Disclaimer: I don't own Gakuen Alice.

Dedication: To my readers. Today marks my third year on GAFFN and I'm very thankful for all of
the words of support I've gotten since my start here. Thank you.

-;-

Waking up at the start of the end of the world,

But it's feeling just like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone,
The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour
And I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?
I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come

"How Far We've Come" - Matchbox Twenty

Chapter 20. How Far We've Come

"Koko, if you try to shove me in the back one more time, I'm going to kick you off a cliff until you
land in Zimbabwe without several of your appendages." I elbowed him in the side when he only
smiled innocently. "I'm serious."

He held up his hands in a truce but I couldn't help another growl from ripping itself from my
throat, causing him to grin widely and pat my head. "Oh, she's trying to be vicious!" Koko cooed,
coming up beside me to mess up my hair and press a kiss to where my forehead met my scalp.
"Isn't that just adorable?"

He laughed and headed towards the kitchen with the fattest, most satisfied smile on his face. I
shot him a dark look and glared at the boy walking ahead of me. "Are you going to let him get
away with that?" I whined with a pout, dropping my jacket onto their couch and flopping down
with a huff. "The least you could do is kick him in the family jewels and show 'im who's boss," I
sighed, "—that'll teach that condescending, little creep."

Natsume only paused, slightly, in his trip to the mini kitchen to raise his eyebrow at me, look to
Koko, who was walking into the living room with a soda in his hand, and raise his hand to whack
the kid in the back of the head.

Koko yelped.

I snickered at the wide-eyed look on Koko's face.

With a pout, Koko dropped down in the recliner adjacent to me, watching carefully as Natsume
disappeared into his room. When the distant sound of a door closing reached our ears, Koko
leaned forward quickly. "So you're the one wearing the pants in this relationship, huh? I never
thought Natsume would be the type to sit back and take orders like that from a girl but who knows
what kind of dominatrix crap he's been letting you get away with." I gaped at him, but Koko
merely leaned back to stare at the ceiling, contemplative. Before I could fix my lips to set him
straight, he continued, "Then again, he might've been like that all along. I mean, Tsubasa's been
drilling the idea of him being gay in my head for the past few years and I was starting to think it
was true…" his eyes bore pointedly into mine, "—until I come back from walking Sumire to your
room and see the both of you star gazing. Boy, I've never been so shocked in my life! I mean,
Natsume's pretty stubborn and he has the biggest stick up his ass, so how you managed to look
past that and still want him is beyond me. Plus, he's never been interested in a girl before and for
him to be watching the stars with you just proves to me he might not be as romantically
challenged as I thought he was."
 I rolled my eyes, ignoring the heat coming up my cheeks. "You have really got it all wrong. It
wasn't what it looked like. Honestly, we're just friends."

"Friends that hold hands," Koko snorted, his expression completely disbelieving. "Yeah, don't think
I didn't see that love action, you goober. Natsume does not just hold hands with any girl. He does
not watch the stars with just any girl. In fact, he has never done anything with any other girl
before you and I really do think the day you kiss, you'll be his very, berry, dearest first—" he
puckered his lips and smacked the air, "—kiss."

I couldn't help it.

I blushed.

And then felt completely ridiculous.

"Goober? And seriously, Koko, if you don't watch your mouth, Natsume'll hear you and I swear the
kid might just wet himself if he heard the rumors coming out of your loud mouth." He shrugged
and reached for the remote to turn on the TV, all the while humming an obnoxious tune, clearly
stating he didn't care. "We're not dating, I promise," I repeated. And then, because I was curious
and couldn't not know the truth, I leaned forward and whispered, "About his first kiss, you can't
tell me he's never kissed anybody before."

At that, Koko grinned wickedly. "Does Natsume look like the type to kiss and tell? If he has, I'd
have no idea." Koko leaned forward, brushing the side of his nose cheekily. "But Natsume has
never given a girl the light of day and he is definitely not the type to get swayed by a girl he
doesn't like. I mean, what are the chances he'd let some random girl he doesn't like jump and kiss
him?"

An image of me doing just that flashed behind my eyes.

I scowled and turned away, but before I could come up with a suitable rebuttal, Natsume had
returned wearing a pair of sweats and a ratty T-shirt, the expression on his face completely
neutral. "You know your stupid voice travels to my room, Koko."

His voice was nonchalant, but I knew him better than that.

Koko's face drained of blood. "Oh shit."

"Yeah. Run," Natsume said in a deadly calm voice.

Without needing to be told twice, Koko jumped up from his chair, feigned to the right, then to the
left and promptly opted to jump over the recliner. This would have been a great move if he hadn't
managed to get his foot caught onto the back and hadn't landed in a heap on the ground with a
groan. I watched as Natsume instantly moved behind the couch, hauled his best friend up by the
scruff of his neck and shoved the kid in his room, not before giving him a sound, swift whack
upside the head.

The door slammed and Natsume, a scowl on his face and a faint pink tint on his cheeks, headed
over and slumped down in front of the TV. I looked at him with fascination and briefly wondered
how the hell he didn't have dark bags under his eyes after catching small hours of sleep when I
slept like I'd died and I still had them.

It was just so unfair that he looked so pretty.

His sigh of exasperation pulled me out of my thoughts when he muttered tonelessly, "What is it."
Belatedly, he turned his head in my direction with an expectant look on his face. I noticed he had
a frown on his lips and that he looked distinctly… uncomfortable.

"How much of that did you hear?"

 He shifted slightly in his seat and ran a hand through his hair. "Everything after he said you wore
the pants in our relationship." His eyes travelled to mine. I didn't really know what to think. Did we
have a relationship? A part of me wanted to say, heck yeah! The other part looked at how
uncomfortable and anxious he looked under his mask of indifference and sniffed.

There was no relationship to speak of.

Dammit.

He sighed and turned to face me entirely. "Look, Koko's an idiot. You can just forget about what
he said. I," he paused for a second, red eyes looking away in embarrassment, "—I wasn't thinking
back there. You can forget it ever happened."

Forget it ever happened? Forget that he flippin' took my hand and told me all of those things? Oh,
heck no. There was no way I'd ever be able to forget that. It may not be a big deal to anybody but
me, but to be honest, knowing how Natsume is and how he's like, the idea of holding my hand was
a huge leap of faith for him. As for me, holding his hand felt good.

It was even kind of tingling still…

Arranging the words carefully in my head, I pulled the throw onto my lap and hugged it. I'd need
all of the comfort I could get.

"No, you look, Natsume. We've talked about this before and, as much as I'd like to forget about
the day I cried all over you, you can believe me when I say I won't judge you or jump on you
(again) or anything. We're friends. I," I frowned, the word 'friend' just not feeling right on my
tongue, "—you can tell me anything. Just trust me, the way I trust you."

"It's not that I don't trust you," Natsume leaned back in his seat. "I don't want you getting the
wrong idea. That's all."

Oh.

Ouch.

For a second, I planned for the nonchalance. You know, the whole, what the heck are you talking
about? Puh-lease, the world doesn't revolve around you, you cocky creep. But the plan was
immediately shot down when I remembered, I did confess to him in my own, clumsy way. So
obviously that wouldn't fly very convincingly.

Really. What do you say to the boy you like when he says he doesn't want you to think he cares
for you? Aha. Yeah. You don't.

I realized, after a long moment, that I hadn't answered him and he didn't really look like he
wanted a response. Just as I was about to fix my thoughts into words, Koko moved around in his
room and asked loudly, "Can I come out?"

In unison, the both of us shouted, "No."

We could hear some shuffling in his room, an "Aw, man!", and then silence. For a moment, we just
looked at each other in amusement.

I laughed.

Natsume's lips even tugged upward a bit.

Things settled and a moment passed as I pretended to be interested in the TV show when
Natsume asked, "Are you okay?"
 "Yeah, I'm fine." I turned to look at him steadily. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged and I tried to look away from his intense scrutiny in vain. "You seem…" He stopped
and ran a hand down his face. "Never mind."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "C'mon. Really, Natsume? Did you not just hear my whole speech
about you telling me things?"

He scowled at me. "I don't usually talk to girls like this," he said flatly and unembarrassed. "It's a
first."

I turned it over in my head and immediately accepted it. I mean, it makes a girl feel kind of
special when a boy inadvertently admits he's comfortable around her, right? I couldn't help the
silly grin that slowly made its way onto my face.

"Speaking of firsts," I started lightly, scooting over so that I was closer to the armrest, "—Koko got
me thinking about something."

Natsume groaned. "He's an idiot. When you've known him for a while, you learn to ignore
whatever he says."

I waved his comment away. "He did mention something interesting earlier about your first kiss."
For some reason, I got way too happy when his jaw twitched and even though he scowled, I could
tell he was really embarrassed about it. "Is it true? You've never had your first kiss before?"

"We aren't talking about this," he said stiffly.

"So you haven't!"

His expression darkened and something changed around us. "Well, technically that's not true
anymore, is it," he looked at me pointedly, an eyebrow posed for a challenge and a neutral set to
his lips.

I sputtered. I couldn't help it. I wasn't really counting on him being so direct. Seeing him flustered
and uncomfortable earlier (or as flustered as Natsume could be), made me a little too confident
and I just… I didn't expect to be put in this situation.

"I-I… I guess not? Are you really telling me I stole your first kiss?" One part of me was utterly
horrified. The other part of me was delighted. Horrified because I attacked him and stole his virgin
lips like a common pervert. Delighted because he was, I don't know… it sounded funny to describe
Natsume to be pure but for some reason, the idea of him never being kissed before just seemed
so far-fetched to be true.

It made me feel funny, realizing I was his first.

He scowled again before turning resolutely away and my heart jumped in my chest.

He was so cute.

"You're so annoying," he muttered aimlessly, staring at the TV.

"Uh huh," I couldn't keep the smile off my face. "But I know you don't mind."

He didn't deny it.

-;-
 When Natsume's motorcycle jerked to a stop, I practically jumped off the stupid contraption and
threw his helmet back into his lap.

He merely raised an eyebrow in amusement.

"Smirk all you want," I huffed, not waiting for him to get off and follow me.

Instead I headed toward one of the largest homes in Nagoya where one of my father's oldest
colleague and friend resided. He hadn't been as popular a painter as my father, but my father had
always told me, "That old man is far better a painter than I could ever be. He may not get the type
of buyers I do, but nobody quite understands the mind of a true genius. I'd be lucky to turn out as
mad and truly prodigal as your Old Man Miya."

After much thought about Hotaru and her upcoming birthday, I'd been wracking my brain, trying
to figure out just what I should do for her. She already had so much money. She had the world at
her fingertips; everybody was at her beck and call, really, and I stood by the idea of getting her
something sentimental.

Natsume had merely scoffed when I'd brought it up, saying, "Are we talking about the same
person? My cousin, the one with a complete lack of emotion? I think you've forgotten just who and
how she is."

"You're completely missing the point, Natsume," I'd rolled my eyes at him.

It took three days of thinking and a phone call to make the arrangements. Following that, it took
four different pictures sent by post, a long phone call describing my relationship with Hotaru and a
week for me to get the call to pick it up. Needless to say, I was really excited.

It took one summer dress, one phone call, a three and a half hour ride on Natsume's motorcycle
and the door to Mr. Miyazawa's for the present to lie, wrapped imperfectly in brown parcel paper,
in my hands.

"To warn you," Old Miya interrupted, his voice soft and crackly with age, "—you only gave me five
days and a couple of photos to work with, and you know portraits aren't my best." He paused
when Natsume shifted in his seat, then turned back to me. "I'm glad you're wearing the summer
dress," he smiled, spidery lines immediately appearing around his eyes. "Your father would've
loved it."

I smiled and looked towards Natsume who was busy looking at the wrapped package sitting snugly
in my hands. I started to think he was trying to burn the wrapping off with his eyes, they were so
intense. "Yes, well, I never did make it a point to wear dresses." I grinned when I thought of the
stories my mother had told me. "Dad always freaked out when I wore skirts and dresses and now
I'm just too used to not wearing them."

I shook my head and tightened my grip on the painting before Old Miya's voice interrupted my
thoughts. "Well, your father always said the boys would be all over you if you wore those silly
things." He paused and looked at Natsume. "Then again, it doesn't look like you've been doing too
badly in that department, with or without the dresses."

The blush already on my face intensified when Old Miya raised an eyebrow at Natsume and asked,
"Is she a heartbreaker over there, son?"

I groaned, "Old man, no. You've got it totally—"

"Yes, sir."

I snapped my gaze over to him, but Natsume's gaze was locked firmly on Miya's. He even had one
of those annoying, knowing smirks on his face.
The old man's face split into a grin before he leaned forward with his elbows on his knobby knees
and said, "Then I hope you're beating them off with a stick. Y'see, if Izumi was here, he'd be
ripping out their tongues and feeding it back to them piece by piece. You're lucky Izumi isn't
comin' after you, boy, or he'd have you strung up by your tonsils the second you looked at her."

Natsume seemed to turn this over in his head for a second before he shrugged and eased his
elbows onto his own knees. "I'd rather take the chance and have Mikan have her father than make
it easy for me and have her have to do without him."

There was a pause where I looked down and tried to get my bearings.

He called me Mikan…

Old Miya recovered before any of us did and leaned back in his chair. Pointing his cane into
Natsume's face, he shook his head and chuckled. "I like you, boy."

I fought the urge to groan. "Oh God, you guys are trying to kill me. I'd better run before you guys
embarrass me any further." I lifted up the painting and smiled, "Thank you so much for this, old
man. You don't know just how much I appreciate this, especially since it's so last minute."

The old man merely shook his head and looked at me, eyes glazed with age and once black hair
turning a light shade of gray. Both hands were resting on his cane and frail, wrinkly arms with
thick blue veins were enveloped in his loose button-up shirt which were rolled up to his elbows.
The lines of his face, so achingly familiar, reminded me of a time not so long ago when father was
still alive and when I'd been so happy with my family.

I missed those days—

"C'mere, you." Old Miya was smiling. "Give this old man a hug. He hasn't seen his little sunshine
from down the road for months!" He held out his arms and without much reluctance, I deposited
the painting in Natsume's arms and headed over to squeeze the old man.

"Thank you. I'll come to visit more often," I promised.

Miya nodded. "Good, good. And you, son? You're coming to visit, right, boy?"

I looked over Miya's head and smiled apologetically when Natsume shrugged and muttered lowly,
"If you'd like me to."

"Of course I do!" the old man exclaimed, "As long as you don't try to steal my wife. I saw the way
she looked at you when you came through the door, but then again, I see the way you look at my
sunshine." Before the both of us could react to his words, the old man smiled and continued,
"Come down when the fancy strikes, the both of you! For while I'm still breathing, you're always
welcome!"

-;-

An hour through the drive back to Tokyo with the painting tucked carefully into the motorcycle's
seat compartment, I stopped looking at the scenery rushing by and instead, placed my chin on
Natsume's shoulder and thought of the exchange that had just taken place at old man Miya's.

The thought of the old man being so completely obvious about Natsume and me… it just made me
want to bash my head against the concrete sidewalks or crawl into a bear cave and never come
out. What was with everyone trying to make it so awkward? First it was Koko, then the old man.
Who knows. The next thing I know, Hotaru, Sumire and Akimoto are going to team up and insist
on it too.

I exhaled quietly and tightened my arms around Natsume's waist when he made a quick turn at
one of the intersections. His chest rumbled a little bit, but other than that, he was quiet. I nudged
him softly with my helmet once, then twice when he made no move to speak, and with a sigh, he
muttered gruffly, "You know distracting the driver isn't a smart idea, right?"

Ignoring him, I rested my chin on his shoulder once more and murmured, "Your stomach just
growled. We should stop and get you some sustenance."

"I'm fine."

"You're hungry." I pointed out again. "You didn't even eat breakfast did you?"

He was silent a moment. "You didn't tell me about this trip until the last minute and by then, you
looked like you were going to cry if you didn't get the gift and back to Tokyo in time for Imai's little
slumber party. I didn't have time to."

I pretended to look at the nonexistent watch on my wrist before I panicked and grabbed him
around the stomach once more. Laughing nervously, I said, "Well, we have plenty of time now.
Why don't we go to the next gas station and I'll treat you to a slice of pizza or something? It's
better than fainting on your motorcycle and you know, killing the both of us."

"You're exaggerating," he deadpanned, slowing to a stop at a red light. "I'm a great driver."

"Yeah, tell that to the nerves in my stomach, Natsume." But then again, to be honest, those
nerves were there for a completely different reason. Still slightly concerned but now, more than
just a little annoyed, I drummed my fingers on his stomach before saying, "Okay, um… I have to
go to the bathroom?"

He paused before half turning his head. "Are you just saying that so that we'll stop at a gas station
or do you really have to go?"

"I have to go!"

Seven minutes later, we were both munching on a box of Pocky, a bag of chips, a drink for him
and a sub divided between us.

-;-

By the time Natsume dropped me off in front of Tokyo Plaza with the painting and my clothes in a
duffel bag, Hotaru was already eating chips and watching the big flat screen in her room while two
servers or sous-chefs brought dishes of appetizers and snacks into the room.

The room was immaculate, or at least, the living room was. It was warm and spacious, filled with
classy furniture in color schemes of creams, browns and blues. The suite doors opened up into the
living room where the sofas were placed in a circle around the coffee table in front of the flat
screen, and the fire, which explained the warmth, was already roaring within the fireplace.

Just off to the side of the sofas was a mini bar where drinks were all lined up with champagne and
shot glasses placed meticulously on the counter. I thought it was slightly strange the hotel
provided us liquor when we were four years under the drinking age, but it wasn't surprising some
teenagers were drinking.

"You're early," Hotaru said, barely looking up from the TV. "Help yourself to some food. Don't
touch the crab roe."

I snorted and dropped my bag on the floor before placing my wrapped gift neatly to the side.
"What a gracious host you are," I deadpanned, picking up a piece of uiro and stuffing it into my
mouth. I sat down across from Hotaru and looked at her carefully. "So who else is invited? And
nice pajamas."
 "Shut up," she said stiffly. "My mother insisted. As for the guests, it's just you, Shouda and my
cousin and a family friend. Nobody else could possibly hope to garner an invitation. Oh," she
looked up at the ceiling, seeming like she'd just remembered something, "I suppose I should invite
Aoi as well."

I raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was a given when you said you'd invited your cousin."

"My cousin Yura. You met her at the Hyuuga family dinner, I heard," Hotaru said offhandedly. "I
also invited Nobara, who's in your gym class. The Hyuugas and the Ibaragis used to be neighbors
once upon a time when their manor was getting renovated, so when the manor was finished, the
majority of them moved back and the property by the Hyuugas was bought off by some other
family."

I whistled low. "The Hyuugas sound like a force to be reckoned with."

Hotaru snorted. "The Hyuugas are nothing without the Imais." Without elaborating, she called one
of the servers to bring in some more crab roe before fishing out her blackberry and calling Aoi.
Meanwhile, Sumire walked into the room with a completely flummoxed expression on her face, and
I didn't understand why until Yura walked in behind her, commenting on the fireflies in the room.

"Okay, who are you?" Sumire burst out in a near shout.

Yura seemed not to hear her and instead, turned to me. "Oh…" her voice was misty. "Mikan
Sakura-san… you are involved with the fall of humankind. You must be very careful."

From behind her, Sumire was making elaborate motions with her hands that clearly indicated she
thought Yura Otanashi was absolutely crazy. I didn't exactly blame her, especially when she'd
moved over to the rug and started muttering while tracing patterns into the carpet. Her grey hair
had been tied neatly into a pony tail, draping over her shoulder in a glossy tumble of silver and
warmth and she was sporting a tank top and a pair of plaid sweatpants.

"Who is she? Seriously," Sumire said, sliding up to me in her navy silk night dress and depositing
her huge night bag by the door. "I was walking into the hotel and all of a sudden she started
asking me how my mother was and just… saying stuff that she shouldn't know. It's really creepy,
Mikan. I mean, seriously."

"That's Hotaru and Natsume's cousin, Yura Otanashi."

Sumire raised one incredulous eyebrow, looked back at Yura who had started crawling to the
fireplace and looked back with an expression clearly stating she really didn't understand. She
shook her head and walked towards the food. "Weird family."

"I heard that," Hotaru said monotonously from her seat on the couch. "Shouda, if you touch the
crab roe, there will be hell to pay. Yura, don't touch the fire with your fingers. Mikan," she paused
and looked up at me before shrugging, "—don't stand there looking like an idiot. Sit down."

I shrugged and sat, watching as Sumire gorged on pastries. "So, what does one do during
sleepovers?" I asked no one in particular. I'd never been to a sleepover. There was the whole thing
with my friends not being well… the kind of friends who invited you to sleep over or the kinds of
friends I wanted to sleep over. I'd never been that interested and they'd only been school friends.

So I felt like, for some reason, I was at a disadvantage.

Sumire choked on her dango and looked at me with wide eyes. "You've never been to a sleepover
before? Wow…" she whistled, throwing back the rest of the dango she'd picked up and sliding over
in her seat. "I went to an all-girls Catholic school for years and had a sleepover every weekend! Oh
man, Mikan. You're totally missing out."
"You're exaggerating," Hotaru said in a tone that told me she was rolling her eyes. She glanced at
her watch and sighed. "Nobara is coming at eight and picking up Aoi on the way." She looked up,
velvet eyes were wide and dark, such a contrast against her neutral expression. Then, barely
moving her lips, Hotaru said, "So, where are my gifts?"

I couldn't help it. I laughed and shook my head before heading over to pluck the wrapped canvas
by my bag on the floor. "Here," I handed it over to her. "This is mine."

Sumire grumbled and pulled a carefully wrapped box from her bag and plunked it smoothly on top
of my gift. She looked up, looking irritated, but the small smile on her lips said otherwise. "This is
for you. Happy birthday, Imai."

Hotaru took the box into her hands and looked at it for what seemed like a minute before she
exhaled quietly and undid the ribbon. She carefully lifted up the lid and I blinked twice to fight off
the glare of the jewelry.

"It's a pair of earrings. Fourteen karats of white gold drop earrings with your birth stone in the
drops," Sumire explained nonchalantly, picking at one of the taiyaki on her plate and avoiding
eyes. "And there's a matching necklace there that's eighteen karats. Since it's your birthday and
opal is your birthstone, it seemed kind of fitting."

Hotaru fingered the hole in her ears before replacing the earrings back into the box and putting
the lid back on top of it. She looked at Sumire, looking like she didn't really know what to say
before she told one of the servers to get Sumire a plate of some of her special crab roe.

Sumire looked up and they caught each other's eyes. Hotaru sent her a small (smallsmallsmall)
smile and then lifted up my gift. It was wrapped in black wrapping paper with yellow stars dotting
the black. Natsume had looked all over his dorm for it and found the stuff in Ruka's room. I hoped,
inwardly, that she didn't recognize it.

She raised her eyebrow at me before tearing it off and I was practically on the edge of my seat,
trying to gouge her reaction. But she merely tore off the paper and leaned the painting against her
thighs without her expression ever changing. Instantly, my heart dropped into my stomach.

"What is it?" Sumire chewed, looking disinterestedly over to Hotaru. "You're awfully quiet, Imai. Is
it that bad?" She walked over to look over Hotaru's shoulder before her jaw slackened.

I didn't know what to say.

Did she not like it? I thought she'd like it. It was a very well drawn painting and well, aw, screw it.

"How did you…" Sumire only shook her head and bent closer, looking at the painting. "Mikan, this
is so beautiful."

I blinked, eyes wide. "What? Really?"

She nodded and was pointing out the elements to Hotaru as if she couldn't see them. "It's us.
Imai, you're standing over us, like a protector. You're always watching our backs and standing up
for us. You're so confident and proud, like you always are. I'm sitting, obviously, holding Mikan's
hand because I'm such a baby and I'm always so immature and blow things out of proportion. I'm
the most childish of all of us, so I'm the one that's cross-legged on the ground. And Mikan, she's in
the middle, sitting and holding the both of us together. Our link, I guess. We've never really gotten
along, have we, Imai? I just… it's perfect. I love it."

After a long pause, Hotaru snorted. "You love it? You're saying it as if it's yours, Shouda."

Sumire looked at her incredulously, rolled her eyes before she huffed, "Oh my God, Imai. We are
right in the midst of like… a beautiful sisterly moment and you just have to go around and say
something like that. God, no wonder I can't stand you."
 "Do I look like I care?"

Sumire groaned and looked at me pleadingly. "Can you believe her?! Seriously! Imai, I swear to
God, I am two seconds from screaming at you!"

"Thank you," Hotaru said, continuing to look at the painting, ignoring her. She waved one of the
servers over and gave him instructions to put her gifts away for the night before she turned to us
with a small smile on her lips. "Yura, get over here."

Otanashi, who'd been sitting benignly on one of the sofas around the coffee table, perked to
attention and blinked at her cousin. "Hotaru… happy birthday. It is six days 'til November."

"… right. Well, before we start, I wanted to get something off my chest," Sumire declared. She
shifted in her seat and finally turned toward me with a frown on her lips. "Okay, I've never really
done this before so don't make fun of me. I swear, if you do, I will personally rip out your teeth
and feed it to a bird."

I blinked. "Uhm, what?"

"Never mind. Listen," Sumire said, turning her face away slightly. "I know we've been over this
before but I just want to say, I'm over it. I know I can be such a whiny, spoiled brat when I don't
get my way and I know you like Natsume and I guess I was just… in the way and I've realized
now. I was never going to get Natsume in the start. I was so…" she exhaled sharply and shrugged,
looking up to briefly catch my eye, "—I was so focused on the idea of being Natsume's girlfriend
that I didn't really realize just how much I don't…like him that way. I mean, he's always so freakin'
moody and shit, it totally wouldn't work. I mean, if I'm constantly moody and he's constantly
moody, it'd only be a matter of time before I snapped and murdered him."

I opened my mouth to say something, to disagree with what she was saying, but Sumire just lifted
a finger. "Wait, just let me finish. I swear, if I don't say this now, I'm never ever going to say it. I
might as well get this off my chest while I'm sharing after that stupid painting you got for Imai and
—" she ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry for being such a spoiled,
immature and horrible friend. I hate to think that you liked Natsume the whole time and didn't
want to tell us because I was always in the process of gushing about him and shit. He's hot, hands
down, but I guess… I guess I really didn't open my eyes until Koko told me Natsume just wasn't
into me."

I was distinctly aware of my heart pounding in my chest and the relief washing over me. I thought
she was going to slap me in the face. I thought she was going to… for the lack of a better
expression, blow things out of proportion, accuse me of being a bad friend and then cutting off all
ties with me. But… Sumire, she thought she was the one being a bad friend when in reality, I was
the one keeping secrets.

Vaguely, I could hear Hotaru eating.

"So yeah. I'm sorry," she said simply. "If you want to go out with Natsume, then you have my
blessing. Not that you need my blessing or anything, but you strike me as the type of person
that's stupid enough to care about that kind of thing. So there you go."

And then she reached for a pastry and stuffed it into her mouth, avoiding eye contact and brushing
her hair out of her eyes like she hadn't just apologized and—

I hugged her. "No, Permy, I'm sorry. I knew you liked Natsume in the first place and if you think
you're the bad friend, I'm the one that's been keeping a secret from you guys. I may have…uhm
—"

"Kissed him? Trust us, Mikan," Hotaru snorted, violet eyes boring into mine. "We know."

"What?"
 For the first time, Sumire turned her head to look at me with a wry grin on her face. "Seriously,
Mikan. I knew you kissed him like… three days ago when he was over at our place and you'd just
found out the principal was your uncle. It's not very smart to like… confess your love to him and
stuff when I'm in the house, you know. You guys were practically yelling at each other and I could
hear you guys in my room. When I found out you kissed him and well… liked him, I was just… not
pleased with the fact that not only does Natsume like you too, but the only thing keeping you from
being happy is one) your family being kinda messed up and two) me. So, there you go. I know
when it's time to grow up and step back." She turned to Hotaru with her black hair swaying down
her shoulder. She raised a brow, "What I want to know is how Imai knows."

Hotaru merely looked back at her blandly. "Do you really have to ask that question?"

I shook my head. "I meant to tell you guys. I really did. It's just… I didn't know how you'd react
and I guess, when it boils down to it, I was just too cowardly. I mean," I looked up at the ceiling
and exhaled. "I spent two months saying how I'd never like Natsume and how he annoyed me and
how I thought boys were stupid and the next thing you know, I—I like him. That just doesn't make
sense to me."

"Not everything has to make sense, necessarily," Hotaru said calmly. She picked at invisible lint on
her pajamas, frowned down at them and then continued, "—I'm an inventor. I thrive in my
Advanced Placement Physics and Calculus classes and I'm self-learning Techtronics from Alice
University across the city. I used to be a rationalist, but when Nogi came along," she shrugged. "It
doesn't make sense, but it's there and it's real."

"You're right it doesn't make sense," Sumire snorted, throwing her legs over the arm of the couch
and resting her head in my lap. "I mean, he's this sweet, smart, completely normal and amazing
guy and then there's you, a cool, calculating, I-have-my-eye-on-you-but-I'm-not-even-looking
sort of girl and well, I really don't know where the chemistry is. The more I think about it, I think
you might've blackmailed him into being your boyfriend." She turned her head slightly and grinned
at me. "No offense, Imai."

"None taken," she drawled, "—the point is, you should just go with it. Stop over-thinking about
every single thing and thinking about everybody else and be selfish for once. Do something for
yourself. Do the things that make you happy. You're never going to be happy when you're just
doing what other people want you to. Maybe at the moment, sure. It's nice to do things for people
—"

"Like you'd know," Sumire coughed.

"—but," Hotaru continued, seemingly unperturbed, "—in the long run, while everyone else is
happy, you'll just be sitting there wondering where everything went wrong."

She paused for a minute, letting it all sink in and I wondered about what she said. Did I really do
things just to make everyone happy? I didn't think so. I did things for myself. I hadn't told Sumire
about the Hyuuga dinner, didn't I? I confessed to Natsume for myself, hadn't I?

"—It seems Aoi and Nobara will be arriving very soon," Yura muttered in her wispy voice. "They
have news. About the 31st."

"There's the school dance on Halloween," Sumire perked up, flipping her hair over her shoulder,
eyes shining. "Are either of you dressing up? Are either of you going?"

I shrugged and turned the idea over my head. "I've never been a big fan of dances. I've always
been the one handing out the candy during Halloween."

"Nogi wants me to go," Hotaru muttered begrudgingly. Her eyebrows were knitted in such a
distasteful expression that I couldn't help but let out a bark of laughter at the expression. "He
seems to think walking around in ridiculous outfits will be a romantic experience."
 The door flew open and Aoi burst into the room with her face a pale, pale peach. "You will not
believe who had the guts to walk up to me today after therapy," she hissed sharply, flopping down
in her jeans and throwing her black hair roughly into a ponytail. "That stupid jerk who deserves to
have a fork stabbed into his eye!"

"Akimoto?" I ventured a guess. She nodded sharply and the first thought that came to mind was
the fact that Natsume would probably freak if he heard. "What'd he say to you? Geez, is he stupid?
He's just asking for a death wish!"

Nobara closed the doors to the suite and sat down next to Aoi with a wary expression on her face.
She nodded at me as a greeting and tried to send a small smile my way, but I could tell she was
probably confused about what was happening. Had she been around, still neighbors with them
when this happened to Aoi, I wondered.

"Aoi," Hotaru said sharply. "Tell us what he said to you."

She paused and exhaled roughly. "He said he knew what we were doing and that we'd never
succeed. He said we should stop trying because he was already done and then…"

"Then?" Sumire urged.

Aoi looked over to me, crimson eyes conflicted and guilty. "Then he said he wanted to talk to you,
Mikan. He said he wanted to talk to you alone."

There was a moment of silence before Hotaru turned to me abruptly. "You are not going to talk to
him," Hotaru said firmly. "Don't even try to play that stupid hero complex I know you have. This is
serious. He's serious. Promise you won't go to him and talk to him alone."

I didn't answer for a while, thinking, until Hotaru all but growled the question once more. "I won't.
It's just… don't you think that's a little weird? Why would he want to talk to me? I think I've made
it pretty clear whose side I'm on in this. I mean, yesterday I pretty much told him he was the
scum beneath my shoe."

"Obviously he doesn't get it," Sumire rolled her eyes, sitting on the ground near the fireplace and
leaning on her palms. "To be honest, I always thought he kind of had a thing for you, even before
this whole," she waved her hand in Aoi, Hotaru and Yura's general direction, "—family thing."

"He was only ever interested because of Hyuuga," Hotaru said confidently.

"Don't be too sure, Imai," Sumire said lightly. "Guys are mysterious creatures. Their logic never
really makes sense."

"Either way, I'll call Nogi and see if we can make sense of this."

-;-

Before we had even processed that he was heaving and panting in the doorway of the suite, Ruka
had half-roared, half-exclaimed, "Where is he?! What happened?!"

Natsume nudged him to the side to walk in before Koko, still grinning with his hands behind his
back, peeked in from over Natsume's shoulder and looked around the suite. I swear I thought I
heard him whistling before the conversation between Ruka and himself resumed.

"I can't believe he was here, waiting for you like that! Are you guys hurt? You guys all look fine but
God knows I should know better than anybody than to believe girls actually show emotion now. He
didn't touch you, did he, Hotaru? If he did, I don't know what I'll do! Wait, shit. I forgot to lock the
door, oh that doesn't matt—"
 I hadn't even noticed Natsume had crossed the threshold and was walking toward me until I felt
the couch sink down to my right and the smell that was so distinctly Natsume, soap and something
woodsy, wafting in my face.

My head snapped up to look at him. "H-hi."

So smooth, Mikan.

He looked at me, frowning, before he leaned in slightly and asked, "You okay? Imai didn't tell Ruka
much, other than him being here."

"I didn't even see him. It was Aoi. He came and approached Aoi outside when her therapy
finished."

I watched his face carefully and could see the muscles in his jaw tightening as his eyes sought his
sister's from beside me. I swear, I could see his eyes darkening and the warmth of his body
double. "Natsume." He didn't answer, but his dark aura skyrocketed until I put my hand on his
chin and turned his face to mine. "We're fine. Here." I shifted closer to him and patted the spot
between Aoi and me. "Maybe then you won't have to communicate telepathically."

He rolled his eyes, as if saying Har har before taking the proffered seat and settling for murmuring
quietly to his sister. I watched him for a bit, taking in the dark wash of his jeans, the predictable
leather jacket and the back of his soft black hair. Something within my chest warmed with him.
There was just something about him that brought a fire to my chest.

I tamped that idea down the moment I caught Sumire's eye from across the coffee table and saw
the growing grin on her face.

"—The point is," Hotaru growled, shaking Ruka off her arm and looking at Natsume, "—it's
dangerous to be alone. Aoi was at therapy when he approached her and Mikan," her eyes slid
carefully to me before looking back at Natsume, "—well, now we know he wants to get her alone
too. I think it'd be best if we all have our cell phones on us at all times. Even during class."

"Trust me, I never don't have my phone on," Sumire snorted, pulling her phone out of her pockets
and holding it up as proof. "See?"

"Obviously I wasn't talking to you," Hotaru said rudely, nodding her head in my direction. "This
one's the one I'm worried about. I'll look after her. Natsume, you'll look after your sister. Yome,
you take Shouda and Nogi…" she paused, then looked at her boyfriend and shrugged. "Nobody
really wants you, so you can do whatever you want."

He made a noise that was half indignant, half resigned, before he grinned and held her hand. "I
know you don't mean that."

Before Hotaru could act out on the snarl on her lips, I leaned my elbows on my knees and said
thoughtfully, "You can't follow me everywhere, Hotaru. That'd be ridiculous, as well as impossible.
You have classes of your own."

She had this look that said so what but replied, "Kitsuneme. How many classes do you have with
Kitsuneme?"

"I don't know. English?"

"And Math," Natsume said softly. "But I'll walk her to both. Kitsuneme doesn't even know."

"You're looking after your sister," Hotaru argued in a tone that said it was final. "You know that
you won't trust anyone to do anything unless you're doing it yourself so you look after Aoi and I'll
get somebody to go with Mikan. Kitsuneme doesn't have to know what's going on. He likes Mikan
enough to do it, no questions asked."
 "Maybe that's the point," Koko snickered under his breath, and I felt Natsume shift in his seat.

"Natsume, you have class and I'm on a whole other division than you," Aoi piped in from my left.
"That means, while I'm on the left side of the school, you're on the right. You're going to be late to
all of your classes!"

He grunted in his throat and rubbed his temple. "It's fine. It's not like I'm not usually late to
classes anyway." He leaned back and looked up at the ceiling before he continued, "Look, who has
study hall this semester?"

Nobara and Sumire both chorused affirmatives. Sumire said she had one before English and
Nobara said she had one before Gym every morning. Natsume blinked at her before looking like he
was restraining a groan. "Ibaragi, do you even—"

"I've heard of what happened to Aoi, yes. From mother," she answered smoothly. "I didn't know it
was still… well, it's been a year so I didn't think it was…"

"It is," Natsume answered brusquely, "—he's trying to ruin us. Listen, here's what's going to
happen. Aoi and Polka are our main concern. Whoever has a spare will walk Aoi to and from class
and I'll take care of any other time nobody's free." He turned to Aoi and grabbed her wrist, "You're
going to have your phone on at all times. You call somebody right when you're done and keep
talking to them until you get to your next class. I don't care if you have your other friends with
you. I don't care if you feel stupid, just do it. Better yet, I'll call you before and after classes and
you're going to be in class and ready to go when I come to pick you up."

"You," he said turning to me. "The same goes to you. Imai will walk you to your first class, I'll walk
you after Math and English—"

"I have History with her!" Koko piped in nonchalantly. "I don't mind walking Mikan to English."

"And I have Gym with her second," Nobara added.

"Then it's settled," Natsume was looking at us as a whole. "Nobody goes anywhere unless one of
us knows. If something happens, call somebody. I might be overreacting but if Koizumi and
Akimoto are in this together, who knows what's going to happen."

"I hate to say it," Hotaru said in a low voice, velvet eyes staring into the fireplace, "—but with
Akimoto and Koizumi together, their forces are almost just as strong as the Hyuuga family's
extended."

The room was quiet with Hotaru's final words and I didn't know where to look, didn't really know
what to do. So much for having a celebration. With Akimoto lurking around with help from Luna
now, I could only wonder what was going to happen once the weekend ended and we had classes
once more. Everything was such a mess.

Happy birthday, Hotaru. I bet you weren't expecting Akimoto to ruin your party plans, huh?

My eyes snapped open and I whirled around to face the only person in the room that had been
quiet up to this point. Without thinking, I grabbed Natsume's hand and squeezed, "Yura… what
were you saying about the fall of humankind?"

Misty gray eyes looked from the carpet and the ghost of a smile touched her lips. "You speak of
the source of autumn, Mikan-san. His name betrays his motives. You must be one with humanity.
You must know humanity in order to destroy it. That is the fall of humankind."

-;-

"You think your cousin's crazy."

I closed the sliding door to the balcony and crossed my arms, watching as Natsume half turned his
head to look at me with narrowed eyes. He sighed and I took that as an invitation to stand beside
him. "Your cousin isn't crazy. She knows her stuff," I said nonchalantly, bumping my shoulder with
his. "Seiji and Aoi seemed to think so."

"She was talking about the fall of humankind," Natsume snorted derisively. "Look me in the face
and tell me you actually believe you're a part of something as big as that."

I looked him in the face, raised one eyebrow and smirked, "I believe her." I looked out over the
city and crossed my arms over the railing, eyeing the bright lights and breathing in the city air that
still tingled in my nose. "And you know why, too. You just don't want to believe it."

He half-grunted, half-hummed. "Believe what?"

"I know you're not stupid, Natsume," I rolled my eyes. "You know what his name means. You
know what Yura was referring to in there. And you know she can, in some weird way, predict the
future. If she says I have to befriend Akimoto in order to beat him, then that's the way it's going
to be."

"You are not going to be friends with him. I forbid you."

I'm sure Natsume knew that was the wrong thing to say the moment the words were out of his
mouth because he tensed the moment I whirled my head around and rounded on him. "Excuse
me? You forbid me? And who the hell made you my father?"

He scowled and looked like he was going to say something both of us were going to regret before
he turned resolutely away, making a low noise from the back of his throat. "It's a bad idea. We
know he wants you and now you just want to play right into his hand? If you do, I think you're an
idiot."

"Like you didn't think I was an idiot before."

"It's a bad idea," he said softly. "Just listen to me for once. You've never listened to me before but
just trust me." He looked at me from the corner of his eyes and said again, "Trust me."

I paused, then glared at him. "You're mean."

"Mean or not, if it works then I'm using it." He smirked at me, eyes faintly amused before his lips
settled into a frown once more. "Fine. Then promise me this, if you plan to do something stupid,
and we'll judge if it's stupid with my opinion, then you'll call me, one of us, and tell us something.
You…" he exhaled sharply and tightened his jaw, "—you're the type of person that leaps first."

"Gee thanks." I watched as he continued to look at me with his unrelenting red eyes.

I scowled at him. "Fine. I promise already. Geez."

His expression was satisfied when he turned away from me and looked back over the railing, a
small tint of a smile to his lips. I sighed and looked out at the city as the sky darkened even
further until stars, barely visible through clouds and pollution, glimmered in the sky.

"Mhm, this reminds me of rice cakes," I hummed, smiling. "My mom used to make my dad and me
rice cakes when we camped out in the backyard to watch the stars. It was great."

Natsume sort of just stiffened and I looked over with a frown. "What?"

"I heard about your mother and uncle."

"Yeah?" I cleared my throat and turned away from him, slightly troubled. "Weird family, huh? To
think, I'm related to the Principal. It's insane what life's become in a few short months. One
month, my mother leaves. The next, I discover I have an uncle and who knows what'll happen by
the end of this month. Apparently something's bound to happen Halloween night or at Hotaru's
birthday bash. Oh, did you know I'm a Yukihira now? I didn't even know who they were and now
it's just—"

"Mikan."

My head snapped up and his eyes were dark and he was soso tall and the faint push and pull of his
breath on my cheeks made me want to close my eyes. With my train of thought, it was only a
second later that my eyes dropped to his lips when he said, "You're rambling."

Swallowing, I laughed nervously and turned away, confused. "Yeah, that tends to happen a lot.
You learn to ignore me."

I froze when his hand, warm and a bit rough, rested on the back of my neck. My skin sang and my
body hummed and I looked at him with wide eyes wondering, what was he doing? Almost a full
day ago at around this time, he'd told me blatantly that he only viewed me as a friend and now he
was just… he was touching me.

Not that I was complaining, really. His touch was warm and soft and I wanted to just relax and
bask in it. Life was just so confusing with my parents and my uncles and my friends, but for the
past two days with Natsume, just the both of us by ourselves, it felt like the world was just shut
out and I could breathe again.

He was so warm.

I kept my eyes on his face and watched his eyes darken with half worry and half confusion. "You
okay?"

The low timbre to his voice made me shiver. "You're cold," his voice was quiet. I shrugged at his
comment and in an action that was more than a little hesitant, he drew me closer and hugged me
loosely, giving me enough room to move away if I wanted, but tight enough to share that
indeterminate warmth that was always, always with him.

I took the small step left between us and hugged him close, pressing my face against his chest
and listening to the rumble of his heart against my ear. If I didn't know better, I would've thought
I could feel his heart rate speeding up.

I breathed him in and sighed softly.

"Natsume," he shifted and seemed to relax the moment after, and pressed a soft, soft kiss to the
top of my head and I said the only thing that I could think of,

"—thank you."

Sorry for the wait. I promised to post this for some people today and well, if there are any errors,
I'll edit them later.
Thanks again for supporting me for three whole years. I'll be more eloquent next time when I can
actually think clearly.
Sorry again for the wait. You can look for updates on my profile.