A Prom Date for Natsume Hyuuga Chapter 1, a gakuen alice fanfic

Oh hey so I'm back with my first—and probably last because I'm a lazy arse—fic for the summer. And I'm just so depressed that I'm merely one month away from school again guh ok don't mind me and my running sentences bye

Rusty writing because I haven't been writing in a while and might probably not again because nowadays I can't bring myself to fill in a blank word document to save my life anymore. You have been warned.

Op, AU coming your way btw~

A Prom Date for Natsume Hyuuga

by foxtrotelly

~ Dedicated to Ariisha-chan ~

Because it's your birthday, sis. :) Happy birthday! I can't believe it's been a year already. /sobs

"You're going to prom."

"What?"

—

One week to Doomsday, Alice Boy's High School: Auditorium

CLICK!

Ruka cringed as the fluorescent lamp on their table lit up for what could've been the nth time that afternoon.

CLACK!

And frankly, now it was giving him a headache—not to mention a seizure.

CLICK!

CLACK!

"Koko!"

The addressed boy looked up. "What?" CLICK!

"Can you just..."

"Can I just what?" CLACK!

"Nevermind."

"Ok." CLICK!

Ruka groaned. He didn't know how much more of this he could take.

From beside him, Koko droned, "For the 18th time ladies...people, this isn't some talent show or American Idol, ok? So no more Barbra Streisands or tap dancing or else Ruka and I are gonna vote you off and go give you a red star" —he threw his arms up to make a point— "...or something. Got that?"

Well, actually Koko was right about that. Because as much as he wanted to be polite and all, Ruka swore that if he had to put up with another verse of Speed or act of Cats again he was going to blow a fuse. And throw a pencil at someone. Maybe Natsume since he was the reason for all this.

Koko dropped his head facefirst on Ruka's shoulder. "This is too much," he whimpered miserably against Ruka's sleeve.

Ruka responded almost automatically, "This or Kaoru-nee's—"

"NEXT!" Koko cried out loudly, his head still on Ruka's shoulder.

Ruka cleared his throat and, given the extra weight now on the left part of his upper torso, leaned in shakily to speak into the mic in front of him. "So, uhh" —he looked down at the clipboard with the whole ordeal's sign-up sheet attached to it— "...err, Morioka-san, tell us about yourself. "

"Well, um, hi. My name is Morioka Shiori but um, my friends call me Riri." The girl awkwardly bobbed a curtsey and beamed at them nervously. "I like to sing and um, I like movies and I can, um, dance—"

At that, Koko's head shot up. "Singing? Where?"

The girl looked panicked and almost ashamed. "N-no I won't... Gome!"

"So why do you think you should be Natsume Hyuuga's date for prom this year?"

Silence.

"Because...I like cats?"

"We'll...keep in touch."

—

Three weeks to Doomsday, Hyuuga Household: The Study

Silently and uneasily, the two boys made their way through the vast entryway, their sneakers squeaking on the polished marble. It was strange, walking there without Natsume just ambling ahead. It kind of made Ruka and Koko feel slightly scared—almost vulnerable, even. Now without their friend's calmness to assure them in his own home, it gave them the sense of fright that anytime, anywhere, they were going to be jumped.

Which was no surprise considering the kind of inhabitants this certain household housed.

"Ruka-nii! Koko-nii!"

The two froze and looked at each other, shell-shocked. Koko gave a very tiny nod to Ruka, hoping that the girl behind them wouldn't see. Slowly, Ruka cracked a nervous smile and turned to face said girl.

"Aoi. H-hi!"

Aoi, Natsume's younger sister, waved and beamed. "Mom wants you in The Study."

"Yeah, we got that memo, thanks," Ruka said, wide, forced smiled still intact.

Ruka and Aoi stared at each other for a while. After what could've been a very tense minute—maybe even an hour—of pure torture for Ruka and most probably playtime for Aoi, Koko finally turned around as well.

"Well," Koko started, gesturing to the hallway behind them, "we'll be on our way now."

But before the two could even walk away far enough and make an escape, Aoi had already caught up to them, flitting in front of them to block their way. Ruka heard Koko curse under his breath as the both of them gave a small jump backwards in surprise.

"Let me take you there, onii-sans!" Aoi piped.

"Oh, no, that won't be necessary—"

"But I insist." She held out her hands to Ruka and Koko, her face tight with the same angelic, menacing beam she had on when she first greeted—no, jumped them.

"W-we—"

"Ok then, kiddo." It was Koko who caved.

Ruka looked at him in confusion, but all Koko could show him was a very weak version of his 'I got this' face.

Koko gave her his most "charming" smile. "Let's go."

Squealing in delight, Aoi took each of their hands and started skipping down the hallway, half-dragging and half-thrashing the two boys behind her with an incredibly startling amount of strength coming from a small girl like her.

Then again, they were talking about the girl who was raised by someone who was practically a ninja assassin boss or something, anyway. And there was Natsume too.

Finally, they reached the big, oak double-doored office that was otherwise known as The Study—not the Study but The Study, just because it was that esteemed as "The Sanctuary of the Hyuuga Household".

Strangely enough though, Ruka and Koko didn't exactly feel its sanctuary-esque vibes as they anxiously stood before its doors the moment they got Aoi to leave them alone for a minute, given that sanctuaries were supposed to provide you with a feeling of comfort and security and not of gnawing dread and suspenseful horror.

"So what do you think she wants us in here for again?" Ruka asked Koko.

Koko shrugged. "I don't know man, but when you send your chauffer to pick up your son's friends from soccer practice to see them in The Study and not actually let your son come along, it's not usually a good thing."

"Now I'm really scared," Ruka groaned.

"Yeah, me too." Koko glanced over at Ruka and grinned. "Wanna hold hands?"

Before Ruka could even think of anything to respond to that, a voice called to them from inside The Study. "Boys?"

"That's her," the boys exclaimed in chorus, panicked. And with that, they entered The Study.

The Study was just like any study as far as looks were concerned. Being a sacred place of work ethics and whatnot for the typical upper-middle class nuclear family, it consisted of laminate wood-panelled walls and flooring, towering bookshelves lining the walls of the room, tasteful Victorian-style furniture, various trinkets such as a telescope and ceramic vases perched atop polished wood pedestals, a wide hearth that was usually aglow during the fall and winter and finally, two adjacent desks on the north and west sides of the room. The west desk was smaller in comparison with the north one, and if you ever wondered which parental unit owned which, inhabitants or frequent guests of the Hyuuga Household would all just scoff and laugh at you for being so funny.

Ruka and Koko walked forward until they were facing the back of a leather-upholstered chair.

The chair swivelled around, revealing a beautiful, middle-aged, dark-haired woman in a sharp suit that brought out the even sharper features of her face.

Now if you ever wondered why the study was called The Study, everybody who knew would simply point you to the north desk.

"I've been expecting you."

Koko breathed a little nervous chuckle.

"Please. Have a seat, you two," Kaoru told them. Immediately, they did so.

"So," Kaoru started conversationally, resting her chin on her hands as she leaned toward them, "let's get down to business."

Both boys swallowed. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"It's about the prom."

That did it. All it took were those four simple words to untangle their insides, freeing them from the many dreamt up horrors and fears a meeting with Kaoru Hyuuga at The Study might have procured.

But then again she didn't even really start talking yet so—

BAM!

Kaoru banged her hands on the desk, causing both Ruka and Koko to flinch in surprise. "So!"

She gazed at them expectantly as if she knew one of the two could spout the answer to her one-worded exclamatory statement.

Three seconds, however, were too long for her, causing her to just go ahead to the point anyway. "So... I want you two." She pointed a perfectly-manicured finger at them.

Koko and Ruka's eyes widened. They exchanged looks. "Us?"

"Yes! To find Natsume a date!" Kaoru stated, beaming a wide beam similar to her daughter Aoi's—lovely yet very terrifying at the same time.

"But Kaoru-ba—"

Kaoru raised a hand to interrupt Ruka. "Look, boy, first off, it's Kaoru-nee." She reached forward to punch him lightly in the arm. "Get it right."

Koko snickered, earning him a look from Kaoru which effectively quieted him right away. Clearing her throat, she began again, "As I was saying, I need you two to help me find a date for my son, and fast." She nodded, then asked for assurance, "Because how many weeks away is the prom now?"

"Th-three weeks," Ruka answered.

"Yes. See there? Time's a wasting," Kaoru tutted, wagging her finger disparagingly.

"Ah, yes, we understand that part, Kaoru-nee, but you see..." Unable to supply a viable defence that wouldn't get someone punched in the arm again, Ruka turned to Koko for help. Koko, for the second time that day, pulled on his 'I got this' face.

"We'll put it this way, Kaoru-nee—I mean, Natsume is"— Koko coughed— "...err, hot, so finding him a date would probably be fairly easy. But what if he sorta kinda in some way really isn't wanting to go to prom since—"

"Nonsense!" Kaoru spat. "He is."

"Really?"

"He will."

"But 'nee-san—"

"What did I say?"

"We know but—"

"A—"

"He—"

"Don't—"

"How?"

"You ask how now?" Kaoru's stern face softened into a reassuring look. She shrugged, popping her knuckles in a way that made both boys shift uncomfortably in their seats. "I have my maternal ways."

"But—" Ruka paused, knowing her disliking for the word proven by the reproachful glance he just suddenly got. "I mean...if ever Natsume finds out what we're up to, what then, Kaoru-nee?"

"Well, he'll have to know he's at his own prom when he's already there right? Seriously Ruka, what kind of question is that?" Kaoru said plainly, frowning.

"Then sorry to say this though, Kaoru-nee, but Natsume has his ways too, as far as I can remember," Koko intervened. At the back of his mind, he suddenly recalled a certain memory many years back of these so-called ways that so vividly involved a steaming cup of instant ramen and dry-cleaned underwear. He shuddered.

"Oh, so did you mean to say that my son is better than me?" Her brows were furrowed, her fingernails clacking on the desk in an impatient, questioning manner.

Ruka opened his mouth to speak but just closed it instead when Kaoru added, "Because he's not." She gave them a smile.

"...Of course!"

"Totally!"

"Oh you boys," she doted, flourishing her hand at them like a flattered teenage girl. She turned serious right away, however, as soon as she sat back in her chair and clasped her hands together. "So you'll do it then."

And no, she didn't mean for it to be a question. It was a statement, a given fact.

"Was that my cue, Mom?"

By then, there was honestly no more telling how many times the two boys had been shocked beyond proper thinking within the next twenty seconds by being at the Hyuuga household alone.

On the contrary, they wouldn't have expected that to be anyone else but Aoi. She winked at them when she saw that they spun around in their seats to have a look at her.

"Come in, sweetie," Kaoru said excitedly.

"Cool!" Aoi flounced into the room, delightedly waving a wad of colourful papers in her hand as she did. "Look at all these sweet flyers I made for the prom date auditions!"

"Natsume-nii, hey, could you stretch your arm a little bit more like that?"

"Like what?"

"...There, that's great. Thanks—34 INCHES, MOM!"

—

Two weeks to Doomsday, Alice Boys' High School: East Wing third floor hallway

After Ruka's last class of the day, he headed right away to his locker on the third floor, which, conveniently, was situated right outside Room 308 where Koko was having his last subject, Remedial Physics.

Thankfully enough, Natsume had a class off that same day and being the good friend he was, already headed off to the soccer field for practice.

"Surely some missed training sessions won't hurt right?" Kaoru had told them when she was elaborating on "Alibis On Dodging Code C.A.T. During Preparation Operations, part II".

Actually, Ruka had begged to differ that time. Times were tough, especially when you were going to have their biggest game of the year in a month with an over-the-top, ballistic coach who freaked out if one didn't "eat, sleep, breathe soccer" enough to add to that.

But choosing between the two, to Ruka and Koko's wise and practical judgment it was still Code C.A.T.'s mother who won the "Most Ferocious Dictator of all" award. Either way, soccer balls didn't taste all that good anyway. Koko would know.

"So how was Advanced Physics, nerd?" Speaking of the devil. "Definitely more brain damaging than E = mc2 for dummies, no?"

"Yes, and my head still hurts from that test we had, ok?" Ruka really wasn't lying. AP class was no joke and nowadays it often made him wonder if he still had enough brain power to pass it. Also, his head really did throb a little and all he wanted to do was get this all over with and afterwards just lie down on his bed with his pet Usagi on his tummy and sleep with nothing but his Lifehouse and Coldplay mix humming through his speakers. "Let's just go, please."

"As you wish, miss."

. . .

Just as Ruka and Koko reached the school gates and were about to cross the street to Gakuen Higuchi for Girls, somebody called out to them.

"Yome! Ruka! Guys, hey!"

Stunned, Ruka mouthed to Koko, 'Ignore him.'

Koko nodded and kept up with his friend's quickened pace.

"Hey you two! Wait—should I tell Natsume you're not going to practice today?"

That made them both stop in their tracks. A car zoomed past them, merely missing them by a few centimetres.

"Morons!" Ruka heard the car's driver yell after them. He felt himself bristle with slight anger, but there were more important matters to take care of at the hand, and that was the very reason why he and Koko were dashing right back towards the chain-link fence that lined the outside of their school's soccer field.

"Mochu!"

"There you are Yome! I was just about to—"

"No, don't!" Ruka cut him off. "You...can't."

"Why not?" Mochu asked. Then, his tone turned suspicious. "What were about to do anyway, heading off to Higuchi's?"

"We..."

"Hey...you're not...dating Natsume's sister, are you?"

"What?" Ruka couldn't even imagine what brought him to think that. "No!"

"Koko then?"

Koko looked genuinely take aback. "No! God, no, just...no."

"Then—"

"Business. We have some business to take care of," Ruka said quickly.

Mochu raised his eyebrows. "...Right."

"Just..."

"Tell Natsume, right."

"No! You—"

"Now? I tell him now?"

"Don't—"

"What? I should tell him later?"

"Mochu—"

"Ok! I'll—"

"For God's sakes Mochu, just shut your trap alright?"

As they walked away, Ruka believed him to be taken care of. For now.

—

Less than three weeks to Doomsday, Hyuuga Household: Gym

THWACK!

Koko cringed as he watched Kaoru deliver yet another kick to the punching bag before her. It was a Thursday, which meant she had a day off for Muay Thai and Judo training.

"And all the flyers and arrangements have been dealt with, I gather?"

"Y-yes, Kaoru-nee. Aoi, Koko and I have already finished posting them all over her school under the principal's consent," Ruka reported.

Kaoru nodded, a small satisfied smile on her face. "That's good. I knew anybody would be a hopeless sap for a good love story, frigid, stiff-as-hell principal or not. And the auditorium?"

"Already booked for the next two weeks except for Mondays and Thursdays."

"Except for Mondays and Thursdays?" Kaoru kneed the bag in a place that would've really hurt if it were a real human male. "Why?"

"Uhh, glee club rehearsals," Koko supplied.

Kaoru rolled her eyes and made an annoyed sound at the back of her throat. "Right."

"So you basically have six days to find my son a date for prom, boys. Can you do it?" she asked, raising her eyebrows in a way that was both challenging and concerned at the same time—a motherly expression.

It took a while for Ruka and Koko to answer, but in the backs of their minds there screamed a voice declaring that the feat was possible. "Yes."

"That's good," said Kaoru again. "And if all this doesn't work out?"

"It will, Kaoru-nee," Ruka assured her. He tried his best to hide the anxiousness in his voice.

"I'd count on that." With those words, she spun around and which much force, roundhouse-kicked her punching bag right off the hook.

Literally.

Oh hey so I decided to cut the one-shot here and instead make it a two-chappie. (cue applause) Yeah if I haven't then you'd probably still be reading by now until much later on. But worry not lovelies, for since I opted to split this story in half, it means I'm already halfway through the second half and...yeah, do you get where I'm going here?

And I know this sucked so bad oh my god I told you my writing was rusty already

Congratulations if you reached this point though.

Yeah ok.

To lil sis: Sorry for missing your birthday date ugh. ;_; Here where I am it's already like 3:40 AM in the morning of May 8, 2011, Sunday. So if time zone differences apply, I technically would have missed it by only one day.

(also, since I couldn't even finish the whole story on time, I cut it in half so I would have something to at least post here for you—yeah ok, smite me, I'm sorry)

Thumbs for a few pop-culture references? Tell me review-form!

Please.

Thanks.