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No one ever thought Koko was the type to wear accessories, until today.
"Dude Koko, have you gone gay?" Kitsu asked, shocked, as he eyed the earrings, necklace and bracelet he wore.
Koko shrugged, his smile unwavering. "It looks cool." He answered simply.
"Looks cool? Damn man, this isn't your style." Mochu butted in, shaking his head.
Sumire, Nono, Anna and Mikan nodded along. Natsume, Ruka and Hotaru sat next to them, not making any comments.
"Hey! Natsume wears earrings." Koko defended, his smile teasing.
"He wears them as alice controllers. Plus, it's not like he has a choice. Are those alice controllers?" Ruka asked, pointing at his accessories.
Koko looked surprised for a second, his smile inched downwards before it returned back to normal.
"It's not like he has a strong alice. Why would he need alice controllers for his mind reading alice?" Nono and Anna asked as they munched a bag of home made cookies.
"True..." Kitsu mumbled.
"Yep." Koko answered, popping the 'p' happily.
"I reckon you're not taking them off anytime soon?" Hotaru asked in her usual cold tone.
Koko nodded cheerfully.
"Well, it's not like he looks bad in them." Mikan chirped, tugging on his bracelet.
It was true, his earrings were similar to Natsume's except it was silver and azure instead of gold and scarlet.
He wore a chain necklace with a beautiful pale blue stone shaped as a triangle as a pendant.
His bracelet was a silver band with the same stone engraved in it. In the sun, the stones seemed to glow.
They matched him well, though no one could really explain why.
"He looks horrible." Sumire snorted, her face twisted in disgust, but everyone knew she felt the same as them.
"Ah~ Permy, you're still so cold." He laughed, but then looked at her with a sad smile for the briefest second. Sumire's strong features wavered with that and she had no choice but to look down at her desk in order to hide it from the others.
Nono, Anna, Hotaru and Mikan gave each other short glances at this. Natsume stayed quiet in the sideline.
"Hey," Koko smiled brightly. "Kitsu, Mochu, Ruka, can you guys go buy some drinks for us?" He took out his bag and fished out his wallet. "The mighty me will pay!"
"Eh?" Kitsu grinned, grabbing his wallet and checking to make sure there was money inside. "That's rare for you."
"I know right." Koko grinned as the trio left, but Ruka wasn't stupid. Neither were the other two. The signaled each other after closing the door, and stayed to listen.
"So?" Sumire asked arrogantly. "What's the plan, Koko?"
"We have a mission tonight." Koko nodded at Natsume who grunted in reply. "Mikan, you'll sneak out with us, and Natsume'll help make a distraction. We'll escape that way."
"We're the best Persona has," Natsume leaned against his desk in a careless way. "We'll have the most detailed explanations and maps of the area. It'll be easy."
"Yep, yep!" Koko nodded furiously like an idiot.
"You sure take it easy." Sumire sighed as she stood up. "Looking as if you're about to have a party."
"This…" Anna and Nono started quietly, "…may be the last time we see each other." Everyone grew silent as the fact hung in the air heavily.
"Well," Koko's eyes were hidden by his bangs; his expression was impossible to read. "This was bound to happen in our lives. I didn't expect it to be like this, of course. But we were bound to go separate ways after graduation anyways. Don't tell me you guys actually believe we'd stay together forever?"
The others looked down, hiding their painful expressions.
"Leaving? Last time we see each other? What exactly is going on?" Ruka asked softly, opening the door, surprising the people inside the classroom.
"Ruka-pyon!" Mikan tried to smile like she always did, forcing herself to sound happy, but it came out more painful than she wanted.
"Tell me!" He demanded harshly, his eyes glowing grey-blue in determination. "What do you mean?"
"They…" Anna clutched her uniform and clenched her teeth. "Tonight, Mikan and Koko will escape from the academy."
"What!?" Kitsu and Mochu jumped out from behind Ruka, eyes wide with disbelief. "Come on, this ain't funny anymore."
"It's true. Sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner." Koko smiled softly.
"'Sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner?'" Mochu repeated. "You weren't planning to tell us from the start! If it wasn't because we stayed to listen, you would have kept it a secret forever!"
"We would have," Kitsu sniffed as tears started forming in the corner of his eyes. "We would have lost our best friend without ever knowing what happened!"
"It's because of Persona, isn't it? You want to escape from that guy?" Ruka clenched his fists. Everyone nodded.
"I…" Ruka ran a hand through his blonde hair. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but we'll help."
"Yeah, you could have just told us." Kitsu and Mochu butted in, glaring at Koko who let out an uncomfortable laugh.
"Thank you." He whispered with the gentlest smile they ever saw him wear.
After classes, the gang met up in Koko's dorm room, quickly explaining everything to them, as well as their plan for the night.
"Tsukaite no Kōri…" Kitsu and Mochu shook their heads with disbelief. "To think that that guy was always so close to us…"
"To think that Koko has another alice!" Ruka cradled his head.
"Such a strong one, at that." The other two agreed with a serious nod.
"Well anyways," Koko waved them off. "We'll be leaving at 11." He glanced at the nonchalant Hotaru.
"You think you can finish off your inventions by then?" He asked her and Hotaru let out a loud scoff.
"There's nothing I can't do." She answered with great confidence. Koko let out a grateful smile.
With that, their conversation ended and they each went to prepare for the big event that night. Nightfall came quickly.
"These are mini cameras and bluetooth earpieces." Hotaru stated as she handed them each two cameras and a bluetooth earpiece. "Put them somewhere where it's easy to see from but won't get destroyed easily."
"Hm…" Mikan said thoughtfully, holding the cameras between her fingers. "I wonder where I should put this…"
"Ah, we should also throw away our school IDs. The school would be able to track us down if we had them." Koko stated, fishing out his wallet with his school ID. Mikan followed his lead.
"We'll be on the watch, just in case Persona or something messes up the plan." Hotaru said as the others gave them a thumbs up.
"It's almost 11." Natsume plucked himself off the wall. "Let's go."
"Ah~ I'm starting to get a little nervous…" Mikan laughed awkwardly.
"It's gonna be ok." Koko gave her a pat on the back. He put on his mission uniform, strapping a gun on his belt and arranging his mask on his face.
"Well, I won't be be able to say this again so…" He let out a bone-chilling laugh. "It's game time."
"Mikan, are you alright?" Nono's voice was heard through the bluetooth earpiece as Mikan lay as still as ever behind a shed. They were at a deserted harbor, and a boat was scheduled to come pick them up in another half hour. She tried to control her breathing.
"I'm fine." She breathed into the mic, careful not to be too loud, or the others would hear her. Peaking out from the corner, she could see the DA team getting ready to start their mission.
"Koko's camera and earpiece are working fine." Hotaru's cold voice spoke. "Mikan's are good, too. Let's hope it stays like that."
"I hope this will work…" Anna whispered and Mikan unconsciously nodded along, though she knew that they couldn't see her nodding.
"12:13." Hotaru announced the time. "The boat will be here in 17 minutes."
"Roger." Koko whispered and Mikan was also able to hear. She sneaked another peak and saw Koko standing outside with his thumbs up. He, being one of the best, was to stay outside the shed and keep watch while Natsume was to lead the team into the shed and learn whatever they could about their surroundings.
Mikan only heard a few snippets of the mission from Koko and Natsume, so she wasn't so sure what they were doing. But she did hear something about clues on this anti-alice organization or whatever.
"I'm super nervous right now." A thin layer of sweat was forming on her forehead.
"You'll be fine." Ruka said over the mic.
"Hopefully." Hotaru added.
"12:19." Hotaru said again. "You need to start going."
"Roger that." Koko and Mikan answered simultaneously. No one was looking; this was the perfect chance.
Nodding at each other, both Koko and Mikan started running to the edge of the harbor, which was a few blocks away. The many sheds made the area seem almost like a maze.
"12:23." Hotaru announced again. The sea was already coming to view.
"Hurry!" Kitsu yelled over the mic, seeing the boat already showing up from the horizon.
"Almost there." Koko called over to Mikan who nodded in acknowledgement, running as fast as she could.
Only a little further…
A ring of blue fire surrounded them, forcing them to stop.
"F-Fire?" Mikan called in surprise, backing up a little as Koko stood in front of her, a fatal attempt to protect her.
"Damn." Hotaru cursed over the mic. "I knew it was going too well."
"Well, well." A cold voice echoed over the crackle of fire, his figure blent in with the dark night. "Look who's trying to escape."
"Persona." Koko greeted with a weak smile, pushing Mikan a little farther back.
"Taking our little kitten away, Tsukaite no Kōri?" He laughed loudly and humorously, finding bone-chilling pleasure in watching their desperate faces. "Well, it's a good thing I still have the Black Cat."
Another figure slowly walked over, his hand engulfed in white, hot flames. His eyes burned a bright crimson under the dancing flames. "I'll enjoy watching you ripping each other apart." Persona disappeared into the darkness, leaving the trio who stood stiffly, analyzing each other.
"Natsume." Mikan breathed. "Why?"
Cliffhanger! Natsume betrayed them O.O Why? What will happen to them? Will they be able to escape? Please stay tuned! Comments, critics, suggestions are, of course, very welcome!
Please R&R!