Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice.
Note: Of course, there are no changes in my grammar work. I still suck.
Alone. That is what he is at the moment. He was alone. Lost in a forest. He remembers being in the forest a couple of times already and yet he still didn't know where to go. He started to walk around, in search of a way to get out of the forest. He had been searching for what seemed like hours. He was about to take a seat on a nearby log when he heard something.
"Natsume" a familiar voice whispered. Natsume, hearing the familiar voice, whipped his head around every direction in search of the person who owned the voice.
"I'm sorry" the person continued. Natsume's eyebrows furrowed. He knew the voice too well. He went into a jog and started to search for the owner of the voice.
"Polka!" he called out whilst searching behind trees, in hope that she would be hiding behind one of them. When he heard no reply, Natsume called out again.
"OI, POLKA DOTS, WHERE ARE YOU?" Minutes passes and… still no reply. Natsume was getting frustrated and he had the urge to grab a fistful of his hair and pull on it.
"MIKAN!" he yelled. His voice echoed through the forest. When Natsume didn't receive a reply, he punched a nearby tree. He then rested his forehead on the tree, eyes closed, and focused on his breathing in order to calm down. He was almost done calming down when suddenly heard someone whisper his name from behind him. Whipping body around to face the person, his eyes widened upon the sight on the person in front of him.
"Natsume…" whispered Mikan. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you anything…" she apologised. Though Natsume wasn't paying too much attention to was she was saying at the moment. He was still in shock by how beautiful she was. Mikan was wearing a satin gown with beaded high neck and open back with white leather J. Renee Women's Spruce shoes. [Dress: http:/www(dot)simplydresses(dot)com/popups/biggerimage(dot)cfm?cataId=PD&productid=641189&imgindex=2] [Shoes: Google up- White leather J. Renee Women's Spruce].
"Polka dots…" he murmured in a voice loud enough for her to hear. Mikan let out a sad smile and turned away from him and started to walk away. Natsume frowned. "Oi, where are you going, Polka?" he asked her, taking a step forward. Mikan made no reply and continued to make her way around the forest whilst holding up her dress so the end of the dress wouldn't touch the ground.
Natsume followed Mikan to wherever she was taking him. It was only now that he started to note the things- other than trees- around him. The forest looked as if it had rained not too long ago, and the sun was bright. And with Mikan somewhat close to him, all seemed perfect. After a few minutes of following Mikan around the forest silently, Natsume stopped in his tracks and spoke.
"Oi, Polka Dots, where the heck are you going?" he asked her. Mikan stopped dancing her way through the trees and jumping around and turned around to face Natsume with a small smile. They stayed still, looking at each other. Moments later, Natsume carefully took a step forward, as if Mikan would hurry and run away from him as if he was going to hunt her down and kill her. It looked that way from his point of view. Mikan looked so pure and innocent at the moment in all white under the bright sun.
"Natsume" she spoke once Natsume had taken about five steps towards her. Natsume stopped in his tracks and frowned. Why did she tell him to stop? The distance between them was killing him.
"What is it?" he asked her whilst looking up at her. Mikan was currently on a huge rock and swaying her dress from left to right.
"I..." she started off, looking away to avoid his eyes. "I'm sorry" she said. Natsume starred at her in confusion.
"What?" he asked her. Mikan closed her eyes and inhales deeply before opening her eyes again and looked into Natsume's eyes.
"Honestly, Polka Dots.. Why did you do it? Why did you have to teleport me away?" he questioned her. Mikan looked away from Natsume.
"Natsume, I'm a selfish person-"
"The hell you are. You keep on thinking about everyone BUT yourself. You put yourself in danger and had the three other people in the team escape. You call that selfish?" Mikan looked back at Natsume, her eyes now hard.
"I'm a selfish person, Natsume. Stop saying otherwise. Because everything I do is for my own benefit. I had you, Hana and Daichi escape for my own benefit. Because I wanted you to, alright?" she told him. Natsume scoffed. 'She called Nishimura by his actual name- Daichi. She didn't call him Ken. Something's wrong with her' thought Natsume.
"Regardless, you're still thinking of others" he told her. Mikan turned her body away and stared ahead. Natsume continued talking.
"What's going on, Polka?" he asked her. Taking a cautious step forward.
Suddenly, the background started to change from the forest to a place he knew too well. A place he hated. The AAO prison cell. Though he paid no more attention to the background scene and focused on Mikan. Carefully, he took a step forward, only for Mikan to take a step back. Mikan was still holding onto the ends of her dress, making sure the ends of the dress were not to be ruined, though Natsume had a feeling that wasn't the only reason why she was having such a grip on her dress.
"Let go of the dress, Polka. You're going to rip it apart" he told her. Mikan slowly let go of her grip on the dress. When she finally let go of the dress, she clenched her fists. Heaving a deep sigh, Natsume took three big steps towards Mikan. And again, Mikan took the same amount of steps backwards.
"Stop" she told him. "Don't come closer. I'm sorry" she said. Natsume frowned.
"No, not again" he said, taking a step forward. Mikan took a step back.
"STOP!" she cried. Natsume instantly stopped in his tracks. "I'm sorry, Natsume. You should wake up now" she told him.
"No. What are you talking about?" he asked her. Mikan let a small, sad smile appear on her face.
"I'm sorry. It's for the best" she told him.
'No...no, no, no... not this again. That's exactly what she said before she teleported me away last time. Not again' thought Natsume.
"NO!" shouted Natsume. The background started to dim.
"I love you... Natsume"
"NO!"
Natsume's eyes snapped open as he shot up from his bed, panting. It was just a dream, well, a nightmare, in his case. Natsume took a deep breath slowly lay back down on the bed. He concentrated on his breathing until he calmed down.
"Damn it, I'm never going to get a rest, am I" Natsume mumbled. His eyes snapped open when he thought he felt Mikan's presence in the room. Natsume turned his head to the space next to him to see Mikan lying on his bed, her head rested on the pillow, smiling at him. Natsume's eyes widened.
'What…?' he thought. Natsume slowly sat up and reached his hand towards Mikan's laying figure on his bed. Before he could touch her, he blinked and she was gone. Rubbing his eyes, he realised it was just him. Mikan would definitely not be in his room.
"Damn… it's been three damn days since that damn mission, and every time I wake up from sleep, I think she's here…next to me…" Natsume muttered.
"I swear I'm going crazy" said Natsume as he got out of bed and went to get ready for the day. Not that he was to look forward to anything today.
"Just do it" Hotaru ordered. Anna sulked upon Hotaru's orders. But she would rather do what Hotaru ordered then be blasted in the head by Hotaru's Baka gun. Hotaru turned away and headed to class. She then stopped mid-pace and looked over her shoulder.
"Meet in the studio at noon. Don't be late, or else" said Hotaru before continuing to proceed to class. Anna sweat dropped. What did she do to deserve this? Sure, she might have baked a few bad cakes here and there, but why this of all things?
Anna heaved a sigh and quickly made her way to class as she remembered the conversation she just had with Hotaru a moment ago.
-Flashback-
Anna was making her way to class with Nonoko when she saw Hotaru advancing towards them.
"Ah, hello, Hotaru" Nonoko greeted her.
"Good morning, Hotaru" said Anna. Hotaru responded to them with a quick nod before turning to Anna.
"I need to speak to you" she told Anna. She then turned her head towards Nonoko and added, "Alone." Nonoko smiled and nodded and quickly bid them goodbye.
Anna and Hotaru watched Nonoko's retreating figure until it disappeared around the corner before starting their conversation. Anna turned to face Hotaru, who remained in the same position she was in whilst watching Nonoko's retreating figure. Hotaru stared blankly ahead for a moment before speaking.
"I'm going to need you to fill in a few spots for tomorrow evening for the Ball, since the person that was doing the job won't be able to make it, or at least, the person has a few things to handle and can't do it" said Hotaru. Anna looked at the back of Hotaru's head blankly.
"What?" she asked dumbfounded. Hotaru turned around and threw a folder at Anna, who caught it with both of her hands.
"I'm not going to repeat myself. Just read through that folder. It has all the roles you're going to do tomorrow evening" Hotaru told her. She then turned away and started to head to class. She then stopped walking and looked over her shoulder and added, "Oh, and don't tell anyone, or else I'll shoot you with my Baka gun. I'm aware that you know I will"
"WAIT, what about class?" asked Anna.
"I have already consulted our teachers. They already know" Hotaru replied. Anna nodded to herself before heaving a sigh. She then faced Hotaru after walking in circles for a couple of minutes.
"But… WHHYYY? Why me?" whined Anna whilst waving her arms about.
"Just do it" ordered Hotaru. Anna sulked upon Hotaru's orders. But she would rather do what Hotaru ordered then be blasted in the head by Hotaru's Baka gun. Hotaru turned away and headed to class. She then stopped mid-pace and looked over her shoulder.
"Meet in the studio at noon, studio 8. Won't be hard to find. It'll be the door right in front of you went you walk in. Don't be late, or else" said Hotaru before continuing to proceed to class.
-End of flashback-
Anna shook her head and laughed. Hotaru will always be Hotaru. Anna looked at the clock nearby and her eyes widened.
"AH! I'LL BE LATE FOR CLASS IF I DON'T HURRY!" she yelled. And with that, she ran as fast as she could to class.
"Honestly, what did I do to deserve this?" she muttered to herself as she slammed the classroom door open and greeted her friends, not forgetting to put the folder safely away for later.
"Is that all you've got?" a voice uttered in a dim lighted room. From across the room, a red haired man grunted.
"Shut up. I'll show you!" he shouted before charging towards the person who mocked him a moment ago. Mikan smirked and leaped out of the way.
"Come at me, Bro" she told him in a calm, arrogant voice with a smirk.
"You asked for it" the man muttered. And with that, he charged to Mikan and threw a few punches at her. Mikan dodged them with ease, and then leaned back and kicked the man in the abdomen, causing him to fly back and hit the wall.
The man grunted in pain as he slid down the wall to sit down on the ground. Mikan slowly approached the man with caution.
"You okay?" she asked him. The man stared at Mikan with his eyebrow raised.
"You seriously asking me that?" he asked her whilst pushing himself off the ground. Mikan grinned.
"Ah, cheer up, Kaito" she told him. She then smiled at him. She watched Kaito struggle to stand up for a few minutes before rolling her eyes and decided to help the poor guy up.
"Thanks" muttered Kaito. Mikan smiled.
"You know," she started off, "I always wonder why you work here. You're too nice" she told him. Kaito flashed a small smile at Mikan before slowly taking a seat on the bench Mikan lead him over to.
He remembered when he first saw Mikan walking down the hallway with two guards in front of her, a guard both sides of her, followed by Reo, who had a guard next to him. He remembered having to stare at the girl surrounded by large guys and thinking, 'who on earth is this girl? Why is she surrounded by five bulky guards and followed by Reo?'
Now, looking back at what he thought, he could only chuckle and shake his head. The girl next to him at the moment was scarily powerful. Much more powerful than what she takes credit for. Problem is, she doesn't know it herself. Mikan knows that she is powerful. She just doesn't know she's powerful enough to get rid of AAO... alone.
Mikan stared at Kaito's blank face as he continued to day dream. A few minutes later, Kaito snapped out of it and turned to Mikan, who was grinning at him.
"Welcome back, Kaito" she greeted him. Kaito rolled his eyes and stood up. He then turned around and ruffled Mikan's brunette hair. Mikan glared at Kaito.
"KAITO!" she shouted. Kaito put his hands in the air and took a step back.
"Alright, alright, no touching the hair. I understand" he told her. Mikan continued to glare at him for a moment before finally looking away and let out a small smile. Mikan then looked back at Kaito with a serious expression.
"Ne, Kaito... why did you join the AAO? I know something must have happened. It's clear that you don't like what these people are doing here" said Mikan. Kaito heaved a sigh. Mikan continued to stare at Kaito. She had stayed at the AAO for about three days. On Monday, she was alone, locked up in a room. Her room in the AAO. On Tuesday, they told her someone was going to train her and be her tutor. Mikan almost burst out laughing when they told her she was going to have a private tutor. It was hard to believe. On Wednesday, Mikan realised her tutor wasn't so bad. Yes, her tutor was Kaito. They then trained at noon. Today- Thursday- they had started training early in the morning and Mikan was determined why a guy like Kaito was in the AAO.
"Well?" she asked him. "I'm sorry to be such a pain in the ass, but it keeps bothering me" she told him. Mikan then stood up and stood in front of him. "Were you forced to join?" she asked him. Mikan's face darkened at the thought. She was relieved when Kaito shook his head.
"Then...why?" Mikan asked him. Kaito let out another sigh.
"It's all difficult. But... you do what you've got to do in order to survive. I wasn't able to get a job. There was always people better at the job than me so...yeah. This was the only place I could go to" Kaito told her. Mikan stayed silent, waiting for Kaito to continue, which he did.
"I was homeless, no job, by all means: no money, no food. So, I turned to the only option. I've been here for a couple of years. Five years, actually, and they've treated me good. They gave me a place to stay, gave me a job. Paid me. As we as hire a tutor for me- like what they've done for you and-" Kaito stopped and glanced at Mikan and added "as hard as it is to believe, it's true. The only harshest times in the AAO were during training for the first few years. Each person is different for each year. I was in training for about... two and a half years? Yeah. Two and a half. I was a quick learner" he told her. Mikan rolled her eyes and quietly, under her breath, muttered, "Show off." Kaito rolled his eyes.
"So... exactly, how old were you when you joined the AAO?" Mikan asked him.
"In my teens... hm, probably about fifteen, I guess?" he answered her. Kaito quickly glanced at Mikan, wanting to see her reaction, only to see no reaction from her. Only a simple, "Wow, so you're, what, 20 years old?" Kaito almost laughed. Mikan then continued to speak.
"Hm, not surprising, though. Anyway... so, it was because you needed money...you needed a job... you needed... a life, basically. As well as an education" Mikan stated. "I don't get it. I'm sure you would have heard of Gakuen Alice. Why didn't you try out there instead?" Mikan asked him.
"Yes, I had of Gakuen Alice. But I heard it was a school full of gifted kids. And I knew I wasn't one of them"
"But...you have an Alice..." Mikan pointed out.
"Ah, yes... my Water Alice..." murmured Kaito. "Well, I didn't know about my Alice then. And I heard that Gakuen Alice only accept people with an Alice or...in your case, Alices. The AAO gather up anyone. People with Alices and people without. Of course, once they found out about my Alice, I was sent to extra training to train how to use my Alice" he told her. Mikan nodded thoughtfully.
"I guess so..." muttered Mikan. Kaito stared at her, as if trying to read her mind. After minutes of silence, Kaito spoke.
"What are you planning, Mikan?" Mikan looked into Kaito's bright, sliver eyes, noting that they had a slight tint of blue in them.
"You know that I can't stay here long, Kaito. I need to escape from here. Problem is: now I want to take you with me" Mikan told him.
"You trust me too much for your own good" Kaito told her. Mikan simply grinned.
"Yes, I know" she admitted. "But still, I'm going to escape tomorrow. I need to be back at the academy by noon" she told him. Kaito nodded.
"Let's see what we can do. Wash yourself up, refresh, whatever it is you're going to do and come to my room when you're done. After tutor we'll discuss about your plans for tomorrow" said Kaito. Mikan smiled and nodded before taking off to her room. Kaito stayed behind and watched her retreating figure. When she disappeared around the corner, he ran his fingers through his hair and made his way to his own room.
"What?" asked Natsume. Hotaru had approached his table as soon as the teacher left the classroom and told him to go to studio 8 at noon.
"You heard me" said Hotaru. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her.
"Why am I to do so?" he questioned her.
"It's for tomorrow. The Ball. Since... she can't be there... And I am aware that there were performances, and you were her partner for those, you are in need of practice with the person that will take place for tomorrow. Anna will replace Mikan's place tomorrow. That is all. Make sure you come on time. Or you'll regret it. I'm sure of it. Make her happy, Hyuuga. Do it for her" said Hotaru before heading back to her own seat as their teacher made his way into the classroom.
Natsume heaved a sigh. "What the hell..." he muttered when he buried his head into his hands. The next thing he knew, he had stood up and was heading out of the classroom to go to the Sakura tree, not caring that the teacher was in the middle of saying something.
"No one will replace Mikan" muttered Natsume. "No one can replace Mikan. Mikan Sakura"
A/N: So, here I am... After about... a month... I'M SORRY DD:
Like I said, I was probably going to be lazy during the term holidays, and most likely after them, too. Also, I've got tests and stuff. Though, they never really affected my computer time... It's actually because I'm turning into a bookworm again. I used to be like...full on. You would be surprised by the amount of books I would buy or borrow from the library. The thing about me is that I have, like, levels and there's some sort of switch for each personality...somehow. In this case, my bookworm-ness switch. I turned it down from 9.5/10 to 2/10. Now, it's probably 8/10 :P
OH! BTW, I have a poll, on my profile, on which story you might prefer to be written/typed first (I'm going to be doing both of them but I don't know which story first). I'll probably give a better summary after I finish this story. But for now...check it out(:
Anyway, leave a review(: