GA II: Ch. 4

GA II

Ch. 4 – Hyuuga’s secret

The bell signaling the end of the first day of school finally rang.  Natsume, who had been waiting in anticipation, was the first one out of the door.  He moved with urgency through the hall in the opposite direction that every other student who filed out of his or her classroom took.  The afternoon classes seemed to have passed much slower then usual.  Since he discovered that his girlfriend, Sakura Mikan, had transferred from Gakuen Alice to Daisen public high school, and now that it was revealed that she hadn’t received any of his letters throughout the past year, Natsume wanted answers.  

Natsume came to an abrupt halt outside of Mikan’s classroom door.  Past the students who crowded through the door Natsume spotted her.  Mikan still sat at her desk, taking her time to gather her things.  Natsume was still having a difficult time believing that she was really there.  That Gakuen Alice would allow Alice owners to attend a public high school outside of the safety of the academy, and in a completely different city, was beyond his comprehension.  Natsume needed answers.

As he waited for the room to empty, Natsume heard Hotaru and Yu come to a halt behind him.  They all agreed during lunch to gather at the Hyuuga residence after school to further discuss the situation.  Tsubasa and Misaki were contacted, via Hotaru’s cell phone, and instructed where to meet with the rest of the group.  Hotaru purposely neglected to mention anything about Natsume being in Daisen to the couple.  

When only a few students remained in the classroom, including Mikan and Luca, Natsume entered and made his was towards Mikan’s desk.  Luca was already there, picking up her school bag.  Effortlessly, Natsume relieved Luca of her bag as he walked past and stopped at Mikan’s side.  As Mikan stood from her desk she caught a glimpse of the intense stare between Natsume and Luca and could feel the tension rising between them.  The two old friends continued their disapproval of one another that had began during lunch.  

“Don’t think that you can just waltz back into her life like nothing has happened over the past year.  Don’t think that she hasn’t moved on as a result of your negligence,” Luca stated with a glare.  He didn’t like the idea of Mikan jumping back into a relationship with his former best friend so easily after all of the hurt that he had caused her.  

“For what reasons do you believe that she has moved on?”  Natsume questioned in his calm and cool manner.

Mikan stared awkwardly back and forth from one to the other in surprise.  The mood felt similar to the past when it had been obvious that they both liked her.  Yet, unlike the past, Luca seemed more willing to fight for his cause.  Throughout the past year, Luca had been the one who was there for her.  Well, both Luca and Yu, really.  Though Mikan was careful not to give the impression that she wanted more then friendship from their strange devotion.

“Let’s go, Mikan,” Natsume said and held out a hand for her to take, as if to invite Mikan to choose between them.

Mikan felt bad for Luca.  She loved him much in the same way that she loved Hotaru and her heart ached by the painful expression on his face.  She glanced at him apologetically before taking Natsume’s hand and allowing him to lead her out of the classroom.  

They walked in relative silence.  Natsume lead the way with Mikan by his side. Hotaru and Yu followed directly behind while Luca followed more slowly.  

As they came closer to the bus stop Mikan was greeted suddenly by a face that she hadn’t seen in over a year.  “Mikan-chan, is that really you?”  Aoi nearly squealed with delight as she hopped up from the bench where she was sitting and glomped onto Mikan in her excitement.  “What are you doing here?” Aoi asked as she pulled out of her hug enough to hold Mikan out at arms length and looked her over from head to toe as if checking to be sure that Mikan was really Mikan.  Aoi was in her last year at Daisen Jr. High, which was located down the road from the High School, in the opposite direction from the bus stop.

“Anoh…..that’s what we’re on our way to your house to explain,” Mikan explained.  “It’s good to see you again, Aoi-chan…..”   

Aoi didn’t hear anything else that Mikan said.  Her gaze moved to the couple behind her, who she vaguely recognized from her short stay out in the open at Gakuen Alice.  “Lu-chan?”  Aoi whispered when her eyes fell up the familiar face behind them.

“Huh?”  Mikan blinked in confusion, unsure that she had heard Aoi correctly.  Mikan stepped to the side and turned to follow Aoi’s gaze.

“Lu-chan!”  Aoi exclaimed, giving Luca just enough time to look up and brace himself against her tackle.

“Ouf!”  Luca let out with surprise when the girl slammed against his chest.  He stumbled backwards a few feet and barely caught his balance in time to keep them both from falling to the ground.  He looked down with wide eyes of shock at the top of the girl’s head.  Her arms were wrapped around his waist and she squeezed while hugging him.  “Lu-chan?”  He repeated the name that he had been called in confusion.  There was only one person who called him that, he thought to himself, and that was his mother.  

After a couple of seconds of thought he suddenly remembered the second person who ever called him that and inhaled a sharp breath.  His eyes couldn’t get much wider as he took hold of the girls shoulders and held her out to get a better look at who she was.  “Aoi-chan?”  He spoke her name in disbelief.  It was Natsume’s little sister, whom he had known since before they ever went into the Academy.  

Aoi raised her head to meet his eyes with her own and beamed a smile up at him.  “I can’t believe that you’re here too!  Su----GOI!”  She accented the word with her excitement.  “What are you guys doing here?  I can’t believe the Academy let all of you out together….” She started to exclaim without much thought.

“Aoi!”  Natsume cut her off abruptly in a stern deep voice.  They weren’t in such a place where it was appropriate to talk about Gakuen Alice.  Aoi clamped her hands over her mouth and shot an apologetic look towards her brother.  “We will discuss this at home,” Natsume told her and reached his other arm around her shoulders to lead her away from Luca and towards the bus that had just arrived at the stop.

Coincidently the Hyuuga’s lived in the same neighborhood as where the group from Gakuen Alice had moved.  The Hyuuga’s merely lived down further past the bus stop on the next street over.  “My, isn’t this a coincidence,” Luca commented as they turned to walk up the street towards the house.

“I wonder about that,” Hotaru responded.  Mikan could tell by the look on her best friends face that she was already forming conclusions in her mind about the convenience of the situation.

About midway down the street, Natsume lead the group up the walkway to their Apartment building.  The building contained four 2-bedroom apartments.  The Hyuuga’s apartment was on the second floor of the building.  The stairs leading up divided into opposite directions and lead to two separate balconies for each of the two, second floor apartments.  The Hyuuga’s apartment was to the left.  “We’re home,” Natsume announced as he lead the group through the door.  The main room of the apartment served as a living room, dining area, and kitchen.  The kitchen was separated from the rest of the room by an island counter.  

“Welcome home,” Hyuuga-san, Natsume and Aoi’s father, responded in greeting.  He was in the kitchen with his back to them.  After turning around, he froze in surprise at the sight before him.  “Mi…Mikan-chan… Nogi-kun…” he stammered in astonishment upon recognizing the two Alices.  “What’s going on here?”  He then asked his son.

“That’s what I would like to know,” Natsume answered.  “For now, we’re waiting on a couple more arrivals,” he explained before instructing everyone further into the main room after removing their shoes.

“Who?”  Hyuuga-san asked, finally moving forward.  “Are they all from….,” he trailed off his sentence, unsure if it was safe to mention the academy.  

“Tsubasa and Misaki,” Natsume answered.  “They should be on their way.  This is Imai Hotaru and Tobita Yu.  Yes, they are all from Gakuen Alice,” Natsume introduced the two Alices whom his father and sister did not know.

“It is nice to meet you,” Hotaru and Yu said in unison with a polite bow.  

Hyuuga-san returned their bow in greeting and then approached Mikan.  “It is nice to see you again, the academy has been very generous in allowing so many of you to visit at once,” he commented.

“Yet don’t you find any of this strange?”  Natsume cut his father off to ask as he walked to Mikan’s side.  

“What?” Hyuuga-san asked his son in confusion.

“Mikan hasn’t received any of my letters for the past year and she has been sending letters to Kuji this whole time,” Natsume explained, presenting the addressed envelop of the letter that Mikan had wrote the night before and originally had planned to mail earlier that day if they hadn’t run into one another at school.  “Mikan had no idea that we moved to Daisen, and they aren’t here for a visit.  The Academy sent them here to attend public high school.”  Natsume further explained to his father, repeating some of what he was told earlier by Mikan.  “You don’t find that a little odd?”

Hyuuga-san examined the envelop that he son handed to him for a long time, seeming deep in thought.  

“What if the Academy is screening Mikan-chan’s mail again, and not allowing any of it in or out?”  Luca suggested with his arms crossed over his chest.  He was sitting rather stiffly on the couch with Aoi next to him appearing especially cheerful.

“For what reason?  Azumi-Sensei has worked so hard in the past three years for the benefit of the students.  Especially those who are a part of the Special Alice Type and who were part of the Dangerous Alice Type classes,” Hotaru replied theoretically, trying to make sense of the situation.  

“Either way, I think that we should wait for Tsubasa-san and Misaki-san to arrive before we try to make conclusions,” Yu commented, taking on an authoritative position out of habit from his years of being the class representative.

They all agreed with a silent nod.  Hotaru sat on the couch next to Aoi.  Aoi happily scooted closer to Luca to make more room.  Luca’s look became more awkward as he contemplated moving to another seat.  However, Yu sat in the only chair while Natsume lead Mikan to the two-seater couch where they sat holding hands.  Hyuuga-san moved back to the kitchen, where he began to fuss about making tea and arranging store bought dangos on a plate for a snack.

The room was quiet when Hyuuga-san brought the tray of tea and snacks.  Everyone seemed mostly lost to their own thoughts.  Aoi was smiling to herself about her thoughts as she watched Luca with adoring eyes.  Luca’s look became thoughtful as he sat leaning forward with his arms rested on his knees.  Natsume, Hotaru, and Yu’s looks seemed vacant, as if their minds weren’t truly in the room.  Mikan slid from the couch onto the floor to take care of the tea that Hyuuga-san set on the table in the middle of the living room area of the room.  She had just finished pouring the tea and began to pass out the cups when there was a knock at the door.  

“I’ll get it,” Natsume spoke and stood abruptly to head towards the door.  Mikan handed the cup in her hands to Luca and followed Natsume to the door.

“Na….Natsume-kun!?” Tsubasa and Misaki spoke simultaneously when Natsume opened the door.  

“What’s going on here?”  Tsubasa asked, moving his gaze to Mikan, who stood beside Natsume.  “I thought he was in Kuji?”

“So did I,” Mikan answered meekly.

“Obviously, I’m not,” Natsume responded at the same time as Mikan.  

Mikan wrapped her arms around one of Natsume’s to pull him away from the door so that her Senpai’s could enter.  “We’re all here to discuss the situation,” she spoke nervously.

Mikan and Natsume lead Tsubasa and Misaki into the living room where everyone sat.   Yu was now sitting on the arm of the couch beside Hotaru, having given the chair up for Hyuuga-san to sit in.  Tsubasa and Misaki were offered the two-seat couch to sit in and Mikan knelt beside the table to finish serving the tea and snacks while Natsume stood not that far away from her looking like he might start pacing the room at any moment.  

When Mikan finished passing out the teacups and offering dango sticks, Hyuuga-san was the first to speak.  “Before anyone begins, there is something that I need to explain,” he began to say, bringing everyone’s attention to him.  “It was because of my request that all mail between you was ceased,” Hyuuga-san confessed to his son and to Mikan with a sorrowful glance.  Mikan covered a hand over her mouth in surprise and stared at him with wide eyes.  Natsume was taken back; his arms came unfolded from his chests and fell to his side with his hands curling unintentionally into fists as he took a step back to stare at his father with disbelief.  “Gomen nasai, I am sorry, but please listen to my reasons,” He apologized sincerely.  The others in the room watched the interaction and listened, stunned to silence.

“Why?” Mikan managed to ask in a muffled voice through the hand that still covered her mouth.

“While in Kuji, I began to notice that we were being watched by a small group,” Hyuuga-san began to explain.  He had become extremely overprotective of his children since they were returned to him.  “At first I thought that I was just being paranoid, but throughout the couple of years that we lived in Kuji, there were at least 3 different men that I started to recognize and began to see at least one of them everywhere that we went.”  Unconsciously, Natsume’s fists began to relax at his side as he continued to stare at his father, completely unaware of the situation that was being described.  There were a few gasps from the others in the room.  Mikan shifted so that she could look at Natsume and reached up for one of his hands.

“There was also something that I didn’t explain to the administrators of Gakuen Alice,” Hyuuga-san continued to say.  Everyone watched him expectantly, except for Aoi who was now looking down at her hands, which were folded in her lap, and wore a somber expression.  “That Aoi-chan seems to have developed a second Alice.”

Natsume’s head snapped over to look at his sister with complete shock.  Neither his father nor his sister had told him anything about this.