Let's Talk About NatsuMikan: Mikan (pt. 29)
I cut this up strangely. This arc is a mess and I'm tired.
Today, we're back to the chaos of the Escape Arc or High School Arc or Mikan's Very Bad Day or the Events Arc (where a bunch of things happen one after another and poor Anya has no chance to analyze any of it) or whatever you want to call it. Mikan needs to reunite with her mom tonight, so she and her band of rebels will use foreign alices in order to fight their enemies and help her escape.
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Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Four
They return from their trip to see the HSP’s office empty and ransacked. They returned an hour after they left, meaning that a lot went down during that time. There’s a lot to do now, starting with tracking down everyone who is missing from the office, including Yuka.
Oh so cute and sad.
Hayami appears to give some news, as he always does, telling them that the ESP is searching for Mikan and her mother. This mention of her mother reminds Mikan of the last thing Yuka heard her say, that she didn’t want to leave with her and that she was a bad person. Mikan is consumed with guilt that she can’t instantly apologize for what she said. She doesn’t like that Yuka has to wait before knowing the truth: that Mikan loves her and wants to be with her.
The situation is dire and Natsume stresses the importance of making sure Mikan escapes the school with Yuka as their main priority. Mikan is surprised by this since there’s important people who are missing, some of whom have even been captured, like Subaru. But Natsume says the same thing Noda had said before, that getting Yuka and Mikan away from the ESP is a priority in order to keep everyone safe. They can handle the other stuff later. And then he says, one more time, that he’ll protect her, no matter what happens.
Mikan reacts only thinking his name, and I think that’s her allowing herself the smallest rush of affection for a night that will be stressful and chaotic, when she has already decided that she can’t look too closely at her feelings right now.
This page will ALWAYS be famous.
The moment passes though, because there’s not much time. Everyone else sides with Natsume, agreeing to prioritize Mikan’s safety and escape with Yuka. Mikan is outvoted. Their mission now is clear.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five
Mikan and company are on the run from the fuukitai, but they run into Goshima, a (supposedly) friendly face, who is here to give some information. The rest of the adults from the HSP’s office have scattered, with Subaru getting captured by the ESP. The plan now is for Yuka and Mikan to rendezvous to the warp-hole and escape together that way.
Mikan squeezing the letter... I'm going to pass away.
In the meantime, Yuka has left alice stones for Mikan, suspecting that Mikan might have the insertion alice as well. Mikan, excited to see her mother again, is touched to receive the letter. So far, her experiences watching Yuka in the time trip involved only one-sided communication, with Mikan simply witnessing Yuka’s life. They haven’t had the chance to truly talk yet, and this letter is one little taste of having her mother speak to her. She seems to treasure the letter, especially relieved that her mother is safe for now.
But Mikan is still concerned about what might happen if she doesn’t have the insertion alice after all. Just like Yuka was anxious to try inserting alices into Himemiya without a clue if she had the ability to do so, Mikan feels put on the spot and worried, nervous that she might ruin things if she doesn’t have the ability. But while she worries, Tono sticks an alice stone in her mouth. She freaks out, naturally, because she wouldn’t have been expecting that, and also I think because, as we discussed from Chapter 77 on, Mikan is more aware of Tono’s occasionally sleazy behavior. She is no longer oblivious to that side of him and so she seems just as violated as everyone else for her sake.
But Tono asserts that he did it to amplify her potential insertion alice and give her a helpful push into awakening a previously dormant alice.
Turns out he’s right and Mikan gets to work inserting alices into her friends. She recalls Narumi’s advice that her alice can be helpful or harmful depending on her intentions, and that the key is to love and appreciate your own alice. She decides to believe in her alice and the alice she shares with her mother in order to be helpful.
My love of GA and Mikan as a character versus my dislike of Mikan having the Stealing Alice even though that's a plot point for more than half the manga... Am I the problem? No... it's the stealing alice that is wrong...
It’s not important but I really don’t like Mikan having the stealing/insertion alice. From here on out her nullification is pretty much entirely brushed aside. Mikan has, for most of the manga, felt dearly insecure about her nullification alice for not being useful enough or flashy enough or impressive enough to compare to her classmates’. She never got over this insecurity, which was a huge part of her arc, and now it’s entirely overshadowed by the stealing alice (and its twin, the insertion alice), which is useful and flashy and impressive all at once, with its only drawback being its taboo reputation. The narrative regarding her arc remains the same, with instances like this harkening to Narumi’s famous words reminding us that Mikan doesn’t always like her alice, potentially distracting us from the reality that Mikan’s feelings about the stealing alice and the nullification alice are completely different. Long story short, I don’t like the narrative about the stealing alice or the way it effectively sidelined her nullification alice. Poor nullification alice… you’ll always be my favorite.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Six
Mikan has inserted many alice stones into her friends. She has inserted into herself the teleportation alice stone, since she can resonate well with it. It is her mother’s alice, after all. She is happy to have the same alice as her mother for the time being, eager to connect with her in any way she can.
She is also exceedingly convinced she has inserted into herself some sort of stone for telepathy, because she feels like she can hear her mother’s voice, though she refrains from voicing this suspicion out loud to anyone.
I love how important multiple relationships are in GA, how large Mikan's heart is and how many people she loves (I ignore the finale chapter because it's stupid and garbage).
Their situation becomes complicated when the group realizes there’s a traitor on their side. The fuukitai pursuers find them and they are saved by Natsume’s alice. They are all forcibly separated for the time being, with Natsume staying behind with Tsubasa to fight off the pursuers. Mikan doesn’t want to separate but she can’t have what she wants tonight, not really for anything.
It seems like the best idea, until Tono suggests Noda take the enemies into time-space for the time being.
Chapter One Hundred Twenty-Seven
Tono convinces Noda to do as he requests and Noda is out of the running for a moment. (I know Tono suspects Noda is the traitor right now but I’m very amused by the knowledge that he is not, in fact, and just goes along with it anyway because he wants to help. Poor Noda.)
The issue of the traitor plaguing everyone’s minds is pretty significant because Mikan has always tried to heed Narumi’s advice from very early on in the manga, that she should find many friends to trust and cherish. The idea that one of those friends could have betrayed her is in direct contrast with Mikan’s worldview, particularly her black-and white view of people that I’ve described a few times so far. People are either good or bad. She can change her mind that a bad person is actually good, like with Natsume or Yuka, but she hasn’t actually changed her mind the other way around, that a person she cares for could be anything other than a great and trustworthy friend, let alone a traitorous enemy.
So even though Tono and the others start thinking hard about who is most suspicious, Mikan doesn’t work that way. She trusts wholeheartedly and is sad to see Noda go. But--again--there’s no time for thoughts or emotions because there’s more pursuers!
(I’m gonna be honest with y’all. This arc is exhausting. There’s so many revelations and no time to linger on any of them because there’s always something new happening on the next page. I understand this night is busy and chaotic and as a result Mikan has no time or energy to spend thinking about her feelings, not that she did that much anyway, but it’s hard for me. I am trying hard to write meaningful analysis with very little to work with. This is just an Events Arc, with things happening all the time but no introspection or time to let anything settle. Sigh.)
Mikan teleports away from the office with all of her friends, calling for her mother’s support as she does so.
Mikan has the feeling that she is somehow telepathically communicating with her mother again, hearing Yuka’s voice softly in her head. Yuka can hear her too, and it’s the only thing tethering them at this moment as they work hard to reunite again.
This is supposed to be a ship essay. I'm sorry.
Yuka’s voice gives her much-needed support because they manage to teleport into an ambush, surrounded on all sides by fellow students. They might not agree with the ESP, but they fight for him anyway, or else they risk becoming like the other part of the crowd, a large group of Luna’s specialty soul-sucked zombies. The crowd blames Mikan’s rebellion for this trouble and is more than willing to charge at her and her friends to punish them.
But Natsume creates what looks like a fire tornado, keeping the attackers at bay. Ruka protests, since some of the attackers are being controlled, and also since Natsume shouldn’t be using his alice so much if he’s sick. But Tsubasa is more distracted by Natsume’s new abilities with his fire, suggesting that he has Sakurano’s wish alice inserted into him. With this alice stone comes other abilities and Natsume summons all his allies closer, with only Mikan conveniently landing in his arms. He doesn’t waste time either. He tells Mikan exactly what to do and, flustered, she obeys, getting them all to teleport to a safer place.
I think Natsume is getting a bit bold since this is his last night with Mikan and he’s already gotten his biggest secrets off his chest. This new alice stone only gives him an extra boost. It’s just interesting the effect this boldness has on Mikan in particular. She spent much of their relationship thinking Natsume was much colder than he really was. Now that everything’s out in the open, he catches only her in an embrace, behavior that is so surprising it flusters her, and then immediately switches to bossing her around, keeping true to his original spirit and reminding her that he is indeed the same Natsume.
This is honestly one of my favorite pages in the whole manga, no joke. There's SO MUCH here.
He was hiding parts of himself, sure, but not everything has been a facade. It’s just interesting.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Eight
We finally get a quiet moment! Mikan is able to--due to Natsume’s bossy demand--teleport them to the woods where they can catch their breath for a minute. Ruka is revealed to have the barrier alice stone, which will come in handy. Meanwhile, Mikan decides to try out the new telepathy alice stone she suspects she possesses on Hotaru.
When Hotaru responds, Mikan is happy to see that it’s true. It wasn’t just teleportation in Sakurano’s stone, but a little telepathy mixed in as well, giving her this highly convenient ability. This power doesn’t give her some upper hand against enemies or anything. It seems like she can only use it with people she cares about, like there needs to be some degree of resonance for their minds to connect, which is why she can communicate with Hotaru and her mother. Mikan doesn’t advertise this alice because it’s not necessarily useful for their goals right now, but…
Mikan shares that she’s been hearing a soft voice calling out to her, a sad and pained voice that she suspects is her mother’s. She blushes when she realizes she might be imagining it, or just hearing what she wants to hear, but Hotaru smiles and assures her that it is her mother calling for her. Mikan is happy to be validated in this way and holds onto Hotaru to confess that she wants to use this alice to communicate her feelings towards her mom--how sorry she is, how much she loves her, how much she wants to see her. And Hotaru assures her again: she can hear it.
My favorite Hotaru and Mikan moment in the whole manga. It's very soft and Hotaru reveals the softest parts of herself while Mikan lets herself be vulnerable about her mom. I love it.
It’s a very soft moment, where Mikan opens up with Hotaru about something that has nothing to do with the trouble at hand but is still weighing heavily on Mikan’s mind. And Hotaru doesn’t tease her or act detached the way she normally would. She is instead only kind, supportive, and reassuring, because she can see how embarrassed and insecure Mikan is to share these feelings, how badly she wants to believe she can communicate with her mom. Furthermore, Mikan is impatient to see her mother and this is what she needs to hold her over until they can finally see each other. She doesn’t want her mom to see her and be scared that Mikan hates her--she should know now, even when they’re separated, how loved she is.
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Nine
The group is setting up to teleport again, but Nobara isn’t joining them. As they all disappear, Mikan hears Nobara thank her. Then they’re gone.
Mikan insists on going back for Nobara, who is all on her own and probably in danger. Natsume stops her though, catching her by the arm. He says Nobara chose this, and that it doesn’t matter because their priority is still reuniting Mikan with Yuka. Nobara, who knows the DA class well, will confront them, and that helps their main goal of getting Mikan to escape that much easier.
In this arc, Natsume is the voice of reason and Hotaru is the voice of soft reassurance. Meanwhile Ruka is defender of Mikan's agency! They all play an important emotional role for her tonight. Natsume will also play another role but not on purpose. We'll get into that later.
Mikan reluctantly agrees but tries to send well-wishes to Nobara.
I think it’s very interesting that Natsume acts so consistently as the voice of reason for Mikan in this arc. He’s frequently the one stopping her and talking sense into her. He does it with compassion, but he doesn’t waste much time. And everytime he does this, Mikan understands. He is able to convince her. The roles Ruka, Hotaru, and Natsume are filling for Mikan right now are pretty interesting. Hotaru has been nothing but supportive and reassuring all night, Ruka has stood up for her and her agency, and Natsume talks sense into her and gets her moving. All of them have the same goal: to get Mikan out of the school with her mom. Natsume’s just very mission-oriented, as we know. He stays on task and he’s here to help Mikan do the same. That’s what she needs right now, too, even if it pains her to be separated from her friends, one by one.
Everyone is exhausted. Using foreign alices is draining. When they encounter the SA class, more bad news is shared since Misaki-senpai and many of their Class B friends have been captured by the ESP’s forces.
Chapter One Hundred and Thirty-One
The plot thickens!
Subaru has had his soul sucked by Luna. He is now mind-controlled on the enemy side. Mikan can see how upset this makes Hotaru. It’s not just a matter of somebody being mind-controlled, it’s Hotaru’s dear brother, right when they had made plans to start working on their sibling relationship in earnest. Mikan hates to see her friend upset so she decides to go into the fray, no matter the danger, to steal his alice and reunite the siblings.
An act of love!
Unfortunately, for all her gusto, Subaru unleashes his pain alice on her, inflicting her with agony and shattering her plans. And Subaru was used for a reason anyway, to trap Mikan into approaching him to save him. She’s saved by Jinno and Sakurano at the last moment, but the situation is still dire for Hotaru, who still has to watch her brother with his dull eyes, under Luna’s alice.
Mikan is relieved to see Jinno, despite all he’s done so far, because she was touched to see how much he cared for her father. Again, Mikan is very much a black and white person. She rarely has conflicting feelings for people; they are either good or bad. Jinno made a good impression in the time trip despite being pretty terrible every other time, so he’s good in her book now.
They pressure Mikan and her group to leave, since they’ll handle this situation. But Mikan is one of the only two people with the stealing alice, the only known way to vanquish Luna’s alice. If Yuka or Mikan doesn’t help Subaru, there’s no way of making sure he can get back to normal. She’s reluctant to leave, but, yet again, there’s not much of a choice.
Another farewell.
But Hotaru is staying put, telling Mikan that she can’t leave, because she’d always regret it if she did.
Conclusion
Things are happening! Things!
I'm tired and this Events Arc gets to me.
This has some NatsuMikan in it! But most of the NatsuMikan content of this arc will be in the next part. I tried going through my essay to see how many more parts you can expect. I came up with an estimate of 37 total parts. But that's a pretty conservative number on my part. I wanna think that highly of myself but... (Here's a summary of my personality and work ethic.) It'll probably be more parts because I'm a lazy and easily tired girl and I might not be able to do that much work for the next 9 days. We'll see how it goes.
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☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤
Guzma x Amber(Zesty)
(a Spinarakwomen AU)
🕸️♫₊.°。 🕷✩ 🕷°。 ☕︎🕸️♫₊.°。 🕷✩ 🕷°。 ☕︎
Prologue: The story so far.
*Long Sigh* . . . Okay let's uh . let's get this done and over with.
Hey everyone! No, too chiper . . Uh hey? No This is an intro, be confident!. . uh . hm. Okay, okay, okay. Deep breath in *Inhale* Deep breath out *exahle*.
Hi! Uh you might be wondering how I, an average woman, am capable of doing all of this. You know the running from building to building, the scaling walls, the uh . . swinging from street lamp to street lamp. Well, it isn't some new extreme form of Parkor. Let's just say that the craziest thing happened to me months ago that has changed my life for better and worse.
*Stopping my night swing I happen upon a TV store where the late night shows are playing. Each voice that cuts in and out spew cruel insults.*
"She's a danger!"
"She's a coward!"
"Children adore her; Parents hate her!"
"She must be locked away."
"That vigilante is not welcome here."
"She's a punk!"
"She's a disturbance."
"She's a . . .*
The sound of static fills the store as it cuts back to one giant TV. A man dressed in white and green speaks before the public. He barks at me through the screen.
"Spinarackwoman . . or whatever you call yourself. I personally would call you a no good theif and a liar as well!"
He states that last part with disdain.
"If you're out there listening . . watching. Mark my words I WILL find you. Alola has no place for troubling nuisances like yourself."
As the man walks away from the reporters, they shout for further details.
"Mr. Branch chief . . .Branch chief Faba!"
"Do you have a moment to explain!"
"Is this vigilante a danger to Alola!"
"Should the police be concerned!"
"Faba . . Faba . .Faba!"
As the news cuts back for commercials. I find myself taking all this in.
Yep, this is my new normal. So for all you folks back home, let me be clear on one thing. My name is Amber. I was an average person, with a semi-average life. I like to joke around, listen to music. I was once a late stage trial goer, started at nineteen. I hated it so I roughed around and found some people I would soon call my friends and family. I'm a gang member, where my new name became Zesty. Uh, let's just keep it brief and say it was a cooking instead gone wrong. I guess I'd call myself the cook of the group, though it's more often than not me just cooking grilled cheese and fries but, . . . I am getting side tracked. Anyways that life became my new normal until one day, one simple mission, changed my life into this one.
By day I am still very much a normal, Team Skull grunt, who wants to see the best happen to my crew. But, by nighot as far as I am aware, I am Alola's one and only Spinarakwoman, and trust me when I say it has not been easy.
🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧🪲🖤☠️🎧
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