Author's Note:
I'm so sorry for the late update. I was so busy these last few days and hardly had anytime to get on the computer! But now I finally managed to finish this chapter. Yay! And also, guess what today is…it's November 27th, in other words, Hyuuga Natsume's Birthday! Happy Birthday Natsume-kun! I'm planning on writing a birthday story for Natsume but it's not quite done yet, but when it is please read it. Now, on with the story!

-X-

Chapter Four
-Forgotten Memories-

-X-

'You freak!'

An auburn haired girl hugged her knees tightly as two other kids start to kick and poke her with sticks.

'You're a monster!'

The girl's eyes filled with tears as she heard those words.

What did I do wrong? She thought as the kid's foot came in contact with her fragile body.

-X-

'Mommy?'

'Yes?' an auburn haired woman said smiling and turned to her three year old daughter.

'Why do the other kids in the village call me a monster?' Mikan asked with her head bowed.

The smile from the woman's face slid off and was slowly replaced with a frown.

'Well Mikan, that's because you're different,' she said, refusing to meet her daughter's eyes.

'Oh…'

-X-

Rain pelted down from the sky and onto a lone figure sitting on a swing. Bruises were all over the girl's body and crystal tears were in her olive-brown eyes, making her vision blurry. Sounds of footsteps approaching were heard through the loud rain. Mikan felt the rain stop making contact with her body. She looked up to see a raven haired girl looking down at her with seemingly cold violet coloured eyes.

'Baka,' the raven haired girl said. 'You're going to catch a cold if you stay out here.'

'W-who are you?' the three year old stuttered.

'My name is Imai Hotaru, and from now on I'll be your friend,' the beautiful raven haired girl stated emotionlessly.

Mikan looked up with teary eyes. M-my friend? She thought slightly shocked.

-X-

A four year old auburn haired girl lay under a large tree and looked up at the sky with a grin on her face. Her olive-brown eyes reflected a huge amount of happiness.

'Ne, Hotaru. Don't you think that that cloud over there looks like a kitty?' she asked the raven haired girl lying beside her.

'Really, I think it looks more like someone being stabbed in the stomach,' Hotaru said flatly with boredom in her tone.

Mikan pouted cutely. 'Mou, Hotaru you meanie,' she whined, grabbing the girl into a hug.

Hotaru glared at the auburn haired girl with annoyance now shown in her eyes. 'Let go of me, you baka,' she said.

Mikan ignored her and continued to hug the stoic girl with a smile on her face.

Hotaru sighed while rolling her eyes. 'Well, I guess it can't be helped…' The raven haired girl looked up at the sky and tried to ignore the fact that her best friend is clinging tightly to her.

-X-

'No! I don't want to leave Hotaru!' Mikan shouted at a man with black haired and sapphire coloured eyes. The man nodded at two guards dressed in black and they both grabbed a hold of her small arms. The girl thrashed and struggled to get out of their hands.

'Mikan, please listen to me. This is for the best,' her mother, Yuka stated with slight sadness in her tone. She didn't want to see her daughter suffer like this but it just had to be done.

'Do you mean to say that leaving Hotaru is for the best?!' Mikan shouted at her mother.

'…' Yuka didn't respond.

Mikan felt tears swelling up in her eyes. 'I hate you, mommy! I hate you!' she shouted before she could control herself. The auburn haired girl continued to thrash and thrash not noticing how her mother's eyes lit up with sadness and guilt when she said those words.

'Knock her out,' the black haired man commanded the guards.

'Yes sir.'

Mikan felt herself plunging into the world of darkness from the sudden pain at the back of her neck.

Hotaru… She thought before losing consciousness completely.

-X-

'Let me go!' seven year old Sakura Mikan yelled at the black haired man standing before her with a frown on his face. She struggled against two guards who held her down on the chair.

'Kurai-sama, should we tie her up?' one of the guards asked. Kurai nodded and the guard got out a long piece of rope and strapped her on the chair tightly.

'You may leave,' Kurai told the two guards. They both nodded and left the room.

Mikan watched in horror as the sapphire eyed man walked closer to her with a smirk on his face.

'W-what are you going to do?' she stuttered. Kurai didn't answer; instead he reached his hand out and touched the centre of her forehead with two of his fingers.

'I'm erasing all the memories of your past,' he said. Mikan's eyes widened. If he is going erase her memories then that would mean that she would forget Hotaru as well! No, she won't let that-.

'Ahhhh!'

Her thoughts were cut off short when an electrifying pain zapped through her brain.

H-Hotaru, help me… were her last thoughts before she drifted unconscious.

-X-

Mikan opened her eyes in shock and sat up immediately. She looked around and saw that almost everything was white. She was in a hospital. Mikan let out a sigh and rubbed her forehead.

A dream? She thought and then closed her eyes. No…it seemed more like a memory.

'I see you're awake,' a voice suddenly said, startling her. Mikan turned to her right to see a seventeen year old boy with messy raven hair and sapphire colored eyes. Behind him was a seventeen year old girl with shoulder-length pink hair and a pair of crimson eyes.

They look like Hyuuga's,' Mikan thought, referring to the girl's eyes. The auburn haired girl shook her head at the thought. What am I thinking?

'So anyway,' the girl's voice said, snapping Mikan out of her daze. 'Tsubasa and I were heading to class when we found you collapsed in the hallways. Are you alright?'

Mikan slowly nodded. 'I'm fine. But who are you?' she asked.

The girl smiled. 'Harada Misaki,' she said and then pointed at the boy next to her. 'And this is Andou Tsubasa.'

'Yo,' Tsubasa waved at her.

Mikan nodded again. 'Sakura Mikan,' she introduced herself. Tsubasa's eyes lit up in recognition. Mikan didn't know whether to pretend that she didn't see that or run like the wind. The last thing she need is more fans.

'So you're the girl that everyone was talking about, eh?' Tsubasa said.

'Huh?' Misaki said confused.

Tsubasa narrowed his eyes at her slyly. 'Aw, come on Misaki. I never knew you were this slow,' he teased.

Misaki gave the raven haired boy a death glare and whacked him over the head.

'Ow, what was that for!' Tsubasa glared at his childhood friend.

Mikan sweat dropped at the sight. It seemed as if the two quarrelling teens had forgotten that Mikan was still in the room already. The auburn haired girl made a fake cough to get their attention. It worked seeing as how the two turned their attention back towards Mikan and ceased their arguing.

Tsubasa rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly. 'Sorry about that,' he said.

'…' was Mikan's response.

Tsubasa sweat dropped at the silence.

'Well, we better get going,' Misaki said smiling. 'We'll see you later then.' Just as the pink haired girl was about to drag Tsubasa out of the door a sudden voice stopped them in their tracks.

'Wait…'

The two turned to see Mikan staring at them blankly. Then to their amazement, the auburn haired girl's mouth then twisted up into a beautiful smile.

'Thank you…'

'Y-you're welcome, Mikan-chan,' Misaki said, snapping out of her amazement. At first she had thought that the girl was just an emotionless teenager who couldn't even smile, but it turns out that she was only half correct. It is true that Mikan is emotionless, but she is able to smile sometimes; just really rarely. But when Mikan does smile, it feels as if you've met an angel.

'W-well, we got to go,' Tsubasa stuttered slightly and walked out the door quickly.

'Bye, Mikan-chan,' Misaki said, following her childhood friend out as well.

Mikan's smile faded as soon as the two left the room. She sat up and clutched her head when pain suddenly shot through it. Then she felt the presence of another Alice in the room.

'I know you're there. Come out,' she said calmly but softly at the same time. Sound of hands clapping could be heard then the person stepped out of the shadows and stood in front of Mikan with a smirk on his face.

Mikan's eyes narrowed. 'What are you doing here?'

-X-

Hyuuga Natsume walked through the hallways with his thoughts occupied with a certain auburn-haired girl. He didn't know why, but somehow that girl's aura has attracted him. Natsume knew that there is more to her than what meets the eye and he is determined to find out what it was.

Without knowing it, Natsume let his legs carry him straight towards the hospital. His thoughts were still on Mikan. Never once in his life has he met a girl so cold, so smart, so powerful, so annoying, so…interesting. There's something about this girl that makes her so different to any other girl's that he's ever met in his life. Her attitude towards him was also really different. She never did ogle at him like any other girl would. Although she may have the same cold personality as Natsume, Natsume felt that they were really different in many ways.

'You're getting too soft,' a voice said, stopping Natsume in front of his tracks. Natsume walked towards the source of the voice which was coming from inside one of the hospital rooms. He leaned against the wall and listened closely.

'Don't forget your mission,' said the person again. Judging from the deep tone, Natsume knew that it was a male speaking.

'What are you doing here?' a female's soft voice asked. Natsume's eyes widened slightly, recognizing the voice.

Sakura?! He thought. What is she doing here?

Natsume then heard a chuckle coming from the man. 'You'll find out later,' the man said. 'See you later, Sakura Mikan and don't forget your mission. You wouldn't want Kurai-san to get mad.'

'…'

Natsume then felt the presence of the man disappear into thin air. What was that about? The raven-haired boy wondered. Could it be that Mikan is also given missions by the school just like him? And who the hell is this Kurai guy? He is definitely not one of the staff members at Gakuen Alice. Who was that other guy that was there in the room a while ago? So many question and Natsume wanted to ask them all at once, but he knew that this isn't the right time for that. So he finally came to a conclusion. Mikan must be forced to do the academy's dirty work, just like him.

'Perhaps we're not so different after all,' Natsume muttered, and proceeded to walk off.

Little did he know, Mikan had known that he was there the whole time, listening in on their conversation. She had also heard his last comment.

'Perhaps we're not so different after all.'

What did he mean by that? Mikan wondered as she stared out the window.

-X-

Author's Note:
Yay, I'm finally finished. Twenty more reviews please. No flames! Natsume doesn't need to deal with any flames especially on his birthday! I'll try and get the next chapter up quicker next time, but only if you review. Thanks for reading!

-X-

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Thanks a lot for reviewing!

-X-

-Setsuna