I remembered that I never would have written for Gakuen Alice if not for Narumi. :)

The Special Ability Class

Friday, lunchtime.

Luna could feel Mikan’s eyes on her as she glanced up at the banner that had greeted her from the door. It was fastened by an almost invisible rope, the words Welcome to Special Ability Class! imprinted on it in big, dark font. She blinked, barely hearing the girl’s voice amidst the loud hooting of her new classmates.

“We always do this when - ” Mikan was starting when Luna suddenly threw her arms around the her. “L-Luna…?” she said, surprised.

“I already love this class!” Luna said, embracing the brunette who took the trouble to show her around. “Thank you so much Special Ability Class!” she cheered, and turned to Mikan. “And thank you, Mikan.”

Mikan smiled, delighted by Luna’s reaction. “I’m sure you’ll have a lot of fun in this class!”

“Oh, she will. We’ll make sure of that,” a pink-haired girl of no more than fifteen said, approaching them with a dark-haired young man. She smiled at Luna as she introduced herself. “Misaki Harada.”

The young man grinned. “Tsubasa Andou. Welcome to the class.”

Luna let go of Mikan and grinned back, encouraged by their friendliness. “Luna Ishihara, troublemaker.”

“I’ve heard of that,” Tsubasa said. “I think we’ll get along well.” That earned him a nudge from Misaki. “Aw, Misaki. You’ll destroy my ribcage by the end of the day,” he complained good-naturedly.

“Shut up, Tsubasa.”

She tossed back her head at this, laughing. “You make a good pair,” she commented, and continued before any of them could complain. “So where’s Mr. Noda?” she asked, very curious of her teacher who seemed to be adored by the whole class.

“He said he’d be late, but he’ll be here soon.” Misaki chuckled. “He nearly froze to death in the mountains.”

She furrowed her brows, unsure if she heard the girl right. “Mountains?”

“His alice is time-traveling, and he hasn’t mastered it yet, so he usually ends up in the weirdest places,” Tsubasa said. “He ended up in the mountains this time, so when he came back a few days ago he had a bad cold and a high fever.”

“Is he all right now?” she asked, flinching just to imagine what her teacher had been through.

“Don’t worry; he is. He’s pretty tough, though he doesn’t look it,” Misaki said.

She shook her head, letting a smile form her lips. “That’s a relief. I’m really excited to meet him.”

“Oh, you’ll meet him later,” Tsubasa assured. “For now, just enjoy what we prepared for you.”

“Let’s the party begin!” Mikan and Misaki chorused.

۞۞۞

Narumi narrowed his eyes at the smoke that enveloped most of the Northern Forest. It had been more than five minutes since the second explosives went off, but the smoke still obscured parts of the forest from view.

Beside him, Subaru Imai was quiet. He had commanded the use of water alices earlier, but Narumi disagreed with this. “There’s something not right here,” he said.

“I can see that, Mr. Narumi. The Northern Forest is burning when it shouldn’t,” Subaru said with a deadly nonchalance. He glanced back at the flames at the center of the woodland, his eyes unreadable. He and the rest of the teachers were in a safe distance, taken care of by a barrier alice.

Narumi took a deep breath. “Those aren’t real flames.”

Subaru stared hard at him, unable to hide his incredulity. “What?”

“Leaves burn fast,” he explained, “especially dried leaves. Northern Forest wouldn’t have lasted this long if that’s a real fire.” He nodded, serious. “Setting the forest on fire is not the prank. I suspect it’s merely a distraction.”

“That’s one hell of a distraction,” one of the Student Representatives shot back, irritated by Narumi’s calmness.

“What do you suggest, Mr. Narumi?” Subaru asked, his lips narrowing into a thin line.

“We wait,” he said simply.

“Mr. Narumi,” Subaru called out, distracting Narumi’s musings. “Time’s up.” He had asked the young man to make a seven-minute countdown from the moment the second set of explosives went off.

“Thanks.” Narumi nodded at the other Student Representative, signaling for her to use her alice. In a snap a strong gust of wind dispelled the smoke, clearing most of the area for them. He narrowed his eyes, gave another nod, and the student created another strong breeze, this time letting it blow for a longer time.

In a few seconds the wind dispelled even the fire, slowly but without doubt.

Narumi could hear the gasps from his companions as they watched the flames die off easily, leaving not a trace of its existence. The trees and bushes that had seemed to be burning just a while ago remained in their places, untouched instead of being reduced to ashes; not even looking singed at the slightest.

He turned to look at Subaru.

The student hadn’t lost his composure, but he was obviously furious. “Is Luna Ishihara making a fool of us?” he rasped, his voice pitched low.

Narumi only gave a weak smile before walking ahead towards the heart of the forest.

۞۞۞

The man in front of Luna hardly looked like he had just recuperated from sickness. With his easy manner and smile that never seemed to leave his lips, Noda was very easy to like. “Hello, Luna. I’m Mr. Noda, and I’m in charge of Special Ability Class. I’m so glad you’ve finally joined us.”

Luna liked him instantly. “I am, too, Mr. Noda,” she said.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t join your party,” he continued, scratching his head sheepishly. “I got really sick.”

“That’s all right,” she said. “I understand that you were taking a rest.”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Noda! We saved you some cake!” Mikan added helpfully, occupying the desk just opposite Luna. Behind her were Misaki and Tsubasa, looking vaguely amused. The three had graciously offered to come with Luna, curious to hear what their teacher had to say about her alice.

“Oh, thank you, Mikan,” Noda said. He turned to Luna with his unwavering smile. “I’m sure you look forward to learning more about your alice.”

“I am,” she said, giving a nod. “The mirror alice.”

“Let’s begin, then.” Noda picked up a piece of chalk and drew a mirror on the blackboard. “The mirror alice got its name from the fact that it works just like a mirror. It copies the exact ability of another alice within its bounds.” He paused as if to emphasize his words. “It has its own set of advantages and disadvantages, like all other alices.”

He held up a forefinger. “One of its greatest disadvantages is that the mirror alice can never work without other alices around it.” He eyed her seriously. “Tell me, Luna, how did you find out about your alice?”

“I accidentally mirrored Yuki’s alice while he was with me during vacation this year.”

“Yuki?” Misaki asked, cocking an eyebrow in curiosity.

She smiled. “Yukihiro Ishigure. He’s my childhood friend.”

“I didn’t know that,” Misaki teased. “Everyone thinks you two are a pair.”

She chuckled. “Everyone thinks wrong.” She shook her head in amusement as she shifted her gaze to her teacher. “Yuki’s alice must have triggered my own.”

“That’s a possibility, considering how strong his alice has become,” Noda agreed. “This brings us to another disadvantage: that mirror alices are hard to discover. It’s not unusual for mirror alice wielders to enter the Academy so late.”

“Doesn’t it make her alice dangerous?” Tsubasa asked.

Noda shook his head. “Not quite. The mirror only did what it should have: to mirror an alice within its bounds. Inactivated alices are usually unsteady, so when Luna’s alice came across a powerful one, it must have been readily set off.” He glanced at Luna. “This danger scarcely exists once you know the basics of controlling your alice.”

“I’ve figured most of them out. Yuki helped me through it,” she said. “What I’ve noticed is that my alice doesn’t require physical contact, but I can’t seem to use the alices of those too far away from me.”

“It’s a fixed characteristic of the mirror alice, as we’ve seen in other users. The person whose alice you want to use must be, at most, two meters away from where you are.”

“Two meters, huh…” She tapped the desk with her fingers. “Are there any alices I can’t use?”

“Technical alices are beyond your ability,” Noda said. “Their alices come from their knowledge, and even your alice can’t claim any of them for yourself.” He smiled. “It’s like the saying that no one can steal your genius.”

“That seems fair enough,” she said, smiling. “So how long can I use an alice I’ve mirrored?”

“It depends on the shape of your ability,” he said, and quickly explicated the four shapes of alices. “Mirror alices usually take the intermittent shape, which means you can only use the ability for a short period of time, although at a relatively high power.”

“An alice you mirror can only last for about ten minutes in your possession. After that, you’ll have to wait at least one whole day to be able to mirror and use it again,” he added.

“One day?” she groaned.

He smiled. “If you want to use the same alice for more than ten minutes in one day, you’ll have to find a different person with this same ability and mirror his.”

“Can’t I shorten that one day by mastering my alice?” she asked, persistent.

“Most mirror alice wielders have tried,” he said, “but it seems the only thing that you can alter is the length of time that you can use the mirrored alice for yourself.”

An expression of stubbornness and determination crossed her face. “I’ll do my best,” she said, nodding her head. “Is there a specific number of alices that I can mirror in a given period of time?”

“You can use as many alices as you want,” he said, “but you have to realize that the use of so many alices that differ in strength and shapes can be very exhausting. You’re limited to what your body will allow you to use.”

“Oh,” she said, furrowing her brows thoughtfully, only to be distracted when Mikan raised her hand.

“Mikan?” Noda called out.

“Doesn’t the nullification alice work on the mirror alice?” the young girl asked, her tone laced with uncertainty.

Noda assumed a detective pose, as if remembering something. “I almost forgot about that.” His smile seemed to widen. “The nullification alice works on all alices. There are no exceptions to this. However, the mirror alice has one unique characteristic.” He glanced at Luna.

She nodded and looked carefully at Mikan. “The mirror alice can nullify a nullifying alice.”

It took a moment before the girl could react. “It can what?” she repeated, disbelief written all over her face.

“Nullify a nullifying alice,” she repeated, smiling with a touch of smugness.

“Nullify a nullifying alice,” Tsubasa mumbled, just as he and Misaki exchanged glances. “I didn’t think that was possible.”

“It is, if Luna uses her alices to nullify Mikan’s before Mikan can do the same to Luna’s,” Noda said, and smiled at Luna. “I’m surprised you know this already.”

“I realized it only two weeks ago,” she admitted. “I only knew that my alice could make use of the alices around it, so I thought I’d use Mikan’s alice to stop Mr. Jinno’s, without stopping mine.”

“So Hotaru was right!” Mikan said, looking very disheartened by what she learned. “I didn’t nullify the alices, after all!”

Luna watched as Noda smiled fondly at his student. “Cheer up, Mikan. It’s all a matter of timing. It doesn’t mean a flaw in your alice.”

Mikan looked up at him. “Mr. Noda…” she whimpered.

“It just means you’ll have to be more alert of the alices around you, and what they can do to your own ability. You can look at this as a way to improve your alice, Mikan.”

The young girl seemed to accept this, and she nodded, her trust in their teacher evident in her eyes. “I’ll be more careful next time, Mr. Noda!”

Luna could only smile, admiring Noda’s effortless encouragement.

“So, Luna,” he said, shifting his attention back to her. “Should we put your alice to a test?”

She paused for only a second before getting to her feet. “I’ve been wanting to tell you that!”

۞۞۞

The forest clearing that they found revealed not a hint of the mayhem that had occurred. It seemed very peaceful, with the sun filtering through the high canopy and the occasional rabbits scurrying along the path before leaping into the bushes.

“Will you explain what’s going on?” Misaki finally asked, confusion making its way to his voice.

Narumi let his gaze wander around the woods. “It’s an invention of the technical types. This invention produces the most believable explosions and flames, which we always use during plays. It lasts for seven minutes at most, although a wind alice can always put it off before it dies out.”

He turned to Subaru, who was looking up at a cherry blossom tree nearby. “There were no explosives. Just another genius invention, and perfect timing.”

Subaru didn’t seem to hear this. “Call for Luna Ishihara,” he ordered instead, his face a mask of coldness.

“What is it?” one of the Student Representatives asked, just as she peered closely to the tree that Subaru had been looking at, and she muttered an oath under her breath.

It didn’t take long before Narumi and Misaki saw what had made enraged them further. Hanging on the tree, tied to a branch, was a scrap of paper with a note.

Gotcha, was what it said.

۞۞۞

“Nullify your alice?” Luna said, throwing a skeptic glance at Noda. “Where will you get sent to if I don’t successfully copy Mikan’s alice and cancel yours?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Noda said, not looking concerned at all. “But that’s part of the risk I have to take as your teacher.”

“You make it sound so dramatic,” Misaki teased, putting a hand on her waist as she turned to her new classmate. “He’s just putting pressure on you.”

“He always does that,” Tsubasa agreed, chuckling.

“Let’s just try to see if your alice can stop mine,” Noda said, walking to one corner near the door. “It’s pretty strong, you know.”

“I have a question,” Tsubasa said as he took his seat behind a desk. “Does the strength of the alice she uses depend on the original owner of it?”

“Not really.” Noda threw a glance at Luna. “The mirror alice only copies the alice; not the level of mastery of it. You take an alice as your own when you mirror it, so its strength depends on you as its wielder.”

“That means the nullification alice I’ll be using can either bee stronger or weaker than Mikan’s,” she said, walking to where Mikan stood.

“That’s right.”

She faced her teacher, excitement in her eyes. “I’m going to nullify your alice, Mr. Noda.”

The teacher gave a final nod. “Now remember, Luna,” he began, just as he started to become transparent before all of his students, “the mirror alice – ”

It was then that the door to the classroom suddenly opened behind the teacher, cutting him off.

“I want to speak to Luna Ishihara,” the imperious voice of Subaru Imai said as he stepped inside. He adjusted his glasses as soon as he saw everyone agape at him. “What’s happening here?”

“We’re having a class!” Luna snapped as she darted an annoyed look at the Student Representative behind her teacher. “Now get out – ”

“Luna, Mr. Noda’s alice!” Mikan exclaimed in panic.

Luna blinked, remembering that she was supposed to be nullifying Noda’s alice. “Oh no! Mr. Noda!” she said, and made an instinctive leap for her teacher as she mirrored Mikan’s alice to cancel his.

A few moments later, she found herself hugging Subaru, his brows twitched dangerously as he looked down at her. “What the hell do you think are you doing?”

…to be continued…

All right, so how was that? I thought I’d keep the chapters as short as I can, so they’ll be easy reads just like before.

I seriously missed you guys, and if there’s still anyone reading, do review. For old time’s sake, maybe? Thanks! :D

Hilaire
08.31.09