Hi there! I am back with the new chapter. This is coming to an end. Thank you minna for staying with me all this time. Domo... ^^
DISCLAIMER: The Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi-sensei and Gakuen Alice belongs to Higuchi Tachibana-san. All rights reserved to the both of them.
Chapter 33: Her Alice
Chapter Summary: Everything was coming to an end. The healing alice was the only one missing. How was she going to solve it? Find that out.
She could feel Ryoma's arms tightened around hers. She glanced at him only to see him gritting his teeth as he looked ahead of them. If they weren't in a tight situation, she would have blushed really hard at that very moment.
But the situation was different.
In front of them, Yuka was looking at her while holding the 'hope' in her hand. The hope was shining brightly and the glowing intensity of it wasn't showing any sign of decreasing.
The others were speechless as well. They all heard it. They knew that it had to happen. All Seigaku members would forget everyone in the Alice Academy.
She would forget the very first person she met. Remembering that, she looked at him.
Natsume.
The fire alice user was tempting to use his own alice as he glared at Yuka but he was holding himself back for a reason... and she knew why.
She was Mikan's mother and he couldn't harm her. He didn't want the pigtailed girl to worry about the people that were involved around her.
To everyone's surprise, Yuka took a step forward offering her other hand to her, "Come here, Sakuno-san."
Her eyes widened as she stared at Mikan's mother. Her heart skipped a beat as she looked at her offered hand. She took a step back when Ryoma pulled her into one and answered for her;
"You can't."
"You cannot decide for her," Yuka said looking at Ryoma this time, "Let her decide for herself."
Before Ryoma could reply, Shiki raised his hand to the group. In an instant, the people who were covering her were enigmatically been thrown away by some force. Sakuno was shocked when she witnessed that.
Shiki was using his alice at that moment to her friends.
"S-stop it…" Sakuno said as she gripped Ryoma's arm. She could see Fuji, Tsubasa and Natsume being pulled back to the corner of the cave while Ruka, Hotaru and Eiji were being thrown away from their original position.
Momo and Nobara stayed still, the same with Natsume and Mikan. Shiki leveled his hand to Ryoma. The youngest tennis regular member glared at him. He took a step forward covering her completely with his body. She could see his locks move from the air the place was creating. Then she felt a force coming towards them, in front of him. She only jerked down when Ryoma blocked it with his telekinesis.
"R-Ryoma-kun…" She whispered as she peeked an eye on him.
Ryoma on the other hand, concentrated on his alice. He glared at the alice user in front of him blocking his alice in the process. What he was not prepared about was Shiki smirked and put more effort to strengthen the force causing him to be thrown to the side, and crashing to a wall hard.
"Ryoma-kun!" She called out to him and was about to go there but Shiki was fast enough to use his alice to push her away from him, "AH!"
"Ryuzaki!" Ryoma saw that and tried to stand up.
Sakuno landed on the ground. As she looked up, she saw Shiki walking closer to her. Her eyes widened when he raised his hand to her.
"Give me your healing alice," He said as he continued walking closer to her, "If you don't want me to force it out on you."
"N-no…" She said as she dashed backward brushing her feet on the ground. Then she remembered her own alice, She used barrier to prolong his approach but it didn't last long as Shiki broke her barrier into pieces.
"Give it up," He said as he bent down and was about to grab her. Something stopped him from doing so. A sudden will-o-the-wisp surrounded him and started to bug him, "What the—"
Sakuno looked up when she noticed a shadow in front of her. Eiji and Youichi were flying above them. The boy was pointing his finger towards Shiki. The elemental spirit was created by Youichi. Sakuno also noticed some vine touching her foot; she blinked at it and looked ahead.
It was Fuji, genuflecting on the ground. His cerulean eyes were opened and gestured her to keep quiet. He placed his index finger to his lips as his other hand moved to control the vine. From where Sakuno was sitting, a stock of vine quietly lifted her up and carried her to the genius' side.
Alas, not a minute passed when some ice crystals attacked Fuji causing his hand to drop down, making Sakuno stumble from the vines, "F-Fuji-senpai!"
"Nobasa-san, what are you doing?" Momo said as he looked at the ice princess. He was surprised when Nobara was five meters away from him and was actually activating her alice, but there was something odd to the girl. She was not looking at him at all. The ice princess was gritting her teeth and he finally noticed why.
Behind her was Reo, whispering something to her ear.
"You bastard!"
"Don't!" Nobara aimed her hand to him when he was about to use his own alice, "I… I can't."
"Nobara-san…" Momo stared miraculously at her and then he shifted his eyes to Reo, "Stop manipulating her!"
"Why not?" Reo said smirking at him, "This is my alice. Too bad it can only work on her now."
"You…"
Sakuno looked at everyone. They were all crouching around her… even Ryoma who was staring at her. She couldn't believe it. Everything was happening right now. Yuka, Mikan's mother, wanted to have the healing alice from her. She would use it against the school and all they needed was the back up for the cure and that was why they needed the healing alice.
She completely understood why they didn't take her as a vessel, as a comrade, as a user of the alice. She was not an original user causing her own life to diminish everytime she would use it. They needed a stronger vessel who could hold on to the power of the alice, who could use the power without using her own life force… unlike her.
She was in the middle of her reverie when a hand grabbed her wrist causing her to shriek. She looked up only to see Shiki staring at her. The spirit was gone and she didn't know what happened to it.
"No more games," He seriously said as he pulled her wrist closer to him, "It's about time you give the alice to us."
Sakuno remained speechless but she was scared. She tried pulling her wrist away from him but he only gripped it hard.
The rest remained immobile and helplessly staring at her. Ryoma's eyes widened as he witnessed Yuka walk towards Sakuno and Shiki. He tried to use his own alice but something blocked him.
…A barrier.
He looked around as he noticed Shiki's hand was pointing at him. He casted a barrier alice on him despite the fact that he was holding the braided-pigtailed girl.
Yuka on the other hand finally stood in front of her. She stared at her for a while before she reached her hand to touch her.
"Kaa-san," Mikan called her attention, "Don't do it, please!"
"I am not," Yuka looked at her daughter, "I am inviting her."
"You cannot just take the alice from her," Mikan continued walking a bit further to her mother, "please stop!"
Yuka stared at her daughter as if trying to examine her, "Why do you protect her so much? Why do you care a lot?"
"Because she's my friend," Mikan said almost closed to tears once again, "And you are trying to ruin the school I started to love!"
The AAO members flinched at the same time. Nobara stared at Mikan who started to cry tears in front of them. The nullifying alice user wiped her tears with her bare arm. Everyone just stared looking at her and not even trying to do anything at all.
"You said that it was for my sake that you want to bring the school down," She said still not looking at her mother, "You wanted me to be happy? Then… why am I crying now?"
"Sakura…" Ruka whispered enough for Hotaru and Youichi to hear. The others felt the same too, even the Seigaku members.
"You are taking away my happiness, mom," She said as she looked down, giving up wiping her tears and let them fall down, "I don't like what was happening right now."
No one talked after that. Mikan's sobs were the only ones which could be heard inside the cave. Natsume grabbed the girl's shoulder hard as he looked ahead of them. Yuka was still staring in front of the braided-pigtailed girl.
Shiki on the other hand was just looking at the small scene in front of him.
"Kaa-san, please," Mikan slowly walked in front of them, "…please no more."
"Don't…"
The nullifying alice user suddenly stopped from walking towards them.
"I can't. It's the best for you." With that, she faced Sakuno and quickly used her own alice to steal the healing alice inside her.
Natsume didn't waste time and charged forward leaving Mikan to Ruka. He created fire balls to his hands and threw it towards the AAO member but before it reached her, some ice crystals blocked them. The fire alice user looked at Nobara and glared at her;
"Stay out of this!"
"You stay out of this!" Nobara countered.
Ryoma pounced on the barrier that he was covered in. He gripped his hands hard. He didn't like what he was seeing in front of him. Sakuno was in danger. He gritted his teeth to bleed. There was no way that he would just stare and do nothing while she was facing difficulties at that moment.
No way.
He closed his eyes and used his own alice to break the barrier. Fuji and Eiji were walking towards him. They hadn't reached him closer when he finally broke it and dashed towards the girl. He immediately pushed the girl away from Yuka making them stumble and kneel on the ground.
"Ryuzaki!"
Sakuno coughed like she was just saved from being drowned. Her eyes were closed but the grip from his sleeves was tight. He felt relieved when he found out that she was okay.
"Give her back."
He looked at Yuka and glared at her, "She's never yours to begin with." He blinked when a hand touched his arm.
"R-Ryoma-kun," Sakuno whispered to him, "Let me talk to her."
"No." He abruptly replied to her.
"But—"
"I know what you are going to say," He said facing her completely, "I won't let you."
Sakuno just looked at him. She was about to reply to him but Ryoma beat her to it once again.
"I won't let you do reckless things ever again."
Ruka who was suddenly beside them, touched her shoulder, "Trust him, Ryuzaki. He knows what to do."
"Last chance," Yuka said walking closer to them, reaching her hand to them, "Give her to me."
Ryoma looked at her stoically this time, "Kotowaru."
"You leave me no choice." She said as she raised the 'Hope' to her hand, "This will return to her without me forcing it on her. Then, I'll get the alice after that."
He gritted his teeth as he pushed Sakuno further to his back. Ruka just stared at Mikan's mother. Mikan walked closer to stop her but before she could do that, someone did it for her.
Tiny hands were pointing at Yuka. Mikan's mother's eyes blinked twice as she looked at the hands of the small boy who was blocking her way towards them.
"Stop right there."
"Yo-chan…" Mikan whispered the boy's name.
"Are you going to stop me, little boy?" Yuka said without any hint of emotion.
"I am," He said monotonously, "And I can stop you from giving 'Hope' to her."
Everyone looked at the young boy when he said that.
"How can you do that?" Yuka asked the boy.
"Try me." Youichi smirked as he created ghosts around him. Sakuno was a bit terrified when she saw the ghosts around her but she didn't let her fear overcome her. The boy was trying to help her.
Yuka stared at the ghosts the boy created and then to the girl behind the little boy.
"So this is the 'Hope?'"
Mikan's mother blinked as she looked at her hand. Her eyes widened when she noticed the 'hope' was not resting there anymore. She looked at the last person who talked about the final sin.
"Way to go, Eiji-senpai!" Momo punched in the air as he spotted his acrobatic player and senpai. Eiji was holding the sin with two hands like he was holding a fragile glass. The acrobatic player took it swiftly from Yuka's hand without her noticing him. Eiji looked at them, especially to the little boy and grinned. It seemed that these two made some incredible plan.
"Give it back." Yuka said walking closer to him.
Eiji flew back away from her. He flew near Fuji and Tsubasa.
"Kaa-san, please…" Mikan said walking in front of them, "I will give the healing alice to Subaru-senpai. No one can have it."
Shiki and Reo looked at them as well. Nobara who stopped attacking the others, walked closer to Momo. She held the dunk smasher's callous hand making him flinch a little.
"Whatever happens, stop me."
"What?"
Nobara gripped his hand tighter. Her hand was cold as Momo noticed it but he didn't let go. Somehow, he knew what she was talking about. There was no way he would let go the ice princess' hand.
Nobara walked ahead pulling Momo with her. She walked beside Mikan and stared at them.
"I won't let you touch Sakuno-san," Nobara said making everyone shock at her action and words, "This has to stop."
"Are you betraying the organization now?" Reo said glaring at the Ice princess. He was about to use his alice when he noticed Mikan holding the Ice Princess to her other hand.
"I agree with her," Ruka said walking in front as well, "You don't stand a chance against us."
Yuka and the others looked at them. What surprised them even more was the others stood in front against them. They remained speechless as no one dared to speak.
Sakuno on the other hand couldn't believe what was happening. She could see the back of everyone in front of her. They were there to protect her… the last thing that she never wanted them to do. She almost flinched when someone grabbed her hand and squeezed it tight. She looked to her side only to see amber eyes looking straight at her.
"Ryoma-kun…"
Ryoma gripped her hand tighter. He did not say anything but she understood him. Somehow, she did. Despite the contact, she blushed as she nodded. She raised her other hand and created a barrier around them.
"Please, no more…" Sakuno said eyeing Mikan's mother, "Yuka-san, Mikan-chan is so lucky to have you."
Yuka looked at her despite that they were inside the barrier that she created. Sakuno knew that she could dispel her barrier but Yuka didn't do it. Shiki also did the same. Reo couldn't do anything that time.
"You are not with her but she always thinks of you," She said as she placed her hand to her chest near to her heart, "No matter what happens, whatever you do, you are always be her mother."
Ryoma who was just beside her saw her genuine expression. Somehow, he knew what she was feeling at that moment. As he looked around him, he saw his senpai's expression. They too knew what Sakuno was trying to imply to the mother.
Yuka took seconds as she stared at Sakuno before she looked at her own daughter's eyes. They made eye contact for a couple of seconds before she sighed, closing her eyes in the process.
"I really hated that school," She said not opening her eyes. She knew that they were shocked at her words even without looking at them, "But…" She said as she looked at Mikan and at the same time touching the barrier with her palm causing it to brake. Mikan focused her attention to her mother. The others did the same as well.
"You have good friends."
Mikan's eyes widened as well as the others. For the first time, they saw Yuka gave Mikan a tiny smile. She looked at Sakuno for a few seconds once again before she looked at each of them. She stopped looking at Mikan before she closed her eyes and turned around;
"You have 'hope' in your hands and I lost interest of taking it again," Yuka said not looking at them, "You can have it and the alice if you like."
Sakuno felt enlightened when she heard that. Ryoma gripped her hand to call her attention. She looked at him blushing in the process. She gave the tennis prodigy a nod as Mikan looked at her and gave her a grinning smile.
The others rejoiced in the lead of Eiji as usual. Sakuno pulled her hand away from Ryoma and called Mikan's mother;
"A-arigatou, Yuka-san…" She said making Yuka stop from walking away, "I know that you are such a kind person."
"Do not judge me like that," Yuka said still not looking at her, "That doesn't change the fact that I'll give up with my initial plan. I'll do anything to bring that school down… and take Mikan away from that manipulating school."
"Kaa-san…" Mikan called out to her.
"Mikan," Yuka said looking at her sideways, "You'll understand why I am doing this. Find the secret of the school. Find out what the elementary division principal's secret."
"W-what do you mean?" Mikan said trying to understand what her mother was talking about but Yuka only shook her head.
"One day, I know that you'll end up teaming with me," Yuka said turning around and continued walking away, "For the meantime, have the consequences of giving 'hope' back to Ryuzaki-san. The fate will not change for her and her friends."
Shiki followed Yuka without saying another word. Reo, however, glared at Nobara not missing to tell her his message;
"You are ban to the organization. Once you appear in front of us, consider yourself as a traitor." Was all he said before he turned around and followed the two.
Nobara just looked at them without saying a word. She knew what she did the moment she turned her back against the organization but she did not regret it. She looked at Momo who was still gripping her hand and then to the two girls who were somehow, she made friends with.
Mikan was smiling at her and so as Sakuno. Natsume didn't look at her but she knew that he was not admitting it. He could find it in his heart that she could accept her, not as a friend but as an acquaintance.
That was enough for her.
Shiki created a portal in front of them. Yuka went in first not until she looked at them for the last time before she entered it. Reo came after before he himself went in as well. He kept his stoic expression until he entered to the portal and closed it behind him, thus, leaving the area quiet and dull.
Like there was no any person that had been there before.
The place was silent for a few seconds before Eiji broke it.
"What are we going to do now?" Eiji asked as he looked at the sin that he was holding.
"We have to do it," Tsubasa said looking at Eiji and then to Sakuno, "We needed to return everything back to normal," He looked around him afterwards, "…between two worlds."
"Doing that will…" Ruka started but he couldn't continue his words. He silently looked at Sakuno and he was being followed by the others.
Sakuno flinched when all eyes were on her. She looked down and thought for a few seconds before she looked up once again;
"Heki da yo," She started closing her eyes in the process, "I have longed accepted the fact it would be like that. Ryoma-kun made me realize it."
"Sakuno," Mikan said grabbing her hands in the process, "Are you sure about this?"
Sakuno nodded as she smiled at her, "Everything that happened here was really coincidental as your mom said but I never regretted it. I was able to have a wonderful dream of meeting you and everyone in the alice academy."
Mikan hugged her tight trying to hold her tears, "We should have talked for a while longer. There are lots of things I need to tell you about the school and my friends."
"That's okay," She said tapping her back in the process, "You can tell me that when we meet again." Closing her eyes, she didn't really know when or there would be a chance that they would meet again. Deep in her heart, she knew someday that they would. She broke the hug and looked at Natsume.
Natsume, on the other hand, was just standing near them but he was not saying anything. Sakuno walked closer to him and initiated a conversation.
"H-Hyuuga-kun, ano ne… arigatou for everything." She said fidgeting in the process.
Natsume remained quiet but he looked at her and nodded. With that gesture, she smiled and felt satisfied about it. She looked at Ruka and thanked him afterwards.
"I'll definitely see you again," He said looking at Ryoma this time, "With Karupin in your hands."
Sakuno was rather surprised at his words but she smiled afterwards, "Hai, we will."
She bid goodbye to the other as well. They decided to do it there for it would be hard to say goodbye to the rest who was left behind in the school. It would be harder for Sakuno to see them despite the limited days of her stay inside the academy.
Nobara looked at Sakuno and Ryoma as they were busy saying goodbye to themselves. She raised an eyebrow when the tennis boy and the fire alice user had some sort of staring contest but they never said anything. Deep inside, she knew what they were 'talking' about.
"If it's possible I really want you to come with us."
She looked to her side only to see the dunk smasher standing near her, looking at the two just like her. She sighed as she closed her eyes, "You know that it is impossible."
"I still want to," Momo said looking down, "I can't be a guy who is not true to his words."
She stared at him sideways. Momo's expression was unreadable but she could sense that he was upset. His hands were gripping to his side… really hard.
He really wanted her to come and visit their own world. Just to see him play? That wondered her, what was it like to see him play on the court? It made her think actually. Smiling to the thought, she leaned in and gave him a kiss on the cheek causing the dunk smasher to stun. She kissed him quick that she was a few meters away from him afterwards.
"Arigatou," She said smiling a little, "Momoshiro-san." She walked towards the two who was still in the middle of saying their farewell.
Momo, on the other hand, was obviously stunned. He involuntarily touched his cheek that Nobara kissed as he watched her walk away to his kouhais. After a few seconds of being speechless, a smile was brought to his own lips.
"Ah, so young, so young."
Momo suddenly looked to his side, shock to hear his own catchphrase, only to see Eiji and Fuji grinning at him, "What—"
"That was a great memory to keep," Fuji said smiling in the process, "for her."
"S-senpai!" Momo blushed when they started teasing him. He even blushed more when Fuji mentioned Ann along the tease. They continued being like that until Mikan caught their attention.
"It's better if we do this now." Mikan said walking over to Eiji getting the 'hope' from him.
She looked at Ryoma who nodded before she looked back at her, "Please say thanks to Narumi-sensei and everyone in the school."
"I will," Mikan said walking closer to her, "Just accept this with all your heart and you will never feel like your life's pulling out from you," She looked at the 'hope' to her hand as she continued speaking, "When I insert this inside you, all seven sins will emerge here and will form into one. And at the same time, I'll grab the healing and barrier alice from you."
"Un." She said as she closed her eyes.
Mikan nodded and looked at everyone. "Once this is all over, all of your alices will be taken away so please brace yourselves."
Seigaku members nodded at her. Then Momo suddenly remembered something and voiced it out;
"I almost forgot but what was the first sin that we got at the lake kilma?
Fuji answered him instead of Mikan, "It was 'Pride'. Mikan was saved by that sin all through the course of our journey."
They seemed to understand what the tensai said to them. It was true anyway. 'Pride' did save her especially when she was down. It made her to continue believing at her principles. Seconds later, she felt Mikan's hand entering her chest. She felt somehow warm and it was not like her life was draining out of her. It was different than the previous attempts who tried to get the alice from her.
She felt a new hope inside her.
"I am glad to have met you, Sakuno." She could hear Mikan's sweet voice to her ears. She also felt one hand touching hers. Her other hand was being held by Ryoma and it seemed that it never let go of her since then.
The other hand was cold but it brought a different feeling to her especially when she received the person's message.
"Cherish your best friend." She recognized Nobara's voice, "It's good to have one."
A smile was crept to her face when she heard that. She nodded agreeing to her.
"Arigatou you two, arigatou minna." She gave them her genuine smile but tears of joy were present as she said that. Her eyes were still closed but she knew that they were smiling back at her. The moment she said that, a blinding light covered her vision.
Thus, the area surrounded with the blinding light.
Done! This is it! I think the next chapter will be the last one. What will happen? Will they forget all the Alice Academy friends? Find that out in the last chapter. Domo.
Review please! Need to know, just once more.
Next Chapter: POT X GA