Shinsou was walking to class. Upon entering the classroom, he noticed Mikan's under-the-weather state. Hitoshi was a bit concerned, "Mikan, what's going on?"

"I haven't received any letters from Ojii-san," Mikan burrowed her head further into her arms, "Did he forget about me already?"

"It's hard to think that he'd forget about you," Hotaru joined the conversation, "You're too annoying to forget, baka."

Hitoshi couldn't stop the small smile that was threatening to grow at the way Hotaru said it, "Maybe he didn't receive the letters?"

Mikan gasped, "Impossible! I send him letters every day."

Everyday? That's a bit overkill. "I don't think there's a post office in the academy. How do you send them?"

"I give them to Narumi-sensei," Mikan said.

"Maybe you should stop sending the letters for a short time?" Iinchou suggested.

"But then how am I supposed to check on him?"

"You can try asking Yura," Hotaru said.

"Yura?" Shinsou asked, "Who's that?"

"One of our classmates, she has the Divination Alice," Iinchou informed Shinsou. "That can work."

Mikan perked up, "Yeah, let's go ask Yura."

~~~

"Your grandfather is at the gate," Yura reported. "He wishes to speak to you, but as always, they will not let him in."

As always? Hitoshi glanced over at Mikan, whose expression had fallen to one of concern.

"We need to go to the gate!" Mikan said, "With Hitoshi's Alice, we can convince them to let Ojii-san in!"

"That's not a good idea, Mikan," Iinchou said, "We'd get caught very easily. I don't think Hitoshi wants to get caught."

"I don't," Shinsou said.

"Let's use one of Hotaru's inventions then!" Mikan glanced over at Hotaru who nodded.

"We can use a bug," Hotaru said, "But it's back in the classroom."

The four kids walked back to the classroom, Mikan in front of the pack, was clearly rushing. Once they made it back to the classroom Mikan was impatient to find the bug.

"Calm down, Mikan," Shinsou said, "Your Ojii-san is probably okay."

Mikan frowned, although she didn't reply.

"Here it is," Hotaru spoke up in her normal emotionless tone, "And here's the screen that goes with it."

"Wao, that's so cool," Mikan exclaimed, clearly amazed. "Get it to the front gates, where Ojii-san is!"

The four students crowded around the small screen. "Ooh, there's Ojii-san! He looks kind of sick. Why didn't he reply to my letters? Why is he here?"

"I think, like Yura said, that he wishes to see you," Shinsou commented.

"Narumi doesn't send letters," Natsume said.

Mikan turned around, "W-what? But he said that he would send them!"

"He lied," Natsume replied, "Why do you trust the teachers here?"

Mikan looked at Hotaru, "We need to find out if that's true!"

Hotaru got another invention. Along with the bug, they snuck into a room. In the room, there was a pile of Mikan's letters, being thrown in by Narumi.

Mikan was enraged. Angry tears were coming out of her eyes, "N-Narumi-sensei!!"

"Oh, Mikan," Narumi says, nonchalantly, as if he's not burning letters that Mikan took to write to her family every day. "You're not supposed to be here."

"You burned my letters! My letters to reassure Ojii-san! You're such a mean person, Narumi-sensei!"

"Oh. Sorry."

Now Shinsou was a bit mad. The nerve that Narumi had to just say 'Sorry' and it wasn't even sincere.

~~~

Mikan was being punished by being locked in her room. Shinsou, Ruka, and a begrudging Hotaru made their way to the no-star's attic room.

"You brought food!"

Shinsou raised a brow, "Not even a 'hello'?"

"Sorry, hi!" Mikan smiled sheepishly.

A small smile grew on Shinsou's face, "Anyway, yes, we brought food."

Mikan cheered as she was served the food. She munched and munched, after swallowing dramatically, she pointed at them and proclaimed, "You guys are lifesavers!"

Shinsou looked at Hotaru, "Was she always like this?"

"The baka hasn't changed," Hotaru said, although her voice was laced with fondness.

"You know what would help me more—"

The three prepared themselves for Mikan's stupid ideas. "—if I could go outside!"

Ruka knew where this was leading, "No."

"Please?"

"No."

Shinsou was very confused, "What's goin—"

"Prettypleasewithacherryontop?"

"No to whatever you just said."

"Pretty, pretty, please with a cherry and my Alice on top."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"RuKa!"

"Fine! Get the puppy eyes away from me!" He quite rudely pushed Mikan.

"We'll come back quickly!" Mikan said. And with that, her, Shinsou and Hotaru snuck out, leaving Ruka there, starting to change.

Into a girl.

~~~

The two merely chased after Mikan as she ran to the gate.

Mikan?! Why are you going to the gate? What if your grandfather isn't there anymore?! Shinsou sighed into his scarf as he continued running alongside Hotaru, trying to catch up with the baka Mikan.

Hotaru kept glancing over her shoulder, making sure that Hitoshi is there.

"Is something wrong, Hotaru?" Hitoshi wasn't breathing hard, which was interesting. It looks like this body isn't in his 12-year-old state but in his trained state.

It was a mutter, but it was an observation Hitoshi himself hadn't noticed, "I can't hear you behind me."

"Oh." His amethyst eyes glanced ahead of them, widening when they saw Mikan again, "Mikan-!"

"Who are you?! Let go!" Mikan's arm was held on tightly by some stranger that managed to get through the gate. "Let go of me!"

"Mikan-!"

Mikan looked at Shinsou, "Hito—"

"Quickly! Step on their feet as hard as you can and run!" The commands flew as fast as Shinsou could say them.

Hotaru and he sped up, trying to get Mikan.

Mikan did exactly as ordered, she was out of their grip in no time. Her eyes were still dazed, until Shinsou's control.

"Run away from them," Shinsou whispered.

Mikan ran towards Hotaru and Shinsou.

Hotaru stopped abruptly, Shinsou stopping a bit infront of her. "There's a bomb, Hitoshi!"

His eyes flickered to Mikan, "Mikan, run faster!" She was out of Hitoshi's control, but she ran faster anyway.

"No, it's too late—" For the first time since he came here, Shinsou was terrified. The expression on Hotaru's face told the same story. Mikan blew up and they couldn't do anything.

The smoke cleared, and hugging Mikan, shielding her was Narumi.

Shinsou couldn't stop the yell of relief that came from him, "Narumi-sensei–" Hotaru had sighed in relief, visibly sagging a bit.

"N-Narumi-sensei?" Mikan had apparently had a brief shutting down. She started sobbing.

Shinsou felt somewhat guilty because this is the pre-quirk era, much safer than his own, yet she still had a villain-like run-in at a young age. Shinsou put on a burst of speed, running towards the two. "Mikan, Narumi-sensei, are you okay?"

"I'm o-okay," Mikan rubbed her eyes, attempting to stop the row of tears.

Shinsou got a good look at Narumi's back, and he could safely say that it was a mess. "Narumi-sensei, you might have first and second-degree burns. We need to take you to a medic."

"That won't be needed, Shinsou-kun," Misaki said.

"Misaki-sensei," Shinsou greeted.

"You and Hotaru should get to your dorms," Misaki said, "It's clearly-" He waved a hand at the damage, "Not safe here."

"Yeah," Hotaru said, "We need to go, Hitoshi."

Hitoshi looked torn. He didn't want to leave Mikan just yet, but it was quite dangerous out there. If we're still here, they can't catch the intruders... Hitoshi sighed, "Okay."

Hotaru and Hitoshi walked away from the scene.

~~~

Albeit, a bit hesitantly, Shinsou separated from Hotaru, continuing his separate way towards his own dorms.

"That was a wonderful use for such a power," A familiar, unnerving voice reached Shinsou.

Shinsou stopped dead in his tracks. He raised his arm to his capture weapon but didn't activate it yet. Wait, I could've used this to drag Mikan to us, how come I hadn't thought of it? Shinsou let the thought fly away as he asked, "What do you want?"

"I want your cooperation, but then again, you don't have a choice," He said, "Follow me, Shinsou Hitoshi."

His eyes narrowed as he glared at the shadowed figure. The shadowy figure had a mask on, his face was also unable to be seen against the dark of the hallways. "Okay," Shinsou said carefully, "I'll cooperate."

He was led to the principal's office. A sinking feeling was accompanied by fear, a feeling Shinsou seemed to be getting familiar with again.

"Shinsou Hitoshi, hello." The ESP smiled, "Enjoying your stay?"

"What do you want with me?" Shinsou asked.

The ESP pointed on a screen behind him. "Do you know him?"

Aizawa. What is he doing here?! "And if I do?"

"So you do," The ESP smiled, "Oh this will do, oh so well. Don't worry, we aren't doing anything to him yet."

"Yet."

"We couldn't help but notice, you have the same weapon," The ESP raised a finger and pointed at it.

Shinsou held onto it tighter, ready for action in case he was attacked. He kept the ESP and the shadowy guy in his vision.

"Don't worry, we aren't taking it away if you do a few jobs for the academy."

"Jobs?"

"Yes," The ESP said, "May I remind you, you don't have a choice. You're doing these jobs whether you like them or not. Or else that one that we caught, will infer our wrath."

"You wouldn't dare," Shinsou said.

"Oh I wou—"

"Leave Aizawa alone."

Laughter filled the room, "Oh there it is! The delightful Alice we all know and love!" The ESP's face crinkled with distaste, "Too bad we have to restrain it."

Restrain? Shinsou couldn't dodge the hands that held him in place. "Let. Me. Go."

A necklace was shoved onto Shinsou by the ESP, "Your first assignment will be tomorrow."

"I'm not working with you."

A predatory smile laced the ESP's features, "You don't have a choice. It isn't just Aizawa you might hurt."

This was the mission Natsume was talking about? Meaning... Shinsou glared right back at the ESP. "Just don't hurt them."

"Of course not. You may leave, Shinsou-kun," The ESP said, "Persona will pay you a visit tomorrow evening."

Shinsou Hitoshi left as fast as possible.

Author's Corner:
Q: How do you think Aizawa got here?
N: Thank you for reading! I really hope you liked this chapter! I loved writing it!