A/N: Just so you'd understand what this is, this place will be a stronghold for all random Gakuen Alice fics that aren't part of any challenges or anything at all. These are one-shots that, when separated, might make my profile a little bit messier than it should be. These are not connected at all. About the title, plethora and felicity are two beautiful words, that, when placed side by side, may create a wonderful feeling to anyone, hence the title.

Everything in this place - from this point onward - shall be disclaimed. All recognizable characters, icons and whatnot are not mine, but the plot is.

This one-shot is dedicated to Revolutionary Pen.

Expect moderate/high OOC.

Ironic

"I thought I am through with my ironic life, but only now that I realized it's just about to start,"

Hello, I am Shouda Sumire, and I am living an ironic life.

Everyone sees me as the slutty gold-digger or the stupid friendship-breaker, but all those hearsays are not true, not at all. I don't understand how or why they spread those rumours, but other than that, I couldn't care less. After all, what matters most would be the truth and what my friends know; and by friends I meant the two girls I've always wanted to know deeper, Sakura Mikan and Imai Hotaru.

How I became their friend—that I do not know as well. It just sort of happened all of a sudden, and then and there we became friends. It's amazing how much they've shown me a side of life I never thought existed; I know I've done so many mean things to them before, but despite the fact that I did, they still managed to give me a second chance and embraced me for who I am.

People try to spread rumours that I just used them to be near Natsume-kun and Ruka-kun, but they never listen to them. They'd pat me on the back, saying, "Don't worry, Perms! We won't listen to them, we're friends, remember?"well, Mikan does, but I know Hotaru surely feels that way too. She's a mysterious girl, but I know that beneath her cold demeanour is a heart willing to be there.

It's such a shame that I have to hide a secret from them; a secret known to many but not to them. Somehow, I feel like I am betraying them, with all the things I can't seem to say. If only there's a way to express it, I would most definitely do so; but I know it will hurt them, it will hurt her.

Contrary to what most people say, I don't fancy Natsume at all. I love Nogi Ruka, and I know Hotaru loves him as much as I do; only that she keeps it as passive as possible. I don't want them to know, of course, but all secrets will always be spilled.

If not now, I don't know when.

"Class, you will have a paired assignment to be passed next week, Valentine's Day about the different types of love and how it affects people; you have to compile it in a scrapbook. Also, your seatmate will be your partner. Adieu!" the roses faded as Narumi-sensei ended his talk and dismissed the class as he pranced away, leaving them to discuss the homework given. Sumire huffed as she noticed that she doesn't have a partner yet again, as Wakako already transferred to the high school division, leaving her all alone in her seat. She let her eyes roam around the room, feeling slightly insecure of the fact that almost everyone already has a partner, while she's stuck behind the classroom, contemplating on the matter at hand—until she felt a quick tap on her shoulder, and, assuming it was Koko and his pranks again, she ranted before swiftly turning and facing him pointedly, arms akimbo.

"I told you not to—oh, it's you, Ruka," she reddened with embarrassment as she realized that it was the person she least expected to tap her. Ruka smiled as he slightly massaged his neck to avoid the awkward air. He then cleared his throat and sat beside Sumire, the latter still red in the face.

"I'm your partner, you see. Cause Natsume's got Mikan, so…" Ruka gestured to them and faced her, his azure eyes twinkling with amusement as he just witnessed the two bicker again. Sumire smiled and nodded in apprehension as she wrote the things to be done in a notepad.

"What do you say we start the assignment tonight?" she asked, slightly aware of Hotaru giving them a wary, clandestine glance.

"I'd love to, but I have some appointments in the Central Town that I have to deal with. So, if it'd be alright, tomorrow?" Ruka offered with an apologetic aura, only to have Sumire tap him on the shoulder in a light manner and laughed a mellifluous one.

"It's perfectly alright! Plus, I have to go buy some materials for our scrapbook so I'll have to go to Central Town too. Can I come?" Sumire asked, putting her things on her sling and standing up as she did so.

"Of course! We could shop for it together since, for all we know, you could choose girly things that doesn't suit me at all," he snickered as she puffed her cheeks and elbowed him lightly as they went out of the room together—Central Town and their project in mind.

Hotaru's eyes narrowed into mauve slits as she witnessed the scene unfold before her. She gathered her belongings and left the room in a breeze, leaving Kitsuneme to work on the first phase of their assignment without even knowing where she was about to go.

"Hotaru! Let's go to Central Town!" Mikan hugged Hotaru's right arm as she swiftly passed and went to the direction of the bus stop. Hotaru had a faraway look—something very uncharacteristic of her—and just nodded without stopping her mini-trek.

'I knew I could not trust that seaweed girl from the start.'

Nogi Ruka has changed a lot these past six years; he's not the usual gay-ish sort of blondie as what Hotaru forces him to be anymore. He doesn't have his hair down anymore, as he styles it in a messy kind of way that is so much different to Natsume's, but still makes him look hotter than any other guy in the Academy. His azure eyes have appeared brighter, making it look sky blue-ish in color. His body became leaner, and is maintaining that shape. He gained himself more fans, particularly because of these aspects—too bad he only has one girl in mind.

The two entered the bus and quickly looked for seats as they continued conversing about Koko and Kitsuneme. Ruka's laugh tinkled as Sumire told him about the time when Mr. Bear knocked off Koko with a punch when he ran off to the Northern Woods because he was so scared of the enchanted Valentine's Day chocolate given by Tsubasa last year. The blond then regained his sane state as he took a deep breath.

"Koko really is a funny one, don't you think?" he was still out of breath when he asked, and Sumire just had to suppress a smile for that.

"Yes, he is. Except that he always ruins my day with his crazy antics along with Kitsu. They freak me out," she said, suddenly somber in nature. Ruka faced her and smiled a genuine one.

"It's okay. You always look like you're having so much fun with them. If I hadn't known enough, I would think of you and Koko as two people with mutual affection for each other," he then winked and turned away, only to be surprised by a pair of chocolate orbs and another of amethyst ones looking at them with question.

"Mikan, Hotaru!" Sumire stared at them in shock. Who knew they were sitting in front of them all along? I must be too caught up with Ruka beside me, she thought.

"Where are you about to go, Sumire?" Mikan beamed at them with her usual smile, whilst Hotaru slightly tipped her head to recognize them.

"We're supposed to go to Central Town and buy the things needed for our scrapbook; how about you?" Sumire replied and settled back on her seat as she watched the Academy grounds move before her, feeling the childlike joy of the wind flipping her hair in a swift motion. Ruka watched her with amusement written on his face. It was his first time hanging out with Sumire, and he never thought she was this fun to be with.

What they don't know is that a pair of narrowed slits have been silently watching them this whole time.

"I'm about to go grab some Fluff Puffs to save me a heapload of energy for Natsume later," seeing that the three gave her a really weird glance, Mikan then interjected briskly, "No! That's not what I'm talking about! Let me rephrase it then; I need to have energy so I could do my assignment with the demon himself later, and God knows how much energy I need to go fetch his arse from the blasted tree, explain the whole concept of love to him, then deal with his irky, cantankerous nature for the whole week—"

"Okay, Mikan. We get it, now stop rambling or I'll throw you off the next bus stop," Hotaru cut her mid-sentence with her deadly monotonous drawl. The former then slumped to her seat as she fed her eyes with sceneries that only Gakuen Alice could provide. Hotaru faced the two and tipped her head again.

"We'll see you later," she closed their conversation as the bus skidded to a halt.

"I'm home!" Sumire declared loudly, causing two girls too look up from what they're doing; Hotaru, watching Shopping Channel and Mikan with her Fluff Puffs.

"I thought you went to Natsume?" Sumire inquired as she placed her food package on the countertop, eyeing Mikan with her emerald orbs.

"Nah, that git's too busy reading manga to even realize we have a project to do," she mused and quickly shrugged the thought off her system as she propped another Howalon in her mouth. Sumire then stood up and rummaged through her shopping bag as she unearthed her personal belongings.

"Did you have the materials ready for the scrapbook?" Mikan continued as she leaned on the kitchen door, Howalon box in hand and a glass of water in the other.

"Yep, it's a shame Ruka had to go choose some of the designs; he figured we could have the gender-equality thing as our scrapbooking motifs. Self-explanatory, that is," she then showed them the designs, and Hotaru just had to express her utter impression on how well he chose the materials—something which slightly irked Sumire.

"Lucky you. I don't know what mistake I made in my past life that threw me in my current situation of having an arrogant brat as a partner. Anyway, was that the reason why he had to accompany you to Central Town, then?" Mikan openly interrogated her again, settling herself on a plushy chair next to Hotaru and asking her to change the channel to Cartoons.

"Not really, he told me that was one of the reasons why, but he mentioned about an appointment that he had to deal with. He even excused himself in the middle of our perusal and went to a flower shop on the next street," she then dreamily sighed, gazing at the ceiling and enjoying the memories that succeeded the situation.

"I take it you like him then?" Hotaru changed the channel into the movies as she turned around.

"N-No! What makes you say that?" Sumire kept her hands busy by sorting the materials and avoided Hotaru's eye.

"C'mon Hotaru! I'm sure Sumi's over the Natsume and Ruka fan club thing now! It's been six years since!" Mikan pointed out as she tried to get the remote control from Hotaru. The latter then huffed indignantly and turned back to watching TiVo, whacking Mikan's hand as she was about to change the channel.

'I'm really sorry, Hotaru,'

"Wow, you're early!" Ruka commented as Sumire stepped shyly inside his quarters. His room was so much alike to theirs, only that it was designed in a manly fashion. Then, taking time in looking at the ornaments before her, she noticed that he was alone in his room—the thought of it made her nervous.

"W-Where's Natsume?" she inquired as she was busy laying down the materials on his desk. Ruka then got his laptop and lied on his stomach as he began typing out.

"He's out on a mission," he remarked.

"I thought he already stopped doing so?" Sumire sat on the bed as she watched Ruka search for their assignment.

"I thought so too, turns out, Persona just had to force him again. By the way, here's what I found last night, I think this would help," Ruka showed her the site and Sumire nodded.

"Yeah, I think it's cool. I don't get why Naru wants us to make this stupid discussion of love as his assignment though. It's not like we're gonna use it in the near future," she stomped in a childlike manner and proceeded to design the scrapbook while Ruka snickered as he printed out documents.

"Who knows?" he muttered.

"Would you believe it? Tomorrow's our last day of making this stupid homework and we're almost done! We should just slow down a bit," Sumire laughed as she was cutting pieces of paper in a shape of a heart and pasted it on the scrapbook.

"Of course! We're awesome like that. Now that you mentioned it, we should actually talk about our lives while making this," he offered and sat down opposite her as he helped cutting out stuff.

"W-Well, I suppose," she stuttered, afraid of him digging up her long-buried history. He then started by spilling stuff about him that only a few people know about—silently urging her to do her part of the talk too. When she finally had the confidence, they conversed smoothly while keeping their hands busy by designing the scrapbook they made. They began talking about so many things that makes Sumire wonder if Ruka reciprocates her feelings too.

"So, tell me about your friends," Ruka propped his chin up as he looked at Sumire directly in the eye, causing her to involuntarily shift her eyes to avoid his.

"They're wonderful people, Mikan and Hotaru. They've been there through all the good and bad times, they never left me hanging and they always support me in everything I do despite the things I did to them years ago," she said, losing the nervousness she's been keeping for the time being.

Ruka nodded as though he seemed to understand, "They have someone special in their lives, I assume? Cause naturally Natsume would've courted Mikan in all passivity already, and Hotaru—err—Imai, she likes someone too, right?"

Sumire pondered on that query. How did Ruka become so inclined to her friends' relationships all of a sudden? There has to be some legitimate reason for the peculiar behaviour he's been showcasing. It's either Natsume asked him about Mikan and just dragged Hotaru along to avoid the hidden message or he was interested in Hotaru and just dragged Mikan along to avoid the hidden motive. That alone made her emerald orbs narrow in slits.

"I don't know about that, honestly speaking. We've not talked about each other's love lives before, so I don't have an idea how they're going with it. Your assumption is right, maybe, but you could ask them if you like, if you are so keen to know," she replied rather smoothly, silently applauding herself for the lies she just did in front of him. Ruka, on the other hand, looked like he was having a mental battle on whether or not he should actually ask them for real, something Sumire thought was funny.

"Meh, I don't think I could do that, can I? Besides, I already have my heart reserved for someone special, you see," but Sumire wasn't listening to him. She was busy reading a part of the print-out she just pasted.

"Why do people fall in love?

No one exactly knows how one person falls in love. It's a very magical feeling that could sweep you off your feet or could probably end your life if you let it. It doesn't need to be explained at all because if you feel it, you'll always know.

How do you know if you're in love?

This is one of the hardest questions to answer because you can't explain if you love someone. There are many ways a person can love someone else and it's hard to understand. When you love someone, you basically can't live without them. It's the things you feel when you're with the person, as if you can't help but smile just by looking at them. It's the way your stomach tingles when you're close to them/with them. It's the way how you feel, like you need to see them everyday. How seeing them makes you extremely happy. It's how you miss them 5 minutes after they left. It's when you sacrifice something for someone with no pity but with your own will. You'll know if it's true love when you're hurt when he/she's hurt and you're sad when he/she's sad. They're really important to you, don't ever want them to get hurt or leave. When you're in love, you'll know. There is no possible way to describe how love works. It's kind of like the way you love your family, but in a different way but trust me, as stated above, once you're in love, you'll know.

Sumire stifled a smile as she reminisced the time when she realized it was Ruka who made her heart beat wildly like never before. She then read on, not noticing Rukas feeble attempt at catching her attention.

However, behind all those romantic smiles of celebrated couples, there will always be that one person who suffers by the sidelines. You need not elaborate on how this feels because it is a heart-wrenching one. You couldn't simply fathom how everything is not turning out the way it is, but you try, because you know there's still hope.

What you need to do? You have no choice but to get over this person. You must let them go and you have to move on. What you need to realize is that you can and will love someone again and they will love you in return. Life is a risk and it has to be that way otherwise there would be no adventure to it. Also to know love, you also need to know pain. The passage of time will help to heal your wounds, but it won't completely erase them. Your life is a journey that will be difficult at times, but stay on the path because you never know what is just around the corner. Remember that you control your own mind and it's your own choice if you want to keep thinking about the past or look to the future. Don't worry about making mistakes; it's the only way you can learn. Also true love involves a lot of hard work, nobody is perfect."

'No,'Sumire thought, 'Ruka loves me, he might not tell me that, but I know he does,'

'How sure can you be?'a voice at the back of her mind asked.

'Well, not that much; but I know he does!'she replied, still immovable from her belief.

'You could always ask him, tomorrow, later, right now…' the voice mocked her as she tried to think.

'Tomorrow it is then. I'll tell him everything about how I feel, and he'll tell me he loves me too. You'll see…'

"Yoshi! We're done! What do you say we buy ourselves some drinks outside first?" Sumire was far too happy to even remember the deal she made with herself. Ruka smiled as they went out of his room and took a stroll outside.

Sumire suddenly remembered about the deal and stopped walking, earning a strange look from Ruka.

"Listen, Ruka-" she started, but she couldn't find the will to continue.

It was as nervous as when you introduce yourself to a bunch of strangers; that butterflies-in-your-tummy kind of feeling because you don't know what the other person might say. Sumire waited for a while, silently praying that he wouldn't freak out and just leave her there.

"Truth is, I have something to say to you," he interjected after a minute of silence, and Sumire tried so hard not to jump in happiness because of a little spark of hope inside of her, telling her that maybe,just maybe, he likes her too.

"You know its Valentine's Day tomorrow, right?" Ruka started, seeing her silence as an invitation for him to continue.

"Y-Yes, why?" Sumire asked, suddenly feeling giddy with the plethora of emotions surrounding her at the moment.

"I'm gonna say something to you, make sure you remember every word I say, alright?" he winked at her, successfully melting her insides. She just nodded to restrain herself.

"I love you so much; you're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I don't care if you just think of me as a friend, but all I know is that I love you, and I will always be here when you need me,"

Sumire was speechless, as if this was a dream come true. She opened her mouth and closed it like a fish out of water. Ruka smiled to her, as if feeling her happiness.

"Do you remember everything I said?" he asked, leaning on the wall as he did so.

"O-Of course," was all that she said, as she couldn't bring herself to understand that Ruka likes her too.

But then as she opened her mouth to say something, Ruka interjected without knowing.

"Could you please say that to Hotaru for me? I couldn't bring myself to say that in front of her without stuttering, you see," he said, and started to walk back to his quarters. He then turned back and smiled at her.

"Thanks for helping me practice that speech, by the way. I'll be indebted to you," he then winked and walked away.

"Wait," Sumire muttered; head held low as the truth slowly sank in.

"Yeah?" Ruka called back.

"You can count on me!" she then turned to him and did a Mikan-ish thumbs up. Ruka smiled a genuine one before walking back to her and kissed her cheek.

"Thank you so much, Sumire. That means so much," he said and walked away for real, leaving her to weep with his dust.

"Thank you for that, Sumire. I'm sorry for all the misinterpretation; I never thought you helped Ruka and I to get together," was Hotaru's note for me that early morning on the day of St. Valentine. I tried not to cry once more, keeping in mind that I actually helped my buds attain happiness and that, alone, is already enough.

I thought I am through with my ironic life, but only now that I realized it's just about to start.

Reedited and revised for any misinterpretations and stupid typographical/grammatical errors, 102711.

Reviews?

Ria x