I'm not Higuchi Tachibana. I'm not a genius. So I cannot own Gakuen Alice :(

A Matter Of Time
By Koalas

CHAPTER 5

Hotaru resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and gave a simple nod. "I called you all here. Well," she gave a pointed look at Tonouchi, "I called most of you here. To put it simply, we are all in danger."

Tsubasa raised a finger and opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off.

"How do I know?" Hotaru continued, ignoring him, "This document, which I believe truly belongs to Mikan."

Hotaru pulled out a creased envelope and handed it to Mikan, who, naturally, dropped it. She quickly scrambled for it, and was about to open it, when Hotaru stopped.

"Hold on Mikan," said Hotaru, walking to the door, and lowering her voice, "I need to take care of something first," She yanked open the door, and a slightly surprised Natsume stumbled in to the room. He swiftly recovered, acting as if he was expecting it. He gave a hardly noticeable scan of the room, pausing at Mikan, before he settled his defiant gaze on Hotaru.

She looked steely, back at him. "Hyuuga," She began simply.

"Imai, y-"

"I don't care, Hyuuga." Hotaru cut in, somewhat annoyed at being interrupted. "We can discuss your sneaking around at a later date. There isn't time. Luckily you haven't heard too much, so you have a choice. You can leave now, and save yourself a world of trouble. Or you can stay, and see the contents of the envelope. You understand, though, if you choose the latter option, you can't back out." Hotaru concluded her unusually lengthy proposal, and waited impatiently for Natsume's answer.

Natsume narrowed his eyes in confusion and hostility at Hotaru, before peeking at Mikan, through his bangs, out of the corner of his eyes. She had on her wide-eyed, hopeful expression that he hated to love.

He sighed in his head, then replied Hotaru the affirmative. He was in.

-O-

One man jogged around the corner where he saw his partner, waiting patiently by a signpost.

"I know where the others are," he started, and his partner raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"They're all gathered in one room, along with a couple other pupils." he finished with grimace.

"So, what's the problem? Let's get them!"

The agent rolled his eyes. "Have you learnt nothing from training? Never try to get more than two victims at a time. God, you can be such a pinhead sometimes, always rushing into things!"

His partner bristled, offended. "Don't blame me if I'm able to think on my feet, and you're stuck in your own mud, incapable of taking risks!"

He took a step forward, as if to act violent, before catching himself and shaking his head. "It's not worth the risk,"

"Hello? In case, you've been asleep these past two days: this is an emergency!"

"We're under strict orders, not to balls this mission up!"

"We're under strict orders to get this done as quickly as possible!"

The agent looked around him, and sighed at his partner. "Look, we're never going to get anything done at this rate, what are we going to do?"

His partner stared at the sky for a while. Scrubby clouds were sparse, but the sky behind them was still a foggy, murky blue, like it was polluted. Somewhere in the meagre pool he found inspiration, as it wasn't long before he looked back at the other agent and grinned slowly.

"How far is the room from here? I have an idea…"

-O-

Mikan,

From the day I time-tripped, and arrived back at the Special Ability classroom, I knew life at Alice Academy would change, drastically.

If successful, Tonouchi Akira should be able to get this to you in time. I would deliver it myself, but I have a feeling that once the academy's big shots hear about my experience, no doubt I'll be removed from contact with you guys. Akira is my most trusted student. I have to tell you what happened during my time-trip.

I can't say for certain where it was. I know it was in the future. How distant, I couldn't say. I was watching a meeting, where officers of some sort were sat around a table. The officers were planning some sort of attack, the point of their attack being something close to you and me. I watched the whole thing, and watched as one officer cleared up after everyone else had left. When I saw her face, I must have gasped, because she looked up and saw me, looking at her. She was freaked out, asking what I was doing there.

That's what scared me that day, Mikan. She saw me.

I don't know if you know this, but while I travel, I enter an empty place, a room of nothingness where I can use a window to see into the past or future. I like to simply call it 'time space'. Only when I pass through the window am I actually transported to that time, and anything there can interact with me. Otherwise, whilst I am in time space, no-one can see or hear me. Like a two-way mirror. You see the reason for my shock.

The only plausible explanation I can give is that those people, or perhaps the future in general, are able to glitch my Alice, or worse, any Alice. Regardless, these people are dangerous.

What does any of this have to do with you Mikan? You're probably very confused. The thing, is that the officer that saw me was the spitting image of you. And I have no doubt that you will play an important role in the events to follow.

If they have already come for me, I fear it's only a matter of time before you are pursued. You can't become a part of this, Mikan. You have to stay safe, and stay away. I can't tell you why right now, but they aren't people you want to get involved with.

Do everything in your power to stay safe. It's your only hope, and hopefully, will impede whatever this attack is about.

Noda-sensei

-O-

Mikan concluded in a shaky voice. When she looked up, every face in the room was turned to hers, a variety of emotions strewed across them. Some mouths were hung open, some were stern and tight. Some looked shaken, others closed off. All eyes were wide and disbelieving.

Mikan was shaking her head, confused and shivering. "What does any of this mean? Who's coming after me?"

Long seconds of hesitance passed before Tonouchi piped up. "So, what, some dangerous, secret organization from the future are planning to kidnap Mikan?"

"That doesn't really add up," Tsubasa shot down.

"Well, I'm only trying to make sense of all this," Tonouchi retorted, slightly on the defensive.

"That would only work if they planned to go back in time to get her,"

"Well, there you go then!"

Tsubasa raised his voice. "Not really, because then what? Do they keep her, here in this time, or take her back with them to the future?"

Misaki broke in, annoyed. "You guys aren't seriously bickering at a time like this? And you're talking as if they're going to get Mikan. I'm pretty sure we have to help her stay safe. At least, that's why you called us here, right, Hotaru?"

The young inventor confirmed with a small nod.

Then Mikan, who had been silent the whole time, asked, "Is there any idea what the organization wants? Apart from me, I mean?" She looked from face to face, each one coming up blanks. "Noda writes that they're targeting something 'close to you and me'. Couldn't he elaborate? I mean, if he watched the whole thing, why couldn't he just tell us what was going on?"

Her voice was louder than necessary. Her eyes were shiny and her lips were trembling. The others just looked on in shock. It was very rare to see Mikan in a state of anger, or more accurately, frustration.

Another cloak of silence shrouded the room.

Hotaru was the first to speak. "What else is in the envelope, Mikan?"

Mikan dug her hand around before pulling out what looked like an average, dark green gemstone.

"An Alice stone…" Tsubasa breathed.

"But who's…?" Misaki voiced everyone's thoughts.

"It's most likely Noda's," Hotaru stated. "At any rate, you should keep hold of it, Mikan. It may come to be useful,"

Mikan nodded animatedly and placed the stone carefully in her jacket pocket. Then Hotaru walked over to Mikan, took the letter and tossed it to Natsume.

"You've been awfully quiet, Hyuuga." They narrowed their eyes at each other. "Please get rid of the letter accordingly. It's evidence, which may fall into the wrong hands."

Natsume frowned.

"Something wrong, Hyuuga?" Hotaru asked, unpleasantly.

"My Alice won't work." he said curtly, his frown deepening.

Hotaru right eye twitched, and she turned to Tsubasa and Misaki. "Are your Alices functioning properly?"

Misaki went still for a moment, before she gasped and shook her head in shock and disbelief. "No…"

Tsubasa stepped on Misaki's shadow, face screwed with concentration. He exhaled suddenly, "Can you move?"

Misaki raised her arms and shook her legs out in answer.

"Something's wrong here," Hotaru's face was grim.

Natsume spoke again. "It's as if… I'm being nullified."

Everyone's head swung to meet Mikan's, who looked like the proverbial deer in headlights. "I'm not doing anything, honest!"

Hotaru's eyes creased in unusual worry. "Is it possible you're leaking out Alice power by accident…?" she muttered to herself, really. "Tonouchi, are amplifying Mikan's Alice?" she asked sternly. He shook his head dumbly.

Misaki took a step back, considerably freaked. "What's going on?"

And then Hotaru collapsed.

-O-

All regulation was thrown out the window. The Colonel burst into the Lieutenant General's office, leaving the door wide open and slammed up against the wall, and, forgetting a formal salute, stormed right up to the wide, oaken desk. Both palms firmly planted on the surface, she looked sternly at her superior, breathing heavily.

"Lt. General, what is the meaning of this?" She didn't let him answer. "The division's training increase, the meetings, the General of the Army flying in!"

e narrowed his eyes. "So you've heard-"

"Yes, I've heard! How long did you think you could keep this from us? Did you really think we wouldn't be able to find out sooner or later? If what I think's happening is actually happening, wouldn't it be more wise to let us know sooner?" She paused, realising she was practically shouting, and lowered her voice.

"This is serious, Lieutenant General. We deserve recognition at times like these. Even if we don't deserve it, we need to be involved. Say something!"

The Lieutenant General stared up during the whole spectacle, coolly sat behind the desk. He listened to the Colonel's passionate rant. He watched as she curled her trembling hands into fists and banged them against the desk for emphasis. But now it was his turn. He slowly and deliberately got up from his chair, eyes down and shielded.

"How dare you waltz into my office, uninvited, and seem to be under the delusion that you can speak to me in this manner!"

He raised his head with this, and the Colonel could see his eyes blazing with unguarded fury. His voice was controlled, but it still boomed, resonating around the room, and the Colonel took a step back, flinching, as though the voice physically pushed her.

"How dare you! Have you forgotten that this is a professional establishment, and the way you are acting is completely inappropriate. I can have you finshed, here, Colonel, completely finished! 'If what you think is happening'. If you really want to know, Colonel, you are the only person I didn't bother to inform of the situation. And this is exactly why."

He took a breath and gestured to the door. "If I were you, Colonel, I'd walk out that door right now, and try to redeem yourself. Prove that I shouldn't have you removed from this organization straight away. This won't happen again."

He continued to stare hard at her, as she quietly made her way back out of his office, shutting the door as softly as possible behind her. She hung her head for a few moments, before straightening her uniform, and marching briskly back to her own office. She had never seen the Lieutenant General that angry before. She had really done it, now.

And what did he mean, she was the only head officer he didn't notify? Did he really predict her outburst, or was there some other reason? Even so, it didn't hide the fact that there was something to notify, meaning he basically confirmed her suspicion. They were preparing for war.

-O-

Well. I have been bad. I know, I know, but I think you guys should know by now - I'm not a frequent updater! I shall try to be better... forgive?
I really hope you guys are enjoying the story, I've slightly lost inspiration. Hopefully in the next chapter, I can start getting into the action-y bit, and you'll see Natsume (in particular) in action. Click that link, and tell me what you think! (that rhymed :3) I'm happy to get any reviews at all, I know how lazy we can be (guilty)

Lisee xx