kind of ability… okay, about what I was about to say to you guys…"
"So have you thought of anything useful?"
"I think so… but"
"But?"
"I just forgot." It's settled; I'll buy myself a baka gun. Let's wait until she remembers, in the mean time, let's see what Natsume and the others are up to.
They're on their way to the faculty room, careful not to be noticed. Even though the hallway seems empty, they shouldn't let their guards down and so they must work like those people in the movies were they act like undercover agents or more on like thieves…
"……… You're saying that ever since the incident four days ago, that guy Persona never contacted you again. Yup, that's strange alright."
"Tsubasa-sempai, have you noticed something different with the faculty office members lately… about your adviser perhaps?"
"The teachers…? Now that you mentioned it, we haven't seen him since the day he announced the Halloween Party Project, right Misaki?"
"Not only the adviser… Noda-sensei is out of sight for days now and so are the other subject teachers. In addition to that, none of the teachers assigned in supervising us is familiar –they're all…what do you call this… mysterious. It's as if aliens already invaded earth without us knowing it."
"So that's why we're checking (gulp) the faculty for anything suspicious, right?"
"Stop trembling Inchou-kun. It's not as if you're going there alone you've got us –me, Misaki, Nogi, Hyuuga, and little Usagi. Just to make you feel better we could just talk about fun stuff, all right you pick a topic." Though grinning pesky enough, Tsubasa comforted Yuu.
"It's just that after talking about the teachers I just remembered what happened that day when Jinno-sensei (gulp)…"
"Jinno-sensei?"
-Want a flashback? Help yourself I won't stop you-
Place: on the hallway
Date and Time: Wednesday, lunch time
Characters: Yuu, Jinno-sensei and his frog
Plot: please… don't ask me anymore… it's so dreadful!
Introduction: This planet is just a small place and nothing impossible for this moment of time can still be impossible in the near future…brace yourself! On a certain hallway directing to a certain faculty office, a certain boy received a sign sent by the merciful God to warn everyone of the coming darkness… but even the sign itself is darkness! An infamous teacher together with his beast on his shoulder is walking on the same ground as our friend who obviously saw him coming and plastered a smile of respect as he greets him with a vow.
"Ohayo sensei."
The teacher stopped in front of him, "You're Tobita, Yuu am I correct?"
"Uh yes sir." He shyly raised his head but not too high to avoid the teacher's electrocuting eyes.
He couldn't see the teacher's expressions that time before he PATS his head that made our dear boy look higher –up to the part where- "It's past twelve so you shouldn't greet me a 'good morning', didn't I teach you that before? croak Well then, I heard your class will be helping in the Halloween Party preparations. You should do your jobs well and make your teachers proud, do your best! I know you'll definitely make the best horrorific party ever, ah ha, ha, ha, ha." croak and he leaves him…
Wh-what h-ha-happened t-to Jinno-ss-sensei? Di-d-did he s-s-sm-smiled bleh? A cold wind blew! Kami-sama, if oblivion is near, would you please grant us forgiveness from all our sins and let me pass out in a simple and painless manner. I would also make the remaining days of my life meaningful and make myself a better person… just please don't send me to hell………………… OH GOOD HEAVENS!!!
-end-
(Sorry Lord, I will confess all my sins for the end of the world is at hand and I know… oh sorry)
MAKE IT STOP! The cold-blooded current manipulating teacher did what? After the story Yuu told, what do you think happened? Wanna hear what they're thinking? It's better you can't see their terrified faces… man, their trembling inside.
Natsume: Maybe I should've been nicer to Polka dots before.
Ruka: Do you think I should confess to Imai? You know, before the world ends?
Tsubasa: I admit it, I ate the cookie Misaki cooked without telling her… but I regretted doing so… it tastes awful!
Misaki: I'm sorry. I used rotten eggs when I made those cookies… but I don't regret it because I know Tsubasa will eat it without my permission… nasty bastard… (Coughs lightly) if he asked me nicely, I should've said that I was just about to throw it on a compost pit.
About Usagi's prayer, you know I can't understand THEIR language!
-back at Hotaru's lab (Yuki's POV)-
"Can you remember it now Hariko-chan?"
"Shh, I'm still thinking…" no matter how she tries all she could do is to let out a sigh, "Why do I have a poor memory? I must've had an acute anemia or something." She helped herself with a marshmallow that I offered.
"Maybe you mean amnesia."
"Yeah that one, thanks Snowman-san, how'd you know?"
"Eh he, he."
So far, I was able to keep a decent conversation with her without stuttering and making myself look and sound stupid, but I guess first impressions do last sometimes, 'cause you know she's still not talking seriously to me. I know she knows I'm blushing 'cause she's near… I guess…
"Uhm H-hariko-chan?" my god, I stuttered.
"Huh, what?"
"I wasn't able to apologize about earlier…"
"It's fine, don't worry. If I were in your shoes, I'd do the same –but the ropes were kind 'a tight though… and I don't appreciate the tickling robot… and I most certainly despise the onion." –we just did that to interrogate her in talking before we remembered that we have someone who could possibly read her mind… but really, how could she say all these things while smiling unaffectedly? She's starting to give me the creeps.
"Besides from that, we also… you know… accused you of something you didn't do… sorry about that, you must've been hurt emotionally."
"Like what I was saying, if I were you I'd do the same. I would also suspect myself."
"But since Koko read your mind and cleared that you're innocent, there's no need to worry about suspecting yourself, right?"
Speaking of Koko, he's still apologizing to 'Sumire-chan', I mean Kyo, and Sumire-chan who's on Kyo's body for the moment. I, Hariko-chan and Mikan-chan together with the three were the only ones who're here because the others left to attend some business, and that includes Imai-san... I'm not sure if it is related to what Koko said to her before –that was the time after we interrogated Hariko-chan. Koko whispered something to her and what bothers me is that they looked so serious.
Now, back to the topic… I don't know why but Mikan-chan's not talking much around us all these time, or is it just my imagination? Wait, maybe she wanted to talk with Hariko-chan alone, you know -girl talk or whatever. I'm too busy blushing that I didn't notice I'm maybe the reason why she's so quiet. I think I should leave them alone to talk with each other for now, besides, I should be going back now and so are the others because the clock reads 11:00, time flies as they say.
"It's already eleven. Maybe we should go back to our dorms." I said while looking at Mikan's reactions. I think she didn't notice the time, because she seemed a bit surprised and as I was expecting, she slightly glanced at Hariko-chan and then stood up saying 'I didn't notice, well, we should head back now.' she gave a smile at us then called at the three –Sumire-chan, Kyo, and Koko- that she's leaving and that they should also take a rest too. So she really has something to say to Hariko-chan if I'm right.
-end of POV-
Others left the lab but two remained…
"Aren't you coming Hariko-chan?" Mikan is slightly hesitating. She's fighting inside whether to believe at Koko's words or believe what she saw that time. She's very much surprised that Koko actually said that she is innocent but never mentioned anything about the incident before (see the flashback from "Serious Dilemma 2/2"), though she kept telling herself that she should trust her friend, that flashback also keeps on popping on her head, and so, she must voice it out to her to get rid of all her suspicions. But she doesn't know what to do exactly and also, she's scared of what might happen if she does.
"Say, Mikan-chan…"
She's disturbed from her trance, "Uh-Hai?"
"Can you…" irresolute, "Can you tell me what happened before and after I left you this morning?.. I mean the time while we're together under the Sakura tree… what were we talking back then? What happened after?" she paused, "Sorry if I'm asking you things that I should know, it's just… I… I can't remember."
Mikan gaped as her eyes grew wide.
"It's alright that you won't tell me. Really…" Hariko waved her hands slightly with a smile.
"Why…"
"Huh?"
"Why… do you want to know?"
"Because… I've got the feeling that I'm forgetting something I should never forget… even if I die, I should never forget it… something like that. I know I easily forget, but this one's been bothering me and I got a feeling that maybe you could help me. I hate forgetting important things because I feel uncomfortable and gets easily irritated, but this time, it's different in some way." She rested her head on the table and Mikan walked in front of her and took a seat.
Mikan's still not responding so Hariko continues… "There's also another mystery that's bothering me." This caught Mikan's attention. She heard herself ask. "What is it?"
"I just can't understand why and how I could call you with your own names." Mikan fell off her seat at her reason…
"I think it's just normal to call us by our names Hariko-chan. Besides, we're classmates after all."
"Yeah, I know. But I've known myself ever since I started having consciousness Mikan-chan, and I know that a whole week won't be enough for me to memorize your names let alone call you with it. But as you know, since my first day here, I've been calling you with your proper names as if I've known it a long time ago. Normally, I would give you nicknames like what I call Grassman and Snowman-" then Mikan intruded…
"But the first time you met Yuki-sempai you called him by his name if I recall, right?"
"Yeah –uh, who's Yuki-sempai? Oh I remember… but I think that was because his name is still fresh in my memory, but as you know later on, I've been giving him nicknames and that's considered normal."
"Oh, I see."
"So, can you tell me about what we're talking before? You know, I really love stories."
"Nothing special happened… (thinking deeply)… you just mentioned something about your necklace, then about your childhood boyfriend then you said something about you not seeing each other for a long time… and… that's about it. After that, you pushed me inside the multi-purpose box to change and when I get out, you vanished…"
Hariko's calm feature was replaced with confusion and disbelief… "What necklace Mikan-chan? And…" she suddenly winced in pain while holding her head with both hands… why?
Mikan quickly jumped off her seat and motioned towards her, "What's the matter Hariko-chan, are you alright?!" she assisted her worriedly.
On Koko's room we can see him brushing his teeth while lazily eying himself on the mirror, looking stressed out and… just plane "horrible". My hopes and dreams for the future has flushed itself away, knowing that I almost kissed- my god, I almost ki- bleh, not only the thought of Permy's ferocious fac- ahem, I also caused Kyo-sempai… gezz, everything's messed up! Talking about Permy, I should've stayed and escort her to her room. If not- then he noticed that there's no more water flowing out of his faucet. What the- who drank the entire tank of water for God's sake?!
Not only Koko but the others as well, encountered a water shortage- Sumire couldn't take a shower, afraid of what to see (she warned Kyo not to take a bath, too) so to let out her anger, she washed all her dirty clothes not by the washing machine but with her own two hands (I pity her clothes, because she's almost tearing it as she twisted it out of anger!) when suddenly, she noticed that the water stopped flowing out of the hose. She eyed it bitterly and without a word, she coiled it harshly on the faucet and started gnawing the shredded cloth on her other hand but figured out that it is… dry?
Tsubasa's team noticed something suspicious with the surroundings when suddenly the place was coated with a thick mist. They just received an alarming call from Hotaru (via earphone) and now, they're on their way to…
"Hariko-chan! Hariko-chan! What's the matter?" Mikan frantically supported her friend to a sitting position while Hariko held her tightly, evening her breath, they weren't aware of their surroundings which darkened a bit since the lights were slowly covered by the thick mist. The next thing they know is the heavy feeling and a heart-skipping sound echoing throughout the room and later echoed inside their heads as if mocking and haunting!
Ruka and the others are on a great rush of their lives. Something like: "If you want to see the others again, MOVE!" coming from Hotaru is surprising enough to scramble the soundness of one's mind. This is serious!
Natsume's running ahead of everyone as if his life depends on it. Though they are not sure what Hotaru is up to but he can feel something inside him telling him that if he let this one pass by without lifting a finger or breaking a sweat, he'll regret it… forever. With Natsume's behavior, his companions especially Ruka, is beginning to panic more. They're like racing wild horses, afraid to be captured by poachers, as they swiftly ran across another secret passage towards the underground lab.
They're almost there!
5
Sweats dripping, hearts pounding…
4
Body's aching, but no time to rest or relax!
3
Everything's in slow motion…
2
He twisted the door's handle…
1
His iris shrank and he instantly flew backwards as if hit by something, landing on his comrades.
"Whoa, Nat…" Tsubasa's words were cut short… "what is that?"
The thick mist slightly subsided and they saw Hotaru and Amanatsu with a humongous electric fan which looked like a bull dog… and behold… in front of them are two familiar girls, trapped in an orb like ball, getting weaker by each passing minute as they struggle to break free.
The bull-dog fan gave out its most powerful wind to finally banish the concentrated mist… and there stood…
Koko and Sumire (good thing she have a male's body at that time, she could easily run fast) finally arrived and they saw Natsume and the others who looked as if statues since they just froze there on their spot.
"Tsubasa-sempai!" shouted Koko while running towards them.
When they're exactly in front with each other, Koko eyed at the others in confusion… Natsume is already on his feet… Koko then turned his head… shock struck him.
"Move." Natsume pushed Koko aside… he's going in!
"Help, Natsume… I'm starting to get… drowsy."
Natsume's eyes grew wide. He turned his head back to Koko.
"This is bad Natsume, it seems like Sakura-chan is getting weaker by the moment."
"Yomi-san, what is Tanaka-chan saying?" Misaki asked Koko worriedly.
"She's saying… OH MY GOD, BARNEY GREW WINGS AND FLEW OUT OF THE TV!!!"
(even I sweat-dropped)
I'm terribly sorry for my late update. I've been playing computer games for a while that's why I didn't bother giving a glimpse on my fan fiction.
Anyway, I mentioned the name "Barney" on the last part of this chapter and for those who don't know who he is, let me explain.
"Barney is a dinosaur from your imagination." His color is violet and he is the star on the children's show which was named after him –Barney. I really don't know much about him myself, but for those who knew him, let us sing this song…
I love you, you love me
Let's go back and kill Barney
With a great shot-gun and Barney on the floor,
No more purple dinosaur.
Just kidding Barney, don't worry we won't kill you………… I hope your fans won't kill me too……
It's always a pleasure to make you a smile.