Disclaimer: Gakuen Alice belongs to Tachibana Higuchi.

Forever Friends

Hotaru's POV

"Wait for me, Hotaru!" yelled a pigtailed girl. She always followed me wherever I went—Mikan Sakura. She was such a troublous and stupid little girl.

I punched her—yeah, I always have She always got me into a mess wherever I was. And the biggest problem was that she was willing to study at this Alice Academy. What the heck was she thinking? Just because she wanted to see me, she had sneaked away, leaving her grandfather and came to this academy.

"Hotaru, that hurts…" Mikan groaned.

She had considered me as her best friend ever since we joined a dancing competition. What an idiot.

"That's a punishment for shouting like a fool on the school path." I replied coldly. "Hurry up or else we're gonna be late."

This Mikan was such a crybaby. She could hardly control her tears. Frankly, I hated this kind of girls. She looked uglier when she cried.

"Mou, what's the hurry, Hotaru? The bell hasn't rung anyways." She said, mending her pace.

"Would you look at your watch, dummy?" I warned her, leaving her behind.

"Wait, Hotaru!" She screamed as she saw me running away from her. I merely ignored her.

-oOo-

Normal POV

"Good morning." greeted Mikan cheerfully, entering the classroom.

"You're late, Mikan." Hotaru responded nonchalantly.

"Huh? Narumi-sensei hasn't come yet, has he?" asked Mikan calmly, heading toward her seat.

"Hey, I'm here, Mikan-chan." said Narumi who was standing in front of the classroom.

"Ah, Sensei! Since when did you…?" Mikan became bewildered.

"I've been here since ten minutes ago." Narumi stated.

"Baka." Hotaru burbled mockingly.

"Sit down, Mikan-chan." said Narumi, smiling at the brunette. "Okay, everyone, I'm gonna leave soon. I just want to tell you that there's no lesson for today. You may go to your respective ability class."

"Oh, I almost forgot! Imai-san, please come with me to the teachers' room. We need to talk." Narumi turned his gaze on the stoic inventor. "Well, everybody, have fun!"

Narumi left the classroom with Hotaru behind him. Mikan couldn't help wondering why Hotaru was called to the teachers' room all of a sudden like that.

Seeing the confused Mikan, Ruka asked his best friend, "What do you think, Natsume? Why is Imai called by Narumi-sensei to the teachers' room?"

"Don't ask me, Ruka. Are you worried about that ugly girl?" Natsume questioned.

"N-Not really…" Ruka answered bashfully, turning away from Natsume.

Natsume said nothing and stared at the dampish brunette.

"Mikan!" called someone from the outside.

Mikan turned her face to the direction of the voice. "Tsubasa-senpai!"

"Let's go to the Special Ability Class, Mikan! Misaki's birthday party has begun!" cried Tsubasa hotly. Natsume glowered at Tsubasa. And of course, the frightening glare was sensed well by the senpai himself.

Due to the restless atmosphere, Tsubasa just wanted to leave that place immediately. "Come on, Mikan. You can also bring your friends with us if you like."

"Ah, I forgot to bring my present. I've got to take it first. I'll catch you up later." uttered Mikan, leaving the classroom to head for the dormitory.

"All right, make it quick!" Tsubasa yelled to his junior.

Despite the scary aura from the flame-caster, Tsubasa gave him an offer "We're throwing a birthday party for Misaki today. You may come if you'd like."

"Ruka, did you hear something?" Natsume scoffed aloud so that Tsubasa could hear him.

Popping a vein, Tsubasa could only accept Natsume's gibe resignedly. "Would you like to come, Ruka-pyon? Mikan will be there as well."

"I wonder where that mysterious voice is coming from, Ruka." said Natsume again flatly.

"Do you really hate Natsume-kun that much, Tsubasa-senpai?" Kokoroyomi said, reading Tsubasa's mind.

"Absolutely not." Tsubasa answered awkwardly, not noticing the dangerous glare from the certain raven-haired boy. Then he hurriedly went away.

Meanwhile, Mikan was still running to her room. As she went across Hotaru's room, she felt something bad. However, she instantly threw the thought away from her innocent mind. Finally, she arrived at her room and took a red ribbon as her birthday present for Misaki.

-oOo-

"So that's why, Imai-san. You are really needed there. You have to go." Narumi ended his explanation.

Hotaru became silent.

"Well…so, what do you think?" questioned Narumi, getting astonished at the silenced Hotaru. "Imai-san?"

"What should I do then?" Hotaru asked back.

"I mean, is this okay with you? Actually, even if you try to refuse, you'll still have to go, seeing that this is the principal's order." said Narumi.

"Why me?" asked Hotaru again in a low voice.

"I don't know. It's all the principal's order." replied Narumi unsurely.

"What a mess." Hotaru mumbled.

"You'll leave in these three days. In these three days, you will go to school like usual. Don't tell your friends about this, including Mikan-chan." uttered Narumi in a serious tone.

Hotaru locked her mouth as though she did not care about what Narumi said.

Narumi continued, "You can tell them on the day you leave. If you tell them in these three days, you know what will those kids do, don't you? Especially Mikan-chan."

"No problem, Sensei," Hotaru declared, "I agree."

-oOo-

"Happy birthday, Misaki-senpai!" The elementary students cheered.

"Thanks for coming, everyone." Misaki responded.

"Here's my present for you, Misaki-senpai." said Mikan, handing the doppelganger girl the red ribbon.

"Wow! Thanks a lot, Mikan." Misaki accepted the ribbon happily.

"Sorry, we're late." Ruka appeared in the Special Ability classroom with his best friend.

"Natsume-kun, Ruka-pyon! So you come, after all!" Misaki shrieked vivaciously.

Natsume turned his face away from Tsubasa who was looking at him in shock. "Tch. I wouldn't have come if Ruka didn't come."

"Alright, now it's time to cut the birthday cake! Misaki will give the first piece cake to someone special!" yelled Tsubasa, secretly hoping that he would be that lucky special person.

After cutting a piece of cake, she looked around the room as the thought of the person who would receive the first piece from her. "Okay, I've already decided."

Misaki walked to Tsubasa and gave him the first piece, making the crowds yell and whistle at the two of them. The shadow controller started blushing. "T-T-Thank…"

"Hey, everybody…what's going on here?" asked Noda who suddenly appeared behind Tsubasa.

"Nodacchi!" The students shouted at the Special Ability Class teacher who had disappeared for a month because of his time trip alice.

"Nodacchi, this is for you! Take it." said Misaki as she gave Noda the first piece cake, which should have belonged to Tsubasa before the clumsy teacher came.

Tsubasa turned upset on the instant. On the other hand, Misaki, who had disappointed the shadow player, ignored him and merely persuaded Noda to tell her about his time trip.

"Oh, come on, Nodacchi! Tell us!" Misaki coaxed him with the other students.

"I'm so sorry, kids. I have just arrived and I'm really exhausted. I'll tell you later." Noda said wearily.

"But we'd love to listen to your story now, Nodacchi." Mikan kept begging. Her blandishment worked, much to Misaki's surprise.

"Well, so…"

"I'm sorry, I'm late." A girl came, interrupting the beginning of Noda's story.

"Hotaru!" cried Mikan. She quickly approached Hotaru and twined her arm.

"Now tell me, Hotaru. Why were you called to the teachers' room earlier?" asked Mikan curiously.

"That's unnecessary. Get your hands off my arm." Hotaru said viciously. Then she turned to Misaki. "Sorry, I don't bring any present, Senpai."

"It's okay. Your attendance is enough for me." Misaki retorted. "Okay! It's time to eat the birthday cake!"

"Yeah!" The students became noisy again, completely forgetting their curiosity about Noda's time trip story.

-oOo-

"Hotaru!" Mikan screamed, tears containing in her eyes. "Where's Hotaru?"

"What's the matter, Mikan-chan?" asked Yuu.

"Iinchou! Read this!" cried Mikan, showing him a piece of paper. All students in B class, except Natsume, came to Mikan to read the letter with her.

Mikan,

I'll be leaving the academy for one year. This is a duty from the academy.

As for you, dummy, promise me that you won't do anything stupid during my absence.

Take care,

Imai Hotaru

"Maybe she hasn't departed yet! We've got to find her!" said Sumire. "I think she's still in the teachers' room now."

Mikan and the others immediately left to see the young inventor. And their guess was right; Hotaru and the teachers were there. Mikan walked toward her best friend.

"Hotaru, why did you just tell me today?" asked Mikan, embracing Hotaru.

"Nope. I've sent that letter since three days ago." Hotaru answered in her usual nonchalant tone.

"But why did you use that slow turtle, again? You did that on purpose, didn't you?!" Mikan began to cry.

"I've told you not to cry," said Hotaru briefly. "I hate to see you crying, dummy."

"Ugh…" Mikan tried hard to wipe away her tears and pinched her cheeks, showing her best friend that she would not cry. "All right, you got it! See? I'm not crying! So please, don't go, Hotaru."

"Moron," Hotaru murmured, pushing the brunette. "Goodbye, Mikan."

As Mikan was about to catch Hotaru again, the inventor girl left by teleportation with some teachers. All Mikan could do was continue crying bitterly without her beloved best friend—who just left her for the second time, by her side.

-oOo-

Ainara Aya: I'm still an amateur here. I'm sorry if you found many sentences that are grammatically error. I really need your comments and your criticisms. Thank you very much.