It was a calm and easy day at Alice Academy. Mikan and Natsume were sound asleep in bed. It was the first time in quite awhile that they had the opportunity to enjoy some quality time together. A small beam of sunlight creaked through Natsume's window seemed to land on Mikan's face and wake her up from her peaceful sleep.
Mikan let out a small yawn and was about to stretch her arms but felt some on her chest. Mikan looked down and found Natsume's hand squeezing her right breast.
"Hmm, you've sure have grown into a well balanced woman Mikan" Natsume said in his sleep while continuing to grasp Mikan's chest.
"Good grief, even when he is asleep he's still a perverted fox" Mikan said as she pinched Natsume's cheek causing him to wake up.
"Ow! Hey what was that for?" Natsume yelled.
"Why don't you look down you horny fox" Mikan stated with slight annoyance in her voice. Natsume then did as his girlfriend suggested and noticed that his hand was groping Mikan's chest.
"I see nothing wrong with this." Natsume said turning his head away looking cool a giving Mikan's chest another squeeze causing Mikan to get more annoyed and she gave her boyfriend a slight punch on his chest, causing him to relinquish his grip."You wanted to be treated like a woman, right?"
"Hey by the way Natsume, did everyone else make else make it back to Alice Academy safely?" Mikan asked worried.
"Yes Mikan, everyone was able to make it back safely you have nothing to worry about" Natsume stated.
"And what about Kenji, was he able to make it back too?" Mikan asked with fear and worry in her heart.
"Hmph" Natsume replied under his breath. The moment Mikan mentioned Kenji's name, Natsume's entire facial expression changed from being calm and happy to annoyed and concerned. "Yeah that little twerp is currently being questioned by the likes of Narumi and Tsubasa" Natsume said with an annoyed look on his face. Mikan noticed that her boyfriend was feeling uneasy, but she could help but feel joy to know that Kenji was ok.
"*sigh* Thank goodness he's alright" Mikan thought as she placed her hands over her heart.
"For the last time, tell us, what information do you have of Z and the AAO?" Tsubasa asked slamming the palm of his hands on a table that he and Kenji were sitting opposite sides from.
"I will tell you nothing!" Kenji responded while turning his head away from Tsubasa.
"Grrrrrr, he's a hard nut to crack." Tsubasa stated.
"I think this calls for a more gentle approach." Narumi-Sensei said while winking at Tsubasa causing a sweat drop to appear on the back of his head.
"So why don't you tell us a little about the AAO, you can trust us" Narumi-Sensei said while using his human pheromone alice and placing his hand under the boy's chin. Kenji's face began to become warm and his eyelids began to become heavy, but Narumi quickly realized that this wasn't due to his pheromone alice. No it was due to Kenji's alice shape, Kenji was becoming sick again! "Oh no!" squealed Narumi.
"What's wrong?" Tsubasa replied.
"This boy, he must suffer from the fourth alice shape, he's burning up, he needs to see a doctor on campus and fast!" Narumi Sensei stated.
"I'm afraid that won't help the boy much" Said a mysterious voice in the distance.
"P-Paradox?" Narumi-Sensei replied bewildered.
"Greetings Tsubasa and of course, Narumi-Sensei" Paradox said.
"Oh uh, hello sir, so what's going on?" Tsubasa asked.
"We came to help with Kenji and Natsume's condition" Said another mysterious voice that began to walk in.
"H-Hotaru, you're all grown up!" Tsubasa said as he laid his eyes on the 16 year old girl that was standing right in front of him.
"Yes I am, and I can see that you haven't changed all that much Tsubasa" Hotaru coldly replied.
"Paradox claims that we will be able to cure Natsume and Kenji of their alice if we time travel to find a certain alice stone." Ruka said as he began to walk in the room.
"That's great!" Replied Tsubasa.
"We better hurry though, the kid isn't looking so hot. Hotaru said as she stared at Kenji who was sound asleep with his head lying on the desk he was sitting at.
"Ok then it's settled, me and Hotaru will time travel to find the alice stone for Natsume and Kenji" Ruka stated.
"Hey what about us?" Tsubasa replied anxious to help his friend.
"Paradox said that the time portal for the dimension we'll be traveling to will only be able to support 2 people. And I feel as though I have to go to ensure Mikan's happiness with Natsume" Hotaru said as she clenched her fist and placed it over her heart. "Paradox, prepare a portal for me and Ruka" Hotaru said in a stern tone that made Ruka fidget,
"Yes ma'am" Paradox said slightly fearing what would happen if he didn't obey. Paradox raised his hands and before them, a large portal of blue and white light appeared. Hotaru and Ruka walked through the portal and the next thing that they knew, they were were in a spiralling vortex of light being transported to their destination at a rate that felt as if they were travelling at the speed of sound.
"Hang on Hotaru!" Ruka screamed as he grabbed onto Hotaru's arm.
"Baka! Don't touch me like that!" Hotaru replied back as she and Ruka landed at their destination. "Idiot get off me!" Hotaru replied as she realised that Ruka landed on top of her with his chest on top of hers.
"S-sorry Hotaru." Ruka tried to apologize as their but quickly lost his train of thought as he found himself in awe of the odd dimension that they were transported to."Where are we?" Ruka asked out loud. Ruka and Hotaru found themselves in an empty grey zone full of labyrinths and all sorts of twists and turns.
"I think we may be in a different dimension Ruka." Hotaru stated coldly.
"Hey what's that in the distance Ruka pondered. As his eyes caught something far away from him but clearly visible."
"It looks like the alice stone that we came here for." Hotaru said.
"Good let's go get it!" Ruka replied as he brashly began to run towards the stone.
"Wait you idiot!" Hotaru shouted and began to chase after him. However, as soon as Hotaru shouted at Ruka, the stone began to shine causing a ripple and the zone and the floor to crack.
"Oh no!" Ruka shouted as he and Hotaru began to fall to through the floor. There Ruka and Hotaru remained falling with no end. The area around them was dark and bleak, they couldn't see anything but themselves and they knew that at the rate they were falling that they would surely be dead the moment they hit whatever was at the bottom.
"Well, I guess this is it. At this rate, we will surely die on impact when we hit the bottom" Hotaru sadly stated. And in that instant, Hotaru did something that she thought she would never do. She wrapped her arms around Ruka and hugged him.
"Ruka, if we're going to die here then I just wanted to let you all those times that I've teased you and yelled at you, it wasn't because I didn't like you, but because deep down I….." Hotaru started but then was startled as the two teenagers found themselves safely on the ground.
"Huh, shouldn't we have been crushed on impact?" Ruka wondered but then his jaw dropped as the alice stone that they were searching appeared to be right in front of them. Ruka made sure not to lose the opportunity given to them and grabbed the stone.
"Cool, with this we'll be able to heal Natsume!" Ruka shouted.
"Yeah but what about the kid?" Hotaru asked.
"Hmm" Ruka thought to himself but his thought process was then brought to a halt as another time portal opened above them and sucked them up.
"Paradox must be returning us home" Hotaru thought as she and Ruka were traveling through the blue and white vortex. "Hey Ruka, about what I said earlier today" Hotaru started but was then interrupted by Ruka.
"What I can't hear you" Ruka replied as he tried putting his hand next to his ear to help amplify his hearing.
"Ah, what a relief, he probably could hear me then when we were falling earlier" Hotaru said to herself. "Ruka you're a baka, but you're my baka" Hotaru thought to himself.
Back at Gakuen Alice, Mikan and Natsume entered the room where Kenji was being questioned.
"K-Kenji!" Mikan screamed in horror as she saw Kanji knocked out.
"Kenji seems to be suffering from the fourth alice shape. But not to worry Hotaru and Ruka have gone on a journey to find an alice stone that may be able to help him" Narumi-Sensei stated.
"Oh thank goodness" Mikan said as she placed her hands over her chest.
"Hmph, why should we even help this kid?" Natsume said looking annoyed in response to how worried Mikan was of him.
"Natsume you should watch your attitude towards this boy. You may be more connected to him than you think!" Replied Paradox.
"Huh? What could he mean by that?" Natsume thought. But his thought process was suddenly brought to a hault as a burst of light appeared in front of him and Hotaru and Ruka came out of the light.
"We're back and we have the alice stone Paradox" Ruka said.
"What exactly was that place that we went to Paradox?" Hotaru asked.
That was the Zone of Truth my dear. There you are able for one time in your life able to claim anything that your heart desires, but only after you accept your true feelings, which is why I sent the two of you there" Paradox stated causing Hotaru to blush at the thought of accepting her true feelings for Ruka.
"Well now that Ruka and Hotaru are back, let's cure Natsume of the 4th alice shape" Tsubasa suggested which caused Natsume to have a bewildered expression on his face.
"What you guys would really do that for me?" Natsume asked.
"Of course Natsume, we're friends after" Ruka said with a smile on his face while Mikan gave a pat to Natsume's back.
"Thanks guys, you don't know how much this means to me" Natsume said as his voice began to become choked up due to his love for his friends. Natsume then placed his hand on the alice stone and he felt a surge of light encaptivate his entire body. It was if all the pain and damage to him caused by his alice was instantly healed and nurtured. The pain of the fourth shape was gone and he felt for the first time in his life that he didn't have to fear dying due to his curse.
"I feel great! Thank you, everyone." Natsume said. Mikan then gave him a tight hug as she was overjoyed that she no longer has to worry about her boyfriend dying on her due to his alice.
"Now let's heal Kenji!" Mikan happily squealed but the room then became silent.
"But Mikan can we really trust this kid? He does work for the organization that is after you afterall" Natsume stated. Mikan then looked into her boyfriend's eyes with a fiery determination that seemed to rival that of Natsume's alice.
"Please Natsume, you don't understand, Kenji helped me survive when Zagi's torture me. I truly feel connected to him something deep down tells me that we need to help him" Mikan said as she seemed as though she was about to cry.
"Alright Mikan, if he helped you survive that dangerous conflict with Zagi and you truly feel this strong then I trust your judgment. Ruka place the alice stone in Kenji's hands" Natsume said and Ruka obeyed his friend's plea.
*Meanwhile at the AAO*
"Sir I believe the one called Ruka may have some ill feelings towards our targets, with all do respect we should take advantage of this" Scarlet said.
"Yes I agree, I'll leave the job to you my dear" Said the sinister boss
"Yes, I do love causing mischief in love triangles after all" Said Scarlet while laugh maniacally.
This chapter was written by Sonic Keyblade 007 and edited by EdwardElric108 and Neverlookback756