Gakuen Alice: The Remake: Chapter 35

...xXx...

She felt weightless. For a second, she couldn't remember anything, including her name. It was the image of her father before her that made her remember. They were still in the backyard of the school where she died. Shoulder slumping, she could only watch on as her mother cried her heart out, begging for her to come back. It was quite unbearable to look at her friends and family without shedding tears herself.

"I had hoped not to see you so soon, my daughter."

She turned to her father. Long ago, when she found out about her father through Uncle Kazumi, she had wanted to hug her father should she see him, but now, all she felt was awkwardness. She had to agree with her father's sentiment, though. With a sad smile, she shrugged. "Things are not always what we wanted them to be."

Izumi, unable to look at his daughter's sad face any more, stepped forward and hugged her for the first time.

Mikan, at first, was shocked before she closed her eyes and hugged her father back. The suppressed feelings inside her seemed to break through, and before she knew it, she was crying. She cried for her mother, her uncle, her friends, her best friend Hotaru and the last but not least for Natsume. She didn't know how long she cried, but after she calmed down, she found herself in a beautiful meadow. It was a beautiful sight with the colourful flowers.

"What—"

"I wish to talk to you before I have to send you back."

She blinked before her eyes widened in realisation.

Izumi offered a wry smile. "It is not your time yet, Mikan." He held out a hand. "Let's take a walk."

While enjoying the warm sunlight, the song of the birds and the gentle caress of the wind, she listened to her father's stories. Apparently, the gods were watching her as they knew about her plan to defy her eventual death. She remembered her attempt to expel her soul out from her body using the borrowed Alice, but she was too weak and died before the deed could be done. This was what her father came for, to aid her.

"I don't understand." She frowned.

Izumi chuckled. "There's no point trying to understand how the gods think."

She sighed. "I guess I can think of this as a gift, huh?"

"Definitely." He patted her head affectionately. "Though, I have to tell you that you won't remember any of this conversation, or this meeting for that matter."

She swallowed hard upon the thought of forgetting her father.

"Never fear, my daughter. We will meet again."

"Right..."

From then on, father and daughter started bonding, talking about everything and nothing.

Mikan, ever since she joined Alice Academy, finally felt at peace. The thought of not remembering her father still made her sad, but her father wouldn't want her to be unhappy during their short time together. She didn't know how long they were talking as their surroundings never changed. Much to her annoyance, she started feeling sleepy.

Her father, who noticed this, pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead tenderly. "Sleep, Mikan."

As if his words held power, her eyelids started closing. "I love you, Father."

Just before sleep claimed her world, she heard his solemn reply, "I love you, too, my daughter. May your new life be filled with joy and happiness."

...xXx...

Three figures, two male and a female, stood before a tombstone after the female laid a bouquet of wild flower, joining the already many bouquets on the ground. The grave had been cleaned and all before they arrived, so they had nothing to do but offer prayers.

"It's been seven years, Mikan," the female said solemnly. "I miss you."

The blonde young man beside her hugged her shoulders comfortingly. "We miss you."

It took years for Hotaru to forgive herself for what she did to Mikan when she was Kana. No matter what everyone else said, she felt guilty for everything. So guilty that she had difficulty functioning properly for weeks. Her grades and inventions took a worse turn until, surprisingly, her brother Subaru snapped her out from her self-pity party. Subaru knew Mikan well enough to know she would never want Hotaru to punish herself like crazy. She would have wanted her to move on and enjoy life. It took awhile, but she did, eventually, forgive herself.

They, along with their classmates, just graduated from the academy weeks ago. Most of them left to pursue their dream career while the rest were staying at the academy to become teachers or shop owners at Central Town. Hotaru had never seen herself as a teacher, but after Mikan's death, she, Ruka and Natsume had decided to devote their lives to teaching. They wished not to have another problem like the AAO, and they wished to welcome all Alice users without discrimination. Though they still had the ability class, they now had joint ability classes where one would try to understand one another despite the difference of their Alice type. Now, it had become more of teamwork than individual performance.

Natsume's feelings for Mikan had not changed over the years. He still loved her. But of course, there were days when he still had nightmares about the day he failed to protect her. He shouldn't be alive after all this years, but Yuka, under Mikan's request, had helped lengthen his lifespan with Principal Yukihira's Alice. He had wanted to give up living, but doing so would have tainted and insulted her sacrifice for the academy. In the end, he agreed to live on without her. It was not easy, but he would look forward to the day he and Mikan would meet again.

While most of them were doing okay, a few were not. Mikan's grandfather didn't take Mikan's passing kindly and refused to have any contact with the Academy. Everyone could hardly blame him for not trusting them when they couldn't keep his granddaughter from harm. It was two years after Mikan's passing that they found him died in his sleep. Yuka, despite the death of two member of her family, refused to break apart and was still around the academy as a consultant that helped young students who had difficult time to adjust with the environment and as a constant companion for Hii-sama.

...xXx...

"Young Mistress Yuki?"

Yuki looked up from the chemistry workbook to see Rin, her caretaker since she was a child. "Yeah?"

"Master Ueda has asked for your presence in the study."

Yuki nodded. "Thank you, Rin-san."

After making sure all of her books were closed, she smoothed her yellow sundress and made her way to her father's study. From what she knew, her father was having guests from some sort of academy. She knocked three times before letting herself in.

Akio Ueda smiled when he saw his 10-year-old daughter join him to meet the representatives of the Alice Academy. He knew that this day might come again, but this time, he knew everything would turn out better than the last time. His daughter would not die because of her power any more. A week after he knew about Kana's condition, he had devised a plan to preserve her soul. It might have been against the nature of human lives, but he loved his daughter too much to let go without a fight. Kana, at first, had refused, but eventually gave in when he said he wanted no other as his daughter. Besides, this time around, she would be truly his daughter by blood as she was created artificially by his DNA.

He and Kana had discussed there was a possibility that she might not be an Alice user because of the new vessel. But it turned out she was an Alice user once again. However, her Alice was not permanent. It would diminish as long as she used them. Strangely, her Alice was just like her name, a name he had picked to honour Kana's blood family. She had the ability to control snow.

Yuki titled her head slightly as she studied the guests. After a short pause, she said, "I know you."

Narumi and Serina were shocked to say the least.

Yuki hummed. "I remember your face, but not your name. I'm sorry."

"Are you truly..." Narumi hesitated with a hopeful face.

Yuki smiled. "Mikan. It's okay. You can say her name. Well, to put it simply, I'm her but not really her. We, of course, have the same soul, but my memories as Mikan were disappearing as I grew up once again. I had flashes of bits and pieces as Mikan, but over the years, I can't remember much about names, only the faces of the people I knew from before."

Though the answers were not what he wanted to hear, Narumi still nodded in understanding while Serina continued to look at Yuki in awe.

"Well, I guess I will have to introduce myself again. We are the teachers of the Alice Academy. I'm Narumi." Narumi gestured to his fellow teacher. "And this is Serina."

Yuki offered a kind smile. "Nice to meet you, Narumi-sensei, Serina-sensei. I'm Yukiko Ueda, and everyone calls me Yuki."

Narumi and Serina couldn't help but compare Yuki with the previous heiress Kana, who they knew as Mikan. They both had the same long dark hair, but their eyes were different. Yuki, like her father Akio, had the same dark eyes that seemed able to see the depth of anyone's soul. Unlike Kana, Yuki had the air of friendliness. They both had no doubt that Yuki had learned a lot more than any child of her age in terms of education. Despite how little she remembered about her past life, she had the soul of a seventeen-year-old girl.

As expected, Yuki agreed to enrol to Alice Academy, and right before she started her new classes, the teachers and principals gathered for a meeting.

"Should we tell them?" Principal Kuonji, known as the Boss of the AAO, asked no one in particular.

"No." It came from Principal Yukihira. Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to elaborate. "Yukiko is not Mikan. They may have the same soul, but they have different lives. This Yukiko did not go through what Mikan went through. What she had was memories alone."

"I agree with Principal Yukihira." Hii-sama, the Middle School Principal, nodded. "It would be unfair of us to see Yukiko as someone else. Besides, it's not our place to tell who she truly is."

Yuka was strangely quiet after hearing Narumi's confession. Hii-sama's opinion did give her the resolve that there was no way she could replace Mikan with this Yuki. Her daughter was dead, and she had accepted it years ago. Though she might treat Yukiko a bit differently, she would not give the girl any special treatment either. It would not be fair to any of them if she did.

"I vote that we let one of the TAs handle her introduction," suggested Narumi, breaking Yuka's thoughts.

Serina shook her head. "Do you think it will go well? I mean, Yuki shares the same family name as Kana."

"Yes, yes, but they wouldn't know that this Yuki is the reincarnation of Mikan."

Many raised an eyebrow at that statement.

Narumi looked around. "What? She's Mikan, but she's not, so we can safely assume she's like Mikan's reincarnation, right?" Upon receiving blank stares, he emphasised, "Right?"

"Maybe," Serio commented with a shrug. Seven years had passed by, but Serio still kept his black appearance that often scared most of the young students. The older students, though, knew he was just a big softie. Of course, no one dared say that aloud, lest they got a taste of his deadly Alice.

Jinno decided to steer back to the topic of their conversation. "It will be a good practice to let a TA handle this."

Narumi immediately grinned. "I vote for Natsume-san."

Most of them rolled their eyes.

...xXx...

After she settled down in her new room and saw her father off, she decided to walk around the school ground. With the help of Mikan's memories, she found herself at ease in the academy. She was walking aimlessly until her feet brought her into a familiar sakura tree. She somehow knew that this particular tree held lots of precious moments with the crimson eyes. She didn't know exactly of the name of this raven-haired boy she often saw Mikan talk to, so she had named him the crimson eyes. A cool breeze passed by, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the ghostly touch of the wind.

A snapping twig made her eyes open and look at the source.

Dark eyes locked into crimson eyes.

For Natsume, he felt a part of him that had withered and died long ago seemed to return to him.

For Yuki, memories of the man before her were pushed into the forefront of her mind.

Still keeping his gaze on her, he asked, "Are you lost?"

Yuki shook her head. "Not really." She offered her hand. "I'm a new student. My name is Yukiko. Are you a teacher?"

For some strange reason, he took her small hand in his bigger one and shook them. "Not yet."

Yuki titled her head. "Your name?"

He crouched down until they were eye level. "Natsume."

"Nice to meet you, Natsume."

From that moment onwards, a strong friendship was formed between the two, and from there, it grew into something more.

By the end of elementary school, she knew what to know about Natsume Hyuuga and vice versa even after he found out about her last name...

"It didn't matter, did it?"

He shook his head. "No, it didn't matter."

She hummed. "You don't mind that I share the same soul as Mikan, then?"

That statement did take him by surprise for minutes. "You..." He couldn't even finish his question, feeling quite a big lump in his throat.

Frowning, she turned to him fully. "I really hope we can be friends despite the past you and Mikan shared."

He didn't reply for a long time, and it made her nervous. "I will give you time to come to terms with this new information, but let's agree that it will not matter. Okay?"

Again, he didn't answer.

She sighed, deciding not to push the matter anymore.

She was ready to leave when he said, "You're not Mikan."

Their gaze locked at each other as she confirmed, "No, I'm not Mikan."

After a short staring contest, he nodded. "It will not matter, then."

She smiled, feeling grateful more than anything.

By the end of middle school, she got her first kiss from Natsume after he heard a guy from her class asked her out on a date, and she said no to the poor guy...

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Shouldn't you give him a chance?"

She frowned. "Why don't you look me in the eye and say you want me to accept him."

Of course, he couldn't, and she knew it, too.

"Just for the record, I have someone I like, so I can't really lead the guy on."

He concealed his surprise with, "Hn."

She sighed. "Can I go now? Father is waiting for my daily call." Her father was a bit paranoid about her safety. Seeing she was his only child, she couldn't fault him for worrying.

Finally, he took her bait to know more. "Who is he?"

"Does it matter?" She tried not to let her excitement show.

He stepped closer to her. "For what I'm going to do, yes, it does matter."

His leaned his head down, bringing his lips closer to hers. Once their lips were an inch apart, he stopped.

Her entire body felt warm as she replied breathlessly, "Why don't you find out yourself?"

With that said, he pressed his lips against hers, kissing her hard. It was wet, full of passion, and she never complained. Soft and chaste first kiss was overrated anyways.

By the end of high school, everyone knew her as Natsume's fiancée despite their age difference. He had proposed right after the graduation ceremony before everyone's eyes...

"No way." She gasped while covering her mouth.

He remained on his knee with the diamond ring in his hand.

She ignored the sudden silence around her. "I never took you as the romantic type, Natsume."

The disbelief on his face told her he didn't expect that comment from her.

She grinned. "Please give me a reason to say yes."

"..."

She laughed before tugging him to stand, and he was too shocked to disobey.

He frowned. "I love you."

A beautiful smile graced her lips. "Well, that was a good reason to say yes." She offered her left hand.

After a moment, he shook his head, still in disbelief that she would take this kind of situation lightly. Though, he should have known better.

Once he put the ring on her finger, she attacked him with hug and kisses. It took awhile before the shocked crowd around them to clap their congratulations for the newly engaged couple.

Nothing was perfect, and so was their relationship. There were times when one would doubt the other's feelings as she held the soul of his past love, and when that happened, one would remind their love for the other. In the end, neither could stay away from the other for too long. Their place was just beside each other.

The End

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