Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice, but I do adore it! 

From the Author: Hiya everyone! This is my first Gakuen Alice fanfic since I only discovered it a week ago! Please note I have only watched the anime so if this runs contrary to the manga sorry.

This is for anyone who thought "Why is Mikan following Hotaru when she's in the middle of her important retake?"

Toilet-Break

"Sakura!"

The girl looked round at her strict teacher, mouth a perfect o of surprise.

"I told you to use the restroom BEFORE the exam!" Then, turning his head to the side and closing his eyes, "I'll only wait an hour."

"Sensei!"

The girl froze with surprise, but then when reminded by Sumire, dashed out the room towards her friend. At this Jinno-sensei couldn't quite prevent a small smile coming onto his face until…

"You…"

The smile disappeared as he looked, startled towards the door, identifying the eccentric blonde teacher who stood there.

"Na-Narumi-sensei!"

"The demonic proctor doing this; what a surprise! Could it be that you've grown to like Mikan and her friends?" The blonde's smile never wavered as he walked into the classroom leaving his colleague to stutter, "What? Of course not! It's just…"

Narumi jumped on his slip like a cat. "It's just?"

Without looking at his more extraverted counterpart, Jinno-sensei looked into the distance, and replied "I decided to give your way of thinking a shot." At which, he turned his head towards him and smiled, nodding. Narumi chuckled and both teachers looked towards where the one-star had disappeared, thinking about how much they had changed since that little nullifier had bounded into their lives.

"Hotaruuuuu!"

Mikan's cry was cut short by her best friends enormous rocket-powered baka-swatter, leaving the brunette sprawled out on the blossom covered path. Looking back up towards the dark haired girl, Mikan gulped out a tear-driven "Why?"

Hotaru calmly retracted the swatter, and spoke to the girl lying at her feet.

"I think you're mistaken about something, I'm not going anywhere far."

Really, the genius inventor really couldn't work out how the baka had come to that conclusion!

Luckily Mikan chose to explain why she had thought so… her explanation left Hotaru shaking her head internally as she put down each of the brunette's reasons… of course, she wouldn't let her emotions come out even as her child-like friend switched expression continually, leaving her heart on her sleeve. Sighing silently, Hotaru then reminded Mikan about a particular problem.

"More importantly, those rabbits are due today."

Of course, she knew that the ditzy brunette wouldn't have been able to get them ready since she was only a one-star, but there were a few reasons to bring it up. Firstly, the inventor had always found her reactions to any mention of her poor existence rather entertaining, and also somehow she was also hoping that she could get the girl to come with her – she may not seem it, but she was mildly nervous, and besides, if her emotional friend didn't get to see where she was going, no doubt she would fret tremendously. Of course, blackmail seemed to be the most effective way of getting what she wanted!

As Mikan predictably drooped at that reminder, Hotaru celebrated inside, and instead said, "Well, I guess you'll have to work off your debt. Amanatsu."

Since her maker had already briefed her Mikan-robot on what she had planned, Amanatsu knew exactly what to do – thanking her model and dumping the heavy green bag on top of her head, then just carrying the pink bag to follow the inventor. Of course, if anyone had thought about it, there was no real benefit to Hotaru having Mikan carry the bag, since Amanatsu had already been coping with it quite easily, but the dark-haired girl felt confident that her act wouldn't be seen through by any of her idiotic classmates.

As she walked calmly off, the baka ran helter-skelter towards them, hefting the heavy baggage even with tears streaming down her face at her friend's coldness and the laughter of her class, which instantly turned into an enormous grin as she realised that she wasn't being abandoned again.

"Where do you want this to go?"

Mikan pointed to a large cat-shaped contraption, which Hotaru had invented a while ago. The Neko-matic 3000 could clean, dry and iron any clothes put into it instantly, ensuring that she was never caught out and never had to waste time that could be put to good use otherwise. The dark-haired girl merely pointed out a box she had drawn, clearly labelled earlier so that she would not be disturbed while her idiot tried to sort out the room. Of course, the idiot in question just grinned, thanked her, and started straining to push it where indicated.

At this, Hotaru mentally sighed. If the girl continued like that, she would probably end up hurting herself. Instead, emotionlessly, she intoned, "Such an exhausted face makes you 50 less graceful. Instead, leave all the heavier objects to Amanatsu."

The brunette slid down the side of the Neko-matic in relief. She sat there for a second recovering herself, then with a beaming smile at her best friend she scurried off to find her robotic counterpart. The friend in question made sure the other was out of sight before letting an all-too brief smile grace her lips, before bending over her latest creation again.

They had stopped their respective work for a quick meal of chicken ramen at a nearby shop, which had Mikan alternating jumping with joy or despairing about how to pay without any yen. After eating her own meal swiftly and silently, listening to her smiling friend babbling on about pretty much anything which came into her mind, she simply paid the shopkeeper for their meals and left.

The brunette had run after her, calling her name ready to hug her until …

"baka, baka, baka, baka, baka"

The distinctive noise of one of her earlier inventions shattered the calm already broken by the loud thanks offered. After waiting for the idiot to stop blabbering, Hotaru calmly said, "Taking a conversion rate of 1 rabbit to 100 yen, and also including interest, that comes to a total of 12 rabbits. Please pay."

Mikan dived into her cute purse but found it well short of the desired total. This caused her face to fall which was all the indication Hotaru needed. The inventor smirked inwardly but calmly replied to the silent question, "If you are unable to pay it back at this time I will loan you the money, but at an interest rate of 1 rabbit every 10 days."

The broke girl had no choice but to accede to this and after moaning forlornly for a while swiftly switched back to her normal cheerful self, leaving the loan shark feeling satisfied that again her plan had worked, leaving the other in debt to her and thus ensuring continued association.

Hotaru looked around her new domain. The baka had actually done pretty well, with everything set up and only a few minor bumps marring the whole process. However, the main benefit of having Mikan there was her company and abounding optimism.

While her friend had been moving everything around, she herself had been busy. After finishing her latest product (A badge that could sense other Alices) she had met the research team and started conversing easily with them, aware that the brunette was listening in awe just around the corner. Just knowing she was there helped her gain confidence and as such she was certain she had impressed her fellow researchers.

Her work done for the day, Hotaru turned to her friend and asked "How did your retake go?"

…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Mikan's face was a mask of shock and fear as she realised that it was getting dark outside … Jin-Jin had kindly given her an hour to go and make her farewells, but she had been well over six hours! She leapt up and dashed out of the facility, down the street and towards the school.

Jinno-sensei looked at his watch for the umpteenth time. The girl was over three hours late even after he had been so generous! He wasn't even sure why he had waited this long except that the girl had impressed him with her kind nature and steadfast loyalty to her friends. Even knowing her mother … but although the arrival of the little nullifier heralded an onslaught of mayhem, he could see that most of it was not her fault and in fact she struggled in her own way to put a lot of it right.

Besides, even he could see the effect she had on the Kuro-neko. Almost a tranquiliser for him, she could calm him down even as he tried to hide it.

He himself remembered talking to the other teachers after branding her a no star, explaining that she was an enemy on the inside due to her rare Alice. Narumi's face had fallen at that statement yet accepted the decision by saying "We'll just have to let her get through these trials on her own from now on." The faith that Narumi-sensei had shown towards the nullifier even after just meeting her was tremendous, and had surprised him even then. Though maybe… that blonde haired idiot was the most perceptive of them all.

Jinno-sensei looked at his watch again and sighed. He had been waiting far too long and enough was enough. Standing up finally, he made his way over to the paper that had been left carelessly sprawled on the desk, he began to read through and mark the answers she had given.

"Jinno-sensei!! I'm so sorry!! I …"

Mikan dashed into the classroom only to find it deserted. She felt terrible and her heart leapt into her throat. Even after being given another chance, she had messed up yet again. She feared the consequences of her folly, but also knew that they were deserved. Going into Class A, losing all her friends … the thought of this ran through her mind again and again in an endless cycle.

Desolate, she gave the classroom a cursory sweep with her eyes and noticed her abandoned exam paper. Almost mechanically, she walked towards it, noticing writing at the top…

C-

C-

What?

In disbelief the brunette grabbed the paper and re-read the mark she had been given. She had passed! Scanning down the page, she noticed a long comment written by her teacher.

"Miss Sakura,

I am astonished that after my generosity you left me waiting for over four hours with your incomplete script. However, after marking what you did leave me with I can surprisingly congratulate you on passing, with a clear improvement in your understanding of the subject. However, disciplinary action is still required for your obvious delinquency. Meet me in my office at 10 am tomorrow."

The examinee felt her heart pause for a second at the mention of disciplinary action, but it bounced back as she realised the ramifications of what had happened. Grabbing the piece of paper with her result, Mikan raced out of her room to share the good news with her friends, including Hotaru.

Fin

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it!