JC: Mikan’s going back to her hometown, but I will focus on the academy too. I will be introducing her grandfather here. Something serious will go on much during her stay with her grandfather, and I will be giving hints about Aya’s plans. I’m currently reading akatsuki-hime’s Fragments of an Undying Love which is a NatsumexMikan fic. It’s really good, though a little sad and tragic, but sweet. Try reading it too! By the way, the elementary school principal here is not anymore the chibi-principal from the manga. The principal is different here.

Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice characters belong to Higuchi-sensei. Sugita Aya is a cross-over character from Kodocha. My own characters in this fic are Kawashima Kyo, Kawashima Asuka, and Hibiki Ryou.

Obsession

Chapter 33: Welcome Back

They left for the country early in the morning about 4 o’clock. Mikan was strangely quiet as they drove out of the academy. She sat lost in her own imagination while her little mechanical bird was perched comfortably on her shoulder. She was excited to see her grandfather again that she pictured out their loving reunion ahead of time. Well, she was a little sleepy too and she wasn’t in the mood to talk either. Besides, her companions looked like they could use some more sleep since they woke up earlier than her. She glanced over at Nobara and then shifted her eyes to Natsume. Her boyfriend had the usual cold demeanor, but it seemed like he was in a grumpy mood. Well, Mikan couldn’t tell by the look on his face, but she could sense it in him. The reason for his mood was probably because Narumi-sensei was the one who personally wake him up. She also found out that Natsume fell out of bed when Narumi yelled out his name while knocking on the door.

Natsume noticed her staring at him and raised a brow. “What are you looking at?” he asked, and Mikan merely shook her head in reply. He then shrugged and folded his arms in front of his chest. “It’s going to be a long trip, so don’t do anything annoying or make a fuss. We’re also not stopping at some store to buy some souvenirs like last time.”

She puffed up her cheeks and turned her head away. “I wasn’t planning on doing that, you know!” she snorted. “And if it’s get boring in here, I have Nobara-chan here to keep me company. She’s much better to talk to than grouchy you.”

Nobara got nervous at the sight of Natsume’s glaring eyes. “Um…Mikan-chan, don’t get Natsume-kun mad,” she said, placing a clenched hand over her mouth. She has the habit of doing that. “It’s not good if you’ll only talk to me during the whole trip. What if Natsume-kun gets bored too?”

“Him? Get bored?” Mikan let out a light laugh and patted Nobara’s shoulder. “This guy will read his manga if he gets bored. He doesn’t need to have a conversation with me just to lighten up. Most of the time, he just finds me annoying whenever I open my mouth.” Natsume was about to retort, but Mikan immediately cut him off by sticking out her tongue.

A vein popped out of Natsume’s head. “Polka-dots, why don’t you just shut up?” he said in a grim tone as he maintained his façade. Mikan stuck out her tongue again only to annoy him more. He didn’t want to get more frustrated, so he decided to open his manga and read it. That will keep him busy.

For a second there Nobara thought Natsume was going to threaten with fire again. It was a relief that he didn’t use his Alice. She could see that Mikan had a triumphant smile on her face, and she couldn’t help smiling at it. “Mikan-chan, what’s your hometown like?” She had always been curious about the place where Mikan spent her early childhood days.

“It’s a nice little town with friendly people,” Mikan said, imagining her old friends and grandfather. “You’ll love it once we get there. I’ll show you around and introduce you to folks, so don’t get shy, Nobara-chan.”

Nobara nodded her head. “I’ll try, Mikan-chan.” She wasn’t sure if she can interact with people. She wasn’t sociable and outgoing like Mikan, and her shyness tends to overwhelm her. But since Mikan was with her, she believed that everything will go well.

They arrived about noon at the Sakura residence. The house was still the same, still beautiful, surrounded by a magnificent flower garden and Sakura trees standing beside it. Mikan was all smiles the moment she set her eyes on the house and she grew even happier when she saw her grandfather coming out. Sora, the bird, flew up as Mikan rushed to her grandfather’s arms and gave him a nice warm hug. Oh, she had missed her grandfather so much. Even though the both of them wrote letters to each other, it wasn’t enough to satisfy their need for each other.

After the hug, the old man took a good look at his granddaughter from head to toe. He cupped his chin with his hand and smiled at her. “Every time I see you, you look more beautiful and stunning,” he said, and Mikan slightly blushed at his compliment. “I also think that you’ve gotten taller, Mikan.” He measured her height with his hand and compared it to his. Mikan was definitely getting taller, prettier and mature, and he was proud of that.

“Thank you, jii-chan,” she said chirpily. “I got the Honor Student Award again, so I’m here to stay for the week. I brought you some souvenirs from the academy and the herbal teas that you wanted for so long.”

“It’s good that you take your studies very seriously, Mikan,” the old man said before he glanced at the two students standing a few feet away from Mikan. He recognized the raven-haired boy since Mikan had already brought him twice to his home, and of course he knew that he was her boyfriend. But the other person was a new face to him. He had to admit that she was fairly attractive like his granddaughter. “And who might this be?”

Mikan motioned over to Nobara and clung to her arm. “Jii-chan, she’s one of my closest friends in the academy,” she said chirpily. “She’s Ibaragi Nobara-chan and she has the Ice Alice. I believe I’ve mentioned her to you before in my letters.”

Nobara bowed before the old man and introduced herself properly. “I’m Ibaragi Nobara and it’s an honor to finally meet Mikan-chan’s grandfather.” She straightened up and gave out a small yet shy smile. “Along with Natsume-kun, I’ve been assigned to be Mikan-chan’s bodyguard, so I’ll be guarding her for the whole week.”

“Is that so?” the old man said, cupping his chin with his hand. “Well, thank you for the trouble.” He smiled happily at the Ice Princess.

“And I’m sure you already met, Natsume, jii-chan!” Mikan said, hugging her boyfriend’s arm, causing the old man to look seriously at Natsume. “Natsume and Nobara-chan are staying here for the week as guests and my bodyguards. Oh, yeah, another bodyguard will be coming here soon, and his name is Tonouichi Akira-senpai. Don’t drive him away when he arrives, okay?”

“Yes, yes, I got it,” the grandfather said, slipping his hands into his long sleeves. “Why don’t you two girls head inside while the boy and I carry your things?”

“You don’t have to do that, sir,” Nobara said. “We can carry our—”

“My dear…” the old man cut her off. “I may be old but I’m still as strong as an ox. You and Mikan should get ready for lunch now. Now, hurry along.”

Mikan grabbed hold of Nobara’s hand. “Let’s leave it to them, Nobara-chan,” she said with a smile. “Besides, I want to show you my room since that’s where you’re going to stay.” Giggling, she playfully dragged the Ice Princess into the house and brought her upstairs to her old room with Sora following right behind them.

On the other hand, Natsume lifted his and Mikan’s things, as the old man Sakura carried Nobara’s bag. Mikan’s bag was pretty heavy, considering that she had a lot of souvenirs in it, but he didn’t complain about it. As he reached the living room of the house, he settled the things on the floor beside the couch and sat down. Just then, Nobara’s bag came flying towards his face and he didn’t have time to evade it. The bag hit his face dead on. Luckily, the bag was just full of clothes, so it was pretty soft. He heard a snicker and immediately looked up at the old man standing inches away from him.

The old man sat down beside him and slapped his back hard. “We’re going to spend some time together again, boy,” he said, grinning mischievously, as Natsume heaved a deep sigh. “And don’t think that you’ll be able to have some intimate moments with my granddaughter while you’re here like last time. I hope you’re prepared to be my personal helper around the house, boy.” He patted his shoulder and snickered once again.

Helper? More like slave. Ever since he was introduced to the old man by his loving girlfriend, the old man always gave him a hard time. The first time he came to visit was like hell to him. He was forced to clean the house all by himself, including the toilet and the backyard. On his second visit, he was caught kissing Mikan on the lips, which made the old man chase him around the house. Okay, the old man was being a grandfather to his granddaughter, but he could be a little too much. He was going to have one hell of a week in the Sakura residence for sure.

Sugita Aya, an elite member of the Anti-Alice Organization, sat in silence on her bed for a long time, as she closed the book she was reading. It was one o’clock in the afternoon, and she had been reading for hours. She didn’t even bother having breakfast or lunch. She was not the shy and dark-haired Aya. She was the silver-haired one with the scarlet eyes. Her split personality came out the minute she saw Mikan leaving the academy. Truth to be known, she actually felt lonely that Mikan was away for one whole week. But it was the perfect opportunity to execute her plans. She was going to use all the resources she can—even if it means using people as tools—just to make her plans successful. She had Nogi Ruka, Hibiki Ryou, Ogasawara Nonoko, and Imai Hotaru under her whim. With them, she could already imagine the downfall of the academy. She sinisterly laughed at the thought of it. And once her mission was done, she could finally return to the organization where her precious Mouri Reo was waiting. She would also be awarded greatly for her work by the boss.

When she finally decided to get out bed, she pulled out a photo album from the drawer and went through it. Most of the photos there were of Mikan’s. She had a huge collection of it and she had bought them secretly from Hotaru. They cost a fortune but it was worth it. She truly admired Mikan. She closed the album carefully, looking at it as the precious thing that it was. She put it back into its proper place and changed into her casual clothes after turning back to regular Aya. Her clothes were composed of a long-sleeved yellow blouse and a white pleated mini-skirt. For footwear she wore a pair of brown laced-up boots. She grabbed a bite to eat at the cafeteria. Nothing heavy, just a cup of tea and some biscuits, and then she went strolling around the Northern Woods.

She arrived at a certain spot, which was far away from the buildings, and reverted back to the silver-haired girl. “I guess it’s time to move,” she muttered, snapping her fingers. Two girls and two boys suddenly came out of their hiding places and knelt down like knights before Aya. “I see that everyone is here. Good.” She explained to them in full details about the plan, speaking in a clear and intimidating voice. She warned them about the consequences of failure and told them that they should work efficiently and accurately at all times. She doesn’t tolerate any minion who fails.

“Your plan…” Hotaru spoke up, maintaining her composure, as she looked up at Aya with her lifeless amethyst eyes, “will involve innocent lives. Isn’t the goal of the Anti-Alice Organization is to destroy Alice Academy and to kidnap Sakura Mikan? I think it would be better if we target the higher-ups right away instead of wasting time with the students.”

Aya grew annoyed. “And who gave you the right to talk, bitch?!” Lightning fast, she kicked Hotaru away. “Don’t ever question my plans again, you hear me! Who cares if we kill some students? I just want this academy destroyed.” She had the urge to strangle the freaky inventor, but she reminded herself that she was still going to use her.

“Imai, you should learn to shut that trap of yours,” Ruka said coldly as he shot one mean glare at Hotaru. “The Anti-Alice Organization will bring an end to this academy, and we’ll be able to live freely.”

“A life outside the academy,” Ryou said, standing up and placing both hands behind his head. “That would be awesome. Plus, I’m getting sick of this school anyway. The AAO definitely has the right idea.”

Nonoko briefly glanced at Hotaru before she stood up. And she hesitated to talk. “With the academy gone…we’ll be able to see our family again…” she said, clenching her fists. “That’s why…I’m willing to help Aya-san and the AAO.”

“Those are the words I wanted to hear,” Aya said, letting out an evil laugh. “Imai-san, I hope you do your job well. I don’t want you to be real nuisance. But I am going to have fun toying with you, Imai-san. I’ll make sure that you’ll become unfit to be Mikan-chan’s best friend.”

Hotaru didn’t say anything as she got back to her feet. She maintained her head low, avoiding eye contact with the scarlet-eyed girl. She wasn’t affected with what Aya just said. She didn’t mind it all when Aya told her that she was going to toy with her. She was under Aya’s control completely and there was nothing she could do about it. A weak Alice such as herself could not possibly fight off such a person with tremendous Alices inside Aya.

“You four are to continue acting normally in front of others. Don’t let your friends find out about our plans.” Aya placed a fist on her waist and pointed a finger at them. “Pretend, lie, and deceive—that’s what we’re going to do. I’m expecting all of you to do a good job. You are not allowed to let your guard down either. Well, that’s all I have to say. You guys can go.” After saying that, she began walking away in a hurry.

As she reached the path, she turned around to confront the person following her. “What is it? I thought I made myself perfectly clear with my instructions.” She spoke with such an intimidating voice.

“After we get Sakura, you promised that she will be mine,” Ruka said with a straight face. “I just wanted to make sure of that.”

A slight wind picking up, Aya grinned maliciously at Ruka as she crossed her arms. “I’ll pick you over that bastard Hyuuga any day,” she said. “You’re more suited for Mikan-chan, which is why I’ll do everything in my power to separate them. You won’t mind if I have to get rid of your good-for-nothing best friend, right?”

There was a moment of silence. “I…I…” Ruka clenched his fists tight and narrowed his blue eyes. “I don’t care about Natsume. Do whatever you like with him. You can kill him if you want. I just want to make Sakura mine.” No falter, no hesitation—Ruka was firm with his words, and Aya was more than pleased to hear that.

The next day, Mikan woke up early to prepare breakfast for the current occupants of her home. After slipping into a long-sleeved buttoned white dress, she headed towards the kitchen and prepared a traditional Japanese breakfast and a refreshing pitcher of orange juice. She was always the one cooking the meals in her home. Since she grew up without a mother, she was trained in domestic skills such as cooking and cleaning, and she doesn’t complain when doing chores for her grandfather. Well, sometimes it was tiring but sometimes she enjoyed it. She ate breakfast first after she set the food on the table and went outside for some fresh air. It was approximately six-thirty in the morning and the sun was just rising beyond the horizon. It was a beautiful sight to see. She approached the Sakura tree, looking around the garden where she used to play a lot as a child. As a slight breeze passed by, Mikan drew in a deep breath and smiled gracefully as she set her eyes on the yellow-brown leaves falling from the tree. Autumn was fast approaching.

She walked around the house for a while, humming a lovely tune, and greeted the little birds flying above her head. On the rooftop she saw her mechanical bird friend, Sora, and waved a hand at it. Sora saw its owner and immediately flew down. “Good morning, Sora,” Mikan said, patting its head. “You’re up pretty early. How about the others? Are they still asleep?” Sora shook its head and settled down on her head.

Mikan was about to continue her walk when somebody suddenly hugged her from behind, and she didn’t resist the person. She knew who would be daring enough to walk up to her undetected and hug her. She knew it was Natsume. “What are you doing here outside, polka-dots?” he asked in an unruly voice.

“Just taking a walk,” she replied, turning around to face him with a smile. “Why? Is there something wrong with that?”

Natsume flicked her forehead and sighed in frustration. “You can’t go out of the house alone,” he said. “The Anti-Alice Organization is still after you. If you want to go outside, take me or that Ice girl with you. We can’t take any risk.”

Mikan grimaced and pulled away from Natsume. “So, I can’t even act normally in my own hometown, huh?” she said, lowering her head. “You know, I just wished that the organization would stop coming for me. Even if they capture me, I will never help them with their plans.”

“As if I’ll let them capture you…” Natsume grunted. Frankly, Aya of the AAO still bothered him. He could never forget her cunning smile, her cold scarlet eyes, and her maniacal laugh. She was a strong enemy and she’ll do what it takes to accomplish her goals. He was sure that Aya would come back even stronger than before. She practically had no weakness, while he has his fourth-shaped Alice. And as he stood there, thinking about Aya and looking down at Mikan, with the leaves flying past them, he simply moved closer to her and kissed her. Mikan was so startled, she didn’t move away, she just held onto him and then she kissed him back, as he pressed closer and closer against her. And when he finally broke the kiss, they were both breathless.

“Natsume…You’ll get in trouble with jii-chan if he catches us like this,” she said softly; her lovely smile seemed to have lit up her amber orbs more. “You know how he is…”

“The old man is still sleeping, so I still have time to play with you, polka-dots,” he said, brushing his hand through her brown hair. Just then, he slipped his hand under her skirt and touched her bottom. Mikan let out a gasp and glared at him. “What? It’s not as if you’re not used to it.”

Mikan slapped his naughty hand away and held his face between her hands. “I don’t know why you’re such a pervert, Natsume,” she said plaintively. She wasn’t in the mood to shout at the top of her lungs and insult him. After all, it was a lovely morning. “Now let’s go back inside. Breakfast is all ready and I want you to eat to your heart’s content.”

Natsume merely rolled his eyes and shrugged. “Whatever…”

It was a total chaos back in the academy. Everyone was in panic. Teachers and staff were running around tending the students, calming them down, and keeping them in order, as the security force were taking care of the investigation. Just this morning, five students from elementary division were found dead in their own bedrooms. Two girls from the middle school division had committed suicide by hanging themselves, three middle school boys were found with cuts on their wrists so therefore they bled to death, and six high school students were now sick in the hospital. The students weren’t the only victims of this strange occurrence. Two teachers from the high school department were also found dead and the cook from the middle school dorm was poisoned. Nobody knew what was really going on. It was horrible. Even the ones with the Divination Alice or the Precognition Alice couldn’t explain what happened. It was like a plague for the academy.

The middle school principal, the elementary principal and the head teachers of each department were all gathered in the meeting room to discuss the disturbing event. Sadly, the high school principal was still out of the country, so he couldn’t join them. But the two principals were planning to inform him about the crisis. The meeting began with each head teachers explaining to the principals about the mysterious deaths and sickness of their students. They’ve also researched their students and found nothing that will cause them to die or to commit suicide.

Jinno-sensei, head teacher of the elementary division who teaches math, had a hunch that it was the work of the Anti-Alice Organization, and the head teacher of the middle school division agreed with him. On the other hand, Narumi-sensei, moderating teacher of the Somatic Class who teaches Japanese, wondered if it was really the organization. As of that moment, the investigators had found no clues that would make the AAO the suspect. Whoever caused the deaths and sickness had done it so flawlessly, and Narumi guessed that it wasn’t done by just one person. Everyone in the room agreed to his theory.

All of a sudden, a security force personnel appeared beside the elementary principal and informed him some more tragic news. Two three-year old kids have just died a while ago and one 10-year old girl was sent to the hospital because of the sickness. The elementary principal, known for being calm and composed, could no longer contain his emotions inside. Out of frustration and anger, he rose up and slammed his fists on the table. “What the hell is going on here?!” He brushed his hands uneasily through his once slick emerald-green hair and gritted his teeth. “There’s no end to this. What are we supposed to do? We can’t let any more students die!”

Hii-sama understood what the elementary principal felt, but she managed to stay calm. “Without knowing the real cause, how can we solve a problem such as this?” she asked the teachers who only replied her with silence. If it was the work of the AAO, then she should’ve sensed something—even just a little bit of their presence—with her barriers. Who or what exactly was the academy dealing with?

Another security personnel came into the room through the door, apologizing in advance for his rudeness. “A student was caught in the act of murder!” he said, trying to catch his breath. Everyone’s attention was now on him as they were anxious to know who the student was. “The student was seen slashing the victims with her inventions. She has already been restrained by my companions.”

Narumi swallowed hard when he heard that the suspect was a girl using inventions. One girl immediately came into his mind, and he hoped it wasn’t her.

“Who is this student?” Jinno-sensei asked, looking irritated and impatient.

“Technical Class student,” the guard said, and Narumi’s chest tightened, “Imai Hotaru…” And when he mentioned her name, Narumi-sensei clamped his mouth in surprise as his eyes grew wide. The others were as surprised as him, especially the middle school principal. Who would’ve thought that the genius inventor could do such a thing? Narumi didn’t want to believe it and asked the guard again if he was sure that it was Hotaru. The guard said it was the truth, which only made Narumi more concerned. There must be logical explanation. Hotaru, though indifferent and sometimes cold-hearted, wasn’t a murderer. Narumi wasn’t going to stand for it. He rushed out of the room fast with only one destination in mind. He was going to find out about the truth.

To be continued…

JC: While Mikan and Natsume are out of Alice Academy, Aya makes her move and used Hotaru for her schemes. She’s really evil, right? Well, that’s just the other side of Aya. She has one sad past that will be revealed in the future chapters. Things are not going to go well for Hotaru now that she’s the one being blamed for the murders. Narumi will have a talk with her, but will he find out anything relevant? Remember, Hotaru is under Aya’s control, so she can’t reveal Aya’s identity. The story has become dark again. I’m going to enjoy writing more of this. Please review. No flaming!!