~My Alices, My Pain~

Author's Notes: I love you all, dearest reviewers! Thanks for reviewing! Also thank you if you put my story on Author Alert or Story Alert or Favourites.

REVIEWERS:

#1. Sakura Breeze

#2. ImiChan

#3. HoshinaYuki

#4. Victania

#5. Chiaki Harukaze

#6. JuSt To RaNdOm

#7. IceGirl7

#8. moonacre99

#9. baka0shoujo

Note 2: BTW, I realized something very funny that happened in Chapter 2. You know the driver that drove Koko and Shiki to the Alice Hospital? Well, Shiki said this:

Shiki told the driver to wait till they came back out. The driver agreed and Shiki and Koko got out of the limo and went into the hospital's lobby.

Correct? Well then, I wonder what happened to the poor driver, because:

Koko did not appear for the rest of the school day, even after the bell rang for Ability Classes. Those who went to Koko's Ability Class later reported that Koko had not shown up. Apparently he had had some excuse to not attend the class.

The class was getting a bit worried about Koko. When it was dinnertime though, Koko finally re-appeared in the cafeteria.

Hope you guys understood the joke! For those who don't get the joke I'll explain. You see, the driver took Koko back to the high school division, but that was like, after many many hours! I dunno what happened to the driver, poor guy. Forced to wait in the limo for dunno how long, hahahahaha!!! Let's start Chapter 3 now.

CHAPTER THREE

The brunette tried to sit down on the couch, but she failed as her friends were still wrapped around her super tightly. Mikan felt a bit like a piece of meat stuck between bread like a in a sandwich.

'I can't breathe properly,' panted Mikan. The group realized they were hugging Mikan too tightly and sheepishly let go. Mikan collapsed with a sigh onto the couch.

'Thanks,' she commented. The rest smiled and sat down on seats around the coffee table in Mikan's ward. Natsume made sure he sat next to her.

Mikan stared at him and blushed then looked away immediately. Natsume grinned. He leaned over and whispered in her ear, 'I hope you haven't lost the ring, have you?'

Mikan laughed, turning back to look at him. 'No, of course not.' Natsume smiled. 'Good.' He put his hand over hers and clenched it tight. 'I'm not letting you leave, Polka Dots.' Mikan pouted. 'What, you still haven't stopped calling me that? I thought you would have gotten rid of that kind of habit.'

'No way, you're still Polka Dots to me.'

The whole group laughed as they watched Mikan's face turn even redder than it had been previously.

(A/N: Sorry, I had to erm..cut short the NxM scene a bit.)

'Well now,' said Yuka. 'Mikan, don't you think it's about time you told us the story of your past for the last six years? You haven't told us adults yet and I still clearly remember what you said the first night you were admitted here.'

'Man, Mikan,' commented Narumi. 'What happened to you all this while?' Mikan's happy face froze, and she looked upset. 'Well…what happened…can I just tell you another time?'

Mikan blushed again. 'Well, sure…but I'm a little worried about saying everything because…well…' Hotaru looked annoyed and pulled out her Baka Gun.

'Say it all, Mikan, or I kill you.' Mikan shivered. 'Fine, fine…'

The brunette sat back on the couch and began.

'Six years ago, the day I disappeared…You guys all saw that flash of light coming from inside that weird ball thing Hotaru trapped me in right?

Everybody nodded.

'Well, I thought maybe Mr. Bear' Mikan gestured to Mr. Bear here, 'might be injured in the fire so I wished to go and find him. The next moment I found myself in the Northern Forest, with fires blazing all around. Later I realized it was my newest Alice, the second Alice I'd inherited from okaa-san, the Teleportation Alice. It had activated so I disappeared just like that.'

Hotaru gasped a bit. 'No wonder you disappeared, we should have thought of that!' Mikan sighed. 'Well, that's when it all started…'

SIX YEARS AGO, THE NORTHERN FOREST

Mikan walked about the forest, trying to avoid the fires all around her. Suddenly, she tripped on a rock and fell onto the floor. Mikan painfully got up and continued walking.

She heard a noise behind her and whipped her head around. 'Mr. Bear? Is that you? I don't know how I got here you know! One minute I'm here next minute I'm there…'

A young man stepped out of the shrubs in the forest behind her. Mikan gasped and backed away, as the man did not look friendly. 'Who are you?'

'The name's Reo Mouri,' said the man with a grin. Mikan gasped. 'Y-You escaped that time after kidnapping Permy, Natsume and me!'

The man grinned wider. 'Good memory. What's your name?'

'Like I would tell you!' spat back Mikan, annoyed. Reo laughed. 'Suit yourself. You'll have to come with me.'

'Why should I?'

'What if I told you that my minions set fire to this forest?' Mikan's eyes widened.

'WHAT?'

'You heard me right. Don't worry; it's not a fire started by Alices. It's a normal one. I will burn the academy to the ground if you do not consent to join my organisation.'

Mikan clenched her fists. 'The academy will stop you. You can't burn the place to the ground this easily.'

'Oh yes I can,' said Reo. 'If it's me, yes I can!'

'I'll stop you then,' said Mikan, her hazel eyes flashing.

Reo smirked. 'Even with your Alice, you can't possibly do a thing.'

Mikan was stunned. 'What do you mean?'

'The forest is now fully on fire,' explained Reo. 'FIRE.'

'WHAT!' Mikan glanced around quickly, and realised that flames were licking the trees and grasses even more than they had earlier. 'Oh no!'

'And, it's not a fire caused by Alice. It's a normal fire.'

Mikan was stunned. 'You used a normal fire on purpose!' Mikan was thinking quickly now. She had a Water Alice actually, that's why she'd begged to help Misaki-sensei in the classroom.

Too bad for her, she wasn't supposed to let anyone know about her Stealing (SEC) Alice. But to rid the forest of the fire quickly…

Mikan groaned. She thought of all the times her uncle, the High school principal, Kazu, had warned her to not let anyone know she had her mother's Alice.

'Uncle's gonna kill me,' thought the brunette. She didn't really have a choice though. Some Water Alices were trying to put out the fire, true, but they were on the other side of the forest.

It was impossible for Mikan to find them now.

She decided on something. 'Hey, Reo!'

Reo stared at her. 'What?'

'I tell you what; you want me to join you right?'

'Yeah, so?'

'I'll join you-' Reo's eyes brightened.

'-but on one condition.' Reo rolled his bright eyes. 'What is it?'

'You remove the fire now.'

'Very well.' Reo pulled out a phone from his jeans pocket and called somebody. 'Put the fire out now. Kisaki has agreed to join us.' He shut his phone.

Mikan looked puzzled. 'Hey! I'm not Kisaki! My name is Mikan. MIKAN! Man, not just Natsume forgets my name huh? So you also forget people's names…'

Reo looked like he wanted to laugh. 'Kisaki is your alias while you're with us, Mikan.'

'Oh…'

Around them, there was a sudden mist. Reo's eyebrows rose. 'The fire's out. My team 'borrowed' a fire engine from the local firehouse. The smoke's coming this way. Follow me.'

Reo turned on his heel and walked in a west direction. Mikan groaned and followed him, thinking: What am I gonna do now?

An hour later, the mist cleared and scores of students raced into the forest, searching for any injured or missing people.

Half of them were looking for Mikan. They didn't find her of course. And thanks to the mist rising into the sky about fifty minutes previously, no one noticed a car leaving the forest that disappeared once it reached the main road in the school.

-

-

-

Mikan finished her explanations. Everybody stared at her. 'What?'

'So you went with them. What happened there?' asked Yuka.

'Well. They trained me a bit with my Nullification Alice, but I didn't tell them about my Stealing Alice. I copied people's Alices whenever I could in case. Then one day, I tried to copy Reo's Alice. He found out because I was careless, and beat me with a whip. Then he locked me in a cell. So of course that's how I started trying to escape. I got punished each time I was caught and Reo threatened to do all sorts of things to me. Eventually they kidnapped my grandfather and killed him to stop me escaping. There was a huge fight.'

Everybody gasped.

'I was allowed to bury him in the monastery where I used to live with Ojii-san, then I only managed to escape when the organization sent somebody with the Instant Teleportation Alice to guard me. I tried to copy it but I couldn't so I realized that that Alice must already be in my body. Then I remembered how I got out of Hotaru's blue ball invention and used the Instant Teleportation Alice to escape. They put a Barrier Alice around my cell though even if it fails against my Nullification Alice so I overrode it with Nullification and teleported away.'

'Where did you go next?' asked Hotaru.

'I ended up in some alley. Then I stayed there a few days and I bought some invention of yours from a nearby shop, Hotaru, but the night I was found, it started to rain and I had no protection, so I had to leave the alley. I found a bus stop, and then I collapsed there. Then this woman took me to the hospital, so I was sent here.'

Everybody looked relieved that Mikan's explanation was finally over.

'What do we do now?' asked Yuka. Everybody looked at each other.

'I think I have to find a way to stop this charade,' explained Mikan with a sigh.

'How?' asked Natsume. 'You're still recovering, you know.'

'Well…' Suddenly, something in the room started buzzing very loudly.

Mikan gasped. 'Crap.'

She raced to the box where she kept her stuff in and pulled out the device she'd bought from Hotaru's store.

'It's completely failed,' fretted Mikan. 'What is that?' asked Ruka.

Hotaru smirked. 'Invention No. 12789, the Mini-Handheld-Shrouding-Device. It protects the holder from being tracked by anyone who the holder does not wish to meet. Available for 2500 Rabbits. So, Mikan, you spent all your savings on it?'

Mikan nodded. 'It worked great for awhile, and then it got rusted from the rain.'

Hotaru nodded. 'That's something I'm trying to fix.'

'It means now that the Z organization can track me down.'

Everybody absorbed the implications of this event. 'Oh no.'

Mikan nodded again, grimly. 'We'd better find a way to stop this, before an Alice War begins.'

'Let's get to work then,' commented Natsume, a frown on his face.

-

-

-

Author's Corner: Well, this is chapter 3! Hope it met your expectations, people! Chapter 123 of Gakuen Alice came out in Mangafox! I read it earlier and oh, it was simply amazing! Can't wait for the new arc to begin :)

~Najika-chan