v.

Sakurano Shuuichi is twenty-four when his new life begins, and it happens like this.

The sun outside the windows of the classroom was bright and warm, the first warm spring sun of the year. From the moment it had shown his face today, the kids had barely been able to sit still. Shuuichi had to reprimand them three times to try to concentrate – exam week was coming up slowly but unavoidably – and then had used an old trick of Yukihira-sensei's to gather the last vestiges of their concentration. But these last droplets seemed like they were evaporating quickly on the hot stone that was a child's patience with a teacher when more important things were calling. Especially, he thought cynically, when the teacher was feeling impatient and jittery, as well. Catching Takara-kun's attempt to levitate the soaking rag used to clean the board and to wring it out over poor Hiro-kun's head and, at the same time, telling Misao-chan that no, he would not tell them what part of today's lectures would be important for the exams and which rather not, he felt a sigh building up. He loved being a teacher, he really did. He could see why Yukihira-sensei had loved teaching so much, and also why he had been such a great teacher. Shuuichi knew he was far from being close to his role model, but he was doing his best. On some days, he had the feeling Sensei would approve.

"Sakurano-sensei!"

Even now, after six years, it sometimes felt strange to be called by the honorific he had reserved for the people he had respected most.

"Sakurano-sensei, they are looking for you!" The voice came from a middle-school student who had pushed open the door to his classroom without even pausing to knock. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked like she had been running. She was holding her side in an attempt to keep a stitch at bay. "Please, you have to come quickly, there are people looking for you and they sounded so urgent, they said to tell you to come to the hospital wing as fast as possible!"

The urgency in her voice – everything on her – made his intuition go haywire.

"We will finish for today," he told his class that had, amazingly, gone completely still, as if the kids could feel the cold shivers of anxiety that raced through him. "Don't forget to copy down your homework. I'll send a substitute teacher for the last ten minutes. Just don't draw attention to you."

Hospital wing. There was someone who was hurt.

Call Imai, he wanted to say and almost stretched out his senses to find said person but swallowed his words in the last second and reigned in his impulse. Six years, and still it felt natural to have Subaru by his side, even after he had disappeared from their time. Sometimes he felt like the Healing Alice still was there, right next to him, with his usual grim face that could not hide the kindness that Shuuichi knew was there. Dismissing the middle-school student, he walked down the corridor calmly, in the opposite direction of the hospital wing. Pausing his step in front of a restroom, he only had to wait a heartbeat before the door opened and a teaching assistant exited. He seemed vaguely familiar, but Shuuichi couldn't be bothered to recall his name just now. "There is an emergency in the hospital," he told the flabbergasted TA. "I have to go. Would you mind checking in on Class A?" Without waiting for an answer, he turned on his heel and was off, in direction of the hospital. He walked purposefully until he was out of sight, then used his Alice to teleport into the hospital wing.

The waiting room in front of the nurses' room was bursting with people. Shuuichi's eye caught Natsume first. Tall and dark-haired, he towered over the people sitting in the chairs like a silent guardian. The atmosphere surrounding him only added to that impression: he seemed like a guard dog. Extremely wary and ready to defend his master with his life. Luca, blond, broad-shouldered and loyal, stood at his side. Tsubasa and Misaki were looming in the immediate surroundings, clearly wanting to be there even though they would be of no actual use. The same probably could be said about Youichi. Noda-Sensei was slumped on another chair, worn and tired and talking to Misaki- and Narumi-sensei. His face was grey and shadowed but shone with a careful spark of hope. It seemed like every one of the old group who still was at the Academy was present. Mikan saw Shuuichi first, a smile breaking out on her face. She almost disappeared in the crowd of people around her, she was so small. She had become, if possible, even more beautiful, and carried herself with a calmness Yuka-sempai never had shown.

"Sakurano-sempai. It has been some time."

If one could call one year some time, then, yes, it had been some time since he had last seen her. They had searched for the Imai siblings so long and so desperately, gathering the last scraps of memory they had of them together piece by piece. Somehow, Hotaru had seemed to be more present than her brother, remembered in a cool look here, alive in one of her crazy inventions there. Subaru had been a different story. Shuuichi had been the only one, but he remembered almost everything. It probably was why it had hurt so much when he had been forced to give up on the search, leaving it completely to Noda-sensei, Mikan, Natsume and Luca. Subaru, he figured, deserved someone who looked for him as devotedly as Mikan was looking for Hotaru. But Noda-sensei had only so much power, and they only had so much time. And to separate Natsume, Luca and Mikan would have been cruel. Tono had dropped out easily, merely slightly miffed that he was missing out on an adventure. Shuuichi had ceded his place only hesitantly.

Six years.

Six years since the Imai siblings had disappeared, four years since Mikan had been brought back and they had started looking for them. Two and a half years of constant searching, investigating and despairing over the fact that his best friend was gone and nobody seemed to remember, another three years of searching, distracting, willing something to happen. Every day they looked could be the day they found the necessary clue. He kept telling himself that much, but it was hard. The more so since days passed, turned to months and years, and no sign of Subaru and Hotaru was found. And then – as if to tell them something, as if to make them realize how difficult their quest was, how outright impossible – Noda-sensei's powers had weakened. One year of feeling left out and yet, against all odds, hoping.

We will find them, Mikan had promised him. He could still hear her voice: so sweet, so strong. Just like her parents. We will find them, both Subaru-sempai and Hotaru, and we will bring them back.

Now, Mikan's smile was a mixture of elation and fear, of disbelief and cautious hope. Her expression told Shuuichi everything he needed to know.

I promise.

There were only two beds in the room Mikan led him to, and both were occupied. Shuuichi's eyes were immediately drawn to the larger figure in the bed further inside the room. Dark hair, a stern forehead – Subaru looked like he was sleeping, his chest rising and falling slowly. Without his glasses, he seemed… younger. Less strict. He seemed older, too, older than the last time he had seen him. Whatever had happened, wherever the siblings had been: time had not stopped for them completely. Hotaru's hair was shoulder-length and her features the one of a young woman, a lot like Mikan's. Since her eyes were closed, she seemed softer. Both siblings looked calm, like they just were asleep. Nothing in their faces told the watchers what had transpired, what they had experienced and seen, or whether they had seen anything, at all. They seemed safe, and alive. In a way, it was a relief, even though Shuuichi still was far from feeling it.

"We found them in a time loop," Luca, who had left Mikan at Hotaru's bed and had followed Shuuichi, explained. "It seems they are alright, they even aged. But they won't wake up. We hoped that, in a more familiar environment…" His voice dropped, resignation clear in it. "Well, Hotaru didn't respond to Mikan. But maybe Imai-sempai…" He stopped, his blue eyes lingering on Shuuichi full of careful hope. "Maybe, if you talk to him-"

Shuuichi's heart sank. It not even Mikan had been able to wake Hotaru, then how was he supposed to be able to wake Subaru? Granted, they had been close. While he liked to think they had been friends, though, he couldn't speak for Subaru. They had spent years together, the two of them against the rest of the world – had it been enough to forge a bond? Enough to have Subaru react to his presence, or his words? They had been too alike, therefore they had constantly fought. Then they had been given a common goal, they had shared their pain and had grown closer. Was it real friendship, or just a necessity of fate, that had held them together? They had been an unlikely pairing right from the beginning. Thinking back, he had no idea how it had been possible that it had worked out.

Still, he had to try. Everyone's eyes lingering on him with varying degrees of hope to hopelessness, Shuuichi felt acutely conscious of himself. He braced himself on the hospital bed and leaned down, willed the man in front of him to open his eyes. "Subaru."

No reaction, just the soft rising and falling of his chest. Shuuichi felt despair creep up into his throat. He swallowed.

"Subaru, wake up."

Nothing.

"Idiot, it's time to get up, we're going to be late!"

From the corner of his eyes he could see Mikan, who had left Hotaru's side, watching him as well, hope shining from her familiar brown eyes like a light house's beacon. Shuuichi felt his spirits fall in the face of her unwavering hope and trust and stepped back, his hands curling into fists.

"He never listens to me."

Traitor. Traitor. We promised, remember? How can you do this to me?

Luca reached out, ever the one to seek and give physical comfort, and touched his arm. "Do you think there's something wrong with them? The doctors said physically, they're fine." His voice was resolute. He was refusing to give up hope. It was commendable, really, but contrary to Shuuichi the kid hadn't been holding on to his hope for more than two decades already and was tired of it.

Shuuichi shrugged. "It could be anything. I don't know."

"Well, the specialist for Healing probably is Imai-kun himself," Noda-sensei said. "Sakurano-kun, do you think-"

Did he think what, exactly? He'd never used his Alice on unconscious people before. Besides, copying an Alice didn't just work like that and he had never liked the name. Mostly, it was Shuuichi's Alice boasted the willpower of the certain person, thus enabling him to overcome his own limitations. To some, it might seem as if he was copying the person's Alice and thus was able to amplify its power, but it wasn't, not really. Useless Alices, he thought tiredly, so useless. He could sense that something was coming but never knew what. He could strengthen other people's Alices, but he couldn't strengthen his own hope. And besides, if he tried to increase Subaru's willpower while Subaru himself wasn't even conscious… He had no idea whether it would make a difference.

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "Usually, it only works-"

Mikan interrupted him. "You only know something does not work when you have tried it," she admonished him. And something strange happened: for a second, he could hear Yukihira-sensei speaking with her voice, and see Yuka-sempai in the way she placed her fists onto her hips.

Trying to banish his dark thoughts, Shuuichi smiled. "You are right."

"Wait," Tsubasa said, suddenly nervous. "What happens if we wake them up – will everything be fine with them?"

But Shuuichi had already reached out for Subaru and touched his shoulder.

He had used his own Alice to boast Subaru's Healing Alice before. In those last days of the reign of the Elementary School Principal it had felt like they had done nothing else but try to save people who were close to dying – or dying: Yuka-sempai, Nobara-chan, Persona, Natsume. But Shuuichi had never given any thought to the actual healing process, since Subaru had always been there to take the lead. He had no idea what he was looking for, or what he was supposed to do. For a second, nothing happened, and he tried to prepare himself: what would he tell the others? Mikan's eyes flashed in front of his face. I promise. But there were no words to soothe her pain. Shuuichi knew exactly how Mikan would feel, since he would lose someone precious, as well.

Idiot, bastard, idiot. You promised, remember? Don't leave like this. You've done enough. Come back.

No answer.

Subaru.

Shuuichi willed all his power into his friend, everything he could spare, everything he had. Twelve years' worth of memories, six years of searching and waiting. Yukihira-sensei, Yuka-sempai, Mikan. The Pond in winter, the secret room under the stairs of the Middle School Dorm building, the Student Council Common Room, the coolness of the stone walls on a summer afternoon. A series of failed tests. It had been his cry for friendship, had Subaru ever understood? Shuuichi had thought they had been friends, but maybe he had been mistaken. Maybe-

Nothing.

He was just about to pull back his hand, utterly defeated, when he felt it. It started as a small, almost invisible trickle of something. Perhaps words, maybe images and sounds and colors and noises. As if he were a spectator in a show, Shuuichi watched what Subaru felt when he used his Alice on someone. There was the warm glow that was Subaru, like a breathing, living fire. His edges were sharp and rugged and Shuuichi wondered, for a second, whether it would hurt him when he touched it, but no pain came. There was no sign of an illness, or something else, on him whatsoever. No wrongness to the feel of Subaru, no black shadow, no painful feeling radiating off him.

But no signs of waking up, either.

Opening his eyes, Shuuichi ground the heels of his hands into his eyes. "I can feel him, but nothing else."

Useless. Three Alices and still unable to save anyone, least of all your own best friend. Stronger than the average Alice, but still completely useless.

The silence in the room seemed to grow and grow until Shuuichi got the feeling he was suffocating. He wanted to leave, right now. He turned on his heel. "I'm sorry," he said over his shoulder, not looking at anyone. "I can't do anything to wake them up."

He'd only gotten two steps far when suddenly, a collective gasp swept through the room. At the same time, something tugged at his sleeve.

Shuuichi froze.

"Idiot," a hoarse voice whispered. "You're not supposed to do something. You have to convince the person to do it himself."

Suddenly, the bed was surrounded by gasping, smiling, talking people. Subaru closed his eyes again, as if annoyed. "What are they doing here. And what's with that stupid ponytail you're wearing."

"They were worried about you," Shuuichi said and felt a sudden lightness in his chest that hadn't been there since Yukihira-sensei's death. Suddenly, the white hospital room did not look sterile and cold but inviting, a place of recovery rather than of death and injury. This, he supposed, was what real and complete happiness felt like. He probably was grinning like a fool. "Be polite, idiot. We've been looking for you for years, and you've just done what? Hung around in a time loop and enjoyed the view?"

"Hmpf." Subaru didn't deign to answer that. If he found something strange in their behavior, he didn't let anything show. "Seems like you've not been able to keep things running while I was gone."

Shuuichi smiled, wide. "Seems like you have not changed."

Another snort, followed by a quick hustle as some of the watchers left the room to grant them more privacy. Suddenly locating the hospital bed next to his and remembering the situation, Subaru tried to sit up and almost collapsed back into the pillows."Hotaru-"

"As soon as the doctors have made sure of your condition you can wake her up, too."

Subaru didn't answer, but Shuuichi knew him well enough to read his mind without using his intuition. He sighed and made a gesture at Luca, who had already unfastened the brakes of Hotaru's hospital bed.

"Stubborn idiot."

Subaru glared at him. "Draw yourself a forest and get lost in it."

"My, aren't we poetic today!"

But he put his hand on Subaru's shoulder, barely feeling his own exhaustion. It mingled with Subaru's and turned into something else, warm and familiar. Soon enough Hotaru was stirring feebly, her dark eyelashes fluttering. Mikan was there the next second, weeping and embracing her best friend. Hotaru looked like she had no idea what was going on and then locked gazes with her brother over the room full of exited, chattering people. Subaru gave her a smile.

A smile.

Shuuichi saw it, bright and clear. He couldn't help himself: he laughed. And, for the first time in two decades, felt complete.

The thought only hit him later, after he had watched the kids during dinner (usually, the combination of Ruichi-kun and fried potatoes gave him head-aches, but, as if they sensed that something good had happened, the kids behaved well that evening) and prepared the classes for the next day. Brushing his teeth in front of the mirror, Shuuichi absent-mindedly stared past his reflection. He had the exams prepared. So then, there was the issue of what he wanted to give his kids as a reward in the wake of the test week. He didn't want to spoil them, but they had worked hard. How easy it had become a part of his life: thinking of the children under his tutelage, caring for them, protecting them. He wouldn't have thought he would come to love it that much. Subaru would probably laugh at him-

Subaru.

What was Subaru going to do now? He was back again, he was safe and sound, and he was free of the shackles the Elementary School Principal had imposed on him. He could go wherever he wanted to go. Hotaru wouldn't have any trouble finding a job, even with her premise of making tons of money. Or perhaps she would prefer to finish the Academy together with Mikan, who was in her first specialist year. Subaru would skip those last two grades easily, as had Shuuichi. He had no obligations to the Academy, there was nothing left to blackmail him anymore, and nobody left who would have wanted to do it, much less been able to actually do it. Subaru was, by all means, allowed to leave.

Subaru was free.

The thought was like a bucket of cold water down Shuuichi's spine. Forcefully, he tamped down even the smallest hint at intuition he could get a hold on, reigned in his Alice and locked it away. He didn't want to know. He didn't.

He had to force himself to go visit the Imai siblings at the hospital. He avoided Subaru for almost an entire week, after which he found no further arguments to stay away. When he entered the rooms, however, he was told that Hotaru and Subaru had already left, something that had less to do with their fast recuperation and more with their absolutely impolite character as soon as they wanted something. The nurse that told Shuuichi of the transpired events almost wept with relief. Seven days, Subaru, he thought almost amused. Not bad. So where had he gone? Their old dorm rooms had been re-fitted for other students, and Subaru had not yet been given another place to stay. Guest rooms were always available but judging from the way he had left the healing ward nobody who would have been able to inform him and could have set up a room for him had learned of his escape. Shuuichi, though, knew exactly where to look for him. It was easy, in an unsettling, disconcerting way.

The Pond still was quiet and peaceful, the ducks – surely not the same, although they looked identical – floating along the green waters leisurely. It seemed to have shrunk, though. In the past, the grey waters had seemed so endless. Today he could see the green of the Northern Forest at the other side of the lake. Subaru was watching the birds with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"How nice of you to come see me," he greeted Shuuichi, bitingly ironic as usual.

Shuuichi, guilt-tripping and, at the same time, too terrified to linger on that very topic, chose to ignore the jab. "So," he asked casually and leaned against a tree, "What are you going to do now?"

It was equally stupid to start that conversation now, he realized the exact second and bit his lower lip. But they could as well just get on with it. The faster, the easier it would be. At least, that was what he hoped.

Subaru didn't react surprised, just cast him a level stare. "Is there something I am supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know." Shuuichi shrugged and ignored the pang of anger that crept up on him. "You could go, see the world. Travel to Europe. Meet your family." His tone became acidic without his own volition, and he hated himself for it. "Do everything you never were able to do."

"Perhaps I will start with seeing my family." Subaru's voice was wistful. "Maybe Hotaru wants to come, too."

Subaru would be leaving the Academy: Shuuichi's intuition, finally overwhelming him like a tidal wave and impossible to ignore, was very clear on that aspect. It was only natural. Spending their entire youth in the enclosed world that was Alice Academy – what child did not dream of the world outside? Well, except for Shuuichi, apparently. Even Shizune, who had also become a teacher, had spent a year outside the Academy.

"And then?"

"Then?" Subaru seemed genuinely surprised. "Isn't it obvious?"

Shuuichi gritted his teeth. "Is it?"

He was rewarded a scathing look, one that reminded him of the Subaru he had known in the past.

"What are you trying to say?" Subaru questioned, a brow rising all the way up into his hairline. "You became a teacher, didn't you?"

"Yes," Shuuichi shot back. "But I've always wanted to be one. I don't expect you to…" He lost his train of thought momentarily, because what he wanted to express wasn't easily expressed. Not with him and Subaru, not ever. "The hell, why am I even trying? We never shared the same opinion, so go ahead, leave the Academy, find a job! Be happy, get a life!"

"Why should I?" Subaru sounded slightly amused. "Of course, I'll go to see my family, but what should stop me from coming back? We made a promise, after all. I do not intend to break it. And someone has to stop you from spoiling the kids rotten, anyway."

For a heartbeat, Shuuichi didn't know what to say or how to react. Subaru eyed him over the rims of his glasses, a frown clear on his face. Familiar, so familiar. He huffed, still not sure if what his friend had said actually meant what he thought it meant.

"What, you suddenly want to be a teacher, too? And prevent me from spoiling them, how? By scaring the hell out of them? You know, I think Jinjin would look like an adorable kitty compared to you."

"Watch it," Subaru ordered, frowning. "I never said I didn't want to be a teacher, did I? Don't decide things like that for yourself. And, really? Scaring the kids?" He sounded cool, but the ghost of a smile twitched at the edges of his lips. And maybe he had picked up some of Shuuichi's panic, because he added: "What, did you think I had forgotten? I'm not stupid, you know. Not like you."

"You're an idiot," Shuuichi said, his tone belying his words. The raging fear that had cursed inside him for the past seven days had calmed, quite suddenly. He hadn't realized how scared he had been, how the thought of having to watch Subaru leave again had gnawed at his insides. It wasn't fair, he knew. Subaru had his own life, his own dreams. It was just that Shuuichi only ever had had one best friend, and it had been Subaru.

God, how I missed you.

Subaru huffed and turned away from the little duck pond. Shuuichi fell into step next to him, still not daring to believe what he thought his friend had said. Wordless, they wandered back the little path, the rustling of the wind in the trees and the sounds of the fall evening the only audible sounds. And, shortly before they reached the path towards the Elementary School Division, Shuuichi felt it. It was a tiny stab, a grating sound of something that carried weight, and then a soft rustling. Like a rusty old lock clicking back into place correctly, or like the sounds of two gears that had previously run into different direction and then grated to a halt come back to life again. There were subtle, almost imperceptible contractions as his world broke apart and rearranged itself into an alien and yet faintly familiar shape, vaster and more colorful than it had ever been before.

"You'll really come back?"

"Certainly. Not because of you, of course, but I'll come back."

Puzzle pieces: an easy, effortless circle and a twisted, ragged, shapeless square. And, amazingly, they fit. He never would have believed it had he not spend twelve years at Subaru's side before.

Shuuichi smiled. His friend caught his silent grin and frowned, but there was no disapproval in his face, only something that only someone who knew him well would have recognized as fondness.

There was no need to square a circle or to fit puzzle pieces that did not fit with them. Never had been necessary, never would be. Neither Subaru nor Shuuichi were perfect. In fact, both of them were utterly imperfect, just humans on their way through life, making each and every mistake possible and learning how to make it better. And, thinking of it, on his journey through life Shuuichi wouldn't have wanted anyone beside him except for Subaru. In a way, they made their own geometry.

… Of course, Imai Subaru had always known that.

A/N: Misc. Information

Sakurano Shuuichi's three Alices are, according to different sources: teleportation, telepathy (intuition) and copy (willpower). I've only read the scanlations and it seems to be no general consensus. Some say copying based on the fact that he managed to break Mikan's fall at the Sports day competition by touching (and possibly copying) the student's alice who was being controlled by Luna, and later helps Imai when he is healing Nobara. Maybe, though, his touch gave the student (and Imai) the willpower to stabilize his alice, since Natsume seems much more powerful when he uses the willpower alice in combination with his fire alice. Same with the telepathy/intuition: Sakurano clearly is able to read/sense the peoples' minds, which could hint at both. During Mikan's memory lessons before leaving the Academy, though, he is asked what his intuition says regarding Natsume's and Hotaru's return – which is something he could hardly "read" from anyone's mind. I am therefore inclined to go with willpower and intuition alice.)

Glimpses of the past are taken from: Chapter 58 – Extra: The Thorny Garden, Chapter 92 – The Stealing Alice Revealed, Chapter 112 – Won't give up, Chapter 132 (The Promise),