Disclaimer: I Do not own the characters. All the characters rightfully belong to the author, Higuchi Tachibana. This is just piece of of Fan fiction written for fun.

Lost Time

Chapter One: Weird Day

Mikan inspected the room. It had tatami mats, messed-up futon on which she had been sleeping, with her uniform neatly placed next to the futon. It was perfectly normal. Wait, a uniform? When did grade schoolers require uniforms? "Well, I guess they must've changed the rules. Man, the old school isn't so old anymore," she muttered.

Without thinking much of it, she quickly took a shower and donned her uniform. Mikan looked at clock. She was up early. She ran down the stairs, humming a tune. "Good morning Jii-chan," Mikan said in her usual cheerful tone.

"Goodness heavens child, what are you sauntering for?" her grandfather reprimanded, "Hurry up or you'll be late to school." Usually, Sakura Nonno was a gentle person, but boy he knew how to give people a bashing if needed. Especially if his thick-skinned granddaughter was acting stupid.

"What? But I still have forty-five minutes till school starts," said Mikan, pouting.

Nonno shook his head in denial. "Here, take this, and run. You have ten minutes at most if you're lucky," he said while handing her some toasted bread.

Mikan stuffed it in her mouth and to wear her shoes. "Bye Jii-chan, see you later." She dashed out the door. This was weird. Why would they start school earlier? Did the Principal change? Or maybe she was just a little amnesiac, and couldn't remember these changes. Well whatever. She would be fine. Mikan always was. Wearing her signature cheerful expression, she dashed to the local elementary school.

Meanwhile, Nonno opened the dusty, old storehouse in his backyard. There was a huge pile of letters, written by none other, but his beloved granddaughter, Mikan. "Two years, huh," he said to himself. He stared at the pile. His little Mikan wrote him a letter every single day, when she was at Alice Academy, miles away from this small village in Kyoto. He'd hoped that one day, when Mikan comes home, she would tell him about all the things did there. Just a few days ago, someone dropped Mikan at his place, with a letter from her uncle saying that all her memories of the Academy had been erased. Apparently, Mikan lost her mysterious power. The letter clearly mentioned not to tell her anything about the Academy "Well, at least she will be safe with me now." He shut the storehouse and went inside his house.

The day was weird. Mikan managed to reach class just before the time the should've rung, but the class was deserted. Huh? But Jii-chan told her that school starts in ten minutes. So, why was it deserted? One of the teachers spotted her and said, "What is a middle school student doing at the elementary school?"

"Huh? No sir. You've got it wrong. I study at this school." Mikan replied, unsure of what to say.

"I can tell by the uniform. You attend the school next to ours. Now you better hurry up, or going to be late."

"Thank you, sir" Mikan ran and made a mental note to ask Jii-chan whether she had amnesia or not.

She somehow made it through the gate before the bell rang. She was unsure which class to go in, as she kept thinking that she was in elementary 4th class 2. Frustrated, Mikan stood in the hallway, tearing out her hair. Ugh! Why was everything so different and weird?

"Sakura, what are doing," it was a teacher, "You're going to be late for homeroom. Hurry up and follow me. I'll let it slide for today.

"Okay," said Mikan relieved that she met her homeroom teacher. She adopted her carefree attitude again, and walked on.

The size of the class was nothing to worry about, as this local middle school didn't have too many students to begin with, but Mikan was nervous. She saw not a single familiar face. Was she in the wrong class? No, that can't be. She'd followed her homeroom teacher. What was his name again? Ah yes, Mr. Miyamoto. Maybe Saaya, Ami, and Sa-chan were in a different class.

While Mikan was in her inner turmoil, Mr. Miyamoto announced, "This is Sakura, you all know her. She joined us late due to certain circumstances. Sakura, occupy the empty seat next to the window."

"Yes," Mikan exclaimed, shaken out her thoughts. As she proceeded towards her desk, she noticed someone wave at her. It was Saaya! Although she sat faraway, Mikan was glad to see her friend from grade school.

Mr. Miyamoto taught math. Mikan's least favorite subject. And they were doing algebra. Talk about boring! Mikan pretended to listen, while her mind wandered off in la-la land. But Mr. Miyamoto knew better. He had been teaching for around 5 years now.

"Sakura, you solve this equation on the board," he said.

Mikan snapped out her dreams and faced the terror her teacher had given her. "Y-yes," she nervously clucked, while walking to the board. She immediately regretted not paying attention in class.

The toughest equation was on the board, but she didn't panic at all. She confidently said, "Hey, I know this!" and solved the equation in an instant, leaving the class awestruck. Now folks, that reaction is expected when an exceptionally bad person at math, solves the toughest algebraic equation of the day.

Even Mr. Miyamoto was pleasantly surprised. He said, "Wow, to be honest, I was expecting you mess that. But good job Sakura! Go back to your seat."

"Thank you, Mr. Miyamoto," Mikan modestly replied. But she was shocked by herself too. Did she manage to master the 'Learning when you sleep' spell? Or had she finally awakened to the genius she always believed she was? Either ways, she was proud of this newfound intelligence of hers.

The bell rang, indicating that it was lunchtime. Everyone hustled to their friends, but Mikan chose to remain seated.

"Hi Mikan!" She heard her friend, Saaya's loud, energetic voice. When they were younger, people comment that if Saaya and Mikan start talking to each other, they had the power to destroy the world.

"Hello Saaya, how goes your day," Mikan replied, still wondering about her marvellous improvement in math.

"Hey, you could be slightly more enthusiastic you know. But if you're wondering about how in the world you managed to solve that question, you're not the only one."

"How mean!" Mikan exclaimed, "By the way, where's Ami and Sa-chan?"

"Ami is on her on her way. She is in class 4. And Sa-chan's family left the town around a year ago. You didn't know?" Upon saying this, Saaya bit her tongue. Nonno had specifically told her not to mention anything about the years where Mikan went to the Academy. It was a relief when Ami came rushing in.

"Mikan, Saaya, my buddies! I was so lonely without you," Ami gushed. Mikan and Saaya rolled their eyes. Ami was known for her melodrama.

"Hi Ami!" Mikan grinned. All her friends were here, except Sa-chan, of course. But something felt missing. Shrugging that feeling off, "Mikan continued, "Is your Shouko-san doing well?" Ami's mother, Shouko-san organised beauty pageants in the town when she was younger. Being the hattrick winner of the 'Little Princess' title, Mikan grew close her.

"Mommy is extremely well, a little too well if you ask me." Everyone laughed. Ami continued, "She's started a Modelling/Idol Agency called Starstruck. Actually, she asked to me to tell you come meet her in the evening."

"Why is that," said Mikan, being her usual thick-skinned self.

Saaya face-palmed. It amazed her to see how dumb Mikan could be at times. "Shouko-san 's obviously interested in scouting you, dumbo." Saaya added with extra emphasis.

"Ah, I see." Said Mikan. Saaya held back from hitting Mikan for her idiocy.

A/N Thank you for reading! I know this was a slow a chapter, but this helps the reader understand how confused Mikan is feeling after coming back to normal from society from Alice Academy (more like I hope so). Be warned, since Mikan is in her village, your won`t get to meet your favorite in the initial chapters. Also, some of you may have noticed, I don`t plan on keeping Goshima as Shi-chan, it might ruin my story later. This is my first piece of fan fiction, so I would love you guys review and rate my story. Thanks for reading! BYE :)