Prologue

The small, black earpiece Hyuuga Natsume wore kept buzzing while the person on the other line spoke. It had not been like this when he left the school premises for almost and hour and a half. For some reason, he felt like someone was trying to get in their line. It should be no surprise, but for them to know so soon...

"Natsume, are you sure about this?" Ruka's voice was accompanied by a buzz. He seemed preoccupied.

Trying not to look stupid talking to no one without any noticeable earphone wire, Natsume held his phone up to his ear. He is yet in another bus, with no particular destination, beside an old lady. But even so, it would prove awkward if someone else finds him stupid (though he already is, going around finding a girl aimlessly).

"You know, you should have asked me about this when I was still inside." he said. He heard Ruka sighing.

"You left before I was about to say anything to you. You don't listen to a word I say anymore- we've had this conversation just about an hour ago. Don't bring it up again!"

"I didn't. You did." Natsume said. Ruka scoffed as response. "Look, just tell me where she's at."

"Are you sure?" the line was buzzing again. "They make really clumsy hackers, but they sure can understand." Ruka said, pertaining to the people who must be responsible for the buzzing.

Natsume closed his eyes in frustration. For the past two years, Ruka had been paying real close attention to Natsume. Almost as if he was payed to keep an eye on him. When Natsume was snooping through Narumi's files, away from Ruka, he happened to see her name. He didn't know why she was among the Potentials (people who may or may not have Alices). He started sneaking inside the library to use the net, because it was the only place where he can have access to the archives that were saved there and search for her simultaneously. Natsume failed to find her and when Ruka, who was unsurprisingly watching his every move, found out about this, he willingly helped. But now that Natsume was on the move, he tries to stop him.

"Ruka, this is my only chance to see her." he said. "Please. Let me see her."

"You never begged like this when you wanted to see Sakura. You never begged to see Sakura."

Natsume silenced.

"That girl's been living in peace. If she does have an alice and is still not brought to the academy- because, hey, there's a possibility that it may have disappeared- then it's best to leave her be. She's been hurt enough by our situation... Just... go and see Sakura if you miss a girl that much. See Sakura from afar." From Ruka's voice, Natsume can tell that he's hurting. They both hardly mentioned Mikan for a while. Why bring her up now?

They both silenced for a while. Natsume, making up his mind, cut this uncomfortable pause. "You know where I can find her. Tell me."

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do? I don't think this is right. She's normal. If she's one of us, the least we both could do is let her appear normal."

"Yes, Ruka, I'm sure." he said, to spite Ruka. "I'm not trying to bring her there. I'm trying to see her. For once after eight years. Only until yesterday, I believed she was dead."

Ruka didn't answer for a minute. The bus slows down. Natsume is nearing his third bus stop. The old woman beside him was already on another seat. This is probably her stop. "Okay." Ruka finally said. "I'll send you a text. You know why."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll throw this thing the second I go down... Bye."

"Natsume, I-" Ruka called before Natsume removed the earpiece. "Just... When you see her, and if she remembers... Tell her I miss her, too. So much. And that I feel sorry for suddenly leaving without a goodbye."

The bus stopped and the doors flew open. He was at a bus stop near a school. There is a sign he could barely see that says "Seishun Gakuen"all in shiny silver metal. The old lady stood and walked out. "Okay, I will." he answered. "Thank you. Really, thank you."

He removed the earpiece and instantly, he received a message from Ruka. He opened it and saw two simple words: Seishun Gakuen. That's exactly where he is now. Natsume bolted upright and ran out the bus before the doors shut down. He studies the entrance of the school. The front was bare, just gray paved ground, and the building looked old. It has rain marks here and there. Over the right, he can see green spray-painted iron fences that must be courts used by the badminton club or any other normal club any normal school has. And the gates- the gates are opened. Which meant he can roam around to find her. Have a talk with the faculty and receive information about where she lives, if he's lucky.

When Natsume entered the vicinity, he saw students coming out, eager to open their lunch boxes. Some are running towards the courts squealing and others are already settled in groups on the bright green grass. Natsume still haven't eaten anything. Maybe because he wasn't hungry or maybe he was worried about her that he can't even eat. Or... his empty stomach decided that he wasn't hungry anymore because he's worried about her so badly.

He started searching for Ryuzaki Sakuno by the courts.